I’m beginning to gain a reputation as ‘the boy who cries wolf’ due to the amount of times I have started a column over the past two years by saying I’m back to my normal weekly column writing habits.

My latest bout of not writing this column happened because I had fallen out of love with professional wrestling. Or maybe I should be more accurate and say I fell out of love with the wrestling produced by the WWE.

My absence from writing about wrestling has been caused by me falling out of love with wrestling. But thankfully I saw a priest and he managed to remove the evil spirit within me that was making me dislike wrestling and I am now back to watching it 24/7 just like the old times.

So what better way to kick off the return than with a ranting random fodder column!

What Happened To Waiting Your Turn?

Have WWE forgotten how to build up a legitimate challenger to a title? Maybe I am looking at this through rose tinted glasses but I can vividly recall that a wrestler would be built up over the weeks as the number one contender and the blow off would be a world title match against the champion at a pay-per-view.

If the wrestler lost he would go to the back of the queue and the pattern would start over again with a new contender. It seems to me these days that the same few people are being rotated into the number one contender spot.

Last year John Cena was out for a period of time with a severe injury and his first match back was a world title match at a pay-per-View. There was no making him earn the spot. Not even a hint of a TV warm up match, straight into the title picture.

How many times last year did you see one particular wrestler repeatedly challenge for the title only to be defeated time and time again. How many more opportunities before he is told ‘you have had your chance now sod off to the back of the line’?

I guess you could argue that there are very few wrestlers capable of carrying the belt and company these days, but doesn’t that really prove that the writing team are slipping? There are plenty of mid card wrestlers that could easily make the step up but the writing team have practically killed them off with their incoherent writing and nonsensical angles.

I Really Hate Ray Mysterio

This may not be a very popular view point but one reason why I stopped watching WWE programming (well apart from the awesome Vintage Classic show on Sky Sports) was because I could not take any more of Rey Mysterio. The guy annoys me beyond belief! Don’t worry, I will go into detail.

Firstly anyone who has a tattoo of a gold chain on their neck/chest deserves to be punched in the face with the entire Kinks back catalogue! Not only that but he also comes out with a chain around his neck that matches the tattoo! WHY?!

Secondly I can not stand his finisher and think it is easily the worst finisher in the business at the moment. I am completely shocked that people sell the move let alone allow themselves to be pinned by his horrible combo finisher.

I understand the concept of his character, he is a small guy who has a big heart and a never-say-die attitude when it comes to taking on the big guys in the ring. But he should never be allowed anywhere near the world title.

Professional wrestling needs to be a little bit realistic and a 150lb man allowing a 7ft+ 400lb+ opponent to beat him senseless for 20 minutes and then make a comeback and pin him, after hitting that horrible move, is not being realistic.

Can Kane Make A Comeback?

I started watching WWE regularly in about 1998 after I had Sky installed at home (before this I was reduced to watching the odd show when I was at a family member’s house) so I have more or less been able to follow the career of the Kane character since then.

In the beginning he was a proper heel monster who had a lot of promise and could have become a legit challenger for the world title, fast forward to now and I weep as I watch him job to anyone and everyone.

The guy has done everything that the company have asked him to do (remember Katie Vick?) and because of this we have seen him being humiliated in comedy segments that have been anything but funny.

He has shown his loyalty to the company and how has he been repaid? So badly has his character been damaged by the writing team that I doubt there is any way back for Kane now.

Oh how I would love to see him put the mask back on and return to his old ways.

Until next time.

Regular readers to my column will be aware that I have taken another small break from my weekly editorial due to a combination of Internet connection troubles, computer problems and the sad loss of my beloved pet dog.

But I am back now and what better way to ease myself, and readers, back into the swing of things than with the infamous “Random Fodder” column!

Peter Staniforth has claimed time and time again that he does not have an overinflated ego and is a level-headed son of a gun just like you or me. Is that why when he was at the Luton-based ACW promotion he made more appearances on their shows than the wrestlers did? One such show had him booked in SIX different segments!

Now with his new promotion, PTW, I noticed that an online advertisement promoting one of their shows has Peter’s image right in the middle of the poster, and he says that he does not to have an urge to be in the limelight?

I await Peter’s normal angry emails, and threats from his friends, with baited breath as usual.

Due to not having any Internet connection I missed the start of the illegitimate baby angle involving Vince McMahon and an as yet unknown WWE superstar. But whilst most of the Internet Wrestling Community have been scrambling onto their soapboxes and screaming about how embarrassing and poorly thought out this angle is, I am finding myself rather enjoying it.

What would these so-called fans rather be watching? The excellent illegitimate baby angle or a revamped Katie Vick angle?

By the way just how many wrestlers contracted to the WWE are there that do not know who their fathers are? Is it a specification to be signed by the promotion? You must not know who your daddy is?

Since I have been out of the wrestling loop we have seen The Great Khali become the World Heavyweight champion. Once again I appear to be the only wrestling fan going against the grain and declaring that I am pleased that he is the current Smackdown champion.

Not every wrestler has to be able to produce 5-star matches. Wrestling is a fantasy guys, get off your soapboxes and allow yourself to become lost in the matches, you might actually find out that you enjoy it like you used to before you found out wrestling was not “real”.

Unfold your arms and relax.

This morning I checked my emails and found out about the ten WWE wrestlers that have been suspended by the company for failing the Wellness Program. I bought a national newspaper this morning and they are mentioning wrestlers like Edge, King Booker, Mr. Kennedy and Randy Orton as just four of the ten that have been sent home.

It does seem like, thanks to pressure from Capital Hill, that the WWE are finally using the Wellness Program to stamp out the steroid problem in the company rather than merely using it as a major publicity stunt.

It was especially surprising to see Mr. Kennedy’s name mentioned after the amount of media interviews that he gave, after the Benoit incident, citing time and time again that he was not using steroids

More on this next week.

www.warshop.co.uk are closing down and are selling off their remaining DVDs at a shockingly low £2.50 each (including P&P), so if you like UK wrestling, or fancy checking the UK wrestling scene out, then I strongly urge you to get some before they run out!

