Post by Destiny on Oct 13, 2005 13:20:58 GMT -5
Diary of a Raw Smackdown
Can Christian win the gold? We give him a shot in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006.
by Jon Robinson
October 12, 2005 - Christian is the most underrated superstar in wrestling. He can work the mic, has a following of peeps, and has been involved in some of the best tag team matches in the history of the business. But while his former partner Edge is pushed on Raw, Christian keeps piling up the losses on Smackdown…and I just don't get it.
WWE wasted a perfect opportunity recently to get Christian involved in a storyline that could've pushed him up to main event status. During the WWE Homecoming show, they featured a ladder match, loser leave Raw between Matt Hardy and Edge. Christian was in the building with a few other Smackdown wrestlers, and in my opinion, this would have been a perfect opportunity for Christian to interfere in the match. But not for Edge…for Matt Hardy. Imagine, Christian runs down toward the ring when both men are on top of the ladder battling. Edge laughs, seeing his boy come for the save, but instead Edge yanks Edge off of the ladder or sends him flying onto the top rope, balls first. Christian grabs the rope and starts bouncing Edge until he falls out of the ring. Captain Charisma grabs the mic then explains how this isn't the first time Edge has screwed over a friend for a woman. How growing up, it was always bros before hos, but every time this bro turned his back, Edge was sleeping with his ho.
I can see millions of Bros Before Hos t-shirts being sold, hundreds of signs throughout the arena the next week. Christian says enough is enough and now Edge has to pay, and he'll make him pay on Smackdown. This instantly becomes the hottest feud on the show, and you don't need any more buildup because everyone in the arena already knows their back story. What would make things even better is if at Survivor Series, Christian is "injured" by Edge and is forced to miss some action, giving Edge the opportunity to win the title from Batista. It's Edge's boyhood dream come true and he keeps the belt until Wrestlemania where he is forced to defend against his former friend, you guessed it, Christian.
I think the mainstream media would actually eat this up for a variety of reasons. First, writers are always looking for an angle. Christian and Edge are lifelong friends now fighting for the biggest prize in the game on the biggest pay-per-view of the year. The media knows that wrestling is fake, but all the pictures of these guys wrestling as kids is real and could really be played up. And by featuring this match, you are rewarding two of your hardest workers, while at the same time reintroducing them to millions of mainstream fans who haven't watched since the old TLC days. Both of these guys are charismatic and funny and would do an awesome job on talk shows selling their match, their feud, and the main event.
But for whatever reason, this is the type of feud WWE seems to shy away from. They don't give the fans enough credit for wanting to invest time into storylines and characters, but in the end it's storylines like these that live on long after the memories of cheep pops and chair shots.
Take it a step further. After Wrestlemania, WWE signs Jeff Hardy to come back and is Edge's "secret" partner in a TLC match: Edge and Jeff vs. Matt and Christian.
Another classic in the making without the need for special referees, celebrities, or wrestlers who should be collecting retirement.
I know, I know…I've been thinking too much about this, but even though I can't make any of this happen in real life, I can do one thing to pass the time until Christian and his Peep Show are given the spotlight they deserve, and that's take over his polygonal career.
That's why I'm playing through WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 as the man who needs one more C to his repertoire. Sure he's Canadian and charismatic, now it's time to add champion to the mix.
When I select Christian, I'm given his attribute points:
STR: 7
SPD: 8
SUB: 7
CHA: 8.5 (he's Captain Charisma for gosh sake, how can this not be a 10!)
DUR: 7.5
HRD: 9
TEC: 7.5
STA: 7.5
You can also check how to perform your finisher if you're unaware. Christian has the Unprettier from behind a groggy opponent and the DDT 20 while facing a groggy opponent at the turnbuckle.
I select Christian as my wrestler, then continue on to Week 1 titled Uneasy Allies. I'm scheduled to face Triple H on Raw in the third match of the night. Nothing like being thrown right in the fire. If I win, I get $2,500 cash.
