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DWF 21/04/08 + final Ground Zero lineup

91Posted on 05/27/08 at 23:34:12

Hayabusa & Tajiri vs Hunter Hearst-Helmsley & Rockabilly

After Rockabillys challenge to Brad Armstrong last week, he was still awaiting
an answer coming into tonight. Still, he had other things on his mind to start
off with as he and Hunter Hearst-Helmsley were in tag team action against
Hayabusa and Tajiri. Rockabilly didn't fare well in the opening minute or so
as Hayabusa ran him ragged in there and he was forced to bail and tag in
Helmsley. Helmsley did a much better job and kept things much more balanced as
he dealt with Tajiri. Rockabilly meanwhile snuck round the ring and yanked
Hayabusa right off the apron, causing Busa to smack his face on the apron as
he fell. Helmsley meanwhile used this distraction to hit the Pedigree on Tajiri
and then tagged on Rockabilly (who was standing in the ring corner) and held
Tajiri for Rockabilly to hit the Fame Asser and register a win.

Hunter Hearst-Helmsley & Rockabilly (Hunter Hearst-Helmsley and Rockabilly)
defeated Hayabusa & Tajiri (Hayabusa and Tajiri) when Rockabilly pinned Tajiri
with the Fame Asser in 0:04:52.
Rating: *** 1/2

Kurt Angle is backed into a corner

With just six days to go until Ground Zero and Kurt Angle had reached a point
of desperation. After his confrontation with Rhyno last week, the Manbeast
approached Angle wanting his payoff in order to guarentee that he wouldn't
interfere in Angles title match this Sunday. Angles was prepared and gave Rhyno
a large wad of cash with a promise of another wad if he delivers on his promise.
Further more, Rhyno pressed Angle into agreeing a title match should Angle win
the title on Sunday. Rhyno was happy with this and left, leaving a very
frustrated Angle ruing his past actions.

Pitbull #2 vs Mando Guerrero

Chavo Classic has bragged about being the most hardcore guy in the industry
all because he was the guy Rob Van Dam was facing when he suffered his career
ending injury, but this could all change when he faces Pitbull #2 this Sunday
in a table match. Mando was sent to try and take a little out of the Pitbull
and learn a little about him but despite a good early start, the Pitbull
quickly took charge and dominated him with ease before finishing him with a
powerslam. With a win secured, he now wanted to show what he could do and plant
Mando throw the announce table and send a message to Chavo. Several refs came
down and made sure that didn't happen but he could be heard to say that it was
alright, he'd just have to do it this Sunday instead.

Pitbull #2 pinned Mando Guerrero after a powerslam in 0:03:58.
Rating: ** 1/2

Things backfire for Rockabilly

Backstage Rockabilly was in confident mode after his victory and he and Hunter
were approached by Michael Cole. Rockabilly wanted to brag about his win, but
Cole then gave him the news he'd been waiting for - sure enough, Brad Armstrong
had accepted the challenge and would be pulling double duty at Ground Zero.
Rockabilly seemed delighted, stating that Armstrong would be exhausted after
the six man tag and he'd be easy pickings. Uh-oh, this was quickly backfiring
when Michael Cole noted that Commissioner Matt Hardy had figured he'd much
rather Armstrong lost the six man tag and couldn't care less what happened to
Rockabilly, so the Billy/Brad match would be the one that was first. Rockabilly
first seemed appalled, then tried to argue, then was on the verge of tears.
Shame.

Sean O'Haire vs Heidenreich

Sean O'Haire had action today as he took on Heidenreich as Matt Hardy looked to
appease Brian Pillman a little more softening up O'Haire some more - as Pillman
apparently said, the more you hurt O'Haire, the more likely you'll be dining
on Jody Fleisch' appendix come Wrestlefest. Heidenreich certainly was tough
enough to be able to soften O'Haire a bit but was never able to really dominate
things and the one time he did have O'Haire down after a sidewalk slam, he
seemed more concerned with using his laser vision to burn a large hole in
O'Haires chest. Surprisingly, O'Haires vital organs didn't topple out of his
body (even if they might when he faces Pillman at Wrestlefest) and he took over
long enough to put Heidenreich away with the Seanton.

