For those of you who don't like to be spoiled, please note, this live review contains some of the happenings of SD for Dec 12th.  Those who do like to be spoiled, read on ;-).   

The SD part of the Bridgeport show began with HHH almost making it to the ring before Jeff Hardy attacked him.  This was a nice bit of wrestling, eventually involving Ickie Guerrero, Chavo and a battalion of refs.  The crowd's favorite part? When Ickie got knocked on her keister as HHH shoved a mound of refs out of the way to get to Jeff.  Should put her back in a wheelchair for another couple of months at least.  The only drawback to this whole episode was the number of "earlier tonight" cuts it provided the Titantron (Note to Creative: the 'Tron's gettin' a little too much tv time.)  

We then rumbled into a fairly forgettable ECW.  Highlight moments included Morrison & Miz's defeat of Jimmy Wang Yang & Kung Fu naki, with some wicked high flyer moves from both teams.  If you can't appreciate the height JWY gets off the ropes on tv, you sure as H do live! The Miz continued his Charlie Haas-turn by mimicking KFn brilliantly and drew a nice laugh.  The Finlay/Mark Henry and attendants match should go over better on the screen.  The crowd was totally into Finlay's brawler style and of course, Hornswoggle got a rave for his tadpole splash.  However, Finlay's Son-saving martyr moment fell a bit flat and ended an otherwise sweet match on a bit of a bland note.  

Asides: the Boogeyman's back.  Composters everywhere have noticed the decreased worm supply.  His wrestling belongs in their pile.  Oh well, at least he's organic :-).  And Kozlov attacked Tommy Dreamer in a "Things That Make You Say 'What the Falkland Islands?!' " moment.  

 On to Smackdown...eventually! Edge hosted his Cutting Edge show, inviting Matt Hardy in to chat.  It ended as his show generally does, with Edge doing his best Hussein Bolt impersonation and Kozlov, who apparently no longer waits for matches, attacking Matt (talk about Russian roulette!), although not before Matt managed to get a good shot or two in on Edge.  

We were "treated" to Khali destroying the newly resurrected Hawkins and Ryder (waiting for them to change names again...and also for Khali to kiss them, but that didn't happen ;-) ) as well as to the Doublemint twins beating Natalya and Maryse.  The latter two make quite a nice team.  Natalya, as usual, worked her butt off.  She does so well with what she's given, but its really a waste of talent for her to be jobbing to the Pink n' Pretty's. Crowd loved them winning, though.

MVP lost yet again and was taunted by Mr. Kennedy, who I have never liked.  I'm always waiting for him to blow out a tonsil.  However, the Kennedy-Kennedy thing really goes over much better live than on tv and the dude is definitely charismatic.   

The HHH and Hardy match fell a bit shy of its build-up (possibly because the build up was inescapable), but still was definitely one of the highlights of the night.  The two were in and out of the ring half a dozen times.  Whisper in the Wind still rocks out of sight.  It is AWESOME live! Armageddon should be sweet.  

The night concluded with a dark match between BS and Taker, which absolutely topped the night. (Overall, the crowd was pretty luke warm,  with just a few explosions (pyro excepted ;-) ).  It involved a rather rickety steel cage, which looked as if you could huff-and-puff it over, and a rare bit of comedy from the Deadman, who began the match by getting up in BS's face at the outset and being slapped for his trouble, at which he turned not a hair, but followed it with his signature right.  The crowd was well into his chokeslam victory, even though BS still gets quite a positive reaction as a heel.  I still think he should be a face giant, but I won't hold my breath or anything heavy waiting for it.  Taker stalked off, looking a bit glad the night was over...and the night was over.

(c) BE 2008

So, the Chimp is back! No wait..that's not right.  The Chump...no that's not it either.  Oh right - the Champ is back! Welcome back, John..stay creative! (Well, what do you want me to say? It's great to have him back, but another loooooooooong title run would, at this point, be about wrung out of drama.  I'm not sure how long he can keep the Voice of the People thing going..although if anyone can pull that off, he can.) Side note: I like seeing Kane as part of this band of robber barons that's going after Cena's title)  

 I'm interested to watch the ramifications of Michelle's heel turn.  It's gonna be kind of hard to pull off Ms. Lovin-Faith-Heart-and-Soul as a heel, ain't it? And what was that thing she threw at Maria after her 2nd failed pin attempt?  Please tell me it wasn't supposed to be an uppercut.  There's nothing like a good uppercut...and that was nothing like one. Meanwhile, the Doublemint Twins are the flavor of the month.  Good thing there's two of them - they may be the only face divas left pretty soon. Of course, being cheaters and faces at the same time is also a difficult sell.  Gotta chew that one over.  O Natalya, where art thou?  

