Monday, 6th September, 2004:
Monday nights are going to seem a little different for a while, but my viewing habits returned to normal after nearly two months with the viewing of the second part of this Shoot Interview featuring Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Part two proved to be as entertaining as part one. I've always found that these interviews are far more interesting when the subject of the interview has been around the block a few times. It also helps when the subject isn't coming across as an arrogant SOB.
Lawler's stories once again made for compelling viewing, especially his tale of Kerry Von Erich's unintentional blade job before their historic title v title match.
Tuesday, 7th September, 2004:
I thought I'd change my viewing habits a little, by taking in Ring of Honor's weekly TV show, but upon seeing what matches were being shown, I decided against it. After all, what's the point of broadcasting matches that were shown just a few days after they were show on the Supercard show?
Wednesday, 8th September, 2004:
The first time I had seen Sunday Night Heat in a long time, and I'm glad I did, otherwise I would have mussed a great main event featuring Chris Jericho against Steven Richards.
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Richards. I think it's a great shame that his only major success was as the leader of the Right To Censor. But there's no doubt that Richards is a talented wrestler. It's just a shame that he doesn't get the chance to show his wares on the main stage. His talent deserves nothing less.
Then it was on to TWC's flagship show, as TNA presented a show in which the main story lines centred around two of the company's championships.
The fact that the tournament for the vacant tag-team titles seemed to be made up of makeshift teams says it all for the scene at the moment. Years ago this title had been won by the likes of the Road Warriors, the Andersons, the Midnight Express, and many more full-time teams. Teams such as Simon Diamond and Sonny Siaki, and the absence of a team such as America's Most Wanted, proved that tag-team championships aren't highly regarded in many quarters these days.
The situation regarding the world title looked far healthier. While I've never really rated guys like Ron Killings and Abyss, guys like A.J. Styles and Raven deserve to be in the title hunt. But is there anyone more worthy of the NWA title than Jeff Jarrett? At the moment I would have to say no. A lengthy title reign restores pride and prestige to the title. Just look at what Samoa Joe's long reign has done for the Ring of Honor title?
Thursday, 9th September, 2004:
Another journey into the world of mixed martial arts as Eurosport show a recent K1 show from Las Vegas. Sadly, I have no idea when the show took place, Eurosport weren't exactly forthcoming with the information. But at least this time Eurosport showed the tournament matches in the correct order, The last time I saw K1 on Eurosport they showed the semi-finals before the quarter-finals.
As well as appearances from Mike Tyson, Mohammed Ali, and a great tournament performance from Canadian fighter Michael McDonald, there was an appearance from Japan's favourite American, Bob Sapp, going up against Tommy Glanville.
I've never really been impressed by Sapp the wrestler, and the last time I saw Sapp the fighter, he was getting his orbital bone smashed by Mirko Crop Cop. Although he beat Glanville in less than thirty seconds, I was still not impressed.
Later on the FWA show was my last chance to see Alex Shane and Jack Xavier knocking seven bells out of each other in a falls count anywhere match, the rules being that a pin could count anywhere in Morecombe. So as you can imagine, I was a little disappointed that Shane pinned Xavier in the middle of the ring, and not in the middle of Morecombe high street.
Friday, 10th September, 2004:
After last week's somewhat controversial edition of The Bagpipe Report, this week's edition seemed a little tame in comparison.
When I saw that one of the guests on the show was Alex Shane, I had high hopes for a good interview. Say what you want about the Showstealer, but the guy can definitely talk for England, especially when he's promoting the FWA. Which is why I was disappointed that his segment wasn't allotted much time, especially considering what he did a few days ago.
Then it was on to a new FWA TV show, and a bout that was postponed from last week, James Tighe v A.J. Styles. For some reason I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Was Tighe meant to turn heel? I really couldn't tell.
There was also an appearance from some female wrestler on the show, wrestling her first match for the FWA in two years. Sadly, her name escapes me, but I'm sure someone will remind me.
After paying homage to the rock god that is Noel Gallagher during his interview with Jonathan Ross, I caught the final match on this week's 3PW show, an inter-promotional bout between CZW's John Zandig & Wifebeater and 3PW's Raven & Sandman. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of either CZW or 3PW, but something just drew me to this match, featuring four hard-core icons. The result didn't really matter to me.
