| From WorldWrestlingInsanity.com JG's Raw Insanity
Titan Tower Auditorium... John Bradshaw Layfield: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, illegal aliens and unwed mothers, welcome to the 2008 Democratic Debates sponsored by World Wrestling Entertainment. My name is John Bradshaw Layfield and we're here with our top three prospective candidates for the communist…er, uh Democratic party nomination. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to…the White Guy, the Black Guy, and the Crying Lady! Everyone sits in stunned silence. JBL: Sorry. That sounded less offensive in my head. It's Bill Clinton's disgraced wife, Hillary, John "Not The Talking To Dead People Guy" Edwards, and Obama Bin Liberal himself - Barack Obama. Welcome to all you bleeding heart douches and douchettes. It's a pleasure to have you on. John Edwards: Is this whole debate going to be like this? JBL: (seething and screaming) No! Not at all, John! I'm sure it'll be different when I stick a bar of soap in your mouth sideways and wash it down with Wild Turkey! NOW SHUT UP!
JBL regains his composure. JBL: Ahem. Okay. Tonight's debate will feature a WWE panel of superstars. Each one will be allowed to ask one of our candidates a question. Up first, from ECW Wrestling - Big Daddy V. Big Daddy V: (to the candidates) Hello little people. All three mumble back a confused "hello." BDV: Senator Obama. My question is to you. Barack Obama: Okay. Go right ahead. BDV: What is your stance on Double Stuffed Oreos? Obama: Yes. I, um…I do. I do eat them. BDV: (ignoring the speech and looking down the stage) Do any of you have Oreos? All candidates shake their heads no.
JBL: Right. Thanks for that. Now for our next question, I turn the microphone over to Jillian Hall from WWE Raw. Jillian, go ahead. Jillian Hall: Yes. My question is for Mrs. Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, you won the New Hampshire primary. Hillary: Yes, Jillian, I did. Jill: Right. Now what exactly is that? Hillary: Well, a primary is when people come out and help choose their party's nominee for president. Jill: Oh. Yeah. No. I meant the other part. The new thing. Hillary: New Hampshire? Hillary: It's a state, my dear. Jill: Oh. You mean like Texas or Denver. Hillary: Actually, Denver is a… Jill: Omelet? Hillary: (amazed) Yes, it is that too. But Denver is actually a city and not…ah, screw it. Yes. It's a state just like Texas or Denver. Jill: Yay! No furrier questions, your honor. The defense rests! Edwards: Is this for real? JBL: Boy, you're gonna keep sassing me and make me hang you from the ceiling lights with my belt. No wonder John Kerry didn't endorse your grinning ass! JBL: Now, the next speaker comes from Smackdown. Please welcome the World's Heavyweight Champion and fine Canadian…Edge! Edge: (smiling slyly) Hello candidates. He pauses and looks at one particular candidate. Hillary: Hello. Edge: No. (big smile) In my mouth.
JBL: What the...?! Thank you, Edge. Glad you could creep us all out a bit. Geez! Now, for our final question tonight, we turn to the Distinguished Italian Gentleman from Raw, Mr. Santino Marella. Santino Marella: Grazi. Grazi. Thank you. Hello. Hello. Oh. So sad. (mocking sad face) So sad Mr. Edwards Scissorhands. You no win nothing. Everyone say - awwww. We all. Come on. We say awwww. Edwards: Is this a question? Hillary: I'm Hillary Clinton. Santino: Shut you mouth you talk to me, Sally Jesse Raphael. I no work for you. You are married to George Clinton. I know you. I know you. This brings me to Brock Osama who now want to wrestle in the UFC. Obama: It's Barack Obama. Santino: You like wrestle in Ultimate Fighting, Osama Brock. Barbaric! Not like my Maria! Not like'a my Maria! Obama: I have no idea what you're talking about. Was that a sentence? Santino: This whole'a thing is a big'a fairy tale! Back to you, Bradshaw John. Waka-waka-waka! JBL: That was the final question. So, now we pick a winner. So I say….um. I pick George W. Bush. How's that, Tree Huggers? Four more years! Four more years! YEE-HAW! For all of us here to all of you out there, this is JBL signing off from the Democratic National Debates - home of the whiners! Don't forget to join us here next Monday for our WWE Moderated…Republican National Debate! See ya then. Yaba-daba doo!
