Category Archives: Wrestling

Flashback: WWE No Mercy 2005 featuring Eddie Guerrero’s final PPV appearance

  By Franny | January 29, 2012 - 12:42 am | Flashback, Wrestling
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No Mercy 2005

Thinking of killing some time while waiting for some video editing work to finish processing, I popped in a random WWE DVD. I can’t recall having seen this one before as I wasn’t following wrestling from 2003-2005 and just hadn’t gotten around to watching the actual DVD, even years later.

The show starts off with a now-chilling introduction video package featuring two feuds: Eddie Guerrero/Batista & Undertaker/Orton. Guerrero. Now, before I get into this, let me say that the one 2005 pay-per-view I have watched (other than WrestleMania & The Royal Rumble, of course) was ECW One Night Stand 2005. I always thought that Guerrero had a bit of a ‘vacant’ look about him, like he wasn’t himself and never would be again. Hindsight’s 20/20, and perhaps it was just the character he was trying to play. A few months later, though, this same look was present in this video package that turned out to serve as hype for what would be his final pay-per-view match. Coincidentally, this event was on Guerrero’s birthday.

In this video, a promo was referenced where Guerrero talked about his addictions and problems, which was probably as off-putting then as the Kevin Nash/Scott Hall match at Halloween Havoc was in 1998. Now, it’s even more uncomfortable to see. Shortly after this, the hype for the Undertaker/Randy Orton angle begins. Their match for this event was a casket match. Now WWE had no idea they’d be losing an active member of their roster within less than a month, and even if they did, I can’t say I’d expect them to not still hold a casket match. Afterall, they held THREE in 2008, less than a year after the Benoit Family died.

Anywho… Wrestling. Where was I? (more…)

My thoughts before the 2012 WWE Royal Rumble

  By Franny | January 27, 2012 - 8:14 am | Wrestling, WWE
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WWE Champion CM Punk & Raw GM John Laurinaitis

It’s finally every wrestling fan’s favorite time of the year, the beginning of the ‘Road to WrestleMania.’ I for one am especially looking forward to this year’s Royal Rumble for a few reasons. This year, WWE has announced that ‘every’ WWE wrestler is eligible for the Royal Rumble. Will this include existing champions? Could the WWE Champion hypothetically win a shot against the World Heavyweight Champion?

A lot of things seem to be revisited in some way this year. In the 2011 Royal Rumble, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan kicked things off right, exciting the crowd, one stiff move after another. William Regal added to the excitement, taking brutal kicks to the chest from Bryan, showing as always that Regal’s British balls are bigger than yours. Fast forward to 2012: CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are WWE’s main event titleholders and are in high-profile storylines, as they should be. The Miz, who was defending WWE Champion at the 2011 event, is now the #1 entrant. Dolph Ziggler reprises his role as a main event title contender, but this time for the WWE Championship.

I expect to see the rebuilding process start on Sunday for The Miz. Believe me, he’ll have a strong showing. He won’t win it, but I expect a good 20-25 minutes for him. His heat has fizzled out but there’s no way they won’t have a plan in mind for last year’s WrestleMania headliner at this year’s big show. (more…)

WWE TLC 2011: a trendsetter, a loser, & a Chicagoan walk into a bar…

  By Franny | December 19, 2011 - 8:25 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Congratulations, Zack.

I’ll start off by saying that TLC was pretty damn good. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it continued the recent trend of WWE putting out surprisingly good pay-per-view shows. The internet’s buzzing and gloating thinking that WWE is ‘booking for them,’ leaving John Cena off of the card and putting belts on the independent stars of yesterday. Wrong. Sources say that the million-time world champion was backstage but was not used because they are saving him for Raw so his program with Kane can start/continue. They used the opportunity to focus on other stars and remind WWE fans that Primo is still with the company.

They say the opening match is the 2nd-most important match of the night, and Zack Ryder’s title hunt came to an end to excite a hot crowd. The ‘internet sensation’ captured his first singles title and celebrated with his father, who was sitting in the front row, covered in ‘Broski’ gear, and couldn’t have looked happier if he tried. It was truly a great moment, whether you like Ryder or not. His ‘story’ is a remarkable one. (more…)

Speak to me, Warriors….A look back at Halloween Havoc 1998

  By Franny | October 31, 2011 - 4:32 pm | Flashback, Wrestling
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 It’s Halloween, woop-dee-doo. I don’t usually buy into holiday nonsense, but a post over at Feminine Smark inspired me. I didn’t realize it until now, but Halloween Havoc 1998 showcased a few of my absolute FAVORITE wrestling moments as a kid. Sting vs Bret Hart was a dream match for me (Sharpshooter vs Scorpion Deathlock?!) and the thought of it still gives me wrestling-mark-goosebumps. I recall Diamond Dallas Page vs Bill Goldberg being a huge deal as well. Face vs face, the people’s champ vs the unbeaten Goldberg. Diamond Dallas Page was the type to never quit or give up at any cost, and Goldberg was an unstoppable force. This match pretty much sold itself.

As if these two  marquee match-ups didn’t sell the event on their own, we also had “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan versus old rival The Ultimate Warrior. This match has since become a punchline and it’s the first thing people think of when Halloween Havoc 1998 is mentioned, sadly. I didn’t even realize Bret-Sting and DDP-Goldberg were on the same event, either! It’s hard to say who is to blame for that but it’s not really necessary to blame anyone. It was an attempt to cash in on something well-known, even if many years had passed. We all know Bischoff is known to do that from time to time. It’s hard to blame him for trying, and I don’t think it would be treated with such disregard had the flash-paper incident not happened. It was all a questionable storyline at best but I’m sure plenty of people bought the pay-per-view to see Warrior in action. I for one have never been a fan of Ultimate Warrior, and probably never will be. However, as much as I’d like to pin this train wreck on him, I just can’t.

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