We decided to get the pay per view – the matches seemed too good to pass by, and after watching it yesterday i believe it was well worth it!! Sure the set up (stage, etc) wasn’t as good as other pay per views, and the wrestling fans of Long Island seemed pretty poor, i absolutely LOVED the show!! It gets a B+ mark overall from me!!

1st match – WWE Tag Team Championship
Wrestlers: John Morrison & The Miz vs Finlay & Hornswoggle vs Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder vs Jesse & Festus

This was a really good opening match, quite enjoyable. My tip for this match was John Morrison & The Miz, whereas my bf’s was Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder. It was hard to know who was going to win. I thought John Morrison and The Miz would retain the titles until Summerslam because its a bigger pay per view. However, i wasn’t entirely surprised that they lost it – the dilemma i had was who to! I doubted Jesse & Festus would win it, they aren’t huge crowd favourites and they aren’t in any major fueds. I didn’t think Finlay & Hornswoggle would do it either, they have had many shots at the title before and had never won it – although i had thought they could win it in a classic ‘underdog’ scenario. As for Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder, i’m not huge fans of the guys, they haven’t done much wrestling thats impressed me much but they would have been my next pick under John Morrison & The Miz. As it turns out, they did win the titles, which i’m glad about really. Score 1 for my bf!

I am getting a little tired of the Finlay & Hornswoggle tag team personally. The crowd seems to love it, but i find it just too unbelievable that Hornswoggle is pulling off these moves. Even if some things wrestlers do occasionally are a little unbelievable they aren’t that far fetched that you stop and think ‘that just looks silly’. Hornswoggle has plenty of character and people love him for it, me included, but i just find it utterly rediculous that he is flipping people over and performing complex stunts. I liked it better when Finlay was wrestling on his own.

2nd match – United States Championship
Wrestlers: Matt Hardy vs Shelton Benjamin

In this match i was really backing the gold standard!! He’s a rig and deserves more recognition. His performance is solid, he’s very fit and he’s a good character. I tipped him to win this match while my bf tipped Matt Hardy. I wasn’t entirely sure who would win, i tipped Shelton Benjamin because i wanted him to win and thought it was his time to shine. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Matt Hardy had won but i hoped he didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, i’m a Hardy boys fan like so many other people, but he’s held on to that title long enough. My bf predicts he’ll be getting a push toward the ECW title direction now. I thought this was a very good match, definitely one of my favourites!! I’m especially glad that Shelton Benjamin came out victorious after all. Score 1 for me!!

3rd match – ECW Championship
Wrestlers: Mark Henry vs Tommy Dreamer

This was not a crowd pleaser and i couldn’t blame the Long Island fans for beginning the chant ‘you can’t wrestler’. Out of all the matches, i thought this one was definitely a stinker. Both my bf and i predicted Mark Henry to retain the title. I felt that he would hold on to it for a little longer, probably until a more major pay per view comes up where he might lose it. Possibly Summerslam, i hope. Tommy Dreamer just doesn’t have what it takes you could say in terms of getting a title. Personally i don’t mind him but i just couldn’t see him winning the title in an ‘underdog’ sort of fashion. As for the actual wrestling that occurred, like i said before it stinked. Neither of them are brilliant wrestlers but Tommy Dreamer has to carry Mark Henry so much. Mark Henry may have been the world’s strongest man but i doubt he is now (although i’m sure he is pretty strong). However, check out his physic. He’s more fat then he is muscle, you want muscle then the gold standard is your man. He’s a big, bumbling, slow mess in the ring. Not to be racist, but he looks like a big gorilla. He spent most of his time PUSHING Tommy Dreamer around rather then actually wrestling him. Overall not a great match. Score 2 for my bf and i.

4th match – Pinfall Singles Match
Wrestlers: Shawn Michaels (HBK) vs Chris Jerico

This match was quite possibly my favourite. Both of these men put on a great performance with high quality wrestling and some eye catching moves. I love this particular feud, the previously good-guy image of Chris Jerico has been tarnished by his blazing hatred of Shawn Michael’s ability to be a crowd favourite despite the fact he lies, turns on people, cheats, etc. I tipped Shawn Michaels to win, while my bf chose Chris Jerico. My thoughts were that Shawn Michaels would get a little revenge back after Chris Jerico smashed his head through a tv. But having said that i’m glad it didn’t end that way, it would have been a lame ending and i enjoy the feud too much to want it to end so abruptly. I have a confession to make – i enjoy the brutal matches which end in blood. This match was one of those. Of course i don’t want the wrestlers to be seriously injured but in wrestling you would expect a little bit of blood now and then. At first i thought it was just fake blood, but as the match continued i noticed it was clotting in dark clumps on his face and kept flowing. No fake blood does that, plus it was on his head, not really a place to stick a blood capsule or whatever they use. He lost quite a bit of blood too. A brilliant performance put on by two very great wrestlers, especially by Chris Jerico. He plays a good bad guy! Score 3 for my bf!!

