Wrestling’s 4R’s Tuesday Edition 04.21.09: Smackdown, Impact, Superstars and ROH on HDNet Reviewed!

Tenay sits Down with Jarrett: The Mike Tenay interview continued the trend of really good interview segments on Impact. JJ hit the points about Foley, his change, the feud with the MEM, his relationships with AJ and Joe and just how the landscape has changed in his company. Talk turned to Scott Steiner, and that is an aspect of the feud I have enjoyed. Removing the curtain so to speak and allowing Steiner to speak as a friend of JJ has been a surprising, and good addition to the feud. Jarrett really speaks from the heart as he discusses the relationship he and Scotty shared over the years, and how he was a family friend. The emotion is real when he gets to his wife and kids, and that adds an important realism to the talk. Great work by Jarrett.

3D ROUGH CUTS/BEER MONEY RULES THE WORLD: The awesomeness that is the Beer Money vs. Team 3D feud this week, and once again, IT ROCKED MY FACE, YOUR FACE, EVERYONE’S FACE! First of all we had another rough cuts segment, and this one focused on the importance of the IWGP tag team titles, and the fact that it is rare for an American team to hold those titles. Making the titles important, this is a good thing. From there, Balls Mahoney and “Brother Runt” showed up to visit with 3D. They just happened to be in town to work an Indy Show, but wanted them to know that all of the boys were rooting for them when they hit Philly this weekend. Raven, Taz, Dreamer and even Heyman, well, not Heyman…BAZING~! This all was fine, and if left at that I would have enjoyed it, but it got BETTER! Beer Money was seen later beating the shit out of Balls and Runt. It spilled out into the arena, and Beer Money decimated them with chair shots and busted them open in a truly brutal beat down. 3D would make the save, and Ray questioned why they would did this, and Beer Money answered, “BECAUSE WE CAN”! What else made this great was that there was NO CONTACT between the two teams. Oh no, you have to PAY for that. Excellent.

Homicide defeated Chris Sabin and Naito: As a way to hype the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title match at Lockdown, we had what I used to love, the old “Captains” match, with one man representing his team. This is a simple way to hype the match without giving the whole match away, and since they only did one of these, you didn’t get that burnout like you did with the 897 MITB variant matches. Homicide, Chris Sabin and Naito were the three men involved, and they worked hard in the time given and really did the best they could with the time given. They all looked good, and the brief sample gave people something to look forward to on the PPV. It could have used some more time, but at least tit escaped the dreaded FOUR-MINUTE WINDOW that 90% of TNA TV Matches fall into.

Kurt Angle defeated Christopher FN Daniels: With the seeds being laid in the opening promo, it was time for Angle to face his mystery opponent, the man that would be the final member of Team JJ. This gave us the return, a return we have been waiting for, for a long time, CHRISTOPHER FN DANIELS WAS BACK! This was great, many had been waiting for it, and it finally happened. And hey, a free Angle vs. Daniels match, while sure I could argue is best for PPV, is a great thing. We all bitch about surprises and that we don’t get them, but we got one here (spoilers aside) and it was a good time. The two had a good match, and I really want to see these guys have a single match on PPV sometime down the line, because I think that they can really light it up. Normally I would hate the returning man losing his match, BUT, they way they did it was smart. It wasn’t like he got beat clean by Angle’s finish, it was a creative finish that made Jarrett do the right thing, while also casting doubt on his loyalties, which AJ touched on earlier in the show. Now Jarrett heads into Lockdown and there is doubt on his loyalties. They have done this before, and now with the tease, we wonder, dos he turn and join the MEM, playing off of the Steiner interaction, or does he prove his loyalties? I like the booking.

MICK FOLEY SELLS PPV: I will admit, when Foley came out to “interview” Cactus Jack, I was not sold on the plan. It started rough, but then, Foley took a path that many people have, he started insulting himself. “Cactus Jack” blasted Foley for being a sell out, for writing the stories of “Cactus Jack”, and for cashing the checks that “Cactus Jack’s body” wrote. He then bloodied himself, because “Cactus Jack” hates what Foley has become, and it worked. Not everyone can pull this off, but Foley can. I know people that are NOT fans of his that ended up loving it, so that says something. Sting would make his way to the ring, to try and reason with “Cactus Jack” or Foley or whoever the hell he was talking too, when the MEM music hit, and “Cactus Jack” attacked. It was a plan, a trap, BALLEY HOO IF YOU WILL! He tricked Sting by having the MEM played, he beat his ass, and then he rubbed it in by having the sound guy play the Curry Man and Sharky music. “Cactus Jack” FOR THE WIN! This was a great segment, and again, did its job and that was to sell the PPV. We can argue all day about this match being the main event, but they are doing a damn fine job of selling it. As I write this on Friday, I still have my reservations about the match, but I can’t complain about the build. They have done well and I WANT to see it, sure it could suck, but a great build is a great build, and this has been great.

