What up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown on 8/30/11. Was SD Super or was it super crap? Well, let's find out and start the review.
Match #1: John Cena vs Wade Barrett
We open up the show with John Cena. He talks about the Super SD and calls out Alberto Del Rio. Instead of Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez arrives. He says in both English and Spanish Cena will have to wait until NoC to face off against Del Rio. Cena tells him to shut up and gives him a little Cena Punch. Wade Barrett arrives and says Cena is an attention whore for already establishing himself as the main star of the show and reminds him about their rivalry from last year. Nothing really out of the ordinary for the opening segment, but not very effective. I understand Cena wants confront Del Rio for NoC buildup, but if he wasn't there, why have Cena do the same thing for two straight nights? I know Del Rio is dealing with vica issues, but Rodriguez really had no purpose for this scene. All they had to do was Cena call out Del Rio, nobody arrives, Cena makes a crack in how Del Rio's a coward but he will get him next week, and then we have the match. The match was a complete joke. Wade did get some offense in, but it didn't take long for Cena to make Wade look like an idiot. Cena hits AA and wins the match in about 5 minutes or less. I wasn't too fond of this match. I felt this match should have been given more time since there was a point Wade and Cena went toe to toe, but that was completely not the case with tonight's contest and it made Wade look like a Yoshi Tatsu as opposed to a guy who is only here for money. Wade gains nothing for losing like this, especially when it was looking like Wade's character was starting to get back on track. Cena doesn't gain much for winning like this since it resorts to the common Cena formula, the Five Moves of Doom and another victory for the resident Superman of the WWE. If I were the booker, I would have made this a tag team match, given Cena another opponent to destroy, or given these guys more time. I'm not completely mad about this, but I am a little disappointed with the booking for this match. Not a good way to kick off the show with a somewhat pointless promo and a semi jobber match. I can only hope things get better after this series of events. Oh, and I have to give Ricardo some credit for keeping his composure for talking in both English and Spanish during this part since anyone could have easily screwed up. Del Rio was not present again tonight. Looks like the visa problems took a little longer to be dealt with. There was a Mark Henry interview backstage, but he said the basic stuff. Hooray for basic promos?
Winner via pinfall: John Cena
Match #2: Sin Cara vs Daniel Bryan
Bryan takes over for Sin's opponent tonight and based on what would happen after the match, this made the most sense. Bryan and Sin deliver a pretty good back and forth match. After a rough opening match, nice to see a much better wrestling match going inside the ring. The finish comes when Sin hits the Springboard Moonsault for the clean win. So, Bryan is definitely on a losing streak. I have to think this is a storyline for Bryan in which he goes on a mean streak, develops his character and possibly turns heel. Bryan is doing ok as a face, but I know Bryan shines best when he's playing the bad guy. There's always a chance Bryan won't be turning heel and it just leads to Bryan being more intense, but I have to think something is in the works with Bryan's losing. After the match, Sin shakes hands with Bryan, but immediately kicks him in the face...
This again supports my theory I made a couple of weeks back in which we see the current Sin turning heel and adding insult to the Sin Cara name. During this time, the real Sin Cara would show up and we would have a rivalry between evil Sin Cara and good Sin Cara. That is my only explanation since there really is no point in turning Sin heel since he's so over as a face and is one of those guys that is a much better face than heel. Another strange thing is I almost felt Bryan was going to turn heel on Sin right then and there, but it turned out to go the other way around. Either way, it will be interesting to see where they are going with all of this.
Winner via pinfall: Sin Cara
Match #3: Beth Phoenix and Natalya vs Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox
I don't really recall it being established Fox is now a face, but does anyone really care? To be fair, she does have a score to settle with the Divas of Doom. This match was also a joke. Divas of Doom dominate the match and win with the Glam Slam on Fox. Even though Beth and Natalya actually got to compete tonight, it still doesn't add much to the storyline since this storyline seems at a stand still. Hopefully, they figure something out for next week's show, because there's some wasted potential with this storyline. The KO storylines on TNA are better than this at the moment, and those storylines don't make any sense.
Winner via pinfall: Beth Phoenix and Natalya
Back in the ring for the Triple H/CM Punk contract signing. Punk questions the logics of a contract signing since the match is already official and wants Hunter to know nothing catches him off guard in response to Hunter taking Kevin Nash's spot in the match. Trips gets a little angry and talks about how Punk has disrespected him, his family, and the fans and has tried countless times to work with him, but doesn't know what is Punk's problem. Punk says THAT'S the Triple H he has been looking for, the Cerebral Assassin and not this COO Trips since it sucks. Punk says he loves the WWE and loves being here, but he wants to see change in the WWE so people think it's cool again. Punk vows to be the catalyst in all of this, but Trips immediately flips out. He says he's sick of Punk's speeches and he's only looking out for himself and doesn't care about anything else. Trips also adds he and Punk are a lot alike, but Hunter claims he had the balls to tell people he was taking their spot and Punk doesn't. Punk agrees that this is about him, but he's a fan of the WWE and wants to make sure this place is fun again. Punk also says the reason he takes cheap shots at Stephanie is because he was testing Trips. Punk thinks Trips is exactly like Vince with his massive ego and doesn't want change. Punk says if he has to go through Trips to get change, he will do so and tells Hunter to not fine or suspend him for kicking his ass. Punk signs the contract. Trips says he respects Vince for what he did to the business and actually takes it as a complement when Punk said he's like Vince. Hunter says the difference between Vince and him is Vince would actually take a beating from Punk because it's good for business, but that won't be the case against him because this isn't about business and it's personal. Trips also signs the contract. Nash immediately charges to the ring....or at least the closes Nash gets to running at his age. Punk wants Nash, but Trips holds him back. It looks like for a split second, Nash and Trips were working together when Nash kicked Punk in the skull, but Trips immediately tells his friend to stop, so Nash pushes Trips to the ground. The segment ends with Nash leaving the ring as Punk and Trips look on.
Another great promo by Punk. Once again, pro wrestling is staged, but Punk adds so much realism to a scene. You almost feel Punk's words are genuine, and that's how you make a worked shoot/promo work in professional wrestling. Of course, Hunter was no slouch on the mic tonight. Both guys went out there and put a lot of passion into the scene, which really made this my favorite scene of the night. I would even say this was the best moment of the night. You can almost feel the tension between Punk and Trips, which makes their encounter at NoC that much bigger. We really don't get much insight with the Punk vs the world storyline, but they added a lot of fuel for tonight and is really making NoC a PPV worth checking out. Nash showing up also leaves us with the mystery if Nash and Trips are working together and plan to screw Punk over, or if a person or two are plotting against Punk and possibly Trips. Very excellent scene to watch. See, who says pro wrestling can't be fun with just talking?
Match #4: Sheamus vs Great Khali
Very short match. Sheamus was in a uphill battle for most of the match, but he would battle back with his new Great White Face Turn Powers. It looks like Sheamus is setting up for the Brogue Kick, but Jinder Mahal interferes and the ref calls for the bell. After the match, Khali and Mahal work together to fight Sheamus. They do ok for a while, but Sheamus would take out Khali....by having Khali's hand hit the ring post? Yeah...explain to me how slapping your giant hand against a ring post makes you collapse on the floor for over 5 minutes? That has to be wrestling logic if I ever saw it. Mahal fights Sheamus for a while and end up back in the ring, but he would screw up and the scene ends with Sheamus hitting the High Cross on Mahal. A basic scene that showed what face Sheamus is capable of doing in the WWE. The fans are really taking a liking to Sheamus and this face turn has gone over very well for the Celtic Warrior. As for Khali and Mahal, I really don't care. Mahal is just plain boring. Mahal is so green that even a green Yoshi would be baffled by this. Mahal makes sand paper look interesting by comparison. Yeah, not a big fan of Mahal....DO SOMETHING!!!
Winner via DQ: Sheamus
Match #5: Randy Orton vs Christian for the WHC; Steel Cage Match
What's baffling is how Josh Matthews saying how balanced the Christian/Orton rivalry has been. Are you kidding me? This rivalry is more one sided than a fight with Godzilla. This was another great match to add to the Christian/Orton rivalry. Lots of good stuff to watch like Christian's Frog Splash and many other things. Highly recommend watching this match. The finish comes when Orton hits an RKO off the top rope and wins the match. Damn, Orton is so overpowered on this show that not even the Death Note can kill him. You really shouldn't be shocked with Orton winning this match considering the length of this rivalry. After the match, Henry arrives and takes out Orton. Orton did have some fight in him, but it wasn't enough. Henry hits a splash, bounces his skull of the cage, and hits WSS to end the assault. The show ends with Henry posing with the title. The ending here was pretty predictable as well since you had to sense Henry showing up to take out the champ to show he means business in the upcoming NoC match. Still, this is the most invested in Henry I've been in a long time since Henry was always that boring, big guy, but he really has hit his stride with this push and this is the best Henry has been in a long time. This is a reason why I agree with Henry getting a title match since I know a lot of people hate this idea. Henry is one of the most dominate figures on SD and he was due to get a world title. In fact, this Henry push has gone so well that I can actually see Henry walk away with the championship at some point. Henry might not be the popular choice for this title match, but considering how the other talents on SD aren't ready for a world title match, Henry getting this opportunity makes the most sense.
Winner via pinfall and still WHC: Randy Orton
Overall Impression:
I have mixed feelings with this super show. There was some things about it that were enjoyable, but also some moments where the show was pretty rough. The wrestling quality was only present for the Bryan/Sin and Christian/Orton matches while the rest of the matches are skippable. The show didn't get off to the most exciting start with Cena saying the typical stuff and beating Wade in about 5 minutes. What really saved this show was the contract signing between Punk and Trips. It was an excellent exchange of words and really added a lot of fuel for their match at NoC. Not a great showing of SD, but some redeeming factors about it make it at least watchable. I don't recommend watching the entire show. Really, if you watch the main event, Sin's possible heel turn, and the contract signing, then you will be plenty satisfied with tonight's events. I think one of the reason I was a little disappointed with tonight's show was it was labeled as a Super Show, so you almost expect more. If you think about it, the true Super Show was the one on Raw this past week as opposed to SD. That's at least how I feel after tonight. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and tonight's show. TNA Impact takes place outside of the Impact Zone this week, so maybe it can be good....or not, but we'll wait and see. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 8/29/11
What up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 8/29/11. So, would we get further insight with the conspiracy going around in the WWE? Well, let's find out and begin.
We open up the show with Triple H. He says he wants to make the WWE the best it can possibly be and for now on, SD superstars will get to appear on Raw on a more consistent basis and vica versa. I have some thoughts about this move, but I will wait until the end of this scene. Trips talks about the Kevin Nash/CM Punk deal and realizes people are lying to him and immediately calls out Nash to explain himself. Instead of Nash arriving to the ring, Punk shows up instead. Punk applauds the acting performance of Trips (Anyone else think that phrase is ironic?) and still thinks Hunter is lying about all of this and either Hunter and/or Stephanie is screwing him over. Nash comes out to the NWO music, which brings back a lot of memories. I know a lot of people have lots of hatred for the NWO angle, but it did have its moments and changed the landscape. Still, I can't help but think of this whenever I hear the NWO music...
