Welcome to the very first edition of Joe Pritchett’s This Week in Wrestling! This is a new column that I have created, and it will present a “mixed bag” of news, opinion, and review. I know it will be a fun column to write and I hope it’s a fun column to read as well. It will certainly be a work in progress as this is only the first step in its evolution. I will also be continuing my “Real Talk” column series on a monthly basis. TWIW will be hitting the internet every Wednesday.
I am not going to attempt to give an exhaustive review of everything that went on in the world of wrestling this week. Instead, I’ll be hitting on some points that I have found exciting or important and will attempt to give my thoughts on what I consider the highlights. Obviously the big event of this past week was the Smackdown pay-per-view No Mercy. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that the WWE didn’t do a great job of promoting this particular PPV. With all the hoopla going on about the RAW Homecoming which took place two Monday’s ago, this is certainly understandable in a way but a shame for Smackdown.
No Mercy was about what I expected. I didn’t expect it to be great, and I really didn’t think it was. One thing I was disappointed with was Bobby Lashley. I was hoping he’d have more time to show me what he was really made of at this PPV but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I really like his look and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes.
Another guy I really like is Ken Kennedy. I think this guy has made a great impact on Smackdown thus far and only time will tell how good he really is. I have a feeling that if he plays his cards right he could be a big name in the future.
The high points in my mind were certainly the Undertaker versus the Orton’s in the casket match and the Eddie Guerrero versus Batista match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Taker proved to me that he can still entertain with the best of them. To be honest my interest in this feud fell off sharply after Summerslam but I think this match has rejuvenated some interest. The end was a bit anti-climatic even though it ended with the casket being lit on fire, but I think this feud should end nicely at Survivor Series. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Eddie Guerrero and Batista stole the show in my mind. I’ve always been a fan of Batista since he joined Evolution, but I’ll be the first to admit that his in ring skills leave something to be desired. Yet Guerrero proved he’s without a doubt one of the best wrestlers in the world today. He helped Batista to one of the best matches of his career. I think it is a real testament for any wrestler who can not only make themselves look good but make their opponent look just as good or better. Guerrero did that. I won’t be surprised to see them meet at Survivor Series again either.
I was impressed with RAW overall Monday night. I think the McMahon’s are entertaining in small doses. It was nice to see them back on television again and we shall see if they continue to make their presence be known. I was also a pretty big fan of the Cabana on Monday. Some of RAW’s top talent came out to the ring to claim a spot for the #1 contendership and overall it turned out to be pretty entertaining.
I’m not sure if you the readers share the same opinion as I do, but I’m really into the Big Show. The guy is huge! I think if he could be marketed correctly he could be in line for another main event spot. He hasn’t had any role since joining RAW, and I think it would be un-wise not to elevate his role on the roster in the near future. I know there are some who are not fans of the big man, but I’m just saying that he has the potential to be “big” on RAW, even with the talent pool as stacked as it is.
I also was a pretty big fan of the entire Triple H segment. I will be one of the few on the internet to admit that I am a fan, for the most part mind you, of Triple H. I really liked all the hostility that the RAW roster showed him as he made his way toward the ring. His reason’s for turning on Flair made sense to me and I sort of figured they would be something like he described them. I just can’t wait for Flair to return and to show The Game what the Nature Boy is really made of. It could be classic.
The main event was solid. I thought there was a good interplay between all six competitors, and I loved the ending. This is probably because I’m a huge Angle fan and am not exactly the biggest supporter of Cena, but none the less I thought it was great! I really want to see that Gold back around Angle’s waist in the near future.
The ending of RAW left a lot to be desired in my mind. Because of the internet reports circulating the past week, pretty much everyone knew it was JR that was going to get laid off by Vince. In actuality, it was Linda who did the deed, which added a bit of a twist to the story, though I wasn’t exactly enthralled with RAW’s ending. It was a good show but not a great way to end it. It’s also a shame to see JR go. Maybe I’m old school but I love to hear him at the announce booth every Monday night.
I managed to catch TNA on their 12 AM repeat on Monday night after RAW. It is easier for me to watch it then. To be honest with you, I’ve never had the chance to watch TNA on a regular basis. I caught it here and there, and even watched a PPV or two, but have never had the chance to fully immerse myself in it. I hope for that to soon change.
TNA is a nice change of pace from the WWE. I’m a big fan of the X-Division. While I will admit that it is lacking to a certain extent in some elements like matches based in a solid ring psychology, and it is a bit of a spot fest, it is so different than anything we are getting in the WWE these days that I can’t help but tune in.
