Hellraiser
01-15-2006, 05:29 PM
Last weekend WWE kicked off the New Year with a bang, shocking the world by not taking the belt off Cena inside the demonic Elimination Chamber, but by allowing Edge to cash in on his money in the bank title shot, and become the new WWE Champion. The show itself wasn’t particularly fantastic, but here’s my review of it anyway, mainly for archive purposes.
First of all, I kind of hoped that this show would be somewhere abroad again, as it was held last year in Puerto Rico. It gave the show a much more special feel, and I think that is a great way to start a new year in WWE. However, the fans in Albany were louder than a dozen pneumatic drills, and made the show enjoyable from start to finish (especially at the finish, more on that later).
Intercontinental Championship Match:
(Champion) Ric Flair vs. Edge w/Lita
For me this was the only match that could have kicked off the show, so I was glad to hear Edge’s music when New Year’s Revolution got underway. I’ve liked the feud, as, with many recent segments on Raw, it has been something new and original (however the fact that is actually based on Flair’s real life situation was a little risky). I wasn’t really sure where they would go with it beforehand either, as I couldn’t see Flair beating and Edge and killing his momentum, but I didn’t want Edge as the IC Champion again, so it made for an unpredictable situation.
The match itself wasn’t anything overly spectacular, and ended as soon as it really got started with Edge getting disqualified for nailing the 16-time World Champion with his briefcase, thus doing away with the aforementioned dilemma. However, the feud really has to continue, as Flair was left battered and bloody in the middle of the ring. Apparently tomorrow night on Raw it’s Edge vs. Flair in a TLC match, should be interesting to say the very least. ** for the match, although I’m looking forward to see what happens on Raw.
Winner: Ric Flair by DQ
Women’s Championship Match:
(Champion) Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James
This one has had a fantastic build up, with the viewers still waiting to see if Mickie is just playing mind games with her idol or not. It’s actually one of the best angles on the entire card, and frankly, one of the most anticipated match-ups too. The feud looks to be progressing past this show, and hopefully into Wrestlemania, giving the Women’s division some credibility back.
The match provided some hard hitting action from start to finish, and didn’t really disappoint. There were a couple of slip ups, but it didn’t take away from the contest too much, as both women went in there and put on an awesome show. At one point it looked like James had it won after nailing a Stratusfaction, but she took too long to cover, and this cost her the win in the end when she fell victim to a Chick Kick from the Champ. The match scores *** because I really enjoyed it, these two really lived up to the billing. Surely there’s a Mickie heel turn on the horizon though…
Winner: Trish Stratus
Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. Gregory Helms
Well the build up for this one has been...wait no, there was no real build up was there?
The match was thrown together at the last minute, putting a has been (sorry but it’s true) and someone half the fans don’t even know has turned heel on the show, rather than the incredibly over Chavo or Shelton Benjamin (although there is a reason for the latter). Nothing at all really happened in this one, except the fact that they successfully killed any heat Helms had remaining by jobbing him out to The King. *. Helms has to go to Smackdown! and try to make something out of this new gimmick in the Cruiserweight division if you ask me, otherwise he’ll get stuck on Heat and then eventually fired.
Winner: Jerry “The King” Lawler
Backstage Vis tries to hit on Shelton’s momma, only to feel her wrath as she threatens to sick her boy on him. I hate this character already.
Triple H vs. The Big Show
They built this one about as perfectly as you could ask, also including a new intangible in the 500-punder’s cast, making The Game’s plan backfire, and leaving you wonder what would happen when they finally stepped in the ring together. I didn’t think that the match itself could live up to the hype, but in the end, it wasn’t too bad.
The fact that they ripped off the cast pretty early on annoyed me a little, as frankly, the majority of the viewing audience wanted to see Show pound Triple H’s face in with it. However it made for some innovative moves, as normally we see the knee or shoulder get focussed on, this time it was Big Show’s right hand. Once we got the sledgehammer and the chair involved it got to a point where it was more gimmick than wrestling, but Show’s selling let the fans eat it up. Show breaking the hammer in half was a little excessive, but I guess it was relevant, as The Game concealed the hammer from Show later on, before nailing him with it and following up with the Pedigree for the win. ***
I actually enjoyed that, and wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch. Somebody feel my forehead I must be sick.
