Wrestling’s 4R’s 6.27.08: The Draft Shakes Things Up, I Love TNA Impact, Batista Learns a Lesson, Kofi Takes out Shelton and More!

Posted by Larry Csonka on 06.27.2008

Geoff! Geoff! I can’t feel my legs!



A NOTE FROM LARRY: I wanted to share a special thanks to those that helped out this week while I needed some time off for a minor surgery. Byers did an awesome job with the Tuesday news column, which I expected but still needs mentioned. Also thanks to Daniel Wilcox and Brian Cramer for helping with the R's this week, allowing me some MUCH NEEDED relaxation and recovery time. Finally thank you the readers for understanding. On with the show!


How the 4R's of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R's. I will take the 4 main shows (5 if I go RetRo) of the week: TNA Impact, WWE Raw, ECW on Sci-Fi and WWE Smackdown. If we have a PPV, that show will get a special PPV edition of the R's all to its own. I then group my feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~! This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a "mark" column, nor a "smark" column, my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. There are also occasions where I will bring out a 5th or even a 6th R to the column, so beware of those~! I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether very positive or negative.

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In HD where available…


By: Larry Csonka

iMpact 6.19.08:

THE RIGHT:

33:00!: Usually every week I discuss the amount of wrestling that we have on the show. As I have stated repeatedly that I think that 35-40-minutes a week of wrestling should be the goal with the 2-hour show since TNA is striving to be different, to be an alternative. Some people feel that this is unreasonable, but I don't. Also, once again to remind people, the reason I discuss it about TNA each week is because THEY claim that they are an alternative to the WWE product, which is entertainment based. TNA is supposed to be about the wrestling AND THEY WERE last week! This was part of what I felt was one of the best episodes of Impact in a LONG time.

Booker T vs. BG James: All too often I complain about the even booking TNA tries to institute in the promotion. Essentially they try not to beat everyone, so then no one becomes a star and you have a promotion of mid-carders. I feared that here in the opening match, but was very glad to be proven wrong. This was simple you see; Booker T is getting a title shot while BG James is nothing in the grand scheme of things. So they did the right thing here, and basically ran a squash match. BG got enough hope and trademark stuff for some brief hope, but Booker just beat him because he is better. He's UP HERE on the card, and BG is DOWN THERE. That's the way things should work, always have worked and really work the best. Short, simple and well executed. YAY TNA!

WORLD X-CUP MATCH: Team TNA's Motor City Machineguns (Sabin and Shelley) vs. Team International's Tyson Dux and Shawn Daivari: While not as good as the Speed Muscle vs. Guns match (and really, those are some high standards) this was a good way to open up the World X-Cup officially. These guys thankfully got time to work, a bit over 8-minutes without the commercial and I liked it. The Guns got reestablished with their win over Speed Muscle, and even through the punishment they went through stayed over with the crowd. They also gave a lot to Dux and Daivari, who got a good heat segment on them, and even in the loss they didn't look bad. It had a slow beginning, but picked up into a great formula tag and then into a great speed ending. This was FINE stuff right here, and Team TNA gets the first points of the competition. The ONLY complaint I have is the WCW moment where they shot away from the hot match TO THE BACK so we could see AJ and Tomko brawling. Save that shit for AFTER the match please. You don't have to try and fit 24-things into one match. But overall, YAY TNA!

Personality Profiles: I have said for a long time that when TNA actually takes the time to run a SOLID personality profile piece on people they do it very well. But the thing is that they do not do it all that often. But this week they not only did it but they did do it right. I loved the Gail Kim piece to begin with. They ran old school Indy footage of her, including great comments from Pat Kenney (Simon Diamond) and Scott D'Amore. The piece was about putting her over, and it did that very well. YAY TNA! Now while not as good, the Matt Morgan Rough Cuts segment was also a nice touch. With him not being on TV the last few weeks (Due to Gladiators I believe) this is a great way to keep his face on TV, while letting people still get to know him since they have big plans for him. So while not as good as the Gail piece, it was effective. YAY TNA!

Awesome Kong's $25,000 Open Challenge: Awesome Kong vs. Taylor: Moving onto something I have already been enjoying on the shows, and that is the KONG CHALLENGE! As I have mentioned they morphed this from fans, to known wrestlers very well. At Slammiversary they had a hot segment with Josie, announced from Memphis and it had been going fine. But you eventually have to amp it up, knock it up past 10 to 11 if you will and they did that this week. They did that this week, and did so with the young lady I thought they would do it with, Shantell Taylor. Young Shantell was in WWE developmental and was a hell of a little talent, but just never got the call and was released. TNA signed her and she has debuted, and her debut was one hell of a segment. She was a little fire filled baby face, truly nothing special, we've seen it all before, but the combination of her doing it so well and Kong being such an awesome monster clicked perfectly here. She actually got Kong down, the first time in these challenges and got a near fall. She escaped a KONG BOMB and got to run wild, and EVERYONE BOUGHT HER! They couldn't have laid this out better, the ladies couldn't have performed it better and this came off as perfect as you could have hoped. Excellent stuff. YAY TNA!