Saturday, September 11th, 2004:
After helping celebrate WWA's 10th anniversary in Norwich (hopefully MMK will have my review up soon!), I returned home to catch the majority of the late night showing of Smackdown, the first time I had seen any of the show for a number of weeks.
One thing that really bother me, also signified, for the second time this week, just what's wrong with tag-team wrestling at the moment.
Billy Kidman and Paul London haven't really had much time to develop, character-wise, as a team. They've continually been cast in the role of underdogs, even when they were winning the titles. But that fact that they are already on the verge on splitting says it all.
It also says a lot that the new champions are the team of Rene Dupree and Kenzo Suzuki. When both men joined the Smackdown brand they were both pushed as bona-fide singles superstars. Now they are nothing more than a makeshift team of two men that seemingly have noting in common, and who have won the titles after only a short while as a team. It makes me really miss the days of the Road Warriors, the Rockers, and even the Bushwhackers. Tag-Team wrestling is in need of a world-wide lift.
Sunday, September 12th, 2004:
It's Supercard Sunday time again, this week with a look at CZW's Cage of Death 3.
I've never been a big fan of the CZW style, and I probably never will be, with the exception of the Best of the Best tournaments, and it says a lot for my liking of CZW that my most enjoyable moment on the show was Tod Gordon and some former ECW alumni invading their old stomping ground after Wifebeater and Justice Pain put on their usual stunt show in the cage of death.
Then it was on to the pre-pay-per-view Heat. There was the usual hype from all concerned for the upcoming show, and a surprisingly enjoyable match from Rodney Mack & Maven. Is it me, or is the Mack improving as of late?
Then it was on to the main event of the evening as the WWE presented Unforgiven, and.....well, it had to happen, didn't it? After all, Triple H had been without the world title for nearly six months!
Overall an enjoyable show, even though I found some things disappointing. It made me wonder what the WWE has planned for Chris Benoit though, now that he's sort of been relegated to the opening match.
And Orton's loss of the title after just four weeks was also disappointing. It would be nice if WWE took the ROH route and kept the title on one man for longer than a few weeks or a few months. But now that the Game is back on top, this may happen again.
Highlight of the week: Jerry Lawler's story of Kerry Von Erich's inadvertent blade job before their big title v title match.
Lowlight of the week: Two more examples of the downfall of tag-team wrestling
Monday nights are going to seem a little different for a while, but my viewing habits returned to normal after nearly two months with the viewing of the second part of this Shoot Interview featuring Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Part two proved to be as entertaining as part one. I've always found that these interviews are far more interesting when the subject of the interview has been around the block a few times. It also helps when the subject isn't coming across as an arrogant SOB.
Lawler's stories once again made for compelling viewing, especially his tale of Kerry Von Erich's unintentional blade job before their historic title v title match.
Tuesday, 7th September, 2004:
I thought I'd change my viewing habits a little, by taking in Ring of Honor's weekly TV show, but upon seeing what matches were being shown, I decided against it. After all, what's the point of broadcasting matches that were shown just a few days after they were show on the Supercard show?
Wednesday, 8th September, 2004:
The first time I had seen Sunday Night Heat in a long time, and I'm glad I did, otherwise I would have mussed a great main event featuring Chris Jericho against Steven Richards.
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Richards. I think it's a great shame that his only major success was as the leader of the Right To Censor. But there's no doubt that Richards is a talented wrestler. It's just a shame that he doesn't get the chance to show his wares on the main stage. His talent deserves nothing less.
Then it was on to TWC's flagship show, as TNA presented a show in which the main story lines centred around two of the company's championships.
The fact that the tournament for the vacant tag-team titles seemed to be made up of makeshift teams says it all for the scene at the moment. Years ago this title had been won by the likes of the Road Warriors, the Andersons, the Midnight Express, and many more full-time teams. Teams such as Simon Diamond and Sonny Siaki, and the absence of a team such as America's Most Wanted, proved that tag-team championships aren't highly regarded in many quarters these days.
The situation regarding the world title looked far healthier. While I've never really rated guys like Ron Killings and Abyss, guys like A.J. Styles and Raven deserve to be in the title hunt. But is there anyone more worthy of the NWA title than Jeff Jarrett? At the moment I would have to say no. A lengthy title reign restores pride and prestige to the title. Just look at what Samoa Joe's long reign has done for the Ring of Honor title?
