TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 18th December 2008

After a good show at iMPACT last week would TNA go back to its usual hit and miss formula of weekly TV programmes or would we see consistency creep in to TNA it is Christmas after all.

Good Points

Good Build for Angle vs. Jarrett

TNA did a good job of pushing this one as Angle went out to the ring to attack Jarrett’s family on the mic to force him to come out to the ring. The heated altercation ended with a nice pull apart and left Jarrett fuming backstage about Foley asking him who’s side he was on after cavorting with the Main Event Mafia over the last few weeks.

X-Division Tournament

The X-Division tournament is providing us with some good wrestling matches and a good storyline for the MCMG as they both try and make the finals and continue to try and prove they are the big guns in TNA.

Suicide

Another nice piece for Suicide this week as he appeared in the ring to fend off Awesome Kong from attacking ODB and Christy Hemme only for the lights to go down and for him or her to vanish. There is a lot thy can do with this character so long may this kind of stuff continue.

Bad Points

Frontline made to look pathetic

It’s the NWO all over again. TNA are pushing MEM too strong every week and not letting The Frontline get one back on them. After not protecting Bubba last week this week The Frontline were helpless but to watch Samoa Joe get a beat down. The booking decisions reek of backstage politics.

Most obvious swerves in history

At the moment TNA are setting up the most obvious swerves in history. I think it is obvious that Mick Foley is befriending the MEM is to turn on them as siding with them is out of his character and I think it is obvious the Team 3D may switch to MEM. I hope it doesn’t go down this way but I wouldn’t be surprised if it does.

Overall

If it wasn’t for Angle and Jarrett the show wouldn’t be worth watching when you have a feud which isn’t involved with the title and the main stable feud stealing the show you have major problems.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 19th December 2008

With 2008 drawing to end Smackdown couldn’t forget that tonight they needed to start building for Royal Rumble. With the Smackdown title match being the highlight of Armageddon would Smackdown continue this momentum in to their weekly TV shows.

Good Points

Jeff gets his moment

Was great to see Jeff being introduced to kick the show off with a huge pyro and confetti entrance as he got the chance to address the fans. It looks like they are building him vs. Edge for the Royal Rumble which will be a good new feud to kick off 2009 with.

Use of Matt Hardy

Great to see Smackdown weaving Matt Hardy in to the storyline of his brother as champion. Last week they had Matt Hardy and Edge disputing who was the one to beat up Jeff in the hotel and this week they had a one on one match on th show in where Edge got some revenge for his lost at Armageddon.

Bad Points

Hardly any HHH

HHH made an impact at the end of Smackdown by coming on to save Jeff from an attack from Edge and Kozlov but outside of those few minutes he was nowhere to be seen. With no good undercard feud at the moment on Smackdown they need HHH to start a feud to be the second main event.

No tag team scene

The tag belts on Smackdown are worthless. Not only are they not defends on PPV’s but they don’t ever seem to be defends on Smackdown these days, if you aren’t going to use the belts your only degrading them by not using them.

Overall

Smackdown have on great feud that could steel the show at the Rumble, but outside that they have nothing.

WWE Raw Review - 15th December 2008

After a really good Armageddon I was looking forward to see how WWE were going to end out 2008 over the next few weeks on Raw.

Good Points

Finally doing something with Kane

It may be a convoluted way to start a storyline but after presenting an award together last week at The Slammys Kane has now fallen for Kelly Kelly. To the point that he chased her backstage and kidnapped her while Kane tried to find out who Kelly Kelly’s boyfriend was. After many segments of kidnapping he went to the ring and destroyed The Miz so we are lead to believe that Kelly told Kane that The Miz was her boyfriend.

Orton back on top

It looks like Armageddon was just a blip as Orton was back on top after delivering a good promo and then laying the beat on Batista which ended up with him punting Batista in the head and getting disqualified in the main event but it was Orton who left celebrating as he got what he wanted done.

Good storyline development for Jericho

Since losing to Cena at Armageddon Jericho saw being put in a match with Duggan as being moved to the bottom of the pile so refused to wrestle him comparing it to if someone missed the winning hit in sport they don’t get dropped for the next game. I like where his character is going.

Bad Points

Wanted to see CM Punk in singles action

After winning number one contenders spot for the IC title and dropping the tag belts I was looking forward to seeing CM Punk return to singles action but again he was thrown back with Kofi against The Miz and Morrison.

Dolph Ziggler beats on Santa Claus

If they are going to get Dolph over thy need to give him some promo time and actually build him in to a proper storyline or else he is just going to turn in to another Burchill where he is used for a few weeks in random matches and then dropped in to obscurity again.

Overall

A solid outing with some good new storylines to keep the product fresh for the end of 2008.

WWE Armageddon 2008 Review

After a poor Survivor Series I was hoping WWE would end the year with a bang as they presented their last PPV of 2008 Armageddon. Armageddon has for me normally been a strong and enjoyable event with some memorable matches happening during the nine year history of this event but this year WWE wouldn’t have to do much to beat TNA’s last offering of the year.

Good Points

Jeff Hardy finally wins the gold

After six or so months working main event matches and to have Jeff Hardy come up short every time you either had to have the pay off of him finally winning the belt or remove him from the main event scene altogether and thankfully it was him winning the belt. This was a great moment to end 2008 with as many people believed that they were never going to give Jeff the belt because of his backstage problems and the booking over the last six months but it was a real history making and satisfying moment.

Cena / Jericho much better second time around

Now that these guys actually had a back story they had built up on Raw they put together a great match. Jericho was on top form and there were a lot of great spots. The only thing that spoiled the match was the ending, Jericho should not have tapped that quickly but besides from that I never expected Cena to drop the belt so it went as planned.

Great Midcard prospect

I would pay again to see CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio. After Mysterio had been lumbered with Kane for so long and being unable to do a lot of high flying offence it was great to see him and CM Punk put on a high paced high flying affair. The only thing with CM Punk is he is a little bit dangerous I think he may have broken Rey’s nose with his Go To Sleep finisher.

Bad Points

Match order

As soon as Cena vs. Jericho came out before the Smackdown main event I knew we were going to see Hardy win the belt as the only time McMahon puts the Smackdown as the main is if a face is going to win the title.

Smackdown title scene

After months of seeing HHH as champion on Smackdown we have now had two new champions in the space of the month. I’m not sure if the title was given to Edge as a way to get the belt to Hardy without him beating HHH or if Edge was still not ready physically for a title run. Now we have Hardy as champion and I don’t see him holding on the belt for too long so we can have three different champions in the space of months.

Orton’s push ended in a week

After being put over strong on Raw last week with a killer promo and a win to have him lose to Batista made no sense. He needs to be pushed as Raw’s top heel again and this isn’t helping.

Overall

Much better than Survivor Series or TNA’s last offering of the year and a nie history making moment to end the show off with.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 11th December 2008

After a poor Final Resolution and with WWE’s last PPV of the year coming up this weekend TNA really needed to put in a decent show this week. With rumours circulating that Angle is on his way back to WWE when his contract expires these are uncertain times for TNA.

Good Points

The Intensity is back

On tonight’s show we had intensity like we haven’t seen since the Angle / Karen / AJ love triangle. Bubba took up the lead of the Frontline as he challenged Kurt to a match to end the rivalry between them and the Main Event Mafia with the condition being that all other members of the Frontline and the MEM having to leave the building. The match was intense and went to the back where the MEM had as all heels do broken their word and been hiding to lay the beat on Bubba.

Jarrett takes a backseat

Now Jeff has a match with Kurt coming up he has left the running of TNA down to Foley and it will be interesting to see what Foley does now he is in sole charge. This week he was seen coming out of the MEM locker room all smile and pally with his old friends so at the moment we are not sure which side he is on.

Bad Points

Abyss and Matt Morgan

These two should have been pushed to run roughshod over the tag division in TNA but instead they have been made to look like bumbling idiots on the verge of falling apart. The tag division need freshening up as Beer Money have gone stale and yet again TNA waste an opportunity.

MCMG

I don’t like what creative are doing with this team. Chris Sabin has been pushed to the side and they seem to have no direction. The only direction they have is complaining it seems at the moment. I think it is time they pushed Alex Shelley just as a singles wrestler and drop the MCMG team.

Overall

Coming out of Final Resolution I was hating the Frontline / Main Event Mafia but in one show they managed to turn it around which TNA deserve a lot of credit for. They just need to tighten up the undercard with some proper direction and they will have a great show.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 12th December 2008

After a three hour special episode of Raw and with this being the last show before Armageddon it was Smackdown’s turn to put the last things in place before the PPV.

Good Points

Triple Threat feud

HHH and Jeff Hardy have built an intense feud over the last few months and have been holding Smackdown together. As Edge’s in ring work has been limited due to injury these two hav stepped up to the plate whilst the creative team have tried to keep Edge involved as much as possible. To have Hardy and HHH fight the main event in a knock down drag out affair before Edge speared them both causing the match to be thrown out was a great way to set up the PPV.