Sean O'Haire pinned Heidenreich with the Seanton Bomb in 0:06:31.
Rating: **

The Kings Court: Matt Hardy makes the latest match for Ground Zero

It was at this point that we went over to the Kings Court set where King Kanyon,
in full suck-up mode (do kings usually do much sucking up?) to his guest, Matt
Hardy who was being flanked by Gene Snitsky and later Heidenreich when he made
his way over. Hardy congratulated O'Haire on his victory but said he had
promised his head on a platter to be served to Brian Pillman in return for
Pillman decimating Jody Fleisch this Sunday. With that, he had a match for
Sean O'Haire to take place this Sunday - a handicap cap match against The
Syndicate who he brought out at this point.

With no love lost between commissioner Matt Hardy and The Syndicate, Lance
Storm queried why this match had been booked. Hardy said he was the commissioner
and everyone had to do what he said. When Storm simply said "we've got nothing
against Sean O'Haire, what if we just refuse and go home?" Hardy, apparently
prepared for this, said if The Syndicate win they will get a shot at the tag
team titles at Wrestlefest. O'Haire, who now had a mic, said that for all
Hardys attempts to justify his power whilst using it to compensate for something
else, why should HE agree to this match and not just walk? Hardy was also ready
for this and said if he managed to beat The Syndicate then he would get one
guarenteed world title shot that he could use at any time whenever he chose.
With this sort of negotiating, O'Haire said the decks may have been stacked
against him in ones man attempts to show off his power by doing his bidding for
another (Pillman) but he would accept the match, as did The Syndicate, so it
appears we have ourselves a handicap match for Ground Zero.

Things didn't end there though, oh no. Perhaps inevitably, Brian Pillman
wandered out and stood by the curtain holding something that made everyone stand
back just a little bit. Pillman had a sick deranged smile (and a mic, of course)
and seemed to be motioning towards O'Haire. Finally King Kanyon asked the
question that everyone was dying to know - "Noblest Brian... what are you doing
with that soldering iron?"

Indeed, like a lunatic, Brian Pillman had a soldering iron in his hand and
judging by the extention lead that stretched back behind the curtain, it had
power. Luckily the lead was too short to reach anyone but long enough to block
anyone thinking of going through that curtain. Pillman said everything was
falling into place and he and O'Haire would have their greatest moment as a tag
team at Wrestlefest when they faced each other, and to prove just how much he
loved Sean, he was going to use that soldering iron to tattoo 'Brian' right on
O'Haires heart before he tore it out. He also promised Hardy that he had
something special for Jody come Ground Zero and it would truly melt the ice,
just as he used the iron to melt part of the set. Finally he left and hopefully
Sean managed to negotiate a safe exit from the building.

"Unnecessarily Evil" John Cena vs Paul Roma

Paul Roma once again was out today - apparently he hadn't come down with a bout
of deep vein thrombosis on the flight here tonight and was thus fit enough to
come out and bore us. Damn. He and the Posse were out again threatening to
light their candelabras unless someone with even more evil than them were to
show up and prove their evilness, they would light these candelabras as a sign
to their gods. Of course, who more evil than the unnecessary one, John Cena?
Cena wasn't in any hurry and toyed with Roma and the Posse, easily disposing of
them both, before finishing with the Eighth Deadly Sin. Good.

John Cena pinned Paul Roma with the Eighth Deadly Sin in 0:04:06.
Rating: * 1/4

Zbyszko still looking for dirt on Cena

Backstage, Larry Zbyszko was walking, and muttering to himself bitterly about
Cenas win. Finally he got to where he was headed - the Young Lions office. OK,
the office looked more like a closet but let's not hold that against them.
Larry said they'd had two weeks to dig some decent dirt on Cena and he wanted
them to deliver the goods. Inspector Joey proudly had a wad of paper that said
they had some real evidence on him that Larry could use. Larry very eagerly
asked what it was and Officer Matthews proudly informed him - JOHN CENA LIKE TO
VANDALISE CARS!! Larry was, shall we say, less than enthused about this ("I
know that you morons, he vandalises cars all the time, he did mine this
morning") and demanded they dig up some PROPER dirt on him. Back on the case
then I guess.

