Saturday, July 25, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
My Personal Reactions and Reviews to the Event (and the posts)
Some may be irrelevant to the event.
1. Skycable really is the primary cable brand in the Philippines. The other competitors are actually Global Destiny (Jack TV channel 32) ,Cable Link (Jack TV channel 41) and other provincial cables. Starting 2008, Skycable removed channels that were related to Solar Entertainment although they returned Basketball TV later that year. I can watch a lot of wrestling videos in YouTube or in some site with PPV streaming, missing WWE isn't a bog deal for me.
2. There is a new channel called SciFi which have some great shows. The channel is known in US to have ECW on Tuesdays. We have ECW on Jack TV and CS/9.
3. Chris Jericho is a funny guy not only in ing but also outside. If you guys saw his TMZ interview, then you know he can be serious while having fun.
4. The maximum that can be in the coliseum is about 13,000. 60% of 13,000 is 7,800 which is indeed right. There are actually two people who have the same ticket seat. Damn Ticketnet.
5. I saw someone commented on the video about Lilian Garcia. She is actually on Raw and Justin Roberts on ECW/Smackdown. My dad told me Roberts was Matt Striker which is WRONG because commentators are not on live shows and there is no SD/ECW table.
Before WWE.....
The whole Araneta Coliseum Parking is full. We parked on B3F Gateway Mall.
There is a music played in the bacground and everytime it ended, people were cheering.
Match 1 John Morrison vs Shelton Benjamin
No digital cameras allowed but I have my cellphone camera. I have the video of John Morrison winning until he exits backstage. The match was good except that the first 1/4 of the match, Benjamin gets out of the ring and back in. A lot of holds were applied. Morrison hit Starship Pain to finish the match. Benjamin got some boos but even if he lost, we clapped for him. John Morrison have huge pops
Match 2 Evan Bourne vs Mark Henry
Evan Bourne wore a Team Pilipinas Jersey #7. Mark Henry easily finished it with World's Strongest Slam.Both have some huge pops.
Match 3 Gail Kim and Melina vs Michelle McCool and Alicia Fox (w/Maria) as the special guest referee
The first divas match on a Smackdown show. All divas had huge pops. Michelle acted like a coward for not facing Melina so the two exchanged tags with Alicia Fox and Gail Kim respectively. Gail Kim finished the match with an Inverted Stomp Facebreaker finisher on Fox for the pin.
By the way, Melina doesn't have Filipino blood. Her full name Melina Perez which is a Latin name and it really sounds Filipino-like. Melina resides in Los Angeles, CA same with John Morrison.
Match 4 Dolph Ziggler vs The Great Khali (w/o Runjin Singh)
Ziggler had a lot of boos. He was a coward to Khali and Khali received huge pops. Ziggler had some chopblocks but Khali dominated with a Punjabi Plunge.
Match 5 Tommy Dreamer vs Jack Swagger and Christian for the ECW Championship
ECW General Manager Tiffany, whose theme is that of Torrie Wilson's, announced a triple threat match. Christian came out first with huge pops. Swagger with little and Dreamer with mediocre pops. E-C-W chants happened during the match. Either Dreamer or Christian were out cold. The finish came when Swagger countered Killswitch (Unprettier) only to get Dreamer DDT'd and pinned. Dreamer saw a fan with a sign that read "Innovator of Violence" in the front row. He asked the fan to come in, gave him his shirt, let him carry the belt and hugged him. It was one of the coolest things that could ever happen to a fan. We're still chanting ECW until he walked up the ramp and exited.