Winner: Triple H
Shelton Benjamin w/ his momma vs. Viscera
Despite how good Shelton is, Big Vis has never had a good match in his life, and New Year’s Revolution would be no exception. The ranting and raving of Shelton’s momma got so annoying so quickly I threatened to retreat to the kitchen and make myself a sandwich. However, pretty sure Shelton would win, I stuck around. God knows why.
After what seemed like an age, Shelton’s momma nailed Vis with her purse (which had a brick in it) a couple of times allowing her boy to hit the Dragon Screw for the win. DUD. A fate worse than death.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Bra & Panties Gauntlet Match
More useless filler here, and, after my previous thoughts had made me extremely hungry, my sandwich break. Yes I am a warm blooded male but seriously, trying to find that last pack of ham at the back of the fridge was probably more entertaining. When I returned from my brief expedition to the kitchen the “match” was mercifully over. I re-watched it the next night and proved myself right; it was a waste of time. DUD. On a side note, why do they keep bringing back Mae Young? It’s not funny anymore, and I’m sure it’s just scarring young, impressionable children’s minds. I still haven’t got that image from the 2000 Royal Rumble out my head, and that was six years ago.
Winner: Ashley (I think)
WWE Championship Elimination Chamber IV:
(Champion) John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Carlito vs. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Masters vs. Kane
And so WWE gives us all a classic example on how to completely screw up the booking of something that is already seriously lacking in anything overly exciting anyway. Woah, long sentence.
The crowd ruled for this entire match, it was insane. It didn’t matter who the hell was beating up Cena, they got cheered out the building. And so, on the flip side, every time Cena got some offence he got booed, possibly harder than ever before. Actually, the crowd made this match so much more watchable than it actually should have been. Also, why is it now only four minutes between entrants?
Cena and Michaels started the match, with the crowd 100% behind HBK. Carlito was the first man out the internal chambers (that just sounds wrong), and to his credit, tried some innovative offence with the slingshot over the top rope onto Michaels. Angle was next out as the crowd goes nuts as he German Suplexes everyone in sight…twice. It actually looked like Angle was the crowd favourite, even ahead of Michaels. Masters came in next, and nobody could care less.
Angle was the first eliminated when HBK nailed the Sweet Chin Music, thus removing the part of the match that the fans actually cared about. Clever booking isn’t it? Kane comes out the chamber last, but, much to my dismay, there wasn’t any real damage caused by the Big Red Machine, such as throwing people through the glass etc. Eventually he got eliminated by Carlito and Masters who were teaming up. That’s just stupid.
After some more action HBK gets eliminated by Carlito and I nearly turn my TV off. This is some of the worst booking I can ever remember seeing. We all know neither Carlito nor Masters will win, so it’s a guaranteed Cena retain, which the fans hate. In the end Carlito turns on Masters and rolls him up, before getting pinned himself by Cena. Very vague outline there, but that’s the general gist of it.
By this point I’m thinking about breaking things. **½ for the match, and the worst Elimination Chamber yet (yes even worse than the one with Goldberg, and that’s saying something).
Winner: John Cena
But wait! Mr. McMahon announces that Edge is cashing in on his title shot and I’m marking out like a complete idiot.
WWE Championship Match:
(Champion) John Cena vs. Edge w/Lita
Edge pounds on Cena for a bit, then nails the Spear which should win it, but either the referee or Cena screw up because the ref counted three and then signalled for the bell to be rung, but Cena kicked out. Way to give away the ending, as if we didn’t know already. A second Spear gets the job done and we have a new WWE Champion for the first time in ten months.
Winner: Edge
Technically the match should be a DUD but seeing as I’m so glad to see a new champion, especially seeing as that champion is Edge, it gets *. Great stuff, and I’m hoping they’ll turn Cena heel soon. They really have no other choice.
Final Thoughts:
Unless you’re a really big Edge fan there’s not a whole heck of a lot to see. The Women’s Title match and Big Show vs. HHH are probably the best matches on the card, although the Chamber is interesting to watch simply due to the crowd reaction to Cena. It was probably better live because of the shock of a new champion, and seeing as the shock is gone now, it isn’t a great show.
