Wrestling’s 4R’s Tuesday Edition – 11.18.08: TNA Impact, WWE Smackdown and ROH Driven Reviewed!

A Pep Talk From Uncle Mick: The show kicked off with Uncle Mick coming to the ring to have a pep talk with the TNA Originals. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, the Motor City Machine Guns, Petey Williams, Eric Young, Jay Lethal, and Consequences Creed and the first thing that Foley did was put over the great effort of the guys at the PPV. But he also explained that while they have all of the heart, talent and desire in the world, that alone doesn’t make champions. The angle with the Guns and their disrespect continued here as Shelley was ignoring Foley once again, which will lead to something next week. Foley then basically said that they had to get back on the horse and gave out title matches to the kids. While I do have an issue of title matches with no build, overall this was a good segment that played off of the PPV and gave the Originals some credibility due to Foley putting them over and believing in them. To me this is an important thing, and kicked off the show in a positive way.

TNA World Tag Team Title Match: Beer Money © w/Miss Jackie vs. Samoa Joe and AJ Styles: One of the matches made for the show was AJ and Joe challenging for the tag titles against Beer Money. This caught my eye right away and I was excited because of the possibility of a very good match here. Team 3D was to come out for commentary, and after some delay they did. I felt that they did a good job of putting over the champs as well as Joe and AJ. The other thing I enjoyed was that they discussed the TNA Originals vs. Main Event Mafia angle. Not only did they discuss it, but also they seemed to be stuck in the middle. They have issues with Beer Money and want the titles, but they saw the side of the Originals and felt OFFENDED that the Main Event Mafia was claiming to be the stable of the greatest world champions in the history of the sport, but hadn’t invited the 20-time tag team champions to be a part of the group. The match was a good one as all four men worked hard for the 8-minutes we got to see, and was headed great places until the finish. But this was one of those times where the finish made sense. AJ and Joe don’t need the titles as they are busy with the MEM, Beer Money doesn’t need to lose yet and Team 3D are apparently the next challengers. Overall this was an effective segment that I enjoyed.

27:00: 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. The in ring time is like a yo-yo here lately. This week they tried to get back into the wrestling grind, but the talking dominated and matches that needed time didn’t get it. While a lot of the talking was good again this week, the really do need to streamline things, cut down on some segments, add a bit more ring time and remain focuses on the goal which is building the PPV and trying to SELL that PPV.

Rhino vs. Scott Steiner w/Kurt Angle: When the MEM vs. TNA Originals feud began there was a short list of people that I had set aside, because I had wondered where they would side. Rhino was one of those names. He is a face and has been buddies with many of the faces, so we could see him helping out “the kids” so to speak. But he is also a former world champion and could fit the MEM mold, where do his allegiances lie indeed. Rhino got a chance to get away from the chicks and Bashir to get into something a bit more serious. He took on Scott Steiner this week, and while the match wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t very good. The way the MEM is winning, usually by creating the distraction, limited physical involvement and it works because it still pisses off the fans. I still say that Steiner came back too early, as he is apparently having some troubles running the ropes and at one time almost tripped over his own feet. That is not a good thing. Coming back too soon from an ACL injury isn’t a smart move and I really think that they need to keep him limited to tags.

TNA World Title Match: Sting © vs. Jay Lethal: Mick Foley gave his motivational speech to kick off the show, and when he did that he granted young Jay Lethal a TNA World Title match. What did he do to earn that? He came in SECOND in the bug elimination match. That’s right, fuck that winning shit, if you come in second you get a WORLD TITLE SHOT! Seriously, logic where are thee? With all of that being said, it was a pretty good match, even with the four-minutes cut out of the middle. I thought that Sting worked hard and gave a lot to Lethal, which means a lot in terms of making him look good. I am also enjoying the Guns attitude change as an extra dynamic to the MEM vs. Originals angle. I personally loved that Lethal refused to win dirty in an ode to the really old school face, unfortunately Young’s title win with the ref’s help ruins that shit. There is just a severe lack of consistency within the company, and it is that inconsistency that will kill this angle. It would have been a nice thing to see both guys stay on the up and up, and then lose due to that. Oh yes, and no build means no buys.

