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Wrestling’s 4R’s Monday Edition 2.1.10: ROH, Impact, Superstars and SmackDown Reviewed!
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In HD where available…
By: Aaron Hubbard
ROH on HDNet 1.25.10:
QUICK RESULTS:
The Briscoes defeated Cheech & Cloudy [**1/2]
Rasche Brown defeated Bobby Shields [1/2*]
PICK SIX: Kenny King defeated El Generico [***1/4]
PICK 6 – KING VS. GENERICO: This was our main event but not really, as most of the focus was on the situation between Tyler Black and Austin Aries. I enjoyed the match, it was a fresh match-up between two guys who need to be featured right now. El Generico is coming off the split with Kevin Steen and Kenny King is a potential break-out star for the company and was going into a very important match with Jerry Lynn six days after the show aired. They gave us a solid, not great, but solid main event with a little bit of sloppiness from Generico, but it was forgivable. The match was actually underwhelming for an ROH main event, but then, it wasn’t really the ROH main event. The important thing about this match and the big reason it’s in the right is because it finally, FINALLY gave Kenny King a CLEAN win on television. I cannot stress how much Kenny needed this win enough. After he put Lynn out with a piledriver, there was potential to make King the next big heel in ROH, and for the most part, both King and ROH dropped the ball. He was booked so that he never beat anyone of significance without Rhett Titus’ help. I’m sorry, but when you need help from Rhettski the Jet Ski, you are nothing. But King got the win here, cleanly, over a former ROH Tag Team Champion. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for the Pretty-Boy Pitbull.
RASCHE BROWN DRAMA: Rashe Brown came in and had another squash match, and he just decimated poor Bobby Shields, including an awesome spear where he rolled forward after hitting it that looked awesome, devastating and athletic. He won with the Burning Hammer again, which is always a plus. But the bigger story was that Prince Nana was scouted him. The idea of managers scouting hot, young talent to boost their stock is delightfully old school and gets people over. Remember when everyone wanted to manage Bam Bam Bigelow? He became instantly credible because everyone wanted to manage him. If ROH is smart, they will have Nana and Hagadorn both try to recruit Brown. He can join one of them, reject them and turn face, or possibly even take Larry Sweeney as his manager now that he’s back. Good stuff here.
BRISCOES ON NOTICE: New ROH Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe came out and had a short but solid match with Cheech and Cloudy. Cheech got to look good, and with the exception of the lights going off, the match was solid. After the match, The Briscoes cut a promo on the Kings of Wrestling, who attacked them at Final Battle, only to be interrupted by former tag team champions The American Wolves, who wanted their rematch. And then The Dark City Fight Club came out, said nothing, and we get a big shoving contest. The message is clear: everyone wants a shot at the Briscoes. This put the focus right on the new champs and set up several matches that I’m intrigued by. A number one contender’s match between the Wolves and the DCFC is just the opportunity ROH needs to see if the Wolves can work as faces, and will be hard-hitting and fresh.
NONE:
BLACK-ARIES-CORNETTE-JUDGES DRAMA: Alright, for the five ROH fans that don’t know, Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black went to an hour draw at Final Battle, ROH’s version of WrestleMania. Yeah, I know, it makes no sense. The match was also far from a classic. It did not go over well, with fans chanting such things as “DON’T GO SIXTY!” and even chanting “DON’T COME BACK!” when they had a brief spot behind the curtain. Needless to say, ROH screwed up majorly on this thing. So what’s the first thing they do? They set up a rematch, only this time, we are going to have super special judges to make the decision if the match ends in anything but a pinfall or submission. Tyler, Aries and Cornette each got to pick a judge. Tyler picked Roderick Strong, Aries picked Kenny King, and Cornette chose himself. Now, historians might realize that this is an obvious nod to/rip off of the Flair-Steamboat series. The last match at Wrestle War ’89 had judges, was one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time, and led to one of the best feuds of all time with Flair and Terry Funk. So, if we go by logic, Tyler wins the belt here (which is skeptical at best) and Roderick Strong betrays him and they have a feud. I’m okay with this. Not cool with it, just okay. But here’s the kicker: they are doing the rematch in NEW YORK. That’s right, the same arena where everyone turned on Black, everyone turned on Aries, everyone turned on the match, everyone turned their back on the booking, and everyone turned their back on the company. In theory, that’s an apology. In reality, it’s probably suicide for the match. I can’t hate on the promo work from everyone involved (yes, even from Roddy) and the angle is mildly intriguing, but overall, it just has me scratching my head. Also, this took at least fifteen minutes away from the show that could have been devoted to actual wrestling.