Just posted today! The interview that everyone will be talking about...
In this Rare 27 Minute Uncut ClubWWI.com Shoot, James Guttman and Mae Young discuss: The Shocking Person Stephanie McMahon Promised She Could Wrestle On Her 100th Birthday, Giving Birth To Mark Henry's Hand, Being Put Through A Table By The Dudleys, Stripping At The Royal Rumble, Being Complimented By Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Training Moolah, Her Final Moments With Her, Maria, Today's Divas, Eric Bischoff's Bronco Buster, and More! This is a shoot that's 100 episodes overdue. Now, just in time for our 100th episode, Mae Young has finally joined The Club.
Also..
Today's topics include the return of the Big Show, the status of Chris Harris, drug testing in both WWE and TNA, the "next big thing" in ROH, and then ZAH completely goes off on a surprise topic you won't want to miss.
In an explicit and frank audio, Mike Rickard looks back at Tuesday's ECW show. Also, should ECW change its name to reflect its new direction? A look at Eric Bischoff's criticism of the dirtsheets and Rickard's opinion on how the sheets and "newz" sites have shot themselves in the foot.
James Guttman Audio Report
Celeb-reality, Non-Celebs, Brutus "Not Dead" Beefcake, One Night Getting Rejected From Clubs With Chyna, Listener Question, Booker T's Spot in TNA, The Royal Rumble, Foley's Follies, The Evolution of Viscera, and More
Plus...
ClubWWI.com features uncut shoot interviews with over 100 of wrestling's top names.
Last week, Jeff Hardy kicked some arse. Reck'a'nize.
Howdy doodies! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler have been kissing all the girls and - whoo- makin' 'em cry. Speaking of which, the Nature Boy is in action tonight. Slick Ric Flair takes on Lord William Regal. Can Naitch hold on to his career or will he…um, let go of his career? We'll find out. When? Soon. But first…
It's Jeff Hardy in a hot pink belt. (JG Note: I think someone got a gift certificate for "Hot Topic" this Christmas) The Hardy Boy is back to rainbowing up his hair and has something to say. Mic in hand, Jeff lays it down.
I wish they'd let Jeff ad-lib a bit more. His delivery of some lines reminds me of Mitch Hedberg's act. They have a similar delivery. The challenge ends with a request that Randy Orton show his face. Come out here, Champ! Answer the challenge. This leads to the theme music that leads to the man himself. Randy arrives.
Hardy agrees, but for his own reason. Tonight is his chance to take Cowboy Bob's baby boy out for good. Randall is happy about all of this except for one thing. Alas, Punky. You have no more brothers for Mr. RKO to kick in the head. That would have made this night so much more fun for Dandy Randy and his Happy Feet. Bam! Oh. Snap. Snap. No he di'in't! 1. Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, and Melina defeated Mickie James, Maria, and Ashley when Beth pinned Mickie. The Divas are WWE's X-Division. There's one or two storylines, but for the most part, they just do big group matches. As Jillian Hall made her way to the ring, Jerry Lawler in his snazzy crown shirt reminded fans of her fondness for Britney Spears. He also reminded us to go to WWE's website to see what the superstars had to say about Britney's meltdown. H e sums it all up with the thought that if Brit was an Amazon, she'd have less trouble with Paparazzi. Pretty deep stuff. As for the match, the fans had a tough time getting into this one at first, but kicked in when Mickie James in her "citrus attire" entered the fray to take on Beth Phoenix. The two women battled until their partners joined in the fight causing, as J.R. called it, "divalicious" action. Unfortunately for Mickie, that momentum was short-lived. The Glamazon nailed her with the Fisherman's Suplex and a pinfall. Slam. You can count to 100. But, you know - don’t. Just count to three. If you count to 100. You'll miss the Vince McMahon segment. With a look of disdain, Vince McMahon stares into William Regal's tan face backstage. He tells Regal to get the job done against Ric Flair tonight. William assures him that it could happen. He'll do what men like Triple H and "Umanga" could not. He will end the Nature Boy's reign of sweaty terror in a most unflattering way. McMahon likes what he hears and has something fun to share. It's a gift. It's an…enema. I kid you not. Enema. After all, if you were to give the United States an enema, you'd stick the hose in "Mobile, Alabama." (JG Note: I thought it was Pittsburgh. Why do you lie, Bret? Why, Bret, why?) One things makes Vinnie Mac happy. At least tonight's show won't be in HD. If it were, you'd get a good close look at things like…
Snitsky. He's here and - wow - gross. Sweating from every pore imaginable, Gene gives his request.
