WWE Raw Review - 6th April 2009

After a below standard Wrestlemania could the creative team restore my faith in good ship WWE.

Good Points

Wheels set in motion for Backlash

Vice was out on Raw to let Randy know that he would not be facing HHH one on one at Backlash but instead it would be a six man tag with HHH, vince and Shane McMahon going up against Legacy. However this then changed to a title match meaning if anyone on HHH side wins HHH keeps the belt but if anyone from Legacy wins Orton wins the belt. Vickie Guerrero also announced that it would be Edge vs. Cena in one on one competition for Backlash.

The return of the Animal

Batista made his return to raw last night a night after I predicted he would turn up. Batista came in to make the save for the McMahons and HHH after they were getting beaten down by legacy. This lead Vince to give his spot in the Backlash main event Batista. I smell a doublecross here, I think Batista will turn on HHH and the McMahons costing them the match at Backlash and helping Orton get the belt.

Tag match gets centre stage

After missing out on the main card at Wrestlemania The Colons and Miz & Morrison put on a superb match which would get anyone questioning why they lost their spot. I just hope the get a match on the main Backlash card.

Bad Points

HHH pushed to the side

After being victorious at mania I thought HHH would be given more ring and mic time but instead he had to take a backseat to his Father-in-Law Vince. I hope it gets back to normal next week letting HHH and Orton lead the feud.

All star mess

This was a weak creative idea and showed that creative team hadn’t put much thought in to what to do with these guys after mania. Seeing Steamboat on a one off was good but not any more and why have Edge and Big Show on the same team after they fought against each other last night.

Overall

A very decent raw with a great main event for Backlash pushed, build a couple of good things around it and it should be a good event.

WWE Wrestlemania 25 Review

Now that all the dust has settled on Wrestlemania 25 here are my thoughts looking back at The Grand Daddy of them All.

Money in the Bank

As with each year there were some great innovative spots which as predicted were lead by the likes of Shelton, Christian and Kofi. I thought the pacing of the match could have been better as it was very noticeable when wrestlers were missing or taking a break. I thought it was good to have CM Punk create history with the win and getting him going again but the ending could have been a lot better.

25 Diva Battle Royal

The commentators did a rubbish job on this one at times had no clue who was in the ring and who was getting thrown out. As predicted Santino got involved and it was funny to see him in Drag as Santina which provided our comedy moment of the night.

Chris Jericho vs. The Legends

Luckily this match didn’t go long. The only legend that proved he could still go was Steamboat and there was a good five minutes or so between him and Jericho after the others had been eliminated. Jericho picked up the win but as predicted Rourke jumped in the ring at the end and beat on Jericho.

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

These two put on a good little match but due to the MITB using so many ladders Jeff couldn’t use his specialty. As I hoped for Matt got the win and they have built the match as a feud that could long continue, the innovative ending looked sick.

Rey Mysterio vs. JBL

This match had me thinking back to Adam Bomb vs. Earthquake at WM10. Was over in the blink of an eye as Rey Mysterio picked up a quick win leading to JBL announcing his retirement. I’m glad JBL got to retire on the biggest stage in his own home state but to do it like that was awful.

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

As expected match of the night by far as these two put on a drama packed thirty minutes of action. Undertaker took some sick bumps especially one to the outside which looked like he had dropped on his head. This match had lots of false finishes and some great back and forth action but in the end it was The Streak that was maintained as Taker ended up the victor.

John Cena vs. Edge vs. Big Show

This match was better than most expected and gave some good spots including a brilliant ending which saw Cena go one further than he did at WM20 when he did his finisher on Big Show by picking up both Big Show and Edge. As predicted Cena won the belt although I would have much preferred to see Edge retain.

HHH vs. Randy Orton

What an anti-climax if I ever did see one. After two months of great build it was all ruined by Vince’s want to send the fans home happy and have the face end the main event with the Title. They tried to do a different style in the match which was more of a fight style than pure wrestling but it just lacked the intensity and I can’t say I was that surprised to see HHH winning after year upon year of loses at Mania but it just made no long term sense.

Overall

There should be more than just one great match at Wrestlemania that’s what you expect from the other PPV’s. I thought it was scandalous to see the tag title match getting pushed to the dark match when we had ten minutes of Kid Rock giving a terrible performance. This was the worst Wrestlemania I have seen in some time, Wrestlemania 11 still holds the record of worst ever Wrestlemania for me but this wasn’t far off.

Wrestlemania 25 - My Predictions

This weekend is the biggest weekend on the wrestling calendar as we all await Wrestlemania 25 this Sunday so with this in mind I thought you guys may like to know my thoughts and predictions on all the matches on the card.

Intercontinental Title Match
JBL vs. Rey Mysterio

Being in his home state could prove to be the deciding factor for JBL. WWE really haven’t done anything with Rey since his world title push and I don’t think he is in line for another crack at it so my predictions are a JBL win here. JBL hasn’t got that many memorable Wrestlemania wins under his belt and in what could and should be his last year I think he will get the win. As a match I am not expecting much from it and it could well be our opening match.

Winner: JBL

Tag Team Lumberjack Title Unification match

The Colons vs. The Miz and Morrison

This is a match I have been waiting for on PPV for some time. Over past months WWE haven’t really pushed any tag match at a PPV but hopefully now these two teams will have the stage to show why Vince should put more effort behind the tag scene. I am really torn in this one because I do think both teams are great. The only thing that will ruin this match is it being a Lumberjack Match, why WWE couldn’t just let these two teams bring the house down I don’t know, so I do fear that would could be a great match could get ruined.

Winner: The Miz and Morrison

Diva Battle Royal

The way they schedule Diva matches at Wrestlemania can sometimes be stupid. For many years they have sandwiched it in between the semi main event match and the main event match which instead of giving the fans some breathing space has killed them so I hope they get this one out of the way early. Expect Santino to get involved somehow and look out for a possible appearance from Trish Stratus but whatever you do don’t expect a great match.

Winner: Gail Kim

Money in the Bank
CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Christian vs. Finlay

In this match expect Kofi, Shelton and Christian to provide you with some new and innovative bumps. Vince is down on Christian at the moment so don’t expect the obvious win for him given his history in ladder matches. If CM Punk were to win he would make history as first person to win it back to back but I don’t see WWE pushing him that hard. My thoughts are they could either give it to Kane as he hasn’t won before and is one of Vince’s most consistent stars, give it to MVP and finally give him the push they have been promising or an outside bet is Shelton Benjamin as I know a lot of people backstage are impressed with him right now.


Winner: Kane

Chris Jericho vs. Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka

What should have been a great entertaining match could be flop of the night, not many people want to see either of the legends wrestle let alone all three. Expect Jericho to go in to monster heel roll and beat on the legends a fair bit and then for them to have a heroic comeback with Flair helping them to the win.

Winners: The Legends

Extreme Rules Match: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

The only thing that was going to make this match great at Mania was if there was some heat between the two of them and a great feud which had been built up for months but instead this match has really limped in to mania. As a tag team there styles use to compliment each other but against each other I really don’t think it is going to work. The only thing that will make the match interesting is the extreme rules stipulation so expect some ladders to come in to play and for one of the brothers to be taken out of there on a stretcher.

Winner: Matt Hardy

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge vs. Big Show vs. John Cena

In this match I really like the Love Triangle storyline but not sure if I am looking forward to the match. Edge is really going to have to keep this match together as Big Show and Cena can provide entertainment but without Edge it would just be a mess. I think we are going to see Edge and Big Show trying to team up on Cena and then double crossing each other. If they want to finish the love triangle storyline at Mania they will have Vickie come out cost both Big Show and Edge the match, leave the ring and let Cena pick up the win.

Winner: John Cena

The Undertaker vs. HBK

This is match I am looking forward to more than anything else on the card the two biggest legends in WWE right now both going at it in their own home state. The build up has been immense and miles better than anything else on the card. The only problem is I think the build up has been too good and overshadowed the title matches, just have to be careful we don’t get another Hogan / Rock Wrestlemania 18 situation where this match wasn’t the main event but burned the fans out before the main event. HBK in the past got some big wins over Undertaker, In Your House 17 first hell in a Cell and Royal Rumble 1998 casket match so I expect The Undertaker to get his revenge and keep the streak. Last year HBK got to steal the show and get a win over Flair so I think he should do the job and the honors for The Undertaker this year.

