Wrestling’s 4R’s Friday Edition 10.09.09: RETRO Bound For Glory, ECW and Raw Reviewed!

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 10.16.2009

HHH was alone on Raw, but started to add to Team Raw, The Big Show and Chris Jericho were forced to fight and we saw two new Divas Champions! Elsewhere on ECW, Christian and Yoshi Tatsu defeated Zack Ryder and William Regal, and don’t forget about Retro TNA! Wrestling’s 4R’s break down all the action from WWE Raw and ECW on SyFy!

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By: Jeremy Thomas

Raw 10.12.09

The Right:

DIVA SIX-LADY TAG TEAM MATCH: Backstage we learned that Beth had been traded to SmackDown in this Diva Trade bullshit (see below), and she wasn't pleased. Apparently, Maria Menounos isn't much brighter than the WWE's own Maria, as she insulted Beth and nearly paid for it. But then, as it turns out, it's better to be lucky than it is to be smart, as she ended up in a tag team match. On the plus side, we got Santino claiming he faked every organism with Beth, which was high-larious. We then got a segment of 'H training Maria and Chavo getting kicked in the nuts. Yeah, that was kinda silly, but kinda cute too.

Then we got the match, during which the heels didn't even get an entrance. Triple K and Gail came down as a team and looked ridiculously hot, before they played second fiddle to Maria M. We got a few minutes of her FUCKING TERRIBLE looking movie, and thankfully nothing more than that before the bell rang. Hey, guess what? Another match that went less than three minutes. Maria M. wasn't terrible here, certainly better than some of the models we've seen in WWE stints. Honestly, as a match this wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. The Divas looked fairly crisp—even Triple K—Rosa took the pinfall so Maria M. could be on the winning team without burying Beth, and all actually carried off well. I cannot believe it folks, but the match with Maria Freaking Menounos was one of the Rights this week

MIZ REMINDS US ALL THAT HE IS AWESOME: The Miz came out late in the show in a sweater, dress shirt and tie and the US Title over his shoulder. He got the crowd riled up and announced that he would be facing the Intercontinental Champion at Bragging Rights. That's pretty damn bad-ass. Miz did a nice job here on the mic and recapped the history of their team nicely. He got some nice digs in on Morrison and basically did a great job of putting some heat into this newly-announced match. He wasn't on the mic for long, but he made the most out of the time he had and got the crowd hyped. Kudos to the US Champ for that.

puRgatoRy:

THE BIG SHOW vs. CHRIS JERICHO: So, this was the match booked by 'H for Show to qualify for Team Raw. It started off very slow, with the two doing a couple of lock-ups before Show took Jericho down with an overhand chop. My big problem with this is that it wasn't a match as much as it was an angle between ring bells. Now, there's nothing wrong with that and as in-ring angles go, this could have been worse. Show trying to play nice while Jericho went spiteful and tried to screw his partner out of the win was actually pretty cool. So that, I didn't mind at all. There was no real match to speak of, but I'm intrigued enough where they're going with Show and Jericho's partnership that I'm going to give this even marks.

JOHN CENA vs. CODY RHODES vs. TED DIBIASE: Backstage, Maria Menounos was playing backstage interviewer with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. They talked about how they were both fine, even Cody who admitted to being banged up but ready to compete tonight. Maria then revealed that Cody and Ted would be competing against each other in a triple threat match for a spot on Team Raw, and against John Cena. All in all, this was okay and Maria unsurprisingly made a good backstage interviewer. I have to wonder what the point of guest hosts who give wrestlers all the booking power is, but otherwise this was all right. Maria did well and Cody and Ted both did their speaking roles decently as well. Nothing to complain about here.