Well that is me done for today, I will be back on Monday with a review of the recent SummerSlam pay-per-view so make sure that you do not miss that one.

Until next time.

The one thing that really irks me about the professional wrestling business is when a promoter blames everybody around them for their own faults, mistakes and errors and refuses point blank to stand up and admit that they messed up and should take some of the blame.

Step forward Mr. Len Davis, promoter of Real Quality Wrestling.

I had never heard of Len Davis before he launched his Real Quality Wrestling promotion here on the rainy shores of the United kingdom, but I have been informed that his company, Spectrum Multimedia, did a lot of taping for various other wrestling promotions up and down the country and in some countries in Europe.

Before Len Davis started promoting shows at the prestigious York Hall building in Bethnal Green, a venue that is synonymous with not only professional wrestling but boxing (it is considered one of the premier boxing venues in the country), he promoted in towns such as Bognor Regis, Brighton, Chelmsford, Clacton, Eastleigh, Hampshire, Horndean, Waltham Abbey and many other areas all in the space of about a year.

Now any sane person would immediately sit up and question as to why a wrestling promotion that was looking to run regular shows in one place would have moved around so much in such a short space of time, apart from me nobody has.

When Real Quality Wrestling moved to York Hall, a venue I should point out that is very easy to get to and is within spitting distance from not only at least SIX main bus routes but also TWO main train stations, they announced monthly shows and a TV deal with The Wrestling Channel, things were looking up for the wrestling fans of London and British wrestling as a whole.

Fast forward to June 2007.

The details for their June 2007 show were promptly removed from their official web site and replaced with “TBC = To Be Confirmed”, this got many wrestling fans on the Internet guessing about whether Real Quality Wrestling were ceasing business or not. they did eventually release a press release revealing that they would be leaving York Hall and moving to the outskirts of London to Colchester.

Why are they leaving York Hall?

Len Davis has publicly claimed that Real Quality Wrestling were forced to leave York Hall because the area was bad for pulling in the wrestling fans and he was losing money hand over fist by having very low attendances.

Bethnal Green, and London as a whole, is a hotbed for wrestling, always has been and always will be. It is very easy to get to for fans outside the town with three train stations and about twelve buses all going into the heart of the town. York Hall is not hidden away in some backstreet either, it is right out on the main road with giant red lettering for all to see.

The reason Real Quality Wrestling failed there was because they did not advertise the shows correctly, plain and simple. If you put on a wrestling show and you only tell a handful of people on the Internet and do not advertise the show in the actual town you are promoting then how do you expect it to be a success?

In the time Real Quality Wrestling promoted at York Hall I only saw one advert in only one of the local newspapers (we have several), only one banner which was constantly ripped down and the lettering faded from it so nobody knew what it was about, and maybe one poster. That is simply not good enough.

We have plenty of supermarkets in Bethnal Green and surrounding areas, how hard would it be to stand outside one on a Saturday morning and hand out some flyers to the kids with their parents? How much hassle is it to ask the pubs and shops around the town to put up a poster or leave some flyers? Obviously it is too hard for Real Quality Wrestling because they never did any of it!

Len Davis blamed York Hall and its staff for not doing their best to help promote the shows, he blamed the fans in the town for not coming out, he blamed the Internet for not turning up, he basically blamed everybody he could think of so that he could remove the blame from himself.

After speaking to several people who live in the vicinity of the Colchester Arts Centre, the venue that is housing the next Real Quality Wrestling show, I have been informed that Len Davis seems to have learned absolutely nothing from his lessons at York Hall.

So when he fails at the Colchester Arts Centre and decides to move on to another area of the UK I wonder if he will still blame everyone around him, just like he did at York Hall?

I do appreciate what Len Davis did by attempting to run monthly wrestling shows at York Hall, some of them even had running story lines and very good matches, but he really did shoot himself in the foot when he failed to take the time to advertise and promote the upcoming shows.

Ask any serious wrestling promoter and they will happily tell you that the three most important words to putting on a wrestling show are advertise, advertise & advertise.

Until next time.

Saturday night saw the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Michael Cole stated that Saturday Night’s Main Event show has become a yearly tradition, I’m guessing by looking at the sliding ratings on recent SNM shows that this yearly tradition could soon be coming to an abrupt end.

WWE were hoping that this show would help to cajole a few casual fans, still sitting on the fence, to get off their couch and purchase the One Night Stand pay-per-view that would be airing the following night (review coming soon!).

I went into this show blind, I did not know which matches were on the card. To be completely honest I actually forgot that this show was even taking place, it was by sheer chance I that happened to clock it whilst channel surfing.

This was their last throw of the dice to try and get fans interested in their final showdown at One Night Stand. So what better way than to give the match away on a free television show the night before fans are expected to fork out $30-$40 to see it on a pay-per-view.

The fans in Toronto hated John Cena so much that they were actually cheering for The Great Khali! Not that I can blame them, I’ve been a fan of The Great Khali since he joined the WWE. He may not be a great wrestler but he certainly has the look and he can make his moves look painful, powerful and very real. Sadly I think I’m very much on my own here.

John Cena did put in a good performance of selling moves from The Great Khali, even if his constant gurning did make him look like he was about to soil himself in public. The match saw large parts of it dominated by The Great Khali.

The Great Khali won this one cleanly, which was more of a surprise to me than the fact that he won this match at all. I am not holding out any hope that this will happen again at One Night Stand. Although I can dream.

The one thing that I got coming away from this match was that it stunk of a long-winded squash match to me. Whilst it is good business sense to put the challenger over as a legit threat to the title, I’m not sure making the champion look like a jobber will do him or the belt any favours.

I can think of worse matches that could have opened the show (see main event).

Winner: The Great Khali
Rating: **

This encounter was billed as an arm wrestling contest to prove who was the strongest out of the two. For a man who is not too far away from his 70th birthday Vince McMahon is in fantastic shape.

