Wrestling’s 4R’s Tuesday Edition - 8.19.08: AJ and Kurt Celebrate the Olympics, The Smackdown Go Home Show and Summerslam 2008!

Posted by Larry Csonka on 08.19.2008

The R’s officially move to their split format and begin by breaking down Impact, Smackdown and THE SUMMERSLAM!

How the 4R's of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R's. The column will run TWO times a week. On Tuesdays I will discuss TNA Impact and WWE Smackdown. Also, if there is a PPV, that will be covered in this column as well. The column will run again on Friday's, covering WWE Raw (with Jeremy Thomas) as well as ECW on Sci-Fi. If there is a PPV that weekend, I will also run the RETRO R's of the show from the year before as well as address some comments when time permits. I will 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. I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.

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In HD where available…


By: Larry Csonka

iMpact 8.14.08:

The Right:

Christian Cage and Rhino vs. The Rock and Rave Infection (Rave and Rock) w/Christy Hemme: The opening match on Impact was Cage and Rhino, fresh off of beating Team 3D at Hard Justice battling the Rock and Rave Infection. The Rock and Rave Infection have a lot of potential as a team and the gimmick actually is not bad, but it is so over the top that it becomes stupid. But they are a fine team to have on the roster. This was a perfectly fine opening match with all four working hard. Cage and Rhino continue to look great as a team and they gave the Rock and Rave Infection enough offense to make them look like a threat before beating them. It could have been a bit longer, but it was a fine opener.

30+:I'd like to think we all know the drill by now. TNA is supposed to be the alternative, they try to be different, and they claim to be the wrestling promotion. So I am their conscience, their wrestling stopwatch. Each and every week I keep track of the time of wrestling on the show, and discuss it here. TNA got over the 30-minue mark this week, which is good for me. Not only did they provide a good amount of wrestling but also I still contend that when they offer more wrestling, around this time mark, they tend to put on their better shows. I am counting the Olympic shit, because it IS wrestling, technically.

Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Jay Lethal: Sheik Abdul Bashir made his "official" debut on Impact this past week facing off with Jay Lethal. Bashir got promo time before the match, and is playing the classic foreign heel character. He explained to us all that he stole everything lady America had, money, cars, real estate, and fame. That it wasn't difficult to take because she wanted someone to have it. And as we lazily stood by for a handout, the Middle Eastern Nightmare took his. But the fact is that he doesn't love lady America, no; he just loves raping her. Damn. They proceeded to have a fine little match, a bit short at 5-minutes, but it was solid and I had no complaints overall. Bashir busted out the SPIKE from the boot, and then finished Lethal with the "WMD" for the win. After the match Sonjay Dutt took the time to come out and drop a 450 on Lethal, who was left in the ring by Bashir. THAT FEUD MUST CONTINUE. People will either accept the Bashir gimmick for what it is, or they will hate it due to the rape and WMD deal. It's a fine line to walk so they have to be careful. Overall it worked well, he cheated to win and Dutt got one up on Lethal.

James Storm w/Roode and Miss Jackie vs. Hernandez w/Salinas and Hector Guerrero: Last week Homicide was put through a glass table by Beer Money, which led to LAX losing the tag titles at the Hard Justice PPV. This led to Hernandez demanding revenge on Beer Money and he was granted a match with James Storm. Overall this wasn't a bad match, but lacked some flow early on. Hernandez does have potential as a singles, but I think he needs to be in there with the right guy. Storm is a good guy to have him in there with as he sells well for everyone, and has such great personality. The match was more about the interference from Roode and Jackie, with Hernandez overcoming it for the win. This win gets Hernandez a match vs. Roode next week, and if he wins and when Homicide is back, I would suspect a tag title rematch, which could lead to the LAX split if Homicide takes the loss again. This worked well from a storytelling aspect, but I wish the match would have bee a little longer.