The entrances featured Priceless coming down to the ring as a unit, even as they were announced individually. I did appreciate that, it was a nice touch. The crowd hit the roof when Cena came out, without even a noticeable contingent of boos. As the match went, this was about what one might expect from a Priceless vs. Cena handicap match. Ted and Cody beat on Cena for a while, he makes a comeback. The numbers game overwhelms Cena for an extended period of time, he comes back. The only difference to the formula was that this time, the handicap team won. Yes, I know it's not a true handicap match and Cody pinned Ted and not Cena, but the point is, I expected them not to do that and I was happy with that result. The rest of it was technically decent but far from inspired, and even the crowd started to not care about this by the end of it. That's enough to easily knock it out of the Right, but it didn't ruin it.

KOFI KINGSTON vs. EVAN BOURNE: This was another Bragging Rights Qualifier, and this was a match I was hoping would get some decent time. Bourne and Kofi could put on a great match against each other given enough time to do something special. Unfortunately, we didn't get that. The match was joined in progress, which as we all know I loathe, and after that we got less than three minutes again. This was better than other less-than-three-minute matches we've seen, and Kofi and Bourne did do some decent stuff here and looked to have good chemistry. The match had the crowd mildly into it, which was improvement over some of both men's matches, and was more evenly-matched than a squash match would be. This had no chances of getting into the Right being as short as it was, but it was tolerable and that's good enough for puRgatoRy.

RANDY ORTON & JOHN CENA vs. PRICELESS: Immediately after the Cena vs. Ted vs. Cody match, Nancy O'Dell came out and announced the main event would be Priceless vs. Orton and Cena. Uh…yeah, that makes sense. What are the booking team smoking here? This is like the WWE Attitude era, but not the good parts (yes, WWE fans, there were parts of the Attitude Era that sucked. I promise, it's true).

Before the match began, Orton and Priceless ended up in the ring together. Orton got on the stick and talked about how Orton had talked to next week's guest host Snoop Dogg, and how he had talked to Snoop who had booked Cena against 'H. You know, if Snoop plays a heel, I'd dig that. Cena then came down to the arena looking SUPER-SERIOUS, and then the bell rang. Anyone else think this felt a lot like the match before? You know, Cena vs. Priceless? That's pretty much what this turned into, only with tags. This was as typical of stuff as that match, except of the tags and Orton factoring into the match a couple of times. The booking here was pretty goofy, but I appreciated they're continuing to put Priceless over. I have to say I loved DiBiase screwing Orton and getting the quick roll-up pin, and that makes up for the "just saw this" feel for the match.

The wRong:

SMACKDOWN CAN'T GET NO RESPECT: Raw started off with Chris Jericho staring at the camera and immediately drawing boos. He clarified for us the concept of the Bragging Rights main event, putting the show solidly on the Raw vs. SmackDown concept and how the main event would be a seven-on-seven tag team matchup with Red battling Blue in the ultimate battle of the primary colors. Poor yellow has been left out in the cold, it would seem. He announced that he would be the SmackDown team captain and would be constructing a team that would beat the Raw team. Jericho was going solidly here, not resorting to his troglodyte/gelatinous ooze SAT D&D references and yet still delivering a solid promo. Then Nancy O'Dell came in and said that they were starting off with D-X. Poor Chris, he gets no respect.

Of course, when D-X came to the ring the crowd marked out—though, I must note, not as solidly as usual. It was actually just 'H, coming down to the ring without Shawn. Maybe that had something to do with the more lukewarm reaction. He had the production guy do the Shawn thing and then grabbed the mic. The crowd picked up a bit from there, and 'H got them solidly reacting to him with the D-X intro stuff. Hunter talked about how Shawn was staying home tonight, and called him at home. Damn, Hunter's got a cell with nice reception, doesn't he? This was actually pretty funny, with Shawn's answering machine playing a rip on his theme song. They shilled the new D-X book and kept things entertaining. And when Show and Jericho came down, it made absolute sense. The two have been semi-feuding since last week, and Jericho did get shut down by the D-X entrance. Things went downhill from there, as 'H pretty much buried the show. Listen, I don't mind the brands doing some trash-talking during these kinds of Raw vs. SmackDown situations. Calling Teddy spineless was fine, and running down Jericho's character was okay. But using Khali (no offense, Small) as an example of the "great wrestling" pretty much craps on the stellar in-ring work that the top talent on the brand have been doing for months now. Call me oversensitive here, but frankly this is the same kind of thing that 'H pulled when he was on SmackDown each week. And for that matter, what happened to D-X and Jericho/Show for the tag titles? What's with the main event switch in gimmicks? Are they really thinking this through at all? I appreciate that they're put Jericho and Show at odds with each other, and it will make for an interesting time until Bragging Rights, but otherwise I had a lot of problems with the last part of this segment and the opening part didn't balance this out for me.

