Match Of The Week: 11.18.06.

November 21st, 2006.
ECW on Sci-Fi.
C.M. Punk vs. Kevin Thorn

On the whole, this week didn't offer too much in the form of good wrestling matches. Both WWE RAW and Smack Down! had their go-home shows before Survivor Series. RAW was really less than awful, you know, it just sunk to new lows of how bad it could be. It just seems to be getting worse as the weeks go on. Smack Down! on the other hand had a few decent matches. Gregory Helms' non-title victory over Jimmy Wang Yang was all right. Brian Kendrick vs. William Regal was good as well, if not just for being a copy of Regal's match with London the week before.

TNA also had a decent Impact at best, but for their second week in prime time, they better step it up and stop with the bogus finishes if they expect to compete with WWE.

I chose this match for two simple reasons. #1: I really like the match itself-- the wrestling and stuff I mean. #2: I really like the two guys in it. C.M. Punk is one of my favorite wrestlers within all of WWE right now. Kevin Thorn is someone who had a failed gimmick as Mordecai, was released and then came back to what I feel is just an awesome gimmick as a vampire-like guy now.

This match also had a traditional ECW catfight in it between Kelly Kelly and Ariel (Shelly Martinez). Aside from Melina Perez and Mickie James (Alexis Laree), my favorite diva within all of WWE (Aside from Trinity of course) has to be Ariel. So my hope is that maybe- just maybe- C.M. Punk can admit that Kelly Kelly is a slut who urinates in hotel sinks while drunk and instead he's going to side with Ariel. Putting those two together... Would just be sweet.

But, of course, WWE writing just isn't that great.

A match I was hoping either man would win, though I kind of knew deep down inside the undefeated streak of C.M. Punk couldn't come to an end just yet. That's why this was the best match of the week. Plain and simple.

Match Of The Week: 11.11.06.

November 17th, 2006.
WWE Friday Night Smack Down!
Paul London vs. William Regal

Another week, another awful edition of RAW. TNA actually had some great contenders for Match Of The Week in their two hour prime time special, especially when Rhino and Christian Cage fought in a barbed wire steel cage. Smack Down! also had some decent matches other than this one, most noted was MVP and Kane in a street fight.

But I think the reason I chose this match was because both Paul London and William Regal have such great wrestling styles, and they aren't even really anywhere near the same. This just made for an awesome match.

Plus, even though Dave Taylor is now on the injured list, this could help some sort of tag team feud between the two teams, which just helps the tag team division on a whole and, well, that's never a bad thing.

This week was better than last week for wrestling, but this match still stands out on top because Paul London = ratings.

Match Of The Week: 11.04.06.

November 7th, 2006.
ECW on Sci-Fi.
C.M. Punk vs. Mike Knox - Extreme Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match

While the photo from this match is for the week after when ECW was actually in England, it just goes to show that this really was a great match since they had a rematch the following week.

If I had my choice, I wouldn't have had the Mike Knox-C.M. Punk feud end like this though. I would have put Punk against someone like Rene Dupree and Knox against Balls Mahoney and then put them in the Extreme Elimination Chamber together. But none the less, C.M. Punk continues his undefeated streak and has bested Mike Knox in their feud not once but twice now since the time I am typing this.

There actually wasn't much else to choose from for this week anyway. TNA had an all right show going into their two hour special and pay-per-view, but no real Match Of The Week contender. Smack Down! was okay, if not just the same old, so I kind of enjoyed it but not enough to actually pick out a winner. And RAW, well... RAW just had some awful matches on it including Maria vs. Umaga. Just crazy, crazy stuff.

This match is important though because C.M. Punk is going into the Extreme Elimination Chamber undefeated. He will either have to be pinned or submit in order for him to not walk out of there the new ECW Champion. Just think about that, because it's a great feeling indeed.

Match Of The Week: 10.28.06.

November 3rd, 2006.
WWE Friday Night Smack Down!
Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. K.C. James & Aaron "Idol" Steven (Non-Title Match)



I'd be lying if I didn't say that I thought every show this week had a match worthy of being My Match Of The Week.

While A.J. Styles was fighting Chris Sabin on TNA Impact, as well as Robert Roode fighting Christopher Daniels, both had typical finishes with Styles and Daniels winning. Yawn. These matches looked so much better on paper.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito vs. Johnny Nitro was definitely the highlight of RAW, but sadly none of these three men can seem to climb over whatever obstacle WWE has placed in their way that seems to give them that "stuck on the proverbial treadmill to nowhere" stage.

Even Kevin Thorne vs. Sabu had some interest during ECW on Sci-Fi Tuesday night. I almost thought Kevin Thorne would somehow win- and I was kind of cheering for him- and Sabu would either somehow find another way to get into the Extreme Elimination Chamber or just fight someone else at December To Dismember. But, no, Thorne took the loss and life went on as per normal.

The match of the week for this week was simply the Smack Down! Tag Team Champions (London & Kendrick) vs. James & Stevens. I really enjoyed the finish. Spanky hit Sliced Bread # 2, then crouched down and London did a moonsault off of Spanky's back for the pinfall. It was a pretty basic, clean pinfall victory. I expected James & Stevens to win so they'd be in line for a title shot, but now that looks less likely. I mean, if they can't win a non-title match, how can they win the titles? So not only was the ending visually impressive, but it also sets the stakes for another tag team on Smack Down! to step up, since The HooliganZ have been seemingly beating everyone else who gets in their way.

Match Of The Week: 10.21.06.

October 23, 2006.
WWE Monday Night RAW
Mickie James vs. Melina Perez (Women's Title Tournament)

While a lot else may have been seemingly going on this week in wrestling, this match was hands down the winner for me.

When Melina Perez first burst onto the scene as the manager of Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury (Collectively known as MNM), I was immediately impressed. She was so much of what the typical, current WWE diva was not. She had this intensity, real character and just didn't seem so fake and plastic like pretty much every other diva on the WWE roster at the time. It was kind of odd, because she was representing someone who was pretty much a shallow, Hollywood actress type. Yet, she seemed to be one of the few women with an actual character. I mean, she wasn't some bleached blonde bimbo who had breast implants and was out on television for the T&A Show. She was a manager. A vallet. She represented something respectable women should do in wrestling.

Some time later, Alexis Laree (Who had made fame in ROH under the same name) came up to the RAW roster under the name "Mickie James". She immediately became my second favorite diva on the WWE roster because, well, she was Alexis Laree. A sassy young firestarter who could fight. Though when she came up, Melina Perez seemed less than excited. Melina posted something somewhere to the extent that even though Mickie James appeared to be copying Trish Stratus on television, Laree was really copying Melina in real life.

The seeds were planted and it seemed like this was a match made in heaven.

Some time passed before Melina found herself on RAW the first time. Though she was looking toward Mickie James, she actually ended up in a smaller program with Trish Stratus. After going back to Smack Down!, an MNM break up and then Johnny Nitro showing up on RAW with Melina, we finally got the match I'd be waiting seemingly forever to happen.

While it wasn't on the grandest of stages, I really hope they decide to have a bigger, longer rematch at a pay-per-view or maybe even Wrestlemania. I don't know if the legit heat is still there or not, but it doesn't even matter at this point. I just want to see these two fight each other more. They're like the Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas of the Women's Division.