Team 3D vs. Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash: Team 3D battled TNA Champion Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash in what was a good old school style tag bout. Team 3D isn't flashy, but when they want to they can work a regular match just fine. Nash actually wasn't offensive in his performance and they got close to 7-minutes after the commercial break. Joe looked great in the match, making Devon tap out for what looked like the win. After the match Joe snapped, grabbed a chair and laid the ass whooping on Devon, which caused the referee to overturn the decision. Some people hated this, but I loved the return of killer Joe. They had turned him into a whiney bitch in previous weeks, but this was a change for the better I feel. Joe didn't care about the victory, he just wanted to beat people down and he did so. I had no problems with this.

puRgatoRy:

Matt Morgan vs. Johnny Devine: Matt Morgan was back in action this week, doing his best Bill Goldberg/Brock Lesnar impersonation. He faced off with Johnny Devine and destroyed him in quick order. After the match Team 3D came to the ring to get revenge for their little buddy and beat down Morgan until Abyss made the save and cleared the ring. He and Morgan shook hands and all was well with the monsters. As I have pointed out with Kozlov on Smackdown, Morgan needs to get into a real feud ASAP. Sure he is looking impressive killing low card guys and jobbers, but you can't do that forever. Also Abyss needs something solid as well. His saving the day routine will only go so far. Hopefully the attack by 3D leads to some form of feud for the two big men, because they need it.

The wRong:

Olympic Rules Match: Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles w/Kurt's Gold Medal is on the line: Coming out of the Hard Justice PPV it appeared as if Angle would be out with an injury angle to sell the awesome top rope DDT he took in the last man standing match at that show. Unfortunately that wasn't to be as they had him right back on TV, I hated this. He explained that he wanted no part of the last man standing match because it wasn't wrestling, and since AJ got to pick that match, he was picking on Olympic Rules match for tonight. I also hated doing an immediate rematch of the PPV bout. The rules were no ropes, three two-minute periods, they would get 2pts for a takedown, 2pts for a near fall and a pin would end it. So they had the match, Angle dominated early but AJ made the comeback and they went to the third period. We got an Olympic ref bump, a bat, guitar, blood and AJ winning after time was out. WHO? WHAT? WHERE? HOW? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? The only good thing in my opinion is that AJ took another win from Angle.

Non-Title Match: Taylor Wilde © vs. Christy Hemme w/Traci Brooks is the Special Referee/Kim and Kong While I am a big fan of the TNA Knockouts Division and will sing their praises, I will also call them out on the bad, and this folks was BAD. The TNA Knockouts Champion Taylor Wilde had a non-title match against Christy Hemme. I knew that this was going to be a bad idea from the get go, I was going to give it a chance, but Hemme has not improved much at all over the last few years, and I fear for her many times when she gets in the ring. They only got 3-minutes, but it felt like 17. There were botched moves, no flow and Hemme controlled WAY too much of the match. I know Hemme is the heel and Wilde has been booked as the underdog, but there was NO reason that Hemme should have gotten so much offense in on the champion. That was completely ridiculous in my opinion. The match was plain horrible. The only thing that made the segment worth anything was the attack on Wilde by Kong and Saeed. It was a great beat down, and got better when Gail Kim made the save. Kim and Kong work SO well together, it seems effortless. The only complaint is that I hate TNA face saves. They come in, house of fire, get beat down and THEN clear the ring. It isn't rocket science, this isn't a mini-match, just clear the damn ring and be down with it. Gail saved Wilde and stood tall as her "sister" Katie Kim cheered her on. ANGLE ALERT.

The Ridiculous:

KAREN'S ANGLE: Once again this could be a tool to really advance angles, but most of the time it is a waste of the time allotted. I mentioned that they are getting worse each week, and this week was the topped thus far. They had the Beautiful People as the guests on the show, and what could have been a great outlet for them to show how truly bitchy they are. Instead of pushing them like they should be, they used this as a vehicle to possibly ruin the group. They introduced their new stylist, someone to primp them and dress them. FUCKING KIP JAMES. Wearing his UBER gay trunks with the lips on them and acting gayer then he did when he was with Chuck. WHO? WHAT? WHERE? HOW? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? Seriously, lets go back in time and try to recapture what worked once. Why does this man have a job? Fire him, fire Russo and you better NOT ruin the Beautiful People!

