Wrestlemania 24 Review

As the show kicked off the arena was a sight to behold with hundreds of thousands worth of dollars going in to set up one of the most impressive Wrestlemania sets of all time and I was starting to look forward to a Wrestlemania which had potential to be a highly memorable evening.

Here is my match by match run down from last night’s show.

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

This match as expected was just a glorified hardcore match. They knew they couldn’t do many big spots and bumps because of the Money in the Bank match happening later but both competitors provided us with a solid start. It was good to see Hornswoggle back at Finlay’s side but no Vince McMahon which showed you how much he thought of his own storyline. Highlight of the match was Finlay’s suicide dive in to a trash can lid.

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)

I thought it was the wrong choice to put this on straight after another gimmick match involving weapons. In a match where we were expecting Jericho, MVP and Kennedy to reign supreme it was Morrison who was doing all the early work. Although some of the spots were the same as last year like the ladder break there was still enough innovative moments to keep us on the edge of our seats. Highlight of the match was the return of Matt Hardy to screw his nemesis MVP out of the match. In a surprising twist it was CM Punk who climbed the ladder to grab the briefcase and the open contract for a title shot. I don’t se CM Punk in a Raw or Smackdown main event so he will cash it in for the ECW title which will devalue this match and was not needed as CM Punk’s standing in ECW means he doesn’t need a contract to get a title shot.

Winner: CM Punk

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

This match was the worst on the card. It was slow, boring and sloppy. I expected Batista to put a showing on to prove why he should be in the main event but after some sloppy work it looked like he was trying to get out of there as quickly as he could.

Winner: Batista

ECW Championship Match

We found out that Kane had won the pre-show Battle Royal and was going to be facing Chavo. Well if you blinked you missed this one as Kane beat Chavo in 10 seconds in a match reminiscent of Adam Bomb vs. Earthquake from Wrestlemania 10. Chavo’s entrance takes around two minutes match lasts ten seconds, you got to love it.

Winner: Kane

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

On a second viewing this was a really good match. Shawn Michaels worked his ass of to make Flair to look good and took some sick bumps including a moonsault through an announcers table. The submission and mat work was top notch and it was a much better match than I thought Ric Flair would have to end his career although being very predictable. However I though they could have made more of the scene after the match as Flair said his last goodbye.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

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

Luckily a technical fault made this match more memorable than it should have been with the lights going out during the match. The WWE scrambled well to spotlight the ring but in all fairness I was enjoying it more in the dark. If it hadn’t been for Santino, Jerry Lawler and Snoop Dogg all getting involved this match would have been a complete uninspiring waste of time.

Winner: Beth Phoenix and Melina

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

After being the most built up match on the WWE’s biggest weekly show it made no sense for this match to be on so early. Having it this early meant we weren’t going to see a big Cena or HHH win as if that was going to be the case they would have had it as the main event but in a triple threat which wasn’t a patch on Wrestlemania 20’s Triple Threat title match I was glad to see the back of it.

Winner: Randy Orton

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

In a match that many including myself thought was going to be the worst of the night both the Big Show and Floyd Mayweather surprised us both by putting on an excellent, entertaining match. This is probably why we haven’t seen Mayweather a lot on TV because he has been working hard to get this match to be the best it could be. This has to go down as one of the most successful appearances of a celebrity in a wrestling match.

Winner: Floyd Mayweather

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

After just witnessing one undefeated streak remain in tact it was time for The undertaker to put his streak on the line. In a very occurrence of a Smackdown match headlining a joint brand PPV The Undertaker and Edge put on a brilliant match with an edge of your seat ending. Edge through all he had at Undertaker including a camera and his two cronies but regardless of what he tried Undertaker was in no mood to let go of his streak.

Winner: And new World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker

Overall: In my predictions I only got two wrong and one was a result nobody would of could have predicted so I’m happy with that. I thought the event had lots of memorable moments but not outstanding matches that will be remembered for years to come as classics. I think the WWE could have done more with Flair and the WWE title match but they handled Big Show vs. Mayweather and Undertaker vs. Edge very well which helped Wrestlemania go out with a bang and send the fans home happy.

