Loss Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Looking at Cena's best opponents strangely motivated me to get caught up on some stuff I have missed the last few years. I really want to go through everything post-Benoit that I haven't seen and make sense of it all. I'm using as a guide for what to watch from 2008. If it was nominated, I want to watch it regardless. I'll mix this in with my yearbook viewing and do both things at the same time. Worth watching: - Jeff Hardy vs Umaga (WWE RAW 01/07/08) ***1/2 - CM Punk vs Chavo Guerrero (ECW 02/05/08) ***1/2 Skippable: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Jeff Hardy vs Umaga - WWE RAW 01/07/08 (Cage match) Really good, high energy cage match that was also a nice piece of business. However, I'm still pretty amazed that they had Hardy promise a title win and didn't follow through. Anyway, the story here is Umaga cutting off Hardy's offense repeatedly and softening him up for the upcoming Orton match. They spend a few minutes in nerve holds, but it fits the story of the match. Most of the match is Hardy selling while Umaga throws everything he can at him. This all builds to a really hot comeback from Hardy. It's hard to point to specific things that stand out about this match. It's surprisingly basic for a Hardy cage match. There is only one big highspot (which I'm happy to see is treated like a big deal and is also the finish) but most of this is built around the smaller guy selling for the monster. Had I been following things closely at the time, I would have watched this and looked forward to Hardy taking the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 CM Punk vs Chavo Guerrero - ECW 02/05/08 (Gulf of Mexico match) The idea here is they're dressed in street clothes, and the first person to throw his opponent in the Gulf of Mexico wins. The concept is preposterous enough to be lots of fun with the right people. Punk and Chavo manage to have a pretty stiff, Regal/Finlay like brawl, in the sense that all of their shots look really good and connect. The action starts in the ring and spills outside. While it's about 5-7 minutes shorter, I don't think this is too far off from the Benoit/Sullivan Falls Count Anywhere match at the Great American Bash in '96. Some may not like it as much as me -- I mainly liked it because all the strikes looked so good and because they took what was a ridiculous premise and made it work well. But at the very least, I think everyone will consider this "fun". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I like that match a lot - but it's not even the best Chavo v. Punk ECW TV match that year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Damn, Loss... you were doing such a great job with 1995 and a lot of good stuff was coming up the rest of the year (like G1 as NJPW's response to AJPW's epic Carny). John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Granted, this is totally from memory, almost four years ago now, but the early 2008 Jeff Hardy superpush, en route to Orton/Hardy at the Rumble that year was some of the best stuff going on in the WWE at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 2008 was actually a pretty solid year for WWE. The Rumble, No Way Out and Mania were all very good shows to start the year, the Flair retirement Raw was really great, and Jericho and Michaels had an awesome old-style feud that went on for about six months or so. Of course there was nonsense like Mike Adamle as GM and Kane kidnapping Rey (although the segment when Adamle demanded Kane reveal what he was carrying in the bag was strangely amusing), but stuff like that didn't overwhelm the shows like some of the poor booking does today IMO. 2008 was really the last time I was weekly viewer, of Raw anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 2008 was actually a pretty solid year for WWE. The Rumble, No Way Out and Mania were all very good shows to start the year, the Flair retirement Raw was really great, and Jericho and Michaels had an awesome old-style feud that went on for about six months or so. Of course there was nonsense like Mike Adamle as GM and Kane kidnapping Rey (although the segment when Adamle demanded Kane reveal what he was carrying in the bag was strangely amusing), but stuff like that didn't overwhelm the shows like some of the poor booking does today IMO. 2008 was really the last time I was weekly viewer, of Raw anyway. There was also some fun stuff with Santino and the Honk-o-Meter, and a fun little Kofi Kingston/Paul Birchill IC Title feud. One of the final RAW's of the year had an eight or ten man tag, I forget how many there were, with this fun spot with Cena doing the Five Knuckle Shuffle at the same time Kofi did the Boom Drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chess Knight Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Didn't like that cage a whole bunch when I watched it years ago; hoping I like it next time because I love GAB 07 between Jeff and Umaga. Overall, I like 2008 WWE a fair bit. I think