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4.22.2008

TNT: Cutting Edge Entertainment

Not only was this show packed with wrestling, four matches, it would also see the ECW debut of the Cutting Edge. The Cutting Edge is one of those Piper’s Pit type shows that hardly ever disappoints. There is always action, and it always works with a storyline.

Raw’s main event had Edge pin Kane for the finish, so tonight’s Cutting Edge was sure to deliver. Other than the Cutting Edge, everyone’s second favorite Jamaican was taking on everyone’s favorite blond black dude, as well as Kelly X2 and TD taking on Mike Knox and Layla. Morrison was handling a Wang, and Mark Henry was taking on Nunzio.

The opening match was a very short match, with Kelly pinning Layla. One thing that I took from this, that didn’t really include the match was the fact that Triple H can never take Mike Knox’s finish. If he did, his incredibly large schnoz would no doubt be smashed.

With the way that Kelly X2 was selling Dreamer’s beat down, something tells me that she will take a liking to Colin Delaney in the future. Maybe not, but I have that feeling. Through the first eleven minutes of the show there were no Mike-Up’s to report, but don’t worry, I’ll get to that, but I will commend him on a mistake free eleven minutes.

Mad props to Tazz on his wardrobe selection this week, his sunglasses matched his shirt, and there aren’t many guys that can do that. One guy that could though would be Tha Tuesday Night Delight Johnny Morrison. When I said earlier he’d be handling a Wang, I was wrong, the Wang handled him.

I thought Morrison and Wang Yang put on a very solid match for the time they were given. Like I said last week, John Morrison has what it takes to get to the top, and dude is so athletic that it’s scary. AJ Styles impresses with the Spiral Tap, but Morrison hits the same move from a split legged moonsault drop.

I also said that last week Miz is improving. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not to mid-card level yet, but I do think he’s getting better. He did much better on commentary than I expected, but what I didn’t like was the fact that he and Morrison are teasing a split. Not yet dammit, just not yet.

Tag teams are making a comeback, and other than the separate entrances (except for tonight) they are a very good team to have in that division. Their Dirt Sheet segment is actually pretty entertaining, and if you have time one or two of them is worth watching.

The backstage segment with Kofi Kingston and Shelton Benjamin has potential to build a feud. It probably will not do that, but it could. Shelton Benjamin so desperately needs to get a 12 gauge and blow a whole in that damn glass ceiling so he can get through it.

Shelton Benjamin is one of those guys that has both the look and the ability but he never got far on the mic. That won’t take you far past the IC title, and we’ve seen just that with Shelton. While I still maintain that Kofi Kingston’s character isn’t going to last long as is, it’ll need something else, he's over.

Mike-Up#1, “Jamaican me crazy Kofi Kingston,” in a Jamaican accent, that’s just bad. I’m not sure who that really entertained, but Miz said it, Tazz said it, and then asked Adamle to say it. Somebody backstage loved it. Probably Vince or Hayes, but Hayes is evidently on some shit because he's suspended for 60 days.

Kofi gets a good pop, that I won’t argue, but he’s just the typical new babyface that everyone gets behind. It’ll die down, unless of course he has more matches like he had tonight. The second and third matches on tonight’s ECW were insanely solid.

I wrote in an article a long time ago that the E could rebound if they’d build a solid mid-card and use that and slowly elevate guys to the main. They are doing that with Kofi, Shelton, Punk, and some others, and they are taking baby steps, baby steps work too people.

The Mark Henry/Guido match was yet another squash. Squash matches are fine, they’re wonderful. Just don’t squash a guy on your regular roster. That’s why there are local Indies. You can’t tell me that there aren’t 150 Indy workers dying for that spot and exposure.

Ten to God I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of Doritos and a Mountain Dew, came back and Mark Henry was smothering Nunzio and the bell was ringing. Don’t know what happened, but I know it was a squash. What happened with Mark Henry? I know Big V got sent home to lose weight, but could Henry not be managed by Stryker and in the same spot?

So Mike Adamle didn’t commit any unforgivable Mike-Up’s this week. At least he didn’t right before Edge and the Edge-heads made their entrance. Mike-Up #2, Jack Ryder, while on the subject of Hawkins and Ryder, it’s nice to see that they’re coming into their own and gaining an identity and not wearing Edge’s logo.

When Edge introduced Kane, I was hoping he’d refer back to last summer when Kane tore Edge’s pec in the Mardi-Gras bash. As a guy who has always been a Kane mark I must say it’s nice to see Kane have a “world” title around his waist for more than 24 hours.

I love consistency, that’s no mystery. Edge and Kane playing up the Kane's parents angle from years ago. One of the best quotes in recent wrestling history was Edge saying, “Let’s face it Kane, your life sucks,” not to mention the fact that Edge brought up the mask and that the scars were fake.

The reason I love that so much is the fact that now they can make “real” scars for Kane to put the mask back on. The fact that Edge and Kane do have a relatively long “wrestling history,” made this even better, and the fact that they played that up was perfect. Edge actually did bring up the injury angle, and thanked Kane for the allowing the Vickie relationship to happen. Kane sold that perfectly I might add.

I mean this honestly, Edge is one of the best heels in the business today. You can bring up Jeff Jarrett, Triple H, JBL, and Randy Orton all you want. The only heel that draws a consistent heat like that is Orton and JBL. Triple H has been a face for the better part of two years, and Jarrett wasn’t a heel, he was an older blonder X-Pac.

While I’m on the subject of the Cutting Edge though I’d like to mention the fact that for all the shit most people give Chavo he’s still very good at what he does. He is also becoming a believable higher level heel. He may never reach that main event status with the fans, but I’m glad he is there on the card. Chavito deserves his run.