Opening Show Interview: Once again this week’s show opening interview was good all around. Good performances, the segment also pushed the main event of the show and helped to sell the PPV. These are all good things, and I am happy that they are utilizing the interview time so well. That being said, TNA is falling into a trap, much like Smackdown did for a time with the main event interview, of constantly opening up the show the same way. It isn’t a big deal to some, but it gets old when you do the same shit over, and over and over again. Would it hurt them to mix things up a bit? Pretty please?

Kong, Saeed and Wilde defeated MY PI SEXY: With MY PI SEXY recently running wild on the Knockouts roster, we had the unlikely team of Kong, Saeed and Wilde joining forces to battle the hair cutting bitches. They had a short, but perfectly fine little bout with the unlikely team taking the win. But afterwards, MY PI SEXY got the beat down and did the unthinkable, THEY CUT THE HAIROF THE BEAST! The angle came off well, and Kong was vulnerable for one of the brief times in her TNA career. My only problems are the same as they always are. The matches don’t mean anything in this feud. Every week they run the same kind of angle, which while they are good, they ignore the match, and the heels ALWAYS LOSE in the brief time given. I think that abandoning the match and constantly having them lose hurts their credibility. Overall a good angle, but I just can’t support constantly sacrificing the matches ALL the time like they have been.

Abyss and Daffney defeated Cody Deaner and ODB: There was one thing in the show that is did not like, and this was it. It was so thrown together, I mean, Cornette was like, “Go find some partners and you can have a match, I don’t care.” What the hell was that? Now I get that the post match attack, albeit short, was to help build Abyss vs. Morgan, but it was so short that it meant nothing. ODB and Daffney were going to be in a PPV match, so yeah, decent idea, but they totally ignored that fact, and while Deaner was funny, it just felt blah. As I mentioned last week, they have this great flow and serious build, and then they throw in meaningless shit like this. I just didn’t like it and I didn’t think that it helped the PPV build at all. This four minutes should have been give to the opener, in my opinion anyway.

NONE

By: Larry Csonka

WWE SUPERSTARS 04.16.09:

The Undertaker defeated Matt Hardy @ 10:00 via Count Out: I felt that the first edition of Superstars kicked off on the right foot, simply for the fact that they had the Undertaker in the first match ever on the show. Many felt that the show would be nothing more than velocity, with some mid-carders and all lower card guys, but seeing the Undertaker as the first man out gave me a little hope that the show may be worth watching in the future. His opponent was Matt Hardy, and overall they had a solid match. Taker looked good, Matt worked smart and looked good, and even though Taker got in all of his trademark stuff for the most part, Matt never looked bad in there, which is a good thing. I understand the non-finish as well. Taker beating Matt does nothing for Taker, but a loss hurts Matt as he is in the infancy of his of his heel turn. Jeff even got a measure of revenge as he got to beat down big brother a bit, and also caused him to eat a chokeslam. It was a fine opening match for the show, which peaked here unfortunately.

Christian defeated Finlay @ 6:00 via pin to become the #1 contender for the ECW Title: Another sign that they seemed to be taking the show seriously was the fact that they decided to have the finals of the ECW Elimination Chase held on the debut show. With two solid shows of build on the ECW show, it gave a solid lead in for this show that people could follow. Christian has been on fire since returning, and Finlay is always money and can work with anyone, so I had high hopes for the match. They worked hard and already have good chemistry, and with both staying on the ECW brand, that is good to know. As mentioned, they worked hard and they had a solid match for the tie given, with Christian getting the win. But the problem becomes time, I think that it is bullshit that these guys only got 6-minutes for a #1 contenders match. I complain about this with TNA and I will here as well. It is bullshit and devalues the whole chase in my opinion. That’s a shame, because the chase was done well up and to this point. Oh well…