there's more under-the-radar stuff than people seem to know. Michaels/Jericho had their feud, which can get really overrated, but is still good. I liked the Unforgiven and GAB ones a lot on last watch. I've still never watched the Michaels/Batista Stretcher from One Night Stand (which ties in the to Michaels/Flair/Jericho story), but that's supposedly a goodie. Edge has his feud with Taker, and it's..ok, but outside the HIAC (which I hardly like anyway), nothing is worth too much. The TLC especially is horrid. Cena/Orton from No Way out is something I liked, and others I talk to tend to worshp it, but I haven't seen it since it aired. Rey and Punk had a really good one at Armageddon. I like HHH's year a lot. Being a fan of him more than....I suspect anyone else here helps enjoy it, but it's a big step up from what he doing in DX before injury and again in 09. Doesn't have anything blow-away great, but I could see anyone liking something from him that year. There's a nifty set of stuff on TV. ECW has a lot of cool stuff with the midcard guys. Chavo/Punk had a really good series. I remember a Chavo/Bourne being talked up somewhere, probably Segunda Caida. I remember an Undertaker/Festus being talked up as well at WKO. A Finlay/Mike Knox belfast brawl took place that year IIRC and I remember digging it.There's a Flair/Michaels v Chavo/Edgeheads/Edge (was Edge in it?) cage match before WrestleMania which I've seen get praise. Unless my memory's fucking with me, Matt Hardy had a good year overall. I remember him feuding with Chuck Palumbo and Mark Hnery at points. Speaking of Chuck, Jamie Noble had this program with him, got a win over him, and started wearing a t-shirt which read "Noble 1, Pulambo 0" (With Palumbo misspelt and everything). I think Regal had a chunk of good stuff, 2008 was his King of the Ring push which he screwed over in favour of substances. He had a couple of matches with CM Punk that I liked. No Mercy's my favourite WWE show of 08 by a lot. Most prefer Mania, and I like Michaels/Flair, JBL/Fit (which doesn't get the love it deserves, btw) and Show/Money a lot, but the rest of the card doesn't do anything for me at all. No Mercy has the Hunter/Hardy I like a ton, the good Show/Taker, a surprisingly watchable Kane/Rey, a good Henry/Hardy, a fine-for-what-it-is divas match, and the Michaels/Jericho ladder match which I like (albeit not as much as most). Taker/Show LMS from Cyber Sunday would be my WWE MOTY. The whole program between is good (bar the crappy casket match from whenever); I def. prefer it to Edge/Taker. I've talked too much about the positive and not as much on the negative (Kane/Rey was a waste of Rey fuckin' Mysterio, Chavo/Horny was in 2008, wasn't it?), and made this post a random mess, but take it for what it's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Damn, Loss... you were doing such a great job with 1995 and a lot of good stuff was coming up the rest of the year (like G1 as NJPW's response to AJPW's epic Carny). John The problem is that it feels like I'm watching stuff not many other people care much to talk about. I'm still going to watch it and post, but I am going to slow down just a little bit and try to mix in things other people mention them instead of waiting 5+ years for that year to get yearbooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 The Chavo/Punk match worked because they had a place where the Gulf of Mexico met some sort of spillway rather than a beach. Fun match for tv. Michaels/Jericho from 2008 might be my second favorite Ladder match ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 In the continuing celebration of Mark Henry, I recommend the ECW Championship rematch with Matt Hardy on ECW (8/19/08). Excellent match to make up for the SummerSlam non-match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 2008 was actually a pretty solid year for WWE. The Rumble, No Way Out and Mania were all very good shows to start the year, the Flair retirement Raw was really great, and Jericho and Michaels had an awesome old-style feud that went on for about six months or so. Of course there was nonsense like Mike Adamle as GM and Kane kidnapping Rey (although the segment when Adamle demanded Kane reveal what he was carrying in the bag was strangely amusing), but stuff like that didn't overwhelm the shows like some of the poor booking does today IMO. 2008 was really the last time I was weekly viewer, of Raw anyway. Funny enough I think 08 was easily the WORST of the last four years on the major brands in terms of in ring stuff, though ECW was there to the big picture up A LOT overall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 The problem is that it feels like I'm watching stuff not many other people care much to talk about. Hey, at least you're not watching WCW under Ole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 My reasons for not watching modern stuff are nothing to do with the quality of matches, sure there are great matches all the time, it's to do with the style of the presentation