Welcome to the 32nd No Smark Zone. The column that Roxxi won’t read because “HE CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH!†Thank you, thank you, that was my best Jack Nicholson impression and if you don’t know who he is, go download “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest sit back, and watch some of the greatest acting from Jack as R.P. McMurphy and some of the best heel work from some woman playing Nurse Ratched. God damn, I saw that movie for the first time in a high school psych class and even back then, I wanted to croak that bitch. Ok, ok, enough about old movies from before even MY old time, I can just hear someone saying “COME ON CHIEF DON’T YOU WANT TO SEE THE COLUMN!†ok like 2 people who read my column will get that reference.
Anyways, onto business. This week in the No Smark Zone I will be counting down the bottom 10 of the top 20 greatest Wrestlemania matches of all time. I’m sure there will be some people who disagree, but it’s my column so SCREW YOU! Kidding, I love all of my loyal readers. As Bruce Pritchard would say in character…IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! Also, a loyal reader posed a question to me and I am going to devote a portion of this column to answering it. And finally, what EVERYONE has been waiting for, the first ever Kaedon BTB Challenge. I will be taking on one of the greatest bookers in IWF history, Switchy. Will it be a knock down, drag out? Will it be an Youmangaesque squash match? Or will it be one of the greatest Kaedon BTB Challlenges of all time! Well, the last one will be true, at least until the next one. So without further adieu, it’s time to jump into Wrestlemania’s past as I count down, the Greatest Wrestlemania Matches of All Time!
Now, there are a lot of things that go into having a great match, let alone a great Wrestlemania match. And then there has to be something even more special for it to be one of the greatest of all time. There has to be drama, there has to be great characters, there has to be great action, and much, much more. There have been 242 matches (give or take depending on if you count those 24/7 hardcore rules matches as matches) in just about 24 years of Wrestlemania’s. We’ve seen all sorts of sights at Wrestlemania. Women’s tag team matches, Chicago Street Fights, Father vs. Son, Brother vs. Brother. We’ve seen champions crowned and legends made. And to pick just 20 is a huge task. But, I’ve got nothing else to write about.
20. Jake “The Snake†Roberts vs. “The Model†Rick Martel in a Blindfold Match at Wrestlemania VII
A lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one as the match, from a technical workrate perspective wasn’t all that good. However it was full of all of the drama, excitement, and emotion that all great matches must have to be great. The WWE had been building this feud for at least 6 months beforehand, combining the great promo skills of Jake and the solar panel gimmick that was The Model. Martel had a Gorgeous George kinda character and he even had his own “scent†called “Arrogance†that he would spray all over the ring. After one match, Martel sprayed Jake in the face with his spray, thus making him go “blindâ€. And boy they milked that shit for all it was worth. At the Survivor Series Jake had a smokey contact in his eye that just looked disgusting. So since Martel had made Jake blind, it was time to turn the tables and that was what led to this match. The crowd was fucking hot for this match. They wanted, so bad, for Jake to get ahold of Martel and just beat his ass. There was a lot of crowd interaction as Jake used them to help him find his confused opponent. Jake was cool, calm, and collected. The Model looked like he was on speed. His arms flailing, you could just tell he had a scared and or confused look on his face, via his body language, which is a hallmark of a great worker. And Jake pretty much owned the crowd for this match. They were telling him where to go and he listened. It was a roller coaster ride “YEAH YEAH HES THERE, GET HIM†and then “ohhhhhhhhhhh he moved.†Just fun stuff to watch in what was yet another groundbreaking Wrestlemania moment.
19. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. “Rowdy†Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful†Paul Orndorff at Wrestlemania I
Yeah, I know, it’s the first Wrestlemania main event but compared to everything that would come afterwards, it kind of pales on in comparison. Still, it is a hallmark match that had all the makings of something special. The Hogan/Piper feud is the feud that brought wrestling to a whole new level. And here it was, headlining a show that would change the way fans saw wrestling forever. Then you add into the mix, Mr. T, who was, without a doubt, one of the hottest actors at the time, and Mr. Wonderful, a man whom Hogan had a checkered past with, and you have the makings for one of the greatest main events in Mania history. What I will always remember about this match is the intensity everyone brought to it. Even the n00b Mr. T looked like he was into it. But I think it was because there was a lot of REAL LIFE heat between he and Piper who had done/would do anything short of going out on TV and calling him a ni**er to try and get the fans to hate him. They absolutely hated each other and it showed, and it was that intensity that made the match so great.
18. “The Heartbreak Kid†Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 19
In the history of the WWE, there have been two mirror matches. The first happened at Summerslam 1994 when The Undertaker took on The Underfaker which was truly a sight to see. The build up to that match was just great, but the payoff, not so good. This was the second one. Shawn Michaels vs. Shawn Michaels II aka Chris Jericho. As Y2J said, this was the classic Kung Fu story. Student vs. Teacher. Old Lion vs. Young Lion. And this match did NOT disappoint. From a technical perspective, it may be one of the most perfect (sorry Curt) matches in Wrestlemania history. Usually when matches go back and forth, they fall flat on their face as there is no heat for the heel and then no comeback for the babyface. But in this match, the back and forth made a lot of sense and not only did it not take away from it, it added to the match. Not a 5 star match, but god damn close as Jericho and HBK almost stole the show that night in Seattle.
17. “Macho Man†Randy Savage vs. “The Million Dollar Man†Ted Dibiasie in the finals of the WWF Title tournament at Wrestlemania IV
Anyone who knows me, knows I just love tourneys. And this was the greatest tourney of all taking place on the greatest stage of them all. The participants are all bonafide hall of famers and it culminated in this classic match. It marked the first and last time Ted would headline Mania and marked the first time Randy Savage would win the WWF title. To make this match more dramatic, Randy had wrestled 3 matches already that night and Ted had wrestled 2. Add to this fact, The Million Dollar Man had Andre The Giant in his corner while Savage had the lovely yet relatively useless Miss Elizabeth. These two left it all in the ring pulling out pretty much every move each guy knew and just when it seemed like Randy was gonna take control, Andre derailed him. That was when Savage had enough, he sent his woman to the back and when she returned, she brought reinforcements in the form of The Immortal Hulk Hogan. Hogan grabbed a chair and sat at ringside. Anytime Andre tired to get in it, Hogan cock blocked him. And in the end, Hogan and Savage turned the tables on the heels when Hogan nailed Dibiasie with a chair. One HUGE elbow drop later, that went 3/4ths of the way across the ring and we have a new WWF Champion. Just great stuff all around.
16. Shane McMahon vs. Vince McMahon in a Street Fight at Wrestlemania 17
One of the things that will always amaze me about Vince McMahon, is the lengths that he is willing to go to, to entertain the WWE fans. He catches so much shit for approving some very questionable angles and “derailing†talent but the bottom line is, he wants to entertain, and that was very apparent when Vince took on his OWN SON at Wrestlemania. Sure Vince delt out a lot of damage, but he took some serious bumps all to entertain the fans including an elbow drop through a table on the outside and Shane’s semi-patented coast to coast garbage can shot. This match was over like gangbusters for two reasons. One, a lot of people don’t like or HATE their parents. And two, Vince is an amazing heel. He learned from watching Ric Flair, Buddy Rodgers, Gorgeous George, and so many others that he knows exactly how to get people to hate him. So when he was about to polish off his son and his, until then, catatonic wife stood up, that arena erupted. I think it might have been as loud as Austin’s entrance which is an amazing feat.
15. “Macho Man†Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania V
In what was the most powerful tag team in the past two years, The Mega Powers exploded at Wrestlemania 5. The best of friends exploded over, yeah, you guessed it, a woman. In this case, it was Liz. And it lead to two of the greatest performers getting it on in the main event. Savage played the out of his mind, out of control heel PERFECTLY. His wild eyes and wide gestures only accented everything that Hogan did. He even pulled the ultimate heel card when he put a woman in front of him so he wouldn’t get hit. And to quote of the most brilliant guys in the business “Any guy who would put a woman in front of him to fight his battles for him, is kind of a cunt.†That match was money because of the heat and because Randy was a phenomenal worker. Much like he did the year before he left it all in the ring. He did everything he could, axe handles, knees to the back and his patented elbow, but it was not enough to defeat Hulkamania.
14. Edge vs. Christian vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane in the first ever Money In The Bank Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 21
I am always a fan of multi-man matches. And this was, without a doubt, one of the most groundbreaking matches to ever take place at Mania. This match is designed to help a guy who isn’t over, get over. And since there is no more King Of The Ring and only one guy can win the Royal Rumble, this is another way to help young talent. In this one, we had 3 not so over talents, and 3 guys who already had their turn. But still, speculation was all over on this one. Benoit was a favorite, then Shelton Benjamin became a long shot, and then Edge became a favorite along with Christian a close second. We all know what happened though, a Rated R Superstar was born. But to get there he had to be in a match with a flying red machine, a flying wolverine, and a ramp running soon to be gold standard. This match had the psychology of a good ladder match as everyone was almost there and it combined that with just phenomenal athleticism all around. Shelton running up the ladder, Kane’s dive that took out everyone, and Benoit’s superdeedooper headbutt are just some of the spots that made this match so memorable and one of the greatest Mania matches ever!
13. The Undertaker vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 23
This was the first match in their series of amazing matches in 2007. For the first time since WM 6, the main event featured two faces battling it out. There were rumblings on the net and interviews given that indicated that Batista and Taker were not happy with not going on last, and that, I believe, is what pushed them, Batista especially, to try and have the match of the night, and depending on who you ask, they did. Surprisingly the “workrate†wasn’t bad at all on both ends. And the Batista bashers can claim he was carried all they want, but the fact of the matter is, if Batista wasn’t in this match, Taker is not in contention for match of the night and the same can be said the other way around. I remember very vividly watching the match on a 60in TV at a friends place and almost everyone was glued to the TV. This match had genuine interest about it. Batista was, at that point, the person who was most likely to end Taker’s streak at Mania, and during the match, he showed why. Great false finishes, close counts, reversals, and the “Will It End†factor all made this a great fucking match.
12. Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania at Wrestlemania 18
This was possibly the most hyped match in the history of Wrestlemania. It was a true dream match that almost everyone, except MS because he hates Hogan, wanted to see. It truly was Jordan vs. Kobe, Tyson vs. Ali, and all that jazz. Hulk Hogan: the biggest star of all time, the name that is synonymous with professional wrestling, even to this day. The Rock: One of the two biggest names in modern wrestling. These are two of three men whose name transcended wrestling. And they were going to lock up and go one on one on the biggest PPV ever. What more could you ask for? A hot crowd. As much as Hogan probably wanted to be hated because he is very old school, heel vs. face kinda guy, he was over like a motherfucker. And The Rock showed in that match why he is/was one of the greatest of all time by simply adapting to what was going on. We saw the comeback, we saw the eyebrow, we saw the YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU, we saw the peoples elbow, we saw a Rock Bottom from Hogan and everything in between. It was truly a classic match and a Wrestlemania moment that will live forever.
11. The Undertaker vs. HHH at Wrestlemania 17
Here is the scenario. You have one of the best hands in wrestling history whose star was still rising, taking on a living (sort of) legend in the WWE. The Deadman was hurting and was injury prone. He said himself that this was a make or break match for him, not to the WWE, to the “boys†in the back, or to anyone else other than himself. This was one of the matches, in my opinion, that helped make wrestling what it is. A transition, if you will. It was matches like this, and matches like Rock/Austin where everyone gets all of their big moves in and everyone kicks out of everyone elses finisher. Now I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but I’m definitely not saying it’s a good thing. There weren’t 4 pedigrees and 6 tomobstones, however there was a lot of brute force vs. brute force here, much like with Rock/Austin. But I think what makes this match so good above others like it is just because of the two men involved. HHH and The Undertaker may not have been as hot for as long as Austin or Rock, but a case could be made that they are better wrestlers and have a better grasp of ring psychology and that is what made this thing such a fucking awesome match!
Ok, that’s it for the bottom 10, next week you will get 10-5. Now onto something that came to me in a PM. Here is the exact quote….
And now its time for the maaiiiiiiiiiiiin event of the evening. What you have all been waiting for like the salivating dogs that you are (SP may get that reference >_>)…Kaedon vs. Switchy in the inaugural Kaedon BTB Challenge. We have 5 judges, 2 contestants, and one scenario. This is definitely something good here as I am taking on a booking MACHINE in Switchy. Thanks to MS for the scenario and judging, and thanks to our other judges The Leviathan, The Anigma, Soulpower, and PeepShow. They were troopers who complied with every request no matter how picky I got and I am very thankful.
First I am going to give you the scenario from Monkeystyle, our written btb’s, and then finally the ratings and comments.
One of the things that I always thought would be a big feud and for whatever reason the WWE was never able to make it happen in a manner that interested the fans or lived up to expectations is a Matt Hardy versus Jeff Hardy feud. I always have wanted to see this feud done properly but as I've said before the WWE has failed at every single attempt.
So with that being said I would like this feud to begin at Armageddon (that's the PPV in December I think if its not you know which one I want.) and end with the big blowoff match at Wrestlemania.
Kaedon’s Scenario
Armageddon
After the show goes on the air Vince McMahon comes on screen and says as a special surprise to the ECW fans, he is reuniting the most EXTREME team in WWE history, The Hardy Boyz. And since they are an interpromotional team, they will take on an interpromotional team. A team, that he thinks, will be the most DOMINANT tag team of all time in the WWE. Tonight, in a hardcore tag team match, The Hardyz will take on the team of Umaga and The Great Khali.
The Haryz vs. The Monsters
The Hardyz are crash test dummies all match. Matt takes Khalis chokeslam from the ring, through a table on the concrete. Jeff takes a Samoan Spike off the top. Khali then hit a throat crush on Jeff with a chair. Jeff starts bleeding from the mouth. Khali puts Jeff on another table and Umaga hits his big splash as Khali holds Matt back and the monsters win.
SD 1
Matt comes out banged up with bandages and a brace. He vows revenge against Khali and Umaga. Vickie comes out and says he isn’t cleared to do anything so he has the night off.
Raw 1
Umaga vs. DH Smith
A clip is played of Matt swearing revenge which allows DH Smith to get the quick pin. Umaga flips out destroying Smith and then destroying the ring piece by piece. Regal comes out and says Umaga can go to SD and get his revenge on Matt this Friday.
SD 2
Matt vs. Khali/Umaga
Before the match can start, the lights go out and a red/black mask appears on the screen. A familiar scream is heard over the speakers and then the words “Vengeance will be mine†appear on the screen. Everything goes black. When it comes back, Matt is laid out in the ring, bleeding from the mouth, clutching his throat. Medical personnel help him to the back.
Raw 2
Matt comes out holding his throat saying he doesn’t know who is pulling Umaga and Khali’s strings, but he wants to know, NOW. Regal comes out and says he doesn’t like B show wrestlers invading his show and tonight, Matt will take on YouManGa.
Much like on SD, the lights go out, this time they come back on and a masked figure is in the ring stomping Hardy out. He attacks with Kane like dominance and hits a familiar looking Twist of Fate and leaves Matt beaten down.
SD 3
Vince comes out and says he is sick of all of this chaos happening on his show. He is ordering this masked man who is attacking Matt Hardy to come out RIGHT NOW. The lights go out and when the come back on he is in the ring with Vince. Vince looks into his eyes, smiles, and then says he knows what is going on. Vince say he wants this kept on SD as he cant have his shows being thrown into chaos. Matt comes out to the ring and looks the masked man in the eyes. Matt’s eyes go wide and he says “NO! Why are you doing this!?†Before he can go any further Vince says “This is really interesting. And I want to keep it that way. Matt, you think you know who this is.†Vince asks the masked man something. “He says if you can beat him tonight, he will unmask in front of the world. Matt says he wont do it and tries to leave. The masked man tries to hit him by slapping him in the face. Matt say’s he would rather jump off a building than….Vince cuts him off and says fine, tonight he can face Khali, no DQ.
Khali vs. Matt
Matt uses an array of weapons and his quickness and almost gets the win until the masked man interferes and hits V1’s legdrop off the top of a ladder. Khali gets the win.
SD 4
Vickie says the masked man “Revenga†wants to prove he is better than Matt Hardy and has requested to take on Khali in the same match Hardy lost last week.
Revenga vs. The Great Khali
Matt gets involved like Revenga did last but misses his own leg drop and Rev gets the win.
The Royal Rumble
Revenga and Matt Hardy are 1 and 2. The brawl furiously until a new participant comes in. They work together and take out 3 and then brawl again. 4 comes out and Rev/Matt work together again but Rev fucks Matt over and eliminates him. Matt comes back in the ring, hits the TOF and Revenga is eliminated.
SD 5
Vickie says Rev/Matt worked well together at the Rumble and tonight, they are getting a match with the champs and if they win, they get a title match next week.
Revenga doesn’t come out and Matt takes on MnM2 by himself. Rey Mysterio tries to come out and help his friend but Rev stops him. A miscue by the heels lets Matt get the win.
SD 6
This time Rev shows up. Matt gives him the hot tag late in the match and Rev jacks the ref in the face causing a DQ. Revenga then guzzles Matt stomps him out again. As he is leaving, Matt gets on the mic and says “Im still standing. Why not come back and hit me when I’m facing you?†Rev comes back to the ring. Before anyone can talk Rey hits the ring. He asks what the hell is going on. Matt thanks Rey for his concern but he wants to handle this alone. Matt says “Why don’t you take that mask off? Are you afraid to show these people what you have become? Some out of control freak? Don’t you have anything left inside?†Revenga grabs the mic and says “YES THRE IS SOMETHING LEFT, BRO.†He pulls off the mask revealing himself to be Jeff Hardy. “I have something in me I’ve never had before, a reason. I have a real reason to be here in the WWE. I don’t give a sh*t about the fans, the money, or the fame anymore, Matt. I had all that taken away from me over a month ago when you let those two monsters almost break my wind pipe in 2. And now, I have a new reason to be. To make YOUR LIFE a living hell! Know this…BROTHER…you’re life will never be good in the WWE anymore, until you’re out, or I’m dead. You almost ended my career, and now, I’m going to make yours as good as dead.†Matt shakes his head in disbelief, and says “this isn’t the way to handle this.†Jeff slaps him in the face “this is just like back when we were kids. I used to beat you up, and you used to run to mom. But guess what, bitch, this time, you have no one to run to. No telling mom I interfered in your match, no telling dad I cost you a title shot, you might as well give it up Matt, you will never win another match, as long as I’m around.†Matt just shakes his head and leaves the ring looking at the ground.
SD 7
Jeff Hardy comes out and says Matt Hardy will never be seen again, and now, he is going to stomp out any memory of him and it starts later tonight. Jeff goes to the back and drags out the former MF’r and brutalizes him with a Swanton through a table and a TOF on a chair. Rey Mysterio comes out and puts a stop to the carnage and Jeff leaves. Rey says he is disgusted by how Jeff is treating his own family. Rey says “if you wanna fight someone who is part of the Matt Hardy legacy, you can fight me.†Jeff just walks away. Rey tends to Shannon and Jeff tries to attack Rey from behind but it fails and the two stare down.
SD 8
Jeff opens the show in the ring and says he wants an answer from that chickensh*t Jeff Hardy. Vickie comes out and say Rey doesn’t make the matches around here, she does. But Rey can have a match against Jeff, at No Way Out. Rey says that’s not good enough and he is going to go find Jeff right now. Vickie says she doesn’t think so. If he lays one hand on Jeff tonight, Rey won’t get his match at the PPV, because he will be FIRED.
Jeff vs. Shannon Moore
Jeff uses all sorts of dirty tactics to just abuse Shannon and eventually gets the win. Jeff then puts a steel chair around his neck. Jeff gets on the top rope with a mic and says “this is for you Matt†before he can jump, Rey hits the ring. Jeff smirks and says “you cant touch me.†Rey then hits the ropes and Jeff falls over to the outside and Rey helps up Shannon.