NONE

Cody Rhodes defeated Shane McMahon @ 14:00 via DQ: To put it simply the main event pissed me off for many reasons. First of all, you’re telling me that the best main event for the DEBUT show was Cody Rhodes and Shane McMahon? REALLY? Sorry, but Cody Rhodes shouldn’t be featured in the main event on a new show, and Shane McMahon sure the hell shouldn’t be. When you have a show that has THE UNDERTAKER wrestling and the finals of the elimination chase to crown a #1 contender for the ECW title also on the show, that is the definition of ridiculous. So that’s the first issue. Secondly, how the hell are we supposed to believe that Shane McMahon can go one on one with a trained wrestler in a non-gimmick match for 14-minutes? I can suspend my belief when it is a gimmick match, a match where Shane can jump off shit and get the advantage with weapons, I can buy that. No Problem. But the fact that Shane owned Cody for the first four minutes or so was horrible, partly due to the fact that it made Cody look bad, and partly because Shane did it with poor offense and was completely blown up at the commercial break. The rest of the match was just blah, and the non-finish hurt it as well. Seriously, Shane can’t do the job? REALLY? REALLY? What shit. And of course, Shane had to get his big move in at the end, which he came up short on and appeared to break his ass on, that was a great highlight reel Shane. And finally, the thing that really chapped my ass was the fact that this match, this match got the most time of any match on the show! More than the Undertaker vs. Matt Hardy, and more than the #1 contenders match for the ECW title. Someone please tell me how this makes sense? Tell me! ENLIGHTEN ME! Yeah, thought so…

By: Jeremy “NOT LARRY CSONKA” Thomas

WWE SmackDown 04.17.09

MARYSE vs. GAIL KIM: Maryse came out first for this non-Butterfly title match…man, I’m glad that I’m covering Raw so I still get to write about her, because…that’s right, DAYUM. Gail was out next, and I swear her ring gear is getting smaller every week. Again, not complaining folks. Maryse did a little grand-standing and stalling to play mind games with Gail, which worked in bringing Gail into a wild attack that Maryse blocked. Nice psychology by Maryse that fits her character well, I can see her being the mind game sort of heel Diva. They had a solidly booked match that had both ladies playing their parts very well, there was some good in-ring work for what we’ve seen from the Blue Brand Divas, though they botched a flying cross-body that hurt the match some. Gail’s proven that she’s a solid worker in the ring, she just needs to slow down to the WWE style again so she can work better with the ladies. In the end this put Gail over very nicely and solidified her at the top of the Women’s Division, and while the cross body failure nearly knocked this down to puRgatoRy I can feel confident keeping this marginally in the Right.

R-TRUTH vs. JOHN MORRISON: Morrison’s first match as an official member of the SmackDown roster was good ol’ Truth, who looks to have taken a bit of a drop down the roster with the way the Draft has turned out. This may well turn out not being the case as the faces on Friday night don’t look as strong as they used to, but we’ll see. Morrison came out with the greatest entrance in professional wrestling today, though sadly it looks as if the breakup of MnM 2.0 has meant the Slammies get left behind. We got a recap of Miz turning on Morrison on Raw after he got drafted before Morrison and Truth began what turned out to be a very solid match. T-Grish earns his way back toward my good graces by adroitly pointing out that Morrison was an ECW champion before his teaming with Morrison; it’s always nice to see them putting over the talent. The two worked very nicely against each other, delivering a fast-paced match with some excellent offense from both of them. Truth got some good offense in, particularly toward the middle of the match—the scissor kick was beautifully delivered—but this was Morrison’s showcase match and he looked really damn good in his defeat of Truth, setting him up as an early contender for Intercontinental Gold. This was a solid effort by both men that just served to show how deep the SmackDown midcard is.

MATT GETS HIS WISH: A CHANCE TO MAKE JEFF SAY THOSE TWO SPECIAL WORDS…: After a recap of the earlier interference by the Sensei Mattitude in Brother Day-Glo’s match earlier in the night, we went back to new GM Teddy Long’s office. Teddy said that it had been approved by the Board of Directors that Matt and Jeff would face off in an I Quit Match at Backlash. Matt was all sorts of pleased at this, because he was convinced that Jeff saying “I Quit” would make his fans finally turn on him; Teddy countered that Matt had better make Jeff say it, or Jeff would do some really bad things to him. This segment was good enough, if short; what I wanted to talk about was the booking, which I very much like. The I Quit match is one we don’t see in the ‘E all that much. Sure, we see ladder matches, we see hardcore matches, Hell in a Cell and steel cages. And, of course, we see handicap matches galore. It’s been a hell of a long time since “I Quit” has reared its head, and this helps make the match feel very special due to the stipulation, and it’s an excellent example of how stipulations help matches. Sure, a ladder match would have been fun, but it would have been nothing we hadn’t seen before. With this match they can still bust out all those weapons, and in the end they can use the “I Quit” stip to likely finish off the feud. That they’re letting this feud play out to Backlash is a very good thing, and they picked some damn fine booking to do it with.

