The Year in PPV- 2005, Part III

With the wave of momentum they had, let's see how the year 2005 finishes...


11. Unforgiven

This was the first real PPV of the year that felt like unimportant filler for the most part. The most historic match of the night was the Steel Cage match between Matt Hardy and Edge. You gotta appreciate how professional these two were to actually have solid matches together and trust each other in the ring, given that they were feuding through the real life drama surrounding Lita. This match is one of their best encounters, and really proved that these two could survive in the main event picture (and at least one of them was able to).

Other than that, the rest of the show is pretty forgettable. There's an attempt to get Chris Masters over by having him feud with Shawn Michaels, but that's lost in history. There's a fairly amusing bit involving Ric Flair partying all night after his Intercontinental Championship victory against Carlito. The main event between John Cena and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship had all the makings of an epic clash (thanks to Cena's ongoing feud with RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff), but something gets lost in the shuffle that translates out to an average main event (made even more clear by the match's ending).

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12. No Mercy

In a show that features a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship (involving Chris Benoit, Orlando Jordan, Booker T and Christian), the PPV debut of Bobby Lashley, and a solid encounter between JBL and Rey Mysterio, they are considered a mere footnote to the real story of this show. In the main event, Batista defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Eddie Guerrero. Up to this point, this was definitely Batista's best wrestled match as champion, helped by the chemistry he and Eddie had behind the scenes (it's been said numerous times that Eddie helped Batista get comfortable on the SmackDown roster when he was brought over). What really sold the match was whether or not Eddie would revert back to his old ways of lying, cheating, and stealing, and what Batista would do to Eddie if he was betrayed by him.

Tragically, on November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero passed away from heart failure. There were rumored plans for him to win the World Heavyweight Championship in the near future (even claims that he was to win it at the SmackDown tapings that week). While his time with us was cut short, we still remember the legacy that Eddie left behind as a total package type of performer. Not only did he have charisma in and out of the ring, but he could also wrestle submission style, technical grappling, high flying, and hardcore when he needed to. He will always be remembered as one of the greats.

R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero and Viva La Raza!

Recommended


13. Taboo Tuesday

Since I'm a big fan of these entertaining (yet predictable) fan interaction shows, I thought I would watch the PPV with the mindset of a potential voter, and most of my predictions were accurate (and yes, I did ignore the fact that I knew what the eventual choices would be). Even if majority of the matches aren't historically important, the entire show is a lot of fun and offers variety through the matches that are selected. One thing to note about the show is that it featured Joey Styles on commentary with Jerry Lawler, after Jim Ross had been fired and Jonathan Coachman had a match with Batista later that night (good luck Coach).

The biggest matches of the night are include a Triple Threat for the WWE Championship between John Cena, Kurt Angle and the fan's choice between Shawn Michaels, Kane, and Big Show (guess who was chosen) and the Intercontinental Championship on the line in a fan's choice match (normal match, submission match, or steel cage match) between Ric Flair and Triple H. The Triple Threat is pretty solid, as you would expect from the three performers involved, but left a little to be desired in actual storytelling. The Flair/Triple H match was so heavy on story that the commentators even admit that the Intercontinental Championship is a footnote in this match. The match itself (go ahead and guess after these hints) is bloody, brutal, and one of the best matches of Flair's career (let alone in the matches towards the end of his career).

Recommended


14. Survivor Series

The phrase "quality over quantity" is in effect for a show like this. Sure, there's some crappy (Eric Bischoff vs. Teddy Long) and underwhelming (Trish Stratus vs. Melina for the Women's Championship) sprinkled throughout the show, but there are also four very entertaining matches on the card that offers something different with each match. For wrestling purists, there's a great opening match between Chris Benoit and Booker T (the first match in a best of seven series to crown the United States Champion) that has the audience applauding both men by its conclusion. The Last Man Standing match between Triple H and Ric Flair continues where their steel cage match left off at Taboo Tuesday. Like that match, this match is brutal and bloody, but it also demonstrates that Flair is still an amazing performer, and allows him to take it to The Game without derailing any of Triple H's main event momentum.

The WWE Champion, John Cena, was in one of the biggest challenges that point in his career, as he was defending the title in a match against Kurt Angle, who had his own referee in Davairi, in an attempt by Eric Bischoff to intentionally screw Cena out of the title at Survivor Series. It's one of the best examples of Cena defying the odds and being an underdog champion, but before fans got tired of seeing that formula (but it was starting, as fans were definitely behind Angle in this match). By the end of the night, fans were guaranteed the showdown they all wanted: SmackDown vs. RAW in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. For months, the tension had been building up to the point where the general managers named their teams. RAW (Shawn Michaels, Kane, Big Show, Chris Masters, and Carlito) and SmackDown (Batista, JBL, Bobby Lashley, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton) both had a lot to prove in this match, and the brand warfare was scattered all over, including battling referees and commentators (the commentary can get a little annoying with them always trash talking each other, I must admit). And let's just say that the show ends with the sole survivor of the getting a little more than he bargained for.

Recommended


15. Armageddon

"Quality over quantity," is not in effect on this filler show, however. With the exception of another fantastic encounter between Chris Benoit and Booker T (in match four of the best of seven), the rest of the midcard is forgettable. There is a fun blowoff match from the SmackDown vs. RAW feud, with RAW's World Tag Team Champions (Big Show and Kane) battling SmackDown's WWE Tag Team Champions (Batista and Rey Mysterio). This match is fun, but I am disappointed that Batista wrestled three straight PPVs without defending his championship (especially since, he would be injured and relinquish the title a month later).

The main event promised to bring an end to Randy Orton's feud with the Undertaker (thank the Lord, because that feud DRAGGED) inside Hell in a Cell. To build up this feud, they had Josh Matthews interview former referee Tim White, who proceeded to attempt suicide off-screen (I'm not even kidding), which would lead to those infamous Lunchtime Suicide videos on WWE.com. To say this was inappropriate to do only a month after Eddie Guerrero's passing is an understatement. But let's focus on the match. It was alright. I could tell that they were trying to recreate the style of match that Shawn Michaels had with the Undertaker in 1997. However, not even on his best day could Orton even come close to Michaels and it shows. The match, like their feud, just drags on too long. If they shaved 5-10 minutes, while keeping all of the spots, the match would be a lot better thanks to the pacing. I get that the slower pace might make the match feel like a war, but epic battles can definitely be quick paced as well. Thanks to the pacing, this match does come off as an underwhelming finish to a near year-long feud.

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Final Thoughts: Sadly, a year that was off to a very good start was not able to finish as well as it started. There are some quality matches throughout this last batch of shows, but for the most part, feels underwhelming. The year ended with Cena and Batista still on top, but also ended with us losing one of the greatest of all-time, so obviously, the end of the year is bittersweet. 


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