WRestling’s 3R’s PPV Edition 1.12.07: WWE New Years Revolution 2007

The Matches:

WWE IC TITLE/STEEL CAGE MATCH: Jeff Hardy retained the IC Title over Johnny Nitro via escape @ 14:42 ***½ Match of the Night

#1 CONTENDERS TAG TEAM TURMOIL MATCH: Cryme Tyme defeated The Redneck Whirling Dervish, The World’s Greatest Tag Team, The Highlanders and Super Crazy and Hacksaw @ 19:15 via pin **

Kenny Dykstra defeated Ric Flair @ 10:00 via pin *

WWE WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Mickie James retained the Women’s Title over Victoria @ 6:51 via pin *½

WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Rated RKO defeated DX via DQ @ 20:04 **¾

Chris Masters defeated Carlito @ 6:00 via pin ¼* Trash of the Night

WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena retained the WWE Title over Umaga @ 17:21 via pin ***¼

The Right:

Cena vs. Umaga – This match was some old school goodness in my opinion. You had the superman baby face who is your champion and ruling the world. Then you had the undefeated savage, a beast who has been destroying everyone with ease. It was a simple built, very old school and it just worked and worked well. So we had this match, and early on Cena was stopped and cut off and the ass whooping proceeded, and it lasted for a long time and it was tremendous. Umaga is a savage beast and this was on display here. Cena was great in selling the beating as well. He kept trying to comeback, and when he would he would fall under the weight of Umaga. He tried the FU 2-3 times, and every time the weight was too much due to the beating that Umaga put on Cena. It looked dim for the champ, but Cena got his feet up and nailed Umaga and then got a schoolboy for the win. The finish was good because Cena outsmarted the savage for a few seconds. There was no fuck finish, DQ or count out bullshit. We got a finish that made you cheer Cena and still think that Umaga was a beast and a threat to Cena. In the end it was a really enjoyable match, and delivered more than most recent WWE main events. Umaga can go more than most give him credit for, and it is obvious that the time in Japan did young Jamal Umaga well and this gimmick just works. They can have another match and I will be totally fine with that.

DX vs. RKO – So the much hyped DX vs. RKO match is what we shall discuss here. The build the last week of Raw I thought was good with them not touching, and the promo by DX, while a bit wacky, was good stuff. We started with some brawling on the ramp and such and then went to the ring and it was on. Everything was clicking. The guys were working hard, working well together and the crowd was responding in kind. They got some heat on HHH, but eventually got the big heat segment on HBK, and the man sold the Ricky Morton beat down segment perfectly. It lasted for a while, too long for some people but not when you have someone like Shawn working the segment. The heat was great and this match was headed towards GREATNESS…and then HHH got the hot tag. He began to run wild and then, a spine buster later and he tore his right quad. Five years to the day he returned from his initial quad injury, which is cruel irony. The match then fell apart in a BAD way. People were standing around, talking and trying to figure out what to do. And then HBK, once again, proved why he is awesome and did a great dive into Orton and then just JACKED the referee for the DQ. HHH tried to gut it out and was a WARRIOR, but they really should have stopped things earlier. At one point Orton ran in with a chair and then ran back out with it. But they got the DQ, Orton did a SICK ASS blade job and HHH got a pedigree on a table to Edge and HBK got the huge top rope elbow through the table onto Orton. This match was about to be GREAT and honestly it would have been an early contender for MOTY if this injury would not have happened. Unfortunately these things happen and I hope HHH recovers as soon as possible. I would have moved this to purgatory and maybe lowered the rating more, but they did SO much right I couldn’t. Good work by all here, and the injury is just a shame.

The Cage Match – What a way to open the show. Once again these two men got to go on early and once again they ended up stealing the show. Unfortunately that isn’t saying a ton on this show, but they went out there and once again had a damn fine match. They didn’t do a lot of crazy shit or big stuff off the top of the cage, and that is good. Too many spots off of the cage desensitizes people; so to have a good match with out all of the bells and whistles so to speak is a good thing. They worked really hard, and once again worked very well together. They can keep feuding in singles and tag team matches forever at this point because they are always fun. Really good stuff and the finish was fun. I was a bit surprised to see Hardy retain, but as long as they keep following things up all is well.