Winner: The Undertaker


WWE Championship
Triple H vs. Randy Orton

I have been saying for some time now that I think it is time for the year of Orton and over the last four months Orton has delivered. The segments between him and HHH have been brilliant and that has mainly been down to Orton and not HHH. These two have told an intense storyline which makes us all believe they really hate each other which is what great storytelling is all about and these two have the ability to back it up with a great match. Now HHH has lost quite a few big matches at Mania over the last six years so he is more than in line for a big win at Mania which would give me cause to believe it was going to be HHH retaining but I think Orton is just to on his game at the moment.

Winner: Randy Orton

Other things to watch out for

We have both Ken Kennedy and Batista who could make an appearance. Kennedy has been doing a lot of international PR for Mania so would make sense to see him and news on Batista and his recovery from injury has been very quiet as of late. The night before Mania Steve Austin is getting inducted to the hall of fame so in his home state will he make a Wrestlemania appearance and make an impact? With mania you always get the rumor mill and gossip but I really think there is a strong possibility of one of these things happening.

WWE Raw Review - 30th March 2009

Normally in the build for Wrestlemania all the storyline development is finished a couple of weeks before Mania with the last week just being used to hype Mania so I had no doubt it would be the same this year.

Good Points

HBK earning the title of Mr. Wrestlemania

HBK did another great set with the Undertaker, we first saw him inside a hearse backstage and then he brought a casket to the ring with him to deliver a promo on The Undertaker. During his promo the lights went out and Undertaker was in the ring but HBK had disappeared only for him to emerge from Under the coffin to lay another attack on Taker. Can’t wait to see these two go at it at Mania.

The fighting McMahon family

I always thought Vince and Shane would come back to fight alongside HHH against Legacy but I didn’t expect it to happen until Mania. Instead the show ended with Vince and Shane walking down the ramp with HHH and having a scrap with Legacy which I thought was a nice way to end the show.

Bad Points

Cena not given a chance

After hardly being in the ring and on TV as of late I think it was wrong to have him lose to Big Show and to then get beaten up by Edge. We know the main storyline is between Edge and Big show but it doesn’t mean they need to write off Cena completely.

Jericho fighting a losing battle

Jericho continued to put in some good work in the ring and on the mic but it is all really for nothing. This week he fought Lawler who many thought would be his Wrestlemania opponent. Jericho beat him in the match but didn’t do one of usual attacks and his opponents for Mania were nowhere to be seen.

Overall

A couple of highlights but all in all as expected a thin shown with not much going on.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 26th March 2009

After a good little show last week it was time for TNA to bring us one step closer to Lockdown. At the moment they may be in WWE’ shadow with Wrestlemania upon us but TNA still need to show us what they can bring.

Good Points

The build for Lethal Lockdown

Tonight’s show was all about getting us ready for Lethal Lockdown with forty minutes spent deciding on team captains. To decide on captains they held a 20 man gauntlet match in a cage with the last standing being opposing team captains. Angle had promised to win it and captain MEM and he would stop at nothing to do it but after a very entertaining PPV quality match it was Samoa Joe that came out the victor beating Angle.

Sting has enough of Foley

Sting was in no mood to joke about with Foley this week as a little bit of heat got added to this feud from Sting’s side. This feud was started off by Sting trying to look out for Foley but now its personal and with Foley telling Sting he still has some cage dives left in him it should be an ok match at Lockdown.

Bad Points

Segment order

Again with TNA we had four non wrestling segments back to back. It’s not rocket science but TNA need to start mixing it up a little bit more in their running order to make the show flow better.

Dixie Carter tries to take the high ground and fails

This week Dixie Carter got in an argument on the internet where they both counter claimed that the other company isn’t producing family friendly TV and that they were. However Dixie needs to look at her own promotion if she is going to let wrestlers throw out throwaway lines which have sexual references which aren’t needed. This week it was Scott Steiner during a backstage segment with the Main Event Mafia.

Overall

A bit light but all in all a good show with a hot ending. Having these shows once in a while is great as it feels like you are getting PPV for free but they should go back to the usual format next week.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 27th March 2009

After some good segments on Raw I was hoping that Smackdown could do its job to entertain and further the storylines ready for raw next week.

Good Points

Michaels shows he isn’t afraid of The Undertaker

The ending to Smackdown was great this week. We had an Undertaker style entrance with druids coming out and smoke filling up the arena but when the character we thought was the Taker came in to the ring in a white version of the Taker’s outfit it was HBK that revealed himself from under the hat. HBK proceeded to quote the bible before The Undertaker appeared from below the ring pushing his way up through the canvas to try and get to HBK before HBK could run for safety. I can’t wait for this match at Mania.

Gail Kim returns

Was great to see the return of Gail Kim to the WWE as she interrupted the Divas title match between Michelle McCool and Maryse leaving them both lying and holding the title aloft. Gail is now my pick for the Miss Wrestlemania match.

Bad Points

Still not pushing the Hardy feud right

This week we saw a pre-recorded video from them both and we saw Matt Hardy in a match. Both videos could have been so much better Matt just tried to be cocky and a bit weird and we had one of these arty, dark sets for Jeff’s interview reminiscent of what they were doing with him last year. They need them both in the same place at the same time to build this feud.

Money in the Bank

Instead of developing intriguing feuds between some of the competitors the WWE keep putting them all in a match together. Looking around I think this could be the weakest MITB match in its short history.

Push for title matches

This week we had neither champion on the show. Big Show was left to compete against Jesse and Festus whilst Cena and Big show also provided a comedy moment in the ring. This isn’t good enough for less than two weeks before Mania.

Overall

Undertaker and HBK stole the show but besides from that there was hardly any storyline development going on which is crazy considering Mania is just around the corner.

WWE Raw Review - 23rd March 2009

After the Raw picked up a bit last week I was looking forward to seeing what they had to offer this week as are now under two weeks to Mania.

Good Points

Jericho proves a point

There is nothing like beating up an old respected man like Ric Flair to the point of making him bleed to cement yourself as a heel. Jericho is doing all he can to make his Wrestlemania match interesting but I fear now what could have been a major attraction if Rourke had gone through it with will now become a side attraction no matter what Jericho does. I just hope that Jericho gets the chance to continue his heel role in a better feud after Mania.

Orton’s turn to get one up

This week it was Orton’s turn to bash the living daylights out of HHH with the help of Legacy as the promise between the two not to touch each other before mania become a distant memory. This week they threw Steph in the mix as she came down to try and save HHH only to get knocked unconscious. I just think they either need to have someone fighting on HHH’s side or to get rid of Legacy for the last week to have an even battle before mania because I don’t think gang attacks do much to build characters.

Great video package

Really starting to look forward to Taker vs. HBK more than the two main events. Ok I don’t think Taker’s streak is any danger but the build up has been good with HBK this week doing a video package which saw at the graveyard burying Taker’s streak. The good thing with these two is that I know they can both deliver.

Bad Points

Poor build for Hardy feud continues

This week the build consisted of Jeff Hardy beating jobber to the stars Dolph Ziggler and then doing a ten second bit on the mic telling Matt that he hadn’t seen how extreme he can get yet. This could have been standout match but with the lack of these two being on the same show or doing anything meaningful when they have been together has spoiled it.

Cena on cruise control

Cena has been booked as a bit part player for Mania as this week he wasn’t in the arena due to an appearance on Jay Leno so all his segments were done through video as Edge and Big Show continue to tell the storyline for their match.

Overall

The show was made on the first and last segment, everything else expect the HBK bit was pretty much filler which isn’t good with Mania just round the corner.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 19th March 2009

After a very disappointing Destination X could TNA produce the goods this week on iMPACT and get me excited for the product again?

Good Points

Interesting angle between Sting and Foley

Sting is doing a great job of playing this conflicted character between siding with the Main Event Mafia and the side of TNA management. Trying to look out for Foley, Sting tried to get the main event for iMPACT stopped so he wouldn’t have to wrestle but Foley saw this as a kick in the teeth and booked himself and Jarrett to square up against Angle and Sting in the main event which ended with Foley laying Sting out with a chair and getting the win. The only problem is I don’t want to see the match between them which is set for the next PPV.