Match 6 Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Championship with Ricky Steamboat as the special guest referee
The three had very huge pops. There were a lot of Y2J fans in the arena same with Mysterio. There were signs of HYPOCRITE pointing to themselves, SD! is JERICHO, Y2J ad various Mysterio signs. This is what Jericho told us. "FIRST OF ALL EVERYBODY CHANTING Y2J SHOULD SHUT UP RIGHT NOW! I'VE COME ALL THE WAY TO THIS GOD FORSAKEN COUNTRY AND STILL I'M SURROUNDED BY HYPOCRITES, LIARS, CHEATERS, FAILURES EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU THAT MADE HERE IN THIS JUNGLE. ALRIGHT CHANT Y2J ALL YOU WANT BE AN IDIOT ALL YOU WANT YOU'RE STILL A FAILURE YOURE STILL A NOTHING YOU STILL NEVER BE AS SUCCESS AS I AM LETS GO THROUGH THE LIST
4 TIME TAG TEAM CHAMPION
5 TIME WORLD CHAMPION
9 TIME INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION
THE BEST IN THE WORLD IN WHAT I DO AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL I AM BETTER THAN YOU SO YOU SHOULD SIT DOWN AND ENJOY THE FACT THAT YOU GET TO SEE A SUCCESS LIKE MYSELF YOU GET TO SEE CHRIS JERICHO AND YOU GET TO FEEL WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SEE SOMEBODY WITH SOME SUCCESS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THE PHILIPPINES"
Jericho tried to unmask Rey a couple of times. They hit all their signature spots. Great moments include Rey hitting the senton to the outside, Jericho countering a 619 into the Walls of Jericho, Jericho hitting the spinning torture rack backbreaker counter and a solid Codebreaker which he protected by taking bout half a minute to follow up with a cover.
Jericho goes outside to get a chair only to have Steamboat take it away. While arguing with Steamboat with his head in between the ropes (Steamboat just returned the chair), Rey hit the 619 and Splash combo for the win. After the match, Jericho beat down Steamboat for a minute. As soon as Steamboat made a comeback, Jericho ran up the ramp.
Match 7 CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship
Both men had the huge pops. The HARDY chant's were not synchronized. Someone was chanting GINEBRA out of place. We were chanting WE WANT EDGE!!! They had a good back and forth contest. Punk played a face for the most part but started to use heel tactics like attacking Jeff while opening the ropes or hitting Jeff when the ref would back him up. A lot of counters in the match. They teased both men hitting one of their finishers. Jeff was in the GTS position twice but he countered. Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind, almost got the Twist of Fate and missed a Swanton. Finish: Punk goes for the GTS once again, Hardy counters into a sunset flip attempt only to have Punk block the attempt and pin him to retain.
Anyway it was fun. EDGE was injured on a Tuesday Taping. No Batista or Triple H like in the ads.
1. Skycable really is the primary cable brand in the Philippines. The other competitors are actually Global Destiny (Jack TV channel 32) ,Cable Link (Jack TV channel 41) and other provincial cables. Starting 2008, Skycable removed channels that were related to Solar Entertainment although they returned Basketball TV later that year. I can watch a lot of wrestling videos in YouTube or in some site with PPV streaming, missing WWE isn't a bog deal for me.
2. There is a new channel called SciFi which have some great shows. The channel is known in US to have ECW on Tuesdays. We have ECW on Jack TV and CS/9.
3. Chris Jericho is a funny guy not only in ing but also outside. If you guys saw his TMZ interview, then you know he can be serious while having fun.
4. The maximum that can be in the coliseum is about 13,000. 60% of 13,000 is 7,800 which is indeed right. There are actually two people who have the same ticket seat. Damn Ticketnet.
5. I saw someone commented on the video about Lilian Garcia. She is actually on Raw and Justin Roberts on ECW/Smackdown. My dad told me Roberts was Matt Striker which is WRONG because commentators are not on live shows and there is no SD/ECW table.
Before WWE.....
The whole Araneta Coliseum Parking is full. We parked on B3F Gateway Mall.
There is a music played in the bacground and everytime it ended, people were cheering.
