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Wrestling’s 4R’s Friday Edition 5.7.10: Raw, Impact and NXT Reviewed!
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By: Jeremy Thomas
Raw 05.03.10:
QUICK RESULTS:
Batista d. Daniel Bryan [**]
John Morrison d. Ted DiBiase [** ¼]
John Cena d. Wade Barrett [* ¾]
Maryse d. Nikki Bella [DUD]
Mark Henry vs. Zach Ryder [¾*]
The Hart Dynasty vs. Vladimir Kozlov & William Regal [* ¾]
OPENING SHOW PROMO GOODNESS: Monday night kicked off with the new/old #1 Contender making his way down to the ring. The Manimal seemed to be in a better mood during his entrance as he got his spotlight and made an Orton- slow walk to the ring. The crowd was all over him as he went to get on the mic, where he talked about how he became the number one contender when he should be WWE Champion. Guess he wasn’t in such a good mood. Big Dave was good on the mic here, putting down the fans and getting them rabidly booing with his condescension. His point was that Cena didn’t follow the rules of a Last Man Standing. Which, of course, technically he did. There is nothing that says you actually need to use physical violence to keep your opponent down; they just have to be unable to answer a ten count. But I digress. The Manimal called it the most embarrassing moment of John Cena’s career and life. I think you meant to say “my,” Davey. Awesome Points for comparing Cena to Hornswoggle, though. We found out that they had a Beat the Clock challenge with Cena and Dave competing to find out who picked the stipulation, and Dave was facing the Miz.
Before that though, Sheamus needed to make an appearance and get on the mic. Sheamus called Dave pathetic and pointed out that Dave flat-out lost, while Sheamus won by taking out ‘H…or, “the son-in-law” as he put it. Sheamus proposed that he fight Dave and the winner get the title shot at Over the Limit, which of course Dave said no to. This was decent work by Sheamus, but I question having Sheamus and Dave arguing because it makes the crowd default to cheering Sheamus, who is the guy they need to get over as a heel. Since, y’know, he’s the one who’s going to still be with the company come July. Other than that minor complaint, I was okay with this segment as a whole and Dave is a wonderful little heat magnet.
PG? SCREW THAT: Backstage, Edge was talking with a Production Assistant about some controversial moments in his history that he wanted to use in something. The PA said he wasn’t sure that he could use any of them, which just irritated Edge. Josh Matthews showed up and asked Edge about his pending showdown with Orton on the Cutting Edge. Edge went off on a rant about PG WWE and how he was Rated R, so he was going to do whatever he wanted, being that they were live. Edge talked about starting an “era of controversy” and stalked off. You know, if they’re trying to get him heel that may not be the best way. But good work by Edge, and I like the continuance of this turn for him.
TED DiBIASE vs. JOHN MORRISON: As Ted made his way down to the ring with his Million Dollar Belt, we went to recap what happened with him and Truth last week, including the slap. Teddy got on the mic and talked about how Truth missed the boat; he only has one song and it’s terrible. Then he got the crowd to start chanting “Whassup.” Cute. DiBiase then said he was going to hire someone to help him slap some sense into Truth. Not a great promo by Ted, and I think he was looking a little bit exposed there in terms of his mic ability, but it was short and got the job done. Soon after, Morrison came out and we got the match started. Morrison took control early and hit a BAD-ASS springboard 450 to take DiBiase down. DiBiase then voluntarily took the count-out, which caused Morrison to get on the mic and offer to be Ted’s Virgil if he came back and gave it another go. Nice way to raise the stakes a bit, though it necessitated a joined-in-progress due to the commercial break. DiBiase and Morrison did some good work in there together and put on a pretty decent match; neither person dominated and the point seemed to be trying to get them both over. Of course, Morrison got the win—did you really think the Monday Night Delight would become a Virgil?—but both of them looked decent and this worked out nicely despite a somewhat iffy promo by Ted.