Team 3D (Ray and Devon) vs. AJ Styles and Christian Cage: I will freely admit that I agree with some that Team 3D, at times, look like they just don't belong out there in the land of TNA; like a square peg in a round hole. But I also will say that when they decide to step up their game, that they more than belong and can STILL be great, and they WERE last week on Impact. They were just on. I dug the angle where they took out Rhino, which led to Cage making the claim that the main event would now have a "phenomenal opportunity." Ray and Devon then gave what I felt was a KILLER promo, stating that they knew it was AJ because they were 20-time tag team champions, and you don't get that way being stupid. The short of the long is that they promised a BLOOD BATH, a MASSACRE if you will. They wanted to kill these men, especially AJ. And they wanted to do so for their good friend Kurt Angle. Finally the four men followed all of this up with a really good main event match. They got time, about 11-minutes after the commercial break, and they just worked hard and smart. Everyone was motivated, the crowd was digging it, I was digging it and in the end of the night I was pleased with the main event match as AJ scored the win. They followed up with Frank Trigg running out, pissed at AJ because he mistakenly beat him down earlier, which allowed for Angle to attack AJ and stand tall. It worked well because AJ looked good, and Angle to be a dick and get the heat, without doing much physically. All in all it worked out very well I thought. YAY TNA!

PURGATORY:

LAX'S CHALLENGE: LAX was to make a challenge this week to Roode and Storm, stemming off of the whipping they had taken the previous week. Jim Cornette was in the ring, he set the stage, he called out LAX and then…well, he cut their promo for them and laid out the challenge. WHAT? No seriously, Cornette calls them out, says they have a challenge to make and then basically does the whole thing himself. Now there are worse things than Jim Cornette cutting a promo for you, but this is the time that LAX needed to talk. We needed to hear a fired up Homicide, maybe even a word or two from Hernandez; but we didn't get that. Hector got some mic time, but the less said about that the better really. Jackie then came out and that would lead to a match between her and Salinas later in the show. It wasn't a horrible way to set up the fans strap match for the PPV, but it could have been done much better and I would have preferred a straight tag strap match, minus the fans.

WORLD X-CUP PREVIEW MATCH: Team International's Alex Kozlov vs. Team TNA's Kaz: This was another damn fine little match on the show, which had some damn fine wrestling overall. Kaz is almost always great and I am a huge Alex Kozlov mark from seeing him in CMLL. Kozlov has been perfectly described by others as a 1980's Stereotypical Russian Heel stuck into 2008, and I am PERFECTLY fine with this. He has the wacky hat, the wacky dance, a move named "the Perestroika," I mean, that's 1980's Communist Russia and he is great at it. A damn fine little match here with Kaz getting the win to send a message to evil foreigners everywhere. But I have a problem. Earlier in the show they announced that the World X-Cup was beginning. I was down with this because they had preview matches last week and then right into it this week. Ok. Now then they come to this match, and I know they felt they had to have another match with the World X-Cup guys. But with the VISA issues, which were ALL TNA'S FAULT, they couldn't do another 1st round tag match. So they decide to have ANOTHER preview match. I can follow this, but when you already have announced that the World X-Cup has begun, and then run a match with no points being rewarded, I feel you run the risk of confusion. If anything they could have avoided this by either NOT having this match or simply running this match prior to the tag bout. It is all about keeping things simple. It may be a small gripe to some, but I do feel that it is valid.

Jackie Moore vs. Salinas: I will preface this by saying that this was far from a good match. Salinas is NOT a good wrestler at all and doesn't need to be wrestling. But they did the match, and Jackie was NOT messing around. She stiffed the hell out of Salinas, who either didn't want to do stuff or couldn't do stuff including a NASTY T-BONE in the middle of the match. The finish was botched as well by Salinas as she couldn't even take a DDT properly, and Jackie rolled it into a guillotine choke for the win. What saved this was the after match angle as she beat down Salinas and whipped her with the belt to sell the fan's revenge match. It wasn't pretty, but ended up being effective.

THE WRONG:

NADDA~!:

THE RIDICULOUS:

Worst Brawl Ever: The whole show they teased that Jay Lethal was at the PINK TACO, waiting on Sonjay Dutt for a BATTLE. The Pink Taco looked like the most ghetto set EVER to begin with, seriously, it was BAD! So they build this up, Dutt finally shows up, they try to talk it out and then proceed to have the worst brawl ever. It was just a poor, heatless brawl and when it was finished I did not care at all about the feud, which is a shame because I like both guys. One of the two things I didn't like at all on the show.

Karen Angle Makes me **CLICK**: I just can't stand the shit right now. She gets this interview time, basically no sells the beating from Kong and is generally annoying and I have no sympathy for her. She makes me want to turn the channel, and that is not a good thing. BLAH! This was the other thing I didn't like on the show.