Match 1 John Morrison vs Shelton Benjamin
No digital cameras allowed but I have my cellphone camera. I have the video of John Morrison winning until he exits backstage. The match was good except that the first 1/4 of the match, Benjamin gets out of the ring and back in. A lot of holds were applied. Morrison hit Starship Pain to finish the match. Benjamin got some boos but even if he lost, we clapped for him. John Morrison have huge pops
Match 2 Evan Bourne vs Mark Henry
Evan Bourne wore a Team Pilipinas Jersey #7. Mark Henry easily finished it with World's Strongest Slam.Both have some huge pops.
Match 3 Gail Kim and Melina vs Michelle McCool and Alicia Fox (w/Maria) as the special guest referee
The first divas match on a Smackdown show. All divas had huge pops. Michelle acted like a coward for not facing Melina so the two exchanged tags with Alicia Fox and Gail Kim respectively. Gail Kim finished the match with an Inverted Stomp Facebreaker finisher on Fox for the pin.
By the way, Melina doesn't have Filipino blood. Her full name Melina Perez which is a Latin name and it really sounds Filipino-like. Melina resides in Los Angeles, CA same with John Morrison.
Match 4 Dolph Ziggler vs The Great Khali (w/o Runjin Singh)
Ziggler had a lot of boos. He was a coward to Khali and Khali received huge pops. Ziggler had some chopblocks but Khali dominated with a Punjabi Plunge.
Match 5 Tommy Dreamer vs Jack Swagger and Christian for the ECW Championship
ECW General Manager Tiffany, whose theme is that of Torrie Wilson's, announced a triple threat match. Christian came out first with huge pops. Swagger with little and Dreamer with mediocre pops. E-C-W chants happened during the match. Either Dreamer or Christian were out cold. The finish came when Swagger countered Killswitch (Unprettier) only to get Dreamer DDT'd and pinned. Dreamer saw a fan with a sign that read "Innovator of Violence" in the front row. He asked the fan to come in, gave him his shirt, let him carry the belt and hugged him. It was one of the coolest things that could ever happen to a fan. We're still chanting ECW until he walked up the ramp and exited.
Match 6 Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Championship with Ricky Steamboat as the special guest referee
The three had very huge pops. There were a lot of Y2J fans in the arena same with Mysterio. There were signs of HYPOCRITE pointing to themselves, SD! is JERICHO, Y2J ad various Mysterio signs. This is what Jericho told us. "FIRST OF ALL EVERYBODY CHANTING Y2J SHOULD SHUT UP RIGHT NOW! I'VE COME ALL THE WAY TO THIS GOD FORSAKEN COUNTRY AND STILL I'M SURROUNDED BY HYPOCRITES, LIARS, CHEATERS, FAILURES EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU THAT MADE HERE IN THIS JUNGLE. ALRIGHT CHANT Y2J ALL YOU WANT BE AN IDIOT ALL YOU WANT YOU'RE STILL A FAILURE YOURE STILL A NOTHING YOU STILL NEVER BE AS SUCCESS AS I AM LETS GO THROUGH THE LIST
4 TIME TAG TEAM CHAMPION
5 TIME WORLD CHAMPION
9 TIME INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION
THE BEST IN THE WORLD IN WHAT I DO AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL I AM BETTER THAN YOU SO YOU SHOULD SIT DOWN AND ENJOY THE FACT THAT YOU GET TO SEE A SUCCESS LIKE MYSELF YOU GET TO SEE CHRIS JERICHO AND YOU GET TO FEEL WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SEE SOMEBODY WITH SOME SUCCESS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THE PHILIPPINES"
Jericho tried to unmask Rey a couple of times. They hit all their signature spots. Great moments include Rey hitting the senton to the outside, Jericho countering a 619 into the Walls of Jericho, Jericho hitting the spinning torture rack backbreaker counter and a solid Codebreaker which he protected by taking bout half a minute to follow up with a cover.
Jericho goes outside to get a chair only to have Steamboat take it away. While arguing with Steamboat with his head in between the ropes (Steamboat just returned the chair), Rey hit the 619 and Splash combo for the win. After the match, Jericho beat down Steamboat for a minute. As soon as Steamboat made a comeback, Jericho ran up the ramp.
