Wrestling’s 4R’s Monday Edition 09.21.09: TNA Impact, ROH on HDNet, WWE Smackdown, and WWE Superstars

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 09.21.2009

All of the action from the latest episodes of TNA Impact, ROH on HDNet, WWE Smackdown, and WWE Superstars get discussed in the 400th edition of Wrestling’s 4R’s!

NOTE from Larry: The R's of No Surrender will run tomorrow. Also, thanks for reading, specially those of you that have been reading since edition #1. It's pretty cool to see the column reach 400 editions. Thanks to Jeremy, Aaron, Cook, Wilcox, Geoff and Nick for all of the work they have put into the column over the years.

TWITTER

CSONKA TWITTER!
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma

If you haven't already, make sure you bookmark 411 or better yet, set us as your homepage! As always, thanks for choosing 411 for all of you pop culture needs!


In HD where available…



By: Aaron Hubbard

ROH on HDNet 09.14.09:

QUICK RESULTS:
- The Young Bucks defeated The Dark City Fight Club[***]
- Bison Smith defeated Sal Rinauro [1/2*]
- Colt Cabana defeated Joey Ryan [*1/4]
- The Briscoes vs. El Generico was thrown out when The American Wolves interfered [***1/2]

THE RIGHT:

YOUNG BUCKS VS. DCFC: These two teams have been major highlights of the show whenever they are on. The Young Bucks are the most exciting new tag team to come along in a long time. They work hard, they fly high, their double teams are innovative and their execution is spot on. The Dark City Fight Club are fun to watch because they come in and destroy little guys with power moves and cool, sick looking double teams. So I was glad to see them paired off with each other. The story was simple, power vs. speed, but all four men worked hard. The Bucks went after Chavis' arm injury in the early going (including a sweet moonsault to the arm by Matt), and Nick was able to beat Chavis for an upset win. I don't mind the Bucks winning: they are talented, they are resourceful, and they are gonna be huge breakout stars for the company. The DCFC's long-term use is a bit more suspect.

BISON SQUASH: Not much to say about this. Prince Nana introduced his powerhouse of the Embassy, and Bison Smith came in and destroyed Sal Rinauro. Sal has a remarkable gift for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and is entertaining in that capacity. Bison came out and crushed him, showed a mean streak by not pinning him after a chokeslam, sent him outside and dived onto him, and pinned him with one foot. This was a great exhibition for Bison.

NIGEL BLAMES THE FANS: Regardless of some people's opinions on Nigel's delivery, I have always been high on his promo skills. He is eloquent, funny, and makes you believe what his saying. And since Jimmy Jacobs isn't around, the only other people that do that in ROH are Austin Aries and Eddie Kingston. This was a money promo, where Nigel voiced his complaints about how the fans disrespect him despite him putting his body on the line. He said he blamed the fans, and he can either take his ball and go home, or keep fighting and take everyone down with him. Nigel talking has been a highlight of the show and it's a shame that we will only get a few more of them.

THE ART OF SELLING: No, not in-ring selling. In this case, it's about selling tickets. At the beginning of the show, they announced that Danielson had signed with WWE, and encourage the viewers to see him on the last few shows of the "The Final Countdown Tour". And while I didn't like how we got there, they set up the Ladder War at Saturday's ROH show. This show is a live event, not going to be taped, but they sold it. This is important. WWE uses TV to sell PPVs, ROH needs to use TV to sell tickets to live events and DVDs of those events. They did a good job this week and I applaud them.

PURGATORY:

CABANA VS. RYAN: After the Bison Smith manslaughter, Nana stayed in the ring and brought out his "hired gun" Joey Ryan. We've seen Ryan in the background once, but he hasn't been mentioned on TV, so this was his debut as well. Ryan has a sleazy gimmick and has been using it for a long time in PWG and other indies. But in ROH, it's basically the same gimmick as Austin Aries, and Ryan is no Austin Aries in the ring. Nana issued an open challenge, and that brought out Colt Cabana.

