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.

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.

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 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.

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.

WWE Raw Review - 8th December 2008

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

Good Points

Push for Orton

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

Good Ending

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

Nice build for Cena / Jericho

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

Bad Points

Why so many three hour shows

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

MVP pushed further down the heap

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

Slammys

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 1st December 2008

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

Good Points

John Cena against the world

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

Stephanie takes control

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

Santino Marella

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

Bad Points

JBL / HBK deal storyline

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

Dolph Ziggler

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 17th November 2008

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

Good Points

Freshening Up

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

Push for Miz and Morrison

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

New faces

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

Bad Points

Structure

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

Not enough Cena

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

Overall

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

WWE No Mercy Review

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

Good Points

The ladder match

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

Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy

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

Bad Points

It’s getting like TNA

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

Where do we go from here?

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

Too Many TV like moments

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 29th August 2008

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

Good Points

Good development for JBL / Batista feud

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

Second Generation Stable

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

Orton kept in the Spotlight

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

Bad Points

Poor build for main event

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

Too much time for Santino

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

Overall

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

WWE SummerSlam Review

Back in the day SummerSlam was sold as the hottest event of the Summer however in recent years I think it has lost it’s magic and it’s importance. To me SummerSlam is now just another monthly PPV which was proved by a gimmick match with no title at stake being booked as the main and two horrible title matches which haven’t been hyped. So with this in mind here are my thoughts on the show.

Good Points

Development of Jericho / HBK feud

Now everyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that HBK isn’t going to retire and him coming out to announce his retirement was just a way to get even more heat on Jericho and to add to it they have brought HBK’s wife in the mix. As Jericho went to confront HBK he accidentally hit HBK’s wife instead which will goad HBK to change his mind to defend the honour of his wife. The way that have brought his wife back I think that she is going to end up turning on HBK to add even more spice to this feud which could be the feud of the year.

Batista vs John Cena

I thought these two for the suppose little wrestling talent they have put on a superb match which was really entertaining and left you wanting more. By not having JBL win the title they needed a heel to go against CM Punk and this match did good at turning Batista in to a heel as he did everything that good heel does in the match. The only problem is besides another feud with JBL where does this leave Cena?

Bad Points

Two worst title matches ever

A major PPV should revolve around the title matches but it was the two non title main event matches that stole the show. By putting both of the matches early in the card this event devalued the belts in my eyes as the championship match should always be the match people come to see and the match people go home talking about.

Hell in a Cell

Now if you watch the original Hell in a Cell between HBK and Undertaker you will see an impressive match with lots of psychology which kept you on the edge of your seat without any major spots. Then you had the spots in the Hell in a Cell between Undertaker and Mankind that will never be topped. So to do a good entertaining Hell in a Cell match is very hard. When these two had a brilliant story to tell they instead had a match that was geared round a couple of spots which compared to the Mankind match weren’t that impressive.

Overall

A PPV that will soon be forgotten about and that lacked substance. There are too many titles in the WWE right now which only goes toe devalue them and dilute them and they need to cut back on the number of title matches on a PPV. When my highlight of the night was a non wrestling section it kind of tells you all you need to know.

My SummerSlam Predictions

Jeff Hardy vs. MVP

MVP is stuck going nowhere at the minute, at one point I thought they may give him a main event push but seem to be stalling with him here. This match does nothing for either guy really, I expect Hardy to get the win in his first major Smackdown feud and help propel him further up the card on Smackdown.

Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy is going to be the new face of ECW so I expect him to win this one. To have him lose would ruin his position and with him winning Mark Henry can always have a rematch which would keep ECW moving nicely for the next month.

Kofi Kingston and Mickie James vs. Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix

I know WWE are really starting to push Santino and Beth as a couple so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the titles changing here. Love the concept for the match by having singles titles on the line in a tag match. Mickie James has got stale as champ and I’m not sure if Kofi is ready for a title yet but it will be a bold move by the creative team to switch both titles in one night.

John Cena vs. Batista

Since coming back and winning the Rumble Cena really hasn’t done much he has lost at Mania and on PPV to JBL. He really needs a win to get it back on track but WWE seem to be really pushing Batista at the moment. With this in mind I would probably go with a Batista win.

CM Punk vs JBL

I love CM Punk but with the undercard that Raw has at the moment with John Cena and Batista both being seen as faces it makes sense for JBL to win the title here to set up a feud with either or. CM Punk is only a transitional champ and has held the title for longer than I expected him to.

Triple H vs. The Great Khali

Word is that Khali is soon to be done with wrestling and after being booked in a shocking match I don’t think they are going to have the belt taken off Triple H as well. With no title change here it then makes sense for this title to stay the same.

The Undertaker vs. Edge

Makes no sense for The Undertaker to lose although when people get built up in a match for not being able to lose they normally have them lose to build the other guy. If Edge wins it will be a screw job type finish but my money is still on an Undertaker win.

One more thing to look out for

When Randy Orton got injured WWE originally said SummerSlam as his return date and this week there have been many stories circulating about Orton getting injured which could be a cover story for the fact that he will be at SummerSlam. If he is to get involved anywhere it will either be in the John Cena / Batista match or Hell in a Cell.

