Location: From Downtown, outta nowhere, in a heartbeat!
Posts: 4,810
Re: Diverging Paths - A Current WWE BTB
Think about it. These wrestlers are new to performing in big arenas and in front of millions on TV. They have limited experience as it is and you are throwing in a chain for them to work with. They don't have much experience calling a match themselves, as up until this point they would probably be having veterans in the ring to help them a long. So the chain is totally new to them and it would be a lot of pressure for them to pull it off. Also you are devaluing the "chain match" if you give it to lower midcarders.
Jack Swagger presents: America and the World - Are we Better, or are we the Best?
Before the video plays, there is a few seconds in which there is only a single picture of Jack Swagger, waving an American Flag, with other flags strewn on the floor.
Jack Swagger is sitting in a Texan BBQ Restaurant. He says that that the backroom staff have come to the realization, finally, that he is one of the most charismatic, most talented member of their roster. He says that they have come to the decision that Swagger would be best used as an emissary for the WWE abroad, which is why he will be performing in fewer househows, and will be using the time to travel around the world with his camera crew. He says that for the first episode they went to Liverpool, and continues eating as the video plays.
Swagger is seen leading a cameraman along some landmarks. He is wearing jeans and an ‘I heart USA’ shirt. He tells the camera that they are in Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture for 2008. He makes a patronizing face as he surveys the city around him, saying that he has been in Liverpool for a few days now, and hasn’t seen anything spectacular. The video cuts to him walking into Anfield, home of Liverpool F.C. Inside, we see him at the far end of the stadium, at the very top of the stands, eating a hotdog, clearly bored, as fans are roaring around him during the match. The camera cuts to a closer shot of him, yelling at the players on the field to score a touchdown already. We cut to a 5-second bit of him looking disgusted as fans around him chant, clearly not impressed, and then back to the closer shot. He is now talking to the camera man, asking him when will they start fighting. He is informed that that doesn’t happen in soccer, and he throws his hotdog at the fan next to him and storms out.
We are back to Swagger walking through Liverpool. We see him slapping stickers of the American Flag, the Statue of Liberty, and of his himself, on buildings, on street signs, cars and on people. One person asks him in a thick accent what he thinks he’s doing, and Swagger looks at the camera as if he can’t understand what they’re saying. As they walk away, he asks if they’re sure they speak English here. We cut to him sitting on a stool in a typical English pub, he introduces his guest, an official of the Liverpool Tourism Committee, and they talk. The man says Liverpool is the European Capitol of Culture but Swagger cuts him off, scoffing, stating that it’s not. The man says it is, and Swagger says that Oklahoma City has more culture than Liverpool. The man tries to reason, saying that’s not true. Swagger, now a bit angry, asks the man if he has ever been to the fine state of Oklahoma. The man says no, Swagger then asks how does he have the audacity to make any assumption or comparison between the two places, considering he has limited knowledge of the aforementioned state, and is more than likely biased towards his place of residence, making any judgement on his behalf highly unreliable. The man is taken aback by the fact that Swagger has come up with that, and a few seconds of awkward silence linger before the man opens his mouth but Swagger kicks him in the gut and hits him with a gutwrench bomb. He takes out a small American flag on a pole from his pocket and sticks it on the guy’s back. He then turns to the camera, smiles, and points to his face with his right index finger.
The video ends and Swagger says that next week he will be travelling to another city, he waves goodbye at the camera, still eating some BBQ Ribs.
((The idea for this segment is inspired by sc2004's 'Santino Across America'))
Jeff Hardy's title reign is proving to mbe one of the hardest times of his life. After defying the odds at Armageddon to win the title, he has had to face some of the WWE's toughest superstars in the past few weeks, including a Gauntlet Match two weeks ago, and tag team match against the Big Show and Chavo Guerrero last week. On top of that, Jeff Hardy was speared two weeks ago by Edge, and was attacked by Triple H last Friday Night. This week Hardy has been prohobited from competing by the WWE's medical staff, will Edge attempt to capitalise and injure him before their title bout at the Rumble?
WWE fans worldwide were shocked to see The Game attack Jeff Hardy last week, believing he was going to help him, having stopped Edge from spearing him after the match. Some believe that Triple H was still bitter after Hardy pinned him two weeks ago. Triple H had decided against Pedigree-ing the champion, and Hardy's failure to reciprocate might have lit a fuse in the former champion's brain. Has Triple H joined La Familia? Find out tomorrow when Triple H explains his actions to the WWE universe.
We now have the 4 hopeful Divas who will challenge for Beth Phoenix's title, but which one of the Sexiest Women on Television will come out on top tomorrow night? Tune in to find out!
The Samoan Bulldozer has returned! In a fantastic comeback, Umaga became the first person to pin Vladimir Kozlov. With Umaga establishing his place in the Smackdown roster, another superstar will attempt to do the same tomorrow night.