DEAR MIKE AND DON… Dear Mike and Don,

Love,
Larry

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By: Larry Csonka

WWE SmackDown 8.15.08

The Right:

Jeff vs. Shelton, Enter MVP: In a show of continuity, and episodic booking the Jeff Hardy and MVP feud continued as we got a rematch from last week that saw Jeff Hardy battle Shelton Benjamin for the US Title. Sure it sounds like it doesn't make sense, but it does, trust me. Jeff and Shelton had another really good match for the second week in a row. I don't think it was quite as good as last week's match, and the botch at the end hurt it a "little" bit, but overall another very good effort from both men. Jeff is always over, and Shelton; since winning the US Title has been doing very well and taking advantage of his most recent push. Jeff seemed to have everything locked up and was heading for the US Title, until MVP came down to crash the party once again. Jeff would end up taking out both MVP and Shelton with the Swanton Bomb and left triumphant, just without the title he was challenging for. I really hate DQ finishes like this because you invest over 15-minutes into the match and then WHAM, F'd in the A. But I will say that I am ok with this for a couple of reasons. #1 it perfectly fits into the angle they are doing with MVP and Jeff. MVP has carried the feud on the stick and I am digging it. #2, Kennedy is injured and could be out for up to 6-months. If so his feud with Shelton is screwed. Judging by the after match actions, I would say that this feud turns into a three-way feud over the US Title.

THE Brian Kendrick w/Ezekiel vs. Scotty Goldman: The adventures of THE Brian Kendrick and BIG ZEKE continued this past week on Smackdown. The thing that I continue to like is the fact that they are allowing Kendrick promo time each week. Winning matches are all well and good, but the guys need time to talk to get over and this is allowing him to do that. His opponent this week was the debuting Scotty Goldman, or the artist formerly known as Colt "BOOM BOOM" Cabana. Goldman got the old screen in screen 1980's WWE Superstars interview, and was pretty funny as he joked about being stuck in a box, and that there were two of him at the same time. He's a give or take character. He's great at comedy, but is talented wrestler. His personality will help him a lot of he gets a chance, because so many developmental talents lack personality when they get called up. The match they had was a short one but once again allowed The Brian Kendrick to look good. Goodman put up some fight, but in the end THE KENDRICK was too much for him to handle. Goodman looked good and showed a lot of energy out there and hopefully he gets a chance down the line to connect with the crowd. I will say again that after Summerslam the really need to get him into e feud with someone, because they can't keep up the same act forever.

Edge owns your soul and is taking you to hell!: Don't worry, I won't make a "Joker" comparison with Edge, I haven't gone to see the new Batman flick yet. But I will say that Edge continues to be great on Smackdown and in single handedly carrying the feud between he and Taker. It is safe to say that because Taker hasn't been on the shows at all. But Edge has continually done an excellent job and is showing why man thing he is the current MVP of the WWE. He has gone from "the cowardly lion" with his backup helping him at every turn to a man that has snapped and had decided if he is going down, that everyone that is against him is going down with him. Come on, an insane man clicking his heels in evil joy is a great visual. The ending segment was another example of his greatness, and as mentioned he is not only carrying the feud, but the Hell in a Cell match is THE reason to purchase Summerslam. If he and Taker do what they have done earlier this year in this match, we're in for a treat.

puRgatoRy:

New Talent: I am not sure what to feel this week in regards to introducing new talent. The introduced both Colt Cabana (going by Scotty Goldman) and Jay Bradley (Ryan Braddock) on the show this week. They didn't just throw them out there as jobbers either. They got full entrances, music, commentary also built them up and as mentioned above Goldman even got the old screen in screen 1980's WWE Superstars interview. These were good steps, but with that being said they were both defeated soundly and quickly. Goldman was in a no win situation because they are pushing Kendrick. Braddock was flat out fucked facing Big Show. Losing in week one isn't always bad, hell Evan Bourne didn't win his first match and is now just being awesome on ECW. It will be important to see how the follow up booking goes, but I am concerned with their starts.

