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.

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.

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 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 - 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 Smackdown Review - Friday 4th April 2008

Tonight was Smackdown’s chance to hit the ground running after Wrestlemania as they started their run to Backlash. After a very strong Raw I was looking forward to see wht Smackdown had to offer.

Good Points

Strong Opening

Edge’s crew started off the show in the ring with Edge and Chavo bemoaning the fact that they are no longer champions. Vickie Guerrero though helped the heel faction in to an upbeat mood as rematches for both titles were announced for Backlash but this wasn’t all as they announced a brother vs. brother / champion vs. champion match for the main event with Kane taking on the Undertaker. It was a great way to kick off a show.

Batista / HBK feud

It was predicted that these two were going to feud but how they built it on Smackdown was great. Shawn still trying to come to terms with retiring Ric Flair and making sense of the situation during an in ring promo was interrupted by Batista who went on to question Shawn’s motives. Batista got in to his head and got him doubting himself in a great piece of character interaction in the ring.

Great Main Event

The main event with Kane taking on Undertaker was the best Smackdown main event in some time. Great storytelling and some great back and forth moments as Edge and his cronies interfered to get the match thrown out. I can’t wait to see how they continue to develop this one.

Bad Points

MVP vs. Matt Hardy

After Matt’s return at Wrestlemania and his involvement on Raw Matt was on a big push with a ready made opponent in MVP to continue a great feud with. This could have been a great match for Backlash but instead the WWE creative team gave it away for free with no build up in a throw away match which Matt picked up the victory in killing it dead.

Handling of debutants

Smackdown saw two new faces appearing on Smackdown those being a yet to be named blonde Diva who attacked Michelle McCool and the Russian Vladimir Kozlov. With no build up Vladimir came out to no music and competed against a no name jobber. Ok the Blonde Diva segment I can kind of understand but if they are trying to make Vladimir in to some sort of unbeatable monster they are going the wrong way about it.

More time given to Jesse and Festus

Now WWE creative team I do want a return of Tag Team wrestling but if it means us having to watch Jesse and Festus every week I would rather not have any tag wrestling at all. I know I keep on harping on about Festus but I will continue to do so until the WWE creative team see sense.

Overall

Sloppiness on WWE’s part spoiled what was on the main a great show. To have two strong feuds Edge/Undertaker and HBK/Batista going on is turning Smackdown in to an entertaining show which you don’t want to miss an episode of.

WWE Raw Review - 31st March 2008

The episode of Raw after Wrestlemania is a very important show. This show sets the scene for what we can expect in the upcoming year until next Wrestlemania. It is also a very hard show to book coming off the biggest show of the year as nothing can compare to it and many of the fans will ether be suffering from burn out or have unrealistic expectations on what is going to happen next.

Good Points

Freshness

The writers did a great job of using tonight’s show to change the direction of Raw. JBL has emerged as the new challenger for Randy Orton’s title, Matt Hardy came through the crowd to beat on Randy Orton, Batista was seen backstage and Cryme Time returned. Now you may think that JBL and Matt Hardy don’t deserve main event pushes but when you are trying to freshen the product up you need to slingshot people in to the main event scene that haven’t been there or at least haven’t been in the picture for some time.

The return of Tag Team wrestling

This week on Raw we were treated to not one but two tag team matches featuring four proper tag teams and not teams who have just been thrown together. I am looking forward to see how they continue to use the tag teams on Raw as in my opinion they need a couple more quality tag teams yet to make it in to a good division.

Ric Flair’s final address

As I said in my Wrestlemania review I didn’t think Flair got a proper send off after his match at Wrestlemana so I was glad this episode of Raw was being dedicated to him with the last twenty minutes of the show being his final address and farewell party. This was excellently handled by the WWE with wrestlers from all decades coming to show their support.

Bravery

The writers were brave not to book John Cena and HHH on Raw with their only involvement in the show being on Flair’s farewell segment. I think their decision paid off as the programme felt fresh. I have no doubt HHH and John Cena will be booked back in to the mix soon but for the time being I’m not missing them too much.

Bad Points

Handling of CM Punk

After the biggest win of his WWE career in The Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania why the WWE creative tea had him lose to Chris Jericho I don’t know. Jericho may be a big star but to give someone a push at Wrestlemania and then not continue it makes no sense.

Battle of the Giants

After just coming off the most publicised match of his career Big Show has now been booked in what could very well be the worst feud of his career with Khali. Khali can’t speak English and can’t wrestle so this has the potential for worst feud of 2008. All I can hope for the Big Show is that its over quick.

Overall

Top notch, a very memorable night of Raw. To have something so memorable right after Wrestlemania is impressive. The WWE handled the Flair farewell brilliantly whilst still giving enough time to storylines that are going to continue on the road to Backlash.

Wrestlemania 24 - My Predictions

The WWE are branding Wrestlemania 24 as “The Biggest Wrestlemania Under The Sun” making it’s reference to the fact that for the first time it is taking place in Florida and from the open air arena known as The Citrus Bowl. The tagline can’t be making reference to the biggest card or the biggest venue for a Wrestlemania and I highly doubt it will do the biggest amount of Pay Per Views buys so it’s only in Florida they can get away with a tagline like this.

I know we are yet to see what happens on Smackdown this Friday night but as we stand these are my match-by-match predictions for this years’ Wrestlemania starting from the bottom of the card.

ECW Championship Match

What a mess this has been. For many years the WWE have put on an inter-promotional Battle Royal as a dark match before Wrestlemania and chucked in on the DVD extras but this year we were lead to believe that for the first time we would be seeing this on the main show. For once the WWE had come up with an interesting angle for the Battle Royal with the winner facing the ECW champion Chavo Guerrero that same night but now it’s pointless as we will be watching Mania not knowing who is going to be facing Chavo and as we won’t see someone winning the Battle Royal live we won’t care too much for the match. The WWE should have either kept it in the main show or not done it at all and built a proper feud for Chavo against a pre-announced opponent. The WWE have proved Battle Royals work at Wrestlemania like with Wrestlemania 2 and 17 so why they couldn’t just keep it in I don’t know.