Yeah, Hulk Hogan REALLY busted his ass on that night. Anyway, Nash said he lied about last week to really find out if Hunter is a man. Trips says he can't trust his best friends who lie and tells Nash to leave. Nash tells everyone John Laurinaitis signed him to a WWE contract and he doesn't have to leave. Trips decides not to fire Nash, but wants him to be honest. During this time, Punk starts gagging and rolling around. Punk claims he was acting, the same thing Trips and Nash are doing. Punk starts to mock the Kliq and Nash's knees until Nash says he wants to fight Punk. Punk agrees and says they should do it at NoC. He says it would be perfect since Nash is a champion ass kisser and wonders if this match is ok with Steph since she's the one wearing the pants and calling the shots as opposed to Hunter. Trips gets angry and decides to make the match official. A pretty interesting opening to say the least. So, we have a little more insight with this CM Punk vs the world storyline. Johnny Ace is once again mentioned on this show and with his consistent string of appearances, I have to think he will be a major player in this feud....well, not the wrestling aspect of it at least. Plus, there's Nash, Hunter, Steph and possibly Vince McMahon who have an influence with this deal. Damn, if things get this complex, we will need Detective L to solve the case...but I digress. I would go into my thoughts of the Punk/Nash match, but there's a lot more with this that would happen later in the show. As far as the idea to have Raw and SD join together in some way, I guess it's an ok idea. I know a lot of wrestling fans (particular the IWC) have wanted the WWE to get rid of the brand extensions for quite some time, but I've always been on the other side of the argument. The reason I like the idea of separating the talent is so you don't overshadow your rookies, up and comers, lower card, and midcard talents. I feel if you combine all of the talent on one show that you would put all the attention on guys like John Cena, Punk, and Randy Orton while the other guys will be out of the mix and would be lost. It seems the WWE is going with the idea of having the talent appear on a limited basis and not completely swamp it with their main eventers from both shows, and if that's the case, then I am fine with the Super Shows. If the WWE finds a good balance between their main eventers and their younger guys/midcarders, than I am fine with the idea, but it could be a problem if both shows end up revolving around those main event talents. Reckon, the fans want to see the more popular names, but you should always be building for the future as a wrestling company and those guys need screen time just as much as your well established talents. Hopefully, there's a good balance between both shows as I felt tonight's show was an example of a good balance with the combined Raw and SD talents. I am probably over analyzing all of this, but I suppose that's why I'm the Nerd. There's a lot more WWE talent these days and I just want to make sure those up and comers get their fair shot as opposed to being overshadowed. Even with that said, one of the reasons I like this idea is we get to see newer matches on a weekly basis since the opportunity is there as opposed to being excluded from Raw and vica versa. Time will tell if this was a good move or not.
Match #1: Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler
Dolph and Vickie Guerrero continue to argue about random stuff. This was a really good match to open up the action portion of the show. In fact, this match went so well that this might have been the best match of the night. The commentators really did a nice job in putting over Ziggler as opposed to just throwing him under the bus. I've always said Ziggler is a great in-ring performer, but if he can develop his charisma and personality, he will have a great career ahead of him. After a bunch of near falls, the finish comes when Ziggler locks in the Sleeper, but Orton counters and hits an RKO. The RKO here didn't look very good on camera. It looked like Orton lost his grip while Ziggler just took a dive. Well....those kinds of things can happen. What was more embarrassing was WWE showed a replay of the finisher and did a different angle of the shot, but it looked even worse than the original shot. Still, I won't throw the book at Orton since it was a very minor miscue. Orton needed the win since he's going into a title match tomorrow night while Ziggler losing might actually add something to his storyline involving Jack Swagger and Vickie. Still, I bet most people are complaining how Ziggler had to "job" to Orton again. A "job" is when a guy loses in about 90 seconds, so how's Dolph jobbing when had a 10+ minute match with the WHC? I've always hated how the IWC throws that term around since they almost make it seem a "job" is just plain losing, while that's not the case. I kinda got off track here, but just something I've been noticing that seems to grind my gears a bit.
Winner via pinfall: Randy Orton
Back in the ring with more promo time. Cena arrives and says how Alberto Del Rio is a terrible champion and he will take the title off of him. Mark Henry interrupts and talks about his reign of terror while Christian shows up and talks about Cena's crying over another title match. Cena proceeds to make fun of both Henry and Christian with more poop jokes. You know, I respect Cena, but it's hard to say those words when he's talking about dog poop. Christian and Henry are about to take out Cena until Sheamus arrives with a thunderous ovation from the audience to even the odds. As soon as Sheamus arrives, Christian basically says "F*** that s***" and leaves while Henry slowly retreats. During this spot, we went backstage for a brief moment where Johnny Ace wants Cena and Sheamus vs Henry and Christian for tonight, but Hunter arrives and says he already made this match and tells Johnny Ace to not overstep his authority as Hunter calls the shots. Pretty basic scene for tonight's main event and it also shows what the Super Shows are capable of. I also like the nice touch with the Johnny Ace/Hunter scene. Again, you really have to think Johnny Ace is a prime suspect in all of this, but maybe he's the most obvious choice and thus maybe it's not him? Really makes you think...
Match #2: CM Punk vs Miz
Miz cuts a promo in saying how Punk is a joke and he is way more controversial with his promos. That's laughable considering Miz has a long way to go before he's better on the mic than Punk. This was another good back and forth match. I think we have to go back to the WWECW days since the last time we've seen a Punk/Miz match. I really liked the match the two put forth. This match really made me think a Punk/Miz feud could happen one of these days and it would be pretty interesting. The finish comes when Punk is about to hit the GTS, but R-Truth arrives and we get a DQ. Yeah, I understand why they did the DQ, but I hate seeing really good matches end with a cop out. After the match, Punk eventually fights off both Truth and Miz until Nash arrives and gets in the ring. The Miz attacks Punk from behind while Truth joins in the attack to take out Punk. The scene ends with Nash hitting the Jackknife Powerbomb. A basic scene that shows the tension between Punk and Nash. You can almost buy the feud at this point since Nash seems to hit a groove spot with his mic work.
Winner via DQ: CM Punk
Match #3: Sin Cara vs Jack Swagger
Sin Cara.....or maybe we should be calling him Sin Hunico? Now, I've heard about the reports the original Sin was sent home last week while Hunico is said to be playing the Sin Cara role from now on. Mistico was a little shaky at times and this is a business at the end of the day, but I don't think they are completely done with Mistico since I can see a Sin vs Sin match if they wanted to go down that route. With that said, I don't really like the WWE listing the accomplishment of Mistico while Hunico is playing Sin since he didn't do all of those things, Mistico did. Imagine if you busted your ass and they gave all the credit to some other guy? Yeah, just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Still, with WWE listing Mistico's accomplishment, it must mean WWE hasn't completely given up on Mistico and maybe he can eventually play the role of Sin once more. Anyway, Vickie arrives during this match and all hell breaks loose. Ziggler arrives and they two argue while Swagger turns his back. Sin hits a Springboard DDT and one Springboard Moonsault later, the match is over. This match adds more to the whole Vickie/managerial deal. Still an up in the air storyline, but at least it's getting some development.
Winner via pinfall: Sin Cara
Match #4: Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne vs David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty for the Tag Team Championships
According to an online poll, the name of Kofi and Bourne's team is Air Boom. WWE Universe....what were you thinking? I don't really like the name for this team since it sounds like something a 2nd grader comes up with on the playground. Sonic Boom sounds like a better name, and why not considering Kofi and Bourne run at the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog and love to fly. Plus, Kofi's hair already looks like Knuckles the Echidna, so it would be a perfect fit. Again, I digress. The match was really short. King continues to talk about how boring the former tag champs while praising a tag team that has been together for three weeks. Ever get the feeling the King is a bit of a hypocrite? The finish comes when Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise and retains the titles. After the match, Otunga and Michael confront the King and toss his headset at the King. I have mixed feelings about this. While working a rivalry with a WWE HoF would give Otunga and/or Michael and identity (Let's be honest, they desperately need it since these guys are as generic as Wal-Mart brand foods), there was a point where King and Cole were in a heated rivalry which went on for way too long and not sure if I want to see the King involved in more storylines. It's possible King doesn't get involved, but they have been planting the seeds for weeks based on King's commentary, so you almost have to think it's on the horizon. As long as this rivalry/mini-rivalry doesn't last too long and does it's job in giving these guys a direction, than that's ok. If it's an excuse for the King to win a pointless feud, then I have to question WWE creative if that was the case.
Winner via pinfall and still Tag Champs: Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne
Match #5: Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella
This is another a reason why the Super Show is a good idea. I get tired of seeing Kelly vs Bellas. It's getting old and it's basically beating a dead horse at this point since we've seen this match like 20 times this year. Find a new opponent!!! And I still have to wonder why Beth Phoenix and Natalya aren't wrestling as opposed to this entire division being the Kelly Kelly Division? They were on screen in the back and talked about how the WWE Universe are idiots for cheering Kelly, but they should be competing as opposed to showing up in a split screen or on the stage giving a pitty applause. The finish comes when Bellas do the switch out, and Nikki (I assume) hits the X Factor for the clean win. The Bellas winning here is also a strange case. Even though we might finally be getting somewhere with this diva storyline; the Bellas win the match and it makes no sense. I still have to believe WWE creative isn't clear as to what they want to do with this storyline base on tonight. We will wait and see....I suppose.
Winner via pinfall: Brie (er...Nikki? Aww, f*** it) Bella
Match #6: John Cena and Sheamus vs Christian and Mark Henry
One of the biggest examples of wrestling logic you will ever see, and this happens every time someone turns face or heel. Sheamus and Cena have a history, but they join up tonight and don't seem shaken up about past events. Oh well, guess we have to forget about it since it's wrestling logic. The match was nothing too special, but it was ok for the amount of time given. The finish comes when Christian eats a Brogue Kick and AA and the faces win the match. While I agree with Orton winning the match earlier tonight, Christian shouldn't have taken the pinfall here and something else should have been planned. Christian has a title match tomorrow night and this makes him look weak going into the match. Reckon, Christian realistically has no chance of winning this match since WWE has already established Orton/Henry, but you didn't have to make Christian look this hopeless. During the celebration, Hunter and Punk are backstage. Punk takes more cheapshots about Hunter's manhood while Trips informs him his match against Nash will not happen. Instead, Punk will face off against Trips at NoC, which ends the show. Couple of things I want to address. I wasn't too fond of announcing this match in a quick backstage scene. It would have been silly to make Hunter and Punk come to the ring for an announcement that would have taken two minutes, but I felt this was WWE cramming a show. If you read my TNA reviews, you already know my thoughts with wrestling shows cramming their programming. Not sure how else I could have handled this, but I think I would have made the announcement in the ring to make a bigger impact. While this was the match I was talking about for the past few weeks, I'm not sure they should do it now. I would have waited a little longer, but I don't have a problem. Either way, they could've waited until Survivor Series to do this match. There's a lot of things that could change between now and then. As of right now, we have to think Trips is at least telling the truth. This also won't be the blow off feud between Punk and Trips and it's only getting started. I think shenanigans will definitely be in play for this match and we will get more development with this storyline since I can see Nash, Steph, or Johnny Ace screw over Punk and then we get Trips' heel turn. I think a Nash/Punk match might have worked, but part of me is kinda glad it won't be happening (at least as of right now). Nash is old and broken down. He has a much lighter schedule than his TNA days, but I still don't think Nash can deliver a quality match and it will be Punk busting his ass all night long to make it passable. Still, with the Trips/Punk match happening at NoC, I have to think the WWE has a trick up their sleeve and maybe we get a lot more insight to the whole conspiracy going around (*shut up, R Truth*). Then again....maybe Hunter is the good guy in all of this and it's really Johnny Ace who is pulling the strings, which could lead to a bigger series of events? With all of that said, I am pretty excited for NoC since we can see what Trips and Punk can do in the middle of the ring. It could be a good match and will definitely tell a lot of of the CM Punk vs the world storyline. Yes, that's what I'm calling it and I think it's appropriate when you think about it.