and the general vibe. I like the vibe of 80s Crockett, kayfabe era WWF, 80s territories in general. I don't like the general sort of gothy crappy punk nu metal vibe wrestling has had for years now. I'm probably the shallowest wrestling fan who posts here insomuch as I care more about that sort of thing and promos than I do about matches. I get as much joy from seeing that old couple sitting front row centre in 80s Watts as I do from watching the actual wrestling. Modern wrestling gives no such joy. I don't know if I'm in the minority on that. The only two things I've seen in "recent years" that I enjoyed were the Punk shoot and Flair going apeshit on Carlito. A part of me dies everytime I see Randy Orton's face. Don't care if he's the best wrestler ever to step in the ring, I hate everything about him. Which goes for like 95% of the guys on the current roster. I'm not a fan of wrestling per se, I'm a fan of wrestling in a particular time and place. A certain vibe. I'd take Black Scorpion crap from 1990 over the 2011 MotY, true story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I'm not a fan of wrestling per se, I'm a fan of wrestling in a particular time and place. A certain vibe. I'd take Black Scorpion crap from 1990 over the 2011 MotY, true story. Well, I just got to the point in my WCW watch where I witnessed the first Black Scorpion promo on Saturday Night. So, I echo your sentiment, litteraly. And yeah, Randy Orton embodies everything I hate about wrestling today, both in work and presentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 You could easily argue that 08 ECW was the best "promotion" in the World. Henry was nearly as good that year as he is now. Bourne was excellent. Chavo had a very good year. Punk had an underrated year. Matt Hardy and Finlay might have been the two best wrestlers in the World. Miz and Morrison were on the show as a unit a lot and were really quite good, right there with MNM in their best moments. I don't know that there was ever a week where they didn't have at least one good match and more often than not there were multiple quality matches on the show. Bourne v. Chavo was my match of the year at the time, not sure if I'd feel the same way now. But there is a fuckload of goods stuff from ECW that year. On the other hand, while I liked the broader feud, I fucking HATE the Jericho/Michaels ladder match. I actually watched that ppv at a huge party filled with Michaels marks and when it was over everyone was talking about how Michaels looked like trash and should retire. Kind of funny really as that is not something that happened often. Jericho tried in the match, but I thought Michaels was an absolute disaster and really hated the thing to death at the time. It's a rare match that I can't imagine ever rewatching though I guess I will eventually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 You could easily argue that 08 ECW was the best "promotion" in the World. Henry was nearly as good that year as he is now. Bourne was excellent. Chavo had a very good year. Punk had an underrated year. Matt Hardy and Finlay might have been the two best wrestlers in the World. Miz and Morrison were on the show as a unit a lot and were really quite good, right there with MNM in their best moments. I don't know that there was ever a week where they didn't have at least one good match and more often than not there were multiple quality matches on the show. Bourne v. Chavo was my match of the year at the time, not sure if I'd feel the same way now. But there is a fuckload of goods stuff from ECW that year. On the other hand, while I liked the broader feud, I fucking HATE the Jericho/Michaels ladder match. I actually watched that ppv at a huge party filled with Michaels marks and when it was over everyone was talking about how Michaels looked like trash and should retire. Kind of funny really as that is not something that happened often. Jericho tried in the match, but I thought Michaels was an absolute disaster and really hated the thing to death at the time. It's a rare match that I can't imagine ever rewatching though I guess I will eventually I really need to get back to 08 ECW. I started it and then got distracted by... I'm not even going to say what I got distracted by because it's so outside my usual oeuvre that it borders on the unbelievable. And I'm also not sure if I'm even capable of sticking with it. ECW 08 is much more in my wheelhouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I think 2008, maybe 09 was probably the time I followed WWE heavily but I remember very little about it off the top of my head. I'm using as a guide for what to watch from 2008. Wrong link, that just takes you to a youtube clip of the Umaga/Hardy match Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 My reasons for not watching modern stuff are nothing to do with the quality of matches, sure there are great matches all the time, it's to do with the style of the presentation and the general vibe. I like the vibe of 80s Crockett, kayfabe