Wrestling’s 4R’s Friday Edition 03.20.09: Raw and ECW on Sci-Fi Reviewed!
Posted by Larry Csonka on 03.20.2009
It’s the Friday edition of the 4R’s, and Jeremy Thomas told me he loves Vicky Guerrero!
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 Jeremy will discuss 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.
By: Jeremy Thomas
Raw 03.16.09
The Right:
AS THE RAW TURNS: EDGE & VICKIE: Vickie was backstage in her office, and turned around to see Edge there. Apparently they haven't talked all week and Vick was upset and guilty. Edge stopped her and told her that he forgives her. She then proceeded to imply that Show sexually assaulted her, because he's overpowering and so big. And also, he's so big. Edge was a little uncomfortable with the amount of references to Show's size, which was done very well by him, and he told Vickie that Show was a home wrecker and what they have is real. Edge then told Vickie that Cena was the real culprit for telling Edge and humiliating them; Vickie agreed and said that if Cena touched her while she was refereeing the main event, even accidentally, he was out of ‘Mania. This was actually quite good work by both Vick and Edge, and it works quite well no matter what way they go. Edge could end up being screwed by Vickie because of his honest feelings for her, or he could be using her and getting ready to deliver his vengeance to them. I'm calling these soap opera segments and it is true, but it's soap opera that's working pretty well.
ORTON'S LAW > MISSOURI LAW?: Randy Orton and the rest of Legacy were backstage with T-Grish, who asked him why he dropped the charges against the Game. Orton was all sorts of pissed and talked about all the shit that ‘H had done last week, then rattled off a laundry list of charges: assault with a deadly weapon, trespassing, breaking and entering and aggravated assault. But Orton apparently had dropped the charges because he wanted to handle it personally at WrestleMania. Can you imagine being the police officer booking the H-Man and then having Orton come in to say "No, no…don't charge him. I want him out so I can beat the living hell out of him later." Also, not the smartest move on Orton's part, since if the Game went away for two felonies and two misdemeanors he'd surely be stripped of the tile and Orton would have better odds, but we've already covered that before with Orton wanting to get the Evolution monkey off his back. He got a great little line about how at WrestleMania it was going to be Orton's law and had some great livid, psychotic expressions in this interview. The logic was lacking a bit in some spots but this was an improvement over how the feud's gone to date, so I can handle that.
AS THE RAW TURNS: VICKIE AND SHOW: Later on in the show, Vickie was getting ready for her refereeing gig when she found Big Show in her office. Vick asked what Show was doing there and accused him of doing exactly what Edge had suggested, using her to get the title. Show countered that Vickie went after Show, not the other way around, and pointed out how he was anatomically superior to Edge. Burn! Show accused Edge being the one who was using Vickie, and said he'd prove that he loved Vickie. Much like the Edge/Vick segment this had good work by both people involved and creates an interesting situation between them. Honestly, who thought that leading up to WrestleMania, Cena wouldn't be the focus of the match he was in? I'm digging this so far.
puRgatoRy:
SHAWN MICHAELS & THE UNDERTAKER vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV & JBL: Raw started us off with a big tag team match with WrestleMania opponents HBK and the Dead Man taking on their rivals, the Koz and JBL. Shawn was particularly hyped up on his way down to the ring, and it was interesting to see the way they built him up. Obviously, the ‘Mania match is a face vs. face match, so someone's got to play the more heelish face. It seems pretty clearly set to be Shawn, as Lawler gave what some could consider to be a throwaway comment with "He's so full of himself." Lawler said it in a fantastic way that made it sound like a compliment and not a criticism of his arrogance. Of course we had the great stare down between the two during Taker's entrance. JBL came down with his Intercontinental Title but without his limo; apparently we all have to downsize a bit during these tough economic times. Koz was last and got, sadly, almost no crowd reaction from the Raw crowd. I'm starting to wonder if the Kozlov experiment is starting to go downhill. The opening moments of the match were a little odd, as Shawn didn't seem all that keen on facing Koz and tried to get Taker to come in; I'm chalking that up to more of Shawn's heelish side coming out, but it was a little inconsistent with Shawn's character. This match was largely slow and plodding with the heels controlling a good portion of the middle of the match; Shawn can bump well for anyone and make them look good, but with the Koz and Bradshaw moving like they're in quicksand, there was only so much that he could do to pick up the quality of the match. There just didn't seem to be a good flow to this match and it suffered as a result of that; the finish was pretty nice though, with Shawn tagging himself in to interrupt a Taker choke slam and superkicking JBL for the win. Taker was pissed and chased him off, then turned around while his music played. This allowed Shawn to come back out and deliver the Sweet Chin Music to solidify his place as the heel of the match. The interactions between Shawn and Taker were excellently done, but that's balanced out by the fact that the match wasn't particularly good. Points go to Vintage Cole, though, for resisting the "Vintage" comment though, instead calling it "Classic Shawn Michaels" and saving the vintage part for the recap. I'm guessing he finally picked up a thesaurus. See Mikey, variety is good!
