Who Won This Week? (WWE or TNA)

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for the support this week even though I didn't update the blog. I'll be back next week with thoughts and reviews of the shows. For now though, take a look at the poll to the right and vote for whichever promotion you thought won this week.



Right now, the WWE leades 1-0! Because I didn't update the blog this week, I won't vote, so the outcome is directly based on your votes.

Last Week's Winner Is......

The WWE! Combined with all of yours (thanks for voting) and my vote, the WWE is the winner.

So that's the WWE 1, TNA 0.

I'll post a poll after Friday Night Smackdown! for this week's shows.

Why no Backlash or RAW Review?

Hey guys,

Again, I thank you for your support, but this week I have to take a break from Headlocks 4 Breakfast because work is ramping up (I'm a video game producer), and I can't devote the time necessary to think of witty things to say.

Backlash was awesome - that's really all you need to know. The Cena / Edge match was EPIC!

RAW last night was pretty good too. I like seeing MVP maybe moving up to Main Event status.

I'll be back next Monday guys with a review of RAW. Very sorry once again. Thanks for reading of course!

WWE "Backlash" PPV Tonight! (Review After the Show)

Make sure that you stay tuned to Headlocks 4 Breakfast for our "Backlash" PPV Review after tonight's show. Who will come out as WWE and World Heavyweight champions? John Cena, Triple H, Edge, or Randy Orton? Find out tonight! Here's the card for tonight's show:

"Santina" on Khali Kiss Cam

CM Punk vs. Kane

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat

Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy ("I Quit" Match)

Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton and The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase)

Jack Swagger vs. Christian

John Cena vs. Edge (Last Man Standing Match)

On This Day in Wrestling History...

April 26th, 1994 - The Headshrinkers defeated The Quebecers for the WWE Tag Team title.

WWE vs. TNA -- Who Won this Week? 4/20 - 4/24

If you're wondering what this is about, please read this entry.

The WWE wins for me this week because of WWE Superstars (the show). I ALMOST want to give it to TNA because of last night's Smackdown!, but iMPACT! was promo city this week. I have the WWE up 1-0 over TNA en route to next month's PPV battle. What do you guys think? Sound off via the poll to the right and I'll combine those votes with my score to get a final outcome for this week!

Friday Night Smackdown! Review 4/24

Two days away from "Backlash" meant that the WWE had to do their very best to try and encourage us to buy the PPV. Did they come through? NOT AT ALL.

After an awesome Smackdown! last week, I was almost positive that we were seeing a new trend in the WWE. If we wanted to see good wrestling, we could count on Smackdown! to deliver that. If we wanted "Days of Our Lives" wrestling style, we could watch RAW. Who knew that RAW would be the better show this week? And on top of that, by the looks of things, WWE Superstars topped them both, and that's only an hour show. Anyway, let's get on with it (this is almost as painful writing this as it was watching).

The show opened up with JR and Grisham teasing the main event of the evening which was the Undertaker vs. Big Show. I was thinking, "ok, ok...here we go." They also mentioned that Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase would matchup against Shane McMahon and Batista. I immediately felt like I got punched in the stomach. Aren't these guys on RAW? Didn't they say last week on Smackdown! that this week would feature the newly drafted Smackdown! superstars? More on that later.

Cue the best music in the WWE. Edge comes out to the ring and does a pretty serious promo. The only thing was that all of a sudden, the lights in the arena went out making it a bit too gothic for me. Edge did show his mic skills, and did his best to pump up his match against Cena at "Backlash." He (Edge) mentioned that he won his first world championship in 2006. Well, it's 2009 now which made me think of something...

He's won the title 8 times in three years. If he wins Sunday against Cena, which I'm sure he will, he'll have won the title 9 times in three years. Isn't that a bit obnoxious? Do you think the WWE realizes this? How much does this tarnish the legacy of the world championship in the WWE? In my opinion, this superficially catapults Edge onto lists of former champions like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Ric Flair, Triple H, The Rock, HBK, Bret Hart, and Stone Cold. You get what I'm saying... Edge is fantastic, but his three year reign happens a bit too soon.

