PWInsiderXTRA - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

The Cynical View

Armageddon 2007

                                                        By Michael Campbell

 Ahh, welcome back then to these cynical dwellings, where I’m recovering from Armageddon, a show, that year after year, is normally successful in reducing me to a gibbering wreck. Because, yes, Armageddon always sucks. Afraid that it wouldn’t buck the trend this annum, my attitude towards WWE’s yearly nap was one of healthy skepticism. After all, why set yourself up for disappointment? I was glad my mate paid, and as of yet, I’ve forgot to chip in.

I  needn’t have worried.

Almost from bell to bell, Armageddon was a solid show. Spectacular? No. Satisfying, yes. More importantly, it sets the stage for a bright few months. Let’s have a closer look……..

They opened the PPV by going straight to this one, which is certainly the bout I predicted would open proceedings. Nice action from the start of this one, with MVP looking very good, using a bunch of mat work combined with MMA style movements. The crowd were really into it throughout, popping for all the spots were MVP hit Rey with dominating moves, and then rallying behind the little guy to get the underdog victory. The count-out finish however, really deflated fans, and it was admittedly, rather cheap. Couldn’t Porter have successfully defended by pinning the challenger with his foot on the ropes or something?

Rey’s selling was really spectacular here, and MVP really shone. I’m hoping they have the sense to reserve a spot for his defense against Matt Hardy at Wrestlemania, as done correctly, it could be a launching pad for both guys. MVP, it should be noted, has improved immensely inside the squared circle, exhibiting a somewhat modern style, similarly to how John Morrison comes across, but in a smarter way, without the counter-productive flashiness. Good match, poor ending.

-Backstage, Jeff Hardy cuts a decent promo, which says to me, that he absolutely has to win this. Otherwise he’ll end up sunk deeper than Booker T after WM 19 (the joys of staying down for about twenty minutes after a pedigree). 

Ugh. As they made their entrances, I just had to spare a thought for poor CM Punk. This was as basic and ugly as you can imagine, with V looking especially rubbish. Punk showed great fire in his spots, but it was obvious that this match was designed to see him take the pinfall. That said, I was surprised at how much selling Kane did, as Punk came across unlucky, rather than a jobber, but it still isn’t good enough for the supposed champion of a brand. This was a waste of time. What happens now? Punk drops the belt to V? V feuds with Kane? Get lost WWE.

So, the thinking heading into this one, was whether or not Kennedy would deliver the sort of performance that would see him rewarded with a big push, and a new, improved status. Beforehand, he delivered an average promo. However, the match was much better.

From the outset, they worked a methodical, mat-based style, with Shawn focusing on the arm of his younger opponent. At one point, they took a spill to the outside, that looked very uneasy on Michaels’ back. HBK’s selling was then fantastic, as Kennedy worked the back over, while he tried to go back to the arm at every opportunity. Towards the end, we saw a great series of near-falls and counters, before Michaels managed to land a lucky looking Sweet chin music.

This was by no means a career maker for Kennedy. It was certainly good, and at times threatened to be great. But it overall, fell way short of being memorable. Still, a positive step for Mr. Foot-In-Mouth.

-They showed a fantastic trailer for the Royal Rumble.

-Randy Orton cut a pretty good promo backstage, basically making clear that he would not be losing his title tonight. At this point, my friends began to take advantage of the “Save Us” gimmick, in order to facilitate some horrendous jokes. “Randy Norton Anti-Virus”, anyone….? “The Fire-Walls of Jericho…”?

Match of the night. Hunter was treated to a much bigger pop than Hardy during his entrance, and they started out with typical baby face v baby face stuff. They played up on the whole Mentor/student thing, which is utterly ridiculous, as the two only really tagged for about two weeks. Things really picked up a gear, when after trying to mount a flurry, Jeff received a hard slap to the face. The Game then yelled at him to “Fight Me!” with great intensity. This is Hunter’s biggest strength, which I’ve discussed before- the legit believability of his character. Jeff messed up his springboard off the ringside barrier (he needs to abandon that move, or modify it so that instead of awkwardly running across the barrier, he simply bounces off it), but they recovered, and shortly thereafter, Hunter tossed him hard to the outside. Brilliantly, the match saw Hunter have an answer to pretty much everything Jeff threw at him. Doing this, with Trips having Jeff’s number, meant that Jeff had to keep reaching down further, to topple the Game, which was the whole point of this match. As the finish came, they cleverly built up to Jeff’s big moves, which helped the crowd increasingly rally behind the Intercontinental Champion. Hardy took the win with a roll-up. The best Triple H non-gimmick match in many moons. They told a story, which was simple, but fascinating, and caused me to yelp slightly at the outcome. I couldn’t ask for more.

What would you expect from this, really? This is exactly what you would expect. Slow, and sluggish, with the audience reacting with complete indifference. Khali was as awful as always, while Finlay made a genuine effort. But really, who cares? Finlay was able to get the victory following liberal interference from Hornswoggle.

I suspected beforehand that this one would go to a disqualification, and that was all but confirmed by it’s position on the card. They did the ring intros inside the actual ring, which is always great for title matches, as it adds that little extra bit of credibility.