'H vs. CODY RHODES: Yeah, we all knew this wasn't going to turn out well for the Codster. He came out to the ring on his own following ‘H's entrance, although once he hit the ring Orton and DiBiase came onto the ramp to watch. To Cody's credit, he played the arrogance on his way to the ring nicely, carrying that little sneer of his well. Cody tried to take advantage of the Game's distraction but it was to no avail, and from the opening salvo until the end of the match this was a pure and utter squash. Poor Cody. This was just odd though, as midway through the match, once ‘H had delivered a Pedigree to Rhodes after like a minute, he got the steel cage lowered down so he could brutalize Cody without interference from Legacy. Apparently, that was when the match officially started and the game spent another couple of minutes beating the tar out of Cody and throwing him into the walls of the cage to knock DiBiase and Orton down. Eventually a Sledgie shot finished it off and completed Cody's burial for the week. There's not much to rate here for the match; the more important parts are the storyline, which carried off much better than the last week by the simple virtue of actually being in the ring and being original, and the burial of Cody which of course is irritating. Still, it's an improvement over how this feud has been going, and Cody can stand to be made to look bad for the moment because it means Orton doesn't. Any questions of how it could have been done were covered with Steph being in the limo when ‘H left later in the show also, tying up that loose end.
KOFI KINGSTON, MVP & CM PUNK vs. KANE, SHELTON BENJAMIN & MARK HENRY: This obviously was a Money in the Bank preview, and we had the other two competitors, Christian and Finlay, on commentary. Oh, and Hornswaggle, who was busy laughing like an annoying freak as he marveled over Lawler's crown. This match got much more time than the other midcard matches tonight and it paid off a bit, though I'm serious about Horny, he was irritating as hell. While the match was pretty much a succession of heel domination followed by big moves from the faces to fight back, it didn't seem rushed or poorly paced which works in its favor. Henry was used sparingly and the match picked up toward the end before it degenerated into chaos, which allowed Punk to hit the G2S for the win. There was nothing offensive here, and it did its job well enough although I could have done without Hornswaggle on the mic.
EDGE vs. JOHN CENA: We got Vickie out as the Special Guest Referee, to a decidedly muted reaction from the crowd; it appears that she's gotten just a bit more sympathetic for the moment, which is kind of interesting. I can handle that perfectly well because I know that it's due to the storyline and that she can get them hating her again with just one "Excuse me!" Of course, we were going off of the stipulation announced earlier that if Cena touched Vickie, purposely or not, he was out of WrestleMania. They had the opportunity to tease that, with some near-accidental collisions and such, but instead they went with Vickie simply refusing to count pins and Cena getting in her face over it, though I did love her covering Edge to stop the Five-Knuckle Shuffle. This was far from the best Edge vs. Cena match ever, or even on free TV. It was, much like the rest of matches on the show, a little slow and too plodding; it's like someone slipped Valium into the coffee backstage. The end of this match saw Vickie trying to choke out Cena to get him out of the STF, and that brought Show down. Edge and Show beat down Cena and then let Vickie smack him around before Edge speared Show out of nowhere to end the show. This wasn't the worst match of the show, and it's nice to see the superface putting over the heels in one of the two World Title matches, but it was still the weakest portion of this feud from Raw. I was okay with the match overall but it certainly could have been better.
The wRong:
BETH PHOENIX, JILLIAN HALL & LAYLA vs. TRIPLE K, MICKIE JAMES & MELINA: This was leading into the Diva's Battle Royal at ‘Mania, and gave us the pleasure of one of the hottest three-person tag teams ever in the faces. Triple K and Mickie James both looked rather amazing, and it was nice to see Melina out with the feathers again, because they've always made her entrance something a little different. Plus, you know. Splits. Santino was at the announcing booth to provide commentary and did his usual excellent job, providing his humor and comments without overshadowing the match at all. Unfortunately, the match needed to be overshadowed a little, as it was just not good. Everyone was off their game, with Beth and Mickie being a little off on their timing, and even Melina and Beth couldn't find their groove. The match was a disjointed mess with no psychology to it and even less time given to it; Jillian, Layla and Kelly didn't enter the match, and Triple K didn't even get involved in any single way. The end saw Melina roll Beth up for the pin, but the match was downhill at that point and with as little time as they were given there was no way it was going to redeem itself. Awful stuff by the Raw ladies this week.
REY REY v s. DOLPH ZIGGLER: You know, Kizarney's gone, which isn't surprising…but Ziggler still has a job? I guess he's been behaving backstage, though the complete lack of an entrance for him doesn't bode well for the prospects of his future endeavors. There was nothing of particular significance to this match, with Ziggler controlling the opening minute or so until Cole announced that Mysterio had challenged JBL for the Intercontinental Title at ‘Mania, whereupon Rey Rey took over and hit his trademark moves to pick up the win. Cole brought his Vintage count of the night to two here for the record, which dampens the credit he gets for changing things up in the first match. This was a meaningless match which just gave them an excuse to announce Rey vs. JBL for ‘Mania and was far too short to have any real value on the show. Plus, for what was there Rey Rey sold WAY too much for Dolph. Just bad all around, and I would have much preferred that the time here be given to the Diva's match and we learned about Rey vs. JBL during the opening tag match.