JACK SWAGGER vs. MVP: This was a Bragging Rights Qualifier, and I have to wonder what the Raw Creative Team's booking plans are regarding MVP. Are they really that bipolar that they switch between "bury" and "push" from week to week? I've bitched about the MVP/Swagger on-off feud, and this was another example of that as Vintage Cole brought it up. Sadly, this wasn't a feud match but a glorified squash of MVP that lasted not even three minutes. I'm glad that Swagger's got a spot on Team Raw, but couldn't they have given MVP more offense here and maybe a touch of cred? I didn't mind the result, I just hated the way they got there and these guys once again didn't get enough time to make a remotely decent match.

The Ridiculous:

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

BUTTERFLY TITLE CLUSTERFUCK/DIVA TRADE: I've been pretty critical of the WWE Divas from time to time, but I'm willing to give them their due when they earn it. I'm also going to call them out when it's due, or when the booking around them is retarded. This is not a happy paragraph. First off, I was actually excited to see that they were putting Jillian back toward the title picture. I've always said that she deserves more credit and her silly gimmick holds her back, and any time she can get matches that aren't clearly jobbing work gives me hope. But what the hell happened here did Jillian NO favors. The match between Mickie and Jillian was sort of iffy, not to mention disgustingly short. I don't mind Mickie losing to Jillian because it was a cheap win from a powerbomb. It may not do Jillian all the cred she could have gotten, but even a cheap title win elevates her.

Then, out came out Nancy O'Dell. She saved us from a version of "Paparazzi" that made me want to claw my ears out, and announced she'd made a trade. What? REALLY, WWE? The guest hosts can make freaking trades? I know that some people will point to Trump as a precedent, but that's crap because Trump was owner of Raw, not a guest host. I think that's taking things too far, and never mind that the moves were really pointless for the most part. Do the Bellas make Raw's women's roster better? Does moving both Mickie and Beth to SmackDown together make their inevitable matchup any fresher? Oh, and this also guarantees no resolution to the Melina/Maria mini-wannabe feud. The only one that makes me happy is Eve to Raw, because I think it puts her in a position where she can show off her improving skills and possibly get toward title contention. Anyway, Melina came down to the ring, looking hot as HELL, and at least Jillian's reactions were priceless…



Yes folks…that is the look that just screams "Ah, hell…back to Jobberville for me!" Never mind that Melina SERIOUSLY fucked up the split-leg leg drop thingy. I'm sure people were expecting me to blame this one on Jillian, but watching it shows clearly that Melina let go of Jillian's head too soon, and that was beyond sloppy. This whole thing was a clusterfuck of pretty epic proportions, and I was disgusted.

The 411

Wow, this was a bad show. I'm not kidding, this was just terrible. The Diva Trade was just the stupidest of the bunch; having what was basically two identical matches in the triple threat and the main event (except for Orton's presence) was a poor choice to make, and the whole opening was seriously weak as well. I'm glad they're doing Miz and Morrison and Bragging Rights and I hope it turns out better than the Hardy feud matches we've seen, but other than that and the barely-Right Diva tag match this whole show had serious problems. Nancy and Maria M. weren't bad guest hosts, they were just part of a poorly put-together show and I hope they bounce back next week.