Winner via pinfall: John Cena and Sheamus
Overall Impression:
This was a pretty decent episode of Raw. The promos were average to above average, and we had some pretty good matches. I will admit the match quality did drop quite a bit after the Punk/Miz match, so the second hour did suffer a bit. Still, there was enough story telling to keep you at least somewhat interested in the show. A lot of buildup for the future of WWE programming and the PPV. We found out talent will be able to show up on Raw and SD at times, but it doesn't spell the doom of the brand extension since the two world and midcard championship are still around...at least for now. There was also some matches/storylines that could be gearing toward NoC, in particular Punk vs Triple H. I really want to see this match and even thought it smells shenanigans, it will be good to see what they can do prior to the possible interference. There was more development with the Vickie storyline; but too early to tell what it could be leading towards, so we will wait and see. There wasn't much brought up about the Miz and Truth, but maybe they can show up on SD this week and talk about the conspiracy on the blue brand. There was announcements for tomorrow's Super SD, but most of these announcements were made last week. I have found it will be Punk vs Great Khali and Cena vs Wade Barrett tomorrow night. The show was also going to feature Del Rio vs Sin Cara and Orton vs Christian in a Steel Cage Match. Yeah, they have plenty of stuff going into tomorrow's live SD. Not a terrific night for the WWE, but a solid night to say the least that did it's job with the progression of the Punk storyline and many others. There was no Del Rio tonight based upon some vica issues, or at least that's what the reports are saying. Hopefully, this problem will be cleared up for tomorrow night. I would also like to see some altercation between Punk and Trips since the announcement wasn't done at the best possible spot. Then again, those are just some of my hang ups, but I still found the show to be entertaining. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and/or tonight's show. I will definitely be reviewing Super SD tomorrow night. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.
We open up the show with Triple H. He says he wants to make the WWE the best it can possibly be and for now on, SD superstars will get to appear on Raw on a more consistent basis and vica versa. I have some thoughts about this move, but I will wait until the end of this scene. Trips talks about the Kevin Nash/CM Punk deal and realizes people are lying to him and immediately calls out Nash to explain himself. Instead of Nash arriving to the ring, Punk shows up instead. Punk applauds the acting performance of Trips (Anyone else think that phrase is ironic?) and still thinks Hunter is lying about all of this and either Hunter and/or Stephanie is screwing him over. Nash comes out to the NWO music, which brings back a lot of memories. I know a lot of people have lots of hatred for the NWO angle, but it did have its moments and changed the landscape. Still, I can't help but think of this whenever I hear the NWO music...
Yeah, Hulk Hogan REALLY busted his ass on that night. Anyway, Nash said he lied about last week to really find out if Hunter is a man. Trips says he can't trust his best friends who lie and tells Nash to leave. Nash tells everyone John Laurinaitis signed him to a WWE contract and he doesn't have to leave. Trips decides not to fire Nash, but wants him to be honest. During this time, Punk starts gagging and rolling around. Punk claims he was acting, the same thing Trips and Nash are doing. Punk starts to mock the Kliq and Nash's knees until Nash says he wants to fight Punk. Punk agrees and says they should do it at NoC. He says it would be perfect since Nash is a champion ass kisser and wonders if this match is ok with Steph since she's the one wearing the pants and calling the shots as opposed to Hunter. Trips gets angry and decides to make the match official. A pretty interesting opening to say the least. So, we have a little more insight with this CM Punk vs the world storyline. Johnny Ace is once again mentioned on this show and with his consistent string of appearances, I have to think he will be a major player in this feud....well, not the wrestling aspect of it at least. Plus, there's Nash, Hunter, Steph and possibly Vince McMahon who have an influence with this deal. Damn, if things get this complex, we will need Detective L to solve the case...but I digress. I would go into my thoughts of the Punk/Nash match, but there's a lot more with this that would happen later in the show. As far as the idea to have Raw and SD join together in some way, I guess it's an ok idea. I know a lot of wrestling fans (particular the IWC) have wanted the WWE to get rid of the brand extensions for quite some time, but I've always been on the other side of the argument. The reason I like the idea of separating the talent is so you don't overshadow your rookies, up and comers, lower card, and midcard talents. I feel if you combine all of the talent on one show that you would put all the attention on guys like John Cena, Punk, and Randy Orton while the other guys will be out of the mix and would be lost. It seems the WWE is going with the idea of having the talent appear on a limited basis and not completely swamp it with their main eventers from both shows, and if that's the case, then I am fine with the Super Shows. If the WWE finds a good balance between their main eventers and their younger guys/midcarders, than I am fine with the idea, but it could be a problem if both shows end up revolving around those main event talents. Reckon, the fans want to see the more popular names, but you should always be building for the future as a wrestling company and those guys need screen time just as much as your well established talents. Hopefully, there's a good balance between both shows as I felt tonight's show was an example of a good balance with the combined Raw and SD talents. I am probably over analyzing all of this, but I suppose that's why I'm the Nerd. There's a lot more WWE talent these days and I just want to make sure those up and comers get their fair shot as opposed to being overshadowed. Even with that said, one of the reasons I like this idea is we get to see newer matches on a weekly basis since the opportunity is there as opposed to being excluded from Raw and vica versa. Time will tell if this was a good move or not.
Match #1: Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler
Dolph and Vickie Guerrero continue to argue about random stuff. This was a really good match to open up the action portion of the show. In fact, this match went so well that this might have been the best match of the night. The commentators really did a nice job in putting over Ziggler as opposed to just throwing him under the bus. I've always said Ziggler is a great in-ring performer, but if he can develop his charisma and personality, he will have a great career ahead of him. After a bunch of near falls, the finish comes when Ziggler locks in the Sleeper, but Orton counters and hits an RKO. The RKO here didn't look very good on camera. It looked like Orton lost his grip while Ziggler just took a dive. Well....those kinds of things can happen. What was more embarrassing was WWE showed a replay of the finisher and did a different angle of the shot, but it looked even worse than the original shot. Still, I won't throw the book at Orton since it was a very minor miscue. Orton needed the win since he's going into a title match tomorrow night while Ziggler losing might actually add something to his storyline involving Jack Swagger and Vickie. Still, I bet most people are complaining how Ziggler had to "job" to Orton again. A "job" is when a guy loses in about 90 seconds, so how's Dolph jobbing when had a 10+ minute match with the WHC? I've always hated how the IWC throws that term around since they almost make it seem a "job" is just plain losing, while that's not the case. I kinda got off track here, but just something I've been noticing that seems to grind my gears a bit.
Winner via pinfall: Randy Orton
Back in the ring with more promo time. Cena arrives and says how Alberto Del Rio is a terrible champion and he will take the title off of him. Mark Henry interrupts and talks about his reign of terror while Christian shows up and talks about Cena's crying over another title match. Cena proceeds to make fun of both Henry and Christian with more poop jokes. You know, I respect Cena, but it's hard to say those words when he's talking about dog poop. Christian and Henry are about to take out Cena until Sheamus arrives with a thunderous ovation from the audience to even the odds. As soon as Sheamus arrives, Christian basically says "F*** that s***" and leaves while Henry slowly retreats. During this spot, we went backstage for a brief moment where Johnny Ace wants Cena and Sheamus vs Henry and Christian for tonight, but Hunter arrives and says he already made this match and tells Johnny Ace to not overstep his authority as Hunter calls the shots. Pretty basic scene for tonight's main event and it also shows what the Super Shows are capable of. I also like the nice touch with the Johnny Ace/Hunter scene. Again, you really have to think Johnny Ace is a prime suspect in all of this, but maybe he's the most obvious choice and thus maybe it's not him? Really makes you think...
Match #2: CM Punk vs Miz
Miz cuts a promo in saying how Punk is a joke and he is way more controversial with his promos. That's laughable considering Miz has a long way to go before he's better on the mic than Punk. This was another good back and forth match. I think we have to go back to the WWECW days since the last time we've seen a Punk/Miz match. I really liked the match the two put forth. This match really made me think a Punk/Miz feud could happen one of these days and it would be pretty interesting. The finish comes when Punk is about to hit the GTS, but R-Truth arrives and we get a DQ. Yeah, I understand why they did the DQ, but I hate seeing really good matches end with a cop out. After the match, Punk eventually fights off both Truth and Miz until Nash arrives and gets in the ring. The Miz attacks Punk from behind while Truth joins in the attack to take out Punk. The scene ends with Nash hitting the Jackknife Powerbomb. A basic scene that shows the tension between Punk and Nash. You can almost buy the feud at this point since Nash seems to hit a groove spot with his mic work.
Winner via DQ: CM Punk
Match #3: Sin Cara vs Jack Swagger
Sin Cara.....or maybe we should be calling him Sin Hunico? Now, I've heard about the reports the original Sin was sent home last week while Hunico is said to be playing the Sin Cara role from now on. Mistico was a little shaky at times and this is a business at the end of the day, but I don't think they are completely done with Mistico since I can see a Sin vs Sin match if they wanted to go down that route. With that said, I don't really like the WWE listing the accomplishment of Mistico while Hunico is playing Sin since he didn't do all of those things, Mistico did. Imagine if you busted your ass and they gave all the credit to some other guy? Yeah, just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Still, with WWE listing Mistico's accomplishment, it must mean WWE hasn't completely given up on Mistico and maybe he can eventually play the role of Sin once more. Anyway, Vickie arrives during this match and all hell breaks loose. Ziggler arrives and they two argue while Swagger turns his back. Sin hits a Springboard DDT and one Springboard Moonsault later, the match is over. This match adds more to the whole Vickie/managerial deal. Still an up in the air storyline, but at least it's getting some development.
Winner via pinfall: Sin Cara
Match #4: Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne vs David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty for the Tag Team Championships
According to an online poll, the name of Kofi and Bourne's team is Air Boom. WWE Universe....what were you thinking? I don't really like the name for this team since it sounds like something a 2nd grader comes up with on the playground. Sonic Boom sounds like a better name, and why not considering Kofi and Bourne run at the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog and love to fly. Plus, Kofi's hair already looks like Knuckles the Echidna, so it would be a perfect fit. Again, I digress. The match was really short. King continues to talk about how boring the former tag champs while praising a tag team that has been together for three weeks. Ever get the feeling the King is a bit of a hypocrite? The finish comes when Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise and retains the titles. After the match, Otunga and Michael confront the King and toss his headset at the King. I have mixed feelings about this. While working a rivalry with a WWE HoF would give Otunga and/or Michael and identity (Let's be honest, they desperately need it since these guys are as generic as Wal-Mart brand foods), there was a point where King and Cole were in a heated rivalry which went on for way too long and not sure if I want to see the King involved in more storylines. It's possible King doesn't get involved, but they have been planting the seeds for weeks based on King's commentary, so you almost have to think it's on the horizon. As long as this rivalry/mini-rivalry doesn't last too long and does it's job in giving these guys a direction, than that's ok. If it's an excuse for the King to win a pointless feud, then I have to question WWE creative if that was the case.
Winner via pinfall and still Tag Champs: Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne
Match #5: Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella
This is another a reason why the Super Show is a good idea. I get tired of seeing Kelly vs Bellas. It's getting old and it's basically beating a dead horse at this point since we've seen this match like 20 times this year. Find a new opponent!!! And I still have to wonder why Beth Phoenix and Natalya aren't wrestling as opposed to this entire division being the Kelly Kelly Division? They were on screen in the back and talked about how the WWE Universe are idiots for cheering Kelly, but they should be competing as opposed to showing up in a split screen or on the stage giving a pitty applause. The finish comes when Bellas do the switch out, and Nikki (I assume) hits the X Factor for the clean win. The Bellas winning here is also a strange case. Even though we might finally be getting somewhere with this diva storyline; the Bellas win the match and it makes no sense. I still have to believe WWE creative isn't clear as to what they want to do with this storyline base on tonight. We will wait and see....I suppose.
