Wrestling’s 4R’s Friday Edition 11.06.09: ECW and Raw Reviewed!
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 11.06.2009
Jerishow continues to run wild, Chris Masters actually showed charisma, The Miz retained the US Title, Kofi Kingston continues to make trouble for Randy Orton and Sheamus killed Jamie Noble! Elsewhere on ECW, Regal gets his title shot and sends a message to the champion! Wrestling’s 4R’s break down all the action from WWE Raw and ECW on SyFy!
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By: Jeremy Thomas
Raw 11.02.09
The Right:
EVAN BOURNE vs. THE MIZ: Back from the first break, we launched right into the Miz defending his United States Championship against Evan Bourne. Bourne sounds like he got just a wee bit of his crowd reaction back, and that's nice to hear. For as fast-paced of a match as most of this was, I was surprised with how crisp it seemed. Often you get some speed demon aerialist in there and when he tries to go too fast, it gets sloppy. What makes Bourne so amazing is that he can do these things with precision on a consistent basis. These guys did some fine work in the ring, and the point was clearly to put Bourne over as a threat while keeping the title on Miz; they did exactly that. Bourne looked like a million bucks, doing some things that lesser guys would kill themselves doing such as the landing on his feet after trying the Air Bourne and delivering some stiff-looking offense to Miz. At the same time he bumped really well for Miz, and the hip toss directly into the turnbuckle looked wicked. The end saw Miz picking up the win after taking the brunt of the offense from Bourne and while this only went four minutes, it seemed longer than that and felt like a full match. Great stuff here, and I would love to see this become an extended program between them over the US belt.
SHEAMUS vs. JAMIE NOBLE: Before this rematch, we had a brief interview backstage by Sheamus where he trashed Ozzy and said his career was as over as Noble's was going to be after tonight. The Raw crowd hasn't quite taken to him yet, but he's only been on the show for a couple weeks and what he's done to Noble is the kind of thing that will help him with that. Vintage Cole busted out more Celtic trivia by mentioning the Fianna; it's too bad that Gangrel wasn't still around, we could have had a real White Wolf rivalry there. This was a nicely booked squash, which put Sheamus over as a real threat as he just manhandled Noble and the little redneck sold it like a million bucks. The beating had the crowd solidly against Sheamus by the end of the match, and the powerbomb onto the mats sealed the deal. This was a very solid match to build Sheamus up and is a good start for the new Raw member.
KOFI KINGSTON vs. RANDY ORTON/SIX MAN TAG: Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is a great way to elevate someone. First off, we got an awesome video package recap from last week that made Kofi look like a million bucks in the way he stood up to Randy and trashed the Ortonmobile. Then, we get a promo from Kofi talking about how he wasn't going to be bullied by anyone and he left the mirror so Orton could look into it and realize why he wasn't the WWE Heavyweight Champion anymore. That promo, folks, was absolutely gold. It wasn't long, but it was very to the point, well-spoken and delivered a nice little point to it by taking the car incident and using it as an insult to Orton. Kofi is taking the ball and racing toward the end zone as fast as his legs will carry him, and that's phenomenal to see.
Then we got to the match. Honestly, I didn't expect Kofi to beat Orton here—I think that would have been too much. I figured that Kofi was going to look impressive but would fall to Orton, possibly with outside interference, and then come back next week to get back at the Legend-Killer. Instead, we got a heated, physical match that did one very important thing: it established Kofi as someone who wasn't afraid of the main eventers and could hang with them. The one-on-one match wasn't long, but Kofi held his own and when Priceless came down he managed to get over on all three of them for a couple moments. This would have been where the three-on-one beatdown would have happened most of the time and I would have been okay with that because it would have made Kofi look good in the end anyway, but no. Instead, the Ozzman showed up on the 'Tron and booked Kofi with MVP and Mizark against Legacy. This was a pretty good six-man tag, and it protected Kofi from having to take any sort of beating at the trio's hands. Rest assured, it is coming folks—and I'm okay with it when it does—but right now he's walking on Cloud Nine and seems untouchable, and that perception is going to do the guy a world of good in his credibility with audiences. This did good things and was a decent six-man without burying anyone involved, and might well have been one of the best six-man matches we've seen on Raw in quite some time. Good show, folks.