Now let me say that if you told me that Nitro would be the most improved wrestler in such a quick time I would have been very skeptical. If you would have told me that Jeff Hardy would return and be putting on great matches and not miss a show and fall out of favor I would not have believed you at all. And then finally, if you would have told me that these two men, would work together in a series of matches, and not only have very good matches and have great chemistry together but steal shows I would have laughed at you…in your face! But they have done just that and they should be rewarded and praised. Nitro told Melina to call Mercury, because the Hardyz have to pay. Good shit here kids.

Purgatory:

Tag Team Turmoil – First of all let me say how happy I am to see tag teams on WWE PPV. Let me stress, tag teams not MNM, Londrick, Blue Bloods or the Hardyz. While those teams are great, they aren’t enough. They need something underneath them and we may be starting to see that now. The second match of the night was a tag team turmoil match, or, get lots of people on the card. I am slightly optimistic because they may be trying to have some tag teams, and that is always a good thing. The match itself was “good.” It was nothing great, or anything to remember later on, but a solid effort from some guys who have been forgotten. I will say first of all the Highlanders are improving and were a fun part of the match. TWGTT were solid and as I have mentioned before, am very glad to see them back. The Redneck Whirling Dervish is a guilty pleasure of mine and while some of the late segments have sucked, Cryme Tyme has a place and JTG is so awesomely charismatic. Overall a really good effort from all involved.

I will say that I thought the match went a bit too long. I mean, what was up with Crazy and Hacksaw? I mean, that is a totally random team isn’t it? That is the kind of shit that annoys me. I get that they wanted another job team, but Hacksaw, again? Lord. If they would have not had them in there, they could have shaved off a few minutes and made the match tighter in my opinion. Also the match being unannounced is a big knock against it. If WWE wants to make a go of some tag team wrestling, you have to announce the damn match. I would watch this over Carlito vs. Masters any day.

Anyway as I have said I will not proclaim the rebirth of WWE Tag Team Wrestling yet. I refuse because I have been burnt to many times, teased even, like that bitch in high school that you think is going to give you head but you only get the clean and jerk. Sure it’s ok for right then but not nearly as satisfying in the long run and nothing to brag about. But there are signs of life here, and if they continually build on this and don’t forget about it, it could be good. I love tag team wrestling and if it is on the way back in WWE, I am all for that.

Mickie vs. Victoria – In the end I will say I was disappointed in the match. While it was a “fine” match, I honestly expected more. While both ladies have great presence in the ring, and are both capable workers, the match just lacked something. It didn’t have that PPV feel to it, it honestly felt like another TV match from them. They worked hard, I will never accuse them of not working hard, but I had much higher hopes for the bout. I also expected Victoria to win here. I fear that they are basically redoing the Mickie/Trish deal from last year where Victoria wins at WrestleMania. I also didn’t dig the involvement of all the other chicks. It just took away further from the match in my opinion. Hopefully they will step it up in their next encounter because they have so much potential to do much better.

The wRong:

Flair vs. Dykstra – This match was…a match. It was there, a basic TV match in all reality and not worthy of PPV. While they had build and all, it just went too long for me and fell flat. Sure you could play the card that Flair was attacked, but I just feel it didn’t deliver at all. The other thing is that a win over Ric Flair, unfortunately doesn’t mean jack squat anymore. It isn’t the big deal that some are making it. Another sad fact is that while Flair can pull the rabbit out of the hat from time to time, he looked really old here, almost sad to see. While some have said this for a while, I have to agree now. I hope that this leads to Flair transitioning into more of a manager role from now on, because while I love watching him from time to time, I don’t want to see it all the time. They need to make Flair matches mean something, because right now they don’t. I will say Kenny mocking Flair was fun.