An ODB Talk Show?: With Karen Angle gone from the company we were saved the 9 times out of 10 horrible show that was Karen’s Angle. They even mocked it a bit the other week when Roxxi was attacked and we saw a giant picture in the trash. ODB was checking that out when that happened and I suppose it laid the groundwork for this to come to life. We had a wacky little deal this week where she was constructing her set for the debut. As always I am willing to give this a chance, but I have to ask why? Why would they take a women that is over and waste her in this role. Sure she is wacky and fun, but I just don’t get why they would rush to replace a failure of a talk show segment to just add another one back into the show. This is time that is, as shown here again, that is needed for WRESTLING. Going back to her being over, why isn’t she wrestling? Is she injured? Why would they stall her? Hell I may be wrong and it may be good, but it is not the direction I would go.

Sup Sarah Palin…?: When the news of TNA inviting Sarah Palin to “join the Beautiful People” was announced it was universally shit on. Now I know exactly why they are doing this, they want publicity. Even if Palin refuses, which she will, TNA is trying to get FREE advertising. TNA did get some mainstream publicity as the Palin story is on the front page of MSN.com and was also covered at FoxSports.com among other places. So in that aspect it worked. But will it turn into PPV buys or higher ratings? That is extremely doubtful. I will say that Love and Sky were absolutely awesome in their execution during the short segment, but overall I just feel that it will be wasting time once again.

Awesome Kong and Rhaka Khan w/Riesha Saeed vs. Roxxi and Taylor Wilde/Kong Wants Competition: Coming out of the PPV, Kong was looking for revenge and this time went to battle with Rhaka Kahn to once again face Roxxi and Taylor Wilde. They got a bit over 4-minutes, and it wasn’t too bad of a match overall, due to Khan looking like she knew what she was doing for once. Seriously, I am very critical of her, but she didn’t look too bad here. I do have to say that Kong winning without Saeed could be another indication that a change is coming, but we’ll have to see. The constant jobbing of Roxxi isn’t doing her any favors though, and I feel that they are devaluing her by the week. After this we saw Kong, Saeed and Khan in the office of Traci Brooks, who apparently still has a job but we would never know because they never mention her and she hasn’t been on TV forever. Saeed was demanding better competition from Brooks for Kong, and part of me really didn’t like this at all. Roxxi jobs again and basically Saeed just said that the roster of Knockouts was shit. I feel that this could have been handled better.

Are they even TRYING to gain viewers? I know that people will get bitchy, but I have to discuss this. First of all the Internet doesn’t count in regards to this argument. Why does TNA feel the need to give away title matches with NO BUILD? The Bashir vs. Young match I can kind of forgive due to Young winning a match on PPV promising him a title shot, and usually these matches happen right away after the PPV. I don’t think that it is right, but I can kind of let that go. But the fact that they gave away a tag team title and world title match on the show with NO BUILD AT ALL is just unforgivable. Why would people buy PPV’s when they can get title matches for free? Also, how do you expect to gain viewers when you do NOT hype the important and or title matches? TNA, help yourselves and do some promotion for your company. I could understand it back in the day, but there is NO reason not to use some of the money you’re making for promotion. And people wonder why the house shows draw poorly these days, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT THEM!

X-Division Title Match: Sheik Abdul Bashir © vs. Eric Young = BULLSHIT: Once again the X-Division title match from TV gets placed into the ridiculous. Last month, after Lethal had won the Asylum match he got his shot on the live Impact from Vegas and it was SHIT and I ranted. Well, once again I am here to do so. Sure it was fine for the time given, but when was all said and done I HATED this match. You have Foley give this big speech, he puts over Young for his time in the company and his win in the great match from the PPV. They do the match, but again it is another Impact title match that was not given time. Also, there is no way this stands, which just makes it all bullshit in the end and makes the title look like shit. That’s saying something because I like the potential of the Sewell angle, but this wasn’t the right way to go about it. What makes things even worse in my opinion is that Young is completely cool with the ref beating his opponent’s ass so he could win. But later in the show Lethal completely refuses help in his chance to win the TNA title. Who, what, where, when, why, HOW!?!?!?!?!