DX LAYS DOWN THE LAW: Backstage, 'H and HBK were talking to Horn-Jack-Gle and telling him they needed just two weeks where he wasn't trying to infringe on their gimmick. They got some funny lines out like how Shawn has a law degree from the University of Stockholm and such. Cena then showed up for the rescue and we got a story about how Cena's uncle hung a leprechaun on a hook once. We then got Shawn and Hunter talking about how they'd beaten Cena one-on-one before, and Cena countered that they beat each other all the time. That got a chuckle out of me. Bi- a lot of things, right 'H? This was played for laughs and it was funny for the most part. It wasn't fantastic but it got the job done, and that puts this marginally in the Right.
puRgatoRy:
RIDING THE CRAZY TRAIN: Raw began with Justin Roberts introducing The Prince of Darkness and Mrs. Darkness, our Raw guest hosts who were sitting on a throne in the ring. They were using "Crazy Train" as his theme, and the crowd just went nuts for the duo. Nice to see the Ozzman can still get a good reaction. They played clips from WrestleMania 2 when he showed up alongside Captain Lou and the British Bulldogs. Seriously folks, who ever thought a guy who once snorted a line of ants would outlive those guys? We also got a brief set of footage from a May 2007 SmackDown performance that I don't remember for some reason but seemed like a damn fine performance. They didn't get to talk much before the Miz came down with his US Title over his shoulder, and he played heel off them nicely with the "I'm a bigger star" thing. Sharon got a bit annoying with the constant "Really, little boy?" thing, but otherwise this wasn't bad as Miz talked about how he got robbed against Evan Bourne due to outside interference. Miz wanted it stricken from the record, and Ozzy asked who the hell he was. That brought out Priceless, who mocked Miz and said they had a real problem—their lost money on the race car. Or Ted's lost money, anyway. It was nice to hear how much of a pop Kofi got just off Ted's name drop, by the way. They wanted a handicap match with Kofi, but they didn't get much time to argue their case before Show came down to demand an apology from the entire roster for getting gang-beaten down by the entire roster. Ozzy screamed for his wife, and DX came down. I don't know what sort of correlation there is between the two, and I'd rather not think of it. Anyway, DX shilled Ozzy's book and then shilled their own book. The end result was DX booking matches by proxy, with Ozzy announcing Miz against Evan Braun, Sharon announcing Randy Orton vs. Kobe Kingston, and Ozzy booking Show vs. Chris Jericho vs. John Cena.
You know, I'll be honest—I was seriously concerned about Ozzy and Sharon hosting Raw. I'm a huge Ozzy fan, don't get me wrong. But let's face it, the guy hasn't exactly been the most on-the-edge kind of guy over the last few years…he looks more like a doddering octogenarian than the Prince of Darkness. But he was on his game here, excited and animated. I appreciated the way they played off the two, and I enjoyed some of the humor. Were the Evan Braun and Kobe Kingston things purposeful or accidental? I think it's kind of hard to say with this one, as it could easily have been a play off Ozzy and Sharon's less-than-mentally-stable reputations. Hell, it could have even just been their accents getting in the way. Either way I wasn't a fan of it, but it was at least better than "Summerfest." I just want to know if Evan Braun is any relation to Hitler's mistress Eva Braun, 'cause if so we have a hell of a heel turn set up for him. The only huge thing that bothered me, and what brought it down, was that it seemed like too much being crowded into one segment all at the same time. It did what it needed to, but there were too many of the interruptions so someone else could show up and it made for a segment, which just didn't flow right. Otherwise, this wasn't bad at all.
JOHN CENA vs. CHRIS JERICHO vs. THE BIG SHOW: Before this match, we had Chris Jericho meet up with Mr. and Mrs. Darkness and get after them for showing him no respect. There wasn't really any point to this other than to let Jericho say the same kind of stuff that he always does, and get the Osbournes on the screen one more time. It wasn't bad by any stretch, it just seemed unnecessary. And really, we couldn't get one single "Ozzy/Fozzy" pun out of this? What the hell is up with that?
By the time the main event had come, DX were down at the booth to join the King and Vintage Cole on commentary. We got the entrances with Jericho and Show getting their own walks down to the ring, and then the match was annoyingly joined in progress after the break. DX was relatively entertaining on the mic and ribbed Cole for his "vintages" as the match went on. The match itself was a fairly standard triple threat affair, with Jericho and Show working together to dominate Cena until the inevitable betrayal, which predictably occurred after Show stopped a pinfall attempt by Jericho. Things progressed from there and Cena made his comeback, only to be stopped by the Knockout Punch, which allowed Jericho to get the pinfall. Afterward DX came in for the save but got their asses handed to them by the Tag Champs. This was decent booking, but the match was entirely pedestrian and a by-the-numbers affair.