Matt Hardy and Kane vs. CM Punk and Jeff Hardy

I'm really not a fan of mid-card matches at a PPV being promoted via a pre-show mixed tag match. Back in the day, a mixed tag match before a big PPV showdown was left to main eventers. Because this formula has been used so often, it's become stale to me.

The match was alright though. I thought for certain that because Kane was involved, they'd lose, but I was wrong. Matt Hardy and Kane won, which left JR and Grisham to say "That's three in a row for Matt over his brother Jeff." Here's where I have the problem. Doing this three times in a row all but cements a win for Jeff at "Backlash." Does the WWE really think we think Matt has Jeff's number? It bit too obvious guys. We shall see though at "Backlash."

Big Show vs. Undertaker

This match started with the Big Show doing a promo in the ring. Personally, I can't stand it when Big Show talks. I want to imagine him as this gigantic phenom that just destroys people, but the minute he opens his mouth, he ruins it for me. The gimmick's over. When Andre opened his mouth, you could hardly understand him. That was part of the appeal... Question: Do you still get chills when the Undertaker comes out? I do. His entrance is still one of the best, and it's good to see it hasn't changed much. Although the minute his matches start, he loses the persona of "the dead man," and becomes a boxer.

This was a ridiculous moment. Undertaker has entered the ring, and he's doing his removal of the hat routine, and while this is going on, Big Show is jumping up and down, shaking his arms, and shadow boxing as if he's getting prepped for a heavyweight boxing fight. Again, this just ruins it for me. I want to see Big Show just look straight at him. Not move, just stare at him. The match begins and they both start at each other as if it was the beginning of UFC 98. I guess I'm just old school here, but to me it's absurd to see the Undertaker get hit, and then stand up throwing punches at the air indicating that he can't see straight, if at all. Who made the decision to turn the Undertaker into this? I just can't let that go guys, I'm sorry.

I also want to comment, yet again, on the predictability the WWE shows. Why is it that it seems whenever someone initially goes for a choke slam, it's countered. Seriously, the next time you watch a WWE show, I guarantee the intial choke slam attempt will be countered. They make such a big deal about the "slap" noise of getting the lock on for the choke, but it's always countered. The WWE MUST see this. And of course, the Big Show did his usual, pin opponent up against the ropes, take a running charge missing him completely, fall to the outside of the ring.

Anyway, the Big Show won with a knockout punch, but instead of winning by pinfall, the ref called the match. Seriously? Since when does the towel get thrown in? WTF? This match sucked.

BTW -- JR and Grisham kept referring to this match as the "Main Event." If this was the "Main Event," then why is it ending the FIRST hour of the show?

Gail Kim vs. Maryse

"sandwich break"

A pretty cool Jeff Hardy promo happened where he appeared to be in a boiler room talking about his match with his brother at "Backlash." Reminded me of the old days. Good job here.

Chavo vs. MVP

Why did the WWE even bother with this one? And isn't Chavo and MVP on RAW now? Didn't they say on Smackdown! last week that it would be MVP's final appearance on Smackdown!? Inconsistent WWE, again, YOU MUST SEE THIS! Add the fact that MVP is AGAIN facing Dolph Ziggler next week on Smackdown!, and I'm certain that the WWE thinks we're idiots.

MVP won the match

At this point, I don't know how much more I can take. It has been an awful show, and I was ready to turn it off.

I didn't even want to watch the actual "Main Event," and turned the TV off. I couldn't help myself though, and turned it back on. Luckily, I did catch an awesome promo of John Cena talking about his match with Edge. Cena was right, they both are the Yankees and Red Sox of the WWE. The WWE has made certain of that. I'm looking forward to this one at "Backlash," but I can't see how Cena walks out of there with the belt. If he did, what a pleasant surprise that would be from the WWE.

Shane McMahon and Batista vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

I love Ted, you guys know that, but I'm not even commenting on this match. These guys are RAW superstars taking Smackdown! real estate to hype their "Main Event" match at "Backlash," because the bookers / writers aren't convinced, after beating us over the head with this storyline, that we are convinced. The only thing this match showed was that Batista may turn at "Backlash." They won the match by the way.