Samoa Joe takes it to the extreme

I’m liking the off the wall crazy man that Joe is playing at the moment. This week he attacked Bashir and proceeded to torture him backstage. Their match lasted all of a few seconds on iMPACT before Joe got disqualified and took him to the back. Wonder who he is going to attack next.

Tag scene got a bit better

After being disappointed by the bogus ending to the tag title match between Team 3D and Beer Money they put it right this week on iMPACT. Now set for Lockdown is a steel cage match between the two in Philadelphia in a winner take all match as Team 3D put their New Japan titles up against Beer Money’s TNA titles.

Bad Points

Angle pushed to the side

Having Sting against Foley as the main event for Lockdown what does it leave for Angle? Angle did a great job on the mic tonight but needs someone to work with as am getting bored of him and Jarrett going at it because it has lost its intensity.

Frontline mess

When speaking about his Legends title win AJ addressed himself as part of the TNA Originals and not The Frontline so it looks like TNA are trying to remove The Frontline from everyone’s memories.

Overall

A quite decent show in all honesty was very entertained but thy need to be careful about the card for Lockdown.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 20th March 2009

After an ok episode of Raw it was time to see if Smackdown could deliver with their 500th episode as we now only have a fortnight to wait until the grand daddy of them all.

Good Points

Love Triangle

I’m loving this storyline on Smackdown at the moment it is playing out so well. This week we went back and forth between backstage segments involving Vickie, Edge and Big Show leading to our final segment which saw them all in the ring together. After Edge speared Big Show on the last show this week Edge accidentally speared Vickie after she had called for a truce.

Push for Taker

After being made to look a fool on Raw, Taker was rebuilt with a strong promo on HBK and a victory over JBL. HBK also got a very rare Smackdown outing winning his match against Kane. This match should be one of the undercard fights of the night.

MVP new US Champ

After months of having wasting away with his terrible losing streak angle finally MVP dug himself out of it and won the US Title. Ok the belt may not mean much these days but hopefully it is a sign of better things to come for him.

Bad Points

No Matt Hardy

This week nothing has really been done to push what should be a heated feud and match between Jeff and Matt Hardy. This week Jeff won a throwaway match and Matt was nowhere to be seen.

Triple H reduced to a bit part player

HHH kicked the show off with a great promo which you thought would be a sign of things to come for later in the night but instead they had him compete in the first match against Kozlov and then after that wasn’t seen again.

Overall

Usual Smackdown trying to concentrate too heavily on one storyline which you can get away with for a small PPV but not for Mania. The love triangle may be great but Wrestlemania needs a whole four hours of great matches and storylines.

WWE Raw Review - 16th March 2009

Due to being under the weather last week I wasn’t able to get any reviews online last week but normal service is resumed this week starting with my Raw review.

Good Points

HBK turns up the heat on the Undertaker

Raw kicked off with a tag match featuring the team of HBK and The Undertaker against JBL and Kozlov which really kicked off the Taker / HBK feud. HBK tagged himself in after Taker had done the hard work to get the win for the team only to be chased up the ramp by The Undertaker but as soon as his back was turned HBK reappeared to deliver his sweet chin music. Can’t wait to hear HBK’s explanation on Raw.

Triple H one step ahead

A one on one match was scheduled between Triple H and Cody Rhodes but as predicted Orton and Dibiase were quickly out to try and trap Triple H but Triple H being one step ahead got the cage to be lowered keeping Cody Rhodes in the ring and the others out so he could send his message to Orton.

Edge spears Big Show

After being made to look weak and stupid Edge finally got something back after closing the show by spearing the Big show who had come out to help him. I think this storyline is going to end with Vickie costing both Big Show and Edge the title after she realizes they have both been using her to get to the top.

Bad Points

Jericho storyline a waste of time

Ever since Rourke pulled out of the match at Mania this storyline has been a mess which has now lead to Jericho challenging Steamboat and Piper to a match. After what could have been a very interesting match I think this will turn in to one to be forgotten.

Dolph gets a random outing

After being on TV on a regular basis Dolph made a rare appearance losing in a throwaway match to Rey Mysterio. In the run up to mania all the segments should be building to Mania which this clearly didn’t.

Overall

Ok nothing special or much to get excited about, felt very much like WW were just treading water for a week.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 5th March 2009

With it being the last iMPACT before Destination X I was expecting big things from TNA after being very impressed with their last outing.

Good Points

What side is Sting on?

TNA are pushing Sting well at the moment as he continues to play his cards close to his chest. Foley is trying to get him to leave the MEM but the MEM are doing their best to convince Sting that he needs to stay in the faction. I am intrigued to see what will happen following his match with Angle this Sunday.

Tag Team Scene hots up

After being on a run of victories and knocking people out of TNA Beer Money finally met their match in LAX as they had to get themselves disqualified in order to save their belts. Unhappy with what has been going on Team 3D finally had enough and have challenged Beer Money to a match at Destination X to shut them up once and for all which should be a great match.

Bad Points

How to kill Angle

Having Angle end the show by beaten up by Jarrett in a street fight and kicked out of the arena made no sense. Jarrett doesn’t have a match on the card but Angle is in the main event, if they wanted to build these two again they should have waited for after Destination X.

Stupid Police costumes

It is always cringe worthy when wrestling show’s pretend to bring the police in but TNA pushed the bar this week with the most ridiculous police costumes I have seen in my life.

Overall

Could have been so much better the only person that came out smelling of roses was Sting. Saying this though I am still hyped to see Sting vs. Angle this Sunday.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 6th March 2009

After an abysmal Raw I was hoping for better things from Smackdown and hoped they could end the week on a high.

Good Points

Pushing Brother vs. Brother for Wrestlemania

Was great how they continued to the build for these two. First we had Matt Hardy losing clean to MVP and getting embarrassed in his MITB qualifying match. Then Matt not being able to take losing then had to go and cost Jeff his MITB match getting Jeff disqualified by hitting his opponent Shelton Benjamin. They are building this at a nice pace and can’t wait to see next week.

Three Way for the title

After Raw’s announcement of Big Show being put in the main event against Edge at Mania thy followed it up with a clear sign that Cena was going to be added to the mix as he gate crashed the contract signing for the title match leaving them lying and then whispering in to Vickie’s ear. Was also good how now Edge is beginning not to trust Vickie.

Bad Points

Killing Orton and HHH

After Raw’s mess thy followed it up with a mess on Smackdown as after only a few days earlier both parties saying they weren’t going to hit each other Orton with the help of Legacy laid the beat on HHH. This helped nobody it made Raw look stupid and both of them look weak.

Lack of content

The only reason I have less to criticise Smackdown about is because it is so content light. Only four matches and only two major storylines developing there just really isn’t anything to talk about.

Overall

Better than Raw although that wasn’t hard. With the cross branding at the moment Smackdown could have so much more content and should have.

WWE Raw Review - 2nd March 2009

After the segment with HHH and Orton we left Raw on last week excitement was in the air to see if HHH could finally get his hands on Orton and tonight we were also going to find out whether it would be Kozlov or HBK facing Taker at Mania.

Now normally you are accustomed to me doing my review which highlights the good points and bad points of Raw but for once I couldn’t find any good points about the show.

Same old every week

This week it was the turn of Jimmy Superfly Snuka to be on the receiving end of a beating from Jericho, wonder who it will be next week? Yawn! To top all of this off before that segment lawler started Raw in ring with a mic to announced the main event, having these segments back to back is only adding fuel to the rumour of Lawler vs. Jericho at Mania which would suck.

HBK to face Taker

Now I wanted to see this match at Mania but the way they got it was crazy. First last week you have Kozlov beating Taker on Smackdown and next he is losing to HBK on Raw giving away his streak on a free show. I think they may turn this in to a triple threat but one minute you turn Kozlov in to a monster next he is getting beaten clean.

Orton’s heat and character killed

In a nice little swerve announced he would face the winner of Edge vs John Cena for the World Heavyweight Title and not HHH. Only for this to be destroyed within a few minutes as HHH after a few words on the mic got him to change his mind making him look so weak in the process. Then to make things worse he added a clause saying neither were allowed to touch each other until mania but wait there is more Orton then tried to bait HHH in to hitting him and he couldn’t even do that as HHH wouldn’t bite. Whoever wrote this segment should be fired.

