Indy'd Indeed

Indy’d Indeed: Why is it working so well?

    Before I get things rolling, I’d like to thank you for reading my first article here on TWG. I’m Mr. Indianapolis, Mr. Indy for short, and this is the Indy’d Indeed (Indeed, Indeed!) opinion column. Yeah, I get to write my opinions and have you judge me for them. I’m not afraid, though I probably should be.

    I’m currently on vacation right now, so I’m having a hard time finding my wrestling fix on the ever-changing tv stations. Luckily I’ve got WM23 and Backlash 2007 to keep me company. I may not be getting to see much, but I’ve still got a few things to get off my chest.

    I’m really liking the way the Two Men vs. Whole Roster matches have turned out. Cena/Orton vs. RAW was a match that looked killer on the card, but I thought for sure it would do nothing as far as getting my interest or developing a storyline. On the contrary, I think it is a MOTY candidate that nobody will recognize. Why could I possibly think that such a gimmick’d match could possibly be good? I’m glad you asked.

1) For starters, Cena and Orton had the “unlikely duo” thing going on. Though WWE had become obsessed with these at this point in the past year (Cena/HBK, Hardy/MVP, Miz/Morrison), this was only for one night, and Orton sold it by saying he would cover Cena. Perhaps you don’t realize how important it is that Orton actually turned face for a night and had it work to his advantage, but I find some significance in it.

2) The next benefit of this match is that we actually saw quite a few eliminations. Let’s face it, these guys have been given a main event push. They are not going to be getting credibility taking on a tag team of obviously lower-card guys. Heck, Cena/HBK almost kept the tag titles after dealing with most of the RAW roster on the RAW after WM23, why couldn’t Orton and Cena?

3) In a tag-along to my #2, this match exploited Cena and Orton’s finishers. We have certainly seen the FU, STFU, and RKO be the “out-of-nowhere” move that wins the match, and this was no exception. This match put their finishers over as being dangerous in a match. Why is this important? Just remember, the DDT used to be a finisher, now you see it 3 times during a show. This is key here people: Finishers need to be pushed, otherwise we find an increasing number of wrestlers kicking out of them until it finally isn’t even a finisher, but a mid-match maneuver.

4) Triple H was shown as the mastermind here. We all knew The Hs had a title run coming, the question was when it would happen. Therefore, Triple H got the better of the “spend a week as the GM” deal. Also, this set up what happened next...

    King Regal, not being happy with the King of Kings or Mr. Kennedy (...Kennedy), decided to use Triple Hs own plan against him and set HHH/Kennedy vs. ECW. While I thought the match itself was lacking, especially compared to the first, this match also accomplished quite a bit:

1) News reports were flooding in that ECW was being required to show up at RAW. How many people tuned in just to see why? And haven’t ratings been down lately?

2) Again, Kennedy and Triple H got their finishers boosted. The Pedigree really didn’t need one, but the Mic Check is just not working for me. While I realize a real reverse russian leg sweep/facebuster would hurt, I’m just not buying it as far as “Sports Entertainment” finisher material. I say let him do the Swanton Bomb again. Jeff Hardy already shares one finisher, why not two? Besides, Jeff has Whisper in the Wind, and after using it on Umaga, anybody will buy that as a finisher. Then again, I never had a problem with Kennedy using the Rolling Fireman Carry from the Turnbuckle. I thought during his debut it was well done. Oh well, I’ve gone off on a tangent.

3) As in Cena/Orton, most of these guys in ECW are not main eventers. The few that are main event material did their part, and didn’t really lose any credibility. Punk is still Money in the Bank, Kane is still ECW Champ, Chavo is still being allowed to chase him for some reason instead of saying “Hey CM Punk, I took the ECW title from you and now I want your briefcase”, and everybody else did well too. That being said, I think there is serious talent in ECW being underutilized. Kofi Kingston is my current favorite. The kid has charisma, talent, and quite the moveset. Shelton Benjamin is simply a lost cause, but they could redeem him if they REALLY tried, though being shoved to ECW doesn’t help. Big Daddy V seems to be hibernating somewhere, Elijah Burke missed the Express to the main-event scene to feud with Punk while he had the belt, and I seriously miss RVD, Marcus Cor Von, Sabu, and pretty much most of the thrown-together roster we had around WM23. Period.

