Monday, August 20, 2012

WWE SummerSlam Results and Afterthoughts

w/ Alex Archer & Violet Buttle
CM Punk defeated John Cena and Big Show to retain the WWE Championship

Alex: I think the right man won here, and the losers have an out as to why they lost. Show can claim he was teamed up on, and Cena can claim he had the match won. The match was entertaining, but I really do feel like anything the Big Show is involved in is just unbearably slow. With him having technically lost the match twice, I'm thinking (and hoping) this will take Show out of the title picture, leaving us with Cena and Punk fighting over who gets to lose to The Rock at Royal Rumble.

Violet: With Big Show in control for a bulk of this match, it moved much slower than I thought it would. Seriously, who enjoys watching Show plod through the ring while doing the few moves he is actually able to? Hopefully, losing the match twice takes Show out of the title picture (and any feud, if we're lucky). Overall, the right man won. Twice.

Sheamus defeated Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

Alex: Oh my god, what a bore. I'm so tired of Sheamus and his current character. I don't think anyone believed that Del Rio was a threat to the title (thanks for the shit booking, WWE!). The only interest I had in this match was in the aftermath and whether Ziggler would take a shot at cashing in. That didn't happen, so this match was a giant waste of my time.

Violet: I don't understand how Sheamus can cheat in matches and steal cars but still be considered a good guy. How are people still cheering him?

Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H

Alex: So disappointed in this match. Had they not hyped it as, basically, a fight to the death, it would've been a decent match. Brock sold the stomach injury very well, and Hunter did a good job of desperately trying to keep from getting synched into the Kimura (although they went to that well about 10 too many times). It had the big match feel going in, but during and after, it was very flat. The "you tapped out" chants after the match had to have taken Hunter by surprise, but after a mediocre match like that, did they really expect the live crowd to pop for a defeated Hunter?

Violet: After how brutal his match with Cena was, I was expecting Lesnar to DESTROY Triple H. But he didn't. I mean, Triple H didn't even bleed. For a segment that was being billed as a "fight" rather than a "wrestling match", this looked an awful lot like a wrestling match. And a slow one at that.

Chris Jericho defeated Dolph Ziggler

Alex: I don't really understand this one, but given the two athletes involved, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and see where they take this story tonight on Raw. The match was very well wrestled and told a great story, which came as a surprise to absolutely no one. It will be interesting to see where this leads, as Jericho is said to be touring with Fozzy full-time starting very soon.

Violet: I wasn't surprised by the good quality of the match, but I was surprised by the winner. I don't think this feud is over quite yet. I expect to see Ziggler get the best of Jericho before he leaves to tour with Fozzy.

Daniel Bryan defeated Kane

Alex: Kane, like Big Show, bores the hell out of me. Daniel Bryan, on the other hand, is the best thing the WWE has going right now. Combine those two and we got a match that I just wanted to see Bryan win. The finish was well done, but the raging Kane afterwards means this one isn't over, unfortunately.

Violet: Being that Daniel Bryan is pretty much the best thing WWE has going on, I was excited to see this match and even more excited to see him score a much needed win. I just wish they'd have him feuding with, you know, someone his own size. There were too many slow-moving big guys in this PPV for my liking.

The Miz defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the Intercontinental Championship

Alex: Great match from Miz and Mysterio. It was pretty much exactly what I expected. The way Miz sat up to avoid the post-619 frogsplash was hilarious. I'm glad to see Miz retaining the title over a great opponent like Mysterio.

Violet: This was one of the better matches. When Miz isn't serving as a jobber, I really like watching him in the ring. I hope he holds onto this title for awhile.

Kofi Kingston & R Truth defeated The Prime Time Playas to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships

Alex: I feel like I've been on repeat regarding the team of Truth and Kingston for months now: put the titles on a true tag team, push Kofi. That's what I was hoping for here, but we didn't get it. Now what for the PTP? Now what for the tag division? Strong tag champs that retain are great when you have a competitive tag division. When you only have a handful of random teams, it gets very stale, very quickly.

Violet: I think that one of the best ways to build the tag division is to use tag teams only, but, apparently WWE disagrees. The Primetime Players should have won this. A feud between them and Epico/Primo would have been way more entertaining than whatever is going to happen now. Guaranteed.

Antonio Cesaro defeated Santino Marella for the United States Championship

Alex: Santino's time as US Champion has long been over. Cesaro is a great choice to run with the title and, hopefully, strip away all the memories of the comedy-based US title matches we've gotten over the last few months.

Violet: It's about time for Cesaro's push and for the US title to be taken of Santino.