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By: "The Whole Geoffin Show" Geoff Eubanks

WWE SmackDown 6.20.08
I want to thank everyone who supported my first solo column that ran earlier this week where I discussed The Draft. There were some exceptionally kind comments following and the hits were pretty strong. I really couldn't be more pleased and certainly humbled. Really, I truly appreciated the love. I'm glad so many people appeared to really enjoy my thoughts and views.

I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO DUFFY!!! But for now, let's get this donkey show on the road…your referee, Bronco Lubich!

The Right

With all "moo" respect – It's times such the opening of tonight's show that serves as Exhibit A with respect to why MVP is such an exceptional wrestling talent. I've pointed this out in the past and he continues to prove me Right; ‘MVP the concept' could so easily have become a cartoon caricature, as so many lesser performers have done with the characters they play in the WWF/E's history, but Alvin Banks has taken this character and fleshed it out into an actual three-dimensional personality, the mark of a true thinking man's performer. It's absolutely clear that MVP understands how to work both sides of the business, the cerebral as well as the visceral, which is why believe we're going to be seeing MVP in the HOF once all is said and done.

To what exactly am I referring? MVP was laid back, stewing on the set of the VIP Lounge as the show hit air tonight, actively campaigning to be traded to a different brand, citing his displeasure with SmackDown!'s management and its apparent inability to properly utilize his considerable talent to its best effect. HOLY CARLITO! MVP didn't actually name names, but he straight up called Vickie out on her preference to plan her wedding than review his contract, as she promised him he would last week if he could get the win over CM Punk (which he did, even if via DQ).

Of course this prompted The Moo-Moo-Cita to roll her fat ass out to defend herself, and I have to say this in her defense; the reason Vickie is such an effective heel, whether she realizes she's playing it this way or not, virtually everyone's had that boss who, for whatever reason, is such a small person inside that their position of authority goes straight to their head, because it's the most respect they've ever managed to command in their miserable little life, and, furthermore, displays Ridiculous amounts of favoritism for their little pets and piles on the vitriol for all others, expecting a much increased commitment to professionalism of others than s/he him/herself displays (ie, planning a wedding on company time and/or instead of reviewing his/her employees' contracts, etc.). It's a similar such situation as the basis of the Austin/McMahon program and the face who eventually puts Vickie in her place (likely The Undertaker once he returns around Summerslam, although I'll maintain this is a stunning opportunity to build a new face to extreme prominence) is going to be MAD OVER. This was a FANTASTIC opener and I'm extremely piqued as to where this is going to go and what ramifications this could have on the upward mobility of MVP's career.

"I don't even know how to call this!" – FINALLY. In the last match he calls on the last SD! for which he announces, Michael Cole FINALLY tells us what we've all know all along. Sorry, I had to get that in.

So THE RMY managed to really stack the deck against Batista tonight, effectively taking out the assigned referee so Vickie could appoint Edge as the official for Batista/Chavo in the main event, Big Dave being disallowed from touching Edge else he forfeit his World Title match at NOC. Of course, the cheating and negligence on the part of the referee was absurd, the match coming to an abrupt end when The Animal slid out of the ring to ward off an interfering Bam Neely when Edge counted by twos to count out his nemesis.

Unlike a count out earlier in the evening that put a damper on an otherwise excellent match, it completely works here, and this really helps to build to NOC, as THE RMY gang jumped Batista post-bout. One really has to consider how far and for how long Vickie can further this selfish reign of terror on Friday night before the fans start to riot, and I think that's a good thing, especially when you consider Edge is scheduled, from my understanding, to walk from NOC with the belt.

It'd be awesome if Miz & Morrison came to the ring wearing t-shirts that say "FUCK LUCK" @ NOC – The build to the WWETTT match between The Miz & John Morrison and Finlay & Horny Little Bastard is basic tag build 101, and I am just fine with that, especially since so much is SO overblown and fantastic; modern-day bookers seem to neglect the plain fact that sometimes, simple is best. Last week, The Miz going after HLB distracted Finlay, costing him the match when the opportunistic Morrison rolled him up for a quick three. This week, HLB was prepared and whacked Morrison in the knee when he tried to pull the same deal, this action distracting The Miz, allowing Finlay to stick The Celtic Cross for the win. Each has a solo win over the other, proving that the titles could conceivably change hands (although I'm not so confident they will now that father & son are now members of the WWECW roster as well…so what happens to my tag belts?).

