Wrestling’s 4R’s Monday Edition 3.1.10: ROH, Impact, Superstars and SmackDown Reviewed!

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 03.01.2010

The Briscoe Brothers sent the Young Bucks off in style, Maria had her last WWE match, Abyss found a mentor in Hulk Hogan and the Money in the Bank match continued to take form! Wrestling's 4R's breaks down all the week's action from ROH, Impact, Superstars and SmackDown!

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In HD where available…


By: Aaron Hubbard

ROH on HDNet 02.22.10:

QUICK RESULTS:
Rhett Titus defeated El Generico [**3/4]
Colt Cabana defeated Bobby Shields [1/2*]
Tag Team Championship Match: Jay and Mark Brisco defeated The Young Bucks [***3/4]

THE RIGHT:

YOUNG BUCKS GO OUT WITH A BANG: The Young Bucks were signed to TNA as Generation Me, and this was presumably the last match they will have with Ring of Honor, and definitely the last time they will be on television for the company. ROH did the right thing by giving them a tag title shot, which they pretty much earned by defeating El Generico and Kevin Steen at Final Battle before they signed with TNA. I appreciated that they didn't just pretend that didn't happen and let them have a couple of great matches with The American Wolves and The Briscoes on their way out. To the Young Bucks' credit, they certainly didn't phone it in. Both matches were great, though this wasn't nearly as good as the match with the Wolves, which is my MOTY so far.

I think the most interesting thing about watching The Bucks versus The Briscoes is that it really showed how much better the Briscoes are. The Young Bucks have received a lot of praise for their fast paced, high-flying style and their exciting, innovative double team maneuvers. Oddly enough, they were in this match with another team known for their double teams, and I'd say the Briscoes double-teams don't get as old as fast and are just as good. More importantly, it seems that the Bucks have little to offer as singles competitors, whereas Mark and particularly Jay both excel as individual wrestlers. Unless the Bucks can improve individually and as a team, I don't think they'll have the staying power as internet darlings that the Briscoes have had. Either way, great match here and worth checking out. Definitely a worthy send-off for one of the standout acts of the Independent Scene in '09.

TITUS vs. GENERICO: And Rhett's string of quality openers with underrated masked wrestlers continues. There's not a whole lot to write home about here, these guys are just good wrestlers with more personality than most of the roster. They worked a more WWE-ish pace and there's nothing wrong with that. A better-than-average match and a good way to start the show. My favorite part of this math was when El Generico tried to nip up out of a wristlock and Titus counters by simply grabbing a headlock. Ingenious spot there and shows that ROH is right to put their faith in him. Titus got the win, ironically, with a small package.

PURGATORY:

COLT CABANA COMEDY HOUR: The other match on this show was Colt Cabana against Bobby Shields in what amounted to the Colt Cabana Comedy Hour, where he just has fun with the guy and makes him look like an idiot before tapping him to the Billy Goat's Curse. There's nothing wrong with these matches and they are entertaining, but it just seems kind of weird for him to be this jovial while he's having all these personal issues with Kevin Steen, Steve Corino and El Generico. He's all sad and bothered on interviews but he wrestles and he's the typical goofy Colt Cabana. Colt is a very gifted wrestler and can be a serious threat when he wants to be, and if we are going to invest in this storyline, I think we need Serious Colt back sooner rather than later.

BUTCHER/KINGSTON/EMBASSY DRAMA: Necro Butcher was outside in the parking lot looking for Erick Stevens, and they had a brawl that went from the parking lot into the arena, and then Kingston made the save after Stevens hit the Oklahoma Stampede on a stack of chairs. I hope ROH pays off this angle with a No Disqualification tag team match on TV at some point, because otherwise this is going to fill like a massive waste of time. I can't really justify putting this in the wrong, so it's here.

The wRong:

NOTHING OF NOTE.

THE RIDICULOUS:

NOTHING OF NOTE.

The 411

There wasn't a lot happening on this show and most of the time was devoted to the Tag Team Championship Match. The Briscoes and Young Bucks put on a worthy main event, albeit somewhat disappointing considering the talent and the time they got. The other matches were fine for what they were and helped keep one of the major storylines in the viewer's mind. There was nothing bad on this show, and I can definitely recommend it. Big step up from last week. A good, but not great show.

SHOW RATING: 7.0

---

stop reviewing roh, nobody reads it and we all just skim right past it...

Posted By: please

Correction, YOU skim right past it. And you obviously care enough to complain. EVERY WEEK.

You mad, bro? If you can't take criticism then maybe you aren't mature enough to be a writer on the internet. you sure as hell ain't old enough to understand the context of being a fan in the attitude/pre-attitude era--seeing as how you chastized people for who they cheered or boo'd when you were only six years old at the time.