That and much more, tomorrow night, don't miss Friday Night Smackdown!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PWIinsider
Talent is being reshuffled in the WWE. With several talented performers not making an impact, the WWE have decided to send some of its workers to FCW, where they will be repackaged and hopefully will return soon to TV. The following wrestlers, appearing under their current aliases, will be shipped back to the developmental territory:
- Scotty Goldman
- Ryan Braddock
- DH Smith
- Gavin Spears
- Jamie Noble
- Sim Snuka
The Swagger thing was a good idea man. If i was being critical id say you might have put a bit more effort into it to make a bigger statemant but oevrall i tought it was good enough. Samckdown looking good, i will review when its up
Smackdown kicked off with WWE Champion Jeff Hardy's brother and ECW Champion Matt Hardy coming to the ring and telling the WWe Universe that his brother is currently injured but will be fine. Weeks of underhanded attacks have jeopardized his health, but he is expected to be back as soon as next week. Matt's speech was soon interrupted by Vickie Guerrero, who was flanked by the Big Show and Chavo.
Vickie stated that if Jeff Hardy isn't cleared to compete next week, he will forfeit the title to Edge. She can't have a world champion appearing whenever he felt like it on her show. Matt cut her off, saying it was Edge's fault that Jeff couldn't be there, but this only spurred her on, as she said that since they are brothers and he is the only world champion present tonight, he will take Jeff's place in the Main Event against Umaga. Backstage, Edge is staring at a framed replica of the WWE title above the monitor, smiling to himself.
Vickie then told Hardy to clear her ring because she had some other announcements. He did, staring down La Familia in the process. Vickie went on to say that in order to decide who will challenge for the WWE Tag Team Titles, she will pit 3 of Smackdown's top duos and whoever is the most impressive will get a chance at the titles.
Country vs Rap
In the first match of the night, R-Truth took on Jimmy Wang Yang. In a relatively short match, both men proved why they are amongst the best high-flyers in the WWE. R-Truth hit his trademark Flying Jalapeńo, only for Yang to hit his own Spinning Enziguri. Finally, Wang Yang missed his Yang Time, and R-Truth capitalised with an Axe Kick for the win.
Time to Impress
In a Triple Threat Tag Team Match, Jesse & Festus took on The Edgeheads and The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson. Curt Hawkings, Festus and Zeke started the match, with Festus being dominant in the early going. However, both Zach Ryder and The Brian Kendrick attacked Jesse outside, distracting Festus, and allowing Hawkings and Zeke to duke it out, as their teammates took care of the Corn-fed Colossus.
With Jesse and Festus out of the picture within the first 5 minutes, the dastardly tag teams faced off. The Edgeheads' better chemistry gave them an early advantage, but when Ezekiel re-entered the ring, his imposing physique and strength turned the match in their favor. The match ended when Zach Ryder pushed Kendrick away from him when he attempted The Kendrick, sending him flying into Big Zeke, and The Edgeheads hit the legal man with a Double Edgecution for the win.
This ain't a standard for the Gold Standard
U.S Champion Shelton Benjamin entered Vickie Guerrero's office backstage, hoping to have a word with her. Instead, he found himself face to face with the Largest Athlete in the World, Big Show. The Gold Standard told Show that it was about time Vickie gave him a world-title shot, and booked him against serious contenders. He had already raised the bar at Smackdown and he deserved to be recognised for it.
Show told Shelton that he should get in line for a world-title shot, and that he will fight whoever Vickie pits him against and like it. Not intimidated, Shelton insisted, only for Show to tell him that if he really wants it, he'll get it. Tonight, it will be The Gold Standard against The Big Show.
The Final Hubba-Bubba
Four women qualified for this match from both Raw and Smackdown, and the four of them came out to the ring, ready to do battle and earn the chance to face Beth Phoenix for her title. However, none of them knew what match they were going to fight in, at least not until Chavo Guerrero appeared on the titantron. He informed the divas that Vickie is dealing with backstage problems and has left him with the instructions for the match. The Raw Divas will face the Smackdown Divas in a Tornado Tag Team match, meaning all of them will be in the ring. However, only the Diva who gets the pin will go on to face Beth Phoenix at the Royal Rumble.
Deciding to wait until later in order to decide how they will solve that problem, the two teams focused their energies on debilitating their opponents. Mickie James took on Maryse while Kelly Kelly brawled with Maryse. They soon traded partners and teamed up, as the match raged on.
Trouble first appeared within the Smackdown team when Natalya pulled the ref away from the count after Maryse delivered a French DDT to Kelly. Mickie James took advantage by rolling Maryse for the pin after she had pushed her teammate out of the ring, but Maryse kicked out. Maryse and Natalya then pushed each other back and forth, yelling at one another. The Raw Divas both hit their finishers on them, and went for the pin, but the referee's hesitation at which he should count allowed Natalya to kick out of Kelly's pin, and when the ref finally started counting Mickie's, both Kelly and Natalya stopped it.
