Wrestler of the Day – September 14: Maven

Today we have Eyebrows Huffman himself: Maven.

Maven of course won the first Tough Enough competition and entered the 2002 Royal Rumble where he eliminated the Undertaker in a shocker. Undertaker wanted revenge and would put his Hardcore Title on the line on Smackdown, February 7, 2002.

Hardcore Title: Maven vs. Undertaker

Al Snow is in Maven’s corner and looks like he’s heading to a funeral. He slides Maven a trashcan lid for some shots but they just tick Undertaker off even more. The beating begins but Undertaker misses an elbow drop. Not that it matters as he punches a trashcan into Maven’s face. Snow pulls Maven to the floor but Undertaker is fine with hurting him out there as well.

A huge trashcan shot to the head crushes Maven back inside and Snow is thrown over the barricade. Maven is busted open but Snow comes back in with the ring bell. This goes as well as you would expect it to as a big boot drops Snow and Maven gets chokeslammed for two as Undertaker picks him up. There’s a dragon sleeper on Maven but the Rock runs in with a chair. A hard shot to the head and a Rock Bottom give Maven the title in a huge upset.

Rating: D+. This was more of an angle than a match and there’s nothing wrong with that. They had to get the Hardcore Title off Undertaker somehow and using it to further Undertaker vs. Rock is as good a way as any. Maven getting another one over on Undertaker is a good thing too as he gets a huge rub and looks like a much bigger deal than he would have otherwise.

Maven would defend the title at Wrestlemania X8.

Hardcore Title: Goldust vs. Maven

Maven is defending and this is another match with no real story to it. Goldie jumps him during the entrance to take over quickly. A forearm off the railing keeps Maven down and it’s cookie sheet time. We head inside with Maven avoiding a catapult and hitting a kind of Van Daminator with a trashcan and dropkick for two. Goldie neckbreakers him down for two and busts out a shovel. Instead of using it though he whips Maven into the trashcan for two. Goldust puts Maven down with a shot to the head….and here’s Spike Dudley running in for the pin and the title. We’ve got a running joke tonight and I’m not rating this nonsense.

Maven would get a Tag Team Title shot at Backlash 2002.

Tag Titles: Billy/Chuck vs. Maven/Al Snow

Snow and Maven clear the ring to start and Snow puts on a headband. Maven and Chuck officially get us going but it’s off to Billy very fast. Billy and Chuck are champions in case you’re really new at this. Maven comes back with a DDT but can’t make the tag. Snow is like screw it and runs in to beat on Billy. Off to Snow who cleans a house which wasn’t that dirty in the first place.

Snow gets taken down by Chuck and the beating begins. Swinging neckbreaker gets two for Billy. The fans tell Rico that he’s gay. Billy misses a corner splash and it’s hot tag to Maven. He hits the one move he was good at, the dropkick, to send Billy to the floor. Snow gets caught by a superkick but Rico accidentally kicks Chuck’s head off. Top rope cross body gets two for Maven. Snow has to chase Rico so Chuck kicks Maven’s head off to retain.

Rating: D. Not much here but it was happening to bridge the two main events which was fine. Billy and Chuck would crank up the overtones soon enough while Maven and Snow wouldn’t go anywhere as a team, or alone for that matter. There isn’t much to say about this match because it was only there to fill in time, which is understandable. More Rico would have helped.

Things would settle down after this and Maven would get back to singles action on Smackdown, May 30, 2002.

Christian vs. Maven

Christian stomps away during Maven’s entrance but Maven throws him to the floor for a plancha. Back in and Christian hits the reverse DDT backbreaker. His superplex is blocked though and a middle rope bulldog gets two. Maven goes up top but gets kicked in the head by an interfering Tajiri (Maven had been hitting on Tajiri’s girlfriend Torrie), setting up the Unprettier for the pin.

Maven would miss most of the rest of the year but returned in early 2003, including this match on Raw, January 13, 2003.

Maven/Test vs. D’Lo Brown/Christopher Nowitski

Test gets double teamed to start until Chris gets to pound on him a bit. Again Test gets double teamed but has a bit better success this time and brings in Maven who winds up getting caught in a spinebuster by Nowitski. Brown gets two off a flapjack and it’s back to Nowitski. Maven gets beaten down even more as this is going NOWHERE. Cold tag brings in Test and house is cleaned but Chris saves Brown from a pumphandle powerslam. The big boot misses Brown and sends Test to the floor before Maven walks into the Sky High. He isn’t legal though so Test comes in and kicks Brown’s head off for the pin.

