The Smackdown Report

By Paul Smith

paulsmith3010@gmail.com

Welcome to The Smackdown Report and I am your host Paul Smith.

The Pre Game: Okay, a fair bit to get through this time out. I haven’t written on this website for over two weeks and missed my ECW from the week previously. I’m not going to make any excuses, all I can say is that I’m very sorry and I should be able to return to business as usual starting with this report.

Also, I would just like to say thankyou to the almost Godfather of the WNW Blog Spot, RAW is Blogged writer, Luke Parks who has announced he will vacate his post here at the end of the year. Luke is I am sure one of the most read sections of the site and his funny and well written coverage will be missed. On the few occasions I have had chance to talk to him in the comments and in the PPV live chats, he has been a funny guy who is very cool to talk with and as such I wish him good luck in his future endeavours…so to speak.

On a similar note, I, like Chris, have received a few emails asking whether I am going to apply to take over the RAW Blog. This depends on my schedule, as it stands now, I can’t afford to stay up and write the blog live (I have to be awake four hours after RAW ends my time) and I then have a stupidly long day the day after which would make the blog later. However, by the time Luke leaves us I will be onto semester 2, and I will have to try and evaluate nearer the time, as I would be interested in the blog (as long as you guys weren’t vocally against it of course) but only if my timetable allowed me to do it justice.

In the last of administrative notes, thanks to Chris Jacks for his as always awesome coverage of ECW this week. He can now finally take comfort than in while the Smackdown I usually step in and do is an extra good one, he somehow got the ONE time that Chris Jericho appears on ECW and actually wrestles too for his blog this week.

Now, TNA Bound For Glory. I decided a couple of days later to check it out. I generally enjoyed the show. I was loving the extra spotty Ultimate X match until the spot at the end which completely soured me on the match. I didn’t want to see people doing bumps that Daniels took to themselves. Morgan vs Angle though was very good and I unlike a lot of people enjoyed the Lashley vs Joe match as it was something different and probably more to do with me being a Joe mark. Whether or not doing the referee stoppage ala actual MMA was a good idea for a pro wrestling audience remains to be seen though. So that match sums up my feelings really. Generally a pretty good show as far as the in-ring goes but the booking was a little weird in pretty much every match, but its TNA and that’s the way they roll.

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Smackdown is taped and rolling from Columbia, South Carolina, the home of the late and the great Fabulous Moolah ~!

On with the show.

We begin with our title screen and theme. I think I prefer it to the old one. After some pyrotechnics FUCKING Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcome us to the show and pimps out Batisterio vs Kanericho for later on. JR is ‘under the weather’ apparently. Well if that isn’t ever the sweeping statement. Chris Jericho interrupts my anger though.

We get a view of Team RAW vs Team Smackdown. We’ll see. We get a recap of the big brawl segment (which may well have an impact on a certain tag match later on) between the two teams. Jericho says that on Sunday he will further his legend by winning the 7 on 7 match as team captain. Jericho says he will ensure the men on his team are worthy of being on his team. JTG comes out for some reason and says gay jokes and stuff. He explains that Shad is sick (perhaps). Jericho doesn’t appareciate being in the same team as him, and says that JTG doesn’t understand how much of an honor it is to be in the same ring. However, just to overbook this a little more, Vickie Guerrero comes out as official consultant of Team Smackdown, she welcomes the future of Smackdown, Eric Escobar. People care. Except not at all. They’re all booing the shit out of Vickie. Eric says that he heard a lot of talk from DX, but after he wins the 7 on 7 match, they will never forget the name ERIC ESSSSSCOBAR. This somehow brings out Dolph Ziggler, perhaps because he already knows so much about introducing himself and his name and such. Dolph say no, and also says ecuse me (see what he did there). Dolph argues that he will be responsible for winning the match. JTG says Dolph knows nothing about winning after his IC contender matches and that he dumped Maria. And wearing a ridiculous coat, out comes Drew McIntyre. Drew says that Jez shouldn’t worry about losing because he was handpicked by Vince McMahon himself. McIntyre says he should have been captain, which brings out Kane. Kane says that none of these guys are worthy of fighting alongside Kane, and Jericho says him too. Jericho says that there will be a four on five match to determine who will really be in the team. And that match will be next.

JTG, Eric Escobar, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs Finlay, The Hart Dynasty, Matt Hardy & R-Truth, Bragging Rights Qualifier
I don’t think I got chance to mention how stupid having this 7 on 7 is, the show before Survivor Series. Oh well. Tyson Kidd and JTG will start. JTG gets a no count off a leapfrog fameasser and in comes Finlay. Finlay basically mauls JTG around for a little while before Ziggler tags himself in. Ziggler works some basic strikes but gets short armed by Finlay. Ziggler gets posted and goes over the top before we go to a break. When we come back Eric Escobar is holding a chinlock on Finlay. Finlay armdrags Escobar down but Escobar takes back over and McIntyre comes in. McIntyre works some stomps before Ziggler comes in again and rolls up Finlay. Ziggler gets a two off an elbow drop. Ziggler holds a chinlock with Finlay stretching for a tag. McIntyre comes back in and stomps away. Ziggler is back in and holds a bridging chinlock and is distracted allowing Matt Hardy to tag in, and he pummels Ziggler before flapjacking him for two. Scoop slam and a second rope axe handle for a two count. Hardy nails Ziggler with the side effect but the pin is split by Escobar. Jtg comes in with an elbow and basically everything breaks down as everyone goes to the outside. JTG looks to finish Matt but Finlay hits him with the shillelagh before Hardy pins JTG with the Twist of Fate giving the win to the new team, shuffling up the Smackdown Seven.
Winners: Matt Hardy, Finlay, The Hart Dynasty and R-Truth

Opinion: Well that wasn’t an especially good match, but the booking is the more interesting part. Vince blowing up over how Team Smackdown looked on Monday is understandable and to be honest apart from trying to maintain a RAW being mostly faces and a Smackdown being mostly heels dynamic, they probably should have went with that team to begin with, considering how green McIntyre and Escobar are. Ziggler though deserves a place on the PPV and its a shame he wont get one now. *1/2

CM Punk is backstage with Scott Armstrong, who says that he ruined his reputation at Breaking Point. Punk says that that is selfish and that this is all about him. Long says he could lose his job and maybe even his life. Punk doesn’t understand why they’ve changed tune and Armstrong says name is all you have. Vince is at the door and says that he and Armstrong need to talk. The fix is out.

Morrison is walking backstage, in preparation for his match with Mike Knox, which is next.

They pimp Kane/Jericho vs Batista/Mysterio again.

Intercontinental Champion John Morrison vs Mike Knox, Non-Title Match
Digital John Morrison will of course face off with Digital The Miz at Bragging Rights. We also look at The Miz beating Marty Jannetty. Mike Knox is shown talking about abdominal pain. Thankyou good doctor. Things really begin with Knox’s cool crossbody before a pumphandle slam for two. He locks in an adbdominal stretch. What’s cool is that so far his offence has effected what he talked about in his promo. Rollup for two by Morrison before a chop block. Leg lariat by Morrison before a running knee for two. Morrison runs into a massive bicycle big boot from Knox, Morrison ducks an attack from Knox who hotshots himself and ends up getting dragged into the corner and hit with starship pain.
Winner: John Morrison

Opinion: Short match, and while it was a good one, I don’t think it made Morrison look especially awesome, which you’d think would be the plan going into a PPV match. **

After the bell, Morrison gets on the mic and says that while Miz is trying to prove he isn’t Marty Jannetty, that Morrison is going to show that he is John Morrison. Can’t argue with that.

Submission match will be a little later on for the WHC.

The new members of team Smackdown are backstage. Jericho says they should follow their leadership. The team all express how much they want to beat RAW. Jericho wants them to watch as they beat Batisterio.

Mickie is backstage with Mae Young, and Michelle McCool says its a shame that Mickie didn’t make the team but that Beth and Natalya are more talented than Mickie. Mickie says Michelle is scared that she’ll take the Women’s title. Beth comes in to say she is thrilled about being part of Team Smackdown but that is also coming after the title. Mae slaps Michelle. She loves that shit.

We get taken back to the fun Batista/Mysterio match from last week. We get it shown that Batista had his shoulder up. Backstage Rey tells Tista that he and his kids learned something they didn’t know about Batista after watching the ‘I Walk Alone’ DVD set. They then playfully argue about who is going to win the title at Bragging Rights.

Rey Mysterio & Batista vs Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho & Kane
Michael Cole wants to be Batista. Jericho and Batista begin things. Jericho pays for slapping Batista as he eats clotheslines and the like. Mysterio comes in and they do a double team nut dropkick. Snapmare by Mysterio before a sliding leg drop for two. Drop toe hold into the ropes but the 619 is blocked by Kane. After a break Kane has a backbreaker stretch on Mysterio. Jericho comes in and kicks him after a Kane backbreaker. Jericho does his usual dick schtick. Rey hits his lucha wheelbarrow bulldog and both men are on the floor. Kane is tagged in and he blocks a tag on the other side. Jericho mauls Mysterio with the ref’s back turned. Kane hits a mare and hits a massive dropkick on the mat. Jericho comes back in and rams Mysterio into the corner. He hits a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. Jericho gets rana’d to the outside and Batista calls for the tag. Double tag and Batista goes to town on Kane hitting him with a corner clothesline, a diving shoulder block and a spinebuster. As Batista goes for the powerbomb on Kane, Jericho enziguiris him, but as Jericho goes for the codebreaker he gets hit with a spinebuster too. Kane then hits a big boot and posts Batista. Mysterio runs in, but ends up chokeslammed for his troubles. However, Kane turns round into the spear which enough for the three count.
Winners: Batista & Rey Mysterio

Opinion: Fun little match, that was like the others, a little short. However, from a booking standpoint, I think this match was counterproductive, as it didn’t really build Rey as a title challenger and it made the captains of Team Smackdown, generally look bad. That being said, from a ring work perspective, this was good. **

Armstrong, Vince, Teddy and Punk are backstage. Punk and Vince are excited. Vince is proud of Punk, wants to give Teddy a gold star and tells everyone to do their job. Vince can smell Autumn and he can feel change and that something is imminent and says what starts here ends at Wrestlemania. Vince sucks off Wrestlemania a little before saying Bob Armstrong, (Scott’s Dad) could be in candidacy for the Hall of Fame. He tells Scott to keep that thought in the championship match. Armstrong has a look on his face that suggests that this time he will do the right thing. Strange segment.

Mickie James vs Layla
Ay ay ay. This was kind of your usual diva fare with lots of screaming and light strikes and stuff. Interesting stuff was Mickie taking the Flair flop, and Layla hitting a crucifix rollup and a sidewalk slam. Mickie hit a neckbreaker for a two count. Mickie then hit a nice spinning high kick for the win.
Winner: Mickie James

Opinion: Well that was what it was. More interesting than normal but it felt more like it was on there just to get the girls on the show 3/4*

A tribute video is shown of the frankly mad Captain Lou Albano. RIP.

The Bragging Rights theme is the usual generic hard rock we’ve all come to love.

They show a hype video for John Cena vs Randy Orton for the FINAL time apparently. Give 12-18 months and I’m sure we’ll be doing this again. To be fair, the hype video makes the feud seem more epic than it actually is.

‘Old’ King and Cole hype the Bragging Rights card.

CM Punk w/ Teddy Long & Scott Armstrong vs The Undertaker (c), World Heavyweight Championship, Submission Match
I never like World Title matches days before PPVs, but they didn’t really seem to want to make the four guys in the PPV match look like they have a cohesive issue, so here we are I suppose. Punk before the match says he could beat and humiliate everyone in this arena. It makes him feel strong to know that he could reduce all the viewers to tears, but none of that is a powerful as knowing that he’s about to make Undertaker tap out for the second time. He says he knows all of the crowd’s lives are horrible and that their bastion of light is an Undertaker victory, one that he cannot get. Taker is in his Attitude Era garb again. Nice touch when Undertaker hesitates in handing Armstrong the title, not trusting him after last time round. Undertaker knocks down Punk with a straight right and pummels him with more straight rights in the corner. Undertaker hits a scoop slam but Punk ducks an elbow and goes straight for the anaconda vice. Taker escapes and after a break Taker throws Punk around at ringside. Punk is thrown on the announce table. Undertaker went for a diving big boot while Punk was on the apron but Punk moved and Taker booted the ropes. Punk beats on Taker on the outside before throwing him into the steel stairs. Punk gloats on the outside and goes for the slingshot clothesline but gets caught in a goozle which he gets out of. Punk and Taker exchange strikes with Taker seemingly getting the advantage. Corner charge by Taker before snake eyes and a leg drop. Taker fed the arm and went for Hell’s Gate but Punk rolled away. Taker goes up for OLD SCHOOL and Teddy approaches the ring, distracting Taker and allowing Punk to counter. Punk hits the high knee bulldog combo, with a big smile on his face. Punk asks Teddy for his chair and Teddy gives it to Armstrong. Punk snatches it from Armstrong and ends up having it booted in his face. Taker chokeslams the hell out of Armstrong for a reason I don’t really understand (who’s calling the submission now). Taker motions for Teddy’s death but Punk chairs Taker in the gut and twice in the head. Punk puts Taker in the vice, and Teddy tries to call for bell and as another ref makes the ring, Taker reverses into the Hell’s Gate and Punk taps to give Undertaker the win and the title retention.
Winner: The Undertaker

Opinion: Very interesting story being told and I enjoyed the ringwork when they weren’t just brawling too. Kinda makes Punk look stupid for Sunday but I suppose this is a different story to the one theyre gonna tell on Sunday anyway. We will have to see what happens, but as a main event, I enjoyed the story, the characterisation and the ring work. **3/4

While some of the matches weren’t that exciting, I enjoyed the build towards Bragging Rights even if some of the decisions made regarding that seemed a little bit off. But overall, I enjoyed watching the show, so:

This episode of Smackdown earns a thumbs up.

