Year In Wrestling: 2006 - MNM vs. Batista/Mysterio, Benoit vs Orton, KENTA/Marvin vs K.Suzuki/Marufuji & New Year's Revolution 2006

WWE Friday Night SmackDown - 06/01/2006

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Matt Hardy vs. John Bradshaw Layfield (w/Jillian Hall)

This was a great way to spend 5 minutes. And because of the short time, this went straight to the point, compacting a table bump, ladder spots and using JBL’s limo, which Hardy landed on to lose, into that time frame. JBL cut a promo before the match saying that 2006 would be his year and how he’s a wrestling god. And he followed it up with a win to open the Smackdown year. ***

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: Kid Kash (c) vs. Juventud

Good news, bad news and more bad news. Juventud Guerrera is here. It’s his last match in WWE. And the insufferable Mr Kennedy is doing commentary on the match. The match was your usual CW match with tons of high spots packed into a short run time. Seeing a 450 on WWE TV in this period is still a rarity. There was enough of a styles differnce to make this more interesting than your average heat match though. Plus Kid Kash has a sweet brainbuster. **1/4

WWE United States Title Best Of Seven Series Match #6: Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton

Randy Orton replaced Booker T in the series, making the whole show much more pleasant but this is one of the matches that’s filler, not lasting long while having a DQ finish. Orlando Jordan attacks Benoit with a crutch to cause the DQ but - and I’ll say this without much context or knowledge of the other half of this series - I think Jordan was helping Benoit to screw with Booker T. The match itself was good but it’s only a small glimpse of their previous matches. Benoit works the arm and Orton stomps and headlocks his way into a dominant position. Next week’s bout is a match I adore a lot and I’m willing to revisit it. **1/2

WWE Tag Team Title Steel Cage Match: MNM (Mercury & Nitro) (w/Melina) (c) vs. Batista & Rey Mysterio

This was an awesome main event. Tag Team Cage matches could get messy but MNM were a great tag team and so were Rey and Batista. In another universe where they just kept Batista as a tag team guy, this feud would have carried the division for years. MNM get destroyed early on before they use their chemistry to isolate the individual duo, getting rid of Rey and working on Batista. Sick double team moves and great selling from Batista made this match but Batista’s comeback was just as great. And we got Rey diving off the top of the cage which was amazing. Melina calls down Batista’s Rumble opponent, Mark Henry, seeing MNM are in deep trouble. Mark Henry ripped the door off the cage (!!!) and helps MNM win. Great angle that won’t be followed up on as Batista will get injured in a House Show main event against Henry later in the week. ***1/2

NOAH First Navigation 2006 - Day 1 - 08/01/2006

KENTA & Ricky Marvin vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji

The road to Budokan Hall started here. Marufuji and KENTA are set to go against each other since KENTA’s trial series in 2004 so this is a big deal. Here it’s in tag form though, with Koataro Suzuki and Ricky Marvin included. The match wasn’t balls out fantastic but it was solid tag team wrestling with quick tags, solid individual matchups (Marufuji/KENTA) and a spot-heavy closing stretch. It’s a good table setter with Marufuji getting the win. A sign of things to come? ***

WWE New Year's Revolution 2006 - 08/01/2006

Intercontinental Title Match: Ric Flair (c) vs. Edge (w/Lita)

This was surprisingly good. Edge worked viscously and quickly with Ric Flair doing his old man routine which is always great. I may be the outlier on that but the crowd loved seeing Flair do his greatest hits. Flair is over the hill so he cheats and eye pokes his way through the match. Lita gets involved so Flair put her in the figure four which led to Edge getting DQ’d by using the Money In The Back briefcase. Flair bleeds a gusher which won't be the first time that happens on this show. ***

Triple H vs. The Big Show

Big Show excelled as the wounded giant. His selling and how he adapted to the broken right hand was great wrestling. Triple H is at his best with a true focus for his methodical ways. The cast was a good way for Big Show to be even stronger in the first half but once it came off, it became his biggest weakness. Triple H was relentless in his attacks - jumping on the wrist, smacking it against the ring posts, and good ole fashioned stomping. The ref bump was smartly implemented, leading to Triple H trying to use the sledgehammer once more only for the Big Show to break it in half without the cast in an insane feat of strength, although it still hurt him. Big Show is on his way to defeat but it was compelling seeing him get in a defensive mode and survive for as long as he did. But he succumbed to a sledgehammer shot to the head and a pedigree. This was terrific. ***3/4

WWE Heavyweight Title Elimination Chamber Match: John Cena (c) vs. Carlito vs. Kane vs. Kurt Angle (w/Daivari) vs. Chris Masters vs. Shawn Michaels

Mediocre. The worst Chamber match of the lot as of early 2006. While I'm not the biggest Kurt Angle fan, he is the most over in the match and produces the best stretch of wrestling and he's out rather quickly and first. The rest of the match lacks any quality moments or interactions. Cena and Shawn Michaels don't make use of their five minutes alone. Carlito and Masters are fine as a duo but there is a severe lack of quality to carry that story throughout the match. Cena is fine with his selling. He knows how to sneak a quick upset but there is no drama as the crowd are aware that Carlito or Chris Masters aren't winning the title, so it's wasted. This was entirely average. **1/2

WWE Heavyweight Title Match: John Cena (c) vs. Edge (w/Lita)

Edge has shocked the world! **