We then had a "typical Cabana match", with a lot of comedy spots (including spanking that I never want to see again), Ryan getting a brief control segment, and Cabana getting in his signature moves like the quebrada and Flying Asshole. This was fine, mostly inoffensive, but didn't really do anything for me. It also did Ryan and Nana no favors; if Cabana can beat Ryan in five minutes, what kind of hired gun is he and what kind of idiot is Nana for hiring him?

THE MAIN EVENT: Last week, I separated the match and the booking when talking about Tyler Black vs. Jerry Lynn. Part of the reason was that the booking was part of the match and we got a screwy finish. That didn't' happen here, we got a non-finish. The American Wolves broke up this match that was basically a #1 Contender's match, and the result was thrown out. Steen got on the mic and challenged them to the Ladder War, and the Briscoes just kind of faded in the background, which seemed out of character for them. For the most part, ROH has kept their TV main events clean, but that's starting to become less and less the norm, and it's pissing me off. ROH, PLEASE make this a rare occurrence. Really, what was accomplished here that couldn't have been accomplished by Steenerico winning and the Wolves attacking afterwards? You don't need to protect the Briscoes. They're the FREAKING BRISCOES!

As for the match itself, I loved it. The teams have a history with each other, as Steen and Generico made their names by feuding with the Briscoes in a violent war that spanned the summer of 2007. Back then, the Briscoes were nearly indestructible, and while wins were few and far between, Steen and Generico pushed them farther than anyone. Now, Steen and Generico are almost as iconic a team as the Briscoes, and it showed in this match. The teams were portrayed as equals and the fight was even. This was really fun, they worked hard, the action was clean, and they built the match to an exciting finishing stretch. Generico continued to show how awesome he is by hitting the somersault coast-to-coast. This had me mark out, and it's one of the reasons I was so deflated by the non-finish.

THE WRONG:

NONE

THE RIDICULOUS:

NONE

The 411

I'm having a hard time forming an opinion on this episode. The opener was good, fun and got over a team that is bound to be huge stars for ROH in the Young Bucks. Nigel's promo was excellent, but ultimately meaningless given that he can't be involved in long-term stories. Bison Smith's debut was fun, but it was a squash. The main event was awesome but the finish was a rip-off and left me with a negative take on the show. If the main event had had a clean finish, this would have been one of the best episodes in the show's short history. As it is, it's just another above average show that I didn't mind watching, but wouldn't have minded skipping.

SHOW RATING: 6.5

---

By: Steve Cook

Superstars 09.17.09:

THE RIGHT:

Christian vs. Paul Burchill: I don't see this match as evidence that people on the ECW writing staff like Paul Burchill and want to push him. Maybe if they watched the match and liked what Burchill did they'll do something with him…but honestly, he's been with the company long enough now that they know what he is and what he isn't. So I'm not getting too exciting on the future of the Ripper. Christian's hot streak on ECW continues and you have to wonder how long he'll remain on that particular brand, especially with the babyface shortage on Smackdown and the fact that he would probably have much better chemistry with a CM Punk than a Batista or Undertaker would. Good match with these two, though one had to wonder where Burchill's "sister" was. Perhaps they've taken note of how sub-standard Katie Lea is in that particular role and how she's much better in the ring. Or maybe she had the swine flu.

Zack Ryder on commentary: I haven't been as high on Ryder as some of my colleagues, but I gotta give the guy credit for his job on commentary during the Christian/Burchill match. Unlike some of his fellow up and coming superstars, Ryder came off as a natural on the microphone and somebody completely in tune with what their character is supposed to be. Ryder seems ready to shed his past as an Edge flunky and is developing his own persona full of woo woo woos and knowing it.

Character videos & promos: I enjoyed the brief video on CM Punk and the Randy Orton promo was…well, it was a Randy Orton promo. However, I approve WWE using Superstars to highlight their top characters and further their agendas and motivations for what they do on Raw or Smackdown.