Match 7 CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship
Both men had the huge pops. The HARDY chant's were not synchronized. Someone was chanting GINEBRA out of place. We were chanting WE WANT EDGE!!! They had a good back and forth contest. Punk played a face for the most part but started to use heel tactics like attacking Jeff while opening the ropes or hitting Jeff when the ref would back him up. A lot of counters in the match. They teased both men hitting one of their finishers. Jeff was in the GTS position twice but he countered. Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind, almost got the Twist of Fate and missed a Swanton. Finish: Punk goes for the GTS once again, Hardy counters into a sunset flip attempt only to have Punk block the attempt and pin him to retain.
Anyway it was fun. EDGE was injured on a Tuesday Taping. No Batista or Triple H like in the ads.
The Same Thing
According to some people
Probably the last few paragraphs summarized the whole event. I'll post my reactions
Thanks to PWMania.com reader Kim Santos for sending this in:
Hey Andy, thought you would want to read the results of the recently concluded SmackDown/ECW tour here in the Philippines:
* Crowd was not full as it once was, probably due to the fact that WWE is not shown anymore on skycable, which happens to be the primary cable brand here on the country. Still the crowd was very hot and appreciated the wrestlers.
* By the way, before the show I was at the hotel the wrestlers were staying at. Chris Jericho and Tommy Dreamer were like little kids sliding at the kiddie pool. Chris Jericho was nice enough and I greeted him while he was at the pool bar. I asked for a photo and he did not hesitate. I joked if it was ok to have a photo with him even though he was half naked. He responded. "I’m always half naked". Very cool dude. * Michelle McCool was very rude to some of the fans. After she came from the gym a couple of fans asked for a photo with her. She was quick to say no and I think was trying here best to stay away from the fans.
* A couple of hours later I saw Maria and discussed the issue with her (even though I just said "a diva" and not Michelle McCool). Maria said the divas sometimes don't like having their photo taken while looking all sweaty and stuff. She was very sweet.
* John Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin
* Mark Henry defeated Evan Bourne
* Melina and Gail Kim defeated Alicia Fox and Michelle McCool (with Maria as guest referee)
* The Great Khali defeated Dolph Ziggler
* Tommy Dreamer defeated Christian and Jack Swagger
* Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho (Ricky Steamboat as guess referee)
* Jericho was over the crowd like crazy. People were chanting "Y2J" and he had to cut a promo to stop us from cheering him, some did not stop and he eventually toyed with us a bit ala Jericho 2002-2005. Showing his muscles and emulating HBK's top rope gesture.
* CM Punk defeated Jeff Hardy (apparently some did not hear yet about edge's injury. WWE did not even mention on how edge was not injured and left the fans puzzled. Small "we want edge" chants on the match)
* Afterwards Hardy played the crowd and even signed a autograph on the way out
* Overall entertaining show but it lacked the star power that Raw enjoys. Still fans left craving for more.
Biggest pops Chris Jericho Jeff Hardy (crowd was kind of tired already when he came out) Rey Mysterio
Biggest heat Chris Jericho Jack Swagger Shelton Benjamin
PW.net
Jericho came out to a great pop. Seriously, there were so many fans that love him here. I brought a sign that said “SD! is Jericho” and he smirked when he saw it. There were Y2J chants that were very loud. He tried to cut a heel promo (the same “You can _____ all you want because you’re all hypocrites, I’m the best in the world at what I do, I guarantee you won’t see the 619 and I will unmask him” stuff) but we were still cheering for him. A lot of signs that read, “Hypocrite,” with an arrow pointing to themselves were in the arena. You could see it in his face, he was genuinely surprised to be so over. Rey got a nice response too. He said hi to a few masked fans. Steamboat was well respected as well.
more details follow
The crowd was hot all night. Only about 60 percent of the arena was filled (maybe 7,000 - 8,000, I assume) which was kinda disappointing. All of us were very respectful though. We cheered for whoever we wanted but in the end, we clapped for whoever lost. We were pretty loud but after seeing how many people showed up, I doubt they'd come back any time in the near future. I hope I'm wrong, though, because we loved every moment of the show.