Posted By: Hercules Strongs

I can take criticism. I like criticism. It helps me grow. What you're doing isn't criticism. What you are doing is posting dozens of comments on everything I right trying to justify that you cheered for PSYCHO SID. It's petty and juvenile and serves no purpose other than to be annoying. Stop caring so much what I think. I'm not relevant to your life or your wrestling fandom.

Please keep reviewing ROH. I actually read every Right, puRgatory, and wRong as opposed to the others where I usually just glance at the title for each entry and then decide if I want to read.

Posted By: Empire Of Ownage

Thanks for the support, and the reviews will keep on coming.

Don't talk shit about ring of honor! they shake hands before matches, don't have midgets and are the ABSOLUTE BEST at fake fighting! it's a true sport!

Posted By: Ring of Honor Fanboy

Or, here's an idea. If you don't care about ROH, shut up and ignore it. It's not for you, it's for the ROH fans or people who might want to watch something new. I know it's a difficult concept, but I think you can handle it.

Hubbard, do you go deaf when Sheamus comes out? The man has HEAT!

Posted By: Guest#8167

If I ran into the ring at a show and kicked John Cena in the nuts and punched Triple H in the mouth, I'd be booed out of the building. Or cheered, depending on the town. But people would forget about me by next week. My point is that anyone has heat facing those two. Sheamus was absent from RAW this week. You know who cared? No one. And if he never shows up again, how many people will care? Ten, maybe twenty. Most of them are in Ireland.

Let's be honest...only 5 people read the ROH section.

Posted By: Seriously

Press 1 if you scrolled past ROH

Posted By: Hercules Strongs

Well, let's find out. Readers, if you read the ROH R's, let the world know. STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!

And Hubbard or whatever, from what I gather reading other people's comments about you, I don't agree with your religion, virginity or age, nor was I particularly enamoured with your retort-baiting remarks here, but keep on going with the ROH reviews.

Hercules, some of us on this wrestling site are fans of wrestling. Stick to your one-man meme all you want, but your antics are actually making a teenage religious virgin look cooler than you.

Posted By: Chungles

I'm twenty. I don't see how my personal life affects you or why you should care. Or how it's relevant to the ROH Reviews. Well, okay, maybe this week since I roasted myself in the TV report. Whatever. Thanks for the support.



By: Steve Cook

Superstars 12.24.09:

THE RIGHT:

LUKE GALLOWS vs. SYLAS YOUNG: The indy wrestling scene invasion of WWE continued with an appearance by Sylas Young this week on Superstars. Young appears in Ring of Honor on occasion and spends a lot of his time in the Midwest…I wouldn't say he's anything special, but he didn't have to be to participate in this squash match. Nice to see Gallows get some mike time, as it seems like he's finally starting to live up to the potential that WWE sees in him with the Straight Edge Society gimmick. Festus wasn't my cup of tea, and his stint as Fake Kane is something that I'm still trying to forget happened. I'm not offended by a good squash match, and this served its purpose.

PURGATORY:

JACK SWAGGER & WILLIAM REGAL vs. SANTINO MARELLA & CHRIS MASTERS: What a weird team Regal & Swagger make. To be honest, Regal kind of stuck out like a sore thumb in this match. Marella & Masters have grown into their roles, and Swagger was doing his thing, but Regal looked like a guy who had no idea what the heck he just walked into. I guess it'll take him some time to adjust from being the Head of Evil Activity on ECW to his usual role of Mid-Card Filler on Raw. Maybe Regal can teach Swagger how to be properly devious, but the image of Swagger beating his chest like a gorilla with Regal calmly walking next to him in his awesome robe was a bit odd. I'll give it time. The match, and this is a theme for this week's show, was nothing to write home about but didn't have anything really bad.

ZACK RYDER vs. PRIMO: Talk about something that was just filler…I like both of these guys all right, but nothing about this interested me other than Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler trying to describe Ryder's gimmick and moves to the Raw audience. It wasn't Wrong because the right guy (Ryder) went over and got established as a viable Raw lower-card talent.

THE HART DYNASTY vs. MATT HARDY, MARIA & THE GREAT KHALI: Team Khardy came up short against the Harts in what would be Maria's swan song with WWE. I wonder how long WWE planned on letting Maria go, since she's set to be part of that new Celebrity Apprentice season starting real soon. If they already had decided she was a goner by the time this match took place, I don't know why they had Matt Hardy take the fall in the match instead of her. I'd be more perturbed about that if Matt wasn't always going to be over with his fan base no matter whether he wins or loses. So his losing here doesn't matter that much (otherwise it‘d be in the Wrong or Ridiculous section), but I would have had Maria take the fall on her way out, or just not have the match because she had already put Natalya over on the previous week's SmackDown. The releases of Helms & Burchill didn't surprise me because WWE had nothing for them to do and most fans didn't care too much about either of them, but Maria was always popular with the fans even if she wasn't involved in anything of great importance. It's good to have people like that around…I, for one, wonder if something happened behind the scenes to explain her departure.