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that Foley and Morrison on commentary was so entertaining that I had to remind myself to focus on the match! Seriously, Morrison has a hell of a future and I'm excited to see what he can do on Raw, should the other two brands mix talent as WWECW and SD! have done. "Swoggle is a creepy little troll who needs to go back to The Shire." Brilliant!

puRgatory

"Vickie Guerrero doesn't make matches anymore so much as assign punishment." – A very astute observation by Mick Foley, as was, "I've been privileged to watch some great moments here on SmackDown!, but this isn't one of them; this is a disgrace." The disgrace in question was the "match" between Khali and referee Charles Robinson, the latter paying penance for his "biased" officiating against LA FAMILIA, specifically tonight for having ejected Chavo Guerreo for his interference in the Matt hardy/Bam Neely match.

I'm really torn. While this strikes me as the quality of borderline-overkill, old school Southern booking, where you watch and just can't imagine how you could possibly hate the heels more than you already do (and that's a GOOD thing), do we really want to see something like this? I think it's good booking, I'm just not too certain about the execution (no pun intended). I just find it a little shocking that such tyranny as Vickie displays is allowed to run so rampantly unchecked. I mean, (in terms of kayfabe) couldn't Charles Robinson's family sue Vickie over this…? THAT'D earn La Moo-Moo-Cita a ring from Human Resources for sure! This was a great performance on the part of Robinson, though, as well as a brave one; I don't care HOW kayfabed this was, it'd be positively terrifying to step into the ring with a man the size of Khali as a largely untrained performer, especially when you stop to consider the last time Nature's Little Oopsie had a little boo-boo in the ring with a marginally trained opponent, the poor fucker ended up DEAD as a result. Thank God nothing of the sort occurred here, especially as I personally have a hell of a lot of respect for Robinson, having stood by and eventually burying his wife and coming back to business as if nothing had happened.

"We don't see Kane leave his feet often" – So lied Michael Cole. Seriously, the top-rope clothesline is a standard part of Kane's arsenal…we see him leave his feet every match! GOD I'm gonna miss Cole Slaw like a scorching case of crabs. What started out as a fantastically competitive and surprisingly even match between MVP and Kane (MVP's penance for his impertinence against La Moo-Moo-Cita) and was certainly a shoe-in for The Right slips to puRgatory because of a weak finish. MVP takes the count-out? Sure it's a fine heel move but considering the vast and storied history MVP has against Kane, I'd think he'd be better served now than ever before to have a plan by which to knock off the WWECW Champion. Besides, when teddy Long was forcing him to face Kane, he didn't pull a count out, why would he now in a Vickie-imposed match? I think this will all play together next week when Vickie punishes this move, but as a stand-alone, it was disappointing.

Oh, yeah, Big Drippy waddled to the ring and nailed Kane with The World's Wettest Slam, too, thereby signifying that he'll be in the WWECW Title match at NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS, and taking the belt. Sad.

And what the hell happened to MVP's pyro? Did Vickie take that, too…?

What's with all the Guns N' Roses on SmackDown! lately?! – Chuck Palumbo's wearing Slash's hat to the ring…Mick Foley is plagiarizing Axl Rose…next thing you know there'll be a breakout of Hepititis B. Oh, wait, that was Kid Rock. And we already fired Bob Orton, didn't we?

Okay, so it comes down to this: Michelle McCool is a DAMN good wrestler, woman or not, she just knows what's up and it's great to see her perform. Layla sells well and has a strong grasp on the psychological aspect of performance, but she has a LONG way to go before she dishes it out as well as she takes it. This match existed simply to put over Michelle in the upcoming Diva's Title match, and we accomplished that, but it wasn't pretty. Well, the ladies were…the match…not so much. Really nice belly-to-belly by Michelle, I gotta say, although I'm not too sure about that finisher…it looks a little weak…

Kozlov gave head to Noble – Yeah, I know, that was bad…not as bad as the mental image, though. I still can't stand Kozlov because he's dead boring in thee squash matches and it displeases me to see so much of the roster being Goldberged to him, especially when, I absolutely maintain that he's gonna end up being Dan Severn of the 21st Century, but the build is going well, for what it's worth. I do have a feeling he'll be more interesting against more similarly-matched opponents, especially as we saw Jamie Noble fair better than anyone else has thus far (MAN, if only Noble were even HBK's size, his entire career could have been drastically different…). With HHH on SD! now, we'll see if he works with Kozlov; that'll be a good barometer toward how much of a big deal McMahonagement plans on making of the Russian.

One more time! One more time! – So chanted the crowd after Deuce Cracked Domino in the Mouth. I can't say I disagreed. Lenny & Squiggy were at odds from the time the entered the arena (without the car…they were probably arguing about who was gonna drive). So Jesse & Festus picked up the win after DND fought each other at ringside, Deuce feeding Domino to Festus who put away the weakened dickweed without ever having to tag Jesse. I'll discuss the demise of DND next week. This week, it was just a personal pleasure to see this shitty, shitty team in-fighting and losing for themselves, even if this "victory", still again, means nothing to Jesse & Festus.