Hurricane Helms

Helms is looking great since his return and securing a non title win over Benjamin has really pushed him in to the mix. I think Helms will dominate the midcard at Smackdown given the chance.

Backstage love

Now to me weekly wrestling shows are suppose to be about entertainment so I liked the segment backstage where the Bella twins were talking to Primo and Carlito before The Brian Kendrink came in with his bodyguard which lead to a confrontation. You can’t every storyline being about I hate you there has to be a mix of things happening.

Bad Points

Not many Smackdown matches on the main event

You know you’re in problems where there are two ECW matches on the PPV and only one Smackdown match and only four Smackdown guys on the entire card. After their cage match on Smackdown Undertaker an Big Show were nowhere to be seen which has left Smackdown short of big names and main event talent.

MVP and R-Truth lost in the mix

Both of these guys promised so much when they broke in to Smackdown but both seem to have already gone stale with no consistent push given to either of them. The only thing interesting about their match on Smackdown was wondering which guy thy were going to give the win to.

Overall

For what they had Smackdown produced a good show but due to lack of matches on the PPV most of the show was taken up with feuds an storylines not connected to the PPV.

WWE Raw Review - 8th December 2008

With one week to go to Armageddon, the return of the Slammys and a three hour show with some huge cross brand matches WWE were promising a lot with this week’s episode of Raw but the question was could they deliver.

Good Points

Push for Orton

The episode of Raw really pushed Orton for the first time in a long time. Orton cut a killer promo proclaiming “Tonight the legacy is born” and then went on to get to the win for his team over Batista and HHH. I see WWE sliding him back in to the main event scene by Royal Rumble as the new feud for Cena.

Good Ending

The ending to Raw had the feeling of the old days as Edge vs. Cena was interrupted by Jericho and HHH going after their respective opponents for Armageddon which has got me really pumped for the double main event.

Nice build for Cena / Jericho

Was great to see Cena mocking Jericho’s promo from last week and then to see their in ring altercation with Cena telling Jericho he was coming after him and not acting the heel like way Jericho did last week.

Bad Points

Why so many three hour shows

There seems to be a three hour episode every other month at the moment. Now used say once or twice a year you can build them as special but with the glut of them that we have had they are no longer special. Aside from that I don’t think you can expect the younger audience to keep with a show and entertained for three hours straight.

MVP pushed further down the heap

I wasn’t expecting to see him on Raw so it was a nice surprise but again he continued his storyline of losing every match as this week he lost to Charlie Haas. I think the WWE need to take him off TV for a while and bring him back fresh and start again.

Slammys

For me this just brought back to many bad memories of the cheesy mid 90s era of WWE. The awards instead of being done properly and meaning something were just used for storyline advancement which was too blatantly obvious for them to be taken seriously.

Overall

The show got me excited for Armageddon but a two hour episode minus the Slammys could have done exactly the same if booked right.

WWE Smackdown Review - 5th December 2008

With Raw picking up since the in ring return of Cena and Orton it’s now time for Edge to pick things up on Smackdown following his in ring return at the last PPV.

Good Points

Huge Main Event

The Big Show / Undertaker feud is really going the distance and following their Casket Match they engaged in a cage match to headline Smackdown. To have such a big match on a weekly TV show is a rarity and really showed that the creative team are trying tp ush the boat out.

Edge and Vickie running the show

Was great to see these two baack as the evil couple ruling Smackdown unfairly. The only problem is with Edge booking himself in to easy matches the fans aren’t seeing the best of him and isn’t developing his worth whilst HHH and Jeff Hardy put in quality matches and develop their feud.

Bad Points

Khali kiss segments

The quicker Khali’s contract expires the better. I think WWE would be better off buying Khali out of his contract because his segments are terrible.

MVP under used

Since getting involved in the Scramble title match a few PPV’s ago MVP’s career has taken a nose dive with loss after loss and not having the VIP lounge segment any more to develop his character. They could use him to do so much more and could be a bigger player on Smackdown given the right push.

Overall

When Edge gets himself more involved in main events and quality matches then Smakcodnw will be hittting them out of the park. Good to see both Raw and Smackdown ending the yeaar on a high.

TNA iMPACT Review - 4th December 2008

After missing last week’s iMPACT I was looking forward to see what TNA were going to do with their last show before Final Resolution. With the biggest faction war in TNA history going on it was going to be interesting to see if it would be the Main Event Mafia or the Frontline getting the upper hand before the PPV.

Good Points

Jarrett / Angle feud

It’s great to see this feud continuing as it has some great emotion in it and is believable. The intensity of Angle’s and Jarrett’s confrontation in the iMPACT zone was immense and I for one hopes Angle beat Rhino so we get to see Angle vs. Jarrett 2.

Faction Wars

Finally the Frotnline have a name and look like a cohesive unit because when I last watched they were a mess. I think team 3D is a great addition to the faction I just hope that they don’t do the obvious and turn them heel having them double cross the Frontline.

Bad Points

Sarah Palin lookalike

The Sarah Palin lookalike was a terrible idea. We’ve moved on from the election and her segments were just awful. Having comedy segments like this just took us out of the intensity that the faction wars were building.

Abyss drinking with beer money

These segments took Abyss from an unstoppable monster to a pathetic bumbling idiot as he was lead in to drinking by Beer Money and then beaten up.

Overall

A solid episode of iMPACT which was got me excited for the PPV. It is very hard to promote a PPV which has an eight man tag for a main event but they did their best.

WWE Raw Review - 1st December 2008

Recently Raw has been consistently good but not excellent. Now that all the big hitters like Cena, Orton, Batista, HBK, Jericho and JBL are all fit it will be interesting to see if the show quality improves with it as normally the more main event stars you have the better the show is.

Good Points

John Cena against the world

Chris Jericho did a great job on the show tonight. He started off with a great n ring promo which was set up reminiscent of Cena’s last week with Jericho walking through the crowd. Then then antagonist Chris Jericho managed to get under Orton’s skin telling him how Cena always upstaged him and managed to get hi on his side against a common enemy. The show ended with Jericho, Orton and Second generation stars laying the beat on Cena which was a good finish.

Stephanie takes control

No Shane tonight as Steph laid down her authority in control with some good backstage stuff and some good mic work which included a great line about Adamle. She also announced a huge three hour special of Raw next week which will see the return of the Slammys and some big cross brand matches.

Santino Marella

Again Santino provided us with some great slapstick comedy on Raw as he tried to emulate Melina’s ring entrance. This segment was also used to push a Melina / Beth Phoenix feud which should be interesting.

Bad Points

JBL / HBK deal storyline

The storyline idea between these two does not play out well on a wrestling show. Supposedly JBL has offered HBK a private deal that the fans don’t know about and JBL is waiting for HBK’s response. This storyline may have played out in a soap but in wrestling it ended up in a mess which saw HBK walking out of the ring to a chorus of boos.

Dolph Ziggler

After many weeks of backstage segments featuring Dolph he was thrown in the deep end with Batista. Dolph a) shouldn’t have been put in a match against a main event star right away and b) shouldn’t be in there with Batistaa who couldn’t help anyone have a good match and would just be interested in squashing him. I think a feud between Dolph and Santino would have been the best way to start.

Overall

A good show with lots going on. It’s still a case of the main storyline being executed well but the rest of the show flagging behind some what. WWE creative need to invest more time in the under card feuds.

WWE Raw Review - 24th November 2008

After a pretty average Survivor Series tonight it was the WWE’s turn to start the ball rolling for Armageddon. Who would win the right to face Cena and what other feuds were they going to build for the Undercard.

Good Points

Shane and Stephanie running the show

Was good to see these two attempting to run the show in the absence of a GM. They made some good matches and argued over the direction of the show which was a good little storyline. Not sure how long this will continue but to me it beats having a GM.

Cena vs. Jericho for Armageddon

I think this was the right choice of match to end the year with. They set it up nicely with a triple threat on Raw to find out who would face Cena between Batista, Randy Orton and Jericho. Although Batista got the shaft when he was champion it has set him up nicely for a feud with former Evolution team mate Randy Orton which will help Orton get back to the main event scene after months off.

Bad Points

JBL / HBK feud

Haven’t really got in to this one so far and the horrible direction on Raw isn’t helping. This week it was JBL alluding to a deal he was trying to strike with HBK which nobody in the audience knows about. They need to get HBK out of this tag pairing with Rey Mysterio and just let him get on with his feud properly.

Intercontinental Title tournament

This is something you have when a title is vacant not when you have a champion. I believe the tournament will run to Armageddon with the winner getting the shot at the PPV but by having a tournament it will give little or no time for a real storyline or feud to develop between Regal and his challenger.

Overall

Seen a lot worse outings than this. Did what it needed to do and with the Main Event scene looking stacked again it should hopefully be a good end of year in the WWE.