Finally, Kelly hit the K2 on Maryse, but she took too long to get the pin, so Natalya placed her in the sharpshooter, and Mickie James couldn't break it up before the Neidhart girl got her tap-out victory.
Backstage, Vickie Guerrero was frantic, shouting and shrieking at security to search the building and not let him get to the ring.
He has returned... RETURNED!
Before the match was due to begin, Eve Torres appeared in the ring to announce those who have been selected to participate in this year's Royal Rumble. She said that the GM had decided against holding Qualification matches, and instead, the participants will be hand-picked by her. Big Show, Triple H, Umaga, Shelton Benjamin, The Brian Kendrick and R-Truth have all been entered in the match, including the two superstars who will match-up in the next bout. Hurricane Helms made his way to the ring first, and to huge cheers, Mr. Kennedy's voice sounded throughout the arena, and the very same man made his way to the ring, prepared to make his wrestling return.
Kennedy was dominant throughout the match, although Helms was about to let anyone, not even on their debut, walk all over him. He put up a fight, but his fresh opponent has not acquired any ring rust, and reversed most of Helms' moves. Finally, Kennedy ducked Helms' Enziguri, and rose back to his feet, grabbing Helms and hitting the Mic Check for the win.
Kennedy grabbed the mic and told those in attendance that his first mission will be to win the Rumble and assure that they will get their entertainment at Wrestlemania, when he wins the WWE Title.
The Standard vs The Weight
In one of Shelton Benjamin's toughest matches to date, he did his best to play to his strengths, and minimise Big Show's. Using his agility to hit-and-run and perform diving and springboard attacks by the dozen, he targetted all of Big Show's limbs, hoping to debilitate him in a similar fashion as the Hardy Boys did the previous week. Unfortunately for him, Big Show is an experienced wrestler, and as soon as Benjamin thought he could start weakening Show's arms with a submission hold, he grabbed the Gold Standard and threw him around like a rag-doll.
Show dominated the rest of the match, hoisting Shelton up in the air and slamming him against the mat time after time. At one point Shelton managed to turn the tables, and hit a spectacular mule kick, but Show stayed on his feet and Shelton moved in for the kill. But Show had waited for the Pay Dirt and as soon as Benjamin jumped he grabbed his throat, used his momentum to lift him up further and slammed him him on the mat, getting the pin. The Gold Standard might have been defeated, but his impressive showing is sure to spur him on, and get him noticed.
The Game Explains
Triple H entered the ring to more boos than he's used to, although most were engulfed by the riotous cheers of his supporters. He took the mic and said that he knows that many don't understand his actions, and that many will disagree with decisions, but when it comes down to it, he is The Game, and he sick and tired of having to prove himself time after time.
He said that two weeks ago he thought of Jeff Hardy as his friend, as someone who was on his side. The difference between two weeks ago and today is that now he has Jeff's true colors. An opportunist, he attacked Triple H when Triple H decided against finishing him off, and he deserved what he got. Tit for tat.
The King of Kings was not able to finish his explanation because a gong rang and the light went out. When they came back on, he found himself face to face with the Underaker, who leered at him with contempt before chokeslamming him and exiting the ring without a word.
Star
It Isn't Your Week
Matt Hardy was faced with the tough challenge of facing Umaga. As if it wasn't bad enough that he had his own foreign monster to contend with at ECW, he now had to overcome another. With Edge acting as commentator, the odds were firmly stacked against him. However, Matt was no putz, and he did his best to defeat the Samoan Bulldozer.
The match went back and forth, with Umaga's stiff shots resounding in the arena as Matt's technical moves were met with cheers by his supporters. Finally, it was Umaga who seemed to have triumphed, having hit the Samoan Thump. Fortunately for the ECW Champion, Umaga had shoved the referee aside in his run-up, and there was no one to make the count. Edge then left the announcer's table, and slid a chair into the ring, ordering Umaga to destroy Hardy.
Just as Umaga picked up the chair, JEFF HARDY hopped over the barricades and into the ring, holding his sides, and hit the Twist of Fate on Umaga. The ref, who had only just started to come to, swiftly signaled for the DQ, and Umaga got his win, although Matt was spared from injury. With Umaga downed, Jeff picked up his brother and started heading out of the ring, only to see Vickie Guerrero, Chavo and The Edgeheads all waiting for him at the top of the ramp.
Vickie shrieked at how she wasn't going to allow the Hardys to continue to wreak havoc on her show, and so, Jeff will face his former friend, Triple H next week, with Edge acting as Special Guest Referee. At the mention of his nemesis' name, Jeff turned around to face him, only to be speared yet again, by the Master Opportunist.
