Mmmm. Supplements. Let's get down to some seriously belated business. This will be in three main and hopefully not too boringly-long parts - the show itself, the Draft, and the Supplemental Draft.
THE SHOW
LIKED: HART DYNASTY, JERICHO/CHRISTIAN, EDGE BACK IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY (ESSENTIALLY - CANADIANS!)
DIDN'T LIKE: GUEST HOST JOHN CENA :(
LIKE
- Kicking off the show with the big Hart Dynasty title win. Holy Rick Moranis was this crowd on fire. I couldn't get over it. They LOVE them some Harts. From beginning to end, this was a masterpiece. From the promo beforehand with Miz playing off the crowd, to Bret's interruption, to the DH Smith stalling suplex with Tyson checking an invisible watch (AMAZING), all the way to the STELLAR finish with Bret shoving Miz's feet off the ropes (and his hat off of his own head - oopsie!), Miz's incredulous reaction, Tyson Kidd's crowd-popping somersault plancha from the apron to a Bret-seeking Big Show, the springboard Hart Attack, the fired-up reaction from DH and Tyson and finally, the glorious Sharpshooter on Miz (and his "I can't tell if I'm in the Sharpshooter of if I'm being electrocuted"-selling) and how the crowd popped harder for that Sharpshooter than they did for the 13-years-in-the-making Sharpshooter on Vince McMahon. I could write forever about this match. We marked out like we were eleven in our mom's basement watching this. Great way to set the mood for a very fun show. My bad for the wall of text.
- And I also forgot to mention how much I love watching Bret and Nattie on the outside together. This is the best thing going not named CM Punk. If I get to see some kind of Straight Edge Society/Hart Dynasty Tag Title Feud in the future, I'll tongue kiss my TV.
- Big Show's real life punch to Miz. That was real right guys? Looked real. Unlike UFC. Which is fake.
- Jack Swagger having a degree in finanth.
- Kelly Kelly's smiling and waving followed by a cut to Layla and Michelle McCool challenging Kelly to get in the ring with them, followed by a frequent cuts back to Kelly still smiling and waving.
- Punk/Bourne. It's too bad these two couldn't have ended up on the same show somehow. They could develop a great series of matches, even if it's not a main feud of any kind. Between Evan Bourne's Tekken-like leaping knee strikes and Punk's not-so-video-game-like kicks, they could definitely tear down a house or ten.
- Randy Orton's elaborately detailed threat to Sheamus, which the crowd responded to like wildfire.
- John Cena's hilarious fashion style. Jean shorts, sweatbands, running shoes without socks, tight-fitting baseball cap, Championship belt fastened OVER the t-shirt (thus bunching it up comically at the back and poofing it out everywhere else like he's Jerry Seinfeld (and not the "puffy shirt" - just a regular Jerry Seinfeld shirt)), all in matching fluorescent orange. Try and describe this exact outfit to a friend and also mention that this dude is the biggest name in pro wrestling, and your friend will laugh in your face. In conclusion, this makes me somehow love John Cena for being such a nerd. - DiBiase and Mysterio making the battle royale feel more special at the end then it probably even needed to be. Bonus points for Santino hilarity. And a quick side note: I love DiBiase snatching up Marufuji's now-you-see-me-now-you-don't rope running clothesline.
- Jericho/Christian. Fantastic from bell to bell. I was hoping we'd get to see more of them together on Smackdown, but once the night was through, so was this idea.
- Swagger/Morrison - it was nice to see Swagger even the score with Morrison. More on this in the Draft portion of the review.
- Ted DiBiase attempting to recruit R-Truth as his own personal Virgil, which earned himself a smack in the mouth, and a busted-gut from me laughing so hard. Really hope Ted brings in the Fortunate Sons, then we'd have some super solid stables for the first time in a long time, between them, the Harts and the SES.
- Dolph Ziggler choking out Hornswoggle in way that made for a more convincing death than R-Truth being blown-up a week ago.
- Batista's scary promo. I didn't even expect to see him on the show and I think they knew that most people (or at least some) felt the same way, which made his interruption, his psycho-pissed promo and his shocking win all that much more awesome.
- Edge's attack on Orton, potentially u-turning him right back to heel to start a Rated-RKO feud that could feel like a tweener vs. tweener feud, which would light this summer on fire, if followed through on in a good way (which I hope it will).
DIDN'T LIKE
- The apparent ShoMiz split. The punch was truly AWWWESOME and all, but I loved these two as a team, and really thought they still had a lot left to offer. Maybe they're not done for good, but after that definitive "I think we should see other people" right hand KO and Big Show's goofy interaction with Teddy Long, it really seems like Big Show is off to SD! as a face. Only time will tell.
- The Divas' tag match. Didn't totally hate it or anything, it just didn't measure up to the rest of the wrestling on the show.
- No Wade Barrett. :(
- Wayne Brady bringing me back to reality. Not every week can be without a goofy guest host.
- Actually, now that I mention it - same goes for this week's show! We were promised no goofy guest host, and we still got a goofy guest host... John Cena. He even cracked-wise about the whole guest host concept, then proceeded to be one for the rest of the night. All we were missing was a "Word Life: The John Cena Story" DVD plug. Actually, WE DID get a plug for the Army featuring John Cena! Holy crap.
- Hornswoggle chucking things at Dolph Ziggler and not getting disqualified. This is so nit-picky, but it's just another case of the WWE writing a segment that doesn't fit the rules of wrestling, just so they can get the result they want, even though they could've found another way AND uphold the rules of the ring. I don't want to go off on a tangent or anything here, but this happened last year sometime: In a match against Evan Bourne, The Miz was on the outside flapping his gums at Swagger, and the count on the outside was at like 7. Evan Bourne dove to the outside, taking Miz out - so the count should be reset, right? Nope. Bourne slid back in, the count continued, Bourne wins by countout. Couldn't they have found a way to finish that match, or this Ziggler/Hornswoggle match that had the same result, but didn't ignore established rules? I am such a nit-picking son of a gun, but I can't help it. *pushes up glasses on nose*
- Most of the main event. It was alright, but until the finish with Edge running in, I wasn't super into it. Maybe it was the wear and tear of three hours and change of WWE in a row, plus the three hours of Extreme Rules the night before.
Part two, the Draft recap, will be coming tomorrow (or later today, since it's 2:33 a.m. and I'm still writing about wrestling in my sweatpants. I promise I will get a life someday, dad. I promise).