Question for Miz: Chicks dig him what? A trench? A hole? Anything to hide those pants! :-) Though I must say his impersonation of Festus was spot on and one of the brightest moments on recent Smackdown (don't remind me what a sad commentary that is!)  

What's with Raw and the family issues anyway? Stephanie's got brother troubles.  HBK needs the money.  Jericho's fighting for his son. Doesn't anyone wrestle for the love of it anymore? ;-) Although, I'm still impressed with Batista.  He is walking such a nice line of being a good guy, staying charming, suave and ice cool while still kicking a$$.  That's a hard balance to maintain and he's nailing it.  Once again, a Tip of the Stetson goes to the Animal.  

Actually two TotS's...the second one goes to the Undertaker for the ca-raaazy leg drop off the ropes in the Steel Cage match.  That was SD's #1 moment - the first thing that's made me say "holy sh**" in weeks. Big kudos to the Deadman.  One more reason why I love him.

(c) BE 2008

Recently, there's been a raging debate on a website I frequent as to what condition the UT is in and whether he is better or worse now than he used to be.  Its been quite an incendiary topic, but that's because its one of those questions that has either no answer or both answers and either way you answer leaves the question unanswered .

Of course it is obvious that Taker's age and injuries have made a difference in the way he performs now compared to when he started.  That's a given with any athlete.  Any long-term performer necessarily makes changes to preserve their advantage. But herein lies the debate: who is the better performer - the guy who has the athleticism or the guy who has the wisdom? Of course, there's another variable: the guy who has both.  But for most athletes, that happens for only a short part of their career and only if they're lucky and hard-working. And you almost always gain more wisdom after you're out of power, at least if you want to stay competitive.  For the time being, let's leave that possibility out of our debate.  So who is the better pitcher: Bret Saberhagen or Joba Chamberlain? Joba has the power.  Saberhagen, at the end of his career, wasn't gonna blow anyone away.  Joba can.  But Joba still has issues locating his fast ball.  And guys can figure out his timing.  When they do, they can beat him.  Saberhagen could still beat you without power, because he knew how to mix his pitches and keep hitters off-balance.  Who is the better rider: the talented green kid who can sit on a raging buck? Or the Old Master, who sits on much less of a buck because he foresaw it and made adjustments to minimize it?

There are only two answers: a) you can't compare because they are apples and oranges or b) they are both good, but in different ways.  Neither response really resolves the question.  But I'm a glass-half-full kind of girl and I was taught to think "both/and" not "either/or".  So my answer is both.  The UT we watch today may not quite compare in height of moves, in extension, in hyperbolic execution to the UT we've seen before. But he is smarter, savvier, better at psychology and infinitely superior at using those strengths to his advantage.  Is he equally enjoyable to watch? That one has a definitive answer: hell freakin' yeah.

(c) BE 2008

If the SD's only been run on TV within 10 days, can I still talk about it? ;-) Ok..gonna combine a couple of weeks here.  For starters, many thanks to JR for handing me the biggest laugh of the night last week when he informed us that Triple H had physically intervened.  Right...as opposed to all those times when he spiritually intervened.  Thanks for the clarification, Jim.  

 On the subject of laughs, I love..as in love MVP on the kiss cam - that's some of the best wrestling I've seen him do lately!  Maybe a mixed tag match is what he needs :-) More seriously, MVP is another talent I think gets underused; he's wicked fun to watch, he's athletic, he sells brilliantly (don't believe me? Watch this year's No Way Out), and he can be a heck of a comedian, yet he's always stuck in the same storyline: blathering about his contract.  I sometimes think that contract killed his career (btw, who is his agent - Scott Boras? ;-) ).  I'd love to see MVP in a high profile feud that didn't involve bling.  