The wRong:
DIVA'S BATTLE ROYALE: This was to determine a Number One contender to Melina's Butterfly Title, and involved Triple K, Gail Kim, the Bellas, Alicia Fox and Eve. You know, I would have been okay with this if it had gotten a little time. I enjoy a good battle royale and they are good ways to determine Number One contenders. But this got less than three minutes and was just poorly put-together. Eve and Triple K rolled around on the floor—okay, I didn't mind that so much. But the rest was bad, with it basically consisting of the Divas trying to get each other out of the ring and failing. Gail actually had some god offense for once, but she was eliminated first and once the Bellas were gone, Eve noticed that Jack Swagger was out to watch her. That cost her the match and then Alicia managed to get Kelly Kelly Kelly out of the ring to win the match and the right to face Melina. This could have had potential, but that potential wasn't realized and it just sucked.
The Ridiculous:
RAW'S GOT TALENT…OR NOT: Yeah, it made sense we had to have some sort of stupid bullshit segment after the excellence that was the Kofi/Orton into Six-Man Tag match. This had Jerry Lawler introducing the judges…Ozzy, Sharon and…uh. Khali? Welcome back, big guy. Khali came down in a really snazzy suit and with little bro Runjin at his side, and was clearly having fun. That's why I can't hate Khali, folks…as stupid as some of the crap they put him in is (see: Khali Kiss-Cam), he always appears to be having the time of his life and that's really infectious. Like syphilis, really. But this seemed like the bad parts of syphilis, and not the good parts. First was some silly stuff where Lawler suddenly speaks Punjabi and knows Khali wants to scam on Kelly, which Sharon approves of. Then we got some retarded singing contests. So this was a comedy segment and it was about singing; we knew who was coming out before they even showed. It was Santino, saying he wouldn't bark like a dog a la "Bark at the Moon" but was going to bite the head of a Batman. Santino tried, but couldn't make that joke fly. Next was Chris Masters, doing a "performance piece" to "Crazy Train." How sad was it that Ozzy seemed to be the only person clapping in the ENTIRE ARENA? Masters at least got a tiny reaction by doing the pec dance to the Ozzy song, but also got tossed off. The last was a duet between Chavo and Jillian, and I immediately wanted to stop listening. The only duet I could think of that had to do with Ozzy and a chick would be "Close My Eyes Forever," which is one of my favorite songs. The idea of Chavo and Jillian butchering it was…well, about as bad as it really was. It was God-damned abysmal. That was the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. Ever. This looked to lead to the obligatory moment where Chavo gets punched out by a senior citizen, but instead it was Khali. And THAT in turn led to the obligatory moment where Hornswaggle came out dressed like someone else and humiliate Chavo. This week it was Jack Osbourne. Listen, do I really need to talk about how fucking stupid this was? It went on for way too long, it wasn't funny and it didn't accomplish a damn thing except get Khali back on television. Complete waste of time.
DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don't care.
The 411
All things considered, it was a pretty good show this week, and would have been a very good one if not for the stupid "Raw's Got Talent" segment that went way too long and sucked the life out of the middle of the show. Ozzy and Sharon made good guests hosts and the matches were good; what's more, the consistent building of talent like Kofi, Bourne, Miz and Sheamus is heartening to see and I'm happy with the direction they're taking here. The main event was rather blah and the Diva's Battle Royale sucked, but otherwise you had a solid couple of hours and more steps for the Red Brand in the right direction.
SHOW RATING: 7.0
From Phil:
I wasn't too sure when I saw Punk/Armstrong on the card but the whole ma... um, segment was pretty good. Especially at the end when CM Punk scared the other ref in the ring. I got a laugh out of that
I enjoyed the little intimidation Punk did on the other ref as well; it's one of the many little things that he does to help get himself over. As a fan of the small touches, I appreciated it.
From Guest#2104:
I have no idea how the Diva costume contest wasn't a Wrong or even Ridiculous.
Not only did it feature Michelle embarrassing herself with her "dancing", but incredibly, she and Mickie actually botched both of their spots with each other in the fight at the end. I'm not kidding, either. Look up the segment on YouTube and watch what happens when Michelle attacks Mickie. There was clearly an edit during it, too, so what was cut must have been really bad considering how sloppy the parts left in looked.