era WWF, 80s territories in general. I don't like the general sort of gothy crappy punk nu metal vibe wrestling has had for years now. I'm probably the shallowest wrestling fan who posts here insomuch as I care more about that sort of thing and promos than I do about matches. I get as much joy from seeing that old couple sitting front row centre in 80s Watts as I do from watching the actual wrestling. Modern wrestling gives no such joy. I don't know if I'm in the minority on that. I'm behind you 100% in this regard. I love good matches as much as the next guy, but honestly, good matches are a dime a dozen. The problem with modern wrestling is not a lack of good matches or good workers. The problem with modern wrestling, or at least what bothers me the most and is the main reason I've run so hot and cold on WWE and other promotions for a good ten years, is that good angles, storylines, feuds, whatever, are so rare these days and have been for quite some time. I'm an angles junkie, a feud junkie, and always have been. I know that there are great matches on Superstars, or on Smackdown, or ECW had some great stuff, and Raw has great matches from time to time, but I just don't care. I need more than just random great matches to keep me interested on a week to week basis. I know that the days of booking wrestling like Watts, Jerry Jarrett, Gary Hart, even Pat Patterson, are long gone and will likely never return. I know WWE is like McDonalds or Wal-Mart, with a conservative, uniform, type of presentation that is tried and true and very, very successful, but I can only take it in small doses because it so damn repetitive. Almost everybody looks the same and cuts similar promos and the feuds are basic and, yes, the "gothy crappy punk nu metal vibe" is ten years out of date and everything in WWE seems frozen in time, circa 2003, etc, etc, etc... Anyway, I have to go. Maybe I'll rant more later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodySave Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 You could easily argue that 08 ECW was the best "promotion" in the World. Henry was nearly as good that year as he is now. Bourne was excellent. Chavo had a very good year. Punk had an underrated year. Matt Hardy and Finlay might have been the two best wrestlers in the World. Miz and Morrison were on the show as a unit a lot and were really quite good, right there with MNM in their best moments. I don't know that there was ever a week where they didn't have at least one good match and more often than not there were multiple quality matches on the show. Bourne v. Chavo was my match of the year at the time, not sure if I'd feel the same way now. But there is a fuckload of goods stuff from ECW that year. On the other hand, while I liked the broader feud, I fucking HATE the Jericho/Michaels ladder match. I actually watched that ppv at a huge party filled with Michaels marks and when it was over everyone was talking about how Michaels looked like trash and should retire. Kind of funny really as that is not something that happened often. Jericho tried in the match, but I thought Michaels was an absolute disaster and really hated the thing to death at the time. It's a rare match that I can't imagine ever rewatching though I guess I will eventually It's funny you say that about the Jericho/Michaels ladder match. I've only watched it once - live on PPV as it happened - and at the time, I honestly thought it was the best ladder match I've ever seen. Totally blown away by it and remember it being incredibly dramatic. I've been meaning to rewatch it for a long time now. I remember loving the finishing moments of the bout. Certainly something to watch as part of this project. Was it on the same PPV as the hilarious Triple H/Jeff Hardy match where Hardy crushes Hunter with a swanton, only for Hunter to immediately crucifix him for the pin? Saw it in a movie theater (the last year they spent the money to show WWE PPVs, I believe) and a girl sitting near me went from absolutely thrilled for Hardy to literally crying about Hunter winning in such quick fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Went to a Smackdown house show tonight. Figured I'd do a mini-report and post here rather than start a new thread. Teddy Long came out to start the show and announced the three main events as Sheamus v. Barrett in a Street Fight, the returning to the ring Booker T v. Cody Rhodes for the I-C title and Henry v. Orton in a Cage for the World Title. Pretty loaded triple main event for a random house show. Ted Dibiase v. Jindar Mihal I figured this would suck. I prefer Dibiase's ring work since he's turned face though I think he is really hammy. Mihal is not particularly good at anything though and I have zero confidence that Ted could carry a match. In fact this was pretty good and the crowd was really into it. Teddy spotted a kid with down's syndrome in the first row and was doing interactive stuff with him for the whole match. Mihal's heeling was better than I thought would be. They actually put