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 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 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.

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 – The Aftermath

We are now definitely on the road to Wrestlemania after a wild and exciting No Way Out PPV from Las Vegas last night.

If you read my preview before you watched the show you wouldn’t have been shocked by many of the results but there was an awesome little surprise in there and some well executed matches and storylines over the course of the longest running (time duration of show from start to finish) PPV outside of the big four for some time.

So as I thought may happen it now looks almost certain that we are going to see a three way for the title at Wrestlemania with Randy Orton keeping hold of his title and HHH winning the Elimination Chamber. This also means that at last we have a heel defending the title against a face at a Wrestlemania after a couple of years of Cena defending. The good thing with HHH is that even though he is a fan favourite he doesn’t have the face characteristics like Cena so we have three strong and different characters going in to it.

Now the chamber matches were for number one contenders spots but they didn’t mention if they were title shots for Raw or Smackdown or if it was like winning the Rumble when the winner can choose which title to go after. But with what they have building on the Raw side I don’t see HHH switching to face Edge or Undertaker switching to face Orton.

The RAW chamber wasn’t just good for HHH as although no sensible person would think Hardy was ever going to headline Wrestlemania they managed to build him to the point some fans thought he was going to win so that will stand him in good stead for the long term. It also now frees Michaels up to retire Flair at Mania and Chris Jericho to continue his feud with JBL. The only problem with this is that it could mean that we have to see a Hardy / Umaga storyline again which wasn’t the best first time round.

The WWE are now trying to do anything to build Randy Orton as a heel and to try and get people to cheer for Cena. To keep hold of his belt Orton hit the ref to get himself disqualified and the one thing that fans hate more than anything is a cheap finish to a match especially a title fight at a main event. This is what is referred to as cheap heat and to me is lazy booking but like I say at the moment the WWE will do anything to get people on Cena’s side.

As predicted the Smackdown chamber match was on early and was nothing to write home about. Good to see Undertaker going over as I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing him against Edge at Wrestlemania, the only thing is where does this leave Batista?

As predicted Edge went over easy against Rey Mysterio but this was helped by the fact that Rey got injured at a live show a few days prior to the event. Although the match was short and predictable what happened after the match is what everyone is going to be talking about today and watching on YouTube.

After the Edge / Rey Mysterio match the Big Show made his return to the WWE which if you read all the internet forums you would have known that he resigned with the company some weeks ago and if they wanted to involv him in Mania they had to do something with him tonight and do something they did.

Now Mania has been in the past famed for its use of celebrities like Donald Trump and Pamela Anderson well last night we found out which celebrity was going to be making an impact this Wrestlemania and in a move reminiscent of Wrestlemania 14 in 1998 when Mike Tyson got involved the WWE delivered again with boxing champion Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd was in the front row to support Rey Mysterio and after the Big Show beat on the beaten and injured Mysterio Floyd and his entourage jumped the ring. Now all you wrestling geeks will know that the Big Show left the WWE to pursue a career in boxing which didn’t happen for him. So after a stand off Big Show knelt down in front of Floyd so that he was on his level and Floyd delivered four vicious shots to Big Show looking to have broken his nose to be then chased through the crowd by an angry and bloody Big Show who was stopped by Shane McMahon.

Now the storylines and angles that seem to get fans attention are those yjay the fans can’t tell if what is happening is real or not (like the Edge / Matt Hardy feud of 2005) which this angle did brilliantly. Some people think Floyd wasn’t suppose to go that far with his punches but I think it was a well orchestrated idea by the WWE to get fans talking and to get a heated feud between the two. Look for there to be some sort of boxing match between the pair at Wrestlemania.

No Way Out was a great example of why WWE are head and shoulders above TNA at the moment is because of the A-List stars they can get to work with them and the way that they can get even non wrestling fans and the international press talking about what happened on their show.