John Cena underused

This week Cena got no promo time and only came out for his title match at the end which ended weak by Edge getting himself disqualified. The show ended with Vickie Guererro announcing it would be Big Show vs. Edge at Mania and not Cena. I personally don’t want to see Show in a main event and I can only hope they turn it in to a three way.

Overall

Before this show I was pumped for Mania but this is a great example by the creative team of how to kill the hype, the storylines and the wrestlers all in one night.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 26th February 2009

After missing what looked like an exciting iMPACT last week i wanted tto get back in to the thick of it as we get closer to the next PPV.

Good Points

Sting takes the lead

TNA did a great job leading the storyline throughout the show of if Sting meant what he said when he said he was all in. Which culminated with a contract signing which saw Angle sign first and then attack Jarrett & Foley until Sting came out and laid Angle out with a bat before signing the contract and throwing it on Angle. Can’t wait to see these guys go at it.

Don West explodes

Don West gave a great promo on Mike Tenay saying how his best friend had screwed him over behind the scenes. It was out of the blue but was an interesting segment getting the commentators involved in a storyline. The only bad point was Mike Tenay’s over the top facial expressions, less is more my friend.

Bad Points

Abyss / Stevie segments not progressing

These segments could be great but they seem to be just fillers at the moment. I think they need to progress Abyss in to in ring action and then have these segments with him reacting to what has been happening to him. Also will be interesting to see what Stevie does after this.

Steiner / Joe needs more time

Iam liking what they are doing here with Joe’s sneak attacks but they need to give it more time instead of just one backstage segment that lasts a few minutes. Need to see these two in more in ring action to build this a bit better and make it mean a bit more.

Overall

I am totally loving what they are doing with Sting and Angle, finally after some mess ups of main events recently we have one i am really looking forward to. There is also enough happening in the undercard to keep me interested so at the moment things seem to be looking up for TNA.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 27th February 2009

With Cena promising to turn up on Smackdown and the development of the Hardy Brother feud on paper we had what looked like a promising night of action ahead of us.

Good Points

Old storyline but with a twist

Now the brother feud storyline has been done before in the WWE like with Bret and Owen Hart. This time round it is the Hardy Brothers who are feuding and this week on Smackdown used the age old formula of having one brother wanting to fight the other but the other that being Jeff backing down from any confrontation. Of course Matt playing the heel is doing all he can to bait Jeff in to a fight but being a good guy Jeff will never fight his brother. Like I say this is old but the way that Jeff played at the end getting the fans to get on their feet to applaud his decision was something different. Normally the fans want to see the heel get taken down a peg or two so are annoyed when the face won’t fight so it’s a nice little twist.

Cena on Smackdown

Was great to see Cena on Smackdown after two years away from the show and he cut a nice little promo to kick off the show talking about how things have changed since he last was on the show. In typical cowardly heel fashion Edge won’t fight Cena but by using Vickie Guerrero as the one to block any match between the two it keeps Edge strong. In the main event we had Cena vs Big Show in which Edge distracted Cena so the Big Show could win but Cena still looked strong. This was good oslid booking by the creative team.

Bad Points

Giving away matches before Mania

Having Kozlov fight Undertaker when next week he is going to be on Raw fighting for the right to face Undertaker at Mania made no sense. With Kozlov picking up the win against Taker it now looks like it will be Kozlov vs Undertaker at Mania as now Taker has something to avenge.

Four matches is not enough

On a two hour show you should be getting in at least five matches, the matches were good and I enjoyed them but needed one more. Two matches continued on smackdown storylines that being the hunt for the US Title and the tag team feud between both tag champs but these are feuds which probably won’t even get a match at Mania. I thought it would have made more sense to have like on Raw a qualifying match for Money in the Bank.

Overall

Was a good show by Smackdown standards at least now with all the cross brand storylines it is helping the quality and big name draw power on Smackdown.

WWE Raw Review - 23rd February 2009

No Way Out is now a distant memory as we start to only look forward to Wrestlemania. Although the creative team have more shows than for any other PPV to build it with they can’t afford to throwaway a two hour show so let’s see if the creative team used this week’s show wisely.

Good Points

Cena better as a challenger

I have always said Cena is a lot better when he is challenging for a belt. On Raw he went back to the Cena of five years ago that everyone loved as he poked fun at Big Show, Edge and Vickie Guerrero. Give Cena mic time and let him make fun of his opponents and he can get back some of those fans he has lost over the years.

HHH / Orton the hottest feud in WWE right now

This feud is going to transcend and engulf both brands. HHH showed his believable rage as he chased Orton and Legacy through out the backstage with his sledgehammer destroying things on his way until Orton finally escaped in a car. Orton is being a great heel by doing dastardly things and then running away instead of staying and fighting.

Jericho continues to build for Mania

With nobody still sure on who Jericho will be wrestling at Mania Jericho is doing a great job of hyping his involvement this week interrupting Steamboat after he was announced as a Hall of Fame inductee. Jericho left another legend lying cementing his position and his hate for the older breed of wrestlers.

Bad Points

Smackdown involvement

With the draft coming up in a month’s time and it continues to look pointless as this week Big Show and Chavo came to Raw. Big Show’s involvement was pointless as all he did was stand around during the Cena / Edge segment and then Chavo wrestled in the main event against Cena. To have a Smackdown guy in the main event and such a weak Smackdown guy it made the main event very poor to say the least and did little to build Cena.

CM Punk goes round in circles

After winning Money in the Bank last year at Mania CM Punk has qualified again. I thought it would make much more sense for him to have a single intercontinental title match at Mania to show how he has developed from last year’s MITB.

Overall

Both shows are now blending into one which I’m not sure at the moment if it is a good thing or not. I think they need to address who the champion of each show is as at the moment nobody is quite sure which belt belongs to which. There are al ot of great things happening at the moment but it could quite easily turn in to a mess so WWE need ot be careful.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 20th February 2009

After all the developments from Raw it was now Smackdown’s turn to build their feuds for Mania.

Good Points

Jeff and Matt get ready to get it on at Mania

After a little lull in the Matt screwing Jeff storyline this week Edge was used as the decoy to push the feud. All show had been building the main event between Edge and Jeff after Jeff teased Edge about beating him in three minutes. After a solid main event Matt came down and got the match thrown out after he delivered a Twist of Fate to his brother and left him lying. The way they used Edge in this storyline makes me think he will on his way to Raw in the draft.

HHH shows the Smackdown crew about intensity

His pre-recorded interview with JR only lasted one question and a couple of minutes but HHH showed intensity on a crazy level which made the storyline fee believable. These two could tear the house down at Mania. The thing now is that with the level of intensity HHH has set they now need to maintain it five or six weeks.

Booking for next week

I liked how they started hyping matches for next week’s show on this episode of Smackdown the build also involved some hilarious segments which were filmed at the valentines date with The Miz, Morrison and The Bella Twins.

Bad Points

Kozlov in the Undertaker mix

On Raw both JBL and HBK were touting themselves as opponents for The Undertaker at Mania but this week Vickie said it was going to be Kozlov who gets the nod. All I can say is that I hope isn’t going to be Undertaker vs. Kozlov as rumours have it as Kozlov should be no where near Mania or no where near doing a programme with Undertaker. I think he needs to go to ECW.

Not much wrestling

Like Raw not much wrestling again this week with the only thing decent besides the main event being the US title feud match. To have only four matches in two hours is unacceptable to me as a wrestling fan.

Overall

Unlike Raw this show featured on two storylines and built them well which I found more interesting to watch than Raw’s scattergun approach. The only thing with the whole Orton / Stephanie thing is the fact that HHH is champion has been overlooked.

WWE Raw Review - 16th February 2009

Afer a surprising and eventful No Way Out tonight was time to make sense of it all and see where we were going in the run up to Wrestlemania.

Good Points

Cena speaks

Finally Cena got some in ring mic time now that he isn’t the champion, go figure. Cena and Edge opened up the show with a great war of words which set the wheels in motion for their feud.

Great segment from Roddy

Jericho continued to build his Mania appearance and was then cut off by Piper who gave an emotional promo about the Hall of Famers to which Jericho retaliated by beating him down. WWE still look a bit uncertain on whether Rourke is going to be fighting at Mania but with or without him they are doing a great job of building the heat for Jericho.

