Wednesday 30 July 2008

WWE Raw Review - 28th July 2008

After missing lat weeks Raw due to problems with my PVR I was looking forward to getting back in the weekly routine and see what was happening on the Raw Brand.

Good Points

On screen return of Shane McMahon


Don’t know if we will see him again for a while or not but it was good to see Shane on the show as he got ready to announce the new GM for Raw. The show always seems to be better when there is a McMahon on the show.

Return of William Regal

After his recent drugs problems it was good to see the return of William Regal and to see him pushed to the top immediately with a non title match against CM Punk. He was even given the title of hottest free agent by Shane which is a heck of a compliment.

Great stuff with Jericho


Jericho came on to the show to present his last ever Highlight Reel and to officially bury his old happy go lucky persona. Jericho is doing really well in his heel roll and is now staking his claim for a heavyweight title shot which is good to see.

Bad Points

Mike Adamle new GM!


After at last minute Michael Cole was thrown in to a match at Raw and when Mike Adamle came don to replace him in commentary it was obvious who the new GM was going to be but it has to rank up there as one of the worst decisions in some time. Because of the huge paycheque Mike gets and because he is no good on commentary they had to give him something worthwhile to do to justify his price tag. All I can say is I hope this is only a short reign.

Kane pushed to the side

After having a strong storyline over recent weeks with him going on the warpath with his bag asking if he is dead or a live whoever he is we don’t know, Kane now is back to a bit part. This week he had to do the job in the main event as Cena pinned him for the three count and giving Kane very little other time except for coming down at the end of the CM Punk match.

Overall

A great show ruined by the final announcement of Adamle as GM. Just shows you that two hours of hard work can be destroyed with a few moments of madness.

Saturday 26 July 2008

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 24th July 2008

With some interesting storylines hotting up in TNA at the momen and with Kurt and Joe both having more TV time I was looking forward to shee what they were going o do this week on iMPACT.

Good Points

Great storyline build for Booker T and Samoa Joe


The show started and ended with these two in the ring which was great to see. The match in place for Hard Justice sounds great as we get ready for full metal mayhem inside the six sides of steel. Having Sting’s music hit and then for Samoa Joe to be laid out when the lights came back up has added intrigue to the feud although I believe this wasn’t Sting but a staged set up to make it look like Sting.

Push for Matt Morgan


Great to see Matt’s continuing push and put in a position where he can show off his size and ability. I have him down as a main eventer in 2009 so watch this space. I still believe if handled right he has potential.

New segment


Great new segment called Karen’s Angle, much like the rough cuts segment, very distinguishable as a shoot section of the show rather than a storyline section. Look forward to seeing next week’s part 2 of her interview with Kaz.

Bad Points

Giving away PPV style matches


This week we had a five table elimination match featuring the team of 3D and Angle vs. Christian, Rhino and AJ as well as a strap match between Beer Money and Motor City Machine Guns. Stipulation matches like this should be saved for PPV.

After Thoughts

Sometimes it is best not to feature something than to just throw something non noteworthy in. This was the case for the Sonjay Dutt / Lethal / Val storyline as they put in a few minutes of Sonjay in hospital which looked like a last minute idea to keep something from the storyline in the episode.

Overall


Great episode, lots of video segments lots of focus on the main storyline, can’t ask for anymore than that really.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 25th July 2008

After missing Raw because of some technical hitches with my Sky+ box I was looking forward to my only WWE fix of the week. I just hoped Smackdown could deliver.

Good Points

Push for Hawkins and Ryder


Great to see these two getting pushed as on the show they were seen snubbing Edge and then Hawkins had a one on one match with Festus.

Good Video for Ron “The Truth” Killings

Very nice video promo for Ron, hopefully he can make a bigger impact on Smackdown than last time round when he was K-Kwick and part of the X-Factor.

Good video package

Was good to see a nice video package for Edge and Vickie to the start the show off with to show all the history that has been going on.

