Bleacher Report - Articles by George Butcher

Triple H vs. Randy Orton at Mania!

George Butcher — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:11:13 -0500

Last night's Raw ended on a huge shocker, as Randy Orton RKO'd Stephenie McMahon and punted Shane in the head.

Like usual, Orton looked confused and realised the extent of his actions. As soon as he RKO'd Steph, Triple H came racing down to her aid and was extremely emotional over the situation.

Of course Orton had no choice but to cower away, which after seemed smart as Hunter was angry.

As Orton walked down the ramp, he looked back and HHH looked up at him crying and was very distraught of Orton's actions.

The show ended there, but I don't think its the end of the rivalry. Many have been wondering, which title will Orton fight for at Mania? Well you may have gotten your answer on Raw.

We can now imagine HHH will challenge Orton to a match at Mania.

The Fall and Rise of WWE Since 2005!

George Butcher — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 08:41:10 -0500

Since the year 2005, many have thought the WWE was slipping away in ratings and simply weren't as good any more.

Up until WrestleMania 21 in Hollywood, WWE was on a role, and that could well be said as the best WrestleMania in history. WWE was so imaginative and knew exactly what the fans wanted.

The WWE were smart with the match-ups they made for that WrestleMania and created a new age by making Batista and John Cena the top two superstars as champions.

After the 2005 Draft lottery, that's when it all changed for the worse, and the creative team made a bunch of bad decisions.

First, drafting The Animal Batista over to Smackdown where his career went downhill for the next few years. He was still the champion for a few months, and then he was injured and had to vacate the title.

From that moment on, Smackdown was terrible. They made Edge, Khali and The Undertaker the champion throughout, and clearly it was a mistake.

Undertaker is too old to be champion now, and people like Edge and Khali aren't exactly fan favourites.

Next, awful news came in that in November 2005 the legendary Eddie Guerrero passed away in his sleep. That was clearly a downer for WWE because Eddie fit the pieces together.

Since his death I believe they were confused with what to do and who to make champion. Although Mysterio as champion was the utter best thing for the company, they didn't use that momentum with the fans to the best of their ability. He wasn't champion for long at all, and he never became champion again since.

WrestleMania 22 was one of the worst; the matches were terrible and the build up was ridiculous. Batista missed the event and the obvious match-up between Triple H and John Cena was the best of the evening. Other than that, it was where WWE went wrong.

2006 was simply a false year and i would rather it had never happened. John Cena was the top dog in WWE and yet they made him lose the title to both Edge and RVD before winning it back again.

The year on Raw might as well just not been televised because everyone was becoming out of shape and chubby, and title changes were obvious still. Smackdown was practically the same, and the show's ratings were both falling drastically.

WrestleMania 23 was better, but again the matches were individually obvious. In fact the only surprise of the night was Mr. Kennedy winning the Money in the Bank ladder match. But it was an overall okay night of wrestling.

WWE was completely right in having Michaels face Cena for the gold. That will go down in history in at least the top five best matches of WrestleMania history. Then WWE started to get back on track.

For the majority of the first half of 2007, WWE Smackdown went about the same way again as before. The ratings stayed the same and yet fans seemed to love the show. The World heavyweight title was owned by Edge throughout, mostly thanks to Vickie Guerrero.

Again, this was a mistake because the fans HATE her. The second half of that year however, was a lot more interesting as John Cena got injured and had to vacate the title. Now that is where WWE picked up completely.

By that I mean, The Age of Orton began. He was the best and most exilerating champion in many years. He clearly showed why he was a deserving champion, and why he dominated the WWE business.

Now here's where the good stuff starts, and WWE became awesome again. The shocking return of John Cena as the 30th entrant in the Royal Rumble was mind blowing. Nobody saw it coming, and it was just the boost WWE needed.

WrestleMania 24. It was a great night of Wrestling, and the fans were so interested in what they saw. The biggest surprise of the night of course, came when Randy Orton kept his WWE title again Triple H and John Cena.

Then the main event was really good too, when Undertaker kept his WrestleMania streak intact when defeating Edge for the World title.

2008 PPVs were absolutely brilliant with championships changing hands, and Triple H finally winning the title as the fans wanted. Every match of every event was more exciting than anything seen in 2006 or 2007.