Vince may have his faults but the one thing I think we can all agree on is that he can play one heck of a heel when he is called upon. And this time was no different as he kept stalling for time until he announced that he would not arm wrestle Lashley, Mark Henry would – nice swerve.

That outfit really does not flatter Mark Henry by an stretch of the imagination.

The last time Vince McMahon was involved in an arm wrestling contest was (I think) against Zach Gowen, which ended with Vince McMahon cheap-shotting him. So I was half expecting Mark Henry to blind-side Bobby Lashley, which he duly did.

Nice little exchange between the two which was spoiled when McMahon hit Lashley with the weakest chair shot I have ever seen anyone deliver in my life, and Lashley still went down like a ton of bricks. I’d have been embarrassed if that was me!

The one thing that surprised me was that Batista got a much bigger pop than Chris Benoit did, in fact when Benoit came out it sounded like the fans were just politely clapping him (maybe my TV needs to be looked at as other reports claim he got a huge ovation). Of course both were blown away by the ovation that Edge received, whether he is heel or face they love their home town hero.

MVP is really starting to impress me with the way he has come on with his wrestling ability, I guess putting him in a series of wrestling matches with Chris Benoit was just the thing he needed to kick it up a notch, as they say.

The agenda for this match was very clear and simple, put Batista over as the dominant animal and make him look amazing. And he did do a lot of his power moves and shaking of the ropes, but he did not get the pin which was puzzling as Benoit is not on the ONS pay-per-view.

Edge did his cowardly heel bit when he left his partner and walked up the ramp. The one thing I was sad not to see was Chris Benoit applying The Sharpshooter, I’ve seen him do this in Canada before and the entire building goes mental for it.

Winner: Batista & Chris Benoit
Rating: **

This was a fun little match that did not run too long. There is nothing like seeing two midget wrestlers getting it on in a wrestling ring, apart from maybe a wrestler with a missing limb.

Watching Finley & Hornswoggle do an Irish jig, after Finley drop-kicked Little Boogey in the face, was possibly the funniest thing I have seen in a WWE ring since Mick Foley was around full time.

Boogeyman chased Hornswoggle up the ramp which left Little Boogey alone with Finley to kick his face off and win the match.

Winner: Finlay & Hornswoggle
Rating: *3/4

I did not see the piss poor Extreme Expose as I took this opportunity to use the toilet and restock on some nice food (don’t worry, I washed my hands).

I have absolutely no idea what they were thinking with this match. Eugene’s gimmick has long since expired, it is not funny any more, and Doink The Clown may have been popular in the 80s/90s but this is 2007 guys.

What is even more perplexing is this is the main event! I now they used to put the main event on first in the old days but this is 2007, main events go at the end these days.

Kane, Umaga & Kevin Thorn are meant to be serious characters but thanks to putting them in this match they came over just as goofy and cartoony as Doink, Eugene & Viscera.

With this kind of rubbish it is not a total surprise that there are strong rumours that this is the last Saturday Night’s Main Event show as it is being dropped after this one. I certainly hope this is true!

Winner: Kane, Eugene & Doink The Clown
Rating: I’m not rating this!

It was not all bad I guess. I really did enjoy the video packages putting over The Great Khali during this feud with John Cena, but shockingly most fans are hating these video packages as well. You just can not please some people these days.

Apart from that there was nothing here to persuade casual fans to buy the pay-per-view the next night.

I will be writing up a review of One Night Stand so keep your eyes peeled for it.

Until next time

Not only was this the home town of United States champion Chris Benoit but apparently The Hardy Boys come from a nearby town so it was basically a homecoming for them as well and the fans were very into the Hardys from start to finish.

This was an excellent opening bout and a perfect way to start off the pay-per-view, and it actually went a good 20-25 minutes, which was rather surprising but nice. Although saying that I thought Matt Hardy was lacking slightly tonight, he is also looking a little bit ‘podgy’ around the stomach.

Trevor Murdoch should never be allowed to attempt that stupid move that he does ever again! Saying that I do like Cade & Murdoch as a team and wish the WWE would stop breaking them up and uniting them all the time.

Rating: **1/2
Winner: The Hardy Boys

Normally a women’s’ match on any WWE pay-per-view will have me heading for toilet break, or to the kitchen to make a sandwich, but this was actually a very enjoyable bout between two women who can actually wrestle when they are allowed to.

I felt that the fans did take a while to get into the match but when they realised that Melina and Mickie James were actually putting on a decent show they soon got behind Mickie James.

I liked the spot where both wrestlers did the splits and started exchanging punches, that was very unique. I really do hope that ‘certain’ people were watching this match and that this is a sign of things to come.

Rating: **
Winner: Melina

Although this was not as good as their WrestleMania encounter I still thought it was a decent bout. I must admit I was very surprised to see that Chris Benoit retained the championship, especially since he was wrestling in his home town and this would not have been the first time a champion has been defeated in his home town.

MVP is really starting to impress me with his improving performances in his feud with Benoit, but then again how can you be in a feud with Benoit and NOT learn anything to improve your game? I wonder if those critics who thought he was “as green as a green thing” are starting to change their biased minds yet?

I know a lot of people were expecting Benoit to drop the strap to MVP but I believe that there is more than enough room in this feud for one final match, perhaps some kind of gimmick match like a ladder match or a submission match and that is when Benoit will drop the title.

Rating: ***
Winner: Chris Benoit

This was probably the worst match of the night for me. There was nothing really terrible about it, I just felt that it lacked something that the rest of the card had. The fans did not seem as into the match and it did drag on in a lot of places.

Before this match my main feeling was that we have seen this type of match many times before, both on pay-per-view and on television, and the good guy always comes out OK and wins the match in the end.

Sadly it did not happen this time, what was much more perplexing was the fact that it was not Umaga or Shane McMahon who picked up the championship, it was Vince McMahon who only came into the match to cover Bobby Lashley.