One thing i hate is how they’ve toned down wrestling so much now so children can watch it. I’m sick to death of everything being tailored to children. They may be the biggest consumers of WWE merchandise but at least have a couple of matches later on in the night that adults can watch without worrying if their children are going to get nightmares over what they see or become violent. At the end of the day should children really be watching something so violent? Do they really understand what is going on? What happened to cartoons? They are entertaining and are specifically aimed at children with an appropriate storyline to go with it. I don’t see how the rated R superstars storylines are aimed a children…

5th match – Divas Championship
Wrestlers: Natalya vs Michelle McCool

This was another match that stunk of crap! I am not a huge fan of women’s wrestling. I view them as the appropriate time to get a drink, make something to eat, stretch the legs and maybe go to the toilet. The quality of women’s wrestling is extremely poor, with weak storylines and basically none of these women have any character at all. However, both my bf and i tipped Natalya to win. She comes from a wrestling background and has received good training. She may not be overly tall but in terms of physical strength, she is the stronger out of her and Michelle McCool. I have to admire the amazing flexibility of the women’s wrestlers but i find them weak in strength and in acting where they drag it out too long and it becomes frustrating to watch. I was extremely disappointed that the title went to Michelle McCool. She is one such wrestler who i felt didn’t deserve this title. She is as thin as a rake, i could snap her over my knee for christ sake!! Her moves are dismal and dull, whereas Natalya can actual wrestle and has some great moves. I hate the fact that most female wrestlers look like they came directly from a strip bar or off the streets from their prostitution rounds (which many probably have). They are nothing more then eye candy, and i find this very demeanering and wrong. The best woman wrestler was definitely Chyna, aim for female wrestlers like her…someone who can mix it with the men and you’ve got quality women’s wrestling again. Michelle McCool, more like Michelle McFool!! Score 0 for my bf and i.

6th match – World Heavy Weight Championship
Wrestlers: C M Punk vs Batista

This match was very hard to pick a winner for. Both my bf and i tipped Batista to win. I thought it was Batista’s turn to hold on to the title, especially since he had been cheated out of its possession in Smackdown. However my bf raised a valid point, if they did it that way it would make C M Punk look like a weak champion. Still, i decided to stick by my prediction as did he. I thought this was a pretty solid match with some good wrestling and tactics. C M Punk’s tactic to overcome an opponent taller and stronger then him was to aim for Batista’s legs. Weaken them and he couldn’t perform many of his biggest moves, thus giving him a fighting chance of retaining the title. I like both C M Punk and Batista (both men received a roaring welcome at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in June), so i wasn’t particularly fussed who won the title. If C M Punk kept it he would probably end up defending it against John Cena or JBL at Summerslam…if Batista won it he would end up defending it against the same people. I didn’t expect the match to end in DQ but i found it a fairly cool ending. Kane came running out and interrupted the match, stuffing up both Batista and C M Punk as well as some unfortunate camera man. I’m glad they’re finally doing something with Kane, he’s been sculking in the backgrounds for too long doing nothing. I find his character interesting and am looking forward to seeing what they plan to do with him. I’m also glad that C M Punk kept the title, his opponents at Summerslam will be all new rivalries – not some recycled material at the bottom of the ‘done already’ barrel that would have been Batista defending it against John Cena or JBL. Score 0 for my bf and i.

