Wrestling’s 4R’s 8.24.07: RETRO Summerslam, Total Non-Stop Angle Throwing Away Money, Big Daddy Dominates, It’s a Boy for Vince, Khali vs. Kane and More!

iMpact 8.16.07:

The Right:

NADDA~!

puRgatory:

Daniels vs. Machismo – While I had issues with this a bit, in a way it makes sense. They went to the trouble of damaging Lethal to get the title on Joe. After that they had Daniels win the Ultimate X when they reformed XXX. Got you there. So they decided that they screwed over Lethal, and a way to get him back into things was have him pin Daniels in a tag match, which they weren’t a part of and added t late. You know, this was going to be a right but I have changed it to Purgatory. The logic is stupid. Anyway, since they did that and Lethal got the pin in the tag, so Cornette said that Daniels would have to defend his #1 contender’s shot at the X Title against Lethal. Another reason this loses points is that they would do a similar match later in the show. ANNOYING. The match was fine, although broken up, as usual by commercial. They worked hard, XXX and Dutt got involved and in the end Lethal won the match and is the new #1 contender for the X-Title. Along way to get back there, but hopefully this means that Lethal will get a run with the title as intended.

The Wrong:

NADDA~!

The Ridiculous:

First Blood Match, Abyss’ Title Shot up for Grabs: Abyss vs. Christian Cage – First of all let’s not mention that there was already another match on this show that had a man put up a #1 contendership he had already won in a match. That’s bad enough that they are doing relatively the same angle on the same show. But I have to say the thing the infuriated me was the fact that they took the Abyss vs. Christian feud, one that spanned months and featured beat downs on Abyss and ended it here on free TV. Abyss got beat down repeatedly and was always man handled by the Coalition and the whole feud was being built for Abyss to get revenge. Revenge for being beat down and being left in POOLS of his own blood on more than one occasion. Abyss had the chance to get his revenge in ANY MATCH OF HIS CHOOSING and instead he is made to look like an idiot and picks the Doomsday Chamber of Suck match with 4 other men involved. REVENGE~! And in this impossible to escape cage match, Christian, the man he wanted revenge on, escaped. The good news is that he won the title shot. But then he puts this title shot up for another shot at Cage, and it ISN’T EVEN ON PPV! Tack on that they make it a FIRST BLOOD MATCH ON FREE TV and it is an easy ridiculous. They have the match, it is fine, Abyss wins when he “busts” Cage open, which compared to all of the blood Abyss lost is a trickle, and it comes of as very anti-climatic. Lame.

Total Non-Stop Angle – And this is what TA has been reduced to, Total Non-Stop Angle. Impact was dominated with Kurt Angle and the Angle awards this week, a ludicrous set of angles through out the show that did nothing to sell PPV buys. They came out and gave awards to Nash, Trademark and Karen. They reminded us that they TRICKED us at the PPV as well as Joe. Yeah, they fooled everyone. Yeah. God forbid we have some wrestling on this show, nope, Total Non-Stop Angle. So then Cornette comes out and tells Angle that he will have to defend all three titles at the PPV against Abyss, Lethal and TEAM PACMAN. LAME. Also he makes a match for next week with Angle vs. The Steiner Brothers and if Kurt loses they get 5-minutes alone with Karen. First of all I thought there was a decree that there would be no violence against women. Oops. Also, why would the Steiner Brothers care about 5-minutes with Karen? What do they have to do with the angle? Shouldn’t they be pissed that they didn’t get a title shot since they beat Team 3D? UGH!

Speaking of all of that…9-minutes and 55-seconds…would it kill you to have some wrestling? – You know I hate to harp on the same thing over and over again, but I have to keep going back to this point. Once again TNA went back to more angle and less wrestling. This week we had a total of under 10-minutes of in ring action. I have said, I still feel that they need to offer up as close to as much wrestling time as there are commercials. There are 18-20 minutes of commercials per episode of Impact. So hence forth as I have said, I feel that there should be around 15-18-minutes of wrestling action per week, minimum on Impact. I think that is an important thing. They need to show enough wrestling to make people want to buy a PPV. No one buys a show based off of 2-minute matches, run ins and no finishes. And I would suggest I am right, look at TNA’s buyrates.

The RUSSO-FN RIFFIC~!:

Team Pacman gets the shot? – So let me get this straight. TNA signs Pacman, it goes to shit and he cannot touch or be touched by anyone. They ring back Ron Killings with no fanfare and at the PPV he and Pacman have a confrontation, which we later see Pacman “got beat down” and they all assume it was Killings. Now on the following Impact Pacman comes out and talks shit on Killings, which brings out Killings. Then, all of the sudden, Killings decides that they are boys and should team up. Following this? Good, that’s one of us. They then go to Jim Cornette’s office and demand a tag team title shot. Ron Killings who has been gone and not won a match in forever and a man that cannot wrestle demand a tag team title match. AND THEY GET IT. Are you shitting me? I know he is a former 2-time NWA Champion and former tag team champion, but he has been booked like shit and this makes no sense.

SmackDown 8.17.07

The Right:

Forget MVP, Khali is straight BALLIN! – Batista’s promo was awesome, plain and simple. The dynamics of the delivery, his struggle to maintain his composure as he addressed his fans, reliving the torture of recent weeks, all were played beautifully and, as I said last week, whatever shot in the arm he’s received, be it Flair’s presence on SD! or the fact that he’s actually going to win back his World Title (now that Taker and Edge are out), whatever the cause, Big Dave’s been on fire and I’m actually a hell of a lot more psyched for Batista/Khali than I was for Cena/Khali, but then, that’s the difference between Raw’s and SD!’s writers.

Khali and his translator, lil Pramit Bischoff, appeared on the Tron with another example of how scary strong Nature’s Little Oopsie really is…he squeezed a basketball till it popped. A friggin basketball! Now I dunno if the thing was rigged, but…damn, to borrow a catch phrase. Khali and Mark Henry should have a world’s strongest man contest where they roll up frying pans and push over sports cars, kinda like the Brawl-for-All, cept, uhm, with less of a point…or maybe more of one…?