JOHN CENA vs. CHRIS JERICHO WADE BARRETT: Much like Miz, Jericho came out and said he wasn’t going to fight in his scheduled match. Unlike the Miz though, he said it was because he had already beaten Cena so many times. So instead, he brought out his NXT rookie in Wade Barrett, who said Cena wasn’t going to beat him. So, anyone have any bets on who the ‘E’s choices for the future stars are out of the NXT guys? This match wasn’t as good as the Bryan/Dave match; these two just didn’t click quite as well and they were more concerned with getting Jericho involved than they were with Miz in the first match. But like that one, they did a good job of putting Barrett over here. He was never dominating or anything, but he had his moments of control against the Champ and looked pretty decent during it. Then, out of nowhere, Cena came back and slapped on the STFU for the submission. Works for me, and Barrett has to be happy with being allowed to face Cena. Then, Cena got on the mic, but before he could announce the stip Sheamus came down to sneak attack him. I’m not sure where they’re going with Sheamus, unless it’s setting up a Triple Threat or making Sheamus the next big contender. Anyway, decent stuff here.
BONDING OVER EXES: Ex-Tag Team Partners, anyway. Backstage, Jericho and Miz were talking about how they’d been punched out by Show last week. Honestly, I love this pairing and hope it continues. Miz and Jericho are of the same mold and they make an awesome duo. They talked about how Edge and Swagger deserved what they got, but neither of them did. Jericho told Miz he had a plan to make a statement. It was certainly enough to make me intrigued. I don’t know how long these two will last as a team, but while they do I’m going to be extremely interested to see what they do together.
WAYNE BRADY, GUEST HOST: So, Wayne Brady was this week’s guest host and he was a little more involved than we’ve seen of the guest hosts as of late. It seemed for a while like they had resorted the hosts to just hanging out backstage and making one match or so. But Wayne was game for more than that it seems, so he had a couple backstage segments. He palled around with Eve, danced Jillian away before she could get too far into his prospective theme song and booked Mizark against Zack Ryder. He got a little comedy with Santino, Koz and Regal, which for me was funnier than the usual guest host stints. Maybe it was due to a lack of Hornswoggle, I don’t know, but I thought it was funnier than the backstage guest host segments have been. And, of course, he got involved in the Main Event Segment. Some might not have been fans of Brady here, but I thought he did just fine and dug on it.
THE CUTTING EDGE: Finishing out the show was the Cutting Edge. Edge made his way down into the ring as Cole and Lawler speculated on how controversial he was going to be. Edge got out there and gave further justification for his heel turn, about how he was going to be the White Knight of SmackDown until he got drafted to Raw, and all his effort was gone, so he took it out on Orton in a moment of catharsis. Edge then went to bring out his guest, but got Wayne Brady instead. Edge and Wayne rubbed elbows a bit and talked like old friends, until Wayne cut a promo that bashed Bob Barker, Mini Me, Cheech and Chong and the other guest hosts. I’ll admit, “Bob Darker” was pretty awesome.
Finally, Orton came out to the ring with a cold glare for Edge. Brady tried to stay to the sidelines, but not so much luck as he ate an RKO when he tried to shake Randy’s hand. And man, did Brady take it like a champ. Edge tried to talk Orton off and said he wasn’t going to get RKO’d because Orton was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the last time Orton was a guest, Edge and Orton became Rated RKO. Edge tried to woo Randy back to the Dark Side—with an awesome Two-Man Power Trip reference no less—and Orton’s silence drove Edge to a point where he flipped out and verbally attacked Orton and the fans. Orton remained silent until Edge screamed at him to say something, and then went for the RKO, which turned into a physical back-and-forth that…ended in the RKO anyway. I’m seriously looking forward to the progression of this feud, and this was a great way for them to really kick-start it and end the show strong.
BATISTA vs. THE MIZ DANIEL BRYAN: One thing I had to point out here…heading to commercial break, Vintage Cole busted out another classic. “If Batista can beat Cena’s…” Insert Awkward Pause Here. “…Clock Challenge, he can set the stipulation at Over the Limit.” Seriously Mikey, I get that you’re on the live show and mistakes might happen, but really? Miz came down to the ring in his street clothes, and said he would love to face Big Dave, but the Knockout Punch he suffered meant he couldn’t…and he had a doctor’s note to prove it. How did we know for sure it was a doctor’s note, though? The Miz has been known to be less than fully honest.