NONE:
| The 411
My overall opinion of this show was that it was rather underwhelming. This was light on wrestling and heavy on talk. The matches were average for the talent involved and the time they got, and the promos are all building up to something that I don’t think anyone wants to see. I’m glad to see there is actually BOOKING now, and they are using guys like The Briscoes, Rasche Brown, El Generico and Kenny King well. But, it’s not exactly a compelling hour of television. As part of a show, this content would have been fine, but as the whole show, it’s nothing worth recommending. SHOW RATING: 5.0 |
By: Steve Cook
Superstars 1.28.10:
Bella Twins vs. Jillian & Katie Lea: Diva matches on Superstars are generally superior to Diva matches on Raw for one main reason…they ain’t live. I’ve never understood why WWE usually puts their better wrestling Divas on SmackDown (“better” is a relative term, of course) while sending the ones who have more difficulty with the craft onto Raw to die horrible deaths. The Maryse/Alicia vs. Eve/Gail tag team match a week or two ago comes immediately to mind. That match could have benefited from the editing that this match got in order to look like acceptable wrestling. With all that being said, the ladies did some good stuff here. I especially liked the Bellas breaking out some old Rock & Roll Express moves. The fact they finally didn’t do the switcheroo during a match pushed it over the top.
Chris Masters vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Primo: While we’ve seen Masters vs. Chavo, Chavo vs. Primo & Masters vs. Primo before, we’ve never seen them all in the same ring at the same time. I liked the added stipulation of the winner being in the Royal Rumble, giving these guys reason to pull out all the stops in order to win. This was a really well worked ten minute match by everybody involved, I think Masters has improved tremendously since his first stint with WWE and the face turn/alliance with Eve gives people a reason to care about him. When he randomly came back as a heel and had no promo time, nobody knew why they were supposed to hate him. Fans are starting to get behind the Masterpiece, and the Masterlock gets a good reaction out of the people every time he tries to lock it on. Primo & Chavo got to do some good stuff and didn’t look like idiots (which sadly for them doesn’t happen often), but this was the Masters Show and he did really well with it.
Chris Jericho & R-Truth promo: Most of this was your typical Jericho/R-Truth stuff, but it at least has to go into Purgatory for the look on Jericho’s face when R-Truth came out. I am saddened that WWE.com didn’t get a photo of this…it was simply amazing.
Nothing of note.
Matt Hardy vs. David Hart Smith: I vaguely remembered the last time these two faced off on Superstars, so I dug up my thoughts on that match. I described it as “not terribly exciting”. Yup, that pretty much sums up this match too. The highlight of the whole shebang was Great Khali tossing Matt Hardy over the top rope because THERE ARE NO FRIENDS IN THE ROYAL RUMBLE. Wait a minute, Khali & Matt are friends? I usually like it when WWE does things like that, but it has much greater impact when Triple H throws Shawn Michaels over the top rope than when Great Khali does it to Matt Hardy. And it just goes to show how Matt’s pretty much running out of friends in WWE when he has to align himself with Great Khali. On the bright side, I’d rather have Khali as my backup than Hurricane.