Oh, there was a match and it was kinda there. It was decent enough for government work and the Harts going over will please the Internet.

THE WRONG:

Nothing of note.

THE RIDICULOUS:

Nothing of note.

The 411

This was rather nondescript. I can't give a great recommendation for anything off the show unless you really want to see Maria's final WWE performance.

SHOW RATING: 5.5

---

By: Chad Nevett

iMpact! 02.25.10:

QUICK RESULTS
Team 3D defeated the Nasty Boys in a tables match [-**]
ODB defeated Daffney via disqualification [1/2*]
Kazarian defeated Brian Kendrick [*3/4]
Rob Terry (C) defeated Mr. Anderson for the TNA Global Championship [DUD]
Abyss defeated Desmond Wolfe [1/2*]

THE RIGHT:

THE POPE IS A MAN, BUT AJ STYLES IS THE MAN: The show started well with TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles coming to the ring with Ric Flair and cutting a strong promo on number one contender "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero. While there were some hints of Styles trying a little too hard to be like Flair, the content and delivery of this promo was really good, his best since his heel turn. He addressed what the Pope said last week, made it clear that he is the champ and TNA is ‘the house that AJ built,' and that, while the Pope is a man, AJ is THE man. It's taken him a while, but Styles looks like he can make this heel turn work.

KAZARIAN vs. BRIAN KENDRICK: A match to determine the number one contender for the X-Division title and who would face champ Doug Williams at Destination X. This was fast paced with Kazarian getting in most of the offence, but Kendrick held his own and got a few good moves off before Kazarian finished the job with the flux capacitor. Both of these guys can deliver better than this, but given the limited amount of time and the need to make Kazarian look dominant and a credible threat to the title, a glorified squash match is all we can expect. I'm still loving Kendrick's entrance music, too. I demand he's on every episode for that reason alone.

PURGATORY:

MORGAN & HERNANDEZ ARE KINDA SORTA ON THE SAME PAGE WHILE BEER MONEY DEMANDS RESPECT: A lot in here, but it was pretty simple. First, Matt Morgan and Hernandez did a promo where Morgan did most of the talking and addressed their fighting in the first round of the 8-Card Stud Tournament, how both men agreed they would do what was necessary to win, that's what he did, and that's in the past. Now, they're focused on defending the tag team belts against all comers. This promo should have been on last week's show to actually follow up on Against All Odds. It seemed a little out of place in this week's episode for that reason, but was solid otherwise. This was followed up with Beer Money, Inc. coming out and cutting a really good promo about how they're the best tag team and haven't been used much in the new regime, and that if TNA wants to succeed, it's going to need some Beer Money. Hernandez came out, said that he agrees, and that he was going to go to Hogan and demand that Beer Money get a title shot, making everyone happy... except Matt Morgan who freaked out a little backstage, seemingly wanting to take on Generation Me or the Motor City Machine Guns first. That part didn't work, because I couldn't tell if Morgan was basically saying those teams are worse than Beer Money or that they deserve a shot because they haven't had as many chances as Beer Money. I hope for the latter, but fear it's the former. They seem intent on teasing a breakup between Morgan and Hernandez already and it's too soon: they have to establish them as a cohesive team and they haven't done that yet entirely. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't completely good either with a few problem areas.

THE WRONG:

RAGE OVER THE RING PT. 1: RIC FLAIR IS SO PISSED OFF THAT HE CAN'T TALK: Following AJ's strong promo on the Pope, Ric Flair took up the mic and addressed Hulk Hogan giving Abyss his Hall of Fame ring. And, Flair was so goddamn pissed off that he could barely speak in complete sentences, an interesting choice that didn't quite work as they wanted since we've seen Flair this pissed off before and he could always speak. But, Abyss came out and Flair proceeded to verbally abuse him along with Styles in such an over-the-top way that I almost felt bad for the guy. Basically, he's a joke, he cheapens the Hall of Fame by wearing the ring, Hogan is an idiot, Abyss should take the ring off and give it to Styles since he's the champ and deserves it, and so on. It was a little awkward and repetitive. Abyss doesn't back down and Hogan comes out to support him, getting in the face of Flair and Styles who seem ready to fight but then run away like the cowardly heels they are. I have no problem with heels backing down from a fight, but not when they're pissed off and are the ones taking off their jackets to get it started. But, there's a bigger problem with this segment:

It's the WWE's Hall of Fame that's at the center of things! The Hall of Fame ring was given to Hogan by Vince McMahon! Why in the hell is TNA booking a story that revolves around how much it means for their competition to bestow this honor on someone? They do everything they can not to mention the WWE or McMahon, but that's the Hall of Fame in question. By implication, TNA is elevating and promoting the WWE as the most important wrestling company in the business, because they decide who the best of all time is. That ring they're fighting over is Vince McMahon's ring and that's just stupid.

