Best:
Cesaro is really snarky and it rules. I’m worried that it’s going over some people’s heads but I think at the end of the day, it boils down to “He’s from Germany or some shit like that and he doesn’t support the troops.” Plus, he has a European Carry-All so it seems like he’s still getting the heat he needs because REAL MEN DON’T WEAR PURSES.
Worst:
I’ve never understood R-Truth’s character. I used to think he was supposed to be a schizophrenic homeless man but now he comes out in (assumedly) expensive custom jeans and shit so obviously they don’t intend on me viewing him as living on the streets. So, now I’m just confused. I guess he’s just crazy which would explain all of the terrible piercings and the necklace that I wore in 8th grade when I really like Sum 41, but I really feel like it’s wasted potential. Imagine the desperation of a legit crazy homeless man fighting for money to stay alive. That’s a dangerous dude that you should be very afraid of. Instead, it’s squandered and he’s just the guy that says whacky things, randomly dances and talks to an imaginary white kid for some reason.
Best:
Cesaro beating Truth. I know Truth has fallen off a lot but he was main eventing last year’s Survivor Series with The Rock and Cena so Cesaro going over him just raises his stock and that’s awesome. I also love how hard JBL works to get guys over. I’m a fan.
Worst:
Satellite problems. We ordered Survivor Series to the RV we rented for this tour and the satellite cut out for a bit so I missed some of the AJ Vickie promo. Sorry.
Worst:
SHE MEANS BITCH! WHEN SHE SAID RYHMES WITH WITCH, SHE MEANS BITCH. DID YOU GET IT???
Best:
I did like the slobber knocker joke, though. JUDGE ME.
Best:
Cool hair, Vickie. Super excited for you to join The Cure.
Best:
Wait, does this mean there’s TWO programs happening in the Diva’s division? That’s… actually kind of cool. I’ve never been huge on Diva’s matches and the slow-motion rope running but I think AJ has a lot of talent and I think Tamina does too. I’m actually fairly excited to watch them work and to get an added dimension to the story about how two consenting adults maybe having sex is somehow a scandal and the older woman who slaps her employees 100% too often.
Best:
Heyman telling it like it is. Punk didn’t do anything wrong. He took the chances that were in front of him to win. He beat Cena almost every time they’ve met in the last year and a half. I know that he’s supposed to be the cowardly heel and take cheap wins but he’s kind of just doing his job. He’s supposed to win and he wins. He took a chance at a clean pin in the triple threat match. He kept his title on a draw because a draw goes to the champ and Brad Maddox wasn’t his fault. That guy (at least as far as we storyline know right now) operated on his own free will. Also, every time Heyman gets on the mic it’s gold. I sincerely hope we see him as GM of Raw again soon and I hope his first order of business is firing Teddy Long.
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Linking Tyson Kidd to the guy from Storage Wars already makes this a great write-up.
Bravo, Dan!
Anyone else notice that Brandon always misses recapping the best shows? Not that last night was the greatest PPV ever or anything but it was certainly the most interesting in a long time.
Holy cow this was a jampacked edition of Best & Worst. Great work Dan.
I just saw Dolph Ziggler’s sell. He’s not human. That’s the only explanation I can think of.
He’s the alien envoy from mars that sent jack away
*starts the chant* PLEASE COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK!
Great write up, Dan!
I want Sheamus to grow some lambchops and do Ox Baker’s heart punch.
Still pretty surprised and flattered that this column happened. Thanks again, Soup, you’re the best.
Great read
Verified
Was an honor to be asked to write this. I had an amazing time and I hope you all enjoy!
Just finished reading it, awesome write-up! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.
Thanks for writing the column! It was a really fun read!
It was a great read!
I enjoyed the reading of this also!
Well Done. Nice to read someone’s perspective, put through the same format, other then Brandon. Not that he doesn’t do an awesome job, but sometimes I want to hear Kofi Kingston stinks because Buffalo Wild Wings. Also, Sheamus is a total dick. I guess the only reason he stays a face is because WWE needs him to shill merchandise for K-Mart.