I thought TNA was nothing more than average this week, though I am not going to complain. I wish we could of seen AJ Styles and Petey Williams in action. I think they are my favorite wrestlers in TNA at the moment. On the other hand, TNA did feature Christopher Daniels in a Triple threat match. He is always fun to watch and is one of the reasons the X Division is as popular as it is. On a completely different note, I can’t stand Jeff Jarrett. Though I’ve been a Kevin Nash fan in the past, I’m not exactly looking forward to their match at Bound for Glory. “Team 3D” also made their debut on TNA. It’s good to see Bubba and Devon still out there doing their thing and the TNA Tag Team Championships would be a great addition to their resume.
I think TNA’s next pay per view, Bound for Glory, has the chance to be a huge success. The Monster’s Ball match should be interesting. I’m a big Sabu fan, and if you put him in the ring with a guy like Raven it should make things pretty brutal. I haven’t decided what I think about Abyss quite yet, and Jeff Hardy impresses me at times. And I can’t wait to see AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels mix it up in a 30 Minute Iron Man Match. In my mind, Styles is the heart and soul of TNA and he lights up the right every time he steps into it.
This Week in Wrestling’s best match had to be the Eddie Guerrero/Batista encounter at No Mercy. I was also a fan of the six man tag match on RAW, but it didn’t compare to the great show Eddie gave us at the most recent Smackdown exclusive pay per view. This Week in Wrestling’s best show had to be No Mercy as well. Though it was in my mind an average pay per view, it had a series of decent matches and two really good ones. It has me interested in what will happen in the near future leading up to Survivor Series.
The Spotlight is another weekly feature that will be a staple on TWIW. I will take one issue in the wrestling world and explore it on a more detailed basis. This particular feature will be making its debut in next week’s edition, but in the mean time I urge you to read Joe Pritchett’s Real Talk: Lists if you already haven’t. You can do so by clicking here.
I urge you to read it because in this column I describe the steps I would take in attempt to make a “best of” list when it comes to all time wrestling greats. I also made a promise to present my personal top ten wrestlers of the past twenty years based on the system I devised. This list will be featured here in the TWIW Spotlight next Wednesday!
This will be a weekly section of my column where I just let you guys know about some of the great columns I’ve read over the past week. I think it is important to put over other columnists because, honestly, by reading others work it helps me become better at this craft we call column writing.
There were two columns that came out this past week that really stood out for me. The first was by the Butcher, entitled Mute. You can click here to read it. Butcher is one of my top three writers on the net today. Every column he writes is insightful, intelligent, and a great read. This one is no different. He really makes clear how important body language and non verbal communication is in professional wrestling in his most recent column.
Another column that came out this week was by Mike Steele. He just started a new column called “The Boom Box” and his first column was entitled The Last DJ. You can click here to read it. Steele is another one of the best columnists on the net. He writes consistently good columns and this particular one is unique and interesting. He takes his love for music and combines it with his love for wrestling to make a very interesting mix. It’ll be fun to see how this particular column series plays out in the future.
Besides there being some really great columns out there, there are also some awesome things happening on a number of sites in the IWC. I think it is important to highlight some of the awesome things going on.
First and foremost I hope everyone visits the Columns Lounge at www.wzforums.com soon. We have some BIG things planned for the near future. I just urge everyone to stay tuned and keep a sharp eye out because I think we have some fun things coming up that I hope you’ll all be interested in. Wrestlezone is a great site with many of the best writers on the net.
Speaking of those writers, Doug Nunnally is currently heading up a really successful event called the Triad Top 48 over at his site, thewrestlingvoice.com. It’s a fun, interactive way to vote on who you think are the best columnists in the IWC today, and I urge everyone to check it out. Unfortunately they are having some server problems with their forums at the moment, but I’m sure as soon as that is taken care of the Triad will be up and running full steam ahead!
Well that’s all I have for you guys this week. I have a lot of work to do on this series and I promise that this is just the beginning of what I hope for TWIW to become. If anyone has any comments or suggestions I really want to hear from you, so be sure to email me at jprealtalk@yahoo.com.
Also, if you get the chance be sure to check out my latest edition of “Real Talk”, Athens, Rome, and Madison Square Garden. You can click here to go there now!
One more thing: I want to give a thanks to Cerebral_sin over at BQ forums for helping me out with the graphics. Thanks man!