"The Rock" Brad Armstrong vs Ulf Herman

With one of the most eagerly anticipated matches at Ground Zero being the six
man tag, we had a preview of sorts with two more of the participants going at
it. With Alex Wright defeating the Dynamite Kid last week and Muraco getting
disqualified against Raven, it was the turn of "The Rock" Brad Armstrong and
Ulf Herman to square off. Armstrong started off the fastest and right away
had Ulf reeling in the corner with his series of right hands followed by a
clothesline to send him to the outside. Wright was not happy in the slightest.

Things did pick up in due course with Herman using his massive size advantage
to get things going his way for a while but it was far from being all plain
sailing despite Wrights attempts to interfere. Herman hit Brad with some big
moves including an impressive press slam and a huge sidewalk slam that got a
close two. Still, when Ulf couldn't put him away, he got frustrated and it
allowed The Rock back into things. A floatover DDT got a near two count and
it was looking good as he went for the Rock Bottom, only for Herman to elbow
his way out and both men fell to the mat. At this point, Don Muraco wandered
out and began climbing onto the apron. He didn't get far as Raven had chased
after him. Raven tore Muraco down and started brawling around ringside. The ref
instantly became distracted with the situation and tried to deal with this
while Ulf was finding a second wind.

A big kick to the midsection gave Herman the chance to hit the Tower of Power.
Brad managed to struggle out and turned around to see Wright charging in with
a whip shot. Brad slithered out of the way and Wright cracked the whip across
the chest of Ulf, knocking him down. Armstrong clotheslined Wright out while
Dynamite Kid appeared out of nowhere to add his two cents - a Swandive onto
Herman. With the ring now cleared of any outsiders. Brad finished things off
with the Peoples Elbow and the ref turned around to count the pin. A big win
for Armstrong, giving his team the momentum going into Ground Zero. Don Muraco
meanwhile wasn't happy and showed his displeasure at a dejected Ulf Herman who
for a while had looked like he might be able to take this one, possibly even by
himself.

Brad Armstrong pinned Ulf Herman with the Peoples Elbow in 0:11:37.
Rating: ****

Jeff Hardy heads towards Wrestlefest VIII

Jeff Hardy met Matt Hardy backstage regarding last weeks cruiserweight battle
royal. Jeff, suffice to say, wasn't keen on the idea of facing both Devon Storm
and Juventud Guerrera at Ground Zero and appealed to Matt to make things a bit
easier. Matt said he couldn't just scrap it all and let Jeff off easy but he
would give him more time to prepare for things as well as lightening the odds
somewhat, so he decreed that instead of there being a cruiserweight title
defense at Ground Zero, Devon Storm will face off against Juventud Guerrera
with the winner getting a title shot at Wrestlefest. Jeff seemed like he knew he
would be in for a fight at Wrestlefest but given the circumstances, he knows
he's gotten off easy and has himself a whole month to prepare. Still, Matts
bias and the power of nepotism that he wields is getting ridiculous.

Villano IV vs Terry Gordy

Terry Gordy was in action against Villano IV today and the match was over
before we knew it. Gordy hit some big power moves and place Villano in a sitting
position on the turnbuckle. Villano IV fought away Gordy who was looking for a
superplex so Gordy simply DDT'd him off the top rope, and Villano landed face
first rather nastily. The pin was academic and Gordy had an easy win.