I liked this a bunch. Don’t be a stranger, Campbell. Pretty fun show too.
Am I crazy or does it seem like the best PPVs are the ones where heels dominate, like last night outside of the first match (which was awesome in its own right)? I’m infinitely more excited to see Raw tonight and how the FCW guys, Ziggler, and Punk’s 365 days play out that I ever would be if Jern compromised someone to a semi-permanent end.
It’s not crazy, although I think part of the reason why the ones where heels dominate are so good is because those are the guys that have interesting motivation/we care about them.
Enjoyed the read, a ton of good stuff.
I was only half paying attention at the time (because I was checking the discussion thread– thanks, multitasking and ADD); but did Cole call “Wasteland” when Barrett was going for a pumphandle slam?
Also, I know “[something] hammer” (I forgot. It starts with a ‘b’ maybe?) is a better name for Wade’s elbow than “The Souvenir,” but it’s still not so great.
Burning Hammer. Lame, but better than The Souvenier. Less French, at least.
It wasn’t the Burning Hammer, that’s Kobashi. He was calling it the “bullhammer”.
Just Googled it. “Bull hammer.” The Burning Hammer is something much cooler, more dangerous, and more Japanese. Wade *should* use that.
Yeah, Cole said Wasteland.
I can’t look at that picture of Foley. It’s like a starving puppy.
Great write up, by the way. Brandon’s got a knack for finding good replacements.
Well done sir! It was quite the enjoyable read.
Have a good show when you hit Philly next month!
Really good write up, Dan.
I really enjoyed this PPV, probably the best this year behind Extreme Rules, but Punk really pissed me off. Maybe not pissed off, but I don’t know. Upset. Punk upset me.
Whenever he’d get picked up or anything he’d just put this awful cartoon frightened face on. I might be reading something that isn’t there, but I thought it came off as him being a smarmy asshole who was trying to make everything feel fake and silly. Between that and his going from ridiculous taunting / gloating to frightened cowardly heel and it was just bad. Took me completely out of that match.
Punk *was* acting differently last night. Doing a lot of gloating/playing to the crowd. I assumed he was giving Ryback a breather or stalling because they didn’t have a lot planned for the amount of time they had to fill. But I was also worried that he’d lose, and his taunting and arrogance would be pointed to as the reason.
I didn’t really notice the frightened faces. Maybe he doesn’t like that Mr. Year-Long-Champion has to be afraid of the rookie; and this is his Shawn Michaels way of passive-agressively protesting. A little immature, if that’s the case; but it wasn’t so obvious (to me) that it took away from the match.
I kind of dig the cheesy faces. It’s kind of like stage acting; you tend to over exaggerate your movements so people up in the balcony can read the expressions. Live in the arena it’s a plus, but on tape it can look a bit cheesy. But my default face is a goofy mug so I’m def biased ;)
This was a super rad read! I didn’t get to see the PPV last ngiht but thanks to you, Mr. Soupy, I felt like I actually had. Also, your love of a confused Randy Orton pretty much mirrors my feeling to a T and you mentioned Sweet Tooth and that’s a super plus. Thanks for backing up Brandon!
I mentioned to some friends that the reason Rollins hooked up w/ Ambrose and Reigns is so he could finally be the “pretty” one after all his time w/ Jimmy Jacobs.
The portion about Otunga is honestly the best explanation I’ve read about why I like him. WWE needs more people like him, heck they need more people who can work the mic period. It’s a shame that Otunga stinks in the ring. I wonder if he truly does care.
Great write-up! I’m still slack-jawed at the ZigglerFlip.
We all hate ourselves for calling them Divas, friend.
Good work!
Fantastic write-up, Soupy Dan! You’re making me really excited for Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns; I’m not very familiar with the inside Baseball of wrestling, but I’m glad they are giving talented guys a shot.