And in the main event, we had another winning match from Khali. It’s just amazing how the implementation of one simple move, in Khali’s case, The Claw, can completely bring a performer into focus. The WrestleMania rematch tonight of Khali and Kane was perfect, especially considering Kane had his ribs taped from Finlay’s shillelagh beat down from last week…continuity! Kane gave a good effort, but Khali impressed me even more this week as he dug even deeper into the history of The Claw and applied it to Kane’s ribs. The Von Erich’s are looking down from wrestling heaven and smiling. In the end, Khali ended up putting down both Kane AND Batista (who ran out post-match) in a matter of minutes, cementing him as completely and utterly dominant and unstoppable, to use the two adjectives Cole and JBL abused during the main event. Again, I am amazed at Khali’s turn-around and am really into this main event!

Welcome to the VIP Lounge…please have ID and a personal physician ready – Well, it’s no Highlight Of The Night with Chris Jericho, but I LIKE it, I LIKE it! Beats the hell out of Nancy Grace, that’s for sure…you could SHAVE with her voice…! I thought it was interesting that Matt Hardy and MVP sat so amicably apart from one another, although I’m sure it was a matter of the face honoring the heart issue. I loved Matt’s reply when MVP brought up such issue, “You’ve got a heart condition, all Right, and it’s called ‘lack thereof’!” Nice one, Matt! MVP pretty well let that one slide, knowing Matt had a boxing match set up in The Garden the next night for Saturday Night’s Main Event against his ‘sparring partner’ Evander Holyfield, as well as having a little surprise task awaiting the UST #1 Contender tonight…The Masterlock Challenge!

Now, my overall disgust for Chris Masters is well documented, especially with what appears to be to me the moot point of resuscitating The Masterlock Challenge. However, I’ll balance that notion with this one: (This is random, but stick with me) You know how a villain attempts to conquer the world, rob a bank or just plain beat down his opponent before a big match and *almost* reaches his/her goal, but the hero manages to come through in the very last split second, overcoming the odds and pulling through? I’ve always wondered why the villain never thought to retool the almost-perfect plan and try it again, only fixing the part of the plan that failed…?

Well, that’s exactly what MVP did here tonight in having brought out Masters, knowing Matt, the picture of chivalry, would hold true to his word and accept any challenge MVP threw at him. Masters, remembering the last time Matt and he met, had some words for Matt before locking up, to which Matt responded with a roll of fives across the lips. That set off Masters, causing him to throw around MVP’s IKEA furniture, settling into The Masterlock. Matt fought gamely and appeared to have a shot, but MVP, cajoling Matt on the house mc, taunted, “Don’t you hate when life kicks you in the gut?!,” and doing so to young Matthew, effectively cutting short the challenge, and following up with, “Sometimes, Matt, life sucks…and so does this!” *SLAP* across the face! I was waiting for MVP to follow up with, “Cuz it’s like mama use to say…it bees that way sometime!” and let the channeling of “Iceman” King Parsons be complete.

More good stuff leading to what has become quite a high-profile title defense between two amazing, young performers who just stand to get better, and shall be better from facing one another here and now. Also, well done with respect to booking considering McMahonagement had this heart condition thrown at them from nowhere. I’m thinking booking on the fly must be a requirement of the SD! team…bless em.

Beware: The Masked Debater! – Yeah, that’d be cool if Mick Foley came running down the aisle in a mask to help Rey when Chavo blasts his knee, huh? Well, this was pretty much just another example of how GOOD Chavo Guerrero can be, this time, Shannon Moore his victim. I could harp on the fact that Moore deserves better than being someone’s whipping boy, but since I think I’m the only person left in the world who still likes him, I’ll pipe down and simply thank him for his contribution to the match. I really dig Chavo’s talking to the mask, although nothing new or innovative at all, certainly. Part of me wishes Rey would make an appearance before the PPV so I can see how he’s moving around and such, but then I suppose that’s the psychology of having Rey return at the PPV, isn’t it? I doubt this will be a one-off, though, so, looking forward to seeing more of this (still thinking, somehow, this program will bleed into Evil Vickie).

The world’s wettest funeral – So it was finally revealed to me why Mark Henry is being presented in the same rather bland manner week after week; apparently, there’s a contract renewal sitting on his proverbial desk and he’s pulling a Rob…Van…Dam and not signing. Not saying he won’t, but his match against Taker at SUMMERSLAM is apparently generally being regarded as his last in WWE.

So this explains why he’s not even being allowed to touch contracted talent and is on a jobber destruction American tour. Continuity all-around, as he and Taker have history and he’ll go out on his back at the PPV, Taker gets his revenge, all good there. The only reason this is really in puRgatory at all…and I want all of you “Geoff only talks shit about wrestlers over 6’5” haters to dig the wax outta your ears for this one…I’m actually kinda bummed to see Henry go. It took the better part of a decade, but Gravy Boat actually got it together and appears to have become quite a commodity. His move set is believable, representational of the destruction he looks to be able to deliver, and, moreover, his mic work and general attitude have REALLY become focused. It seems a shame that 11 years worth of dedication that FINALLY looked to pay some dividends is all for naught, but I respect Henry’s decision, should he actually refuse to resign. I suppose he wants to spend more quality time with his and Mae Young’s hand.

I must quickly comment on Taker’s video. Yes, we’ve seen this all before in Taker’s regard, but the videos continue to evolve and there was something about the cloaked druids wandering Death Valley with the torches that was just totally creepy to me…very “The Hills Have Eyes”. Just a big shout out to the production team, who are always so exceptional they’re often taken for granted.

JBL’s Word of the Week – incredulity: doubt about the truth of something. Anybody notice JBL and Michael Cole played JBL’s Word of the Week on the show tonight? They SO read me.

purgatory:

Majorly Deuced – I enjoyed the match between Deuce & Domino and THE MAJOR BROTHERS a lot more Friday night when I was faded. However, it still wasn’t necessarily a bad match by any means. Oddly, what made this match work is also the worst thing about it; these two teams are just about on par with one another, ie, in the good, that means nobody was dumbing down to make the other team look better, as we’ve seen in D&D’s case in the past, and there was some meaningful flow between the two teams. On the other hand though, basically, THIS is our tag division, and they’re greener than Finlay’s tights. The 21st-CENTURY GODWINNS, Festus and Jesse, aren’t going to come in and dazzle us with style points, either. Well, let’s hope for the best, as, last week, we at least observed some improvement where Lenny & Squiggy are concerned, and I DO believe we’re going to see something solid from the Brothers in the coming months…it just seems to me that, for the worldwide leader in sports entertainment, we deserve to have better than this as our tag division.