The Big Show vs. Ryan Braddock: The Big Show returned this week to Smackdown and made quick work of new comer Ryan Braddock. Braddock is the former Jay Bradley or Bradley Jay from developmental, depending on the time you saw him. Braddock isn't a bad talent, sort of a JBL style worker and has decent size. Although the last time I saw him he couldn't talk to save his life. When I saw him in Deep South they seemed high on him as he was ruling the territory as the champion. This was a squash as Show killed him with relative ease, and that was that. I am trying not to be too hard on this because Show has been derailed by Umaga's injury. I think that they wanted to get him out there and remind people tat he was on the brand, but heading into Summerslam where he doesn't have a match, I don't see the purpose of having him on the show. Why not have MVP face Braddock, have some back and forth, let him kick his face in and then after the match have Jeff come out for some brawling. Better YET, have Jeff come down for payback and totally FUCK MVP by causing him an UBER embarrassing loss to the newcomer? That would have been great payback for MVP talking shit on Jeff's life, lost house, dead dog and the like.

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Festus: Not many people were looking forward to this match, but honestly, it was not a bad little match at all. It was a bog man battle, Festus went bat shit at the bell and tested Kozlov more than he has been to this point. Festus got to run wild, and was looking to derail the big Russian, but ended up running into the big head but, which signaled his end. Whole Kozlov continues to roll, I have some issues with him again this week. His performances are fine, but I think it is a bad idea for him to destroy, in back to back weeks, one of the few tag teams on the brand. While WWE doesn't really care about tag teams, I do and it made Jesse and Festus look weak. And if they look weak, it will be hard to buy them as challengers. It isn't a hard concept. Also I think that head butt finish needs to go. The man is supposedly a SAMBO champion/master, give him something that plays off of that. The head butt is lame and the man is headed towards neck fusion surgery if he hits a bad one. Let him rip off people's arm or go back to the Chernobyl Bomb (Torture Rack Bomb) he used in developmental.

The wRong:

Non-Title Match: HHH © vs. Kenny Dykstra: Heading into Summerslam the WWE Champion HHH was in action against a familiar foe, young Kenny Dykstra. Before the match there was a promo by HHH discussing the match with Khali, and Dykstra busted that up with some words to say. Essentially he said that this was a huge opportunity for him, and he would take advantage of that. HHH gave a shout out to the Spirit Squad, mentioning that he admired his "Spirit," but that Dykstra picked the wrong man and time. Khali and Singh came to the ring to watch and to enlighten HHH to the fact that he should take his health, pride and title and run before Khali KILLED him. HHH destroyed Dykstra, he got in some offense, but he was no match and lost in quick order. Afterwards HHH laid out the title and challenged Khali to come to the ring, and when he didn't he threatened to beat down Singh. This led to Khali coming into the ring, and HHH owning him by sending him to the floor. At this point I started to dislike the whole deal. It all went well up and to this point, but the after match actions didn't sit well with me. They aren't doing anything to make you think that Khali will defeat him. Go back to the Khali vs. Cena program, where Khali owned him, laying him out several times and even PINNING him on SNME. They gave the illusion that Khali could not only hurt the champion, but also beat him. Last week HHH fought FOREVER and finally went down to the head massage. This week, instead of taking a vicious beating and making it look like Khali had a chance, he cleared the ring and stood tall, with ease. Add into that the fact the he constantly mocks Khali and makes him look like a goof and I don't think they are building to the match well.

Michelle McCool and Maria vs. Maryse and Natalya: The ladies were in action on the show, and well, it likely would have been better if they hadn't. This was not a good match at all. Whoever thinks that Maria and Maryse wrestling each other is a good idea needs to be fired and fired quickly. Seriously, we got rid of Cherry who wasn't a bad little worker and wasn't the same as the others so we could have this? Things just didn't click here, and even the finish with McCool and Natalya looked off. If you missed this you missed nothing at all, with the only positive being that Natalya got a clean win on the champion to set up a title rematch.

The Ridiculous:

The Main Event Interview: And this week I make the argument once again, but it now goes to the ridiculous. While I have really been enjoying Smackdown lately, there is one thing I have not liked about the show, and that is relying on the Main Event Interview as they had. Edge and Vickie have been very good, the angle is good and the material they are delivering is good, but I do not like the trend of the show as far as the ending goes. For the last FIVE weeks: 8.15.08, 8.08.08, 8.01.08, 7.25.08 and 7.18.08 they have closed the show with the dreaded Main Event Interview. One time? Sure, no problem. Twice, hell we can do that. Three times is pushing it, but what the hell. But once you hit four in my book that is a trend and a crutch. The last real main event we had on Smackdown was Edge vs. The Big Show, which was stopped by Vickie for her and Edge to make up. Don't get me wrong, I don't want them putting on PPV caliber main events on the show but come on, we can do much better than this. Can we break it up and use it every other week. How about they do two weeks on and two weeks off. Please do something, ANYTHING to make it a bit different. Again I want to say that the segments have been good to great, I will not take away from the good work they are doing; it is just that I don't like the trend of using the segment to close the show like they have been. Mix it up WWE; this is getting tedious like the way Raw used to be with the 20-minute opening promo each and every week.