PURGATORY:

NONE

THE WRONG:

Chris Masters vs. Santino Marella: Yeah, this was in the "Right" section of the column the last time these two met. So why does it make the "Wrong" section now? Simple, I've already seen it. I don't need to see it again, especially if it has the same result as before and adds nothing new to the story. Masters vs. Marella isn't exactly Steamboat vs. Flair, and a series of matches between the two can only be described as torture for any discerning wrestling audience. Santino attempting the Master Lock was amusing, but the rest of the match was completely forgettable and unnecessary.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay: Putting the young guys in the ring with the veteran Finlay is usually a sure-fire way to make them better. If Ziggler got better during this match, it wasn't exactly obvious. He still reminds me of a young Billy Gunn, which if nothing else could lead to him making a lot more money than his in-ring skill dictates. I can't think of a whole lot to say about this match, which is probably why it's in this section of the column.

THE RIDICULOUS:

Ask the Divas: Your typical mindless dreck, but on the bright side, Gail Kim is apparently a great cook. So anybody in the WWE Universe who likes to eat…Gail's your girl! Well, probably not.

The 411

Superstars takes a step back this week, as with the exception of Christian vs. Burchill (w/Ryder on commentary) there's not really anything worth watching here. It wasn't terrible stuff…but it wasn't good either.

SHOW RATING: 5.5

---

By: Daniel Wilcox

iMpact! 09.17.09:

THE RIGHT:

Rhino's Promo: I've seen this segment getting a hell of a lot of criticism and obviously I disagree with it, for a number of reasons. First of all, Rhino has a new direction, which is great. The Jesse Neal stuff was shit and you know it. I really Rhino and think he's really been underused by TNA in the last few years, and even though he's fodder for Lashley at the pay-per-view, after No Surrender I can see him being a bigger part in the company, probably in a feud involving 3D if this was any sign of things to come. Admittedly, it wasn't a perfect promo, and D-Von probably shouldn't have been the guy to interrupt him, but I like where this heading and the basic premise behind it.

Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi vs. Hernandez: OK, now normally I would rubbish a handicap match, but Kiyoshi and Bashir are the two least important members of the World Elite and so burying those guys isn't really an issue when you have to make Hernandez look like a beast. The match was a squash, it was fine, but I really enjoyed the post-match beat down with Homicide and Eric Young. Personally, I think we should be going with Hernandez vs. Homicide for the pay-per-view, but I guess we can hold off on that for a bit, as long as that doesn't get blown off on Impact.

PURGATORY:

Tara and Christy Hemme vs. The Beautiful People: So in our first of two semi-final matches in the silly Knockout's Tag Tournament, we get Angelina Love's final TNA appearance for now. The match was (again) ridiculously short and uninspired, and we got a finish whereby Madison Rayne rejoins the Beautiful people, obviously so she can team up with Velvet at the pay-per-view. While that's not the most inspiring solution they could have come up with, it just about makes sense and is probably a better solution than most. It just makes the last few weeks of feuding seem superfluous, but I can't really fault them for that because they couldn't have predicted the Angelina problem. Well actually, they kind of could've, but whatever.

Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs. Taylor Wilde & Sarita: Another bland as fuck Knockout's match. Another Impact match that gets three minutes. Another pairing that's breaking up for no obvious reason. Whatever.

Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan/Post-Match Brawl: In theory, this was a hell of a main event, as both guys can go. In practice, it got somewhere around five minutes, and because of that neither guy seemed to put too much into the match and the way the end was booked was incredibly lazy, with Daniels taking out Joe leaving Angle and Morgan to brawl. Admittedly, their brawl kind of cool and for that reason I'll throw it into the purgatory, but ultimately I don't think that this was the best hard sell for the pay-per-view, which it should have been.

THE WRONG:

D'Angelo Dinero vs. Suicide: It frustrates the hell out of me when we have the likes of Cody Deaner taking up TV time when a promising feud gets a 3-minute match on Impact. Don't get me wrong, the match was fine considering the limitations put on them, but it renders weeks of build pointless when they don't get given time to actually go out and have a match people will care about. As it is, we've all forgotten about this match already. Vintage tna.