1. John Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin. A solid opener. It was similar to the matches they had on Smackdown with Benjamin using a lot of holds and Morrison hitting some high impact moves. Finish: Morrison hit a Tilt-A-Whirl DDT followed by the Starship Pain to a nice pop.
2. Mark Henry beat Evan Bourne. Evan came out wearing a "Pilipinas" basketball jersey. I saw him at EDSA Shang (the hotel they're staying in) but a bodyguard stopped us from approaching him. He's a lot bigger than he looks on TV. Finish: Henry countered a top rope move into a World's Strongest Slam for the pin. We were all very disappointed that Evan didn't hit the Air Bourne Shooting Star Press.
3. Gail Kim and Melina defeated Michelle McCool and Alicia Fox (w/Maria) as the special guest ref. Maria came out to a nice pop but Melina was really over. I guess it's because she's said to have some Filipino blood in her. I loudly made a TNA related comment which some fans laughed about. Michelle did a good job of being a coward and tagging out when Melina would get in the ring. The match had the same spots their tag match on Smackdown had. Finish: Gail Kim hit her Inverted Stomp Facebreaker finisher on Fox for the pin.
4. The Great Khali over Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler grabbed the mic and tried to introduce himself but was drowned out by all the boos. He couldn't even take his vest off without being booed. Khali got a HUGE pop to match his huge body. Ziggler did a lot of stalling to start the match. Khali dominated most of the match with Ziggler getting bits of offense in. Finish: Khali hits the Punjabi Plunge for the win.
After the intermission, Justin Roberts came back out to announce that the ring announcer for the next match would be the current ECW general manager Tiffany. She looked smoking hot and announced the following contest would be a triple threat for the ECW Title which led to...
5. Tommy Dreamer defeated Jack Swagger and Christian to retain the ECW Championship. Christian came out to an okay pop. Swagger came out in American themed tights. I don't know if he wears that on all his overseas tours but it got a good response. Dreamer came out to a nice response which I'm proud to say was startled by me chanting E-C-Dub. Dreamer was out for most of the match. They hit the Tower of Doom spot which got one of the best reactions of the night. Finish: Swagger countered Killswith only to get Dreamer DDT'd and pinned. Dreamer saw a fan with a sign that read "Innovator of Violence" in the front row. He asked the fan to come in, gave him his shirt, let him carry the belt and hugged him. It was one of the coolest things that could ever happen to a fan. That was really nice of Dreamer.
6. Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Championship with Ricky Steamboat as the special guest referee. Jericho came out to a great pop. Seriously, there were so many fans that love him here. I brought a sign that said "SD! is Jericho" and he smirked when he saw it. There were Y2J chants that were very loud. He tried to cut a heel promo (the same "You can _____ all you want because you're all hypocrites, I'm the best in the world at what I do, I guarantee you won't see the 619 and I will unmask him" stuff) but we were still cheering for him. A lot of signs that read, "Hypocrite," with an arrow pointing to themselves were in the arena. You could see it in his face, he was genuinely surprised to be so over. Rey got a nice response too. He said hi to a few masked fans. Steamboat was well respected as well.
This match was match of the night in my eyes. Both guys were so over and they put on a great performance. Just like on TV and on PPV, put Jericho and Mysterio together and nothing can go wrong. Jericho tried to unmask Rey a couple of times. They hit all their signature spots. Great moments include Rey hitting the senton to the outside, Jericho countering a 619 into the Walls of Jericho, Jericho hitting the spinning torture rack backbreaker counter and a solid Codebreaker which he protected by taking bout half a minute to follow up with a cover.