| The 411
This was a good lead-in to the Royal Rumble with generally good wrestling matches and only one that I felt was a waste of time. Hey, maybe since Jericho got arrested they’ll put him on this show more often! That could only make things more awesome. As it is, anything where the Bellas & Chris Masters get put over in decent matches is bound to get a good score from this reviewer. SHOW RATING: 7.0 |
By: Chad Nevett
iMpact! 01.28.10:
QUICK RESULTS
8-Card Stud Tournament Qualifier – Desmond Wolfe defeated Sean Morley [**1/4]
8-Card Stud Tournament Qualifier – Hernandez defeated Daniels [**1/2]
The Beautiful People defeated Tara, Awesome Kong & Hamada [*1/2]
Brian Kendrick & the Motor City Machine Guns defeated Amazing Red & Generation Me [**1/4]
Doug Williams defeated Amazing Red (C) for the TNA X-Division Championship [1/2*]
Mr. Anderson defeated Jeff Jarrett [*3/4]
KEN MR. ANDERSON EXTENDS A CHALLENGE: A really good promo where, first, Anderson corrects Christy Hemme when she calls him by his first name and plays the arrogant heel well. Issuing an open challenge is usually an iffy move that results in some giant coming out and squashing the guy who issued the challenge, but Anderson raised some interesting names and focused on Abyss. Anderson showed off his good mic skills and played his role well.
AMAZING RED (C) vs. DOUG WILLIAMS FOR THE TNA X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP: How does the lowest ranked match of the show make the Right? By advancing the story well. The schism between Rob Terry and the other two members of the British Invasion is increased with them forcing him to give up his Feast or Fire X-Division title briefcase, so Doug Williams could cash it in, which also means that Big Rob isn’t X-Division champ (a positive I think we can all rejoice in). The briefcase was cashed in at the right time, but Amazing Red still put up a little bit of a fight before losing. The arrogant celebration of Williams and Magnus while Terry stood outside seething sold the whole thing. I’m not sure this was the right way to take the belt off of Amazing Red, but it was a good use of the briefcase and worked well with the existing friction within the British Invasion. Barely a match, but a very good segment.
DOUBLE J IS BACK AND READY TO WORK: So, Jarrett is a face again? I’m glad to see that they saw how the crowd was reacting to their pushing Jarrett as a heel and have altered their plans a little. At the same time, it is rather abrupt, much like the Bobby Lashley turn from last week. The involvement of Bubba the Love Sponge automatically brought this segment down a little, but it also didn’t click. While all good talkers, things just didn’t seem right between Jarrett, Hogan, and Bischoff. Jarrett was too groveling, Hogan was too wishy-washy, and Bischoff was too smarmy. Also, sticking Jarrett in the main event makes sense from their perspective, but didn’t exactly make me excited for the end of the show given Jarrett’s lack of wrestling recently. As they said, he hasn’t been in the ring (that we’ve seen) for seven months. Bischoff putting Jarrett in the main event killed the tension of Mr. Anderson’s challenge, too, which could have been dragged out more.
8-CARD STUD TOURNAMENT QUALIFIER – DESMOND WOLFE vs. SEAN MORLEY: The 8-Card Stud Tournament at Against All Odds is a good idea and having qualifying matches leading up to it is even better. TNA taking advantage of the large roster is a smart move by using 16 guys instead of just eight and also explains why certain guys may not wrestle in any given week if they’re involved in the tournament. This first match was a pretty average match that never really clicked. Wolfe and Morley didn’t do anything wrong, but they also never went beyond some standard moves. There was no tension or uncertainty and nothing impressive. Not a bad match at all, but definitely the most boring match I’ve seen Wolfe involved in to date.
