Edge entry got a big pop in the theatre. Interesting how his winning will play out as the revenge angle vs Jericho seems to be off unless there are a couple Celebrity GM spots where Michaels wins the WM match. Maybe Jericho screws Edge out of the title spot for HBK to take it which will heat up the Jericho/Edge match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thumbs in the Middle. Best Match: Orton vs Sheamus Worst Match: The womens title segment. Overall the show wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fantastic either, it was pretty much middle of the road throughout the whole thing, which for WWE as of late is better than usual. Nothing on the show was offensively bad, except for the drawn out womens title segment, but the biggest gripe I had was with all the even steven booking. Why can't one guy go over clean and have that be the end of it? Orton vs Sheamus, I felt, was the best match on the show, it was psychologically sound, which is rare for a WWE match these days, but the DQ finish hurt it overall. The Rumble itself was better then the last few years, but it still felt very predictable, and it felt more like an extended battle royal rather than the unique matchup it was in the past. Guy A comes in, hits all his big spots and then brawls in the corner until the next guy comes out, rinse, later, repeat. I sort of enjoyed the CM Punk segment, although I'm not sure what purpose Beth Phoenix being in the Rumble served, unless negotiations with RVD or Booker fell through at the last second. Regal who was announced didn't even appear at all. Edge winning seems odd to me, as it appears to throw a wrench into the Edge / Jericho feud. Unless this sets up Jericho winning the belt in the Elimination Chamber, leading to Edge vs Jericho for the title at Wrestlemania. Overall, if you missed this show, just wait for the DVD in three weeks.

--
-Geoffrey Gillott

Thumbs Down, Woo Woo Woo You Know It.
 
Best Match: Taker vs Rey
Worst: Zeke/Christian
 
Rumble was terrible, ring was clear basically the whole time and
defeated the concept of all these guys fighting at the same time. It
looked like a 6 man tag that lasted an hour since there were never more
than 6 people in the ring. Glad  Edge won, he seemed fresh unlike the
Cena/Batista/HHH who get tons of title shots during the year anyway.
Zeke v Christian was horrible and slow, went longer than it should have.
Womens match was fine and the Cameo by Gail afterwards was Orientastic.
 
  Sheamus vs Orton was fine although the post match was a tiny bit
confusing but still intresting to watch. Taker vs Rey I thought was a
great match and went a good enjoyable pace, never dragged and got the
job done. MVP vs Miz was fine although MVP isn't over and after WWE
jobbing him out and putting him in a tag team for months can't expect
people to just care.
 
Overall 4/10  with 1 point for HHH not winning
--Frankie Correa
 

 

 

 

Thumbs Slightly Up
Best Fight: Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef
Worst Fight: Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims (For Sims being just out of
shape)
 
1) Bobby Lashely vs. Wes Sims.
I can't believe how out of shape Wes Sims was.  I understand he took
the fight 9 days ago, but if you are going to take the fight you need
to be in shape.  I am not a fan of Sims and going on showtime in that
shape with that performance only hurts his chances more ever getting
back into a major company.   Lashley looked ripped, and the fight went
as I expected with take down and ground and pound.  Lashley has great
potential in MMA, but he needs start fighting stiffer competition.
 
2) Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef:   Manhoef was committing legalized
murder on Robbie Lawler in this fight.  He coming at him like a buzzsaw
and I thought Lawler could not do anything.  Then BAM right hand by
Lawler and it was all over.  What an exciting fight and that is the
reason why I love MMA fights.
 
3) Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy:  Walker looked in amazing shape at 47
years old.  Nagy looked nervous and in shock being on such a big show
after only having two fights.  Since Walker is not looking to win any
titles in MMA, he seemed really calm in his first fight.  As expected
Walker didn't do much, but did control Nagy with ease.   He had Nagy's
back on multiple occasions and could have finished him with a rear
naked choke, but he just didn't know what to do in that position.   I
think the Walker experience is over and when he fights again the
interest will be considerably less.
 
4) Strikeforce World Womens Lightweight Title Match: Cris Cyborg (c)
vs. Marloes Coenen:  Good fight, and I was impressed that it went past
the 2nd round.  Coenen was game, but Cyborg is just too strong and very
dominant.   It is going to take a strong female fighter to defeat
Cyborg.   I believe a 100% focused Gina Carano can defeat her, but I
just don't see Gina with all her Hollywood opportunities being 100%
focused on MMA again.
 
5) Strikeforce Vacant World Welterweight Title Match:  Nick Diaz vs.
Maruis Zaromskis:  Fun fight with both just throwing bombs.  Back and
forth, but that reach advantage was just too much for Maruis.
 
Overall thoughts:  I thought the show was good, but the lack of crowd
reaction took the life out of me watching it.  Seemed to be a crowd
just there to see their first MMA show.  It wasn't like San Jose or
Strockton crowds that where really educated on MMA.   Positive for
Strikeforce was that their contracted fighters won their respective
fights for the talent from Japan's Dream promotion.   I feared they
would win, and then it would hard to get dates on them to return.  Diaz
and Lawler are both pillars for the Strikeforce promotion and their
wins where big for the company.
 