together some pretty fun cutoff spots and the crowd stayed with them. My favorite spot was Jindar stopping Dibiase's rope running/clothesline spot with a jumping knee. Really basic but this worked far better as an opener than you would think on paper. Dibiase won and was attacked by Cody Rhodes in the aisle post-match. Tyson Kidd v. Damien Sandow Pretty sure Sandow is an FCW guy. This was really funny at the jump as Kidd got a heel response coming out and was desperate to try and turn the crowd before Sandow got to the ring. Sandow has a really great ring entrance as he was sauntering around demanding small children sit down. He had this huge white robe on and looked a lot like Kanyon from a difference. When he got into the ring the big reveal was him dropping his robe to expose tiny pink tights with bright purple knee pads which immediately got him massive heel heat. Honestly this was a really fun match. Sandow is a very good heel in the house show sense. He is good with taunts and mannerisms and building heat. Kidd's athleticism actually got him over big time with a crowd that was indifferent at best. They actually did some fairly impressive athletic matwork early, a pretty complicated spot on the floor setting up Kidd's rolling senton, and there was a really good finish with Kidd hitting a rotating slingshot into a sweet pinning combination for the fall. I could see Sandow getting over as a big time heel under the right situation. Justin Gabriel v. Heath Slater Slater really would have worked as a jobber in the 80's with that look and his willingness to bump like a lunatic. Even his mannerisms would have worked well there. As a "WWE Superstar" it doesn't work. It's not that he's bad. He's not. But he is a blackhole and the crowd clearly wants him to die. Not in the sense that he's a good heel. In the sense that he's a being they wish would not exist on this Earth anymore. Gabriel isn't really over either, but he has one move that is insanely over. This was by no means a bad match and they even did some nifty stuff early, but no one gave a shit at all until Gabriel teased his finish and then hit it a few second later. Cody came out and attacked Gabriel post-match and then cut a promo on Booker T. Hornswaggle started to come to the ring as Cody was leaving, but Rhodes turned around a piefaced him. I mention this because Hornswaggle was about ten thousand times more over than either guy in the match and Cody's mic work was so much better live than it is on tv. Daniel Bryan v. Hunico I don't hate Hunico at all, but man alive does he need to find some shit to do during his heel control segments. Bryan is a guy who can bump and sell his ass off but there is only so much you can do when your opponent has no fucking clue how to build heat or work holds or do much of anything on that end. Bryan was really over from the jump and did more in this than I expected. Surfboard spot got a huge pop, Hunico took a sweet bump off his diving knee and Bryan busting out a pretty crazy tope was good stuff. Bryan won with a Lebell Lock out of nowhere. Not really a good match, but there was good match in it from Bryan. Cody Rhodes v. Booker T Booker got a nice reaction, looks in good shape and hit some of his signature spots well. He had really great looking punches. Still he got blown up quick in this and Cody really had no clue how to cover for that. Cody is someone I am coming around on, and carries himself well as a heel, but man he is limited when it comes to working a heel control segment. When there was action this was a pretty good match, but there were huge deadspots in this. They finally put together and decent sequence, with Rhodes hitting his kick off the middle rope, Booker getting a really organic looking axe kick in, a nice tease of a book end....and then Cody gets intentionally dq'ed. I don't mind that at a house show, but the match was just starting to get good. Post-match Book hit his finish and Hornswaggled came out and hit the tadpole splash on Cody and we got spinnaroni's from the faces which everyone loved. Dance Contest hosted by Kaitlin Really embarrassing stuff with four kids brought into the ring for a dance off in order to win the right to hang out backstage with "WWE Superstars." The co-winners were a five year old that the crowd mercilessly boo'ed and a 15ish year old girl that was wildly cheered for all the wrong reasons. I actually feared for her safety backstage. Rosa Mendez/Nattie Neidhart v. Alicia Fox/AJ This was actually a good match. Nattie was one of the better wrestlers on the entire card actually as she came out jawing with the fans, never stopped and was just really good at playing to the crowd. She took pot shots at Chimmel all match to, at one point hurling something at his head in a hissy fit. There were about ten "Nattie gets her ass spanked" spots in this which played to the fans looking for comedy, the pervert fans, and Nattie's strength of playing a fool/stooging. Nattie was also an excellent base for AJ who worked the majority of this match, with