8-CARD STUD TOURNAMENT QUALIFIER – DANIELS vs. HERNANDEZ: Unlike the Wolfe/Morley match, this one had a little bit more uncertainty. While Hogan is high on Hernandez and not as much on Daniels, the idea that they’d want to avoid having the tag champs in the tournament wasn’t entirely beyond the realm of possibility, and losing to Daniels isn’t exactly a damning loss considering he was in two of the last three PPV main events. The psychology of the match was solid with Hernandez playing the big man role more because of Daniels’s size. These two guys never really got going or meshed, though. Hernandez was too sluggish and Daniels was too easily knocked about. When Hernandez took off his shirt and used it to throw Daniels across the ring, I was a little confused if that was using a foreign object or not, and was a little disappointed when it wasn’t since that would have been a good way to allow Daniels to win with Hernandez looking strong. Like the Wolfe/Morley match, this was just a mediocre match that wasn’t bad or good.
BOBBY LASHLEY IS FIRED: We’re getting this story in drips and drabs, but I enjoyed Eric Bischoff being a jerk and reveling in it. Last week’s change of heart by Lashley was odd, but having Bischoff fire him anyway is an interesting move. I expected Lashley to have to earn his spot back ala Jarrett, but this was unexpected and well done. Direct and to the point.
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE vs. TARA, AWESOME KONG & HAMADA: Beginning with a typical Beautiful People backstage promo that was more about Angelina Love than this match, this whole thing never got off the ground. I looked at both teams and noticed that it was rather one-sided as far as in-ring talent goes and the match didn’t prove me wrong. Hamada did her role as the worker for her team, while, thankfully, Lacey von Erich’s in-ring time was limited. Awesome Kong was barely used and was last seen chasing Velvet Sky backstage… and I imagine that’s the last we’ll see of her all together. The Beautiful People cheating to win was a solid finish and Sky not being present when Love attacked the other two teases out their eventually confrontation well. An unimpressive match that seemed to be more about setting up the post-match events than anything else. Odd that the focus was on the team that doesn’t have any belts.
BRIAN KENDRICK & THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. AMAZING RED & GENERATION ME: This match was like a regular match between these guys on fast forward with all of the transitions and slow parts cut out. It was good and everyone worked very well together, but it was just so crammed that it was over before it could find a nice rhythm. Kendrick sneaking in to pick up the pin was the right finish. Nice to see the X-Division guys on the show this week, but a couple of minutes more would have been better. I do like Kendrick’s entrance music, though. It’s unique and makes him stand out. I’m usually not impressed with TNA’s entrance themes, but this one is great.
MICK FOLEY AND ERIC BISCHOFF NEED TO WORK TOGETHER: Last week, Mick Foley was fired for, apparently, beating up Eric Bischoff, except no one saw him do it. This week, a fired Foley is somehow at the Impact Zone and Hogan wants everyone to play nice. A rift between Hogan and Bischoff emerges because he sees the logic in Foley’s ‘if I beat Bischoff up, he wouldn’t have looked so pretty’ argument. Foley doesn’t actually want to work for TNA with Bischoff in charge, but still keeps showing up. Bischoff now wants Foley here and threatens to fire Abyss and JB to get Foley in line. There are so many conflicts between people’s motivations and their actions that nothing makes any sense. They need to either get to the point or end this.
THE NASTY BOYS AND TEAM 3D CALL ONE ANOTHER FAT: Someone suggested in the comments that I need to lay off the Nasty Boys, but they’re just so bad. On the mic, both Knobs and Saggs are decent, but their back-and-forth with Team 3D wasn’t good. Team 3D did a pretty good job for their part, especially Devon, but the constant insults about each time being fat and old just kept reminding us that both teams are fat and old! Okay, Team 3D isn’t really fat or old, but it does raise the point that, perhaps, their talents could be put to better use by helping younger teams get over. Wow, the Nasty Boys beat a bunch of legendary tag teams from my childhood! Is that supposed to make me want to see them wrestle as an adult? All this promo did was make Team 3D look like a great team beginning to hit its decline and the Nasty Boys look like sad, pathetic, fat, old men whose prime was 15 years ago.