Kevin Nash vs. Mick Foley/Abyss Bullshit: Speaking of Vintage TNA, it's more fucking bullshit with Abyss, only this time he doesn't want to upset Mick Foley. OK then. The Nash/Foley match was pretty fucking dismal as it is, but we get a DQ finish and then backstage soap opera antics with Abyss. I said last week I was intrigued as to where the Foley/Abyss thing would lead, but they pretty much killed my interest this week.

THE RIDICULOUS:

Lumberjack Match – Alissa Flash vs. Cody Deaner: Do I really have to go into this? Come the fuck on.

The 411

After a fairly lengthy run of a good/great shows, when TNA really needs to hit a home run in order to sell the pay-per-view, they completely fail. There wasn't even that much hype for the show's biggest matches. The bouts we got here were ridiculously short as well, even shorter than usual for TNA. And while there still seems to be some good stuff to look forward to, this week's Impact was by far one of the most forgettable in a long, long time.

SHOW RATING: 4.0

---

By: Jeremy Thomas

WWE SmackDown 09.18.09

THE RIGHT:

BIG DAVE'S BACK, AND JERICHO DOES NOT APPROVE: And here it begins. After the opening theme, Justin Roberts announced Batista's return to SmackDown. The Manimal came out all sorts of pumped up as the crowd went pretty nuts for him. Batista was obviously in a great mood as he clowned for the camera a moment before stepping into the ring and we got a recap of what happened between Big Dave and Orton on Raw. Dave got on the mic at this point and explained that he was able to move brands because his contract expired on Raw so he got to choose where he wanted to be. I appreciate that; it's a pretty obvious way to go, but I at least like to see it when they address these sorts of moves rather than just put the talent on new shows and assume the fans won't care why. Batista proceeded to call the Blue Brand the "A Show." It's nice to see that someone within the company recognizes that.

Before Batista could go much further, out came Y2J in his snappy suit. He mocked Big Dave and called him an injury-prone loser like Edge. Jericho was pulling his usual shtick here, though he tossed in some very good subtle nods to certain developments, such as the Edge line which was a nice correlation to make between the two and gave Jericho a good reason to be pissed at Big Dave besides the usual "You're in my spotlight" thing. Anger transference much, Chris? Batista was pretty good here too; he seems to have picked up his game in the mic work department as he's gone two whole shows without stumbling over his own words. He even tossed in a few nice things, like the Flair reference, which goes back to Jericho's hating on the Legends. Batista spinebustered Jericho to end a segment that came off quite well and gave Big Dave a good start on SmackDown.

JOHN MORRISON vs. MIKE KNOX: Dolph Ziggler had joined JR and T-Grish for commentary for this match. It was officially announced that Ziggler and Morrison would face off at Hell in a Cell for the Intercontinental Title. Morrison and Knox both got fairly lukewarm reactions, and we got another Knox pre-taped vignette. This was about restless leg syndrome and how Morrison apparently had it. Um, okay. I like these little interviews but they need to start going somewhere with it. Knox started off this match strong against Morrison and took control until the Friday Night Delight started using his quickness to take it to Psycho-Boy. The tables turned quickly during the break though, and Knox got to look very strong in this match for the most part. It was a slower-paced match for the most part due to Knox's holding the offense for a good portion, but both men played their parts quite well. Dolph also did a good job on commentary; he stayed on focus and didn't stray or seem to be lagging behind the announcing crew. They addressed the horrid thing with Patterson from Breaking Point as well, which was fine. I loathed the segment on the Pay-Per-View but since it's there, they might as well get what they can out of it. The end saw Morrison get the win with Starship Pain, after which Morrison got the crowd to chant "Mr. Ziggles." I'm not a big fan of the love for the 'E to use cutesy name insults—Mr. Ziggles, Christina, et cetera—but the crowd gets into it so I can give it a bit of a pass. This worked really well and got the Morrison/Ziggler feud continuing while helping put Knox over, and I have no complaints.