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~WWE SUMMERSLAM 2008~

By: Larry Csonka

The Matches:

MVP defeated Jeff Hardy @ 10:10 via pin **¼

Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix defeated Mickie James and Kofi Kingston @ 5:25 via pin to win the IC and Women's Titles *½

ECW Title Match: Matt Hardy defeated Mark Henry @ 0:35 via DQ (ASS)

World Title Match: CM Punk defeated JBL @ 12:05 via pin **½

WWE Title Match: HHH defeated the Great Khali @ 10:00 via pin *¾

Batista defeated John Cena @ 14:10 via pin ***¾

HELL in a CELL: The Undertaker defeated Edge @ 27:00 via pin ****½

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The Right:

MVP defeated Jeff Hardy @ 10:10 via pin: The show opened with the match I figured would kick things off, that being Jeff Hardy vs. MVP. I have really enjoyed the build to this match, as MVP has continually called Hardy reckless, and basically fucked him at every turn including last Friday when he cost him the US Title. It has all been laid out well, and with Jeff's recent performances with Shelton I had high hopes for the match. They had solid back and forth early, with the tide tuning move being an overhead belly to belly by MVP to Jeff, which landed Jeff in the corner upside down. JR and Tazz then played up the injured neck of Jeff throughout. MVP wrestled a smart match, working the neck and continually countering Hardy's trademark spots. Jeff made the big comeback and looked like he was about to win, until Shelton ran down. Jeff decided against the Swanton and dove onto Shelton, wiping him out. He then tried the Swanton again, but MVP rolled out of the way and hit the drive by kick for the win. MVP got a MUCH needed PPV win here, which is a good thing. The finish was clean because Jeff proved that he was reckless as MVP declared for week. Overall this was a fine opener, but slightly disappointing considering the roll Jeff has been on. It was not as good as the last two matches he had with Shelton. Speaking of Shelton, him running out played well off of Friday's match, as well as my theory that they are transitioning to a three-way feud over the US Title. This was a fine way to open the show.

Shawn's Announcement, Jericho's Refusal, Rebecca's Fat Lip: One of the angles that seemed to have many interested in this PPV was that of Shawn Michaels' announcement on his future, and what role Chris Jericho would play in it. Shawn came to the ring with his wife, which was angle alert central to be sure. But even if you see something coming a mile away it isn't always bad, as long as it is executed well, which this was. Shawn explained that the doctor's told him that due to the damage to his eye and other injuries that it would be best for him to retire, and after talking with his wife and family, he agreed with that. Shawn said that the fans had given him the chance to be the Heart Break Kid, the ICON, The Main Event, the Showstopper and even Mr. WrestleMania. He also was the guy that screwed Bret Hart, the guy that formed DX, the man that innovated the ladder match, the guy that lost his smile and will forever be known for retiring Ric Flair. He then said that now he can be known as something else; a full time husband and father. But it wasn't all puppies and kittens, because Chris Jericho and his suit did NOT approve. Jericho said NO to this retirement, no because he wanted Shawn to admit that Chris Jericho was the reason and Chris Jericho alone. Jericho demanded that Shawn admit this, and then tell his children that the reason daddy can't wrestle is because of Jericho. Shawn agreed, but said that Jericho would have to tell his wife and kids that he will NEVER be Shawn Michaels. Jericho then went to punch Shawn, who moved and Rebecca took a punch to the lip (a stiff shot, because there was a little bit of blood and it swelled up) and was dropped. Similar to the Booker vs. Roode angle Shawn attended to his wife as Jericho looked freaked at what had happened. Everyone played their roles perfectly, and this was another great segment from these guys.

