One week. One apparent release (which later turned out to be nothing more than a rumour) one WWE Superstar deciding to quit and one just deciding not to show up and honour his advertised appearances. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, WWE had a PPV to promote, but with so much going on behind-the-scenes, it was easy to lose focus and forget about "Taboo Tuesday".
Anyone who watched Raw Monday night/Tuesday morning must have been rushing to the Internet as soon as they could after watching the show (I know I was). For in the space of just one 2-hour broadcast, WWE had apparently scrapped the highly hyped Stone Cold VS Coach match at "Taboo Tuesday" and replaced it with WWE SD! Champion Batista VS the self-proclaimed "Voice Of The People".
Of course, there was no real story line reason for this to happen. Even the addition of Goldust and Vader (who was in no shape to perform in any way whatsoever) reeked of desperation. And as it turned out, WWE was pretty desperate.
Word got out on "the net" that Stone Cold Steve Austin had pulled out of his Raw appearance and his "Taboo Tuesday" match when he learned that he was booked to lose to The Coach and that his good friend Jim Ross would not be brought back (even though prior story line developments seemed to dictate that he would be). With their backs against the wall, WWE couldn’t pull the plug on one of "Taboo Tuesday’s" biggest attractions. So they put SD!’s Batista in Austin’s place and threw a last-minute angle together on Raw to give the match some sort of meaning.
From Austin’s perspective, he was within his right to refuse to job to Coach. I’m sure everyone would agree that asking a performer of Stone Cold’s calibre to lose to a non-worker announcer is ludicrous, even if it were just for one night.
On the other hand, Stone Cold had an obligation to appear on Raw and at "Taboo Tuesday" and by "taking his ball", he let the fans and the company down (incidentally, Austin did a similar thing in 2002 when WWE asked him to lose to Brock Lesnar, who was an unproven newcomer at the time). Then again, WWE could learn from this little bust-up. Perhaps in future they shouldn’t invest so much time and money into a part-time novelty act who can basically come and go as he pleases and can only be of benefit to the company if he shows up and is inspired to work (don’t get me wrong; I like Stone Cold, but at this stage of his career, he should only be used on special occasions and shouldn’t be used in a regular story line).
If you watched Raw, you may have also noticed the absence of Torrie Wilson. Even though she had just worked a few house show dates in Australia, Torrie was nowhere to be seen (and had been replaced in the "Fulfil Your Fantasy" Diva Battle Royal by dopey interviewer, Maria).
Torrie’s apparent "release" was soon announced on every Internet forum and news source, with the exception of WWE.Com. It has since been announced (by Torrie) that she hasn’t been released, she’s just taking some time off due to personal family reasons (in actual fact, he release wouldn’t come as a huge surprise, although it would be rather disappointing considering the amount of established Divas who’ve been released over the last year).
The Christian issue has also been somewhat of a "hot topic" since WWE.Com announced that "Captain Charisma" had quit the company, effective from October 31. Much more shocking than the Torrie Wilson news/rumour, this actually turned out to be true (Christian chose not to renew his contract and fulfilled his obligations to appear on Raw and at "Taboo Tuesday").
At press time, its not known whether Christian is simply taking a break from the wrestling business or (as some fans and insiders seem to think) is TNA-bound. Whatever the case, this is certainly one of the most shocking and interesting real-life developments we’ve seen in wrestling this year.
Finally (I know, I’m going off on a tangent here; I’ll get to my review of "Taboo Tuesday" eventually), if you checked out the various "spoiler" wrestling sites prior to "Taboo Tuesday" you would have known that there was a good chance that Joey Styles (of ECW fame) would be calling the action on the night (you would also know that WWE was hot on his heels attempting to sign him up to Raw to become the new lead announcer).
I know it took a long time to get here, but without further ado, here are my "Taboo Tuesday Thoughts":
Rey Mysterio & Matt Hardy Defeated Gene Snitsky & Chris Masters
"Taboo Tuesday" got off to a great start for me from a personal standpoint, as my two choices in the voting were Mysterio and Hardy. Just like last year, votes were calculated up-to-the-minute and all the Superstars were lined up backstage (pretty interesting that "JBL" got more votes than Christian, who seemed to be unpopular than usual [due to the whole "quitting" announcement, perhaps?]).
In a last-minute change, Edge announced that he wouldn’t be competing in the match, because he doesn’t really care what the fans want to see (really, Edge is injured and couldn’t really wrestle at "Taboo Tuesday"). His replacement was Gene Snitsky, who along with "The Master-Piece" now made up one half of potentially one of the worst tag-teams in WWE history.
However, despite this fact, this match DID NOT suck. In fact, it was a thoroughly exciting opener that must rank up as the best of Snitsky and Masters’ careers.