Christian Becomes a Made Man = BACKASSWARDS BOOKING!: When I read the general synopsis of the closing angle of this show, I was HYPED. I mean I LOVE a good stable and when there is a good stable I always hope for one thing; a good Horsemen style beat down. So on the surface this was my kind of angle, but then I watched the closing angle of the show and to me, this is exactly what is wrong with TNA. The general idea was good. Cage lost the match, he had to join them, they never liked him anyway, and so they were going to excommunicate him from the company in their own special way. I get that, I dig that, and it should have been THAT simple. PROBLEM #1: Shut the fuck up about the WWE. If he IS leaving for WWE, they didn’t have to say it. Like I said, he lost a match, was forced to join the group, they all HATE him and it should have stayed that simple. PROBLEM #2: Stop allowing the Main Event Mafia to be the faces. TNA may not realize this, but once again they are not only letting the Main Event Mafia come off as the faces, but they are 1-million times cooler than the TNA originals, you know, the ones we’re supposed to be cheering for. Angle explains that Cage will NOT negotiate with TNA. He explains that Cage feels he is too big for the company, and then explains that the Main Event Mafia all turned down these lucrative offers to stay with TNA. WAIT, HOLD THE PHONE RIGHT THERE! The “heels” turned down the offers, stayed with the company, want to make it great and are pointing out that the beloved face (Cage) wants to leave. Who, what, where, when, why, HOW!?!?!?!?!

By: Jeremy Thomas

WWE SmackDown 11.14.08

TAKER SPEAKS…AND JEFF OUTDOES HIM?!?: SmackDown started off with a coffin in the middle of the ring, the druids chanting, and the thunder rolling. That’s right, it was time for an Undertaker appearance…or at least, his voice. By voiceover, Taker proceeded to talk about how some people were punishers borne of the darkness, like him; others foolishly seek the darkness out, like the Big Show. It was a nice and appropriately creepy little promo from the Dead Man, who promised to drag Show down into hell before popping out of the casket to the big crowd pop. Before he had a chance to speak though, Jeff Hardy’s voice was heard. Jeff mocked Taker’s promo, telling him he should be concerned about Jeff tonight. Jeff showed up on the ‘Tron in freaky-ass face paint. I made a comment last week about how I hoped Jeff could find the mic skills to go with his new edge, and DAMN. It may be a one-time thing, but Jeff’s promo absolutely excelled. It was intense and emotional, and though I never thought I’d say it, Jeff actually managed to outdo the Undertaker in the opening promo. I know a lot of people made comments about Jeff being Sting-like with the make-up and promo and such, but to me he was far more ECW Raven-esque in mannerism, and if they’re looking for a direction to take his character I think that’s not a bad template to go with. The “shades of gray” promo really sort of established it; it appears he’ll be the tweener, and I think that’s a smart way to go with him since he can feud with all sides of the main event card and have some great matches, maybe prove he can handle it en route to bigger and better things.

MATT HARDY vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN: Man, the ECW Champion’s matches can’t even get past opening show match on SmackDown, can it? Actually, joking aside that didn’t bother me too much here. They needed a match to get the crowd hot, and Matt vs. Shelton was one that could do that. The Manchester crowd was hot for Matt, and moderately less so for Shelton, who got the first Hurrapop of the night. They started it off kind of slow and took their time to build into the match, which is always a good thing, as it gave them time to create a decent technical match that told a story of one-upsmanship. They got a little bit of crowd-pleasing offense in, and let Shelton work Matt’s leg injury a fair amount. I think the crowd was hoping for something really fast-paced, but with SmackDown taping two shows on one night, something to get the crowd into it without burning them out was the right move to make and I approve. Both sides got their fair amount of offense to put each other over, and the finish, while it was sort of out of nowhere, popped the crowd for the Matt win. While they’ve had more exciting matches during their careers, this was perfectly fine and made for a great opening SmackDown match that did no damage to either champion.

