1) Matt Hardy v. MVP- 4
I'm a huge Mattitude follower, and parts of this I really liked, like the beginning arm lock sequences, especially with the Konnan roll throughs on the hammerlocks, but utimately, MVP was bleeding green through his violet-hued ring attire. His top spots looked sloppy and uninspired and he noticeably was confused during a few sequences. Kudos to Matt for taking a nasty bump on his head from the 2nd rope though.
2) Cruiserweight Open- 3
I feel like this has been done to death, like Survivor. You get a general idea how it will go before it even starts, no one will have a chance to shine and no one will set a pace. Chavo as the veteran did a poor job of establishing that. Funaki threw several great enzugiri's but that's as much as I remember. Except another McMahon wins a title, this time it was that little green leprecauhn.
3) Carlito v. Sandman(Cane on a pole)- 2
The novely of this drunk gimmick wore off years ago. Why on earth you have Sandman wrestle a normal match is beyond me. Carlito threw some decent dropkicks but these two together was a horrible mix. Sandman's strikes looked like a broken golf club trying to hit a 350 yd drive. Thankfully it was short
4) Candice Michelle v. Melina- 4
Up until this point in the show, this was the best match. Melina had some really innovative offense and they were both throwing their stuff at full force. Candice played face in peril quite well and I was legitimately worried about her breasts popping. The finish was flat (a bulldog) but the match had fire and that was something largely lacking from the other matches.
5) Umaga v. Jeff Hardy- 7
Jeff is back in a big way. He sold all of the Samoan's stuff like he got in a wreck on the highway and flipped three times from the driver's side window. Umaga even showed some good pacing in the match and Hardy didn't do anything too wreckless aka unnecessary. The Swanton bomb was one of the great nearfalls of 2007. Umaga's finishing sequence was right out of ROH, fast paced and devastatingly effective.
6) John Morrison v. CM Punk- 4
Who thought a Doors gimmick would get over in 2007? Who's brainchild was that? Anyways, Punk and Morrison both worked good and bad. Morrison was bumping like a madman for some moves and others, he pussed out for. Punk was working stiff at some points and others really held back. I couldn't get into the match due to the fact that they both wanted to make the match legit but then again, they didn't. Some of Punk's bumps were largely neutered for less impact and Morrison covered up on a lot of strikes. Plus, the finish was kind of dumb, I understand his stomach was being worked over, but unless you had a massive back up of turdage in your system I don't see how a knee strike (that missed regardless) would finish you.
7) Dusty Rhodes v. Randy Orton (Bullrope Match)- 5
This was simplistically fantastic. Orton's slow no hands up sells when he hits the mat are so fucking real. Dusty had the crowd hyped and Orton knew exactly how to get the most out of Dusty's goofy offense with Dusty doing as little as physically possible. I loved the bell shot he gave him to win, righteously stiff. For what this was, it was almost as tasty as Pam Sanders' Pumpkin Mousse….almost.
8) Great Khali v. Kane v. Batista- 1
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
Kane blows Khali's Punjabi Peehole- most pointless table spot in 10 years
9) John Cena v. Bobby Lashley- 6
This match had a big time main event feel to it, Cena needed to reign in all he knew to make it worthy. They started out very basic and got the fans into early with very simple exchanges. Cena's facials showed the true struggle of fighting a stronger black man who has more up's than you and a bigger cup size. Of course, Lashley's middle class white man's voice kind of balances all that out. The problem with this match is the problem with a lot of younger guys main eventing is when it gets into later time, Lashley doesn't have a move set to use. He virtually hit nothing in the last few minutes of this match where as Cena knows all his big spots and has impeccable timing with all of them. The finish was sloppy as hell and really was a letdown but most everything leading to it was good. This match was kept short, wisely.
1 comment:
good stuff.. - enjoyed the analysis on the MVP match especially.. - couldn't agree more on how tired the Sandman character is.. - Jeff Hardy's bumps here looked better than the majority of his TNA ones.. - i should probably re-watch the Orton match.. - i hated the three-way, too.. especially Khali's stuff.. when he's on the defensive covering up from shots it just looks awful.. - i'd rather see him in the adult film industry..
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