THE UNDERTAKER vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN: These two have always managed to deliver when they face off, so I was happy to see this one coming. Of course, Shelton’s entrance got cut off so that we could get Taker’s extra-special super-duper entrance. Yes, it’s cool, but outside of Pay Per Views where they throw in those extra touches like druids, if you’ve seen it once you’ve seen it all. The story going into this match was that Taker was wrestling his first SmackDown match since ‘Mania, and J.R. and Grish even brought up supposed neck troubles following Taker’s near-death experience over the top rope against HBK. This wasn’t as good as their match a couple of months ago on SmackDown, but it was still quite good in its own right as Shelton took advantage of the neck and played some great psychology to keep in control of the match. People sometimes group Taker in with ‘H and other guys who don’t like to put people over, but you have to hand it to him here for really letting Shelton have a good amount of control in this match to make him look really strong. Taker had his moments at times throughout the match but there’s no denying that Goldilocks looked very good, even impressively countering the Choke Slam into a DDT. Now yes, Taker did win this one in the end, but I maintain as always that some guys can get the rub in a losing effort, and whenever you’re facing the Undertaker there is no shame in losing. Shelton looked good, Taker got the win to make the crowd happy and all is well…there may well be good things coming Shelton’s way if this is any indication.

BATISTA vs. TED DIBIASE: You know, I have to admit that I didn’t expect much out of this match. Not that I was thinking the workrate of the match would suck necessarily, but I imagine that this would be a complete burial of Ted—let’s face it, he’s not exactly Manimal-caliber in terms of positioning on the card. I was even more skeptical when Ted came down to the ring without his Priceless partner Cody, because I imagined that would make things even worse. Surprisingly, they didn’t bury young Ted; sure, Batista looked strong in his first singles match since coming back, but there was plenty of time given for DiBiase to look strong as well. They gave these guys over ten minutes, which was actually fairly impressive and let them put on a remarkably good match. Ted managed to counter an early Batista Bomb to chop block the Manimal and then took over for a while. There were a couple slightly awkward moments such as Ted being pushed into the ropes to come off into a weak kick but for the most part this came off well and really made Ted look like a star. Much the way that the Shelton/Taker match went the winner wasn’t ever really in doubt, but Ted got a major shot of credibility in this losing effort, and it made the Backlash match look not nearly as one-sided in comparison. They played some decent psychology with Ted working the leg, which in theory takes Batista’s finisher away, and while they forgot about that briefly for the finish it did make for a better match overall. I was far more satisfied with this then I thought I would be and it left me feeling good about the show as a closer; you can’t ask for much more than that.

JEFF HARDY vs. THE BIG SHOW: After the opening theme video—which already incorporated the new arrivals from the draft, it was nice to see—Jeff Hardy made his way down to the ring to his usual big pop and minus his face paint. They reminded us of Day-Glo’s loss last week to Matt Hardy in the stretcher match before the Big Show’s music hit, complete with Raw graphic in his nameplate graphic. Jeff started this by trying to play hit-and-run before he got dumb and went for a single-leg takedown, which allowed Show to take over for a while. The story of match was something similar to Show’s match against Kofi last week, where the big guy dominated the match but young Jeffrey showing his fighting spirit by coming back several times. This wasn’t as good as Kofi vs. Show as Jeff didn’t get the same amount to shine proportionally as the Jamaican from Ghana did, mostly he was at Show’s mercy. This really sort of bugged me, especially since Jeff is the guy staying on SmackDown; you’d think that they would want to put the home brand’s talent over, and it’s not like Show would lose anything in eating a pin to Jeff. Even with that aside, they could have made Jeff look stronger if he was going to eat the pin thanks to Matt’s interference. After the match Matt added insult to injury by dropping a crapload of leg drops on him and doing the asshole one-foot pin. The in-ring work was good enough, but I didn’t like the booking so this lands firmly in the middle of the road.