WWE Survivor Series 2008 Review

After much hype about Cena’s return it was the Jeff Hardy storyline which was getting all the attention as Survivor Series went on air. All day it has been plastered on wwe.com that Jeff had been found unconscious in a hotel and after Jeff’s problems no one was quite sure whether it was a work or a shoot which added some spice to an already good looking card.

Good Points

The Champ is here

Good to see Cena back in the ring. Love him or hate him you have to admire how he has gotten back in so quickly and having him win the title on his first night back will only annoy the haters of him even more so it should be an interesting few weeks on Raw.

Edge is back

Although if you went on the forums before the event you knew Edge was going to be coming back but none the less it was good to see him back and shaking things up by beating HHH for the Smackdown belt on his first night back after taking Jeff’s place in the triple threat.

Traditional Survivor Series matches

Although not the best wrestling matches ever I thought some of these matches were good fun and helped the event stand out as a bit different from the other PPV’s. Both men’s tags did what they needed to do and built the right feuds.

Bad Points

Quality of matches

Was below poor. Both heavyweight title matches were snore fests which had the pace of an 80 year old grandma. At least Edge came out and saved HHH’s match but this was only after ten to fifteen minutes of falling asleep.

Tarnishing a legacy

I think personally you shouldn’t bring back a match unless you are going to add something new, different or better. This did neither and was a mess. It was the right idea for the Big Show Undertaker feud but so poorly executed.

Overall

The event was dire in the extreme. It’s ok having poor wrestling on TV shows but people buy PPV’s expecting to see some good matches which they didn’t get at Survivor Series.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 20th November 2008

After missing a few episodes of iMPACT I was quite out of the loop of the latest TNA going on’s so I was looking forward to see where the Main Event Mafia vs. Originals storyline had go to.

Good Points

Main Event Mafia

They are running rough shot like all heel factions should. They are laying the beat on wrestlers in five on one attacks and trying to dictate to management on how the show should be run. They opened the show with a nice burial segment which ended with Rhino being put in the coffin and then ended the show dismayed after not getting there own way in the booking of the next PPV.

Push for Rhino

Rhino has been pushed to the front of the Originals cause after attacking the Main Event Mafia by himself and then ending the show by goring Angle after being informed that the two would face each other at the next PPV.

Bad Points

Cage of to WWE

Now it has been widely reported for some time that Christian was done with TNA and wanted back to WWE but addressing the situation live on iMPACT I thought was stupid. Instead of just leaving it as Main Event Mafia having a burial service for him they had to bring up that he was going to WWE. It would have made more sense to just say that they had laid a beating to him so bad next week that he would never return to TNA.

Originals are a shambles

To have a proper stable war you need two recognised stables something TNA doesn’t have at the moment. To book the faction that people are referring to as the Originals but are yet to be given a proper names as fighting each other and with some people on the fringes not sure if they are part of the faction is stupid. To be great heels Main Event Mafia need a good face stable to work off.

Overall

TNA have a good storyline going at the moment and one I have been calling out for, for some time but they are executing it so poorly it’s cringeworthy.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 22nd November 2008

After a good Raw showing it was up to the Smackdown crew to show what they had in the last episode before Survivor Series. Not only was the show the last before Survivor Series it was extra special as it came from Manchester England.

Good Points

Proper push for Jeff Hardy

After pushing Hardy to main event status but not spending much time on his character development many thought that Hardy would slip away from the main event scene. But now they have changed his make-up and given him some fresh and exciting promos which are filmed completely different to everything else. His out of control character is very believable and for the first time I am buying him as a possible champion.

Good build for Undertaker / Big Show casket match

I am looking forward to the return of the casket match. WWE put some good video packages together and a great last segment to the show which even saw Vickie Guerrero getting stuffed in a casket.

Bella Twins

It’s good to see a good storyline in the divas division. After weeks of Brie Bella going under the ring during her matches and then ending up winning it was finally revealed last week that she has a twin under the ring. Even though they have been uncovered they are still using their twin thing to win tag matches which is great to see.

Bad Points

Lack of good matches

Despite the HHH vs. Jeff Hardy match the card was full of below standard matches which saw Primo and Carlito losing and rehashes of matches which have been seen before.

Wrong guys getting pushed

MVP over the last few months has been reduced to bit role and since the championship scramble Brian Kendrik has been slid back in to the mid card. When most of your best talent has been used up in the first match then you know you are in trouble.

Overall

The show lacks quality and good storytelling at the moment. Smackdown seems to be stuck between not being a house show and not really being a TV show in its format and layout. The card at Survivor Series doesn’t lie with both Survivor Series tag team matches having Raw superstars as captains and the main event being the Raw title match.

WWE Raw Review - 17th November 2008

After being away for a week and missing a whole weeks worth of programming I was out of the wrestling loop. Being out of the loop and it being the last Raw before Survivor Series I had some catching up to do.

Good Points

Freshening Up

It was good to see Stephanie McMahon on the show and an opening segment which was reminiscent of the late 90s where Stephanie came out to lead an open forum in the ring which lead to huge in ring melee in which HBK got the upper hand on JBL. Also the presentation of backstage segments was different with HBK’s backstage segment walking through the corridors with Rey where HBK addressed the camera and the fans at home whilst acting like an announcer announcing that his match was coming up after the break.

Push for Miz and Morrison

After appearing on the 800th Episode of Raw against DX this week they got an upset win over Rey Mysterio and HBK with HBK being the one getting pinned in the centre of the ring. It made no sense for HBK to be the one to take the fall but it was great to see the continuing rise of this tag team.

New faces

After a little bit off screen it is great to see Dolph Zigler doing his usual bit getting involved in backstage segments. It’s also good to see Mike Knox getting some TV time as he got a couple of segments in which he got to intimidate the injured Evan Borne as this also gave Evan a reason to still be on TV. Mike may be another Snitsky but great to see him getting a chance.

Bad Points

Structure

The structure of Raw needs changing as it is too formulaic at the moment. Now people are giving promos and backstage segments just before the commercial break and then having their match straight after. You need to build matches throughout the show and not just a few minutes before the match.

Not enough Cena

As the big thing about Survivor Series is Cena’s return I was expecting more mentions to it, more videos about it or even an appearance from the man himself. I think this could have been built a lot better but we will see what the fan reaction is like this Sunday.

Overall

A good outing of Raw but due to no Cena they couldn’t build the main event which a PPV should be all about. It will be interesting to see how the Survivor Series Tag matches pan out and what Cena does on his return.

WWE Raw Review - 3rd November 2008

This week were greeted with a three hour special episode of Raw to celebrate its 800th show. Now regular readers know I’m not usually a fan of three hour TV shows so I was curious to see if this show would change my mind.

Good Points

Return of Randy Orton

Was great to see the in ring return of Randy Orton, it wasn’t the most convincing or well crafted segments that lead to his in ring return but all that matters is that he’s back competing again as Raw needs more big stars at the moment.

Adamle Resigns

Glad to see the back of Adamle as GM. In a show which is all about feuds and characters trying to have a non biased one dimensional GM just doesn’t work. The GM needs to be a character just as much as the wrestlers.

Big Matches

Was great to see some big matches on Raw including a rare reuniting of the Hardy Boyz, Undertaker vs. JBL and the cage title match between Jericho and Batista. On top of this we had a rare performance from DX, now I usually say they should bury that gimmick and leave it buried but they had a great match with Miz and Morrison and although they won they did a lot to put over Miz and Morrison.

Bad Points

Title mess

Now I know they wanted to do something big for the 800th but having Jericho win his title back was terrible booking. Even CM Punk held the belt longer than Batista and he was a transitional champ. It made Cyber Sunday look pointless, made Batista look weak for dropping the belt clean on Raw and did nothing to build Jericho as he would have been a stronger champ if he had retained it at Cyber Sunday.

Shane and Steph

Now I normally love it when the McMahons are on TV but I didn’t think the segments with these two were up to the normal McMahon standards. Bring back Vince that’s what I say.

Overall

One of my favourite ever three hour shows. I still think it is too long for a casual fan but for a wrestling fan it was a great three hours of TV.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 30th October 2008

Due to other commitments I had missed the last couple of iMPACT’s so I was this week trying to get back in to the loop. After TNA’s rating success last week in Las Vegas it was the first night back in the redesigned iMPACT Zone.

Good Points

Stable Wars

Ok so it looks like the old days of WCW when it was the New Blood vs. The Millionaires club but the feud TNA have started between The Main Event Mafia and the yet to be named band of TNA originals and up and coming stars has got me interested. It’s a reverse of the old WCW storyline with the established stars being the heels and the new guys being the faces and I am looking forward to see how it plays out. It’s about time one promotion started proper stables in their storylines.

Push for MCMG

Was good to see MCMG getting a push. For months I have been complaining about how they have been used poorly but this week they got a lot of TV time whilst deciding not join with Samoa Joe and AJ or not.