THIS IS GOING TO BE THE PAYOFF??: You know, I've been talking for week after week how phenomenally the Jericho vs. The Legends thing has been going, and each week it's been true. Jericho's been carrying this feud against the Legends for weeks now and doing an amazing job of keeping us interested, particularly since we didn't know who he was going to face. Was it going to be Mickey Rourke? Ric Flair? Steve Austin? The possibilities went on week after week, and tonight we finally got the payoff. Can we rewind and forget that we did?
Before we get to that point, let me get down to in the actual events. Jericho came down as over as ever with the crowd, livid and disgusted with Flair for costing him his WrestleMania chance at the Money in the Bank match. Jericho did a great job as usual on the mic here, challenging Flair tonight to give himself his own early WrestleMania. This brought Flair down, who to my relief once again refused to get into the ring. I know a lot of us were worried that eventually Flair would step into the ring but he's avoided it so far and I have to give him all the credit in the world for that. Flair said that even though he couldn't wrestle, he'd found some men who could, and down came Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat and Roddy Piper. And here's where things turned bad. Listen, I'm not angry that a bunch of old-timers got one over on Jericho; we all knew that would happen at some point and I'm okay with it. What I'm not happy about is that after weeks of extraordinary build-up, we find out that our payoff is going to be Chris Jericho vs. Piper, Steamboat and Snuka at ‘Mania, with Flair in their corner and Rourke in the front row. This is quite possibly the worst possible match we could have gotten out of this who angle, and to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I think this was poor planning on the ‘E's part, because they created this angle, kept it going when Rourke pulled out of actually performing on the show, and then realized they didn't have a match. The end result is that Jericho gets a sub par match at ‘Mania and one he's sure to lose to give the Hall of Fame it's due. I'm not complaining about anyone's work here, because Jericho and Flair were good on the mic and the crowd was moderately into it, but I'm grading this down due to the poor payoff compared to the great build. Party foul, ‘E.
The Ridiculous:
DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don't care.
Actually you know what? This week I do care. These things are getting more and more desperate as time goes on, and this week it was flat-out, unmitigated laughter, as we found out that last year, the ‘E had more live events in Europe than the NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and the NFL combined. Oh, really? You're kidding, a company that bills itself as a worldwide leader in sports entertainment had more live events out of the ring than four purely North American sports leagues? Seriously, guys, this was the BEST you could come up with? It's time to call it quits with these things. Seriously.
The 411
DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don't care.
Actually you know what? This week I do care. These things are getting more and more desperate as time goes on, and this week it was flat-out, unmitigated laughter, as we found out that last year, the ‘E had more live events in Europe than the NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and the NFL combined. Oh, really? You're kidding, a company that bills itself as a worldwide leader in sports entertainment had more live events out of the ring than four purely North American sports leagues? Seriously, guys, this was the BEST you could come up with? It's time to call it quits with these things. Seriously.
SHOW RATING: **¾
Comment Time With Jeremy~!
From Brad:
Gotta agree Jeremy the way they have gone about the feud is just stupid, its like they are building to a SLEDGEHAMMER ON A POLE match at WM. Sigh. Why cant they just build every WM mainevent like Rock/Austin with Orton saying I need to beat you HHH blah blah blah sick video promos left right and centre. Fine by me.
I don't know that they'd want to build every WrestleMania feud the same way, because obviously they need to keep stuff fresh. However, I do agree with you that this feud could have been handled much simpler; as I've said before I'm a fan of "Keep It Simple, Stupid" when it comes to storylines. I think it trying to really build the emotion here they've gone way off base and tried to make the segments to complex, and it comes off as laughably bad in execution.
From SU_RKO:
You nailed that right on the head, Jeremy. I've been clamoring for that to happen for months. They have guys like Shelton, MVP, R-Truth, Chavo, Kendrick, and Helms and yet they can't build up a decent mid-card? They can't put more emphasis on them and give them more than 3-5 mins to work a match? They can't get them on PPV more than once or twice a year?
To me the talent is there to have an excellent mid-card on Smackdown and they're pissing it away.
Plus, it's not like Smackdown is loaded with main event guys like Raw is. Smackdown can certaintly afford to spare more TV/PPV time for these guys.
The Miz/Morrison v. Colons feud has proven that putting more emphasis on the lower to mid-card guys on Smackdown can work.
Look at what we've gotten out of that feud. Good wrestling, good promo work, and the first tag team feud that has actually mattered in 'E land in years.
Give them a chance, Vince.
I fully agree with you, SU_RKO. I would love to see them pile most of the main eventers on Raw, and leave SmackDown as the place where you have the up-and-comers who are on the cusp of becoming stars, and the main event talent that are at the "putting new guys over" stage of their career. You could make some serious new stars and build a really good midcard, making people care about these guys who we internet folks mark out about. Obviously that won't happen as the industry is too focused on the here and now of ratings, but in the meantime it's great to see occasional shows like this where the midcarders really excel, and hope that Vince is taking note too.