THE GAME AND ORTON FACE-TO-FACE…KINDA: Making what is assumedly (for the moment) his farewell appearance on SmackDown, the Game made his way out to his always-impressive pop from the crowd and the WWE Heavyweight Title over a shoulder. There were a couple seats and a mic in the ring, but ‘H was having nothing of that as he apparently had beating Orton senseless as his only goal of the night. You know, I love how they keep saying that the H-Man is looking for vengeance when he got it against Orton at ‘Mania. Not that I think it’s implausible that the Game has even more Ortonian beatings on his mind, it’s just amusing that they’re practically pretending as if the ‘Mania match didn’t happen…hmm, wonder why that could be? Orton’s music hit, but he didn’t come out at first; they restarted it and again, no Tattoo Killer. Finally, Randy appeared on the ‘Tron, mocking ‘H for thinking he would show up in the ring for a fight before Backlash. Orton pointed out how the Game was the guy making the mistakes while that stupid musical score idea reared its ugly head again. Orton had some very good points to make about how the Game has made some serious mistakes by alienating his teammates on Monday, but for me it was sold short by the need to add theatrical stuff like music and videos mid-promo; it’s the thing they did with Matt and Day-Glo all over again. It wasn’t necessary then, and it certainly isn’t necessary with guys like Orton and Trips. Of course, ‘H thought that Orton’s comments were funny, which had Orton bring up RKO’ing Steph and kissing her, delivering a nicely creepy promo about how much he enjoyed the Stephanie kiss. H-Man started to get pissed, but then he laughed it off; someone gave the Game some nitrous oxide, perhaps? When Orton finally asked what was so funny, ‘H replied that he knew something Orton didn’t; that their match on Monday was no DQ, no count-out, no title. This probably would have been a Right if not for the score and the videos, but those just bug me so this ends up in puRgatoRy.

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. M.V.P.: Before the match there was a vaguely funny moment where Dolph tried to introduce him to Montel, only to have Teddy shove Mr. “My Name Is” aside to talk to the U.S. Champion. They had a nice little moment between them were Long wished M.V.P. the best of luck, seeming friendly with each other even as Teddy noted with amusement that Montel was a pain in his butt ever since he signed him as a rookie. It was a nice way to prep the man to be sent off to Raw, and I appreciated it.

Now, as for the match, I have to admit that I’m at a loss as to how the Big Show gets to beat Jeff Hardy when Jeff could have used the rub, but M.V.P. puts over a one-note character like Ziggler? Now don’t get me wrong people, I appreciate Dolph’s ring work and I think that he’s looked far more impressive than I expected when he first debuted. But ring work aside, his character has absolutely nowhere to go and unless he expands his character beyond that comedy gimmick he’s not going to go anywhere. Of course, Dolph had to introduce himself, which came with a fist that Montel returned. The two then settled into a pretty decent match—it was nothing fabulous mind, but it did Dolph’s in-ring credibility a lot of good, as he played his arrogant psycho style pretty well and worked with Montel to create a moderately solid technical match. They went to rest holds a bit much for it to be truly good, but there was nothing offensive about it and Dolph getting the win, even by way of a roll-up, was something unexpected at least. Much like Jeff vs. Show I didn’t like the booking but the ring work keeps it from being wRong.

THE KHALI KISS-CAM RETURNS: This was stemming off Santino’s burial at the hands of loss to the Great Khali on Raw. SmackDown came back with Khali already in the ring with Ranjin Singh, who talked about how much Khali couldn’t wait for next week when he got to kiss Santina. Well, that makes one of us. We proceeded to get the Billy and Chuck music as Ranjin ran down all of Santina’s amazing physical features…that perfect olive skin, the soft brown eyes, the luscious lips, the thick mane of hair, the Adam’s apple…wait, what? Khali was having fun with this as he always does, though I honestly couldn’t tell if he was anticipating or saying “Ranjin, this is all going to play out fine and I’m not really gonna have to kiss that guy, right?” We then got the KHALI KISS-CAM as a preview of what Santina had coming for her. We went through a few possibilities until finally a surprisingly attractive lady made her way into the ring. If you ask why it’s surprising, then you haven’t seen many Khali Kiss-Cams. Her name, apparently, is Elizabeth Scaperock from Knoxville, and she was all sorts of game here. We got the kiss, and Miss Scaperock seemed quite comfortable in the ring, playing it off very well…either she’s a plant, or she should be. It ended with Khali making a kissing motion for the camera and J.R. and T-Grish talking about how interesting it was going to be next week. I know Small will beat me for this, but it’s no secret that I hate the Khali Kiss-Cam; it just wastes time and this was no different. I still contend that there are much better ways to end the Santina crap, and thus this is quite wRong in my eyes

DID YOU KNOW?: You know what? I’m elevating this, for one night only. Yes, folks, it’s a one-time deal…make your RVD jokes now. I still hate these bumpers and I think that they still try way too hard to make the ‘E seem legitimate and come off seeming desperate as a result. That being said, for once at least they had a “Did You Know?” that actually seemed impressive, that ‘Mania XXV had more people in attendance than the 2008 All-Star game, Madonna’s concert at Dolphin Stadium, the ‘09 Super Bowl and the ’09 NCAA Final Four. At least they’re back to legitimately impressive-sounding things and not “SmackDown is watched by more seventeen year-old ex-Nazi Asian Americans than any television program on ESPN-8…the Ocho.”