HE'S GOTTA THINK OF HIS KIDS: Josh Matthews was backstage with referee Scott Armstrong and asked him why he screwed the Undertaker. You know what? Armstrong came off pretty decently. The answer was the obvious one—he needed to save his job—but Scott did a good job on the mic and talked about how he had to think of his wife and kids; he even got a little tremor in his voice when he talked about how sick it made him to call for the bell. Scott showed that he's inherited a bit of the Armstrong charisma that the Road Dogg has and Brad seemingly got robbed of. Frankly, he came off better than some of the mid- and upper midcarders do, and I was quite happy to see that.

MELINA vs. MICHELLE McCOOL: Melina's been chasing Michelle for a while, but hasn't been in the ring with her for the last several weeks due to her "injury." I must say, Melina's looking hot again; she had lost a step somehow in recent weeks but I was happy to see her on top again in that arena. This match was non-title and Michelle was doing the ankle injury thing still. We haven't seen these two face off in a little bit, and I must say it was nice to see them back in the ring again against each other as they put on a very good match. It didn't seem overly choreographed, and Melina's flexibility was put on display with none other than an impressive-looking dragon sleeper from Michelle. I love the dragon sleeper so that earned this match big points from me. They got some crowd-pleasing moments in and Michelle got Melina up into a pseudo-Gory Special before the flip powerbomb got the pinfall for the challenger. That was the one moment I didn't like here, as it telegraphed what was about to happen pretty fiercely since Michelle was specifically leaving Melina's arms free. Otherwise I dug this match and am looking forward to the eventual title match between them.

CRYME TYME vs. THE HART DYNASTY: Cryme Tyme came out first with Eve by her side, looking especially hot; DH Smith and Tyson Kidd of course had their own hotness in Natalya to a very good crowd reaction. The two power guys started off in Smith and Shad, and both got to show off some offense before JTG came in. These two teams have had a good little on-again, off-again feud that has resulted in neither of them looking like the other's bitch, and that continued here as they put on some good wrestling against each other. I liked seeing the double-team moves both teams showed off and they were all able to get the crowd emotionally involved in the match. They were also given a pretty decent amount of time and told a story in the ring. JTG showed once again that he was a potential breakout star when he came out of the hot tag with some great offense; the booking of the ending protected Cryme Tyme but allowed the Harts to get one up on their rivals. I think these four need another tag team to add some spice to the mix, but this was good stuff overall.

PURGATORY:

NICE KNOWING YOU, MR. LONG: SmackDown began with Teddy Long showing up in a limousine, looking around nervously before his crack security team showed up. I'd say that there is one smart General Manager, except that we all know how stupid it is to screw the Undertaker unless you're looking for a Butterfly Title reign. (I kid, for those who will inevitably think I'm bitter about Michelle's reigns). The crowd was immediately booing him the second his face showed on-screen. This went into a scene later in the show where Vince showed up behind Teddy and spooked him, then dismissed the security so he could asked about his picture and said he would change the face of SmackDown. Vince praised the signing of Batista and the Taker screwing. He asked Teddy what possessed him Teddy tried to say "But you said…" and Vince quickly distanced himself from the GM's actions. He then told Teddy to get in the ring and give the WWE Universe an explanation. I enjoyed this whole set-up because it played nicely into both people's characters—Teddy was trying to keep his job and was obviously smart enough to know the trouble he was in, while Vince was pleased but was not about to let himself get in Taker's line of fire.

As Teddy made his way down to the ring, we got a recap of Taker's screwing. I will admit I wasn't a big fan of the narration, but otherwise it was another great video. The crowd was booing Long, so he quickly brought up Batista to mellow that out a bit. He addressed the Taker screwing by admitting that the whole thing was pre-planned. Really? Holy hell…next thing you'll say that the matches all have pre-determined outcomes! He admitted he was scared to death of the Dead Man tried to spread the blame out a little before he said exactly what Armstrong said…he has a family and he can't afford to be fired. He apologized for Breaking Point and hoped that Taker could find it in his heart to forgive him. What do you think, Taker?



