The Best of the Rest 1.31.08: Rumble Review, ROH Cutbacks and More

Royal Rumble Review

Ric Flair Vs. MVP:
Sloppy opener but what can you really expect from Flair these days? I thought that MVP worked hard though and deserves some props. The flow of the match didn’t make much sense, Flair gets dominated then locks on a figure four and its over. Someone needs to teach MVP that all you have to do in a figure four is roll over, it reverses the pressure and some how it makes the move 10976 times more painful.

JBL Vs. Jericho:
This match was doomed from the second they locked up. The way this match was built was on bitterness and hate. There should have not been one lock up in the entire match, it doesn’t go along with the feud. Jeri should have rushed JBL before he took off his hat and started swinging. A wild brawl was what I expect, but I got a decent wrestling match. A good effort by both men, but this wasn’t the match it should have been. Props to Jeri for the wicked juicin’.’

Edge Vs. Rey Mysterio:
I was in a state of too much shock due to the storyline surrounding this match to even be aware of what was going on (More on that below). Rey was sloppy in the beginning but the action picked up and the crowd really seemed to get into it. Ending went as I had thought it would… HEEL TACTICS!!!!!! I enjoyed the mid-air spear.

Randy Orton Vs. Jeff Hardy:
Now how did I say this was going to go?
“Hardy nearly kills himself to win but Orton eventually gets the W, clean. After the match Hardy gets the traditional standing O’ for effort.”
Oh yeah, exactly how it went! Hey, I’m not right much so let me gloat. This match was solid, but it didn’t seem like it got enough time. I’m not disappointed though as I really enjoyed it. Scary moment when Orton banged the back of his head against the guard wall on the outside of the ring. I though he was out. He didn’t seem dazed by it as he and Jeff went on and did some good work. The ending was sudden but nice. It was well booked in the sense that it made the RKO looks so versatile and devastating. Ah, Orton looks good but with Cena back in the picture does it really matter?

The Royal Rumble Match:
A solid Rumble match with a good beginning with Taker and Shawn. Santino getting knocked out right away was quite entertaining. This year didn’t feature any really dominant wrestlers, but that didn’t hurt it. I enjoyed hearing the “you can’t wrestle” chant directed at Khali, someone in the E should take note that he is NOT over. The face off between Piper and Snuka was BRILLIANT! Snuka just wants payback for the coconut incident. I was confused and frustrated with the fact that Chavo, the ECW champion, was in the Rumble match. That little act made ECW look horrible. Anyone remember last year when Taker contemplated using his Rumble win to challenge for the ECW title at ‘Mania? Apparently the E thinks no one does. Moving along and then bam! Number 30! John Cena is back! What it surprising? Hell yes. He comes in and 5 minuets later all the buildup for the Rumble and the wrestlers involved is erased. Now Cena is going use his title shot at No Way Out, beat Randy Orton, and wrestle Triple H (again) at WrestleMania. Wow. I don’t hate John Cena, just the idea of him, and its not like I’m alone, people were booing at the Rumble. I understand the kids love him and he sells merch, but everything was going so well. There was a solid new champ slowly building a good reign, wrestling fresh faces who hadn’t challenged for the belt in a while, having great matches. And the mid-card had some solid stuff going on. Now get ready to go back to exactly how things were a year ago. All John Cena all the time. Now we just gotta get DX back for good and we’re set. Just to clarify, I’m not putting down the Rumble match or Cena’s return. It was a great surprise and made for a good moment, I’m just dreading the long-term effects of it.

Random Ranting

Edge-Vicky Guerrero Storyline:
Now it’s very rare (never) that I watch SmackDown, so PPV’s are my chance to catch up on what is going on Friday nights. So imagine my shock when watching the pre-show for the Rumble this past Sunday with my buddies and fellow Triple Threater’s Zach and David they began running the hype videos for Edge Vs. Rey. I literally sat there with mouth wide open in disbelief and disgust when I saw what was going on with Edge and Vicky Guererro being “in love” and Chavo being their lackey and what not. When no one else responded in kind I had to have them explain it to me, because they were all aware of it. These days I am very seldom surprise with how low the E goes with some of their angles and characters but this one was enough for me to make note of. It doesn’t really reflect poorly on the E, as this isn’t really new but I think it speaks to what kind of human being Adam Copeland, Vicky Guererro, Chavo Guererro, and even Rey Mysterio is for having part in that. For “Edge,” someone who called Eddie a hero, Chavo his nephew, Rey who was incredibly close to Eddie, and his fuckin’ wife to take part in a storyline like this that is seen by millions (including Eddie’s children) is proof that Ted DiBiase was right and that some wrestler’s still believe that you have to submit all of your pride and dignity to be on top. I welcome any arguments against what I’m saying.

