Monthly Archives: April 2012

I haven’t paid attention to WWE for a long time.  The last time I really followed the company was over ten years ago around 2000/2001.  I feel much more drawn to TNA these days — WWE’s roster and storylines seem quite generic and dull in comparison.  But recently, my friend, who’s a big WWE fan, recommended I tune in once and see if I get hooked.  And as the old saying goes, “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it”, so I’m gonna sit through the latest WWE broadcast and blog my thoughts as I’m watching.

Bear in mind I know little about WWE’s current wrestlers or storylines so I’ll be coming at this from a completely fresh perspective.  Let’s see if SmackDown from Friday night (April 6th 2012) can persuade a lapsed WWE fan to tune in more often…

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio

DAVID OTUNGA INTRODUCES JOHN LAURINAITIS: It’s apparently “the most important day in SmackDown history” as Otunga introduces Laurinaitis, the new SmackDown GM.  But the crowd don’t seem happy.  You can tell Laurinaitis was an ex-wrestler with a promo voice like that. The crowd aren’t listening. He’s waffling.  Teddy Long is called to the ring.  The crowd seem to like him. Teddy interrupts Laurinaitis but he lets Teddy talk.  I think it’s funny how wrestlers are civil when they’re holding a microphone. Sometimes I want them to just kick off.  Laurinaitis offers Teddy a job on SmackDown but Teddy refuses it to a big pop.  But Laurinaitis refers to the fact that the contract for Long’s grandchildren’s education fund is controlled by the SmackDown GM.   Laurinaitis is gonna force Teddy to embarass himself if he wants to put his grandchildren through college.  Long takes the job.

Interesting opening.  I liked it. It started off boring but ended well. The crowd still hate Laurinaitis.

R-TRUTH VS. MARK HENRY AND DAVID OTUNGA: So Laurinitis has called out this first match. Mark Henry looks different to the last time I saw him.  This seems like a very unfair match-up… OK, I liked R-Truth’s high impact style, but the squash ending was predictable.

RANDY ORTON VS. KANE: Kane’s really stepped up the evil vibe since I last saw him. Randy Orton’s trying to out-stare Kane. Orton is the kind of generic wrestler I imagine the WWE being full of.  Let’s see if he can wrestle well tonight. This is a WrestleMania rematch.

Kane goes flying over the announcers’ table. Nice. Lots of action outside the ring. Some nice loud punches being thrown but also some obviously fake ones.  They’re back in the ring now. Kane exposing the steel on the turnbuckle but doesn’t get to use it.  Kane’s in control.  The big guy was climbing the turnbuckle but Orton stopped him. They’re back outside the ring.

I like Booker T’s commentary. He’s much more colourful than the other guys. Kane brings a chair into play. Now three more chairs. And another. Everyone loves a chair. Orton grabs a chair.  ”Could be backfire city.” Haha.  Orton drops Kane on a chair but Kane kicks out. Kane now has a chair. I can see him winning now. But Orton uses the exposed turnbuckle and finishes Kane for the pin. Nice.

Good match. Got even better when the chairs came in.

RYBACK VS. BARRY STEVENS: Haha Barry Stevens looks goofy and I enjoyed him calling the crowd “rude”.

Ryback. Apparently it’s his debut. His name sounds like a Pokemon. The commentators are talking him up. I’d put my money on him. On anyone against Stevens actually. He looks weak.

As expected, quick victory for Ryback. “Utter annihilation.”

WRESTLEMANIA RECAP: There’ve been recaps of WrestleMania throughout the show using photo montages. The music choice (Flo Rida) is interesting. I guess it might be because tonight’s SmackDown comes from Florida, but WWE never used to play such contemporary, non-rock music.  It makes the show seem slick and modern though.

DANIEL BRYAN PROMO: He looks annoyed. Sounds like he lost at WrestleMania in 18 seconds.

Poor guy, his girlfriend is having to encourage him to speak. Couldn’t she have said all this before they came out? The crowd are chanting Bryan’s name. Looks like this guy needs some counseling. He’s talking again. I feel a heel turn coming on. Maybe he was a heel before this. I don’t know haha. He thinks the crowd are mocking him. He calls them “sheep”. Now he’s blaming his loss on his girl. This guy really doesn’t help himself. The crowd are chanting “18 seconds” haha. Bryan and AJ are having an in-ring domestic. AJ’s about to cry. He broke up with her mid-promo. “Go cry over your disgusting cheesburgers that you love so much.” Haha. She doesn’t look like the cheesburger-eating type. This guy’s funny. She wants him back. He’s shouting at her. Great promo, but I wonder what kind of example he’s setting younger, impressionable fans when it comes to dealing with women.

ANOTHER WRESTLEMANIA RECAP: This one soundtracked by Metallica. Makes up for the Flo Rida earlier.

BIG SHOW VS. HEATH SLATER: With guest commentary by Cody Rhodes. The other commentators are making fun of him for losing to Big Show at Wrestlemania. The humour on this show has been great so far.

Great clothes line from the Big Show. He threw Slater to one side of the ring, bounced off another side himself and performed the move. Never seen that before. Easy victory for Big Show. His theme music hasn’t changed in ten years. Cody Rhodes looks like he wants to get in the ring. Booker T’s advising against it. Rhodes looks scared. Obviously no match for the Big Show.  Big Show takes some time to talk to the fans as he leaves. That’s good to see.

RAW RECAP: Chris Jericho is making CM Punk drink whisky. Is CM Punk straight edge?  He must be, he had Xs on his hands. Not anymore. Some of that whisky must have gone in. Jericho smashes the bottle over Punk’s head. Interesting angle.

LAURINAITIS/SHEAMUS PROMO: Refreshing to hear something other than an American accent, but Sheamus’s reference to the local mill is perhaps a bit too stereotypical. Made me laugh for the wrong reason there.

NIKKI BELLA VS. BETH PHOENIX: It’s a Divas match. OK, another extremely short match. Also an interruption by Kelly Kelly. Now that’s just lazy naming. Shame it was so short. The standard of wrestling there didn’t look too bad.

CHIEF JAY STRONGBOW TRIBUTE: R.I.P.

DAMIEN SANDOW PROMO: Calling out the people of America for their trashy lifestyle. Reminds me of the promos Bret Hart used to do in the mid-90s, hating on America.

JOHN CENA RECAP: Turns into a re-introduction for Brock Lesnar. That guy looks cool.

SHEAMUS VS. ALBERTO DEL RIO: Del Rio enters in a car. I like his entrance music. His first appearance in six months apparently. There seems to be a lot of debuts/returns lately.

Is Sheamus the whitest wrestler of all time? Mexico vs. Ireland here.

Nice back and forth. They’re outside the ring now. Del Rio is starting to take control. But as the commentators keep saying, “Sheamus will take a beating to give one.”  Booker T is saying Del Rio is wrestling well but has a bit of ring rust. Sheamus fighting back now. Sheamus grabs a chair, and gets DQed. That’s a shame. Everyone loves a chair. Sheamus takes the referee out.  He needs to control his temper.

CONCLUSION: All in all, I enjoyed that. There were a lot of references to WrestleMania, obviously, but all of the storylines segued away from WrestleMania really well.  I’d watch again. The standard of wrestling was high, and it’s all more slick and on a larger scale than TNA. I might tune in to Raw to see what Brock Lesnar does as well. WWE might just win me back yet.