No Way Out
Jeff def Rey Mysterio. After the match Jeff tries to take his anger out on Rey. He gets a mic saying “you should have stayed out of family business.†As Jeff continues to punish Rey, Matt Hardy comes out and gets in Jeff’s face. Jeff says “staring at me isn’t going to help your friend.†Jeff goes back to work in Rey but Matt has had enough and starts striking his brother. Jeff gets away looking like he can’t believe it.
SD 9
Matt says he is back and he is going to take Jeff out once and for all. He calls out Jeff but Jeff comes out and says he is not going to take on his brother. Not here. Not now. Jeff says he wants to embarrass his brother on the biggest stage of them all. Jeff asks Matt if he remembers watching the old Mania’s with him. Matt says he does. He said “what was my favorite match before the ladder match at 10?†Matt says “You’re dreaming Jeff.†Jeff replies “that’s right. The greatest match I had ever seen until that point was The Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho King Randy Savage in a Career Ending Match. And in 4 weeks, he wants to do the same thing to his brother. Matt is reluctant but says “you’re on!â€
SD 10
Jeff comes out to the ring dressed in a cheesy kinda tux/suit thing and says he is here to pay tribute to his brother Matt. Since his career is going to be over in about 3 weeks, he is going to bring out some people to talk about his loving brother Matt. First comes Greg Helms. He talks about how he used to beat Matt all over NC when they were getting started in OMEGA (their first fed) and how Jeff really should have been the star of the show but Matt always sucked up to the promoter. Next up, Jeff calls out a woman from Matt’s past, the lovely Lita. She talks about how “small of a man†Matt was and how good of an actress she had to be when she was around him, and not just when they were on screen. Finally, Edge comes out. He runs down everything he did to Matt. Took his girl, beat him all over the country every night, and used him as a stepping stone to become WHC. Matt decides he has had enough and he charges the ring, but he doesn’t come alone, he comes out with a steel chair, which clears the ring. Then all of them circle the ring and get ready to jump in but Rey and Shannon Moore hit the ring to even the odds. Vickie comes out and says if they want to fight, we will have a 6 man tag tonight.
Matt/Rey/Shannon vs. Jeff/Edge/Helms
Ends when Jeff rolls up Matt and pulls his trunks.
WWE.com announces there will be a contract signing next week between Matt and Jeff Hardy
SD 11
Jeff signs the contract first, then Matt signs. After he does Jeff tells him he just signed his career away. Jeff reaches under the table and pulls out a huge chain with dog collars on either end. Jeff says at Mania, Brother vs. Brother, Matt vs. Jeff in a dog collar match. Jeff swings the chain at Matt but his brother ducks and gives him a TOF through the table.
SD 12
Vickie says in the interest of keeping one of her biggest SD matches of all time at WM safe, she has given Jeff the night off. Also, she is going to get Matt in shape for his match at Mania so tonight, Matt will take on The Great Khali.
Matt vs. Khali
Matt is about to get the win after a top rope TOF when Jeff hits the ring and the two brawl. Khali gets in on it and Matt gets beat down. Jeff slaps his prone brother and says this Sunday, Matt is gonna wish he was dead!
WM 25
Matt Hardy def Jeff Hardy in the first ever Career Ending, Brother vs. Brother, Dog Collar Match.
Switchy’s Scenario
Armageddon 2008:
Rated RKO Vs The Hardyz (double reunion agreed by both GM’s after Matt and Edge were feuding as well as Jeff/Orton II)
Ending: Jeff goes for a whisper in the wind on Edge but Orton moves Edge and shoves Matt in the way, causing Jeff to hit Matt and as Jeff gets back up he is met with a spear and RKO and is pinned for the 3.
Winners: Rated RKO
After the match Matt starts to get frustrated with Jeff about the miscommunication problems and walks up the ramp, leaving Jeff in the ring who doesn’t understand why Matt is so frustrated.
Raw: December 22nd
Orton comes out to brag at the start of the show to Jeff Hardy saying that even if the title is on the line or not, Jeff can’t beat him, no matter what rules, Jeff then comes out at the top of the ramp with him and Orton makes continues to brag and says he can beat both of them alone and Jeff runs down to the ring and Matt stays at the top of the ramp but as soon as Jeff enters the ring Edge nails him with a spear from nowhere! Matt then comes down to the ring and both Edge and Orton run and Matt helps Jeff up and then hits him with a Twist of Fate and walks off to boos from the crowd.
Raw: December 29th
Jeff has a match with Rory McCalister and beats him with ease. After the match he says he knows Matt’s in the arena and demands an explanation. Matt comes to the top of the ramp and moans about how Jeff is always getting favouritism over him from when they were children to now and that he should be in Jeff’s spot challenging for the world title, not fighting over a girl with Edge and now it’s time for him to make his mark. Jeff responds and asks Matt why they couldn’t have words about it but Matt says he’s pathetic and walks off.
Raw: January 5th
Matt has a backstage interview saying he’s at Raw and he’s now staying to sort out his issues with Jeff and Jeff then walks in and says how tired he is of Matt’s silly games and it’s just a matter of jealousy and from now on he’s just going to ignore Matt because he has the royal rumble to focus on.
Raw: January 12th
Both Matt and Jeff win their rumble qualifying matches, beating Jim Duggan and Charlie Haas respectively but after Jeff’s match Matt assaults him with a chair, Matt says Jeff can ignore him but as long as he doesn’t, more beatings like that are to come.
Raw: January 19th
With one week to go until the Royal Rumble Matt lays out a challenge to Jeff for a tag team match where they both pick their tag team partners. Jeff comes out to the ring with Shawn Michaels and Matt Hardy comes down to the ring alone but then "Burn in my Light" hits and Jeff’s arch-nemesis Randy Orton comes down to the ring as Matt’s partner. The match starts with both HBK and Orton and Orton makes a few tags to Matt and wear down HBK and eventually Jeff comes in with what looks like a hot tag but Jeff refuses to harm his brother but Matt then insults him as much as possible, even spitting in his face and Jeff eventually snaps at Matt and shows fury like never before and gets himself disqualified hitting Matt with a chair and after the match Jeff continues to assault Matt and needs 6 security men to pull him off.
Royal Rumble 2009:
Royal Rumble match
Ending:Jeff fights from #12 all the way to the end with Matt drawing #30 and four competitors are left, Matt, Jeff, MVP and Triple H. Matt and MVP try to form a team but can’t put their past differences aside and Triple H and Jeff attack them and Triple H throws MVP over the top rope and then HHH and Jeff take Matt over with a double clothesline. Triple H and Jeff both look exhausted and HHH whips Jeff to the ropes but Matt pulls the top rope down and Jeff goes flying over the top rope but hangs onto the top rope with 1 hand but HHH pulls him back onto the apron and punches him onto the arena floor for the win.
Winner: Triple H
Raw: January 26th
Matt comes out at the next show and brags about how he screwed Jeff and shows a replay of it and Jeff then comes out but a wall of security surround Matt and Jeff runs towards them and Matt leaves the ring and the security do too but Jeff then lays them all out with a suicide dive to the outside and he then chases Matt to the back. HHH beats Kennedy later in the Main Event and says he feels cheap winning the Rumble how he did and offers Jeff a rematch and NOW but Matt also challenges him, leading to Regal announcing a Triple Threat for the spot.
Raw: February 2nd
HHH cuts an interview of how he is sick of Matt Hardy trying to jump the queue to the top and how this is between just him and Jeff after the rumble and Matt doesn’t deserve the title shot so he’s demanding a one-on-one match with Jeff as the special ref. Matt accepts but is later laid out and instead the match is now going to be HHH Vs Jeff. The match ends in a no contest when Matt runs down to the ring, with no damage whatsoever done to him and he hits both men with a twist of fate.
Raw: February 9th
William Regal tells Matt that he needs to stop damaging other superstars outside of matches and puts him in a handicap match against Jeff and HHH. Matt says Regal can’t make him go to the match and Regal tells him it’s that, or his job so Matt reluctantly agrees. During the match Randy Orton comes down to the ring to try and attack his potential challengers but John Cena chases him off and the distraction helps Matt Hardy score a roll up win over Triple H.
Raw: February 16th
It’s the final week before No Way Out and a blockbuster main event is revealed: John Cena, HHH and Jeff Vs Orton, Matt and Umaga. Before the match HHH says he’ll take no prisoners at No Way Out and says although Matt and he aren’t best friends, neither are he and Jeff so it’s going to be equal beatings for them both. This causes a slightly rocky relationship in the match but they still manage to pick up the win after Cena pins Umaga after an FU. After the match a huge brawl breaks out between everybody and is broken up as the show closes.
No Way Out 2009:
Triple H Vs Matt Hardy Vs Jeff Hardy for a title shot at Wrestlemania 25
Ending: The ref gets knocked out and Matt smashes Jeff over the head with a chair but he turns around and Triple H hits him with a sledgehammer and then nails him with a pedigree onto the chair and wakes up the ref and gets the pin on Matt.
Winner: Triple H
Raw: February 23rd
Jeff tells Matt enough is enough between them and they have to end this one way or another. Matt lays out a match challenge and Jeff ups the stakes and challenges Matt to a match that both men will perform best at, a ladder match. Matt accepts and even asks for a public contract signing next week. Matt defeats Shawn Michaels later in the night with a twist of fate and calls Jeff out despite already taking a beating from HBK and as Matt expects Jeff to come from the ramp, Jeff attacks him from behind in the crowd to cheers from the crowd and he hits Matt with a Swanton bomb and says their now equal.
Raw: March 2nd
After the Main vent all the tables are set for the contract signing. There is a clause on the contract saying neither man can touch each other a ladder is placed in the middle of the ring as a signal to the match happening and Jeff signs his part of the contract first. Matt signs the contract and looks like he means business and both he and Jeff stare eachother down and all of a sudden Umaga attacks Jeff from behind and beats him up so badly that Jeff has to be taken away via ambulance. Matt then says that although he can’t touch Jeff, other people still can before handing a briefcase full of money to Umaga.
Raw: March 9th
Jeff Hardy comes out at the start of the show on a pair of crutches and tells Matt it looks like he’s the on who will not die and Matt appears on the top of the ramp and sends Umaga to go after Jeff but Jeff manages to beat him down using his crutches and although he’s injured he has momentum and tells Matt it’ll take more to take him down. Matt sends all the heels who are low card/heat down to assault Jeff but then the low card/heat faces make the save.