Winner via pinfall: Brie (er...Nikki? Aww, f*** it) Bella
Match #6: John Cena and Sheamus vs Christian and Mark Henry
One of the biggest examples of wrestling logic you will ever see, and this happens every time someone turns face or heel. Sheamus and Cena have a history, but they join up tonight and don't seem shaken up about past events. Oh well, guess we have to forget about it since it's wrestling logic. The match was nothing too special, but it was ok for the amount of time given. The finish comes when Christian eats a Brogue Kick and AA and the faces win the match. While I agree with Orton winning the match earlier tonight, Christian shouldn't have taken the pinfall here and something else should have been planned. Christian has a title match tomorrow night and this makes him look weak going into the match. Reckon, Christian realistically has no chance of winning this match since WWE has already established Orton/Henry, but you didn't have to make Christian look this hopeless. During the celebration, Hunter and Punk are backstage. Punk takes more cheapshots about Hunter's manhood while Trips informs him his match against Nash will not happen. Instead, Punk will face off against Trips at NoC, which ends the show. Couple of things I want to address. I wasn't too fond of announcing this match in a quick backstage scene. It would have been silly to make Hunter and Punk come to the ring for an announcement that would have taken two minutes, but I felt this was WWE cramming a show. If you read my TNA reviews, you already know my thoughts with wrestling shows cramming their programming. Not sure how else I could have handled this, but I think I would have made the announcement in the ring to make a bigger impact. While this was the match I was talking about for the past few weeks, I'm not sure they should do it now. I would have waited a little longer, but I don't have a problem. Either way, they could've waited until Survivor Series to do this match. There's a lot of things that could change between now and then. As of right now, we have to think Trips is at least telling the truth. This also won't be the blow off feud between Punk and Trips and it's only getting started. I think shenanigans will definitely be in play for this match and we will get more development with this storyline since I can see Nash, Steph, or Johnny Ace screw over Punk and then we get Trips' heel turn. I think a Nash/Punk match might have worked, but part of me is kinda glad it won't be happening (at least as of right now). Nash is old and broken down. He has a much lighter schedule than his TNA days, but I still don't think Nash can deliver a quality match and it will be Punk busting his ass all night long to make it passable. Still, with the Trips/Punk match happening at NoC, I have to think the WWE has a trick up their sleeve and maybe we get a lot more insight to the whole conspiracy going around (*shut up, R Truth*). Then again....maybe Hunter is the good guy in all of this and it's really Johnny Ace who is pulling the strings, which could lead to a bigger series of events? With all of that said, I am pretty excited for NoC since we can see what Trips and Punk can do in the middle of the ring. It could be a good match and will definitely tell a lot of of the CM Punk vs the world storyline. Yes, that's what I'm calling it and I think it's appropriate when you think about it.
Winner via pinfall: John Cena and Sheamus
Overall Impression:
This was a pretty decent episode of Raw. The promos were average to above average, and we had some pretty good matches. I will admit the match quality did drop quite a bit after the Punk/Miz match, so the second hour did suffer a bit. Still, there was enough story telling to keep you at least somewhat interested in the show. A lot of buildup for the future of WWE programming and the PPV. We found out talent will be able to show up on Raw and SD at times, but it doesn't spell the doom of the brand extension since the two world and midcard championship are still around...at least for now. There was also some matches/storylines that could be gearing toward NoC, in particular Punk vs Triple H. I really want to see this match and even thought it smells shenanigans, it will be good to see what they can do prior to the possible interference. There was more development with the Vickie storyline; but too early to tell what it could be leading towards, so we will wait and see. There wasn't much brought up about the Miz and Truth, but maybe they can show up on SD this week and talk about the conspiracy on the blue brand. There was announcements for tomorrow's Super SD, but most of these announcements were made last week. I have found it will be Punk vs Great Khali and Cena vs Wade Barrett tomorrow night. The show was also going to feature Del Rio vs Sin Cara and Orton vs Christian in a Steel Cage Match. Yeah, they have plenty of stuff going into tomorrow's live SD. Not a terrific night for the WWE, but a solid night to say the least that did it's job with the progression of the Punk storyline and many others. There was no Del Rio tonight based upon some vica issues, or at least that's what the reports are saying. Hopefully, this problem will be cleared up for tomorrow night. I would also like to see some altercation between Punk and Trips since the announcement wasn't done at the best possible spot. Then again, those are just some of my hang ups, but I still found the show to be entertaining. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and/or tonight's show. I will definitely be reviewing Super SD tomorrow night. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.
Friday, August 26, 2011
WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Impact Wrestling Review 8/25/11
What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Impact Wrestling on 8/25/11. How good or bad was Impact? Let's just get this over with and start the review.
We open up the show with Kurt Angle. He immediately calls out Crimson, which brings forth the big guy. Angle says Crimson carried himself well last week and showed a lot of balls, but he also thinks he's an idiot for challenging him to a match. Angle says he will end Crimson's undefeated streak and career for disrespecting him. Crimson says Angle was the cause of all of this when he attacked him and has no problem earning his respect. Immortal interrupts....for some reason. Bully Ray says Crimson's an moron for wanting to go up against Angle, but Angle immediately cuts him off and tells him he has this under control and he doesn't want any Immortal interference. The segment ends with Immortal leaving while Angle gloats towards Crimson. The opening wasn't too bad, but why was Immortal out there? They added nothing to this scene and we still aren't clear if Angle has joined Immortal or not. This Angle heel turn is all over the place since he still hates the Jarretts but trust Hulk Hogan at the same time. This segment would have been fine without Immortal, so I don't even want to know what the writers where thinking when they wrote this part of the show. Crimson again was decent on the mic this week. Damn, if he can cut decent promos, why didn't TNA have him talk sooner? I almost guarantee Crimson's stock and popularity would be much higher if he was cutting promos sooner. The show is off to a decent start, but I remember this getting pretty dumb, so let's continue.
Backstage where Velvet Sky, ODB, and Jacki are talking about their match for tonight. Sky says she can trust them while Jacki's saying they will work together, but they can beat her up as well. Oh yeah, because the last two months have REALLY shown the dominance of ODB and Jacki? To add to all of this, ODB ends the scene by grunting and walking away while Jacki's talking about the cameraman. One of the worst backstage scenes put together since they saying "We hate you and want to kill you, so let's work together". Not to mention not one of these ladies can act a scene to save their life. Oh, and let's not forget these ladies hate each other and are now working together. This kinda makes no sense when you look at it, but I understand what they are trying here....I think. Then again, who really cares about this storyline? Another backstage scene with Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Ric Flair. Hogan is acting like a pussy since he doesn't want to fight Sting, so he decides to talk to Sting and put this all behind them. Was there an innuendo in the last sentence? He tells Flair to keep his mouth shut and he will do the talking and Flair agrees, which of course means Flair WON'T say anything. Once again, Hogan says the weirdest lines ever. He referred to Sting as a Superhuman and claims he "wants to put the kabosh on this whole thing". Where the hell is that Hulktionary? It's the only way we will ever understand what Hogan is saying.
Match #1: Sarita, Rosita, and Angelina Love vs Velvet Sky, ODB, and Jacki
Opening with a ko match is really not the way to get the people excited. The match was not very good. What really makes the audience at home not care about a match is when the live audience doesn't care either. The Impact Zone had no idea who to cheer for during the match, so the match was basically dead. I can't blame them considering most of the people involved are heels. Great planning TNA. Oh, and where is Winter and Mickie James? Shouldn't they be competing since there the champ and #1 Contender? The finish comes when the Love takes out Sky and instructs ODB and Jacki to attack her, but they attack Love instead. They hit a finisher on Love and put Sky on top of Love (Now, that has to be an innuendo..) and they win the match. I guess the match finally gave us a possible direction with the storyline, but I just don't find it interesting. After the match, Sarita and Rosita argue with Love until she leaves. Ok....well, that was pointless. Sadly, there's more with this scene later in the show. All I can say is why?
Winner via pinfall: Velvet Sky, ODB, and Jacki
Match #2: Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen
Can we really call him Kid Kash when he's freakin' forty? Yeah, that ones a thinker. For an X Division match, it was kinda boring. It wasn't bad, but nothing about it really stands out. The finish comes when Kash grabs the tights and steals a pinfall. On last week's show, they set up a rivalry between Kash and Jesse, so I guess it makes sense to go through with it. For me personally, I would rather get an Austin Aries match than this match since he's entertaining. After the match, Kash mocks the audience for the sole purpose of being a dick. Jesse gets angry about this and TNA security holds off Jesse while Kash keeps teasing him. How does this security still have jobs when they restrain one guy, but don't do anything to the other? One of the biggest examples of wrestling logic. Oh, and Mike Tenay and Tazz were talking about X Division rankings for some reason. Is there some kinda of tournament going on with the X Division? They talked about this last week and I didn't take much from it, but a second week of it making the air, it has to mean something....unless Tenay's just spouting gibberish (which wouldn't surprise me). What's the point of having rankings when Aries became the #1 Contender last week? Plus, didn't they remember the Top Ten Rankings from last year and how much garbage that was? Is anyone else falling asleep by this point. Come on TNA, do something exciting.
Winner via pinfall: Old Man Kash
Match #3: RVD vs Pope in a BFG Series Match
This was probably the second best match of the night, but it's not really saying much. RVD did the Cattle Mutilation during the match. Matt Morgan added commentary and continues to be the only announcer to actually show something over the headset on TNA programming. Anyway, the finish comes when RVD gets a Surfboard type submission hold for the win. Feel free to correct me on the submission move because I'm sure I got it wrong. After the match, RVD and Pope shake hands and RVD leaves. Samoa Joe attacks Pope from behind and targets the knee. Devon's kids are pleading for help and a banged up Devon arrives. He tells his kids to shut up and hand him a chair (Devon for Parent of the Year?) and Joe retreats. You know what TNA? Either do something with this whole Pope/Devon deal or just end the storyline because it has been at a standstill for weeks and it's losing viewers. It was announced Devon is out of the tournament because of an injury or "injury". This probably has to do with the established kayfabe of Joe attacking Devon last week. Actually, TNA didn't even announce the injury and I only found out by watching the BFG Standings. Great job in telling the audience TNA since I only found out by being observant. Speaking of the BFG Series, I also found out RVD once again has 35 points. I understand he was down to 15 points last week and get 10 points tonight, but what about the other 10 points? This is why I hate the idea of putting the BFG Series matches in house shows. BFG is your WM, so anything regarding it should be featured on television and not at some random location without a camera crew. I wonder who's idea was that? So, Joe proves his dominance by taking out the two names nobody cared about in this tournament. Umm....go Joe?
Winner via submission: RVD
Backstage where Robbie E finds Rob Terry and ask him to be his bodyguard. Terry tells him he will think about it. TNA's really running out of ideas for Terry at this point. Reckon he's pretty boring and shouldn't have anything big, but they have tossed him around all year. He was with Immortal, lost his way out of the group, joined back up with a tag team that never appears on this show, and now this. Not only that, but doesn't Zack Ryder have some big guy on his Youtube show (The Big O I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong)? This just seems like TNA continuing to rip off WWE and/or Ryder's ideas. I said it last week and I will say it again, Robbie E is a poor man's Ryder and it's a miracle he still gets paid. Oh, and then we get to THIS backstage scene.....ugh. Love is sitting down on a couch until Sarita and Rosita arrive to attack her. They fight for a while until Winter shows up and goes ape s*** and takes out the ladies. Mexican America arrive to check up on their ladies to end the scene. What was the point of this scene? It really didn't add up considering all of these ladies are heels. So, are we supposed to feel bad for Love now? I understand they did the scene to show what Winter's capable of, but they could have thought of something a little better. Even with that said, I found this scene to be pointless since it really didn't add anything to the show or the storyline. Then we get another backstage scene between Traci Brooks and Bischoff. She's trying for the Knockout Law title while Bischoff is just making sure his pants don't show up on screen. They agree to meet up after the show for 3 cocktails.....what a bad joke. Bischoff might as well say "Traci, suck my cock". I swear TNA clouded this entire scene with innuendos. I wonder how Women's Rights feels about Traci whoring herself to Bischoff? I'm not even sure if we are supposed to be pulling for Traci in this situation or not since she's using her body to get what she wants. Was that another innuendo? What's up with this show tonight?