ODB vs. DAFFNEY: This was basically a repeat of Daffney's match with Tara from last week, except a little worse since ODB didn't do much in the ring expect toss Daffney into corners and then hit her. The ending was predictable, but done well enough with Daffney committing to her character very well and going over-the-top. Tara cutting a promo during the match was an odd decision, but given the in-ring work on display here, I can't say I blame TNA for trying to liven things up a little. A Tara/Daffney feud has potential, but then I'd like to see Daffney go through some Knockouts that will actually use the two minutes prior to Daffney freaking out to show their skills, not run from corner to corner and bore me.

ROB TERRY (C) vs. MR. ANDERSON FOR THE TNA GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Two promos by Mr. Anderson? Really? That was excessive. One promo from him is fine, but, when he started launching into that second one before his match with Rob Terry instead of simply introducing himself, I actually yelled "Oh just shut up!" at the TV. Some may interpret that as a sign that Anderson is doing a good job as a heel, making people hate him. Others would rightly see that as a sign that if I weren't writing the Impact 4Rs, I very well might have turned off my TV then. Some believe in ‘X-Pac heat' and others don't, but I think there is a danger in becoming so unlikable and annoying that it makes people want to turn the channel, particularly when turning that channel in a couple of weeks means landing on another wrestling program. Anderson's promos aren't bad per se, he can simply be a little excessive and is best used in smaller doses. I like him when he's limited to two minutes or less of speaking. His first promo was fine, but his second one was baffling. Now, he's got dog tags from a Vietnamese soldier given to him by the soldier's widow? That's so inane and stupid. I preferred when he had the perspective of ‘who cares, it was just a piece of metal that I could use as a weapon,' not actually dignifying Angle's perspective on his dog tags with a similar response. But, now, he's got to go the other way and start waving around dog tags from a soldier that fought against Americans... I fail to see the point beyond going for cheap heat, which Anderson doesn't need.

The match here seemed like an afterthought. The backstage interaction between Rob Terry and Brutus Magnus was good with Magnus telling Terry that Magnus and Doug Williams had been carrying him and, without them, he won't last as Global Champion. Not only that, but he's now made enemies out of the British Invasion and that's a very bad move. Terry turns it around on him, twisting Magnus's finger, and telling him to piss off. Solid. However, this led into Anderson's crap and Kurt Angle hitting him with a chair while he cut his second promo at the top of the ramp. Somehow, this one chair shot knocked Anderson out completely. When was the last time we see a single chair shot knock someone out? I can't remember. Is Anderson such a pussy that he's the only guy knocked out by one chair shot? I don't know. But, Angle told Terry that Anderson was his problem now, so Terry picked Anderson up, carried him to the ring, and won the match via running powerslam. Yes, the ref began the match despite one of the participants being unconscious at the start, a baffling and stupid decision. The match didn't get Rob Terry over at all and really just reminded me that he can't go in the ring.

KEVIN NASH & ERIC YOUNG vs. THE BAND: After last's week show-ending tease, Nash and Young demand some TV time to fight Hall and Waltman in the parking lot and the results were pretty awful. The fight was shorter than the recap of what led to the fight. Hall takes out Nash's knees with a pipe, and then they double-team Young who puts up a struggle before they tag him ala the nWo. Yeah, okay, whatever.

THE RIDICULOUS:

JEFF JARRETT... FRY COOK?: What was the point of this? Someone please tell me what the point of Jarrett going into Bischoff's office, Bischoff assuring him that things are fine and that Jarrett should trust him just so Jarrett would come out and be told that he done fucked up again and he's going to be a fry cook now was? Did they look at the script for the show and notice that there was no stupid swerve by Bischoff written in already and felt the need to add one? It wasn't surprising when Bischoff turned on Jarrett, because that's what Bischoff does. It's a joke now and holds no power, mostly because of cheap, lame uses of the technique like this one. Hell, why not drag it out a bit, have Bischoff seemingly in Jarrett's corner for longer than five minutes?

MICK FOLEY... ELIZA DOOLITTLE?: Continuing from last week's Mick Makeover Madness, Eric Bischoff has Mick put on his suit and wear it to the Impact Zone. His custom-made suit tailored to his measurements... with sleeves that cover his hands. Now, Mick is being sent for etiquette lessons. TNA knows its audience, I'll give them that. If there's one thing the IWC has been clamoring for, it's an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion starring Mick Foley as Eliza Doolittle and Eric Bischoff as Professor Henry Higgins. Maybe we'll get really lucky and they'll move beyond Shaw to Lerner and Loewe, favoring us with Mick's rendition of "I Could Have Danced All Night." The WWE won't stand a chance come March 8.

