Match Of The Week: 10.14.06.

October 17th, 2006.
ECW on Sci-Fi.
Sabu vs. Shannon Moore

I said it before and I'll continue to say it- Shannon Moore should have stayed with TNA. If he had, he could have been X Division champion twice over by now. But, no. He comes back to WWE and they ship him off to the new ECW. He jobs to C.M. Punk. Twice. And now he's losing to Sabu in a very quick, clean win.

I like the idea of Sabu and Shannon Moore fighting on paper. Two innovative, high-flyers with a great display for spotfests to a degree. Give them twenty or twenty five minutes on a pay-per-view and you'd have a match of the year candidate for sure.

However, this was a far cry from that. A few moves by Shannon Moore. A few more by Sabu. And Sabu picks up the win with a clean pin. Kind of shocking, but not.

They're jobbing Shannon Moore so much in ECW right now that it's just plain sad. I know someone has to lose, but they're not even doing anything to make his character look good. At least, to some extent, even though he loses a lot, Matt Stryker has some appeal. Sort of. But Shannon Moore is just...

Let's put it this way. If Shannon Moore was never in WCW, WWE or TNA then you would watch his matches in ECW and just think "Man, what a jobber!". You know he's not just a jobber because he's got history, but is WWE ever trying to take that away from him and make us forget!

Maybe Shannon Moore should have kept his schedule open more after WWE released him and he went to TNA. Maybe he should have just stayed in TNA. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut while in the new ECW. Whatever the case though, Shannon Moore is being dug down into a ditch I see it hard for him to ever get out of with any sort of credibility again.

And then on the other side of the coin, you just have Sabu who is being made to look great while in the new ECW without having to go through a match and put his body through so much hell.

Funny how the two men in this match share such similar styles but such opposite roles in the new ECW right now. Oh well. Here is to a better time when we can see these guys really shine together!

Match Of The Week: 10.07.06.

October 9th, 2006.
WWE RAW
Ric Flair vs. Nick "Mitch" Mitchell of the Spirit Squad

For the second straight week, RAW takes the title. But how could it not? Ric Flair was challenging Mitch of the Spirit Squad. However, you know the other four members would have been at ring side as well. This was certain to be an unfair fight.

So what does Ric Flair do? He calls out "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. But that's still only 2 against 5. So out come Ted Dibiase and I.R.S. (known together as Money Inc.) And then to make things completely even, here comes Double A- Arn Anderson.

This is yet another perfect example of what WWE needs to be doing more while they need to be doing pretty much everything else less. The new DX is stupid. That crap won't fly with me, even as "nostalgia". But Money Inc.? That's some good nostalgia!

Even though the group of legends bested the younger heels on this night, it still makes the Spirit Squad better for it. This is how they get what is referred to commonly in the wrestling industry as "rub". And I don't care if you're Shawn Michaels or HHH. That DX-Spirit Squad feud lasted far too long for my tastes. But for Mitch to be able to one day say he wrestled Ric Flair... Or for Ken Doane to be able to say he stood beside Roddy Piper... Or for Jonny Jeter to say he and I.R.S. had lunch... Or... Well, you get the point, right?

This is what WWE needs to do once in a while. A surprise legend return is never a bad thing. Remember when Jake "The Snake" Roberts showed up on RAW randomly one night? These types of things always tend to become the talk of the town the next day and rightfully so.

It would be bad to over do it, but I still feel that WWE could do it more now than they have been lately and get away with it.

Match Of The Week: 09.30.06.

October 2nd, 2006.
WWE RAW
Carlito vs. Randy Orton

While this may not have been the most technically sound match of the week or even a great match overall, it still served its purpose and it served it well.

At some point in time some of the older veterans in WWE are going to have to step aside and let the younger guys through. Guys like Shawn Michaels, HHH and The Undertaker will all soon be known and thought of only as legends of the past and not part of the current roster. Not all too long ago someone said that the Randy Orton-Shelton Benjamin matches were like the Steve Austin-Rock matches of their time. I think/hope that a Randy Orton-Carlito could do the same, if not more.

There are only so many legendary rivalries and feuds that can exist. Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage. Big John Studd vs. Andre the Giant. Terry Funk vs. Mick Foley. Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven. And a handful of others. But when all is said and done, I'd love for Randy Orton and Carlito to both be part of something like that, so why not together?

Randy Orton is a third generation WWE superstar, while Carlito is second generation. They both have the legacy behind them. They both have the skills as well. Carlito could very easily be the next Chris Jericho- in the sense that even if he is playing a heel certain people will still cheer for him.

This was more than just a pay-per-view rematch. This was history in the making. Along with Shelton Benjamin, who I mentioned earlier, and others, Randy Orton and Carlito are the future of this business. And don't anyone ever forget that.

The Stats: 10

After every ten entries (matches), I'm going to update the rankings as far as how many times someone has appeared in MMOTW. Since we have only had ten matches so far, this isn't going to be the biggest or best list, but it's mostly just for future reference. Here we go.

1] Samoa Joe (2)
Raven (2)
Abyss (2)
K.C. James (2)
Paul London (2)
Sabu (2)

2] Gregory Helms (1)
Matt Hardy (1)
Brian Kendrick (1)
Aaron "Idol" Stevens (1)
Ashley Massaro (1)
Michelle McCool (1)
Brother Runt (1)
Rob Van Dam (1)
Kurt Angle (1)
Justin Credible (1)
C.M. Punk (1)
Rhino (1)

Match Of The Week: 09.23.06.