Bad Points

Too much talking

It was like the WWE creative team wanted to set up the entire Mania card in one night. The little wrestling they had was poor and most of which had nothing to do with current feuds or build for Mania.

What’s the point of the Draft?

The Draft is next week but already we had Edge, Vickie Guerrero, HHH and Jamie Noble from Smackdown on the Raw show this week and throughout the year we have seen many stars show up on different brands. The Draft use to be major but now that anyone can turn up at any time on any show it has lost it’s appeal.

What was the point

After a heavily billed no holds barred match at No Way Out tonight Shane and Randy had coincidentally healed in order to main event Raw in a non sanctioned fight which set up a feud for Orton and HHH after Steph was on the receiving end of an RKO.

Overall

After the controversial booking of no Way Out WWE followed it up with a Raw that made matches that happened at No Way Out pointless and future shows like The Draft pointless. With the amount of weeks we have before Mania the WWE don’t need to rush what they are doing which they seem to be doing at the moment.

WWE No Way Out Review 2009

With two Elimination Chamber matches and a well built Shane McMahon / Randy Orton match I was looking forward to No Way Out especially as this was one of the few PPV’s we get for free in the UK.

Good Points

A major push for Edge

After being the top draw on Smackdown for some time WWE furthered his gimmick of being the Ultimate Opportunist when after he lost the Smackdown Chamber interjecting himself in the Raw Chamber match and winning the title in a move reminiscent of when Jericho interjected himself in to the title scramble match many moons ago.

HHH back on top

It is great to see HHH back as champ. Hopefully they give him a long run with the title. After a few years of losing Mania main events it will be interesting to see if he can go in to Mania as champ and leave as champ although if Orton decides to challenge HHH it could be a short reign.

JBL / HBK storyline over

Was glad to see this storyline put to bed with HBK getting the win and I the process getting himself out of his contract with JBL hopefully this will free him up to have a good feud for Wrestlemania.

Bad Points

Orton pushed to the side

After winning the Rumble and his feud with Shane McMahon which built to their match at No Way out I thought his win was very much overshadowed by everything else going on and their match didn’t deliver on the build. Shane didn’t do any bumps better than what he has done in the past and I didn’t feel the intensity which this match needed was there.

Too many last minute changes

Now the odd last minute spontaneous change is good as it adds to the unpredictability factor but it just seems to becoming too commonplace and making the show hard to follow and hard to predict. A good swerve is when you don’t predict it is going to happen but when you look back on it you are kicking yourself for not seeing it coming.

Overall

A wild and entertaining night by the WWE but by having an Elimination Chamber match as the first match out it rather killed the next hour or so of matches before the other chamber match.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 12th February 2009

After in what was in my opinion one of TNA’s poorest PPV’s to date last weekend I was hoping TNA could get back on track with a good iMPACT.

Good Points

The falling apart of MEM

With the frontline now a distant memory it’s now up to MEM to have inner conflict to create some main event matches. TNA are now doing the old classic of having two big draws Angle who wants to be the leader and Sting the champion getting angry with each other and falling out. This is great as it leaves the potential for a swerve by the MEM or for the members to pick sides in a proper inter faction war.

Solid Card

Besides from the usual TNA dusty finishes the actual card was very strong. We had three strong tag matches featuring, Beer Money, Team 3D, Angle & Sting, Lethal Consequences, MCMG and more. On top of this there was a great women’s match and a strong Steiner / Petey Williams match.

Bad Points

Hardcore History 101 with Mick Foley

This is a new segment where Foley talks about his favourite hardcore matches. This section is pointless as most fans won’t have a clue what he is talking about when he relives old matches and TNA don’t have any rights to his footage to show what he is talking about so it just turns out to be a pointless five minutes.

The Frontline

After what could have been a great faction war which could have run and run The Frontline aren’t even mentioned any more as over night they disappeared. If this was only ever intended to be a short feud they could have at least given it a proper ending and send off.

Overall

The MEM is the only interesting storyline at the moment on the show but it is a great storyline. They just need to invest in proper feuds and storylines down the card.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 13th February 2009

After Raw’s limp effort earlier in the week and with the poor use of Christian in his return on ECW this week I was hoping that Smackdown could do something to get me excited for No Way Out.

Good Points

Push for the chamber

Was great to see a whole show geared around the Elimination Chamber something that Raw should have been doing this week. The show started with Edge talking about the chamber and then Big Show telling him he wasn’t going to walk out of it with the title. Then we had HHH doing a backstage interview talking about his experience in chamber matches and the show ended with a Fatal Four Way featuring four of the combatants in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber which ended with Edge getting involved and causing the match to be thrown out.

Good Jeff Hardy promo

Was great to see Jeff back in the ring giving a promo verbalising what has been happening lately. He sent an emphatic message to Matt and the entire audience that he will be winning his title back.

Bad Points

No Matt Hardy

With the return of Jeff it would have been great to see Matt somewhere on the show to build that storyline. Also I would have put in the chamber with Jeff so they could have teased what their in ring feud may be like but not throw it away too quickly as there are so many other people in there.

No lower card match

Now I loved the time that was given to the chamber but there were three matches on the show which had no bearing on No Way Out. I think Smackdown could have done with having one undercard match as they have built a nice programme with Shelton Benjamin, Chavo Guerrero and MVP or another match could have been Carlito and Primo against Miz and Morrison so there were options there.

Overall

Best show of the week for WWE by far and it has got me excited for their chamber match as I could actually see Edge losing his title but on the Raw chamber I don’t think Cena is any danger of losing his belt.

WWE Raw Review - Monday 9th February 2009

With one week to go before No Way Out it was time for the WWE to put the finishing touches to feuds and matches which they have only had a few weeks to build since the Rumble.

Good Points

The Return of Ric Flair

WWE did a great job of developing the Jericho vs. Mickey Rourke match for Mania with Ric Flair and Jericho having a war of words on the mic to kick off the show. Jericho delivered a great speech to Flair about how over the last year he has prostituted his name like the character Rourke plays in the Wrestler. Adding Flair to the mix adds a great new dimension to the storyline which I can’t wait to see unfold however I will go on to talk about this segment in a bad light later.

A great end

Shane McMahon delivered a great end to Raw as he did one of his famous Van Terminators on Ted DiBiase. It has been a while since we have seen Shane do something death defying like he use to do and hopefully this is just a taste of what is to come this weekend.

Bad Points

No Push for The Chamber

Again there was little mention of it but the booking team had a great idea of putting all the competitors from the chamber in to a six man tag of faces against heels. However it was ruined by giving it no build and having it in the middle of the show. A match like that should be the main event and should have ended in a no contest with everyone pairing off in to their feuds they have going so Cena with Jericho, Mike Knox with Rey and so on.

Bad points about the good points

WWE should have saved the Jericho and Flair segment until after No Way Out there was no point giving time to a feud Jericho will be involved in after No Way Out when he already has a match for No Way Out. The ending was great but during the whole show we had no Shane and only one segment with Stephanie so overall there was little to build the Orton / McMahon match.

Overall

I know you don’t want hype the PPV before the big one too much but if you cut out the little things they could have a solid build. I don’t think anyone cares about The Chamber match and I am unsure to which match they will have as the last match because I have a feeling they may put Orton / Shane last the way they are promoting it when it should always be a title fight that ends the night.

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TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 5th February 2009

After missing last week’s iMPACT I was intrigued to see where the storyline had got to and what TNA were going to do with their last show before the Against All Odds PPV.

Good Points

Abyss’s best work for a while

Now the pay off for the Abyss / Matt Morgan tag team partnership was always going to be them turning on each other but I think they should have kept their tag run going a bit longer and given them the belts before tearing them apart. I haven’t been a fan of the way they have built the feud between these two until watching Thursday’s iMPACT. Abyss gave a great promo and put himself over again as Mr. Hardcore as he put his fists through thousands of thumbtacks for no reason. Can’t wait to see this match at the PPV.

Dissension in the ranks at Main Event Mafia

Now I think at the PPV Main Event Mafia will swerves us and that the apparent falling out between Sting and Angle will turn out to be manufactured by the MEM but that being said they are playing it well. Both Angle and Sting gave great promos on each other and then ended the show in a pull apart which is a great build for the four way title match they are both competing in.