From Guest#4578
hmmmm I wonder why the midcard is held down so much on Smackdown... Oh yeah thats right... what show is HHH on again?
Come now. The Game doesn't bury all talent, and I've gone on record with this belief before. It is true that he's certainly buried talent before, but he's also put a lot of guys over when he felt they were ready for it. Anyway, the midcard is held back just as much on Raw; this has to do with the 'E's (Lack of) Creative Team, not the main event talent.
From 17:
Didn't actually know Kevin Nash was a Triple Crown winner as I wasn't watching when he was Diesel. I guess that makes him and JBL a combined disgrace. JBL's 2004 title reign was a disaster from start to finish which made Smackdown unwatchable. The only thing JBL deserves is a seat at a announcers booth as that's the only place he has ever been good.
The RAW divas are superior to the Smackdown divas and the booking should reflect this. The RAW divas should easily destroy the Smackdown divas leaving room for Gail Kim to return as the only Smackdown diva who poses a threat due to the fact that she is the only one who is more than just barely adequate. As long as the Butterfly division has a model as their champion they will never have any credibility no matter who they beat and having them go over divas with actual talent only damages the credibility of the RAW divas.
We'll have to agree to disagree about JBL's title reign, which went over with most as a success. I'll admit I didn't like it early on, but grew to respect JBL during that World Title reign. I think he needs to move to announcing or General Managing now, but I won't deny his past accomplishments. I do agree on the Raw Diva vs. Butterflies on who's superior, but the only way they're going to build the SmackDown girls up is by giving them a few wins like this for credibility so that they look like potential threats during the Divas Battle Royal. I personally hope to see Melina, Mickey or Beth win that, but they don't look good if they don't beat credible opponents, so I'm okay with the Butterflies getting an odd win here or there.
From Shockmaster:
Am I the only one who thought Matt was about to "take credit" for burning Jeff's house down when he pulled out the dog collar?
Jeremy, I'm surprised you made no mention of JR saying Kozlov was "undefeated on Friday night" during the match. I swear next time it will be "undefeated on even numbered Fridays".
THE SEGMENT NO ONE WANTED THE FIRST TIME: My reaction was exactly the same. The writers were miffed over the bad fan response and just decided they wouldn't bother trying. Over the last few weeks I legitimately forgot 'H is a Smackdown guy.
You're certainly not the only person who thought that about Matt; in fact, I think that was supposed to be something we were supposed to have been led to consider, though I don't think they'll go the distance with that one. It worked amazingly well though, and I loved it. I did note the "undefeated on Friday night" thing, but they acknowledged that he lost to Shawn so I'm okay with it. If they keep using that like it means something though, you can bet it'll turn up in the R's. As for the recap segment, you're not the only one who nearly forgot; I did too. It's funny how when push comes to shove, Raw becomes the "focus show." It's not surprising, but the 'E does do a terrible job of masking the fact, which makes SmackDown and ECW seem superfluous comparatively.
By: Larry Csonka
ECW 03.17.09:
The Right:
Christian and MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin and Mark Henry: The opening match on this week's edition of ECW was Christian and MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin and Mark Henry in what would be classified as a Money in the Bank preview match. A sound theory to help hype WrestleMania. This was a very solid, if unspectacular opening match. They got an ok amount of time, could have used more, they all worked hard and it did its job as an opener. A match where the crowd knows everyone involved, and they definitely have an issue, as they are involved in MITB. The only thing I worry about is MITB burn out. On Smackdown tonight we have MVP vs. Shelton, and then the next week we have an eight-man tag with all the guys. Monday we had a tag match with Christian and Finlay on commentary and then this match. That is A LOT of the same guys facing each other, and if they aren't careful, they may burn people out on the match up heading into the match. I think that it's a legit concern.
The Dirt Sheet: While I am not a huge fan of the main event interview, I enjoyed this one. Miz and Morrison did their thing, but it was kept short and to the point. Gloating with the Bella chicks worked, and I have to say that over the past few weeks the girls have done a good job of showing their feelings. It has been very clear that one of them liked the Colon's, and one liked MNM 2.0. They talked their shit, which brought out Carlito and Primo, along with some parts of the Cabana set. I do enjoy the bantering of Carlito and Primo, when Primo always steals things of Carlito's, like the backstabber and the name of the Cabana. They bantered a bit, which was good unlike last week's commentary, and Carlito made the grand challenge. He discussed that they had both successfully defended their titles against each other, and now it was time for a winner takes all unification match. HELL AND YES! WWE never focuses on tag teams, and I feel that the only way they have a chance too is for them to unify the titles. I like this. We also got the split of the Bella girls, as one of them got some apple in the face on accident. We knew it was coming, but I like adding that dynamic to the feud. If they get some time, we could get a really good match at WM, and I am all for that.