Guess not. But then, I'd be pissed too if I got screwed so badly, I had to take up chauffeuring just to pay the bills. I liked a couple things about this quite a bit. It's the first time I've seen a segment for the Vince/Teddy storyline that I didn't have a lot of issues with, and Teddy did a good job in the ring of presenting himself as a good guy who did what he had to do. I also had problems with it. The nod to the old "Where to, Stephanie?" thing was great, but I'm a little tired of Taker always feuding with the General Managers. I also think the whole thing played off far more cheesily than it was intended to. The close-up on the locks going down was a bit much, and I think they should have stopped with Taker turning around and saying "Buckle Up, Teddy," then cut to the limo driving away and Long screaming. The way it went on played off poorly, and while I did enjoy this I can't quite call it Right.

PUNK'S TURN FOR EXPLANATIONS: After Teddy was whisked away by the Undertaker, we had CM Punk come out with the World Heavyweight Title firmly around his waist and the crowd very firmly against him. He had a great smirk on his face as he made his way into the ring with a mic and said "I told you so!" He pointed out all the things he's said that he would do and has accomplished, including beating and kicking Jeff out of the 'E, as well as making Taker tap out. Well, on a technicality I suppose. He said he'd come out to confront the Dead Man in his ring, but of course that wasn't going to happen so he turned to the crowd instead. Punk said he had to preach to the crowd because we all needed someone righteous as opposed to self-righteous, then turned to more ranting about how we popped pills and ravaged our bodies with alcohol and smoking. The first part of this I loved; the second just seemed a bit more like the same thing he's been ranting on. I did like the "legion of inebriated zombies" line, and Punk as usual did great on the mic. I think he's relying on the same promo, as much as it works each week. I would like to see him expand a little more, and this did work; he just needs to find something more.

R-TRUTH DREW McINTYRE vs. CHARLIE HAAS: We got a Smack of the Night recap of all the times McIntyre has beaten down Truth over the last few weeks, then came back to Charlie Haas in the ring. Truth's music played but McIntyre came down and got on the mic, saying that Truth had a backstage accident so Haas was the winner by forfeit. Well, nice to see the guy get a win somehow, right? Drew then hit that nasty double-arm DDT and smirked before walking off. This helped get Drew over I suppose, but it was nothing more than filler and didn't seem to have any real impact to it (other than Haas's head into the mat).

THE WRONG:

The wRong:

DOLPH DRAMAZ CONTINUE: Okay, so I've been a fan of this whole thing, but this just seemed a little silly to me. Melina just happens into the locker room at the right time, and Maria just happens into the locker room right after? Yes, I get that Michelle is playing Maria, Melina and Dolph against each other and that's okay. But Maria is now starting to seem especially stupid for blaming Melina for Dolph's having a blonde in his arms, and Melina looks stupid for not realizing that Maria was going to assume it was her. "If you thought Dolph was doing something, why didn't you come to me?" She did, you silly dumb ditz. I'm still interested in how this is playing out, I just didn't really like this segment.

BATISTA vs. CHRIS JERICHO: We got a segment early in the show, right after the opening segment which had Jericho berating Show for not being out there with him, despite the fact that he had apparently told the big guy that he wanted to handle it alone. Jericho brought up that he had beaten Big Dave the last time they met and looked very motivated to take on Dave mano e mano. Chris was all sorts of peeved and it played well into Jericho's going out alone for the main event.

Once main event time came, we got our two competitors coming down to the ring with their respective great crowd reactions. To be honest, in starting Batista out on SmackDown Jericho was a great first choice. He's great at getting good matches out of people, he's back and forth between Raw and SmackDown so it almost feels like Batista's beating a Raw guy and not just imposing his main event status on the Blue Brand roster and he's in a tag team now so as much as he's got a reputation a singles guy, it doesn't seem as much like Batista's getting the top guy on the show to job to him. Truth be told, I didn't have a huge problem with this match the way it was booked. My problem was with the in-ring work. Batista started off with some weak-looking shoulder blocks that barely seemed to connect and then started hitting some slow, plodding power offense. Jericho did his damnedest to pick it up when he was in control and bumped nicely when he wasn't, but otherwise this was a pretty lackluster main event especially considering what we're used to. The end saw Jericho doing the exact same thing Mark Henry did at Breaking Point in catching the Codebreaker, then hitting the Batista bomb for the win. Again, the booking was fine but I didn't like the match itself.