If Finlay, has a chip on his shoulder, being Irish, wouldn’t it be a crisp? – I’m riding the fence on this issue. Although I love the stiff, burgeoning violence brewing between Kane and Finlay, I still have to feel badly for Jamie Noble, Finlay’s opponent tonight. Okay, so he’s being booked as if he can’t even defeat a midget, despite the fact that he’s been around and is a damn good, technically-sound performer who could really do something in the CW division (and elsewhere, for that matter, but really, let’s not be delusional). He had a decent showing here against Finlay…no, I’m not blind, I know he got his ass handed to him, but that’s what is supposed to happen against a machine like Finlay; what I meant was that he hung in there against Finlay, never submitted, wasn’t pinned and took his beating like a man. Granted, too, I dug how both Finlay and The Little Bastard’s separate stories were married here, but, again, it’s not enough that Noble has the shite beat out of him by Finlay, then is humiliated by The Bastard, then chokeslammed by Kane…I mean, I’m waiting for the ref to haul off and kick him in the balls and shrug in exaggerated fashion to the crowd as if to say, “What, everyone else got em some…?” I know, a lot of whining here, just because I think Noble deserves better, but I really enjoyed the match for what it was and am looking forward to seeing Kane/Finlay develop.

A humorous joke told once too often – As much as I blasted Vince’s over-self-saturation of Raw a couple weeks ago, and as against Kennedy being the bastard McMahon as I am (simply because I maintain a performer of his considerable talent doesn’t require such a twice-baked sports entertainment angle to get over), the set-up with Vince and Jonathan Coachman wandering the backstage area of each brand pondering who might be the long-lost has had its merits, especially (tonight) when Big Daddy V was considered. Who wants to bet, had V matched DNA samples, the unofficial tag title win by MEN ON A MISSION would suddenly be written into the record book…? The oily stripper guy is always funny (to a point) and we know how Larry loves man ass on his wrestling shows, but the 700th taped promo of THE 21st CENTURY GODWINNS was hilarious this week, as they took the same joke they’ve been telling for the past two months and really made it work, as Jesse suggested his partner Festus had the face of a McMahon as a viscous line of drool spilled over the latter’s lip. I’m not sure I saw the resemblance; however, Stephanie “Bitchy McMountains” McMahon’s voice is just the plush, lush tone I’d expect to come out of that tat on Festus’ left arm. All in all, let’s wrap up this search for Vince’s bastard sooner rather than later before it becomes staler than Jerry Lawler’s commentary.

The wrong:

So this is lovin life, huh…? – This barely made The wRong, as I was set to pop it in puRgatory, but the more I considered the situation and subsequent match between Michelle McCool and Victoria, the less I liked it, as much as I wanted to. The preparation for the wedding between General Manager Teddy Long and professional wearer of Ridiculous wigs Kristal Marshall is roaring along like a herd of tortoises stampeding through peanut butter. Seriously, it’s feeling as if we’ll pull out of Iraq before Peanut slips a ring on that finger.

So Kristal asked Michelle and Torrie to be her bride’s maids and Victoria thought she was getting in on the act, as well, although why is beyond me because it’s completely out of character in her regard, but being dissed out of the wedding party led to slaps all around which led to Victoria versus Michelle, which was completely unnecessary because we already had a premise to cause them to lock up.

The match itself was just there. Good and not-so-good moments leading to an arbitrary pinfall victory by Michelle. I guarantee you Victoria will go over next week.

Last week, I rhapsodized about the amazing quality of JBL and Michael Cole’s selling of Khali’s destruction at Ric Flair’s expense, that it was the best work they’d ever done as a team, and that’s tabernacle, they really were amazingly effective in that regard. Sadly, we saw the dark underside of that brilliance during this match tonight as Cole reached desperately for a current pop culture reference. “Who do Victoria and Kenny remind you of?” asks Cole Slaw of JBL. “The Beckhams?” Thank GOD JBL was like, “…NO,” and then humorously took it to the Ridiculous extreme, comparing them to Zsa Zsa and Fritz, which Cole stomped on by assuming JBL was giving a dated reference, which he wasn’t. It’s no secret that Cole is a weak announcer, although he’s grown exponentially during his decade-long tenure with the company, but that just makes instances such as this all the more unacceptable. Thank Foley for JBL. Altogether a completely disappointing segment.

The Ridiculous:

Three words – Vince’s. Hideous. Blazer. Seriously, there is absolutely no excuse for a man with that much money to wear something that offensive. Look, literally, on my way out of town two weeks ago, I stopped by Club Monaco, dropped a mere $500 and bought a suit, shirt and tie, and I was only going to a wedding…not starring on TV! The only reason I’m really making a point about this is because Vince did. “Sharp, huh, Coach?” Yeah, I could cut my wrists on it. I’m begging you, Vince. Hire. A. Stylist.

Remember people, show Geoff some love by emailing him here: [email protected]

RAW 8.20.07:

Raw 8.20.07:

Opening promo and Snitsky vs. Cena – Raw kicked off with Randy Orton in the ring telling us all about his actions at Saturday Night’s Main Event and how they have already insured he will win the WWE Championship at Summerslam. Orton gets some heat by playing the clip over and over again and Vince McMahon comes out. He talked about his bastard child and revealed that it was a male. Thankfully he didn’t totally burry the WWE Championship match because he actually put Orton over while he was talking. John Cena then comes out and cuts his usual intense promo and says he is ready for Summerslam and he will win. Vince cuts him off and says he did his mom, which pisses Cena off leading to a slap. While I enjoyed this segment I do hope it doesn’t lead to a McMahon/Cena program down the line. Cena then gets put in a match with the undefeated Snitsky.

Thankfully Cena has a knack of getting good matches out of big, useless oafs (see Khali, Great) and Snitsky can move around a bit so they put on a good match with Snitsky seemingly targeting the head of Cena which was a nice touch leading from the attack at SNME. Cena rallied back and just as it appeared he had the match won Orton comes in and hits an RKO out of nowhere. This at least kept Snitsky unpinned as he only lost by DQ and thankfully we didn’t have to put up with another Snitsky squash. So after the match Orton hits another RKO and hopefully they can play off Cena’s head injuries at Summerslam. Then Orton stares manically at the WWE Championship in a slightly eerie image before Summerslam. Good stuff all round here and they built up a potentially great angle at Summerslam with Orton targeting Cena’s head as he has done to other opponents in the past. The match itself was well done and not a complete bore.