This one started out very slowly, as a deliberate place, with the two engaging in several awkward looking and uncomfortable spots. It was obvious that they aren’t especially familiar with each other. , and Jericho showed a few signs of ring-rust. At one point, on the outside, Jericho was tossed across the floor, and onto the announce table, knocking over JBL, who glared at him as he got to his feet, shoving past the former WWE Champion. Despite the minor inconsistencies, this was still pretty damn good, although Pennsylvania’s somewhat week crowd had died at this point. Jericho’s reaction, for the most card, was very much a mid-card one. Luckily, the fans came alive late on, as Y2J hit the lionsault, to a huge response. Later, Orton was slightly out of position as Jericho went up top, so Y2J improvised and threw a diving forearm. Jericho attempted his useless Codebreaker finisher, but Orton countered it in a really obvious fashion. The fans went absolutely wild when Jericho managed to lock in the Walls of Jericho. This is the sort of reaction he needs to be getting all the time. At this point, JBL ran in, breaking it up with a big boot to the challenger’s face, and forcing the DQ.

This is one of those occasions, where the interference in the finish was actually successful, and advances storylines in a positive way. Jericho was never winning the title here, but at least this enables him to look strong, and have a feud for Mania. And if anyone is perfect for getting and putting Y2J over it’s certainly Layfield.

-Jillian Hall came to the ring and err, sang then left. What a waste of time.

Would it have been more obvious that Phoenix was going to retain here? There was no heat whatsoever for this rubbish match. The women seemed to struggle to get things going when faced with the complete and utter silence of this crowd. Beth got the clean win with the fisherman’s suplex, which she executed really poorly.

Disappointing. Mickie is capable of a lot more, but I get the impression that management has had her rehearse this basic match, rather than give us a good bout. Sad that.

At the beginning of this, one of my buddies insisted that Dave was going to walk away with his title. Not a chance. Then only question, was how it would go down?

Batista came out first. Yes, the baby face champion, first. Ugh, disgusting.

The crowd were into this match, which was okay, but rather basic (ie. It was more like two separate single matches, rather than three guys fighting each other.). Still, the action was fast-paced, and fairly even, with each guy hitting some big moves surprisingly early. The thought crossed my mind that this was reminiscent of WM 22’s WWE title match, which saw the three involved work a frenetic but underwhelming ten-minute affair. They really played up on Edge being a complete coward in this one, while Taker was obviously the focal point.

Towards the end, I enjoyed the well planned sequences, even if they did feel about ten minutes too early. Suddenly, it transpired that there were three Edges! The live crowd didn’t seem aware of exactly what was happening, which must have sucked for them, especially as they were actually vocal throughout this one. At the end, The Undertaker was able to finish Batista off, following interference from the two “fake” Edge’s, only to have the real Edge basically steal the pinfall to become WWE Champion yet again.

Well, it was somewhat unpredictable anyhow.

This was miles away from what it could have been. It certainly was not satisfying, at a trim 13 minutes long, including all the crazy shenanigans. And as the overall PPV fell way short of the three hours, would it really have hurt to go twenty here? I did like the wacky ending though. Edge was definitely going to win this, and it wasn’t going to be clean, so at least this was unpredictable, in a way which can be explained, and built upon, although it admittedly feels confusing right now. It would be more bizarre if the WWE didn’t continue to use the Major Brothers as Edge’s cohorts (ala Team Angle), for a while at least. As Edge has clearly been the chicken heel throughout his run, it would help maintain his credibility as a top guy, to have some back-up, especially as the Undertaker is portrayed as unstoppable. Plus, they would look like fools, unless they came up with some sort of reward, such as Vicky Guerrero granting them tag title shots. But I do think, that somewhere down the line, Edge needs a clean, victorious defence against Batista, to really put some meat behind his reign, before he goes up against Taker at Wrestlemania. In the end though, it makes for very interesting Television, at the very least. One noticeable aspect of this triple threat however, was how disinterested Taker looked. He really did appear as if he couldn’t be bothers, meekly taking chair shots in poor fashion, and generally looking disinterested. This was disappointing to say the least.

So, back to the point. Armageddon was not a stinker. Yes, so three of the bouts were poor (the Women’s match, The tag match with the fatties, and the Khali toilet-break), but in Armageddon terms, that’s an incredible ratio. Everything else was at the very least, solid, and while the main event didn’t quite deliver in the ring, it at least provided us with a new champion (thank god!), and better prospects for the months ahead. They almost booked themselves into a corner with Jericho’s title shot, but somehow managed to crawl out of said confines, in a way that is both intriguing, and exciting. And, best of all, Jeff Hardy has the title match for Royal Rumble, which is a rarity, a completely fresh, tantalizing PPV bout. Though somehow I still can’t see how he’ll avoid being lumped in the Money in the Bank ladder match come Mania (if so- he’ll HAVE TO win that). Additonally, project re-build Kennedy is picking up steam, which is great, and Shawn Michael’s beard is so cool, it almost makes up for his pitiful hairstyle. In all, this was the best Armageddon, since……. Let me see… ever? Maybe…

But one question. Where the hell was Ric Flair, Vince?

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading this nonsense. I hope it was at least as entertaining as a Mark Henry match, and more through-provoking than a Honky Tonk shoot. If you have any comments/questions/queries/or anything to say, get in touch at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com, whether you agree/disagree/hate me, or whatever if may be, I welcome all correspondence. Thanks again!