puRgatoRy:
Jamie Noble vs. Evan Bourne: Not only were we treated to Jamie Noble on ECW, but we also got the added bonus of EVAN BOURNE'S RETURN! After suffering that horrible injury, they have been hyping his return very well, and I for one was excited that he was coming back. The two of them had a very good match , for what little time they got, which is the real shame and my compliant in a moment. They went out there, they knew they didn't have much time, and delivered the best match that they could in that little amount of time. Bourne got the win, he got to show off his MOVEZ and hit the shooting star press to wow the crowd. Not a bad return at all. My main issue is that it was so damn short, I mean, it under three minutes short. Now, if you want Bourne to go over in a very short match and show off that he is back, fine, have a job guy out there. If you want to have a match with back and forth, to show off his athletic skill, while giving him a challenge, then Noble is fine, but they need more than three minutes. I mean, I complain about this on Impact, you cannot expect guys to go out there and tell any kind of story with this little bit of time. Finlay vs. Burchill didn't need to be on the show in all honesty.
The wRong:
Paul Burchill vs. Finlay: For the most part, there was nothing wrong with the match. They also got under 3-minutes, which is again why it didn't need to be on the show. Finlay is fine, people are into him and the midget, but the time really should have gone to Bourne's return. Give this time to he and Noble, and we have some awesome shit happening there. Instead we got a match with no real purpose, that further derails any momentum that Burchill had, and also gave us a show long these of midget bullshit. Seriously, I know the kids love the little guy, but I am very over it. I want ass kicking Finlay back, not hop, skip and jumping Finlay. To me this match and the backstage bullshit served no purpose, and they could have used the backstage time to add to the opener, while again the match time should have been given to Noble vs. Bourne. That's my opinion anyway.
The Ridiculous:
NONE
The 411
This was a really good show this week. The complaints were minor and really personal things that I always harp on, but the good was very good and helps the WrestleMania build. I didn't mention the SWAGGA promo, because it was so short that it really wasn't anything. Basically he came out and said, "HA HA I AM THE CHAMPION~!" And that's fine because it gets him on the show, but I am very concerned about the ECW title match, as we are so close to the show and nothing is announced. Announcing the Unified Tag Title Match was a great way to close the show. I tend to hate the main event interview, but this one had a purpose and set up a good addition to the WM card. I have asked for a long time for them to unify the titles, since that is the only way they may actually focus on the tag straps at all. Their TV matches have been "good," but I think they can have a great match, if they have the time and Carlito shows up motivated.
Next week will be interesting. They are taking a gamble with the all ladies show, but I also appreciate them being different and using this show to hype the 25 Diva Battle Royal. I respect that. Next week will be very, very interesting to see how it comes off.
As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale. Also, PPV rankings can and will likely change through out the year:
0 - 0.9: Torture 1 - 1.9: Extremely Horrendous 2 - 2.9: Very Bad 3 - 3.9: Bad 4 - 4.9: Poor 5 - 5.9: Not So Good 6 - 6.9: Average 7 - 7.9: Good 8 - 8.9: Very Good 9 - 9.9: Amazing 10: Virtually Perfect
SHOW RATING: 7.0
2009 TOP TV Match Rankings:
I will update as often as needed.
-Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena - (Raw: 01.12.09) {****}
-Christian vs. Jack Swagger - (ECW: 02.24.09) {****}
-Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles – (Impact: 01.22.09) {***¾}
-Beer Money vs. Team Canada – (Impact: 02.19.09) {***¾}
-Lethal Consequences vs. Motor City Machine Guns – (Impact: 02.19.09) {***½}
-Edge vs. John Cena - (Raw: 03.02.09) {***½}
-Primo vs. The Miz - (ECW: 03.10.09) {***½}
-Undertaker vs. Shelton Benjamin - (Smackdown: 01.09.09) {***½}
Posted By: Guest#8773 (Guest) on March 19, 2009 at 11:49 PM
The idea Raw women's division is much better than Smackdown's is ridiculous, especially when it comes to angles. The angles with Maryse, Michelle, Maria, Eve, and the Bellas over the last few months have actually appeared to have thought and planning behind them. Nothing on Raw does outside of Rosa and Beth.
Posted By: Guest#7391 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 12:07 AM
It would be great if Snuks turns on Piper and bashes his head with a cocanut to celebrate 25 years piper did it to him...BTW can Snuka talk or is his brain that messed up?
Posted By: nWoMikey27 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 12:15 AM
The SD divas are booked so much better and more effectively than the Raw divas, it's incredible.
Melina, Beth, and Mickie are just thrown into matches that seem to have no thought hehind them while Maryse and Michelle McCool's careers have skyrocketed the past few months thanks to them being booked well. Their current angle where they attempted to team up but their hatred for each other took over and now they are still feuding even though they're both heels is more interesting and more creative than anything they've done with the Raw women in quite some time.
Posted By: dave (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 12:54 AM
Finlay was given the match against Burchill because it was St. Patty's Day. So, you may not like it, but there was a purpose to it.
Posted By: August (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 01:44 AM
can somebody explain the triple k thing please?