The Saga of Vince and his Illegitimate Child – This one links to the opening promo I mentioned just now but it needs its own section. They revealed the WWE Superstar was a male but thankfully we didn’t have a 15-minute McMahon promo and instead he just slipped it into conversation at the beginning of the show. They didn’t actually do a lot else in regards to this angle other than the quick skits backstage, which saw Val Venis of all people getting some airtime. They again teased the possibility of it being Mr. Kennedy and Vince seemed pleased. It goes into the Right section because they did nothing wRong and it’s not totally dominating the show.

Cade and Murdoch vs. London and Kendrick + Cryme Tyme – So the tag champs once again managed to get some time on Raw as opposed to battling the Highlanders on Heat. They had a quick little match with London and Kendrick and it was fun. The finish came when Cryme Tyme ran through the crowd and stole Murdoch’s hat to auction off to the live audience causing Murdoch to be distracted and get rolled up by Brian Kendrick. Cryme Tyme mock the champs by selling the hat for just $2. The fans are really into Cryme Tyme so a feud between them and the champs is a good idea and they are finally getting that shot they earned at New Year’s Revolution or so it would seem. I could complain about jobbing the champs out to two guys who apparently aren’t in line for a shot or the fact that Cryme Tyme on the live mic totally distracted from the match but it’s rare that WWE creative bothers to come up with an angle for tag teams so this was refreshing to see.

Cody Rhodes vs. Shelton Benjamin – WWE decided to follow up on last week’s Cody/Haas match with Rhodes facing Haas’ tag team partner which makes sense and it’s good episodic TV. The match is fine and once again Cody gets the win with a roll up on Benjamin. After the match the World’s Greatest Tag Team get some heat back by putting a beating on Rhodes. This should stay in Right for now because hopefully it is building to getting Rhodes a partner (Dusty, with any luck) to take on the World’s Greatest Tag Team, which is good news for all parties involved and us.

puRgatoy:

The Re-coronation – So King Booker and Queen Sharmell tease that Triple H will be there live to crown the one true King and then they come to the ring and get heat for Sunday’s match by replaying the attack on Lawler from last week. They then bring out a faux-Triple H who crowns the King. This part went a little long but as always the mic work from Booker was great and it drew heat. Then Booker turned his attention to James Ross and asked him to kiss the King’s ring because of the comments he made last week on Raw. Ross refuses so Sharmell forces him to kiss the ring. Again the segment was fine but a little drawn out and this close to Summerslam, I feel that they should be focusing more on Triple H than the Raw announce team; perhaps beating down the faux-Triple H would have got the point across better. Still this was essentially filler that went too long.

Setting up the Intercontinental Championship match at Summerslam – Carlito had Umaga as a guest on his Cabana and after gracefully putting him over, Carlito asks Umaga for a shot at the Intercontinental gold at Summerslam. Umaga acted disinterested and played with the set but before he could respond Mr. Kennedy came out to declare he deserved the shot instead. Carlito and Kennedy have displayed good chemistry on the mic together the last few weeks and that was evident here. As they argued over who should have the shot Umaga super kicked Kennedy out of the ring and Carlito bailed. General Manager William Regal comes out and makes a number one contenders match for right now. All fine and dandy so far, but then we get to the match.

It was atrocious. I gave it one star in my report but having seen it again it’s even worse. It was sloppy as hell and they didn’t even bother to try anything special. I though it was picking up when Kennedy began working the shoulder but they soon forgot about that and Carlito didn’t sell it at all. The ending was actually fine but I couldn’t get over how bad what preceded it was. These two clearly have no chemistry in the ring together and it’ll be interesting to see if they can have a good match with Umaga on Sunday. Which brings me to the finish where they both pinned one another following a superplex, forcing Regal to make a triple threat. This is fine by me because all three men have been vaguely interlinked the past few weeks and it at least gets them on the card – deservedly, in my opinion.

WWE – The Dating Game – So Maria and Ron Simmons go to a restaurant for a nice meal and predictably Santino Mozzarella shows up with Jillian Hall in toe and they manage to turn it into a double date. Santino works his magic and it’s OK, but now Simmons is starting to run out of words that rhyme with “DAMN.” What I’m saying is, the comedy bit has run its course. If they want to get Santino over as a wrestler he needs to turn fully heel on Ron Simmons leading to an actual feud. I’m sure Ron can still pull off a match or two and it should really help Santino recover after being Umaga’s bitch the last couple of months. I think a Maria heel turn down the line would also be great for Santino. So these segments were bad, but they are quickly starting to lose their charm.

Women’s Tag Match/Setting up Battle Royal for Summerslam – So Candice Michelle teamed up with Mickie James to take on Melina and Beth Phoenix who now has her own entrance music which is great because it separates her from Melina. Before the match William Regal comes out to announce that at Summerslam all the WWE Divas from all three brands will compete in a battle royal at Summerslam with the winner earning a title shot at Candice in the future. Why not put Candice into this? I don’t quite get that part of it. It’s a typical Divas match on Raw; sloppy and over in a hurry. Candice picks up the win by rolling up Melina. For whatever reason Mickie is unhappy after the match and she attacks Candice presumably to show her that she is coming for the Women’s title. Melina then attacks her and tosses her to the floor and Beth does the same to Melina showing her that it will be every woman for themselves come Summerslam. The good news is they built Beth up by not having her take the pin and standing tall at the end of the segment. The bad is the match itself, which was very ordinary and then the Mickie turn which came off as just weird.

wRong:

Not a damn thing!

The Ridiculous:

Nadda!

Right:

Who’s Your Daddy?: The Mr. McMahon’s Illegitimate son angle has been progressing nicely with just enough humor and just enough seriousness. John Cena being Vince’s son was a very intriguing possibility, so I’m glad they touched on it. Hearing Vince say “I very well may have done your Mom” was also classic. This segment got over both the paternity angle and the Cena-Orton match. It also allowed the crowd to go mild at the prospects of Cena-Snitsky, but that ended up being better than I thought, so it’s OK.

That’s One Wild Samoan/The Feud of the Talking Heads: So I dug Carlito’s Cabana. Umaga just looking around the Cabana while Carlito runs his mouth, Kennedy coming down to argue with Kennedy, and then Umaga’s total FREAK OUT were all great. Kennedy and Carlito have a similar chemistry to Carlito and Chris Jericho and seeing them verbally spar is always fun. Umaga’s bug out was a great moment and he’s playing his face role perfectly. The Triple Threat Match could be very good at SummerSlam, but as I’ll discuss later I have some issues with how it was made.