Don’t expect much from the match itself, out of the 24 named participants for the Battle Royal your most likely winners are Mark Henry, The Great Khali, Kane, Jamie Noble or Chuck Palumbo. On a side note I can’t believe after being on Raw for three weeks out of six they can’t even give Paul Burchill a spot in the Battle Royal. I expect the creative team to slingshot the winner of the Battle Royal to capture the ECW championship.

Winner: Whoever Chavo faces.

BuunyMania Lumberjack match: Maria and Ashley vs. Beth Phoenix and Melina

Now that Candice Michelle is out of the match it has lost the only shred of a storyline it had with her returning to face Beth Phoenix who put her out of action. Now the only reason for the match is because of Maria’s recent photoshoot. We have hardly seen Ashley on TV as of late and Melina is just there to make up the numbers so this match could be a time to stretch the legs and go to the fridge. The only good thing about the match is that it is a great way to get Snoop Dogg involved in Mania which fits his rap character as he performs the duties as Master of Ceremonies. On a side note I thought the WWE referred to female lumberjack matches as lumberjill matches. For those unfamiliar with this type of match it is where fellow wrestlers surround the ring and throw the competitors back in the ring if they are thrown out.

Winner: Do we care?????????

Battle For Brand Supremacy: Batista (SmackDown) Vs. Umaga (RAW)

Unless they do something big on Smackdown the build up for this one has been rubbish. The only build up we have had is them both squashing opponents on their respective shows and then the odd bit of interference in each other’s matches. This is not going to be the greatest match by any stretch of the imagination so the build up was what was going to get this match over. Last Wrestlemania Batista’s match with Undertaker was down to be one of the worst matches of the night and he managed to make it a good match so hopefully he does the same this year. It just depends how Batista reacts to being booked this far down the card which is the same for Umaga who had one of the main matches last year. I don’t see this being more than a one off match as Batista will want to get back in to the main event scene.

Winner: Batista

Belfast Brawl: JBL (RAW) Vs. Finlay (SmackDown)

This match came about because of the worst change in creative direction I have seen in some time just so they could give JBL a match for Mania. Since then however it has had a strong build up and I have no doubt that this is going to be one of the most intense matches on the card. It is good to see Finlay in a match on Mania where he isn’t just making up the numbers like the Money in the Bank match. Depending on how the WWE want to play it they could have a comedy moment with Hornswoggle returning to get involved in the finish but I hope they don’t as I want this to be an intense encounter. With JBL being the one man heat generating machine I’m sure the fans will be in to this one.

Winner: JBL

Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match: Mr. Kennedy (RAW) Vs. Shelton Benjamin (ECW) Vs. Chris Jericho (RAW) Vs. Carlito (RAW) Vs. MVP (SmackDown) Vs. Vs. CM Punk (ECW) Vs. John Morrison (ECW)

Normally at Wrestlemania this match is put on early to get the crowd going but in the past many wrestlers have had problems following this match as the fans after witnessing crazy stunts are normally less appreciative of a solid wrestling match. I like traditions and Wrestlemania needs tradition so am glad this match has become an annual event. However with the talent pool being light at the moment it’s hard to have eight or in this years case because of Jeff Hardy seven guys used up in one match as it means either this match suffers or the rest of the card suffers. In my opinion there are three guys there to win it, the rest are just making up numbers with Kennedy, MVP and Chris Jericho being the guys who could win it. Four weeks ago I would have said Kennedy to win it for the second year in a row but after hardly appearing on Raw on recent weeks and with the brilliant MVP / Jericho feud going on I have to side with one of them. Of course this would have all been irrelevant if Jeff Hardy hadn’t got suspended as in my opinion this was his match to win. My only fear for this match is they may be running out of ideas for what they can do with this match as so many spots have already been done.

Winner: Chris Jericho (although I would like them to take a gamble on MVP and give him the push by having him win this match)

Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair (SmackDown) Vs. Shawn Michaels (RAW)

This is a match in which we can forget about the terrible build up and just enjoy it as it is what looks like Flair’s last match. When Flair was out of favour in the WWE last year he said he wanted to end his career at Wrestlemania and this weekend he has his chance. I’m glad they haven’t made too much of a storyline of this one as it should just be about Ric Flair having an athletical encounter against someone he respects and who respects him. Many would argue Flair doesn’t deserve a place on Wrestlemania but for what he has done for and in the business I only think it’s fitting for him to bow out here. I would love for the WWE creative team to pull the rug from under us and have Flair win but I don’t see it happening.

Winner: Shawn Michaels.

Wrestler Vs. Boxer: Big Show Vs. Floyd "Money" Mayweather

I take it back Batista and Umaga this in matter of fact is going to be the worst match. Everyone knew as soon as it was signed that this match was going to be awful but it was going to be the build up which saved it but because of the WWE’s terrible creative direction and planning it didn’t even get a good build up. After the best start to a feud ever with Floyd Mayweather jumping the barrier at No Way Out to legitimately break Big Show’s nose in a planned shoot to get people talking it has dwindled out to a point where I can’t wait for it to be over. This match is going to be like the disaster that was Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar from Wrestlemania 20 as nobody knows who to cheer or boo as the WWE didn’t book it properly. Floyd’s main involvement has been through video segments rarely appearing in person on Raw and the Big Show has just kept going on about taking Floyds undefeated streak, message to Big Show results of wrestling matches don’t count in the boxing world.