Posted By: Confused (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 02:10 AM
When considering the circumstances surrounding feud between Orton and Triple H I find my self, more and more, viewing Orton as the face and Triple H as the heel. If you think about it first Orton beats up Vince and Shane McMahon, something huge faces like Austin, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker and Triple H have all done, and he does it because the McMahons, as usual, are on a massive ego/power trip. Then he RKOs the bitchy Raw GM, who was using her power to embarrass and control wrestlers she didn't like. Then her husband comes out to save her. The same husband that spent the better part of 2006 beating up her dad and brother much to delight of the fans, and the same husband who has attacked and pedigreed her on multiple occasions. That notwithstanding, it's understandable that Triple H would defend his wife, and given that Orton has back up it's understandable that he would bring a weapon to the ring as an equalizer. However, basically tries to kill Orton with the hammer, he then claims he's going to break Orton's neck at WrestleMania. Then Orton naturally and understandably strikes back. So once again Triple H reacts in a disproportionate manner by going to his house breaking down the door, mauling Orton and getting himself arrested in the process. Then he takes out his anger by using his McMahon influence to lock a man who really had nothing to do with the attack on his wife in a cage so he can assault him with a sledgehammer. He is determined to end a man's career and possibly his life because he did a wrestling move to his wife! A move she's recovered from at that. Orton on the other hand has been screwed over by Triple H at every turn, and in fact is the man that has ended all of Orton's World Title reigns. In this feud Orton has taken out all of the (usually) hated McMahon family except Triple H, and has something to prove to himself and the world by beating him. Triple H, on the other hand has used political power, weapons, and illegal acts of violence in an attempt to fulfill his hate driven promises to break Orton's neck, and essentially end a man's career. Triple H is definitely not a hero, and he's barely an anti-hero in this case. He's an abusive, sadistic, overcompensating asshole. Orton is no hero either, but he's a crafty underdog, who has suffered all manner of threats and assaults.
Posted By: John (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 02:11 AM
The Jericho angle can still be saved. Have him go out there and just brtualize the legends. Just kick the living crap out of them. Beat up Flair and Rourke and have Austin come out for the save. It makes Jericho still look like the shitheel he is while giving the fans what they want in an Austin appearance
Posted By: Willie D (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 02:36 AM
while I think john is twisting things a bit, I will also add into his theory the idea that Orton isn't trying to beat Triple H to win the title, but to prove to himself that he can, in fact, beat the man that has essentially haunted his entire career. Become a man, if you will.
Posted By: Brett (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 03:10 AM
"someone slipped Valium in the coffee"
So Brian Knobbs was backstage "visiting friends"?
Posted By: icon zeke (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 07:33 AM
"Koz was last and got, sadly, almost no crowd reaction from the Raw crowd. I'm starting to wonder if the Kozlov experiment is starting to go downhill."
Kozlov has been pretty much a gigantic waste of time since the beginning. WWE is not usually so averse to giving up on a project that's obviously not working so why they've stuck with Koslov so long baffles me. He's not even that big! He hasn't interested me once and has no place in modern WWE.
Posted By: Skeletor (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 07:37 AM
I think the whole tag title match is there just to build up an epic year long Bella war which will culminate at the REAL 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania. Just think of the 7-10 gimmick matches that will be on PPV to build that: Brie-on-a-pole, Nikki-on-a-pole, pizza eating contest, Nikki v. Brie a/lawler as ref, bikini contest, ladder of love match etc... Now THAT'S how you build a program!
Posted By: Guest#5791 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 07:48 AM
"can somebody explain the triple k thing please?
Posted By: Confused (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 02:10 AM"
on 411, Kelly is often written in matches as Kelly Kelly Kelly... so they shortened it to Triple K
Posted By: Guest#5881 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Jeremy Thomas
I don't see how JBL's title reign went off as a success in any way considering the months of bad matches and boring promos. JBL can talk someone else up but he can't do the same for himself as there's nothing he can say which would ever make him credible.
I disagree that the Smackdown divas should get undeserved wins to try and make them look credible as until they improve nothing is going to make them credible. The only Smackdown diva who should go over at this point is Gail Kim who desperately needs to re-debut to provide the Smackdown ladies with someone credible on their side.
I didn't like the soap opera stuff with both main event storylines which seemed to belong in the wrong section if you asked me.
I do agree with the placement of the payoff to the Jericho vs Legends segment.
dave and Guest#7391
The more airtime the Smackdown divas get the more it shows just how inferior they are to the RAW divas. Whether it's Michelle or Maryse embarrassing themselves by trying to talk or Maria or Maryse trying to wrestle it just makes one thing perfectly clear, the RAW divas are better. Even with the little time their given divas like Mickie, Melina and Beth do better in ring and mic work than the Smackdown divas. I do wish the RAW divas were given more time, maybe if one of them starts screwing one of the main eventers they'll get it.
Posted By: 17 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 09:18 AM
I'm starting to think there might be no ECW title match at wrestlemania. Christian, John Morrison, The Miz & Finlay are all already in matches so who's really left on the show to challenge Swagger. Altough they could go with Evan Bourne and that could turn out to be a great match.