No random notes guys. Why do you think I've waited this long to write my review? It's 9:08 PST, and I still haven't gotten over it. The show sucked, and if I wasn't gone last weekend, "Lockdown" would've been my PPV of choice because of this show, I've lost hope for "Backlash."

I hope I'm wrong. Sort it out WWE!

On This Day in Wrestling History...

April 25th, 2000 - David Arquette defeated Diamond Dallas Page by pinning Eric Bischoff in a tag team match for the WCW World Heavyweight title. (lowest point in WCW history?)

On This Day in Wrestling History...

April 24th, 2001 - Johnny Valentine, son of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, died of heart failure. Valentine had complications all of his life from the infamous 1975 plane crash that involved Valentine, Ric Flair, David Crockett, Bob Bruggers, and Tim Woods. The pilot of the plane was killed.

WWE Superstars Review 4/23

Week two of WWE Superstars showed the true quality that the show is going to be. While we are not looking at the next Raw or even the next Smackdown, the show will be much better than Sunday Night Heat. I’m still getting used to the three match shows, but all and all, it was another solid night for WWE Superstars. Let’s take a look at tonight’s matches:

Rey Mysterio & CM Punk vs. Kane & the Big Show

First, let me say that I am not a fan of watching an exciting little guy carry an entire match against a bigger, far less exciting wrestler. Unfortunately, I was stuck watching double the fun as it was clear from the beginning what was going to happen.

Mysterio and Punk dominated the match punishing Kane and the Big Show with numerous high flying moves. The match lasted through a few commercial breaks and the little guys were still in control. Then, with one punch, Kane and the Big Show took over the match. Mysterio was thrown out of the ring and Punk was left to fight the two by himself. 20 seconds later, Punk was flat on his back and being pinned by Kane. Come on guys, this big guy little guy angle is played out. Bring back the Cruiserweight division so we can watch guys like Mysterio actually do their thing.

Tyson Kidd & Natalya vs. Finlay & Hornswoggle

This was clearly a farewell gimmick match for Hornswoggle and his “Father” Finlay due to Hornswoggle being drafted to Raw. The match barely lasted two minutes and Natalya never got in the ring. Hornswoggle did tackle her outside of the ring, but that was the extent of her action. The best part of the match was watching Hornswoggle hit Tyson Kidd with the Frog Splash after Finlay hit him in the head. Despite the match being short, I’m glad to see the WWE splitting Finlay from Hornswoggle. I hope he gets another push as a heel.

Kofi Kingston vs. Edge

This was one of the most exciting matches that I have watched in awhile and further proves my point that Kofi should get a major push. Edge carries most of the guys that he wrestles in the ring, but not Kofi. He is as high flying and acrobatic as they come. Edge won the match, but Kofi dominated most of the fight. Kingston shows skills in the ring that very few guys can match. The two of them battled back and forth hitting one another with numerous moves before edge speared Kofi and covered him for the victory.

Again, this is part of the problem that I have with the WWE. It takes way too long for new guys to get the proper push and then it is almost unbelievable. Who wants to see and or believes that a guy, who couldn’t win a match for years, is all of a sudden the most dominant wrestler in the business? Remember when WCW brought in Goldberg and he won over a 150 straight matches and you knew that he was the guy? Who is going to be that guy in the WWE? Only time will tell, but Kofi Kingston should be that guy!

Wrestling Galore!

Just like last week, we'll be reviewing both WWE Superstars and TNA iMPACT! tonight. So check out Headlocks 4 Breakfast tomorrow for the full reviews of both shows!

On This Day in Wrestling History...

April 23rd, 1990 - Curt Henning aka "Mr. Perfect" defeated Tito Santana in a tournament final for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

"The Wrestler" Blu-Ray Review

I told you guys that I'd review my new copy of "The Wrestler" on Blu-Ray, and that it wouldn't be a review of the actual movie, but rather the Blu-Ray as a whole.

Well, there's only two bonus features on the disc and you can find them both on the net without buying the movie. A few days ago I linked you guys to a "Wrestler Roundtable" in which Brutus Beefcake, Roddy Piper, Greg Valentine, Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page were on hand to discuss their thoughts on the movie. This entire segment is included on the Blu-Ray. It's really interesting to see these former superstars so humbled by the movie. They discuss their road to success, and make the same comparisons with their lives to that of Randy "The Ram" Robinson's.