Raw: March 16th
Jeff has an interview, he is better than last week but still not 100%, he joins the announcers for Matt’s match against Val Venis. Matt picks up the win but had his eyes on Jeff all the way through the match and after he delivers two twist of fates to Venis and tells Jeff, that’s going to be him at WM.
Raw: March 23rd
Jeff seems to be 100% in the last Raw before WM and him and Matt have a 6-man tag, Jeff teaming up with Triple H and Chris Jericho and Matt teaming up with Randy Orton and Mr Kennedy. Jeff looks like he’s about to pick up the win but Matt crotches him as he’s about to go for a Swanton and Kennedy hits the Green Bay Plunge for the win going into WM.
WRESTLEMANIA 25
Matt Hardy Vs Jeff Hardy in a ladder match
Ending: Jeff does a crazy whisper in the wind, running up the ladder and diving to the outside on Matt and both men are laid out but they both get back up and brawl into the ring and up the ladder. They trade punches on top of the ladder and both men are wore out and Jeff goes for a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder but Matt holds on and Jeff drops to the mat and Matt grabs the WWE logo dangling from above but Jeff then hits a missile dropkick on the ladder and Matt still holds on and is dangling in midair. Jeff then hits another missile dropkick, this time on Matt and Matt drops to the floor and Jeff hits him with a Swanton to keep him down and he climbs up the ladder and retrieves the WWE logo for the win.
Phew, this is gonna be close. Now onto the Judges starting with Monkeystyle….
Kaedons btb: Okay, while I thought that this one had the more engaging booking, but at the same time I found it kind of contrived in regards to the Revenga bit, which I also should add was painfully obvious. I didn’t really like that at all. However, I especially enjoyed the Jeff/Edge/Moore alliance as I found it to be the perfect collection of characters to play alongside Matt’s antagonist. I will also state for the record that while I loved the idea of the Dog Collar match as opposed to going for the completely obvious Ladder/TLC match, I felt that the “career on the line†stipulation was an unnecessary addition to the match. Personal pride and sibling rivalry along with the viciousness of the collar match would’ve been enough without having to add the extra stipulation.
70/100
Switchy’s btb: In contrast to Kaedon’s booking, I found this one to be more straight forward though I would’ve preferred a little more build up in tension before Matt finally turned on Jeff. Also disappointed in the obvious ladder match blow off. Beyond that though I don’t have very much to say. If I had to pick one word to describe the scenario presented to me, it would be generic. Sorry.
50/100
Right now the score is 1-0, g’damn and an overall score of 70-50 its close. Next up is Levi’s loose fitting jeans.
On Kaedon's work, having a mysterious masked guy is really a unique one, but in reality, it's really easy to know that he's Jeff Hardy. Good to see some involvement from Shannon Moore and Rey Mysterio since we all know that they have some pasts with Matt Hardy and it really adds something to the fued. I think the angle where Jeff paid tribute to his brother with Edge, Lita draws alot of heat and hype toward Wrestlemania. The only thing I really don't like 'bout the storyline is having some involvement with Khali and Umaga, I think you should other guys instead, maybe like Mr. Kennedy, MVP or Santino. The Wrestlemania ending is really great and I think it's a dramatic one with some addition of a Career Ending threat to it.
Rating: 7/10
On Switchy's work, Switchy also got some nice ideas to hype the fued. I really liked Matt Hardy's character here, it's more like an improved Matt V.1 character. Matt's anger and jealousy to his brother adds some realism to the storyline, we all know that Jeff is more favorite that Matt since they start wrestling and that angle adds so much to the fued. The only thing I don't like here is putting the Hardy's in the final four at Rumble, I think you made their fued so very special, well.. I think it's just me who thought of that one. The Wrestlemania ending is really terrific, having them in a ladder match. A match where they became famous.
Rating: 8.5/10
Overall: Both storylines were really great but my vote will go for Switchy. Switchy's storyline is more realistic. The fued between the two brothers in his storyline is more intensifying than Kaedon's (sorry...). Involving their pasts is really a great way to start a fued between guys. Plus, I also think Matt is better in delivering a heel character rather than Jeff Hardy and having a ladder match is only the best way to end their fued.
Right now the score is 1-1 with an overall score of 58.5-77BAH GAWD WHO’S GONNA WIN! Now we go to TNA’s resident ball licker (jk) PeepShow
Kaedon’s btb: Interesting way to start this. I’m not sure I would have had the build up by Vince like that and then have them get squashed, but not bad. Decent way of building it up to the mystery person, but it was pretty easy to tell it was Jeff all along, and not just b/c I knew what the storyline was going to be. Matt coming out to start and get revenge by himself? Kinda bland and easy if you ask me. I like the way you incorporated all of the former allies of Matt into this feud as well. It made for more of a better “showing†if you catch my drift. The “SD-10†part was the best part of any of it in my opinion. I’m sorry to say this, but I would mark out if that sort of thing happened with Edge, Lita, and Gregory Helms. All aspects of that segment/part were great and really help set up the final part of the feud. Weird concept match for mania at the contract signing, but it wasn’t as bad as when I first thought about it. I would have much rather had a TLC match between the 2. Decent way to end the feud and I’m sure we will still see Jeff in the future. As I said before, I would have liked it more if Jeff was the face, but it was a nice change of pace. Good booking by Kaedon.
Score: 90/100 (-5 for going over the word limit)
Overall: 85/100
Switchy’s btb: In all honesty, all the way up until past the Rumble, I was kind of disinterested. I was the kind of storyline I was envisioning from the very beginning. Then you threw in a triple threat kind of angle at us and it was a good icebreaker. The in-between parts of this were kinda iffy and I think Matt got a little bit more of a push between the Rumble and Now Way Out than he should have tbh. The Triple threat at No Way Out was ok, but I think you could have added a bit more to it. The Feb 23 edition of the show was a bit out of wack if you ask me. Matt is supposedly the heel, yet they both agree to the match like that? Just didn’t seem right to me. Matt then defeats HBK cleanly? Then Jeff attacks Matt? I know he wants revenge, but it just doesn’t seem right for some reason. I guess I could be overanalyzing…….
The contract signing was a very strong part to me. The way Hardy did play the heel was great in paying off Umaga. Just very well thought out there. Then you have the locker room play a part in this whole deal which I in particular am not a big fan of. The Six man tag was good, but it just didn’t make sense to have Kennedy in there and not Umaga. If you have Kennedy, you should have had him be the one to beat up Jeff during the contract signing. Just a thought. The ending was pretty good and good to see the face win as always.
Score: 75/100 (-5 for going over the word limit)
Overall: 70/100
The score is now 2-1 with a overall score of 162 (Kaedon) to 133.5 (Switchy). Next up, is master booker mind The Anigma
Kaedon's Booking-
8/10
I think that Kaedon has a very creative mind but I think the booking lacked realism. The booking of Jeff vowing to wipe out any memory of Matt was interesting but I didn't like the lights turning out and "Revenga" appearing to attack Matt. I also think the final match should've been chosen more carefully because the dog collar would limit Jeff's high-flying abilities and thus make the match quite dull IMO.
Switchy's Booking-
8.5/10
As I said, Switchy gets my vote but only by a hair. Switchy's booking was very realistic but at the same time lacked creativity because he used a classic set-up to a rivalry with a team mate growing frustrated with the other. However, it did make a lot of sense to me, not that Kaedon's didn't but I think Switchy may have had his booking planned out a bit more and Kaedon's seemed as though it was a bit rushed to me.
That ties it up with a score of 2-2 with an overall score of 170-141.5. Well this is it folks, down to one last rating. The Fightin Rican SOUUUUUUUUUULPOWER!
Kaedons btb- As far as a score, I would give it about an 8 out of 10. I love the storyline, but some of the promo work seems a bit over the top, espcially considering that neither Hardy is great on the mic. I did like the Jeff Hardy heel turn because not a lot of people would see it coming. I also loved the interaction with Matt and the people from his past (Edge, Lita, Helms) because it adds a sense of realism to the storyline.
I also would liked it a bit more if you would have gone a bit more in-depth with their match at WM. You made this great build-up for the match, and all you wrote on the actual match was this... Matt Hardy def Jeff Hardy in the first ever Career Ending, Brother vs. Brother, Dog Collar Match.
You need to let people know that it was a violent and bloody affair, that both men gave it their all and tried to out-do each other (As much as they can out-do each other in a Dog Collar match).
Still, like I mentioned it gets an 8/10. It was great for the most part, but in lacked in certain areas and that hurt the overall score.
Switchy’s btb- I'll start with the things I liked. I liked that Matt was the one that turned heel as well as his reasons for doing it. Nothing over the top, just jelaousy on Matt's part due to Jeff's popularity.
I didn't like the bit with Umaga attacking Jeff Hardy at the contract signing, because its hard to imagine Umaga being bribed regardless of the money.
However, I LOVED the mach type for WM. It makes sense to have them end their feud with a ladder match since it was that very match that put both men on the wrestling map.
All in all it was a good BTB with only minor quibbles, and one that's deserving of its score of 8.5/10
This makes the final score 3-2 with an overall score of 178-150!
Well there you have it! Switchy wins the first ever Kaedon’s BTB Challenge! God damn that was as thrilling as a Snitsky match. Kidding. I had a lot of fun writing mine, and I know Switchy did his. This was fucking awesome and I will close out this edition of the No Smark Zone by quoting a great orator in professional wrestling. Switchy…..â€I want my rematch!†O_O
Anyways, onto business. This week in the No Smark Zone I will be counting down the bottom 10 of the top 20 greatest Wrestlemania matches of all time. I’m sure there will be some people who disagree, but it’s my column so SCREW YOU! Kidding, I love all of my loyal readers. As Bruce Pritchard would say in character…IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! Also, a loyal reader posed a question to me and I am going to devote a portion of this column to answering it. And finally, what EVERYONE has been waiting for, the first ever Kaedon BTB Challenge. I will be taking on one of the greatest bookers in IWF history, Switchy. Will it be a knock down, drag out? Will it be an Youmangaesque squash match? Or will it be one of the greatest Kaedon BTB Challlenges of all time! Well, the last one will be true, at least until the next one. So without further adieu, it’s time to jump into Wrestlemania’s past as I count down, the Greatest Wrestlemania Matches of All Time!