SHOW RATING: 4.5

From Phil:
im hoping too that the maria/ziggler breakup was also storyline buildup. im thinking maria might try to win him back by helping him win his first title against morrison.

From EddieGibson:
That makes sense. I surely hope that's what they're planning on SmackDown.

I haven't ready spoilers (I rarely if ever do), but considering they're pushing Miz vs. Morrison as US/IC champions, I really doubt it guys. I would have loved to see it, but it sounds like they're just ending it, especially since they're moving Melina who was part of the angle to Raw. Just a wasted angle and wasted time. Yay.


From The Great Capt. Smooth:
I agree about the Dolph/Maria angle. It would have been interesting if they had tied Dolph using the chair to the fake photo of Dolph and Michelle. I can picture Maria asking Dolph, " Dolph, I saw the photo of you and Michelle. If you're willing to cheat to win a title, how do I know that you aren't willing to cheat on me?".

See, that I would have been okay with. I would have been okay with Michelle blackmailing Dolph into some kind of situation that worked to her benefit. I would have been fine with ANYTHING, as long as it was follow-up. Okay, maybe not Maria barking like a dog in the ring levels of anything, but you get the picture. Of course they did nothing, and that pisses me off.

---

By: Michael Bauer

ECW on SyFy 10.13.09

QUICK RESULTS:
- Ezekiel Jackson defeated Goldust at 5:50 [*1/4]
- Paul Burchill defeated The Hurricane at 7:30 [**1/4]
- Christian and Yoshi Tatsu defeated William Regal and Zack Ryder at 14:20 [**3/4]

The Right:

PAUL BURCHILL FINALLY WINS ON ECW – Yes, I'm sure it was bound to happen. We had another match between Hurricane and Paul Burchill this week and finally Burchill got a win over Hurricane on ECW. Not to mention, it was also a totally clean win. There was no Katie Lea interference, no shenanigans, no nothing. Just a perfect win by Burchill, using the Jackhammer to defeat a worthy challenge from the resident superhero. Now, by no means do I think the feud is over, which isn't a bad thing either, because Burchill still hasn't gotten any closer to figuring out his mystery.

MAIN EVENT TAG MATCH – The main event of the evening was Christian teaming up with Yoshi to face Regal and Ryder. I'll talk later about the buildup, but the match itself was quite good. Probably a step down from other matches involving some of these men in singles competition, but still fun to watch. The Regal and Ryder dynamic I thought was played out perfectly, especially with Ryder's earlier comment about how Regal isn't tough without his bodyguards near him. And it proved true at the end of the match as Ryder got pissed at Regal for a blind tag and proceeded to snap his neck on the top rope to set up Regal for the Killswitch. Ryder obviously is not afraid of just Regal, but it would have been interesting to see if anything would have changed had the Twin Monsters been around to stop it.

puRgatoRy:

PREPERATION TIME – So we had a backstage segment with each team for the Main Event. At best, I would call the whole thing Hit and Miss. The Hit was Christian and Tatsu. Christian comes over to compliment Tatsu again and Yoshi is just a bit nervous. The whole "thank you" deal I still find to be hilarious and Yoshi trying to outsmart Christian by doing Japanese was clever, just like Christian busting out Ichiro. I'm a little concerned that this is turning too much into Christian and Dreamer part two, but I'm not worried. The miss was with Regal and Ryder. I didn't mind Regal admitting he hated the thought of the team and was willing to accept this punishment because he wants to win. But again, Ryder is made to look like a total bitch by trying to send Regal to the cleaners, just to get sent there himself without a word being spoken. Now granted, it was because the Roundtable showed, but still, if you know that Regal has no choice but to team with you, why back down? Just felt a little off to me.