RAGE OVER THE RING PT. 2: ABYSS vs. DESMOND WOLFE/HULK HOGAN IS BACK, BROTHER!: The show began with this crap, so, of course, it ends with it. The conclusion to the whole Abyss/Hogan/Flair/Styles saga for the evening winds up in a lower category for a few reasons. The first being the match between Abyss and Desmond Wolfe. I don't mind Abyss winning, because that's the right booking decision and Wolfe is over enough as a great in-ring performer that he wouldn't be hurt and would legitimately make Abyss look better in victory. Except, the match was basically a squash match with Wolfe getting in a little bit of offense before Abyss made a comeback and won without warning. Wins and losses matter, but how someone wins and losses matters more, and Wolfe came out looking like shit from this match. This is a guy who took Kurt Angle to the limit on numerous occasions and he's just been sacrificed up to Vince McMahon's Magic Ring of Confidence to sell Abyss as the new Hulk Hogan. Yeah, this looked like one of Hogan's matches and you'll notice that I don't spend much time watching them.

Post-match, Flair and Styles came down to attack Abyss wherein Abyss took numerous chair shots without any pain or result until they managed to gain the upper hand and Wolfe handcuffed him to the ropes, so they could beat him some more without him fighting back. But, here comes Hogan! Of my god, an old man with a bad hip is going to get involved! And he cleared house before Flair took his leg out, conveniently with Styles right there to help ease Hogan's landing, which was the second-worst example of taking a bump on the show. It wasn't pretty and doesn't exactly make me want to see more of Hogan in the ring. With Hogan down and Abyss handcuffed, things looked like they were great for the heels and, so we got something that can only be described as Ridiculous: Abyss broke the handcuffs! Yes, with the help of Vince McMahon's Magic Ring of Confidence, Abyss was able to break the handcuffs and rescue Hulk Hogan. I thought the show aimed at kids would be doing this cartoony bullshit. So Abyss cleaned house and Hogan booked a match for March 8: Abyss and Hogan versus Flair and Styles! Everyone get excited now, because it's sure to be a train wreck. Hogan clearly can't take bumps of any kind and Abyss is doing the 2010 version of the invincible Hogan gimmick. It may get eyeballs, but the likelihood of quality seems dubious. Plus, that means we'll get 67 promos for the match on next week's show.

THE RI-GODDAMN-DICULOUS:

TEAM 3D vs. THE NASTY BOYS IN A TABLES MATCH: Holy shit, why in the hell am I watching god-awful ‘wrestling' like this? Do people find this entertaining? The audience in the Impact Zone seemed to, but they also begin ‘this is wrestling' chants after two moves, so they're hard to take seriously. Wondering why this got negative two stars? Because the two giant negatives called the Nasty Boys. Or, as they're referred to in my notes: "Knobbs = fatty; Sags = less fatty." A tables match isn't demanding: you brawl a bit, fit a few moves, go through a table/put someone through a table. It doesn't demand highly technical moves or spots. All it demands is the ability to hit people and take bumps, and the Nasty Boys can't even do that. Watching Knobbs fall down after being hit is like watching an old man sit down in a tub... it was even worse than Hogan taking a bump and that was pretty fucking bad, too. That Team 3D needed assistance winning this match is baffling and a bad joke. This shit is not how one proves itself a force to be reckoned with in the wrestling world.

The 411

Unlike last week's mediocre episode, this one didn't even look good on paper. Needless Bischoff swerve? Mick Foley as Eliza Doolittle? Abyss has a magic ring provided by Vince McMahon? The Nasty Boys in a match? Hogan getting in the ring? A two-minute parking lot brawl between Nash & Young and the Band? Stop me when I actually hit something that sounds like a good idea. The tag team promos were okay, the X-Division match was a lot of energy, and AJ Styles proved that he can deliver a strong heel promo, but the rest of the show was garbage. This episode was so offensively stupid and awful that it left me in a bad mood for the rest of the evening, because TNA has so much talent and this is how they choose to waste it.