Now, there are a lot of things that go into having a great match, let alone a great Wrestlemania match. And then there has to be something even more special for it to be one of the greatest of all time. There has to be drama, there has to be great characters, there has to be great action, and much, much more. There have been 242 matches (give or take depending on if you count those 24/7 hardcore rules matches as matches) in just about 24 years of Wrestlemania’s. We’ve seen all sorts of sights at Wrestlemania. Women’s tag team matches, Chicago Street Fights, Father vs. Son, Brother vs. Brother. We’ve seen champions crowned and legends made. And to pick just 20 is a huge task. But, I’ve got nothing else to write about.
20. Jake “The Snake†Roberts vs. “The Model†Rick Martel in a Blindfold Match at Wrestlemania VII
A lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one as the match, from a technical workrate perspective wasn’t all that good. However it was full of all of the drama, excitement, and emotion that all great matches must have to be great. The WWE had been building this feud for at least 6 months beforehand, combining the great promo skills of Jake and the solar panel gimmick that was The Model. Martel had a Gorgeous George kinda character and he even had his own “scent†called “Arrogance†that he would spray all over the ring. After one match, Martel sprayed Jake in the face with his spray, thus making him go “blindâ€. And boy they milked that shit for all it was worth. At the Survivor Series Jake had a smokey contact in his eye that just looked disgusting. So since Martel had made Jake blind, it was time to turn the tables and that was what led to this match. The crowd was fucking hot for this match. They wanted, so bad, for Jake to get ahold of Martel and just beat his ass. There was a lot of crowd interaction as Jake used them to help him find his confused opponent. Jake was cool, calm, and collected. The Model looked like he was on speed. His arms flailing, you could just tell he had a scared and or confused look on his face, via his body language, which is a hallmark of a great worker. And Jake pretty much owned the crowd for this match. They were telling him where to go and he listened. It was a roller coaster ride “YEAH YEAH HES THERE, GET HIM†and then “ohhhhhhhhhhh he moved.†Just fun stuff to watch in what was yet another groundbreaking Wrestlemania moment.
19. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. “Rowdy†Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful†Paul Orndorff at Wrestlemania I
Yeah, I know, it’s the first Wrestlemania main event but compared to everything that would come afterwards, it kind of pales on in comparison. Still, it is a hallmark match that had all the makings of something special. The Hogan/Piper feud is the feud that brought wrestling to a whole new level. And here it was, headlining a show that would change the way fans saw wrestling forever. Then you add into the mix, Mr. T, who was, without a doubt, one of the hottest actors at the time, and Mr. Wonderful, a man whom Hogan had a checkered past with, and you have the makings for one of the greatest main events in Mania history. What I will always remember about this match is the intensity everyone brought to it. Even the n00b Mr. T looked like he was into it. But I think it was because there was a lot of REAL LIFE heat between he and Piper who had done/would do anything short of going out on TV and calling him a ni**er to try and get the fans to hate him. They absolutely hated each other and it showed, and it was that intensity that made the match so great.
18. “The Heartbreak Kid†Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 19
In the history of the WWE, there have been two mirror matches. The first happened at Summerslam 1994 when The Undertaker took on The Underfaker which was truly a sight to see. The build up to that match was just great, but the payoff, not so good. This was the second one. Shawn Michaels vs. Shawn Michaels II aka Chris Jericho. As Y2J said, this was the classic Kung Fu story. Student vs. Teacher. Old Lion vs. Young Lion. And this match did NOT disappoint. From a technical perspective, it may be one of the most perfect (sorry Curt) matches in Wrestlemania history. Usually when matches go back and forth, they fall flat on their face as there is no heat for the heel and then no comeback for the babyface. But in this match, the back and forth made a lot of sense and not only did it not take away from it, it added to the match. Not a 5 star match, but god damn close as Jericho and HBK almost stole the show that night in Seattle.
17. “Macho Man†Randy Savage vs. “The Million Dollar Man†Ted Dibiasie in the finals of the WWF Title tournament at Wrestlemania IV
Anyone who knows me, knows I just love tourneys. And this was the greatest tourney of all taking place on the greatest stage of them all. The participants are all bonafide hall of famers and it culminated in this classic match. It marked the first and last time Ted would headline Mania and marked the first time Randy Savage would win the WWF title. To make this match more dramatic, Randy had wrestled 3 matches already that night and Ted had wrestled 2. Add to this fact, The Million Dollar Man had Andre The Giant in his corner while Savage had the lovely yet relatively useless Miss Elizabeth. These two left it all in the ring pulling out pretty much every move each guy knew and just when it seemed like Randy was gonna take control, Andre derailed him. That was when Savage had enough, he sent his woman to the back and when she returned, she brought reinforcements in the form of The Immortal Hulk Hogan. Hogan grabbed a chair and sat at ringside. Anytime Andre tired to get in it, Hogan cock blocked him. And in the end, Hogan and Savage turned the tables on the heels when Hogan nailed Dibiasie with a chair. One HUGE elbow drop later, that went 3/4ths of the way across the ring and we have a new WWF Champion. Just great stuff all around.
16. Shane McMahon vs. Vince McMahon in a Street Fight at Wrestlemania 17
One of the things that will always amaze me about Vince McMahon, is the lengths that he is willing to go to, to entertain the WWE fans. He catches so much shit for approving some very questionable angles and “derailing†talent but the bottom line is, he wants to entertain, and that was very apparent when Vince took on his OWN SON at Wrestlemania. Sure Vince delt out a lot of damage, but he took some serious bumps all to entertain the fans including an elbow drop through a table on the outside and Shane’s semi-patented coast to coast garbage can shot. This match was over like gangbusters for two reasons. One, a lot of people don’t like or HATE their parents. And two, Vince is an amazing heel. He learned from watching Ric Flair, Buddy Rodgers, Gorgeous George, and so many others that he knows exactly how to get people to hate him. So when he was about to polish off his son and his, until then, catatonic wife stood up, that arena erupted. I think it might have been as loud as Austin’s entrance which is an amazing feat.
15. “Macho Man†Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania V
In what was the most powerful tag team in the past two years, The Mega Powers exploded at Wrestlemania 5. The best of friends exploded over, yeah, you guessed it, a woman. In this case, it was Liz. And it lead to two of the greatest performers getting it on in the main event. Savage played the out of his mind, out of control heel PERFECTLY. His wild eyes and wide gestures only accented everything that Hogan did. He even pulled the ultimate heel card when he put a woman in front of him so he wouldn’t get hit. And to quote of the most brilliant guys in the business “Any guy who would put a woman in front of him to fight his battles for him, is kind of a cunt.†That match was money because of the heat and because Randy was a phenomenal worker. Much like he did the year before he left it all in the ring. He did everything he could, axe handles, knees to the back and his patented elbow, but it was not enough to defeat Hulkamania.
14. Edge vs. Christian vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane in the first ever Money In The Bank Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 21
I am always a fan of multi-man matches. And this was, without a doubt, one of the most groundbreaking matches to ever take place at Mania. This match is designed to help a guy who isn’t over, get over. And since there is no more King Of The Ring and only one guy can win the Royal Rumble, this is another way to help young talent. In this one, we had 3 not so over talents, and 3 guys who already had their turn. But still, speculation was all over on this one. Benoit was a favorite, then Shelton Benjamin became a long shot, and then Edge became a favorite along with Christian a close second. We all know what happened though, a Rated R Superstar was born. But to get there he had to be in a match with a flying red machine, a flying wolverine, and a ramp running soon to be gold standard. This match had the psychology of a good ladder match as everyone was almost there and it combined that with just phenomenal athleticism all around. Shelton running up the ladder, Kane’s dive that took out everyone, and Benoit’s superdeedooper headbutt are just some of the spots that made this match so memorable and one of the greatest Mania matches ever!
13. The Undertaker vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 23
This was the first match in their series of amazing matches in 2007. For the first time since WM 6, the main event featured two faces battling it out. There were rumblings on the net and interviews given that indicated that Batista and Taker were not happy with not going on last, and that, I believe, is what pushed them, Batista especially, to try and have the match of the night, and depending on who you ask, they did. Surprisingly the “workrate†wasn’t bad at all on both ends. And the Batista bashers can claim he was carried all they want, but the fact of the matter is, if Batista wasn’t in this match, Taker is not in contention for match of the night and the same can be said the other way around. I remember very vividly watching the match on a 60in TV at a friends place and almost everyone was glued to the TV. This match had genuine interest about it. Batista was, at that point, the person who was most likely to end Taker’s streak at Mania, and during the match, he showed why. Great false finishes, close counts, reversals, and the “Will It End†factor all made this a great fucking match.
12. Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania at Wrestlemania 18
This was possibly the most hyped match in the history of Wrestlemania. It was a true dream match that almost everyone, except MS because he hates Hogan, wanted to see. It truly was Jordan vs. Kobe, Tyson vs. Ali, and all that jazz. Hulk Hogan: the biggest star of all time, the name that is synonymous with professional wrestling, even to this day. The Rock: One of the two biggest names in modern wrestling. These are two of three men whose name transcended wrestling. And they were going to lock up and go one on one on the biggest PPV ever. What more could you ask for? A hot crowd. As much as Hogan probably wanted to be hated because he is very old school, heel vs. face kinda guy, he was over like a motherfucker. And The Rock showed in that match why he is/was one of the greatest of all time by simply adapting to what was going on. We saw the comeback, we saw the eyebrow, we saw the YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU, we saw the peoples elbow, we saw a Rock Bottom from Hogan and everything in between. It was truly a classic match and a Wrestlemania moment that will live forever.