The wRong:

BIG ZEKE TAKES ON THE FREAK – The opening match was Big Ezekiel Jackson taking on the bizarre Goldust. To say this was an ugly match might be going a little extreme, but this wasn't anything close to being good or even decent. Big Zeke can look like a monster, but he also needs the right opponent to help that and Goldust just isn't that guy. Not to mention, there should be no reason in the world that Big Zeke would ever need a distraction from anyone, in order to defeat anybody, let alone Goldust. The other thing that really bugged me was the commentators on this match. Josh and Matt are normally this biggest positive ECW has over Raw and Smackdown, but for the start of this match I was disappointed, especially with Striker. Matt is very factual and very smart, but since when does Goldust has major victories on ECW? Hell, when has Goldust had any victory on ECW outside of the eight man tag match he just happened to be a part of? It's comments like that one that are very unusual for ECW and it just started off the match for me in the wrong way.

SHEAMUS GETS SOME MICROPHONE TIME – Now this was ugly. Sheamus is a really good in ring performer, don't get me wrong. But he definitely needs to not be talking that much ever again. His voice just doesn't work, whether or not he has the charisma, which he really doesn't have either. And I don't know who wrote that speech, but is sound like Sheamus had been reading the IWC tabloids about Shelton Benjamin. Yes, everyone know he has loads of talent and yes, everyone knows that Shelton hasn't won a major singles title in his career (sorry, but I count IC as secondary, not major). But to say that he has done nothing would be a bit of an overstatement. Then of course, was the whole "stepping stone" cliché that has been used way too many times for my liking. Like I said when Sheamus first debuted, he needs to do his talking in his matches, not on the stick.

The Ridiculous:

None

The 411

Well, this show was a total 180 from what we saw last week. Last week focused on nothing but the big feud at play. This week saw some actual appearances by both of the minor ECW feuds, even if wasn't the greatest stuff ever seen. But the concept of the treadmill booking wasn't seen this week and that is a huge step in the right direction, one that was sorely needed for ECW.

SHOW RATING: 6.7

---

~TNA BOUND FOR GLORY IV~

By: Larry Csonka

The Matches:

STEEL ASYLUM MATCH: Jay Lethal defeated Sharky, Super Eric, Curry Man, Sonjay Dutt, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Petey Williams, Johnny Devine, and Jimmy Rave @ 12:00 ***½

BIMBO BRAWL: OBD, Rhaka Khan and Rhino defeated The Beautiful People and Cute Kip @ 6:00 via pin * TRASH OF THE NIGHT!

TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH: Sheik Abdul Bashir defeated Consequences Creed @ 9:00 via pin **½

TNA KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH: Taylor Wilde defeated Roxxi and Awesome Kong @ 6:00 via pin **

TNA TAG TEAM TITLE MONSTERS BALL MATCH: Beer Money defeated LAX, Team 3D and Matt Morgan and Abyss @ 21:00 via pin ***½

Booker T defeated Christian Cage and AJ Styles @ 13:00 via pin ***

Jeff Jarrett defeated Kurt Angle @ 20:00 via pin **** MATCH OF THE NIGHT!

TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Sting defeated Samoa Joe @ 18:00 via pin to become the NEW World Champion***½

The Right:

STEEL ASYLUM MATCH: While the build to this match was very poor, because we had no clue who was in it or what it was for, I had high hopes for the match. As most guessed it featured Jay Lethal, Sharky, Super Eric, Curry Man, Sonjay Dutt, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Petey Williams, Johnny Devine, and Jimmy Rave; they were battling for the #1 contender's spot as well, thanks for letting us know. With all of that being said, the stars of the X-Division kicked off Bound for Glory and they did so in spectacular fashion. This was a wild match that played to the match style well as they delivered crazy spots and I felt that everyone got to look good. The finish featured Lethal and Dutt battling in a continuation of their angle, but this time Jay prevailed and walked away with an X-Division title shot. This was a great way to kick off the show and was a ton of fun overall. There are rumors coming out of the PPV that Johnny Devine asked for his release. In a related topic, Jimmy Rave asked for Johnny Devine to be released...after he woke up from Devine dropping him on his head. That had to suck. And word just came in that he has been granted his release.

TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH: The theme of the X-Division title match was to play off of the USA vs. Evil Foreigner dynamic. They set this up with a pre-match promo by Creed, as well as TNA bringing out a Chicago Native that was injured in service of the US Army to announce Creed. I felt that this worked as the crowd was into it with the USA vs. Evil Foreigner dynamic, which is a good thing. Thankfully TNA didn't "Cross the Line" into bad taste and do anything involving the soldier, which Lansdell and I feared over IM. Creed stated out like a bat out of hell as he went on the attack and from there the crowd was locked into the match. Overall this was good match, but a bit below the expectations I had for these two, partly due to the sloppy finish and partly because I felt as if they needed a few more minutes to really reel it in. Give the guys time to work TNA; this is another reason I felt the mixed tag didn't need to be on the show, because it took time from matches like this one.

TNA TAG TEAM TITLE MONSTERS BALL MATCH: Besides the Steel Asylum, we had more craziness on the card as the Monsters Ball made its yearly appearance for TNA. While they have overdone many of their gimmick matches, Monsters Ball is one that they have kept for this show and this year they changed it up by having the tag titles on the line, and obviously involving tag teams. I have to say that much like the Steel Asylum, this was another really fun match that not only played off of, but also delivered on the stipulation. I will admit that it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was fun and Beer Money are as Michael Cole would say, "the ultimate opportunists." We got big dives, weapon shots, a flaming table, the return of the tacks and in the end I felt that everyone in the match got to look good, which is always a key thing in a match like this. I was ready to blast Mongo, but the football spot was glorious and he saved the match when he opened the bag of tacks for Hernandez. Seriously, that could have been disastrous. Also, Abyss is ONE SICK FUCK. He not only took the table bump, and not only was it a flaming table, but when he rolled off he was STILL on fire and had to be put out. This sick fuck will do anything.

Booker T defeated Christian Cage and AJ Styles: They had a hard match to follow, due to Monsters Ball having all of the toys, blood and big moves. All three guys worked hard, but I think that the problem was that they knew they had to follow the Monsters Ball. Some of the match felt "too laid out" in parts and not all of it was executed as well as they would hope. It was never bad or anything, In the end I felt that they had a strong match with AJ in particular working very hard and providing a ton of energy. This was another good match, but I have to admit that it ended up a bit below my expectations. I am curious to see where this goes. Cage's contract status is till unknown, and they really didn't resolve anything. Also there is Booker's briefcase to play off of. What is in there? This should continue, and I admit I am curious to see where it goes.

Jeff Jarrett defeated Kurt Angle: For months they have been laying the foundation for the first ever Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle match. There were teases with the music, random guitars appearing, Jarrett finally coming back and then the sparring sessions on the mic over the last few weeks. It went from "professional" to "personal" in the blink of an eye, Mick Foley was added to the picture and with all of that mixed together, there were a lot of expectations going into this match. In the roundtable I said, "I have high hopes for this match. Angle has quietly been having good matches all year, and Jarrett is criminally underrated in my opinion. I figure Foley has something to do with the ending, leading to an Angle vs. Foley match." Well, high hopes met, another great match from Angle, Jarrett delivers after a long absence, and Foley had something to do with the finish to lead to Foley vs. Angle. Sometimes I look like I know exactly what I am talking about! Excellent stuff here from a wrestling standpoint and this was my match of the night. PS: Hey Mick, dude, put up your hands. No one will think less of you.

TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: So here we are, the main event of the evening. A match that many dreaded and a match that most didn't have high hopes for. To begin with they reverted to the old TNA main event style brawling in the crowd, which lasted for 7-minutes of the match and was actually pretty good. But I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of it and it featured one of the dumbest spots I have ever seen as Joe heads into a luxury box, charges and LEAPS THE RAILING AND DROPKICKS STING, who was on the steps. CEMENT STEPS! Jesus. Anyway, both guys worked very hard and it was a better match than I thought we'd get. I thought that Joe looked dominating and better than he has in prior title matches in many ways. Joe's "beat on Sting to prove a point" part of the match was well done, as he was trying to beat the respect into Sting and prove that he deserved to be the champion. Again, we had the predictable finish, which I feel takes away a bit, even though it did work into what they have been doing. The thing is that it came right after a match with a ref bump and controversial ending. Once again, this was too much and came off like 90% of TNA main events. I am not a fan of the overall booking, especially since it was overbooked stuff, but the match was good and capped off a very good night on in ring action. With the stipulation announced that there would be "no rematch," I am curious to see where they go with this. As always the follow up is key.

puRgatoRy:

TNA KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH: The Knockouts Title was on the line with Taylor defending against Kong and Roxxi. I liked the tag match on Impact, and it gave me hope for a good match here. And for the most part that is what we got, a "good match." They worked the formula well, very well actually and I was digging it because they worked hard and it never got slow. It was good while it lasted. Unfortunately it was short, and on this show it really could have and should have been longer. It is the biggest show of the year, and when they have been given time the ladies have delivered. But they didn't get that time here. It is sad when the garbage mixed tag got just as much time. As I said, it was really good while it lasted and it likely could have been great if they had more time to craft the story and work the formula. Good work ladies, sorry I can't say that for the booking team that only gave you 6-minutes.

The wRong:

OVERBOOKING 101: I have to make the point again that TNA continues to overbook their PPV's, and that is NOT a good thing. A lot of the stuff they did made sense in the context of the angles that they were a part of, but when you continually do these sorts of things, they don't come off as meaning anything. The JJ vs. Angle match had the ref bump and then the involvement of Foley. It was predictable and while it played into the angle well, it didn't mean as much due to the main event. The main event saw Nash get involved in the finish, which again makes sense, but doesn't mean what it should have due to the finish of the previous match. And then there were the special referees. Did we REALLY need two special referees and a special enforcer? I get Foley because they just signed him and they were hoping that his involvement would help the buy rate. I even understand Mongo to a degree because they were in Chicago. But two is really pushing it. But then there is Traci Brooks. This wasn't announced until after the final Impact aired, and really it wasn't needed and it didn't make sense. This was another case of getting another body on PPV just to do it.

BIMBO BRAWL: To me this was the weakest match on the show. I still contend that it did NOT need to be on the PPV, especially when you consider that the Knockouts Title Match only got 6-minutes, just like this. The Knockouts Title Match meant a lot more to the card and deserved the spot and more time, but due to this being on the card, they didn't get it. This match was one of those, "get more people on the card" matches, and it is something that TNA continues to do and needs to stop, less is more. The match was not very good, but not quite as bad as I thought it would be. It felt like a TV match that you would likely fast forward through. The crowd was into ODB and Rhino big time, which helped because they stayed hot for most of the match. This is something you can easily skip and not feel bad about.

The Ridiculous:

None

Closing Thoughts:
Overall I will go with a 8.0 out of 10 for the event and a recommendation to get the replay. From an in-ring standpoint this was a really string show, with Angle and Jarrett shining in their match. It didn't have that "huge show feel" in some ways, but the hot crowd and roster of guys working really hard made me feel as if I got my money's worth. and could have been even better, but sometimes TNA can't help themselves. I do have concerns going forward though. When you look at the final matches and see Booker T, Jeff Jarrett and Sting win major matches, while Kevin Nash and Mick Foley had prominent roles and it doesn't look like the 2008 alternative to the WWE. We'll see where it goes from here, but in the end I enjoyed the show for the wrestling.

---

And I'm out of here!


~408~