SHOW RATING: 1.0

---

By: Jeremy Thomas

WWE SmackDown 12.18.09

QUICK RESULTS:
Dolph Ziggler d. John Morrison & R-Truth [** ½]
Michelle McCool d. Mickie James [*]
Kane d. Drew McIntyre [** ¼]
Shelton Benjamin d. CM Punk [** ½]
Edge d. The Miz [** ½]

THE RIGHT:

SPEAR, SPEAR, SPEAR-SPEAR-SPEAR: SmackDown opened up with the NEW World Heavyweight Champion being announced, which quickly turned the fan's cheers to boos. Jericho made his walk down to the ring but unlike on Raw, he didn't have a big-ass grin on his face. Might have something to do with his ass getting speared by Edge on Monday night. As it turned out, that was exactly why, and after reminding us that he was the World Heavyweight Champion complete with an awesome demand for a close-up, Jericho talked about how his celebration moment was ruined by Edge. Jericho started to go on a tantrum before Edge came down to the ring, drawing a huge pop from the crowd and a glare from his 'Mania opponent. Edge got a mic and, after an "Edge" chant died down, he talked about how he wanted to congratulate Jericho for walking out of the Chamber with the Title. Jericho got smarmy and Edge quickly put him in his place. That led to an awesome bit where Edge not only built Jericho up by listing off his many achievements, but got his own shots in with "spear" murmured after each one. For a second, I thought I was hearing "meow," but no it was "spear." I have to say, "Spear-Spear-Spear" could be a chant that, while great, comes back to haunt the 'E in a "What?" kind of way. They played a little mental spar back and forth, though Edge was mostly the cat to Jericho's mouse. Jericho vowed never to be speared again, which resulted in a spear. Now, if I had one problem with this segment—and I do—it was that for a solid week now Jericho's looked weaker than Edge. I know that they'll rectify this in weeks to come, but I would have preferred to see them dueling on the promo rather than Edge taking full control. But that's minor because basically, Edge's face turn needed to be on a bit more solid ground. So this worked and I really enjoyed it; I just hope they make this a give-and-take feud and don't just have Edge steamroll Jericho on the mic. That would not be the right move.

JOHN MORRISON vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. R-TRUTH: This was a Money in the Bank qualifier, and honestly I have to say I was a little surprised with the result. But I'll get to that later. Morrison was nicely built up by T-Grish and Striker as a guy who could have won the Chamber if not for his injury, and honestly from a kayfabe standpoint that makes complete sense. Truth came out with his NXT rookie David Otunga, who's match on Tuesday we got a recap of. I'm glad to see they're going full-bore with trying to push the new show. This had a fun start as Dolph tried to escape the ring and let Morrison and Truth battle it out, but the faces were too smart and slid out to go after the Dolphster. Soon after the faces got it on, and Dolph stood on the outside to break up pins while the faces battled. Anyone else notice he did the Orton Slither when he got out of the ring? This was a well-booked match and had a fun story to it, while the work rate was quite adequate to carry it through. Everyone had their moments to shine and did perfectly fine in there. The pin and 'Mania ticket for Dolph was a surprise because of the three, he's been the least-pushed. However, I can certainly see Morrison and/or Truth getting in because the same thing happened last year with more than one chance, and the win for Ziggler was a much-needed one that saw him beat two of the SmackDown audience's favorite midcarders. This was exactly what it needed to be, and I'm not sorry to see Dolph in the MITB match.

CM PUNK vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN: This was our last Money in the Bank qualifier, and was nicely preceded by a recap of Punk's second MITB win last year. He came down with the Straight-Edge Society, but sadly gave no promo before the former ECW-ite Shelton Benjamin showed up. Let's see if Goldilocks can do anything in his latest SmackDown run. He put on a pretty good effort here with the Straight-Edge Superstar; the two men worked together very well and put on a match that, while a bit short, was nicely put-together and featured some nice, crisp ring work. There were no real mistake here and while the crowd was unfortunately a bit quieter than usual for this match, it still delivered in the ring. Things certainly livened up when Rey Rey came out and distracted Luke and Punk so Shelton could get the win. This got Shelton in the one match where he shines every year, and furthered the Punk/Rey Rey feud. I'm as happy with that as I was with the quality of this match.

About midway through the show, down to the ring walked none other than the US and Unified Tag Team champion, the Miz. The crowd was loving the opportunity to boo him as he got a mic and pointed out he had every right to be here as tag champion, but that he wanted a match for Show Miz at 'Mania. Long came out and said that he would take it under advisement. I can't imagine he'll do that much more; there's no team for them to face unless you want to put Cryme Tyme on 'Mania. Sorry, I need a moment…I just fell over in my chair laughing. Maybe Morrison & Truth as a tag team? That could be interesting as a duo to take on Show Miz. But we'll see, I suppose.

Anyway, that led into Long booking Miz against Edge, which was the main event of the evening. If there was any doubt that the crowd was going to be firmly behind Edge from now on, putting him against Miz was sure as hell a way to seal the deal. All he needs is to face Punk and he'll have officially battled the three most over heels in the company. Now, Miz is not at Edge's level, but as T-Grish pointed out this was only the Edgester's second singles match since his return, and that level of ring rust did balance things out in terms of kayfabe just a bit. They built this match relatively slowly but did some nice little booking spots and mind games; as the announcers pointed out, this was a nice way for the crowd to see Edge take on a "Jericho-by-proxy" due to Y2J and the US Champ's character similarities. But at the same time, this wasn't an Edge squash; Miz got his licks in before he took the inevitable fall. This was good work by both men, and I would love to see these guys have an extended feud at some point. Until then, this worked fine and it provided a nice moment to pop for to end the show.

