Wrestling...thats right, Wrestling!

[GNR_Green]

A couple of hilarious, classic Smackdown moments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-oSUnYwgUg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig-kiuNuzog

Vince needs to get on the mic more imo.  And they should show their gratitude to the WWE fans by giving them what they want - another kicking for Michael Cole!  Brilliant.

[Gnrfan]

Over the top with excitement?  No, but I'm happy enough, having got past several disapointments.

The main one being the great build by Jericho leading to the handicap match, it would be better one-on-one against Steamboat I hear he can still "Go" and clearly the other two can barely walk, Snuka resembles the living dead, obviously in a perfect world it would have been Austin or Hogan, I nearly said Savage but a saw a recent photo and.... 

Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy has been promoted fairly well and being Extreme, I expect a sick Jeff bump to make this match memorable.

The Tag Titles are on the freakin' line, at last, and as part of a well constructed feud....

....shame we can't say the same for the IC Title, I mean great its on the card, but I still have a little hope cos JBL promises to do something "Big".

Triple H vs Randy Orton has had great lashings of Attitude Era fun build-up, and I don't find Orton boring so I'm looking forward to this.

The Triple Threat was never going to be great, even more annoyingly we've seen or are seeing the guys wrestle each other over and over week in and week out, obviously this happens for lower card matches, but for this they should keep them apart let the tensions build, loom at Triple H vs Orton, Trips gets to his house, attacks him, gets arrested, takes out Rhodes, taunts him, then gets taken about by Legacy the week after, he keeps trying to get retribution but hasn't.

25 Diva Battle Royal works for me, they were always going to be on the card and this way they are all in and out fairly quickly and we get to seem some "Classic faces" from the past.

Money in the Bank always delivers for me, its entertaining 15-20 minute stuff.

And don't discount WWE yet as many have said its about the spectacle (plus I like Kid Rock), what's JBL's big surprise? will Austin and Rourke show?  Will Batista return?  Will the MITB winner cash in that night?

Oh and did I forget, we have Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels IV.  And after that great Smackdown I'm even more pumped.

I think thats well said.

That being said i find it weird that the ECW champion isn't on the card. The have put people like Henry on there but not Swagger. I know they don't take ECW too seriously but its still a world title and should be defended on Wrestlemania IMO.

Aside from that i'm happy with WM. I think the HHH vs Orton match has had classic build up and that match will be brilliant in terms of the occasion and the psychology. Yeah its not gonna be Angle vs Bret Hart in terms of Wrestling but it'll be a good Main Event at Mania.

Taker vs HBK has had some brilliant build up from two of the best promo givers. I think Taker will & Should win as i think he'll take his record to retirement or give the ulitmate rub to a youngster (but the cards would have to fall at the right time). But both of them will go all out i'm sure for mania.... not sure how many these guys have left.

MITB bank will be awesome. i expect one of the big guys to take a big bump.

I think the Hardy vs Hardy maybe could of used a little more build up but like hammy says i  expect Jeff to take a masive Bump and probally put Matt Over.

The Womens match will be a little bit of fun and personally i'd prefer that than a boring sub par 1on1 divas match that wwe always seem to put on.

The World title match will be good i think. Its easy to look at Show and say god he can't wrestle blah blah.... but Cena and Edge will probally do most of the work and i think this match is probally the hardest match of the night to call.

JBL vs Rey... can Rey make JBL look good?

[Bodhi]

if the undertaker gets beat by shawn i will no longer watch it

I love HBK  but there is ZERO chance of Taker losing.

I agree...although I would say there is a 1% chance of Taker losing...i mean its not like when he fought Mark Henry or something like that where there was no point watching it...if he would ever lose to anyone at a Wrestlemania it would be against a Michaels, Cena, or HHH...at least here there is a reason to watch the match because there is the slightest bit of doubt...but still I would be very shocked if Taker lost..actually i think thats exactly what this Wrestlemania needs to be memorable..because this card fucking blows...almost as bad as having Guerrero and Benoit in main events at 20...god that was terrible, but this is not much better...

Before Benoit killed his family, his match at "XX" was easily one of the greatest main events of all time.

Angle vs. Eddie was pretty good too, of course if I'm not mistaken, if Lesnar hadn't decided to quit, then it would've been another Angle vs. Lesnar.

Are you guys serious?  Chris Benoit was NEVER over with the crowd, he was quite possibly the most boring champ in the history of WWE.  He had ZERO mic skills.  Guerrero at least had some charisma and mic skills, and I wouldnt have objected to Guerrero being in a main event at a Wrestlemana, but NOT a landmark Wrestlemania like XX at the Garden.