Christian walks to the ring and there is a Christian sign in the crowd. Christian stops and points to the sign. Awesome.
Time to Play the Game! Accompanied by Ric Flair…Triple H. It's funny how quickly things change in real life that make the game seem out of date. You just have to think about everything happening in the game as it's own world and forget about current storylines.
I like how Christian is there during Triple H's entrance. You can see him outside the ring while Triple H gets on the second rope.
The match starts and Triple H throws me out of the ring where I am immediately double teamed by Triple H and Flair. Triple H rolls back in the ring but Flair keeps nailing me in the nuts and I get counted out. Damn, that was fast. A quick cut scene follows and I continue to get double teamed. Flair gives me the low blow from behind and Triple H nails me in the head.
Not a pretty start for my future champ.
The following week, Shelton Benjamin approaches me and asks to be my tag team partner against Ric Flair and Triple H. This is a great addition to story mode. Funny, the other guy I almost picked for this feature was Shelton. Now he's my tag team partner.
I start off the match, Christian vs. Triple H and Christian is getting his revenge. Nice suplex, followed by a neck breaker. I leave Christian in the ring too long, though, and he starts to get winded so I'm forced to tag Shelton. The action is all over the place and just when I think I have Triple H in trouble, he turns things around, his me with a Pedigree and goes for the pin. Benjamin runs in, but misses with the elbow. He goes for a second elbow drop, but Flair hits him before he can interrupt and I get pinned for the 1-2-3. How did I become a jobber so quick?
I'm now facing a Submission match against Ric Flair the following week on Raw. How am I supposed to face the master of the Figure Four? It's a long match, I escape the Figure Four three times, then manage to beat the 80-year-old superstar by wrenching his knee in a position that just isn't meant to be. Flair taps and Christian gets his first big win.
No time to celebrate as John Cena and the Big Show run down toward the ring. Triple H (who was at ringside with Flair) and I run up the ramp and attack the Smackdown stars invading Raw. Cena jumps in the ring and starts choking Flair with his chain. Big Show then grabs Flair and choke slams him over the ropes and throws him outside the ring. Triple H and Christian jump back in the ring, chair and sledgehammer in hand and run Cena and Show out, then turn toward each other not knowing what to think.
Triple H comes out the next week and cuts an awesome promo on Cena and Show. Flair is even selling his injury with a neck brace and a bandage. Too funny. Cena crushed Flair's larynx with his chain ala Macho Man and Ricky Steamboat. Triple H warns anyone who lays a hand on Flair. Says the man is in no shape to style, can't even profile. Space Mountain is closed for repairs.
Christian comes out and interrupts. I have to say, I'm marking out for this game right now. Christian and Triple H talk smack, then Eric Bischoff comes out and tells us that at Summerslam we're having a sanctioned match against Show and Cena. He also tells us that on Thursday we're headed to Smackdown and return the favor.
Smackdown starts and Cena and Show head to the ring. Cena and Show imitate Triple H and Flair. Looks like the old days of The Nation vs. DX. Show even does the strut. Cena says "Why do they call him Nature Boy, he's so old, call him Father Time."
Christian and Triple H hit the ring and the fight is on! I really start beating the hell out of John Cena, then just when I'm about to smack him with the Unprettier, Triple H slams me in the head with a steel chair. The *******! Big Show then grabs a bat with barbed wire, Cena has a chair, and they both start beating the crap out of Triple H. Payback.
Cena tries to hit me with the chair, but I reverse it, grab the chair and slam him in the head about four times. Triple H is back up and now dominating The Big Show and it looks like we're a team again. I forgive that chair shot, but I don't forget. The action spills outside the ring and I'm dominating Big Show. I'm on one side of the ring and Triple H and Cena are on the other when the ref starts counting. Triple H gets pinned by Cena. I can't believe it. First he hits me with a chair, now he gets pinned.
Back to the locker room and Shelton Benjamin tells me that he has some unfinished business with Flair and Triple H and that I better have his back on Raw. This is Summerslam, though, and it's time for payback against Cena and Show. Triple H better not let me down two matches in a row.