The fans became glued to the television, and the WWE were officially on track again. At One Night Stand, Orton got injured and that meant Triple H and others could now take control.

The 2008 Draft Lottery was really good, as it saw many big stars change shows, and again the titles changed shows for the better. And of course, Batista was home on Raw, which meant he and Cena could finally be on the same show.

At SummerSlam 2008, the two faced off for the first time ever in history, and it was the best match seen by either for the past few years. Unfortunately, however, Cena was caught with a Batista Bomb in midair after jumping off the turnbuckle, and it caused the disks in his neck to explode and he would be out indefinitely.

He finally came back at Survivor Series 2008, and he beat Chris Jericho for the World heavyweight championship. Orton also returned near that date, and he would from their on be the best superstar in WWE.

He got into shape big time, and looked better than ever with a six-pack and everything. Clearly he's doing something right, because they made him the 2009 Royal Rumble winner.

And from what I have heard, Batista will miss WrestleMania 25, Christian returns to interact in the Hardy rivalry, and Orton will not be fighting for the World title at WM.... but the Rattlesnake, Steve Austin. And somehow, Y2J vs Cena.

UFC 91: Brock Lesnar New Heavyweight Champion!

George Butcher — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:43:06 -0500

Last night's UFC 91 was explosive, as ex-WWE star Brock Lesnar captured the heavyweight championship from Randy Couture.

This is Lesnar's first title in the UFC, and having only four MMA fights now, this shows you he must be good.

In the main event of the evening, Couture put his heavyweight title on the line against Lesnar. After a round with Couture, Lesnar seemed to be tired, as he was constantly pushed up against the fence.

As they came out for round two, it seemed there was renewed life in Lesnar, and he rocked Couture with a punch to the side of the head early on in the round. He pummeled the defending champ, and, after about 20 seconds of hammer fists, the fight was stopped andLesnar won the title.

The night started amazingly, as Demian Maia submitted Nate Quarry with a rear-naked choke half way through round one. Quarry didn't get much of the fight himself, as Maia seemed quite dominant through out.

Gabriel Gonzaga took on Josh Hendricks in fight two, and he didn't disappoint the fans. By TKO early in round one, Gonzaga smashed Hendricks to pieces and received a well deserved win.

Dustin Hazelett submitted Tamdan Mccrory via arm bar in round one in the third fight of the night, and it Could well have been submission of the night, and maybe people can start to take this guy more seriously.

Next up was the eagerly awaited Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson bout. Before the fight, Stevenson was upset going in as the underdog and was certain to prove everyone wrong. Unfortunately for him, though, Florian submitted Stevenson with a rear-naked choke late in round one.

Kenny Florian, I am sure, is now hoping for a title fight with BJ Penn, and what a fight it would be if it were to happen.

Also, earlier in the evening, Matt Brown defeated Ryan Thomas with an arm-bar early in round two. Mark Bocek rear-naked choked his way to victory against Alvin Robinson. And, like usual, Jorge Grugel was beaten again by Aaron Riley in a unanimous decision.

Raw's Record Breaking 800th Episode—Three Hour Edition

George Butcher — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:48:35 -0400

Next Monday night, is a speacial three hour edition of Raw celebrating its record breaking 800th episode.

As found out this past week on Raw, John Morrison and The Miz will take DX in tag action. Morrison and Miz told us that DX would have to start becoming jealous of the two after they beat them. Personally myself, I hope that doesn't happen, as DX are great. For some reason however, i have a feeling that this could well be where DX break up again and turn on one another.

WWE.com told us that Charlie Haas would be impersonating someone new on this episode, and it would be great. I personally couldn't care less about Haas, but this is all his choice.

We also found out that Batista will be defending his new World title against Chris Jericho, in a steel cage match. Jericho demanded his rematch for next week, and Ademle came out and told him that he would be locked inside a cage with the animal.

Will Jericho be able to regain his old World title? or will the animal be able to keep the title for longer?

And The New World Champion Is...BATISTA!

George Butcher — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:03:23 -0400

Last night's Cyber Sunday went off with a bang as we saw exciting action. Championships changed hands and pride was certainly earned. This could well be one of the best ppv's of the entire year so far.

To start the night, Rey Mysterio took on Kane in which the stipulations became very high. The fans had voted for a "No Holds barred" match and somehow, Mysterio came out on top.