Take one for the team baby...

World Title Match: CM Punk defeated JBL @ 12:05 via pin: Usually I would have an issue with the title matches being so low on the card, but Summerslam sells itself usually, and they had the Cell on top, so I didn't mind as much. The match was maybe a bit shorter than expected, but that was a good thing I feel with JBK in there. They kept a good pace through out and the crowd seemed into the match. Punk won clean with the Go 2 Sleep, and that was that. They even gave him a bit of an extended celebration after the match, which was a nice touch. JBL seemed motivated for once, but in the end this was an pretty average match. Although I will say that this was a bit better than I expected. Punk takes the clean win, which is EXACTLY what he needed here and that's the good thing. No problems here in my book.

Batista defeated John Cena @ 14:10 via pin: While we can argue all day on the build to the match and whether or not it should have been kept until WrestleMania, Batista and John Cena had a match at Summerslam and I felt it delivered. They went 14-minutes and kept up a great pace all though out the match, which I wasn't sure they could do. Don't get me wrong, I thought it could be good, but keeping a brisk pace as they did is a challenge, especially since Batista has had issues going long in the past. They had good action, survived trademark moves and the crowd, mostly pro-Batista was into the action. In the end I felt the match had a really big time feel to it with the hot crowd through out. They both worked and sold the knees well, and the counters at the end were very good. After months of sub-par performances with JBL, Cena looked like he did last year and Batista also carried his end of things very well. It was a good match and performance from both men and should create good buzz for a rematch. And you have to love a nice squeaky-clean finish in what was billed as a big time match. I can see them re-matching soon, and possibly saving the rubber match for WrestleMania.

HELL in a CELL: The Undertaker defeated Edge @ 27:00 via pin: As I mentioned in the Smackdown R's above, Edge has single handedly carried this feud heading into Summerslam and made the Hell in a Cell match THE reason to buy this PPV because this was awesome. And if this was the reason you bought the PPV, I cannot see you being disappointed. Edge came to the ring with the insane/euphoric look on his face, like he was pleased to enter the devil's playground. Edge controlled early on and was destroying the Undertaker, even pulling out all of his weapons of choice (T,L,C) and some old favorites like the camera. Two spots that ruled were Edge spearing Taker through the cage, as well as a SICK spear through the ECW announce table, after running off of the other two tables. Taker eventually was able to come back, including a chokeslam to Edge, who was on the top rope and flew through two stacked tables, in an ode to their TLC match. Taker then decided that he would get payback on Edge for everything he did to him. He delivered a spear, a camera shot, a CONCHAIRTO and then finally finished him off with the tombstone. Afterwards Edge was sent to hell as Taker chokeslammed him off of a ladder, which busted a hole in the ring. It then caught fire, and Taker had him some Canadian BBQ. Edge was an awesome crazed heel here, using the entire bag of tricks to try and defeat the Undertaker. In return Taker used many of the things that Edge has used to screw him over the last 10-months or so to get the final revenge, we got to see Edge pay for his sins and receive his comeuppance. In the end we got a awesome match that deserved the main event spot and lived up to the hype they put into it. The questions now are, what does the Undertaker have in store for La Familia. And will Edge dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? Better yet, with the fire, will be return as two-face? Oh come on lighten up, you guys started the Joker comparisons. Maybe something like this on Friday...

puRgatoRy:

None

The wRong:

Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix defeated Mickie James and Kofi Kingston @ 5:25 via pin to win the IC and Women's Titles: I wasn't a fan of the feud and booking to the match here. I thought the Burchill's got the shaft, but that's life. So they transitioned to this feud, and instead of singles matches we got the Russo-Riffic special of a tag match with both titles on the line. But I was willing to give it a go here at Summerslam, even though I was positive that Santino and Beth would win. When the match was over, al I could think is that it was "fine for what it was." It was an under card match that was designed to "shakeup" the two title scenes and provide comedy. If that's what the want to do, I suppose that's fine. The wrestling was decent, and now we'll get weeks of Santino comedy. It isn't a horrible thing, but t also isn't a great thing either. He's been booked like such a joke that having him as the champion is a joke. I really feel that it was too soon to take the title off of Kofi. I didn't like this, not my cup of tea I suppose.