Also, myself and Chris who usually does this here blog, will be back again tomorrow with The Talent Exchange.

Until next time, I have been Paul Smith. Thanks for reading.

One quick note, for those that are unfamiliar with my blogging style, please feel free to check out some of my Ring of Honor related blogs (Oh c’mon, I mean, I have to plug my blog, even if just a little bit).

Chris Jericho opens the show backstage, saying that he’s the best in the world at what he does.  He hypes the upcoming Bragging Rights PPV, and the inter-promotional tag match.  He says that as part of the Unified Tag Team Champions, he has the right to pick which show to represent, and he’s been named the captain of Smackdown.  He says that he’s going to put together a team to embarrass, humiliate and beat the Raw team at Bragging Rights.  Someone (apparently Nancy O’Dell), interrupts Jericho and says that they don’t start Raw with him, they start Raw with DX.  DX’s music hits and HHH is on his way down to the ring.

Hunter calls the time keeper into the ring, and makes him run around in a circle before handing him the microphone.  Hunter does the regular DX opening spiel, but he says in the middle of it that Michaels is not here tonight, he apparently called Hunter before the show to say that he had to stay home tonight.  Hunter says that he’s going to call Shawn at home and badger him on live TV.  Hunter gets Michaels answering machine, which is some horrible version of his theme song.  Michaels cuts in and acts embarrassed about his outgoing message.  Hunter asks HBK where he is.  Michaels says that his daughter got sick and he had to stay home with her.  Hunter hocks some merchandise, a new book about DX, before saying that he’ll let Shawn go and they’ll get back to the show.

Hunter attempts to get back to Bragging Rights when JeriShow’s music hits and Big Show and Jericho make their way down to the ring.  Hunter tries to get the Big Show to promote his new book, but Jericho takes it and throws it down.  Jericho says he’s been named the captain of Team Smackdown (again).  Jericho throws out some statistics about how long Smackdown has been on the air, before saying that Smackdown is the better show because Jericho is on it.  Hunter runs down Smackdown, to the delight of the crowd.  He says that Smackdown is a great show, but it’s nowhere near the league of Monday Night Raw.  Jericho says they’ll see at Bragging Rights who has the better show, but it’s obvious to him who has the better team.  Jericho says that even though Big Show is on the Raw roster, he wants him on his team.  Hunter makes some gay jokes, which lead to Big Show insisting that he’s the one that carries the team.  This leads to some dissent between Show and Jericho while Hunter laughs.  This all culminates with Big Show saying he doesn’t want to be on Jericho’s team; instead he wants to be on Team Raw.  Hunter says that’s great, but unfortunately they don’t have any spaces open.  Hunter says he’s talked to the guest host and that he’s got to earn his spot in a match against Chris Jericho.  After the commercial break, we’re finally ready to get to the wrestling (21 minutes into the show).

Match #1: Big Show vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho and Show shake hands to start things off before locking up.  Show immediately backs Jericho into the corner, before letting off and doing it again.  Jericho works his way behind Show and locks in a waistlock, but Show hits a butt bump that sends Jericho into the corner.  Jericho tries to chop Big Show, but Show turns it around and hits Jericho with a monster chop of his own.  Jericho buys some time on the outside of the ring, but it doesn’t last long as Show palms Jericho’s head and brings him into the ring over the top rope.  Show tries to shake Jericho’s hand again, but Jericho is angry and he slaps Show’s hand away before shoving him.  Show grabs Jericho around the neck and shoves him back into the corner.  When Show turns around, Jericho tries for the codebreaker, but Show catches Jericho and places him on the top turnbuckle.  Show tries to calm Jericho down, but Jericho slaps him across the face.  Show slaps Jericho back, and sends him down to the floor, where Jericho sells his knee.  Jericho tries to sneak back into the ring before the ten count, but Show catches his foot, pulls him back to the outside, and gets in the ring.  Jericho ends up counted out, and both men look disappointed walking to the back.

Winner: Big Show by count-out

So, I really have to say that this match went a lot better than I thought it would.  I liked the dynamic of Big Show trying to keep a calm head and even going so far as to try and keep Jericho calm.  Jericho blowing up at Show and hitting him with chops and slaps was pretty funny, if only for how unbelievable some of his offense looked.  These are chinks in JeriShow’s armor that could eventually lead to their demise.  I didn’t even have a problem with the relatively slow pacing in this very short match, just because it was pretty obvious that Big Show didn’t even want to fight, and most of his offense was reactionary to Jericho’s offense.  Fun little match between these two, that I hopefully leads to something, and isn’t just all for nothing.  B.

Michael Cole and the King talk briefly about their guest host, Nancy O’Dell, before changing the subject to their special correspondent tonight, Maria Menounos (sp?)

Maria is backstage with Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase.  She asks how they feel since this is their first appearance on Raw since their match against DX at Hell in a Cell.  Ted says he feels fine, and Cody says that he’s ready to compete.  Maria asks them if they feel like they deserve to be a part of Team Raw at Bragging Rights.  Ted says they do believe they should both be on Team Raw, but Maria says that’s not possible.  There’s going to be a triple threat match later with Cody, Ted and a third participant with the winner getting a spot on Team Raw.  Ted asks who the third opponent is, and Maria replies, “John Cena” before walking off.

Match #2 Divas Championship Match: Mickie James (c) vs. Jillian Hall

Things start off with some quick chain wrestling before Mickie connects with a Thesz press and a dropkick.  Mickie and Jillian trade quick reversals, before Mickie sends Jillian into the corner.  Mickie charges Jillian in the corner, but Jillian ducks, turns it into a powerbomb, covers Mickie and gets her feet on the ropes.  One, two, three, new Diva’s champion.  Jillian grabs the mic after the match and tells everyone to grab their cameras.  She says that the only thing that would make the moment better is if she could sing her new favorite song.  Jillian sings some song by Lady Gaga to a ton of heat from the crowd before she’s interrupted by Nancy O’Dell

Winner and NEW WWE Diva’s Champion: Jillian Hall by pinfall

Anyone who reads my normal blog knows that I don’t rate squashes, but this one wasn’t even a squash.  Still, it was honestly too short, and not a good enough match for me to waste more than a couple of sentences on it.  Incomplete.

Nancy asks Jillian to stop, she says she hates to cut the celebration short, but she contacted the other GM’s over the weekend and made a Diva’s trade.  She says that Jillian is safe, but she has to defend her title against Raw’s newest acquisition right now.

Match #3 Divas Championship Match: Jillian Hall (c) vs. Melina

Jillian doesn’t want to let go of the title, but she eventually does.  Jillian goes for a clothesline, but Melina ducks it and hits a badly botched standing leg drop.  Melina hits her Code Red-type maneuver and once again we have a new Diva’s champion.

Winner and NEW WWE Diva’s Champion: Melina by pinfall

I just explained my policy above.  SQUASH.

Back from commercial, Hunter is talking to a cardboard cutout of HBK, discussing their possible teammates for Bragging Rights.  Michaels is apparently on the phone, and his music hits, prompting Hornswoggle to come into the room dressed up like HBK.  Hunter tells Swoggle that he needs to leave the room before Michaels turns on the TV and sees it.  Horny superkicks the cardboard cutout of Michaels before giving Hunter the DX crotch chop and running from the room.  This is why we watch wrestling people!

Santino is backstage with Nancy O’Dell and special correspondent Maria.  Santino says that he should be the voice over guy for Entertainment Tonight.  Beth Phoenix comes in and is very angry about being traded to Smackdown.  She says that O’Dell needs to get on the phone and fix things.  Maria makes a joke about Beth and ends up being choked by Phoenix.  Santino (who apparently has the authority to make matches) makes a match that will feature Maria and Phoenix.

Match #4: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase

Legacy, predictably, look to double team Cena at the outset of the match, but Cena quickly goes to work, taking down Cody, then Ted.  Cena turns around into a dropkick from Rhodes and Legacy immediately goes to work, double teaming and stomping away at Cena.  It isn’t long before Cena is able to hit a double clothesline to take out both members of Legacy.  Cena even almost connects with the AA on Dibiase, but Ted fights out, Rhodes comes in, and the fight is back on.  Rhodes goes for a pin and Dibiase looks hesitant to break things up.  Legacy continue to pound away at Cena, but just like superman, Cena refuses to stay down.  Legacy hit a double suplex, and Rhodes and Dibiase take turns stomping away at Cena.  Rhodes connects with a second rope bulldog, and a snap mare that sets Cena up for a big boot from Dibiase.  Rhodes and Dibiase let Cena stand up before hitting a double dropkick.  Dibiase chokes Cena on the bottom rope (which warrants no warning from the referee), and Rhodes bails to the outside, where he chokes Cena against the ropes.  Dibiase goes for a body slam, but Cena is able to fight out and send Rhodes to the floor with a clothesline before falling victim to a lariat from Dibiase.  Dibiase sends Cena to the floor, and we’re off to commercial.  Back from commercial, Cena is wailing away on Dibiase before falling victim to another lariat.  Dibiase goes for a pin and Rhodes is in the ring to break things up.  Cena launches Rhodes over the top rope to the outside, but Dibiase is waiting with a dropkick.  Dibiase charges Cena in the corner, but Cena moves and Ted’s shoulder connects with the ring post.  Rhodes is in with a running neckbreaker, and he stomps away at Cena, trying to score a quick pinfall.  Cena hits a suplex out of nowhere, and he tries for the pin, but Dibiase is in to break things up.  Dibiase and Rhodes go for another double suplex, but Cena fights back and hits a double suplex on Rhodes and Dibiase.  Cena clotheslines Rhodes over the top rope and begins going to work on Dibiase.  Cena hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Dibiase before hitting a back drop on Rhodes.  Cena locks in the STF on Ted, but Orton runs out to ringside to distract Cena.  Rhodes rolls up Dibiase from behind and scores the pin.  Orton makes his way into the ring and Legacy argue amongst themselves while Cena smiles and makes his way up the ramp.

Winner: Cody Rhodes by pinfall

This match was pretty much the epitome of a Cena match, the only real difference is that he didn’t end up winning this one (but he still came out on top!).  Cena eats a lot of boring offense (seriously, Orton is starting to rub off on Cody and Ted in all the wrong ways, way too many stomps and punches), fights back, eats some more offense, fights back, eats even more offense, final rally, end of the match.  I liked the tension they’re teasing between all three members of Legacy, but it seems like they’ve been teasing that for a while now, I wish they’d just go ahead and turn Dibiase face.  The final few minutes of this match were OK, but Cena just does not put on exciting matches when he’s the most senior member in the ring.  This was a slow-paced, awkward mess of a match.  D+.

After the match O’Dell is on the TitanTron.  She says that it looks like Dibiase and Rhodes aren’t getting along very well, so later tonight, they’ll take on a team that definitely isn’t getting along.  Later tonight it’ll be John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase.

Match # 5: Jack Swagger vs. MVP

This match is a qualifier for Team Raw and Bragging Rights.  Swagger tries to go for his gut wrench powerbomb early, but MVP fights it off and takes Swagger down with a flying lariat.  MVP beats on Swagger in the corner, but Swagger fights back with a kick to the midsection before sending MVP shoulder first into the ring post.  Swagger continues to work over the shoulder with shoulder blocks and various arm submissions.  MVP surprises Swagger with a belly-to-belly suplex and hits a facebreaker before hitting the ballin’ elbow.  Swagger hits a single arm DDT and follows it up immediately with a gut wrench powerbomb.  Swagger pins MVP and we have a new member of Team Raw.

Winner: Jack Swagger

This match needed at least five more minutes.  It really boggles my mind that WWE is competent enough to put together matches with good talent, but incompetent in that they don’t give those matches nearly enough time to develop.  This one could have been really good, but as it was, it was cut off at the legs due to lack of time.  B-.

Backstage, Legacy are arguing some more when Randy Orton breaks things up.  Orton says he won’t team with John Cena and he won’t be shown up by Nancy O’Dell.  Orton says that he won’t allow himself to be tagged in and it’ll be a handicap match.  Orton asks if that’s understood.  Ted says that Cody’s thinking about what’ll happen if he’s able to pin both Dibiase and Orton in the same night.  Rhodes says he’s actually thinking Dibiase is probably thinking he can redeem himself by pinning Orton tonight.  Orton says if either of them are thinking those things, they better keep thinking.

Match #6: Kofi Kingston vs. Evan Bourne

We get another Bragging Rights qualifier here between two of Raw’s high flyers.  This match is already in progress when we get back from commercial and Kingston has the advantage with a front face lock.  Bourne fights out with an arm drag that he quickly turns into a pinning predicament.  Kingston goes for a cross body, but Bourne catches Kingston with a spinning heel kick to Kingston’s head.  Bourne locks in a half Boston crab, but Kofi is able to fight out and hit a pop up European uppercut.  Kingston goes for something in the corner, but Bourne ducks and Kingston crashes and burns.  Kingston connects with the S.O.S. but Bourne is able to kick out of the pin attempt.  Bourne connects with a spinning kick and a big knee before going up top.  Bourne comes off the top, but Kofi catches him with the trouble in paradise.  Kofi pins Bourne, and there’s only one more slot open on Team Raw.