PURGATORY:

KANE vs. DREW McINTYRE: For those who haven't seen the Fatal Four-Way column for the Elimination Chamber, I am officially a fan of Drew's new entrance. I think it's perfect because it's not the standard, super-energetic kind of theme that most generic heels have. It gives him more of a character, and that's the kind of thing that sets a guy apart from the pack. Drew came out and cut a promo about how undefeated he was and how he had beaten Kane already, and would be going onto Money in the Bank. So, after all the build-up about Drew's undefeated streak, he loses it to a guy who doesn't need the rub. Yeah, that makes sense. As a match, this was not at all bad, and it may have even been a bit better than their Chamber match. Drew still looked impressive against Kane despite the loss, and he's working better and better as time goes on. I know a lot of people don't see much in him, but I think he's slowly and steadily building his potential. This wasn't the greatest match we've ever seen but it worked; it only stays out of the Right because I don't see the point of building an undefeated streak only to have him lose to a guy who is permanently over.

THE WRONG:

Nada!

THE RIDICULOUS:

MICKIE JAMES vs. MICHELLE McCOOL: Okay, so let's get the good out of the way for this match right now. This was probably the best Women's Title match we've seen in a while. Mickie and Michelle were on their game and delivered in the ring, for the most part. Okay, we're done with that. So now, let's get to the bad. We needed to switch the title back onto Michelle? Really? How the hell was this a needed or good idea? They've had Michelle lord over the Friday Divas with the belt for quite a long time. Mickie had just won, and to switch the title off of her so quickly is pretty stupid. I'm not talking about "I hate Michelle so I'm not happy" stupid…I'm talking about booking from a long-term booking sense. With Maria's departure, there is one face on SmackDown. There are two if you count Beth, which I don't think it's fair to count at this point. There are a far more heels for Mickie to face as champion. Layla, Natalya and Serena. So with Mickie as champion you have feuds with Beth or any of those three; with Michelle as champion you have Beth, and that's about it. Oh, and more Mickie vs. Michelle. Yes, because I totally want to see that feud continue for months. I understand that this is likely to have a SmackDown vs. Raw Diva feud for 'Mania based on the match at the Chamber; however, that puts a heel against a heel. It made far more sense for them to do Mickie vs. Maryse if they wanted to go that route. Oh, and we also had Vickie FALLING OUT OF THE FREAKING RING which then resulted in Layla rubbing her ass. You know, there are a lot of girl-on-girl fantasies that someone can have out of the Divas, but I doubt Vickie and Layla is on many people's. You can argue that it may have been a planned spot, but if it was it made no sense within the context of the match. This was retarded and ruined the ring work that the ladies gave. End of story.

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

The 411

So, with the exception of the pointless Women's Title switch, I largely enjoyed this show. It wasn't the strongest show that they've done and really, it doesn't hold much a candle to this week's Raw in terms of impact and the Road to WrestleMania…it didn't really have a chance to though. We got a good, solid build and while there wasn't anything enormous or game-changing, the matches worked and the angles built well. That's all I ask in a SmackDown.

SHOW RATING: 7.0

A Quick Note On My Fubars: Yes, I missed changing out the ECW logo for the NXT logo. I realized my mistake and got that fixed at about 11:15, but y'all caught it; I also for some reason didn't put the Vince Salt-Rubbing bit in the Right somehow. As I said last week (and Nitpicker noted) the mind is, in fact, the first thing to go. My bad...nobody is perfect, especially when early onset of senility!


From Honestly:
A near perfect RAW from my eyes...even Big Show staring down the 'bull' was a little comedic break from the show.

From Guest#6527:
I actually thought the bull riding skit wasn't that bad as i feared. It was better then the springer segment and it gave us a comedy moment with Big show Punching the bull. I hope to god that WWE does away with the guest host after wrestlemania because they need to make raw more competitive to TNA. And having stupid sketches is not going to help.

From Joe Schmoe:
And also, I liked the guest host segment for once. I was about to take a leak, but stuck around when ShowMiz came out. Show is quietly one of the funniest performers in the E (along with Jericho, Punk, and Santino), and watching a freaking mechanical bull job to him and help put over the KO punch was hilarious.

I agree that the moment was a bit of comic relief in a very heavily stacked Raw, and I can give it some leeway based on that; my rating was because I didn't personally found it funny and thought Show looked silly when he fell over trying to KO the bull. But as we all know, humor is completely subjective so if you liked it, more power to you!