I do see why some of you see things differently than I do.  You guys seem to be actual fans of the wrestling aspect, which is cool.  Thats why you guys enjoy your Guerreros, Benoits, Lesnars etc...  For me I care about 4 things, looks, entrance music, mic skills, and most importantly if you can tell a story and have it progress over a few week span.  Since the matches are fake/pre-determined, ones wrestling skill does not really matter too much to me.  Sure its great if they have them, but if they have no mic skills and they are not over one way or another with the crowd its kind of pointless.  For me its all about the story, and I never saw Benoit ever carry a story.  I thought the Hogan/McMahon street fight was better than anything Benoit ever did at a Wrestlemania, and the street fight was an AWFUL wrestling match, but a great story behind it.

[Hammy]

if the undertaker gets beat by shawn i will no longer watch it

I love HBK  but there is ZERO chance of Taker losing.

I agree...although I would say there is a 1% chance of Taker losing...i mean its not like when he fought Mark Henry or something like that where there was no point watching it...if he would ever lose to anyone at a Wrestlemania it would be against a Michaels, Cena, or HHH...at least here there is a reason to watch the match because there is the slightest bit of doubt...but still I would be very shocked if Taker lost..actually i think thats exactly what this Wrestlemania needs to be memorable..because this card fucking blows...almost as bad as having Guerrero and Benoit in main events at 20...god that was terrible, but this is not much better...

Before Benoit killed his family, his match at "XX" was easily one of the greatest main events of all time.

Angle vs. Eddie was pretty good too, of course if I'm not mistaken, if Lesnar hadn't decided to quit, then it would've been another Angle vs. Lesnar.

Are you guys serious?  Chris Benoit was NEVER over with the crowd, he was quite possibly the most boring champ in the history of WWE.  He had ZERO mic skills.  Guerrero at least had some charisma and mic skills, and I wouldnt have objected to Guerrero being in a main event at a Wrestlemana, but NOT a landmark Wrestlemania like XX at the Garden.

I do see why some of you see things differently than I do.  You guys seem to be actual fans of the wrestling aspect, which is cool.  Thats why you guys enjoy your Guerreros, Benoits, Lesnars etc...  For me I care about 4 things, looks, entrance music, mic skills, and most importantly if you can tell a story and have it progress over a few week span.  Since the matches are fake/pre-determined, ones wrestling skill does not really matter too much to me.  Sure its great if they have them, but if they have no mic skills and they are not over one way or another with the crowd its kind of pointless.  For me its all about the story, and I never saw Benoit ever carry a story.  I thought the Hogan/McMahon street fight was better than anything Benoit ever did at a Wrestlemania, and the street fight was an AWFUL wrestling match, but a great story behind it.

The aftermatch, post Backlash sucked no doubt, he had no mic skills but the moment in itself, the story behind it all was great.

2 guys, smaller than the average World Champions in big man WWE (Who Ironically abused steroids to get to that position, same goes for their friend Rey Mysterio), after years of being perenial midcarders who never seemed destined to win the big one (Remember the 2 times Benoit won the title prior to the event but the decision was reversed).  For Benoit ever obstacle was in his way, if memory serves me correctly Heyman determind to stop him made him #1 Entrant in the Rumble, he overcome the odds and after that got passed HBK trying to steal his title shot, in kayfabe terms going in as the underdog he overcame the odds in a superb "wrestling" match which the fans were massively into and to see the two friends, Guerrero and Benoit embrace in the ring together at the end, it was like they had broken kayfabe 'cos so many fans knew they were friends in real life and what an achievement it was, it was emotional because people bought their celebration as real despite the business being as exposed as it has been in recent years, loved it! And the victory in the rematch over HBK in Canada at Backlash was great to but then after that it was a bit meh and business as usual, but as I said I felt everything was handled well in the build-up, he held things up with his great wrestling in the Rumble and at 'Mania while Triple H and HBK carried the promos.

[sweet616]

when did shawn michaels start dressing like mortaki

[D]

No Benoit wrestling hating. The man was a genius in the ring.

[Bodhi]

The aftermatch, post Backlash sucked no doubt, he had no mic skills but the moment in itself, the story behind it all was great.

