TNA Slammiversary 2008 Review

After some very entertaining editions of impact I was looking forward to TNA’s biggest show of the year Slammiversary. I was looking forward to Angle vs. Styles and the King of the Mountain match especially. TNA have invested a lot of time in promoting these two matches but hopefully the rest of the card could provide some good entertainment.

Good Points

The Return of Abyss

After many weeks of Abyss promos being run on impact Abyss finally made his return to the TNA ring by attacking Scott Steiner, Petey Williams and Raka Khan leaving them all laying in the middle of the ring. Abyss was sporting a new outfit and a new attitude. Looks like TNA are just slowly putting him back in the mix with the Steiner feud but hopefully he will make his way back up the ranks shortly.

Two brilliant matches

The two best matches of the night weren’t the two main events. These honours went to Petey Williams vs Kaz and team 3D vs. LAX. As good to see a great tag team match as we rarely get one these days on WWE programming and Petey Williams underlined why he is one of my favourite wrestlers in TNA.

Push for Samoa Joe

Although the match was a shocker it was good to see Samoa Joe’s push continued as he won the honour of being the first champion to step in to a King of the Mountain match as champion and walk out with the belt. It was very obvious that Samoa Joe was going to win but it needed to happen.

Bad Points

Terrible use of Moose

The new muscle for the Beautiful People debuted on Thursday’s edition of impact knocking down everyone in her path and then three days later she is getting beaten up and losing in her match teaming with the Beautiful People against ODB, Gail Kim and Roxy.

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

After some of the most heated segments ever on impact in recent weeks this match fell in to the Booker T / Robert Roode trap of have no intensity in the match. TNA are doing well at building intense storylines on impact but it just seems recently that these intense storylines have been ruined by less than intense pay paer view matches. When this happens it undoes all the good work that has been one before it.

King of the Mountain

The match had nothing we hadn’t seen before and did little to keep the viewer hooked. If you are not going to do anything new in the match then you need to have an excellently worked out match in the ring which didn’t happen.

Overall

I’m glad I don’t have to pay for TNA PPV’s. The problem with developing good storylines on impact is that you have to deliver them on PPV”s which they don’t seem able to do.

WWE Raw Review - 9th June 2008

The last week has been a hive of press conferences and media relations for the WWE in the build up to Mr McMahon’s Million dollar Mania which was happening tonight on Raw. With Smackdown gaining on Raw every week in the viewing ratings WWE were hoping this would be a ratings winner.

Good Points

Three Good Feuds

Chris Jericho / Shawn Michaels feud

This has to be the best feud on Raw after tonight’s show. Jericho is one of the most intelligent guys on the mic and played the crowd brilliantly tonight. This ended with Jericho finally snapping after weeks of threatening to by putting HBK’s head through a TV screen.

Mr. Kennedy / Paul Burchill

Great to see Burchiil in a feud with such an established star. Although Mr. Kennedy got the victory in their match an attack by Burchill on Kennedy after the match means it isn’t dead in the water. Unfortunately though unless one of them gets a title in the next couple of weeks we won’t see them at the next PPV.

HHH / Cena

Good to see these two headlining again. Although this has been put together due to injuries to other stars I would quite happily sit through a series of matches of these guys culminating at Summerslam.

Bad Points

Mr. McMahon’s Million Dollar Mania or should I say madness

The viewing ratings are in from Monday night’s and after Vince gave away his own money and the ratings haven’t improved so Vince gave away his money for nothing. There were many segments of the show dedicated to the competition which were agonising to watch. First off when Vince tried to dial the number of the winners many of the calls didn’t work and watching someone make a phone call in a five minute segment isn’t entertaining.

Beth Phoenix getting misused

After being built up for months as an unbeatable wrestler Beth seems to now be coming out on a weekly basis to lose to Mickie James. For Mickie James to be built again she needs a strong opponent to go against.

Santino and Carlito getting the mess around

Again it’s another case of crazy booking. After weeks of being built and getting mic time this week they lost to Cryme Time to who are regularly on Raw and with no mic time. If this wasn’t bad enough Ted Bibiase Junior and a partner of his choosing have next tag title shot and the tag champs just lost to the new pairing of Snitsky and Umaga in a non title match.

Overall

You could fast forward through a lot of this week’s show if you have it on record. Besides Jericho’s Highlight Reel there wasn’t much mic time for anyone and there was no flow to the show thanks to the Million Dollar competition. Three good feuds are in place they just now need to give them time and develop them properly.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 5th June 2008

This being the iMPACT before TNA’s biggest Pay Per View of the year Slammiversary I was expecting big things this week. TNA have built some good storylines and it as going to be interesting to see what they were going to do for the final push.

Good Points

Great Push for AJ Styles

I am so happy AJ is finally getting pushed in the top feud after months of playing the comedy sidekick. After weeks of getting a beatdown on iMPACT AJ returned the favour for Christian Cage for his help last week at the beginning of the show and then it was turn for the faces to win the skirmish at the end as Samoa Joe came to the aid of Styles and the faces. The love triangle angle with Karen, Kurt and AJ is brilliant and each have played their part in making this an intense rivalry.