"I don't care about HD. All I care about is hurting people. I've been waiting paitently for my chance. I'm sick of waiting. I want to make an impact."
VKM offers to take Snitsky's challenge under advisement. But wait….eff dat. Screw advisement. You got it, Graizey. You want a match? It's on. You and Triple H. Tonight. Do it up! Snitty leaves and Mac turns back around to William. He tells the General Manager to take the magic enema with him tonight. Godspeed, Good Sir. Godspeed. Last year at the Royal Rumble, Undertaker tossed out Shawn Michaels. (Undertaker Note: There was a guy in sequined chaps in my yard.) Cue up your Shawn Michaels DVDs, kids. HBK is going old school. He's here to complain about tonight's match. Why should Shawnathon have to qualify for the Royal Friggin' Rumble?! He was a runner-up last year. He won the darned thing twice. Yet still, he must qualify. Give me a break, people!
Fine. Whatever. So it has to be, so it is. Michaels has no problem wrestling for his chance at the Double R. In fact, he was going to wrestle Kennedy Kennedy in this ring ring anyway anyway. Since that was set, let's just make a Rumble qualifier. Good? Good. Now…
Hey, Trevor Murdoch. They're cuing you. Come on out. Hey…quick question. I noticed your sideburns. Are you like, Amish? Chickens and butter churning and all that?
2. Shawn Michaels defeated Trevor Murdoch via submission
Trevor Murdoch is here instead of Mr. Kennedy and I have no idea why. It made Shawn look really stupid to challenge one guy and have another one come out. Strange. As for Trev, you have to give him credit. He's in great shape now and given Lance Cade's recent injury, he has a chance to shine on his own. The Boy Toy took some punishment, but ultimately seemed to be the man in control. He came back from the trouncing and attempted a Superkick. Murdoch fell backwards to avoid it and The Heartbreak Kid locked on an inverted Figure Four leglock. Thanks to his new submission hold, the Rocker gets the tap out and becomes the newest entrant into the Royal Rumble.
The victory is short lived as Mr. Kennedy appears above. Up on the Titantron, Kenny has some words of wisdom for Mr. Lothario's baby boy. Peep this, kid.
"I always heard the rumors about how big Shawn Michaels ego is. How he could never ever let anything go. And I guess for the most part every word of those rumors was true,. You just can’t handle the fact Shawn that I beat you. You can't handle the fact that I left you laying the past two weeks. You can't handle the fact that I passed you by; But Shawn, don’t' worry it's all very nature. It's the law of the jungle. F or some reason your ego can't let it go. You can't handle the fact that somebody proved their better than you. Sop now You gone ahead and issued a challenge to face me next week. Well, Shawn, I don’t' think I have anything left to prove to you. But I'll tell you what, Out of the kindness of my heart. For the respect I have for all your contributions to this business, I'm gonna give you one more day in the sun. Hell, I need a warm up match for the Royal Rumble anyway. So, Shawn, next week, I'm gonna give you your last great moment in this business when you step in the ring with the future - No. No. Check that. I know, the present and the future of sports entertainment. Mr. Kennedy."