11. The Undertaker vs. HHH at Wrestlemania 17
Here is the scenario. You have one of the best hands in wrestling history whose star was still rising, taking on a living (sort of) legend in the WWE. The Deadman was hurting and was injury prone. He said himself that this was a make or break match for him, not to the WWE, to the “boys†in the back, or to anyone else other than himself. This was one of the matches, in my opinion, that helped make wrestling what it is. A transition, if you will. It was matches like this, and matches like Rock/Austin where everyone gets all of their big moves in and everyone kicks out of everyone elses finisher. Now I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but I’m definitely not saying it’s a good thing. There weren’t 4 pedigrees and 6 tomobstones, however there was a lot of brute force vs. brute force here, much like with Rock/Austin. But I think what makes this match so good above others like it is just because of the two men involved. HHH and The Undertaker may not have been as hot for as long as Austin or Rock, but a case could be made that they are better wrestlers and have a better grasp of ring psychology and that is what made this thing such a fucking awesome match!
Ok, that’s it for the bottom 10, next week you will get 10-5. Now onto something that came to me in a PM. Here is the exact quote….
Now, I am not going to lie, HHHforever brings up a very good point. It does kind of look like they are devaluing the guy’s finisher by doing this. There are a few things to look at. One is what the finisher is. Usually its an impact/ko finisher so it’s not as visible a sell as say a figure 4. That kind of pain would last a lot longer as the former move is just a quick impact as opposed to a prolonged hold. I think you also have to look at how much time passes between the move and when they come out again. If Orton hits HHH with an RKO and then they have a match after the commercial break, HHH better be looking glassy eyed and a little out on his feet for a good part of the match until he can get some adrenaline flowing or clear his head. While it is harder to do that while doing something as physical as a wrestling match, think about what its like getting your bell rung, so to speak. I took a DDT on a hard concrete floor, by accident. The guy hooked a front face lock on me and kinda slipped and BOOM, I got drilled. Now, as you can expect, I was seeing birdies but it didn’t take me but a few seconds to shake it off and we continued our friendly little tussle, which I won btw. So it’s not totally out of the realm of credulity for a guy to get a comeback in a match and not look kinda messed up from a move that happened 5-10 minutes ago let alone if he comes out for a match later. Now granted, it would make the move look a whole lot more effective if say HHH and John Cena DID sell it just a little bit, say a shake of the head or something, but anything more than that would be an oversell and generally it’s the heels who do that kind of cartoonish selling or after some kind of HUGE bump if the face is selling, see Jeff and Matt Hardy. So, I guess, HHHforever, I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I am saying it’s probably not that big a deal. That is one of the little things that wrestling fans just let slide. While it would be nice to see more people do it, the show rarely ever starts off with a guy hitting his finisher on someone else, I think it happens maybe 5-10 times on WWE TV out of 156 TV shows a year, so it’s one of those forgivable sins. Hope this helped!HHHforever said:
And now its time for the maaiiiiiiiiiiiin event of the evening. What you have all been waiting for like the salivating dogs that you are (SP may get that reference >_>)…Kaedon vs. Switchy in the inaugural Kaedon BTB Challenge. We have 5 judges, 2 contestants, and one scenario. This is definitely something good here as I am taking on a booking MACHINE in Switchy. Thanks to MS for the scenario and judging, and thanks to our other judges The Leviathan, The Anigma, Soulpower, and PeepShow. They were troopers who complied with every request no matter how picky I got and I am very thankful.
First I am going to give you the scenario from Monkeystyle, our written btb’s, and then finally the ratings and comments.
One of the things that I always thought would be a big feud and for whatever reason the WWE was never able to make it happen in a manner that interested the fans or lived up to expectations is a Matt Hardy versus Jeff Hardy feud. I always have wanted to see this feud done properly but as I've said before the WWE has failed at every single attempt.
So with that being said I would like this feud to begin at Armageddon (that's the PPV in December I think if its not you know which one I want.) and end with the big blowoff match at Wrestlemania.
Kaedon’s Scenario
Armageddon
After the show goes on the air Vince McMahon comes on screen and says as a special surprise to the ECW fans, he is reuniting the most EXTREME team in WWE history, The Hardy Boyz. And since they are an interpromotional team, they will take on an interpromotional team. A team, that he thinks, will be the most DOMINANT tag team of all time in the WWE. Tonight, in a hardcore tag team match, The Hardyz will take on the team of Umaga and The Great Khali.
The Haryz vs. The Monsters
The Hardyz are crash test dummies all match. Matt takes Khalis chokeslam from the ring, through a table on the concrete. Jeff takes a Samoan Spike off the top. Khali then hit a throat crush on Jeff with a chair. Jeff starts bleeding from the mouth. Khali puts Jeff on another table and Umaga hits his big splash as Khali holds Matt back and the monsters win.
SD 1
Matt comes out banged up with bandages and a brace. He vows revenge against Khali and Umaga. Vickie comes out and says he isn’t cleared to do anything so he has the night off.
Raw 1
Umaga vs. DH Smith
A clip is played of Matt swearing revenge which allows DH Smith to get the quick pin. Umaga flips out destroying Smith and then destroying the ring piece by piece. Regal comes out and says Umaga can go to SD and get his revenge on Matt this Friday.
SD 2
Matt vs. Khali/Umaga
Before the match can start, the lights go out and a red/black mask appears on the screen. A familiar scream is heard over the speakers and then the words “Vengeance will be mine†appear on the screen. Everything goes black. When it comes back, Matt is laid out in the ring, bleeding from the mouth, clutching his throat. Medical personnel help him to the back.
Raw 2
Matt comes out holding his throat saying he doesn’t know who is pulling Umaga and Khali’s strings, but he wants to know, NOW. Regal comes out and says he doesn’t like B show wrestlers invading his show and tonight, Matt will take on YouManGa.
Much like on SD, the lights go out, this time they come back on and a masked figure is in the ring stomping Hardy out. He attacks with Kane like dominance and hits a familiar looking Twist of Fate and leaves Matt beaten down.
SD 3
Vince comes out and says he is sick of all of this chaos happening on his show. He is ordering this masked man who is attacking Matt Hardy to come out RIGHT NOW. The lights go out and when the come back on he is in the ring with Vince. Vince looks into his eyes, smiles, and then says he knows what is going on. Vince say he wants this kept on SD as he cant have his shows being thrown into chaos. Matt comes out to the ring and looks the masked man in the eyes. Matt’s eyes go wide and he says “NO! Why are you doing this!?†Before he can go any further Vince says “This is really interesting. And I want to keep it that way. Matt, you think you know who this is.†Vince asks the masked man something. “He says if you can beat him tonight, he will unmask in front of the world. Matt says he wont do it and tries to leave. The masked man tries to hit him by slapping him in the face. Matt say’s he would rather jump off a building than….Vince cuts him off and says fine, tonight he can face Khali, no DQ.
Khali vs. Matt
Matt uses an array of weapons and his quickness and almost gets the win until the masked man interferes and hits V1’s legdrop off the top of a ladder. Khali gets the win.
SD 4
Vickie says the masked man “Revenga†wants to prove he is better than Matt Hardy and has requested to take on Khali in the same match Hardy lost last week.
Revenga vs. The Great Khali
Matt gets involved like Revenga did last but misses his own leg drop and Rev gets the win.
The Royal Rumble
Revenga and Matt Hardy are 1 and 2. The brawl furiously until a new participant comes in. They work together and take out 3 and then brawl again. 4 comes out and Rev/Matt work together again but Rev fucks Matt over and eliminates him. Matt comes back in the ring, hits the TOF and Revenga is eliminated.
SD 5
Vickie says Rev/Matt worked well together at the Rumble and tonight, they are getting a match with the champs and if they win, they get a title match next week.
Revenga doesn’t come out and Matt takes on MnM2 by himself. Rey Mysterio tries to come out and help his friend but Rev stops him. A miscue by the heels lets Matt get the win.
SD 6
This time Rev shows up. Matt gives him the hot tag late in the match and Rev jacks the ref in the face causing a DQ. Revenga then guzzles Matt stomps him out again. As he is leaving, Matt gets on the mic and says “Im still standing. Why not come back and hit me when I’m facing you?†Rev comes back to the ring. Before anyone can talk Rey hits the ring. He asks what the hell is going on. Matt thanks Rey for his concern but he wants to handle this alone. Matt says “Why don’t you take that mask off? Are you afraid to show these people what you have become? Some out of control freak? Don’t you have anything left inside?†Revenga grabs the mic and says “YES THRE IS SOMETHING LEFT, BRO.†He pulls off the mask revealing himself to be Jeff Hardy. “I have something in me I’ve never had before, a reason. I have a real reason to be here in the WWE. I don’t give a sh*t about the fans, the money, or the fame anymore, Matt. I had all that taken away from me over a month ago when you let those two monsters almost break my wind pipe in 2. And now, I have a new reason to be. To make YOUR LIFE a living hell! Know this…BROTHER…you’re life will never be good in the WWE anymore, until you’re out, or I’m dead. You almost ended my career, and now, I’m going to make yours as good as dead.†Matt shakes his head in disbelief, and says “this isn’t the way to handle this.†Jeff slaps him in the face “this is just like back when we were kids. I used to beat you up, and you used to run to mom. But guess what, bitch, this time, you have no one to run to. No telling mom I interfered in your match, no telling dad I cost you a title shot, you might as well give it up Matt, you will never win another match, as long as I’m around.†Matt just shakes his head and leaves the ring looking at the ground.
SD 7
Jeff Hardy comes out and says Matt Hardy will never be seen again, and now, he is going to stomp out any memory of him and it starts later tonight. Jeff goes to the back and drags out the former MF’r and brutalizes him with a Swanton through a table and a TOF on a chair. Rey Mysterio comes out and puts a stop to the carnage and Jeff leaves. Rey says he is disgusted by how Jeff is treating his own family. Rey says “if you wanna fight someone who is part of the Matt Hardy legacy, you can fight me.†Jeff just walks away. Rey tends to Shannon and Jeff tries to attack Rey from behind but it fails and the two stare down.
SD 8
Jeff opens the show in the ring and says he wants an answer from that chickensh*t Jeff Hardy. Vickie comes out and say Rey doesn’t make the matches around here, she does. But Rey can have a match against Jeff, at No Way Out. Rey says that’s not good enough and he is going to go find Jeff right now. Vickie says she doesn’t think so. If he lays one hand on Jeff tonight, Rey won’t get his match at the PPV, because he will be FIRED.