Winner: Floyd Mayweather (The WWE have paid him far too much money and he is far to egotistical to lose)

World Heavyweight Championship: Title Vs. Streak: Edge (c) Vs. The Undertaker

This match has been excellently booked so far although I wait to see the final installment of the build up this Friday. Edge like a good heel champion has thrown obstacles in the way of the Undertaker and escaped every time it looked like he was going to get a beating and then when Edge has attacked it has been in numbers and not by himself. Throughout this The Undertaker has been made to look strong by running down the obstacles and only getting a beating when set upon by a group. I am intrigued by this match to see what the creative team do with it. To build Smackdown and to build Edge to have him taking Undertaker’s legacy would solidify his position as a main eventer and be great long term planning. However I don’t see The Undertaker giving up his streak so I still have to put him odds on. Whatever happens I think Edge will get the best match out of the Undertaker that he has had at Wrestlemania since his match with Triple H at Wrestlemania 17.

Winnter: The Undertaker

WWE Championship: Triple Threat: Randy Orton (c) Vs. Triple H Vs. John Cena

Although the build up to this has been a bit hit and miss this match has the most excitement in my eyes. John Cena and Randy Orton may not be the best wrestling technicians but it’s not about what moves you can or can’t do it’s about how you tell a story which I think these two can do adequately well especially with Triple H there. The thing with this match is that you don’t honestly know who is going to win as you can make a case for all three and that’s what makes it exciting. The reason going to a football match on the weekend or watching it on TV is exciting is anything can happen and you don’t know who is going to win which is exactly what wrestling fans want. They may go to an event supporting their favourite but the reason they get vocal and excited about supporting their favourite is that there is a real chance they could lose so they have to support them in anyway they can.

If WWE are doing their usual safe booking they will put the belt back on Cena as that is probably the reason they rushed him back so early. If the WWE want to do what’s right and take the company in a new direction they will put the belt back on Triple H. Triple H hasn’t won at Mania for some time as he has been involved on the booking committee and the unwritten law of wrestlers booking shows is that you don’t book yourself at the top however he is the most deserving but with one child and another on the way is he going to want a champions schedule? Again if the WWE are thinking long term and really want to build Orton they will have him retain the belt and retain it clean. So there you go three cases why each could win it. I think we will see at least one major title change at Mania and if it is going to happen anywhere I think this is where it will happen.

There is also an outside chance of a Rock appearance at Wrestlemania itself. After John Cena went on my friends Simon and JK’s Wrestlecast at The Sun to say that the Rock annoys him and that he doesn’t give back to the business that made him people are thinking it may all be a work to get Rock on Wrestlemania. Hulk Hogan has before gone to the Hall of Fame the night before and then got involved in Wrestlemania but even that wasn’t the main event so I don’t see it happening here.

Winner: Triple H

WWE Raw Review - 24th March 2008

The Raw before Wrestlemania is always the most important Raw of the year. This is when the wrestlers and the creative team should have created a huge buzz by and the show should do the best ratings of the year. The viewing rating for the Raw before Mania is very important at it affects the number of buys the PPV does. All the feuds should be laid out by now and this episode of Raw should just be a preview of what to expect this weekend. So with this in mind I was really looking forward to see if the WWE delivered.

Good Points

Great Start

The first five minutes of Raw were great as John Cena delivered one of his strongest in ring promos for some time. Whatever you think about Cena he knows how to work the mic and get a crowd going. However after this it became a mess which I will talk about in my bad points section later.

Good time given to Flair and Michaels

After weeks and weeks of little bits Flair and Michaels got a fair chunk of time on Raw for their in ring segment. I think Flair deserves a proper send off this weekend so although I don’t like the build up for this one I enjoyed one last Flair rant and even a history making event as for the first time since TNA used the NWA championship as their title Flair brought it with him to Raw to show his history.

Push for MVP and Carlito

With many people thinking that either Jericho or Kennedy are going to win MITB it was good to see MVP and Carlito beating the team of CM Punk and Chris Jericho. It was also a nice way to get other people from the MITB involved but still keep that Jericho / MVP feud going.

Bad Points

After Cena’s opening promo

The opening segment of Raw turned in to a mess after Cena’s promo as not only did Orton and HHH come down to the ring for a war of words we had Big Show, Umaga and JBL all jumping in there. Now it was funny to hear Umaga talk but at Wrestlemania you need to push your main event ahead of everything else which didn’t happen here. You can make a case for the Big Show to be there but only if it made sense which it didn’t but for JBL and Umaga whose matches are well down the card even below MITB and the Flair possible retirement match I think devalued the main event. This section got none of the feuds over and just felt like a comedy moment.

Big Show / Mayweather feud

This has to be the worst handled feud in recent wrestling history. You have got the big Show trying to be face but not succeeding and then being booked on the heel side of the tag match main event for Raw. On the other side you’ve got Mayweather who is trying to be the cool face but who again not many people like. If this wasn’t bad enough Mayweather has hardly been seen on Raw and was nowhere to be seen on the most important Raw except for video inserts. This started off with what was one of the most memorable moments in WWE history and has just fizzled in to a mess much like there match will be at Wrestlemania. Also slightly on another note Kennedy is suppose to be one of the main stars in the MITB match but ever since the Raw after No Way Out he has hardly wrestled.

Wasting Time

Every moment is precious selling space on the Raw before Mania so what the WWE creative team was doing having Holly for Khali who are both only going to be in the Battle Royal if anything which hasn’t been promoted.

Terrible Ending

Now on the Raw before Mania the person you should be pushing at the close of the show is either the champion or the challenger for the championship. Instead in what can only be described as sentimental booking by WWE Ric Flair made Orton tap from the figure of four winning the big eight man match for his team. I’m all for giving Flair a great send off but you don’t do at the expense of the show as a whole. To have Orton lose clean in the middle of the ring the show before Mania has weakened his position and weakened the main event.