It was an exhilarating match-up. Kane went for the chock slam a few times, but Mysterio gave him a 619 and won the match.

The ECW title match followed, and Hardy's opponent was Evan Bourne. Hardy seemed too strong for Bourne and managed to pull off a twist of fate for the win. Hardy was still the champion and is now looking better than ever.

The third match in was the tag team match up, and Morrison & Miz took on Cryme Tyme. Cryme Tyme looked to take the match in their favor, but once again Morrison & Miz got the victory. They managed to somehow have the ref distracted and then capitalised at the last.

Next in was Big Show against Undertaker, and Vickey Guererro announced it was a last man standing match. This was most certainly the biggest back and forth contest.

Taker kept getting up on eight and nine, but somehow after being chock slammed through the announcers table and thrown around by Show, Taker used his illegal Triangle chock to weaken the big show.

Like in the ending of Rocky 2, Taker was the one up on the 10 count. The dead man was victorious and looked to be in great shape still.

To everyone's surprise, Jeff Hardy was taking on Triple H on his own for the WWE title. Throughout this exciting match, Hardy was close to winning so many times.

However, he made one crucial mistake when he went up for a second swanton bomb which was countered by The game as he put his knees up. Jeff was back on the top rope after a short while, but Triple H got on there with him and turned it into a pedigree. Once again Jeff was only three seconds worse than Triple H.

The following match was not shown on television, as Shelton Benjamin beat R-Truth for the title. He was for then on bragging on www.wwe.com for a long while.

And the main event...Batsita fought Chris Jericho for the world title. Stone Cold was the special referee.This was by far the best match of the night, as either guy could have won for many reasons.

As the match started, Jericho stared down the rattle snake and then slapped Batista round the face. Batista was so close a numerous amount of times to becoming the victor and it seemed the match was completely on his side. Somehow however, Batsita knocked down Stone Cold after Jericho ducked, and a new ref was needed when Jericho hit Batista with a code-breaker.

It was Shawn Michaels who came to the animals aid, as he did the slowest count ever because of his and Jericho's on going rivalry. JBL then intruded as he close lined Michaels and took him out of the match. Orton then came down and let Jericho hit Batista with the title.

Batista managed to mearly kick out after a two count and the match was to be continued. Orton then got a surprise as standing behind him was the rattle snake, who stunnered him straight to hell. Steve Austin then went for a stunner on Jericho but it was reversed. Jericho then turned round and got spine-bustered by the animal.

Batista then went all out for the win when he gave Jericho a Batista-Bomb!

One...two...three!!! New world heavyweight champion...BATISTA!

He has recaptured the world title for the fourth time in his career and i don't know if anyone will be able to beat him. I do know one thing though...we have a new world heavyweight champion on Raw.

But with survivor series just round the corner, nobody knows what to expect...But do expect John Cena.

Smackdown Vs Raw 2009: Play It Big!

George Butcher — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:45:01 -0400

If you think youv'e seen everything in the past wrestling games, then think again. With hard hitting, explosive tag teaming, come to life with Smackdown Vs Raw 2009.

Like every year, I end up thinking the same thing after a while about this game. When I first receive the game I am amazed at how many different qualities it has. But as time fades away, I end up knowing how rubbish this game is now.

I say the same old things about how they could improve the game play and what features it should have. Also, I know exactly what finishers the game will have on it after seeing them being performed on television by the performers.

This year however, after looking at the photos almost everyday i cant believe the amount of great new and exciting features it has on it. I see that it has old returning superstars, as well as all the new and improving ones. It has features such as, a better backstage brawl area, you can fight almost anywhere, new arenas to choose from, and more match choices to select from. The list goes on, but I know that this year will be amazing.

The superstars on this game are in such good physique and look almost real life. Basically the graphics are astonishing and I don't know how they can improve this. If you want a sneak peak at this new and exciting game, then visit any website from Smackdown Vs Raw when you type it into google.

I saw that the game comes out on 7th November and had to immediately pre-order it off the Internet through Game. I would strongly erge you to buy this game, as it will be the best game of 2009, I guarantee it!

No Mercy Results

George Butcher — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:42:10 -0400

To start with, Matt Hardy successfully defeated the machine Mark Henry with a Twist-Of-Fate. Hardy is still the champion, and has finally pinned Henry.