Bad Points

No Joe, no AJ

The show really lacks quality-wise when these are two are not around and when Team 3D are main eventing you know you are in trouble. There is also a shortage of faces at the moment while the Frontline may as well not exist.

What are they doing with Booker

The Shane Sewell storyline is an interesting storyline for the mid card but to have him going against a so called Main event star makes no sense. It only brings Booker’s image down and makes you think why they are putting on the match in the first place as it will do neither of them any good.

Overall

All I can say is long live WCW, long live ECW and love live the Alliance. Without AJ and Joe it is basically like WCW in it’s last year. TNA need to create a new main event star as if they have more shows without these two the shows aren’t going to get any better.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 6th February 2009

With things really hotting up on Raw could Smackdown deliver this week? I missed last weeks episode so was looking forward to see what was happening in the Hardy storyline.

Good Points

Stacked main event

It was great to see such a stacked main event with Edge and Big Show going against HHH and The Undertaker. There was also a nice little twist with Big Show punching out his tag partner to let HHH and Undertaker pick up the win. It looks like they are building Big Show vs. Edge for Mania.

MVP back on the winning streak

After months of going on a losing streak MVP is back to winning ways. It looks like he is going to be pushed for the US title after beating Shelton in a non title match. Now I would have preferred for him to be given a bigger push and not just back to the US title but I am just happy to see him winning again.

Bad Points

Jeff gets another week off

Since becoming champion in December and then losing it Jeff has hardly stepped foot in to the ring. This week he was absent again and it was up to Hurricane Helms to stand up for Jeff and fight Matt only to come out on the losing end. This could be the biggest feud at Mania but at the moment all they seem to be doing is killing it.

Kozlov gets another push

Kozlov won himself a space in the Elimination Chamber and after stinking up one PPV main event match he has the chance to ruin another although at least this time there are five other people who can save it so it shouldn’t be that bad.

Overall

Smackdown desperately need an injection of talent and good storylines as at the moment it is a million miles away from Raw.

WWE Raw Review - 2nd February 2009

Now with only two weeks to go until No Way Out the last PPV before Mania the storylines are really starting to hot up. What was going to happen between Shane McMahon and Randy Orton, what would Jericho have to say about Rourke and what would JBL do with his employee after not qualifying for the Elimination Chamber.

Good Points

Shane vs Orton signed for No Way Out

It was obvious these two were going to get it on at No Way Out but it was great to see it made official and that it would be in a no disqualification match. Shane got the upper hand originally as he beat on Legacy with a kendo stick only to be ambushed later in the evening by Legacy which ended with Shane having to protect his sister Steph and receiving an Orton punt to the ribs. I’m really loving the heat they are building in this storyline.

A fight for it all at No Way Out

JBL has offered HBK a chance out of his contract with him if HBK beats him at No Way Out but if JBL wins it means he owns HBK for life. I am looking forward to the non title matches more than the Elimination Chamber matches at No Way Out, this should be another excellent match.

Jericho doing a work / shoot

Jericho got on the mic this week to vent the feelings that many people have in real life about wrestlers who can’t step away from wrestling which tied in nicely with the film The Wrestler. It came across well as it felt real and this storyline will give the chance for hall of famers like Flair to come back in which should make or a great build to Mania.

Bad Points

No build for the Chamber matches

There was no storyline build for the Chamber this week. A couple of guys had matches and a couple of guys got put in the match but nobody came out and made a mention of the match. I think the Chamber matches are just going to turn in to throwaway matches which were just used to add something special to No Way Out.

Not much time for Cena

Again this week Cena had the main event but only had one segement before it which was backstage and to interrupt Jericho when he was talking about storyline that Cena is nothing to do with. I have never seen a fit champion get used this sparingly on a show ever.

Overall

If WWE just invested a little bit more time in Cena and the Chamber then it would have been an awesome show.

WWE Raw Review - Monday 26th January 2009

After what was in my opinion one of the best Rumble’s for some years we are now truly on the road to Wrestlemania. What was going to happen on the first Raw after the Rumble. Was Orton going to get fired and what as JBL going to do about HBK’s actions at the Rumble.

Good Points

Shane o Mac is back

Was brilliant to see Shane back on Raw to defend his dad’s honour and attack Randy Orton. It was as Shane had flipped and wanted to kill Orton for what he had one which made for some great television. It would be good if they could build a feud between these two for No Way Out which will set Orton up nicely for Mania.

Mickey Rourke going to Wrestlemania

After the staggering success of the film “The Wrestler” Mickey Rourke is going to make art imitate life or will it be art imitating art when he squares off against Chris Jericho at mania. This was a big announcement on Raw and is a great sideway move for Jericho to get him in a big fight but not involved in the championship.

Push for Kofi

After doing nothing since his tag team title run Kofi is going to be given another push as he gets involved his first main event at a PPV after winning the right to be in the Elimination Chamber match announced for No Way Out. Will be interesting to see how he does.

Bad Points

Randy Orton’s reasoning

The end of Shane beating up Orton made up for a dire start to Raw but boy did it start dire. Randy Orton gave his reasoning for beating up Vince as him suffering from IED Intermittent Explosive Disorder. Surely anyone in wrestling could use this as a defence or reasoning for doing anything. It would have made more sense for him to be non apologetic for his actions but just solely use some contractual reasons for not being able to fire him.

Cena way down the pecking order

After playing second fiddle to JBL and Michaels in the build up to his Rumble match, Cena this week was only used in one segment and that was his match which was used to further the JBL and HBK storyline.

Overall

An exciting episode of Raw which kept me enthralled from start to finish. A great way to start the road to Mania I just hope the shows can continue to get better and better on the run to Mania.

WWE Royal Rumble Review 2009

Following on from TNA’s Genesis earlier this month this weekend it was WWE’s turn to put on their first PPV of the year that being their annual Royal Rumble. I always think that the Royal Rumble is a great event to start the year off with as it is an exciting event which is truly different from any other PPV of the year.

Good Points

The Swerve

Was great to see Matt Hardy swerving his brother and costing him the title after cracking him with a steel chair. For weeks and weeks the fans on the internet had been predicting the return of Christian to cost Hardy the title but this was a great twist. This storyline will give them the chance to wrestle each other at Mania if played right which is probably what they have been dreaming about for some time.

It’s not over

HBK played his role brilliantly in the JBL / Cena title fight. After a poor match he laid out both JBL and Cena but left JBL on top to get what he thought would be the win. It wasn’t to be though as Cena kicked out and went on to win the match but now where does this leave HBK? Whose side is he really on?

The Rumble match

I will get on to some of the bad points surrounding the Rumble match later but there was some great stuff happening in there. RVD’s return for the Rumble match was brilliant and a surprise to many, the pacing was good, they really built the ring up well and let a handful of wrestlers really have some great moments in there.

Bad Points

Too predictable

After weeks on the blog saying that they weren’t building anyone for the Rumble match the first few minutes of the broadcast was dedicated to it with a video package which featured a heck of a lot of Orton and surprise, surprise Orton went on to win it. I think anyone that couldn’t spot that Orton was going to win it is blind, normally the match is great because you aren’t sure one hundred percent who is going to win.

Botching a match

Melina and Beth Phoenix showed us some really innovative spots and really tried to push the envelope but by doing this they botched quite a few moves. If they had just toned it down a little bit they could have had a really good match which came across crisp but instead you were worrying if one of them picked the other up if they were going to drop them by accident or not.

Overall

For Storyline development it was a superb show with four great matches already in the pipeline for Wrestlemania if they follow through properly on what they have started here. It was that good I will forgive the obvious ending to the Rumble match as at least with Orton it will now build some interesting storylines.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 22nd January 2009

TNA are currently in the UK touring but before they crossed the pond they managed to film enough episodes of iMPACT to keep the loyal TNA fans happy.

Good Points

A great main event

I will never get bored of seeing AJ Styles and Kurt Angle go at it. This is a main event worthy of any wrestling show and applaud TNA for making it happen as many times as they have over the last year.

Storyline Progression

Is nice to see TNA progressing the Main Event Mafia storyline with Angle now proclaiming that they will cause the end of TNA. I think this storyline has the scope to run and run I just hope it doesn’t turn in to the NOW for the 21st century.