Overall

If this was just your average episode of Raw this would have just been a mess but as it was the Raw before Mania it was an absolute disaster.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 21st March 2008

So Friday brought the 2nd to last Smackdown before Mania and a much needed time for them to impress the audience at home as we get closer to Wrestlemania. Here are my thoughts on the good and bad points of this weeks show.

Good Points

The VIP Lounge

Hands down the best part of this weeks show. MVP really raised his game on the mic as he and Jericho took it in turn to poke fun at each other. This is great solid common sense booking by the creative team to build a feud within the ‘Money in the Bank’ match and having the host of ‘The Highlight Reel’ feud with the host of the ‘The VIP Lounge.’ WWE just need to be careful not to forget about the other guys in MITB because if they aren’t spotlighted then the fans are going to think they are just to make up the numbers which may be true but for an entertaining match the fans need to believe that they all have a chance of winning.

Creative direction with Edge

After week upon week of running from the Undertaker and throwing obstacles in his way it was good to see a change of pace with Edge as he didn’t run this week. This week he laid a beating to the Undertaker with the help of his cronies. It will be very interesting to see what thy do next week as they need to b careful not to make the Undertaker look to weak which they are dangerously close to doing but at the same time they can’t afford for Edge to look weak going against such a big star.

Bad Points

Not enough out of ring segments

Smackdown started with a match and then until we got to the VIP Lounge it was pretty much just match after match with little in the way of linking segments. Now yes Smackdown needs to be different to Raw and be the so called ‘Wrestling Show’ but on an entertainment network you need all the backstage and linking segments. The first hour was very much like how wrestling use to be in the 70s and the 80s. Especially with Wrestlemania coming up it didn’t help get us excited for the big one.

No storyline development

Batista and Big Show both looked strong with wins in handicap matches but to both being pushed in the same way on the same show made it look like the writers were short on ideas. This wasn’t the main problem though as the main problems was that the matches didn’t develop their respective storylines. These were matches they should have been working weeks ago not two weeks away from Mania. This was the same with Edge’s match with Funaki but at least he used the Undertaker Tombstone finisher and got involved in his match later on.

The return of Jesse and Festus

Again the tag team scene continues on its downward spiral as the team that makes Cody Rhodes and Bob Holly seem entertaining come back and straight in to a tag title match. And why were they straight in to a tag title match yes that’s right because the only other tag team was getting buried at the hands of Batista.

Overall

Besides a couple of great bits this was wrestling how it use to be slow, boring and stale. This was a show that didn’t fit in the modern entertainment era of wrestling.

WWE Raw Review - 10th March 2008

It was Wrestlemania Rewind this week with three rematches from Wrestlemania’s gone by. On top of this it was a three hour special so an extra hour for your money this week. Here are my thoughts on this week’s episode, as we get closer to Wrestlemania 24.

Good Points

Finlay’s development

After a not so good start to the feud Finlay did well to put over his character of being pushed over the edge and tormented by the current situation with JBL and Hornswoggle as he laid a beating to Kennedy getting himself disqualified in the process. This feud has the potential to be a very strong and hard hitting contest at Mania.

Strong card

The show had one of the strongest cards a Raw has had in some time. The fans got to see all the top stars from Raw and Smackdown in some matches which have been and some which still are marquee matches. The WWE really push Wrestlemania and the cards of Raw’s before it do tend to be the best of the year to try and entice people to buy the PPV.

Batista getting some time on Raw

After being pushed way down the stack on the Wrestlemania card it was good to see Batista getting some time on Raw to finally start developing his feud with Umaga. The only positive thing to come out of this feud for Batista will be the amount of Raw time he gets out of the feud so it’s good to see him making the most of it.

Jericho’s title win

Ok the Intercontinental Title may not mean anything any more but it was good to see Chris getting his first title since his return. The only problem is to make the title mean something he needs some talent to feud with and there is no good mid card talent out there at the moment. I think Raw should push Burchill as a fed for Jericho as it could have moments reminiscent of Jericho’s brilliant feud with the Regal many years ago.

Bad Points

Why three hours?

Yes having a three hour special makes a show different and seem special for the fans like having a PPV for free but I don’t think it works on TV. Raw is on an entertainment station not a sport station. People tune in expecting a fast paced entertaining TV show but I think having a three hour TV show next to entertainment TV shows which normally last no longer than an hour doesn’t work. Save the three hours for PPV or anniversary specials.

The State of Money in the Bank

With Hardy’s 60 day suspension for drug use this match is really thin on the ground and highlights the weakness of the mid card in WWE. After Hardy’s recent push he was my pick to win and the WWE could have done some interesting stuff with him but now I think it looks like it will be Kennedy getting the win or possibly MVP. On the Raw side I’m not sure who they can add to the match possibly Burchill, Santino Marella or Kane.

Mayweather / Big Show feud

For all the money they are spending on Mayweather they should have spent some time thinking of how to orchestrate a good feud. The reason Mike Tyson worked all those years ago was that he was a bad boy that the fans loved and that he embodied the attitude era. However the fans are indifferent to him and because Big Show isn’t a headlining star he can’t get Mayweather over. This feud had such a great beginning but over he last couple of weeks it has lost all of it’s intrigue and heat.

Overall

When I am eaving Raw looking forward to Finlay vs. JBL at Mania the most you know the WWE creative team aren’t building the headline matches well. The WWE need to sort out the Money in the Bank match quickly and then invest more time and thought in to the headlining matches.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 7th March 2008

My expectations weren’t that high leading in to Smackdown this week after last week’s average showing but I was hoping they could put on a better showing than last week.

