Falls Count Anywhere

09-18-06

But I do know it itches.

RAW on Sept 11
Well, it was a really good show. They chose Sept 11th to do their first show from Madison Square Garden in ages and it paid off. The product looked good, the opening tribute was pretty muted and they didn’t run the 9-11 thing into the ground. They did bring up the show two days later and claimed that started the healing of the nation, which is a bit much.

After Lillian did "America the Beautiful," Umaga beat Ric Flair in an average match. The crowd was kinda spotty on heat all night and this wasn’t great, but the way they presented it was smart. They had Flair try everything and Umaga just kept coming at him. Flair hit Umaga with a chair to get DQed, but Umaga went after him again and even gave him a Samoan Drop on the floor. Kane came and brawled with Umaga to set up their match at Unforgiven even better.

In a segment that got varying levels of heat, the Highlanders came out to the NYPD Pipe and Drums, followed by Piper. They went on forever and the crowd went through levels of excitement over it.

It was a cool surprise, especially when they were finished slapping each other and Piper said “I haven’t had that much fun since beatin’ up Mr. T.” The Spirit Squad came out and they set up a Six-man which wasn’t very good, and Piper worked a lot more than usual, but when the ref was distracted, the Highlanders gave Kenny the Double Reverse Slingshot Suplex that let Roddy get the pin. Overall, I’d say the segment worked.

Johnny Nitro and Melina did a segment running down Jeff Hardy who snuck up and did a painting behind them. Nitro saw it, said that it sucked, kicked it. Then apparently Jeff thought that fur was murder and tossed two things of paint onto Nitro. This was weird, but Melina was HOT!

Jeff Hardy, John Cena and Carlito beat Edge, Randy Orton and Johnny Nitro, but only after Edge did a great promo mocking John Cena and doing a mocking rap running down Cena and the New York fans. It was really good. The crowd both loved and hated Cena and were vocal in letting the world know.

Hey, that’s Carlos Colon! Puerto Ricano numero uno and papi to Carlito. The match was sloppy and there wasn’t enough emphasis put on building the feuds involved, and there was Hardy who still hasn’t found his groove. He almost wrecked himself trying to do a springboard off of Carlito to the floor. The finish was fun as Edge was leaving, They gave Orton the Backpack and Hardy followed with the Swanton, allowing Cena to hit the FU and the STFU on Nitro.

I missed a Cryme Tyme vignette and a Super Crazy vs. Masters match. I feel no shame about either.

Much respect.

Trish Stratus beat Mickie James in her final TV match. They were really selling Trish’s retirement. It was a pretty typical match between the two of them, and the crowd, while not overly into it, got hot a few times. Trish had an LED belt that had a scrolling display. That was neat. Lita came to distract Trish, but Trish did the Stratusfaction using Lita instead of the top rope. Nice touch. Trish thanked her fans. Ross talked about her being a Hall of Famer and I’m hoping she will be eventually. Other than maybe Lita, there’s no other woman who deserves it more.

Cade and Murdoch attacked HHH out by the limos with help from The Big Show. That led to Vince beating HHH in their match. Hunter sold really big. HHH was about to win, but Shane got involved and broke that up, and since it was no holds barred, it was OK. Michaels ran in, but Show stopped him with a PowerBomb and Shane hit him with a chair. Vince used the sledge to nail H and get the win.

Good show, but the crowd wasn’t as into it other than the Cena segment.

I Missed SmackDown!, though I understand that it was an average at best episode. Go Figure.

Unforgiven
You can’t argue some things. There’s always going to be something about guys falling from high places onto tables that is pretty compelling. That’s what sold the main event, and for me it’s what made the show worthwhile.

The opener was Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy. It was a long match, somewhere around twenty minutes, though Nitro’s not the best worker and Hardy needs to get himself back in ring shape. He looks fine, but working his style, he needs to be 100%. The match fell apart a few times, which was less Hardy’s fault than just the fact that these two have issues with their work that just happened to intersect.