The match is back and forth, but The Big Show starts dominating Triple H. I try to grab Show but accidentally put the ref in a sleeper hold. Later in the match, I swing the steel steps at Big Show and hit both Show and the ref and our team is disqualified. After the match Shelton Benjamin runs in the ring and cleans house.
On Raw the next night, Triple H is out in the ring wearing a suit. He thanks me for having his back at Summerslam, then gets pissed because I didn't defend him against Shelton.
He tells me not to step in between Shelton Benjamin and the ass kicking he's going to get. I am then given two options: Manage Shelton in order to "even the odds" or stay out of it and remain backstage.
What fun would it be to stay backstage? I join forces with Shelton. Benjamin has the early advantage while I run over and attack Flair. At one point, Triple H starts to comeback, even slaps the Pedigree on Benjamin, but I hit the ref from behind and knock him cold. Flair is busted open, Benjamin is busted open, Triple H is busted open and there is blood dripping all over the mat. Triple H looks like he's out, but he fakes out Benjamin and rolls him up in a small package. The ref is back up and starts to count. I slide into the ring and knock him out for a second time.
Triple H grabs a steel chair from under the ring and comes after me. Benjamin is trying to hit him, but HHH wants no part of him. He is trying to get Christian and it costs him. Shelton catches him with a kick, throws him back in the ring and hits him with his finisher for the win.
This sets up the next match: Christian with Shelton Benjamin against Triple H with Ric Flair.
I thought shoving Triple H down our throats on TV was bad enough, now I can't get away from him in the game.
I beat Triple H by DQ, then madness ensues. Benjamin and Flair are in the ring and the slobberknocker continues. Eric Bischoff comes down and announces the main event at Unforgiven.
Christian vs. Triple H for the gold…inside a steel cage!
This is Christian's shot at the championship, and I won't let him down.
Check back to IGN Sports for more on The Diary of a Raw Smackdown and see if Christian can beat Triple H for the belt.
Click Here for more screens.
Can Christian win the gold? We give him a shot in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006.
by Jon Robinson
October 12, 2005 - Christian is the most underrated superstar in wrestling. He can work the mic, has a following of peeps, and has been involved in some of the best tag team matches in the history of the business. But while his former partner Edge is pushed on Raw, Christian keeps piling up the losses on Smackdown…and I just don't get it.
WWE wasted a perfect opportunity recently to get Christian involved in a storyline that could've pushed him up to main event status. During the WWE Homecoming show, they featured a ladder match, loser leave Raw between Matt Hardy and Edge. Christian was in the building with a few other Smackdown wrestlers, and in my opinion, this would have been a perfect opportunity for Christian to interfere in the match. But not for Edge…for Matt Hardy. Imagine, Christian runs down toward the ring when both men are on top of the ladder battling. Edge laughs, seeing his boy come for the save, but instead Edge yanks Edge off of the ladder or sends him flying onto the top rope, balls first. Christian grabs the rope and starts bouncing Edge until he falls out of the ring. Captain Charisma grabs the mic then explains how this isn't the first time Edge has screwed over a friend for a woman. How growing up, it was always bros before hos, but every time this bro turned his back, Edge was sleeping with his ho.
I can see millions of Bros Before Hos t-shirts being sold, hundreds of signs throughout the arena the next week. Christian says enough is enough and now Edge has to pay, and he'll make him pay on Smackdown. This instantly becomes the hottest feud on the show, and you don't need any more buildup because everyone in the arena already knows their back story. What would make things even better is if at Survivor Series, Christian is "injured" by Edge and is forced to miss some action, giving Edge the opportunity to win the title from Batista. It's Edge's boyhood dream come true and he keeps the belt until Wrestlemania where he is forced to defend against his former friend, you guessed it, Christian.