From Eboney:
Yay for some praise for the Divas Halloween Contest! People take wrestling too serious all the damn time.
Speaking of the contest.. They really need to stop using Michelle. She kills the crowd totally dead every time. Even with someone who gets a decent pop like Melina or Mickie, the second Michelle is involved, the crowd doesn't give a damn! What good is it to "pull out all the stops" if no one is watching? You can tell the crowd was in to when Nattie and Layla tried to jump Mickie (did you see that clothesline?!), but the second Michelle got that kick in the crowd stopped caring.
It's funny how the Raw divas can get a reaction even though there's no reason to get behind Jillian and Melina. They have really killed any reason why anyone would wanna care for the Raw chicks since they have had really bad showings the past month.
From Guest#7912:
From all live reports, Layla got a much louder pop from the crowd. In fact, Mickie's live pop was virtually non-existent. Face it, she's not nearly as over with the crowds anymore as some people around here pretend she is. They have even added fake cheers to her theme song. It's not a coincidence that it sounds like the same four girls cheer for her every time her music starts. Anybody with decent hearing could pick that one up.
But it should have been obvious Mickie was going to win. It was just an excuse to have McCool attack her. Isn't it obvious that they are building up a triple threat match for Survivor Series? Mickie/McCool/Beth. Every title match is going to be triple threat on that card. McCool will probably retain, but I'm hoping for Beth to win. I can't stand the idea of another useless Mickie reign. What a pathetic champion. I hope the rumors of her leaving are true.
Oh yeah, and the McCool "pop" should become the new slang for any wrestler that gets no reaction. I think Rob Conway can finally rest easy at night knowing there is a performer less over than him.
I'm grouping these all together due to the subject. First, it should be noted that I don't write the R's with live reports in mind. Frankly, I don't usually read them and when I do, I rarely know who the people sending them in are. I don't take other people's judgment calls as law, especially when it comes to crowd reactions because having been in an arena and then having seen the same event on TV, I recognize that people in the audience are, as a general rule, a terrible judge of character in terms of crowd reaction. If someone is in a particular section that decides to cheer while the rest of the arena doesn't, it can very well seem like a huge pop when it isn't. And honestly 7912, it sounds like you have a particular loathing for Mickie--fair enough, you have that right. It doesn't mean she's not over with the crowd or anything like that.
Yes, these are clearly pre-determined as the winner beforehand, but we've known that for years. Otherwise it would be impossible for them to use them to any useful gesture beyond eye candy. 2104, I didn't notice the edit, but if it was there okay. To each their own. I enjoyed it for what it was and felt it was just harmless entertainment than advanced an angle and didn't bury someone. To each their own.
From The Great Capt. Smooth:
I fear we may have a Punk/Vince vs. Armstrong father and son match. Just say no!
Ew. Yeah, that would be atrocious...luckily, I don't see it happening, mainly because it would keep Punk wrapped up in angles with a ref until 'Mania, and that just ain't happening.
From caboose:
Now obviously the WWE don't book this far in advance, but is it that stupid for me to suggest JeriShow hold on to the titles until Mania, when they face DX in an epic.
Actually I wouldn't be shocked if they were looking ahead that far. And I wouldn't complain at seeing that match at 'Mania, because I think it would be a great match that deserves that level of promotion.
From KanyonKreist:
Layla should have had that costume contest in the BAG, man! Mickie's Elektra deal was straight out of a box! Doesn't the moonwalk count for anything anymore?!
*Ahem*
Anyway, I haven't seen anybody harping on this, so I'll do it: what's the deal with Vickie Guerrero ALREADY returning as a full-time employee after leaving just a few months ago to, y'know, raise her kids? And if she sticks around this time, do you think they'll stick her back in an authoritative role? Even if you're lying, just please tell me they won't... just... tell me they won't, okay? OKAY?! It... it just hurts too much.....
It seems to me like she's got her eyes on Teddy's job, but I'll lie to you and say they won't. I don't mind that she's come back, considering she was looking at spending some time with them while they were out of school; now that they're back in she's back on the show, and that's fine. She'll probably be around for a while, and I'm ready for that. I just wish she could sound a little more natural when she talks.
From Sly Reference:
When I read about Batista saying "Eddie's dead." in the spoilers, I had a bad feeling about it, too. When I saw the actual way it was used, though, it felt more like the writers saying they wanted to acknowledge that bit of history, but they wanted to get it out of the way so the conflict can be about Rey and Batista. They brought it up just so they could ignore it. It was a nice bit of continuity, just like Matt Hardy approaching Batista later and talking about his conflict with Jeff.