Back in the ring where Hogan and Flair arrive. Once Sting's in the ring, we finally get down to business....kinda. Hogan tells Sting he has completely lost it and claims this is a family show (UGH!!!). Hogan claims him and Bischoff have made mistakes running TNA (.......I have no comment), but claim it will be smooth sailing from here on out. He also wants him and Sting to be on the same page and give him whatever he wants, just as long as there's no match. Sting says the match will be off unless he gets a unicorn, cookies, puppy dogs, and pretty little flowers while talking in a lisp. Homosexual stereotypes for the win? Anyway, he kisses Hogan and Flair immediately gets in between and instantly goes crazy. There goes that jacket, so you know Flair means business. Flair says he's crazier than Sting and he will beat him in a wrestling match. Sting says he will do what it takes to get to Hogan and purposes Sting vs Hogan at BFG, which ends the segment. Yeah, so all that speculation I've been saying for weeks appears to be coming true, Sting vs Hogan is almost a guarantee at BFG. Oh......that's going to be a disaster when it comes. I can almost picture the Philly audience watching Sting and Hogan square off. I don't want to see this match. I don't even want to see Sting vs Flair. I just pray that nothing bad happens to either of this guys when that day comes. Maybe to end the day, they will have a Triple Threat Match where the winner gets a lifetime supply of goofball pills. This was an alright scene, so I have to at least be fair. By the way, did anyone pay closer attention to the Sting kissing bit? If you look at Hogan, he seemed liked he was more angry at Flair for pulling him away. I don't want to speculate anything, but this scene isn't doing Hogan any favors with the recent rumors. Hogan: "Whatcha doing brother? I was enjoying that. Get ready for these 24 inch c....I mean....pythons.....*that was a close one*...".
Just when you think you've seen enough talking, AJ Styles arrives to invite Christopher Daniels to the ring. I have to say TNA, you didn't do a good job in spacing out the in-ring action/promos since its been around 30 minutes since the last match. AJ says even though he isn't angry, he didn't like the way Daniels went about addressing the rematch deal. He finally wants to know why he wants this rematch so badly. Daniels claims Dest X was a great night, but he lost. He's starting to think he doesn't have it anymore and he wants this rematch to find out if he can still go or he needs to leave. Styles says he will give him a rematch, but tells him it will be on next week's show since he's going to be in the final four of the BFG Series at No Surrender (Umm AJ? I looked at the standings and you're nowhere close to the Final Four. I think the Pope's closer to the final four than Styles). I'm not sure about this. I keep thinking Daniels will turn heel since he always plays heel in a AJ/Daniels feud and this will end up carrying over into BFG. The promo here was ok. In fact, it was probably the best I've seen out of Daniels since he's really bland on a mic. At least here, he showed a little bit of emotion. Still, he was almost crying like a little girl, so kinda difficult to take him seriously. So, we have a match for next week's show, which might be pretty good but I have to think shenanigans will be taking place to keep this going into BFG.
Match #4: AJ Styles, Beer Money vs Bully Ray, Gunner, and Scott Steiner; Falls Count Anyway/No DQ Match for BFG Series
Holy crap....was this a clusterf***. Is it mandatory for TNA to overbook one match per episode? I swear, overbooked matches happen way too often in TNA. You have no idea how terrible this was. There was action on the inside, outside, and backstage. There was a point where Gunner tossed a member of BM into the locker room. Why is the match going this far away from the ring? Abyss was standing on the entrance ramp. He didn't add anything to the match, but he's there since TNA wants to put everything possible in one scene. There was a split screen during this match. If you have a split screen with one of your wrestling matches, you're cramming too much into the scene. This type of writing just reeks of Vince Russo since he's notorious for this type of stuff. The match shouldn't have this many stipulations and should be a basic, six man tag team match. The finish comes when Bully hits the Bully Bomb on Styles and wins the seven points. I wonder if the five other people involved in this match felt accomplished? After the match, Immortal wants to add insult to injury. They get a table set up until we see a Hummer arrive and it's Mr. Anderson. He gets in the ring and takes out Gunner and puts Steiner through a table while Bully runs away. Anderson grabs Bully's chain and punches Gunner to death. The scene ends with Anderson hovering over Gunner and Steiner as if he's a hunter posing in front of his kill. As if there wasn't enough stuff to digest, we have this? I'll be fair and say the Anderson attack was manageable. It basically sets up another Anderson/Bully match down the road. Probably for BFG. Well, I gotta give TNA credit for at least putting time and energy to building up their version of WM. Still, TNA needs to stop with these overbooked matches since it makes you feel like you're on an acid trip.... or in the mind of Jeff Hardy.
Winner via pinfall: Bully Ray, Gunner, and Scott Steiner
Mickie James had a short backstage scene to illustrate her title match is on next week's show. Why aren't Mickie and Winter competing in actual matches as opposed to doing stupid backstage scenes? Yeah, that REALLY makes me want to watch this match? Oh, and now time for the payoff of the on location deal with Eric Young. This week, Eric goes to a golf course and sees Scott Baio. Baio is waiving a golf club, but then Young rips off his pants to reveal a speedo. Baio runs like a little girl. Young climbs up a tree, tackles him, and does a cheap pinfall since we're lead to believe this was a TV Championship match. This ends the scene, most likely the bit, and I die a little more inside. So, you're telling me after ALL OF THAT.....THAT was your payoff? F*** you TNA. If you're going to do a comedy scene, you need humor. Where's the joke? What were the funny parts? This was just plain stupid and I honestly feel this was nothing more than a waste of time. On top of that, you making your midcard championship look even more ridiculous than ever. Scott Baio, what are you doing? Are you so desperate for money that you would agree to this? If it weren't for the ko match earlier, I would've considered this the worst segment of the night. How the hell did this get the green light from TNA? Who wrote this? I'm positive it took multiple idiots to think of this concept. What's next, Young challenging David Arquette....oh, no no NO!!! Let's not even think about THAT.
Match #5: Crimson vs Kurt Angle
Why do I have to wait til the last 15 minutes to watch something that resembles entertainment? This was not a bad match. I can actually recommend watching this match. This match did show me Crimson is improving, but he still needs some polishing. Again, I still see a bright future for this guy. The finish comes when Joe arrives and attacks Crimson, thus calling for the bell. You had to figure some sort of interference was bound to happen since it would be stupid to have Crimson's streak end while you don't want to make Angle look bad. After the match, Joe wants to continue the attack and Angle is ok with it. Joe's about to take out Crimson until he fights back. Joe retreats and this ends the show......at least that's what I thought, but there's still more. Tenay and Tazz give a quick rundown on what will happen on next week's show. This is actually a good thing since TNA is actually hyping up the next show. That's a good thing so you can get the audience to return the follow week. The problem is TNA doesn't do this all the time and they realistically should be doing this every week. We have one more thing to address with this show, so back in a second.
Winner via DQ: Crimson
Backstage reaction with Crimson. He talks about Joe's attack and calls him out for next week's show. Joe shows up to attack him. He takes out Crimson and even the cameraman. The camera is lying on the ground as Joe's setting up an object on Crimson's leg. He smashes his leg and says he just broke his leg. The show ends with Crimson screaming in pain. There's some good and bad things with this scene. I don't really see the point of Joe taking out Crimson backstage when he could have done it in the ring. It would have painted a better visual and would have looked much better in the ring as opposed to a passed out cameraman. Then again, that goes back to what I've said about TNA's filming. They tend to go for that "reality" filming in which the camera man is hiding from the wrestlers. I know some people like this type of filming, but I don't. I much prefer a cameraman with a steady hand or the use of a tripod as opposed to the "peeping Tom" filming. This adds more to Joe in how he's serious of taking out the BFG competition. This is what I was talking about last week since Joe showed up to attack Devon, but didn't do anything else. So, it makes sense for him to attack multiple people in one evening. Part of me thinks they may have written Crimson out of the show. While Crimson has a lot of potential, he isn't ready for a world title match. He can easily become a Jack Swagger if they put the title around him, and you don't want to do that to your best young talent. He did look good against Angle tonight, but they should really take their time with him since Crimson needs to polish up on some things. Writing him off the show will still keep his undefeated streak in tact, and they can also bring him back better than ever. At least.....that's my theory as to why Joe did the "injury" angle tonight. If they did the attack only for Crimson to show up and kill Joe in a week or two, I would really have to question TNA with the booking/writing for this one. Still, this does make me want to watch next week's show since you want to find out if Crimson will compete or not, so I gotta give TNA credit in that department. Based on my earlier theory, this BFG Series will either come down to Robert Roode or James Storm. I think they might be relying on Roode for this one since they have been preping him to do something big as a singles competitor.
Overall Impression:
TNA did do some good things tonight. The opening was pretty good and I liked how the show ended, and I felt they did a good job in hyping up next week's show. Still, there was some flaws. The in-ring action wasn't very good. Outside of the Crimson/Angle match, everything else was average to horrible. Plus, do we need to go into detail of the Falls Count Anywhere match? Some promos/segment were ok, but others were really dumb at times. There was a lot of backstage scenes in this episodes and they were either tolerable to really bad. The payoff to the Young/Scott Baio was really stupid. It was moments like this which really hurt the show. Still, there was some good moments. Kinda a mixed bag sort of evening, but I do wish there was a better balance with the good and the bad. Next week's show should be interesting. I think the biggest reason I looking forward to next week is the fact the show's taking place OUTSIDE the Impact Zone. TNA really needs to have more shows out of Orlando because I get tired of seeing the same audience every week. Not a show I can recommend, but there was some good and I can definitely recommend watching the good parts. Some people asked me about the Matt Hardy deal. What happened is Matt got a DWI and nearly killed himself in a car accident. Once TNA found out about this, he was released from the company. Yeah, that was something. In other news, the sun rose in the morning. It's hard for me to feel sorry for Matt when he does all of this stupid stuff. When will the Hardys realize they are not 16 years old and need to start acting like grown ups? Probably never. I honestly can't blame TNA for releasing Matt. He showed up out of shape and just when he starts to put a little effort in the ring, he starts ditching shows and gets suspended. If there's one thing that pisses me off, it's seeing talented people piss away their talents because they can't stay clean or are immature. The same thing applies to Jeff Hardy. I would like to hope this release will be a wake up call to Matt since there isn't much options after this. WWE won't take you back and I doubt Ring of Honor would take a gamble on you. Maybe this forces Matt to buckle down and start taking care of himself better, but maybe not? I've heard about the Jeff Hardy rumors, and I would like to keep that stuff silent until next time. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. If you hated this review.....it's your fault. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 8/22/11 (It's a Conspiracy)
What up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 8/22/11. After last week's events, how would the WWE continue the buildup? Well, let's find out and start the review.
We open up the show with Alberto Del Rio. He didn't get to say much because he was immediately interrupted by John Cena. He calls Del Rio an average talent and claims there's only one person who can go the distance with him, CM Punk. Cena gets interrupted by Punk in the process. Punk thinks this is a re-run with Cena going for his one millionth title match. Punk's explaining himself until Del Rio says it's his time to shine. Punk warns him to never interrupt him and stats while Del Rio is deserving of the MITB cash in, he has a problem with Triple H's regime and wants to get to the bottom of all of this. Punk assumes someone within the WWE is making sure Del Rio's the champ as opposed to him. He also brings up his rematch for the championship. This starts an argument between Punk and Cena in who's deserving of a rematch until Del Rio says he shouldn't have to face either of them. Triple H finally interrupts and says Del Rio won't face Punk or Cena, but he does have a match for tonight. He also stats there will be a #1 Contender's Match for the WWE Title between Punk and Cena. A decent opening for the show. I remember a line in which Cena and Punk claimed Del Rio was the third wheel. They actually have a point when you think about it. While Del Rio has improved and gained a lot of attention in the past week, the majority of fans really want to see Punk, Cena, or both. In fact, Del Rio was mostly silent for this segment as he was completely overshadowed by Punk and Cena. To be fair, this is still very new to Del Rio and it will take time for him to ease into a groove....if he's good enough that is. I wasn't really big on the main event announcement. While I enjoy Punk vs Cena matches, this match being on Raw just smell shenanigans of some sort. Then again, maybe I'm wrong? It was also reported during the opening that Rey Mysterio would be out of action for a while. This injury seems legit as Rey has been banged up for a while and needs some rest. It will be a shame to lose Rey for a while, but injuries are apart of the game. Best of luck Mysterio in the recovery process.