You know how you might throw the remote or a video game controller when you get mad? Well, Shawn Michaels kicks people in the face. That's what he does. In this case, it was Trevor Murdoch who ate the Heartbreak Boot just as he got to his feet. Hyahh! I wish I could do that and not go to jail. Just kick people in the face at the supermarket and stuff. Ah WWE rulebook. How I wish you were real laws.
Still To Come: Ric Flair vs. William Regal. If Regal wins, Ric Flair is executed. Then, it's time for "John Bradshaw Layfield's Second Coming." If that doesn't sound like some sort of whacked out porno, I don't know what does.
Commercial Break. E tu, He-Man? Video of Title vs. Title Wrestle Mania 6 Match between Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior. The attendance was 67,000, but Warrior considers the number to be much less because he doesn't count gay people. Only two people have done it, kids. Can Jeff Hardy be the third? Can he hold the Intercontinental Title and WWE Title at once. We'll find out…tonight. After running down the Royal Rumble, we head to a Mr. McMahon and his little buddy. Mr. Kennedy …and then Mankind… …and then Batista… …and maybe a surprise or two… Yikes, huh? Good news though. If you're successful tonight, you could possible win the Rumble itself. Then, it would be on to WrestleMania's main event. That would be awesome, wouldn't it? (JG Note: Oh God no.) But first, you need to focus and win tonight. Seems unlikely? Well.. AHHH! Vincent goes nuts! He grabs hold of the little guy's throat and pushes him back against the couch. "Your last name is McMahon! Anything can happen! Don't forget it." Tina! Bring me the ax! After witnessing this insane act of leprechaun abuse, we go to a comforting shot of Triple H walking. Oh Hunter…take us away! After the break! Yay!
Still to come: Five Man Royal Rumble: Mankind, Hornswoggle, Ken Kennedy, and Batista. Say what you want, but that's a pretty stacked lineup. (JG Note: I wrote this part in real time. I'm kinda embarrassed that I expected anything.)
Did you see my water?
Yeah. He needed it for the entrance.
Dude…I put GHB in there!
3. Triple H and Snitsky fought to a Double Countout
Jim Ross said this would not be like a Flair-Steamboat classic. Yeah. I'd say that Gene Snitsky is probably the anti-Ricky Steamboat. If there was an opposite for Ricky Steamboat, it would definitely be Snitsky. Regardless, he has a ton of potential for a giant. I know a lot of people have issues with his wrestling, but his strong point is his monster-like quality. He has a sick entrance and looks like a yellow-teethed younger Kane. I definitely think he'll be a break out star at some point, but I can't imagine it'll be in his current incarnation. Maybe he needs a mask. Who knows. Make him the crazy cousin of Kane and Undertaker and call him "Fire Head" or whatever. It would be better than having the gimmick of being greasy. He reminds me of Stone Cold Steve Austin after a nuclear meltdown. During the match, Mutant Stone Cold utilized his power on the Game early on and locked in a solid bear hug for around seven hours. That didn't stop the King of Kings though. He bounced back and hit a DDT. After a face buster and a "Double A version of the spine buster," Trips looked ready to lock in the Pedigree, but was back dropped over the top and to the floor. With The Hunter on the outside, Gene-o went to town. This was what he was waiting for. The chance to…you know, smash Helmsley in the head with the ring steps. Unfortunately, while he set up this big and ultimately failed attack, Snits found both he and his opponent counted out.