Bad Points

Telegraphing Storylines

This week on iMPACT they ran a storyline where Matt Morgan made up with Abyss and apologised for all his wrong doings only to then beat Abyss up with a chair in a match against Beer Money. The way they over did the in ring segment with Abyss and Morgan meant even a non wrestling fan could have seen what was coming.

Let the storylines dictate the matches

iMPACT started this week with the announcers telling the fans the big matches that were lined up for the show. In a TV wrestling show it should be through storylines and on screen talent that we find out what is happening. For me matches just lose intensity and my interest if every week it is the announcers just announcing them at the beginning of the show.

Segment order

Again this week I counted up five non wrestling segments in a row which went for about thirty minutes. This was after an opening match which had no build. Start the show off with something that builds the rest of the show not a throwaway match which does nothing only for you to have to wait thirty minutes to see another.

Overall

TNA have the wrestlers, the image and good ideas but without some clear direction and properly thought out storylines they ar going to continue in this same cycle.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 23rd January 2009

With it being the last Smackdown before the Rumble it was time for the Smackdown crew to hype the Royal Rumble as much as possible but did they manage to get the fans excited about it.

Good Points

Edge doing his best

Edge is doing his best without the champion on the show to build their match at the Rumble with him still maintaining that he had nothing to do with all the incidents that have happened to Jeff Hardy. He then did the only thing he could do without Jeff there and that was wrestle his brother as Matt came to stand up for his brother.

Great Tag Team match

Was great to see both sets of tag champs Miz/Morrison and Carlito/Primo go at it. These two teams are the tag team division for the whole of the WWE and I wouldn’t mind seeing them go at it on a PPV.

Bad Points

Use of Jeff Hardy

Jeff hasn’t wrestled on Smackdown for age and has barely appeared in the arena. This week they did a pre-recorded interview with Jeff which I think would have made more sense to do in the ring. I know they are trying to do something different with Jeff but if the fans can’t see him they are not going to be able to get behind him.

The Triple H storyline

This week HHH ended up wrestling Kozlov and the Big Show in a handicap match after a streak of upsetting the odds he lost. However because there was no build up on the show for the match it had no heat whatsoever and had diddly squat to do with the PPV. Your last segment before a PPV should always be about promoting a match at the PPV which this show didn’t do.

Overall

Like Raw no promotion for the actual Rumble match itself but to add to it Smackdown have a poorly developed build for their title fight. My reckoning is that we may see the return of Christian at the Rumble as the man behind all these attacks to Hardy but we will have to wait and see.

WWE Raw Review - 19th January 2009

With one week to go until the Royal Rumble and with Vince’s return to Raw tonights show looked on paper as if it was going to be a hot show but could WWE deliver.

Good Points

HBK Speaks

During the contract signing between Cena and JBL it was great to see HBK take the mic and verbalise his frustrations with his situation and with it has probably won back some of the fans sympathy. This should have been done a lot longer ago but at least it was done. I just hope that he doesn’t overshadow the match at the Rumble but I guess he will either cost Cena the title and go full on heel or do a swerve on JBL.

CM Punk new IC Champion

Was great to see a brilliant wrestling match to end the Regal / CM Punk series and to see Punk with a belt he truly deserves. I think he can elevate the Intercontinental title and it is a title he can be given a proper run with unlike the Heavyweight title. Hopefully this will bring an upturn in the Raw mid card.

Bad Points

Silly Storylines overshadow important ones

With it being one week to the Rumble the important storyline should be the title feud but no this week it was Jericho begging for his job back which he eventually got. Then it was Orton’s turn to come down to the ring to meet with Vince McMahon to demand an apology to which Vince didn’t take kindly to. So the upshot of this was Orton attacking McMahon to end a far fetched storyline and to end Vince’s first night back. If you are going to do silly things like this wait until after the Rumble.

No build for the Rumble match

There was no real build or mention of the rumble match on Raw. Nobody came out to deliver a promo saying that they could win the rumble and no one seemed to care about it which will only devalue the event.

Overall

Didn’t do what the show should have done which was to promote Cena/JBL and the Rumble match instead we were greeted by crazy booking.

WWE Raw Review - 19th January 2009

With one week to go until the Royal Rumble and with Vince’s return to Raw tonights show looked on paper as if it was going to be a hot show but could WWE deliver.

Good Points

HBK Speaks

During the contract signing between Cena and JBL it was great to see HBK take the mic and verbalise his frustrations with his situation and with it has probably won back some of the fans sympathy. This should have been done a lot longer ago but at least it was done. I just hope that he doesn’t overshadow the match at the Rumble but I guess he will either cost Cena the title and go full on heel or do a swerve on JBL.

CM Punk new IC Champion

Was great to see a brilliant wrestling match to end the Regal / CM Punk series and to see Punk with a belt he truly deserves. I think he can elevate the Intercontinental title and it is a title he can be given a proper run with unlike the Heavyweight title. Hopefully this will bring an upturn in the Raw mid card.

Bad Points

Silly Storylines overshadow important ones

With it being one week to Mania the important storyline should be the title feud but no this week it was Jericho begging for his job back which he eventually got. Then it was Orton’s turn to come down to the ring to meet with Vince McMahon to demand an apology to which Vince didn’t take kindly to. So the upshot of this was Orton attacking McMahon to end a far fetched storyline and to end Vince’s first night back. If you are going to do silly things like this wait until after the Rumble.

No build for the Rumble match

There was no real build or mention of the rumble match on Raw. Nobody came out to deliver a promo saying that they could win the rumble and no one seemed to care about it which will only devalue the event.

Overall

Didn’t do what the show should have done which was to promote Cena/JBL and the Rumble match instead we were greeted by crazy booking.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 16th January 2009

I have recently been reading news on ratings success for Smackdown but as of late I have found the show has been some what lacking at times but as always I go in to every show with optimism that it can prove me wrong.

Good Points

Good build for Triple H

The creative team are building Triple H’s feud with Vickie quite well as she keeps setting obstacles that he has to overcome before he gets to the rumble. This week MVP had to fight for him in a last man standing match against the Big Show and if MVP lost Triple H would lose his spot at the Rumble. Expect more hurdles for Trip H to jump over next week.

Jack Swagger on Smackdown

A lot of internet wrestling fans are saying this guy is one to watch. After winning the ECW title this week he followed up with a tag appearance on Smackdown. Was hard to judge him in the match but I look forward to seeing him at the Rumble.

Bad Points

Weak card

I counted only four matches on the show and neither featured a Smackdown champion. On top of this the three main stars HHH, Edge and Jeff Hardy did not compete. If Smackdown wants to compete with raw it has to have the guys wrestling on a regular basis.

Stupid Jeff Hardy storyline

After the hotel and the hit and run this week the show went of air with Jeff Hardy getting caught with some misfiring pyrotechnics during his ring entrance and having to be stretchered to the back. The Jeff storyline is like car crash but in the wrong way. Storylines which try to push that it is real and when it involves the so called suffering or personal problems of someone it always ends up badly.

Overall

A poor show with only one good thing going for it. I don’t know whether the viewers are watching the same programme as me if the ratings are actually going up.

TNA Genesis 2009 Review

TNA Genesis kicked off the 2009 Wrestling PPV season this past weekend with a card which featured what they were calling a triple main event. The preparation and the build for the event had been hampered by the festive season but TNA had to forget about all that and show us an insight in to what 2009 is going to be like for TNA.

Good Points

Angle vs. Jarrett

These two put on another brutal match which left both the other main event matches in the shade. The match had been well built over the past few months and it more than delivered. In a match in which Jarrett said he couldn’t lose he was beaten in the idle of the ring by the bully Angle who reclaimed some pride after losing to Jarrett in their first encounter.

Shelley vs Sabin

These two put on a match of the night effort. Everyone going in to the match was unsure of whether they would actually fight each other due to their tag team partnership or if they would have a trick up their sleeve but to theirs and creative teams credit they put on a superb match. The ending spoiled the match for me with Shelley getting the cheap win but I understand why creative team needed to do it to develop the storyline.

Bad Points

Missing in Action

There were some big changes to the card that had been advertised and pushed over the last few weeks. Christy Hemme was injured during training so her match against Kong was scrapped, Nash was in hospital so he was out of the six man tag and then to top it all off they decided to run a storyline in which Rhino was late getting to the building after being beaten up by MEM earlier in the day. All this meant that we had an unannounced six man tag to kick off the show and that Kip James was bizarrely added to the six man main event.