Surely it would have made much more sense for Umaga to walk out with the strap leading to another explosive Umaga/Lashley encounter somewhere down the line? Or am I being too sensible here?

Rating: *3/4
Winner: Vince McMahon

Batista and Undertaker have both been criticised over the years for their poor performances but they both put on a fantastic display here. I did not see their WrestleMania encounter, so I can not match it to this, but I’ve been well informed it was a lot better!

I only have two main niggles. The first was that Batista kept on forgetting that he was meant to sell his injured thigh every time he did a big move that had him land on it. It was almost comical to see him pop up and then realise he should sell the leg.

My second niggle was the finish, although it was a very nice way to end the match (the spear off the stage and the set exploding and crashing down on them) the draw was such an anticlimax and the fans let it be known that they were very disappointed in the decision.

But putting those two negative things out of the way this was one hell of a match, my match of the night, just about. I particularly liked the look on their faces when the other kept getting up from their big moves.

I would certainly like to see another match between these two if this is the kind of calibre we can come to expect.

Rating: ***1/2
Winner: Draw

I actually fell asleep right at the start of this match, just as they were entering the ring. This was in no way indicative of what was going on in the ring, I was just very tired. I did manage to catch the match thanks to downloading it on the internet and almost kicked myself for falling asleep and missing it!

This is possibly one of the best main event matches I have witnessed in the last five, maybe even ten, years. All four participants almost pulled out all the stops to produce a multi-wrestler title match that fans will be talking about for years to come.

I was slightly disappointed that it did not get a little bit more time, say an extra five to ten minutes as there were a couple of spots in the bout that did look like they were rushed to fit them into the match.

I thought the finish was superb. I’m a bit critic of the booking team but on this occasion they got the decision spot on. Having Cena take a superkick and then land on Orton for the pin was pure brilliance in my view, much better than some lame screw-job finish.

I’ll certainly be looking forward to John Cena and Shawn Michaels getting it on again at some point down the line.

Rating: ****
Winner: John Cena

So there you have it, one of the best pay-per-views to be produced by the WWE for some considerable time. I do not know exactly what they did, maybe it was the tri-brand thing, maybe it was something else, but what I do know is that they should stick with it as it is obviously working perfectly for them.

Anyway, last night was SummerSlam

Now normally I would tell you how The Dudleyz are great at getting a live crowd hiked up for the rest of the night, and I’ve said it many times you should know by now, but this match was not as over with the Canadian fans as it would be anywhere else in the world!

It was not a bad match by any means, on the contrary it was a nice solid 6-man bout with some great spots in such as Paul London’s suicide type dive onto Bubba-Ray Dudley, just the fact that the fans did not seem to care which was a shame.

Billy Kidman and Paul London as a tag team are gelling along very, very nicely in my opinion, they should have put these two guys together a very long time ago. I just hope World Wrestling Entertainment do not go and do something stupid like split them up to feud against each other……

Winner: The Dudley Boyz

After the disaster that was their first match on the last pay-per-view you can excuse me for not holding out much hope that this match would be any kind of an improvement, boy was I in for a shock.

The first and important thing was for Kane not to lose the match. OK, Matt Hardy is upset about Lita having sex with Kane and is angry, good, but Kane is meant to be a monster and forcing him to job once to Matt was bad enough but twice in successive pay-per-views? That would have ended Kane’s WWE career for sure.

I can not remember when Matt Hardy had a match as decent as this, actually I can say the very same thing about Kane! They both gave a lot in this match and for once it was not just a spot-filled match with both guys boring us with punches until the next spot rolled around.

Kane even walked out with a clean win, he won by choke-slamming Matt from the top rope and the impact that Matt made when he landed looked mighty impressive. Lita spoiled the match a bit by just being there, this woman has no business being anywhere near a wrestling ring….

Winner: Kane

Despite Booker T’s new ring attire of red trunks and red boots this encounter was a complete snoozefest. John Cena’s ring performance over the past six months or so has really started to deteriorate rapidly and something needs to be done, perhaps turning him heel with relight that fire in his belly.

Booker T bores me. I’m sorry, no offence to Booker T or his fans but he really bores me to tears in the ring, I wish I could explain why he bores me but the fact is I have no idea why. When Booker T comes on the television this signals that it is time for me to make a sandwich/use the toilet.

I really do hope that for the rest of this contest they spice up the matches a little bit, otherwise at this rate nobody will give a damn about what could be an interesting series of matches.

Winner: John Cena

Edge, who comes from Toronto, was booed throughout the entire match by the fans in his home town and Edge played it up to perfection, making various heel facial features, takes a talented wrestler to act like that when your home town turns on you without warning.

I have absolutely no idea why Batista was placed into this match. He looked totally out of place and for large parts of the match he was left outside on the floor whilst Edge and Jericho had some nice moves exchanged between them.

There really was no doubt that Edge would walk out with the belt, they obviously want Edge to have a nice run with the championship before pushing him for the world title at the end of this year.

It was not a great match, in fact the Kane/Matt Hardy match was better than this, I really hope things turn out better as the card goes along.

Winner: Edge

This was the match that I was personally looking forward to on the entire card. Although it was a damn fine match between two great wrestlers, it was not a patch on their Wrestlemania encounter.

It was much shorter than I thought it would be. Angle won via an anklelock on an uncovered ankle. For people who were confused as to the finish, Angle lost to Eddie when Eddie’s own boot came off when Angle applied the anklelock, leading to Eddie winning the title. This time Angle took off Eddie’s boot and cinched in the anklelock on Eddie’s unprotected ankle causing him to tap out.

The match was interrupted in England for about three minutes as the transmission went on the blink, so we missed three valuable minutes.

I hope they give these two another match on the next Smackdown pay-per-view because I think we could get another match out of them that could be better than their Wrestlemania encounter.

Winner: Kurt Angle

Triple H and Eugene had to follow the excellent match between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero, could they follow up with a decent performance? In this writers eyes they did not match Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero’s match but they did put on a good display all the same.