Jamie Noble getting a push

I am big fan of Noble and loved his backstage stuff and mic work when he first joined the WWE back many years ago when he had Nidia by his side and I also loved his in ring work whilst he was out of the WWE working for promotions like RoH. This week on Smackdown he got two backstage segments which were highly comical and then got the chance to fight Big Show in the development of on of the biggest mania matches. I hope the WWe continue to use Noble a lot better. I don’t think Noble vs. Palumbo is strong enough to be on Mania but I would definitely throw Noble in to the mix for ‘Money in the Bank.’

Batista made to look weak

After booking Batista way down the card for Mania in a strange turn of events this week they had him losing by a very weak count out finish to MVP who doesn’t have a match on Mania yet. I don’t understand the logic of having Batista lose like that when they should be building him as the top star to represent Smackdown. Again I start to wonder who he has annoyed backstage.

Why are they pushing Festus?

Festus continued his push this week getting the win for his team against the Smackdown Tag champs and the ECW champ. Out of all the guys to push in that match Festus wasn’t the one. I find the angle very cringe worthy and I don’t think it has any place in pro wrestling, the sooner it’s dropped the better.

Use of female talent

WWE needs to look at what TNA are doing right now with their Knockouts division. The women could play such a better and bigger part of the WWE and not used for throwaway segments and as part of the show which isn’t suitable for the WWE core audience who regardless of how they try to kid is the 5 – 12 age range.

Edge

Edge started the show strong with a great promo which when he mentioned about ending Undertaker’s Wrestlemania legacy there was a big pop is Edge going to eventually be the heel people love to cheer? I didn’t quite understand the point of him bringing Ric Flair on to the show to interview and then setting up a match between himself and Ric for next week’s Smackdown. Smackdown ended with much of the same as last week but this time it was an official 3 on 1 match with Edge and his two look-alikes battling the Undertaker. Again Edge let his two cronies take the beating to then spear Undertaker to get the win and then get out of there. The WWE needs to do something different with Edge and Undertaker as this is quickly getting boring.

WWE Raw Review - 3rd March 2008

The anticipation is continuing to grow in the run up to Wrestlemania and I for one am starting to get in to Wrestlemania mood by watching some of the Mania’s from years gone by. I was looking forward to seeing what the WWE was going to do this week with Raw as I sat down for my weekly viewing.

As always there were some good and bad points, I will start with the bad points.

Poor Production

I thought the first in ring segment with Big Show fighting a professional fighter whilst Floyd Mayweather looked on through a live satellite link as he was broadcast on the Raw Titantron. This was a nice idea however was poorly produced as during the introductions of both competitors there were many shots which had other cameramen in shot which is not we are use to with WWE. The when the Big Show got on the mic to talk to Floyd the footage on the screen of Floyd was poorly produced and it looked like it was pre-recorded and not live as he wasn’t really responding to what Big Show was staying as well as just talking over big Show.

Use of Super Crazy

Once one of ECW’s top stars is now used as a jobber every week in other words he loses all his matches and normally in squash style. As Super Crazy is given no promos, no out of ring segments or no coverage from the commentators he reminds me very much of the 80 early 90s style of wrestling where you would have guys like Brooklyn Brawler and Barry Horrowitz who very rarely won a match or had a storyline. Now I’m not saying Super Crazy should be on top of the pile but if you are going to give him TV time and use him you need to do something with him.

Finlay / JBL / McMahon feud

Ok the premise to this feud may be very loose but now they have decided on this direction they need to run with it. They tried to put the feud over by having Finlay and McMahon having an in ring discussion to confirm what JBL had said was true about Hornswoggle being Finlay’s son which was needed. After this though they went to a shot of JBL with Hornswoggle in the worst ever hospital set I have seen on TV. JBL started to put the beat on Hornswoggle and Finlay just stayed in the ring to watch it on the screen. It did a great job of putting JBL over as a heel but took away from Finlay. Finlay was left looking like a stupid, helpless face. Instead of staying in the ring Finlay should have run backstage when he saw what was going on to try and get in a car to get there as soon as possible. Now that would have been sensible storytelling.

No TV time for Burchill

After three weeks of TV time on Raw Paul Burchill and Katie lea were nowhere to be seen this week. When you are developing a new wrestler and character you need to keep them on TV every week it makes no sense for WWE to invest the time in them to then not have them on TV. I know it’s a hard time for them to get established at the moment with everything surrounding Wrestlemania but if you are going to do it you have to commit to it.

Now on to the good points

Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy was Chris Jericho’s guest in the return of the Highlight Reel and showed some brilliant character development. Since his feud with Randy Orton he had gone back to just having his regular style matches with no mic or promo time but we got to see more of his developing character today as he hit the twist of fate on fellow face Jericho. We have seen hardy work a character lead feud against a heel but it is good to see him working well feuding with other faces.

Carlito

Was great to see him have a single match on Raw and win a place in the ‘Money in the Bank’ match at Wrestlemania. Two years ago he was in the first match at Wrestlemania last year he was moved to a dark match but now he is in a major match. The WWE need to start re-investing time in him though as he needs more than just the odd match to get his character across.

Randy Orton’s push

The creative team had come up with a great idea to structure the last three Raw’s with a Triple Threat Takeover. Each week before Mania one of the triple threat competitors will have the power to make the main event on Raw. This week it was the turn of Cena who chose to put Orton against Triple H. After the match Cena stormed the ring to hit the F-U on HHH only to be then on the receiving end of an RKO from Orton who left Raw as the last man standing. Triple H and Cena don’t need to be built but it’s Orton that needs to be built to the point where fans don’t think Triple H and Cena will be able to get the belt off him which is starting to be done.

Overall

A very entertaining Raw with lots going on, regardless of the matches and the results as long as the creative team keep it a fast paced show then its going to keep the viewers hooked which is what this show was. I think things are bubbling under at the moment with the pace of build up to Mania which is good as it has got me expecting great things from the next three episodes of Raw which is what the creative team need to do but they just now need to deliver.