The crowd got into it towards the end, when the match started to pick up steam with a series of near-falls. Melina hit Hardy with her boot after selling her ankle falling off of the ring apron. Nitro got the pin and that was that. Good open.

Kane and Umaga went to a Brawling DDQ. Let’s admit this right up front: this match was going to suck, but they needed to put Umaga over if they’re serious about trying to program him with Cena.

I missed most of the Highlanders jobbing to the Spirit Squad. A title change would have been nice, but they still think the Spirit Squad is getting enough of a rub from the DX thing that they need the title. I don’t get it. I really don’t. It’s a bad gimmick that managed to get over a little because the guys were so good in their roles. They’ll never draw a dime, though they don’t suck, but you don’t keep the titles on guys who don’t suck when you’ve got a team that could use them to get over more seriously.

OK, Hell in the Cell was up next and it was long, it was bloody and it was brutal. It was also only somewhat special and until the finish, it would have been one of the worst HitCs ever. That’s an excellent way to look at the entire PPV. There were moments. Shane’s head was in a chair and Michaels hit him with the Top Rope Elbow in an awesome spot. Show found himself pantsed and then Vince joined the Kiss My Ass Club Big Show edition. Sledge shot got the pin following a SuperKick to Vince. The crowd picked up late in this match. The heat here wasn’t what it should have been until the end.

Yeah, I'm going to run two shots of Trish. She's leaving.

I was far more interested in how they let Trish Stratus go out than about anything else on the show. I was afraid they’d blow it and guess what…they didn’t. In fact, better than any other wrestler of recent memory is how Trish was treated. She got to have a great match, and I mean one of those matches you aren’t going to see out of the women these days, and she got to win clean in a fashion that will be remembered.

They built to a dramatic post-match where they showed Lillian Garcia in tears and Lawler and JR giving her a standing ovation. It’s impressive that they gave that to Trish when so many others were thrown aside or simply forgotten. Trish got the submission off of the Sharpshooter. That’s right, Canada’s favorite hold. The crowd gave this great respect.

Randy Orton beat Carlito. Carlito’s the man. He did Lucha in a match with a guy who has seldom worked with someone pushing that style. It wasn’t a great match, there was a bit of style disjointedness in it, but the Springboard Moonsault that saw Carlito bust up Orton’s mouth with his elbow, was super sweet! The finish saw Carlito spring off the ropes and land right into a big RKO for the pin. It looked awesome.

The Main Event. Wow. There’s the best way to put it. W-O-W. John Cena won his title back and Edge looked like a million bucks. I dunno who’s gonna win Wrestler of the Year this year, but Edge has got to be right up there. The guys here worked really hard and they dropped off ladders through tables. That’s enough, but they also built to very good spots and made the entire match work.

Cena did the bit where he staggered into the ladder that Edge was standing on after getting hit with the chair by Lita. That sent Edge falling to the tables outside. An FU through two tables gave Cena the chance to climb and win the match. I’m not sure I agree with the idea of giving the belt back to Cena, but Edge and Cena both proved that they’re the next generation of Superstar performers. Honestly, Cena tries harder than anyone, and even though this match was something of a brutal spectacle, Cena did far more than he had to.

Good show, not quite great, with a few memorable moments.

NEWS
For the first time ever, the top title in Pro Wrestling NOAH, the GHC Title, was defended by Naomichi Marufuji in the US. At Ring of Honor’s debut at the Manhattan Center, Marufuji beat Nigel McGuiness to retain the title. It’s interesting to note that this was also Marufuji’s first defense of the title he shockingly won from Jun Akiyama a couple of weeks ago. Marufuji is only about 190 and a Light Heavyweight, but he’s a real talent. His former tag partner and the most over Japanese wrestler in Ring of Honor, KENTA, lost to Bryan Danielson when challenging for the RoH title. This was a great match and both guys did everything they could, which was impressive as Danielson’s working with an injured shoulder and still managed a Ring of Honor main event-style match. There’s no question that Ring of Honor is the hardest hitting fed in America today.

That’s all for this round. I’ll be back on Thursday!

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Chris Garcia