Terry Gordy pinned Villano IV after a DDT in 0:01:47.
Rating: **

Steve Corino preps Billy Kidman

With the tag team titles on the line this Sunday, both teams were keens to
have a little feeling out session. With Corino and Hennig facing last week,
we got the second part this week with Billy Kidman facing off against Owen
Hart. Right before, we saw Pretty Perfect backstage confidently predicting
another perfect performance, whilst Steve Corino was prepping Billy Kidman,
saying "they might think they're perfect but while I'm the perfect television
champion, you can be the perfect anything you want" "world champion, Steve" "whatever"
and so forth.

Billy Kidman vs Owen Hart

Whether Kidman took any of Corinos motivation on board, he was actually showing
signs of his old self when he held the world title last year. Owen meanwhile
hasn't dropped any steps as he and Curt Hennig have been dominant in tag team
wrestling for almost three years. The end result was a very evenly split
encounter with both men using their pace and both men utilising some decent
holds. So evenly split was it that neither man even got a serious enough
opening to even think about going for their finisher and when it all boiled
down to it, after Owen toppled through the ropes off a shoulderblock, Kidman
followed him to the outside and he stayed at each others throats to the ten
count.

So intense had they been that they didn't stop fighting there and continued to
brawl away and managed to circle the ring whilst they continued to scrap it out.
Both Curt Hennig and Steve Corino (wearing his TV title whilst in his casual
clothes) came down and after a bit of persuading, managed to get them to break
it up and even coax them into shaking hands. Still, after all that, it's nice
to know there'll be no love lost when the two teams go at it this Sunday.

Billy Kidman and Owen Hart battled to a double countout in 0:13:03.
Rating: **** 1/4

Jericho's opponent at Ground Zero

It was announced that Chris Jericho was set to face Eddie Guerrero at Ground
Zero but apparently he had strained a muscle at a recent house show and the
match was off before we had really known it was on. Eddie won't miss any
serious time but he didn't want Jericho getting the night off, so after a quick
drawing of lots backstage, former cruiserweight champion Hector will step up
and take his place. But no doubt both Eddie and the rest of the clan will be
lurking this Sunday so Jericho better have eyes in the back of his head.

La Resistance (c) vs Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon (intercontinental tag team title match)

Following the Kidman/Owen match featuring two men who aren't exactly fan
favourites, we had another match of a similar vein with La Resistance defending
their Intercontinental tag team titles against Furnas & LaFon. The fans weren't
exactly rabidly behind the challengers but given La Resistances pre-match spiel
on how they love America for having the greatest tourist destinations on earth
such as the Oregon Vortex, the fan support was definitely behind Doug and Phil.

What followed was actually a very good tag team match with both teams showing
that when they're not cheating rampantly, they can really wrestle. Furnas and
LaFon looked slightly stronger and took control in the late stages with Doug
Furnas catching Grenier with his patented dropkick. LaFon ran in to take out
Rene Dupree who was coming in and the ref was then more worried about getting
LaFon out of there. With the refs attention diverted, Dupree grabbed the French
flag and clocked Furnas over the back of the head, as Grenier rolled over on
top and got the pin for a successful title defense.

After the match, as La Resistance ran away with their belts whilst giving their
own personal "USA" chant, Furnas and LaFon seemed unhappy with each other again
and bickered for a bit. Unbeknownst to them, Ricky Morton was running down with
a chair, obviously with the intent of taking them out. He didn't make it
though as Robert Gibson tackled him, trying to stop him. And with that, BOTH
teams argued their way to the back without either team even realising the other
team had the same problems. Lord knows if either team can keep it together at
Ground Zero, they'll be clear favourites.

La Resistance (Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier) defeated
Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon (Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon) when S. Grenier pinned
Furnas after hitting him with a foreign object in 0:10:17.
Rating: ***
(La Resistance retained the Intercontinental Tag Team Titles.)

A message from Andrew Martin

We saw another pre-taped message from Andrew Martin today who told us the story
of when he was in a ladder match for the IWGP title against Giant Baba before
he tripped and the ladder impailed him through the leg, destroying his tendons
before he managed to somehow recover and claim the belt. He finished by saying
that gimmick matches are dangerous and are killing careers, just like RVDs was
ended in a vicious Royal Rumble qualifier that was too dangerous. He said
gimmick matches should be banned and in the meantime, PLEASE, don't try this
at home.