WWE Raw Review - 11th August 2008

With this being the last Raw before SummerSlam I wa hoping the creative team were going to do something to get me interested in the Raw side of the card.

Good points

Nice build for CM Punk vs. JBL

These two should have been giver a larger chunk of the show but they did well with what they had. With JBL you are almost guaranteed a great build up if he is allowed to play his bully character. It was nice how they wove CM Punk’s straightedge character in t it with the liquior challenge and CM Punk throwing it back in JBL’s face.

Good build for Kofi/Mickie vs Santino/Beth

I’m really looking forward to this match. The concept is great they have Santino who is great on the mic and some guys who can really work. They promoted well on Raw with Santino challenging Mickie James to a atch winning it and then celebrating like he had won Gold at the Olympics.

Another solid outing for William Regal

Before his last suspension Regal wasn’t given much inring time but since his return he has been my winner of match of the night on all the Raw’s he has wrestled on. I just hope they get give him more mic time again soon as to build himself properly he needs both in ring time and mic time.

Bad Points

Kane’s bag containing Rey’s mask

In a terribly executed swerve we finally found out what Kane had been hiding in his bag which turned out to be Rey’s mask. With rumours that he may be departing soon I’m not surprised if WWE may want to kill his character off. The problem with this was its execution. A great swerve is one that you didn’t see coming but when you look back on it makes logical sense which this one didn’t. It just again smacked of last minute thinking by the creative team.

Poor build for Cena vs Batista

This match has been so poorly handled it’s untrue. This match should have been saved for Wrestlemania or if they were going to do it have it be for a heavyweight title and have a brilliant storyline to go with it. Try as they might this week on Raw they didn’t generate any interest to me as they both gave weak in ring promos to a mixed crowd response and went off air having lost the tag titles.

Lack of substance

For a Raw before one of the four biggest PPV’s of the year there wasn’t enough substance for me, not enough meaningful matches and not enough storyline development. With time given to Kelly Kelly, The Highlanders, Cryme Time, Jamie Noble, William Regal and Rhodes & DiBiase it broke up the hype for SummerSlam as they are not on the cardas and more time should have been given to the eight Raw stars that are on the card for SummerSlam.

Overall

A pretty boring episode of Raw which didn’t feature enough good non-wrestling segments. The only match on the Raw side I am really looking forward to is the mixed tag and that’s saying something.

WWE Raw Review - 4th August 2008

With it being Mike Adamle’s first Raw as GM I was very intrigued to see if my opinions of Mike would change after viewing this weeks episode or whether this would be the worst raw in history.

Good Points

Interesting matchmaking

I will get on to Mike Adamle the character a bit later on but I was impressed with his match making. First we had Jericho and JBL in a handicap match against CM Punk with the stipulation being whoever got the pin would get the title match at SummerSlam. Then he made an interesting match for SummerSlam which will see IC Champ Kofi Kingston tagging with Womens champ Mickie James against Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix and if the team of Santino and Beth win they both win a title.

John Cena gets bigger cheer than Batista

With Cena being the most controversial face in WWE for some time with his mixed fan reactions it was great to hear him getting a louder pop than Batista at the close of the show. I think he WWE were hoping for Batista to get the pop as they seem to be building him as the to face in the promotion so I found this comical as the WWE need to learn they can’t push a face and make the audience like them

William Regal back in the mix

After having the best match on Raw last week with CM Punk it was good to see Regal getting some mic time. Regal made mention to his King of the Ring win earlier in the year so it look like the WWE are pushing him to be a major player which was the plan before his last suspension.

Bad Points

Paul Burchill getting used as a jobber

First it looked like Paul was going to feud with Mr. Kennedy then they had him lose in their first match which killed that and now they have done the same with him and Kofi Kingston. After a little build up he has already jobbed to Kofi killing that dead. The only thing they can do now to save Burchill is to have him and Katie lea interfere in Kofi’s tag match at SummerSlam.

Mike Adamle’s terrible character

A GM needs to be ruthless and stick up for the heels if he is a heel GM or if he is a face GM he needs to be assertive and stop the heels at every turn. Instead we have him built like Cena was to start with as a man that wants to win over the fans as a face. Mike shouldn’t be left too long by himself with the mic as he worked ok when in a segment with another person but his opening address was terrible.

Tired old storyline

The WWE have recycled a very old storyline idea for SummerSlam as they had John Cnea and batista winning the tag belts before their match at SummerSlam. This has been done icountless times when two faces are going head to head to try and build discontent between the two as they soon fall out and distrust each other.

Overall

A good episode but not the best didn’t like Jericho’s new ring attire with trunks instead of tights ut I do hope they make the title match a triple threat with Jericho involved as he deserves a big match and it will give HBK the chance to interfere. Although the show wasn’t the best there are a lot of things which could happen because of the storyline developments so it has made me want to tune in next week which is the whole point of a weekly wrestling show.

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.

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.