WWE Title Match: HHH defeated the Great Khali @ 10:00 via pin: I did not have high expectations for this match at all. I will say that I never bought Khali winning here due to the poor booking leading into the show, which I discussed in the Smackdown R's above. That being said I gave them a chance, and while it wasn't atrocious, it was very repetitive and just not that good of a match. HHH took some beating but escaped the vise grip and made it look easy. Khali relied on the regular assortment of holds and it got tedious. The bottom line is that they worked the basic monster formula, and it was a bit better than I expected but that doesn't make it good. I will give them credit for one thing, they got a big pop for the pedigree spot to finish the match. The question now is where does HHH go from here? He made Khali look silly for weeks and then beat him clean with his finish. Surely they have to move on from here…

The Ridiculous:

ECW Title Match: Matt Hardy defeated Mark Henry @ 0:35 via DQ: There was one thing that I absolutely loathed on this PPV, and that was the ECW Title match. Does anyone remember last year on PPV when Punk defended against Big Daddy V, and they had Striker cause the DQ finish? Yeah, they did the same thing here tonight, just replace Striker with Atlas, V with Henry and Punk with Hardy. WWE continues to take a dump on the ECW Title when they do shit like this. And not this isn't a rant on "the original ECW," this is a rant on the "ECW Brand." People wonder why ECW isn't taken seriously, and this is a reason why right here. They can't use the excuse that they were running low on time, the PPV ended at 10:43pm. They had a cushion of 7-minutes easy. Someone on the creative team thought that this was a good idea to extend the feud. Well, it wasn't. It sucked, it made no sense, it made Henry look like a big pussy and as a paying customer I feel insulted. Now I know someone will say that if they had a bad 7-minute match I would have bashed it, well yes if it sucked I would have but at least make the effort. This match felt like a big middle finger to my bank account. That pretty new ECW belt smells like shit now, good work WWE. Every time they start to tease something good with the ECW brand, I think Vince forgets he owns it and destroys it again. What bullshit. In closing I have to say this because I rip TNA for it constantly. You do NOT use your PPV to sell the TV. If they bought your PPV, they are already watching the TV.

Closing Thoughts:
Overall I will go with a 7.4 out of 10 for the event and a recommendation to see the show for the last two matches as well as HBK and Jericho. The under card, minus the ECW Title match was largely solid. HHH vs. Khali was about what you would expect, and every thing else worked rather well. The show was highlighted by the well laid out and executed HBK/Jericho interview, Cena vs. Batista and the Hell in a Cell main event match. After a few years of stinkers where Summerslam was concerned, they delivered a good show here.

---

2008 PPV Rankings:
-ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II {8.8}
-WWE WRESTLEMANIA {8.7}
-ROH RISING ABOVE {8.6}
-ROH UNDENIABLE {8.5}
-ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS {8.3}
-TNA LOCKDOWN {8.2}
-WWE NO WAY OUT {8.1}
-WWE ROYAL RUMBLE {8.0}

-TNA VICTORY ROAD {7.9}
-TNA SLAMMIVERSARY {7.7}
-TNA HARD JUSTICE {7.6}
-TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {7.5}
-WWE SUMMERSLAM {7.4}
-TNA DESTINATION X {7.2}
-WWE BACKLASH {7.0}

-WWE ONE NIGHT STAND IV {6.8}
-TNA FINAL RESOLUTION {6.75}
-WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS {6.7}
-WWE GREAT AMERICAN BASH {6.1}
-WWE JUDGMENT DAY {6.0}
-TNA SACRIFICE {6.0}

2008 TOP PPV Match Rankings:
-(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) CAREER THREATENING MATCH: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels *****


-(WWE SUMMERSLAM) HELL IN A CELL: Edge vs. The Undertaker ****½
-(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) WORLD TITLE MATCH: Edge © vs. The Undertaker ****½
-(ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Tyler Black ****½
-(ROH RISING ABOVE) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Austin Aries ****½
-(ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II) ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Age of the Fall (Jacobs and Black) © vs. Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries ****½
-(TNA LOCKDOWN) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Samoa Joe ****½
-(TNA VICTORY ROAD) (World X Cup Semifinal Elimination Tag Match) Curry Man, Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin vs. Puma, Yoshino and Milano Collection AT vs. Rey Bucanero, Averno and Ultimo Guerrero vs. Williams, Dux and Kozlov ****½

