Gregory Helms defeated Psycosis, Paul London, Supah Crazy, Brian Kendrick, Kid Kash, Scotty 2 Hotty, Nunzio and Funaki to retain CW Title in a clusterfuck. This wasn’t a battle royal or gauntlet match, but simply threw 9 men into the ring & awarded the title to the first wrestler to gain a pinfall! I think they called it a ‘Sudden Death’ match officially. Sounds confusing & it was initially. But it was decently enough booked & delivered enough of the usual entertaining cruiserweight action to make it succeed. Not much room for storytelling, so I’m unsure why Funaki, Nunzio & even Scotty were required. Where the hell was Jamie Noble anyway? In fact, for the first half of the bout, it may as well have been a tag match between The MexiCools & London/Kendrick. But an entertaining, if a little too rehearsed, extended finishing sequence involving those 4 men plus Kash & Helms finished the match off very well. Helms ended up stealing the pin at the 10 minute mark. *** 1/2
JBL defeated Bobby Lashley. Following some brief offense from JBL, Lashley dominated the first 5 minutes of the bout. He did so with a combination of impressive athleticism & strength. But more importantly, he seems to have improved the crispness of most of his moves, as well as his ring presence. JBL soon swayed the momentum & he took over with his usual methodical offense (although he did throw in an awkward looking top-rope elbow-drop). A sleeper-hold was then used, before the rookie fought back with a power-slam (countering another top-rope move), 4 belly to belly suplexes & a t-bone suplex in another impressive spurt. Just as Lashley was about to finish JBL off though, Finlay shows up for no reason and hit Big Bobby with his wooden shelaileigh. A clothesline from hell later & JBL ends Lashley’s winning streak at the 11 minute mark. ***
Matt Hardy and Tatanka defeated MnM in a Non Title bout. Even match which was nothing too bad, but just seemed to drift along at a mundane pace for most of the bout. Things picked up after a nice offensive sequence from Hardy, which got the crowd back on side after a short “boring†chant. The new team eventually got the win a little anti-climactically at the 10 minute mark. Pretty solid, but there just wasn’t a strong enough story to carry the set-up part of this match. **
Chris Benoit defeated Booker T to win the U.S Title. Before the match started, Booker faked forfeiting the title before attacking He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named from behind to get things moving. And it was a terrific start to the bout after that, as both men used crisp impact on each & every move to emphasize their point. That continued for about 7 minutes & the match was really setting up something special. But then Booker unfortunately slowed the pace down with a combination of restholds. He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named predictably made the strong comeback, and while it was good action, it took me a couple of minutes to get right back into the bout. In fact, it was a missed Harlem (or Houston) Hangover (top-rope somersault legdrop) by Booker that finally caught my attention fully. A good & solid extended finishing sequence saw Booker tap out to a clever sharpshooter / crossface combo at the 18 minute mark. Could have been better, but still a very solid match that might be a fitting end to their feud. Both men definitely still showed that they are more than useful in the upper-midcard, if not higher. *** 1/2
Randy Orton defeated Rey Mysterio to become #1 contender at Mania. Orton initially plays cocky & controls the early pace, only allowing Rey a couple of flashes of offense. While attempting a hurracanrana on the outside, Orton counters by swinging Rey into the ringpost. This results in an arm injury that Randy targets for the majority of the bout. But cleverly & wisely, instead of allowing Orton to use constant submission or restholds, the match was booked to allow intermittent offense from Mysterio. In fact, it was a little more than intermittent, which probably foreshadowed the fact that the bout would not make it past 20 minutes in length. Some nice, if not classic, moves were included in the match. But it was the fact that their 2 wrestling styles meshed quite well that was the major ingredient for a successful bout here. For that reason, I would have preferred if these guys were tested further over about 25 minutes. But as it turned out, Rey missed the 619 & got rolled up (with the help of some leverage from the ropes) at the 17 minute mark. Nicely put together & performed, while obviously being helped greatly by the storyline set-up. Furthermore, I think a touch of unpredictability also helped the bout, as we were never quite sure (as the WWE may still not be) what is planned for WrestleMania 22 regarding the World HeavyWeight Title match. Sure, it still could have been a lot better, but on this showing, it all holds well for a future feud between these two. As the icing on the cake, the ending may suggest a WrestleMania triple-threat title match, while the slightly emotional aftermath (Rey disappointingly being greeted by Chavo, Vicki & colleagues) may also suggest yet another layer to the ever-improving Mysterio character. *** 1/2
Kurt Angle carried Kick Punch to the match of his career. There was some nice byplay between the 2 to begin with, and then ‘Taker targeted the arm of the champion. It wasn’t too long before Kurt got on top though, and he counter-targets The Undertaker’s leg. The bout meandered along a little at this stage, but it was to be expected due to what was always going to be a rather lengthy match. Following a ringpost Figure 4 Leglock, Kurt brilliantly counters an apron leg-drop into an ankle-lock on the outside. ‘Taker eventually works his way back into the match with a triangle choke, but Angle holds sway after an Angle Slam into the Spanish Announce Table (which was a crowd-pleasing spot). This should have ended the bout, as ‘Taker was about to be counted out. But Kurt stopped the referees count intentionally to allow the match to continue. What followed was a rather amazing, if a little prolonged & rehearsed, closing sequence that saw multiple near pinfalls & near tap outs. Multiple ankle-locks, triangle chokes, counters & reversals all finally ended at the 30 minute mark when Kurt nicely flipped into a bridge for the pinfall, while he was still in the triangle choke hold. Only slightly awkward on rare occasions, the face vs face dynamic was very well countered by the competitive nature (storyline) of the bout. The match moved along at a sufficient pace, was entertaining for the most part & well performed. While the absence of any interference was welcome, I can’t help but think that the overlong finishing sequence was just a little much & hampered the realism (& natural flow) of the bout. Having said that, it didn’t take away from the fact that it was all still very captivating & entertaining. A worthy ppv main-event, the match of the night & arguably in the top 3 of the Undertaker’s best ever matches! ****