NADA!

Comment Time with Jeremy!

From Michael:
You might wanna add Kendrick to that vacant tombstone next to Santino considering what happened.

You know, I did consider it, honestly. Thus far there’s been one person to already share the graveyard with Santino, and that’s Chavo at some point a while back. Ultimately I decided not to, because I think TBK can pull out of his burial if he straightens up…and also, Kendrick is too damned long of a name to fit on that tombstone.

From SuperJeff:
Really hated seeing JR in the position as colour commentator. He is a (if not THE) play by play guy for the WWE, and has been for a long time. Unless he wanted to do this (I don’t think so) to slow down a bit. It reaks of trying to get him to quit. Grisham is not going anywhere near top notch and Matthews sounded and looked way out of his league. Sad Sad Sad

I think that J.R. is actually doing a pretty good job with it, and I imagine that he appreciates the challenge of taking on a new role behind the desk. T-Grish has done a really good job thus far in my mind, Dreamer burial aside, and while Matthews has a ways to go, he could certainly pick it up given time. Don’t give up on these guys yet; the ‘E simply got put in a position where they neeeded to switch things around with Tazz’s daparture, and honestly I think that’ll be great for them in the end. These kinds of forced switches force creative minds to step out of their element and find new ways to succeed, and I think that’s exactly what J.R. needs.

From The Gold Standard:
Triple H makes me sick.I’ve hated him since the classical era days. More so now. I hate the fact the man Whos already been established always has to be the center of attention.He got to beat Orton at Mania and win the Handicap match. Honestly hate to be RAW with Triple H there.

All due respect, TGS, you’re not saying anything that the IWC hasn’t been bitching about for a while now, and I’ve by and large disagreed with the “H-Man as Industrial Grave-Filler” argument. Yes, he does do stupid shit from time to time, usually when he craps on the roster in interviews, but especially over the past several years he’s helped get a lot of talent over. Just ask your namesake, Shelton Benjaminm what beating the Game three times in a row did for his career–that Shelton never capitalized is more his fault for injuring people or doing other things that caused Vince to scale back his pushes. I doubt Morrison would be getting the singles push he seems to have planned if ‘H and Michaels hadn’t had the mini-feud with MnM 2.0…a feud that D-X won, sure, but MnM looked damn good in losing. Has he been too dominant over Orton? Absolutely. But it’s not going to drive me into unreasonable H-Hate. Thanks for reading, though!

From KanyonKreist:
That’s too bad about the lack of a comment section this week, JT; I was enjoying our delayed pseudo-dialogue.

Anyway, here’s one for you: What sort of angle would YOU like to see Punk in on Smackdown? That part is a little more fun/indulgent, no?

Forgive my wee bit of editing there to combine the two posts into one, KK, but I figured it just made things easier. Let’s see…an angle for Punk? I’ll give you two…one as a face, one as a heel. They both revolve around him using the Money in the Bank shot.

As a heel, here’s how I see it going down. Edge beats Cena at Backlash to bring a World-level Title back to SmackDown, and then promptly enters a feud with Jeff Hardy. The two of them battle back and forth while Punk busies himself with Kane, since they have a history of sorts. These feuds last until the Extreme Rules/One Night Stand/Night of Extreme/This Card’s Name For Sale PPV, where Punk battles Kane in a Falls Count Anywhere match and Edge and Day-Glo get it on in a ladder match. Kane beats Punk in a relatively short match, and Jeff beats Edge in a tough, hard-fought match. After the match Punk comes down, not too tired from his shorter match, and cashes in, nailing Jeff with the G2S for the win. Next week on SmackDown he officially turns and plays up the straight-edge thing, calling Jeff a disgrace as champion due to “past demons.” Jeff and Punk can then feud for the title over a couple of months, elevating the both of them in the process. So there, that’s two potential angles with Punk. Hope you like them!

From Shockmaster:
JOHN CENA vs. JACK SWAGGER: Cena goes right back to his dopey cartoonish persona in the promo. Good, I need someone to hate anyway, it makes things more fun. SWAGGA was awesome here, even escaping the Five Moves of Doom. It annoyed me that he tapped, but he looked really strong and after the promo it made sense that Cena wanted an especially decisive win.