Thursday, 9th September, 2004:
Another journey into the world of mixed martial arts as Eurosport show a recent K1 show from Las Vegas. Sadly, I have no idea when the show took place, Eurosport weren't exactly forthcoming with the information. But at least this time Eurosport showed the tournament matches in the correct order, The last time I saw K1 on Eurosport they showed the semi-finals before the quarter-finals.
As well as appearances from Mike Tyson, Mohammed Ali, and a great tournament performance from Canadian fighter Michael McDonald, there was an appearance from Japan's favourite American, Bob Sapp, going up against Tommy Glanville.
I've never really been impressed by Sapp the wrestler, and the last time I saw Sapp the fighter, he was getting his orbital bone smashed by Mirko Crop Cop. Although he beat Glanville in less than thirty seconds, I was still not impressed.
Later on the FWA show was my last chance to see Alex Shane and Jack Xavier knocking seven bells out of each other in a falls count anywhere match, the rules being that a pin could count anywhere in Morecombe. So as you can imagine, I was a little disappointed that Shane pinned Xavier in the middle of the ring, and not in the middle of Morecombe high street.
Friday, 10th September, 2004:
After last week's somewhat controversial edition of The Bagpipe Report, this week's edition seemed a little tame in comparison.
When I saw that one of the guests on the show was Alex Shane, I had high hopes for a good interview. Say what you want about the Showstealer, but the guy can definitely talk for England, especially when he's promoting the FWA. Which is why I was disappointed that his segment wasn't allotted much time, especially considering what he did a few days ago.
Then it was on to a new FWA TV show, and a bout that was postponed from last week, James Tighe v A.J. Styles. For some reason I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Was Tighe meant to turn heel? I really couldn't tell.
There was also an appearance from some female wrestler on the show, wrestling her first match for the FWA in two years. Sadly, her name escapes me, but I'm sure someone will remind me.
After paying homage to the rock god that is Noel Gallagher during his interview with Jonathan Ross, I caught the final match on this week's 3PW show, an inter-promotional bout between CZW's John Zandig & Wifebeater and 3PW's Raven & Sandman. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of either CZW or 3PW, but something just drew me to this match, featuring four hard-core icons. The result didn't really matter to me.
Saturday, September 11th, 2004:
After helping celebrate WWA's 10th anniversary in Norwich (hopefully MMK will have my review up soon!), I returned home to catch the majority of the late night showing of Smackdown, the first time I had seen any of the show for a number of weeks.
One thing that really bother me, also signified, for the second time this week, just what's wrong with tag-team wrestling at the moment.
Billy Kidman and Paul London haven't really had much time to develop, character-wise, as a team. They've continually been cast in the role of underdogs, even when they were winning the titles. But that fact that they are already on the verge on splitting says it all.
It also says a lot that the new champions are the team of Rene Dupree and Kenzo Suzuki. When both men joined the Smackdown brand they were both pushed as bona-fide singles superstars. Now they are nothing more than a makeshift team of two men that seemingly have noting in common, and who have won the titles after only a short while as a team. It makes me really miss the days of the Road Warriors, the Rockers, and even the Bushwhackers. Tag-Team wrestling is in need of a world-wide lift.
Sunday, September 12th, 2004:
It's Supercard Sunday time again, this week with a look at CZW's Cage of Death 3.
I've never been a big fan of the CZW style, and I probably never will be, with the exception of the Best of the Best tournaments, and it says a lot for my liking of CZW that my most enjoyable moment on the show was Tod Gordon and some former ECW alumni invading their old stomping ground after Wifebeater and Justice Pain put on their usual stunt show in the cage of death.
Then it was on to the pre-pay-per-view Heat. There was the usual hype from all concerned for the upcoming show, and a surprisingly enjoyable match from Rodney Mack & Maven. Is it me, or is the Mack improving as of late?
Then it was on to the main event of the evening as the WWE presented Unforgiven, and.....well, it had to happen, didn't it? After all, Triple H had been without the world title for nearly six months!
Overall an enjoyable show, even though I found some things disappointing. It made me wonder what the WWE has planned for Chris Benoit though, now that he's sort of been relegated to the opening match.
And Orton's loss of the title after just four weeks was also disappointing. It would be nice if WWE took the ROH route and kept the title on one man for longer than a few weeks or a few months. But now that the Game is back on top, this may happen again.
Highlight of the week: Jerry Lawler's story of Kerry Von Erich's inadvertent blade job before their big title v title match.
Lowlight of the week: Two more examples of the downfall of tag-team wrestling
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