Falls Count Anywhere

01-23-07

My plates are slippin'

SmackDown!
The show started with Mr. Kennedy. He praised himself for winning the Beat The Clock challenge. Theodore R. Long came out and said that he had to face the Undertaker and if Taker won then he’d get to be in the SmackDown! main event at Royal Rumble. Kennedy was really good here.

Matt Hardy took on Joey Mercury. This match made me smile. They had Joey wearing a face guard. Matt targeted his face. Nice touch! Matt won with a jackknife pin after hitting the Side Effect. Johnny Nitro attacked right after the bell and beat on Matt a bit before they took him outside, lifted the blue pad and gave Hardy the Snapshot on the outside! That’s awesome, but it makes me happier because it means that we’re gonna get a Hardys vs. MNM match in the future, and likely an entire series.

I missed a while section on purpose. I hate The Miz, and when I saw that he was coming to the screen, I went and made a couple of steaks. They were really good and I used a bit of fresh ginger to make a very simple pan sauce. That sentence right there is far more interesting than anything The Miz has ever done.

OK, I don’t like the Vito gimmick, and I’m rather shocked he didn’t get fired with the latest batch. He teamed with Paul London and Spanky to take on MVP, who is highly overrated, William Regal and Dave Taylor. The match was OK, and Vito was actually over with the crowd. That’s very strange. Vito worked a lot of this match, which makes sense since both London and Kendrick have been hurting, and Kendrick was about to hit the Sliced Bread #2 when MVP grabbed him and then hit the Most Valuable Slam.

And now...the love of the tigers!

In a really good little No DQ match, Chris Benoit and Chavo Guerrero Chavo started things off with a low-blow and then hit a back suplex. After Chavo tried to remove the turnbuckle cover and that allowed Benoit to hit a German Suplex. Benoit managed to catch the Crossface, but Chavo escaped. CHavo used a chair to get the advantage and worked over his shoulder. Chavo did the Three Amigos and the last one was onto the title belt. Sweet! Benoit came back with Snap Suplexes and more Germans. Benoit got the Sharpshooter for the tap out. Solid action.

The new guys, 1950s Greasers Deuce (who I think is Jimmy Snuka’s kid) and Domino beat two jobbers. They had Cherry, a chick on roller skates, with them. JBL made a crack about her having half-a-brain and that made her qualified to be Head of Talent Relations! Why isn’t he getting fired for incredibly insightful jabs like that?

Kane beat The Miz. I said I’d give it a couple of minutes. Kane ended it quick with the Chokeslam. I can now say that I’ve watched a full Miz match.

Mr. Kennedy took on The Undertaker. Batista was on commentary. Taker had the advantage, but Kennedy got out of the Last Ride and managed to attack UT’s legs. This was a traditional anti-Undertaker match. Taker did come back and hit the Snake Eyes. Kennedy went out of the ring and then managed to cheap shot Batista, who then came into the ring and speared him, giving Kennedy the win via DQ. Brilliant!

An average show, though there were some pretty good moments.

Wrestling Observer Awards
As always, I waited expectantly for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards issue. I was disappointed this year because I thought that Edge would win Wrestler of the Year, but alas it was Mexico’s Mistico. He had a huge year. Edge was second. The only WWE winners were John Cena for Most Charismatic and Mick Foley for Best on Interviews. Bryan Danielson of Ring of Honour won Most Outstanding and Best Technical Wrestler. LAX from TNA won Best Tag Team. KENTA’s awesome Go 2 Sleep was the Move of the Year.

That’s all for today. More on Thursday!

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Chris Garcia