CONTRACT SIGNING MAYHEM!: Vickie the Chipmunk was in the ring to officiate the contract signing, and she was there with Chavo to let them know that there would be no violence in her ring. Riiiight. She went into her “Excuse me! EXCUSE ME!” tagline and took the time to point out that Jeff Hardy could be included if he beats the Undertaker. Um, doesn’t that make the contract signing a bit premature? I’m just sayin’. She then introduced Vladimir Kozlov, who was looking remarkably fashionable with a suit coat over a T-Shirt and jeans. I guess Vlad likes the American fashion trends, eh? Of course, the H-Man was next, and he was sporting his leather jacket and those Blade III shades. How’s that movie career working out for you, ‘H? The crowd was really into this, and they dug the Game’s promo that made fun of Vicki. For the record, Vickie’s “Excuse me” gets more and more annoying every damned time she says it. I expect it to reach critical mass any week now. They did more of Kozlov speaking in Russian and ‘H telling him no one understands him before he started into a promo that was cut off by Day-Glo running in to splash Vlad through the table and then rip the contract up. It got the crowd to pop and gave him a little boost, so I’m okay with that, since tonight was essentially the Jeff Hardy show, and though I have some small issue with the World Title match taking a backseat to the SmackDown main event, it’s building to something bigger for Survivor Series and so I’m okay with that.

JEFF HARDY vs. THE UNDERTAKER: After the Survivor Series card rundown, it was time for the main event of the night. Jeff got a HUGE crowd reaction as he made his way down in the funky face paint. A nice little touch was that, as there were commercials before each entrance, they got time to put a bumper video in for each participant that made the match feel more important and significant. Taker got a pretty good crowd reaction as well, though not quite Hardy strong; this shows how hard the ‘E is going to have to work if they want to turn him heel. Of course, I think that, much like commenters noted last week, they’re going to do the smart thing and keep him tweenish. This match was just as much about the character development of Jeff Hardy as it was about the action in the ring, and I thought they did a phenomenal job with both. The Extreme Rules stipulation allowed them to go outside early and gave them the freedom to do whatever they wanted in order to do Day-Glo the most favors, and they certainly did that. Taker had his moments for sure, but make no mistake, this was about making Jeff Hardy the man, and they did exactly that. I won’t go as far as to say that this was as exciting as their Undisputed Title match of yore; this didn’t have the “never say die” emotion of that one, and so the drama wasn’t quite as there. That doesn’t take anything away from this one though, which was a great television main event.

Of course, we had the Big Show-ference, and that did drag things down for me. If they really wanted to completely pull the trigger on Jeff, this wasn’t necessary; a loss to Jeff wouldn’t hurt Taker one bit. I did like how Jeff went after Show post-choke slam, a sort of “Hey, stay out of my shit!” statement that kept him in tweener-mode, but still the interference really irritated me. There was no reason why they couldn’t have held off on this for a week and let the kid get the big, clean win, but I’ll take what I can get and so did Jeff. Hardy picked up the win, which will mean big things for his credibility, and it was a great match to cap off a good SmackDown.

THE BRIAN KENDRICK vs. CARLITO: No promo or backstage work to bookend the commercial break; from Matt vs. Shelton, we went right into the next match of TBK vs. Carlito, with Zeke and Primo at ringside. The unfortunate part of this match is that, following Hardy vs. Shelton this was another slower, technical-based match from a couple guys who can put on a more exciting match; while this would have been fine on its own, it seemed like too much slowness in two straight matches. Kendrick and Carlito did okay in the ring and much like the previous match, they both got a pretty even split of offense. The biggest problem with this match is that it wasn’t given the time of the opening match and the ending seemed to be pretty rushed. There was nothing truly wrong with this outside of the placement of it right after Matt/Shelton, it was just kind of there and a bit faster-paced match would have worked better for this. I’m kind of hoping for a Kendrick/Zeke vs. Colons mini-feud for the belt, so we’ll see if they build from this.

MARIA vs. MICHELLE McCOOL: Wow, an actual Divas Title defense, finally! Maria came down first, in some sort of really bizarre get-up with a jacket that had football pad-like shoulders. With the jacket off though, it looked admittedly hot…then again, Maria is one of those ladies that would look hot in a burlap sack. We got a Hurrapop as the champ made her was to the ring, looking rather less hot then the challenger. They’ve had a feud building between these two, and they’ve been hinting at a Michelle heel turn; you’d expect them, with the build, to pull the trigger on something here. Of course, you’d be wrong. Instead, they brought Festus and Jesse down to watch. I will say that what we had was as good as it could be…for the opening minute and a half of a match. What the hell? No heel turn, no real storyline between the two; this was just a short nothing match that didn’t mean anything at all. After the match Festus charged the ring and acted all nuts. This was worth absolutely nothing, and did more to advance Festus & Maria then Michelle & Maria. There’s something wrong with that.

