Aperama
05-25-2008, 03:06 AM
I know, I know. You're probably about ready to say "What? Shut the fuck up." But hear me out.
I came in about 20 minutes late. To be honest, I didn't have much hope, so I was more concerned with getting my dinner on the table. It didn't take too long, though - and through the show, I gathered that Homicide beat Brother Ray by DQ when Booker T interfered. They're, y'know.. allying up. Sounds boring, yeah? But no, it all makes sense.
The entire show was booked around AJ Styles. There were a few other storylines (two of which were based around the women's division.. er.. I just hate saying Knockouts or Divas) - but really, the entire show was being booked around him. He's in the main event for a King of the Mountain qualifying match against Booker T. So, here's how they set up the main event...
- Kurt Angle trying to get Karen Angle back. He asks if AJ is seeing her - he says, y'know.. no, just friends, shut up. Kurt's being his usual comedic self about things - saying how Karen's going to have a lot of dishes to wash when she gets home, how he's going to have plenty of time to go out with Frank Trigg 'cause she'll have to move all of her stuff back in, clean the house, etc.
- AJ backstage, reaffirming what Karen just said. Tomko comes up, tells him how he's not going to watch his back any more, given he betrayed him, not waiting to re-challenge for the tag titles together (and instead ending up with Super Eric at the Deuces Wild tournament). Styles says that he's not going to be intimidated any more.
- Booker T, backstage, saying how AJ is useless, just another guy towing the company line, just like Samoa Joe. He's with Team 3D, and gets angry at the locker room he's in. No carpet. No amenities. Nothing to say that he's the greatest Champion of all time. (He's totally going back to being King Booker.)
So, with these three vignettes, none of them fantastic in their own right, the scene is set for Booker/Styles. Styles takes a little bit of ground-based offense from Booker - he seems to constantly getting knocked down every time he gets a head full of steam - but then, he really gets on top. He's got his offense coming, nothing's missing, and.. Tomko trips him up off of a springboard forearm attempt. That spells the end for him, taking the Book End (Uranage.. er.. Rock Bottom) for the 1-2-3. Commercial break with Styles and Tomko staring each other down.
Back from commercial break - and finally, it gets fully out of hand. Despite the referees in the ring, Tomko and Styles start a full on brawl - and as Styles looks to get the upper hand, knocking Tomko down.. Booker and Team 3D storm the ring. Styles even seems to manage to knock these guys down - but Tomko storms him as he's getting ready to really put a beatdown on Booker again, and suddenly, it's four on one. What ensues is one of the most legitimate looking beatdowns I have seen in a long while - there was maybe six whole minutes of just.. bloodying up AJ - and this wasn't the usual bloodying up scene. This wasn't, use a big weapon (well, I think Tomko used a chain, but.. yeah, that was just to excuse the juicing) - hit a finisher - you're dead. This was just.. Punch. Kick. Punch. Kick. They looked stiff - they were all at the bleeding head of AJ. AJ's not much on the Muta Scale - but he sure did manage to get himself beaten up well. Just as Don West is literally saying, 'What the..? Cut to a commercial!" - Karen Angle comes down. Commentators seem sure that it's not going to work, but it seems to - for about a minute, they decide to leave Karen be. But they're angry, angry troglodyte-style people - pushing the woman out of the way to start beating the living shit out of Styles again. Karen rushes out - and after a good minute, Kurt Angle (with Karen) storms the ring with a steel chair. They were all positioned right so there was no obvious "Well, he could've just put his leg up to completely kill Kurt" - they all storm out, because Kurt looks pissed. And he really does look pissed. He looks ready to knock anyone who gets in out - but then, they all start pointing back to Karen. Who's hugging AJ, making sure he's okay. Kurt sees this - despite looking to try and ward everyone out of the ring - but his head gets to him. He sees his woman with his friend, and.. snaps. Styles wonkily gets to one knee, then.. takes probably one of the weakest chairshots in history - it just sorta.. rebounded off. It made a noise - it connected - just, Angle didn't throw it with any force. Despite this, though, it all flowed so perfectly - they've now got a upper midcard / main event scene planned out for the next few months. Here's how I see it:
Styles/Angle at Slammiversary. Styles goes over clean, with Karen valeting him. Guess what? We weren't seeing each other. Now we are. Kurt goes into a depressive "I need my woman back!" thing, which keeps him busy for the next few months, but.. he never has to interfere with AJ again, 'cause it's not AJ's fault, in his eyes, it's Karen's. One down, four to go.
