By: Todd Martin
Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Blog: toddwmartin.blogspot.com
Date: 06/16/08 from Salt Lake City, UT.
The Big News: There’s something different about the formatting on this here site.
Show Analysis:
John Cena came out to start the show and put over WWE huge. He said that WWE has moments that transcend time. He asserted that everybody knows where they were when Hulk Hogan first picked up Andre the Giant (1980?), Shawn Michaels realized his boyhood dream, or Stone Cold Steve Austin first whipped someone’s ass (Savio Vega?). He added that Night of Champions would be another transcendent moment in time. This was comically absurd hyperbole.
HHH joined Cena, annoyed that Cena cost him a match with Jeff Hardy. He said he would give Cena a warning, but there wouldn’t be a second warning not to get involved in his matches. Cena called out HHH for pulling him off the announce table, but HHH said the uncoordinated Cena probably fell.
Cena responded that he made HHH tap and until HHH beats him HHH is nothing. HHH said Cena will let down his fans at Night of Champions, but on the plus side most of his fans will have gone to bed by that time. Cena shoved HHH and they squared off, but Vince McMahon interrupted and announced Cena vs. Umaga in a street fight.
John Cena beat Umaga in a street fight. Cena went for a body slam, but Umaga fell on top of him. Umaga knocked Cena off the apron into the barricade, and hit a Samoan drop on the floor. Umaga missed a running butt drop into the post and Cena hit him with a microphone. Umaga retaliated with a black hole slam. Umaga brought a chair into the ring but Cena got it and hit Umaga with it. Cena hit a top rope famouser and went for the FU but his knees gave way. Umaga sent Cena into the steps and went to hit him with the steps, but Cena lifted him up with the FU for the pin. This was a good match.
Maria won a bikini contest over Eve, Melina, Maryse, Lena, Layla and Jillian. No Katie Lea = no buys. Vince before and after this gave away money. He had trouble dialing again. He got an answering machine once and left a message, which may have been a work.
Jeff Hardy beat Carlito. Jeff hit a somersault plancha, but Carlito took over with a neck breaker, dropkick and elbow. Jeff hit a mule kick and jaw breaker, but Carlito escaped a twist of fate attempt. Shortly thereafter Jeff hit the whisper in the wind, twist of fate and swanton for the pin.
Chris Jericho spoke in the ring. He said he didn’t lie to the fans like Michaels, and thus what happened was the fans’ fault. Now Jericho is here to save himself from the people. Jericho said he hasn’t changed but the fans have. He posited that he did what he did to Michaels because the fans forced him and now he will punish Michaels for the fans’ sins. This was obviously modeled off Bret Hart’s turn in 1997, although the motivations aren’t as clearly defined here.
Jericho called out Michaels, but said Michaels wouldn’t show because he’s a coward. Instead, Ric Flair came out. He noted he is retired but challenged Jericho to a fight in the parking lot. Jericho followed Flair back, but ended up running into HHH. Jericho backed off. After a break, Vince had Flair escorted from the building and made HHH vs. Jericho.
There was a pair of short matches. Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly beat Cryme Tyme in seconds when Cryme Tyme was distracted by Ted DiBiase and rolled up. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea then beat Mickie James and Mr. Kennedy. Burchill and Kennedy traded punches and kicks. Mickie gave Katie clotheslines and a dropkick. Mickie went for a Thesz press off the top but Katie avoided it and hit a back breaker for the pin. Vince gave away more money and said he would give away another million next week.
HHH beat Chris Jericho via DQ. They mostly brawled. The match didn’t really build very much. Jericho got the heat for a little bit. Jericho went for the Walls but HHH escaped. HHH hit a spine buster but Jericho fought out of the pedigree. Then all of a sudden Lance Cade of all people came out and attacked HHH for the DQ. John Cena made the save but HHH attacked Cena, and Cade and Jericho used the opportunity to lay Cena and HHH out.
Final Thoughts:
Well, this was definitely a better show than last week. The contest seemed to flow more seamlessly this time. That’s partly because they emphasized the wrestling segments over the money giveaways rather than the other way around. It’s also partly because Vince had more interaction with the winners which added energy.
The show featured better wrestling than last week as well, and was generally paced pretty well. It wasn’t like there were any blow away segments, however. I’m all for elevating new people, but I’m not sure about this first week in a push of Cade. To me it didn’t really do much to establish him as a serious player, and it’s imperative that they go particularly strong with him at first if this is to work.
The draft next week is likely to be bizarre. It’s coming right before a pay-per-view, and so much of the roster is tied up in current programs. One would expect things to be fairly static before a shake-up, but that’s not really the case. It’s likely that some programs are going to end very abruptly.
Finally, I wanted to address the Observer/F4W merger. Now, I know a lot of people over the past couple years have become subscribers to both services, so there’s nothing particularly jarring about this other than more Dave audio, which I’m sure everyone will be excited by.
As for people that have been longtime Observer readers but are now quickly being introduced to F4W, or people that read the Observer website but not F4W, let me tell you there’s tons of great stuff for you to check out at this site. With Dave on board as well, the product is a ridiculously good deal.
The highlight, in my opinion, of the F4W website, has been the Bryan and Vinny audio shows. If you’re looking for a first destination for audio content, I think that’s your ticket. Bryan and Vinny are a pair of friends who chat and bullshit about wrestling shows. It’s a fun and completely relatable show that I think you’ll enjoy a lot.
From there, you’ve got all sorts of other great audio. Each of the other shows has a different theme, including old school wrestling, Japanese wrestling, MMA, independent wrestling and more. There’s really a ton of stuff here on top of the availability of the two newsletters and the board. Okay, so maybe you should just avoid the board, but the rest of the stuff is great. I highly recommend to everyone reading this that you give a subscription a try. You can send me a nasty e-mail if you’re disappointed, but I don’t think you will be.
As for me, my inclination is that two audio shows, two newsletters and two web reports all addressing the same TV show on the same site is simply too much. So I think it’s more likely than not that at some point over the next couple months I’m going to stop doing these reports. I wanted to give people a heads up on that, although I’ll reevaluate in the coming weeks. {plug}
Send us a news tip: newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news from this site or from our newsletters, please include a link to www.wrestlingobserver.com
For the most in-depth and detailed news and analysis on pro-wrestling and MMA, always turn to Wrestlingobserver.com/Figure Four Weekly Online, the #1 website of its kind on the Internet. Members receive online access to both the Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Weekly newsletters and growing archives, Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer three times per week, the popular Bryan and Vinny Show twice per week, additional radio shows including Figure Four Daily with Alvarez, Mike Coughlin's Five Star Radio, the Dr. Keith Lipinski Show, The Adam and Mike Big Audio Nightmare, Tough Talk and the Karl Stern Wrestling History Show, the infamous BOARD, and more! Members also have full access to the thousands of hours of audio in our radio show archives which date back to 2005. For your convenience, we offer secure online payments using your VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card or PayPal account. Don't miss out on the fun, sign up now! Don\'t miss out on the fun, sign up now!
Want full access? QUICK AND EASY $10.99 SIGNUP!