A storyline for Nash

Nash is being used well by TNA. After weeks of helping Samoa Joe as an advisor and protector Nash now has the position of special enforcer in the King of the Mountain match and Samoa Joe now thinks he is going to screw him. I am expecting a Nash heel turn at Slammiversary.

The Beautiful People getting good TV time

The Beautiful People are the best female tandem in wrestling at the moment ok they are the only female tandem on TV but they are good. Now they have a new girl as their muscle to back them up things can only be getting better.

Bad Points

Samoa Joe has the cushiest job in wrestling

I can’t remember the last time Samoa Joe had a match on iMPACT or the last time he was on the screen for more than five minutes. Samoa Joe has been king of the pre-records lately and if you work it out he must be on some pay per minute. If he was doing a ton of media I could kind of understand it but Kurt Angle is the one doing all the media so it definitely is the cushiest job.

Kurt Angle has the second most cushiest job in wrestling

When TNA has a much lighter schedule than WWE and when you are trying to establish yourself as a real competitor you need your top guys doing the work in the ring which TNA don’t have at the moment.

Overall

The cast that you see in the ring are really pulling their weight but with your main stars not pulling theirs its hard to see if TNA will ever become a competitor for WWE. This said I’m looking forward to a couple of good storylines they have put in place for Slammiversary.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 6th June 2008

After the Smackdown main event stole the show at One Night Stand it was about time that Smackdown started winning the war of the brands. As Raw is currently experiencing its worst ratings in some time can Smackdown pick up the slack and show thm how it’s done.

Good Points

Lots of non wrestling segments

Finally the Samckdown team have got the balance right between matches and non wrestling segments. The show felt like an entertainment show and not a wrestling show which is what Smackdown needs to be. If they can continue with this balance they are on to a winner.

Two long term storylines put in place

Batista is the new challenger for Edge as after Edge set him what he thought was an impossible task which was to beat The Familia in an eight man tag team match but with Edge and Vickie picking Batista’s partners. Batista and his team of Funaki, Nunzio and Colin Delaney got the win and provided an entertaining main event. On a weekly TV show your job isn’t to put on five star matches but to entertain which I think this match did. The other long term storyline is the planned wedding between Edge and Vickie which got announced at the top of the show, the wedding is going to happen on smackdown.

Women’s division on Smackdown finally gets some direction

After years of just being there for decoration and pointless matches they finally have their own Smackdown only women’s championship entitle the Divas Championship. There is now a good group of female wrestlers on Smackdown and it’s great to see them getting a championship. Natalya won the Golden Dream match to win a place in the first title match, we still wait to see who her opponent will be.

Bad Points

Kozlov

Having Kozlov win squash matches for over two months is not entertaining. They have to do something with him soon and actually integrate him in to a proper storyline.

The Jimmy Kimmel experience

Having a match on Samckdown with on of the cast called Cousin Sal against Raw wrestler Santino Marella made no sense. If they were going to have a match with one of Jimmy’s crew they should have saved it for a filler on a PPV.

Overall

Superb, best Smackdown I have seen in some time. The show was well paced and had lots going on. Smackdown went from being the wrestling show to the entertainment show which it needed to do. Top marks.

WWE Raw Review - 2nd June 2008

After the lowest viewing ratings in some time for Raw last week WWE really needed to start bringing their A-Game to get the ratings back. We had the fall out from One Night Stand and Mr. McMahon’s Million Dollar Madness to look forward to so I was intrigued to see what Raww was going to be like this week.

Good Points

Good development in the main event scene

After Randy Orton breaking his collarbone at One Night Stand HHH opened the show to inform everyone he had ended the era of Orton. This meant we needed a new challenger so John Cena and Jeff Hardy came down to the ring to both stake their claim for hwy they should be the number one contender. This created the headline match of Raw between Hardy and Cena with the winner getting a shot at HHH. Good to Cena not stuck with JBL and to see Hardy getting his push back after his recent suspension.

Burchill / Kennedy feud

Great to see WWE investing time in this feud. We thought we were going to get a match between the two but Burchill pulled out due to Katie lea having her first match later in the show in his place Umaga stepped into face Mr. Kennedy. This left Burchill with a chance to do a run in and blindside Kennedy in typical heel fashion. Not to be out done later in the show Kennedy attacked Burchill when he came down to celebrate his sisters’ victory.

Chris Jericho turning

Chris Jericho is going through an interesting character progression in the mid card of Raw. After coming back as the fan favourite he has now on many occasions showed heel or close to heel like qualities turning and flipping on some of his opponents. This has been teased for some time now and I for one am looking forward to when he fully lets go.

Bad Points

Mr. McMahon’s Million Dollar Madness

It’s a good way to get people to watch as people will watch for a chance of winning a million but from a televisual view point it sucks. What s entertaining about someone announcing how to win a million dollars. If there was an interesting task that entrants had to complete to win the money that would be one thing but all they have to do is register on WWE.com.