Jerry Lynn (c) vs Alex Wright (world heavyweight title match)

The nights main event saw Jerry Lynn in a late scheduled title match that was
only arranged two nights ago, against Intercontinental champion, Alex Wright.
Matt Hardy had apparently announced the match, deeming Wright to be the number
one contender - nothing to do with Matt being onside with Don Muraco and Jeff
Hardy who are equally onside with Alex Wright then. Conspiracy theories aside,
it was also worth noting that Wrights title was not on the line.

Despite it being this close to Ground Zero and the mass reshuffling the card
would require if Wright snared the gold, Lynn started off as strongly as you'd
expect him to, with his frantically paced agressive style and Wright, as is
becoming customary for the IC champ, took an early breather to rethink his
strategy and talk things over with Ulf, still looking a little jaded from his
earlier match.

Back in, Wright managed to lower the tempo but Lynns still looked the far more
agressive and when Wright was thrown into the corner, he angrily barked at Ulf
to get in there and do something. Ulf wasn't exactly going to charge into the
ring but a moment or so later, managed to trip Lynn and distract his attention
long enough and get Wright into the match. It was a lot more evened up at this
point but Wright was still unable to get a clear cut advantage. Finally Lynn
mounted the comeback to take over again and Wright was on the rocks. After
Wright got thrown chest first into the corner with a shuddering bang, it looked
like Lynn had it won, when Herman jumped onto the apron. The ref was distracted
but Lynn wisely stayed focused. What he didn't see was Wright pulling his crop
whip from his boot and cracking it across Lynns face. Herman dropped back and
Wright made the cover and the ref made the count - one, two, threeeee.... so
very very close it was, Wright couldn't believe that wasn't quite three, it had
been incredibly close.

Wright became incensed and began pounding on Lynn who was still down. Ramming
his head into the turnbuckle, Lynn then staggered back and Wright had him lined
up for the Schadenfreude. Lynn blocked by throwing his leg back and catching
Wright low. Wright staggered to the ground as Lynn seemed to have his second
wind. After giving Wright some hard shots and a powerslam that got two, Lynn
looked to have everything finished off as he scooped Wright up and nailed him
with the Cradle Piledriver. Herman hopped onto the apron again and Lynn nailed
him with a sharp right that knocked the massive German back to the floor. But
as Lynn went for the cover, Kurt Angle ran in and broke it up, drawing an
obvious disqualification.

Angle obviously had his problems with Rhyno going into this, but he was looking
to rectify things here by softening Lynn up as much as possible before Ground
Zero. Indeed, he was doing more than softening him up, he was absolutely
pummelling him. After an overheard belly to belly, Angle hit Lynn with not one
but two Olympic Slams before slapping on the ankle lock. Several officials ran
down but weren't doing a great job in breaking things up. After a good minute
or two, Angle finally relinquished and went to the outside to grab the belt.
Lynn, as tough as he is, was already staggering gamely to his feet, Angle
retaliated by whacking him over the head with the world title belt, knocking
him clean out. As Angle raised the belt up high (and saying something about
seeing him this Sunday "you commie bastard") the show came to a close and the
worrying thing is if Angle can repeat these actions at Ground Zero, we've surely
got ourselves a brand new world champion.