The best part of the roundtable for me was the discussion on steroids in professional wrestling. Luger admits to using them, and says that he's now an advocate against performance enhancing drugs. Luger looks sickly (maybe because he's not on the juice anymore), and talks about his regrets in his previous life. I think Lex stands out in this roundtable because we've heard so little about him even though he's been involved in incidents like the one with Miss Elizabeth's death.

The second bonus feature was a music video for Bruce Springsteen's original song "The Wrestler." You can watch the video below. Springsteen hasn't lost it, and this song grabs your heart just like the film did.

All in all, I was a little disappointed with the bonus features for the Blu-Ray. I would loved to have seen a "making of" segment, but because the movie is so damn good, It really didn't bother me that much. I'm happy to have the film in my collection. If you still haven't seen the movie and you're reading this blog, you're seriously blowing my mind, and making me wonder if you live life bass ackwards...

On This Day in Wrestling History.....

April 22nd, 1996 - The Giant defeated Ric Flair for the WCW Heavyweight title.

I Want YOU to Help Select a Pay Per View!

First off, let me just say that my rhymes are DOPE!

Alright, now to the point of this post (besides showing a "sandwich break" in an "Uncle Sam" outfit). In these economic times, one must be super careful where and how they spend their money. I'm not saying I'm dirt poor, but I wanted to make a game of this. To be honest, only one brand actually deserves money each month, and in that EXTREMELY rare occasion that both PPVs are a lock for quality, I'll purchase both. But that probably won't happen because let's face it, both promotions don't bring it every month.

So here's how the game will work. Each week Headlocks 4 Breakfast will review Monday Night RAW, WWE Superstars, TNA iMPACT! and Friday Night Smackdown!. I'll then, at the end of each week give one promotion a nod over the other. So, if I think RAW, Smackdown and Superstars was better than iMPACT this week, I'll give the WWE a score of 1-0 and vice versa. "But that's not fair! TNA only has one show that's not a recap!" I took this into account. That's why I'm doing it American Idol style! Every Friday, after Friday Night Smackdown!, I'll post a poll asking you guys which promotion won this week. I'll then process that final poll vote with my own personal score and use a very super complicated method to pick a winner for the week (which I'll announce). Whoever wins the most amount of weeks before the PPVs, will win my cash and extremely prestigious review skills.

Make sense? If not, actually READ this story.

Touch of Nostalgia...

Do you remember the days before the WWE said "Don't Try This?" What were you "trying this" on? These bad boys of course! When I was a kid, you weren't cool unless you had one of these. The boys version of stuffed animals was the bees knees. You weren't a wuss if you had one, you were a legend! Whenever there was a sleepover, everyone in your clique would bring their own (mine was Hulk Hogan of course) and you all would put on matches. It all ended with everyone using them as pillows to beat each other with, but pre-mind fart, the matches you put on were epic!

Don't tell me you didn't recreate the Wrestlemania VII moment, and do the flying elbow off the arm of the couch onto the Ultimate Warrior 5 times. You did, so did I, and so did everyone else! Why? Because we're men and men didn't play with stuffed animals, we beat the shit out of them.

Wrestling Buddies, I salute you!

Rumor Alert - Jeff Hardy Taking his Ball and Going Home?

There's a rumor going around that Jeff Hardy won't sign an extension on his existing WWE contract that expires in July. Apparently Hardy wants to take some time off and feels financially secure. What do you guys think?

On This Day in Wrestling History...

April 21st, 2002 - Hulk Hogan defeated Triple H for the WWE Unified Heavyweight title.

Monday Night Raw Review 4/20

Whenever there's a show before a PPV, THAT should be the show that makes you salivate at the mouth to purchase the PPV because you can't wait to see what happens next. Did the RAW brand deliver on this with tonight's episode? Partially, but I can't help but feel a little robbed of my intelligence. Sure, we (wrestling fans) are ADD, forgetful (on purpose), and we keep coming back for more, but that shouldn't make the writers sit in cruise control and do the same crap all the time.