John LaRocca
San Jose,CA
 
Dave,
 
Thumbs-up for Strikeforce last night.  Best match would be Lawler vs Manhoef.  It was a quick slugfest that seemed to be about over for Lawler, and then he hit Manhoef right on the button and dropped him.  It was just one of those fights that has you on the edge of your seat awaiting the end, and then it comes, and it's not what the story was leading you to believe would happen.  I would give worst match to Lashley vs Sims.  How many jobbers can they throw in Lasley's path?  I don't think the WWE fed him this many jobbers in his brief and unmemorable time with them.
 
Strikeforce always puts on entertaining shows, but it will be almost impossible for them to top the last show on Showtime and the CBS show before that.  This was still a nice card though.
 
Matt Wright   

 

Thumbs up.

Best fight: Lawler-Manhoef

Worst fight: Herschel-Nagy but you kinda gotta sorta give it a pass

KO: Lawler

Sub: N/A

Lashley did what he had to do and is ready to step up the level of comp. Del Rosario would be good now.

Lawler and Manhoef---well, knew it wasn't going a round. (No great accomplishment, but I did.) Everybody always talks about how hard Manhoef hits and how bad he is on the ground, but they somehow manage not to notice his glass jaw. He gets KOed early a lot, and Lawler can whack. Manhoef looked great till he got nailed and Lawler was in deep shit but he found the sweet spot.

Herschel like I guessed he might turns out to be such a physical and genetic freak that you have to ignore the usual logic and past performances of older athletes from other sports crossing over to fighting. Very impressive debut fight, regardless of his age or status. His standup looks stiff and tight but his accuracy and standing power looked real good, and his overall strength and speed and technique were great for a guy having his first fight, and his cardio was no question. Sub defense was impressive especially because Nagy ('Noodge'?) might not have been much otherwise, but he was loose as a goose and looking for them. Herschel picked up a lot from Cain obviously but unfortunately it seems to have included his weak points---powerless G&P (until Cain's last fight anyway) and a reluctance to attempt subs. But you hadda be impressed. And it's very hard to dislike the guy, he always says the right thing and seems to mean it.

Cyborga did a great fight. Super impressive. Coenen was a legit contender and had plenty of skills and heart but it didn't matter. Cris just walked through everything she tried to do. (Would love to see Coenen vs. Carano.) Cris is starting to look untouchable. Also finding her very hard to dislike.

Diaz was just way too good for Zaromskis. Marius did manage to drop Nicky with one of the few shots he landed, or even had the opportunity to throw, but it was a squash otherwise and just points up the difference in level of competition between the US and Japan/Europe.

Good show. Production and pacing were excellent again and the fights were all interesting in some way, even if only one was really competitive.
Crimson Mask

 

Thumbs Slightly Down for Strikeforce Miami. After Manhoef vs Lawler I never would have thought I was going to give this show a thumbs down. But, after that knock out the show just took a nose dive.

Best Fight: Manhoef vs Lawler
Worst Fight: Walker vs Nagy.

Manhoef vs Lawler was mindblowing. Halfway through that round I almost yelled at the TV "Lawler, if you aren't going to do anything, just give up!" He was getting picked apart and looked to have absolutely no chance. After those leg kicks I thought Lawler was done, he was outclassed in stand up and had lost his base to try and take him down. Then, he knocked him out. I had to rewind and still could not believe what I saw.

Walker vs Nagy was just really boring. Herschel Walker himself as a story was really impressive. That he could look that way at his age, and be a cardio machine was really impressive. But that is a fight you want to see in highlight form with someone telling you the story, not as a 13 minute fight. It felt like and basically was a fight from UFC 1-10 where one guy was a great athlete and totally outclassed the other guy... but couldn't finish.  I can see why Strikeforce did the fight, and don't blame them. And hopefully for them the small Showtime audience will mean more people just see highlights on Sportscenter than actually saw the fight. But, good on Walker for doing what he did, it just wasn't much fun to watch. Cooler in concept than execution.

The rest of the show was so so. Lashley beat Wes Sims quickly, but for a 3 minute TKO it felt really flat since Sims looked so out of shape and like he didn't want any part of the fight other than the entrances and interviews. I didn't really care for Cyborg/Coenen, but the main event was a fun fight. But overall, there were two rounds I really enjoyed watching on this show, and a lot of rounds where I was just bored. Oddly enough I am more interested in seeing where Strikeforce goes from here than I was coming into the show. I wouldn't mind seeing Herschel Walker against a Houston Alexander type to see how a guy like that does against a flawed, but reasonable fighter. I am curious to see Lawler coming off this win, and what the wacky Diaz brothers do next.
Christopher Galleski

 

Jason McNeil