Winner: Kofi Kingston by pinfall

This was a fun little match between these two guys, but it was more of a sprint, and I’d like to see a marathon.  I realize that time on Raw is a precious commodity, but I think that this match deserved a lot more time than it got.  Maybe if they cut one of the Divas matches (since we’ve seen two and there’s supposedly another one coming up), or they could have cut time from John Cena vs. Legacy.  I just can’t stand that the guys who get the least time to wrestle, are the best actual wrestlers on the program.  For what it’s worth, the three minutes we got of Kofi vs. Bourne was better than anything else that’s been on the show tonight thus far, the only thing that wasn’t good was the length of time this match was given.  B+

Hunter is backstage again, still talking to HBK.  Nancy O’Dell comes to the back and asks if Maria is ready for her match tonight.  They use this time to hock DX merch again, and Hunter says that if you got it, you got it.  Maria complains that Hunter only taught her two kicks and how to put him in a headscissors for 15 minutes.  Chavo is randomly there all of a sudden, and he asks Hunter what’s up between DX and Hornswoggle.  Chavo says he knows there something going on there, because last week, Horny helped him out and gave him the crotch chop, and this week he’s dressing up like HBK.  Hunter says he doesn’t like that little troll any more than Chavo does.  Chavo says he doesn’t believe him, and he says while he’s thinking, why wasn’t he asked to be on Team Raw?  Chavo says he’s more talented than Big Show, can fly higher than Kingston, and is better looking that Rhodes.  Hunter asks Maria to kick, and she connects with Chavo’s groin.  Before the segment ends, they close up on the cutout of Michaels, as HBK on the phone says, “if you’re not down with that…”

Match #7: Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes vs. Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim and Maria Menounos

Gail Kim and Alicia Fox start off, and Gail tries to end things quickly with a roll up.  Gail tags in Maria, who comes in a throws Fox around the ring by her hair.  Fox tries to get Maria over to her corner, but Maria counters with a roll up.  Fox fights out and is able to tag in Phoenix, and now it’s Phoenix and Maria.  Maria hits Phoenix with a kick and a slap before tagging out to Kelly Kelly, who comes in and eats a spinning backbreaker.  Phoenix tags in Mendes who falls victim to a couple of forearms and a back handspring elbow.  Mendes rushes the face corner, but Maria is able to hang her up on the top rope.  Kelly hits a step up leg drop, and pins Rosa for the win.

Winners: Gail Kim, Maria Menounos and Kelly Kelly

Well, it wasn’t a squash, but it damn sure wasn’t worth any real discussion. Incomplete.

Justin Roberts is in the ring and he welcomes out the new US Champion, The Miz.  Miz comes out with a mic, and tells the people in the arena to show some respect.  Miz asks if he’s bragging too much, then tells the fans to get used to it.  He says that in two weeks, at Bragging Rights, he’s going to be in a match against his former partner, Intercontinental Champion John Morrison.  Miz says that the people may remember that he was the talent of their former tag team, and Morrison was nothing more than hair and abs.  Miz says that in ten years time, Miz will be the face of Raw, because he’s the Miz, and he’s awesome.

Main Event: Randy Orton and John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase

Before Cena makes his way out to the ring, Legacy and Orton make their way out.  Orton has the mic and he says that he’s already called next week’s guest host (Snoop Dogg) to let him know that next week will be Cena’s last on Raw.  Orton says that next week, Cena will have to take place in one of the biggest matches of his career, but he just leaves it at that.  Orton bails to the floor as Cena makes his way into the ring, and it looks like Cena and Dibiase will be starting things off tonight.  Cena takes Dibiase down with a belly to back suplex, and he tries to keep Dibiase down with a waistlock.  Dibiase fights out and sends Cena into his corner, where he’s beaten on by Rhodes while Dibiase distracts the ref.  Dibiase and Rhodes use quick tags and double team maneuvers to try and put Cena away early.  Cena and Dibiase trade punches in the middle of the ring, and Dibiase gets the advantage with a quick powerslam.  Rhodes comes in and locks in a modified camel clutch, but of course Cena is able to fight out, standing up and hitting a belly to back suplex.  Cena surprises Orton with a tag, and now Orton is forced to enter the match.  Orton and Rhodes square off, with Orton falling victim to a quick roll up.  Cena laughs as Orton falls victim to another roll up, and small package from Dibiase.  Orton tags Cena back into the match, and he and Cena have a stare off, before Cena ducks a clothesline from Dibiase, connects with a belly to back suplex and hits the five knuckle shuffle.  Orton makes the blind tag, and he comes in and starts beating on Cena before Cena can hit Dibiase with the AA.  Orton beats Cena down in the corner, but he leaves himself open for a roll up from Dibiase.  The ref counts three, and this one’s over.  Orton is absolutely enraged as he yells at Legacy.  Orton turns around just in time to eat an AA from Cena.  Raw ends with Cena standing proud, and Legacy looking to be in shambles.  Before we go off the air, Cole and Lawler fill us in and let us know that his opponent next week will be Triple H.

Winner: Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes by pinfall

Well, this match was a lot better than the triple threat earlier tonight, if only because it was fun to see Legacy get one up on their mentor.  Cena was still Cena, and not exactly awe-inspiring with his multitude of belly-to-back suplexes.  Orton was pretty fun as the slimy heel doing his best to try and stay out of the match, and Legacy was good in their roles of hungry young guys trying their best to get a pin.  I like that Dibiase got the pin on Orton, as that sets up his inevitable face turn really well, and I look forward to their relationship slowly deteriorating over time (although hopefully they don’t hold it off too long).  This was still a pretty short sprint of a match, and I would have liked to see a little more interaction between Legacy and Orton, but it was pretty good for what it was, and I can appreciate the booking of it.  B.

Report Card

In Ring Action: Maybe I’ve just been spoiled rotten by Ring of Honor, but I was really less than impressed with the actual wrestling tonight.  Some matches were given way too much time (the Diva’s Championship segment comes to mind), and some were given way too little time (Bourne vs. Kingston and Swagger vs. MVP).  The Raw writers need to do a better job of balancing their time between boring wrestling that goes on far too long, and good to great wrestling that gets little time.  C.

Out of Ring Action: When did Raw turn into a big crazy variety show?  Skits with Hornswoggle dressed up like HBK, and Hunter talking to a cardboard cutout of Shawn Michaels are not why I watch wrestling, and it kills me that the Shawn Michaels cut out got more screen time than more of the guys who actually wrestled.  I haven’t been watching Raw recently, but how far to the bottom of the barrel are they willing to go when they have someone like Nancy O’Dell (really, who the hell is this woman?) pulling guest hosting duties.  There were far too many backstage segments and skits, and they weren’t even very good.  That’s a problem.  C-.

Overall: Well, this show was good for something, reaffirming why I’m not a regular Raw viewer.  I can’t understand why WWE is so keen to spend so much of their time on unfunny skits and segments, but they’re unwilling to surrender time to people who actually have a decent shot at putting on a good match.  I really want to like Raw, because looking at the talents that the show has, it should be a no-brainer to be putting on exciting, consequential matches.  But tonight, all we got was a bunch of build for a one time team, and a bunch of boring diva segments.  C.

OK, so there it is, the first (and potentially last) Blog of Honor: Raw Edition.  I hope you guys had fun, and hopefully some of you were inspired to check into the regular Blog of Honor.  I know Luke usually includes a YouTube link in his blogs, So I think I’m going to do the same here.

YouTube link of the week:  Kota Ibushi vs. El Generico vs. Nick Jackson vs. Jigsaw

This is a match from the second night of Chikara’s annual King of Trios tournament.  These three guys do more in ten minutes here, than I saw on the whole of Raw tonight.  Anyone who’s a fan of high-flying, fast-paced wrestling, should do themselves a favor and check this out.

Okay, I have no clue what I’m doing here! I missed the first Global Impact but if everything I’ve heard is correct, this one’s going to be amazing!

Global Impact is a one hour show that’s an international showdown between TNA and NJPW. It took place in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

After Impact last night I lightly skimmed Global Impact, on very fast forward, before going to bed and I was very impressed with what I saw. Sitting here I’m really looking forward to this show. Eeeee!

Show Starts

Video

Small recap of last year’s Global Impact and how they’re doing it all over again. They referred to TNA wrestlers as ‘Superstars’ which is thought was something only WWE did.

Video

Everyone meeting out front for the pre-show pictures and then with media for a press conference. Angle spoke, then Nash spoke about culture. Shelley said something in Japanese and spoke about wrestlers and football. Ray got into a war of words with Togi Makabe and Toru Yano. One of them pushed Ray and Devon pushed back. Interesting that all of the Japanese wrestlers were in suits, but of the TNA wrestlers, only Angle and Nash were dressed professionally. MCMG and 3D were in casual street clothes. Guess it shows the difference in how both cultures view wrestling. Also, the press conference had the feel of a prize fight boxing press event. Competitors on each side talking nicely and then degrading into talking smack. Just so different from how wrestling is handled in the USA.

- Commercial

Video

Angle and Nash arrived at the Tokyo Dome and talked about how some of the best wrestlers are in Japan and they plan on beating them to show that they’re the best in the world. The video went on to the MCMG who will be facing No Limit for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles. They want to cap off their hard work by winning in Japan. They pride themselves in being versatile and well traveled, so where better to win that Tokyo.

IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH –
The Motor City Machineguns (TNA) vs. Yujiro and Tetsuya Naito (NEW JAPAN)

Shelley and Sabin out to the ring. Tenay, west and Borash were on announce. No Limit, Yujiro and Naito came out to face them. Tenay said No Limit won the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles in 2008 and held them for four months. That means this was taped quite a while ago. Yujiro and Sabin went to work and threw some serious chain wrestling right off the bat. The fans were extremely quiet until the wrestlers broke apart after a bit of wrestling. Then they cheered. I knew the fans in Japan treated wrestling quite differently, but it’s so different to not hear copious amounts of cheering during matches. Shelley tagged in and they double teamed for quite a long bit without the ref stopping them. Yujiro was pinned for two. Naito tagged in and they double teamed for quite a bit. West talked about how respectful fans in Japan are. Shelley up on the ropes, pushing the second rope down and pulling up the top one for Sabin to dive through and land on Naito. Shelley posed for the fans.

- Commercial

Shelley and Sabin still double teaming Naito. Shelley’s bleeding quite a bit from the mouth. Tenay said the Junior Division in NJPW is very similar to the X-Division in TNA. Sabin tagged in and they posed for the fans again, trying to get more reaction. Double team on Naito. A very interesting submission hold on Naito that involved both arms and Sabin being wrapped around Naito’s back. Shelley came in to guard the hold so Yujiro couldn’t make a save. The ref had no problem with this at all. Shelley tagged in to double team yet again, but Naito sent Sabin flying over the top to the floor. A back elbow to Shelley and Naito hit a slingshot crossbody and then a dropkick! Yujiro tagged in. A snap slam on Sabin and then a powerslam on Shelley for two. Shelley kicked out, but Yujiro kept his arms around Shelley, picked him up and slammed him down again in one fluid motion. A leg drop to Shelley and then a clothesline to a sitting Shelley for two. Shelley reversed a move and rolled up Yujiro for two. Kicks to Yujiro but then Yujiro reversed it into a belly to belly. Though I have to say it wasn’t a very strong move and Shelley took most of the move to the top of his head! Did not look comfortable! The blood just gushing from Shelley’s nose! Shelley fought back but then ate a clothesline. Both down and then tagged out. They exchanged blows until Naito slammed Sabin down hard. Yujiro came in to make sure Shelley didn’t get involved by hitting a baseball slide. They double team Sabin. Sabin whipped, back slammed and then Yujiro on his hands and knees as a spring board for Naito, ala Hardy’s. Naito used his partner to hit a sick dropkick on Sabin in a corner and then climbed to hit a flying dropkick! Bridging German on Sabin for two. They’re still double teaming Sabin and the ref lets it continue! They both get Sabin high in the air, but Shelley back in kicked Yujiro in the gut to stop the move. Neckbreaker to Naito but then Yujiro took Shelley down. Sabin came off the corner into a DDT on Yujiro. Naito was swung into the ropes but seemed to explode out onto Sabin with a forearm. That man got some serious air with that move! Sabin ended up about on his head. Scoop slam to Shelley and then Naito climbed. Shelley cut Naito off before he could moonsault and Naito ended up hanging upside-down in the corner. Shelley shook his finger at Naito, which I thought was a serious insult over there. Yujiro grabbed Shelley before he could do anything to Naito. Shelley backed Yujiro into a corner and Sabin hit his hesitation dropkick onto Naito in the corner. Sabin unhooked Naito from the tree of woe. Naito and Sabin reversed holds. Shelley accidentally clotheslined Sabin and about turned him inside-out! Shelley taken down hard and rolled from the ring. Yujiro and Naito were finally able to get Sabin back up into the air and hit what I imagine is their double team finisher on him. Naito pinned but Shelley managed to break it up. Shelley flung out. Scoop slam to Sabin and Naito climbed. Twisting moonsault but Sabin rolled out of the way. Yujiro rushed Sabin but ate turnbuckle. Bulldog to Yujiro from Sabin. Sabin set up Naito, but Shelley rushed in and they both kicked Naito in the face. Sabin pinned for a very long two. The fans were getting louder over all as the match went on. MCMG set Naito up in a corner. Shelly hit sliced bread the same time Sabin hit a powerbomb. Wow! Sabin pinned for three and the win!
9.5/10 – That was bloody amazing! TNA’s creative needs to watch that match and see what the MCMG are really capable of! It was unparalleled to anything I have ever seen in the six sided ring. They’re obviously capable, TNA just needs to let them show it. That was a very long match, but the pacing worked. It started off slow with pauses and high points, then built and built to a crescendo of artistry. Those men left it all in the ring in a way we never see in this country – on TNA or WWE TV. Winners – MCMG

Video

Post match Shelley, still covered in crusted blood, spoke about winning the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles. He said they’re taking them home and defending them there. This was also set up in a press conference way. Obviously where wrestlers go after the match is done to discuss how it went and talk smack. Seems very organized and as if the flow is the same every time.

