The May PPV Judgment Day shows just what is wrong with WWE at the moment- stuff like A) not giving matches enough time, B) favouring feud-building, promos and storylines over actual wrestling, C) giving main event slots to the bigger, slower guys and burying the talented smaller guys in pointless feuds or on Velocity/Heat. I've been watching wrestling for 11 years and I'm sad to say that (despite an extensive and talented roster) this is the worst it's been for some time! Judgment Day went down like this: (Spoilers)
MATCH 1- The FBI (Palumbo & Stamboli) and John Cena vs Brian Kendrick, Chris Benoit & Rhyno. Great potential for this match, but it was given less than 4 minutes. That's a travesty! They could have easily ditched a few promos and the pathetic bikini contest and let this match go longer. Disappointing. Kendrick, on the other hand, is fantastic- he seems to be really popular with the crowds and he always looks to give 110% in the ring. (So like I said, next stop Velocity!) FBI get the win with the Kiss of Death, a double-team move resembling Demolition's old finisher. Good match, which I can't rate, due to its brevity.
MATCH 2- La Resistance vs Test & Steiner. Less said about this the better. Double-team spinebuster on Steiner for the win. The whole "hate us, we're French" thing is so damn lazy as a gimmick and I'd be surprised if they continue 'getting heat' on a long-term basis. Bad stuff here. (2/10)
MATCH 3- Eddy Guerrero & Tajiri vs Team Angle--Ladder Match for the SD! Tag titles. Impressive ladder match. Guerrero's frog splash was tremendous and Shelton's leap off the ladder (a la The Beverly Brothers) looked nasty! Ouch. Good win for Eddy & Tajiri, who was filling in for an injured Chavo Guerrero. (7/10)
MATCH 4- Battle Royal for the returning IC Title. Poorly put together. Most of the guys (RVD, Kane, Storm, Val Venis) were gone after about a minute and a half! Came down to Jericho, Booker T & Christian. Christian won, under somewhat controversial circumstances (ripping off Austin's Royal Rumble 'win' in 97) I'd like to think that they're not giving Jericho the title because they're setting him up for a shot at Triple H. Yeah, right. They should've never taken him off Smackdown! Huge mistake. (4/10)
The bikini contest was up next. An utter waste of time (and pointless, since both Sable & Torrie were in Playboy.) Sable got a bigger cheer, but oddly, Torrie was declared winner.
MATCH 5- Mr America vs Roddy Piper. How can this pathetic Mr America thing be Smackdown's top plot? Shocking stuff. I'm not gonna comment on the match- the rating speaks for itself. (0/10)
MATCH 6- Triple H vs Kevin Nash--World (RAW) title match. Awful feud, awful match, awful finish. This piece of crap is gonna drag on into Bad Blood as well. Cheap DQ finish and a totally undeserving challenger in Nash. His kickout of the Pedigree actually managed to piss me off! If the move (used once) can beat talented guys like Angle, Jericho and Booker, why does Nash get to kick out of it? Only highlight was the post-match Jackknife through the announcer's table. Oh yeah, Triple H's purple boots were really dodgy! (2/10)
MATCH 7- Fatal 4 Way for the Women's title- Trish vs Jazz vs Victoria vs Jacqueline. Good show from the women. Trish took a hard landing out on the floor and busted her lip, but still kept going. Fair play to her. RAW really needs more women wrestlers (or at least stop letting Jazz squash Molly & Ivory!) Jazz DDTs Jackie for the 1-2-3. (7/10)
MATCH 8- Brock Lesnar vs Big Show--Stretcher match for the WWE (SmackDown!) title. Just one big brawl up until the disappearance of Brock and the appearance of Rey Mysterio. Things get really good after that! Brock makes novel use of a forklift to move Big Show for the win. (Bit boring up til Mysterio) (4.5/10)
Poor show from the WWE. No Goldberg, no Kidman, Hurricane, Matt Hardy- this PPV could've done with a dose of Mattitude! The PPV split is very dangerous from WWE's point of view. RAW is noticeably the weaker show- something drastic will have to be done.