From here, Styles needs to take out his former tag partner - the guy who betrayed him for no reason, just because he decided to do things the best way for him - Tomko. Tomko loses after probably a bloody/gimmick sorta match, Styles reigning supreme once more. Styles is working to be the biggest babyface in the company. (Joe, meanwhile, is feuding with Nash after being the first ever to successfully win King of the Mountain with the strap already around his waist.)
Styles then goes after Team 3D, probably with another guy they've somehow slighted in the past - or perhaps even the return of Christopher Daniels sans the spicy. Again, bloody finish with Styles going over one of them. This doesn't put down any of the guys Styles is annihilating - because really, it's that Styles is just so good, not that 3D is so bad. This is where I'd slot a Booker/Joe feud - they're already teasing at it, so now, Booker loses to Joe - but it's something a little controversial. Not sure on the exacts - but he has reason to ask for a rematch.
Booker/Styles again. Styles is pissed at Booker, the last guy on his list - Booker says he'll take the match if it's for #1 contendership to the World Title. (No need for a feud for Joe here - but if there is one, make it someone worthless. Robert Roode, anyone? Actually, Tomko would make sense too.) - Cornette accepts, because Styles is accepted at this point as the guy with the most successful winning streak without a championship belt. Match ends - Booker tries to cheat again, everyone who's had a problem with Styles in the past few months coming out to try and stop him (save Kurt) - Joe storms the ring, cleaning house for Styles as he wonkily gets to his feet, pinning Booker after a ref bump. Again, this doesn't put down Tomko/3D; it just makes Styles/Joe look all the more strong. This leads to October (Bound for Glory - their biggest PPV of the year. Styles, on an unstoppable run - Joe, the only man to have ever won the King of the Mountain match with the title around his waist to start. It doesn't even matter which way you go from here - you've just put together a match that people WILL want to see, which will entice both the 'storyline' people (WWE fans) and the 'workrate' people (RoH/TNA fans). Biggest pay per view - biggest match of the year.
And all because this iMpact was so well put together.
I came in about 20 minutes late. To be honest, I didn't have much hope, so I was more concerned with getting my dinner on the table. It didn't take too long, though - and through the show, I gathered that Homicide beat Brother Ray by DQ when Booker T interfered. They're, y'know.. allying up. Sounds boring, yeah? But no, it all makes sense.
The entire show was booked around AJ Styles. There were a few other storylines (two of which were based around the women's division.. er.. I just hate saying Knockouts or Divas) - but really, the entire show was being booked around him. He's in the main event for a King of the Mountain qualifying match against Booker T. So, here's how they set up the main event...
- Kurt Angle trying to get Karen Angle back. He asks if AJ is seeing her - he says, y'know.. no, just friends, shut up. Kurt's being his usual comedic self about things - saying how Karen's going to have a lot of dishes to wash when she gets home, how he's going to have plenty of time to go out with Frank Trigg 'cause she'll have to move all of her stuff back in, clean the house, etc.
- AJ backstage, reaffirming what Karen just said. Tomko comes up, tells him how he's not going to watch his back any more, given he betrayed him, not waiting to re-challenge for the tag titles together (and instead ending up with Super Eric at the Deuces Wild tournament). Styles says that he's not going to be intimidated any more.
- Booker T, backstage, saying how AJ is useless, just another guy towing the company line, just like Samoa Joe. He's with Team 3D, and gets angry at the locker room he's in. No carpet. No amenities. Nothing to say that he's the greatest Champion of all time. (He's totally going back to being King Booker.)
So, with these three vignettes, none of them fantastic in their own right, the scene is set for Booker/Styles. Styles takes a little bit of ground-based offense from Booker - he seems to constantly getting knocked down every time he gets a head full of steam - but then, he really gets on top. He's got his offense coming, nothing's missing, and.. Tomko trips him up off of a springboard forearm attempt. That spells the end for him, taking the Book End (Uranage.. er.. Rock Bottom) for the 1-2-3. Commercial break with Styles and Tomko staring each other down.