The Ridiculous:

Carlito vs. Masters – This match ended up in the “Divas Death spot” and oh what a perfect match to place in this spot. This match was BAD, not good, horrible even. Masters I thought was slowly improving, especially when he dropped some of the mass. He moved better and was wrestling a bit, but now the mass is back and he is as slow as ever and almost stumbles around at times. Carlito is Carlito, and that isn’t a good thing. Some think he has improved in the last year, but in my opinion he has regressed. He is sloppy and often looks lost, which is never good. This was another match on PPV, which appeared to be a basic, go through the motions TV match. Also we have the fact that this is a rehash of a feud from last year. While rehashed can be good, this isn’t. They have nothing for these guys to do so they get to feud again with each other. On the list of guys I want to see feud again, these guys are NOT on that list at all. No one cared, so please stop the madness.

Closing Thoughts:
Overall the show was fine. Hardy and Nitro stepped up once again and stole the show, which wasn’t that hard, but they did rather well yet again. The tag teams got some PPV time and it was solid stuff, not bad. Flair and Kenny was just an extended version of what they have been doing on TV, and not that good. The Women’s match was under whelming to me, and in the end disappointing. DX vs. RKO was good stuff until the injury to HHH, who gutted it out, again, like a warrior. Masters and Carlito got the divas match spot, which they deserved because the match sucked, the only really bad thing on the show. Cena and Umaga had a good build and for the most part delivered, more so than recent WWE main events.

In the end I will go with a 6.0 out of 10 for the show. Instead of a great PPV we got a great episode of Raw. And that is a constant trend with most WWE PPV. We are going to charge you $40 for a 3-hour show, and most of the time it will be nothing more than a glorified TV show. This is the problem when you over saturate the market with 16 PPV’s. It was a fine start to the year, but you just come away with the feeling that they could give us so much more.

Reader Feedback on WWE New Years Revolution 2007:

From Chris on HHH –

Something has got to be said for HHH and how much he cares about the fans. His injury seems BAD! Last time he tore the Quad, he CONTINUED the match!!! Same here tonight. That guy it hard core tough, and I appreciate how much he continued and kept the match going instead of ending it when he was hurt. The Ref knew he was hurt he even gave the X over his head, which means NO SHIT HES HURT! Great Job H!

From Dwayne –

The steel cage match between Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro stole the show. It was another good match in their on-going continuation of good matches for the Intercontinental title.

– I miss the 80s when WWE/WWF backstage interviewers didn’t take no shit and use to put wrestlers in the Hot seat. I’m tired of watching young TV announcers like Todd Grisham, who are trying to make a name for themselves, get bullied around. God I miss the 80s. Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura, Bobby Heenan, Lord Alfred Hayes, Vince McMahon, Mean Gene Okerland, Sean Mooney, WHERE ARE YOU?

– The Tag-Team turmoil match dragged and went on too long. You know when the announcers are asking how many more teams are involved in this thing, the match is starting to slow down. To the crowd’s credit they did get behind the match and tried to put some energy into it. The Highlanders are a really solid tag-team. They do
certain things in the ring very well. Very unorthodox but they need to know what it’s all about. It’s all about knowing when and how to do certain things in the
ring. Certain things that they do inside the ring seem real out of place. Hass and Benjamin looked great in that match. Poor Super Crazy got stuck teaming with Hacksaw Jim Duggan. I’m tired of seeing him getting jobbed. Cryme Tyme is that shit boy. I’m glad they won the match. OH SHIT, SOMEBODY STOP ME! I FEEL LIKE DOING JTG’S CRIP WALK! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

– I wish JR and King would quit coming up with excuses every time Ric Flair steps into the ring. I don’t care how old he is. He knows what he’s getting into every time he steps into the ring and signs the contract. This didn’t belong on PPV. It belonged on TV. Bottom line, not a good PPV match. The only satisfaction I got out of watching Mickie James and Victoria wrestle was the fact that I got horny when I saw how good Victoria looked. The match disappointed me.

– Johnny Nitro-Most improved wrestler of 2006.

– I don’t care about Rosie v. Donald Trump. GIVE ME A BREAK! I’ll go to a Weight watchers Center while I watch it, and use hundred dollar bills to wipe the
sweat from my face.

– Mickie and Victoria could have done better. They are capable of having better matches than they had tonight.