Women's champion Beth Pheonix kept held of her title after winning the brawl between her and Candice Michelle. It was a back and forth match, but Pheonx seemed to out power Candice to get the victory.

In a shocking match, The Big Show came out on top against he undertaker after the ref had to stop the match. Big Show had destroyed Taker and left him for dead, as taker was helpless throughout. Big show hit him with right hands and through him abut the place and Undertaker was defenceless, Lucky the ref came to Taker id when he did or who knows what could av happened.

We now know the No. 1 contender for the world heavyweight title, after Batista defeated JBL and have his spot secure in he bag. It was a brawl Batista was always going to win, as he seemed to over power Jbl throughout the entire match. And the a Batsta Bomb won batista the right to face the champion at the next PPV.

It looked as if it could be time for the master of the 619 to unveil himself if he were to lose to kane. Luckily for him though, Kane got himself disqualified after beating Mysterio with a chair repeatedly. Mysterio won the match but lst his pride at the end.

The WWE championship was looking to be going to Jeff hardy at one point when he went for the Swanton, but the game moved out the way and pedigreed hs way to victory. At the end of the match, Triple H was confronted by Kozlov backstage as the two stared one another down.

Finally, in an extremely bruital ldder match between Michaels and Jericho, Jericho clawed his way to the finish line with a little help from Cade, Jericho is still the champion and will face Batista at the next PPV.

MMAngle? Kurt Angle to Join MMA In a Year

George Butcher — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:16:00 -0400

Kurt Angle has made it official that he has set his sights on MMA, as he is tired of pro wrestling. He believes that there is not enough "competition" for him in TNA and has claimed that he'll be joining an organisation of MMA in a year.

Angle broke the news a few days ago, saying he wants to follow Brock Lesnar who is currently in the UFC.

The Olympic gold medalist has found his dream in the new business after being in TNA for about two years. This has clearly been a long time coming for Angle, and of course must be a life long dream. It may be that this is a wrong decision, but for him it must be the right one.

Yes this is a shocker for the fans, but whether you hate him or not, he is living the dream.

Chris Jericho: An Opportunity Well-Taken!

George Butcher — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:56:35 -0400

The night named Unforgiven seemed to be an unfortunate ppv for Chris Jericho, Or did it ?

After being destroyed by Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho looked to be badly injured and possibly out for a while.

To our surprise, Mike Ademle selected Jericho as the replacement for the injured CM Punk. He entered as the fifth and final competitor in the World Championship scramble. Not only had he shocked the fans, but he seemed to have shocked the other superstars in the ring.

He came out slowly and finally got to the ring, but when he did he was taken out by Batista early. He layed outside the ring for the following four minutes and looked as if he was a doubt to pick up a pinfall.

Jericho then became oppertunistic and saw a dazed Kane in the ring. He pounced on the oppertunity, and with only seven seconds remaining he pinned Kane and was the current champion.

Batista was so surprised at the outcome of the match and had no time to pin somebody else. Time was up and Jericho was named the official champion. He had once again become World champion, and what seemed to be a bad night, turned into a career changing one instead.

Jeff Hardy To Win WWE Title ?

George Butcher — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:18:15 -0400

From my sources, I found out that before Wrestlemania 24, Jeff Hardy was set to win Money in the Bank. I also found out that he was then going to win the WWE championship soon after.

Due to his suspension, WWE were forced to make dramatic changes and hand Money in the Bank to CM Punk. To get the world title over to Raw, WWE were forced to let CM Punk cash it in and win the championship.

Now that Hardy is back and on track again, WWE can now turn to his chance for gold. So knowing this, I realized that Jeff is going to win the title at Unforgiven, and be the last to hold it after 20 minutes in the scramble.

Winning the title will be a lifelong dream for Hardy, as it will all be for the fans.

You can believe me or not, but come Unforgiven you will all see what I'm talking about.

John Cena, Dave Batista: Champs No More - Rivals Forever

George Butcher — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:18:20 -0400

Last week on Raw, Cena and Batista won the tag team titles. This week, however, the two seemed to find it difficult to co-exist.

Each tried to send the other a message in the ring by destroying their separate opponent. But when they could not stand each other anymore, they lost concentration and were pinned 1-2-3. They not only lost the titles, but seemed to lose respect for one another.