The fans started chanting “Eugene Sucks” and this did not phase Eugene one little bit, he took it in his stride which proves yet again what a great wrestler Nick Dinsmore really is.

Again Triple H showed that his reputation is unfounded as he sold moves by Eugene and sold them well, even allowing Eugene to hit the pedigree on him. I do not think that there was any doubt that Triple H would not win though, and he did via his pedigree

I just wanted to mention Ric Flair here. He came out and when the ref told him to go to the back Flair reacted like a madman screaming “fuck you” over and over again until he got knocked on his arse by Regal. The best spot of the night was after the match when Triple grabbed an unconscious Flair by his leg and dragged him away.

Winner: Triple H

I decided to make myself a rather delicious turkey and pickle sandwich, oh man that sandwich tasted great!

Winner: My Stomach

For the first twelve minutes or so you could have been excused for thinking the match was taking place inside an empty arena, or that the match was little more than a dark match as the fans buggered off to get food and nattered away to each other.

You could clearly see Undertaker was not happy. The crowd were more interested in racially abusing Orlando Jordan. I found this to be sick and very wrong in today’s world, Canadians in attendance, who took part in this, should be fully ashamed of themselves.

The crowd stopped racially abusing Orlando at the end of the match and started paying interest to the match inside the ring. It was a poor outing for both men I never thought I would say this but even John Bradshaw Layfield is capable of better matches than this.

The finish was a little confusing, Undertaker suddenly struck John Bradshaw Layfield in the face with the belt for no reason and as disqualified. I have no idea why they did this, a better finish would have been to have John Heidenreich make his entrance and beat up Undertaker.

The only highpoint was John Bradshaw Layfield being choke-slammed through the limo roof.

Winner: John Bradshaw Layfield

Wow. That is the only thing I could think of to describe this match up. Both men gave an excellent account of themselves in this match. Benoit hit a middle rope tope and ended up going face first into the fan barrier!

Jerry Lawler almost put a dampener on the match with his useless commentary, for gods sake get him out of there and put Jonathan Coachman in his place!

The match had almost everything, false finishes, botched moves, busted mouths, topes, diving headbutts, attempted RKO’s, attempted crossfaces. The match was clean throughout with no one member of Evolution at ringside, which enhance the match for me.

After the match had finished Benoit headed back to the ring for what they thought would be more wrestling but both men shook hands in the ring, does this signify a face Randy Orton? I certainly hope not. Randy is much better as a heel in my opinion. He was a face before and he sucked.

Winner: Randy Orton

So there you have it folks, SummerSlam is in the books and what a good pay-per-view it was as well. There were little things that could have spoiled it, such as the diva dodgeball match, but I think on the whole it was a nice success.

Before I close I want to talk about the Canadian fans who were in attendance last night. They must be the dumbest fans in the world! They decided to boo the faces, cheer the heels and then racially abuse Orlando Jordan.

They ruined several of the matches because of their antics, one of the fans even jumped onto the roof of limo minutes before Undertaker choke-slammed John Bradshaw Layfield through it.

I know Canadians have a reputation for being stupid and dumb but last night many of them surpassed themselves……

Until next time.

So to make things a whole lot worse I have written more about John Bradshaw Layfield, our new Smackdown world champion….

At Bash At The Beach John Bradshaw Layfield walked away with the Smackdown world championship after defeating Eddie Guerrero in a deflated Texas Bull-rope match proving to us all that World Wrestling Entertainment really are THAT desperate to find a champion.

John Cena, Undertaker, Booker T, Rob Van Dam or even Shannon Moore are all better prospects than the racist and xenophobic John Bradshaw Layfield in my view.

The few that I have spoken to who think John Bradshaw Layfield’s rise to the top of the proverbial Smackdown mountain was brought on by his excellent promo work in the last three months or so.

To be honest I find his mediocre promos dire and tiresome at their best, they just smell too much like the old Million Dollar Man promos of old for my liking. Combine that with his desperate actions in Germany in a vein and pathetic attempt to garner some sort of heel heat from the fans, which failed miserably.

Yes he is an excellent brawler but, and lets be really honest here, there are only so many times that you can watch a brawler which his limited arsenal of moves before you get bored.

Yes John Bradshaw Layfield looks to be in the very best shape of his life but John Bradshaw Layfield has made no attempt to work on his game inside the wrestling ring and has not done so for as long as I can remember.

There seems to be a growing trend on the internet today where people are starting to jump on the “I love John Bradshaw Layfield” bandwagon. These same people are most likely the same guys who try and boo the good guys at the live events and the same guys who tear innocent marks to pieces in chat rooms in a feeble attempt to make themselves look intelligent.

You are entitled to cheer and boo for whoever you damn well please but do not get your panties in a twist just because we “John Bradshaw Layfield haters” are speaking the plain truth of the matter.

A fellow columnist (and a bloody good one by the way) called Jordan Wright has spoken at length about his support for all things John Bradshaw Layfield related and that is his prerogative to do so but to state that he is a great heel is ludicrous.

Jordan is not the only one, more than a few column writers have voiced their love for “Mr ex-CNBC” over the past month or so but saying someone is a great heel does not necessary mean it is true.

Giving John Bradshaw Layfield the world championship was a huge error on the part of World Wrestling Entertainment in my view. They are pinning their hopes on John Bradshaw Layfield and I for one do not think that he can deliver anything close to what he promises.

If having John Bradshaw Layfield as the Smackdown world champion is the best that Smackdown can do then is it really any wonder why we are all looking to Raw to get our World Wrestling Entertainment fix?

Until next time.

Sunday was the first Great American Bash and whilst it looked rather dodgy on paper it looked even worse on the big screen. Don’t get me wrong it was not the worst pay-per-view of the year, Judgement Day currently holds that spot, but it will push pretty close for it.