The wRong

Gordy = legend; Bigelow = legend; Neely = one Bam short – You know I'm displeased when a Matt Hardy match slides all the way down to the wRong. I know Neely is still a relative pup, but sweet cream on an ice cream sammich does he suck. If I squinted my eyes, I could have sworn I was watching Snitsky. Or JBL. I mean, you generally have to look to Domino to see a rest hold applied for that long. Or maybe, say, Maryse. His "quality" of generic big man move-set is something we really should be discouraging and making extinct rather than exacerbating and encouraging. I feel it also damages Matt Hardy's integrity to see him struggle and play so well the face-in-peril in such pathetic circumstances, as well (as would be the case against anyone as high up the card as is Matt). Granted, this match was the catalyst for much of the later show (Chavo's interference, the Charles Robinson slaughter, Edge officiating the main event), but there were times this was just excruciating to watch. Come on, Vince, you'll give away three million dollars in the name of "fan appreciation" and then serve us THIS guy?

The Ridiculous

NADDA~!

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By: Brian Cramer

Raw 6.23.08

I'd like to thank Larry for the opportunity to fill in this week on the R's. As a reader of them ever since I started frequenting 411mania, it's an honor to be able to take the helm for a week and actually write them; especially on as big of a week as the three-hour Draft. It's a far cry from my weekly X-Files recap (*thumbs up* cheap plug!) but I've certainly done my best and put my full effort into providing what I hope is an interesting, logical breakdown of the Right, puRgatory, wRong and Ridiculous of Raw. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

THE RIGHT:

THE DRAFT: First and foremost, this needs addressed. This (not counting McMahon's Million Dollar Massacre) was the whole selling point of the show, therefore I'm going to respond to all the Draft-related issues in this bullet (short of a few brief, spread-out comments later). Now seeing as how the whole reason for the Draft is to shake things up, by very definition, whether you like or dislike the moves, you must consider the overall result an unmitigated success. I'm not sure how many things I've read online from people complaining that the Draft never really amounts to anything major. We might get one or two major moves and a bunch of mid-carders and/or jobbers fill in the blanks. Not this year. The wrestlers moved around are, for the most part, a proverbial who's who of WWE. Let's take a brief look.

Rey Mysterio (Raw) – Rey has been on Smackdown for as long as I can remember. The general belief is that he was kept there in an attempt to appeal to the Hispanic audience of the show. With Smackdown going to MyNetworkTV now, his opportunity to make an impression on Raw has been made available.

CM Punk (Raw) – "Mr. Money In The Bank" being drafted really comes as no surprise to anyone, as staying on ECW wasn't helping him, as he's done virtually all that there is to do there. A move to the big leagues of Raw will open up countless new doors, especially with the MitB contract.

Batista (Raw) – This move was one of necessity, I feel. Batista had feuded (too much, even) with all the big names on Smackdown, particularly Undertaker and Edge, and desperately needed a new (old) batch of potential opponents. Raw will provide just that.

Kane – ECW CHAMPION (Raw) – This one is actually somewhat surprising as Kane was a decent fit on ECW and more importantly, its current champion. This may have been done to allow Kane one more major run before his time starts winding down and/or to give John Cena another "monster" opponent to slay. Look for him to drop the title at NoC.

Michael Cole (Raw) – See the entry on Jim Ross below for thoughts on him. As far as Cole moving to Raw, I'll play the "wait-and-see" card here, as this is likely a move to see how he fits with Lawler, calling a live show. JR won't be around forever and testing the waters with Cole at this point is not necessarily a bad idea. Better an extended transition that can be adjusted than a last-minute dropping of some horrible announcer (See: Adamle, Michael) in our laps, for the lack of anyone else to call the show.

Triple H – WWE CHAMPION (Smackdown) – This one came out of left field, in my opinion. However, I feel that it's a phenomenal move and personally, I hope it sticks. Hunter can do wonders to freshen up Smackdown, especially if he puts his mind to it.

Jeff Hardy (Smackdown) – Originally, I would've thought this move was made to allow Jeff an eventual run with Edge over the World Heavyweight Title. While I still think that's a distinct possibility, it seems less likely in the short term with the Hs getting moved there as well.

Umaga (Smackdown) – Stevie Wonder could've seen this coming. It was announced on a conference call forever ago. Overall, not a bad move. It gives the Samoan BullDOG new opposition.

Mr. Kennedy – After lobbying to get moved to Raw, Kennedy is right back where he started. I could see a potential program with Jeff Hardy over who gets to challenge for the WHT at some point down the road. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Jim Ross (Smackdown) – I don't think ANYONE could've honestly seen this coming. Hell, from what I've read, they didn't even tell Good Ol' JR ahead of time (which, if true, absolutely DISGUSTS me), hence his very realistic reaction when it was announced. You know what? I'm not sure whether I like this or not but if it was at all in part to get more viewers tuned into Smackdown, it worked on me. With Ross helming the announce table with Mick Foley, and Jeff Hardy and HHH being moved to the blue brand, I'm actually going to start watching it again on a consistent basis. So in that respect, mission accomplished WWE.