MAIN EVENT MAFIA VS. NEW JAPAN MAIN EVENT:
Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu vs. Giant Bernard, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii and Karl Anderson

Angle out and greeted Masahiro Chono at the bottom of the ramp. Nash came out in red and the three of them came to the ring to meet up with Riki Choshu already in the ring. Giant Bernard, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii and Karl Anderson were already in the ring. Giant Bernard, for those who remember when Trish Stratus started out in WWE, she was with T&A. That was Test and Albert, otherwise known as Prince Albert. Giant Bernard is Prince Albert, but nicely shaved and no longer looking like a bear skin rug, but many more tattoos. Giant Bernard and Nash started this match. They exchanged blows. A couple of shoulder blocked from BG didn’t drop Nash and Nash gained the upper hand. Nash choked Giant Bernard in a corner with his foot. Giant Bernard splashed Nash in a corner and then Iizuka tagged himself in but Nash’s size and power took Iizuka down in a side slam. Masahiro Chono tagged in and kicked Iizuka in the face. Chono climbed and flew in a shoulder slam for two. Chono got a cheap shot knee to the back from someone on the apron and then Iizuka stomped Chono into their corner. The ref tried to back Iizuka off from choking Chono with his foot, but Iizuka started pushing the ref back out of his way. Iizuka tagged in Ishii. Chono backed Ishii into their corner and tagged in Riki who worked over Ishii in the corner. Snap mare and chinlock on Ishii, but they got too close to the opposite corner and Karl managed to tag in. Karl slammed Riki around but then Riki fought back with a heel trip and kept hold of Karl’s foot. Riki reached out to Nash who didn’t seem to see the hand, but then Chono reached out and tagged Riki on the shoulder. Karl’s in pain but then got an inverted atomic drop and a headbutt from Chono for two. Angle tagged in and the fans got loud for this. Double team shoulder block on Karl. Angle suplexed Karl for two. Headlock on Karl but he got to the ropes. Punches to Karl in a corner, then stomps. Angle got a front facelock on Karl and backed himself into his corner so Riki could tag in. Riki got a facelock on on Karl, but Karl quickly pushed Riki back into Karl’s corner. Iizuka grabbed Riki’s head while Giant Bernard tagged in. Shoulder blocks to Riki in their corner, then a headbutt to Riki. Ishii in to stomp Riki, without tagging, then quickly out again. Giant Bernard climbed to the second rope and splashed Riki for two. Ishii tagged in and stomped the heck out of Riki. Karl tagged and rushed across the ring with a cheap shot to Chono. Iizuka rushed across with a cheap shot on Angle and then Nash. Giant Bernard splashes Riki in a corner, then Ishii with a back elbow to Chono in the corner and Iizuka with a clothesline to him in the corner! Karl motioned and then rushed in to Riki, but he was ready for Karl with a kick. Riki hits his famous Lariat clothesline on Karl for two. Giant Bernard broke up the pin attempt. Nash rushed in and clotheslined Giant Bernard from the ring. Giant Bernard grabbed Nash’s foot and dragged him from the ring. They fought outside. Angle came in and clotheslined Karl to the mat, twice and then a German to Iizuka. Then a German to Ishii. Angle’s straps come down. Karl tries to grab Angle from behind but Angle rolls through and into an ankle lock on Karl. Riki lacked a sharpshooter on Iizuka and Chono got a submission hold on Ishii. I guess Giant Bernard and Nash were still fighting outside. Karl tapped out when Angle got his whole body into the ankle lock. Winners – Angle, Nash, Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu

- Commercial

Video

Team 3D. Ray talked about how other than MSG, there’s no other place in the world that an accomplished wrestler would want to perform than the Tokyo Dome. Devon said they’re the greatest tag team in the world and in the Tokyo Dome they’re going to prove that. Ray said they’re not going to guarantee anything because their competitors are tough, but Team 3D’s undefeated in Japan for 12 years. Winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships would be the last set of prestigious belts that have eluded them. It would be Awesome to bring those belts back to the Impact Zone. This will be a Hardcore Match and they (Makabe and Yano) haven’t beaten 3D in a Hardcore match. Ray said he’d bet, if he was a betting man, they’re coming home champions.

IWGP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Team 3D (TNA) vs. Togi Makabe and Toru Yano (NEW JAPAN)

Team 3D out to the ring. Toru Yano with a chair in hand and Togi Makabe with a chain around his neck and middle finger in the air, out to the ring. The back of Togi Makabe’s vest was blurred out as it said ‘fuck you’ and American TV can’t let that be seen! Toru and Devon started out locking up. Devon backed Toru into a corner and gave a clean break. Lock up and Devon’s backed into a corner. Toru rubbed Devon’s bald head before breaking. Devon wasn’t impressed. Back body hold on Devon and he reverses it to send Toru into a corner and clean break. Shoulder block to Toru for two. Toru raked Devon’s eyes and then tried for a suplex but couldn’t get it off. Togi came in and they double teamed suplex on Devon. Togi pinned Devon for two, but he hadn’t tagged in and wasn’t the legal man, so I don’t know why the ref counted. Devon came back off the ropes with an upper cut on Togi for two. Ray got the tag and they double shoulder blocked Togi. Side headlock on Togi in the center of the ring. Shoulder block to Togi who got up and right into Ray’s face. They exchanged blows. A middle finger to Ray and then a release German on Togi that made me cringe. Clothesline on Ray for two.

- Commercial

Both Togi and Toru in the ring. Ray managed a double clothesline to drop them both to the mat. Devon in and they both lift Yano and slam him to the mat. Ray pinned Toru for two. Ray and Devon hit 3D on Togi and Ray pinned for two. I guess tagging and legal men don’t matter much in Hardcore Matches in Japan. Togi ducked a double team bu 3D and then speared Devon to the mat. Toru pinned Ray for two and Togi tried to pin Devon but he immediately kicked out. They showed video of during the break – Togi got Devon up outside, Toru grabbed Devon’s ankle from the apron to help stabilize and then Togi hit a piledriver on Devon onto the chair that was carried to the ring earlier. I guess that busted Devon open, but I haven’t seen any blood yet. In the ring Ray hit Togi over the head with a trash can lid. Scoop slam to Togi and then Ray held his ankles for ‘what’s up!’ “Devon. Get the tables!” Ray then got the fan chanting “tables” for the first chant I have heard from these fans, but it wasn’t loud and didn’t last. Devon slid in two very small, narrow and low tables to Ray. Ray tried to set up one up but Togi and Toru attacked from behind. They finished setting up that tiny table. In one of the funniest things I have seen, they put Ray through this table. He made a big thing of it, but the table was so little that I bet he hardly even felt it! Ray played it off that it was a big thing and then Togi pinned for two. When Ray rolled off it showed that there was a huge hold in the table where Ray had gone through. Ray sold the move completely. Toru threw the destroyed table out of the ring. It was mangled! Togi and Toru set up the second table in the ring. The back of Ray’s upper right arm showed a number of scratches and welts. Devon took Toru down with a forearm, but Togi took Devon down the same way. Togi pinned Devon for two. Devon was bleeding and ended up laid out on the table by Togi. Togi started to climb but Ray stopped him. Devon up and moved the table a little. Ray powerbombed Togi through the table. Ray then splashed Togi for a long two. Ray moved the second destroyed table out of the way for him and Devon to double team Togi, but Toru grabbed Ray’s leg from outside and Devon ran right into a scoop slam from Togi. Togi pinned Devon for two while Toru hit a couple of punches on Ray. Toru then into the ring and grabbed the chain on his way. Togi took the chain and wrapped it around his arm. Toru tried to wing Devon around but Devon reversed it sending Toru into Togi’s chain wrapped clothesline. Togi scratched his head looking at his team mate and Devon rolled him up in a schoolboy for two. The arena announcer stated that this match had gone on for 15 minutes already. Togi then punched Devon in the face with his chain wrapped fist. Devon went down hard and Togi pinned him for two. Togi gave another single finger salute to the world and re-wrapped the chain. Devon wasn’t only bleeding from the head, it looked as though his bottom lip was coated in blood too. Another bird from Togi, this one for Devon. Togi then ran at Devon trying to clothesline him with the chain wrapped arm. Devon ducked and then Devon and Ray hit 3D on Togi. Ray pinned Togi for three. The announcer said the match went on for 15 minutes and 12 seconds. Togi and Toru were left laying outside the ring. The ref raised Ray and Devon’s arms in victory. Winners – Team 3D

Post Show

That was quite possibly some of the best matches I have seen TNA workers in. This just proves that it’s TNA’s booking and not the lack of talented wrestlers in the company. I’ve always known that the MCMG were a great tag team, but I honestly didn’t know they were capable of what they showed in that match. They were awe inspiring. The pacing of that match was superb and shows that not all matches have to be go, go, go. They started off slowly and built layers upon layers of wrestling until they finished off with the fans on the edge of their seats. That match beautifully explained what Brat Hart talks about much of the time, telling a story in the ring. MCMG and No Limit told a story and left me satisfied like I never thought possible.

Nash and Angle were the least of their match, even though the fans loved them. Chono, Riki, Iizuka and Ishii are fabulous Japanese wrestlers. Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson fit into their style beautifully. They all threw it out there hard. I was very impressed with how Matthew Jason Bloom has grown from his Albert days. Giant Bernard is a big strong man who has become very creative and interesting in the ring. Anderson also impressed me with his ring work with Angle. That whole match came together in a beautiful way with Angle, Riki and Chono locking on submission holds. It was a great scene captured by the camera.

I was surprised when Togi came out with profanities written across his ring gear and flipping the bird. I know Japanese fans love the hardcore wrestling, but I thought with their more refined ways and the way the fans show respect, that they wouldn’t have much of that. Boy, was I mistaken! Togi spent the match throwing more birds than Austin! And while the match wasn’t anywhere near as hardcore as I expected, it was very enjoyable to watch. Togi and Toru are fabulous in the ring. Their abilities meld wonderfully with Team 3D to produce an exciting match. The chain wrapped around Togi’s arm was a nice change of pace, but those little tables about had me on the floor laughing. The tables normally used in the USA for hardcore matches break fairly easily, but have some sturdiness to them. Those tiny little tables were almost a joke. But the rest of the match was great.

That was the best hour wrestling show I have ever seen. If that how it usually is in Japan, TNA needs to import that feel! I think it would go over wonderfully in the USA and the fans would love it. That was so different feeling and really focused on the ring work rather than the over blown stories. It wouldn’t be too hard to incorporate stories into a show like that, but still keep the long running creative matches. It’s not hard to change things up and make them fresh. Those matches were so different, but worked so wonderfully. Actually, those little tables are the ONLY thing I didn’t absolutely love about Global Impact 2. That’s saying something huge, especially to those who read my TNA Blog Zone regularly and know how hard I can be on TNA Impact.

KB

By Paul Smith for WrestlingNewsWorld.com

The Undertaker vs CM Punk
Probably a good choice for opener, in order to spread the cell matches around a little bit, the first bout was the Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Now don’t get me wrong, this was an enjoyable match and in fact quite a good match, but this didn’t feel like a Cell match in execution. This felt like a normal match which the giant cage surrounded. CM Punk’s work of Taker’s knee and then the Deadman’s subsequent selling of it were well done, and so were the nearfalls, such as the one from the Last Ride in the corner. I also enjoyed some of the spots they did such as CM Punk’s attempt at his knee strike bulldog combo on the apron which Taker countered. I also enjoyed CM Punk reversing Old School into what was effectively the Go2Sleep, and I think that was the intent judging by Punk’s reaction to the two count, but the crowd nor announcers seemed to pick up on it.All the same though, this felt like a match with a cage around it rather than the usual great Cell match we get, so while this was still an enjoyable match, it still was very much underwhelming especially considering the rather flat finish of chokeslam>tombstone>pin. I was also surprised to see them not play off the Hell’s Gate really, considering it was unbanned and after all the controversy at Breaking Point. While I still think CM Punk was hot as champion and they may end up regret having lose cleanly here, there was no real way of having Punk win and there was no way of having Taker lose again, if you get my meaning. We shall have to see where the latest Undertaker World Title reign will take us. ***

Dolph Ziggler vs John Morrison
Next up was the Intercontinental Championship match that never was at Breaking Point. This was what was widely expected to be the ‘workrate’ match of the nioght and it certainly was. They built slow with some mat grappling, before going on to some nice rope sequences before getting to the big moves. This was a very exciting match with lots of believable near falls, and they hit their moves with stunning fluidity. Minor complaints are that there wasn’t a whole lot of a story being told, but they weren’t really given one too work off of. Also for the length of time they had, there was probably a little too much mat wrestling as this began to lose the crowd a little , but only because of the length of time the match had, and they won them back eventually all the same. If or when Ziggler will win the title is to be determined but his performances are getting better and for me this was his most impressive PPV showing yet. ***1/4

Then the ninja turtles arrived. Fantastic.