Match #1: Alberto Del Rio vs John Morrison
Really good opening match to start the action portion of the show. Good back and forth action between the two. Del Rio and Morrison work pretty well together. The finish comes when Del Rio locks in the Cross Armbreaker for the clean win. Del Rio needed the win to continue to show he's worthy of the top spot. Now, I imagine Morrison fans are a little angry at the WWE right about now. Since Morrison came back from the injury, he really hasn't done much. While Morrison's a great wrestler, I've also stated in the past Morrison needs to work on his personality and mic skills to really make himself stand out. He's lacking in these two areas, and it holds him back. Still, Morrison was really high prior to the injury, so why has his stock fallen so fast? Well, the reason being is a lot of people have stepped it up during his absence and proved they could do and equal or better job than Morrison. During Morrison's injury, we saw Punk reach a ridiculous level of fandom and even R-Truth has shown a lot more of what he can do. Yeah, the man's freakin' psychotic, but Truth has actually gained more credibility for a top spot than Morrison. What I'm basically saying is Morrison needs to bust his ass to prove he's worthy of moving up the corporate ladder. You can also argue how Morrison's his own worst enemy based on various backstage reports, but I don't like to talk about that type of stuff on here so let's move on.
Match #2: Eve vs Nikki Bella
Feel free to correct me if I wrote the name of the wrong Bella twin competing in this match. Brie and Kelly Kelly are at ringside for this match. This was a little better than last week's diva match, but it isn't saying much. The action really dragged and moved really slow. The finish comes when Eve hits a Swinging Neckbreaker for the clean win. After the match, Kelly hits the Infamassour on the other Bella twin while Beth Phoenix and Natalya are on the entrance ramp giving them a pity applause. I really didn't like this segment for a number of reasons. First, the ending was a carbon copy of last week's ending. Second, why aren't Beth or Natalya competing? And third, and the most important; why Eve vs Nikki? Beth and Natalya are targeting Kelly, so wouldn't it make more sense to have Kelly or the "Divas of Doom" compete? Reckon, Eve and Kelly are basically a team, but that's a lazy way of booking it. It almost feels like the WWE isn't quite sure what they want to do with this storyline, so they kinda put it on hold. At the end of the day, Eve gains nothing for winning the match and thus it just seemed pointless. So, it was basically a throwaway match. Definitely the weakest segment of the night. Hopefully, the WWE has an actual plan with this entire feud and we see some build up as opposed to doing a repeat.
Winner via pinfall: Eve
Match #3: Jack Swagger vs Alex Riley
Vickie Guerrero introduced Swagger has her potential new client. The match didn't last long. Dolph Ziggler arrived and confronted Vickie for working with Swagger tonight. At some point, Vickie fell to the floor and Swagger and Dolph got into it. Swagger walks back in the ring only for Riley to get a rollup victory. Not really a whole lot to say since this storyline is still in the early stages. We will just have to wait and see where they plan to go with all of this. Hopefully, we get a clearer picture with this storyline as we get to NoC.
Winner via pinfall: Alex Riley
Back in the ring where Triple H wants to talk about the "Who shot J....er....I mean who sent Kevin Nash the text". He invites Nash to the ring so they can talk. Nash reveals the text was sent from Hunter's phone, but Trips said he didn't send anything. Nash believes him since they have been friends for over 20 years. Nash stats he thought about apologizing to Punk, but he quickly remembered his comments from last week and he refuses to apologize. Nash even stats he would have killed Punk if he actually worked here. Trips tells him to leave since he "doesn't" want his friend to do anything wreckless. Punk interrupts and quickly stats he doesn't buy anything both are saying. Punk even thinks Stephanie sent the text and wants to kick some Super Shredder ass until Trips holds him back. Punk quickly gets angry and wants to know what's his problem? He calls out Hunter in saying how he's scared to have a guy like Punk as WWE Champion and even questions Trips' manhood by thinking Steph's calling all the shots. Nash takes a cheap shot at Punk and Trips restrains him. He calms him down and they both walk away. The segment ends with Punk smiling. Punk adds so much to a scene. It's amazing how pro wrestling's staged and scripted and yet Punk can make it seem real at times. This was an interesting scene, but there wasn't much revealed. Nash was a lot better on the mic this week. It looked like he got into a groove this week and it made the scene that much better. I know people are disappointed the culprit wasn't revealed, but they can drag out this thing for a few weeks. They can also wait until the PPV to reveal more details on all of this. I still find myself very invested in this storyline and this feels like the main storyline at the moment. Did anyone else the text was sent by Vince McMahon? There was also a backstage scene where Trips and Nash are arguing. Nash thinks Trips has gotten out of hand with his new power and leaves the arena.
Match #4: David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty vs Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne for the WWE Tag Team Championships
King continues to bash the tag champs since they haven't shown much. He even claimed the Bushwhackers showed more personality than these guys. He actually has a point there since the tag champs look like generic guy #1 and #2. This was an ok match, but nothing to brag home about. The finish comes when Bourne hits Air Bourne and we have new tag team champions. I personally don't have a problem with this. Otunga and Michael were just another bland tag team and it didn't seem they were getting anywhere with the hardware. Kofi and Bourne almost seem like a natural tag team and there has been talk of reviving the tag team division in the WWE. If that's the case, it makes perfect sense to go with Kofi and Bourne since they transition into tag team wrestling a lot better than Otunga and Michael. Oh, and maybe we can ditch Joe Hennig's goofy name while we are at it? Just a thought?
Winner via pinfall and NEW WWE Tag Champs: Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne
Backstage where John Laurinitis finds Trips and tells him Nash was just involved in a car accident. Johnny Ace tells him the hospital address and Trips immediately leaves the building and seems to leave Johnny Ace in charge...
Aw yes. Very interesting to say the least. I think if the last couple of weeks has taught us anything, don't trust the Funkman.
We are back in the ring where Santino's doing his air trombone dance. It's good, but it's no lucky dance...
Anyway, the comedy didn't last long as Miz and Truth arrive to attack Santino. They take him out and quickly grab the mics. Truth says this will happen to all the lil Jimmys. He once again brings up the conspiracy (it's funny because it's ironic) and how Triple H is doing everything possible to hold them both back. Miz realizes what Truth is saying and he agrees. He says he has tried to do everything to get noticed on this show, which is why he had a fight with the Subway guy last week. Miz and Truth claim they are sick of waiting for an opportunity and they will just take it. This segment ends with Truth rapping at how he dislikes the audience while the Miz joins the party. One of the strangest segments for tonight, but also one of the funnier moments in the process. The crowd was really giving both guys a ton of heat, but Miz and Truth handled it pretty well. We might have seen the birth of a new coalition between Miz and Truth, and I'm all for it. They both work pretty well together and can be the new old couple of the WWE. I really want to see what else they can bring to the table for next week's show. Still, did anyone understand half the things Truth was rapping? It all seemed mesh together, but maybe that's the best way to go about it since Truth is bats*** crazy?
Match #5: CM Punk vs John Cena; winner is the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship
The audience was very interesting tonight. It seemed like the fans were split between both Punk and Cena, but they really seemed to hate Cena more than anything else. You never sure what you're going to get with a Canadian audience. That's no way a knock against Canadians since I like seeing how other people react to their favorites. Once again, another great match put on between Punk and Cena. Like I said in my Summerslam review, it really seems Punk brings out the best in Cena and vica versa. Maybe this will shut the people up who say Cena can't wrestle since Cena has done well these past few months. Eh......probably not? Johnny Ace and Del Rio were watching this match at ringside. The King's commentary was something else during this match. King was basically anti-Punk in all of this and claims Punk is much weaker than Cena. King, where did THAT come from? I know the King praises Cena while on commentary, but he basically threw Punk under the bus this week. Heck, I think even JR and Michael Cole were caught off guard by this. Then again, maybe it's all apart of the conspiracy? This was a great match for free TV. Both went out there and made this a fun match. Both guys even kicked out of each other's finishers. Punk once again plays tribute to the Macho Man Randy Savage with a Flying Elbow. Punk's about to end it until Nash arrives and says this isn't over yet. Punk gets distracted and adverts his attention to Nash. This allows recovery time for Cena. Punk finally gets back in the match, but walks into AA and Cena wins the match. After the match, Del Rio jumps in to attack Cena. Johnny Ace tries to restrain him, but Del Rio continues to punish Cena. The show ends with a broken down Cena.
Winner via pinfall and NEW #1 Contender to the WWE Championship: John Cena
I realize people are very pissed off about this since Cena immediately gets back in the title hunt while Punk does something else. You have to look at it like this. I think it makes sense for Cena to get the title shot since Punk's in the middle of this whole text message/Nash deal. I think as of right now, the Punk storyline is the major storyline of the show while Del Rio/Cena is a close second. I think people tend to forget Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn't always in the title picture, but found a way to still get a lot of mainstream attention with some of the programs he was working. Just because Punk isn't fighting for the title doesn't mean he's completely going back to a garbage feud. Punk's working a much bigger storyline at the moment in which we might see Punk and Triple H lock it up. If you think about it, Punk's character is better without the title as opposed to being champion. Reckon, I'm a Punk fan as much as the next guy and I would love to see the guy get his lengthy championship reign, but I like the storyline he's working and I think it shows the WWE has big plans for Punk. Another reason Cena should get the title shot is to help establish Del Rio. It would be a waste to invest so much time into Punk only to have him fall to Del Rio, so it makes sense to go with Cena. This will also be the moment where we find out if Del Rio's deserving of this push or if he's just an over hyped wrestler. Only time will tell if Del Rio belongs in the spotlight, but I think he's making improvements. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if tonight's ending sparked more hatred for Cena since a lot of people get tired of seeing him in the title picture. I will admit it does get a little old, but Cena's the best one to put over Del Rio at the moment. Gotta look at this from a logical standpoint and this was the most logical move....at least in my opinion. As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, you knew some sort of shenanigans was on course, but that's ok. Of course, tonight's ending adds more to the Punk storyline since Johnny Ace delivered the message. Did Johnny Ace lie? Did he get false information? Did Johnny Ace and Hunter act the whole thing out? Yeah, I can keep going but I think you get the point. A very interesting turn of events to say the least.
Overall Impression:
I thought this was a pretty good episode of Raw. It was a heavy promo night for the WWE since we had three scenes with a good amount of talking. The promos/segments really made the show interesting to watch. The action was very good as well. There was some lackluster performances like the diva match, but with the Del Rio/Morrison and Punk/Cena matches, the action was definitely there. Great wrestling matches and storytelling all around, what more can you ask for? Like last week's show, we are left with more questions than answers. Maybe we will get an answer or two on next week's show, but all of these questions keep you coming back. What makes a good wrestling show is ending with a question/cliffhanger to make sure you come back the following week. I think the WWE is putting together one of the best years in a long time. I can definitely recommend watching this episode since it was very entertaining and well put together. I would like to find out more about the Punk angle? I'm interested to see how well they can build up the Del Rio/Cena title match. I'm also interested in what Miz and Truth plan on doing. All we need now is an actual direction with the diva division and some foresight in the Vickie deal and this would be an almost perfect show. Either way, a solid evening all around. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. My schedule might be a little off with the Impact and SD reviews for this week, so just a heads up if it's running a little late or if they don't show up. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time....
Saturday, August 20, 2011
WrestlingNerd's Running Diary for WWE Smackdown 8/19/11
What is up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another edition of the Running Diary. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown on 8/19/11. How would SD do things after the events of Summerslam? Well, let's find out.