2 guys, smaller than the average World Champions in big man WWE (Who Ironically abused steroids to get to that position, same goes for their friend Rey Mysterio), after years of being perenial midcarders who never seemed destined to win the big one (Remember the 2 times Benoit won the title prior to the event but the decision was reversed).  For Benoit ever obstacle was in his way, if memory serves me correctly Heyman determind to stop him made him #1 Entrant in the Rumble, he overcome the odds and after that got passed HBK trying to steal his title shot, in kayfabe terms going in as the underdog he overcame the odds in a superb "wrestling" match which the fans were massively into and to see the two friends, Guerrero and Benoit embrace in the ring together at the end, it was like they had broken kayfabe 'cos so many fans knew they were friends in real life and what an achievement it was, it was emotional because people bought their celebration as real despite the business being as exposed as it has been in recent years, loved it! And the victory in the rematch over HBK in Canada at Backlash was great to but then after that it was a bit meh and business as usual, but as I said I felt everything was handled well in the build-up, he held things up with his great wrestling in the Rumble and at 'Mania while Triple H and HBK carried the promos.

sure I know all of that went into that title run, but nothing came of it,...no stream of new merchandise or promotion..as a matter of fact he dropped the belt a few months later to Orton, and then went on to be a jobber eventually ending up being demoted to ECW before he lost his mind...Nothing against his technical skill, but he had nothing else to offer...Guerrero had charisma but not enough to headline Wrestlemania 20 at the Garden...Hogan, Michaels, HHH, The Rock, Austin or someone along those lines should have been standing in the ring at the end of that pay per view...It was a milestone Wrestlemania in the worlds most famous arena...and the Benoit/Guerrero "moment" was forgetable...Like Triple H always said, its not about wrestling talent, its about telling the story.  That along with Wrestlemania 13 and 16 was my least favorite Wrestlemania.  But its all a matter of opinion.  We all like wrestling for different reasons, I just didnt think it was the best business/money/ratings move to have those 2 in that spot at that particular time.  Wrestlemania 19 or 21 or 22 fine, but not 20 at the Garden.  Just like this year it shoudl be a memorable Wrestlemania being its 25, but I have a feeling unless something changes WWE has dropped the ball again.

[AtariLegend]

and the Benoit/Guerrero "moment" was forgetable

Seriously? That at that time was one of the most emotional moments WWE had ever done.

...And the run lasted like 5 months till "SummerSlam", hardly a short reign and it ended with Orton getting his real first big stepping stone to being a main event guy. So definitely alot of stuff came from it.

[Axl4Life]

and the Benoit/Guerrero "moment" was forgetable

Seriously? That at that time was one of the most emotional moments WWE had ever done.

...And the run lasted like 5 months till "SummerSlam", hardly a short reign and it ended with Orton getting his real first big stepping stone to being a main event guy. So definitely alot of stuff came from it.

Not to mention that he defended it almost every week, so it wasn't pointless, like a Shelton Benjamin US Title run. 

[sweet616]

Benoit won a title :S

[BlowUpYourVideo]

A couple of hilarious, classic Smackdown moments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-oSUnYwgUg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig-kiuNuzog

Vince needs to get on the mic more imo.  And they should show their gratitude to the WWE fans by giving them what they want - another kicking for Michael Cole!  Brilliant.

I found this one from those. Those are heels! I couldn't imagine the WWE having a guy repeatedly hit a woman with a chair today what with the kid-friendliness...

[Izzy]

Ah the WWF logo...

Its like a mark of quality...

Stupid WWE!

Time for someone to assasinate Vince McMahon - they've tried car bombs, chair shots, sledgehammers, falling equipment - he must have used up all his nine lives!

..I wonder what Shane would do if he was in charge - i suspect it would be 10x worse, but right now - a change is really needed

[sweet616]

WMMAE

[AxlsMainMan]

Here's hoping for a quality Raw tonight.

[D]

This is the last Raw before WM?

are u fucking kidding me?

Rey and JBL are wrestling at WM right? So why the hell did they wrestle tonight?

[AtariLegend]

Rey and JBL are wrestling at WM right? So why the hell did they wrestle tonight?

Isn't JBL supposed to be doing something historic on Sunday that doesn't involve the Intercontinental Tile match...

Anyone know what it'll be yet, presuming it isn't retirement?

[Hammy]

Former ECW World champion and long-time WWE announcer Tazz left World Wrestling Entertainment last night after calling the matches for this Friday's edition of Smackdown. He is now officially done with the company as his WWE contract expires today. We will both have many more details on this story in reports on the Audio section of PWInsiderElite.com today. If you are not a member of the Elite site, you can sign up now by clicking here:

http://www.pwinsider.com/elitenav.php

Promote Striker!

[BlowUpYourVideo]

^What?? Right before WM?! Nooo!


I enjoyed his commentary...

[AtariLegend]

I want my favourite commentary team back together Jim Ross & Paul Heyman.

[A Private Eye]

I always thought JBL was an excellent commentator for SD, he came out with some hilarious stuff. I was dissappointed when he stopped doing that to return to the ring.