Contact us on Twitter to discuss this article or anything wrestling :
@TheAlexArcher | @VioletButtle | #FTLOW

Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar: Disappointing

by Alex Archer

The Triple H/Brock Lesnar feud has been something of a roller coaster. For most of their feud, I couldn't have possibly cared less about them. Then they roped me in at the 8/13 go-home edition of Raw (mostly due to Paul Heyman's magic on the mic). Last night, with my interest in both men at it's peak, they delivered a terribly disappointing wrestling match.

In the days before SummerSlam, I bought into the potential brutality of this match wholeheartedly. I assumed, after Lesnar had broken Shawn Michael's arm and made the Hulk-esque Hunter angry, that their matchup would be very similar to the Lesnar/Cena fight. I was expecting blood. I was expecting elbows galore. I was expecting these two to go to war.

Rather than two guys out their killing each other, we got exactly what we were told we wouldn't get: a wrestling match. A mediocre-at-best wrestling match that, with a different type of build, would've been satisfying. The problem is, I don't want to see Brock Lesnar in a wrestling match; I want to see him in a fight.

Before you throw your hands up in the air and attack me for wanting a fight on a wrestling show, understand where that desire is coming from. It isn't because of his UFC background. It isn't because I would rather see a brutally stiff encounter (like the one between Cena and Lesnar) than a wrestling match. It's because that's what the WWE has marketed Brock Lesnar as: a fighter.

Lesnar has been packaged as a god damn killer. He's been portrayed as a man who his trusted advisor, Paul Heyman, can't even control. He brutalized Cena, he broke Hunter's arm, he broke Shawn's arm, and whenever they talk about him they use the worlds "legitimate" and "ass-kicker" every chance they get.

Where do they go from here?

For Triple H, the last 5 minutes of SummerSlam must've been pretty uncomfortable. I don't think the "you tapped out" chants were what he was expecting. It took quite a few minutes before the crowd turned around and gave him a polite applause. I'm assuming the "I'm sorry" stuff is going to lead to a possible retirement angle, but I can't say I'm all that interested.

As for Brock, I feel like this match was a step backwards. After the Cena match, I couldn't wait to see Lesnar in the ring again. I was excited to see how he would work against other wrestlers after such a brutal and physical match. If his work with Triple H is any indication of his future matches, again, I can't say I'm all that interested. If Brock isn't a killer, I'm not into him.

Contact me on Twitter to discuss this article or anything wrestling :
@TheAlexArcher | #FTLOW

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Wrestling You Should See: Volume 2

w/ Alex Archer

Dragon Gate (Ring of Honor exhibition) - ROH Supercard of Honor 2006 - 6 Man Tag Match

Do Fixer (Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi) vs. Blood Generation (Cima, Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi)

Ring of Honor's Supercard of Honor 2006 featured a 6 man tag match featuring two of Dragon Gate's top stables, Do Fixer and Blood Generation.  It took the fans a few minutes to really get into this match, but once they got to their feet, they stayed there for the remainder of the match.  Tons of near falls, tons of great wrestling, and tons of fast paced action.  This match is just a lot of fun to watch. It's also the first time I had ever heard a "please don't stop" chant.



Contact me on Twitter to discuss this article or anything wrestling :
@TheAlexArcher | #FTLOW

Friday, August 3, 2012

Monthly Televised Females Top 5

by Violet Buttle

July 2012

AJ Lee:  AJ had a very busy and eventful July: she sent CM Punk and Daniel Bryan through a table, she proposed to CM Punk, she accepted a marriage proposal to Daniel Bryan, she took part in her wedding ceremony (which she abruptly called off), and she became the General Manager of Raw. Oh, and she’s using her last name again!

Brooke Tessmacher: On July 12th, Tessmacher defended her title against former champion Gail Kim.

Sara Del Rey - The Future of the Diva's Division?
Sara Del Rey: Now that WWE has released Kharma, it appears as if revitalizing the struggling and boring Divas division will be Del Rey’s job.

2/3 of The Beautiful People
Madison Rayne: Rayne is currently one of the few televised women’s wrestlers with an actual storyline. On the July 26th edition of Impact, a controversial call by love interest Earl Hebner allowed Rayne and teammate Gail Kim to prevail over Tara and Mickie James in a tag match.

Velvet Sky and Angelina Love: Both women left TNA this month and have already begun appearing together in the independent circuit. It is rumored that WWE may be interested in signing Love.  It appears as if leaving a promotion attracts more attention than wrestling in one (or sitting idly by while other people wrestle).

Contact me on Twitter to discuss this article or anything wrestling : @VioletButtle | #FTLOW