Finish: Jericho goes outside to get a chair only to have Steamboat take it away. While arguing with Steamboat with his head in between the ropes (Steamboat just returned the chair), Rey hit the 619 and Splash combo for the win. After the match, Jericho beat down Steamboat for a minute. As soon as Steamboat made a comeback, Jericho ran up the ramp.
7. C.M. Punk defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the World Heavyweight Title. I had my wrists taped a la CM Punk (I'm the only fan I know that's smart enough to know that was stupid and still did it) and looked like an idiot for most of the show. I also had a sign that said, "Jeff Hardy? More like Jeff Junkie!" which pretty much establishes me as the biggest jerk there. Hardy, who came out to a good pop, saw this and smirked at me. When Punk came out and saw me with my taped fists and my brother with a "Straight Edge means better than you!" sign. He smiled and pointed right at us. Biggest mark out moment right there.
They had a good back and forth contest. Punk played a face for the most part but started to use heel tactics like attacking Jeff while opening the ropes or hitting Jeff when the ref would back him up. A lot of counters in the match. They teased both men hitting one of their finishers. Jeff was in the GTS position twice but he countered. Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind, almost got the Twist of Fate and missed a Swanton. Finish: Punk goes for the GTS once again, Hardy counters into a sunset flip attempt only to have Punk block the attempt and pin him to retain.
Notes: Overall, anyone who watched the show felt they got their money's worth. Many were disappointed because they didn't see certain finishers (Air Bourne, a Swanton Bomb that hit and the GTS) but it was all good in the end. I really hope they come back soon because I blame the lack of promotion on the mediocre attendance. Great show by the Smackdown/ECW crew.
Probably the last few paragraphs summarized the whole event. I'll post my reactions
Smackdown and ECW Live Tour Araneta Coliseum
Full Match details soon to follow.....
Match 1: John Morrison vs Shelton Benjamin
Winner: John Morrison after Starship Pain.
Match 2: Evan Bourne vs Mark Henry
Winner: Mark Henry after World's Strongest Slam.
Match 3: Michelle McCool (c) and Alicia Fox vs Melina and Gail Kim (Maria guest referee)
Winner: Melina and Gail Kim
Match 4: Dolph Ziggler vs The Great Khali (w/o Runjin Singh)
Winner: The Great Khali after the 2 handed chokeslam.
Match 5: Triple Threat ECW Championship Match Tommy Dreamer (c) vs Christian vs Jack Swagger
Winner: Tommy Dreamer after DDT to Jack Swagger.
Match 6: Intercontinental Championship Match Rey Mysterio (c) vs Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho (c) (Ricky The Dragon Steamboat as Guest Referee)
Winner: Rey Mysterio after 619.
Match 7: World Heavyweight Championship Match Jeff Hardy vs CM Punk (c)
Winner: CM Punk after GTS.
No sign of superstars like Edge (c), Triple H (RAW, Advertised), Umaga (released) and Batista (currently sidelined, RAW)
Match 1: John Morrison vs Shelton Benjamin
Winner: John Morrison after Starship Pain.
Match 2: Evan Bourne vs Mark Henry
Winner: Mark Henry after World's Strongest Slam.
Match 3: Michelle McCool (c) and Alicia Fox vs Melina and Gail Kim (Maria guest referee)
Winner: Melina and Gail Kim
Match 4: Dolph Ziggler vs The Great Khali (w/o Runjin Singh)
Winner: The Great Khali after the 2 handed chokeslam.
Match 5: Triple Threat ECW Championship Match Tommy Dreamer (c) vs Christian vs Jack Swagger
Winner: Tommy Dreamer after DDT to Jack Swagger.
Match 6: Intercontinental Championship Match Rey Mysterio (c) vs Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho (c) (Ricky The Dragon Steamboat as Guest Referee)
Winner: Rey Mysterio after 619.
Match 7: World Heavyweight Championship Match Jeff Hardy vs CM Punk (c)
Winner: CM Punk after GTS.
No sign of superstars like Edge (c), Triple H (RAW, Advertised), Umaga (released) and Batista (currently sidelined, RAW)
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