Sorry, but I'm having a witchy moment re: divas.  Yeah, I picked MM to win.  Yeah, I picked up the $2.50 return for my buck, but ya know, sometimes I hate being right.  Seriously, she's done nothing for the last two months.  Nothing to advance the prestige of the Divas title.  Nothing to impress the h*ll out of me (like before the GAB when she was facing Natalya).  Nothing.  If that's all that's going to happen during her reign, give the belt to somebody else.  She was supposed to carry the belt with pride and bring dignity to it.  Well, the carrying part we've seen (hard to hip shake w/ 15 pounds around your waist, ain't it?)  But as for making me respect the title, sorry...no.  I don't think any better of the butterfly belt than I did the day it debuted: a lot like a Victoria's Secret store: a little too nauseatingly pink, a little too suggestive of who you're sleeping with and not enough of who you're slapping around.  And now, who is left for the All-American girl next downer to face? She's beaten most of the divas in miniscule matches that meant nothing.  This does nothing but make the Diva division look weak.  Intelligent.  Really brilliant.  That's the way to bolster ratings!  If the Divas division is going to keep earning respect, that title needs to stand for something and mean something more than a cute smile.  (To ruminate upon: how come dudes always end up attacking MM? First Chuck Palumbo, now Festus...what gives?)

Hopping off my collapsible footstool, its really nice to see Kane getting a higher profile feud (not so nice to see him lose to Mysterio though).  As I've said before, I love Kane and I'm waiting for him to get a belt again. Don't care if he has to go evil to do it. He's one of the few who can make evil hilarious..maybe that should be hellarious..wink.  

And speaking of higher profiles, I really like seeing so much of Jeff Hardy.  First, I just plain a$$ love so many opportunities to watch him do Whisper in the Wind.  Second, he's so close to climbing that one last rung he needs; I hope he gets it done.  The feud with Triple H was good; I'd love to see a lengthy one with the Undertaker.  Not only would working with UT be great for Jeff in terms of polish, but if it keeps giving us matches of the caliber we saw last SD, they can keep it going straight through 'til Wrestlemania and I'll watch!

  Side note to Kozlov...sweetie, on the mic, make sure your "w's" sound like 'v'.  That's how Russians do it. Speciba.  

(c) BE 2008

It has been obvious in recent weeks that the technical quality of the matches in WWE has escalated.  This has been attributed to a new iniative by the company to add more realistic moves and details to its program.  As an idea, I like it.  Especially with the booming popularity of MMA, it seems like an appropriate way to generate interest, as well as a viable direction in which to grow sports enertainment.  Although naysayers may argue that this is a step away from the entertainment tradition wrestling has evolved from, there is no great danger of that aspect disappearing.  There is showmanship in technical sports (Frankie Dettori's flying dismount, Willie Mays' basket catch), why not technicality in a showmanship sport?  Not always having moves connect, setting up for one thing and then changing to another gives the feel of more immediacy and greater spontaneity to matches, as well as being engaging to watch.  It offers the potential for those intriguing twists, those differences that make the difference.

The difficulties with incorporating more realism will come in the execution.  One is that very entertainment tradition wrestling wants and needs to retain.  That aspect has always taken a certain precedence over technicality, so moves have been used and sold based on an almost hyper-realistic presentation.  How often have we watched guys like Shawn Michaels or Kane take beating after beating and then somehow miraculously stagger to their feet and gain the upper hand in a match?  This is a bit difficult to reconcile with the idea of one-punch knockout power.  That was the downfall of the Big Show v. Undertaker match at No Mercy.  Even with the exposed turnbuckle, it was practically a 180 degree spin to try to sell the idea that one punch could fell someone like Taker, who has always been able to take such extremes of punishment and still carry on.  It would have worked so much better if Show was facing someone like Evan Bourne.  The contrast of styles, while not utterly unique, would have added depth and underscored the challenges presented in the ring by a guy like B.S. (odd that his acronym works out to that huh? lol), instead of leaving everyone scratching their heads and wondering what in H*** happened to the Undertaker.

Additionally, the viewing audience is quite educated on what these moves should look like and the effects they produce, as a result of the popularity of similar sports.  Consequently, when technical moves are applied, they must be done correctly, in realistic situations and with appropriate results if they are going to be effective for the audience.  This requires knowledge not only on the part of the performers applying the moves, but also those selling it.  Different shades and highlights are necessary and ways to accentuate details.  Triple H did quite a nice job in that respect in his match with the Undertaker two weeks ago on SD.

Finally, it will take some time to experiment with this new pallette and see which moves are effective and which fall flat (after a KO, no doubt ;-).  Just as the jab is an under-used art, the full potential of which has yet to be developed in MMA, so too will the incorporation of  greater realism need to be  explored and amended in order to further the metamorphosis of pro wrestling.

(c) BE 2008