Wrestlemania: My Thoughts So Far

As we are now under four weeks away from the “Granddaddy of them all” I thought it was time to give you my thoughts on the way it is shaping up match by match.

Here are my thoughts on the confirmed matches so far and what the WWE could do with them:

Inter-Promotional match – Umaga (Raw) vs. Batista (Smackdown)

I can’t say that I am all that excited about this match because there is now back story to it and the only back story can be made in the next few weeks. These two guys have never feuded before and have no logical reason to fight each other. Last year at Wrestlemania Umaga had a prime match which was given a storyline thanks to the McMahon / Trump feud as there was no real feud between Umaga and his opponent Bobby Lashley. This is also a step down for Batista who last year lost out in his championship defence against the Undertaker. The way Batista has been pushed over the last few years it would make no sense for him to lose the match unless they were planning a Umaga / Batista long term feud.

Money in the Bank

After two great annual ‘Money in the Bank’ matches I didn’t rate last year’s that much. I think this year it will be much better as you have two guys who would make sense to come out as winners. First off is Kennedy, although not my pick the way they have been building him on raw recently it would be a knock to his character for him to come up short. Kennedy is a main eventer in waiting but after his win in this match last year I think winning this match could also damage his standing as it would prove his career is going round in circles. I think from a storyline point of view it would make sense for Jeff Hardy to win and then cash in his slot against Edge on Smackdown where he has a ready made back story thanks to his Brother’s feud with Edge and it would be a good chance experiment with him as champion on Smackdown to see if he is ready to be a regular Raw main eventer.

Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather

The build up for this has been great as they have made many non or casual wrestling fans that now think this feud is for real in real life. In wresting any match that is pre-advertised will always been a work regardless of how much they make it look like a shoot. Due to the size difference and Floyd’s lack of ring experience I don’t see this being an exciting match by any means but that’s not its job on the card. This match is designed to get non wrestling fans to buy the PPV and it will be the other matches and wrestlers which they will get entertained by. With Floyd’s ego I am sure they have booked him to win against the big Show in this David vs. Goliath attraction.


Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels – Retirement match

Last year Ric came out and said he wanted to end his career with a main event match at Wrestlemania after not making the televised card of Wrestlemania 23. When he said this most including myself thought he was crazy and that his ego had got the better of him and not many people could see this happening after he wenton a brief hiatus from our screens. However it may not be a main event but he has has got his Wrestlemania wish. In all fairness I have enjoyed Ric’s run since it was announced that as soon as he lost a match he would be fired. It would be one of wrestling’s great swerves if Ric did beat HBK but for his character I think it is only fitting that he bows out at Wrestlemania. I just hope that the match will be a fitting send off for him.


Edge vs Undertaker

This is a great feud between a young brash fast talker against a member of the old guard who lets his actions speak louder than words. Although last year Batista and Undertaker surprised me with their title fight last year with how good it was I think this match could be even better. Some of Undertaker’s greatest matches of the modern era in my opinion have been his bouts against Shawn Michaels and I think Undertaker is great at working with people that are smaller and that have great athleticism. I would like Edge to win as it would push him and solidify him and his position of champion however with Undertaker’s backstage power and his Wrestlemania record I think it would be a brave move for the creative team to book an Edge win. I want to see this and I think it makes more sense but I am not holding my breath.

Randy Orton vs. HHH vs. John Cena

It has been a couple of years since we last had a triple threat title match at mania and a couple of years since HHH last headlined so I am looking forward to this one. If it was anywhere near as good as the triple threat title match from Wrestlemania 20 I will be happy. Now from a booking point of view it is quite interesting what they could do with this one. If the WWE are playing safe they will put the belt back on Cena as he is supposedly their most popular star. With the push they have been giving him and his rush back from surgery it would make for him to win. However it has been a long time since HHH was champion so I think viewing ratings would go up with HHH as champion. The reason HHH has been away from the title is because he is part of the booking team and it is an unwritten law that when you are booking you don’t book yourself on top but I don’t think anyone would begrudge HHH a title run. The only thing left off Orton’s resume is a win in a world title fight at Wrestlemania but I think the WWE are going to commit to a change of direction on Raw after mania as Orton has now had the belt for some months.

Still to be scheduled

There is still some space on the card to be filled so here are some other matches I think may happen. It has been reported that Matt Hardy is back after a recent appearance at a WWE live event so I would expect to see him re-ignite his feud with MVP for the US championship. With the poor state of the tag division I’m not sure if it is worth putting a match on the card if anything I would do a Raw Champions vs Smackdown Champions match. On top of this there will be a match in the storyline between JBL / McMahon / Hornswoggle and there might be an ECW title match.

Rumours

There are always a lot of rumours around Wrestlemania time some prove to be true but most don’t. Rumour is at the moment is that the Rock could make an appearance. He is going to be at the Hall of Fame inductions the night before and recently John Cena has badmouthed the Rock in the press to throw further fire on this rumour.

Overall

I am looking forward to Mania after a spate of disappointing Mania’s I think there are enough good quality wrestling matches and enough points of interest and possible entertaining moments to make this a memorable event.

WWE Raw review 15th February 2008

Now that the hype from No Way Out has died down and because we are still five Raw’s away from Wrestlemania it is now time for the creative team to start working overtime. Normally there is only three or four Raw’s between main events so the creative team have to be sure to pace the feuds right to make sure they reach bubbling point just before Wrestlemania. With the importance of Mania and the extra editions of Raw I was interested to see how the creative team were going to work this one.

For me this Raw will be remembered for a couple of good matches and some terrible booking which was annoying after witnessing a well booked Smackdown last week.