Alicia Fox vs Mickie James
Next in what was probably the least anticipated match since Kane vs Khali, came the Diva’s title match. At this point I realise there’s a ‘Where’s My ECW Title Match?’ sign in the audience. What followed was an inoffensive, thankfully short divas match, that did quite well in the time it got, apart from Mickie once again botching her jumping DDT finish. Keeping the belt on Mickie was pretty much the only way to go here, because even though Alicia shows some promise, she’s still really too green to be able to carry the women’s division on RAW. 3/4*

Chris Jericho and The Big Show vs Batista and Rey Mysterio
In my opinion, post draft WWE have done a great job (as well as respective holders) in rebuilding the meaning of their tag team and intercontinental championship belts, and with respect to the tag team belts, that continued with this event in a fantastic tag team match. This match had it all, and the best part about it was that even when Batista and Big Show were in there, the guys opposite them made sure that it was still a good match in how they were used. The sections with Mysterio and Jericho were great as expected, and we also got one of the hottest and best home stretches to a WWe tag team match for a long time, with some great spots with the 619s, the double spear on the outside and then the knockout punch finish, which although we’ve seen similar before, is a great way to end a match. I also really enoyed the commentary on this match. JR and Todd Grisham did really well to put over literally everything, from each individual wrestler, the wrestlers as teams, the moves and even the crowd. From a ’smart’ fan perspective it was going to be interesting, as much like Punk vs Undertaker, it was hard to have anyone lose, with Batista being Batista, Rey making his return and Show and Jericho doing so well with the belts. This ended up being a great match and mainly because of CM Punk vs Undertaker being a disappointment more than a bad match, this tag match became my favourite match of the night so far. ***3/4

Randy Orton vs John Cena
Now this is where match order got a little bit odd. To me, no matter the booking of either match, this had to be the main event really, now this feud has developed enough to be properly blown off in Hell in a Cell, having it here doesn’t have the same effect. However, the reason for this became clear by the end of the match, as they don’t usually like to go off the air with a heel win unless it’s a majorly important one and here, Randy Orton choked Cena out and then punted him to regain the WWE championship. This was actually a solid if not really exciting match, that wasn’t really a Hell in a Cell match either, but this one had more of a story and more history to build off which made up for the lack of brutality and at least made it feel like a big match. While the match did keep fading away into the usual plodding fare we expect from Randy Orton, there were some bright spots, like Cena’s aggressive throwing of the stairs at Orton, the nearfalls we got from the Attitude Adjustment and the RKO and the interesting way Orton choked out Cena to get to the finish. While, I did predict this result based on this week’s TV and the ‘no more rematches’ clause, I don’t see what the point of the switch was other than to sadly create another John Cena/Randy Orton match, probably now at Survivor Series, and sadly even with a month and a half break, this feud has really long since ran it’s course. Ah, so we’re just going straight to another match at Bragging Rights then. While the Ironman format will freshen things up, if this is a 1 hr Ironmatch match…oyy..who really wants to see either of these guys wrestle for an hour? **3/4

R-Truth vs Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre made his full WWE wrestling debut, marking it with a win against established mid carder R-Truth. They were given five minutes and it was frankly fairly unspectacular. In my opinion McIntyre wasn’t give enough offense to properly get himself over as the badass heel they want him to be, and while he bumped around well for Truth, a little heat of his own wouldn’t have hurt. The older male section of the crowd (who had been smarky all night) chanted boring on and off throughout, which definitely didn’t help matters. The match itsself was solid, but it didn’t give me enough to see the future World Champion in the young Scot just yet. *1/2

The first really interesting backstage segment came with Randy Orton and his Legacy, and it worked well to put over Hell in a Cell and showed just what Legacy have turned into after spending so long as Orton’s lackeys.

The Miz vs Jack Swagger vs Kofi Kingston
When he came out, Miz had a microphone, and promised to become US champion, and he complained about having to win it in Newark, New Jersey, where all sewers lead to. Miz asked the mayor to ban him from the city so he’d never have to come back. basic cheap heat promo. Jack Swagger now has gloves for those that care. This was a good match, but not great as it was more a collection of spots than a story or supreme wrestling match, but when the mid card is as negelcted as it is on RAW this was all you could ask for really, and I did enjoy it. I was surprised to see Kofi retain but it’s good to see how much confidence the writers or bookers have in him, but now I think Miz and Swagger will have to move onto other things, as Kofi has beaten them both now on a couple of occasions. Obviously, in hindsight, Miz won, pretty much negating this match. Go figure. **3/4

D-Generation X vs Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
Now, as much a big deal as DX is, and as much a good way to get Legacy over as this is, this should have swapped places with Cena and Orton in my opinion. With this being said, this match had a story interesting enough to justify it being the main event. Things started hot with a wild brawl outside the cell, and Triple H being laid out and then locked out of the Cell, leaving Legacy to have what must have been 15 minutes alone with a one legged Shawn Michaels, whose knee had been attacked with a chain beforehand. What followed wasn’t an amazing wrestling match, but good storytelling and booking. I enjoyed the sadistic nature of Legacy’s beatdown and their smack talk during and I think both Hunter and Shawn worked their facial expressions well. This for me, was match of the night and an appropriate to end the feud, and while Legacy do look a little stupid for not just pinning HBK, it works from a storyline point of having them making the mistake of enjoying the beatdown too much. ***3/4

Overall, this was an excellent show, as everything delivered, and the things I didn’t expect much from, weren’t bad at all. Overall I’d recommend finding a way to see this show if you didn’t on Sunday and contrary to what I expected, the three Cell match format actually worked out well.

Thanks for reading, WWE Hell in a Cell 2009 gets a thumbs up.

Until later on today with The ECW Report, I have been Paul Smith.

From all of the U.S. Indies, who are the top three guys that ROH should consider hiring?

Ok guys, and with that, let’s get on to the action.

Hog and Prazak welcome us to the show with “BIG NEWS”.  Bryan Danielson has accepted a contract with WWE and will be finishing up with ROH over the month of September.  Hog and Prazak send us straight to the ring for our first match of the night.  Just wanted to insert this here really quickly; I’m pretty sure that most everyone who watches this show is well aware of the Bryan Danielson/WWE story, and it’s not exactly breaking news or anything.  I really wish they made more of an effort to go back and edit shows that are already in the can so that the “big news” that they give us is more current.

Match #1: The Dark City Fight Club vs. The Young Bucks

This is John Davis’ first match back after suffering that nasty wrist injury, and it should be interesting to see them match up against a couple of rising stars that have established themselves in DCFC’s absence.  Nick and Davis lock up to start things out with Davis immediately establishing his power advantage.  Nick and Davis jockey for position and Nick scores with a quick dropkick that only serves to make Davis angry.  Davis catches Nick and puts him down with a power slam before tagging in Chavis.  Nick makes the quick tag and Chavis falls victim to a missile dropkick from Matt Jackson that fails to take him off his feet.  Another quick tag and we get a top rope double ax handle smash to Chavis elbow from the top rope.  Matt comes back into the match with another high-risk move, this one looks like a moonsault off the top rope onto Chavis’ arm.  Nick finishes off this volley by tagging in and hitting a double stomp to Chavis’ elbow.  The Bucks are working lightning quick and it’s hard to keep up with them, but they find themselves on the bad end of a double clothesline from Chavis that allows the Chavis to make the tag.  Davis makes his way into the ring and DCFC execute a modified Hart attack with a leg drop instead of a clothesline.  Chavis hits a backbreaker, but instead of letting Matt fall to the ground, he stretches Jackson across his knee.  Matt fights out and tries for the tag, but Davis knocks Nick to the floor instead.  Matt hits what looks to be a springboard ace crusher from behind Davis and both men are down.  Matt is able to make the hot tag to Nick who comes in, hits a springboard dropkick on Chavis, and follows it up with a springboard cross-body on Davis.  The Bucks double team DCFC with some absolutely crazy maneuvers, but Davis comes out of nowhere with a pounce to hit Nick Jackson.  Davis tags Chavis and DCFC double-team Nick, almost scoring the pin before Matt makes it in to break things up.  Nick surprises Chavis with a superkick.  The Bucks try for more bang for your buck, but Chavis fights out of the fireman’s carry and Davis crotches Nick on the top turnbuckle.  Chavis hits Jackson with a modified belly to back suplex, but he’s surprised with a top rope sunset flip from Nick Jackson who holds on until the three.  The crowd goes wild as the Bucks roll out of the ring and celebrate their victory.

Winners: The Young Bucks

Wow, this match was spotty as hell, but it was also a hell of a lot of fun.  The Bucks really remind me of the Hardy Boys back in like 1997, back before Jeff was a junkie and before Matt was so, so, so boring.  That said, I think that The Bucks have the opportunity to be better than the Hardy’s were in those days.  I think the reason I really liked this match was the big man/little man dynamic.  This match just seemed to make a lot more sense to me than any of the Kane/Rey Mysterio matches that WWE were putting on just a couple of months ago.  I do have one complaint though, and that is the Buck’s selling.  They just seemed to come back a little to quickly during the end sequence of the match.  I guess though, if you’re willing to suspend disbelief just a bit more than normal, this was a much better than average match.  I really did enjoy this match, but I’m not able to suspend my belief quite that much.  B.

We get a video package about the Briscoe’s, talking about their history, saying that when you look at the win/loss record, it’s apparent who the better team is.  The Briscoe’s run down Steen and Generico and say that tonight, they’re going to take it to another level.

Match #2: Sal Rinauro vs. Bison Smith

Prince Nana is in the ring with Sal Rinauro and “Dirty” Ernie Osiris and Nana tells Rinauro that he feels sorry for him.  Nana says that tonight, the fools in attendance and the one’s watching at home, will finally get to witness Bison Smith.  Rinauro looks goofy as he tries to “freak out” about the prospect of wrestling Bison.  Rinauro slaps Bison across the face and tries to go for a hurricarana, but Bison counters with a buckle bomb.  Smith hits a claw slam and goes for the cover but he picks Rinauro up at two.  Bison picks Rinauro up and press slams him into the corner.  Rinauro rolls to the outside and Smith follows, ramming him into the ringside barricade.  Smith sends Rinauro into the crowd, runs to the other side of the ringside area, and charges Rinauro, launching himself over the barricade and hitting Rinauro with a shoulder block.  Smith picks up Rinauro and sends him through the middle ropes with a press slam.  Smith puts his foot on Rinauro’s chest and the referee counts to three.  Slap the porpoise, this one’s over.  After the match, Nana gets on the mic, saying that this is what happens when you get in the way of the Embassy.  Nana says if Bison can’t get the job done, he’ll go out and get his hired gun.  Nana calls Joey Ryan to the ring, and we get out first look at the hired gun of the Embassy.  Nana says if anyone thinks they can take down Nana’s hired magnum, to come out now.  Colt Cabana charges the ring, and this one is on.

Match #3: Joey Ryan vs. Colt Cabana

The action starts as soon as Cabana hits the ring and the two men are trading punches before Cabana even takes off his ring jacket.  Cabana sends Ryan to the floor, and when Ryan makes his way back into the ring, he thrown out again.  Colt dodges Ryan, sending him to the floor a third time, and the crowd is eating out of Cabana’s hands.  Ryan tries to catch Cabana with a kick, but Cabana catches Ryan’s leg and spins him around before sending him to the mat.  Cabana works his comedy heavy style at the outset of the match, using some of his interesting roll ups to try and wear down Joey Ryan.  Nana gets involved, tripping Cabana, and it’s just enough to distract Cabana long enough for Ryan to score a dropkick.  Joey starts to work over Cabana’s shoulder, locking in various submissions.  A boot from Cabana surprises Ryan and Colt is able to use that momentum to set up a standing lion sault.  Cabana works away on Ryan with a couple of right hands, but Ryan fights back, continuing to work over Cabana’s arm.  Ryan goes up to the second rope, but when he comes off, Cabana catches him with a right to the midsection.  Cabana hits Ryan with a series of rights to the face that culminates in a big windmill punch.  Cabana hits a flying asshole on Ryan, but when he hits the ropes, Ryan surprises Cabana with a superkick.  Ryan goes for the pin but he can’t hold Cabana down for three.  Ryan goes for the mustache ride, but Cabana holds on to the top rope.  Ryan tries to catch Cabana with a roll-up, but Cabana stands his ground and locks in the Billy goat’s curse, forcing Joey Ryan to tap out.  After the match, Sal Rinauro comes back in the ring and tries to get the attention of Cabana, who turns around and hits Sal with his arm, sending him back to the outside.  Nana appears furious as the Embassy makes their way to the back.

Winner: Colt Cabana by submission

Alright, so since those two matches took place so quickly back to back together, they’re going to get graded back to back here.  First of all, I really liked the Smith/Rinauro match running over into the Cabana/Ryan match.  I didn’t like the fact that Smith/Rinauro happened way back in February at Proving Ground: Night One.  So for that, the Smith/Rinauro match does not get the grade it usually would, instead it will receive the grade of REHASHED SQUASH.

As far as Cabana/Ryan, this was a much more enjoyable match, on the whole, than the Smith/Rinauro encounter.  My only real complaint about this match is that it really didn’t have enough time to develop.  I really enjoy watching Cabana in the ring when he’s on, because his style is one of the most fun to watch.  Very few people in the wrestling business can have a good match while also putting a smile on the faces of people in the crowd.  Joey Ryan has one of the most fun gimmicks in ROH, and he’s got some pretty serious wrestling skills to back things up.  These two are both people that I hope to see move up in the ranks when McGuinness and Danielson depart for WWE later this month.  I saw these two wrestle twice in Canada, and even after seeing this match; I would love to see more work between these two guys.  B+.

We get a video package form Steenerico.  Steen says that the Briscoe’s are the toughest tag team they’ve ever been in the ring with.  Steen says that he just tries to hit as hard as he can, and Generico agrees.  Steen says that the Briscoe’s are two of the toughest opponents ever.

Prince Nana is backstage, talking about how Cabana messed up a night that was supposed to be special to the Embassy.  Nana says anyone hanging out with Cabana is against the Embassy.

Back at ringside, Nigel McGuinness is sitting in the crowd.  He says he finally gets it, up in the ring, it’s bright and everyone’s watching, but in the crowd it’s dark and no one’s watching.  He says he understands why people can sit there and make their disrespectful comments while they disable themselves for the fans sick enjoyment.  But what he doesn’t get is why the wrestlers ever care about the fans, because after 15 months of being the World Champion, he’s stopped caring.  He says he doubts the fan sitting next to him mother cares about him.  He says by the smell of the crowd, they’re barely able of controlling their bodily functions, and he can’t stand it any longer.  Nigel hops the barricade and he asks the fans, after his championship run, who he should blame for the physical wreck that he became.  Should he blame the wrestlers for taking every chance to injure him, or does he blame the fans that egged the wrestlers on.  Nigel says he blames everyone; they’re all sinners.  Nigel says unfortunately he can’t go out and slap everyone in the face but it looks like someone already has multiple times.  Nigel says he has to know that the next time he gets into the ring, it could be the last time, and even if it’s not, he could very well be injured again.  Nigel says he has two choices, he can either take his ball and go home, or he can say if he’s going down, they’re going down with him.  Nigel says if he stays in the ring and gets hurt, he’s hurting his opponent worse, and if he’s injured, his opponent will be taken out on a stretcher.  Nigel says the time for catchphrases is over; don’t say he didn’t warn you.