Bad Points

Terrible match order


Not only was the match quality terrible but the order was crazy with the last match of the night being Kendrik vs. Shannon Moore. On top of this we had outings from Jimmy Wang Yang, Stevie Richards and Festus. This is suppose to be the wrestling show!

Khali is going to SummerSlam

Can’t believe the WWE is pushing the Great Khali again as he won a shot at HHH at SummerSlam. WWE must be desperate for that Indian market that’s all I’ve got to say.

Again no real use of HHH

Triple H’s involvement this week consisted of coming down to the ring after Great Khali’s match to square up against him. This guy is doing less than Samoa Joe in TNA at the moment and that’s saying something.

Overall


Best thing about the show was pre-taped videos, that says everything really.

Tuesday 22 July 2008

WWE Great American Bash 2008

The Great American Bash usually wins the award for worst PPV of the year, the card is normally terrible, the matches equally as bad and no good storyline developments. This got me to the point where I started to think if this was done deliberately by Vince to bury a PPV concept originally created by WCW for his own amusement. However on Sunday night I witnessed in my opinion the best minor PPV of the year so far.

Good Points

Freshening up


Was good to see the bottom end of the card getting a shake up with Hawkins and Ryder winning the tag title and Shelton Benjamin winning the US Title. This frees up Matt Hardy to go after the ECW title and gives Ryder and Hawkins the chance to establish themselves. The tag match was also very well put together.

Good Matches

With a few exceptions those being the ECW title match and the Divas title match there wasn’t a bad match on the card and luckily the two matches that weren’t up to scratch were kept short. Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels was another great match in the series between these two and kept their feud going.

We Make Movies

In the documentary Beyond the Mat Vince said that about the WWE ‘That they make movies’ which was true of the Cena vs. JBL match. Yes it was preposterous that Cena could get run down on Raw and not have a scratch on him and then participate in a match which saw cars getting set on fire, vehicles smashed and so on but it was great fun. Like every action film needs a good chase scene or a good fight scene I think there is a place for matches like the Parking Lot Brawl on a PPV.

Feuds continue to SummerSlam

I expected nothing else than HHH to keep his title but they managed to do it in a way that kept Edge strong which was important for SummerSlam then we had the double dq finish for the CM Punk / Batista match to keep that going. With one month to go to SummerSlam the Bash should be about building and developing feuds for SummerSlam.

Bad Points

Needed better build


WWE need to just be careful of how they build storylines for the PPV’s with the most exciting developments happening on the episodes of Raw and Smackdown directly before the PPV was a mistake. If fans had missed one week they would have missed some pretty pivotal developments. The big things should happen as early as possible as you want to start the build for a PPV on the first Raw after the last PPV.

Overall

A great PPV after some of the shockers of the last twelve months this restored my faith in the WWE.

Saturday 19 July 2008

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 17th July 2008

After a terrible Victory Road I was interested to see how TNA were going to turn things round. TNA are erratic at the moment they aren’t consistently good and they aren’t consistently bad so here’ hoping this was going to be a good week.

Good Points

Great Booker T / Samoa Joe Promos


After a duff main event at Victory Road these guys really pulled out all the stops tonight. Great in ring and backstage promos throughout with a brilliant ending. Again no in ring action for Joe but he made up for it on the mic.

Unpredictability


I know it’s my favourite word but TNA had it in spades tonight as first three men get out a limo with Sting masks who we later find out to be Kurt Angle and Team 3-D then we have Beer Money going around beating on anyone fans, production crew and visitors to Universal. All really good stuff very reminiscent of NWO days.

Push for Matt Morgan

There was a great push for Morgan as he beat both members of the Rock and Rave Infection. Next they just need to give a one on one feud for a PPV and see from there.

Bad Points

No Sting


After his actions at Victory Road I personally would have started the show with him but to not have him on the show at all is criminal. I know TNA have to use him sparingly but it just seems to be the case that TNA are doing that with too many guys at the moment like Abyss, Angle, Joe etc.

