Falls Count Anywhere

05-02-06

Those first graders WILL PAY.

SmackDown! Thoughts
Once again, I didn’t see much of SmackDown!. Friday hasn’t’ been good to SD!, though the ratings aren’t that bad. They just aren’t nearly as consistent as the WWE would like.

SmackDown! has a lot going for it, especially in the quality wrestling department. They also have a lot of potential for the future. If the bookers can figure out what to do with Melena and MNM they could really revitalize the Tag Team ranks and go forward with a new hot team. I doubt this will happen, though.

You see, Bobby Lashley is very athletic, is giant and has been improving with his work against folks like Fit Finlay. They’ve got a lot of talent and some are ready to explode.

But they’re going back to JBL.

That’s right, the Observer is reporting that JBL will be defeating Rey Mysterio and taking back the belt he held after defeating the last Latino heavyweight champ. It’s a giant step backwards, even if Rey is getting some boos, because JBL’s not a big draw and he’s not going to be a good worker. If they’d gone to Benoit instead of JBL, I’d have no problem, but Vince doesn’t see Benoit as a possible top-card draw (even though he did all right the last time he ran with the belt)

Backlash
The first PPV since Mania for the WWE and it’s a fairly good one. Not blow-you-outta-yer-seat good, but strong enough to make me happy.

First off, in a move that pretty much tells you what’s gonna be going on with RAW soon, Joey Styles was out, Jim Ross was in. I’m betting that Styles will be the ECW announcer and that’s a good thing because Paul Heyman can produce him and that’s always led to good things in the past. Who knows if that’ll still be the case? No Coach either, which is a plus. Even the WWE brass has gone sour on him.

Chris Masters and Carlito had a really good little opener. The two of them are pretty good, Carlito’s got a strong charisma and Masters still manages to look good despite the requirement that he get off the 'roids. Carlito was all over the place, including throwing a mean sling-shot plancha and a moonsault. It ends up with Carlito getting the LungBlower for the win in about ten minutes. Good stuff and I’d not have figured Carlito for the guy who could get that out of Chris Masters.

Wait -- actual wrestling!

Umaga destroyed Ric Flair for about three minutes. There’s nothing else to say.

Trish Stratus separated her shoulder in her match against Mickie James, causing them to go to a DQ win for Trish. The early part of the match was OK, especially when Trish was in control. I think these two could have that big match that everyone wants if they could both stay healthy and if the characters could keep their heat.

In what I have to think is the dumbest move they’ve made in a while, RVD beat Shelton Benjamin in a really good match to win the IC belt. Why was it a dumb move? Well, RVD doesn’t need the IC title, but Shelton had built a strong gimmick, even after losing Mama, around having the belt and being a great wrestler. They were just too early on this match.

Still, they did a great job for about twenty minutes. A great spot was RVD going for Rolling Thunder and Benjamin turning it into a Samoan Drop. Then, in one of those spots that just plain rules, RVD was on the top rope and Shelton jumped up and grabbed a fast Superplex. That guy is unbelievable. Shelton tried to hit RVD with the briefcase, but he missed. RVD hit the Frog Splash and ended up with the win. Not the right way to go (honestly, they should have gone to a time limit draw or maybe done a double count-out) but a good match.

Kane vs. Big Show. If you wanted a slow, awful, and pointless match, this is the one for you.

Shawn Michaels proved that he’s one of the all-time greats again by having a good match with Shane and Vince and covering for the weakness of his tag partner, the Almighty. Shawn gave both Shane and Vince a good beating, including giving Vince a crossbody that sent both of them off the stage! Shane got tossed into the stage set-up more than once.

In a spot that was another one of those that we’ll be seeing over and over through the years, Shawn set up a fifteen foot ladder like he did when he gave Vince the elbow, but the Spirit Squad came out and he dove off the ladder onto them. That was incredible. It ended up with Shawn getting tossed through the table by the SS and Vince getting the pin. Some of it was lame (all the God stuff) but much of it was brawly, gimmicky fun.

So red, in fact, that the WWE is afraid to show you the color.

In a Main Event that really lived up to its billing, HHH and Edge lost to Cena in a match that really impressed me. They’ve kept the belt on Cena for a very good reason: no matter how much he’s booed, he’s selling merchandise and he’s getting people into seats at arenas. HHH did a great big blade job that turned him and Cena red. Edge was great, but he kinda got pushed to the side. They really should give him the belt. They went back and forth with everyone getting the spotlight.

After H’s bleeding started, Edge gave him an Implant DDT on a table and it didn’t break. That’s hard core. Lita had to take a Spinebuster from HHH! Edge speared H, but didn’t get the pin! Cena tossed Edge out of the ring and HHH gave him a low blow, but when H went for the Pedigree, Cena turned it into a jackknife pin for the win. A great match, at least as good as Cena’s best match (probably the one with all the blood against JBL after Last Year’s Mania) and probably as good you’ll ever get from him. I’m still saying that he’ll take on RVD and lose the title in June.

NEWS and RAW

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Chris Garcia