Brilliant. So instead, Miz was bringing in a substitute in Daniel Bryan. You’d think that Miz wanted to punish Bryan and screw over Cena in some way, as if he disliked Cena over some past issue they had once. I also just want to point out something here; a few weeks ago when I did the NXT R’s, I talked about how Cole wasn’t being consistent with his characterizations from Raw to NXT. Tonight was a perfect example of that. There was a moment when Bryan first came out where I thought Cole was going to be heelish, but that quickly vanished and Cole—Michael Freaking Cole, who’s long professed his dislike for the guy—started singing his praises in his effort against the #1 Contender. That’s what I mean by inconsistency, folks. Anyway, Bryan said he was sick of this whole thing and would make Big Dave tap out; to his credit, he took control of the opening moments by rolling Big Dave up and then locking in an ankle lock. Dave then took over and started stomping away at Bryan, until the rookie got another submission move with the Sleeper. Hey, it’s a move that is “deadly” again thanks to Dolph, right? Big Dave took back over and then threw him outside the ring, which was very silly considering he had a time limit, then Bryan came back once they were back inside. Finally, Dave took over after Bryan nearly made him tap, and got the win with a Batista Bomb. This was a decent match and they did a good job of making Bryan look legit here, but making Dave look stupid via the trip to the outside of the ring and was problematic. I really wanted to give this a Right, but I just had a few too many issues with the booking and other things.
THE HART DYNASTY vs. THE REGAL ROUNDTABLE REDUX: Yes, that’s right; if Regal and Koz are going to be working together on a regular basis, we have a 3 R’s actually on the show. I couldn’t resist. Miz and Jericho were sitting at commentary and doing a great job of it while the champs took on Regal and Koz. There was a brief technical mistake as the house lights went down out of nowhere and then back up before the match got started. And you know what…okay, I have to say it. If Michael Cole hates the internet so much, how the hell does he know that Jericho has 110,000 Twitter followers to Miz’s 65,000? Consistency, Cole! Seriously. The match itself…honestly seemed to lack a bit. Regal and Koz didn’t click well with the champions, and the booking just seemed kind of lost. The champs got the win of course, which then turned into Miz and Jericho coming in and layout out Kidd. Now those are some challengers who give me encouragement for the continued elevated state of the Tag Titles. Iffy match, decent set-up for the feud.
MARYSE vs. NIKKI BELLA: Hey, remember when the Bellas were just used as hanger-ons for the guest host? Yeah, that was better than when they let them wrestle. This was intended for Maryse to get some momentum in her feud against Eve for the Butterfly Title, and I suppose it did that but the match was just bad. Nikki is useless in the ring and she is unable to make any of her offense look remotely good. Maryse had very little to work with, and the match was extremely short and booked to give Maryse an entirety of two moves. After the match she gave a little promo that showed off her new Photo Shoot, which showed Maryse lording it over the unconscious Eve. Maryse may not be the best wrestler, but her character? Awesome. Afterward Eve came out and fumbled SLIDING INTO THE RING. Yeah, that was embarrassing…much like the match. The only thing that keeps this out of the ridiculous is the photo shoot bit, and even that’s just barely.
MARK HENRY vs. ZACH RYDER: Gail Kim and Alicia were out at the commentary booth to watch Zach, based on his invitation. Ryder gave a remarkably risqué comment for PG WWE about how he didn’t want to have to be like the guys from Arizona and have to check Primo’s papers, so he should get out there and face him. That brought up Wayne Brady, who booked Zack against Mark Henry. Guess what happened after that? Yep, Zack tried to go after Mizark and got his ass handed to him for a little while before the World’s Strongest Slam ended it. Zack had a brief moment where he was on the attack, but that was just a chance for Henry to shrug it off and beat the poor guy up. There was nothing much to this match and it was just to get Henry a win, presumably. Sure as hell didn’t do much for Ryder, and it didn’t do anything for me.
DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don’t care.
All in all, this was a good Raw. It wasn’t a great one and there were certainly things I didn’t like, but overall it was just fine. The Orton/Edge feud got off to a great start, teaming Jericho and Miz is excellent and they’ve got Cena/Batista going even if I have no idea how Sheamus is fitting into it. They also had a pretty good guest host in Wayne Brady, got a couple NXT guys over and got Morrison a win in his first Raw match. The bad dragged this show down some but didn’t bring it out of the “Thumbs Up” area, making it a decent recommendation from me. SHOW RATING: 7.0 |
By: Chad Nevett
iMpact! 05.03.10:
QUICK RESULTS
– Ink, Inc. defeated Douglas Williams & Brian Kendrick [**]
– The Beautiful People (C) defeated Tara, Sarita & Taylor Wilde for the TNA Knockouts Championship and the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship [*]
– Team 3D, Beer Money, Inc., and the Motor City Machine Guns wrestled in a three-way tag match that was thrown out [**]
– AJ Styles defeated Abyss in a Monster’s Ball Match [**]
– Rob Van Dam (C) defeated Desmond Wolfe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship [*1/2]
COACH FLAIR GIVES A PEP TALK: After the long opening of the show, we got a backstage look at Flair giving his crew a little pep talk, going from AJ Styles to Beer Money to Desmond Wolfe, berating them, and demanding they win their matches that night or he’d find a whole new group of talent to mentor/manage. Some of Flair’s more coherent work in TNA and entertaining. I like Flair as an old school manager with his own stable. It works when done like this.