ROH Financial Cutbacks
I’ve been waiting to hear some news like this. ROH is doing great for themselves but I’ve always thought that there was no way they can keep up financially with the things they have been doing. With their traveling to Vegas, LA, etc. and bringing in the likes of Misawa and other Japanese wrestlers on a regular basis I’m sure more was going out than was coming in. Fortunately, they are smart in the sense that they are going to correct the problem before they become the next ECW.

The Stoppage:

UFC 81: Breaking Point comes our way this Saturday. On the night before the Super Bowl, Brock Lesnar will make his highly anticipated UFC debut against former heavyweight champ, and one of my personal favorite’s, Frank Mir. Not only that but the UFC will have a new interim heavyweight champion when Tim “The Sloth” Sylvia will more than likely beat Big Nog because this world likes to punish me for no reason. The card also features a fight that I am looking forward to in Jeremy Horn Vs. Nate Marquardt, this should be a great ground battle. Let’s take a deeper look at the two main fights.

Tim Sylvia Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira:
What should have been Randy Couture Vs. Big Nog has now been altered slightly. Now instead of the fight being for THE UFC heavyweight championship, it is for the Interim UFC heavyweight championship. And instead of fight Couture, Nog is now fighting the former champ Tim Sylvia. I’m still confused of how a decision win over a non-ranked fighter equals a title shot but hey, the heavyweight division in the UFC is like a very shallow pool currently. I can’t see the styles of these two coming together to make an unbelievably exciting fight, so I’m not to optimistic about the quality of this fight. I’ll be pulling for Nog, but my gut is telling me that Sylvia will win. More or less because no one wants to see him win, well maybe the 7 fans he has left.

Frank Mir Vs. Brock Lesnar:
HUGE fight for both men, but I really think this Frank Mir biggest fight since his title shot. Since his accident he has gone 2-2 in the UFC and really stumbled upon his return. If he wants to get back into that upper-tier of title contention where he can break Tim Sylvia’s arm again, a win here in imperative. Mir looked phenomenal in his last fight against Antoni Hardonk, Mir put on a clinic. Seriously, the fight resembled a ju jitsu display in a class somewhere. So judging from that fight, Mir looks to be back. Now what did we learn from Brock Lesnar’s first/last MMA fight? Min Soo Kim belongs no where near MMA, that’s what we learned. Lesnar showed strength, that’s all. Other than wrestling I’m not sure what we can expect. He’s looking to tear Mir’s head off that’s for sure. But Mir is looking to spoil Brock’s arrival just like he did Tank’s return. Mir was thought to have been fed to the lions in that fight but ended up making Abbott look like a fool, submitting him in less than a minute. This fight is basically Lesnar’s first MMA fight and I’m not sure if he is ready for someone with the submission skills of Frank Mir. I see this fight coming as a loss but a learning experience for Brock, as he will be a force in MMA one day.

And as for my other UFC 81 Predictions…
Jeremy Horn Vs. Nate Marquardt
Ricardo Almeida Vs. Alan Belcher
Gleison Tibau Vs. Tyson Griffin
Chris Lytle Vs. Kyle Bradley
Marvin Eastman Vs. Terry Martin
David Heath Vs. Tim Boetsch
Keita Nakamura Vs. Rob Emerson

Now I kicked some serious ass with my Ultimate Fight Night predictions coming out with 8 out of 9, let’s see how I do with this set.

That’s it for me this week. Everyone enjoy the SuperBowl as well as UFC 81.

*This Week’s YouTube Sendoff*

Feedback, as always, is welcome at [email protected] or directly below with the comment back.