Lack of consistency

After not doing much for a while Eric Young was thrust back on to our screens and after not being on the PPV Consequences Creed was in the main event on iMPACT. Yes you can’t highlight all your roster at the same time but when your not highlighting someone you need to keep them around and involved so when you want to push them back in to the spotlight the crowds aren’t scratching their heads to think of the last time they did something.

Overall


On millions time better than the PPV and it was free. The backstage, segments, promos and in ring mic time really stole the show tonight which it should on a TV show. After feeling gloomy about TNA I finally see light again but saying that next week I could be back in gloom again.

Friday 18 July 2008

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 18th July 2008

With only a few days to go to the Great American Bash and with one of the most mouthwatering matches that being HHH vs. Edge coming from the Smackdown roster I was looking forward to see how it was all going to pan out before the PPV.

Good Points

Brilliant Build for Edge and HHH


There wasn’t much of it but the last 15 minutes or so were brilliant. It was like late 90s WWF all over again. Great to see HHH playing the heel everyone loves. It was well executed and left us wondering what was going to happen at Great American Bash.

Continuation of storylines

One thing I like is continuity so I was glad to see Big Show this week get put against four opponents because of what he did to Edge last week. They should be doing more with Big Show but what he is involved in is good.

The Wedding Reception

It gave the show a good theme and kept continuity running through the show to keep fans tuned in to see what was going to happen next. I like it when they do things like this once in a while just as long as it doesn’t become common place.

Bad Points

No Depth


The only quality math of the night was Mr. Kennedy vs. Umaga and that as a halway point match. The main event of Matt vs. Jeff could have been great but it was ruined by pointless interferences. When Smackdown does do some more creative stuff they can’t afford to let the wrestling side down as that is the side of the show that they are renowned for.

More HHH


What we saw of him was great but we need him on TV more. It would have made sense for him to have a title defence early in the show and for Edge’s crew to attack setting up the ending they did.

Overall

Pretty good, besides the last fifteen minutes nothing outstanding. Smackdown aren’t really offering a lot to this PPV.

TNA Victory Road 2008 Review

After a decent Slammiversary but a not so good last couple of weeks on impact I wasn’t sure going in to this PPV whether I was going to like it or not but still hoped TNA would pull something out of the bag.

Good Points

12 Man World X-Cup match


Match of the night by far this one but by having it on first and having it go for over half an hour it then meant nothing else on the card could compete with it. Would have made sense to have this further down the card. Will be watching this match again though, great action for the wrestling fan which is what a PPV should be about.

Push for Taylor Wilde


Just as the Knockouts division was getting stale in comes Taylor Wilde who out of nowhere wins the title on impact and then makes a successful defence against Awesome Kong on Victory Road. If this wasn’t enough it was Abyss who came down to save her from a beat down after the match.

Bad Points

Terrible ending


The ending to Victory Road is an ending which should be saved for TV. I won’t spoil it but if I had paid to watch it on PPV I would have felt ripped off as the creative team copped out. The first match of the night was what a PPV should be about the last match of the night was what a PPV shouldn’t be about. The ending just smacked of backstage politics.

Poor lighting and shot choice


Whenever TNA go outside of the Impact Zone they really struggle with lighting andcamera shots. I lost count of the time there was a camera or crane in shot. The lighting looked like an 80s style WWF with only the first few rows of the crowd visible and the rest of the arena in darkness. This was all capped with the ruining of the Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt match as every two seconds they had put the camera on Val which meant you couldn’t follow what was happening in the ring.

Ultimate bore

TNA have done everything they can with Ultimate X and should give it a rest now. Besides the odd new bump we have seen it all before. They should have just had one world cup match and left it at the twelve man and not have Ultimate X.

Overall


A shambles, if I had paid to see that I would have been ringing up and asking for a refund. It’s shows like this that show how far TNA still has to come and if backstage politics is already starting to play a part in this stage of the companies development it doesn’t look that hopeful for the future.