Foley in Control

Great to see Foley being used in a non wrestling but central role a he is the on screen executive share owner. Will be interesting to see how they will keep Jarrett in the storyline now that Foley seems to be taking the duties that were once Jarrett’s.

Bad Points

Main Event

Made no sense to have Abyss going against Angle considering the storyline at the moment although it did give chance for the run in ending.

Lost in the shuffle

I think TNA needs to be careful how they work this stable wars as it needs to not end up like the NWO did. At the moment there are quite a few guys who no one knows where they fit and are in danger of being lost.

Overall

A great show, not one hundred percent sure of having so many of the WCW old guard in the main storyline but the storyline should be interesting enough to keep the fans intrigued. A lot better than when I last watched iMPACT.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 31st October 2008

After a better than usual Raw I was looking forward to see how the fallout from Cyber Sunday was going to develop on Smackdown and what direction they would be going in towards Survivor Series.

Good Points

Kozlov calls out HHH

It looks like the Smackdown title match for Survivor Series is going to be Kozlov vs. HHH after Kozlov . Personally I would have done this first at a smaller monthly event to see how the fans were going to react o it but it is good to see the Smackdown team trying to change it up and they are doing their best to put Kozlov over as a believable threat.

Casket Match

It’s not often we are given a casket match on Smackdown but as it was Halloween we got a treat. Undertaker beat Chavo Guerrero in the match and fended off the interfering Big Show to continue on his roll since Cyber Sunday but I’m sure this feud isn’t over yet.

Bad Points

Khali Kiss Cam

I think the quicker that Khali’s contract expires the better. After not being successful in the main event scene and having no one to work with in the mid and under card Khali is not relegated to comedy and cringeworthy moments through feuds with the Jackass guys and now in each week coming out to kiss some fans that they deem to be the leat attractive.

Jeff Hardy pushed to the side

So not only did Jeff suffer a succession of clean defeats to HHH but now he has completely been pushed to the side as tonight his only involvement as in a six man throwaway match. His time in the main event scene could have been handled so much better just like his exit from the main event scene.

Overall

Nowhere near as good as Raw this week, after the draft Smackdown looked like the strong brand but the card and booking is making it to start to look weaker than ever and that is with HHH.

WWE Raw Review - 27th October 2008

After a lacklustre Raw last week and a lacklustre Cyber Sunday I was hoping that tonight’s Raw the start of the road to Survivor Series would be the start of an upturn for the WWE.

Good Points

Adamle / Orton Feud

With Orton still not ready to compete yet they have built him a great storyline with Mike Adamle. Orton blames Adamle for getting him stunnered by Steve Austin at Cyber Sunday and has called for Shane and Stephanie McMahon to come to Raw next week to fire him or he will walk. Orton’s mic work was some of the most intense on Raw in recent weeks and I think has put everyone on notice for his upcoming in ring return.

A Great wrestling match

It was so good to see Rey Mysterio against Evan Bourne on Raw, with a couple of more good cruiserweights they could build a division to Rival WCW’s in the late 90s. Hopefully these two will get to go at it again soon.

Santino take another beating

Santino again provided the comedy for the evening continuing on his programme with the WWE legends from last night’s Cyber Sunday. As the legends came out to commentate on his match he threw some good lines at them on the mic and then once again took a beating at their hands but again it was great character development for Santino.

Bad Points

Not buying Batista as champ

I thought tonight proved why they should have kept the belt on Jericho as after Jericho delivered a solid in ring promo it was then left to Batista later on in the show to deliver a weak promo that lacked any kind of intensity. I’m already looking forward to Batista dropping the belt.

More change for change sake

After last night’s title change tonight we had the makeshift partnership of CM Punk and Kofi Kingston winning the tag belts from DiBiase and Rhodes. I thought the WWE were trying to build the second generation stable but this did nothing to help. I think it’s was done because they wanted to give a title to CM Punk and this was hat would have probably happened if CM Punk and Kofu had been voted in to the tag match at Cyber Sunday.

Overall

A big improvement lots going on and the show got back to feeling like an action packed two hours.

WWE Cyber Sunday 2008 Review

With a pretty tepid build up I wasn’t expecting much from Cyber Sunday. I do like the concept behind Cyber Sunday and enjoy the fact that we now have distinct events outside the big four like One Night Stand being a show of hardcore matches and this show having a card full of matches which fans get to vote on but I don’t think the WWE have really delivered on the potential of this event.

Good Points

Evan Bourne on PPV

It was great to see Evan winning the vote to challenge for the ECW title and then put on a brilliant match with Matt Hardy. This was my favourite match on the card and I hope it will be the start of a great push for Evan as I think he would make a good ECW champion or could revitalise a cruiserweight division on Raw or Smackown.

Santino is comedy gold

Santino did a great job with the Honky Tonk man and provided some great comedy moments in his match which saw Piper and Goldust get involved. Santino showed that it’s not about winning or losing it’s about entertaining.

Bad Points

Changing for change sakes

Putting Batista as champion for me just smacked of just making a change for change sake. Now things always need freshening up but that doesn’t mean you have to change the champion to do it. Just as Jericho had established himself as the champion to have him give it up made no sense.

Killing Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy as predicted got voted in to the title match against HHH but again he was made to lose clean. The fans love Jeff Hardy and he moves a lot of merchandise but the creative team aren’t ready to trust him with the ball and the Smackdown brand is getting very stale with HHH consistently winning clean against Hardy. To save Hardy’s position they should have had Kozlov coming down and costing him the match so then that would have built a good triple threat match for Survivor Series.

John Cena’s return

The event was used to push John Cena’s return at Survivor Series. Now it makes great sense to promote the next PPV whilst people are watching a PPV but to promote it so heavily that the show you have paid for looks like a commercial for the next PPV is wrong. The most important thing on the PPV should be making the show they are watching the best it can be and not promoting the next PPV. If a PPV is really good people will buy the next one regardless of promotion.

Overall

CM Punk was the main face of the promotion and WWE didn’t even use him and then put on a below standard show with very few highlights was very disappointing. Hopefully things will pick up for Survivor Series with all the promotion they are putting in to it.

After a below standard Raw I was hoping Smackdown could provide some light at the end of a dismal week to get us hyped for Cyber Sunday. With a huge main event I was interested to see what the show was going to be like.

Good Points

Main Event Push

I thought it was great that they made the main event HHH vs. Undertaker as that is a huge match that gets people interested and it provided scope for various run ins as these two are in separate matches at Cyber Sunday. The match was one of the longest Smackdown main events in some time and although the ending was predictable it did what it needed to do for Cyber Sunday.

Use of Primo and Carlito

It’s great to see WWE really pushing this team. Carlito has had to put up with a lot over the last few years but this brother tag team was worth the wait. They scored a good win over Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neeley as well as getting some backstage segments of them goofing around. With these two at the helm Smackdown could have a good tag division again.

Bad Points

Jeff left out in the cold

I think WWE are really trying to get people to vote for Kozlov as they are really going out of their way to push Jeff to one side. Jeff is such a fan favourite I don’t think it matters but this week to open the show he was pedigreed by HHH and then didn’t get involved in the run ins at the end of the main event or have his own match on the card.

Khali Kissing segment

This is cringeworthy TV and a reason why people are scared to tell their friends that they are wrestling fans. I hope this idea gets killed really quickly as at the moment it is just more ammunition for the anti wrestling brigade.

Overall

A much more exciting show than Raw although that wasn’t hard. Had some lulls during the show and maybe had some of the wrongs guys used for matches but the right stuff got pushed and the ending was effective.

WWE Raw Review - 20th October 2008

With one week left to go to Cyber Sunday it was time for the Raw brand to put the final parts in the storylines together for their matches at the PPV.

Good Points

Nice build for Main Event

The creative team did a good job of building Jericho vs. Batista with both getting mic time in the ring and then both of them participating in the evenings main event. Mike Adamle put them both in gauntlet matches which gave the fans a chance to see and predict who they thought would come out on top this Sunday. If you are judging by what happened on Raw you would have to make Batista the favourite this Sunday.

Great Santino Segment

Santino came to the ring to deliver a promo dressed as a mixture of all three of his possible opponents this Sunday at Cyber Sunday. I enjoy Santino’s comedic work so he had me in stitches and although I am no Jim Duggan fan it was good to have him involved in the segment.

Bad Points

The return of Snitsky

Just when you think the WWE have gotten rid of Snitsky as you haven’t seen him for ages he comes back only to be used to lose in a throwaway match. This week it was a loss to Rey Mysterio. So I except to be writing the same sort of comment in a couple of months time.

Cryme Time / 2nd Generation feud

I like this feud but what they did for it on Raw was shocking. Their match was thrown out before it even started as Manu got involved in a three on two beat down which last a couple of minutes and then that was it. Didn’t do anything to inspire or get me interested.