Quote:
R-Truth def. Jimmy Wang Yang
The Edgeheads def. The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson, Jesse & Festus
Natalya (& Maryse) def. Mickie James & Kelly Kelly
Mr. Kennedy def. Hurricane Helms
Big Show def. Shelton Benjamin
Umaga def. Matt Hardy (DQ)
Don't forget to tune in for next week's Smackdown when the plot continues and remember to watch Raw on Monday!
Confirmed Matches: - 30-Man Royal Rumble Match - (Big Show, Hurricane Helms, Mr. Kennedy, R-Truth, Shelton Benjamin, The Brian Kendrick, Triple H, Umaga) - WWE Title Match - (Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Edge) - Undisputed Women's Title Match - (Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Natalya Neidhart)
Ok, first thing that hit me, u need a date and venue if you wanna be realistic, i dont know where your at like?
Oppening promo was decent, bit short but there was nothing bad about it, i liked that matt answering back got him a match with Umaga, good Vickie power shown.
R truth over Wang Yang good move, some nice counetrs aswell. maybe could ahve described more though.
Tag match, some good action in this amtch but would ahve liken to see Kendricks team win but then again, that is a rivalry alot of people are using with them and Carlito and Primo so at least you went in the different direction.
Good confidence from shelton setting up a good match.
Diva match: I think you spent to much time on this compared to the earlier matches but it was ok...altough....Neidhart girl????
Glad kennedy is back and got the win, also good selection on the RR participants.
Show v Shelton : i liked this amtch it was exciting and im glad that Shelton had a good run, hopefully he will get a push, nice finish in the match.
Triple H becoming a heel? Inetresting, didnt like the way Taker just came down, chokeslammed him and left, amde Triple H look weak.
Umaga v Matt: Ok match, not as good as the Show and Shelton one, but the match for next week will be a good one and Jeff coming abck was a suprsie.
Overall: It was a good enough show considering you are going for the recap way anyway, would like more to happen backstage though but it was still good.
I really liked the Swagger thing. Would this have been an internet show or a segment on a show? Liked the dissing of a Liverpool accent too. One thing thogh, I'd have a different, more catchy name to the show. If I think of one I'll let you know...
SmackDown feedback
Are these attacks that are being carried out on Jeff secret? Sorry I didn't read the last Smackdown. If so, Jeff's attacker is either Matt or Christian. That's for sure, but something tells me you're going to do the opposite to what the WWE does. I know how you feel, it's annoying having to try and be different from the WWE. Matt Hardy vs. Umaga seems a bit of a weak main event though, I have to say.
R-Truth over Jimmy Wang Yang. Good decision.
I prefer Kendrick and Ezekiel over Hawkins and Ryder, but since you're trying to reinstate La Familia's dominance with these two involved, I understand why you had them go over. I'm expecting them to take the titles too.
Big Show against Shelton Benjamin is a weird booking decision, since both are heel, but hopefully it ends un-cleanly, without you burying your US Champ.
Kelly Kelly and Maryse in the same ring! Interesting if confusing stipulation on this match, but you made the right decision having Natalya go over. Beth against Natalya is just about the best women's match you can get out of the WWE's division so that should be great.
Not to let who go to the ring? I'm confused... typo or... I'll find out I guess... who's returned?
Good decision not to have qualifying matches, as you basically end up with mid-carders against jobbers. Those in the Rumble look good, and it's shaping up well.
Face against face isn't the best decision of matches, but I would really like it if you turned Kennedy heel, he's awful as a face imo. The right man went over, but this would've been a botch-filled match. lol.
I don't see the point of the Show/Benjamin match at all really. I mean yes you need to establish Big Show, but there's MVP there for him to squash, or someone, but the US Champ? Not a great decision.
Liked the Triple H segment. I guess this is setting up a 'Mania match between the two, which should be epic. Triple H going heel is an excellent decision too. Better promos, and just in general better, he's a natural heel.
No idea about the whole Star thing. I've got nothing, really. Christian?
As I said earlier, a weak main event in my opinion, but well-booked. Edge as commentator gives some added interest, and the run-ins helped it out, plus, you protected both men. You've set-up the next show well too, announcing the Hardy/HHH match.
Overall, pretty good. One thing I have a problem with is the lack of star power in the matches, as I said, the main event was weak, you had Undertaker, Triple H, Jeff Hardy and Edge all not competing. Plus, as the champion and contender going into the Rumble, Jeff and Edge might've had a more prominent role. MVP also wasn't on the show at all. I like the re-inclusion of the Edgeheads in La Familia though, which looks like a dominant stable again. The Rumble card's looking good. I'll read Raw.
WildeThing presents: Road to Wrestlemania XXV
Re: Diverging Paths - A Current WWE BTB