KIZARNEY: Yizour vizignettes stizill sizuck. Quizit izit izand jisuzt stizart wrizestling. Thizanks.

MVP vs. KUNG FU NAKI & THE KHALI KISS-CAM: MVP made his way down to the ring, and as he did they announced that he would be part of a Survivor Series-style match up, thus ensuring that he’s unlikely to get a win before his time is up. Sigh. Afterward down came Naki-san, and they started into the match. MVP was in control for a brief period of time before Khali interrupted. As he came down to the ring, MVP beat in Naki some more, but the distraction was enough for Kung to hit the Crane Kick to get the win. Not only was this not a worthwhile match at all, it’s all part of the embarrass MVP storyline that I absolutely loathe. This is just remarkably stupid, and Khali pounding on MVP a couple times throughout the segment that followed was just insult to injury.

Of course, after this came the Khali Kiss-Cam. They got a somewhat older woman who was really into it, so kudos to her. Of course, we had to Khali Bomb MVP first, and then Khali had an idea to have the woman kiss MVP. Seriously, what the fuck did the poor guy do to get this treatment? After some rolling around on the mat, MVP bailed and Tallulah (as her name turned out to be) got a pop. Listen, I can understand the Kiss-Cam as a fun little segment as long as it is leading to something, and I suppose this is sorta building a Khali/MVP feud. But there are sure as shit better ways to go about it; this just makes MVP look colossally stupid, and somehow I doubt he’ll end up going over the big guy. That just makes it offensively stupid. Way to treat your talent, ‘E. Really.

~ROH DRIVEN 2008~

By: Larry Csonka

The Matches:

Austin Aries defeated Delirious via submission: The PPV began with an Austin Aries promo, which I felt was a nice episodic nod from the last PPV where he and Jacobs ended that PPV with a brawl. While I was not a fan of that brawl to close the show, angle continuity and flow from PPV to PPV is an important thing, and this did that. Aries wanted to finish the job and was taking a page from Jacobs’ book by hijacking the beginning of the show to get what he wants. Jacobs answered of course, but he would not fight Aries. No, he would send out the newest member of the Age of the Fall Delirious to fight for him. The match was a perfectly fine opener that went around 7-minutes, and both guys kept a nice pace to keep the crowd. In the end it was Jacobs’ ego that cost Delirious the match as he insisted that Delirious punish Aries more, when Delirious was going to pin the man. Afterwards Jacobs wanted to keep inflicting damage, as he ego and want for domination got the best of him. Tyler Black came out to initially help in the beat down, but then wanted to stop him because they had a title defense later in the show, but Jacobs ignored him and put Aries through a table on the floor with a back splash off of the top rope. Black was PISSED at this because he is more about defending the titles and proving himself. I believe that they are nicely laying the seeds of a face turn for Black., which could be excellent due to his style.

Chris Hero defeated Jerry Lynn via pin: In the wham bam part of the show, Sweeney and crew were in retreat mode, when in another episodic nod to the last show Jerry Lynn appeared! The FOURTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD FUCKING SHOW was there because while he did consider hanging them up, he was OFFENDED by the lack of respect shown to Lance Strom on the last show and was here not only for revenge, but to beat some respect into the Knockout Kid. RESPECT! I like Chris Hero, a lot more than I did 4-years ago. He has been improving a lot, almost every time I see him. This is the reason that Jerry Lynn is working ROH right here. Hero is good, but there are times where he doesn’t quite know when to fill the gaps, and will resort to useless shit. Working with Lynn, he worked a clean and easy to follow match that was just fun to see. This was a really good back and forth match, Lynn is still fucking great especially when you consider his age and the style he has worked for years, and looked as if he belonged with this roster of youngsters. Hero winning was easily the right call, and it was also executed well as they used the “LOADED ELBOW PAD” to allow Hero the win, but also give the fans that “out guy got screwed” feeling. More Jerry Lynn please.

