Big Update Heading into No Way Out
Sorry about the lack of updates this week, as the wife and I just returned from Mexico last evening, and I quickly tried to get caught up by watching five hours of WWE from this past week with the PPV looming from Los Angeles tonight.
So lot's to cover, and not a lot of time - so here are some thoughts from the shows this week with a look at tonight:
* First off let's start with the WWE Hall of Fame. Tickets for the event go on sale March 3rd, and the first person to be announced to be inducted this year will be Dusty Rhodes. The likeable Rhodes is a solid first choice, and this one is not much of a shock, considering he is on WWE TV quite a bit, and truly is a superstar in the world of wrestling. The list of more wrestlers should get bigger and bigger as the weeks go, and I can see at least there being 6-8 in their this year. The one name that I am still counting on as the top name this year is Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
* I thought most of the action and wrestling on this past weeks shows were pretty up to par. They continue, while having a PPV tonight, to move wrestlers around and shift guys from show to show, which could get confusing, but adds another element to the brands. I love the RAW guys on SmackDown, and vice-versa. What could get sticky is doing this too much, then the brands will simply meld together and you'll be back to one big federation of wrestlers, which I know the WWE does not want.
* They continue to shift ECW guys onto Smackdown, and that is even more evident with the ECW title being defended by Bobby Lashley tonight on No Way Out against Ken Kennedy. I love them doing this, and if fans are going to pay $50-$60 per ticket for house shows and for TV tapings with SmackDown and ECW wrestlers, why not just do it where the PPV's are combined? Makes perfect sense, and almost too much sense for them to do it.
* One thing you will see is they are going to really shift the focus of WrestleMania on after tonight's PPV, and you will NOT see John Cena and Shawn Michaels in a ring again with Undertaker and Batista. It's almost too corney to have these two teams "pairing" up tonight to go at it, and they really need to start the major programs with Cena vs Michaels, and Taker vs Batista. That also will mean getting the tag title belts off of Cena and Michaels, possibly as early as tomorrow nights RAW.
* Last years No Way Out seems a bit similar to tonights in that it is a rather weak card with mostly build up towards WrestleMania. The main event last year was Kurt Angle beating the Undertaker in a World Heavyeright Title match. A very good match, but overall the rest of the card was so-so at best. The undercard included Chris Benoit beating Booker T for the US Title, and JBL beating Bobby Lashley. The best No Way Out in recent memory was 2004, when Eddie Guerrero beat Brock Lesner to win the WWE title. A great moment that they tend to show from time to time on WWE television.
So lot's to cover, and not a lot of time - so here are some thoughts from the shows this week with a look at tonight:
* First off let's start with the WWE Hall of Fame. Tickets for the event go on sale March 3rd, and the first person to be announced to be inducted this year will be Dusty Rhodes. The likeable Rhodes is a solid first choice, and this one is not much of a shock, considering he is on WWE TV quite a bit, and truly is a superstar in the world of wrestling. The list of more wrestlers should get bigger and bigger as the weeks go, and I can see at least there being 6-8 in their this year. The one name that I am still counting on as the top name this year is Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
* I thought most of the action and wrestling on this past weeks shows were pretty up to par. They continue, while having a PPV tonight, to move wrestlers around and shift guys from show to show, which could get confusing, but adds another element to the brands. I love the RAW guys on SmackDown, and vice-versa. What could get sticky is doing this too much, then the brands will simply meld together and you'll be back to one big federation of wrestlers, which I know the WWE does not want.
* They continue to shift ECW guys onto Smackdown, and that is even more evident with the ECW title being defended by Bobby Lashley tonight on No Way Out against Ken Kennedy. I love them doing this, and if fans are going to pay $50-$60 per ticket for house shows and for TV tapings with SmackDown and ECW wrestlers, why not just do it where the PPV's are combined? Makes perfect sense, and almost too much sense for them to do it.
* One thing you will see is they are going to really shift the focus of WrestleMania on after tonight's PPV, and you will NOT see John Cena and Shawn Michaels in a ring again with Undertaker and Batista. It's almost too corney to have these two teams "pairing" up tonight to go at it, and they really need to start the major programs with Cena vs Michaels, and Taker vs Batista. That also will mean getting the tag title belts off of Cena and Michaels, possibly as early as tomorrow nights RAW.
* Last years No Way Out seems a bit similar to tonights in that it is a rather weak card with mostly build up towards WrestleMania. The main event last year was Kurt Angle beating the Undertaker in a World Heavyeright Title match. A very good match, but overall the rest of the card was so-so at best. The undercard included Chris Benoit beating Booker T for the US Title, and JBL beating Bobby Lashley. The best No Way Out in recent memory was 2004, when Eddie Guerrero beat Brock Lesner to win the WWE title. A great moment that they tend to show from time to time on WWE television.