-Orton's promo "My name is Randy Orton". Naw, really? I thought he was Sonic the Hedgehog.
-Orton is the only person I know that can cut a slow, boring, and generic promo and the fans go ape s***. If this was anyone else, they would get booed out the building.
-Teddy Long announces a 20 Man Battle Royal, where the winner is the #1 Contender to the WHC.
-A Legacy reunion ends the same way it begun. With Orton hitting an RKO on Ted DiBiase and him standing tall.
-Orton talks slow. Cody Rhodes talks slow. DiBiase talks slow. This opening took about ten minutes, but someone like John Cena or CM Punk would have knocked it out in half the time. In other words, speed it the hell up.
-I like Rhodes, but I think his un-dashing gimmick is getting a little old. Kinda hard to take you seriously with that plastic mask. Shouldn't his face be healed already? Wrestling logic for the freaking win.
-Michale Cole says "I think we are seeing a different Orton". To quote the Miz, really? Looks like the same guy to me.
-I like how Rhodes complains about the Orton attack on DiBiase and Teddy says he will "force" Orton to stand in a corner on one leg. Even if Teddy did that, Orton would still find a way to win based on how WWE books him.
-Rhodes vs Ezekiel Jackson for the IC Championship is the first match of the night.
-Did Booker T just ask to give him a chicken sandwich? Umm......that's too easy, let's move on.
-Rhodes wins cleanly with Cross Rhodes. Zeke, you might want to start searching for a new job.
-Zeke is a poor man's Psycho Sid. The sad part in all of that is Sid wasn't even that good. Come on Zeke, grow a personality or something...
-Zack Ryder invited Alberto Del Rio while Teddy said he was hoping for either CM Punk or John Cena to be the WWE champ. Hey, I would be upset too. Instead of Punk or Cena, you get a Mexican JBL. Can you really blame him?
-Aksana wanted to watch the Battle Royal with Teddy and he declines? Dude, that's like every wrestling fans fantasy. Watching pro wrestling with an attractive woman. Talk about dropping the ball. Teddy, I've lost so much respect for you....
-Justin Gabriel vs Tyson Kidd next.
-Pretty basic, but decent match. The audience was really dead for this match until the end. Gabriel wins with the 450 Splash. I guess a possible Gabriel face push is on the way since they talk about him every week.
-Del Rio in the ring. He talks about winning the title and how this is his one year anniversary with the WWE. Daniel Bryan interrupts and calls Del Rio cliche since he took the easy way in winning the world title.
-Money in the Bank briefcase should be called the Asshole in the Bank.
-Del Rio vs Daniel Bryan up next.
-Much better match than last week. Both were given a lot of time and delivered one hell of a match. Probably the best match I've seen this week (outside of the PPV matches that is).
-Del Rio wins with a Cross Armbreaker. Del Rio needed the win to continue to add credibility to his championship reign.
-Don't get me wrong. I like Bryan, but I don't think he should be holding the MITB briefcase. He still needs a lot of work with his character to really make the big time. He has the wrestling skills and fans are chanting his name more, but I feel he's still missing something. They got some time to build him up to winning the title (or failing), but I'm not sure Bryan will be ready for a world title when the time comes. Sorry if I sound so negative, but I hate seeing talented wrestlers get pushed so fast that they run into a brick wall. I don't want to see another Jack Swagger with Danielson.
-What's the point of calling it the Undisputed WWE Championship when it looks the same as the old one? If there is one thing that Cena did to make me angry, its the design of the WWE Championship. Wish that thing would just die already and I want to see a new WWE Championship design.
-Can someone tell Cole to cut back on the comments towards Bryan during a match? I understand he hates Bryan, but its really distracting.
-Kelly Kelly and AJ vs Natalya and Alicia Fox was actually a passable divas match.
-The Divas of Doom is funded by Victor von Doom
-Kelly needs to shut up. She kept screaming "Come on AJ" during the entire match. It annoys me.
-Kelly wins with an Infamassour on Fox. Hey, as long as I don't see Fox's Death Kick, its a win in my book. She is going to give someone a concussion with that kick.
-Natalya attacks Fox for screwing up. Can't really blame her.
-In order for this "Divas of Doom" deal to really take off, Beth and Natalya need to take out the other divas and win matches. It will add a lot more credibility to their stock and show they mean business. I realize their main goal is the Divas Championship, but they also said they want to do away with all the perky model divas. Wouldn't it make more sense to take all of them out as opposed to just focusing on one person? And why would Natalya team up with Fox? Fox is the exact definition of what Beth and Natalya dislike, so why team up? They are supposed to be the biggest threats in the diva division and they didn't win any matches this week. Yeah, I am being nit picky with this one, so sue me. I just think the booking can be a lot better with this entire segment.
-Battle Royal is up next.
-Henry dominated this match. He even took out some people on the outside of the ring. Probably the best push Henry has had his entire career.
-Down to Henry and Sin Cara. Don't worry Sin, you can do it.........*50 Bucks on Henry*
-Henry is the NEW #1 Contender as he and Orton end the show with a stare down.
Overall Impression:
I found this to be an average showing of SD for this week. There was some dull moments like the intro, but what really saved the show was the second half. Almost a tale of two different shows since the first hour was kinda boring while the second hour had all the action. Del Rio/Bryan was what really made this work. This is a pretty skippable SD, but checking out the Del Rio/Bryan match will definitely be worth your time. Still, some ok stuff for a Friday night, but nothing to brag home about. I think most people are upset with Henry winning the match. I realize Henry isn't the best wrestler out there, but the guy has earned this opportunity. He has looked really good during this mean streak push and he really is the best candidate to face Orton. The match will probably be nothing too special, but I still say Henry getting the title shot makes the most sense. Sheamus is still fresh in his face push and he needs more time to really get back in the title hunt and really get himself over. The fans are really taking a liking to him, so as long as they keep him strong, he will get back in the title hunt. Wade Barrett would have been an ok choice, but he only has his recent victory over Bryan and needs more time to get back in the title picture. I think what will happen is Henry will get the next couple of championship matches. He might walk out with the title only to drop it back to Orton, but I think Orton will win this entire feud without Henry winning the title. Maybe by the time the Orton/Henry rivalry is over, Barrett will have his stock increased and then he would be the next guy to get the title shot. Hopefully when that happens, Wade becomes the champ, but now I am really getting ahead of myself. While Henry isn't the popular choice, it was the most logical choice at the end of the day. Plus, a guy like Sin Cara is nowhere near ready for a world title match. In fact, Sin should be shooting for something like the IC title since that makes the most sense for him. Plus, the fans like Sin and it would be kinda stupid to just throw Sin out there as Orton bait. Right now, I think SD needs a couple of new rivalries on the show. Bryan, Barrett, Sin, and Rhodes all don't have opponents. I would like to see someone else chase the IC championship. Maybe with Rhodes as champ, we will see some new competition. The have put a lot of time into Gabriel, so that's a possibility. There is also the possibility of Sin chasing the IC Championship. Then again, Booker keeps talking about the muscle Sin has put on and maybe this can lead to a Sin vs Sin match down the road. Hunico once again played the role of Sin this week and not sure if Mistico will resume his Sin duties by next week since his suspension will be over. Guess we will have to wait and see where the whole Sin deal goes. They also seem to be at a stand still with the Khali/Jinder Mahal storyline. Reckon I wasn't very interested in the storyline, but it almost seems they are not sure where to go with it. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we can see some new rivalries born on SD and that would definitely make the show interesting again. There was no Christian this week and I would like to see what he does next. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to see Christian turn face again considering Edge's promo at Summerslam, but we will have to wait and see. Time to rank the shows. In terms of wrestling quality, I rank it SD, Raw, and Impact. Del Rio/Bryan was a pretty good performance. In terms of promos/segments, I rank it Raw, Impact, and SD. Raw once again had good promos and even TNA managed to get some good mic work this week. The MVP of the week really came down to three people. I thought about giving it to Henry since he looked dominate tonight. I also thought about giving it to Crimson because it seems like the start of something huge when your working with Kurt Angle. With all of that said, I think it was pretty clear this week's MVP is Del Rio. He pulled double duty this week and put forth some great matches on both show. He managed to gain some credibility as a heel and gained more of a reaction after the events of Summerslam. I still think he needs work, but at least he's headed in the right direction. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my running diary and tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.
Friday, August 19, 2011
WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Impact Wrestling Review 8/18/11
What is up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Impact Wrestling on 8/18/11. I really don't want to do this right now, but it will be over before you know it. Let's begin.
We open up the show with Sting having a seizure. I'm not kidding. He walks out of the entrance tunnel and starts rolling down the ramp while throwing a fit. Damn, if THIS doesn't get you to watch TNA, then I don't know what will.....*sigh*....? He finally gets in the ring and says that's proof he has lost his mind. Really, cuz it looks like it was proof that this company is just lying down on the job, but whatever. Sting starts to sing "Eye of the Tiger" since he believes he has finally awakened Hulk Hogan. He also encourages the audience in a Hogan chant. Yeah, cuz a guy will a million back surgeries is what I want to see in a wrestling ring. Just when you think we don't have enough senior citizens on this show, Ric Flair shows up for the first time in months. Flair refers to Sting as an Icon and says fans keep asking him to do another Flair/Sting match, but claims he would have nothing to gain from the match. Flair rips off the jacket, so you know he means business. Flair adds he will wrestle Sting, but there's a catch. If Sting loses, he must retire; but if Sting wins, Flair will give him Hogan. Sting accepts the match, which ends the opening as I die a little more inside. I will admit when I was growing up, the Sting/Flair rivalry was classic. In fact, I remember them putting on some great matches and it was one of the rivalries that made the 90s. Still, it's 2011 and I don't want to see a broken down Sting fight Flair. I am going to say right now that this will probably be better than Sting/Hogan since Flair is a little more mobile, but it isn't saying much. It wasn't announced when this match will be taking place, but it would have to be at No Surrender since it would be kinda dumb to put this on free tv. Then again, you can also argue it would be dumb to even go through with the match in the first place. I just hope nobody pops a back while working this match. If you want to watch a good Sting/Flair match, just watch some of the old WCW tapes. Well.....there is a chance it can be a passable match, but who knows?
Backstage where Flair finds Hogan in his office. Hogan is going ape s*** since Flair basically threw Hogan in the lion's den if he screws up. Hogan is wondering how Sting is even alive since he crucified him last week. Isn't Hogan the GM of this show? All he has to do is say he doesn't agree to the terms, and that's that. When does Flair get more power than Hogan? The whole boss/GM deal on this show is all screwed up. Oh, and you crucified him? Someone needs to show Hogan a Bible since he didn't come close to crucifying him last week. How does two or three chair shots equal crucifying? Oh, and what in the blue hell are goofball pills? Did someone forget to give Hogan is pudding tonight? Anyway, Flair tells Hogan he will take out Sting tonight and ends the scene by kissing him on the cheek. That's right, he kissed him. You know, with all the headlines about Hogan's ex-wife saying that Hogan had a homosexual relationship with Brutus Beefcake, this scene isn't doing Hogan any favors. I personally don't really care what Hogan does on his spare time and have no idea if she is telling the truth of just spewing bulls*** since the Hogan family makes the Mason family look completely sane. Well, I probably wouldn't go that far, but this Hogan family isn't far behind. We may not know about all of this off field stuff, but I do know one thing? If it's true, I guess we know why he's called Beefcake. Yeah, I know it was a bad joke and I don't care.
Match #1: Scott Steiner vs Devon in a BFG Series Match
Steiner vs Devon, I am sure EVERYONE penciled in this one on the calenders. The match maybe lasted about 30 seconds. Steiner gets a rollup and puts his feet on the rope to steal the match. Almost embarrassing to even call this a match.