Bryan Danielson defeated Go Shiozaki and Claudio Castagnoli: The beginning was all set up for the big official heel turn of Claudio. He and Danielson battled, Claudio would not only toss down but SUPLEX a referee, which got him DQ’D from the bout. I really like the new attitude of Claudio. He looked better here then he has in a while, more motivated and focused perhaps, what ever it is, he looked good. The disqualification of Claudio also works well to not only get over the attitude change but also it allowed him to exit without being defeated. The fact that he celebrated, kicked the shit out of 456 people and didn’t seem to care about the disqualification was also well done. This then left us with Danielson and GO, who seemed ready to go on this occasion. GO is another guy that I see improving every time I see him, perhaps the time with Harley Race is really paying off. I thought Danielson and GO had a very good outing against each other to close out the match. Danielson’s fired up baby face comebacks are a ton of fun, and he continues to utilize the MMA work beautifully as he took the victory with a triangle choke with elbow strikes to get the stoppage. After the match Danielson grabbed the mic and basically said he whooped everyone’s ass and he wanted the winner of the world title match ON PPV. Rock on, I am down with this.

ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Simply an excellent world title match. They had a good pace, a good plan, executed it well and had the crowd the whole time. Strong continues his streak of excellent PPV efforts when it comes to singles matches. He started with the feud-ending match with Aries, moved onto the insane match with Stevens and now this match with Nigel. The first was a mix of wrestling and brawl, the second was all out insanity and this was more the straight wrestling match. Nigel continues his great campaign as the ROH Champion, and not only has he grown as a heel very well (they actually HATE him) but the matches are being laid out so well that even when you KNOW he is not losing, you are BUYING the near falls. That is the sign of a great wrestler, and Nigel is clicking big time as the champion. I am very excited for Nigel vs. Danielson for the title.

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: What’s funny is I find that when writing this column the “RIGHTS” are easier to write than the other stuff. ROH has made the habit of making the second half of their shows must see, and this main event was a big part of that. The chase that has been going on for over a year, close but not close enough for STEENERICO so many times. But Steen had promised to win ROH Gold by the end of 2008, and on this night, it was the right time. Many people had feared that by the time they pulled the trigger on STEENERICO, no one would care. They were wrong. This was the right match in front of the right crowd on the right night. It all clicked, the crowd was HOT the whole fucking match and they were biting BIG TIME on the near falls. The ending was excellent as we had miscommunication between Black and Jacobs, to play off the opening of the show, and STEENERICO then took the clean, and long awaited victory. The felt like a big moment for STEENERICO, the crowd reacted as if it were a big deal and as STEENERICO got the time to celebrate, I actually felt like this meant something important. This was just an EXCELLENT match with all of the variables coming together at the same time to close out another strong PPV effort.

Erick Stevens & Brent Albright defeated Adam Pearce and Eddie Edwards via pin: The show had a very hectic pace at the beginning, but the good news is that it all made sense, so the had that going for them. After the Del Ray deal, Sweeney said his attentions would be turned to Albright and Stevens as they would battle his boys, Pearce and Edwards. They had a basic but very solid tag team match, it had good flow, got decent time and it was fine. Albright got the pin after turning Pearce inside out with a half nelson suplex and then there was a little chase bit after the match. I felt that the finish lacked in that Albright was supposedly out for revenge on Pearce for burning his face. We got these great promos on the last PPV and on this show Albright’s big revenge is a suplex and pinning the man? Seriously? I mean, that’s it? I really wish that they would have done more there, maybe have Albright snap or something and keep dropping him with suplexes or some shit, unrelenting knees to the head in order to disfigure Pearce in revenge, something. I feel that Albright should have been more motivated for revenge instead of the win. Shit, the dude set your face on fire, and you’re telling me that suplexing him on his head made all of that pain go away? Sorry, just not buying that.

Tag Team Scramble Match: The tag team scramble match was really exactly what it was supposed to be: short, fast paced, filled with fun moves to pop the crowd and in the end delivering a Briscoe Brother’s victory to keep them undefeated on ROH PPV. And it did this. So WHY has it found it’s way to purgatory? Because it felt way to thrown out there. On the ROH PPV’s they largely have done a great job of explaining why certain matches are taking place and who the people are. I had no clue why this match was happening. They never ONCE explained who in the hell the YRR were, and outside of a passing remark in the middle of the match there was no solid explanation as to why Necro was IN the match. I get that his is on his own and that he is a one man walking war, but why is he in THIS match by himself? Too much stuff with no explanation takes away from this match for me.

