Of all the guest hosts WWE has had, Buzz
Aldrin may be the one with the most historical
significance.
While our Man on the Moon wasn't
involved in
numerous angles, I thought he did a superb job for the angles he was
involved
in.
First, he made sure Vickie Guerrero
wasn't
involved as the general manager, putting his foot down (like he did on
the moon)
and having her escorted out of the building by The Bella Twins.
His news of there being a new Raw GM
next week was
pretty big news. Who? I have no idea. Maybe Stone Cold Steve Austin or
The
Rock?
Buzz's in-ring promo was a little weak
and dorky,
but the man is 80 and I will cut him some slack. I didn't think
Canadians would
care about the U.S. Space Program, but the Canadian space involvement
was
brought into the segment.
It was fun and appropriate to see a
moonwalk by
Buzz.
Kudos to WWE for showing the Buzz
punch on questioning reporter Bart Sibrel. I will link it here:
The angles
1. Bret Hart promo. REACT: It was
smart to lead
off with Bret Hart, seeing how the show was in Canada. Bret did have a
slip-up
when he used the phrase, "WWF headquarters." Oh well. Chris Jericho got
tremendous heat in this entertaining segment that kept my
attention.
2. The "commercials." REACT: OK, so
there weren't
actual commercials, but WWE had commercials of its own. I enjoyed most
of them.
The first one for wweshop.com involving The Great Khali in a small car
and
Hornswoggle in a big car was comical. The DiBiase Jr./R-Truth one not
only
pushed their pay-per-view match, but it was informative. Santino's
segment was
the weakest of the bunch. I didn't get the point. Goldust's date segment
was
bizarre, which was appropriate.
3. Maryse vs. Eve. REACT: Smart to
incorporate
Maryse griping about Trish Stratus, another Canadian. The powder was a
little
lame, but quick and effective.
4. "Toronto needs a impact." REACT:
Not sure how
many of you caught this, but I'll bring it to attention.
The matches
1. Edge beats Christian. REACT: Smart
to lead off
with a match involving two Canadians, and one will say this is a match
we've
been waiting for. This match, which had some superb spear counters, got
good
time. Christian clapping in-match has always annoyed me, but he can get
away
with it as an energetic face.
2. The Undertaker beats Edge by
countout. REACT:
Awesome swerve on what was Randy Orton's Pick Your Poison selection
match for
Edge. While the match didn't last long, it accomplished its purpose --
which was
for Edge to be beaten down, by an Undertaker chokeslam.
3. Mark Henry vs. Batista ends in
no-contest.
REACT: No match, but the point was made with Batista laying Henry out
with a
2x4. It gives Batista momentum for his match Sunday against John
Cena.
4. Ted DiBiase Jr. beats Yoshi Tatsu.
REACT: The big news here was Virgil coming to the ring
with
DiBiase Jr. I admit, I marked out for this, as Virgil is one of my
all-time
favorite characters. Decent match here. I'm interested in how far
DiBiase
Jr. will go with his new image of buying anything he wants or beating it
(the
competition).
5. Bret Hart beats
United States
Champion The Miz. REACT: Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler questioned Bret
wrestling
here, asking why he would want to but then reminding us of his ego. My
question
is, what happens to the belt now that he's the champion. Surely, he
won't be
defending it regularly. I liked the involvement of Vladimir Kozlov,
Wiliam
Regal, The Hart Dynasty, Chris Jericho and Natalya here. I wasn't
expecting a
five-star match, but I was entertained. The ending involving these
wrestlers was
particuarly strong. Kidd had a solid dropkick and clothelsline leading
into the
sharpshooter finisher. What was up with Bret Hart bashing Bret?
6. Maryse/Women's Champion Layla and
Michelle
McCool beat The Bella Twins/Divas Champion Eve. REACT: Fast pace, and
surprisingly strong work by the Bellas.
7. Randy Orton beats Jack Swagger by
disqualification. REACT: Orton sure does get RKO pops. I liked the
finish,
involving an RKO on Swagger and a spear by Edge. Strong PPV push.
8. Evan Bourne/Gail Kim beat Zack
Ryder/Alicia
Fox. REACT: Ryder looked 10-foot tall in the ring against Bourne. Fast,
refreshive pace.
9. WWE Champion John Cena beats
Sheamus by DQ.
REACT: I liked Cena's pre-match promo. He's one of the best. Solid
match.
Batista run-in pushes the PPV. It would have been smart to have Cena
say, "I
quit," as we all know Cena won't say it Sunday.
Final thoughts: Aldrin
did a
respectable job. He wasn't annoying and he was a different host than
most. Funny
how the older hosts (like Bob Barker) get the best grades. The show had
some strong matches, and Bret became a champion again. Strong PPV push,
and
nothing really negative. The grade: B+.
Next week's guest host:
I'm not a
big Jon Lovitz fan, but I'll give him a chance.
LATEST HEADLINES AND MY
REACTS
WWE
The Waterbury Republican-American
reports Linda
McMahon said she creates U.S. jobs but all WWE toys are made in China.
REACT:
Yes, but she does employ many wrestlers.
Jim Ross confirms he has officially
closed JR's
Family BBQ Restaurant. REACT: An economical decision for Ross, who has
new and
interesting things in his future.
TMZ reports charges against Chyna for
allegedly
beating up a female friend in Los Angeles were dismissed due
to insufficient
evidence.
REACT: Good to hear. Chyna has some Ormond Beach roots, although when I
googled
it I couldn't find a thing. I know it's in the JAWBreaker archives
somewhere.