RKO, Bitch!: Talk about putting Randy Orton over strong. I love that they played up that RKO on the chair from SNME, then they had Snitsky work over Cena’s head, and then TWO RKO’s to finish off the show. Orton looks like a beast heading into SummerSlam and Cena may actually be an underdog in this match.

puRgatoRy:

Pain in Pleasure: Snitsky really isn’t doing it for me in his new incarnation. I liked doofy, foot fetish, crazy beard Snitsky, not yellow teeth, bald, no personality Snitsky. The crowd did not care at all when Cena-Snitsky was announced, and neither did I. I actually forgot he was still on the roster until they mentioned his name. But when it was match time, it wasn’t all that bad. Snitsky is a decent guy to have around to main event TV I guess. I certainly wouldn’t want to see Cena-Snitsky on PPV, but as far as a Raw main event of face vs. monster goes it was OK.

At Least We HAVE Tag Teams: So Cade & Murdoch fought London & Kendrick. Cool. And midmatch Cryme Tyme came down to continue their feud with C&M. Cool. And to top it all off London & Kendrick even got to pull off the upset win. Cool. But at the end of the day it just doesn’t feel that important. London & Kendrick’s win should have seemed bigger, and Cryme Tyme is hit or miss when it comes to their segments. Add that Lance Cade is looking more like a jobber with his short hair and this feud has Heat written all over it.

wRong:

DAMN!: I’ve been enjoying the Ron Simmons skits the past few weeks, but this week’s date just didn’t do it for me. Santino Marella did a great job continuing his heel turn, but Simmons’ involvement just seemed forced this week. I do love the pained expression on his face while he thinks of a word he can actually use.

Ridiculous:

Why Have a Match Every Knows the Outcome Of? So I liked the Umaga-Carlito-Kennedy segment and I like the match for SummerSlam. But why on Earth did we have the No. 1 Contender’s Match when we all knew how it was going to end? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for Regal to have made the Triple Threat Match just based on the Cabana instead of some swervy double finish? And speaking of Regal, the dude really needs to learn how to pronounce Umaga’s name.

Hey Look, It’s Triple H.: Having an Indy jobber dress up as a wrestler and come to the ring isn’t entertaining. It’s stupid and a waste of time. At least Booker didn’t beat him up in an attempt to make us care.

ECW 8.21.07:

The Right:

Big Daddy V continues to dominate! – I have to say that I am a huge fan of this transformation of Viscera into Big Daddy V. When this was rumored I said that they could do much worse things, but I do have to admit that this is being booked well, and Dusty probably has a lot to do with that. Dusty both worked with and booked the One Man Gang and Abdullah the Butcher, and that is the mold that they are following here and it is working at this point. He is motivated and all of the matches come off well, not “work rate classics” but for what they are, perfect. This week the Extreme Dictator, El Presidente himself Armando Estrada kicked off ECW with a bang. The ring was filled with Implements of Destruction and he announced that the opener would be under Extreme Rules, which the crowd liked, and it was Big Daddy V vs. Tommy Dreamer in a rematch of last week. This made sense as it is Dreamer’s element and last week he was unprepared for what he got himself into. Unfortunately for young Tommy Dreamer this would not go much better as Big Daddy V destroyed him again, this time with a Samoan Drop through a table. Dreamer is playing his role well and Big Daddy V came off as unstoppable. The only thing is that this can only last so long. He is killing everyone and destroyed Punk last week. He needs to be moved into title contention soon, I know they have this hard on to move him to Smackdown since Henry is leaving; that would be a shame because it would totally devalue the ECW roster in my opinion. Big Daddy V as ECW champion is not the worst thing they could do.

The Search for Vince’s Son – As stated, not my favorite angle, but right now they are doing it fine. Coach and Vince met backstage, they walked, they talked and they teased who the kid could be. They met with Balls, in which they had a humorous exchange in which Vince yelled, “I DON’T HAVE BALLS!” HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Later on Coach had another candidate, and it was C M Punk. Vince called Punk a talented star but says it is not possible, due to Punk’s personal habits. Punk laughed and said he doesn’t have dirty unprotected sex with skanks that file paternity suits that get him kicked out of his house and left a disgrace. While I disagree there, it was funny and shows that Vince is willing to take as well as give. It was fine, and with the lack of direction for some people and the sometimes inability to fill the hour well, this was fine since it is the biggest angle in the company and the ratings have been improving.

The Main Event Tag – I liked the main event tag this week, as well as the build to it. During the night we got to see video packages building up Punk, Morrison and their feud they have been locked into. While they are a lot of the same, meaning we have seen them before, the effort to continually push these two men as the MAIN event for ECW and their Summerslam match is appreciated. The match got plenty of time, almost 13-minutes without commercial. Take that Impact. While one could call into question the individual that would book Miz and Boogey man in a 16-minute total match, but I digress. The match was good stuff, Miz was finally interjected into something of importance and he fits as a running buddy of Morrison. Morrison finally got the duke over Punk after weeks of taking the pins, and adds drama to the build. Hopefully these guys get the time at Summerslam to put on the match many of us THINK they can.

puRgatory:

Stevie and Kevin, not BFF’s… – The sage of Stevie vs. Kevin continued this week, and I think we can safely say that they are not best friends forever. The reason that I a putting this in purgatory is because while it had the good start, they aren’t doing a ton to advance things in a way that makes us care. Stevie wins, ok fluke. Stevie wins again and it is something. Instead of actually giving him promo time to talk and get people behind him, Thorn jumps him. But I can go with this. They have the match last week, Thorn dominates and kicks his ass, pins him clean and they do the lame reversal because Thorn decided to beat him down more. Now this week instead of giving Thorn time to talk so we can get an insight into him, which we lack due to him being just a guy, Stevie jumps him. I just want some promo time and some time for this to simmer so that we can have the chance to get emotionally connected. They just need to have some promo time and something to hook the people. If I had to suggest something, I would have Thorn cut a promo playing off the Vampire shit and the obsession with blood they used to mention. Have him “Baptize” himself in blood and talk about how he will be a new man. That is week one. Week two you have Stevie cut a rebuttal promo. Talking about Thorn “Baptizing himself in fake blood” while Stevie spent a career in the original ECW being baptized in real blood every night. Then, much like they have done with Dreamer, you show clips of Stevie from the original ECW, being beaten, bloodied and so forth but succeeding. It isn’t that hard, and took me all of 5-minutes to conjure up. Paypal will be fine Vince.