The Matt/Batista thing was really interesting to me, too, because we rarely see wrestlers talk to each other outside of advancing their own angles. One of the nice things about the Attitude era was the feeling that the wrestlers interacted backstage and watched each other in ways that could advance all their characters without worrying all the time about the angle. This was a refreshing moment, something I guess I should have expected from the SD writers.
The "Eddie's Dead" thing just bugged me a little, it certainly wasn't horrible the way Eddie's been used post-mortem in the past. I felt they didn't need to do it in order to give Batista more heat, and while continuity certainly had something to do with it, adding to Batista's heel status was obviously another. It seemed cheap is all. I also enjoyed the Matt/Batista thing and I hope it works out well for Matt; I guess we'll see this week.
From BlackSheepMP:
Ben Grimm aka The Thing had a history as a boxer, not a wrestler
I beg to differ, Mr. MP. Ben Grimm had a well-documented career as a professional wrestler, which was covered in various individual issues but most strongly in his solo series which ran from 1983 through 1986. Believe me, I know my Marvel Universe.
By: Michael Bauer
ECW on SyFy 11.03.09
QUICK RESULTS:
- William Regal defeated Goldust via pin [*1/4]
- Shelton Benjamin defeated Zach Ryder via pin [*1/2]
- Vance Archer kills a local talent [1/2*]
- Yoshi Tatsu and Christian defeat Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson [**]
The Right:
FINALLY REGAL WILL GET A BLOODY TITLE MATCH – So we open with a very serious Christian and he calls out Regal. Guess the guy was tired of all the attacks after the past, I don't know, two months. But instead, we get Tiffany to try and talk some sense into Christian. Well, that wasn't going to work so Regal comes out anyway and gets Christian to put his tile on the line, under his conditions. Regal has done pretty well of being a master manipulator and this whole build has proven it. So Regal accepts Christian's challenge, but it will take place next week in England. So not only do they progress it correctly, but they build hype for next week. Awesome. Tiffany of course had to throw in the Roundtable being banned from ringside, but you had to see that coming from a mile away. Now, I have no clue who will actually win and this now becomes a match I want to see happen. Great work all around on setting this up.
VANCE ARCHER IS INTENSE – So, this gets broken down into two parts. First, Abraham Washington wants a new set and literally walks right into the 6'8" Vance Archer as he leaves Tiffany's office. Tiffany simply says that the guy is intense. I don't think any other words were needed here, because Vance headed to the ring for his match and simply proved how intense he was. The bell ran and forty seconds later, the bell rang again. Now, people are calling Sheamus' beating on Jamie Noble the right way to do a squash match, but I would take the type of beating Vance did any day of the week. It was quick, painless, and he didn't waste any time with meaningless moves. That is how the squash match should be done.
puRgatoRy:
MAIN EVENT TAG TEAM MATCH – The main event for this week was Christian teaming up with Yoshi to take on the Twin Towers of ECW. Now again, Christian makes every match better, but he spent very little time in the ring for this match. So we had to rely on Yoshi carrying the weight of Jackson and Kozlov, almost literally. The problem for me was that this match was just there. It didn't feel like anything special, but of course, that is tricky when Big Zeke and Kozlov are in the ring. You mostly had Tatsu getting beat the hell out of, Christian getting the hot tag, cleaning house, and getting the pin off of one mistake by Kozlov. Pretty much, it was the short version of a fifteen-minute match we have seen before. Then of course, we also had to have the almost clockwork run in of William Regal attacking Christian and making him pass out to the Regal Stretch. It's starting to look like lazy booking, because I can count at least four times I've seen that since Regal's last title shot.
BURCHILL LAYS DOWN THE CHALLENGE – So last week, Burchill tells Gregory Helms that he is challenging the Hurricane again. While I think everyone thought we would see that match this week, we instead got Burchill laying down the actual challenge to the Hurricane. This felt like just a weak attempt at pushing this feud one more week, maybe to counteract people like me who want to watch the final table of the World Series of Poker. But either way, Burchill laid out the challenge and put up his career in ECW up against the mask of the Hurricane. It's pretty rare for the WWE to do any sort of mask matches, but yet we have now seen it twice this year. Before, Rey Rey got to keep the mask, but I'm not so sure this time. Again, the match being in England could make things a little interesting.