– I really, REALLY, liked this match for some odd reason. Psychology was great.
Damn that torn quad. HHH placed the face-in-peril for a match! Not even Shawn Michaels and his superhero sell jobs could save this match. Edge and Randy Orton must think that since we’re in there with two of the most powerful guys in the WWE,
they can slack off in the ring. That’s sure as hell what it looked like to me.

– Watching HHH trying to perform spots on one leg was hideous. Shawn Michael’s savage elbow was great.

– Ok, I know I’m late, but what the Mickie/Victoria match needed was more back and forth action between the two. Why the hell is the Champion being treated like a jobber on PPV? You can’t let her get in token offense like that. But Randy, Victoria is suppose to back to her old self and all. Yadda, ya. Felt like a jobber match.

– I miss Beth Phoenix!

– I took a bathroom break during Carlito/Masters? Anything exciting happened. Oh, Carlito got buried some more. Glad I didn’t miss anything.

– No Umaga/Cena rematch. THAT MATCH WAS BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD, BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD TO DA BONE.

– Missy Elliot called me and started singing “Ugly”. Apparently she felt the same way about the match.

– Cena maybe a great locker room role model, and he may travel hard to see the fans and respect the business, but here’s the bottom line: YOU HAVE TO PUT HIM IN THE RING WITH SOMEBODY WHO COMPLIMENTS HIS STYLE JUST LIKE HOGAN! Just because the guy is a LR leader doesn’t mean he should be expected to carry another guy in a match, especially when CENA CAN’T WRESTLE.

– Umaga’s Samoan drop was sweet.

– It didn’t feel like a PPV. It felt like an episode of Raw or Smackdown! It’s not suppose to feel like that. On Raw and SD!, you can slack off all you want (kidding), but come PPV time STEP IT UP AND DELIVER!

From Matrix 1004 –

The show was just fine with me. Nothing GREAT, but passable.

– I really liked the cage match, but was expecting more out of it. I figured that both guys were gonna try to steal the show. I also thought that’s why they put it on first, so that it wouldn’t outshine the other big matches by being next to them. The flipping powerbombs was cool, but that was the only top of the cage move we got. I thought we’d see 1 or 2 more. Good ending. The whole Jeff/Nitro series has been really good, starting back in Sept.(I believe) The Hardyz/MNM feud is great. I can’t wait to hear what they have in store for us with it at WrestleMania. TLC in a Hell in a Cell? Please!

– The Gauntlet Tag Team Match went too long for me.(nearly 20 minutes) I never like ‘gauntlet’ matches to begin with. They just seem unfair and unrealistic. Has any person/team ever started out being first and then beat everyone put in front of them? And what’s with Super Crazy & Hacksaw? What an awful team. Also, I thought that WGTT and Cryme Tyme were kind of feuding. Then why did they not even meet up with each other in this match? It coming down to those 2 teams would’ve been a lot better.

– I was bored by Flair vs. Kenny. I thought I’d like the match, I wanted to like the match, but it just didn’t do anything for me.

– Mickie vs. Victoria wasn’t anything special, but I really enjoy looking at both of them. It could’ve been worse, but I guess it’s just hard for any women’s match to hold a candle to Trish’s last match anymore.

– The tag title match was pretty good, then it got sloppy towards the end, but that’s understandable since the injury must’ve messed up their spots and changed their plans. Orton’s blade job was gross. As much as I hate HHH, kudos for finishing the match with a torn quad (again).

– I’m not into Carlito vs. Masters at all. They started feuding an entire year ago, and it isn’t even a good match-up to begin with. Enough already. Plus, this was a horrible place for this match on the card.

– I really liked the main event, for some reason. I know it was essentially just Cena getting beat down for over 15 minutes, then getting a roll up victory, but it worked for me. Sure Umaga isn’t undefeated anymore, but he’s still a monster. Cena got to keep the belt, and Umaga got to keep face. They made Umaga look really good in this one. Good job.

Thanks for joining me for this special edition of the 3R’s, and don’t forget to check out the regular edition complete with all of the other shows from the week!

For more interesting information on wrestling, check out Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly Online, Mike Campbell over at SPLASH MOUNTAIN and Dr. Keith Lipinski over at Puroresu Power!