I think the mainstream media would actually eat this up for a variety of reasons. First, writers are always looking for an angle. Christian and Edge are lifelong friends now fighting for the biggest prize in the game on the biggest pay-per-view of the year. The media knows that wrestling is fake, but all the pictures of these guys wrestling as kids is real and could really be played up. And by featuring this match, you are rewarding two of your hardest workers, while at the same time reintroducing them to millions of mainstream fans who haven't watched since the old TLC days. Both of these guys are charismatic and funny and would do an awesome job on talk shows selling their match, their feud, and the main event.
But for whatever reason, this is the type of feud WWE seems to shy away from. They don't give the fans enough credit for wanting to invest time into storylines and characters, but in the end it's storylines like these that live on long after the memories of cheep pops and chair shots.
Take it a step further. After Wrestlemania, WWE signs Jeff Hardy to come back and is Edge's "secret" partner in a TLC match: Edge and Jeff vs. Matt and Christian.
Another classic in the making without the need for special referees, celebrities, or wrestlers who should be collecting retirement.
I know, I know…I've been thinking too much about this, but even though I can't make any of this happen in real life, I can do one thing to pass the time until Christian and his Peep Show are given the spotlight they deserve, and that's take over his polygonal career.
That's why I'm playing through WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 as the man who needs one more C to his repertoire. Sure he's Canadian and charismatic, now it's time to add champion to the mix.
When I select Christian, I'm given his attribute points:
STR: 7
SPD: 8
SUB: 7
CHA: 8.5 (he's Captain Charisma for gosh sake, how can this not be a 10!)
DUR: 7.5
HRD: 9
TEC: 7.5
STA: 7.5
You can also check how to perform your finisher if you're unaware. Christian has the Unprettier from behind a groggy opponent and the DDT 20 while facing a groggy opponent at the turnbuckle.
I select Christian as my wrestler, then continue on to Week 1 titled Uneasy Allies. I'm scheduled to face Triple H on Raw in the third match of the night. Nothing like being thrown right in the fire. If I win, I get $2,500 cash.
Christian walks to the ring and there is a Christian sign in the crowd. Christian stops and points to the sign. Awesome.
Time to Play the Game! Accompanied by Ric Flair…Triple H. It's funny how quickly things change in real life that make the game seem out of date. You just have to think about everything happening in the game as it's own world and forget about current storylines.
I like how Christian is there during Triple H's entrance. You can see him outside the ring while Triple H gets on the second rope.
The match starts and Triple H throws me out of the ring where I am immediately double teamed by Triple H and Flair. Triple H rolls back in the ring but Flair keeps nailing me in the nuts and I get counted out. Damn, that was fast. A quick cut scene follows and I continue to get double teamed. Flair gives me the low blow from behind and Triple H nails me in the head.
Not a pretty start for my future champ.
The following week, Shelton Benjamin approaches me and asks to be my tag team partner against Ric Flair and Triple H. This is a great addition to story mode. Funny, the other guy I almost picked for this feature was Shelton. Now he's my tag team partner.
I start off the match, Christian vs. Triple H and Christian is getting his revenge. Nice suplex, followed by a neck breaker. I leave Christian in the ring too long, though, and he starts to get winded so I'm forced to tag Shelton. The action is all over the place and just when I think I have Triple H in trouble, he turns things around, his me with a Pedigree and goes for the pin. Benjamin runs in, but misses with the elbow. He goes for a second elbow drop, but Flair hits him before he can interrupt and I get pinned for the 1-2-3. How did I become a jobber so quick?
I'm now facing a Submission match against Ric Flair the following week on Raw. How am I supposed to face the master of the Figure Four? It's a long match, I escape the Figure Four three times, then manage to beat the 80-year-old superstar by wrenching his knee in a position that just isn't meant to be. Flair taps and Christian gets his first big win.
No time to celebrate as John Cena and the Big Show run down toward the ring. Triple H (who was at ringside with Flair) and I run up the ramp and attack the Smackdown stars invading Raw. Cena jumps in the ring and starts choking Flair with his chain. Big Show then grabs Flair and choke slams him over the ropes and throws him outside the ring. Triple H and Christian jump back in the ring, chair and sledgehammer in hand and run Cena and Show out, then turn toward each other not knowing what to think.