Wednesday 16 July 2008

WWE Raw Review - 14th July 2008

With one week to go to the Great American Bash we had three major feuds developing those being CM Punk vs. Batista, JBL vs. John Cena and Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels. Add to this you have Kane going crazy and still no Vince of general Manager to keep things in check.

Good Points

Shane and Stephanie may be coming to Raw


One of my Raw highlights was the fact that Shane and Stephanie started the show by saying they be coming to Raw next week if there was no change to the out of control nature of the show. I for one would be glad to see Shane back on our screens and I hope it happens. It’s good to be able to see what we would have seen if it hadn’t been for the Benoit incident last year.

Great Ending


One of the best Raw endings in some time this week as JBL put an exclamation point on his feud with John Cena. There has been some great heat built between these two over the last weeks and the cliff-hanger ending to raw is getting people wondering what is going to happen at Great American Bash.

More TV time for Katie Lea and Burchill


Great to see both of them getting full-blown matches on Raw. Hopefully the feud between Burchill and Kofi will continue despite the result of the match between these two on Raw. I think Katie lea and Mickie James can have some more great matches and this feud will really help push the women’s division.

Bad Points

Punk pushed down the card

To give CM Punk any chance of winning people over you have to keep pushing him not booking him way down the card. His match with Kane was thought up out of nowhere and happened around the hour mark of the show. The match was used to get Batista over as he came out and beat on both of them but Batista didn’t need to be built as it is CM Punk who everyone has doubts about not Batista.

Time given to the wrong guys


Tonight it was the turn of Paul London, Snitsky, Jamie Noble, Jim Duggan and Santino who used up valuable time. All of these guys can be used but they need to be used properly and not just as time fillers.

First thirty minutes too chaotic

I like the unpredictability factor in the WWE at the moment but they seem to be having a frantic first few minutes which then calms down for the rest of the show. They need to make the first minutes a little less frantic and pace it through out the show.

Overall

A solid show only down point was not pushing CM Punk but they pushed the other feuds nicely and had a cliff-hanger ending which is always good before a PPV and was reminiscent of the late 90s. Lets hope great American Bash delivers.

Sunday 13 July 2008

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 11th July 2008

With an interesting main storyline surrounding Edge and Vickie Guerrero I was wondering if the creative team could this week put some interesting storylines around it to make it a fuller show.

Good Points

Another great day at the office for Edge


Edge held Smackdown together again this week with great in ring and backstage segments. They have crafted the storyline brilliantly with Vickie wanting revenge by putting Edge against the Big Show but then feeling remorse after she goes through with it.

New feud for Smackdown


It’s great to see two of Smackdown’s recently acquired stars Kennedy and Umaga starting a feud on the show. Both need something big to push them back near main event so hopefully this can help them back near the main event.

Bad Points

Poor use of HHH


This week HHH had no mic time and was used in a middle of the show match against Chavo. Ok Edge might hav a hot storyline at the moment but that doesn’t mean you sell the champion and established star down to five minutes and no mic time.

No Jeff Hardy

This week Smackdown gave time to Shelton, Hornswoggle, Chavo, Domino, Jesse & festus and Hawkins & Ryder yet there was no Jeff Hardy. Jeff is a crowd favourite and smackdown need him on the show every week.

Kozlov is a waste of time

This week Kozlov got to get another win against Stevie Richards who I had completely forgot was still employed by the WWE after not seeing him for years. Kozlov is a waste of five minuteso f TV time which could be used a lot better.

Overall

Until they put some interesting storylines around the Edge / Vickie Guerrero storyline Smackdown is always going to be lite and weak.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 10th July 2008

With WWE starting to get interesting again and with Victory Road just round the corner it was important that TNA hit a home run tonight.

Good Points

Unpredictability


TNA took a leaf out of WWE’s book this week with a wild start to show as we immediately cut live to a parking lot brawl between Roode and Homicide which eventually got in to the ring and lead Sting to appear from the rafters. I’m not normally a fan of promotions copying each other but in this case I make a rare exception.