Matt Hardy – UNITED STATES CHAMPION (ECW) – Before everyone starts getting bitchy, think about this – Matt Hardy is very likely going to end up a world champion sooner rather than later now. Granted, the ECW Championship doesn't have nearly the prestige of the other two belts, but as a stepping-stone, I know I'll take it.

The bottom line is this. People constantly complain that WWE is always so predictable and no one major is ever shuffled around in the Draft. Well now, almost EVERYONE major has been moved somewhere else. I'm just pleasantly surprised that WWE did something that shocked me, and shock leads to interest, and interest leads to ratings. And that's what's it's all about. Kudos.

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT: One thing that has been lacking on Raw lately has been, well…wrestling. I know it's hard to fathom WRESTLING on a WRESTLING show (for the powers-that-be at WWE it seems, at least). This week, however, we had almost an hour of in-ring action. Now granted, Raw was 3 hours long but commercials take that down to about 2 hours, 15 minutes for those of us at home. Thus, almost half of the televised show was focused on wrestling and that's pretty good, in my book. Something just seemed to flow this week, whether it was the number of matches or the quality (I'd bet on the number, in most cases). The mostly clean finishes didn't hurt either. Raw was just easy-viewing.

CHRIS JERICHO/SHAWN MICHAELS/LANCE CADE: So far, this angle has been done spectacularly. Jericho, while obviously heeling it up, is so wonderful at it because he actually IS telling the goddamn truth. While he may be making Michaels out to be a bigger asshole at this current point in time than he actually is, everything in the past that he chronicled actually happened and Michaels does have a horrible habit of turning on people. The inclusion of Cade can only help him succeed to the next level and I'm glad they actually acknowledged he was trained by Michaels, which should add a good degree of personal animosity to the feud. Shawn sold the table-to-the-eye like someone stabbed a spear through his cornea but hey – it's Shawn Michaels. What do you expect?

EDGE vs. JOHN CENA / BATISTA DRAFTED: While this match was nothing groundbreaking, it was certainly a good little match for free TV. It's apparent here of the chemistry these two have and while it ended abruptly with the count-out, it was picking up nicely until that point. Given 10 more minutes, this would've gone from a good TV match to a really good TV match. The after match was good fun also, with Batista being drafted and Edge acting like he won the lottery and waving from the top of the entrance ramp while Batista mocked him from in the ring.

TRI-BRANDED BATTLE ROYAL: This was essentially the Royal Rumble without all the jobbers. Seriously – when this was announced, I was absolutely certain it was something to not only balance out the draft numbers but to do so in a way that gave the under-card something to do. Even when the Raw team first walked out, I saw HHH initially and still thought, "Oh – so Hunter is the mid-card's team captain." Then he was followed out by Cena, Kane, Punk and Batista, which shocked the hell out of me. They arguably took the top stars from each brand (while recognizing the brand changes made throughout the night) and put them on each team. This really was an all-star affair and they gave it almost 20 minutes of TV time (so I imagine the actual match lasted upwards of a half an hour). While ECW was made to look like bitches for the most part, overall the match was extremely entertaining and well put together.

MCMAHON'S MILLION DOLLAR MASSACRE: I'll admit it – I was amused and/or largely not offended by any of this, including the crazy shit at the end, but we'll get to that in a moment. The actual money giveaways were done so in more of an abbreviated manner this week. It was already in place at the beginning of the show (no entrance for the MON-AAY) and the announcers told us the password, preventing Vince from having to open. While Ric Flair was wasted on the segment (much like last week), Randy Orton cut a generic promo threatening HHH and Cena, and Kelly Kelly was pointless (albeit, looking quite stunning in that little yellow outfit), none of these segments lasted long enough to be offensive. Khali was actually fuckin' HILARIOUS, first calmly explaining to us about "Get Smart" (although no one could understand him) and then yelling at the phone a couple different times. Vince dialing the wrong number and the guy hanging up was pretty funny also. The girl that won from the audience, while extremely contrived, was rather cool. As a fan first and a "smark" second (although I really hate that term), I've wondered the past couple weeks when they'd have someone win it live and it came off good when they did.

The clusterfuck at the end of the show was, granted, extremely strange. First a lighting fixture falls onto the entrance stage and then I think J.D. put it best in the RAWtopsy when he pointed out that afterwards (and I'm paraphrasing J.D. – don't sue me), the platform collapses – but not the platform the lighting fixture hit, seeing as how the weakened part of the stage collapsing would make sense. The platform directly under Vince collapses. When he proceeds to climb to his feet, his "Million Dollar Mania" sign thingy falls and splats him. Everyone goes into "shoot" mode and tries to help the chairman. He calls out to "Paul" a few times (in a pretty obvious reference to HHH, for those of us who get it) and gets in a comment about not being able to feel his legs before Raw fades out on the note of HHH saying, "Jesus Christ".

