PARKS'S TAKE PARKS: Ten biggest moments from Monday's TNA and WWE shows
Apr 11, 2010 - 2:32:38 PM
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By Greg Parks, PWTorch columnist
Both Monday night shows had their issues this past week: Impact continued its downward spiral into the abyss (pun intended), while Raw never got out of first gear. There was very little to talk about, or to excite someone, after watching Raw. Still, that's much better than being angry or dumbfounded after watching Impact. I think.
1. Batista vs. Cena announced for Extreme Rules, Last Man Standing Match. Not sure why they chose Last Man Standing here, other than (a) someone can lose without being pinned or submitted and (b) this kind of "extreme" match is one that weapons are not in the name, so it's one of the safer Extreme Rules matches. Seems they've been going to the LMS well quite often lately.
2. All participants for Team Hogan and Team Flair at Lockdown are revealed. Beer Money and Desmond Wolfe joined Team Flair, along with the already announced Sting; Hogan's team added Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy to Jeff Jarrett and Abyss. Considering Wolfe jobbed in two minutes to The Pope and Beer Money lost 2-on-1 to a joke gimmick in Jay Lethal the previous week, I say: Advantage Hogan.
3. Knockouts Title determined in Lockbox Tag Match. Tara lost here title, but regained her spider. Angelina Love won the championship, but was immediately challenged for said title this coming week in a Leather-and-Lace Match. Sky won a contract to challenge for the title at any time, so she'll be cashing it in this week. A ridiculous concept that buried the Knockouts Division.
4. NXT Rookie David Otunga wrestles in the main-event as tag team partner to John Cena. Otunga has the look and presence WWE likes (or at least is developing it), but is very green in the ring. That would explain why he didn't do much during the match. But just being associated with Cena, Big Show and Miz probably helped his credibility, and by featuring him on Raw, more eyeballs have seen him than most other NXT Rookies.
5. Ken Anderson wins the key to unlock the cage at Lockdown in his match with Kurt Angle. The key will allow Anderson and only Anderson (theoretically) to escape through the cage door to win the match. At least TNA did the right thing and gave the heel the key, setting up the babyface in Angle beating the odds to win. But with the news that Angle may be taking time off after Lockdown, they could have him do an injury angle of some kind.
6. Ted DiBiase, new Million Dollar Champion. After the Wrestlemania loss to Randy Orton, many wondered what was in store next for DiBiase. It appears he's going the route of his father, carrying around the Million Dollar Title to get some heat. And possibly starting up a stable of his own in the near future, with his brother Brett and Joe Hennig.
7. Team 3D to face The Band next week after Brother Ray and Brother Devon are attacked during their Tag Title #1 Contender Match. I thought they won that match by DQ, and would face Morgan next week for the titles, but it must've been a no-contest, since they later challenged The Band to a fight coming up on Monday. The Band did attack the Machine Guns as well, so perhaps it was a no-contest. Either way, the Guns should have the shot anyway since they already won a #1 Contender match at the previous PPV.
8. Eve wins Divas Battle Royal, will face Maryse for the Divas Championship on Monday. This feud has been built up for a while now, so it's no surprise Eve won the battle royal. Prediction: The match is going to be....just awful.
9. Doug Williams now known as "Douglas Williams". In his effort to vilify everything the X Division is known for, Williams has extended his ring name to be more formal and more old-fashioned, which is the kind of in-ring style he favors. This is just another step in drawing the line between him and the flippity-floppity X Divison wrestlers his character despises.
10. The Sledgehammer returns. For the second week in a row, Sheamus brought out his weapon of choice, a lead pipe. Triple H responded with his trusty sledgehammer. The two seem likely to have a re-match at Extreme Rules, as the weapons are setting the stage for some stipulation to come into play.
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