EARL HEBNER JUST LIKES TO SCREW PEOPLE, BUT KURT ANGLE IS THE ONE WHO APOLOGIZES: First, we get Earl Hebner’s explanation of why he rang the bell early last week, which involves Hogan doing some of his work speaking that I can imagine. He was just talking gibberish there for a while it seemed as he tried to get to the point: Hebner rant the bell despite Angle not tapping out. How such a simple idea was mangled verbally like that is baffling. Then, we get Hebner saying that he screwed Bret and he did it again for the money. Hogan should have ‘fired’ him since you can’t have a ref on the take, but just suspended him. His in-ring confrontation with Kurt Angle went a little better, but Hogan just seemed tired and worn out throughout. Neither man had their heart in it and it showed., while the apology was delivered with a few unnecessary caveats by Angle that undercut it completely. Last week’s screwjob finish was awful and this week’s follow-up wasn’t much better.
MR. ANDERSON vs. JEFF JARRETT: What happens when you take two pretty average in-ring works, neither of whom have wrestled a lot recently, and stick them in the main event? A pretty bad match. Both Anderson and Jarrett looked very rusty here, moving slowly, and not accomplishing moves as effectively as possible. I can understand the appeal of this match, but it was not the right decision for the returning Jarrett or the new-to-TNA Anderson. Both men need to be put up against guys who can carry matches and make their opponents look better than they are until they’re up to speed. Who wants Jarrett to look like crap? Who wants Anderson’s first match on Impact to be this sloppy? Stick Jarrett against Angle in an 8-Card Study qualifier and have Bischoff force Styles to accept Anderson’s challenge, and every story is advanced almost identically, but everyone comes off looking good. This was just bad booking pure and simple.
AJ STYLES AND RIC FLAIR PARTY IN… THE LOCKER ROOM?: Last week, I really liked the opening promo where AJ Styles came out and did his Ric Flair impression, because he didn’t fit the role. He looked awkward and out of place, but that seemed to be the point: he was clearly making the wrong choice but doing so with glee. It was entertaining and suggested that the larger story may be Styles realizing that he isn’t the next Ric Flair, that he’s simply AJ Styles, and returning to his old self. This week’s promo didn’t invalidate that idea, but it was awful and a chore to watch. Styles and Flair have a party in the locker room, because THAT’S living it up apparently. Styles really is awful at this character as he runs around like he’s on speed, while Flair plays the dirty old man as he ogles the escorts hired to party with them. I did like the idea of Styles being the arrogant heel champ who disappears on vacation for a month and having Bischoff quash that plan was good, but it wasn’t enough to redeem these god-awful segments.
HALL AND WALTMAN CONTINUE INVADING THE IMPACT ZONE: What’s the logic behind this? Scott Hall and Sean Waltman want TNA contracts, so they come in and beat up Kurt Angle just after him and Hulk Hogan made nice and patched things up? That doesn’t really make sense… at all… Why wouldn’t they show up and beat up people Hogan and Bischoff hate instead? I know, I know, looking for intelligence and logic in an angle involving these two is a futile exercise, but this was just plain stupid. And guess what! They’re coming back next week! Aren’t we lucky?