Of course, this was all thanks to Mysterio and Hardy, who carried their lumbering foes all the way with high-flying moves and a fast pace. For a while, Snitsky and Masters over-powered the fan favourites (with Mysterio getting a huge sympathy vote from his hometown crowd), but "Team SmackDown" soon fought back and wiped out "Team Raw" with a pair of stereo cross-body blocks to the floor!
In the end, Masters was left alone in the ring, allowing Mysterio and Hardy to double-team him. Rey hit the ever popular "619", while Matt executed the "Twist Of Fate". Finally, the hometown boy Mysterio got the duke with a springboard splash on "The Master-Piece".
Overall, this was a great match (the idea of having two different referees was also a nice touch). For one night at least, SD! looked stronger than Raw (then again, who could possibly argue that Snitsky and Masters are superior to Mysterio and Hardy?).
Eugene & "Superfly" Snuka Defeated Rob Conway & Tyson Tomko
This "legends"-based match was changed from a handicap match to a tag-team match, with "Problem Solver" Tyson Tomko added in as Conway’s partner.
Eugene’s partner though, was up to the fans. The choices were Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Kamala and Jimmy Snuka (I picked Hacksaw). Even though Hacksaw appeared to be in with the best chance of getting into the match, the majority vote went to the "Superfly".
This fun, nostalgic bout was kept short and saw Eugene get dominated by "The Con-Man" and the "Problem Solver", until he tagged in Snuka for the finish. (Snuka got a good pop and is undoubtedly a legend, but his moves and reactions in this match were so slow, it was unbelievable).
Even though it would have benefited Conway more to win this match, he ended up jobbing to Eugene and the legend. After taking the "Rock Bottom" from Eugene, "The Con-Man" got flattened by the "Superfly Splash" (which Snuka took ages to execute) for the win.
Post-match, Tomko jumped Eugene and Snuka, but got his comeuppance when the remaining legends (Duggan and Kamala) ran in and hit him with their signature moves. Again, it would have been more beneficial to Tomko to put him over as a monster and not get ambushed by the legends, but Tomko is a lost cause and overall the whole thing was pretty harmless.
Mankind Beat Carlito Via "Socko-Claw" Submission
Even though Mankind was my choice for the "Face Of Foley", I was actually surprised that the fans didn’t choose Cactus Jack. Then again, Mankind was a WWE creation and had his unorthodox but fun sidekick, "Mr Socko".
Even though the crowd didn’t get into this match like they should have, I thought this was an enjoyable bout. Granted, it wasn’t a classic match, but keep in mind that Foley has been away from the ring for a long time. He’s going to have to ease his way back in and take things slowly if he he’s going to get back to the standard that many expect of him (make no mistake; Foley was by no means lazy in this match. He simply kept it short and simple and left plenty for a series of rematches).
Mankind dominated early on and had the advantage until he grabbed a steel chair and allowed Carlito to drop-toe-hold him into the chair and the steel steps. Foley took another sick bump when Carlito drop-kicked him, causing him to catch his head on the edge of the steps.
The head-trauma continued with an Electric Chair from the corner, and Carlito seemed to be in control. But Mankind soon came back and drilled "Mr Cool" with a running knee-smash into the corner, a sick flying elbow-drop to the concrete and a double-arm DDT.
Then, it was "Socko Time!" This version of "Mr Socko" sported a Carlito Afro and before long, "The King Of Cool" found himself gasping for air and losing the match via submission.
Kane & Big Show Defeated Cade & Murdoch To Become The New WWE Raw Tag-Team Champions
"The Monster" and "The Show" were predictably put into this match after Shawn Michaels won the lion’s share of the votes to qualify for the main event (although Kane got far more votes than what was expected).
Creatively, this match was pointless (WWE may as well pull the plug on the Raw tag scene now). However, the match was at least kept short and fairly interesting.
It basically revolved around the two giants overpowering the cowboys, with Cade and Murdoch only getting the advantage when Trevor pulled Kane from the top-rope and sent him crashing to the floor.
But it couldn’t last. Kane and Big Show soon took Murdoch out of the equation and finished off Cade with a double-choke-slam. Just like that, we had new Raw tag-team champs.
Batista Beat The Coach (Along With Goldust & Vader) In A Street Fight
There was really no point to this match, but after Stone Cold threw a spanner in the works on Monday, WWE had to do SOMETHING. Under the circumstances, this match was as good as it could have been. I have no idea though, why Vader (who fell on his backside on Raw just by leaving the ring) was so heavily involved in this glorified "handicap" match.
Coach got virtually no offence in on Batista (save for a brief moment when he whipped "The Animal" with a leather belt while Goldust and Vader held him down) and let his "henchmen" do most of the work (Vader screwed up again by not taking a spine-buster properly).