Jeff vs. Shannon Moore
Jeff uses all sorts of dirty tactics to just abuse Shannon and eventually gets the win. Jeff then puts a steel chair around his neck. Jeff gets on the top rope with a mic and says “this is for you Matt†before he can jump, Rey hits the ring. Jeff smirks and says “you cant touch me.†Rey then hits the ropes and Jeff falls over to the outside and Rey helps up Shannon.
No Way Out
Jeff def Rey Mysterio. After the match Jeff tries to take his anger out on Rey. He gets a mic saying “you should have stayed out of family business.†As Jeff continues to punish Rey, Matt Hardy comes out and gets in Jeff’s face. Jeff says “staring at me isn’t going to help your friend.†Jeff goes back to work in Rey but Matt has had enough and starts striking his brother. Jeff gets away looking like he can’t believe it.
SD 9
Matt says he is back and he is going to take Jeff out once and for all. He calls out Jeff but Jeff comes out and says he is not going to take on his brother. Not here. Not now. Jeff says he wants to embarrass his brother on the biggest stage of them all. Jeff asks Matt if he remembers watching the old Mania’s with him. Matt says he does. He said “what was my favorite match before the ladder match at 10?†Matt says “You’re dreaming Jeff.†Jeff replies “that’s right. The greatest match I had ever seen until that point was The Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho King Randy Savage in a Career Ending Match. And in 4 weeks, he wants to do the same thing to his brother. Matt is reluctant but says “you’re on!â€
SD 10
Jeff comes out to the ring dressed in a cheesy kinda tux/suit thing and says he is here to pay tribute to his brother Matt. Since his career is going to be over in about 3 weeks, he is going to bring out some people to talk about his loving brother Matt. First comes Greg Helms. He talks about how he used to beat Matt all over NC when they were getting started in OMEGA (their first fed) and how Jeff really should have been the star of the show but Matt always sucked up to the promoter. Next up, Jeff calls out a woman from Matt’s past, the lovely Lita. She talks about how “small of a man†Matt was and how good of an actress she had to be when she was around him, and not just when they were on screen. Finally, Edge comes out. He runs down everything he did to Matt. Took his girl, beat him all over the country every night, and used him as a stepping stone to become WHC. Matt decides he has had enough and he charges the ring, but he doesn’t come alone, he comes out with a steel chair, which clears the ring. Then all of them circle the ring and get ready to jump in but Rey and Shannon Moore hit the ring to even the odds. Vickie comes out and says if they want to fight, we will have a 6 man tag tonight.
Matt/Rey/Shannon vs. Jeff/Edge/Helms
Ends when Jeff rolls up Matt and pulls his trunks.
WWE.com announces there will be a contract signing next week between Matt and Jeff Hardy
SD 11
Jeff signs the contract first, then Matt signs. After he does Jeff tells him he just signed his career away. Jeff reaches under the table and pulls out a huge chain with dog collars on either end. Jeff says at Mania, Brother vs. Brother, Matt vs. Jeff in a dog collar match. Jeff swings the chain at Matt but his brother ducks and gives him a TOF through the table.
SD 12
Vickie says in the interest of keeping one of her biggest SD matches of all time at WM safe, she has given Jeff the night off. Also, she is going to get Matt in shape for his match at Mania so tonight, Matt will take on The Great Khali.
Matt vs. Khali
Matt is about to get the win after a top rope TOF when Jeff hits the ring and the two brawl. Khali gets in on it and Matt gets beat down. Jeff slaps his prone brother and says this Sunday, Matt is gonna wish he was dead!
WM 25
Matt Hardy def Jeff Hardy in the first ever Career Ending, Brother vs. Brother, Dog Collar Match.
Switchy’s Scenario
Armageddon 2008:
Rated RKO Vs The Hardyz (double reunion agreed by both GM’s after Matt and Edge were feuding as well as Jeff/Orton II)
Ending: Jeff goes for a whisper in the wind on Edge but Orton moves Edge and shoves Matt in the way, causing Jeff to hit Matt and as Jeff gets back up he is met with a spear and RKO and is pinned for the 3.
Winners: Rated RKO
After the match Matt starts to get frustrated with Jeff about the miscommunication problems and walks up the ramp, leaving Jeff in the ring who doesn’t understand why Matt is so frustrated.
Raw: December 22nd
Orton comes out to brag at the start of the show to Jeff Hardy saying that even if the title is on the line or not, Jeff can’t beat him, no matter what rules, Jeff then comes out at the top of the ramp with him and Orton makes continues to brag and says he can beat both of them alone and Jeff runs down to the ring and Matt stays at the top of the ramp but as soon as Jeff enters the ring Edge nails him with a spear from nowhere! Matt then comes down to the ring and both Edge and Orton run and Matt helps Jeff up and then hits him with a Twist of Fate and walks off to boos from the crowd.
Raw: December 29th
Jeff has a match with Rory McCalister and beats him with ease. After the match he says he knows Matt’s in the arena and demands an explanation. Matt comes to the top of the ramp and moans about how Jeff is always getting favouritism over him from when they were children to now and that he should be in Jeff’s spot challenging for the world title, not fighting over a girl with Edge and now it’s time for him to make his mark. Jeff responds and asks Matt why they couldn’t have words about it but Matt says he’s pathetic and walks off.
Raw: January 5th
Matt has a backstage interview saying he’s at Raw and he’s now staying to sort out his issues with Jeff and Jeff then walks in and says how tired he is of Matt’s silly games and it’s just a matter of jealousy and from now on he’s just going to ignore Matt because he has the royal rumble to focus on.
Raw: January 12th
Both Matt and Jeff win their rumble qualifying matches, beating Jim Duggan and Charlie Haas respectively but after Jeff’s match Matt assaults him with a chair, Matt says Jeff can ignore him but as long as he doesn’t, more beatings like that are to come.
Raw: January 19th
With one week to go until the Royal Rumble Matt lays out a challenge to Jeff for a tag team match where they both pick their tag team partners. Jeff comes out to the ring with Shawn Michaels and Matt Hardy comes down to the ring alone but then "Burn in my Light" hits and Jeff’s arch-nemesis Randy Orton comes down to the ring as Matt’s partner. The match starts with both HBK and Orton and Orton makes a few tags to Matt and wear down HBK and eventually Jeff comes in with what looks like a hot tag but Jeff refuses to harm his brother but Matt then insults him as much as possible, even spitting in his face and Jeff eventually snaps at Matt and shows fury like never before and gets himself disqualified hitting Matt with a chair and after the match Jeff continues to assault Matt and needs 6 security men to pull him off.
Royal Rumble 2009:
Royal Rumble match
Ending:Jeff fights from #12 all the way to the end with Matt drawing #30 and four competitors are left, Matt, Jeff, MVP and Triple H. Matt and MVP try to form a team but can’t put their past differences aside and Triple H and Jeff attack them and Triple H throws MVP over the top rope and then HHH and Jeff take Matt over with a double clothesline. Triple H and Jeff both look exhausted and HHH whips Jeff to the ropes but Matt pulls the top rope down and Jeff goes flying over the top rope but hangs onto the top rope with 1 hand but HHH pulls him back onto the apron and punches him onto the arena floor for the win.
Winner: Triple H
Raw: January 26th
Matt comes out at the next show and brags about how he screwed Jeff and shows a replay of it and Jeff then comes out but a wall of security surround Matt and Jeff runs towards them and Matt leaves the ring and the security do too but Jeff then lays them all out with a suicide dive to the outside and he then chases Matt to the back. HHH beats Kennedy later in the Main Event and says he feels cheap winning the Rumble how he did and offers Jeff a rematch and NOW but Matt also challenges him, leading to Regal announcing a Triple Threat for the spot.
Raw: February 2nd
HHH cuts an interview of how he is sick of Matt Hardy trying to jump the queue to the top and how this is between just him and Jeff after the rumble and Matt doesn’t deserve the title shot so he’s demanding a one-on-one match with Jeff as the special ref. Matt accepts but is later laid out and instead the match is now going to be HHH Vs Jeff. The match ends in a no contest when Matt runs down to the ring, with no damage whatsoever done to him and he hits both men with a twist of fate.
Raw: February 9th
William Regal tells Matt that he needs to stop damaging other superstars outside of matches and puts him in a handicap match against Jeff and HHH. Matt says Regal can’t make him go to the match and Regal tells him it’s that, or his job so Matt reluctantly agrees. During the match Randy Orton comes down to the ring to try and attack his potential challengers but John Cena chases him off and the distraction helps Matt Hardy score a roll up win over Triple H.
Raw: February 16th
It’s the final week before No Way Out and a blockbuster main event is revealed: John Cena, HHH and Jeff Vs Orton, Matt and Umaga. Before the match HHH says he’ll take no prisoners at No Way Out and says although Matt and he aren’t best friends, neither are he and Jeff so it’s going to be equal beatings for them both. This causes a slightly rocky relationship in the match but they still manage to pick up the win after Cena pins Umaga after an FU. After the match a huge brawl breaks out between everybody and is broken up as the show closes.
No Way Out 2009:
Triple H Vs Matt Hardy Vs Jeff Hardy for a title shot at Wrestlemania 25
Ending: The ref gets knocked out and Matt smashes Jeff over the head with a chair but he turns around and Triple H hits him with a sledgehammer and then nails him with a pedigree onto the chair and wakes up the ref and gets the pin on Matt.
Winner: Triple H
Raw: February 23rd
Jeff tells Matt enough is enough between them and they have to end this one way or another. Matt lays out a match challenge and Jeff ups the stakes and challenges Matt to a match that both men will perform best at, a ladder match. Matt accepts and even asks for a public contract signing next week. Matt defeats Shawn Michaels later in the night with a twist of fate and calls Jeff out despite already taking a beating from HBK and as Matt expects Jeff to come from the ramp, Jeff attacks him from behind in the crowd to cheers from the crowd and he hits Matt with a Swanton bomb and says their now equal.