The loss of Kurt Angle, Big Show, Chris Benoit, Brock Lesnar and others really has hit Smackdown much harder than first thought. Bringing Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Rene Dupree and The Dudleys into the Smackdown roster really does not come close to filling the void left by the said stars.

That was not a diss against Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Rene Dupree and The Dudleys but to be honest no one really gives a damn about their current gimmicks. Bringing over some top stars to Smackdown from Raw might garner some interest from the fans. Raw have plenty to spare they will not miss a couple of high profile stars.

Well, enough of my babbling on with the review.

I do not think we could have picked a better match to open the card without using The Dudley Boyz. The positive factor of being in the first match of the night is that the crowd normally get into the first match no matter who is in it. Then there is also the added bonus of being able to have a longer match as the card opener.

I personally believe that the match went the right time limit, if it had gone further than I think it would have lost its appeal to the fans in attendance. It did start to fade at one point when two of the four men stayed out side and watched the other two in the ring.

Not a bad start to the show in my view even though there were more than a few blown spots that made the match look shabby.

I’m now looking forward to seeing John Cena feud with someone and hand them the United States championship

Winner: John Cena

And little specks of dust start to float from the ceiling….

This match was a five minute wonder, there really was no point. There was no story or anything and it stunk of a booking team desperately trying to fill up a card.

Winner: Luther Reigns

Message to Vincent McMahon: This is what the cruiserweights can do if you give them a bloody chance!

Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero tore the house down in this match and put both the main event matches to absolute shame. I am hoping that we get a rematch for this very, very soon.

I think this match could have gone on for at least another five minutes without losing any of the performance. Now if only Paul London could have got a place in that match….

Winner: Rey Mysterio

And small pieces of masonry start to drop from the ceiling….

Kenzo Suzuki and Billy Gunn stink up the arena. Shaun Meilak’s (from www.wrestlingchaos.co.uk) review was spot on when he asked what World Wrestling Entertainment saw in Kenzo Suzuki.

As far as I am concerned this guy offers absolutely nothing even remotely close than what Tajiri could offer them. In fact Tajiri would save them a bit of money, they must be paying Kenzo Suzuki and his wife a nice bit of bunce.

Just horrible is the best line to describe this match.

Winner: Kenzo Suzuki

And finally the ceiling caves in around us….

Thankfully I was making myself a rather nice turkey and pickle sandwich which was bloody nice and far more enjoyable than watching two plastic women pinch, scratch and bite each other for five minutes in skimpy outfits.

I can just envision the meeting with the booking team now:

Booker One: “Hey guys we have a spot that needs to be filled. Should we give Paul London a match with another talented cruiserweight like Jamie Noble or Billy Kidman?”

Rest Of The Team: “Nah!”

Booker Two: “Nah lets just have two women in a match who will kill the whole fucking show!”

Winner: Sable

Considering that this was thrown together on the last edition of Smackdown before the Great American Bash it was not as bad as many are making it out to be.

Sure the match was not all that pretty to watch but that is because both men are natural brawlers and they do it well, much better than John Bradshaw Layfield anyway.

I don’t think Mordecai’s gimmick is working as the booking team first hoped it would. Maybe because we have been here and done it about ten years ago with a man we call The Undertaker.

It could have been worse, we could have had another women’s match with Dawn Marie against Miss Jackie!

Winner: Mordecai

We have a brand new world champion, as John Bradshaw Layfield was named the new world champion I could hear millions of fans around the world turning their televisions off in disgust and shock at how low the World Wrestling Entertainment have sunk to find a new champion.

Maybe I am not the best person to write this seeing as my next column will be about how John Bradshaw Layfield is a incompetent wrestler, but I really think that World Wrestling Entertainment could have done a hell of a lot better than John Bradshaw Layfield to find a new champion, Rico, Spike Dudley, Michael Cole would have been better choices for gods sake!

The match was not as good as their encounter at Judgement Day but it was better than the rest of the rubbish that we saw, barring the cruiserweight match of course. Eddie Guerrero again dragged John Bradshaw Layfield to a half decent match, that’s two in ten years John.

I can see a rematch coming, John Bradshaw Layfield will be the worst champion in World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation history!

Winner: John Bradshaw Layfield

Why have this as the main event? I would have thought the John Bradshaw Layfield Vs. Eddie Guerrero match would have been a far better choice than this one.

This was not even a bloody match, it was glorified storyline with a few moves thrown in for good measure. Most of us saw the heel turn coming and judging by the reaction the angle got so did the rest of the entire world!

I can not remember the last time I heard a crowd give no reaction to a heel turn of their favourite babyface before. That says it all really.

Winner: The Undertaker

So Great American Bash is in the books and it is one that most of us will want to forget, the only good thing to come out of it was the great cruiserweight match. I really hope Vince McMahon was watching them tear down the house and steal the spotlight from his big stars.

Until next time.

Well speaking of pay-per-views last night saw WWE Vengeance, which was a Raw brand pay-per-view offering, and coming so quickly after the failing that was Great American Bash many thought this would stink just as much, some even refused to buy it!

Well let us get right on with the review.

Tajiri & Rhyno Vs. Coachman & Cade

Well bugger me! I was not expecting much from these four guys to be honest but they pulled it out of their asses and gave us one hell of an outing. Coachman, along with three very hungry and eager mid-carders, did themselves a lot of good with that solid showing.

Excellent selling from Cade when he was gored by Rhyno and when he was blasted with the dreaded Green Mist Of Doom. Even Coachman managed to sell the kicks from Tajiri.

I like the concept of Tajiri and Rhyno as a tag team. They both hardly get a look in on Raw these days and if they are fortunate enough to get television time it is normally a squash against a huge opponent or a boring mid-card encounter that no one cares about.

Keep these two together and let them have a little bit of success in the tag team ranks, they are both eager and will not let anyone down.

Winner: Tajiri & Rhyno

Chris Jericho Vs. Batista

I found this match to be pretty boring. The fans seemed rather slow to react and only a small chant for Batista and Jericho here and there gave the match any kind of feeling. Batista looked very green in the match and in fact botched several moves including one that left jericho with a dead leg for a short period.