With that said, RAW brought it tonight to London, England. The set was very London-esque with the stereotypical phone booths and rounded 1960's car. The crowd was pumped and seemed louder than a typical US crowd, often clearly telling the WWE who they liked and hated. At the top of the show, I said to myself "RAW is completely different from Smackdown! (in a bad way)," but after tonight, I think they took a page from Smackdown's all wrestling, little drama approach. I think the WWE is turning a corner a bit. It may be predictable, it may insult our intelligence, but it's wrestling none the less. It's a hell of alot better than Vicky Guerrero's love triangle though, so let's see how the night played out...

Chris Jericho opened the show claiming that this was his final RAW appearance, and that he's glad because he was never appreciated. Ricky Steamboat's music hits, and he and Jericho trade words for a bit, then Jericho challenges Steamboat to a match Sunday at "Backlash." John Cena then interrupts and Jericho cuts him off before he can say a word, and starts to walk backstage. Steamboat then says that he accepts the challenge which garners a sly smirk from Jericho. John Cena, after Steamboat, then says that since Vicky Guerrero is not at RAW tonight, they're going to have a match to send him (Jericho) off to Smackdown!.

There's something I just don't get....why do all of you boo Cena? Are you sick of him being the face of the WWE? I can't help but like the guy because he's all about the business and I applaud that. Sure, he can get a little corny sometimes, his rap skills suck, "The Marine" and "12 Rounds" suck, but the guy's a beast that gives his all night in and night out. Plus, did all of you get on Hulk Hogan for Suburban Commando? I don't think so (I secretly liked that movie). I'm one of you, but I'll never understand the mentality of the wrestling masses. I think you're all waiting for Cena to go heel, which I agree, would be awesome, but I don't think it's happening anytime soon. The WWE needs a big babyface, Cena's perfect for the role.

Batista vs. Chavo

The entrances of the two took longer than this entire match. Chavo went running at Batista who then nailed him, then gave him a Batista Bomb for the win. Why did the WWE waste space with Chavo? If you're going to commit to Chavo as a jobber, I'd rather see a "Barry Horowitz" than a Chavo. Make a new jobber, don't take someone from your ranks and then give him jobber status. I know what some of you are saying, "Chavo has always been a jobber." Well not a 10 second match type jobber...

Kane vs. CM Punk

I'm not sure why, but I just can't get into CM Punk. He's a good wrestler, executes some killer moves, but I just think his gimmick is boring. Maybe it's the fact that his music (screaming) is extremely lame. On the other hand, Kane is officially a mid-card wrestler. It's a sad thing to see too. Where's the old Kane that would slowly walk down the aisle, stalk his prey, and dominate them? Instead, he's an ugly human being (not a super power) who acts tough, but always loses. Punk had a great counter DDT for the win, but would the old Kane lose like that to a DDT? Not a chance...

Beth Phoenix vs. Melina

"sandwich break"

Chris Jericho vs. John Cena

This match was the best of the night. Again, Cena got alot of boos, but when he did the "five knuckle shuffle,(google that for me)" the fans chanted loudly "you can't see me!" See what I told you? ADD...

The match went back and forth for a lengthy period of time (which now equals a good match in today's standards), and both wrestler's kicked out of each other's finishers and didn't tap to their secondary finishers. I think the WWE saw everyone's reaction to Taker / HBK at Wrestlemania 25, but this one felt totally scripted. Jericho would hit the code breaker (which is an awesome finisher btw), and then take his time, because he's tired, to make the cover resulting in Cena kicking out. Then Cena would hit his FU, and again, take his time to make the cover resulting in Jericho kicking out.

Cena would then get the STFU on Jericho and he wouldn't tap, then Jericho would get Cena in the Walls of Jericho (lion tamer was a better name), and Cena wouldn't tap. This is a classic case of the WWE screwing up a good thing they had with the match at Wrestlemania 25. We didn't expect HBK or Undertaker to kick out. They could've gone either way, and it floored us the entire time. With Cena / Jericho we knew what was going to happen the entire time. The writers have to think this stuff through. But they won't because they think so top line and without any depth. I guarantee you that creative was sitting in a room and mentioned "people loved what happened with Taker and HBK, we should shock them with both wrestlers kicking out of their respective finishers." Ok, maybe they didn't use the words "respective finishers."

