
Worst:
I f**king hate the Sheamus chest punch thing. I always feel like it’s going to shoot stop someone’s heart someday. I watch wrestling because people get fake hurt. It looks cool as shit but I don’t have to feel bad about myself for enjoying watching the suffering of others. That’s why I can’t do MMA much. Every match I’ve seen is two guys laying on each other until one of them punches the other one in the side of the head enough to knock him out. It doesn’t look cool and it’s actually f**king someone up. I know people get hurt in wrestling too but the point is generally to avoid serious damage and I really don’t want to watch someone die because Sheamus needs five signature moves and one of them is the heart-stopping rope punch that probably has some shitty Irish pun name.
Best:
Like I said, I love when it looks real. Big Show was really dull to watch for a while but man, these last two matches with Sheamus he has really put it down. He legit looks like he’s crushing Sheamus’ bones into dust that I assume he’ll later imbibe, because, you know, giant jokes.
Best:
Big Show is doing some classic heel shit. Pulling the ref in the way rules and so does bullying the ref and calling him a dumbass. It makes the win look cheap but doesn’t make Show look like weak. An added best for JBL making the most sense of anyone and making the totally logical point that you should NEVER stop until the bell rings. That’s sports 101 (I assume. I was an education major.), and should always be abided by. I think With Leather recently posted a video of a pee-wee football game where some kids didn’t pay attention to the whistle and now an entire team of youngsters are going to have war-time flash backs to the day when their fathers stopped being proud of them.
Worst:
I thought that was a heel turn. Sheamus beats Big Show mercilessly with a chair until he cant get up. Big Show is writhing in pain and shamefully asks for the beating to stop. Sheamus demands Big Show beg for mercy and then when he obliges, Sheamus kicks his f**king head off. THAT’S A HEEL TURN. WHY ARE YOU (people) STILL CHEERING? When Brett Hart held a bloody Austin in the sharpshooter until he passed out, Austin came out the hero, Hart came out looking like an asshole. All he did was beat on Austin after the bell a bit. Sheamus attacked Big Show and then laughed at his request for mercy and hit him anyway. That’s what super villains do, not the guys you’re supposed to cheer. This is really confusing me. Del Rio I get. Wrestling fans are racist. Del Rio is Mexican. Whoever is beating up Del Rio is the face. Wrong or right (It’s wrong. Very, very wrong), I understand why it’s happening. This has me legit stumped. I swear I heard someone in the crowd scream “cripple him.” What the f**k did Big Show do to you, guy?
Worst:
Big Show’s sell. I didn’t hate all of it but first he’s (I assume) trying to do the Ziggler flopping dead fish thing, but it doesn’t work because Big Show’s 450 goddamn pounds and trains with a dude named Dodd (note: Not Todd) that rides a bike that works like an elliptical machine. He’s in no condition to do a Ziggles-style sell. Then, we cut away and the announce team says whatever to recap and set up the rest of the show. The camera cuts back to presumably start the next match and JESUS CHRIST is Big Show is STILL on the ground crawling up the ramp? Doesn’t WWE have a medical staff? They were putting Brad Maddox on a stretcher before the crowd had a chance to chant “Feed Me More” for the 157th time that night, and that dude doesn’t even work there. You just signed Big Show to an “Iron Clad” big money contract. Maybe help him up off the f**king ramp within five minutes of him getting assaulted.
Best:
Vortex Commercials! From what I can gather, it’s a kid’s show where power rangers and Iron Man watch people do kickflips. It appears to have no plot and be mostly quick splices of Kofi Kingston jumping and flashing lights; perfect for a generation pre-disposed to Adderall reliance and the vast emptiness of the human condition. Also, did you see how high he jumped! Goddamn that was awes… Oh, Power Rangers!


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