4.) Did Orton pull an Undertaker in there? Really? I was actually depressed when I saw RKO instead of UT when the lights went out and came back on. I halfway expected a UT vs. HHH match to be set up for Friday, since neither GM likes their champion. Then I saw an RKO and was sad. I guess is to be expect with the WHC future up in the air. But why I am putting this in the benefit section if I didn’t like it? C’mon now, Randy needed some legitimacy in here, he IS gunning for the title against Trips, though Regal seems to intend to as well. This leads to...

5) Apparently, Regal intends to have a feud for the belt against Triple H. While I really have nothing against Regal, I think we have to consider the Ric Flair Factor here; Regal is certainly getting older. This doesn’t mean he can’t hang it tough with the big boys, and other wrestlers in the same age group, such as Undertaker (43 yrs), and Triple H (38 yrs.), are even the current World champions, ignoring UT being stripped of the belt. But Regal NEVER got a serious main event push, and it’s simply too late for it now. Regal is an excellent technical wrestler. And for the record, I thought Finlay/Regal at The Great American Bash was golden on so many levels. Ireland vs. England for the United States title on the Great American Bash PPV?  Hilarious. Say nothing of the intense brawling... but let’s face it, Regal as WWE champ is not going to happen, and if it does, it won’t last long. Also if it does, you can expect an article in response of my complaining to be posted. It hurts me to say it for someone with some technical skill, but I’ll do it. That being said, Regal setting up this match was a great way to start the feud. Orton getting involved was just to keep it on track.

6) This match, being Take 2 of this kind of match, also served to show us that WWE is not completely unrealistic. Inevitably, the mass will win since you can’t bury a whole roster to 2 guys. Inevitably, a brawl will break out because a whole roster will not get along. It happened both times. It should happen every time if they decide to do it again (though hopefully not too soon). Thank you for this much WWE, keep it up.

7) My final main reason for the HHH/Kennedy match being good is relatively simple. Triple H is a face, maybe not for long, but for now he is a face. Kennedy appears to be making a face turn. What better way to do it then have him team with the top face on the brand? ....Cena? Oh yeah, I forgot about him. Isn’t he making a movie and only showing up at PPVs now? 

    Really, I don’t expect a Smackdown variation, and I think leaving this type of match at 2 attempts is plenty. The biggest problem with using Smackdown is that all of the main eventers are in place. At least in the Cena/Orton match, 2 of the biggest names were already on the card. The only way I could see it working is if the match actually took place on Smackdown. Say for instance, Vickie forced Undertaker to team with someone. Personally, I think Undertaker/Batista vs. Smackdown would be an excellent selection, though I think at this point, Undertaker and Batista need to remain apart. Their feud has played through for me, though Undertaker and Batista have a good amount of finishing moves between them, and I could see them getting the farthest in being written to win the match. 

    Nevertheless, between the Chokeslam, Tombstone, Last Ride, Gogoplata, Spear, Spinebuster, Batista Bomb, and any double-team variations, Batista and Undertaker have over half a dozen “finishing” maneuvers that could be used to eliminate people. It would also be a good way for WWE to revitalize the Chokeslam, Spinebuster, and Last Ride as legitimate finishers for these two. The Chokeslam is quickly becoming the most inconsistent finisher of all time, what with almost never ending an Undertaker match (unless it involves a super-heavyweight), and yet consistently being used to win a Kane/Big Show match (against anybody that gets it... take Chavo at WM24 for example). The Last Ride is also not being used as a match-ender anymore, and the spinebuster has all but seen the last day it was used as the victory move.

    All this being considered, and getting back on track, I hope you’ll join me in at least adding Cena/Orton vs. RAW in your Match of the Year listings. Hopefully you understand why I’ve enjoyed these types of matches so much. By no means do I think it will win any kind of MOTY, but lets award people for thinking out of the box and having it work. Yay, WWE writers! 

Until next time, everyone.. ;)

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