Ordering of the card

To have a six man tag match with no major champion or challenger as the final match of the night ahead of the actual title match and the feud with the biggest stars in Angle/Jarrett made no sense whatsoever. All they managed to do was downgrade the title, take away from Angle / Jarrett and show how weak the MEM / Frontline factions are as D’Von, Kip James and Scott Steiner should be nowhere near a main event.

Overall

The show exposed TNA’s weakness at the moment which is having too many guys at the top that shouldn’t be there. If you are going to push MEM and the Frontline storyline which I think they should then they need to use the top guns to do it and not have a match where AJ Styles is the only credible performer in there.

WWE Raw Review - Monday 12th January 2009

With two weeks before the Rumble it was time for WWE to go in to over drive pushing it’s only match on the card at the moment for the Royal Rumble whilst the return of Vince McMahon next week was left hanging over the heads of all on Raw.

Good Points

Cena HBK

They built the main event for Raw brilliantly through out the show with JBL telling HBK that tonight was his Wrestlemania and then some brilliant promos by Cena showing how much he respected HBK as every good guy should. These two then went on to put a brilliant main event to close out Raw with HBK getting the win in the non tile match leaving Cena laying in the ring for JBL to laud over.

Regal / CM Punk series

This week Regal managed to con the ref in to believing that CM Punk had hit him with a low blow to get him disqualified. Stephanie wasn’t having any of it though as she announced that there would be a third match which be no DQ next week. I just hope they finish off the series with a great match as they have built the storyline well they just now need the pay off of a great match.

Bad Points

Jericho is fired

The big shcker on Raw was Steph firing Jericho. This was done within the first half hour of the show when only after a few weeks of slight fallings out Steph fire her in the ring and then Jericho wasn’t seen for the rest of the show. I know this is just to set up a storyline for Vince’s return but it could have been handled so much better. Steph isn’t put across as an irrational character so it made no sense for her to fire Jericho for no reason.

Silly swerves

Raw saw the return of Ted DiBiase who looked to be returning to back up Madu and Sim in a scuffle with Orton and Cody Rhodes however Dibiase swerved them and then joined the team of Orton and Rhodes. DiBiase was put on the shelf in the storyline because he was kicked in the head by Orton so the swerve makes no sense. Swerves are great but there has to be a reason to them. Hopefully Dibiase will be given mic time next week and a decent reason in the storyline why he did what he did.

JBL not in action

In the run up to the Rumble we should be seeing square offs and coming togethers between JBL andd Cena but we haven’t seen any of it. The fans are more interested in what HBK is up to and what he is going to do rather than worrying about the two guys actually in the main event.

Overall

Quite simply a mess, the creative team needs to really refine it’s storylines and really think hard about which ones it should be pushing.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 8th January 2009

After missing the last few iMPACT’s and with Genesis this weekend I was interested to see how TNA would build the matches in one night for the PPV.

Good Points

A show of emotion

Was great to see the emotion shown by Jarrett and Angle. TNA really pushed the Jarrett story hard with BG James taking up the fight for his friend against the bully Kurt Angle which lead to Jarrett having to make the save as Angle and the MEM tried to destroy his friend. Can’t wait to see this match at Genesis.

Build for the six man

There was some great build for the six man tag match as D-Von and AJ came together to fight for TNA and to have the back of Jarrett. The show of solidarity was added to by Foley’s impassioned promo as the show went off the air.

Unpredictability

We had the Shane the referee getting fired and then rehired as a wrestler, we had the debut of a new Knockout and new tag team champions as Creed & Lethal cashed in their shot. Not it can be a doubled edge sword which I will talk about it the bad points but I was happy with two of the unpredictable things than happened.

Bad Points

No Push for the title match

The Sting / Rhino match was only hyped by a few minutes on the mic by Sting which was underplayed as it came off the back of a killer Angle promo. This has the potential to win the award for the worst built title match in wrestling history which only devalues the TNA title.

Structure

TNA need to work on their structure I counted six non wrestling segments in a row at one point three of which were backstage interviews. Yes a TV show needs to have lots of non wrestling segments but you need to intersperse them not have them all in one chunk.

Title change before the main event

TNA had been pushing Matt Morgan/Abyss vs. Beer Money as the tag title match for some time and done a great feud between these pairings only on the iMPACT before the PPV to have Beer Money lose the belts to Creed and Lethal and for them then to turn the match in to a triple threat at the PPV. If a title match is advertised for a PPV don’t change the champions on the show before.

Overall

A mixed bag of crazy and inspired booking. I just hope for TNA’s sake that Jarrett vs Angle delivers.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 9th January 2009

After missing the last couple of Smackdown’s I was looking forward to seeing what was going down on Friday nights.

Good Points

Good Push for HHH /. Big Show feud

It was great to see HHH wrestling three times on one show in Triple Jeopardy which Vickie Guererro had put him in. It also served well to intensify his feud with Big Show as after his first two matches he had to face Big Show in a last man standing match which he eventually lost but only after being beaten down in his matches before so it keeps both of them strong.

Good Wrestling show

With a rare Undertaker match on Smakcdown alongside HHH’s three outings and a tag title match which saw Carlito and Primo defending the belts it was a good night of action.

MVP just can’t get any luck

Love what they are doing with MVP at the moment it go that bad for him this week that during his VIP section with Mr, Kennedy as his guest his furniture was repossessed and he was then chased from the ring by the Boogeyman. This guy just can’t buy a break but MVP is playing the role well and there was even an MVP chant going throughout the segment so I must not be the only one.

Bad Points

Latest crazy Jeff Hardy storyline

Following the hotel incident before Survivor Series this week we had the storyline of Jeff being the victim of a hit and run accident which forced him to miss the show. Instead they showed alleged footage of the incident and a pre-recorded interview. When will the WWE ever realise that no one believes these stories no matter how much you want the fans to buy in to them.

Random matches

Was great to see Undertaker back but his match with Shelton Benjamin served no purpose. The tag title match developed nobody and the women’s match had more of a storyline than all of them put together which is saying some thing.

No Edge or Jeff in ring

With the Rumble only a few weeks away to have both Edge and Jeff not competing makes no sense. They are suppose to be pushing this feud not coming up with crazy creative ideas.

Overall

I know Smackdown is aimed at a younger audience to Raw but that doesn’t mean the WWE need to insult the fans intelligence.

WWE Raw Review - 5th January 2009

After taking a break from reviewing WWE and TNA over the Christmas break Monday saw me getting back in the swing as I watched my first show of 2009 WWE Raw. In usual style below are my good points and bad points of this week’s episode.

Good Points

Great storyline development for JBL and HBK

The show kicked off with a great video package recapping the history of the JBL / HBK partnership and then when the action got to the ring they continued to give it a push. HBK unwillingly bowed to JBL’s commands including having him not compete in the Rumble match. However he is still torn with doing the right thing as in the main event he was paired with John Cena against Jericho and Orton and did not do as JBL instructed him to do in taking Cena out he did the right thing and helped his team to get the victory.

Heels getting pushed

Orton is being put over as a bully by forcing members of the second generation to win matches in order to stay in the faction whilst Jericho is acting like the world is against him. The HBK storyline is good for Jericho at the moment as he gets to get on the mic and say how he was right last year for calling HBK a hypocrite but yet the fans still wont get behind him.

Vince is coming back

It was announced by Chris Jericho to Stephanie McMahon that her dad is coming to Raw. After Stephanie has been running Raw for some weeks now it will be interesting to see how impressed or disappointed her Dad will be and what they are going to do with Vince after the storyline stage collapse of last year.

Bad Points

Too many Heels

Because fans are turning on HBK now and because he is aligned with a heel it only leaves Cena left as a true face in the main event scene. Even in the lower card outside of CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston you are struggling to see a lot of faces. To add to this they were all beaten which doesn’t help.

Poor Continuity

At the moment we have two storylines that could be big on Raw but just seem to come and go those being the Rey Mysterio / Mike Knox story line and the Kane / Kelly Kelly storyline. Because these storylines are on and off they lose their intensity and viewer interest.

Overall

As the first show of the year it wasn’t too bad but can’t say I am really looking forward to a Royal Rumble headlined by Cena vs. JBL.