MR. ANDERSON HAS AN EPIPHANY: Backstage, Mr. Anderson attacked the Pope, seemingly laying him out for the foreseeable future as he heals from his injuries. Then, he stole the Pope’s sunglasses and, after a commercial break, came out in an altar boy/choir member outfit and addressed the congregation. He didn’t get to say much of his sermon, because the crowd kept booing him down. Lots of heat is good, though I suspect some are like me and think Anderson works best when he keeps it short and sweet. He had an epiphany and, before he could tell us, Jeff Hardy interrupted him (though we did hear something about Anderson going to hell when he dies) and challenged him to a match at Sacrifice in trademark Jeff Hardy fashion where every sentence gets very intense for emphasis. Another guy who needs to keep his remarks to a minimum. Anderson teased the idea of the match before turning it down, walking away, missing a sucker shot with the mic, and getting laid out by Hardy before Hardy pulled the outfit off, challenged him again, and said Anderson’s part for him. The feud comes out of nowhere, but a good segment nonetheless to set up their match at Sacrifice.
A CONFRONTATION OF THE NATURE BOYS ERUPTS INTO AN ALL-OUT BRAWL: The show began strongly with Ric Flair music and Jay Lethal coming out in a suit and sunglasses, showing off his new ring, and shouting in a voice like Flair’s. In the ring, Lethal did a pretty decent Flair impression — at least, better than the one that AJ Styles did when he first turned heel. He did the standard spots, his voice not quite on, but the cadence was good. Until Ric Flair himself came out and looked pissed off. He went up to Lethal, who looked apologetic, and said, “In the world you want to be in, to survive in, you are standing before God.” And damn if I didn’t believe him. Lethal apologized profusely, talked about how just getting to pretend to be Flair for a minute was the thrill of a lifetime, and he gave back the ring. Not good enough for Flair, who told him that the best moment of his life was going to be the worst second right before slapping him and berating him, shouting that he’s God, that he’s wrestling, slapping him a few more times before Lethal slapped him back and put a beating on the old man. I kind of wish it had ended there, because that was a great opening. Lethal’s Flair impression isn’t as great as his Macho Man one, but still. But, instead, AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, and Beer Money came out to beat on Lethal, which prompted Abyss followed by Team 3D to try and make the save. It took Rob Van Dam with a chair to clear the heels out of the ring. We went to commercial with Hogan and Bischoff in their limo, heading back to the Impact Zone.
Back from commercial, RVD cut a promo on the heels, calling Flair’s crew the Four Horses’ Asses, and called them out. Surprisingly, Flair agreed and we got another round the brawl with the faces coming out strong before the heels eventually turned the tide. Until Hulk Hogan came out and defeated the bad guys with a series of blocks and punches. Somehow, Ric Flair was the only one to withstand more than one punch. Hogan then booked three matches: RVD/Desmond Wolfe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (failing to mention that that match was a result of the new ranking system and fan votes), AJ Styles/Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match, and Team 3D being inserted into the Beer Money/Motor City Machine Guns match already scheduled. This was just too long. Strong opening and unnecessarily long brawls that didn’t go anywhere. This would have been as effective at half the length.