Balls Wins? – After Balls had a little altercation with Vince McMahon, regarding if Balls was the son or not, it was time for Balls to head to the ring and face off with Young Elijah. I will say that I thought that they had a fine match. Balls is underrated at times as a worker, the man can put on a fine match. Also, the people seem to care about him. They react to him, they chant with the punches and he got a pop when he came out, which is more than I can say for Young Elijah. He got a negative reaction, as in less than zero when he came out. The fact that people react to Balls is a great sign, especially since he has been BERRIED the whole WWECW run. So they had their match, Young Elijah was dominant, Balls made a come back, people were into the match and then, then Balls won. That is right; Balls Mahoney defeated Young Elijah Burke with a roll up. Read this again, Balls Mahoney defeated Young Elijah Burke with a roll up. Not a typo, not a mistake, Balls Mahoney defeated Young Elijah Burke with a roll up. It finally appears as if they are trying to give more than three people an angle here, which is good. If Balls is going to feud with Miz and go after Kelly, he needs to have some success. That is all well and good, but I have one issue with this. Why did they have to defeat Young Elijah Burke? Young Elijah has been damaged by being CM Punk’s job boy, he should be defeating the lower rung ECW guys, especially since at one point Vince named him the new face of ECW. It looks like things have changed for him. They could have used someone else for this, which is my main gripe.

The Wrong:

NADDA~!

The Ridiculous:

NADDA~!

Right:

Main Event Tag: If you would have told me that CM Punk & The Boogeyman vs. John Morrison & The Miz would have rocked the house I would have called you a liar. But this match was quite the surprise and a great way to cap off the show. The Punk-Morrison feud is finally feeling important, and both The Miz and The Boogeyman are improving in the ring. Good stuff here, I was pleasantly surprised.

Establishing Names: Over the past few weeks ECW has done a great job of establishing their stars and getting them over. Morrison has done great on his promos, Big Daddy V is looking like a beast on his squash matches, The Boogeyman actually looks credible, Balls Mahoney is getting more face time (and wins apparently), and The Miz is breaking out. Hell, even Stevie Richards seems to be getting a push. Perhaps the most important aspect of all of this is the.

McMahon Rub: The bastard child of the Brand Extension (see what I did there) saw an appearance by Vinnie Mac. Not only that, but CM Punk got to tell off the boss in what may have been his biggest exposure yet. The rub from Mr. McMahon no doubt helped CM Punk as well as the brand as a whole.

Go, Stevie, Go!: I have long thought that Stevie Richard had been jobbed out to the point where no on would ever take him seriously again (kinda like Shannon Moore). But I’m digging this Stevie-Thorn feud if only because it’s so simple and effective. I’m not sure how much they’ll push Stevie past this but it’s much better than jobbing all the time.

wRong:

The Elijah Experience is Over: What happened to Elijah Burke? He was supposed to be the face of ECW and all of a sudden he’s jobbing to Balls Mahoney? Being CM Punk’s bitch for months on end didn’t help matters much, but now it looks like Burke’s future in ECW as anything credible may be over.

But Why? This is a small gripe, but why did they change The Boogeyman’s face paint back? I really liked his new look as I thought it made him look a lot creepier. Hopefully this was only a one-week deal because I liked the new look a lot better.

Ridiculous:

Nadda!

The Matches:

Chavo Guerrero defeated Rey Mysterio @ 11:04 via pin **

ECW Title Match: The Big Show defeated Sabu @ 8:36 via pin ¼* Trash of the night.

Legend vs. Legend Killer: Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Orton @ 11:00 via pin *

I QUIT Match: Ric Flair defeated Mick Foley @ 13:30 via Foley Quitting ***¾

World Title Match: Batista defeated King Booker @ 10:30 via DQ *½

DX defeated The McMahon’s @ 19:21 via pin **

WWE Title Match: Edge defeated John Cena @ 15:45 via pin **** Match of the Night.

The Right:

I QUIT! – So here it was, MY reason to order Summerslam. I have never hid the fact that I am a Foley and Flair fan, I am proud of that. I think that they are two of the greatest promo men in the history of the business and I have more of them on tape and DVD than any other wrestler. Back when they had their backstage issues over their books and it was determined they wouldn’t work together I was saddened. In Foley’s shoot interview he did say he would still work with Flair for an apology and the right amount of money. He was honest, and was also honest when he stated that some of Flair’s matches were the greatest he has ever seen. Flair probably doesn’t think of Foley as highly but they put things aside and we got this feud. It started out of nowhere with a cold build and the first encounter was really just to further the angle. But after that, the build was tremendous as they cut some awesome, emotionally charged promos and had some fun little brawls. I was personally sold on this match and if I were not recapping these shows and buying them based off of the matches presented, this would have been my sole reason for purchasing the show, no doubt about it.

In the end this was a brutal display, and while it was a spectacle to be sure I don’t think that it was the classic some are making it out to be. Don’t get me wrong, seeing Foley dish it out for once was a really nice treat. It is funny, because it was reported BOTH men wanted to lose. Flair is of the thought that he needs to put all of the younger guys over at this point in his career, and Foley had full creative control and had so much respect for Flair that he wanted to put him over in a big time match. Its hearing things like that that makes the respect I have for these guys grow even more. Watching Flair bloody, covered in tacks and getting ripped up by barbed wire was either cool in a way or really saddening. I haven’t decided on that yet because I really don’t want Flair to die. I will say that they did everything they promised in this match and came up with a finish that protected Foley and helped to give Flair back some oomph in my opinion. The closing visual of Flair wielding a barbed wire bat threatening to “kill that bitch” while Foley gave up was crazy. After the match Melina even wiped blood off of Foley’s face and was truly concerned. After weeks of killer promos and the promised blood and brutality, I came away satisfied.