That's right. Snits eventually missed his chance to smoosh the Cerebral Assasin's cerebral cortex, when he moved out of the way. This ended up costing him much more though. Trippie grabbed his sledgehammer and did his worst. He smashed the Baby Punter in his ribs with it and followed up with a Pedigree. Bow down to the Game and how you play it, son. As Triple walks out, the giant head of Vince McMahon appears on the Titan Tron. He has some things to say. "You've become more angry and more violent every week just because you're not in the Royal Rumble match. I'd advice you to calm down. I'd advise you to take a chill pill. I advise you to loo…" SHUT UP! SHUT UP! THEY'RE ALL GONNA LAUGH AT YOU! THEY'RE ALL GONNA LAUGH AT YOU! We're all so sorry, Cassy. THEY'RE ALL GONNA LAUGH AT YOU! AHHH! Triple H goes all Nutrageous on us. He swings his sledgehammer at the top-of-the-ramp Titantron screen and rips a hole in it. Smoke fills the entrance way and Mr. McMahon's video mouth bursts into gimmicked flames. It appears that Hunter has decided to not take a chill pill. He's decided to attack! Take that video technology! The movie screen is dead. Hellooooo, HDTV! Commercial Break. Tom Carvel Voiceovers - the thing that nightmares are made out of. Jim Ross sounds like he's going to cry over the destroyed Titantron. It's gone! Gone! Triple H tore that screen to bits. You can only imagine that Mr. McMahon is losing his cool about it. Well, don't imagine. He is. Backstage, Vince is losing his cool all over the Game. You've been going nuts every week. All because you're not in the Royal Rumble!? What the hell?! Well, fine. You want in? You got it. You're in the Rumble again. Happy, Crybaby Cannon? Well, you'll be in one condition. You have to win your match next week. Do that and you're in like Flynn. (JG Note: Not Jerry Flynn.) It's your one chance, Wethead. Make it count. On the subject of wrestling rules, how cool would it be if you were rewarded by your boss for destroying company property? That would be saaaa-weeeeeet.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding - da-daa-dadada - da-da-da - MOO! - da-daa….
John Bradshaw Layfield is here. He's having a celebration, but you'd never tell from the look on his face. John looks about as comfortable as Britney Spears at Gymboree. Red and black balloons fall around him and he never once cracks a smile. He simply waits for them all to fall from the sky and then says:
"For several months, there was a campaign that someone was going to come save us. Well that savior turned out to be Chris Jericho. Jericho stuck his neck out to save us. How is your neck, Chris? I understand you had a rough week, last week."
Video of JBL beating the hell out of Chris Jericho. Horror movie commercial inspired, It was really well put together and one of WWE's best video packages in a long time.
"Where's your savior now? I'll tell you where he is. He's at home where he should have stayed. He should have never come back. What he realizes is I love power. I love domination. When I was dragging Chris Jericho all over this arena last week, It was as if I was dragging every one of you, that look for Jericho to be your savior. Chris couldn't make it tonight, but I know Chris is watching. So, Chris. Move over because I don't want to talk to you. What I want to talk to are your children. Look at him, kids. Look at him. You see those marks on his neck? You see what I did to your daddy? Your daddy just realized there are people out there who are bigger, that are stronger, and are better. Your daddy, look at him boys. Look at the coward that you call daddy. Your daddy is gutless. Your daddy is spineless. Your daddy had all the fight taken out of him by me. Now Chris, I don't want to make this personal. In fact, I'd like you to look at your kids right now and I'd like you to tell them that I'm just better, I'm just better than you, Chris. Look at your children Chris and tell them that you have given up. Tell them that they're daddy is a coward because Chris, if you come to the Royal Rumble, the savior that you're espousing is going to need saved from me."
This whole thing was done close up and was pretty intense. Without a doubt, Bradshaw is at the top of his class. He's just amazing at playing his role and deserves a ton of respect. With fireworks going off behind him, the Hangman raises his fist and takes his leave.