INK, INC. vs. DOUGLAS WILLIAMS & BRIAN KENDRICK: First off, Ink, Inc.? I like my suggestion of the Princes of Punk better. It’s not fantastic, but it’s not as cheesy as Ink, Inc. Prior to the match, Douglas Williams got on the mic and complained about TNA management stripping him of the title because he was stuck in the UK after the volcano eruption and couldn’t make it to Lockdown. It wasn’t his fault, it’s not fair that he was punished, and, until Kazarian defeats him at Sacrifice, he won’t hand over the belt. A good story, but one that makes Williams a little sympathetic in my mind. He did get a shot into Kendrick, which was good. During the match, we learned that Ink, Inc. will have a shot at the tag belts at Sacrifice, which seems a little premature, but whatever, it’s not like TNA has a plethora of talented tag teams that aren’t just two random guys who have similar looks thrown together and deserve title shots. The match was fine with Jesse Neal taking most of the initial punishment for his team while Shannon Moore got to stay strong. But, Neal finishing things with the spear after Moore hit the Mooregasm was a solid finish. Nothing fantastic about the match, but Ink, Inc. looked harmonious, which was needed. During the match, Matt Morgan was on commentary and did a decent job, telling us that Hulk Hogan is going to choose his partner for the match at Sacrifice. After the match, Williams and Kendrick began to get into it, but out came Samoa Joe to lay them both out, Williams on the ramp and Kendrick in the ring. He then grabbed a mic and dropped it before saying anything. A busy segment with, what, three, four stories being told? I would have preferred focusing on one or two stories.
TNA KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP AND TNA KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE (C) vs. TARA, SARITA & TAYLOR WILDE: Another ‘all of the titles on the line’ match, but with slightly confusing rules (from what I could understand): if someone pinned Madison Rayne, that person would get the TNA Knockouts Championship, while the other two would be the new tag champs, and, if someone pinned Velvet Sky or Lacey Von Erich, that person would become one-half of the tag champions, so the other half and the Knockouts Championship would go to…? Maybe I misheard, but I believe that’s what Tenay and Taz said. If so, what the fuck? This match wasn’t really about the Beautiful People, it was about setting up Tara putting her career on the line for the belt by working against her teammates, because she wanted to pin Rayne and win the Knockouts title. It was a solid story, but did it really need the belts on the line in a confusing manner? Why not something a little simpler? Why must everything be so goddamn complicated in TNA?
ABYSS vs. AJ STYLES IN A MONSTER’S BALL MATCH: This being a Monster’s Ball match seemed somewhat random, but whatever. Watching the opening minutes, you wouldn’t have been wrong if you somehow thought AJ was the face and Abyss the heel with the way they wrestled the match. Abyss was the lumbering monster trying to crush AJ, the smaller opponent who did fancy dodges and cool moves that didn’t seem to slow down the big man too long. Things turned around with Abyss gaining control and bring out the tacks only for Flair to come out, dragging Chelsea in a trench coat, seemingly to distract Abyss with her naked body. Instead, Abyss decided to hold grab Chelsea and… hold her hostage? AJ tried to use that to his advantage, but Abyss was one step ahead of him. Too bad that Abyss still hasn’t developed an invulnerability to brass knuckles to the balls. That was all it took for AJ to get the advantage and pin Abyss on the thumbtacks (slamming the palm of his hands into the tacks in the process). After the match, they beat up Abyss some more and Chelsea revealed clothes under the coat. They fooled Abyss. An okay hardcore match, but, man, the thumbtacks seemed to come up way too early. Remember when they meant something?
TEAM 3D vs. BEER MONEY, INC. vs. THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS: Another example of a simple match (Beer Money vs. the Guns) made into something continually more complicated with the inclusion of Team 3D to make the awful three-way match where there is always one team with no members in the ring at any given moment (a personal hatred of mine). But, the match was solid. The Guns were energetic, Beer Money tagged often, and Team 3D acted as the heavies/punching bags. A good dynamic that was ruined by the Band coming out to get some revenge on Team 3D for what they did to Waltman last week. So, the Band beats up Team 3D and the Guns take the Band on pretty well. It almost looked like the segment was saved with the Guns looking very impressive until Nash took them out and Eric Young came out with a kendo stick… and hesitated. Which could only mean one thing: BULLSHIT SWERVE! Yes, that’s right, Young is with the Band now! Why? Because TNA says so, that’s why! Sure, it would have made sense for Young to be with the Band waaaaaaaaay back when he and Nash had a match against Hall and Waltman for the Band’s contracts when Nash turned on him. Or in one of their subsequent encounters. But, no, he turns now and drags this whole thing down into the Wrong.
THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THE O-ZONE: Welcome to the O-Zone where Orlando Jordan did everything he can to remind us that he’s bisexual as he interviewed a standee of Rob Terry. That was pretty awful. So awful that even Mike Tenay and Taz were wondering aloud when it would end. First episode of this little show and people are already tired of it. What saves it from the Ridiculous is Rob Terry coming out and demanding that Jordan leave him alone, prompting Jordan to choke him out with a chain before smashing him a piece of the set. It was vicious and cruel, and actually made this feud something worth caring about. Just a little bit.
TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – ROB VAN DAM (C) vs. DESMOND WOLFE: I’ve got an idea: let’s listen to the fans and book the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match they want based on ten choices, but let’s make it all of three minutes and utterly forgettable. Does that sound like a good idea? No? Well, shit, how could two of the greatest wrestling minds in the business (Hogan and Bischoff) not see the obvious? I didn’t think this match was as bad for Wolfe as others since his offense was the only stuff that was actually exciting. Rob Van Dam was on autopilot, while Wolfe actually looked engaged for the first time in a while with some inventive counters. Still, RVD went over quickly only for AJ Styles to rush out and lay him out, reminding the fans what the real feud is no matter how few of them voted for Styles. Great start to the new ranking system, don’t you think? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: democracy simply doesn’t work.
HOGAN/STING – THE SUMMIT: Ah, Hulk Hogan calling out Sting to finally give us some answers. It was teased all night, Taz continually telling us that Sting promised him that he would break his silence that night, and having a teaser of Jeff Jarrett laid out just prior to Hogan coming out, presumably by Sting. Hogan came out and called out Sting in a manner that seems like he just thought up the idea despite it being promised all episode. Sting, true to his word, came out and told us why he turned: because he hates Hogan? I think that’s what he was getting at in his rambling, somewhat vague explanation. He’d seen Hogan protected in the WWF and WCW, but, now, he’s got no protection, so… I don’t know. The two guys are enemies, that’s the point. Hogan talked about the blood on Sting’s hands and offered up a chance for Sting to beat him with the baseball bat, but Sting didn’t do it, and paid the price when Jarrett grabbed the bat and hit him with it only for Hogan to stop the beating from continuing and the episode ended in the middle of that. I guess it was over. Horrible explanation. It needed to be clearer and more direct. Sting hates Hogan, so he’s attacked people on Hogan’s side, beginning with the founder of the company who should be the most pissed off guy there given Hogan’s past, but is, instead, complicit with Hogan as the boss of TNA. How hard was that? That seems to be what they wanted to communicate and it actually makes sense when I say it. Sting tried to say it with more style, but the substance was lost.
NOTHING: Always a surprise…
It seemed every segment was trying to tell too many stories. Only a few were focused on selling one angle strongly. Most were doing far too much, making everything rushed and too chaotic. Eric Young turned for no apparent reason, Sting’s explanation for his turn was vague, Desmond Wolfe only lasted three minutes in his world title shot, and the X-Division tag match tried to tell, like, four stories at once. The show needs to focus on being clear and strong, keeping things simple to that effect. The best segments did that. SHOW RATING: 4.0 |
By: Jeremy Thomas
NXT 05.04.10:
QUICK RESULTS:
Michael Tarver d. Daniel Bryan [**]
R-Truth d. David Otunga [* ¾]
MICHAEL TARVER vs. DANIEL BRYAN: After he ran through the obstacle course and got rebuked by the Miz, Bryan had a match against the other winless rookie in Michael Tarver. I think we all knew how this was going to end up. Frankly, Bryan losing repeatedly doesn’t bother me because he usually has reasons for it, like getting hurt by Batista this week, and it’s certainly obvious that this is not a case of the ‘E trying to bury Bryan. I actually believe that the ‘E is using Bryan’s greater reputation to put the rest of the rookies over in their wins over him. The match between Bryan and Tarver was actually pretty decent; it wasn’t a fantastic match but the two worked together decently and the match was solidly put together. There was some good technical wrestling mixed with some power work by Tarver. This was a little short but it did exactly what it needed to do in making it questionable whether Tarver would be the first elimination or not. Post-match Tarver and Carlito added insult to injury, and Miz kept berating him. Decent stuff; not great, but workable.
PUNK/YOUNG DISSENTION CONTINUES: After the first match, they showed a recap of Young in his challenge last week where he tried to sell the crowd on a CM Punk/Darren Young match. We then went backstage where Young tried to smile at the angry Straight Edge Society, but Punk was having none of it. Young said he was trying to make a statement, and Punk said it wasn’t happening and Young had to win the obstacle course, or he would decide for Young who he was going to be. I enjoy this little feud between these guys, because it is giving Young a chance to get over and gets Punk on NXT. Can’t disagree too much with those goals.