THE “ROPES”: God I hate to nitpick, and yes I am very well aware that ROH uses cables, which is why I said “ropes.” But damn they either need to change those bad boys out or change the color of them because they stuck out like a sore thumb on this show. Ropes are supposes to appear straight, not like a sound wave pattern. It bugged me all night because it was unavoidable.

Sara Del Ray defeated Jessie “Toots” McKay via pin/Pacing: You know I really like Larry Sweeney, and I really like Del Ray, but overall the “match” that they did with Del Ray was completely useless. Now I get that it was a long segment that kicked off a portion of the show with Sweet and Sour Inc, but I was turned off by this part. First of all this felt like TNA, adding too much into the show when it doesn’t really mean anything or even need to be there. Secondly I feel that Del Ray was completely wasted on PPV once again. It is like they keep teasing that she will wrestle on these shows but never deliver. They have a great thing with the SHIMMER relationship, but have never taken advantage of that. The PPV’s are good PPV’s, but on occasion things run together. An actually ladies match, that gets some time would be something to break up the normal show. Also, while it is nice to have a change from time to time, I feel that ROH needs to re-evaluate the pacing of the show. Actually under the new booking regime I feel it will, but this was another show that was way too wham, bam at the beginning before settling down. The beginning of the show gives you no chance to catch your breath and in this instance this isn’t a good thing. The people have bought the PPV already, and this isn’t like TV where they will turn the channel on you. Slow it down and don’t follow the TNA formula. Slow it down and make sure everything means something and gets the time it needs. I will be interested to see how things change PPV wise under the helm of Pearce.

NONE

–WWE CYBER SUNDAY {7.9}
–TNA VICTORY ROAD {7.9}
–ROH NEW HORIZONS {7.8}
–TNA SLAMMIVERSARY {7.7}
–TNA HARD JUSTICE {7.6}
–WWE NO MERCY {7.5}
–TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {7.5}
–WWE SUMMERSLAM {7.4}
–TNA NO SURRENDER {7.3}
–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}

–(WWE UNFORGIVEN) UNSANCTIONED MATCH: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho ****½
–(WWE SUMMERSLAM) HELL IN A CELL: Edge vs. The Undertaker ****½
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) WORLD TITLE MATCH: Edge © vs. The Undertaker ****½
–(ROH NEW HORIZONS) Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black ****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
–(ROH DRIVEN) ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Age of the Fall (Jacobs and Black) © vs. STEENERICO ****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
–(WWE NO MERCY) WORLD TITLE LADDER MATCH: Chris Jericho © vs. HBK ****¼
–(TNA HARD JUSTICE) LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles ****¼

–(TNA BOUND FOR GLORY) Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett ****
–(TNA TURNING POINT) FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE: Kurt Angle vs. Abyss ****
–(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 NO MERCY) WWE TITLE MATCH: HHH © vs. Jeff Hardy ****
–(WWE CYBER SUNDAY) LAST MAN STANDING: The Undertaker vs. The Big Show ****
–(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 ****
–(ROH DRIVEN) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Roderick Strong ****
–(ROH NEW HORIZONS) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Claudio Castagnoli ****

–(TNA TURNING POINT) TNA TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Beer Money © vs. The Motor City Machine Guns ***¾
–(TNA No Surrender) (Ladder of Love Match) Sonjay Dutt vs. Black Machismo Jay Lethal ***¾
–(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 CYBER SUNDAY) WWE TITLE MATCH: HHH © vs. Jeff Hardy ***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

–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!)
–WWE UNFORGIVEN: Unsanctioned (Jericho and Michaels Deliver Again)
–TNA NO SURRENDER: Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal (Making Chicken Cordon Bleu out of Chicken Shit)
–ROH NEW HORIZONS: Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson (Just Doing What They Do Best)
–WWE NO MERCY: HHH, HBK, Jericho and Hardy (Hey ROH New Horizons, Great Idea, Double Main Event Delivery)
–TNA BOUND FOR GLORY: Angle vs. Jarrett (You Don’t Want Any Part of This Pain…)
–WWE CYBER SUNDAY: The Undertaker and The Big Show (The Big Guys Can Go)
–TNA TURNING POINT: Angle vs. Abyss (They’re Going to be Sore in the Morning…)
–ROH DRIVEN: Steen and Generico (YOU FINALLY DID IT BOYS!)

And I’m out of here!