JBL defeated Bobby Lashley. Following some brief offense from JBL, Lashley dominated the first 5 minutes of the bout. He did so with a combination of impressive athleticism & strength. But more importantly, he seems to have improved the crispness of most of his moves, as well as his ring presence. JBL soon swayed the momentum & he took over with his usual methodical offense (although he did throw in an awkward looking top-rope elbow-drop). A sleeper-hold was then used, before the rookie fought back with a power-slam (countering another top-rope move), 4 belly to belly suplexes & a t-bone suplex in another impressive spurt. Just as Lashley was about to finish JBL off though, Finlay shows up for no reason and hit Big Bobby with his wooden shelaileigh. A clothesline from hell later & JBL ends Lashley’s winning streak at the 11 minute mark. ***
Matt Hardy and Tatanka defeated MnM in a Non Title bout. Even match which was nothing too bad, but just seemed to drift along at a mundane pace for most of the bout. Things picked up after a nice offensive sequence from Hardy, which got the crowd back on side after a short “boring†chant. The new team eventually got the win a little anti-climactically at the 10 minute mark. Pretty solid, but there just wasn’t a strong enough story to carry the set-up part of this match. **
Chris Benoit defeated Booker T to win the U.S Title. Before the match started, Booker faked forfeiting the title before attacking He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named from behind to get things moving. And it was a terrific start to the bout after that, as both men used crisp impact on each & every move to emphasize their point. That continued for about 7 minutes & the match was really setting up something special. But then Booker unfortunately slowed the pace down with a combination of restholds. He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named predictably made the strong comeback, and while it was good action, it took me a couple of minutes to get right back into the bout. In fact, it was a missed Harlem (or Houston) Hangover (top-rope somersault legdrop) by Booker that finally caught my attention fully. A good & solid extended finishing sequence saw Booker tap out to a clever sharpshooter / crossface combo at the 18 minute mark. Could have been better, but still a very solid match that might be a fitting end to their feud. Both men definitely still showed that they are more than useful in the upper-midcard, if not higher. *** 1/2
Randy Orton defeated Rey Mysterio to become #1 contender at Mania. Orton initially plays cocky & controls the early pace, only allowing Rey a couple of flashes of offense. While attempting a hurracanrana on the outside, Orton counters by swinging Rey into the ringpost. This results in an arm injury that Randy targets for the majority of the bout. But cleverly & wisely, instead of allowing Orton to use constant submission or restholds, the match was booked to allow intermittent offense from Mysterio. In fact, it was a little more than intermittent, which probably foreshadowed the fact that the bout would not make it past 20 minutes in length. Some nice, if not classic, moves were included in the match. But it was the fact that their 2 wrestling styles meshed quite well that was the major ingredient for a successful bout here. For that reason, I would have preferred if these guys were tested further over about 25 minutes. But as it turned out, Rey missed the 619 & got rolled up (with the help of some leverage from the ropes) at the 17 minute mark. Nicely put together & performed, while obviously being helped greatly by the storyline set-up. Furthermore, I think a touch of unpredictability also helped the bout, as we were never quite sure (as the WWE may still not be) what is planned for WrestleMania 22 regarding the World HeavyWeight Title match. Sure, it still could have been a lot better, but on this showing, it all holds well for a future feud between these two. As the icing on the cake, the ending may suggest a WrestleMania triple-threat title match, while the slightly emotional aftermath (Rey disappointingly being greeted by Chavo, Vicki & colleagues) may also suggest yet another layer to the ever-improving Mysterio character. *** 1/2
Kurt Angle carried Kick Punch to the match of his career. There was some nice byplay between the 2 to begin with, and then ‘Taker targeted the arm of the champion. It wasn’t too long before Kurt got on top though, and he counter-targets The Undertaker’s leg. The bout meandered along a little at this stage, but it was to be expected due to what was always going to be a rather lengthy match. Following a ringpost Figure 4 Leglock, Kurt brilliantly counters an apron leg-drop into an ankle-lock on the outside. ‘Taker eventually works his way back into the match with a triangle choke, but Angle holds sway after an Angle Slam into the Spanish Announce Table (which was a crowd-pleasing spot). This should have ended the bout, as ‘Taker was about to be counted out. But Kurt stopped the referees count intentionally to allow the match to continue. What followed was a rather amazing, if a little prolonged & rehearsed, closing sequence that saw multiple near pinfalls & near tap outs. Multiple ankle-locks, triangle chokes, counters & reversals all finally ended at the 30 minute mark when Kurt nicely flipped into a bridge for the pinfall, while he was still in the triangle choke hold. Only slightly awkward on rare occasions, the face vs face dynamic was very well countered by the competitive nature (storyline) of the bout. The match moved along at a sufficient pace, was entertaining for the most part & well performed. While the absence of any interference was welcome, I can’t help but think that the overlong finishing sequence was just a little much & hampered the realism (& natural flow) of the bout. Having said that, it didn’t take away from the fact that it was all still very captivating & entertaining. A worthy ppv main-event, the match of the night & arguably in the top 3 of the Undertaker’s best ever matches! ****