Show Rating – C
So now it’s on to the Royal Rumble, with the return of RVD and the rematch between Cena and Edge. I was predicting Orton to win the Rumble match itself, but with Angle recently winning the World Heavyweight Championship, I’ll just have to wait and see.
Peace.
First of all, I kind of hoped that this show would be somewhere abroad again, as it was held last year in Puerto Rico. It gave the show a much more special feel, and I think that is a great way to start a new year in WWE. However, the fans in Albany were louder than a dozen pneumatic drills, and made the show enjoyable from start to finish (especially at the finish, more on that later).
Intercontinental Championship Match:
(Champion) Ric Flair vs. Edge w/Lita
For me this was the only match that could have kicked off the show, so I was glad to hear Edge’s music when New Year’s Revolution got underway. I’ve liked the feud, as, with many recent segments on Raw, it has been something new and original (however the fact that is actually based on Flair’s real life situation was a little risky). I wasn’t really sure where they would go with it beforehand either, as I couldn’t see Flair beating and Edge and killing his momentum, but I didn’t want Edge as the IC Champion again, so it made for an unpredictable situation.
The match itself wasn’t anything overly spectacular, and ended as soon as it really got started with Edge getting disqualified for nailing the 16-time World Champion with his briefcase, thus doing away with the aforementioned dilemma. However, the feud really has to continue, as Flair was left battered and bloody in the middle of the ring. Apparently tomorrow night on Raw it’s Edge vs. Flair in a TLC match, should be interesting to say the very least. ** for the match, although I’m looking forward to see what happens on Raw.
Winner: Ric Flair by DQ
Women’s Championship Match:
(Champion) Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James
This one has had a fantastic build up, with the viewers still waiting to see if Mickie is just playing mind games with her idol or not. It’s actually one of the best angles on the entire card, and frankly, one of the most anticipated match-ups too. The feud looks to be progressing past this show, and hopefully into Wrestlemania, giving the Women’s division some credibility back.
The match provided some hard hitting action from start to finish, and didn’t really disappoint. There were a couple of slip ups, but it didn’t take away from the contest too much, as both women went in there and put on an awesome show. At one point it looked like James had it won after nailing a Stratusfaction, but she took too long to cover, and this cost her the win in the end when she fell victim to a Chick Kick from the Champ. The match scores *** because I really enjoyed it, these two really lived up to the billing. Surely there’s a Mickie heel turn on the horizon though…
Winner: Trish Stratus
Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. Gregory Helms
Well the build up for this one has been...wait no, there was no real build up was there?
The match was thrown together at the last minute, putting a has been (sorry but it’s true) and someone half the fans don’t even know has turned heel on the show, rather than the incredibly over Chavo or Shelton Benjamin (although there is a reason for the latter). Nothing at all really happened in this one, except the fact that they successfully killed any heat Helms had remaining by jobbing him out to The King. *. Helms has to go to Smackdown! and try to make something out of this new gimmick in the Cruiserweight division if you ask me, otherwise he’ll get stuck on Heat and then eventually fired.
Winner: Jerry “The King” Lawler
Backstage Vis tries to hit on Shelton’s momma, only to feel her wrath as she threatens to sick her boy on him. I hate this character already.
Triple H vs. The Big Show
They built this one about as perfectly as you could ask, also including a new intangible in the 500-punder’s cast, making The Game’s plan backfire, and leaving you wonder what would happen when they finally stepped in the ring together. I didn’t think that the match itself could live up to the hype, but in the end, it wasn’t too bad.
The fact that they ripped off the cast pretty early on annoyed me a little, as frankly, the majority of the viewing audience wanted to see Show pound Triple H’s face in with it. However it made for some innovative moves, as normally we see the knee or shoulder get focussed on, this time it was Big Show’s right hand. Once we got the sledgehammer and the chair involved it got to a point where it was more gimmick than wrestling, but Show’s selling let the fans eat it up. Show breaking the hammer in half was a little excessive, but I guess it was relevant, as The Game concealed the hammer from Show later on, before nailing him with it and following up with the Pedigree for the win. ***
I actually enjoyed that, and wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch. Somebody feel my forehead I must be sick.
