October 31, 2010

Smackdown Review: Oct 29/10

We start with a funeral for the Undertaker. There's a bit of talking from Kane. He asks everyone to stand and bow their heads for a moment of silence. This gets interrupted by Alberto Del Rio. He insults Kane a bit before Kane starts screaming at him.

Del Rio slaps the urn out of Bearer's hand and the two men start fighting. That little chihuahua is in the ring now. He chases off Del Rio and Kane. Bearer takes the brunt of a 619 before Kane takes him out of the ring. Edge runs in and Spears the champ.

Back from commercials and Del Rio is demanding a title match against Kane. Teddy instead puts him in a triple threat match for the #1 contendership in the main event.

Match 1: Ziggler vs. Danielson III

Ziggler is 0-2 so far facing Danielson. This is the third time we've seen them face off in less than a week.

Awesome spot as Danielson suplexes Ziggler over the ropes. Both men crash to the floor and look hurt.

Ziggler locks in the sleeper on Danielson, who fights him off. Danielson takes a second too long to recover as Dolph hits the Zig Zag. The ref is down so Vickie counts the pin. The ref gets her out of the ring and the match goes on as Vickie goes on shrieking.

Nice kick to the skull by Danielson for the pinfall.

Rating: 8/10. 3 matches, 3 awesome performances. Great excitement factor and high technical ability on display. I can't wait to see what these 2 will do next.

Backstage with Bearer. He says that Edge, Rey and Del Rio will pay.

Cody Rhodes pushes Kelly Kelly away from a mirror. Big Show comes in and starts arguing with Cody. Somehow a tag match gets set up between Cody, Drew, Show and his mystery partner. Show cracks a couple of bad Scottish jokes to boot.

Match 2: Swagger vs. Kaval

Swagger is working over Kaval's knee. He slams Kaval's leg into the ring post. Swagger back in the ring now with a clothesline from behind. Ankle lock follows and Kaval taps.


Rating: 6/10. I'm tired of seeing Kaval losing. As much as I like Swagger, is there anything at all worth looking forward to for Kaval?

We have a divas costume contest. First up, Batman and Robin Bellas followed by Alicia "Cleopatra" Fox, "Little Bo Peep" Kelly, Leprechaun Rosa, Spider Woman Melina and LayCool as Beyonce and Lady Gaga.

Teddy says the WWE Universe will be the judges. McCool cuts him off saying they could save time by just declaring LayCool as the winners. For some reason this turns into a 4-on-4 tag match.

Match 3: LayCool, Alicia Fox and Rosa vs. The Bellas, Kelly and Melina

Kelly pins Rosa. The end. Saved you a lot of grief.

Rating: 4/10. Pointless waste of time. Seriously, I would rather have watched another Stand up for WWE video than this match.

Edge and Rey backstage now. Typical "we may not be friends but this isn't personal" pre-match crap.

Match 4: "The Dashing Ones" vs. Show and Kofi

On a side note, Drew's trunks look like the Confederate flag.

Chokeslam for Rhodes and a pin by Show.

Rating: 6/10. I don't see why Rhodes and Drew are still a team. They aren't that great together. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see them both as singles competitors but not together.

The Dashing Ones are arguing backstage now. Cody makes a comment that the only way he'll win singles gold is without Drew. Umm... duh? Looks like this is the end of those 2 as a team. Thank God.

Match 5: Del Rio vs. Rey vs. Edge, #1 contendership

Finisher fest to say the least. Rey has both Edge and Del Rio on opposite ropes for the 619. Rey hesitates, trying to decide who to go for. He chooses Del Rio, who is back up off the ropes. Del Rio catches Rey and gets him in an electric chair clutch. Edge is up now and Spears Del Rio. Rey falls to the mat along with Del Rio.

Edge picks up the pinfall and becomes the new #1 contender.

Rating: 7/10. Awesome match with lots of exciting action. Did anyone else notice Del Rio sold the 619 longer than Rey sold the Spear?

Kane and Edge have a staredown after the match. The show fades out from there.

Average Match Rating: 6.2/10 (+0.5)

Match of the Night: Ziggler vs. Danielson

Overall Show Rating: 7.5/10 (+2.5)

There were some good segments tonight compared to other weeks and I like the fact that WWE seems to be splitting Drew and Cody. It had it's moments but overall it was decent.

Magic 8-Ball:

Ziggler and Danielson will fight until SSeries, where they will unify their titles.
Swagger will go until he breaks someone's ankle
Kaval won't go anywhere
LayCool is only going to be shoved down our throats more
Drew and Rhodes will fight more intensely
Let the mind games begin.....