In the end, Coach was the only one left and Batista wiped him out with a "Batista Bomb" for the 3 count. Overall, this didn’t really serve much of a purpose, although the crowd seemed to enjoy it.
Trish Stratus Retained The WWE Women’s Championship In A "Fulfil Your Fantasy" Diva Battle Royal Featuring Victoria, Ashley, Mickie James, Candice Michelle And Maria
The Diva’s attire had been announced earlier on and was "Lingerie" (once again, the fans choose the most uncreative of all the options. I really thought "Cheerleader" would have got the most votes).
As a result the Divas (apart from Candice Michelle and Maria) didn’t look all that sexy (was it me, or did all the girls look far sexier in their robes while the votes were being counted?).
This match was better than last year’s abomination and actually made sense (i.e. the running theme of Mickie James helping Trish was a good idea). The first Diva to be eliminated was Maria (courtesy of Trish and Mickie). Then Candice got eliminated by Ashley while she show-boated on the ring apron.
Ashley was soon sent packing thanks to a catapult from Victoria. This left the pros to fight amongst themselves (although, Mickie James still refused to fight Trish).
In the end, James sacrificed herself for Trish and tumbled to the floor along with Victoria. This made Trish the winner by default.
Post-match, Mickie James cut in on Trish’s interview time and really went OTT. Trish looked puzzled as Mickie continued her "hero worship" whilst walking up the ramp. This could be the feud that revitalises the women’s division.
Ric Flair Retained The WWE Intercontinental In A Cage Match Against HHH
"The Nature Boy" got his wish and got "The Game" inside a steel cage. For some reason, this match was now also a title match (Joey Styles, who had been making Coach and Michael Cole look even worse than usual, honestly pointed out that the belt was a non-issue, although he may have been rapped for saying that).
This was an entertaining, very old-school bout that ultimately dragged on a bit, but still delivered plenty of drama and excitement. In between the barrage of "F-bombs" (all very audible) from Flair, "Slic Ric" got busted open, became trapped in his own "Figure-Four Leg-lock" and generally got "taken to school" by HHH.
But when it came time for Flair to fight back, then that was truly something. He split "The Game" wide open and gave him the "Figure-Four" as well!
Towards the end, Flair scrambled for the door and managed to lay his hands on a steel chair. HHH went for the "Pedigree" but "Naitch’" back-dropped out and caused "The Game" to land on the chair.
Then Flair grabbed the chair and drilled HHH with a sick chair shot to the head. He had his chance to leave and win the match, but Flair wanted revenge in the worst way. Another two chair shots came crashing down on the bloodied head of "The Game". "The Nature Boy" then walked out the door for the surprise victory.
John Cena Retained The WWE Raw World Championship In A Triple Threat Match Against Kurt Angle And Shawn Michaels
It was no coincidence that two of the greatest in-ring workers of all time (Angle and Michaels) were involved in one of the greatest main event matches ever seen this year. Indeed, this was one main event that lived up to the hype.
Angle and Michaels had apparently formed a pact earlier on, but that was soon destroyed when Kurt immediately turned on "HBK" after the bell. However, they DID form a partnership later on in order to take out Cena.
When this happened the crowd (with the exception of the kids and the females) loved every minute of it. There was a huge roar of approval when Angle and Michaels drove Cena through the Spanish announcers’ table with a double-front-suplex.
With Cena out of the equation, Angle and Michaels did their thing and the fans lapped it up. "The Olympic Hero" brought them to their feet with a super "Angle-Slam" from the top rope, which amazingly only yielded a 2-count (even though it was enough to beat Shawn in the Iron-Man match).
Cena soon returned to fight off both opponents, much to the chagrin of the crowd. "HBK" hit a reverse pescado on the floor, giving the fans a huge "Holy S***!" moment. Shawn also took a nasty fall to the floor when Angle belly-to-belly suplexed him clean out of the ring!
Angle soon had the advantage with an "Ankle-Lock" on Cena, but Michaels broke it up with a flying-elbow from the top. A great sequence of moves then took place, when Shawn gave Angle "Sweet Chin Music" but walked right into an "FU" from "The Champ". This gave Cena a shocking (and not too well received) victory.
However, "Taboo Tuesday" WAS well received by me. I can honestly say that it was the most entertaining WWE PPV I’ve seen in a while (far better than the predictable dross SD! usually puts on). In my opinion, there wasn’t a truly awful match on the show (even the ones that looked bad on paper were kept relatively short and interesting).
After all the problems WWE faced earlier in the week, "Taboo Tuesday" could easily have gone to hell. It didn’t, which just goes to prove that WWE can do anything (and do it well) if they just put their minds to it.
Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:
http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