This was a three hour show but most matches were even shorter than usual. That’s just pathetic, but from a company running replays after commercials with the caption “moments ago” I should expect as much. They really think we have the attention span of a goldfish.

I’m right with you on the three-hour Raw having matches shorter than usual, and it pissed me off to no end; the ‘E’s typical attitude toward forgetting about historical events shows how much of an attention span they think we fans have. Kendrick has gotten in trouble more for his marijuana habit than anything else, as well as not listening to feedback from road agents about his work in the ring; honestly if he’s in character while listening to the agents talk then he should probably scale that back if he knows what’s good for him, and actually give what they’re saying some consideration. They are there for a reason. Show does tend to look bad when he gets eliminated that way in battle royales, but it’s no different than the guy who always goes to the top rope, which is actually one of my favorite battle royale spots for some reason so I can’t personally complain though I see what you mean. You made me laugh about Vickie’s wheelchair being the new Raw logo…I laugh because it’s true. As for Cena’s cartoonish style, I’m okay with him busting it out from time to time. Cena’s character wouldn’t work if he was pissed all the time, and Swagger isn’t Edge obviously so he can use the guy for a laugh. I do agree that Swagger looked very strong, and I’m okay with him tapping because let’s face it, he’s not a Red or Blue main event guy so he doesn’t lose anything by tapping to Cena.

The only thing I disagree with you on is the Randy/Batista thing. I can accept that a punt kick put Batista out longer than Vince, because physical fitness has nothing to do with how long a concussion may keep somebody out of the ring for. Maybe the idea is that Randy hit Batista harder, or simply in just the right spot to put him out for a longer time. I doubt the ‘E is thinking about it that in-depth but it was something that I had considered and with that in mind I can handle it. I do understand your complaint Shock, but I just don’t really agree.

From Fenris:
Raw has Show and MVP, SmackDown has Edge and Truth and ECW’s got Tyson Kidd and Ortiz”

Not that I disagree that ECW was never going to win, but I don’t think their selection was any worse then it could have been for the C brand show. Truth is I think it was kinda obvious Edge would get the win anyway.

Well, I was more going for humor with those comparisons. Obviously I left Henry and Finlay off, but I did so just to make the extreme comparison. Either way you figure it, the ECW roster looked bush-league against Raw and SD; both of those brands had a World Champion on it and upper midcard guys, then a tag team (The Colons/Cryme Tyme) and a lower-midcard giuy (Chavo & Knox). ECW had two guys who are workhorses in the ring but don’t rate on the Red or Blue Brand main event scenes in Finlay & Christian, a guy who’s (sadly) lower-midcard at best in Paul Burchill, and a couple of barely-even-openers in Kidd & Ortiz. It was a completely unbalanced group…and for the record, the Colons have looked very strong throughout their feud with MnM 2.0 and, I daresay, are now the go-to tag team for the ‘E right now. They weren’t going to win no, but they helped make for a MUCH stronger brand than ECW’s folks.

By: Larry Csonka

ROH on HDNet 04.18.09:

Rhett Titus and Kenny King defeated Up in Smoke: Rhett Titus and Kenny King made their tag team debut on HDNet, facing off with Up in Smoke. This match was just a lot of fun, as the heels have great personalities and also work very well, especially together. There was a big more back and forth for my tastes, but in the end, I can’t complain. Rhett Titus and Kenny King have a better chance at success in a tag team as opposed to being singles guys, and I hope that they have a bright future, because they are flat out fun. Their finish is great, and really, there’s not much more to say. Some have complained about Up in Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) getting TV time, but I disagree. They get a reaction, they work just fine and they are the perfect jobber tag team. They can stay as long as they continue to work hard and sell so well for the teams that they want to push.

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Brent Albright: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright was the main event of the show, and they did a good job with the pre-match interview and such to lay out their history against each other. They worked well together once again, and overall had a really good main event, on the level of most of the main events thus far, which is good, but not great, with the exception being Danielson vs. Aries. From what I can tell this is the first “decisive” victory in the series, as they explained the history between the two guys. The heel takes the win via nefarious means, and that should lead to Albright being determined to avenge the loss down the line, which is cool with me. This was a strong finish to the show.

Improvements: There were some noticeable improvements and attempted improvements on the show this week I felt. Prazak is now coming off well as the “heel” announcer, and it doesn’t feel forced. While some didn’t like it, I dug the short interview with Jerry Lynn, as they are attempting to keep him in the spotlight and also keep the show up to date. I also appreciated that the crowd appeared more mic’d and vocal on this show, which has been a complaint of many. It is baby steps, but it needs mentioned.