Edge vs. Cena – So finally we got to the MAIN EVENT, and yes this should have been the main event. Not the snooze-fest that was Orton vs. Hogan or the McMahon Fellatio hour, the WWE Title match kids. I must say that Edge and Cena have some great chemistry together and this was our match of the night. They got a solid 15-minutes to work together, which seemed just about perfect for what they wanted to do. I am a fan of title matches getting a lot of time, but sometimes that leads to things feeling like they are lasting too long and you lose the effect you are attempting to build to. In this case it all worked well as the teased the ending several times in which you could believe it, but it didn’t end. Edge and Lita worked the stipulation so well as Edge was great in begging off of Lita so she would not cost him the match. I wasn’t excited about the match going in, but when it was done I was pleasantly surprised. Way more than I thought they would give us.

The only thing I HATED was the finish of the match. The finish was almost the same as the Batista vs. Booker match. In that match Sharmell ran in and jumped onto Batista causing the DQ. In this match, Lita ran in and jumped on top of the FU try. Now some are arguing the whole, “Lita came in but actually did no damage, so it wasn’t a DQ offense.” I think that is bullshit. It looked almost exactly the same, and once again it came down to selective rules and lack of continuity. Edge used knux and got away with the win. In my opinion that hurt all of the great character work they did through out the match where Edge would beg Lita not to get involved, and in all honesty that took a little away for me. I just wish occasionally a heel could get a clean win, but I guess I am hoping for too much. Still a great match though and I really enjoyed it.

The wRong:

This is a common bitch of mine… – And that is of Titles not defended at the major shows. I am sure someone will email me some garbage and tell me how Summerslam was loaded, and that is fine. If you liked it, rock on with your bad self but it is something I believe in. In all honesty, it annoys me when this show, supposedly one of the “big four” PPV’s and seen by many as the #2 WWE PPV of the year isn’t a “showcase” PPV. Using Hulk Hogan for the show is a desperate move in my opinion and just proves that they haven’t built up any of the secondary titles. They crown a #1 contender for the IC title and don’t have the match on PPV, just throw it away on Raw. They have Lashley come back and waste a match on Smackdown with Finlay. Once again, these titles, in theory, have a rich history and they are treated like trash and not even considered for this show. Both tag ranks are in shambles right now and there isn’t even an attempt to fix them. Why not make a special match for Summerslam every year where the SD and Raw tag champs battle in a non-title match for a trophy. It would be bragging rights and add something special to the show every year. Hell they could do that with the IC and US title guys as well. SOMETHING. Hell, make it a 6-man match for all I care just make an effort to make something special and important. Name it the Vince Sr. memorial Cup or some shit, SOMETHING. And I guess I shouldn’t even worry about the Cruiser and Women’s title, those divisions suck as well. Instead they are worried about Raw, Hogan, Vince, Shane, and DX. I find this to be pathetic and lazy booking by the E here, and nothing will change my mind of that.

Booker vs. Batista – First of all this match had to go on 5th, why? Because of the McMahon fellatio hour! This is one of the “big three” titles for the company, in theory I suppose, but it once again has gotten the shaft like the entire Smackdown brand has compared to Raw. So we have the match and to make a long complaint shirt, it was nothing more than a below average Smackdown main event with the cheesy DQ in the end, which I expected but didn’t like one bit. But that wasn’t the worst part. Booker retains and of course Big Dave has to get his beat down on. Accept for the fact that he almost dropped Booker on his head! They only went 10-minutes and after the match he was so blown up that he couldn’t get Booker up for the bomb. Now I will agree that Booker is no small man, but this is not the first time this has happened since his return. He almost dropped Kennedy…Kennedy on his head at the Great American Bash. Seriously, if he is having strength issues due to coming off of the injury then he needs to change his finish. Also, the man is going to blow out a knee. Have you watched him execute the move lately? He doesn’t do a full sit out, he like, crumbles down and looks like his leg will blow out at anytime. It is just scary looking and not safe. Or maybe, just maybe it is a conditioning issue because I will admit he looked blown up. What ever it is, something needs to change and change soon or someone will get hurt I fear.

Now playing the part of Lex Luger, Randy Orton…BROTHER! – So here it was, Legend vs. Legend Killer, Creative Control vs. Captain Charismaless. The match that nobody wanted but encouraged it anyway. This was a match that we knew wouldn’t be any good dude to the fact that Hogan is falling apart and that Orton is no Shawn Michaels. But the match happened anyway and well, it blew basically. I have been reading that “This wasn’t bad” or “Considering Hogan’s limitations this was a really good match.” Well, opinion is great because everyone has one, but I thought just the opposite. I didn’t enjoy it, it felt like it lasted forever and it did NOTHING for Orton in the long run. He failed.

But you know, Hulk was magnanimous in his victory kids. I mean, he took the RKO and let Randy get a faux visual pin on him, while he has the ropes. It’s a good thing he did that so the kid got the rub. But it was just Hogan’s game, “his” way of saying he did the right thing for business. The thing is this. In 2006 a win over Hulk Hogan helps, it can really help your career. But the funny thing is that a loss, a loss can hurt your career more than you can imagine unless you happen to be Shawn Michaels. Randy Orton did not give a Shawn Michaels performance, nor did he have the opportunity to do so. He had to go in there with a man that can barely walk, sell everything like death and in the end put him over CLEAN. And not just clean guys, he took the big boot and then had to LAY THERE for well over a minute while Hogan pandered to the crowd. Orton was made to look SO weak there. And then he had to eat the leg drop and pin. He didn’t even get to kick out after laying there and look strong, no way kids, he did the jizzob for Hulk-a-mania.

But once again, this is all a symptom of a bigger problem. Orton’s career continues to be sabotaged; whether they are doing it intentionally or not, I am not sure but it sure the hell looks like it. Go back to the title win and separation from Evolution. The quick face turn was a bad move, and it showed as crowds weren’t that into him once he was the happy go lucky face. We go from there to the Undertaker feud. He has to lose at WrestleMania due to his injury, comes back and feuds with Taker only to repeatedly lose. When he did win, he needed his daddy to do it. He then has the hell in a cell match and loses there as well. Now he gets the Hogan feud, and loses again. It seems like he is suffering from the Lex Luger disease. He has a good look, good athletic ability but when it comes to crunch time, he never wins the big one. In the end, the legend killer gimmick isn’t fitting anymore since he really isn’t killing off legends anymore. He is more like the legend maimer.