| The 411
Not a lot right in this week’s show, but almost all of the matches were solid. It was a mediocre, middle-of-the-road show where all of the bad segments and stories were the same ones that have been bad for the past few weeks, which makes them a little easier to ignore. “Oh, it’s more Foley/Bischoff drama… whatever…” The introduction of the 8-Card Study Tournament qualifying matches begins the build-up to Against All Odds nicely even if the two matches from tonight were just average. The main event was a below average match that was bad booking. If TNA is looking to move to Monday nights, it needs to do better than this. I’d almost prefer a complete train wreck of a show, because that would at least be interesting. This week’s show was just boring. SHOW RATING: 5.0 |
By: Jeremy Thomas
WWE SmackDown 1.29.10
QUICK RESULTS:
Triple H d. CM Punk [** 3/4]
R-Truth d. Chris Jericho [** 1/4]
Drew McIntyre d. John Morrison [** 1/2]
Shawn Michaels & Rey Mysterio fought to a no contest [***]
CM PUNK vs. ‘H: So we got Punk and ‘H instead of a Unified Tag Team Title match, and while I discuss that little change elsewhere I have to give them props for the work they did here. Hunter and Punk have never faced off to my knowledge (and if I’m wrong I know at least five people will correct me), and they worked very well in this opening match. It was a far more give-and-take match than some more cynical people might expect, with Hunter giving Punk several periods of solid offense and selling it rather nicely. I’m not going to say that it was a Punk-dominated match but it was at least evenly split between the two and ‘H went a long way toward making the Straight Edge Superstar looking like he belonged in the upper levels of the card. They kept things moving along nicely and we had some good, crisp wrestling between them. The end came in the form of a DQ as Serena came in to interfere. The Society then beat on ‘H a bit before Shawn came down to make the save, and I enjoyed Punk both putting Serena in front of himself and Serena herself showing absolutely no fear in the face of two main eventers. It portrays a level of sycophantic faith that fits Punk’s stable nicely, and I did enjoy this quite a bit as an opening Blue Brand match.
CHRIS JERICHO vs. R-TRUTH: This match was set up from last week when Truth came down to be John Morrison’s tag team partner and ended up pinning Y2J. The crowd was predictably hot for both men in their respective alignments and popped a lot for Truth’s offense; people may not like the man that much but no one can deny how over he is with the crowd. These two could have a great extended feud with each other than would do Truth a hell of a lot of good; frankly, considering how much Jericho has lost lately it could do him quite a bit of good too. They battled back and forth and while the match could have been a bit longer, I thought these two guys shared a lot of timing. I do think that the finish was lacking in impact, both in a physical and literal way. Yes, they played it that Jericho hit his head on the mat but really, a missed Codebreaker turns into a jackknife pin and that’s it? Other than the relatively weak finish I thought this was a perfectly fine match. It could have been much better, but there was certainly nothing major that dragged it down. And no, not even Jericho losing did so to those who will be upset about that fact.
GOLFER DAVE SPEAKS: Backstage, Josh Matthews was standing with Big Dave, who was wearing an outfit that can only be described as Tiger Woods’s worst nightmare. Well, his worst nightmare other than a paternity suit or twelve, anyway. Josh asked if the Manimal’s strategy had changed after last week and Big Dave said no, it just meant the spotlight was on him. Dave talked about being robbed and cheated and that he was making a statement about how he’d be winning the Rumble, ‘Mania and pretty much everything. Once again, I have to give Dave props for a more controlled, slow-paced but well-acted promo. At the end of the show before the main event match, Dave got in Shawn’s face and told him that he didn’t care about his quest to beat the Dead Man, but Shawn and ‘H got the man to back off. This was a short and sweet promo that featured even ‘H being serious and not a jokester. I rather liked that. But really Dave…that outfit? What the hell?
JOHN MORRISON vs. DREW McINTYRE: Okay, is it just me or was the greatest entrance in professional wrestling today even greater this week? He had all the right notes on his way down the ring and the crowd was very happy to see him there. Morrison got on the mic and talked about how he hadn’t been hand-picked by the brass and pedigreed into their corporate champion. And that’s probably a good thing, as Stephanie McMahon might have gotten jealous. Morrison berated Drew for treating the title poorly and taking shortcuts, then put over the No DQ stipulation. Morrison is still a bit stilted on the mic and this promo was no different, but he got the wording down correctly so kudos for that. The announcing team again talked about how McIntyre is undefeated, which seems to be following the Kozlov rule of being undefeated—aka, pretending his losses weren’t losses. These guys have faced off enough that the matches are starting to seem stale from time to time, but luckily this didn’t seem to be one of those cases as they were doing solid work and they used the no DQ stipulation just enough to enhance the match without seeming like they were relying solely on it to excite the crowd. They got plenty of time within the context of the show and the finish put Drew over solidly as the Intercontinental Champion without doing anything screwy that requires a rematch. I imagine this may be the end of the feud, and if so I’m happy with the blow-off match.