I think Soup wins this column solely on the chicken parm wing reference. Too bad they closedf the BWW down by my house. *sadz*
Plus, Kofi’s gear is a dead lock. Great job, duder.
“It’s not about forcing Ryback, it’s about not letting Cena win.”
Soup you guys were amazing on the Early November tour. You guys must’ve talking wrestling with the Swellers everyday. Great write-up. Beyond excited that the NXT guys finally debuted.
you had me at Stone Cold Jack Swagger
Excellent fill in spot! Ryback would happily chant “FEED ME MORE!” Soupy if he could only read English.
Great write up Dan.
Also, weird fun fact. A hardcore club in Melbourne that my friends and I go to, always plays the ‘Melrose Diner’ video clip in the background, on loop with like 5 or 6 other random band clips.
I haven’t even read it yet, I’m just checking in to show Soupy some love so Brandon doesn’t show up at my door dressed as D-Bry ready to hurt me.
Now that I’ve read it, Brandon didn’t need to threaten me or anything, because that was an excellent B&W!
Great job, Soupy!
Good report! You are the yin to Brandon’s yang, or something corny like that. I didn’t watch SS but hopefully I’ll get some insight as to what happened with Ambrose and whatnot on Raw tonight? They look like they’re in the FBI.
Great jorb! +Soupsmith
Nice write-up! I like how you found b&w’s in each match. That’s kind of how it felt: there were some great moments and at least one crappy one in each segment. +’s all around!
notice when the table explodes, it crushes punks knee
Nice report. It bothered the hell out of me visually that you didn’t have a “subject” after the best/worst, but that’s because my brain is stupid when it comes to change. It read perfectly.
Great write up!
So no one else thinks those “Feed Me More”s are half piped in at least? During the PPV, the camera zoomed way out while Ryback started up the chant, and the audience was 100% still. He got minimal applause on his introduction, yet that chant is louder than everything else? I’m not buying it.
I’m with you on this. I was at the event and it was disproportionate volume to activity that I could see for the chanting. I saw maybe 12 dudes and a few kids getting into it and that doesn’t pass the sniff test for me.
Excellent job. I will research your band.
Unrelated: Top 10! Thanks! See you folks tonight.
Now, you give a best for Ziggler just staying down instead of just getting up for the RKO. Wasn’t Orton just going for the Punt Kick though?
Great job on the write up. Brandon’s pretty great, so filling in for him and excelling at it is something I’d file under ‘Kind of a Big Deal.’ All the Bests to you, good sir.
Awesome job, Soupy. I like your take on the Ryback, when I heard him yell, “I hit hard!” I was hoping they were going full on unfrozen caveman with him.
Where’s said video of the Seth Rollins stage dive?
local man ruins everything.
what a great song, great band, and great recap. well done, soupy.
Signed up just to show my love for the ultramantis tee in the pic with you and soupy. Also, wonderful read! Soupy gets it.
I’m sorry but I think it was Wildman Marc Mero not Wildcat
Verified
It totally was. I was just saying the names are too close for comfort.
Good stuff!
This is so cool. Hey famous person, Dan, tell everyone we are legit friends, whoooo!
Verified
The most legit friends there are!
Thanks for filling in, friend. Also, that HBK/Mankind match was amazing.
Good stuff! Well done!
Good jorb, I really enjoy someone else providing my internet wrestling lulz every once in a while.
“I hate myself more every time I type ‘Divas’”
Great job filling for Mr. Brandon Stroud. Love reading these best/worst. Out-fuckin-standing
Great write up!
You know Mr. Stroud, you’ve mentioned doing a Smackdown write up before but I’m guessing you’re a bit too busy for it. If you feel like expanding your wrasslin empire you could always pull Mr. Campbell on to do some down smacking…
A tat late but great job!
(meant non-sarcastically) This review demonstrates that, when used correctly, obsinities enhance good writing. I cracked up for a good block of time over the Vortex comment and the “You sure do Ryback”. Great review