-(ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS) Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries ****¼
-(ROH UNDENIABLE) GRUDGE MATCH: Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong ****¼
-(WWE NO WAY OUT) RAW ELIMINATION CHAMBER ****¼
-(TNA HARD JUSTICE) LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles ****¼

-(TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Christian Cage ****
-(TNA FINAL RESOLUTION) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Christian Cage ****
-(WWE ROYAL RUMBLE) The Royal Rumble Match ****
-(WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS) WWE TITLE MATCH: HHH © vs. John Cena ****
-(WWE ONE NIGHT STAND) TLC: The Undertaker vs. Edge ****
-(WWE GREAT AMERICAN BASH) Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels ****
-(ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II) FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR: Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong ****

-(TNA VICTORY ROAD) (Full Metal Mayhem – Six-Man War Match) AJ Styles, Christian Cage & Rhino vs. Kurt Angle & Team 3D ***¾
-(TNA SLAMMIVERSARY) TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH: Petey Williams © vs. Kaz ***¾
-(TNA FINAL RESOLUTION) TNA NO-DQ WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH: Gail Kim ©vs. Awesome Kong ***¾
-(TNA LOCKDOWN) LETHAL LOCKDOWN: Team Cage vs. Team Tomko ***¾
-(TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS) HARDCORE STREET FIGHT: Team 3D and Brother Devine vs. Black Machismo and the Motor City Machineguns ***¾
-(ROH UNDENIABLE) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Jay & Mark Briscoe © vs. The No Remorse Corps ***¾
-(ROH RISING ABOVE) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH - 2 of 3 Falls: Jay & Mark Briscoe © vs. The No Remorse Corps ***¾
-(ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Go Shiozaki ***¾
-(WWE NO WAY OUT) SMACKDOWN ELIMINATION CHAMBER ***¾
-(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) WWE TITLE MATCH: Randy Orton © vs. John Cena vs. HHH ***¾
-(WWE BACKLASH) WORLD TITLE MATCH: The Undertaker © vs. Edge ***¾
-(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH: Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. CM Punk vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin ***¾
-(WWE JUDGMENT DAY) HBK vs. Chris Jericho ***¾
-(WWE SUMMERSLAM) John Cena vs. Batista ***¾

2008 PPV MVP AWARDS:
This is a little added deal I started last year, as I feel that there are some other things that should be mentioned from the PPV's. Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.

-ROH RISING ABOVE: Nigel vs. Aries (Stealing the Show)
-TNA FINAL RESOLUTION: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong (Making us Care about Women's Wrestling on the National Stage)
-ROH UNDENIABLE: Strong vs. Aries (The Grudge is Settled)
-WWE ROYAL RUMBLE: John Cena Shocks the World (No One Saw it Coming)
-TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS: Black Machismo Saves the X-Division (He is a Superman)
-WWE NO WAY OUT: Taker Eliminates the Competition (Elimination Chamber MVP)
-TNA DESTINATION X: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong © vs. ODB (Stepping up Again)
-WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXIV: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Thank You Flair)
-TNA LOCKDOWN: Angle vs. Joe (Great Build, Great Delivery)
-TNA SACRIFICE: Roxxi gets a Haircut (And makes the ultimate sacrifice…)
-ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS: Tyler Black (Becoming a Star at 21)
-WWE ONE NIGHT STAND: The Undertaker (You Crazy Fuck)
-TNA SLAMMIVERSARY: Kaz vs. Petey (Stealing the Show)
-WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS: HHH (Silencing the Critics)
-TNA VICTORY ROAD: Alex Shelley and Yoshino (Stealing the Show)
-WWE GREAT AMERICAN BASH: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (The Art of the Story)
-ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II Tyler Black (Stealing the Spotlight …Again)
-TNA HARD JUSTICE: AJ Styles and Kurt Angle (Last Man Standing)
-WWE SUMMERSLAM: Hell in a Cell (Edge and Taker do it again!)

And I'm out of here!