REY REY vs. SHAWN MICHAELS: Some people are going to say that this match shouldn’t have been given away on free TV. Those people would forget that Rey beat Shawn four-plus years ago at the Eddie Guerrero tribute show. Either way, this was a great main event to finish up the hard sell show for the Royal Rumble, because it made sense but was still a random enough match-up that it gave us the kind of battling we can expect to see Sunday at the Rumble (even if not by these two particular guys.) They started it off nice and slow but picked it up nicely and put forth exactly what you might expect from this guys, a solid match with some really great spots. The superkick from the West Coast Pop was my personal favorite. My only complaint here was Batista coming out to interfere, but that’s only a minor complaint and I thought the booking post-match was nice where ‘H made the save and then Taker showed up to choke slam his current and potential future PPV opponent. It was a great match that ended a very good SmackDown and sold the World Heavyweight Title match and Royal Rumble all in one. Works for me.
TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH…OR NOT: SmackDown kicked off with the Unified Tag Team Title match…or rather, it didn’t. Still, we had D-Generation X make their way down to ringside with their names announced, just as if it was going to be. Before ‘H could get more than a few words out though, Rey Rey’s music played and he came down to the ring in order to confront Shawn Michaels. Rey Rey called Shawn out for overlooking him and his chances at the Royal Rumble. He noted that all Shawn’s been talking about is winning the Rumble and taking on the Dead Man, but Shawn said that was exactly what would happen and ‘H made a joke about taking on Hornswoggle. Well, if it’s good enough for the Big Show. Rey Rey then noted that he could do what ‘H and HBK both failed to do and that’s beat the Dead Man, and then things got heated before the Straight Edge Society came down. Punk called out Rey Rey for being high if he thought he was going to win and then talked about how he and Gallows were going to win the titles tonight. The H-Man then joked about straight-edge and acknowledged that he didn’t get it before saying that he didn’t either, but it didn’t mean he had to look like he was on a week-long binge with Amy Winehouse. Okay, that was funny. This turned into Teddy Long coming down and saying that instead of a Tag Team Title match, we’d get Punk taking on ‘H and Rey Rey taking on Shawn. See, that bugged me. I hate the blatant bait and switches, and while it gave us some interesting match-ups I would have rather seen them not promote a title match we weren’t going to see. I enjoyed the promo work by all involved here, but the bait and switch drug this down into puRgatoRy level.
NADA
DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don’t care.
MICHELLE McCOOL vs. “MICKIE JAMES”: You know this feud has long outlived its welcome when I get the urge to fast-forward past a promo. I mean, I didn’t fast-forward through the Hornswoggle/Chavo feud, but I was close on this one. Michelle came out and made more Piggie James jokes about being returned to the farm and such, then gave us a recap of Mickie being humiliated last week. Even Striker thought this had gone too far, and he’s supported this feud on-mic throughout its length. Michelle didn’t do terribly here I suppose, but she’s still annoying as shit. I get that she’s supposed to be because she’s a heel, but I do think it turns into “change the channel” annoying. Then Michelle laid out an open challenge and…oh, screw this. Sorry, but Layla was not remotely funny, the fat suit looked beyond stupid (which is different from funny stupid) and the “match” was the dumbest match since…well, since the Horny/Chavo crap. You know I hated this, so let’s move on. I’m sick of talking about this whole thing. This wasn’t a match and I’m not rating it.
| The 411
Wow, what a great SmackDown. There was only the so-called “match” between Michelle and Layla that really pissed me off, the rest was a Right or a near-Right. The WWE may have slacked off a hell of a lot in building the Royal Rumble but this show was a great way to build momentum and I really enjoyed it. I wish they hadn’t bait-and-switched, but it may work out well for Punk and Gallows in the end if they go with the D-X split. I haven’t overall enjoyed a WWE show like this in quite a while. SHOW RATING: 8.5 |
From Guest#0680:
Um the show is called PSYCH…
Psych, Psyche. It’s all pronounced the same way. Good enough point, though.