Night off for HHH

After the first fifteen minutes HHH effectively had the night off with only brief non wrestling appearances throughout the show. With both TNA and WWE at the moment they start to need using their champions better on TV.

Lance Cade and Murdoch

No one really knows why they are feuding, Murdoch likes to sing Lance Cade has no character or personality whoever came up with the idea of putting these two against each other.

Overall

No substance. Without Orton now we are left with only two big drawing main event stars and a weak to non existent mid card. The WWE aren’t going to create any new stars over night so they really need to step up their creative ideas to keep us entertained.

WWE One Night Stand Review

After a terrible Judgment day and a drop in viewing ratings WWE really need to pick their game up for One Night Stand. After two chaotic weeks of crazy booking on the TV shows I wasn’t expecting great things but was looking forward to seeing the return of matches like TLC.

Good Points

Big Push for Edge

Was great to see him in the main event putting on a good match with Undertaker which featured some great bumps. Edge won the match thus forcing The Undertaker to leave the WWE which is a big thing to have on his resume. It also frees him up for a new challenger to work with on Smackdown in the coming weeks.

Jeff Hardy starting where he left off.

Before his lay off Jeff was enjoying one of his biggest pushes to date and it looks like the WWE creative team want to start where they left off with Hardy opening the show in a good match with Umaga. The match featured the spot of the night as Hardy did his Swanton Bomb out in the parking lot from a huge scaffold structure to get the win.

Nice continuation of the storyline for Batista

Many were saying that Batista was about to take some time off from WWE but with his big win against HBK it looks likely he will be the first challenger for Edge. Was great to see Jericho getting involved again as that also provides another option for Batista or HBK to work with.

Bad Points

Not Extreme enough

For a show that was being billed as the most extreme of the year it was very mild to say the least. Except for Hardy’s Swanton and a few stand out bumps in TLC the action was very tame. I wasn’t expecting anything like the old ECW style but a bit more hard hitting would have been nice.

Orton Injured

It is being reported that Orton suffered a broken collarbone during his match with HHH which could put him on the shelf for a little while. This means we need a new contender for HHH whilst we wait for the draft. This means we will probably see either JBL or Cnea pushed to fill the gap.

Cena vs. JBL just doesn’t work

To have a good match Cena needs to work with a technical or highflying wrestler. JBL’s smash mouth style doesn’t work with Cena’s fan orientated style. Hopefully this is the last Cena/JBL match we have to see for some time.

Overall

Besides from the first and the last match it was all pretty much filler. With only two weeks to build for the show none of the storylines were intense enough or as strong as they should have been. We have got two more pay per views to go until Summerslam now so it will be interesting to see what storylines the WWE will go with to push for Summerslam.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 29th May 2008

After one of my favourite episodes of iMPACT for some time I was really looking forward to seeing this week’s offering from the TNA crew.

Good Points

Great set up for Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

This is the match that myself and I think many of the TNA fans have been looking forward to for some time and we are going to be able to see it at Slammiversary. TNA are building this feud brilliantly with more debate on whether AJ had an affair with Kurt’s wife Karen and AJ getting the beat down two weeks in a row from Kurt, Team 3D and Booker T. This week he didn’t take the beating alone as Christian Cage tried to help him, let’s see next week if anybody else tries to come to his aid.

Push for 3D and Booker T

This little faction is getting a lot of TV and mic time. Even in the twilight of his career Brother Ray is still a great talker on the mic and is a good mouthpiece for the group. Just need to see these guys in more matches as they just seem to be doing a lot of talking and backstage stuff at the moment.

Something for Nash to do

TN have come up with a good little storyline for Nash. No one wants to see him wrestle any more but he still has a part to play. This week he acted as security for Jim Cornette so he could get the spot as Special Enforcer for King of the Mountain which I think is a good move for his career in TNA.

Bad Points

Very little TV time for Samoa Joe

If you missed five minutes of the first segment of iMPACT you missed Samoa Joe this week. They need to start using him more on weekly TV episodes and not just save him for PPV’s. Ok he may not be the best talker but he is a good wrestler and if you are going to put him as your champion you have to give him a fair chunk of TV time every week.

What’s happening with Tomko

One minute it looks like they are going to give him a big push the next he is on a losing streak. This week Tomko did the honours for Christian Cage in the King of the Mountain qualifiers. I think TNA need to start committing one way of the other with Tomko and not do this stop, start approach.

Will Eric hurry up and find Elvis

Now I find Eric Young amusing and there is a place for his out of ring comedy segments in the show. The problem is with Eric’s segments if they aren’t funny which this search for Elvis are then they start to look stupid and out of place. It’s ok doing the wacky stuff but you have to make sure the crowd will find them funny for them to work.

Overall

Not a patch on last week’s show but an entertaining two hours none the less. The build for Kurt vs. AJ has been brilliant and if nothing else this match will have me tuning in to Slammiversary.