Rating: F+. Stacy looked great in the dress and that’s the extent of anything positive about this match. Other than that, there was NOTHING going on here at all with four guys that no one cared about having a boring match. That basically sums up Raw in a single sentence: a bunch of boring matches that no one cares about.

Another Raw match on February 3, 2003.

Maven vs. D’Lo Brown

They trade hiptoss attempts until Maven armdrags him down. We hit the mat with Maven holding a headlock as the fans are bored already. Brown comes back with a kneelift and sends Maven into the buckle as the booing continues. Maven hits what looked to be a spin kick and a backslide for two and a middle rope bulldog gets the same. Maven misses a missile dropkick and the Sky High powerbomb is good for the pin.

Rating: D-. This match exists. Next.

We’ll jump ahead to Sunday Night Heat at some point in June 2003.

Maven vs. Mike Knox

Knox shoves him into the corner to start but gets caught in an armbar. Off to a hammerlock as commentator Al Snow is very proud of his student. A dropkick stops Mike’s comeback and we hit another armbar. Knox sends him into the buckle and gets two off a neckbreaker, only to miss a middle rope elbow. A nice spinwheel kick gets two for Maven and he nails a middle rope bulldog. Maven heads up top for a missile dropkick and the pin.

Rating: D. Maven gets less impressive every time I watch him. There’s just nothing to him and he never has anything worth watching. To be fair though he was a glorified rookie at this point who didn’t have enough experience to do anything significant in the ring. Nothing to see here and Knox was just a jobber.

Time for comedy on Raw, June 30, 2003.

Maven vs. Rico

This is when Rico was as over the top as ever. Rico rubs the back of Maven’s trunks to start before rolling around in a circle. He reaches down his own tights and pulls out a hotel key as this is getting old already. Maven tries a sunset flip but Rico sits on his face for two. A side headlock has Maven in trouble and Rico kisses him on the cheek. Rico dances a bit and his chick Miss Jackie trips Maven up, allowing Rico to fire off some kicks for two. Maven comes back with a series of clotheslines and the required atomic drop. Jackie saves Rico after a middle rope bulldog, allowing Rico to hit a spinwheel kick for the pin.

Rating: D-. I really don’t like comedy matches like this as it’s as over the top as you can get and clearly there for the lowest common denominator. This felt like filler as this isn’t leading anywhere and was designed to make fans feel uncomfortable with Rico being so over the top.

Here’s a match that might surprise you. From Heat on July 13, 2003.

HHH vs. Maven

Non-title and HHH is in the rare blue trunks. HHH grabs a cross face chickenwing of all things to get started, sending Maven running for the ropes. A snapmare puts Maven down and HHH pats his jaw a bit. Maven comes back with some dropkicks to knock HHH out to the floor and the Game is annoyed. Back in and HHH throws him hard to the floor but Maven sends him face first into the steps.

We take a break and come back with Maven grabbing a swinging neckbreaker to put both guys down. Trips stomps away in the corner and a spinebuster gets two. There’s the knee drop for the same but Maven comes back with a forearm to the face. Maven nails a spinwheel kick for two more but HHH sends him out to the floor.

Like the real hero he is, Maven nails him in the face with the title belt for two, only to walk into a sleeper. Maven counters into one of his own and the arm goes down three times but HHH gets a boot on the ropes. Trips sends the referee into the ropes to crotch Maven but Eyebrows comes back with a middle rope bulldog for a close near fall. Not that it matters as HHH grabs a quick Pedigree for the pin.

Rating: D+. The problem here was there was no reason to buy into Maven’s near falls. At the end of the day, it’s Maven against the World Champion on the C show. This is like the old days where Flair would have one off matches against no names and try to make them feel like something important but it didn’t quite work here. Maven was trying though and the match could have been much worse.

More Evolution on Raw, August 25, 2003.

Maven vs. Randy Orton

Shawn Michaels comes out with Maven to counteract Flair. Feeling out process to start with Maven taking him to the mat but getting caught in the backbreaker for two. Some right hands have Maven in trouble and the old guys get on the apron to do nothing. The referee only goes after Shawn of course and Flair gets in a cheap shot. Shawn superkicks Ric down but Orton stays on Maven like the rookie he is. The RKO is countered and Maven nails a spinwheel kick followed by a high cross body for two. Orton sidesteps a charge and hits the RKO but pulls Maven up at two. Instead Orton hits Sweet Chin Music for the pin.