7th match – Parking Lot Brawl
Wrestlers: John Cena vs JBL

This match was filmed the day before the pay per view so John Cena and JBL had it fairly easy. This was a slightly difficult match to predict a winner for but both my bf and i tipped JBL in the end. My reasoning was that in this case the bad guy will be victorious. I rather enjoyed this match. I found it different and enjoyed the brutality it showed, without both wrestlers getting more then a little scratched at the end of it. John Cena attached a pair of jumper leads to JBL’s groin and a car battery, JBL set a car on fire while John Cena was in it, and John Cena smashed into a car JBL was in with a forklift. He then picked the car up with the forklift and proceeded out to the arena (or that was where the taping ended – John Cena simply drove the forklift out from behind the stage with the car and everything prearranged). The set up and make up involved in making it look like one flowing scene was done very well, i couldn’t tell at first that it had been taped (what gave it away was the fact they were in an underground carpark and somehow managed to drive directly from there into the arena). I thought at one stage John Cena was going to win but i was very happy when JBL threw him into a car windscreen. If you want action entertainment, this match provided it. Score 4 for my bf and 3 for me!

The other reason why i tipped JBL is because i’m just not a John Cena fan. He don’t know how to wrestle. In other matches he’s been in i’ve seen him do COUNTLESS clotheslines on his opponents, with one or two moves he knows and then his finisher. Other then that he knows NOTHING else!! Its pretty poor for a wrestler in his position. I dislike his character too. I find his acting over done at the best of times with too much marchoism for my liking. When he comes out from the entrance he does the stupidest salute, probably in honour of his recent movie where he played a marine. In any case he’s not in the army, he’s a wrestler and not a very bloody good one. His finisher is also very stupid, with the you can’t see me move followed by the F U. The you can’t see me move is just him waving his hand in front of his opponent’s face (which i find extremely irritating and childish – the ‘nah nah nah nah nah’ chant comes to mind when i think of his you can’t see me move) followed by him doing some weird movements with his arms then a punch to the top of the head. I mean seriously!!! How does this finisher measure up against The Undertakers tombstone pile driver, Batista’s bomb or The Texas Rattlesnakes stunner??? Compared to those moves i fail to see how a single punch to the head is going to keep anyone down long enough for you to execute the F U!! He might have the body of a wrestler but he has a poor repertoire of moves!! He needs to go back to the drawing board and revamp his wrestling before i will take him seriously.

8th match – WWE Championship
Wrestlers: Triple H vs Edge

And finally the main event which i didn’t consider worthy of being the main event. In this match both my bf and i tipped Triple H to win. Why? The reason is simply this – Triple H is married to Vince McMahons daughter Stephani, so he’s pretty cosy with the boss, which enables him to have his say about what happens with his, uh, career. Basically, he’s writing his own script. He thinks very highly of himself as the best of the best – this couldn’t be more evident in a recent DVD release on ‘The Game: The King of Kings’. Don’t get me wrong, i think he’s a good wrestler and definitely a rig. Years back when he had that terrible leg injury, he still continued that match right to the very end and he would have been in intense pain. That i can admire him for, but notice how he is wrestling less and less these days. Leading up to this pay per view, the only time i saw him was when he popped his little head out to destroy Edge and Vicki’s relationship with his taped video footage of Edge cheating on Vicki. Other than that, nothing else!! If he’s such a god damn good wrestler i would expect to see him in other matches – also considering every other wrestler had to defend THEIR titles, yet i struggle to remember when he’s defended his. I find any match against him far too predictable, there is no opening for speculation, you already know who’s going to win because he drums in the fact he’s won the WWE Championship title a record times. By the end of his career he’ll have won it more times then anyone else in the WWE industry, and not because he’s ‘the king of kings’ as he claims, but because i wrote his own script. He’ll ensure his ‘legacy’ stands before he leaves so we can all remember him as being the best in the business.

So why did this match fail to impress me. Edge put on a solid performance, as did Triple H. The answer is simply that it is too sterile. I’ve seen many a triumphant Triple H victories already, where he looks like he’s going to lose and then heroically and most spectacularly pulls it back at the last second. I found that the action that took place in the ring was far too toned down to be considered the main event and its because of the Triple H formula. Edge has shown he’s destined for great things, he’s a great performer, can cause a stir in the crowd, has a fantastic character that you can either really love or hate and is a great wrestler. Despite all this i knew he wouldn’t win the title…although i had hoped. Triple H has taken so much of a back seat approach that i don’t even know where the hell he stands in the WWE. He’s in no feuds, has no rivals or contenders to speak of and apparently doesn’t have any bloody weaknesses either. This slight feud between him and Edge could escalate into something more but then again it might not, it could go either way. I know if it was his way (and i imagine it is all the time) he won’t be doing any heavy duty work with anyone, so i would be very surprised if this slight feud with Edge continues…but i hope it does because Edge would look great with that title around his waist. Score 5 for my bf and 4 for me!!