Here's the deal – I haven't even read anything online yet, except a few news-bites, the RAWtopsy and Raw Report, so I have no idea what the viewer backlash is yet. If the past is any indication, most people are going to shit all over this, likely relating it back to the Vince McMahon "death" angle and such. Thing is, for starters, Vince isn't dead. More importantly, we're not led to believe as much. He was awake and talking as Raw went off the air. Yes, he said he couldn't feel his legs but we are, in no way, to believe Vince's life is in danger. An accident (for lack of a better word) occurred and Vince was hurt. He'll live but how bad off is he? How'd it happen? Who did it? Why? Those questions create the drama. Drama (much like shock) leads to interest and as we have learned earlier, interest leads to ratings. The "death" angle was fucking horrible – I will absolutely say that. This, however, while arguably questionable, isn't so absurdly ridiculous that it immediately insults the casual viewer's intelligence. As an aside, I was also a fan of the way the subtle "shoot" aspect was pulled off, namely with Vince calling out for "Paul". This was not offensive for two reasons in particular – because 1) it adds a sense of realism (in what could otherwise be a largely unrealistic situation) for those of us that understand the reference because short of Batista namedropping "Paul" in his title forfeit promo forever ago, I don't think anyone has ever acknowledged HHH on TV as his real name and 2) for those who don't, it's not so off-putting that it ruins the angle. Casual viewers will likely assume he's talking to an agent or stagehand that was out there and forget they even heard it (unless it becomes part of the angle somehow). They'll be more focused on him crying out about not having feeling in his legs. Overall, this entire debacle was not insulting, offensive or overly gaudy. In fact, it was actually – dare I say – entertaining, at least for what it was.

I should also briefly mention that this was also, in all likelihood, done as a way to kill off the money giveaways. Again, people are probably going to bitch about this but I can't think of a better way they could've ended it (at least in terms of entertainment value) so someone booby-trapping (?) the set to knock Vince around and put him out of action for a while is as good a reason as any.

PURGATORY:

THE MIZ & MORRISON vs. HAWKINS & RYDER THE HARDYS: There was nothing inherently wrong with this match. It was good for what it was and for free TV. It just irritated me that they blew their load on the Hardys reunion match so quickly. While I can understand why they did it (knowing Matt gets traded off Smackdown following the match), it still irked me. The outcome doesn't bother me, as Morrison had to hold the tights to get the pin but the teaming of the Hardys still does. This could've been accomplished with having Matt team with M.V.P. one more time, resulting in the same outcome, which would've made Hardy-throwing M.V.P. out of the Battle Royal later have that much more meaning.

MELINA & MICKEY vs. NATALYA & VICTORIA: This had the potential to be a lot better than it ended up, with Melina suffering an ankle injury off of a blown spot to the floor. (You'd think they'd have learned their lesson after Orton broke his collarbone.) While at first it seemed that it was a work, seeing as how it conveniently led to the double-DQ and subsequent announcer switch, I'm convinced that it wasn't due to two things. First, did you SEE the replay of her landing? She landed straight up and down, stiff as a board. It was awkward as hell. Secondly, you could CLEARLY hear her say "fuck" a couple times and actually apologize to Mickey on the outside for "ruining" the match. If that wasn't a legit injury, I'll eat my hat. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for the "hellcat" and that it's only a sprain and not a break.

JBL vs. KOFI KINGSTON: Not bad but not good. They went out and sort of went through the motions and turned in your textbook match. Kofi flew around like a ping-pong ball and JBL just powered the shit out of him. While I would've liked to have seen Kofi go over (especially since ECW could've used another pick and Kane to Raw doesn't immediately do much), JBL went over predictably with the clothesline-from-hell.

HARDCORE RHODES vs. CHAVO & BAM NEELY: While the match was largely forgettable, this remains in purgatory because if done correctly, a LOT of good could come from this angle with little Teddy Dibiase. D.H. Smith seems to be his most likely candidate for a partner and a Cody Rhodes heel turn seems inevitable. With the proper build and push, the next-generation stable that's being rumored could be a great opportunity for the young guys, especially if paired with a veteran of the game. A title win and extended run for Dibiase and (someone) seems forthcoming and I look forward to the fallout.

THE WRONG:

HHH vs. MARK HENRY: Could this have been any more predictable of an opener? If ANYONE expected Henry to squeeze out a win here, I'll be shocked. Henry controlled the match for most of it before HHH made his comeback to hit a Pedigree for the win. This match was just sort of "there" and started the show off in a less than spectacular fashion.

M.V.P. vs. TOMMY DREAMER (WITH COLON DELANEY) : This was a total squash. If Dreamer got any offense in, I must've blinked and missed it. Foley tried to build Tommy up on commentary but nothing he did in the ring reflected the comments. A waste of a match. M.V.P. would've been better served paired up with Kofi and they could've let JBL destroy Dreamer so we at least got one watchable match and a dud instead of a sub-par match and a dud.