In fact the only time I actually bothered paying attention was when Batista hit that spinebuster of his and his awesome-looking sit-down powerbomb. Apart from that the match was somewhat of a let down for me.

Judging by the finish I somehow get the feeling that this is not over. Jericho had his leg on the rope by the time the ref counted one but the ref failed to spot it. This smells of a rematch to me.

Jericho would be more suited to going after the Intercontinental championship before moving up to the world heavyweight championship instead of messing about in worthless bouts against lumbering lugs like Batista.

Winner: Batista

[Tag Team Championship Match]
La Resistance Vs. Eugene & Ric Flair

This match was never going to be about technical wrestling. Right from the start it was going to be all about Eugene and his mimicking of Ric Flair was absolutely hilarious viewing, I never stopped laughing until the end of the match!

Kudos to La Resistance, though they played along and did a great job. And Ric Flair never fails to have me in stitches with his angry old man routine. More of the same please WWE!

The match itself was not a fantastic master-class in pure wrestling or brawling ability, that is OK because it was not meant to be, it was meant to be a funny and entertaining match and that is exactly what it delivered.

Many claim that Eugene is becoming and old and stale act but after his performance in this match I have to disagree. Although the DQ finish was a little sloppy as it diminished the total performance of the match in my opinion.

Winner: La Resistance

[No Disqualification]
Kane Vs. Matt Hardy

Kane, your World Wrestling Entertainment career is more or less over after jobbing to a mid-card jobber at Vengeance last night.

That may sound harsh but think about it, Matt Hardy has lost about ten matches in a row and then beats the living hell out of Kane, a man who is supposed to be some kind of unstoppable monster.

Maybe if Kane had battered Matt Hardy from ring post to ring post and then Matt got a lucky pin then maybe, just maybe, I could just about swallow that but not like the way it went down.

I was reading Dave Meltzer’s coverage on www.wrestlingobserver.com and after reading his thoughts on this match I was pondering if we had both seen the same match. Mr Meltzer claimed it was the best match of the night, he must be kidding.

The quality of the match was rather poor and was stuffed full of boring spots that we have seen many times before. I expect more from a match that has no rules. The finish was as expected, Lita begging Kane not to hurt Matt, Kane turns round with and boom Matt strikes.

If these two have a rematch then it had better be a better performance than last night.

Winner: Matt Hardy

[Intercontinental Championship Match]
Edge Vs Randy Orton

This match should definitely be nominated as match of the year and should already be considered the Intercontinental match of the year! It really was that good.

Both guys seemed to know exactly what the other was thinking and their moves intertwined together like poetry. Everything just seemed to fall into place for this match, even the fans had a chanting contest half picking the other half backing Edge.

Probably the best thing about the match was that it did not end up as some stupid disqualification due to interference from Evolution. I really do hope that this is just the beginning if this is the kind of classic performance that we can expect from Edge and Randy Orton matches in the future.

Winner: Edge

Molly Holly Vs. Victoria

People moan, bitch and complain about the lack of decent matches in the female division and when one finally comes along the fans show their respect by buggering off for a soda or a toilet break!

OK some may argue that the crowd was burned out because of the last match featuring Randy Orton and Edge but that still really is not a good enough excuse. If it was Sable Vs. Torrie Wilson then I could understand but this was two very talented female wrestlers who can put on a great match.

Victoria did a great job selling her injured arm ,several times the referee and Molly even had to check to make sure she did not have a legit injury. Molly took the kick to the chin like it killed her.

A good decent match which was spoiled because of the lack of interest from the fans in attendance.

Winner: Victoria

[Raw Heavyweight Championship Match]
Chris Benoit Vs. Triple H

This was their third straight encounter in three consecutive pay-per-views would this match live up to the quality of the previous two triple threat matches? The answer was an emphatic YES.

It may not have been in the same category as the two triple threat matches previously but it came pretty damn close to them.

I know that some people will accuse me of marking out for Triple H and Chris Benoit but this match really did show people that this is why both men are considered the two best wrestlers in the world today.

Triple H has been slated over the past year or so for his lacklustre efforts inside the wrestling ring but he and Benoit really did make people sit up and listen. The addition of Eugene was also a very shrewd move and his chair shot spot had most of us on the edge of our seats.

My brother said that he knew Triple H would not win the match because he was wearing his white boots and whenever he wears them he loses. Does this mean Triple H is giving out secret signals?

Winner: Chris Benoit

So Vengeance is in the books and what a turnaround it has been for World Wrestling Entertainment in the past month. They held the Great American Bash, which stunk up the place, and just as soon as people were uttering the phrase “worst pay-per-view ever” in the voice of Comic Book Guy they come up trumps with Vengeance.

One thing that struck me as odd, no one went through the Spanish announce table and no one actually bladed. I can not remember the last time we had a pay-per-view that was this good without the use of a table spot or a blade job.

A pat on the back to all the wrestlers as every match brought something to the table on the night.

Until next time.

I was going to produce a prediction column but my new computer is not yet here and I did not get the time to nip to the internet shop in time. So instead I skipped to the review of the show.

If you read the previews for the show you will get the feeling that the majority of the Internet Wrestling Community are not looking forward to this pay-per-view. As you all know I like to be more open-minded.

So without any more hold-ups:

Not surprisingly The Dudleys and Rob Van Dam & Rey Mysterio kicked off the show, and why not? After all The Dudleys warm up a crowd better than any other tag team I have seen in a few years.

It is funny that I should say that because as soon as I typed this the match became rather boring and had the crowd almost silent until Rey Mysterio did his patented double 619 routine which was followed by Rob Van Dam’s frog splash.

The Dudleys seemed to be settling into their newly formed heel roles like a duck to water, I just think they are wasting them on Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio, they should be higher up the card causing trouble with Paul Heyman as their manager.

Not really a shock that Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio picked up the win.