We get a promo and apparently next week, Austin Aries’ lucky lottery for the ROH World Championship will come to HDNet.  Aries says he’ll take 20 of the top elite wrestlers in the business and put their names in the hat for a shot at the ROH World Championship.  Aries says people have been sending them letters and people have even been sending him hats to pick the names out of.  Aries shows the final two choices of hats to pick names out of; one of them is a big bird skull cap (pretty freaking awesome).  Aries says next week, A Double, Lucky Lottery, don’t miss it.

We get some video of what happened last week (I can’t really comment since I didn’t see the episode), but tonight will apparently deem who is most worthy for a tag team title shot at the American Wolves down the line.

Main Event: El Generico and Kevin Steen vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe

Steen and Mark are going to be starting things out for their respective teams.  The two men shove each other in the middle of the ring before locking up.  Steen puts Mark down with a shoulder block, but it’s not long before Mark comes back with a leg lariat.  Steen tags in Generico who chain wrestles with Mark for a while, busting out a couple of arm drags.  Jay tags in and takes Generico down with a high elbow to the chin, forcing the tag to Steen. Steen comes in and he and Jay trade shoulder blocks, slaps across the face, and then a snot rocket and a loogie.  Steen and Jay square off with right hands and Jay gets the advantage with a big leg lariat.  Jay and Steen trade chops, and Jay sends Steen into the corner, following with a quick clothesline.  Jay tags in Mark who goes to work ramming his shoulder into Steen’s midsection.  Mark tries to go for a suplex, but Steen counters with one of his own.  Steen tags in Generico who comes in and goes to work on Generico, but it isn’t long before Mark tags out to Jay and the Briscoe’s double team Generico with a double shoulder tackle.  Jay chops away at Generico in the corner before hitting a snap suplex.  Generico backs Jay up into his corner and Steen is able to make the tag.  Steen hits Jay with a DDT and it’s good for a near fall, but when Mark comes into the ring, Steen sends another snot rocket his way.  Steen tags out to Generico who comes in and goes to work on Jay with a right hand and a body slam.  Quick tags in this one as Generico tags out and he and Steen double team Jay with a drop toe hold/front flip leg drop combo.  Generico and Steen continue to isolate Jay, but when Generico charges into the corner toward Jay, Jay grabs him and hits him with the reverse STO into the corner.  Jay makes the tag to Mark who comes in and cleans house, hitting and Alabama Slammer on Generico and a leg lariat to the back of Steen’s head.  Generico sends Mark to the apron and runs to the other side of the ring and hits a somersaulting dive over the top rope on top of Jay Briscoe; at the same time, Mark Briscoe runs the length of the apron in the same direction, and jumps over the turnbuckle with a somersaulting dive on top of Steen.  All four men are on the floor and the crowd is going nuts.  Mark and Generico make their way back into the ring and square off with forearms.  Mark looks to be getting the upperhand, but Generico surprises him with a Michinoku driver and a near fall.  Generico goes for the Yakuza kick, but Mark surprises Generico with a superkick instead.  Both men make the tag to the partners and Jay and Steen brawl away in the middle of the ring.  Jay gets the upper hand, putting Steen down in the corner where he stomps away at Steen’s chest and rakes his boot across his face.  Generico surprises Jay with a big Yakuza kick, but Mark is behind Generico to surprise him with a big suplex, Mark then runs into a big powerbomb from Steen and all four men are down.  Steen and Jay are the first to their feet and Steen hits a lungblower.  Steen goes up top for the swanton, but Jay gets his knees up.  Steen makes the tag, but Generico runs right into a big right hand, and is surprised by a lariat from Mark and a big Ace crusher.  On the ring apron, Jay Briscoe connects with a big Death Valley driver on Steen and both men are down on the floor.  Back in the ring, the Briscoe’s connect with a double team neckbreaker, but it’s only good enough to keep Generico down for a two count.  The Briscoe’s tease the Doomsday device, but Steen prevents it, and Generico rolls up Jay, but it’s only good for two.  Generico suplexes Jay into the corner, then Steen follows up with a cannonball.  Generico climbs the opposite turnbuckle and goes coast to coast with a big front flip dropkick on Jay.  Steen gets Jay in position for the package piledriver and the American Wolves are in to break things up.  The Wolves stomp away on Steen and Generico before Mark makes his way back into the ring to make the save.  The Briscoe’s and Steenerico team up for a brief moment and send the Wolves to the floor.  Steen grabs the mic and says that this has gone on long enough.  Steen says there’s nothing more that they enjoy than kicking the Briscoe’s asses, but the Wolves ruined what was a pretty good match.  Steenerico says they have a problem, and they’re going to take care of it.  He says that they earned a title match with any stipulation they want.  He says they’ll have a match September 26^th in New York City, and it will be Ladder War II.  Steen and Generico pose in the middle of the ring with their arms held high while the Wolves make their way to the back.

No Contest

Holy goodness that was a great match, but I have to admit I’m a little upset with the run-in at the end.  I understand why it had to be done from a booking perspective, as this is the first time these teams have met on HDNet, so for new fans, it will be a good way to get them hooked quick and want to see more from these two teams.  I also understand that they’ve been building this program for a long time between the Wolves and Steenerico and this Ladder War has been almost six months in the making at this point.  I just really would have preferred something other than a run-in.  Up to that point though, this was an absolutely stellar match, and I would probably put it at the top of my list for tag team matches this year.  This is another one that needs to be seen to be believed, and it’s high up on my list of MOTYC’s (it won’t be number one, but it may make the list).  A.

Report Card

In Ring Action: Well, all of the matches that you could call legitimate matches were well above average and this episode definitely proved one thing: there is no better tag team division than the one in Ring of Honor right now.  The Colt Cabana/Joey Ryan match also filled a nice little comedy niche in the show, and I really wouldn’t mind seeing a lot longer of a program between these two guys.  All in all, this was a very strong week wrestling wise for this show, and from what I’ve heard about last week’s show, that’s very welcome. A-.

Out of Ring Action: Promos on this show are getting better and better all the time.  Nigel McGuinness cuts some of the best promos in Ring of Honor right now, and it’s a shame that he’s really hitting his stride just at the time he’s leaving for WWE.  Austin Aries had a really fun promo, and it was pretty awesome seeing him wear a big bird skull cap.  The Steenerico and Briscoe video packages were very well put together, although I have to mention it was a little unsettling seeing Mark Briscoe with teeth.  Seriously, go back and watch it, he looks almost like an entirely different person.  Prince Nana was a lot of fun in the ring, and was a lot of fun backstage.  More Nana is always something I welcome as I just find the man hilarious.  Strong promos lend heavily toward this category getting an A.

Overall: This was the show to point to if someone tells you tag team wrestling is dead.  Between strong tag team matches, a great comedy match, and a full on squash, this episode had a little of something for everyone, but a lot of something for tag team lovers.  I can’t wait for what I hope is an inevitable three way tag team match between Steenerico, the Wolves and the Briscoe’s.  This show seemed pretty strong at building programs that I really want to see, and isn’t that what a good wrestling show should do first and foremost.  A.

I’m really glad to see this show doing so well, and even without the Nigel segment, I still would consider it a really good, almost great show.  That really makes me hopeful for ROH’s future, even without Dragon and Nigel.  If there’s one thing ROH should continue to do, it’s provide top-notch tag team matches, because that’s one thing that no major promotion is doing right now.

Well, that’s it for this week.  Hopefully next week I won’t have quite as much trouble with my DVR, because honestly, watching this show on YouTube just isn’t the same.  HDNet really needs to push their product into more markets soon, because I can’t imagine the YouTube fan base is something that’s going to be growing by leaps and bounds.  Alright guys, you know the drill.  Same bat time, same bat channel.  Until next week…

ANYMORE OF THAT TALK DAVE, AND YOU AND I WILL GO INTO THAT RING AND I’LL SHOW YOU A FEW THINGS

Non Wrestling Related Media O’ the Week

Well, even though I haven’t had much time to play it so far, I picked up the new Batman: Arkham Asylum game, and let me tell you, it is freaking awesome.  I’ve only played about two hour’s worth so far, but I can’t wait to get back to it, and I’ll probably play either after I finish writing this, or later tonight when I get back from a local indy show.  If you’re a fan of action games in the vein of God of War (minus the weapons), you’ll like this.  The fighting system is one of the most fun I’ve ever played, and sleuthing around and hiding in the shadows feels really badass.  I would highly recommend checking this game out as soon as possible.

Hello ROHbots and wrestling fans alike, it is I, Sean Hopkins, the newest blogger in the WNW blog-o-sphere.  Now I feel as though I should go ahead and have the obligatory introduction paragraph, letting you know just a little bit about myself.  I am a recent graduate of Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.  I hold a BA in English with a minor in Professional Writing and Rhetoric (just a fancy way of saying Journalism). 

Wrestling is something that’s been a big part of my life ever since I was born.  My older sister, Trudy, was a devoted fan of wrestling years before I was even an idea in my parents’ minds, and as such, she really helped me become interested in something that has become a large part of my life over the years.  I grew up idolizing technicians like Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Curt Hennig and also showmen like “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels.  Over time, wrestling has changed and so have my opinions.  I guess you could call me more of a purist (even though I really hate that term) in that I have always enjoyed the wrestling over the storylines.  Don’t get me wrong, a great storyline can add to a great wrestling match, but a bad storyline (which is really far more prevalent today) can suck all of the interest right out of a match.  So rejoice wrestling fans, one and all, because today is a dawning of a new era.  Today begins the ROH era, and if you’ve never seen a match before, prepare to be blown away.

Now as far as my rating system goes, I will be giving each individual match a letter grade.  At the end of the show, I will give a final report card to the show as a whole based on three criteria: in-ring action (cumulative for the night), out-of-ring action (promos, interviews, etc.  Also cumulative for the night), and an overall grade, based on how well the show was perceived (by me of course) as a whole.

One final quick note, all opinions in this blog will be written in Italics to distinguish them from play-by-play

We open with an incredibly professional-looking intro showing off some of the bigger names in ROH, Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Necro Butcher, Claudio Castagnoli, and a bunch of other people we won’t get to see this week; but still have to say the video is AWESOME!

We have an introduction to our two commentators, Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak who welcome us to the show.  Great introduction from these two to some of the rules of Ring of Honor, and it looks as though they’re bringing the Code of Honor back into play here.  For those who may not know, the Code of Honor is a set of rules that stress respect for your opponent. 

Hype for the main event with another incredible looking graphic showing Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black.  

Now it’s on to The Arena in Philadelphia, PA, the same place ROH will presumably be taped for the foreseeable future, and the inaugural episode of ROH TV has begun!

Match #1: Jerry Lynn vs. Delirious

Big match to start out the show as former (real) ECW Champion Jerry Lynn and long-time ROH mainstay Delirious lock up.  They are using a pretty cool graphic during the entrances that gives a bit of the background of the competitors as well as their finishing moves.  There are also very brief interviews with each wrestler before they are introduced, which are great for bringing newer fans into the fold and introducing wrestlers that they may not be familiar with.  The match goes for a good while with neither man being able to an advantage for too long.  Really interesting inverted Gory Special combined with an airplane spin from Lynn.  Delirious is able to hit a Panic Attack but misses with an attempt to follow up with Shadows Over Hell.  Funny bit here when Prazak had to correct Hogewood about one of Delirious’ signature moves.  Finish comes when Lynn sidesteps a running Delirious and is able to hit the Cradle Piledriver for the win.

 Winner: Jerry Lynn by pinfall

 Great way to open up the show.  Even though there’s really no history between these guys, they were still able to bring the crowd in and keep them in for the whole match.  Lynn is great, and the “You’ve Still Got It” chants, definitely aren’t wrong.  Delirious is a good wrestler, but his gimmick is just a little bit goofy for my tastes.  I don’t know what it is about gibberish, it just doesn’t do anything for me.  Solid opener, and I’m gonna have to give this one a B.

Backstage now with Kyle Durden to interview Tyler Black about his match later tonight.  Weird note from Durden about how Tyler grew up watching Jimmy Jacobs, even though Black is only two years younger than Jacobs.  Black gives a pretty good promo.  He’s come a long, long way since he debuted in Ring of Honor.  It’s a bit odd though that he’s talking so much about the Age of the Fall, that’s going be really confusing for new fans.

 Match #2:  Kenny King vs. Sami Callahan

If Kenny King looks familiar to you, it’s probably because you watched the second season of WWF Tough Enough.  If Callahan looks familiar, well, it’s probably because you know him, as he really hasn’t been on the pro-wrestling scene for very long.  Callahan is apparently calling himself “The New Horror”, which really, REALLY sounded like he said “The New Whore”.  Kenny King gives an absolutely perfect promo before he’s introduced.  King is a fantastic talent, and I absolutely can’t wait to see what he’s able to accomplish in his future in ROH.  King is wrestling a very cocky style, which hurts him several times over the course of this match.  Impressive Springboard Leg Drop from King.  Callahan has not been able to get in much offense after the first couple of minutes of this match, and King continues his offensive run with an enzuigiri and a huge Spinebuster.  Callahan is able to mount an offense, to the point where he is able to lock in the Koji clutch, but King hits the ropes.  King wins with a SICK double knees to the back and a Death Valley Driver into a DDT which King apparently calls The Coronation. 

 Winner: Kenny King by pinfall

Really, really good match here, even better than the opener.  King fits the cocky heel persona to a T, and he really reminds me of Shelton Benjamin, not only in persona, but also in athletic ability.  Callahan was also pretty impressive.  This was only about the second of third match I’ve seen him wrestle, but he managed to surprise me in that was actually able to keep up with King.  The only complaint I have about this match is Callahan’s finisher looks a bit wonky to me, I mean it looks like it might hurt;  it just looks a little goofy to me.  This match scores a B+.