From Gary:
Would you please stop calling Legacy 'Priceless?"They havent been called that in over a year now.

Nope.



Okay, now really, I will address this. There's a couple reasons I call them Priceless. The main reason is that I like it better as a tag team name rather than giving the tag team the same name as the larger stable. That's laziness and it never helped Ted and Cody get out of the stable's shadow at all. The other reason is because it's a pain in the ass to refer to Legacy as a tag team and Legacy as a stable. So, at the very least, I will continue to call them Priceless until the Legacy break-up is complete.


From Guest 2002:
Wendi Richter inducted into the Hall Of Fame has to be an early candidate for the "Holy Shit" moment of the year award.


You know, that could well happen. It was certainly a big surprise and topped the Inoki induction (already a surprise) in that department. We'll see!


From The Great Capt. Smooth:
I'm digging Yoshi's Warrior tassles.

If Yoshi starts talking about Destructicity, I mark.


From Chungles:
Oh, and Jeremy, it's no problem, dude; I didn't mean for my comment to come off as an attack.

You're fine. I didn't view it as an attack so much, I was more in "explanation" mode than "self-defense." Thanks for the call-out though.


From Guest#8677:
WWE needs give up on UggLina (Melina) already, even if she is injured. She's more overrated and stale than Mickie James. She only gets a pop for her entrance and that ugly wildebeast mammoth scream she does with those Baraka from Mortal Kombat teeth. At least Maryse is interesting and beautiful to look at.

Build a new damn face already. Kelly Kelly is about 1000 times more over and WAYYYYYYYYYY hotter than her. There WWE...a new face Diva to feud with Maryse.

So, clearly you don't like her because she's unattractive to you. Wanting Triple K over Melina pretty much outlines what you're looking for in a Diva, and that's fine; I would like something else. And as for the beauty...eye of the beholder, dude. S'all I'm saying.


From Loki:
"Yes, I realize that we weren't getting a clean match out of this since it would be giving away the 'Mania money match"
I know it's the WWE title match, and I know it's the 2 biggest post-attitude superstars, but I think Cena/Batista has to take a back seat to Taker/HBK when it comes to what is "the" money match this year.

See, I'd be tempted to give the Taker/HBK a Right all of it's own, because it's been the best thing on Raw since, well, the build to the original Taker/HBK.

Incidentally, how awesome would it be to see AJ Styles and Daniels in season 2 of NXT (pipe dream, but I can dream DAMMIT).

It would be awesome (and not happening), although I would argue that the 'E trying to put anyone from TNA, particularly a World Champion, in "rookie" status at this point would be a bit silly. If you've beaten Kurt Angle in multiple Pay-Per-Views, you're no longer NXT-qualified.


From JM:
Jericho as a heel is gold. He should never turn face again. Quick question who has been wasted more in WWE, Kane or Big Show? As far as Cole goes if he has not improved after working with greats like JR, King, and others he will never be good.

Kane, without a doubt. Big Show has been given multiple World Title reigns and while he's dropped down on the card occasionally, he always seems to be right near the main event. Kane is more of a consistant upper midcarder and I, personally, appreciate his skills and character more. Yes, even after all the nonsensical booking he's had.


From Guest#4786:
Agreed about the Shawn/Taker segment. Amazing. I went from not really wanting to see a re-match, to wanting to see it more than any other match on the card in the space of a few minutes. Great production work.

Can HHH really turn-up on the lower card of WM this year? We'll see...

From Guest#7317:
Hey Jeremy, Placebo's cover of Running Up That Hill is awesome, as was the video package it was used in on RAW, but it should be noted that it was used last year in the video package before the WM25 match between HBK and Taker. It was awesome then too and using it again to hype the rematch seems appropriate.

From bighustle:
That was a magnificent video package for the undertaker hbk feud. What song did they use, that shit got me pumped for wrestlemania.

From Victor:
I wanted HHH-HBK, and resigned myself to HBK-Taker Rematch after the Chamber. I wasn't happy, though.

In 15 minutes, with that video package and then putting the career on the line, they've got me interested again. That's the way you do it.

I would also like to point out I really appreciated the shorter segments for Edge-Jericho, Cena-Vince, and even Taker-Shawn. To the point, and effective. I like.

Was Running up that Hill really used for the match last year? I don't remember that, but am willing to believe I forgot.

I don't remember Running Up That Hill being used last year but it's very possible. I didn't find anything from a quick YouTube search, but I am totally willing to take 7317's word on it. If so, that's awesome and it makes a great throwback to last year. The video was phenomenal and...yeah, it just rocked. As for the shorter segments Victor, I agree. It got the point across without taking forever, and that was exactly what such a busy show needed.

Until Friday, keep on kickin' it!


~450~