Overall

Not the most exciting Raw ever and really missed Randy Orton and Michaels who I thought would put in an appearance as they are involved in the voting for the main event at Cyber Sunday. Maybe this all a ploy by WWE to make their shows boring so that people crave John Cena’s return more.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 17th October 2008

After a fairly poor Raw I was looking forward to see what the Smackdown crew were going to produce this week. With viewing ratings being considerably low even by Smackdown’s standards since the switch to MyNetworkTV would WWE be working hard to get those ratings back.

Good Points

Undertaker on Smackdown

It was good to see Undertaker in ring action this week against Khali. The match kept his feud with the Big Show going nicely as it gave Big Show the chance to interfere only for The Undertaker to get the last laugh. Next week’s main event is Undertaker vs. HHH which could be the biggest main event in Smackdown history and is being hyped as such.

Nice title feud

Slingshotting Kozlov to the top has added some extra spice to the title scene. Now we have Jeff Hardy the fans favourite wanting another crack at the belt but then we have Kolov the guy that the fans hate but seems to be an unstoppable force at the moment.

Bad Points

Kizarny

Two vignettes were played for this new character which reminded me a bit of Michael PS Hayes back in the day. His character a make up wearing either Carnival worker of Carnival enthusiast didn’t do much for me. When I see characters like this it gives me awful memories of WWE in 1992/1993 with characters like Papa Shango an Doink.

Another John Cena video

Ok I understand the WWE promoting John Cena on Raw but we don’t need it on Samckdown as well where he isn’t on the roster. Also WWE seem to be playing the same two videos over and over again. If it was a new video every week I could understand but it is getting a bit repetitive now.

Overall

A great episode of Samckdown two great main event feuds which should deliver at Cyber Sunday, can’t wait for next week’s episode.

TNA Bound for Glory IV 2008 Review

Bound for Glory is TNA’s version of WrestleMania and has been hyped as such by TNA over the last few weeks so I was expecting the best event of the year.

Good Points

Jarrett back on top form

Jeff Jarrett made an awesome in ring return after nearly two years out of action against Angle. The match was well paced told a great story and although predictable at times Foley’s involvement as Special Enforcer added to a great match. Foley helped Jarrett to the win but it was stressed by the commentators that this was Foley’s only contractual obligation which is obviously just part of the storyline so it will be interesting to see where this goes.

Sting wins the gold

After being pushed to the side in recent months it was great to see Sting win the TNA heavyweight title. In recent weeks TNA have been circulating news that Kevin Nash is out of contract with TNA but that didn’t stop him from costing Samoa Joe the title which makes me think this news is just part of the storyline and now Nash and Sting are going to be the leaders of the established stars vs. the TNA originals.

Great Monsters Ball match

The four way tag team title match was great. Although the ending was weak there were some very memorable moments. We had Abyss going through the flaming tables and then unlike what normally happens when the fire dies on impact Abyss was left rolling around afterward still engulfed in flames, I think something went wrong there but it was memorable to watch. Then we had Hernandez going through a table covered in thumbtacks chest first instead of back first which is how wrestlers normally take that bump.

Bad Points

No Wrestlemania

I thought that the second half of the show was awesome but the first half was quite hard to sit through and no Wrestlemania by any means. When WWE do Wrestlemania it has a distinctly different feel to all other PPV’s whereas although this had some good moments felt no different to any other TNA PPV.

Main Event Booking

When you book a show with such a strong under main event match I think you are asking for trouble. With Jarrett’s return against Angle and with Foley as special enforcer it took the shine off which should have been a night we went home remembering Sting. When you have such a strong match which isn’t for the title you need to put it last or book that match so that it is for the Heavyweight Title.

Overall

Although I didn’t finish the show thinking I had seen the most special event of the year I did think it was a really good event. Lots of scope for storyline development and some memorable matches.

WWE Raw Review - 13th October 2008

With Cyber Sunday getting ever closer it was going to be interesting to see what matches and storylines WWE were going to add and work on this week.

Good Points

Good Build for Batista vs. Jericho

They actually did a good job of developing the feud this week. Jericho and Batista were given the chance to pick opponents for each other to face on Raw so Jericho picked Michaels for Batista and Batista picked CM Punk for Jericho putting himself as the referee. I like the Cyber Sunday gimmick for this one with the fans being able to pick the referee as it keeps Michaels involved in the storyline as he is one of the options.

John Cena video

Another John Cena video again this week to keep his name around. I like them as they are doing a good job of trying to show John Cena’s passion for the sport and to win over his detractors although they have to be careful not to over do the videos too much.

Bad Points

Jackass Crew

Now I understand the idea behind getting outside celebrities involved in wrestling storylines to help generate a buzz but I think with Jackass that their popularity is on the decline so they have missed the boat with this one. Also the section they featured in was an absolute mess with everyman and his dog getting involved when it should have just been about developing their feud with Khali.

Poor storyline development

Besides the main event nothing else was really developed on the Raw side of the card for Cyber Sunday Mysterio tagged again with Matt Hardy, JBL wrestled against Charlie Haas and Cryme Time had a throwaway match against the Miz and Morrison.

Overall

As a two hour TV show I don’t think it would have entertained the casual fan. I know Cyber Sunday isn’t a big PPV in the WWE calendar but they still need to do more than what they are doing to hype it and get fans interested.

WWE Raw Review - 6th October 2008

After a good No Mercy it was time to get down to business again and the road towards Cyber Sunday. Would there be any fallout from Jericho and Michaels and what will Batista do now he is number one contender.

Good Points

Chris Jericho

Jericho gave a good in ring promo to kick the show off showing the world how Michaels has permanently disfigured him last night as his injury was well woven in to the storyline. He also put the wheels in motion for his feud with Batista as he was in the receiving end of Spine Buster from the Animal and then as acting GM tried to screw Batista out of his number one contenders spot in which he was unsuccessful.

John Cena videos

It’s been a while since was last saw Cena on our screens so WWE put out two well crafted video segments following his surgery and featuring positive comments about him from fellow wrestlers. Good to see them trying to keep his name out there.

Push for Ted Dibiase

The WWE are really pushing Ted junior as this week he got a singles win against former Intercontinental champion Kofi Kingston. Expect him to be the next Randy Orton within a year.Loss of intensity for Rey and Kane

Bad points

Not much going on

Besides the build for Jericho vs. Batista there really wasn’t much going on. We had a few throwaway matches featuring people that weren’t feuding with each other and a few backstage segments. The content really wasn’t enough to keep the viewer hooked for two hours.

No Heat

After last night’s dramatic end to their match I was expected the heat to be turned up even further on this feud but instead were put in a mix storyline match as Rey tagged with Matt Hardy to go against Kane and Mark Henry.

Overall

Another average Raw. Not enough exciting stuff happening backstage and not enough good matches in the ring. Without Orton being able to wrestle and Cena off the show Raw is really lacking at the moment.

WWE No Mercy Review

After a mixture of good and bad WWE programming as of late it was time for the first of to PPV’s in October for WWE that being No Mercy. The event was largely built around the ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Title.

Good Points

The ladder match

Although it won’t get down as one of the best ladder matches of all time there were some good bumps in there and some great psychology. There was no way they were going to make Jericho give up the belt a month after he won the belt especially as the last holder before him CM Punk was always seen as a transitional champion.

Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy

This match did a lot to enhance Jeff Hardy although he came up on the losing side of the result again. The lat few minutes of this match really got the fans believing that Jeff could win this and it was only a sneak roll up manoeuvre that got HHH the win. However now it looks like HHH is going to go straight in to a feud with Kozlov so I’m not sure where it leaves Jeff.

Bad Points

It’s getting like TNA

There were some silly endings tonight which came straight out of the TNA book with Rey Mysterio beating Kane by dq after Kane gave him a chairshot when he flew out of the ring in to Kane and Big Show beat The Undertaker following referee stoppage due to Big Show knocking Undertaker unconscious.

Where do we go from here?

With Batista winning a number one contender match what will Michaels do now and now that Kozlov is set up in a feud with HHH what will happen to Hardy? Will Kane continue to feud with Rey Mysterio? It’s good to have a little bit up in the air after a PPV but I feel there are too many top names without storylines at the moment.

Too Many TV like moments

The PPV at times felt a bit like an episode of Raw or Smackdown with in ring promos and mic segemtns involving Orton, JBL, Cryme Time and others. I think at a PPV the only in ring stuff happening should be the matches or things with affect matches with everything else happening backstage.

Overall

The last two matches saved it if it wasn’t for them it would have been an absolute dud of a PPV.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 2nd October 2008

With only two weeks to go until Bound for Glory and with Mick Foley set to make his presence felt in the iMPACT Zone I was looking forward to what TNA had in store this week for us after I missed last week’s episode.