Crazy Booking

There were three booking decisions for me that made no sense and one case of lazy booking. First off we had Jeff Hardy fighting Chris Jericho and if Chris Jericho won he qualified for ‘Money in the Bank’ at Mania. For all of you who watched Raw last week you are not wrong, Jeff Hardy did qualify last week but in a crazy booking idea was put against Chris Jericho. You knew Jericho was going to win as Hardy had nothing to fight for which is stupid booking. It was a much better match than the qualifying matches last week on Raw which I said they needed to do but they souldn't do that at the expense of sensible booking. So well done WWE for listening to me about match quality now sort out the booking. However Jericho’s backstage segment with Regal was very funny and a great moment for long term WWE fans as Jericho joked about things that happened when they last feuded.

Next we had Vince McMahon coming down to the ring to demand an apology from JBL over the beating he gave his illegitimate son. To which JBL informed Vince that he had found out that Hornswoggle was not his son after all. After all the build up they gave the storyline when Hornswoggle was announced as Vince’s son it made no sense to say it was all untrue now with no warning, no hints or no flowing storyline. The only reason they did this was to get a JBL/Finlay/McMahon feud going for Mania when if they just kept the JBL / Jericho feud going which was starting to get hot instead of dropping it with no warning then they wouldn’t be in this position desperately trying to find JBL a storyline.

The final bit of madness came at the end as after John Cena had won the tag match for him and HHH against Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy for Kennedy just to come back in and deliver his finisher on Cena as the show went off air. All through the show they were building Kennedy with backstage promos where he was telling Randy Orton about how he was going to win ‘Money in the Bank’ and cash his chance in that night at Wrestlemania. When it is Mania time you have to push your main event as the biggest attraction every Raw not have someone who isn’t anywhere near the main event of Mania in a non feud storyline match which is ‘Money in the Bank’ pushed ahead of the main eventers as it devalues your main event.

Lazy Booking

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels was finally officially set up when Flair came in to the ring after HBK’s match to say he wanted to fight Michaels at Wrestlemania. To this HBK said he didn’t want to be the one to retire Flair to which Flair replied he just wanted to have a great match at Wrestlemania to which Shawn agreed to. Now if you didn’t want to fight someone or retire them you wouldn’t have your mind changed in the space of a minute after a couple of lines. All I have to say is very lazy booking.

Again there were some good points though

Stronger Matches

After last week there was an improved level of match quality with Hardy / Jericho being match of the night. The quality was also help by the return of DH Smith a rare appearance by Carlito and a solid main event. The WWE managed to get more out of ring segments and better quality matches which is the mix they needed.

British Invasion

Was great to see Burchill, Katie and Regal in a backstage segment togther after watching DH Smith son of the British Bulldog have his first match back. This was Burchill’s first proper backstage segment so it was great to see although he didn’t get any in ring time this week. They even teased the possibility of him having a match at Wrestlemania so watch this space.

So all in all hat WWE need to do now is really focus in on the feuds, simplify them and apply logic. The match quality has gone back up and the time spent on out of ring segments compared to in ring stuff has become more balanced so it just needs better booking and I am sure we will have an awesome Wrestlemania as they have the matches and the talent to make it a memorable one.

Raw Review - Monday 18th February 2008

Now as I didn’t want to stay up until 4am to watch Raw live on Sky Sports and as I forgot to set the Sky+ I had to wait until Thursday to watch the fall out from No Way Out.

Now the show in itself was a tight solid show that did what it needed to do but from an entertainment standpoint I didn’t rate it too highly. The important thing was for the show to set the wheels in motion for Wrestlemania which it did but could have been handled a lot better.

One thing to note was the lack of backstage segments in the show with only little bits like Rey Mysertio in the locker rooms with Floyd Mayweather shown with the majority of the action happening in the ring. This is great for the fans in the arena live but from a televisual perspective didn’t make for the most entertaining two hours as it is the skits, vignettes, promos etc that happen behind the curtain or outside of the arena which for me help to build the storyline and character and are thus a very important part of the show.

Lots of things I predicted happened not that you had to be a genius to figure them out. As soon as the show started and Regal announced that John Cena would be facing Randy Orton later on in the night you knew he would win to make it a triple threat for the title at Mania. You knew Floyd Mayweather and Big Show would set up a match for Mania and you knew when Michaels came out to inform everyone of Flair’s Hall of Fame induction that they were building something between them.

Now yes characters and storylines have to make sense and the fans need to be able to follow them, this is how you get viewers tuning back in next week but you need a bit of unpredictability. Yes the Vince Russo era of WCW may have gone too far the other way but when done right the unpredictability factor can make an ok show great. It wasn’t what they set up for Mania which annoyed me but the actual results of the matches on Raw which a three year old could have predicted.

Jeff Hardy beat Snitsky and Kennedy beat Val Venis both winning places in the ‘Money in the Bank’ match at Mania. Now after the push they have been giving Hardy they weren’t going to have him lose and Kennedy wasn’t going to lose to someone who is hardly ever on Raw. If this wasn’t enough Maria had her Playboy shoot at stake if she lost to Beth Phoenix so you knew Maria wasn’t going to lose and you knew newcomer Paul Birchall wasn’t going to lose to Super Crazy as they are currently building his character.

Ok Snitsky isn’t the best wrestler in the world and doesn’t have the best mic skills but to have him beaten by a banged up Jeff Hardy and to book him like they have been doing makes no sense as for him to be able to help build other wrestlers fans have to think that Snitsky has a chance of beating them which they won’t if he is forever booked to lose.