The wRong:
ZACK RYDER AND ROSA MENDES – Ok, so backstage, we had Zack Ryder going into some sort of trance over Rosa Mendes. Now, while I don't blame him, did we really need to see the "dream sequence" used here? I mean, come on, this ain't a sit-com. So Rosa Mendes goes out to do her job and starts yapping her gums until a crewmember tells her to shut up and move along. Wow, never though I would be sick of Rosa this fast, but there is no way this ends because Ryder is in love. I mean, how else do you describe him being distracted on two difference occasions before losing to Shelton? The worst part of this is that the win did no favors to Shelton, since he beat a guy who had his mind on Rosa. Not to mention, I think Ryder needed this win more than Shelton did, but now, he will probably lose every week via distraction for at least a month or so and that's so not cool.
REGAL DEFEATS GOLDUST – The first match of the night was Regal facing Goldust. Now, say what you want about Regal being blindsided by Christian before his match, but a baseball slide should not have that much of an effect on Regal. But not only did it look like it had an effect, it looked like it made him forget he is now the #1 contender to the ECW Title. The match itself was pretty bad and Regal spent probably three and a half of the four minutes getting his butt handed to him. Looking back at the recap, the only real move he had was the knee trembler for the pinfall. And this is who gets a shot at Christian next week? All of that after a very nice build before the match? I'm sorry, but that's pathetic.
The Ridiculous:
NONE
The 411
This show was a huge step backwards from what we have been seeing. None of the matches really stood out and the build for next week's main event went from sunshine to suck pretty quickly. Hopefully next week's show gets some good spoilers because this will be up against one huge event on ESPN.
SHOW RATING: 5.0
**LARRY'S** RANKINGS THUS FAR
Rankings may change through out the year upon a second viewing…
2009 PPV Rankings:
-ENTER THE DRAGON {9.9}
-TNA BOUND FOR GLORY {8.1}
-ROH RISING ABOVE {8.0}
-WWE NO WAY OUT {8.0}
-TNA SLAMMIVERSARY {8.0}
-WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS {6.9}
-WWE THE BASH {6.8}
-WWE EXTREME RULES {6.7}
-WWE BRAGGING RIGHTS {6.6}
-WWE JUDGMENT DAY {6.5}
-TNA NO SURRENDER {6.5}
-WWE BREAKING POINT {6.3}
-TNA HARD JUSTICE {5.9}
-TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {5.5}
-WWE HELL IN A CELL {5.0}
-TNA DESTINATION X {3.5}
-TNA VICTORY ROAD {2.0}
2009 TOP PPV Match Rankings:
-[WWE WRESTLEMANIA] – HBK vs. The Undertaker (*****)
-[ENTER THE DRAGON] - Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant vs. Amasis, Icarus, Hallowicked and Gran Akuma (****¼)
-[ENTER THE DRAGON] - Yamato vs. BxB Hulk (****¼)
-[TAKE NO PRISONERS] – Tyler Black & KENTA vs. Austin Aries & Katsuhiko Nakajima (****¼)
-[ROH RISING ABOVE] – I QUIT MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Austin Aries (****¼)
-[TNA GENESIS] - Kurt Angle defeated Jeff Jarrett (****¼)
-[TNA GENESIS] - X-Division Title Match: Alex Shelley defeated Chris Sabin (****¼)
-[TNA SLAMMIVERSARY] – X-Division King of the Mountain Match: Suicide vs. Lethal vs. Creed vs. Sabin vs. Shelley (****¼)
-[WWE NO WAY OUT] – THE RAW ELIMINATION CHAMBER (****¼)
2009 PPV MVP AWARDS: Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.
-[TNA GENESIS] Sabin, Shelley, Angle and Jarrett – Rocking The House
-[ROH RISING ABOVE] – Danielson and McGuinness - Defining the ROH World Title
-[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – RVD – The Joke Pays Off
-[WWE NO WAY OUT] – EDGE – The Ultimate Opportunist
-[WWE WRESTLEMANIA] – HBK and The Undertaker – Stealing the Show
-[ROH CAGED COLLISION] – Nigel McGuinness – Better Than You Sugar Nuts
-[TNA LOCKDOWN] - Christopher Daniels – Pulling Double Duty
-[WWE BACKLASH] – Edge and John Cena – Stealing the Show
-[TNA SACRIFICE] – The TNA Roster – Making the Best Out of Shitty Booking
-[WWE EXTREME RULES] – Rey, Jericho, Edge and Hardy – They Are Awesome
-[TAKE NO PRISONERS] – Tyler Black, KENTA, Austin Aries and Katsuhiko Nakajima – Main Event Excellence
-[TNA SLAMMIVERSARY] – Daffney and Taylor Wilde – Two Hardcore Bitches
-[WWE THE BASH] – Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho – Making the Show Worth It
-[WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS] – CM Punk – Solidifying His Spot
-[TNA HARD JUSTICE] – The Terror Dome Guys – Continuing to deliver despite the booking of the division
-[WWE SUMMERSLAM] – CM Punk and Jeff Hardy – THIS IS AWESOME!