Good Points

Jarrett / Kurt feud

TNA have done orchestrated this perfectly with the help of the UK media especially Simon down at The Sun they have created a great angle. Kurt gave shoot style interviews to The Sun where he claimed he didn’t like TNA and still had respect for Vince at WWE. These comments then got printed and TNA have sewn in to the storyline where Jarrett now takes exception to the comments made about his company and the storyline is coming over as real which makes for entertaining TV.

Foley makes his iMPACT

Ok it wasn’t a great in ring promo that Foley delivered but it got attention and built to the announcement that he was going to be special enforcer for the Angle vs. Jarrett match. Will be interest to see where Foley fits in to this whole new school / old school situation currently going down in TNA.

A new name about to start

TNA produced a really good video teasing the debut of a new character called Suicide who looks really interesting. On the back of it TNA have launched a viral type campaign with a website and everything set up for fans to try and find out who this new guy is.

Bad Points

Samoa Joe pushed to the side

Samoa Joe was left with just a pre-record interview with Tenay and Sting as his involvement this week. Yes Angle vs. Jarrett is huge but it doesn’t mean you completely under sell your title match. I wouldn’t be happy if I was Joe at the moment.

Poor main event

The last match on the card before the final Foley segment was a woman’s tag which featured the Beautiful People vs. ODB and Raka Khan and as the girls aren’t currently in a match at the PPV it made no sense.

Overall

I thought bar the minor exceptions it was a great show and that momentum is starting to build again for TNA.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 3rd September 2008

It was a special Smackdown tonight not only was it the last Smackdown before No Mercy but it was also the first Smackdown on the new network and to start with a bang on the new network the card was stacked.

Good Points

Stacked card

The show kicked off with an eight man tag that went half an hour which included Batista, Rey Mysterio, jeff Hardy, JBL and others. Then all through the night we had mix brand matches followed by an awesome champion vs. champion triple threat main event.

Good build for Big Show vs. Undertaker

Undertaker may be having problems with his knee but he has still managed to put on a good package with Big Show. This week Undertaker’s music hit whilst Big Show was in the ring then when Big Show went up the ramp the Undertaker appeared in the ring.

Bad Points

Not much storyline development

Because it was a mixed brand show there was little storyline development besides from Undertaker Big Show which was a shame just before No Mercy.

Use of Kozlov

Kozlov isn’t on the PPV but again he was put over as the top dog after laying out HHH following his main event. It may be that he will get involved at No Mercy but at the moment it makes no sense.

Overall

Match quality was great but there was little in the way of backstage segments and in ring promos so it had a feel of a house show at times.

WWE Raw Review - 29th August 2008

After last week’s 800th episode special of Raw I was looking forward to see what they were going to do with the last Raw before No Mercy. With two big Raw feuds on the PPV it would be interesting to see what they did to hook people to buy the PPV.

Good Points

Good development for JBL / Batista feud

This feud got some great TV time on Raw. To make up for not giving Batista a title push this year as of yet creative are trying to keep him strong and in the focus. Both JBL and Batista landed sucker blows on their No Mercy opponent blindsiding each other after their respective matches. This should be a brutal match at No Mercy.

Second Generation Stable

WWE are building this faction of DiBiase. Rhodes and Manu brilliantly as this week they were all able to compete in one match on the same team in a rare eight man tag on Raw. Not only did they get this but they got good backstage time as they tried to convince Kane to join their group.

Orton kept in the Spotlight

I like what the creative team are doing with this making Orton feud with Adamle as it keeps Orton on TV and it help builds Adamle. Just the question is at the moment when will Randy return to full ring action.

Bad Points

Poor build for main event

Besides the main event match Jericho didn’t get any TV time. When you are building for a PPV the best way to do is through backstage segments, promos and mic time but when the champion isn’t given any of that how is he suppose to get the feud to boiling point. To add to this ad make it worse instead of build Jericho Michaels they decided to bring HHH back and reform DX again for another one night special which overshadowed the actual feud they are suppose to be building.

Too much time for Santino

Now I love Santino, the boy cracks me up but when he is getting more time on the mic at backstage than your main event guys then there is a problem. Although I bet Santino isn’t complaining.

Overall

A decent outing nothing to jump and down about, can’t say I am excited about No Mercy but it is normally the events that you go in with low expectations that turn out to be the good ones.

No reviews

due to being away this weekend there will be no Smackdown or iMPACT reviews

WWE Raw Review - 22nd September 2008

Tonight was the 800th episode of Raw and I was looking forward to a great show. Wasn’t expecting any major shocks or news but a well produced show in the run up to No Mercy.

Good Points

Punk back in the mix

Was great to see CM Punk in a face to face with Orton and watching him slapping Orton down after Orton had informed everybody that Mike Adamle had passed a sanction which meant no one could touch him. This forced Adamle to suspend CM Punk indefinitely which was then overruled by Shane McMahon who made a rare Raw appearance. Can’t wait to see how the Punk / Orton feud develops.

Jericho does his best to push the main event

Jericho started the show off on top of a ladder in the centre of the ring to cut a good promo for the No Mercy main event however with HBK only appearing in the main event on Raw and having no mic time he needed to deliver. If Jericho keeps this up and HBK gets more time then they can this feud to even higher heights.

More time for Evan Bourne

Evan put in a great display going one on one with Kane and although Kane picked up the win Kane really did a lot to help Evan and put him over in the match. I think Evan’s going to have a bright future and if the WWE sign a few more lightweights they could have an exciting lightweight division again.

Bad Points

Storylines not followed through

There is a lot happening on the periphery at the moment on Raw. We have Zolph Digler a guy that is new to raw and all he seems to do is just introduce himself to people backstage. We have Charlie Haas now breaking in to doing videos either paying tribute to mocking other wrestlers and many more. WE needs to invest its time properly in a handful of storylines and not try and jam too much on a show. This is added to by strange booking like at the last minute changing the tag team main event to a handicap match.

Wrong time to push Lance Cade

I think WWE should push Cade and see what he can do but in the run up to Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels at No Mercy it wasn’t the time. Cade went over clean getting the pin for his team which pushed him as the main attraction as Raw went off air.

Overall

Really good solid show. If WWE deliver another good outing like this one next week I’m sure people will be buzzing for No Mercy.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 18th September 2008

After a pretty good PPV TNA were looking to follow it up with one of their biggest iMPACT’s to date. With lots of storylines developing nicely and a new arrival looming TNA are starting to get that momentum back.

Good Points

Brilliant Jarrett Promo

Jarrett showed the boys how it was done in the final segment as he explained his reasons for his actions as of late letting the world know that he set up TNA to give young guys the breaks they deserve and not to be another WCW. It was heartfelt, emotional and felt real something which a lot of TNA promos and storylines haven’t been.

Cactus Jack makes his presence known in the iMPACT zone

As Angle came down to try and set up a match between himself and Jarrett for Bound for Glory Jarrett turned the tables on Angle by pointing to the video screen where Foley cut a short promo in his Cactus Jack Persona. It is going to be interesting to see how they use him next week on iMPACT.

Abyss and Matt Morgan continue to be pushed

Was great to see these two get good backstage interview time and for the feud with 3D to keep on rolling as the old protagonists interrupted their segment. Matt Morgan is being built as the future of TNA and a good run with Abyss which ends in the tag titles will do him no harm.

Bad Points

Jay Lethal’s promo

A lot of words get bleeped on iMPACT but during Jay Lethal’s promo one was let go. I don’t think wrestling is a place for swear words, I think a more creative mind can deliver a heated promo or a promo that really gets attention without swearing. Also I don’t see the point of just letting one swear word go, if you are going to use that language on a wrestling show either use it often or not at all there is no point in just having one.

Samoa Joe pushed to the side

With Jarrett, Angle, Sting and Mick Foley all getting either more TV time or better TV time than Samoa Joe he has been put in a bad situation. As champion if one maybe two people are pushed above you then you can handle it but when there are four guys above you in the pecking order it has a detrimental affect on your standing and the standing of the title belt.

Overall

Brilliant iMPACT. The focus was given to the right feuds and matches whilst still some attention paid to the lower card. I can’t wait to see what else happens in the run up to Bound for Glory.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 19th September 2008

After a decent enough Raw it was Smackdown’s turn to see how they were going to build for No Mercy. Would The Undertaker show up and what would they do with Kozlov this week.

Good Points

Good build for Undertaker / Big Show

Smackdown did everything they could to build the feud without having Undertaker on the show. They built it well with Big Show and Vickie having many backstage segments including Chavo impersonating The Undertaker and then later on getting choked out by what we assume was The Undertaker as we didn’t get chance to see who it was.

Primo & Carlito

It’s good to see these two together and given some mic time as they had the funniest segment of the night as Primo co hosted or should I say guest appeared on Carlito’s Cabana. The segment also served to set up a tag title match as Hawkins and Ryder came down to interrupt the segment.