Some awful matches, too many promos and bad time management led this to be one of the worst PPVs in the past few years.
MATCH 1- The FBI (Palumbo & Stamboli) and John Cena vs Brian Kendrick, Chris Benoit & Rhyno. Great potential for this match, but it was given less than 4 minutes. That's a travesty! They could have easily ditched a few promos and the pathetic bikini contest and let this match go longer. Disappointing. Kendrick, on the other hand, is fantastic- he seems to be really popular with the crowds and he always looks to give 110% in the ring. (So like I said, next stop Velocity!) FBI get the win with the Kiss of Death, a double-team move resembling Demolition's old finisher. Good match, which I can't rate, due to its brevity.
MATCH 2- La Resistance vs Test & Steiner. Less said about this the better. Double-team spinebuster on Steiner for the win. The whole "hate us, we're French" thing is so damn lazy as a gimmick and I'd be surprised if they continue 'getting heat' on a long-term basis. Bad stuff here. (2/10)
MATCH 3- Eddy Guerrero & Tajiri vs Team Angle--Ladder Match for the SD! Tag titles. Impressive ladder match. Guerrero's frog splash was tremendous and Shelton's leap off the ladder (a la The Beverly Brothers) looked nasty! Ouch. Good win for Eddy & Tajiri, who was filling in for an injured Chavo Guerrero. (7/10)
MATCH 4- Battle Royal for the returning IC Title. Poorly put together. Most of the guys (RVD, Kane, Storm, Val Venis) were gone after about a minute and a half! Came down to Jericho, Booker T & Christian. Christian won, under somewhat controversial circumstances (ripping off Austin's Royal Rumble 'win' in 97) I'd like to think that they're not giving Jericho the title because they're setting him up for a shot at Triple H. Yeah, right. They should've never taken him off Smackdown! Huge mistake. (4/10)
The bikini contest was up next. An utter waste of time (and pointless, since both Sable & Torrie were in Playboy.) Sable got a bigger cheer, but oddly, Torrie was declared winner.
MATCH 5- Mr America vs Roddy Piper. How can this pathetic Mr America thing be Smackdown's top plot? Shocking stuff. I'm not gonna comment on the match- the rating speaks for itself. (0/10)
MATCH 6- Triple H vs Kevin Nash--World (RAW) title match. Awful feud, awful match, awful finish. This piece of crap is gonna drag on into Bad Blood as well. Cheap DQ finish and a totally undeserving challenger in Nash. His kickout of the Pedigree actually managed to piss me off! If the move (used once) can beat talented guys like Angle, Jericho and Booker, why does Nash get to kick out of it? Only highlight was the post-match Jackknife through the announcer's table. Oh yeah, Triple H's purple boots were really dodgy! (2/10)
MATCH 7- Fatal 4 Way for the Women's title- Trish vs Jazz vs Victoria vs Jacqueline. Good show from the women. Trish took a hard landing out on the floor and busted her lip, but still kept going. Fair play to her. RAW really needs more women wrestlers (or at least stop letting Jazz squash Molly & Ivory!) Jazz DDTs Jackie for the 1-2-3. (7/10)
MATCH 8- Brock Lesnar vs Big Show--Stretcher match for the WWE (SmackDown!) title. Just one big brawl up until the disappearance of Brock and the appearance of Rey Mysterio. Things get really good after that! Brock makes novel use of a forklift to move Big Show for the win. (Bit boring up til Mysterio) (4.5/10)
Poor show from the WWE. No Goldberg, no Kidman, Hurricane, Matt Hardy- this PPV could've done with a dose of Mattitude! The PPV split is very dangerous from WWE's point of view. RAW is noticeably the weaker show- something drastic will have to be done.
Some awful matches, too many promos and bad time management led this to be one of the worst PPVs in the past few years.