THE RIDICULOUS:

DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don't care.

THE GREAT KHALI vs. KANE: Okay, so let's get the good out of the way here: this feud is over. There, that's the good. Now, onto the rest. Kane and Khali had as good of a match as they could have possibly had at Breaking Point. It wasn't that good but it was better than most of the matches they've had. So we needed another match with these two? I know that Khali is getting surgery so they wanted to put the guy out in the storylines; why not do this ending at the pay-per-view? Oh right, because we needed Dolph killing the crowd opposite Patterson. There was nothing to this match before the DQ, and afterward Kane put Khali out for a while. This could have easily finished up at Breaking Point and not been extended out, saving time on this show for something else.

The 411

Yes, this was a step down from previous shows, but I don't attribute that entirely to Batista like some might think. The main event match was spotty but we also had the Khali/Kane thing, which should have been at Breaking Point and the overdone Taker/Teddy bit. We had some very good matches out of Morrison/Knox, Cryme Tyme/Harts and Melina/Michelle to counter-balance it out and this show was still very watchable, just not as good as it's been.

SHOW RATING: 6.5

From JUSTINW:
Might as well throw out my theory on Batista returning........

He last appeared on RAW at the end of June as guest host. Then rumors hit that he was covering up a drug test failure with his injury. Well, he returned this week 'way ahead of schedule' and is back now. If you do the quick math, you will see that he disappeared of WWE TV for just over 60 days. Now, if you throw in the last time WWE covered up for his Wellness transgression, you'd have his second violation, thus 60 days. Think about it folks......

I rather doubt this, Justin. The 'E knows that such a thing would completely blow up in their face and while we've had a few times they've been shady with the Wellness Program early on--DH Smith, I'm looking at you and your delayed suspension--they've been pretty straight-forward with it to date. I'm a fan of conspiracies as much as the next wacko, but I don't by this one.


From D-Unit:
How did I guess anything Batista would be put in the "Wrong" category. This column is predictable as hell

In all fairness, D-Unit, you make it sound like I've never given Big Dave any credit which is far from true. I like Batista and think he's been great in the ring before, although I have consistently called him out for stumbling over his promos. If it's predictable, maybe that's because I will call a bad move a bad move, and you know it was a bad move. Just sayin'. Thanks for reading!


From Anonymous:
I'd job to Maria for 12 weeks straight.

You and me both. Just not in the ring.


From mp:
You too JT? I thought Gail-Alicia was fine for what it was, and I certainly didn't think Gail did anything terrible at all. Far from it. In fact I thought she did a good job bumping for Alicia Fox's offense.

Difference of opinion, I suppose. You know I've been big on defending Gail when I think she's unfairly getting crapped on, but I didn't like this at all. Just the way it goes sometimes.


From Good Move:
Yes Batista doesn't have the charisma on the mike, his matches tend to hang in the 2 star range, and he's old...

BUT...

He looks great and sells tickets. He won't ruin the almighty Blue Brand you all seem to love so much. He won't mess up the fabricated delicate balance. He won't hold anyone down.

He WILL however have sex with a SmackDown diva, give a rub to someone when he has to go away again due to injury, and in a few months when Morrison beats him you will all be happy.

I hope that's the case, and yes Batista absolutely gives big rubs to people when he goes out. I don't even completely convinced that he's going to go over everyone, though I can't help but think that if ratings rise now he'll be pushed over the rest of the talent. I tend to get pessimistic from time to time and yes, this is one of those times. We'll see if I'm wrong, and if I am I will totally admit it.


From panik:
Trish got a big pop? What RAW were you watching? The crowd was dead and could not have cared less about her. In her hometown! Her boring speech did not make matters any better. She failed as a guest host.

Her entrance got a pretty big pop from what I remember. They may not have loved her throughout the show but her entrance did what it needed to. Also? HOT.