Once the match was lost, both found it hard to keep their anger inside and had an all out brawl. Security tried to separate the two, but they powered their way through and destroyed each other.

It's easy to see that they despise each other going into their huge match at SummerSlam, and with only pride on the line, neither guy will give up and lose without a fight.

What's going to happen at SummerSlam this Sunday? Will one have his hand raised at the end, or will neither of them come out the victor?

The stakes are high and with all to play for, someone must win.

Evolution - The Most Dominant Force in the History Of WWE

George Butcher — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:02:51 -0400

In 2003 a group was formed that would change the face of the WWE. This faction was called "Evolution", and together they were defiant champions who helped each other as one.

This group consisted of Randy Orton (Intercontinental Champion) Batista and Ric Flair (Tag Team Champions) and Triple H (World Heavyweight Champion).

Triple H was the leader who put the group together, and brought in young stars Orton and Batista to develop the future. All were champions for a long time, letting nobody past and nobody take what was theirs.

Batista entered the group when he broke the leg of Goldberg, And therefore won a free pass to the top. His only championships were the tag titles with Flair, and Triple H saw a potential animal inside of him.

Flair was already with Triple H from the start, and was tag champion with Batista during his time in the group.

Orton joined after being drafted to Raw, and asked to come into it by Triple H. Orton was the Intercontinental Champion throughout his time in the group, and eventually became the youngest World Champion in history.

The group thrived for Orton to win the World title at SummerSlam of 2004, and when he RKO'd his way to victory, the title was back in Evolution again. The following night, the other three helped Orton to defend the title on Raw. During his celebration though, Orton became enemy number one.

He was betrayed by Evolution, and was taken out by Triple H and Batista. He made things worse for himself after that, when he refused to hand over the title to Triple H and spat in his face. At Unforgiven a few weeks later, Orton was officially out of the group and had lost the title to Triple H. So Evolution were down to three.

After winning the 2005 Royal Rumble, Batista had to make a tough decision of what title to go for at WrestleMania 21, and was told to go to SmackDown by Triple H. Batista didn't like to be told what to do and gave the thumbs down as he destroyed Flair and put Triple H through a table.

He had made his mind up, and he had left Evolution for good. At WrestleMania, Batista came out as the victor and had taken his first World title from The Game. Their feud went on for a few months before Batista was drafted to Smackdown in July and took the title with him.

Flair then left after he and Triple H had a bit of a rivalry with one another, and Evolution was destroyed completely. What Triple H had created to be a dominant group only turned on him as the others got better and decided to leave.

As each left, the group which changed the WWE imploded in front of our eyes.

Some may say it was for the better, but without Evolution, WWE wouldn't be what it is today with Orton and Batista on top. And as for Triple H and Flair - well Flair's retired and Triple H is the WWE Champion, so Why hate Evolution? Just grow to love them!

John Cena Vs Batista-To Be the Man, You Have to Beat the Man

George Butcher — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:09:29 -0400

This summer, the biggest party of the year is going to turn into the biggest, most exciting war of all time. Two animals will raise the roof when they go head to head for the first time ever in a battle for pride and dignity- it's Cena vs Batista.

Since WrestleMania 21, the only thing on everyone's minds has been, "When will the two biggest titans in WWE clash for the first time one-on-one?" Since then, it's been three years and both are still looking better than ever.

In the draft lottery of this year, Batista was unexpectedly drafted over to Raw, and that meant both were on the same show. Each had separate matches, and stood away from one another.

However, when Cena came into the ring to help Batista, it turned into Cena accidentally hitting Dave round the face after JBL ducked the punch. From then on, the fans were so excited to see what would happen next.

Of course, we all know that this is a WrestleMania main event sort of match, but when we assigned Ademle as general manager he had different thoughts. At the end of a tag match with both teaming up, Ademle announced that at SummerSlam all hell would be let loose as the two would be put one-on-one at last.

So will the chain gang soldier F-U his way to the top, or will the animalistaic power of Batista Power Bomb his way to a victory?

Everyone knows that neither guy wants to lose to the other, and after the two picked up the tag titles last week, the crowd went absolutely crazy. Who knows what's to occur, but what we do know is that it's...CENA VS BATISTA!