Rating: D. The Maven issues continue as he just isn’t hitting the next level. He’s certainly not bad and most of his stuff works, but it’s just so many notches below the people he’s in there with. Granted that’s far more the WWE’s fault as he’s been wrestling for about two years, which is nowhere near long enough to be on national TV.

Maven wouldn’t do much of anything for over a year, so let’s put him in the main event of the 2004 Survivor Series.

Team HHH vs. Team Orton

HHH, Edge, Batista, Gene Snitsky

Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Maven

HHH is world champion. Maven isn’t here due to the earlier attack. It’s interesting to think that it would be Batista rather than Orton that would rise up out of this match as the real star. Not that Orton isn’t a star, but Batista was without a doubt the biggest star in the company in 2005 and part of 2006. For some reason Edge comes out last. Benoit vs. Edge to start which is fine with me. Benoit destroys Edge and knocks him to the floor to start but it’s off to Orton vs. Snitsky.

Orton pounds him down with ease before it’s Jericho in off the tag. HHH comes in but Jericho immediately elbows him down and brings in Orton to no response. Orton can’t challenge for the world title because of some stipulation due to losing to Flair. Great way to make sure the fans get behind him there right? Make it clear that no matter how awesome he is, he’s not getting the title shot.

Batista comes in and has some better luck with Randy, firing off shoulders into the corner. Edge is in now and he mocks Orton’s pose in an often done bit. Edge draws in Jericho for no apparent reason, but it allows Orton to clothesline Edge back down. Off to Benoit as the fans are dead for this match for some reason. Benoit cleans house and suplexes everyone in sight. Edge prevents a Swan Dive onto HHH, so HHH suplexes Edge onto HHH and Swan Dives both of them for two.

Everything breaks down even more and HHH gets caught in the Sharpshooter by Benoit. Snitsky makes the save and Edge gets put in the Crossface. This time Batista saves, allowing HHH to Pedigree Benoit and give Edge the pin for the elimination. Jericho comes in to pound away on Edge but HHH and Snitsky get in an argument. Batista comes to HHH’s defense but has to break up the Walls on HHH instead.

Flair trips up Jericho and gets ejected for his efforts. Flair walks up the aisle but comes back a second later to allow Batista to kill Orton and Jericho. There’s the spinebuster to Jericho but Orton hits Big Dave with the belt, allowing Jericho to hit the enziguri on Batista for the pin. Jericho hits the springboard dropkick to knock Snitsky onto HHH on the floor but Batista kills Jericho with the clothesline before leaving.

It’s Snitsky vs. Jericho at the moment with Snitsky choking away. Edge comes in and pounds on his fellow Canadian but gets caught in the sleeper drop to put both guys down. Orton gets shoved to the floor and Edge and HHH double team him for a bit. Jericho DDTs Snitsky down….and here comes Maven. He goes right after Snitsky and takes him down with a forearm as things seem to go into slow motion.

Maven bulldogs HHH down and is all fired up, but Snitsky kills him with a chair shot for a DQ. HHH covers the dead Maven for the easy elimination. Edge keeps covering Jericho but can’t get more than a bunch of two’s. It’s Orton/Jericho vs. HHH/Edge if you’re keeping score. A spear puts Jericho out and it’s 2-1 with Orton in trouble. Orton says bring it on and is promptly beaten down in the corner.

Edge suplexes Orton down and holds him while HHH pounds away. Orton punches away at HHH but gets DDT’d down for two. Edge comes back in and gets slammed down before getting dropkicked into HHH on the apron. That gets two off a rollup from Orton but he walks into a HHH spinebuster. We get the required heel miscommunication as Edge spears HHH down and walks into an RKO for the pin. It’s down to Orton vs. HHH with the Game hitting Orton low as Edge leaves. The Pedigree is countered into the RKO for the final pin.

Rating: B. The match was good stuff but as I said earlier, Orton pinning HHH doesn’t mean anything. Somehow Orton would get a title match at the Rumble through means I don’t remember where HHH would destroy Orton once and for all. I think I’m the only person on the planet that liked Orton’s first main event face run so when I watched this I was digging it at the time. It turned out they got lucky with Batista, but the Orton face run could have been more if HHH hadn’t hacked the legs out from under it.

As a result, Maven got to be GM of Raw the next night and of course gave himself a World Title shot.