THE RIDICULOUS:

FINLAY & HORNSWAGGLE vs. CARLITO & SANTINO: Ugh. Santino gets jobbed out to a comedy act once again and Carlito remains unmotivated. More importantly, the Irishman and leprechaun are actually challenging for the fucking tag titles at NoC. Miz and Morrison deserve better than this. They've evolved into a phenomenal tag-team and have actually brought some dignity and prestige to the championships. They should have NO problem disposing of Finlay and the midget at the pay-per-view but it's WWE, so realistically, we're probably looking at new tag-team champions. They should've moved Londrick to ECW and let them feud with M&M. That could've led to a GREAT series of matches and would've gotten London and Kendrick off of job duty. I suppose that also would've made a lick of sense, which is why it won't happen.

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By: Daniel Wilcox

ECW 6.24.08:

THE RIGHT:

HARDY/PUNK vs. MIZ/MORRISON: First of all, I'll mention Teddy Long's opening speech here because it doesn't really deserve a section of its own, but I liked the fact that they addressed the McMahon angle but didn't give too much time to it and basically said they were going to get on with the show. Long then brought out Hardy for his first appearance as an ECW talent, and I liked that little touch because it made Hardy seem like a big deal, which is necessary if he's supposed to be the new face of the brand now that Punk and Kane are gone.

So, another week goes by and once again our WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz are involved in the best part of the show, this time a fun little tag team match against ECW draft pick Matt Hardy and soon-to-be-departed CM Punk. I'll say now that I don't considered having the likes of Punk and Kane on the show despite their being drafted a bad thing, because it makes sense for them to have "one last appearance" and with the pay-per-view coming up, the ramifications of the Draft won't really be felt until next week. The match was a good one and got time, and although I wasn't a huge fan of Miz and Morrison losing right before the pay-per-view, they only lost due to Hornswoggle interference and so were kept strong. This was a decent way to kick off the show and was a nice showcase for all four men, and a good send off for Punk too.

And while we're here, I'll just say that if Morrison and Miz drop the titles to Finlay and Hornswoggle at Night of Champions, it is one of the most ridiculous booking decisions that creative make this year, and there's already been a few disastrous ones.

EXTREME RULES: KOFI vs. BENJAMIN: The natural progression for this feud was to take to the Extreme and that is exactly what they did here. The Kofi/Shelton feud has been very enjoyable over the last couple of months and this match was a nice addition to their series. Thankfully, they took advantage of the relaxed rules early and often, and they played into the finish as well. For the most part the match had a really good pace even if the crowd wasn't really into all that much. They had a couple of really nice spots including Shelton splashing into a trashcan lid shot and the hurricanrana into the trashcan that led to Shelton losing the match. I don't if this is the end to their feud but if it is then it's not a bad one by any means, and I think it's done a good job of giving both men something to do, which was much needed.

MIKE ADAMLE: This guy can do no wrong in my book. This week, we got "Jamaican Sensation", "Jamaican Me Crazy" and "Unos, Dos, Adios!" all in one night.

PURGATORY:

BOURNE vs. KNOX: I'm really torn on this one so obviously this is the best place for it. On the one hand, it makes sense for the feud between these guys to continue. Knox has really come into his own in the past couple of weeks and is actually a pretty decent big guy and Evan Bourne makes for a fantastic plucky underdog who the crowd will get behind, and he's been on a role. I think that for the most part they had a decent little match, worked in some nice spots and even the rest holds weren't completely boring as Knox decided to contort Bourne's body in as many different ways as possible. The finishing sequence in particular was nicely done, and Bourne looks to be really crisp in the delivery of all his moves and I think that he's a great fit for ECW.

However, I think that Knox went over a little too easily here. Bourne made a brief comeback, hit a missile dropkick and that beautiful hurricanrana, and then got caught in a heel kick attempt and destroyed with the backbreaker and Knox Out. And that was that. I know Bourne has had two victories on ECW already, but I don't think he is over enough at this point to be losing conclusively to Mike Knox. I can understand them wanting to protect Knox because he has potential, as does this rivalry, but I think something like a count out or DQ loss for him would have worked better, and then you can have him take out Knox post-match to build sympathy for Bourne and get heat for Knox, because neither are exactly the most over guys on the show.

THE WRONG:

KANE vs. MARK HENRY: If they wanted to make the ECW Championship a triple threat match then obviously Mark Henry needed to go over here so I have absolutely no problem with that, but my problem is with the way he did it. For me, it was just far too decisive. The champ gets beat in 3 minutes heading into the pay-per-view and we're meant to care about the title match Sunday? I don't think so. It was a poor match too and if they're only going to give it 3 minutes I would much rather have seen either the opening tag match or Extreme Rules bout go on last, but they have to keep pushing Mark Henry. This whole thing just came off as rushed and was poorly done.

THE RIDICULOUS:

NADDA:

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And I'm out of here!