Tonight: Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton. Also, Hornswoggle takes on Mr. Kennedy, Mankind, and Batista in a mini-Royal Rumble. Commercial Break. Remember this girl? 2002 No Mercy: Triple H defeated Kane to unify the Intercontinental Title and WWE Title. Great job defending Katie Vick's honor, big guy. The arena is on fire or something as we return to the ring. With smoke all over the place from JBL's pyro, even Jerry Lawler has to cough his way through the introduction for the "Mini-Royal Rumble." Up first, it's time for the men who drew numbers one and two. Or, you know, however they decide things for a mini-Rumble. Rock, paper, scissors? Draw straws? Ro-sham-bo? First…Hornswoggle! Second…Mister Kennedy…in midget form! I kid you not. Mini-Royal Rumble means just that. Minis playing the role of their full sized counterparts. The crowd slowly begins to realize that we're not going to see Mankind and Batista. Insert letdown feeling here. Third…Mini-Mankind. Yikes. This thing is pretty brutal. It's actually unselling the Royal Rumble to me. Poor Jim Ross tries to ease our concerns by saying that the real Rumble won't look like this. Geez. I hope not. As far as this thing. Ugh. Talk about overdoing the midget imposter gimmick. Swoggle makes quick work of Mini-Mankind and Mini-Kennedy. He tossed them both out and waited for number four. Fourth…Mini-Batista. "Pretty thick Mini-Batista, isn't it?" Little Deacon Dave did all the trademarked Tista moves but it still didn't save this segment. Fifth…Mini-Kane. He's a midget. Get it? Yeah. It's just like the same joke we've been doing for the last five minutes. I have to wonder where they get such tiny Kane tight from. Is there like a Gap Kids for wrestling tights? To be honest, the little Kane was the best one. He sort of looked like him. He even tried for a choke slam, which got a strange reaction from Horny. He elbowed his way out of it and the timer counted down the next guy. Sixth…regular size Great Khali. You should have been able to figure out that Khali was going to come out. If not, Jerry Lawler oversold it beforehand anyway. He talked about how he couldn't wait to see a mini-Khali! When the Great one came to the ring, he looked ready to do some damage. He stepped into the ring and went after the littlest McMahon….but was stopped by Finlay! Wearing his Irish street clothes, Fit Finlay attacked the Giant and pounded him in the face repeatedly. Further showing his prowess for fighting, Finny then turned his attention to Runjin Singh. He tossed the interpreter from the ring and celebrated with his little friend. Hornswoggle and his mommy stand tall as the giant runs for the Jolly Green hills. 4. Hornswoggle won a Mini-Royal Rumble…I guess. Backstage, Randy Orton is taping his hand onto his arm. He's wrestling soon. Stay tuned. Commercial Break. Ike for president! Ike for president! Next Monday, Raw goes HD. Finlay is backstage with the boss and he's not happy. He grabs Vince McMahon by his collar and accuses him of setting up Hornswoggle tonight. McMahon insists that the fighting Irishman takes his hands down. You want to get a piece of the Great Khali? You got it. You see, The Khali-Flower did all the things he did tonight on his own. Daddy Mac would never approve a beating on his own son. Honest Injun! It was all Khlai. You want to take him out, you do that. You do that on Smackdown. Just don't try to point the finger at Mr. McMahon. He's an innocent man. Come on. Look at the part in his hair. Would he lie? Fit expresses distrust, but accepts the chance to face the Punjabi Superman on Friday Night Slapdown or what-have-you. 5. Ric Flair pinned William Regal with a handful of trunks. William Regal is ten years younger now. Not just in terms of his look, but his attitude. He seems to have much more energy than before and he's relied less on making the "I smell something bad" face. As for Ric Flair, this gimmick is a great thing for him. Every match has his career on the line. It's like having a title or an undefeated streak. There's something there for him to lose which makes his matches mean more. Flair worked great with Regal, as most would expect. The two exchanged offense and saw near falls. Ric locked in a close finishing spot with a Figure Four. William escaped though and tried pulling the trunks for a pinfall…but was caught. As he argued with the referee, Willie was rolled up from behind by Slick Ric, who grabbed a handful of trunks himself, and scored the 1,2,3. Whoo! Score another one for the Dirtiest Player in the Game. Commercial Break. Hey. I