Triple H comes out the next week and cuts an awesome promo on Cena and Show. Flair is even selling his injury with a neck brace and a bandage. Too funny. Cena crushed Flair's larynx with his chain ala Macho Man and Ricky Steamboat. Triple H warns anyone who lays a hand on Flair. Says the man is in no shape to style, can't even profile. Space Mountain is closed for repairs.
Christian comes out and interrupts. I have to say, I'm marking out for this game right now. Christian and Triple H talk smack, then Eric Bischoff comes out and tells us that at Summerslam we're having a sanctioned match against Show and Cena. He also tells us that on Thursday we're headed to Smackdown and return the favor.
Smackdown starts and Cena and Show head to the ring. Cena and Show imitate Triple H and Flair. Looks like the old days of The Nation vs. DX. Show even does the strut. Cena says "Why do they call him Nature Boy, he's so old, call him Father Time."
Christian and Triple H hit the ring and the fight is on! I really start beating the hell out of John Cena, then just when I'm about to smack him with the Unprettier, Triple H slams me in the head with a steel chair. The *******! Big Show then grabs a bat with barbed wire, Cena has a chair, and they both start beating the crap out of Triple H. Payback.
Cena tries to hit me with the chair, but I reverse it, grab the chair and slam him in the head about four times. Triple H is back up and now dominating The Big Show and it looks like we're a team again. I forgive that chair shot, but I don't forget. The action spills outside the ring and I'm dominating Big Show. I'm on one side of the ring and Triple H and Cena are on the other when the ref starts counting. Triple H gets pinned by Cena. I can't believe it. First he hits me with a chair, now he gets pinned.
Back to the locker room and Shelton Benjamin tells me that he has some unfinished business with Flair and Triple H and that I better have his back on Raw. This is Summerslam, though, and it's time for payback against Cena and Show. Triple H better not let me down two matches in a row.
The match is back and forth, but The Big Show starts dominating Triple H. I try to grab Show but accidentally put the ref in a sleeper hold. Later in the match, I swing the steel steps at Big Show and hit both Show and the ref and our team is disqualified. After the match Shelton Benjamin runs in the ring and cleans house.
On Raw the next night, Triple H is out in the ring wearing a suit. He thanks me for having his back at Summerslam, then gets pissed because I didn't defend him against Shelton.
He tells me not to step in between Shelton Benjamin and the ass kicking he's going to get. I am then given two options: Manage Shelton in order to "even the odds" or stay out of it and remain backstage.
What fun would it be to stay backstage? I join forces with Shelton. Benjamin has the early advantage while I run over and attack Flair. At one point, Triple H starts to comeback, even slaps the Pedigree on Benjamin, but I hit the ref from behind and knock him cold. Flair is busted open, Benjamin is busted open, Triple H is busted open and there is blood dripping all over the mat. Triple H looks like he's out, but he fakes out Benjamin and rolls him up in a small package. The ref is back up and starts to count. I slide into the ring and knock him out for a second time.
Triple H grabs a steel chair from under the ring and comes after me. Benjamin is trying to hit him, but HHH wants no part of him. He is trying to get Christian and it costs him. Shelton catches him with a kick, throws him back in the ring and hits him with his finisher for the win.
This sets up the next match: Christian with Shelton Benjamin against Triple H with Ric Flair.
I thought shoving Triple H down our throats on TV was bad enough, now I can't get away from him in the game.
I beat Triple H by DQ, then madness ensues. Benjamin and Flair are in the ring and the slobberknocker continues. Eric Bischoff comes down and announces the main event at Unforgiven.
Christian vs. Triple H for the gold…inside a steel cage!
This is Christian's shot at the championship, and I won't let him down.
Check back to IGN Sports for more on The Diary of a Raw Smackdown and see if Christian can beat Triple H for the belt.
Click Here for more screens.