Raw: March 2nd
After the Main vent all the tables are set for the contract signing. There is a clause on the contract saying neither man can touch each other a ladder is placed in the middle of the ring as a signal to the match happening and Jeff signs his part of the contract first. Matt signs the contract and looks like he means business and both he and Jeff stare eachother down and all of a sudden Umaga attacks Jeff from behind and beats him up so badly that Jeff has to be taken away via ambulance. Matt then says that although he can’t touch Jeff, other people still can before handing a briefcase full of money to Umaga.
Raw: March 9th
Jeff Hardy comes out at the start of the show on a pair of crutches and tells Matt it looks like he’s the on who will not die and Matt appears on the top of the ramp and sends Umaga to go after Jeff but Jeff manages to beat him down using his crutches and although he’s injured he has momentum and tells Matt it’ll take more to take him down. Matt sends all the heels who are low card/heat down to assault Jeff but then the low card/heat faces make the save.
Raw: March 16th
Jeff has an interview, he is better than last week but still not 100%, he joins the announcers for Matt’s match against Val Venis. Matt picks up the win but had his eyes on Jeff all the way through the match and after he delivers two twist of fates to Venis and tells Jeff, that’s going to be him at WM.
Raw: March 23rd
Jeff seems to be 100% in the last Raw before WM and him and Matt have a 6-man tag, Jeff teaming up with Triple H and Chris Jericho and Matt teaming up with Randy Orton and Mr Kennedy. Jeff looks like he’s about to pick up the win but Matt crotches him as he’s about to go for a Swanton and Kennedy hits the Green Bay Plunge for the win going into WM.
WRESTLEMANIA 25
Matt Hardy Vs Jeff Hardy in a ladder match
Ending: Jeff does a crazy whisper in the wind, running up the ladder and diving to the outside on Matt and both men are laid out but they both get back up and brawl into the ring and up the ladder. They trade punches on top of the ladder and both men are wore out and Jeff goes for a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder but Matt holds on and Jeff drops to the mat and Matt grabs the WWE logo dangling from above but Jeff then hits a missile dropkick on the ladder and Matt still holds on and is dangling in midair. Jeff then hits another missile dropkick, this time on Matt and Matt drops to the floor and Jeff hits him with a Swanton to keep him down and he climbs up the ladder and retrieves the WWE logo for the win.
Phew, this is gonna be close. Now onto the Judges starting with Monkeystyle….
Kaedons btb: Okay, while I thought that this one had the more engaging booking, but at the same time I found it kind of contrived in regards to the Revenga bit, which I also should add was painfully obvious. I didn’t really like that at all. However, I especially enjoyed the Jeff/Edge/Moore alliance as I found it to be the perfect collection of characters to play alongside Matt’s antagonist. I will also state for the record that while I loved the idea of the Dog Collar match as opposed to going for the completely obvious Ladder/TLC match, I felt that the “career on the line†stipulation was an unnecessary addition to the match. Personal pride and sibling rivalry along with the viciousness of the collar match would’ve been enough without having to add the extra stipulation.
70/100
Switchy’s btb: In contrast to Kaedon’s booking, I found this one to be more straight forward though I would’ve preferred a little more build up in tension before Matt finally turned on Jeff. Also disappointed in the obvious ladder match blow off. Beyond that though I don’t have very much to say. If I had to pick one word to describe the scenario presented to me, it would be generic. Sorry.
50/100
Right now the score is 1-0, g’damn and an overall score of 70-50 its close. Next up is Levi’s loose fitting jeans.
On Kaedon's work, having a mysterious masked guy is really a unique one, but in reality, it's really easy to know that he's Jeff Hardy. Good to see some involvement from Shannon Moore and Rey Mysterio since we all know that they have some pasts with Matt Hardy and it really adds something to the fued. I think the angle where Jeff paid tribute to his brother with Edge, Lita draws alot of heat and hype toward Wrestlemania. The only thing I really don't like 'bout the storyline is having some involvement with Khali and Umaga, I think you should other guys instead, maybe like Mr. Kennedy, MVP or Santino. The Wrestlemania ending is really great and I think it's a dramatic one with some addition of a Career Ending threat to it.
Rating: 7/10
On Switchy's work, Switchy also got some nice ideas to hype the fued. I really liked Matt Hardy's character here, it's more like an improved Matt V.1 character. Matt's anger and jealousy to his brother adds some realism to the storyline, we all know that Jeff is more favorite that Matt since they start wrestling and that angle adds so much to the fued. The only thing I don't like here is putting the Hardy's in the final four at Rumble, I think you made their fued so very special, well.. I think it's just me who thought of that one. The Wrestlemania ending is really terrific, having them in a ladder match. A match where they became famous.
Rating: 8.5/10
Overall: Both storylines were really great but my vote will go for Switchy. Switchy's storyline is more realistic. The fued between the two brothers in his storyline is more intensifying than Kaedon's (sorry...). Involving their pasts is really a great way to start a fued between guys. Plus, I also think Matt is better in delivering a heel character rather than Jeff Hardy and having a ladder match is only the best way to end their fued.
Right now the score is 1-1 with an overall score of 58.5-77BAH GAWD WHO’S GONNA WIN! Now we go to TNA’s resident ball licker (jk) PeepShow
Kaedon’s btb: Interesting way to start this. I’m not sure I would have had the build up by Vince like that and then have them get squashed, but not bad. Decent way of building it up to the mystery person, but it was pretty easy to tell it was Jeff all along, and not just b/c I knew what the storyline was going to be. Matt coming out to start and get revenge by himself? Kinda bland and easy if you ask me. I like the way you incorporated all of the former allies of Matt into this feud as well. It made for more of a better “showing†if you catch my drift. The “SD-10†part was the best part of any of it in my opinion. I’m sorry to say this, but I would mark out if that sort of thing happened with Edge, Lita, and Gregory Helms. All aspects of that segment/part were great and really help set up the final part of the feud. Weird concept match for mania at the contract signing, but it wasn’t as bad as when I first thought about it. I would have much rather had a TLC match between the 2. Decent way to end the feud and I’m sure we will still see Jeff in the future. As I said before, I would have liked it more if Jeff was the face, but it was a nice change of pace. Good booking by Kaedon.
Score: 90/100 (-5 for going over the word limit)
Overall: 85/100
Switchy’s btb: In all honesty, all the way up until past the Rumble, I was kind of disinterested. I was the kind of storyline I was envisioning from the very beginning. Then you threw in a triple threat kind of angle at us and it was a good icebreaker. The in-between parts of this were kinda iffy and I think Matt got a little bit more of a push between the Rumble and Now Way Out than he should have tbh. The Triple threat at No Way Out was ok, but I think you could have added a bit more to it. The Feb 23 edition of the show was a bit out of wack if you ask me. Matt is supposedly the heel, yet they both agree to the match like that? Just didn’t seem right to me. Matt then defeats HBK cleanly? Then Jeff attacks Matt? I know he wants revenge, but it just doesn’t seem right for some reason. I guess I could be overanalyzing…….
The contract signing was a very strong part to me. The way Hardy did play the heel was great in paying off Umaga. Just very well thought out there. Then you have the locker room play a part in this whole deal which I in particular am not a big fan of. The Six man tag was good, but it just didn’t make sense to have Kennedy in there and not Umaga. If you have Kennedy, you should have had him be the one to beat up Jeff during the contract signing. Just a thought. The ending was pretty good and good to see the face win as always.
Score: 75/100 (-5 for going over the word limit)
Overall: 70/100
The score is now 2-1 with a overall score of 162 (Kaedon) to 133.5 (Switchy). Next up, is master booker mind The Anigma
Kaedon's Booking-
8/10
I think that Kaedon has a very creative mind but I think the booking lacked realism. The booking of Jeff vowing to wipe out any memory of Matt was interesting but I didn't like the lights turning out and "Revenga" appearing to attack Matt. I also think the final match should've been chosen more carefully because the dog collar would limit Jeff's high-flying abilities and thus make the match quite dull IMO.
Switchy's Booking-
8.5/10
As I said, Switchy gets my vote but only by a hair. Switchy's booking was very realistic but at the same time lacked creativity because he used a classic set-up to a rivalry with a team mate growing frustrated with the other. However, it did make a lot of sense to me, not that Kaedon's didn't but I think Switchy may have had his booking planned out a bit more and Kaedon's seemed as though it was a bit rushed to me.
That ties it up with a score of 2-2 with an overall score of 170-141.5. Well this is it folks, down to one last rating. The Fightin Rican SOUUUUUUUUUULPOWER!
Kaedons btb- As far as a score, I would give it about an 8 out of 10. I love the storyline, but some of the promo work seems a bit over the top, espcially considering that neither Hardy is great on the mic. I did like the Jeff Hardy heel turn because not a lot of people would see it coming. I also loved the interaction with Matt and the people from his past (Edge, Lita, Helms) because it adds a sense of realism to the storyline.
I also would liked it a bit more if you would have gone a bit more in-depth with their match at WM. You made this great build-up for the match, and all you wrote on the actual match was this... Matt Hardy def Jeff Hardy in the first ever Career Ending, Brother vs. Brother, Dog Collar Match.
You need to let people know that it was a violent and bloody affair, that both men gave it their all and tried to out-do each other (As much as they can out-do each other in a Dog Collar match).
Still, like I mentioned it gets an 8/10. It was great for the most part, but in lacked in certain areas and that hurt the overall score.
Switchy’s btb- I'll start with the things I liked. I liked that Matt was the one that turned heel as well as his reasons for doing it. Nothing over the top, just jelaousy on Matt's part due to Jeff's popularity.
I didn't like the bit with Umaga attacking Jeff Hardy at the contract signing, because its hard to imagine Umaga being bribed regardless of the money.
However, I LOVED the mach type for WM. It makes sense to have them end their feud with a ladder match since it was that very match that put both men on the wrestling map.
All in all it was a good BTB with only minor quibbles, and one that's deserving of its score of 8.5/10
This makes the final score 3-2 with an overall score of 178-150!
Well there you have it! Switchy wins the first ever Kaedon’s BTB Challenge! God damn that was as thrilling as a Snitsky match. Kidding. I had a lot of fun writing mine, and I know Switchy did his. This was fucking awesome and I will close out this edition of the No Smark Zone by quoting a great orator in professional wrestling. Switchy…..â€I want my rematch!†O_O