From Guest#6489:
If u honestly think brunette Trish is hotter than blonde Trish the majority of the Male population has got two words for ya ......

YOU LIE!!!

Oh yeah? Well...you smell funny!


From D:
I have to admit that I'll always been more a fan of Cody Rhodes than from DiBiase, and the last weeks prove it to me. I think Cody is the more technical of the two, and is capable of doing some more aerial offense too (I did like his moonsault). DiBiase is more a brawler.

If i could take a stretch, compared to D-X, Rhodes resembles Michaels, while DiBiase has more of Triple H. The last two or three months, I finally can see future world champions in these two guys, but I'll have to admit, I'm more looking forward to Rhodes' matches than to DiBiase's title-matches.

Cody's no Shawn, but he's more of a Shawn then Ted is to be sure. I don't know about their future World Title chances, but you never know. I do think they are more over now than other main eventers were at this point in their career, so it could well happen.


From The Great Capt. Smooth:
I have a hard time finding Trish really hot. That's not to say she isn't very pretty. It's just that she kind of looks like my cousin and it freaks me out.

To each their own, Smooth. I can certainly understand your reasoning, and that would freak me out too.


From Jason Douglas:
(this is the former Shockmaster, new writer for the politics zone)

HELLOOOOOOOOO, TRISH!: I agree 100% about Trish's hair. To be away that long and come back looking the best she ever has is quite a feat. Maybe it was my speakers, but I didn't think she got anywhere near the reaction Bob Barker did, especially during the dicey monologue to the crowd. As for her ring work, she blew the Matrish and looked very rusty until it turned six person tag. I have no doubt Trish could be back on track in a month if she wanted, but I was just a bit annoyed at Beth jobbing. It doesn't kill her cred, but it doesn't help either.

KOFI KINGSTON & PRIMO vs. JACK SWAGGER & MIZ: "even Swagger, who I've been wondering if he will ever live up to his potential, brought his working boots" Huh??? Swagger has been on fire, with only short match time and a poorly booked feud working against him. It's not his fault he's been put on the Raw treadmill. That remark blew me away.

GAIL KIM vs. ALICIA FOX: Was anyone else terrified of a Gail win given the rematch it would bring? I'm starting to think Kong was just that one opponent who covered her weaknesses. In Gail's first run she kept botching high flying moves. Then she faced Kong and just hit strikes and dropkicks, and sold power moves. Now she has opponents her own size and is a fish out of water again. She can't keep a fast pace, making WWE's three minute specials her worst nightmare.

Welcome to the 411 crew, Shock! No, Trish certainly didn't get the Barker reaction, and she wasn't as good as she was in her glory days, but I did enjoy her in-ring work. I also didn't like Beth doing the job, but of all the options I suppose she was the best one. I don't think it hurt her unless they harp on it for a while. As for Swagger, I've thought he's been doing okay, but he hasn't set me on fire. Maybe it's because he hasn't had the chance to show us what he can do in too-short of matches and said poorly-booked feud, but whatever the reason there it is. And as for Gail, I'm still somewhat on her side; I just didn't like this match at all.


From KanyonKreist:
Complaining about the Orton/Batista segment because it concluded with Batista announcing his move to SD! is like complaining about news coverage because it included a story about something terrible.

Also, is it just me or is Jericho's persona becoming that of a one-dimensional heel? And I'm not even talking about his unrelenting condemnations of the "hypocritical sycophants" in every single crowd. A great example, actually, took place on this week's Raw... He was talking smack on Trish Stratus, but instead of referring to Trish's deceptiveness and vindictiveness - and the fact that she TURNED ON HIM - he went the standard heel route with "she used to be madly in love with me." This felt less like something Jericho would say and more like something from the pages of "Getting Heat - For Dummies."

I can see what you're saying about the Batista/Orton thing, but I speak about my own reactions when I cover these things and it did leave an overall pall on the segment, a bad taste-in-the-mouth thing. For Jericho, I didn't see that in his segment with Trish. In retrospect I can see it I suppose, but it doesn't strike me as Jericho's main problem as a character.


And I'm out of here!


~400~