-[ENTER THE DRAGON] – The Entire PPV Roster – Redefining PPV
-[WWE BREAKING POINT] – Randy Orton vs. John Cena – I QUIT!
-[TNA NO SURRENDER] – AJ Styles – Champion Again
-[WWE HELL IN A CELL] – Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison – Stepping Up
-[TNA BOUND FOR GLORY] – Matt Morgan – Finally Stepping Up
-[WWE BRAGGING RIGHTS] – John Cena and Randy Orton – Respect To The Iron Men
2009 TOP TV Match Rankings:
I will update as often as needed.
-Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles – (Impact: 010.16.09) {****½}
-Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – (ROH on HDNet: 07.25.09) {****½ }
-Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – (ROH on HDNet: 10.19.09) {****}
-STEEL CAGE MATCH: Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk - (Smackdown: 08.28.09) {****}
-Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison - (Smackdown: 07.31.09) {****}
-Edge vs. Rey Mysterio - (Smackdown: 06.05.09) {****}
-Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – (ROH on HDNet: 04.25.09) {****}
-Evan Bourne vs. John Morrison - (ECW: 04.14.09) {****}
-Christian vs. Jack Swagger - (ECW: 02.24.09) {****}
-Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena - (Raw: 01.12.09) {****}
-Christian vs. Yoshi Tatsu - (ECW: 10.27.09) {***¾}
-Christian vs. Chris Jericho - (ECW: 10.20.09) {***¾}
- KENTA vs. Chris Hero – (ROH on HDNet: 10.12.09) {***¾}
-Jerry Lynn vs. Tyler Black – (ROH on HDNet: 09.07.09) {***¾}
-Christian vs. Zack Ryder - (ECW: 07.28.09) {***¾}
- Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho - (Smackdown: 07.24.09) {***¾}
-Edge vs. John Morrison - (Smackdown: 06.12.09) {***¾}
-Edge vs. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk - (Raw: 06.08.09) {***¾}
-Edge vs. Jeff Hardy - (Smackdown: 06.12.09) {***¾}
-CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho - (Superstars: 05.21.09) {***¾}
-Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – (ROH on HDNet: 05.09.09) {***¾}
-Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – (ROH on HDNet: 04.04.09) {***¾}
-Beer Money vs. Team Canada – (Impact: 02.19.09) {***¾}
-Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles – (Impact: 01.22.09) {***¾}
Posted By: Thought (Guest) on November 05, 2009 at 11:06 PM
Sheamus vs. Cena at WM26. Maybe too soon, but HHH is high on him and Cena will need a fresh RAW challenger soon.
Posted By: Coming (Guest) on November 05, 2009 at 11:07 PM
ppl say that christian is the one holding ecw together but i have to say that regal is doing just as much if not than the champ is rite now....
Posted By: thinking (Guest) on November 05, 2009 at 11:08 PM
Perhaps Noble was written off as a competitor so he can now strictly do his 'agent work'?
Posted By: Last Match (Guest) on November 05, 2009 at 11:20 PM
Best part of RAW was Chris Masters.
Anyone wanna name a better moment?
Posted By: Thought (Guest) on November 05, 2009 at 11:06 PM
That was one of the greatest moments in television history.
Posted By: Guest#7668 (Guest) on November 05, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Best part of RAW was Chris Masters.
Anyone wanna name a better moment?
Posted By: Thought (Guest) on November 05, 2009 at 11:06 PM
the guy in the crowd cracking up during Noble's beat down
Posted By: theshahofiran (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 01:55 AM
Wow. I don't know how old you are Jeremy but you ARE WWE target demagraphic. Masters comes out and does a comedy routine that's original and surprising, yet because you're uncomfortable with your sexuality and staring at a man's pecs you trash it. HOWEVER...a backstage segment with a leprechaun and masterbation jokes? GOLD, JERRY, PURE GOLD!