Backstage with Durden again to interview Jimmy Jacobs.  Jacobs talks about “his message” and how Tyler Black has turned his back on Jacobs for the fans.  Jacobs tells Black that the war is here.

Video history of ROH showing a lot of the people who have been in ROH over the years.  Footage of people like Samoa Joe, C.M. Punk, James Gibson (Jamie Noble), Abyss, Low Ki, and others who helped build ROH from just another indy into one of the top promotions in the country.  Again I’m struck by how incredibly professional this all looks.

Match #3:  Brent Albright vs. “Addicted to Love” Rhett Titus

Brent Albright is another person some may find familiar, but not quite be able to place.  Albright had a short stint in WWE as Chris Benoit’s protégé, Gunner Scott and even was able to score an upset victory over Booker T.  Titus is another story as his career is just really beginning to take off.  Titus is kind of like Rick Rude, if Rude hadn’t been suave and instead he was a ridiculously over-the-top Chippendale’s dancer.  I almost spit my drink out when Titus entered as one of his finishing moves is apparently called The Muff Diver, that’s just plain brilliant.  I’m pretty surprised at the level of offense Titus is able to get in; he’s not dominating or anything, but he’s not being dominated quite as much as I thought he would be.  Big splash from Albright to Titus on the outside, I don’t care who you are, it’s always impressive to see a guy that big catch that much air.  Albright wins when he hits a Rock Bottom, Half-Nelson Suplex, and forces Titus to tap out to the crowbar in succession. 

Winner: Brent Albright by submission

I have to be honest here and just admit that I do not like Brent Albright in any way, shape or form.  To me, he seems like Generic Wrestler #1, like you could throw a stone and hit five guys in the WWE just like him; guys who have great physiques, and no personality.  That being said, I still think he’s an impressive athlete, as is anybody who works themselves to this level, and these two still put on a pretty good match.  I’m glad this wasn’t a total squash because Titus is a guy with a lot of potential who doesn’t deserve to get buried.  Nothing too standout here though, just enough for a C+.

Video footage of the I Quit match between Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries at Rising Above where the tension between the Age of the Fall started to come to a head.  More footage from Final Battle, where Jacobs turns on Black, and Aries made his heel turn, helping Jacobs beat down Black.

 Main Event:  Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs

Jacobs and Black are two men who have a lot of history with each other, even outside of ROH.  Both men were part of MTV’s WSX “promotion” as the tag team DIFH (Doin’ it for Her), and the team dynamic between the two really thrived when Black was brought to ROH as a part of Jimmy Jacobs’ Age of the Fall.  The two even went on to win the tag-team titles in ROH twice.  Obviously not a tag team anymore, there has been a lot of bad blood between these two within the past couple of weeks and what better place to advance this feud, than the first ever television main-event in company history.  The crowd is almost entirely behind Black as the two start things out with no handshake.  Lots of back and forth action between the two.  Jacobs hit a very Macho Man-like elbow drop on Black from the apron to the floor and sets up a chair, in which he seats Tyler Black, and even though Black is able to make his way back into the ring, I would look for that chair to come into play later in the match.  Nasty looking series of double stomps from Jimmy Jacobs, using Black’s stomach as a trampoline before eventually dropping the elbow.  Beautiful Springboard clothesline from Tyler Black, pretty enough to warrant a replay at least. SPOT OF THE NIGHT comes when Black misses a lionsault, only to hit a Standing Shooting Star Press on Jacobs! Black goes for the Phoenix Splash, missed, but lands on his feet, before Jacobs connects with the Spear.  Jacobs is able to send Black to the outside and launches over the top rope onto Black and through the chair (told you it’d be back in play sooner or later).  Back in the ring now, Black goes for God’s Last Gift, but Jacobs is able to catch him in the End Time.  Black is able to power his way out though and attempts to hit a Superkick on Jacobs.  The end of this match sees Jimmy Jacobs roll up Tyler Black and lock in the End Time again after Black kicks out, however Black is able to reverse it into a bridging pinfall for the win.

 Winner: Tyler Black by pinfall

Post match saw Tyler celebrate for the fans and we get a promo for next week’s show.

This match was great.  Both of these guys really embody everything that ROH is all about, young talent putting on great matches.  I’m interested to see where this feud between Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black goes as this was far from a blow-off match.  I’m somewhat surprised there weren’t more hardcore stuff between these two considering their history, but I guess that’s being saved for down the line, which is probably a smart move.  Match of the Night honors definitely belong to these two guys as they completely blew the roof off of the arena.  For the first main event in ROH/HDNet history, this was most certainly a worthy offering, and definitely has me chomping at the bit for more.  Definitely worthy of an A. 

On another, somewhat silly, completely related note, I always find it funny to watch someone small, like Jimmy Jacobs, execute a Spear.  It just makes me laugh.

Report Card:

In- Ring Action:  There can be no doubt about the fact that ROH is a promotion that has an almost unparalleled work-rate.  While the action was tailored a bit for a TV audience (this wasn’t quite the all-out ROH that you might be used to), it was a case of the wrestling being different, but in a good way.  I know a lot of people complain and call ROH a spot-fest, but I really think that everyone did a great job with their matches.  There was no glut of rest-holds, and the matches weren’t just an excuse to throw guys into the ring to see which one could do the craziest moves.  There was just great wrestling, and I would be willing to bet, more wrestling than you’ll see on any other show this week.  In-Ring action gets a B+.

Out-of-Ring Action:  From the interviews, to the promos by each individual wrestler before their matches, and especially the video package on the history of ROH, everything was extremely well done.  I really like the idea of having little blurbs about the wrestlers as they walk to the ring because I think that will go a long way in preventing new fans from getting frustrated to easily by being thrust into storylines where they are completely lost.  The only thing that was a little confusing was the build to the main event.  They probably should have shown the history between the two, before doing the interviews with each individual, but other than that, I don’t think fans could have asked for anything more.  I should also go ahead and make mention about the commentary here.  I’m glad that Prazak has toned it down with his heel persona, but he’s toned it down to a point where he sounds a bit subdued.  It’s not bad, but it’s something that hopefully will get better over time.  As far as Mike Hogewood, I was impressed.  For a guy calling his (presumably) first wrestling event, he was great.  He still needs to do a little bit of homework when it comes to the names of certain moves, but he is no Adamle by any means.  Good things in every aspect of this category earns Out-of-Ring action an A.

Overall: This show gets a solid A from me.  While not everything was spectacular, ROH has really pulled off something big here.  I don’t know if a first show could have gone any better for the company in all honesty.  The thing that probably surprised me the most was the professionalism that seemed to come through everywhere in this show (if you’ve ever seen an ROH DVD, you probably know what I’m talking about).  This is a real wrestling show; this isn’t some little rinky-dink indy, and the production values combined with amazing wrestling go a long way in proving that point.

Post-Show Thoughts:

Wow, wow, wow!  That’s all I can really say right now.  I have been a big fan of Ring of Honor for a couple of years now, and my level of excitement is steadily on the rise.  If this is the first show, you can bet that I’m ecstatic to see where it goes from here.  The main event for next weeks show is also sounding really good.  Check back here next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel for a review of Nigel McGuiness v. Jay Briscoe and other ROH-y goodness.

Non Wrestling Related Media O’ the Week:

Just to have a little bit of fun, I will use this section each week to suggest something that I have currently been listening to/reading/watching outside of the wrestling world.  Feel free to also send me your suggestions of things I should check out.  This week I would like to recommend a little television show that I have been getting a kick out of lately, HBO’s Eastbound and Down.  If you’ve never heard of Danny McBride, do yourself a favor and check this show out, because McBride is probably the funniest man in the world right now.  

Anthony Predicts: Diva’s Championship Match: Michelle McCool vs. Maryse

Many people know that I care more about the lint colleting behind my ears then I do about Women’s Wrestling in the WWE. However if I had to watch one person hold the Diva belt it’d be Michelle McCool. Not only is she gorgeous but also a very talented worker. It can’t hurt that you’re also screwing the Dead Man either. I really didn’t pay too much attention to the feud so I’m going to guess Michelle wins.

Anthony’s Predicted Winner: Still Diva’s Champion Michelle McCool

Anthony Predicts: World Tag Team Championship Match: Priceless Dream vs. Cryme Tyme

First of all I know that Luke came up with that name but I think it sounds good so I’m going to start using it. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes are the most utilized tag team champions in recent memory. The problem is they have not been utilized in a very good way. They are very charismatic and are two of the greatest young talents on the roster. They deserve to hold onto the belts for a while. On the other hand Cryme Tyme has won two number one contender’s matches and they’ve never gotten their chance. This is the first time their in a match for the belts. They look very natural with the belts on them. I won’t be disappointed no matter what the result is. I think the stealing of the belts was a little too much but its good way to get a feud going. I think that Team Priceless will retain by dirty tactics (i.e. DQ) or by help of Orton.

Anthony’s Predicted Winners: Cryme Tyme by DQ (Priceless Dream retains)

Anthony Predicts: The ECW Championship Scramble

Many people, including myself, were a little irate at the results of the qualifying matches for this scramble. But I think this match will turn out to be all right. So let’s go through the process again shall we? Let’s take out Finlay and Chavo right away. Chavo is a former ECW champion but he was just (ironically) an interim champion until Kane won at WrestleMania. Finlay may lead this brand one day but I have a feeling that’ll be later. That leaves us with The Miz, Matt Hardy, and the champion Mark Henry. In a bold move I’m eliminating the champion right now. Mark Henry’s reign has been a surprise to us all. None of us wanted him to win it but now most of us would like to see him with a nice long reign because he’s doing such a good job. However I feel his sympathy reign will come to an end in this match. So now it’s Miz vs. Hardy. Let’s compare. Hardy is getting the push and has all the skills to lead ECW as its champion. Miz could be a great heel champion and is also from Ohio where Unforgiven is being held. I’m going to go with Hardy here. I just hope they don’t build it as the biggest win of his life as they did with the U.S.

Anthony’s Predicted Winner: New ECW Champion Matt Hardy

Anthony Predicts: The World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match.

Before Cena got injured I was having a hard time trying to predict the winner of this match. However the light has shone and it is a lot clearer now. As usual with a multi-man match I will use the process of elimination. First let’s knock out two people, JBL and Kane. JBL will most likely never get his hands on world championship gold ever again. Kane is somewhat worthy of another championship reign but with his current feud going on it’s not likely he’ll go over. By knocking out Kane because of his feud that means we can also knock out Rey Mysterio. Not only because of the feud but also because Rey gets injured so easily and his body would not be able to withstand another run as World Champion. That leaves us with the champion CM Punk and Batista. Now let’s rewind eight years back to the Attitude Era. Kurt Angle was holding the WWF Championship and would step into a match where a new champion was almost guaranteed. I’m talking of the six man Hell in A Cell. Nobody expected Angle to walk out with gold around his waist. I don’t think a lot of people expect Punk to walk out champion either but I have faith. I’m going to say that Punk will walk out victorious.

Anthony’s Predicted Winner: Still World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk

Anthony Predicts: The WWE Championship Scramble

This is without a doubt the best out of the three championship scrambles. Every single person in this match is just flowing with talent. With the exception of Triple H of course everyone in this match up is having their first major taste of a main event. I can expect this to be a MOTY candidate for sure. As I said in my blog this kind of makes up for the Summerslam match. Brian Kendrick qualifying for the match is one of the biggest surprises ever. While we’re talking about him he’s gone. Yep Brian Kendrick is eliminated for obvious reasons. Next I’ll eliminate Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin has the skill but lacks charisma to hold the championship. That leaves us with MVP, Jeff Hardy, and Triple H. Now Jeff Hardy is coming very close to a world title reign. But he just lost at Summerslam to MVP. MVP could be a great heel champion. I hear there’s heat on him backstage though. And of course Triple H is the son-in-law of the boss. I really don’t want to see only one new champion out of these three scrambles. I think I’ll go with the safe Hunter bet though.

Anthony’s Predicted Winner: Still WWE Champion Triple H

Anthony Predicts: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (Unsanctioned Match)

You want my prediction? My prediction is MATCH OF THE YEAR. These two can put on terrific matches with no weapons or anything like that. You put chairs ladders and tables in the mix and we got ourselves a classic. This rivalry exemplifies what every single rivalry has to be these days. The closest WWE has ever gotten to this with another rivalry is Jeff Hardy vs. MVP. With involving HBK’s wife into the party you make this so personal that Shawn might actually want to kill Jericho. Jericho should never be a babyface. He’s just so easy to hate. I think that these two chat on AOL or something because not only do their matches kick ass but the segments are always believable. I guess I should get onto predicting this match. Well Michaels won their feud back in 2003. He’s also won the first match between them this year back at Judgment Day. Chris Jericho won at GAB but that was a technicality. The last Unsanctioned match saw Michaels go over. However Y2J hasn’t beaten Michaels cleanly yet. Now with this tricep injury they may let Jericho beat HBK so that Michaels can take some time off. I’m going to say that Rebecca turns on HBK costing him the match.

Anthony’s Predicted Winner: Chris Jericho

For the second PPV in a row a big storyline will have its presence felt outside of a match. Undertaker taking on La Familia has consumed most of 2008 and is the second best rivalry of the year next to Y2J and HBK of course. There have been all kinds of talk of what could happen with Undertaker here. Either Show turns heel and works for Vickie Guerrero or she gives Taker a title shot as a peace offering. I think they’ll go for the Show option with it leading to a Casket Match at No Mercy.

Well that’s it for the first ever Anthony Anticipates. The Talent Exchange will be back for No Mercy. If anyone wants a free live stream to watch the show on e-mail me at AnthonyO91@gmail.com.