Bobby Dempsey defeated Orange Cassidy: Bobby Dempsey debuted on ROH TV this week. Dempsey is an ROH crowd favorite, especially after the long angle with Sweeney came to a head and Dempsey kicked his ass at Caged Collision. Dempsey is a guy people will either take or leave, as if you’re a traditional “WWE” fan, you’ll likely think he is a fat goof. They ran a 30-second squash, Dempsey destroyed this young man and it was what it was.

The Necro Butcher defeated Jimmy Jacobs: The opening bout of the evening was The Necro Butcher vs. Jimmy Jacobs in a battle of former Age of the Fall allies. They had a fine opening match, they worked hard and put forth good emotion and selling the hate that they share. Necro threatened to use a staple gun, Jacobs used a PLASTIC BAG and they looked as if they wanted to kill each other. Brodie Lee ran in and we had a DQ finish, and this feud MUST CONTINUE. I didn’t dig the non-finish to be truthful. ROH has been a company built on good wrestling and finishes, and we didn’t get that here. Also, the departure from the usual “strict” ROH rules I felt odd. Honestly, I would have been way more satisfied if they would have ran a wild brawl with the referee trying to get order, but the match never officially starting.

Eddie Kingston defeated Sammi Callahan: I have to say that the one thing I did not like on the show was the debut bout of Eddie Kingston. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I hate Kingston by any means. I have seen Kingston in CHIKARA and I liked what I saw there, but if you just saw this match as your first exposure to him, I feel that you would be very disappointed. First of all, I do not like Sammi Callahan. I don’t think he’s very good at all, and I also feel that he falls into that “Indy-Riffic” mold of let’s try to hit hard, do a bunch of shit and not sell any of it. And that’s what he did here. Callahan was already an established loser from a previous performance, and I felt that he got ay too much in on a guy they seemed high on during commentary. There are stars and there are enhancement guys, and Sammi Callahan is an enhancement guy, and he should be booked as such, not booked on Callahan’s level. I didn’t dig this at all.

THE FIVE MATCH FORMULA: One thing I have never liked for the one hour show is what I call “the five match formula”. The five match formula never works, because it always feels like throwing shit at the wall, booking stuff for the sake of booking it, and or just trying to fill time. Some will say that it is fine because there was a squash, but really, you are pushing things with FOUR matches, even with a squash match involved. ROH’s identity is wrestling, GOOD wrestling, but so far the show hasn’t really been able to show that off. I really feel that streamlining the shows match wise, along with adding in more video packages and promos to get more angles involved in the show needs to be done. But again, that’s just one man’s opinion.

NONE

–WWE ROYAL RUMBLE {7.3}
–TNA GENESIS {7.2}
–WWE WRESTLEMANIA {7.0}

–TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {5.5}

–TNA DESTINATION X {3.5}

–[ROH RISING ABOVE] – ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Bryan Danielson (****½)
–[NO WAY OUT] – THE SMACKDOWN ELIMINATION CHAMBER (****½)

–[ROH RISING ABOVE] – I QUIT MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Austin Aries (****¼)
–[TNA GENESIS] – Kurt Angle defeated Jeff Jarrett (****¼)
–[TNA GENESIS] – X-Division Title Match: Alex Shelley defeated Chris Sabin (****¼)
–[NO WAY OUT] – THE RAW ELIMINATION CHAMBER (****¼)

–[WRESTLEMANIA] – MONEY IN THE BANK (***¾)
–[TNA DESTINATION X] – X-Division Title Ultimate X Match: Suicide defeated Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal (***¾)
–[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – THE ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH (***¾)
–[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – WWE TITLE MATCH: Edge defeated Jeff Hardy (***¾)

–[TNA GENESIS] Sabin, Shelley, Angle and Jarrett – Rocking The House
–[ROH RISING ABOVE] – Danielson and McGuinness – Defining the ROH World Title
–[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – RVD – The Joke Pays Off
–[NO WAY OUT] – EDGE – The Ultimate Opportunist
–[WRESTLEMANIA] – HBK and The Undertaker – Stealing the Show

–Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena – (Raw: 01.12.09) {****}

–Evan Bourne vs. John Morrison – (ECW: 04.14.09) {****}
–Christian vs. Jack Swagger – (ECW: 02.24.09) {****}

–Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – (ROH on HDNet: 04.04.09) {***¾}
–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}
–Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy – (Smackdown: 04.10.09) {***½}

And I’m out of here!

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