Alicia doing a good job working the apron. There was also a pretty great slap exchange with Alicia and Nattie with both of them just pelting each other three or four times. Finish was kind of out of the blue, but the post-match with Nattie carrying Rosa to the back over her shoulder while stopping to talk shit to every nine year old in the crowd was really great. She really was one of the stars of this show. Wade Barrett v. Sheamus (Street Fight) Best match on the show. Sheamus was fucking crazy over with the crowd and was literally swarmed by little kids at the first guardrail when he came out. I have been a critic of Barrett in the past, but he is clearly getting better. He has a commanding presence in the ring as a heel and went tit-for-tat with Sheamus in the stiffness department. Both guys were taking these huge full impact flat back bumps all match and Barrett fucking destroyed Sheamus with knee combinations while he was tied up in the ropes that looked really stiff. Later Sheamus came back with a ten count headbutt in the corner spot that looked really vicious. They did a great job building the prop spots in this as they teased several things on the floor with a chair before Sheamus took a huge bump into the stairs. Later Barrett introduced a kendo stick and hit some crazy shots on Sheamus who of course had marks on his back for the rest of the show as a result. Sheamus got in a comeback later and got in his own nasty shots with the cane. Really crazy top rope spot as they teased the big Sheamus shoulderblock, then a superplex, and then Sheamus ended up doing a leap over Barret into a forward roll before eating a sidewalk slam for a pretty believable near fall. Finish was pretty great as Barrett got into the ring with the chair and destroyed Sheamus with shots to his ribs. He set up for a big slam on the chair and Sheamus escaped and fucking killed him with a brough kick for the fall. Seriously great house show match and probably a top three singles match for either guy all year. Mark Henry v. Randy Orton (Cage Match) Orton was over too with the crowd, though I think Sheamus was probably the guy who got the biggest reaction on the show. Henry was really great in this match and it started before the bell rang as he was complaining about something to Tony Chimmel and then refused to let the ref search the bandage on his ankle which he was selling the shit out of all match. Orton throws a punch like a girl, but at least they connect fairly well and Henry sold the shit out of them in this match. There was a great spot early with Henry powering down Orton and then doing the outstretched arms Randy Orton pose with a huge shit eating grin on his face. Henry was really great selling the leg here and actually got in more offense than I was expecting as he hit a boss running powerslam and a big splash that was actually much sicker looking than usual. Orton was not the best targetting the leg as a whole, but did do a great Garvin Stomp variation that was entirely on Henry's ankle and looked really nasty. They did some cool stuff with Henry bumping big and getting caught in compromised positions between the ring and the cage resulting in getting his head wrecked backwards into the steel, getting posted, taking the crazy Orton rope assisted DDT, et. In principle I don't like the idea of a monster heel trying to flee, but it was a cool quirk of the Cage rule and Henry was really convincing about getting "trapped" between a rock and a hard place over and over. This match also had a pretty great house show finish as Orton went for the RKO and Henry tossed him off and went for the WSS only for Orton to escape and hit the RKO to a huge pop. The building was literally shaking as Orton tried to crawl out of the cage when Barrett showed up and attacked him. As this was happening Henry got up and just casually walked out of the cage to massive heat. Post-match Henry went back in and shook hands with Barrett. Naturally Sheamus made the save from the double team and Henry actually took a big bump into the steel before heading to the back. Good match that the crowd was really into. Overall it was a typically good WWE house show. Can't remember the time I saw one that wasn't at the very least good. 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Tim Evans Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 I'm really glad Sandow is getting a chance on house shows. He's really good in that enviorment. Did he does cartwheels after completing a move? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boondocks Kernoodle Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Sandow is the former Idol Stevens, who teamed with KC James on Smackdown in '06 managed by Michelle McCool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 And who I gushed about in 01-02 when he came out with a Britney Spears cut out at the local indy. Tons of charisma and it never ever transfers on TV for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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