This week’s edition of ECW on Sci-Fi was head and shoulders above last week. No doubt that Mike Adamle has already improved in a week’s time. He’s no Joey Styles, but he’s no Don West either. Maybe with more development he can be a good play-by-play guy.

DJB’s What to Watch:
Dreamer & Kelly X2 vs. Layla & Knox >>
John Morrison vs. Jimmy Wang Yang
Shelton Benjamin vs. Kofi Kingston
The Cutting Edge

Tha Results…
*Kelly & Dreamer def. Layla & Mike Knox
*Jimmy Wang Yang def. John Morrison
*Kofi Kingston def. Shelton Benjamin
*Mark Henry def. Nunzio


14 comments: on "TNT: Cutting Edge Entertainment"

Anonymous said...

i have to correct you the ecw debut of the cutting edge was not tonight there was another one with cm punk as the guest

Anonymous said...

Pyro said...
Good article, and that just goes to show that good shows produce better articles. If you're given nothin' you can't give much back.

I thought Jimmy Wang Yang and John Morrison had a really, really good match on ECW and you're dead on about Morrison. He's not 6'5, but he's really muscular and athletic to boot, and I think that one day he can be up there with Orton or somewhere around that spot.

Benjamin and Kingston had a really good match as well, but I'm with you on the side that unless Kofi has stellar match after stellar match, his character as is is going to fall flat within the next few months. How hard is it for Shelton Benjamin to get a streak going?

The only thing I can say for the squashes is that they're still trying to gain legitamacy for the guys doing it. Everyone knows Nunzio/Guido so if Henry squashes him, Henry gains some credibility. I don't agree with it, and I'm sure that you'd agree that that's the train of thought the bookers are using.

What are you talking about about Micheal Hayes though? Did I miss something?

As far as the Cutting Edge, I think that's one of the 5 best non-wrestling match segments that Iv'e seen in some time be it TNA/Raw/SmackDown/ECW. I'll also agree with your take on current heels. Jeff Jarrett had X-Pac heat, and no matter how good he was he'll just never be a guy who stays over for that long. I remember the people chanting "please retire" and "drop the title" from inside the iMPACT zone and maybe even the asylum but i dont think it was the asylum, because his matches were so overbooked it overshadowed his abilities. H has been a face for a long time now, and while JBL maintains heat it's a different kind, he automatically gets it(but not X-Pac style) just because his character. Edge and Orton make you give it to them, while JBL just pulls it in.

This was the Cutting Edge debut on ECW to my knowledge. I dont think Edge/Punk had a cutting edge segment, I think it was just an in-ring non-match confrontation. Speaking of Punk and Edge they'll be wrestling on SmackDown this Friday. Those two put on hellagood matches so no matter who wins/loses or if its a scmoz it'll be worth watching.

Anonymous said...

no jaimes right, there was one with punk. youtube it.

i really loved shelton and kofi together shit was amazing, especially that flip shelton did in the corner.

i agree miz is improving. i loved the way he made fun of mike adamle about his last weeks commentary thats what probably made him mess up again.

Anonymous said...

when was that cuttin edge...i just youtubed it and apparently it was last winter...idont remember that...how come wwe hyped it ass the debut...why do they always do that shit

D.J.B. said...

It was January 16 of this year. Thanks Jamie. Blame the propaganda machine.

Yes Pyro I agree with what you're saying, but I just think that having them squash an indy guy saves someone else some face. Have them squash an indy team or something. You're right, but I just don't like it.

Sheets broke last night that Michael Hayes was suspended for 60 thats right SIXTY days and details should be released later. No clue what it means, or if it's Meltzer bullshit, but I saw it and figured I'd throw it in.

As far as Benjamin...I have no idea why they cant keep him with a consistent push.

Downtown said...

Apparently, at a party back in Orlando, Hayes approached Mark Henry and said "I'm more of a n!%%er than you". Classy move PS.

D.J.B. said...

What a douche. He was drunk...go fuckin figure. Piece of assmeat...I bet the black prophet is steaming, I mean that literally, there is probably steam coming off of him.

Andrew Gray said...

Too bad the fed doesn't have a policy of publicly announcing suspensions for being racist.

D.J.B. said...

The don't, and they tried to keep it quiet. That shit didn't work. There are assholes all over, just put him in the list as all the others.

Anonymous said...

lol hayes probably said nigga and not nigger. he was drinking with mvp so hes down with the brother. i doubt hes racist, he does loves r and b.
oh well

D.J.B. said...

Annymus #10, while I know that he's down with MVP, it's the fact that he was drunk and said it. Some argue it's all about situation, some context, some the word period.

Either way, this time it was just wrong, and stupid. It was wropid.

Anonymous said...

At least three "Fire Mike Adamle" signs were confiscated by security prior to tonight's SmackDown/ECW taping in Greensboro, N.C., reports ProWrestling.NET.

Lots of people read djb column last week.

Unknown said...

I'm sure Hayes meant no ill will, and I can see a context where he thought it'd be funny. Thing is, we live in a touchy, feely, wipe my pussy generation, and you just can't say stuff that would've been nothing 30 years ago.

Or hell, maybe Mark done everyone a solid, caught PS in a situation that could get him out of the locker room and ran with it all the way to the office.

And considering how old school Michael Hayes is, im sure he used the -er.

Andrew Gray said...

It would be one thing if Hayes and Mark were tight, and Mark was OK with it - but clearly he wasn't. Smart move by the WWE. They can't have anyone on their roster, especially someone in a position of power, setting that kind of poor example.