Winner: Triple H
Shelton Benjamin w/ his momma vs. Viscera
Despite how good Shelton is, Big Vis has never had a good match in his life, and New Year’s Revolution would be no exception. The ranting and raving of Shelton’s momma got so annoying so quickly I threatened to retreat to the kitchen and make myself a sandwich. However, pretty sure Shelton would win, I stuck around. God knows why.
After what seemed like an age, Shelton’s momma nailed Vis with her purse (which had a brick in it) a couple of times allowing her boy to hit the Dragon Screw for the win. DUD. A fate worse than death.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Bra & Panties Gauntlet Match
More useless filler here, and, after my previous thoughts had made me extremely hungry, my sandwich break. Yes I am a warm blooded male but seriously, trying to find that last pack of ham at the back of the fridge was probably more entertaining. When I returned from my brief expedition to the kitchen the “match” was mercifully over. I re-watched it the next night and proved myself right; it was a waste of time. DUD. On a side note, why do they keep bringing back Mae Young? It’s not funny anymore, and I’m sure it’s just scarring young, impressionable children’s minds. I still haven’t got that image from the 2000 Royal Rumble out my head, and that was six years ago.
Winner: Ashley (I think)
WWE Championship Elimination Chamber IV:
(Champion) John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Carlito vs. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Masters vs. Kane
And so WWE gives us all a classic example on how to completely screw up the booking of something that is already seriously lacking in anything overly exciting anyway. Woah, long sentence.
The crowd ruled for this entire match, it was insane. It didn’t matter who the hell was beating up Cena, they got cheered out the building. And so, on the flip side, every time Cena got some offence he got booed, possibly harder than ever before. Actually, the crowd made this match so much more watchable than it actually should have been. Also, why is it now only four minutes between entrants?
Cena and Michaels started the match, with the crowd 100% behind HBK. Carlito was the first man out the internal chambers (that just sounds wrong), and to his credit, tried some innovative offence with the slingshot over the top rope onto Michaels. Angle was next out as the crowd goes nuts as he German Suplexes everyone in sight…twice. It actually looked like Angle was the crowd favourite, even ahead of Michaels. Masters came in next, and nobody could care less.
Angle was the first eliminated when HBK nailed the Sweet Chin Music, thus removing the part of the match that the fans actually cared about. Clever booking isn’t it? Kane comes out the chamber last, but, much to my dismay, there wasn’t any real damage caused by the Big Red Machine, such as throwing people through the glass etc. Eventually he got eliminated by Carlito and Masters who were teaming up. That’s just stupid.
After some more action HBK gets eliminated by Carlito and I nearly turn my TV off. This is some of the worst booking I can ever remember seeing. We all know neither Carlito nor Masters will win, so it’s a guaranteed Cena retain, which the fans hate. In the end Carlito turns on Masters and rolls him up, before getting pinned himself by Cena. Very vague outline there, but that’s the general gist of it.
By this point I’m thinking about breaking things. **½ for the match, and the worst Elimination Chamber yet (yes even worse than the one with Goldberg, and that’s saying something).
Winner: John Cena
But wait! Mr. McMahon announces that Edge is cashing in on his title shot and I’m marking out like a complete idiot.
WWE Championship Match:
(Champion) John Cena vs. Edge w/Lita
Edge pounds on Cena for a bit, then nails the Spear which should win it, but either the referee or Cena screw up because the ref counted three and then signalled for the bell to be rung, but Cena kicked out. Way to give away the ending, as if we didn’t know already. A second Spear gets the job done and we have a new WWE Champion for the first time in ten months.
Winner: Edge
Technically the match should be a DUD but seeing as I’m so glad to see a new champion, especially seeing as that champion is Edge, it gets *. Great stuff, and I’m hoping they’ll turn Cena heel soon. They really have no other choice.
Final Thoughts:
Unless you’re a really big Edge fan there’s not a whole heck of a lot to see. The Women’s Title match and Big Show vs. HHH are probably the best matches on the card, although the Chamber is interesting to watch simply due to the crowd reaction to Cena. It was probably better live because of the shock of a new champion, and seeing as the shock is gone now, it isn’t a great show.
Show Rating – C
So now it’s on to the Royal Rumble, with the return of RVD and the rematch between Cena and Edge. I was predicting Orton to win the Rumble match itself, but with Angle recently winning the World Heavyweight Championship, I’ll just have to wait and see.
Peace.