Winner via pinfall: Scott Steiner
After the match, Steiner leaves while Devon is complaining. Samoa Joe comes from behind and attacks Devon. He continues the punishment until Devon's kids get in the ring (Oh, please don't get off your asses TNA security. Great example of wrestling logic) to help their father. Joe is about to attack until the Pope comes in for the save and Joe retreats. After a commercial, we see Joe backstage ready to explain himself. He says if he can't win the BFG Series, nobody will. He vows to take out everyone and claims TNA would never fire him. I have a feeling we are seeing Joe's final run with this company. Joe did show some passion when he cut this promo, but I still think he's unhappy in TNA and is waiting for his contract to expire and see if he can score a WWE deal.
Match #2: X Division Gauntlet Match; winner is the #1 Contender to the X Division Championship
This match was a clusterf***. They had all the competitors at ringside and when somebody would get eliminated, they would just announce the next guy. Who determines the order of this match? Not only that, but it seemed that each person only got a few minutes until they quickly get eliminated. I am generally not a big fan of gauntlet match since they go through the eliminations so quickly that nobody really comes out good at the end. I would much rather see a normal one fall match between two guys as opposed to this. There was some good moves here and there, but the match moves so fast that it can be difficult to keep track of the action. For some stupid reason, Cookie came out with Robbie E for this match. Yeah, like we really need a story involving a poor man's Zack Ryder. Mark Haskins was in this match and continues to be a WWE ripoff. If you remember from my Dest X review, I talked about how this guy looks like Edge and came out with John Morrison's ring attire. Now, he uses a modified version of CM Punk's GTS as his finisher. Now, wrestling moves are borrowed all the time, but this Haskins isn't doing a whole lot to make an impression since he just looks like a generic wrestler. This match featured a lot of guys who I didn't know have contracts with TNA. I did some research and I believe all of them have contracts with TNA, but why did they bring in so many X Division guys? Really, I feel they will eventually do what they always do with the X Division. They will put them all in a match and tell them to go nuts with the spot monkey stuff, which is a step backwards because they were doing that prior to the Abyss/X Division storyline. This match featured Alex Shelley, Tony Nese, Jesse Sorensan, Zema Ion, Robbie E, Mark Haskins, Kid Kash, and Austin Aries. The finish comes when its down to Sorensan, Kash, and Aries. Sorensan eliminates Kash, but the ref turns his back and Kash takes out his frustrations on Sorensan. He hits a Cradle Piledriver on Jesse and Aries is up next. Aries pretty much takes control of this match and wins with a Brainbuster. After the match, Aries cuts an interview in how he ran the gauntlet and says he's the greatest man who ever lived. Just as your about to cue Weezer, Brian Kendrick arrives and wants a handshake. Aries leaves and a brawl starts between the two. I like how TNA security shows up and literally does nothing to stop these guys. Then again, we've established TNA has the worst security staff ever. It makes sense for Aries to get the next titles shot, but I still don't agree with doing an 8 man gauntlet match. I know that nobody will be surprised when I say this, but Kendrick looked like a stoner tonight. Come on Kendrick, put the pot away until AFTER the show. I have no idea what TNA sees in you.
Winner and NEW #1 Contender to X Title: Austin Aries
It wouldn't be Impact without a ton of backstage scenes. ODB and Jacki talk about the match coming up next and how they will beat Mickie James. ODB, you couldn't even beat Tessmacher, what makes you think you have a chance against Mickie? Another backstage scene where Traci Brooks is in Eric Bischoff's office and request to get her old position of Knockout Law back...
Bischoff isn't really buying it at first, but one Traci basically shoves her cleavage at him, he starts to think it might be a good idea. TNA: where wrestling matters and women are nothing more than a sex symbol......look at her breast!!! Anyway, TNA is pretty weak to bring up old ideas that nobody ever cared about. I barely remember this storyline and I don't think it ever got a conclusion. Hooray?
Match #3: Mickie James vs ODB
In terms of KO matches, this one was at least passable. It felt boring, but I would rather see this than the abomination diva match that occurred this week on Raw. The finish comes when Mickie hits the Delayed DDT on ODB for the clean win. After the match, Jacki shakes Mickie's hand, but isn't happy about it. So, they did the exact same thing as they did last week? You know what? I just don't care anymore....
Winner via pinfall: Mickie James
Backstage scene with Winter and Angelina Love talking about dealing with Mickie in a few weeks while it looks like they are drinking prop blood. Umm....creative? If it weren't for the title match, this scene would have no purpose being on the show.
Match #4: RVD vs AJ Styles in a BFG Series Match
Tazz says some pretty stupid stuff while on commentary. He talked about how AJ and RVD hate each other, but quickly agrees with Mike Tenay and says they respect each other. That really makes no sense since they both play face and have not shown to have tension between one another. Great reporting Tazz. Then again, if you had to call this action every week, you would lose it too. Jerry Lynn is watching this match in the audience. This match was very forgettable. The finish comes when AJ hits the Pele Kick and is about to win, but Lynn jumps the guardrail (again? Security? ANYONE?) and pulls the ref under the ring. He DQs RVD and Styles earns only 3 points while RVD loses another 10 points. If you really think about it, it kinda makes no sense for RVD to lose points since he didn't cause the DQ, but it's TNA so let's move on. They continue to argue after the match while RVD apologizes to Styles. By the way, no mention of the Christopher Daniels proposal for a rematch. I guess TNA wrote too many storylines on the show to bring it up this week.
Winner via DQ: AJ Styles
Backstage where RVD and Lynn continue to argue while Lynn is upset with himself. You might as well turn Lynn heel right now. Another backstage scene where Flair is searching for Sting in what looks like the Forest Temple from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time since its so damn dark. Where the hell are those Poes to light up the damn room? Anyway, Flair is shouting for Sting to come out while we keep hearing footsteps while something keeps showing up from behind. This scene is supposed to look scary, but it looks more like a comedy scene. What is this, Scary Movie 10? Sting finally shows himself after about 3 minutes (This scene really went on a long time. Great use of time, TNA) and Flair tells Gunner to attack. Gunner goes in for the kill, but he fails and Sting takes him out while Flair runs away. The scene ends with Sting says Gunner will be something one day and to not touch him. Well, aren't those excellent words of wisdom. You nearly kill a guy and then tell him he will be something one day. Only in TNA. I just find it odd that Flair agrees to a match, but because Hogan is being a little bitch, he has to go all Solid Snake on the Stinger. Damn, TNA is a weird show when you break it down.
Another on location with Eric Young. This week, Young talks to various people in Hollywood since he's looking for Scott Baio, but isn't having much luck. Oh wow, TNA got Baio. What did they pay him, a sandwich and a sack of corn? This makes JWoww's appearance look like they booked Jennifer Aniston or Sandra Bullock. Scott Baio, what are you doing? This is just ridiculous. How much more worthless can you make the TV Championship? Just throw your midcard title in the dumpster already.
Back in the ring where Crimson's....going to talk? Yeah, it's about time TNA. It only took you 8 months. Anyway, Crimson limps to the ring to sell the Kurt Angle attack from last week. He calls out Angle. Once the champ is in the ring, Crimson says making him his first victim was a big mistake. While Crimson said he respects Angle, Kurt says he doesn't respect Crimson. He says Crimson is going nowhere and he's a green ass little bitch and he's sick of putting talent over since he's done that his entire career. Crimson says Angle's wrong because all of the young talent do respect him and claims he's already a somebody. He challenges Angle to a match next week and he will show he's damn real. Overall, this was probably the best scene of the night. This was the first time I've seen Crimson cut a lengthy promo and it wasn't too shabby. He needs work, but I think for a first timer he handled himself pretty well. If Crimson can polish up on some things, he can really be a big time player in the world of pro wrestling. The match will probably end up being a throwaway match since Crimson's a guy contending for the BFG Series. I personally think the match shouldn't happen since they should build up the championship match. Hence, save the actual match for the bigger stage, like your WM.
Match #5: Beer Money vs Mexican America for the TNA Tag Team Championships
This match was hyped up all night. The Jarretts were on commentary for this match. All they did was poke fun of the Guerreros, which I can't help but think Chavo Guerrero is coming to TNA. The matchup wasn't too bad....until the finish. The finish comes when BM is in control, but Rosita gets in the ring while Sarita is distracting the ref. Karen Jarrett gets on the ring apron and continues to distract the ref (TNA, just fire your security staff already cuz it looks ridiculous). Jeff Jarrett walks down there to "control" his wife and leaves his belt on the ring apron. Anarquia tosses James Storm out of the ring, but Robert Roode deals with him. Hernandez takes the AAA Championship and hits Roode with it. He gets rid of the evidence, pins Roode and we have new tag team champs. The show ends with Mex America and the Jarretts celebrating. Oh my God, where do I begin? First of all, why was this match so overbooked? Why do we need 20 interferences in one Mex America match? I understand they are heels and need to cheat, but all the extra help it makes these matches an eye sore. Second, the Jarretts/TNA need to stop with all the racist jokes. They are more offensive then they are funny. And third, why would the Jarretts help Mex America and vica versa? On last week's show, the Jarretts talked as if they disliked all Mexicans while Mex America don't like Americans. So, why would they work together now considering all the backtalk both groups have done to each other's cultures? I understand they are heels and its just heels being heels, but it at least has to make sense. To be fair, it actually does make a little bit of sense considering Immortal has had issues with 4Tune and were just trying to 1 up them, but this still needs a better explanation. As for Beer Money, it seems they will eventually break apart and go their separate ways. It would be a shame to see BM leave because they are one of my favorite tag teams, but it's time to start their singles careers. This tag team division is on life support in TNA. They have about as many tag teams as the WWE. What happened?
Winner via pinfall and NEW Tag Team Champs: Mexican America
Overall Impression:
TNA had some good opportunities to make a good show, but they screwed up their chances. Still, I didn't think it was THAT bad of a show. The main event was going ok, but they extra interferences made it hard to watch. The X Division Gauntlet Match should have been given a lot more time or should have been a one-on-one match since there was too many bodies in the ring. Still, there was some ok things for this week. Outside of Sting's shenanigans to open the show, I felt the opening promos between him and Flair were ok. I liked the Crimson/Angle face off since it finally showed off what Crimson can do on the mic. This was a lot better episode of Impact than I have seen in a while, but I still don't think I can recommend it. The action was really lacking with this one and you know it isn't a good sign when your KO match is the second best match of the night. Kinda odd that promos/segment is what helped this show since that's usually their weakness, but I guess that's the way it goes. What hurts this show is the silly/stupid moments. Lynn showing up an interfering doesn't make him look good and instead he looks more like an idiot. He has been wrestling for years, did he all of the sudden forget the rules to pro wrestling? Joe showed some passion and vowed to take out the BFG performers, but he didn't show up for the rest of the evening. Wouldn't it have made sense for Joe to attack RVD or Styles? Love and Winter had a really stupid backstage scene in which they were drinking blood. Oh, and let's not forget the Flair/Sting backstage attack. Where's all the lighting and why did it go on so long? This episode is another example of what I have said in the past. They have a lot of storylines that are green lighted on the show, but they only have two hours to get to them and they often either cram a show or don't address storylines for weeks. In fact, why hasn't Velvet Sky talked to ODB/Jacki? Why did nothing get addressed with the Styles/Daniels deal? Didn't Sting say he wanted the TNA Title for power? Why isn't he thinking about the title as opposed to the yellow and red? Sting talks as if the belt is about power or leverage, but now doesn't seem to care about it? You see what I mean? This show has about as many storylines as WWE, but WWE has an extra two hours to take their time. You can't just rush through these things or else your audience is going to have a tough time figuring out what's going on. I think what TNA should do is get rid of half of the storylines on this show or focus on 5-6 storylines and make those the best 5-6 storylines possible. If they did that, TNA would instantly be a more watchable show. Then again, maybe that isn't what they are going for? That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and tonight's show. If you hated this review........it's your fault. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time and goofball pills?
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