A chance to see Doug Williams

Finally there is a reason for the World X Cup as we got to see Doug Williams on iMPACT in an impressive win putting points on the board for Team International. Can’t wait to see more of Doug in TNA.

Bad Points

Lack of build for the main event


The Samoa Joe vs. Booker T main event for Victory Road has been the worst built main event in Pay Per View history. I think Samoa Joe and Booker T have probably had a combined total of ten minutes of in ring action since the last pay per view. Then tonight they are given five minutes of mic time in the ring before Sting interrupts. Throwing Sting in to the mix last minute and not having this be the last part of the show is terrible. Two things you need to do with a main event. Push it above everything else and don’t change it at last minute, it’s not rocket science.

Mess of a six man

After some great weeks of build for the six man tag at Victory Road it all went for nothing this week as like the main event TNA cocked it up as well. Putting Angle and AJ in with the girls who are having a separate match and to not have any mic time for Bubba is criminal.

Overall

This week’s iMPACT made me glad I don’t have to pay for TNA PPV’s. With the stupid build they have done this could be TNA’s lowest buyrate in some time.

Wednesday 9 July 2008

WWE Raw Review - 7th July 2008

After the best episode of Raw this year I was wondering what the creative team were going to pull out the bag this week.

Good Points

New Feud for Burchill


After his last feud finished very abruptly with Mr. Kennedy Burchill has now been set up as an opponent for Kofi Kingston. Burchill waited for Kofi to secure the victory over Charlie Haas before laying him out. Good to see Burchill already being put in the Intercontinental title scene.

In ring return of Rey Mysterio

Was great to see Rey back in the ring and eased in lightly against Santino. All of his trademarks were as crisp as ever and I can’t wait to see what the long term plans are for him.

More out of control action


This week it was Stephanie’s turn to come out and appeal for calm before Raw started. However what we witnessed was out of control as all the top stars booked themselves in to the main event match to become number one contender for CM Punk.

Bad Points

Poor match quality

For CM Punk’s second title match he had to go against Snitsky In a middle of the card match. We also had Charlie Haas and a terrible Diva tag match to add to the mix. It was like Smackdown last week.

Use of Smackdown stars


I thought it was poor to start Raw with Vickie Guerrero in the ring talking about how CM Punk had ruined her life. I think yes use Smackdown stars on Raw and vice versa but don’t use storylines which have only played out on a specific brand on the other brand. Viewers need continuity and consistency.

Kane getting pushed

Out of nowhere Kane received his biggest push as he went crazy after the main event following Batista beating him in the fatal four way. Add to this what looks like the return to the JBL / Cena feud and Raw suddenly looks a mess again.

Overall


Making the show seem uncontrollable is good entertainment but there has to be some sensible booking underneath the madness.

Sunday 6 July 2008

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 3rd July 2008

After an average iMPACT last week and with WWE starting to pick up TNA need to start working hard again. With Victory Road getting closer some more matches need to be made for it and soon to give them enough time to build them correctly.

Good Points

Finally Samoa Joe has match on iMPACT as he partnered with Kevin Nash against Robert Roode and James Storm in the main event. It was also good to see Roode and Storm in a main event and was one of the best main event matches for a little while on iMPACT.

Great match made for Victory Road


With Angle injured the TNA are doing well to keep him around this time putting him in to a six man tag match at Victory Road as he partners with Team 3D to take on Rhino, Christian Cage and AJ Styles. This has the potential to be match of the night although it will be AJ’s team who will have to do most of the work.

Bad Points

Angle loses intensity and credibility

After being involved in some tense stuff with AJ Kurt has now been withdrawn in to a comedy role. The show had many segments with Angle from during the week where he had been set up on dates by Team 3D. This made all the previous weeks of building his intensity worthless.

Booker T

For someone who is suppose to be in a PPV main event to only have one backstage interview during the show with less than two weeks to go before the PPV is crazy. This makes even less sense than not having Samoa Joe wrestle on a regular basis.