Anyway, I'm griping, but it really was a good match (don't you believe me now? haha). Edge came in to ruin the party, but that's the WWE right now. They use Edge to do this type of crap and instead of using him as a fantastic wrestler (which he is), they have him end a match that both wrestlers worked their tails off in. "Couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?" - "Johnny" in the Karate Kid.

Rey Mysterio vs. Big Show

Before going into this one, I thought to myself "If they make Mysterio win this match, I'm going to keep watching because I have nothing else better to do." I said last week that I'd like to see Big Show go on a little bit of a run, and it looks like he's doing just that. I'm now sold on the "knockout punch," and he did exactly what he should have done to Mysterio, destroyed him. There were some great "big man" moments in this match, most notably Big Show palming Mysterio's head from outside the ring and lifting him up over the top rope. If you get a chance to see that on YouTube, do it. It looked awesome and really made you feel like you were watching a "giant."

Triple H vs. Randy Orton

This was announced as a no DQ match last week which I think everyone in the world knew that it wouldn't end cleanly. You just knew Rhodes and DiBiase would get involved, and likewise with McMahon and Batista setting up the classic mini-battle royal to lead up to a stable vs. stable main event at a PPV. It's a proven formula. The actual match before that chaos was pretty good. I actually wouldn't mind seeing these two in a main event (singles) competition again because of it (it erased my thoughts on the underwhelming Wrestlemania 25 Main Event). I think the Backlash main event is a cop out, and in no way am I ordering the PPV to see this match. I have a feeling Batista's going to turn on Triple H, but we'll see.

There were a few things in this match that was all sorts of awesome. Triple H's spine buster on Orton onto the trash can and Triple H's figure four were my two main highlights, but let's go back to all of that chaos I mentioned in the previous paragraph to find out the result of this one.

When everyone who will be in the Backlash main event interrupted the match, Batista accidentally speared Shane giving Triple H an excuse to turn his back on Orton. Once this happened, did anyone who was watching not know that Orton would hit his RKO? Seriously, I'm sick of these results. I don't mind at all if Orton wins cleanly, but you've had this result about 1270273189047389278423902317908412378940321890324 times. Please be original. This just kills momentum that you have built up throughout a pretty good show when you end like this. There's no chance that the talent is enjoying this writing. No chance.

Overall I enjoyed the show. I know I complained, but that's me. I could look past the writing tonight and see that the talent gave an A+ effort. They're only as good as the creative makes them, but tonight they overshadowed the creative brown stain.

We have WWE Superstars and Friday Night Smackdown! left to make us feel like we should plunk down our change to order Backlash. RAW brought it tonight. Your turn Wednesday and Friday...

Random Notes:

- It's cool to see the Jericho / Steamboat angle considering Jericho's a HUGE Steamboat fan. Watch the "Greatest Superstars of the 80's" DVD to hear him go on and on about Ricky.

- The WWE plugged "The Wrestler" DVD release throughout the show. Mighty big of them. I think they realized that any publicity on their business is good publicity.

- Lawler was on FIRE tonight. He had some gems. "London is such a historic city (understatement of the year)," and his ribbing of Jericho's former band, "Fozzy" were two of my favorites.

- I really wish they'd go back to cutting promos with an interviewer instead of making us think that there happens to be a camera where an intimate conversation, like the one Rhodes, Orton and DiBiase had, happened. The hidden camera approach sucks.

- Santino's skit with his "sister" "Santina" was epic. Santino pulled a Milli Vanilli. (Wrestlecrap)

- When RAW did their "WWE Slam of the Week" segment, they showed Shane's "coast to coast" that he attempted to do on last week's WWE Superstars. He doesn't get over as far as he used to...

- Cody Rhodes has a lisp like his father and it is fantastic!

- During the Orton / Triple H match, Michael Cole said "Orton's been waiting 5 years for this opportunity." Really? At Backlash? Didn't he have his "opportunity" at Wrestlemania? That's just poor writing there and not believable.

RAW 4/20 Review Tonight!

Raw invades the 02 Arena in London, England tonight! Make sure to come back to H4B after the show for our detailed (and probably sarcastic) RAW review!