Big with for R-Truth

R-Truth got a big non title victory over Shelton Benjamin. On Smackdown with some of the guys that are and aren’t currently on TV they have the potential to have a great United States title division.

Bad Points

Use of HHH

No promo time for HHH this week just a quick instantly forgettable main event against MVP which was then overshadowed by Kozlov beating him down. I don’t know what this sudden Kozlov push is all about and to have him dismantle the champion and make him look week a couple of weeks before the PPV when Kozlov isn’t in the main event I think is a little crazy.

Jesse and Festus

It’s already getting stale, out of nowhere they turn themselves in to some form of package and delivery men and you know now that at the end of every match they are going to try and tape their opponent up.

Guys not getting a run

After appearing a few weeks on the trot there was no Kenny Dykstra this week on Smackdown and after not appearing for a couple of weeks Scotty Goldman was back jut to beaten in a Squash match by Khali. They need to give some of these guys a run and not bit parts.

Overall

Not as good as Raw but by far not the worst Smackdown ever. Although I don’t agree with how they are using Kozlov at least he is making it interesting at the moment.

TNA No Surrender 2008 Review

After a good PPV last time out I was looking forward to seeing what TNA would deliver on their first PPV outside of the United States. As most of you know it takes a lot for me to get excited about a TNA PPV but here are my thoughts on what went down.

Good Points

Team 3D help build talent

Was great to see Team 3D building the team of Abyss and Matt Morgan. The match had a great tempo and really pushed Abyss and Matt Morgan strong as they came back after every other handed trick in the book by Team 3D and so many false finishes to finally get an impressive victory.

SoCal turns on Lethal

After a terrible storyline it had a really good payoff as SoCal deliberately cost Jay Lethal the match so that Sonjay could win and that she could go off with him. It will be interesting to see what they do with this new heel couple in TNA. Having a Heel couple on a show is always fun for the creative team.

Good X-Division match

The quality of wrestling was phenomenal in this one with some great spots as Bashir won the X-Division title in the backyard of the X-Division champion. Consequences Creed and Petey Williams put in an awesome performance but it will be interesting to see what Bashir does with the title as he has great character skills.

Bad Points

Sting kicking the show off

With Sting hitting the ring to do a long in ring promo to kick the show off made the show feel like a regular weekly TV show. In the promo he then went on to say he would face the winner of the title match at the next PPV. Message to TNA concentrate on the PPV you are doing and not the next one, that was a promo which should have been kept for the iMPACT after the PPV.

Two Women’s matches on one PPV

It shows how much belief that TNA has in this division to put two all female fights on a PPV card when guys like Rhino are just reduced to support roles on the card. ODB and Kong put in some awesome performances but I just wasn’t feeling the Knockouts tonight.

Main event not living up to the hype

I thought that TNA could have done more with the event it just seemed to predictable at times especially when Jarrett came out to nail Angle. Now if TNA hadn’t mentioned Jarrett at all in the build up to the PPV and then have hit Angle with the guitar and then explain his actions on the next iMPACT would have caused interest. As it happened you knew Angle was going to be feuding with Jarrett so wouldn’t win the belt and as they hand’t been doing much with Cage recently he wasn’t going to win the belt so it was another easy predictable win for Samoa Joe.

Overall

A couple of solid matches, nothing to jump up and down about. I think the next PPV should be a lot better though with some good storyline movement in this show which sets us up nicely.

WWE Raw Review - 15th September 2008

With the promise of a steel cage title match I was looking forward to seeing Raw this week, add to this I had the week off work so I could stay up and watch it live for once whilst switching between my beloved Dallas Cowboys.

Good Points

Good Cage Match

We all knew CM Punk wasn’t going to win the title back but the creative team handled it well giving CM Punk a good long match which ended with Jericho falling out of the cage after a CM Punk head butt so it kept CM Punk strong.

Push for Evan Bourne

Great to see Evan getting slingshot to the top as he came in to save Rey Mysterio in his main event bout against Kane. After only two weeks on Raw he is already making a big impact which is great to see, I for one can’t wait to see what they have him doing next week.

Matches lined up for No Mercy

This episode of Raw did a great job in building No Mercy as two matches got announced those being Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match for the title and JBL vs. Batista for number one contendership.

Bad Points

Burchill push is over

When they have you losing to Jamie Noble when you are a big guy you know your push is over. Word is that Burchill could be close to on his way out so the result was of no rel surprise.

Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler

These two shouldn’t be wrestling on Raw if the WWE want to push a young and fresh product they need to keep these two off the cards.

Overall

Great show one of the best Raw’s of the last few weeks. More like this please Vince.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 11th September 2008

With only three days to go to No Surrender Thursday’s iMPACT was going to be an important one to hype the PPV. What finishing touches would the TNA creative team but on storylines and would Jarrett finally show his face in the iMPACT Zone.

Good Points

Push for Matt Morgan and Abyss

Was great to see these two getting pushed and a good feud developing between them and Angle / Booker T. They also have another feud in the making now as Team 3D interfered in their main event match against Angle and Booker T.

Push for the Beautiful People

I think these two are great characters and it is good to see them involved in so many segments. Although TNA need to be careful not to give them too much time over the big title feuds.

Jarrett’s back

Ok he only made it to the ramp but it was great to see him back on the show and it was a nice teaser to see if he would be involved at No Surrender.

Bad Points

Little Wrestling

There was very little wrestling on tonight’s show with most of the matches either being thrown out or very short squash matches. Storylines are more important than wrestling in the last show before a PPV but that still means you have to have some wrestling.

Terrible Promos

The promos which should have been long and delivered didn’t. Samoa Joe opened up the show with a very short promo which was then greeted by Sting coming out and stumbling over an unconvincing promo. This was added to by a rushed last segment of the show between Samoa Joe and Sting. They weren’t the only culprits though as Nash joined the stumbling over his words club.

Overall

For a show before a PPV I thought it was pure awful. A lot of the guys appearing at the PPV weren’t even on the show and those that were made a hash of developing their storylines.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 12th September 2008

After Unforgiven I was looking forward to how Smackdown were going to fair in comparison to Raw’s offering this week. Who is next for HHH and what’s going to happen between Big Show and Taker.

Good Points

Triple H built strong

Triple H cut a good promo to kick off the show putting himself over as the only champ to walk in and walk out of Unforgiven with his belt. All through the show he had backstage segments with the guys he beat at Unforgiven which also helped to put his competition over which was great to see.

Push for Jeff Hardy

He interrupted Triple H to deliver his strongest mic work yet in a war of words with Jeff Hardy which I was glad centred around things in the ring and now his personal life. Jeff went on to win the Smackdown main event to get a shot at Triple H at the next PPV.

Tag division getting better.

Was great to see a tag match involving the champs even if it was a non title match but even better to see the new Colon family pairing of Carlito and Primo. When the brand split first happened Smackdown was renowned for its tag team wrestling so hopefully they can get back to it.

Bad Points

Crazy booking

First we had a match with Festus and Kenny Dykstra which I think went to a no contest when Jesse and Festus taped him to a board, bubble wrapped him and took him to the back which was just weird. Then we had out of nowhere Kozlov attacking Jeff Hardy after he won the main event. The ending should have been Jeff’s moment and if they were going to do something with Kozlov they should have built it gradually not just all of sudden slingshot him to the top.

No Undertaker

After having Undertaker on the last few Smackdown’s it was a shame to see him not on the show. Big Show and Vickie did their best to put over the feud by delivering a couple of in ring proms but Samckdown needs to keep him on the show every week if it is going to continue to develop.

Overall

A solid episode which did the right thing and focusing on the title feud. All we need now is Undertaker back and some not so crazy booking and the show should be back up to where it was before Unforgiven.

WWE Raw Review - 8th September 2008

After a great ending to Unforgiven I was looking forward to seeing the first Raw under the reign of Jericho. What would happen to Batista? Would we see CM Punk or Michaels show up? All these questions had to be answered.

Solid start from Jericho

It was nothing flashy but Jericho did what he needed to do selling the beating that Michael gave him and acting like any good heel does by trying to squirm his way out of matches that Adamle had set up for him. Next week it will be Jericho vs. CM Punk in a steel cage for the title meaning that we may not see Punk in the main event scene for the next PPV as he gets his rematch early. When Michaels and CM Punk are back then we will see the real start to his reign I think.

Second Generation stars get a backbone

Over the last few weeks Orton has been the master manipulator backstage getting fellow second generation stars to his dirty work for him whilst taking all the credit for it. This week on Raw Rhodes, DiBiase and Manu had, had enough as Orton managed to get clear of the ring before an altercation could happen. Does this now mean they are pushing the group o second generation stars as faces now?

Bad Points

Push for Batista or lack of it

Just after you started to think they were going to push Batista they have now got him involved in a feud with JBL which is not what I would call a push. I’m no Batista fan but they have kept him hanging on down the card for some time now and really need to do something big with him.