Posted By: Flagg (Registered) on March 20, 2009 at 10:50 AM
"The Jericho angle can still be saved. Have him go out there and just brtualize the legends. Just kick the living crap out of them. Beat up Flair and Rourke and have Austin come out for the save. It makes Jericho still look like the shitheel he is while giving the fans what they want in an Austin appearance"
Biggest issue with that: No buys. People need to know Austin will be there BEFORE the PPV, not during. The idea is to get more people to buy the damn thing, not reward the people who already did. This match is STUPID and I was very excited about the angle before this... I always buy WM, but this year if people weren't coming over to watch it I might've changed my mind.
Posted By: Bucksinnc (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Did You Know...I seriously almost changed the channel for the rest of the night when I saw that. Next week, WWE has more live events in "insert small town name in non major sport state" than MLB, NHL, NBA and NFL combined. Whoopde freaking doo.
What will they do when SD leaves MNTV when it collapses...how will SD keep beating its own numbers every week?
Plain bullshit! More time on storylines and less time on these "facts" maybe you wouldn't need them.
Posted By: SuperJeff (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 12:23 PM
With stars like evan bourne, jamie noble, tyson kidd, rey mysterio(face it he wont have another major title run) and many others. i think when the wwe extand the duration of ecw to 2 hours, they can bring back the cruserweight or lightheavyweight title back and i think these superstars in it and they can reinvent the lower weight division and give these wrestlers a change to put on great matches and not just to fill running time.
Posted By: Brandon (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 12:59 PM
I really wish supposed "smart fans" such as Jeremy Thomas and all other posters that complain about certain wrestlers losing matches clean would stop. I'll go through the two from this week.
First, Cody Rhodes getting torn to pieces by HHH. Cody is a heel, a bad guy, a chicken shit villian that has a bad attitude. He hasn't accomplished anything on his own. He's there as Orton's lacky. He's in the ring... in a cage... with a deranged madman that's after blood because Orton kicked his wife in the head. He has broken into houses, shattered car windows and mirrors and he has a sledgehammer in hand. On top of that, HHH is the heavyweight champion. He's the biggest and baddest in the game. Why would we think Cody has a chance? He's supposed to take a beating. If he had sustained any kind of offense, it would have hurt HHH. Ultimately, after Orton wins the belt at Mania, Rhodes and DeBiase will probably get the unified tag belts and look strong. This will be forgotten.
Christian taking the clean pin on ECW. Why not? Does this really hurt him? Holy cow, Christian was pinned after getting hit by the finisher of the United States Champion. It was a tag match, not a one-on-one confrontation. In the end, this is leading to a multi-man gimmick ladder match that will be a pure spotfest. The pin by Shelton makes him look strong, but if anybody knows anything about wrestling booking, the guy that wins going in rarely wins the war. If you are a Christian fan and want to see him get the MITB, then you should hope he doesn't stand tall over the competition the week before Wrestlemania. That will probably be Kane and Mark Henry, who we all know don't have a chance of winning the match.
Simply put, in the world of pro wrestling, there is the unwritten rule that faces are better than heels. A face, in a one-on-one, clean cut battle should defeat the heel every time. Add in a sledgehammer, a thirst for blood and a cage, obviously Cody didn't have a chance. Now a heel can win clean when catching the face by surprise, as seen in Shelton pinning Christian. The Pay Dirt is not an elaborate move, one that requires a lot of set up and build. It's a quick hitter. Shelton hit it, pinned Christian, took him by surprise. Theoretically, heels are supposed to be smarter, especially the small ones. They are cocky, and quick on their feet. It's what makes people hate them. They try to get one over on the face.
Please, everyone understand these are the rules we must accept when viewing wrestling.
Posted By: Guest#3140 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 01:12 PM
How come no one mentions Tyson Kidd being shown studying the Bourne match? to me that was the best part of ECW this week. They wouldn't have shown it if they weren't moving toward a program together and that is going to kick ass...or at least has the potential to.
Posted By: nomar34 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 01:40 PM
"The more airtime the Smackdown divas get the more it shows just how inferior they are to the RAW divas. Whether it's Michelle or Maryse embarrassing themselves by trying to talk or Maria or Maryse trying to wrestle it just makes one thing perfectly clear, the RAW divas are better. Even with the little time their given divas like Mickie, Melina and Beth do better in ring and mic work than the Smackdown divas. I do wish the RAW divas were given more time, maybe if one of them starts screwing one of the main eventers they'll get it."
Speaking of Melina, let's give her credit for not messing up the small package she used to pin Maryse on last week's Smackdown. In her matches with Beth recently, she's fucked up using that finish twice, along with many other botches.
Posted By: Guest#5157 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 03:13 PM
Victoria left WWE and Natalya got moved to being a manager, yet 17 didn't throw himself out a window or cut his wrists? Shocking.
Posted By: Guest#5075 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 03:23 PM
Some please photoshop the picture on the main page of Edge, Cena and Vickie Guerrero.
Posted By: Chico (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 04:17 PM
Guest#5157
Thing is that it was an off night for Melina as opposed to Maryse who fucks up just about every move she tries. Did you see her when she wasn't heavily edited? Awful, awful stuff.