Peace Out Everybody J

I read that last week Vince was unhappy because R-Truth sold too much to Kenny Dykstra. And I agree. When people like Kofi, Evan Bourne, and Umaga debuted they looked absolutely invincible. Killings looked like he was in trouble for most of the match. However when he was in control he was amazing. He made an elbow hit look extraordinary with the corkscrew spin he added on it. And his scissors kick was outstanding with the spin thing he did at the end. He also seemed very charismatic coming to the ring dancing and everything. Next week R-Truth needs to kill Funaki or someone like that. Just break their neck. He needs to just bulldoze them.

It saddens me that Killer Kowalski has passed away on Saturday morning. Kowalski was a great wrestler but his legacy still lives on. He is the trainer of the best wrestler in the business. Of course I’m talking of Triple H. The wrestling business lost one of its best. Knowing how much pain he was in he’s in a better place now. R.I.P. Killer Kowalski.

My question of the week concerns Raw. In particular the Raw Scramble. The big news last week was that Cena was inured and now Rey Mysterio will take his place in the Scramble. Now I’m a Rey Rey fan but not a fanatic. I booed him at the Royal Rumble this year (yes I was there live). But I think it’s too soon to bring him back. So my question is if Rey was incapable of returning and you were Vince McMahon, who would you place in the match. Personally I’d pick either Y2J or Kofi.

ECW shows a memorial for Killer Kowalski. Wrestling will really miss that man.

We are treated to the Dirt Sheet tonight. MNM is getting amazing heat. They go over the Scramble match and the Miz promises that he’ll win. I sure hope so. Morrison is pissed at not getting into the match. They invite Mark Henry out first. I can already see where this is going. Chavo Guerrero then comes out to a hilarious edition of his song done by MNM. Chavo says he’s looking forward to getting his championship back. Yeah right. On the screen they show MNM acting as Finlay’s brothers. Normally I’d be annoyed at them stereotyping Irish but this is hilarious. Finlay comes out to a great pop. The comedy BS starts already as Horny kicks Miz in the knee. Hardy then comes out to the biggest pop. Morrison gives him a look which even further point to a future feud. Hardy calls Atlas, Morrison, and Bam gay. This whole segment went exactly where I thought as the faces and heels brawl. Bourne and Dreamer come down to even it up for the good guys and the heels are cleared. Good opening segment to build up Unforgiven.

Backstage after the commercial both sides continue to brawl. Teddy Long comes in between them. Tonight’s main event is MNM Chavo and Henry vs. Dreamer Bourne Finlay and Hardy.

Super Crazy’s music hits and he is to face Gavin Spears. I know people don’t think a lot of this guy based on his debut. But he’s 131 on the PWI 500 so he’s got to be good. Spears claims to be the crown jewel of ECW. Sorry buddy but Bourne beat you to it. This was a quick match but it defiantly proved that Spears isn’t as worthless as we all thought. He did pretty well in there against Super Crazy. Super Crazy gets the win after a unique springboard moonsault.

Back from the commercial break and Ricky Ortiz comes out to face Ryan Braddock. Isn’t he a Smackdown person? Braddock dominates most of the match and looks all right too. I know that his last match he jobbed to The Show but he looks all right. Ortiz becomes more and more impressive each week. Hits some nice maneuvers except my only problem is with his finisher. He runs with a running splash. I thought that was only for the lard asses. Can’t we give him an enziguri or something? Other than that he looks to be getting better.

They recap HBK and Y2J’s segment. They bring up the injury HBK suffered. I’m very happy it’s not that serious. If that match was to be cancelled I’d be so damn mad. They also go down the Republican Convention. McCain’s going down. They also go down the Unforgiven card.

Matt Hardy comes down for the main event. After the commercial Finlay and Mr. ECW have joined him. Bourne comes down as the last face. Next up are the heels. Morrison and Hardy, who had the ECW match of the year last week, start off. Bourne hits a springboard dropkick on Chavo at one point during the match. He just keeps coming with new moves in his arsenal every week. He also hits the greatest standing moonsault in the business on The Miz. Surprisingly Bourne plays the Damsel in Distress for the match. He does sell good though I have to say. He has good facial expressions. The heels do a good job at pummeling him. Dreamer dominates for two minutes than is in trouble for two more and then Hardy comes in. Hardy cleans house but is trampled by Henry. Their making everyone but Finlay play damsel. Hmm sign of things to come? Bourne hits the best SSP he’s done in ECW by far on Henry. I mean this one was so high up in the air. Bourne takes care of Miz. Frog Splash by Dreamer and he takes care of Morrison. Butt splash by Finlay and he takes Chavo out. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate. Wow what a match. ECW’s tag team matches are always good but this one was crazy. Henry raises his belt at the end of the show.

An average show. Not nearly as good as last weeks. I’m sorry for the lateness but Orientation was long. ECW gets a 7/10 this week. To see my Unforgiven predictions make sure to check out the Talent Exchange this week.

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The comments are something that are here to give readers a chance to interact with their thoughts and not meant to be abused. The majority of the comments are very intelligent and well done but I felt that it was worth reminding the abusers that there will be consequences for their actions. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Summerslam was a great PPV. It’s definitely one of the few PPV’s I’ll get on DVD. We had some great matches throughout the night but as usual we also had the flops. Overall I’d give the PPV a school grade of a B+.

Jeff Hardy vs. MVP was great for an opener. It wasn’t quite the match I thought it could be but still it was a solid effort from both MVP and Jeff Hardy. This’ll be a WrestleMania main event one day and we just got a small preview of it right there. For some reason MVP just works great with both the Hardyz. Probably watched tons of their matches because the chemistry between him and them is incredible. 

The Inter gender match was a fun match. A lot of comedy in here but I feel it didn’t ruin the match. I have to say that Santino is quickly becoming one of my favorite wrestlers on comedic actions alone. Jumping into Beth’s arms and then celebrating atop her shoulders were great. I’m happy Beth’s WWE Women’s Champion but please get the title on Kofi again soon. Santino is a good wrestler but I feel that Kofi is way above him right now. 

HBK delivered one of his best promos in years along with Y2J. As I said in The Talent Exchange “a rivalry should be personal”. It just got a huge push to VERY personal. Obviously HBK will not retire now and something along the lines of a “Retirement” or “Loser Leaves WWE” match occurs. I hope to see some more matches between these two as they are just phenomenal every time they are both in the ring.

The ECW match *cough* I’m sorry segment was pointless. The rivalry was built well on TV and to have it turn into that was a disgrace. Instead of the rematch tonight I say they do a tag match with Atlas teaming with Henry. He looks to be in good enough shape to take a few simple bumps. That double suplex was pretty insane though.

The WHC match went exactly as everyone had hoped. Punk went over without distraction or anything like that. The match was a lot better than I thought it would be. It wasn’t A list material by any stretch of the imagination but it was better than what we had been foreseeing. To sum up my opinion I will recite a line Richard used in during the live coverage of SS: “Great match for Punk and should legitimize his reign as champion”. 

My preview for it was short and this will be shorter. Khali can’t wrestle and sells worse than Cena. Nobody expected Hunter to lose.

Batista vs. Cena was not by any means a great match no matter what you read what marks put up on Youtube. I mean it was good but it did not live up to the hype WWE gave it (if you can call that hype). One insane spot was when Batista reversed Cena’s top rope move into a sit down power bomb. Kind of reminded me of Orton vs. Carlito when Orton reversed Carlito’s move into the RKO. Hopefully with this being Cena’s third PPV loss it means he’ll stay away from the title for a while.

Now if I had to pick one match for all of you to see its The Hell in A Cell match. I have watched every Hell in A Cell and I’ve never seen one with as many insane spots as this one had. MOTY for me as of now. Taker’s ending spot was just jaw dropping. We heard a while ago that Edge wanted a break. Let him have it. He’s f’ing deserved it. 

My next discussion is all of the recent WWE releases. Looks like McMahon’s cleaning out the garbage. I was happy and confused about the releases I’ll quickly go over them one by one. 

Stevie Richards- Great, great wrestler. If WWE still had a cruiserweight division he would’ve done great with it. His legacy will never be forgotten

Colin Delaney- Ha! Good-Bye. I know he has potential but he’s just a waste of precious TV time.

Highlanders- In their first few months they were built up to be the next big tag team. Then they became Heaters. Then one of them went to go see some TNA and the shit hit the fan. Not going to say I’ll miss them but they were good. 

Cherry- Just when she started improving. Oh well. I liked her more as the cute valet but with that team split up I guess that leaves her with the scraps. I didn’t see her becoming a big thing anyway. 

Braden Walker- I watched some of the matches you guys recommended and this guy is fantastic. But wait. He was thin then. It’s a shame because if he was in shape he could’ve really went places in this company. People: DUNKIN DONUTS IS EVIL.

Big Daddy V- He started in this company in the early nineties. I don’t know if he’s been released before or not but WOOOO-HOOO. One less fat guy wasting our time with squash.

Nunzio- Another ECW original falls. He did well with the cruiserweight division but after that there’s no use for him. Maybe if they did an FBI reunion.

Shannon Moore- I thought that his team with Jimmy Wang Yang was really picking up before Yang’s suspension. They could’ve been really good champions.

Domino- I really always liked Deuce better. Domino lacked charisma IMO. You guys should see the video of him cutting Batista’s head.

I got no fancy transition for today so let’s just get into ECW action.

 We start off the show with a video recapping the ECW segment at Summerslam. Again I feel that it would make more sense if today we had a tag team match or a handicap match. However as Todd Grisham and Matt Striker inform us we will have a Summerslam rematch between Matt Hardy and Mark Henry.

To start off the show Miz and Morrison come out together followed by Chavo Guerrrero for a six man tag team match. Good decision there and not making it an eight man tag match by including Bam Neely. For the baby faces first comes out Evan Bourne and Super Crazy. Holy crap could you imagine a tag team with those two. It would be freaking amazing. Mr. ECW (my new name for Tommy Dreamer) comes out lastly. I have to say that this is probably THE best opening match and maybe one of the best matches ECW’s had this year. It was fast paced with a lot of amazing spots throughout the match. Morrison had monkey flipped Super Crazy but Crazy landed on his feet. Evan Bourne jumped up to the very top rope and hurracaraned The Miz off it. Bourne played Damsel in Distress for this match. The crowd is heavily behind Bourne right now. Bourne hits a quick powerslam and is able to tag in Dreamer who cleans house by dumping all three heels outside the ring. Super Crazy launches off Dreamer and outside the ring onto MNM. Not to be outdone Bourne hits an amazing moonsault from the top rope onto Chavo and Bam. The crowd starts chanting ECW ECW ECW. And that’s exactly what ECW was all about. Dreamer goes to pull Miz back in but gets distracted by Morrison allowing Miz to hit the Reality Check. Again that was a great match. If ECW opened with stuff like that more often they’d be getting more viewers. I don’t think I’ve seen a crowd this into a match for a long time. Great crowd. 

Backstage we see Ricky Ortiz get ready for his next match.  

Don’t forget that Raw will broadcast on Sci-Fi next week due to the Olympics.

Ricky Ortiz comes out first for his next match. His opponent: Gavin Spears. His real name is Sean Spears and he’s from Niagara Falls apparently. This guy’s no Evan Bourne but he’s no Braden Walker either. Ortiz shows signs of improvement and I can see he’s a pretty good wrestler. The match itself was boring though. Very slow and not at all exciting. The only note worthy thing I can tell you is that ECW has a new referee. Ortiz flashes a zero and wins with a splash. After the match he continues to flash the zero for his undefeated streak. The crowd continues to show its support by being behind Ortiz throughout the match. 

Backstage we see Henry lift weights before his match tonight.

Back from a commercial break and Irish eyes are smiling as Finlay and Hornswoggle come out with how you spells its and Irish hats for the crowd. Finlay talks about Mike Knox and how Knox says he’s soft just because he dances with Horny and kids in the ring. Yeah that actually DOES mean you’re soft. Go back to beating the crap out of everybody with the get me a dictionary.  Finlay challenges Knox to come out and confront him. Knox does come out and… O MY GOD. What’s that thing on his chin? Oh it’s just his beard. I’ve got to say that that is the most out of control beard I’ve ever seen. Knox says a bunch of blabbity but basically he still doesn’t want to confront Finlay and he’ll do it when he wants. Too bad for Knox Finlay wants to fight right now. They brawl on the ramp for a while before the lamest security since the Jerry Springer show tries to pull them apart.

Backstage Hardy gets ready by jogging in place. Yeah your opponent is lifting weights and you thin you’ll beat him by jogging right where you stand. 

Before we get to the main event we are shown a recap of what occurred with HBK at Summerslam. Rebecca (who is hot) took that one straight to the lip. I give her props.

Hardy comes out for our main event. We’re shown a graphic on the screen informing us that Knox vs. Finlay will take place next week. Again I’m really looking forward to that due to their brawling style. The rivalry should end in a Bar room Brawl. Henry comes out and we’re given the formal introduction because this is a title match. Before the commercial break we get a good bit of back and forth with Henry taking control before the ads start rolling. When we come back Henry is still in firm control. Hardy gets beaten down for a few minutes before going through his whole routine. Hardy manages to reverse a World’s Strongest Slam into a Twist of Fate but Atlas interferes again but this time without being seen. When Hardy gets back in he gets slammed for the 1..2..3. I’m actually glad that Henry won this because if Hardy won then Summerslam was even more pointless. Mark Henry is still the World’s Strongest Champion.

A better than average ECW but not great. Our opening match was fantastic. A new superstar that impressed nobody. Finlay and Mike Knox is a really good rivalry. Hardy and Henry is also a very good rivalry. I’ll see you all next week.  Since I missed the Top 10 last week I’m starting over.

ECW Top 10

1. Mark Henry
2. Evan Bourne
3. Matt Hardy
4. John Morrison
5.  The Miz
6. Chavo Guerrero
7. Finlay
8.  Ricky Ortiz
9. Super Crazy
10. Tommy Dreamer

Comments, questions, suggestions? E-mail me at AnthonyO91@gmail.com