September 28th, 2006.
TNA Impact!
Samoa Joe vs. Raven

This is the tenth post I've made on this blog for My Match Of The Week. Pretty exciting I guess. Especially since it's kind of weird to think I've been doing this for ten weeks now.

Samoa Joe vs. Raven is a match that meant a lot to me for two reasons. Sure, it had its strange ending, but Samoa Joe is just being booked so well in TNA right now it's scary. You look at guys like Jeff Jarrett, Sting and Christian and you think, "Who's writing their stories?" You look at the whole X-Division thing with Kevin Nash and you think, "Someone actually got paid to write that??" But with Samoa Joe... He's just this huge, unstoppable monster and he never misses a beat. He's never really shown weakness. And everyone he faces looks better because of it.

My second reason for loving this match is because it features Samoa Joe (One of my current favorite wrestlers) and Raven (One of my all-time favorite wrestlers). C.M. Punk once feuded with Raven, but I don't think Samoa Joe ever did. The options this opens up are just wonderful. It's somewhat like a dream match to me.

Coming fresh off of a PPV win over current TNA Champion Jeff Jarrett (Yeah, a main event match was non-title... This is why you don't get buyrates, TNA), Samoa Joe stole the belt from him. During this match, Joe and Raven just brutalized each other. It all ended though when Brother Runt came out and helped Samoa Joe get the win (Unbeknownst to Joe, of course) When Samoa Joe saw The Former Spike Dudley standing in the ring it just became priceless. Brother Runt decided to not only do the stare down, but then also slap Samoa Joe across the face. Needless to say, this got Spike Dudley into a world of hurt. Abyss then entered (Who is part of the storyline with Raven and Runt) and Joe quickly cleared the ring of him as well in top ECW era Taz fashion. As Joe left the carnage behind him, Jim Cornette approached him and said he had to give the title back. Joe told him something to the effect of, "If he wants it, he can come and take it", though Joe really said that to the effect of Jarrett and Sting. That was also cool because Samoa Joe is constantly playing the role of tweener. He's booked (most of the time) as a heel, yet he gets more cheers than some of the top babyfaces in TNA. Sure, there are still TNA fans that don't like or agree with Samoa Joe, but it's hard not to hear a "Joe Is Gonna Kill You" chant. Joe calling out Jeff Jarrett right there would have been a great face move, since Jarrett is the biggest heel in TNA. But adding Sting to that- one of TNA's biggest faces- just helps him to continue to blur that line between good and evil. For that, I love Samoa Joe and how his character in TNA is developing.

This also reminds me to an extent of early era ECW in general. I remember The Sandman stole the ECW Title belt from Raven, and Raven went to Tod Gordon and said he wanted it back. Gordon told Raven something to the effect of "This is ECW... If you want it, go and take it!" So maybe Samoa Joe is more like The Sandman. He just needs the singapore cane. Unless you consider his fists his singapore cane. Hmm. "My Fists Are My Cane". Sound like a good shirt idea? Nah, I didn't think so either.

Match Of The Week: 09.16.06.

September 22nd, 2006.
WWE Friday Night Smack Down!
Gregory Helms (WWE Cruiserweight Champion) vs. Matt Hardy
Non-Title Match

There wasn't too much to talk about in terms of wrestling matches this week. Another typical RAW with no match really standing out. TNA had their "go home" show with their PPV on the horizon. And ECW has even been slipping as of late for whatever reason. The only wrestling show aside from TNA Impact (When they're not the week before a PPV) that seems to have good matches any more is Smack Down!. It's kind of sad, but good as well I suppose.

This week's match is one that makes great sense to me. Gregory Helms left RAW after dropping his "Hurricane" gimmick and quickly captured the Cruiserweight Title on Smack Down!. Since that time, he has been slowly looking for a good feud it seems. It looked as if he was going to originally be put into a feud with Super Crazy and Psicosis, but then Super Crazy disappeared and eventually appeared again only on RAW. Who knows why Psicosis was never given the singles push.

At the same time, Matt Hardy has been stuck in a rut since returning to the WWE and feuding with Edge briefly. While rumors run rampant of Matt Hardy reuniting with his brother Jeff, I'd much rather see him stay a singles wrestler. Like so many before them have done (Most recently, Rey Mysterio comes to mind) Matt Hardy and Gregory Helms can use this golden opportunity (pun intended) to work their way up the proverbial ladder and perhaps a U.S. Title or even down the line a World Title push.

Both Matt Hardy and Gregory Helms have great athletic ability. They can work solid matches with a similar, yet different, style which really is what wrestling is all about to me. It's not too flashy and high risk all the time, but it's not so boring either. It's like a cross between Hulk Hogan and A.J. Styles to see these two work matches and I think that's where WWE should look right now. In fact, to some extent they are, as they push Super Crazy on RAW, The HooliganZ are Smack Down!'s Tag Team Champions and so on and so forth. These two really do bring out the best in each other and I felt for this reason- and reasons of the match specifically- this deserves the nod this time around.

(Photo courtesy of WWE.com)