Not enough going on

The three main storylines the show featured around weren’t ground breaking and there weren’t any what I would call major developments. The three storylines being, Jericho, Batista/JBL and the Second Generation storyline. Everything else was just filler.

Overall

Not much to get excited about or memorable from this episode. Was good to see Evan Bourne who most wrestling fans who follow the indy scene will know as Matt Sydal get a chance on Raw after some time spent on ECW. Was interesting to see him use the shooting star press in his match as I thought this move had been outlawed after Billy Kidman once messed it up a few weeks on the trot.

WWE Unforgiven 2008 Review

After a better than average SummerSlam WWE were following this up with another gimmick PPV which seems to be WWE’s theme of the year with Night of the Champions, One Night Stand and Cyber Sunday still to come all surrounding around gimmick matches. The gimmick for Unforgiven was every Heavyweight title being defended in a scramble match. There was a shadow of doubt cast over the PPV when Michaels got injured on Raw the week before his big showdown with Chris Jericho so I wasn’t as hyped for this one as I usually am but as it was broadcast free in the UK I wasn’t complaining.

ECW Championship Scramble match

Was better than I was expecting this one and a nice little kick off to the PPV. As I predicted Matt Hardy got the win without Mark Henry being involved with keeps him strong and builds their feud nicely. By having this one first and by having Matt win it started to make you wonder if we were going to see Hardy clean sweep and see scenes reminiscent of WrestleMania 20.

World Tag Team Championship: Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase (c) vs. Cryme Tyme by Cody Rhodes

It’s good to see the tag belts being defended again on PPV on a regular basis. The result of this match was never in doubt as Rhodes & DiBiase are getting a big push. Cryme Tyme need to be given more promo time and made to be thought of as believable contenders and not just a comedy act. Was good to see Manu come down the son of Afa the Wild Samoan to help Rhodes and DiBiase to add to the second generation wrestlers stable. Again my prediction was correct in this one.

Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

After much doubt about Michaels injuries and if he would be able to put in a good performance here Michaels contributed to a match of the year contender here. The last ten minutes were just brilliant as Michaels beat Jericho to a pulp but played the character of being remorseful for what he had been forced to do. I thought the pay-off was a bit too quick and they should have waited longer before the fight but as events unfolded later it made a lot of sense. As predicted Michaels picked up the win.

WWE Championship Scramble

We already knew HHH was going to win this but as I said in my predictions this match as all about how the other guys got on in a main event. I think Kendrik, Benjamin and MVP all put in credible performances, nothing special mind. The match was good at keeping Jeff Hardy strong as they eventually build to another Hardy / HHH match at a PPV.

Divas Championship: Michelle McCool (c) vs. Maryse

Nothing much to get excited about here except another correct prediction by me.

World Heavyweight Championship Scramble

This match was built excellently during the PPV as CM Punk was set upon by Randy Orton and his new stable of second generation wrestlers before his match making him unable to compete and a space open in the scramble match. This also gave CM Punk the ability to lose his title whilst never being beaten for it keeping him strong for another push at the title and creates a strong feud with Orton when he returns. In a surprising move Jericho limped out to take CM Punk’s place and managed to steal a victory and World Heavyweight Championship. Kane and Rey can now go on in their feud which leaves JBL and Batista to build a feud. By giving Jericho the belt it keeps him strong and adds a new dimension to his feud with Michaels. Being the top feud it only makes sense for it now to revolve around the title. Am so happy to see Jericho as champion that I don’t care that I got this prediction wrong and missed out on a possible 100%.

Overall

The show on the whole was very predictable until the end which made the ending even more engaging. The show did what it had to do to build storylines and also had The Big Show turning heel on Undertaker in the most telegraphed storyline of the year that even someone who hadn’t seen wrestling before could have seen what was going to happen. I’m looking forward to the first Raw under the new reign of Jericho.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 4th September 2008

After an average episode of iMPACT last week I was hoping for something good this week but I am not sure if TNA would deliver.

Good Points

Old School / New School set in motion

After this week’s episode of iMPACT it looks like it’s going to be Sting, Angle and Booker representing the old school and Cage, AJ Styles and Jarrett representing the new school. We are still yet to see Jarrett but Angle is starting to reference him in promos and his music is constantly hitting to unnerve Sting, Angle and Booker T.

Abyss being positioned under the main event

Now we knew that Abyss wouldn’t be getting main event status in TNA but it looks like they are building a feud involving him and Matt Morgan against Team 3D which could be interesting. The only problem is that with all this talent used up in two storylines it is really highlighting the weakness of the rest of the roster.

Bad Points

Top guys not delivering on the mic

I am usually a fan of Angle and Booker promos but the fifteen minutes they were given on the mic to kick the show off just seemed to drag and put the audience in a sleeperhold. Added to this we have Sting’s promos which aren’t working as after being positioned as a heel by taking a strip off fan favourites Samoa Joe and AJ Styles the fans are still cheering him.

Not enough wrestling

Yes I know I say that your weekly show isn’t about wrestling but building storylines and entertainment you still have to have some wrestling as on a two hour wrestling show to go the first forty minutes with only one quick throwaway match is terrible. Wrestling matches need to be used on TV to build storylines you can’t just build matches with promos.

Overall

TNA should be at it’s hottest right now with Samoa Joe as champ and the return of Sting and Jarrett but instead these last couple of shows have been the least entertaining for me in some time.

WWE Unforgiven Preview

WWE Divas Championship match
Maryse vs. Michelle McCool

Raw still has by far the superior Women’s division but with the Divas title now on Smackdown at least there seems to be some point to having women wrestle on Smackdown. I wouldn’t have a Divas title match on PPV instead of having a Women’s Title match though. Michelle McCool should retain here as her off screen relationship with The Undertaker has obviously given her power backstage by association with the Phenom.

Championship Scramble for the ECW Championship
Mark Henry (c) vs. Matt Hardy vs. The Miz vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Finlay

Regardless of what you think of the current state of ECW that is a strong match to put out. I remember when the new ECW brand first started and you had matches with the likes of Kevin Thorn and others but now you have a match where all guys have experience on either Raw or Smackdown. I want to see Matt Hardy win but with Mark Henry’s current push I could see him retaining and there is always a outside chance that they could give it to Finlay as he comes nearer to the end of his career it may be nice to see him as a champion. Saying all this though I’m going to go with a gut instinct and go with Matt Hardy on this one.

World Tag Team Championship
Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase (c) vs. Cryme Time

For a tag match this has been built quite well over the last month on Raw with Cryme Time stealing the belts and then Rhodes and DiBiase attacking them to take them back. I for one am just glad they are doing something with Cryme Time at the moment as for weeks they were left with nothing. WWE at the moment are trying to mould DiBiase as the next star, the new Randy Orton if you will so I think this will be a successful title defence for the pairing.

Unsanctioned Match
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels

This has had the best build up for a match at a PPV in some time. The rivalry is so heated and has been crafted so well that you could easily believe that it’s real. Nothing about it has been rushed and we were all expecting a great match at Unforgiven but now with Michaels injury on Raw no one is sure how this match will pan out. People were expecting great things from this match but now if it doesn’t deliver it could undo a lot of the good work already done in this feud and affect the future storyline and matches this pair could have. My prediction is a win for Shawn Michaels.

Championship Scramble for the WWE Championship
Triple H (c) vs. The Brian Kendrik vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy

Expect Triple H to easily retain in this one but that isn’t the interesting thing to watch for in this one. This match is a gauge for where Kendrik and Benjamin are at and if they can fit in to the main event scene. MVP has been waiting for a main event push for sometime but with his recent backstage antics I’m not sure if the wait will go on or not. The match also sees Hardy’s return to main event so will be interesting to see what he brings.

Championship Scramble for the World Heavyweight Championship
CM Punk (c) vs. Batista vs. Kane vs. JBL vs. Rey Mysterio

This has the potential to be an interesting match as it has many different storylines going on and unlike the Smackdown scramble match each competitor has been pushed as a potential winner. This match will be used to develop the Kane / Mysterio feud but I don’t see either of them winning as Rey has just come back from injury so won’t be put in to a main event feud. The match gives CM Punk the chance to lose the title without losing believability as he doesn’t have to be involved in the deciding decision afterwards he can then continue a feud with JBL. Leaving Batista as the winner as he has now been a while without the belt and will be a babyface champion ready in waiting for Orton’s return. Don’t even be surprised to see Orton get involved somehow in this one.

Overall

With three scramble matches all only going twenty minutes and a Divas match which won’t go much over ten minutes it leaves a lot of PPV to fill which I think they were expecting Jericho and Michaels to fill but with his injury will that be possible. Having three identical gimmick style matches on a PPV doesn’t work in this day and age, that’s why Survivor Series is not done how it use to be any more. This event was going to be remembered for Jericho vs. Michaels but now everyone is unsure how it is going to go down but I hope even with an injury they can steal the show.