Guest#5075
You are a sad individual for wishing death upon me simply for wanting wrestlers with actual talent to be pushed.
Posted By: 17 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 04:44 PM
"Thing is that it was an off night for Melina as opposed to Maryse who fucks up just about every move she tries. Did you see her when she wasn't heavily edited? Awful, awful stuff."
Not one off night. Almost every one of Melina's matches in 2009 has featured her fucking up, in particular aganist Jillian on Raw and Beth at Royal Rumble, plus their Raw rematch. She looked like crap in the six woman match this past Monday, too.
Which matches of Maryse's were edited? Name them. And where exactly did Maryse fuck up at the Survivor Series, her most notable match so far outside of her title win? Or her match with Melina on live TV?
Posted By: Guest#7944 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 05:38 PM
"You are a sad individual for wishing death upon me simply for wanting wrestlers with actual talent to be pushed."
That guy didn't wish death on you. It is surprising you didn't freak out about those things. They did push Natalya, quickly realized nobody gave a damn, and WWE moved on while you cried and bitched about her not getting to squash everybody.
Posted By: Guest#8370 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 05:47 PM
Guest#7944
I would imagine the WWE would be editing every match Maryse has on Smackdown to try and make her look better and yet if they're trying their failing. They're definitely adding fan reaction that's for sure. I'm pretty sure I had this argument with you before and you are still desperately trying to believe the reaction the WWE give her on Smackdown is real but all you have to do is look at the live show RAW to see that isn't the case. As for Maryse's in ring work just about every move she does looks terrible. She was a total mess at survivor series and in her undeserved title win and she was just lucky Melina was there to carry her in their match but even in that she looked awful. Melina has made a few mistakes since coming back but she has never looked as lost in the ring has Maryse does.
Guest#8370
How long did Natalya's push last? A couple of months? Weeks? Michelle and Maryse have been shoved for six months now and when they're on RAW the non-edited show they come out to silence and Maryse still wrestles horribly. It seems to me the WWE stop pushing a diva with talent who didn't get over in a short amount of time in favour of a boring diva and a talentless diva who have failed to get over in a long amount of time.
Posted By: 17 (Guest) on March 20, 2009 at 07:53 PM
17's name will match his age... in 5 years. Assuming he doesn't die when his panties next get in a bunch.
Posted By: King Nikolai (Guest) on March 21, 2009 at 11:26 AM
King Nikolai
Clearly you really can't criticise with that immature cheap shot.
Posted By: 17 (Guest) on March 21, 2009 at 02:48 PM
17
Please stop replying to everyones comments about you. They are trying to say you're Mr. Know-It-All and everytime you reply you prove them right. Just a word of advice. STOP!
Now to prove my theory correct. Reply to me...
Posted By: NICK (Guest) on March 22, 2009 at 07:31 AM
Honestly, I'm not registered so I didn't know anywhere else to put this but, I just finished watching Viva La Raza: Eddie Guerrero thanks to netflix, and I'm now gonna turn around and buy this set. This is a great set, but the last half of disc 2 thru disc 3 where he was given a real push and able to let his personality shine through along with his talent, pure gold. I know its out of place with this column, but go check it out.
Posted By: Butters4Prez (Guest) on March 22, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Guys, you're being a little too hard on 17. Remember, "He's only seventeeeeen, SEVENTEEEEEN!!!". Sorry for the obscure "Winger" joke, but it had to be said.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on March 22, 2009 at 12:55 PM
you know what's funny? I thought vickie guerrero was mick foley in the picture on the site.
Posted By: Evan (Guest) on March 22, 2009 at 01:06 PM
"I would imagine the WWE would be editing every match Maryse has on Smackdown to try and make her look better and yet if they're trying their failing. They're definitely adding fan reaction that's for sure."
The "they add crowd reaction" thing is a crappy excuse as they leave in things you'd expect them to change. Maryse getting a babyface reaction when she won the title was left in instead of changing it to boos. Plus, Michelle as a babyface would often play to the crowd to little-or-no reaction even on taped shows.
"I'm pretty sure I had this argument with you before and you are still desperately trying to believe the reaction the WWE give her on Smackdown is real but all you have to do is look at the live show RAW to see that isn't the case. As for Maryse's in ring work just about every move she does looks terrible. She was a total mess at survivor series and in her undeserved title win and she was just lucky Melina was there to carry her in their match but even in that she looked awful. Melina has made a few mistakes since coming back but she has never looked as lost in the ring has Maryse does."
Video footage of those matches (live TV, so unedited) say otherwise. It sounds like you didn't even watch because what you are saying and what's documented on video are completely different. WWE edits mistakes off PPV DVDs, and in the case of the Survivor Series match, the live version and the DVD version are exactly the same. Where are these botches that WWE missed?
Not being of a fan of Maryse or anyone else is fine, but ignoring what's on video when you don't like it and pretending what you wanted to happen is the truth is rather troubling.
Posted By: Guest#1555 (Guest) on March 27, 2009 at 12:07 AM
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