No build for Two PPV matches

Tonight there was no build for Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt after TNA finally gave Sonjay Dutt some good TV time last week. We also saw no build for LAX vs. Roode and Storm except for a backstage LAX promo.

Overall

A terrible mess I don’t know who wrote this nightmare of a show. Probably the same person who was directing as some of the camera angles were shocking.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 4th July 2008

Following on from one of the most eventful Raw’s in sometime Smackdown had a lot to live up to this week. How was Edge going to react to losing his title and who would HHH be facing at the next PPV? All these questions needed to be answered.

Good Points

Edge gets a lot of TV time


The fallout from Raw was the main theme of Smackdown. Edge was involved in many segments starting with Vickie Guerrero announcing that he would be next to face HHH at Great American Bash. Then we had Edge beating on Jesse and Festus, followed by him falling out with Hawkins, Ryder and Vickie Guerrero. The show ended with Edge breaking off his upcoming wedding to Vickie.

Push for MVP


Was great to see the show kicking off with VIP Lounge and with MVP interviewing HHH. MVP hasn’t had much to do as of late so would be good to see him around the main event scene.

Bad Points

Poor main event


The four way between Kennedy, Shelton, Chavo and Matt Hardy was a terrible main event for Smackdown considering their new acquired talent. It was that bad that it wasn’t the last segment of the show. The match had no build up and no reason to be happening. The match quality tonight as shocking with Funaki, Hawkins & Ryder and Jesse & Festus all being involved in matches.

Not enough HHH


After the first fifteen minutes HHH might as well of had the night off. If they are serious about turning Smackdown in to a major brand they have to use HHH as much as they can.

Overall


Not a patch on Raw if it hadn’t been for the Edge developments then it would have been the worst Smackdown in history. The Edge development was great but they need to have a couple of good storylines underneath the main to make it a good show.

Wednesday 2 July 2008

WWE Raw Review - 30th June 2008

With ratings at a low and with the results of Night of Champions meaning Raw had no champion I was wondering what they were going to do on Raw tonight. WWE needed to do something big to win back the ratings and following Vince’s accident last week I was hoping for a good one and boy did it deliver.

Good Points

CM Punk cashes in the MITB


CM Punk followed up his draft to Raw by cashing in his MITB after Batista had laid out Edge and won the belt. Edge had come down to cut a promo on how nobody from Raw could now touch him after Night of Champions which Batista had interrupted. This was the only logical way to get the belt back on Raw and to use up CM Punk’s Money in the Bank without him cashing it in at a main event. Nobody ever believed he would win the title because of backstage politics, his size and the relatively small period of time he has been in WWE for. To have all this happen in the first half hour of Raw was amazing.

Vince off the scene and inmates are running the asylum


I think the WWE creative team are trying to recreate what they wanted to do with the aborted Vince death angle from last year. Having Shane come on to not comment on his father’s injury all but writes him out for the time being so that no one has on screen control. Just left us with the unpredictability factor. First JBL came down to proclaim marshal law with his own team of security to remove Cena from the building after challenging CM Punk to a title match later in the evening only for Cena to come back with Cryme Time to take out the security team.

JR Speech

Was great to see JR come down to give a farewell speech and plug the life out of Smackdown which is the first time I have seen and heard Smackdown plugged so much on Raw. WWE are really getting behind Smackdown at the moment to give it a good launch on the new network.

Bad Points

Women’s scene is dead


It was time for another throwaway women’s match on Raw between Mickie James and Jillian. Was good to see Katie lea get some backstage time but they need to keep her involved in the women’s title scene.

Use of jobbers

With the talent in WWE and a packed Raw I was dismayed to see two no name jobbers being used to go against Rhodes and Dibiase. It’s like a flashback to the 80’s. Matches like this do no one any favours.

Overall

The first world title change on Raw for some time shows just how much WWE are trying to up the ratings. I am loving the current climate on Raw with no one in charge should make for some entertaining TV. For the first time in a while I am really looking forward to the next Raw.