-- Dark Match: Ryan Braddock defeated Kung Fu Naki.
Week #1 (1/16/09):
-- Show opens with Vickie Guerrero in the ring celebrating the beating given to Triple H the prior week. Triple H enters and apologizes to Vickie then gives her the nude photos which he acquired through Joey Styles as the Great Khali sold them to him. Vickie put Triple H in a Last Man Standing match with the Big Show with Hs rumble spot on the line then Triple H shows the crowd the nude photos anyways. Vickie then changes her mind and decides that MVP will represent H with his spot still at stake and Triple H is barred from ringside.
-- Finlay and Matt Hardy defeated Mark Henry and new ECW Champion Jack Swagger when Hardy pinned Swagger. Decent match but a lot of the crowd was confused that Swagger had the title. They did show a recap of the ECW title match that had yet to air on TV at the time of the taping.
-- Series of backstage deals that included Edge and Big Show arguing about stuff, an R-Truth/Brian Kendrick exchange, and MVP being confident that he can beat the Big Show to which Trips rolled his eyes and told him to just stick to the plan.
-- R-Truth defeated The Brian Kendrick. This wins for worst match of the night but it wasnt all that bad. Post match, Ezekiel attacked R-Truth and laid him out.
-- MVP defeated The Big Show in the Last Man Standing Match to end his ridiculously long losing streak. Surprisingly good back and forth match with the finish happening as Big Show was going to chokeslam MVP off the stage, Triple H hit him with the Sledgehammer.
-- Backstage- Vickie tells Triple H he is now out of the Rumble match but Triple H is insistent that he did not go ringside but rather he clearly attacked Big Show on the stage, therefore, he is still in the Rumble match. Vickie sets up Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov for next week (yay..)
-- Michelle McCool is interviewed about her recent attitude change when she is interrupted by Victoria which sets up:
-- Michelle McCool defeated Victoria with a version of the Styles Clash. Post match Victoria announced that tonight was her last night with the company and thanks the fans for their support over the years. She seemed very emotional and was crying during her final rounds. She will be missed as she is one hell of a worker!
-- They advertised something called Undertakers Edict but this was not shown to the crowd. They also teased a major announcement about the Hall of Fame but only showed the Steve Austin inductee video that aired on Raw.
-- The first show ended with The Cutting Edge with Jeff Hardy as the guest. Edge was adamant about not being responsible for the Hit and Run but he would still beat Hardy for the WWE Championship. He introduced Jeff Hardy and as his pyro went off, there was a misfire and Hardy was caught up in the explosions and a small pyro fire. I assume the first show ends as they stretcher Jeff Hardy out with some of the other talents watching. A lot of the kids and teens in the crowd were legitimately worried about Hardy and were in a state of shock for a while following this, some even left following this event as some kids were freaking out.
Week #2 (1/23/09): -- Show opens with Edge who is now denying that he had anything to do with the pyro mishap last week. Matt Hardy attacks Edge and the brawl through the crowd. Vickie sets up Edge vs. Matt Hardy in a No Disqualification match for later that night.
-- The Undertaker defeated Shelton Benjamin (non-title) in a very good match. Very similar to last weeks Smackdown match between the two.
-- The Great Khali squashed Chavo Guerrero. Short and simple, not much else to say.
-- It was announced that if Triple H loses his match tonight that her would enter the Royal Rumble as the #1 entrant.
-- Edge defeated Matt Hardy in a No DQ match after Mark Henry and Jack swagger interfered. They held Hardy for Edge to hit a spear for the finish. Fun match with trash cans, canes, and chairs being used.
-- Up next was Michelle McCool and Natalya vs. the Bella Twins with Maryse doing commentary. After about a minute, Maria returned and attacked Michelle. Maria wound up laid out by Michelle as everyone else just kind of watched.
-- World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo in a fantastic non-title match. Seriously, go out of your way to watch this one next week, just plain awesome.
-- Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov was stopped about a minute in and changed into Triple H vs. Kozlov and The Big Show in a handicap match which Kozlov and Big Show won. Triple H will enter the Royal Rumble as the number 1 entrant."
Victoria has had so many injuries, she felt it was time to step away. She has a restaraunt in Louisville along with other business endeavors. In my opinion, she is the most underrated woman's wrestler of the last decade.
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Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
Stacy was horrible in the ring. She couldnt string 3 moves together if you gave her the rope and the moves to attatch to the rope. Victoria always puts together a strong match with anyone.
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Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
sadly, jeff is right...if anything i think trish is overrated. But Molly and Miss Jackie could perform in the ring as well, they just didnt have the look.
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Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
Swagger has a glimmer of being a talent like Lesnar and Angle, if used correctly. I believe by the end of '09 he will be a big player, unless he gets injured.
Though Evan Bourne is a hell of a talent, i dont see him taking the ECW Championship anytime soon unless he reaches CM Punk-like popularity with the WWE fan base. The "smarks" out there loved his work as Matt Sydal, so you never know.
He should go to like SMackdown and become the new United States Champion. He then could build his talent and then go for the gold. Is he going to be in the Rumble.
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I think that Jimmy Hendrix was the best guitarist in the world
Though a Evan Bourne/Shelton Benjamin program is very tempting, I don't see it happening anytime soon unless either one gets drafted to the other's brand. Where Bourne last left it he was injured by Mike Knox who is on RAW, whether or not the creative team will continue that program is anyone's guess.
I don't see Bourne making a Rumble appearance, figure a return in Mid-Feb, early March.
Id really like to see the cruiserweight title come back......they have some great cruiserweights in the WWE....put the belt on ECW as their secondary title
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Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
I agree I would like to see the Crusierweight Championship back, but WWE already has a problem making their other titles relevant (Tag Team, US, IC). Is their truly enough talent to bolster a Crusierweight Division again. Jimmy Wang Yang, Chavo Guerrero, Evan Bourne and The Brian Kendrick?
Miz & Morrison are better served in the spot they are in right now.
The problem with WWE is that they put so much emphasis on their main titles their secondary titles are slipping, although with CM Punk as the IC Champ its going in a better dircetion than with Sheldon Benjamin as the United States Champion. The tag team divison is a joke. They only got two good teams in their the Miz and Morrison and Cryme Time and thats it. Primo and Carlito suck as a tag team. They are the only tag team on Smackdown so I suggest that Smackdown starts making more tag teams or it could be a long time before we consider WWE good tag tam competition. TNA has better tag teams Motor City Machine Guns, Team 3D, Matt Morgan and Abyss, Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed, Team 3D, and lets not forget LAX. Those teams right there are better than all the tag teams on WWE.
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I think that Jimmy Hendrix was the best guitarist in the world
thats the point Bob...before the current group was renamed "The Frontline", they were "TNA Originals" half the group wasnt TNA originals. Heel, Samoa Joe was in ROH when TNA startd.
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Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