Jerry Lynn defeated Alex Wright by disqualification in 0:13:31.
Rating: *** 1/4
(Jerry Lynn retained the Heavyweight Title.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROUND ZERO CARD

Jerry Lynn (c) vs Kurt Angle (world heavyweight title)

Pretty Perfect (c) vs Billy Kidman & Steve Corino (world tag team titles)

Raven, Dynamite Kid & "The Rock" Brad Armstrong vs Don Muraco, Alex Wright & Ulf Herman

Tables match: Pitbull #2 vs Chavo Classic

Handicap match: The Syndicate vs Sean O'Haire (if the Syndicate win, they receive a tag team title shot at Wrestlefest, if O'Haire wins he gets a guarenteed world title shot at a later date)

#1 Contenders match for the cruiserweight title at Wrestlefest: Devon Storm vs Juventud Guerrera

Jody Fleisch vs Brian Pillman

Chris Jericho vs Hector Guerrero

The Rock'n'Roll Express vs Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon

"The Rock" Brad Armstrong vs Rockabilly
Snabbit888Posted on 05/28/08 at 00:59:13

PREDICTIONS!

Lynn retains the World Title over Angle

Corino turns on Kidman, letting Pretty Perfect keep the titles and setting up Corino/Kidman at Wrestlefest

Dynamite/Rock/Raven win the 6-man

Pitbull #2 wins the table match

The Syndicate wins the handicap match with some Pillman shenanigans

Storm beats Juvy

Pillman loses by DQ to Fleisch

Jericho over Hector

Rock'n'Roll Express are victorious

Rock squashes Rockabilly in the battle of the Rocks!
91Posted on 05/28/08 at 20:47:30

Really... THOSE are your picks? Interesting...
Snabbit888Posted on 05/30/08 at 01:04:02

On 05/28/08 at 20:47:30, 91 wrote:Really... THOSE are your picks? Interesting...
That means I have either gotten every pick correct and was successful in not getting a single one right.
SolomattGrundyPosted on 05/30/08 at 14:21:36

Feedback:


Solid tag team opener to start with, as the team of Hunter and Rockabilly score the win.

Angle promises Rhino a title match if he wins. Man, when Angle doesn't win, Rhino's going to be pissed.

Pitbull #2 makes short work of Mando Guerrero. Mando through the announcers table after the match, perhaps a sign of things to come for Chavo Classic at the Pay Per View!

Rockabilly gets his match and it's on first, which is obviously not what he wanted! I suspect it should be a token title defense for The Rock!

I mark out for Heidenreich's laser vision. It's about as deadly of a move as the Michael Cole Special. Sadly, it's not enough to beat O'Haire.

The syndicate against Sean O' Haire and if they win they get a tag team title shot! And Pillman is crazy but you can't go wrong with Loose Cannon Pillman. Wow, tattooing his name to O'Haire's forehead, that's a bit brutal.

Cena topples the might of Paul Roma. Larry's not happy with the dirt the Young Guns give him, I mean even I could have told him that!

Damn, nice little win for Brad Armstrong over Ulf, better than I expected for the Rocck.

Jeff Hardy gets out of the Triple Threat Match in favor for the number one contenders match. Hmmm...I have an idea what might happen here.

Squash for Villano Iv!

Double countout and a nice preview for the tag team title match on Sunday. I'm going to make a bold statement and think this may be the match of the night.

Jericho against Eddie, there's a match that you really can't go wrong with. No, wait, Hector takes his place. No, not Laser Tron!

LaFon being in the ring cost his team the match, with that cheap heel victory for La Resistance! Meanwhile LaFon and Furnas and the Rock N Roll Express are having their problems.

The public service announcement by Andrew Martin made me laugh.

Alex Wright does not win the World Title! Damn! Well, Angle's interference makes sure of that as he lays out Lynn, standing tall for Sunday.

My Predictions:
Lynn beats Angle

Pretty Perfect retain the tag team titles.

Muraco, Alex Wright, and Ulf Herman score the win, by dastardly means.

Chavo Classic wins!

The Syndicate manages to overwhelm O'Haire

Devon Storm and Juventud Guerrera battle to a draw finish of some sorts, indicating that Jeff Hardy still has to defend his title in a triple threat match.

Jody Fleisch beats Brian Pillman by disqualification when Pillman does something crazy and beats Fleisch to a bloody pulp.

Jericho wins.

Furnas and LaFon beat the Rock N Roll Express with neither team splitting...for now.

The Rock wins.