Looking at the first two confirmed competitors for ‘Money in the Bank’ I would like Jeff Hardy to win. He has been on a monster push recently and I think giving Jeff the title shot would be great. With it he could move to Smackdown and could have a great programme with Edge because of the history between his brother Matt and Edge he could get him involved and the storyline would make sense. Also giving him some time as the champion on Smackdown would be a good test for him to see if he could ever be a full time Raw Main Eventer like Cena, Orton and HHH. On the other hand it makes no sense for Kennedy to win it as it will just prove his career is going round in circles. Yes I think he deserves a major title push and he never really got the chance to enjoy his win last year and use his title shot properly but having him win it again I think would be boring and lazy booking.

Now on to my gripe with how they are treating Paul Burchill and Katie Lea. The fans can’t buy in to the storyline or the characters as they are trying to get over a creative storyline but aren’t given any time to do it. They came on to Raw with no build up and without the fans given any warning. The first they knew about them was when the ring announcer announced them no the way to the ring last week. Now last week they were allowed to cut an in ring promo and this week they had a taped promo which played during their match so the fans in the arena were dead. If they are going to give Burchill and Lea five to ten minutes a week on Raw they need to invest some thought and time in to getting them and their storyline across.

So all in all they did the important things right but the WWE need to do more to entertain us.

No Way Out

Luckily for us wrestling fans in the UK No Way Out is one of the last remaining free PPV events we get with our Sky Sports Subscription. No Way Out is the last PPV before Wrestlemania and is usually where any major storyline changes or developments happen which will affect the ‘Grand Daddy of them All.’

The event is set to make history as for the first time ever we have two elimination chamber matches on one PPV. Like how they use to do it with the elimination matches at Survivor Series they will have one Raw and one Smackdown Chamber match.

Because Vince always pushes his Raw brand ahead of Smackdown I am not looking forward to this idea. I think it is just a gimmick to get people to buy the PPV in America and I don’t think we are going to see two great Elimination Chamber matches. I think either the Smackdown Chamber will be booked in such a way as to not upstage the Raw Chamber match or in another scenario they will both be equally ok as to not have one upstage the other.

The problem by having these two Elimination Chamber matches is that there won’t be many other matches as the matches take up so much talent and because none of these are title matches they will take away from the title matches that are also booked on the card.

The reason I think they are doing two chamber matches is because John Cena isn’t ready and fit to carry the weight of headlining a PPV which isn’t one of the big four. With only five to ten minutes of actual wrestling on live TV since the Royal Rumble I don’t see the match going long or being a five star match although many fans would argue when has John Cena ever had a five star match. When Raw went off TV this week we were left with Jeff Hardy beating Shawn Michaels trying to get the fans to believe that he could win this Sunday so the creative team are pushing the chamber above the title match which is a rarity.

Now like I say the whole point of No Way Out is to build for Wrestlemania. For the last two years John Cena has been defending the championship at Wrestlemania where it is widely known that PPVs that draw best with the fans is those that are headlined by a face going against a heel champion. Usually I wouldn’t be surprised to see Randy Orton go over to build a rematch for Wrestlemania but as the winner of the Elimination Chamber is suppose to be getting the title match at Wrestlemania I think John Cena will get the win as there will have been no point in bringing him back to lose, this is of course unless they are going to do an angle on Raw where John Cena goes against the winner of one of the Elimination Chamber matches with the winner of the match getting the shot at the title at Wrestlemania. If this doesn’t happen then the WWE could always turn the title match in to a three way which they have in the past.

On the Smackdown side of the card Edge is defending his title against Rey Mysterio. They have built an interesting if maybe distasteful storyline with Vickie Guerrero and Edge but it has made for good TV. With the amount of time invested in Edge since his comeback and the fact that Rey is not long back from surgery and has already headlined a Wrestlemania I think Edge will be going in to the big one as champion.

The other match of note on the card is Ken Kennedy against Ric Flair in the ongoing if Ric loses a match he is retired storyline. It is obvious that Ric is going to survive until Wrestlemania where he will eventually be retired. Kennedy was rumoured to be the man that was going to get the torch passed to him and the rub of being the one to retire Ric but I don’t seem them doing this match again at Mania. The other rumoured guy to be the one to retire is Shawn Michaels but I think it makes sense for Randy Orton to be the one to do it to solidify his character as the Legend Killer. Ok it would take him out of the main event storyline but in the short term but I think in the long term it would do wonders for his character.

So now on to who I think will win the Elimination Chamber matches.

Raw – WWE are pushing Jeff Hardy hard with his face featuring on the event poster, the title match at Royal Rumble and winning the main event on the last Raw before the PPV but personally I don’t think he is Wrestlemania headliner material. I know he has a lot of supporters and fans backstage though so I wouldn’t rule him completely out. Umaga and Shawn Michaels were in two of the top matches last year and both have seemed on a downwards slide since so I don’t see either of them winning it nor John Bradshaw Layfield who has only just returned to active competition. I would love to see Chris Jericho win it as he hasn’t done much since his return but I think after not featuring in the main event last year at Mania and having not won a Mania main event since Wrestlemania 18 I think it his turn to return to the top.

Smackdown – Smackdown is a bit more obvious to call with three guys those being Finlay, MVP and big Daddy V not having any main event experience on WWE PPV’s I don’t see them being trusted with the ball in a Wrestlemania main event. The Great Kahli’s run with the belt was appalling so now that leaves just undertaker and Batista. These two had more main event matches than hot dinners last year although Undertaker’s title run was cut short through injury last year so they could put him back in the Mania main event but personally I think Batista will get the nod in this one although I would like to see Edge and Undertaker.

The Raw before No Way Out wasn’t the best with Jeff Hardy main eventing where it should have been Cena or an ending which involved all the participants of the Elimination Chamber. On top of this you had Umaga turning on JBL which would have been better done in the Elimination Chamber match itself and not on the Raw before. Hopefully No way Out will make up for it by getting us excited for Wrestlemania.