The Ridiculous:

So Summerslam is a Raw PPV now? – So hey, I didn’t know that they made Summerslam a Raw PPV! Oh come on, you guys know it; Raw is the only show worth pushing. There was ONE ECW match, TWO Smackdown matches and FOUR Raw matches on this show. What a bunch of shit. I can understand ECW only getting one match. With only one hour and only 8-9 shows so far they haven’t build many feuds. So having their main title defended is a good deal. But why does Raw always get the golden child treatment? Oh wait, I forgot, it is not only the “A” show, but Vince is on it! Lord knows that we HAD to have the McMahon fellatio hour on in the Semi-Main spot and get nearly 20-minutes because they were fucking advertised like they were the main event over most of the cable systems. Sure, fuck Batista and Booker and Edge and Cena, you know, the TITLE matches; they are nothing compared to DX and the McMahon’s! But yes, Raw had to get the majority of the time because of the McMahon Fellatio hour and Old and Brittle getting another win he doesn’t need. Take that shit off of the show, keep the WWE Title and I QUIT matches and then you know, maybe if you would have built your mid-card and all you COULD have had a hot IC title match, or some kind of special match like I mentioned above. Then we could have given Smackdown another match to try and even things out. But I know that this is asking too much to try and book evenly and all, most likely I am just talking to a wall. I guess I will sit here and worry about the product for the McMahon’s while the others sit around and complain that I am an asshole because I didn’t love the show. But the fact is while I get these emails, no one ever explains WHY the show was so good, they just say it is. At least I defend my points with fact.

They aren’t even trying… – To pretend ECW is important folks. Since we HAD to have the McMahon fellatio hour on in the Semi-Main spot and get nearly 20-minutes, this TITLE match, the ONLY title from that brand and their TOP title got relegated to 2nd on the card. That is sad kids, just sad. Seriously, can we just pretend that ECW and the title is important? It’s ok to pretend still right? And then there was the match itself. Damn, that just wasn’t pretty at all. It wasn’t horrible yet not good either. And man, is Sabu afraid all the sudden. It is like every springboard is jump, ropes, bounce, look, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it…JUMP! Now trust me I was not expecting a wrestling classic from Show and Sabu, but I thought with all of the gimmicks ad Show throwing Sabu through shit that it would be fun and all. In the end it just came off as very sloppy, thrown together and not feeling important. And really, that is sad.

The Ri-GOD-DAMN-diculous:

DX vs. McMahons = Burying Talent – Where to begin, where to begin. When Vince and Shane said that they had “resources” that they would use, I had a fear that it would end up badly for the resources, with the booking of the feud virtually no one has been allowed to look good accept for Umaga. So DX is in the ring and Vince and Shane begin to make their way out, but they stop and decide they need to use some resources. Enter the Spirit Squad. They run to the ring, charge and all get an ass whooping within 20-seconds. They didn’t get one offensive move on DX and it just continued their burial. So Vince and Shane tease coming to the ring again, but stop. This time Regal, Finlay and Kennedy…Kennedy come to the ring. Now while not completely jobbed like the SS, they did relatively nothing of note and were tossed aside until Vince and Shane called out the Big Show. When Show came to the ring, the four of them got the advantage on DX and beat them down, including putting HHH through an announce table. What is sad when you think about it is this. Outside of King Booker, Regal, Finlay and Kennedy…Kennedy are three of Smackdown’s top heels. But they basically didn’t do much until Show came out. Sad.

So then there was the match itself, which I suppose was fine all thing s being that the McMahon’s aren’t wrestlers and they beat on HBK the entire time as HHH made a bed with the remnants of the ECW announce table and took a nap. There was a point in the match where Vince and Shane did their tribute to 80’s tag teams, as the busted out the Demolition Demolisher, the Hart Attack and finally the Doomsday Device; and of course Vince played the “power man” for all of the spots. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point. Now this is a recurring theme, but I hated the fact that we just HAD to have the McMahon fellatio hour on in the Semi-Main spot and that it got nearly 20-minutes because they were fucking advertised like they were the main event over most of the cable systems. Some may find this all entertaining but I didn’t.

And then, then there was the finish to the match, which should insult every person on this roster. Not only does Vince get to go toe to toe with former multiple-time World Champions, oh no, oh FN no, he has to be protected and get a MONSTER finish done to him. Besides the beating of the match, the finish saw Vince taking a trashcan shot, superkick and THEN a pedigree. And it isn’t like he took the can shot and fell to the ground and they picked him back up so that HBK could superkick him and then pick his dead carcass up for a pedigree. No, he stayed up for all of this like he was a superman or some shit. No, just FN no. He is a 60-year old man not a wrestler. That is just such bullshit, and the fact that it took that much to beat HIM makes the rest of the roster that lost look like SHIT in my opinion. Add this to everything else and not only did this match not need to happen, but it did a hell of a job of making the rest of the talent look shitty. This was just a tremendous burial in my opinion, in the worst of ways.

Exploiting Eddie Even more – Yeah, I am going to discuss this again. This…this kind of thing makes me not want to watch a show. I just have issues with a match that is happening because the nephew of a dead wrestler is pissed that the friend of a dead wrestler are mad at each other and are going to fight, while the widow of the dead wrestler is trying to break it up and stop things while a crowd of people chant her dead husband’s name. Seriously, am I one of the few that have a problem with this? At times I feel as if I am, and I guess that is ok but part of me is saddened when people think this kind of thing is ok. The one thing positive I will say is that the match was “OK” but what I really loved was that the crowd started to hate everyone involved in this match. They booed when they did the Eddie spots. Maybe, just maybe the fans are having enough of it. Maybe they will become apathetic towards it and stop any kind of cheering. Maybe, just maybe they will get so fed up that they will turn to silence to show that they are against it. I doubt it but it would be great. But yes, I still hate this angle and I always will I feel. In closing, fuck everyone involved.

Closing Thoughts:

I suppose that if you just look at this show in a bubble, in it’s own little world, it is a fine show. But in reality the show doesn’t exist in a bubble, it is part of the WWE world and in the reality of my world that world has a lot of problems. Relying on Hogan while knowing he is going to go over a talent you have been trying to groom, exploiting a man who has died 9-months ago while getting his nephew, best friend and wife to all go along with it, the owner, son and son in law and his best friend working in the semi-main and burying talent left and right to get themselves and a feud no one cares about over are just some of the problems. I have always said that this column is more about what is right for business than what I like, but in this case they go together this time. I just can’t it back and recommend the show with all I wrote above. I will give the show a 4 out of 10 and recommendation to stay away from it unless you are a devout follower of “McMahonism.”