From Marky Mark:
Cena vs Sheamus on RAW tells me Sheamus is walking into Mania as champion to battle Triple H…
I could see them going with that, but I guess we’ll see in a couple months! I would still prefer ‘H vs. Shawn, but they could do worse than Sheamus/’H.
From Dynamo:
Can somebody answer what Miz was being ‘punished’ for in his match with Kofi? I’m confused.
From Guest#5998:
I think he meant Kayfabe punishment, as that was Dule Hill’s way of punishing him for being rude
What 5998 said. Miz wasn’t being real-life punished, but kayfabe punished for pissing off Hill.
From ThePants:
I liked Dule. Sure, his bits were overwrought, but he was funny. You guys are too hard on the guests. Considering most of them, to my knowledge, hadn’t hosted a live show before, much less a wrestling show, I think they do fairly well.
The Miz/MVP stuff is top-notch, IMO. Their characters clash wonderfully and they could have a great, long feud if done right. I think a lot of people undersell MVP and Miz, but both are blossoming (bad word choice) into great workers. Miz is definitely nearing a another level in his career. IMO.
I didn’t completely dislike Hill at the level of some of the guest hosts, but I didn’t like him. I think his being kept out of the spotlight was to his benefit, to be honest; I also imagine that he had to take on a lot of last-minute changes because of Roday’s not being there. But just because someone’s never hosted a live show doesn’t mean they should get a pass in my mind. If they aren’t ready to do it, then they shouldn’t.
And I agree that Miz and MVP could have a great feud if done right. I think the feud has been up and down to date, but it still has potential. We’ll have to see where it goes.
From Strong Machine:
I think Dule Hill was a great host. I expected Roday to be good but wasn’t looking forward to Hill and when I read earlier in the day that Roday was not able to host that night I was disappointed. Hill more than made up for it and I have no resistance in saying so far he is the best celebrity host they have had.
Also on Psych this week they referenced Kamala and Monday Night RAW. Plus James Roday in the WWE magazine this month. I hope that if the host thing continues they can try and get Hill and Roday to have another go around as host.
You’re welcome to your opinion, but I completely disagree. Good on them to return the favor on Psych and reference the ‘E though. It’s not often that the guest hosts do things like that outside of random radio interviews, so I’m happy to see that they did a little cross-promotion.
From Ryushinku:
Wasn’t this only about the third match Cena and Sheamus have had together…?
From abwiz74:
We’ve seen Sheamus vs. Cena too often? This is only the third match they’ve had.
Third match, probably. But they’ve been feuding for a while, and it’s not just about the in-ring matches. That was more my point.
From Guest#0967:
Jeremy. Your becoming to hard on the guests hosts. From last week and this week. Your banter on Psyc was hillarious. And i am meaning in a bad way. Hill was great as the guest host. And at least he was involved in almost every segmant. I also enjoyed Heder last week too. Your reviews are getting pitiful. I thought the past two raws were better then what you scored.
You are allowed to disagree. People have different opinions and that’s cool. But you lose credibility when you say someone’s review is “pitiful” when they don’t agree with you. Keep at it though, champ!
From jivesoulbro:
Didn’t Gail Kim used to be able to work a match, or am I confused?
She used to be able to, and still does. She just tries to be too ambitious with people who can’t hang with her. Wrestling is a collaborative process and she has yet to make that adjustment.
From Westen:
We need a new raw reviewer ASAP, Thomas clearly doesn’t even watch anymore, and intends to just shit on any non-major celebrity for no apparent reason. Hill was entertaining.
To each their own, my friend. Thanks for reading!
Until Friday, keep on kickin’ it!
~442~
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