WWE Raw Review - 6th April 2009

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

Good Points

Wheels set in motion for Backlash

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

The return of the Animal

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

Tag match gets centre stage

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

Bad Points

HHH pushed to the side

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

All star mess

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

Overall

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

WWE Wrestlemania 25 Review

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

Money in the Bank

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

25 Diva Battle Royal

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

Chris Jericho vs. The Legends

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

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

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

Rey Mysterio vs. JBL

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

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

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

John Cena vs. Edge vs. Big Show

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

HHH vs. Randy Orton

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 30th March 2009

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

Good Points

HBK earning the title of Mr. Wrestlemania

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

The fighting McMahon family

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

Bad Points

Cena not given a chance

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

Jericho fighting a losing battle

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

Overall

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

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 26th March 2009

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

Good Points

The build for Lethal Lockdown

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

Sting has enough of Foley

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

Bad Points

Segment order

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

Dixie Carter tries to take the high ground and fails

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

Overall

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

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 27th March 2009

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

Good Points

Michaels shows he isn’t afraid of The Undertaker

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

Gail Kim returns

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

Bad Points

Still not pushing the Hardy feud right

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

Money in the Bank

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

Push for title matches

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 23rd March 2009

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

Good Points

Jericho proves a point

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

Orton’s turn to get one up

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

Great video package

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

Bad Points

Poor build for Hardy feud continues

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

Cena on cruise control

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

Overall

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

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 19th March 2009

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

Good Points

Interesting angle between Sting and Foley

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

Samoa Joe takes it to the extreme

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

Tag scene got a bit better

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

Bad Points

Angle pushed to the side

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

Frontline mess

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

Overall

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

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 20th March 2009

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

Good Points

Love Triangle

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

Push for Taker

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

MVP new US Champ

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

Bad Points

No Matt Hardy

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

Triple H reduced to a bit part player

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 16th March 2009

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

Good Points

HBK turns up the heat on the Undertaker

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

Triple H one step ahead

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

Edge spears Big Show

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

Bad Points

Jericho storyline a waste of time

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

Dolph gets a random outing

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

Overall

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

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 5th March 2009

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

Good Points

What side is Sting on?

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

Tag Team Scene hots up

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

Bad Points

How to kill Angle

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

Stupid Police costumes

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

Overall

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

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 6th March 2009

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

Good Points

Pushing Brother vs. Brother for Wrestlemania

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

Three Way for the title

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

Bad Points

Killing Orton and HHH

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

Lack of content

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 2nd March 2009

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

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

Same old every week

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

HBK to face Taker

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

Orton’s heat and character killed

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

John Cena underused

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

Overall

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

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 26th February 2009

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

Good Points

Sting takes the lead

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

Don West explodes

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

Bad Points

Abyss / Stevie segments not progressing

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

Steiner / Joe needs more time

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

Overall

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

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 27th February 2009

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

Good Points

Old storyline but with a twist

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

Cena on Smackdown

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

Bad Points

Giving away matches before Mania

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

Four matches is not enough

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 23rd February 2009

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

Good Points

Cena better as a challenger

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

HHH / Orton the hottest feud in WWE right now

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

Jericho continues to build for Mania

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

Bad Points

Smackdown involvement

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

CM Punk goes round in circles

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

Overall

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

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 20th February 2009

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

Good Points

Jeff and Matt get ready to get it on at Mania

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

HHH shows the Smackdown crew about intensity

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

Booking for next week

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

Bad Points

Kozlov in the Undertaker mix

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

Not much wrestling

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

Overall

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

WWE Raw Review - 16th February 2009

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

Good Points

Cena speaks

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

Great segment from Roddy

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

Bad Points

Too much talking

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

What’s the point of the Draft?

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

What was the point

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

Overall

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

WWE No Way Out Review 2009

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

Good Points

A major push for Edge

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

HHH back on top

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

JBL / HBK storyline over

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

Bad Points

Orton pushed to the side

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

Too many last minute changes

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

Overall

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

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 12th February 2009

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

Good Points

The falling apart of MEM

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

Solid Card

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

Bad Points

Hardcore History 101 with Mick Foley

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

The Frontline

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

Overall

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

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 13th February 2009

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

Good Points

Push for the chamber

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

Good Jeff Hardy promo

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

Bad Points

No Matt Hardy

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

No lower card match

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

Overall

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