Winners: RVD & Rey Mysterio

If I had the time to produce a prediction column this month then I would have said that this match would be my official sandwich break match of the night.

Just before both “wrestlers” came out Kurt Angle came out and told Torrie that if she lost then she would be fire, this was a bid to get more interest in an ailing match up that nobody cared about, it failed miserably.

The only interesting bit that the fans cared about was when Dawn Marie’s trousers fell down to reveal her flesh coloured thong. A total waste of bloody time and effort.

Winner: Torrie Wilson

Mordacai made his début against Scotty Too Hotty, his walk down to the ring carrying a cross was met with a deafening stunned silence from the fans. Many say that this guy was brought up from Ohio Valley Wrestling way too soon for a push such as this.

The answer from me is I think he has what it takes. He passed his initial test by putting Scotty Too Hotty away, and he looked good doing it, but the fans gave less response than they did in the match before.

Scotty got two moves in, a kick and a bulldog. As Mordacai rammed Scotty into the ring post and gave him knees to the gut, Tazz commented about not seeing anyone do this before.

Mordacai’s finisher was The Razor’s Edge. The only reason I can assume that he is using this move is because he holds his opponent in what looks like a cross before he slams them into the mat.

Winner: Mordacai

I was laughing when Charlie refused to walk down the little ramp like Rico, then minutes later Billy Gunn walked around it but then Hardcore Holly walked right on the ramp without a care in the world. Something you want to say Bob?

I always look forward to seeing Rico these days. His gimmick is absolutely hilarious. And tonight was no exception, watching Billy Gunn and Hardcore Holly reacting to Rico’s antics was top-notch comedy.

Charlie Haas’ straight-lace gimmick and Rico’s extremely camp homosexual gimmick mix excellently together to form an impressive tag team that I see sticking together for a while yet.

Saying that, Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn showed their experience as tag team members by mixing pretty well, maybe we have found something for Billy Gunn and Hardcore Holly to do?

Hardcore Holly had Charlie Haas in the Alabama Slam but Rico super kicked Hardcore Holly, Holly went backwards into a sunset flip and Charlie got the pin. Not a bad ending.

The match was good and the fans were more involved in this one than the other matches put together multiplied by three! A rematch has to happen soon, doesn’t it?

Winner: Charlie Haas & Rico

Chavo Guerrero lost the Cruiserweight championship to Jackie nearly two weeks ago and I am still laughing my head off when I see the footage. Their rematch tonight would have Chavo Guerrero with an arm tied behind his back.

Of course Chavo was going to take every opportunity to free his tied arm but he did it far too many times for my liking. It would have been better if he had cheated only once to win the match but he cheated for over half the match and by the end the fans did not give a damn.

With all due respect to Jackie I think this is their time for the cruiserweight division to get some main event status of sorts. Now that the big-named talent are not participating on Smackdown the time is right for a new breed to jump up to the top of the roster.

Winner: Chavo Guerrero

The whole Rene Dupree/John Cena saga seemed to be a bit too rushed for my liking. They could get at least another month out of this angle before Rene Dupree finally relieves John Cena of the United States championship.

With Jon Cena looking to battle for the big prize it makes sense to me to have Rene Dupree become the next US champion as it will cheese off the fans to have a Frenchman as their US Champ.

But not tonight, the belt should stay with John Cena and let them build up the match at the next pay-per-view and then hand over the belt.

The match tonight was well put together and has the fans buzzing, but then again if you had John Cena against John the soda man the fans would cheer as loudly for Cena.

Rene Dupree has really upped his game a notch or two since he moved to Smackdown from Raw last month. Dupree and Cena seemed to have some good chemistry inside the ring but there was something missing for me tonight.

Maybe it was the lack of a sugar-filled beverage on my part, but they just seemed to be holding back a little. Hopefully they will kick it up a gear at the finale next month.

Winner: John Cena

So, Booker T went on a mission to find some form of black magic potion to help him defeat The Deadman. This kind of thing may have worked about five years ago but it just does not wash these days.

Angles and story-lines like this just will not be successful in a world full of smart fans who are just too willing to sit and cluck away and spoil it for the rest of us.

But back to the match itself. Nothing special here really, Undertaker punched and kicked his way through the match with the odd spot move here and there. Booker T basically attacked when Undertaker needed a rest.

I actually fell asleep near the end of this match, that really show a lot for these two wrestlers and this match….

Winner: The Undertaker

John Bradshaw Layfield has bitched and attacked the wrestling fans such as myself in his column on wwe.com in recent weeks. He achieved hardly anything as a tag team wrestler but now he has the opportunity to take the step up and do something as a singles star.

His matches as a tag team have more or less sucked; this match against Eddie is his chance to show us that he has the right to be where he currently is and that he is not another Bob Holly or Scott Steiner.

I have seen many things as a wrestling fan, a decent A-Train match, Shawn Michaels job to someone who is not a friend, but I have never seen a blade job as bad as the one Eddie Guerrero did to himself tonight.

The blood was flowing like nothing I had ever seen before. He and John Bradshaw Layfield were covered in Eddie’s blood and the ring looked like it had been painted red, as did the area near the announcers.

Many will question whether John Bradshaw Layfield deserved his push and judging by his performance against Latino Heat I would have to say he more than deserved it.

The ending was very disappointing with Eddie hitting John Bradshaw Layfield with the belt for the DQ finish, but the aftermath was excellent with Eddie beating John Bradshaw Layfield to within an inch of his life and having the road agents come out and hold him back as John Bradshaw Layfield crawled his way to the back.

Winner: John Bradshaw Layfield

So not a bad show considering what looked to be a very weak card. Sure it looked like it had just come straight from a taping of Smackdown but considering the lack of star talent Smackdown have they still managed to pull off a nice entertaining pay-per-view.

Mordacai looks to be an interesting addition to the roster and I am looking forward to seeing John Bradshaw Layfield, Eddie Guerrero, Rene Dupree and John Cena getting it on at the next pay-per-view.

Until next time.