Posted By: losersayswhat?589 (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 02:09 AM
You're hatred of the "WWE's Got Talent" segment prooves that you have no business reviewing anything carny-related, ESPECIALLY pro wrestling... which ALWAYS has been, and ALWAYS will be nothing more or less than a carny attraction.
Posted By: Guest#7026 (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 02:09 AM
I guess no one noticed that Cena's "once" bit was a reference to the film, "Johnny Dangerously.
Posted By: Tobias (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 02:42 AM
Jeremy. I was just wondering if you were kind of dissapointed that there wasn't a younger challenger for Survivor series. Sure Cena vs DX sounds like fun. But i would of liked a younger kid in there. Miz, Swagger, And maybe even Dolph Ziggler or maybe even, Evan Bourne. That whole angle two weeks ago on raw with them wanting the shot now seems pointless. What do you think?
Posted By: Johnny (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 02:59 AM
Well Lance Hoyt is now Vancer Archer. i don't think it was any worse than his old name so it's ok? surprised they didn't name him Vance Boyt or something.
Posted By: 'Shio (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 05:05 AM
Jeremy, get a sense of humour, you can't label the Raw's got Talent as a ridiculous, who cares if it didn't put anyone over or continue a storyline - it was there as some fun and the normal people who don't just wana see 2hrs of non stop wrestling like yourself would have been entertained by it
Posted By: Guest#1493 (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 05:29 AM
I'm in total agreement that Chris Masters moment was hilarious.. I was shamelessly clapping like Ozzy.
I thought Jericho getting a pin on John Cena would of got some kind of mention here... thats the first time I ever recall him pinning him.
Posted By: Andrew Barbarash (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 05:31 AM
I vote Masters as well. For some reason, I want to see them do the bit to "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?".
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 05:46 AM
"Gail actually had some god offense for once"
I don't remember the bit where Gail flooded the ring. :P
Posted By: Guy (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 06:43 AM
Since Wrestlemania, I've been of the unflappable opinion that the only things worth watching on Raw were Mickie James and Kofi Kingston.
Now Mickie's gone, but Kofi is filling that void all by himself. I still say that with this new direction, Kofi is THE reason to watch Raw right now, with a side of the always awesome Chris Jericho.
As for dragging Helms/Burchill out until next week - it makes sense that they have 2 Englishmen in fueds, and want to have them both blow off when they go to England.
Posted By: Cardinal Puff Puff Puff (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 07:46 AM
"…he looks more like a doddering octogenarian than the Prince of Darkness."
I didn't know Jericho was a guest writer for this column! Sweet!
Posted By: P.N. News (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 08:22 AM
JT, I think you were pretty tough on "Raw's Got Talent." At the very least, the Masters' part was awesome.
Plus, it got the show on MTV, so it obviously did its purpose...
Posted By: Anonymous (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 08:54 AM
Masters on Raw was funny as hell, but not as funny as Oz telling them to get Masters a bra.
Zach with Dream Scene dumb!! Great way to de push him. Hey guess you shouldn't put pics of you and a title on your twitter page..enjoy MVP losing hell!
Posted By: Lord Keedik (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 09:24 AM
Yeah, Bourne looked great in his match this week... again. And AGAIN, he'll probably disappear for a week or two and nothing will come of it. Do you really think there's room on the Raw roster to move him up the card right now? ECW, on the other hand....
Also, hahahahaha "Close My Eyes Forever" is one of your favorite songs... What takes the number one spot, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"?
It's all in good fun, JT.
P.S. - A bit about ECW: "Vance Archer"? VANCE?! Good lord....
Posted By: KanyonKreist (Registered) on November 06, 2009 at 11:39 AM
yeah, dynamite kid isnt dead
Posted By: mentalist (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 06:39 PM
You know its a sad state of affairs when i'm having trouble trying differentiate in my head who the fuck your describing when it comes to the Divas...
Its like you say ODB, Traci, Angelina Love, Taylor Wylde.... i know who they are automatically. With the divas i gotta really stop and think about it. that's not a good thing
Posted By: bighustle (Guest) on November 06, 2009 at 08:16 PM
@ Barbarash, Jericho pinned John Cena in a 1 on 1 match on smackdown in 2002.
Posted By: Eye Sea KewB (Guest) on November 07, 2009 at 04:09 AM