Raw World Title: Maven vs. HHH

HHH offers the bandaged Maven a way out of this but Eyebrows wants the match. Benoit and Jericho come out to offer some support and counteract Flair and Batista. Maven hammers away to start and gets two off a dropkick before grabbing a headlock. A Flair distraction lets Batista get in a cheap shot but the referee tosses him out. Flair protests and is gone as well, leaving us one on one, assuming you don’t count the Canadians at ringside.

HHH nails the running knee and the spinning spinebuster for two before hooking an abdominal stretch. Benoit yells at HHH and gets Maven a breather but HHH stays on the glorified jobber. Now Jericho offers a distraction, allowing Benoit to send HHH into the steps. Jericho gets in a cheap shot as well and Maven has an advantage….only to get caught in the facebuster.

Benoit trips Trips and Maven nails a spinwheel kick for two. A high cross body misses but Jericho comes in with the bulldog and Lionsault. That’s only good for two because Maven is just that pathetic. The Pedigree connects but Jericho puts Maven’s foot on the ropes. The referee finally ejects him but the distraction lets Benoit hit a release German suplex and the Swan Dive to give Maven another two.

Edge comes in and spears the referee by mistake so Jericho and Benoit come in to beat him down. Now Batista comes in and cleans out the Canadians but Orton runs in to nail HHH with the belt. Flair pulls the referee out at two so Randy beats on Ric. Now Snitsky comes out to beat up Orton and kick Maven’s head off, setting up the Pedigree for the pin.

Rating: C. This worked for a totally different reason than it should have. I was cracking up watching three former World Champions trying to make Maven a threat to HHH but it just wasn’t going to happen. It turned into a cartoon at the end and believe it or not I was having a great time with it, even though Maven had as much chance of winning the title here as the bottle of water next to me.

Reality would set in and Maven would turn heel to no reaction. Here he is at New Year’s Revolution 2005.

Intercontinental Title: Shelton Benjamin vs. Maven

No backstory here at all as it’s more or less just a random title match. This was more or less the last ditch effort to make Maven mean a thing. Amazingly enough it didn’t work at all. Shelton is WAY over here as this was right before the hottest period of his career and four months before the match with Shawn that made him the hottest thing on the planet and is still his career highlight.

The heat on Maven is excellent. He cuts a promo in the middle of the match, saying that he doesn’t know how many people here speak English. He’s getting some very decent heat here. I’m almost impressed. He throws in a little Spanish, telling the fans to shut their mouths. This is a fine idea but this has gone on five minutes.

And now he’s leaving. He changes his mind at 9 and turns back to the ring. Literally 5 seconds after he gets in he gets rolled up for a pin. He gets on the mic and says he wants another match because that didn’t count. Shelton comes in, the bell rings, he hits the Exploder Suplex and it’s over in 5 seconds.

Rating: N/A. WHAT WAS THE FREAKING POINT OF THIS??? Literally this was ten minutes that just made no sense at all and there were two “matches”. What in the world was going on here? I flat out do not get this, but if it was an actual match it would fail and fail hard.

One more Evolution match. From Raw on February 7, 2005.

Maven vs. Batista

Maven is a cocky heel at this point and doesn’t get an entrance. What do you think is going to happen here? He’s mad he wasn’t in the Rumble and calls conspiracy. Cue Big Dave and this is exactly what you would expect. The run time is 32 seconds if you’re curious. These fans are losing their minds over a total squash. He really needs I Walk Alone which he would get soon after winning the title.

We’ll wrap it up with Maven as Simon Dean’s protege on Heat, April 17, 2005.

Maven/Simon Dean vs. Russell Simpson/CM Punk

Lillian doesn’t know Simpson’s name. Simpson armdrags Maven down to start and gets caught in an armbar. It’s quickly off to Punk for some kicks to the arm as Coach thinks the team is called CM Punk. Maven takes him to the ropes and chokes a bit before it’s off to Dean for a floatover suplex and two. Back to Maven who misses a dropkick, allowing the tag off to Simpson. A double spinebuster is enough for the pin on Russell.

Rating: D+. It’s always fun to see someone like this before they became a big deal, even though no one seemed to know his name. The match wasn’t anything of note but what else are you expecting from a three minute match on Heat? Simpson never went anywhere as far as I can tell.

At the end of the day, Maven just didn’t have it. He tried and could have been far worse, but no one ever bought him as someone that mattered. Trying to put him in the main event scene in late 2004 didn’t work, but at least they were trying something new. Maven tried but you can only get so far on winning a contest.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of ECW Pay Per Views at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LWSOTGK

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6