DAVID OTUNGA vs. R-TRUTH: This match was a result of Otunga’s winning the challenge last week, and they did make the rookie look impressive against his pro in the opening goings. These guys have been working together enough as a tag team that they’ve established some sort of chemistry in the ring and it did help the match out, though I wouldn’t necessarily call this a good match, just a competent one. Part of the reason was that it was just too short. Because of the challenges, they had to cut this down and it basically amounted to Otunga getting some early offense before Truth decided to wake up and beat him. That drags what would have been an okay match down to puRgatoRy.
THE FINAL PITCH: After Tarver was once again embarrassed in the challenge, they went to ringside where Striker was with the rookies. Justin Gabriel had immunity and said he was glad he won instead of Otunga because he was getting on his nerves. Striker then asked the rest to give reasons why they shouldn’t be eliminated. Otunga said he equaled ratings, while Tarver said he should be eliminated so everyone else can be safe and then flipped out on everyone else. Skip said that Tarver should be eliminated, which made Tarver angry. Um…okay? Slater and Barrett said Tarver also, while Bryan said he should be. Then Young said he wanted it more than any of them and started brawling with Barrett. This was just…okay. It wasn’t particularly great, but outside of Tarver being a complete spaz there was nothing I disliked. The smart money is on Tarver going home, but I wouldn’t discount a swerve either. This wasn’t a super way to finish the show, but it could have been worse for sure, and at least it set up the elimination next week.
THE OBSTACLE COURSE: NXT kicked off with Matt Striker at ringside with the eight rookies. Striker talked about how they had been trying to impress the pros and the WWE Universe, and that next week someone would be eliminated. I liked the way Striker set it up…”someone will have their dreams crushed and their hearts broken!” Nice. Striker said Otunga would be facing Truth tonight after winning the challenge last week and then said we had an obstacle course for the rookies to run through. The winner would get immunity from being eliminated next week. Bryan was up first and his ribs were taped from the match against Batista before; he finished in 2:45 and then got berated by Miz who brilliantly said “Injuries are no excuse” after his shenanigans on Monday. We would have the challenge running through the show here, and without taking the time to talk about each one individually, this just didn’t work. Not the worst challenge, in concept at least; I think the problem was that it was just too long and the components were dorky. Spinning around the baseball bat? Drinking a large soda? Juggling? No one was enjoying this, and I really wonder by this point if the challenges are conscious ribs on the usual reality show challenges. Anyway, Justin Gabriel won it and is safe from elimination, but this took too much time out of the show and sucked the life out of it.
NOTHING
“HEATH SLATER LIKES SODA, UNLIKE THE VEGAN DANIEL BRYAN: I don’t have a lot to say here, but that just doesn’t even make sense. What the hell?
The problem with this week’s NXT was the challenge. I didn’t absolutely loathe it but it was too long and dominated the show, and the challenges should be a side thing at best because they don’t show us anything worthwhile out of the rookies. The Tarver/Bryan match was fine and despite being short, the Truth/Otunga match had its moments. Ultimately I think that the ‘E was letting this one slide and that may be a mistake. SHOW RATING: 5.0 |
From Mikey:
Tease. Tease. Tease. Build. Build. Build.
Edge and Christian should not have any contact with each other until WM 27….
I agree somewhat. I think they should have occasional segments with each other, on and off, throughout the year where they talk crap to each other…maybe once every few months. Then, when they get toward the Rumble they can intensify it. That way it will be a nice, slow build that the fans will be dying for by the time it happens.
From Lord of the French Flies:
You forgot a Wrong for Smackdown. We didn’t get to see Swagger wrestle. 🙁
Didn’t bother me so much, because he was consistently shown throughout the show with the Did You Knows. We’ll get him back in the ring quickly enough.
From The Great Capt. Smooth:
1. I wouldn’t mind the fans chanting “Spear” just to piss Edge off., 2. Big Show needs to be an unlockable character in a future Punch-Out game., 3. It wouldn’t shock me if Swagger really thought that about Bush. Oklahoma was the only state that didn’t have a single county go to Obama in the 2008 election.
Show as an unlockable Punch Out character would be fantastic. As for the rest, I wouldn’t doubt if he believed that either, though I’m sure this was specifically for the heat. And whatever the reason, I don’t want to hear the “Spear” chant again. Ever.