Back from commercial break - and finally, it gets fully out of hand. Despite the referees in the ring, Tomko and Styles start a full on brawl - and as Styles looks to get the upper hand, knocking Tomko down.. Booker and Team 3D storm the ring. Styles even seems to manage to knock these guys down - but Tomko storms him as he's getting ready to really put a beatdown on Booker again, and suddenly, it's four on one. What ensues is one of the most legitimate looking beatdowns I have seen in a long while - there was maybe six whole minutes of just.. bloodying up AJ - and this wasn't the usual bloodying up scene. This wasn't, use a big weapon (well, I think Tomko used a chain, but.. yeah, that was just to excuse the juicing) - hit a finisher - you're dead. This was just.. Punch. Kick. Punch. Kick. They looked stiff - they were all at the bleeding head of AJ. AJ's not much on the Muta Scale - but he sure did manage to get himself beaten up well. Just as Don West is literally saying, 'What the..? Cut to a commercial!" - Karen Angle comes down. Commentators seem sure that it's not going to work, but it seems to - for about a minute, they decide to leave Karen be. But they're angry, angry troglodyte-style people - pushing the woman out of the way to start beating the living shit out of Styles again. Karen rushes out - and after a good minute, Kurt Angle (with Karen) storms the ring with a steel chair. They were all positioned right so there was no obvious "Well, he could've just put his leg up to completely kill Kurt" - they all storm out, because Kurt looks pissed. And he really does look pissed. He looks ready to knock anyone who gets in out - but then, they all start pointing back to Karen. Who's hugging AJ, making sure he's okay. Kurt sees this - despite looking to try and ward everyone out of the ring - but his head gets to him. He sees his woman with his friend, and.. snaps. Styles wonkily gets to one knee, then.. takes probably one of the weakest chairshots in history - it just sorta.. rebounded off. It made a noise - it connected - just, Angle didn't throw it with any force. Despite this, though, it all flowed so perfectly - they've now got a upper midcard / main event scene planned out for the next few months. Here's how I see it:
Styles/Angle at Slammiversary. Styles goes over clean, with Karen valeting him. Guess what? We weren't seeing each other. Now we are. Kurt goes into a depressive "I need my woman back!" thing, which keeps him busy for the next few months, but.. he never has to interfere with AJ again, 'cause it's not AJ's fault, in his eyes, it's Karen's. One down, four to go.
From here, Styles needs to take out his former tag partner - the guy who betrayed him for no reason, just because he decided to do things the best way for him - Tomko. Tomko loses after probably a bloody/gimmick sorta match, Styles reigning supreme once more. Styles is working to be the biggest babyface in the company. (Joe, meanwhile, is feuding with Nash after being the first ever to successfully win King of the Mountain with the strap already around his waist.)
Styles then goes after Team 3D, probably with another guy they've somehow slighted in the past - or perhaps even the return of Christopher Daniels sans the spicy. Again, bloody finish with Styles going over one of them. This doesn't put down any of the guys Styles is annihilating - because really, it's that Styles is just so good, not that 3D is so bad. This is where I'd slot a Booker/Joe feud - they're already teasing at it, so now, Booker loses to Joe - but it's something a little controversial. Not sure on the exacts - but he has reason to ask for a rematch.
Booker/Styles again. Styles is pissed at Booker, the last guy on his list - Booker says he'll take the match if it's for #1 contendership to the World Title. (No need for a feud for Joe here - but if there is one, make it someone worthless. Robert Roode, anyone? Actually, Tomko would make sense too.) - Cornette accepts, because Styles is accepted at this point as the guy with the most successful winning streak without a championship belt. Match ends - Booker tries to cheat again, everyone who's had a problem with Styles in the past few months coming out to try and stop him (save Kurt) - Joe storms the ring, cleaning house for Styles as he wonkily gets to his feet, pinning Booker after a ref bump. Again, this doesn't put down Tomko/3D; it just makes Styles/Joe look all the more strong. This leads to October (Bound for Glory - their biggest PPV of the year. Styles, on an unstoppable run - Joe, the only man to have ever won the King of the Mountain match with the title around his waist to start. It doesn't even matter which way you go from here - you've just put together a match that people WILL want to see, which will entice both the 'storyline' people (WWE fans) and the 'workrate' people (RoH/TNA fans). Biggest pay per view - biggest match of the year.
And all because this iMpact was so well put together.