live in the 21st century. Where's my Rosie? Next Week: Shawn Michaels vs. Ken Kennedy. Also, Triple H against that big giant black blob with a white question mark on his head. Hey Jeff, you gonna put your belt on the line, right? The Intercontinental belt, right? Not that hot pink thing I hope. 6. Jeff Hardy defeated Randy Orton via disqualification Randy Orton doesn't seem unhappy with this (JG Note: The second match that they pushed and never delivered.) With the house mic in hand, he tells the crowd that the show isn't over. He claims that no one's prepared for what's about to happen. With that, The Legend Killer tosses Jeff to the floor and peels back the black padding. He tries to set up the RKO, but finds himself pushed against the ring. Hardy fights back and both guys end up at the top of the ramp. The IC Champion gets slammed into the Titan Tron set and ends up dazed. He can't do anything but crawl on the floor and try to regain his composure. Randy Orton sees this as a chance. A chance to do what he loves most. Head kicking. He sets him up. He leans back. He runs in. He kicks…. He gets back dropped. Off the ramp and down to the floor, the WWE Champion tumbles. The camera pans back to reveal Orton flat on his back. Just as Randall was unable to deny the allure of a man in perfect position for a head kick, Jeff is unable to deny the allure of a man in crazy bump position. He sees this and begins to climb the set. The same setup that JBL used for hanging, Jeffery is using for climbing. He does. He climbs up high… …and then higher. Then…higher. Referees stand on the floor and plead with him to stop. For some inexplicable reason, they never just roll Randy away from the prone position while Hardy scales the structure. They just stand there and yell, "Please don't jump down!" Needless to say, that doesn't work. The Charismatic Enigma chooses to fly. It's in his blood. He's like Jonathon Livingston's Seagull, only with nail polish. Up, up, and away! Hardy flies down and lands on top of Randy with a Swanton Bomb. The camera angles don't really show the landing, but it's still cool. It lets out a huge "thud" and the show quickly shifts to Grey's Anatomy mode. EMTs rush in with a stretcher. They check both guys to see "if they're breathing." With the announcers silent, all the paramedics strap the superstars in to place. We take another look at both bumps and watch as IRS and Ricky "Anti-Snitsky" Steamboat oversee the medical care. Some escaped TNA fans begin to chant "This is awesome" for some reason. That's pretty heartless, right? They're going to the hospital? That's not awesome for them. As he's wheeled away, Jeff Hardy raises his arm in one final showing of determination. It's a moral victory as we fade to black. All in all…Good show overall, but could have been much better. The mini Royal Rumble was a bad move. Don't hype a great match that you have no plan to deliver. I mean, the proposed Mini-Rumble was awesome. The site of all the minis just sucked the air out of the building. It made no sense to advertise a match you weren't going to deliver. Especially considering… …you did that with the main event. Sure, Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy created a great memory, but they still didn't have a match. Some people take that stuff pretty seriously. If you say they're going to see Hardy vs. Orton, that's what they expect. Not spots. Match. Again, it wouldn't have been such a big thing if they didn't do it with Swoggle's Rumble. I mean, two main reasons to stay tuned to the final half hour and neither one happened. Ric Flair's match happened, which was good. Flair and William Regal worked well together. Nothing classic, but definitely a good moment for Naitch. Although vacant of logic as of now, Triple H's return to the Rumble could be good. It depends who he faces next week and whether it advances the storyline. As of now, he's been rewarded for destroying the Titan Tron, which makes pretty much no sense at all. The night, as a whole, was okay. Raw's been better these past few weeks and tonight fit in fine. The Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy feud is a great battle to build the show around. It doesn't take a ton of TV time to get it over. It's simply the most popular guy they have versus the most hated heel. It's a natural battle and one that people eat up any chance they get. That does it for me. Be sure to check out Mae Young on
ClubWWI.com and stay tuned for more in the next few days. Be Well! WorldWrestlingInsanity.com is not
affiliated with any wrestling promotion. |