From Nick M.:
Cody Rhodes’s current theme music is what he was using in singles competition before his tag teams with Hardcore Holly and Ted DiBiase. I hated the song 3 years ago and do just as equally today, and hope they hook Cody up with a new entrance theme and fast.
From Nickels And Vines:
They should give Cody Dusty’s old music. Seriously. It’d just be a random bit of nostalgia, and it’s better than nothing. Look at Ted DiBiase Jr. for example – dude has the Million Dollar Belt, for goodness’ sake.
Yeah, I’m not a fan of the music for Rhodes; good catch on it being the old music Nick. It had been so long, I didn’t remember. The Dusty music wouldn’t fit Rhodes’s character since he’s crapped on his dad in his promos. Just give him something inoffensive, and I’ll be happy.
From Loki:
Lots of ‘Thank the Gods’ here Jez. Have you been playing God of War recently?
Anyway, we’re looking at Big Show in the main event – has that ever been a good thing (Armageddon 1999, Summerslam 2006, December to Dismember, Wrestlemania 25)?
No God of War, nope…I don’t own a console. That’s my usual phrase, I just used it more than I typically do for whatever reason. As for Show, I don’t think all of those have been terrible, and I think he’ll be a good opponent to help get Swagger over. It may not be a great match, but it will be good for the champ’s push.
From Glide:
TOTALLY agree about the E&C segment. Things were going perfectly even at the start, but that moment where Edge’s tone changed was spectacular. “You know what?” *face twitches* “You know what? Yeah, you’re right. Didn’t see that coming, did you?” As a huge heel Edge fan, that was absolutely my mark-out moment of the year not involving HBK.
Yeah, that was pretty bad-ass. I loved it.
From Jason Douglas:
SPEAR NO MORE…THANK THE GODS:
Wow Jeremy, they completely buried Christian’s TNA world title wins and you don’t have a word to say about it? If you walk up to someone, lean in two inches from their face and say “I’m ignoring you” it doesn’t really have the intended effect, does it? That’s what WWE did here, having both E and C drive the point home. Either say “TNA” and mock them or truly ignore them. I hate these sorts of pseudo jabs. I’m right with you about the end of “spear spear spear” though. That was getting him heel heat with me for how awful it was. I thought “puppies” would never leave the wrestling vocabulary and “what” still hasn’t gone away. We don’t need another annoying word.
I see what you’re getting at Jason, but I didn’t see it like that. The ‘E does ignore TNA. if they hadn’t, Edge would have said something like “You haven’t won any real World Titles,” which could have played off the ECW title but been a double entendre. I can see where you’re coming from and I may be wrong, I just didn’t interpret it that way.
From ThePants
Shad’s suit is all wrong. Check out any suit P Diddy or Jay Z and that should be the template. The Jericho knockoff ignores his Cryme Tyme gimmick. I hate when companies completely ignore past gimmicks when guys change it up (Suicide-Kaz?) Can’t they spring for a fat Windsor knot and a gaudy silk handkerchief?
They’ve actually done lots of variations of “Did You Know?”. Randy Orton did his newsbits during his injury years back and, hell, Mike Knox (when he had a push) had that PIP video during the entrance to his match where he said random crap about pressure points and pain and whatnot. At least he’s getting the biggest push of his career now… out the door. Yowza!
The other Did You Knows you mention were very different. Orton’s Randy News Network segments predated the Did You Knows, and Knox’s may have been a bit closer but never referenced the bumpers. This was an obvious play on those bumpers, which made it a bit different. As for the suit, I can see what you’re saying but it didn’t bother me so much. The different suit would have been nice, but whatever works.
From Christopher:
“Also, Striker’s commentary is at its worst with the Divas in there. He sounds like a young King, and that’s not a good thing.”
While I agree that usually Striker isn’t at his best when calling Divas matches, he’s not even close to King levels of sexist commentary. Remember Striker focuses almost all the “nice” things to say on the heel divas, including Vickie whom he calls a cougar and his “secret girlfriend” (which is something King would never do).
Plus he says at least one thing in a match about the actual in-ring action or abilities of the Divas, which King hasn’t done throughout his entire career.
Furthermore, Striker often talks about Divas using a hint of a self-derogatory loser-persona, which again is something King never does.
I wasn’t trying to say he was as bad as Lawler by any stretch, just that he was running along those lines. I totally agree that Striker is better than Lawler when the ladies are out, but it’s still a weaker point of his commentary.
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