I will try to come up with something for a feature post for some time this week. I'll continue to at least do my show recaps for now if I can't. Again, I'm always open to suggestions and you can email me at ACA-CT@hotmail.com or hit me up on Facebook.

October 29, 2010

WWE NXT Review: Oct. 26/10

We have a Halloween themed show this week. All the girls are in costume. We have "Teenage Mutant Ninja" AJ, "Hand Job" Naomi, Kaitlyn "Guerrero", "Ice Queen" Maxine and "Oops I Did It Again" Aksana (yes, I know she's a devil but she still looks like Britney Spears).

Striker talks about the elimination next week, and Naomi is in the lead for immunity. We go right into our first contest: Halloween costume judging. The girls have 15 seconds to impress the WWE Universe judges.

Aksana is first. She blows a couple kisses. Nothing to be overly excited about. Maxine doesn't do anything, she just talks. Also, I think I found her good angle (right side, about 80% profile). Kaitlyn is now mocking Vickie. She screams "excuse me" and then pretends to throw a tantrum. She stuffed her ass to epic proportions to boot(y). See what I did there? Vickie doesn't looked amused.

Naomi starts by slapping Striker. She then talks about Hamburger Helper. It sounds like a commercial. Boring.

Teenage Mutant Ninja AJ is last (but by far the best). She does a sexy little dance and as Striker said, she gave me a splinter (gotta love thinly veiled boner jokes).

Striker goes through the girls and bases the winner on applause. It's between Kaitlyn and AJ. Kaitlyn wins by a good bit. I'm not disappointed, she did have a good costume. Although AJ was hotter.

Match 1: Hand Job vs. Ice Queen

Maxine throws Naomi out of the ring. She slams the walking hand job into the announce table and then proceeds to ram her into the barrier behind the announcers. Back in the ring and there's a bit of back and forth. Maxine takes control after a big boot to Naomi. Maxine picks Naomi up, and Naomi drills Maxine in the gut. She follows with a series of headbutts for the pinfall.

Rating: 5/10. It was an alright match, but the hand costume made it hard to take Naomi seriously. Good aggression from Maxine as well.

Backstage with Aksana and Goldust. More marriage talk. Some Italian guy supposedly from immigration comes in and says that if Aksana doesn't marry next week, she's getting deported.

Match 2: Brie Bella vs. AJ

AJ kicks out of a pin following a dropkick from Brie. Bella trying for a submission now and AJ fights her way free. Another pin attempt by Brie. Apologies, my signal cut out for a second. AJ is out of the pin and Brie and Nikki are arguing outside the ring. No idea what happened.

Primo keeping an eye on the Bellas, stopping them from doing "that switchy thing." AJ slams Brie's head into the mat and locks in a sleeper. Brie rams her into the corner to get her off. AJ with a hammerfist to the back of Brie's head. Pin attempt and Brie kicks out. Irish whip and an elbow by AJ followed by another failed pin attempt.

AJ arguing with the ref distracts him long enough for Nikki to yank Brie out of the ring. Facebuster by Nikki and she picks up the win.

Rating: 7/10. The ending was bullshit to say the least. The only time switching between twin sisters is okay is when you're done fucking the first one.

Backstage with Ted DiBiase and Maryse. Maryse complains that she doesn't want to be there. Ted says they're only there to get the $Million title back. Maryse suggests he just buys a new one. Not going to happen.

Maryse storms off and that's that it seems. The main event is going to be Ted and Maryse vs. Aksana and Goldust.

Back from commercials and we have contest #2: candy eating. Yay, we get to see 3 semi-attractive (and 2 very attractive) girls cram their pie holes with chocolate. 1 minute to eat as much junk as possible.

Maxine wins. Whoopy.

Kaitlyn starts choking. She falls to her knees and Hornswoggle tries to help her. Vickie is now kneeling in front of her screaming in her face. Kaitlyn eventually spits candy in Vickie's face. We hear a bunch of men chanting what sounds like "puke puke puke" as Vickie slowly walks out.

Vickie is screaming her face off in her locker room. Kaitlyn comes to apologize and Dolph answers the door. They kinda share a moment in which he tells her that she really makes her outfit (the Vickie costume) work.

We see an invitation to Aksana and Goldust's wedding next week.

Match 3: Aksana and Goldust vs. Ted DiBiase and Maryse

Somewhere along the way Aksana loses her tail, horns and a heel.

Goldust takes Ted out of the ring while Aksana and Maryse battle it out. Maryse is dragging Aksana around by her hair. Aksana catches Maryse in a small package for the victory.

Rating: 5/10. What was the point of the entire match? Everything could have ended here tonight. All Ted had to do was grab the belt from ringside and bolt. Problem solved. But no, let's continue to drag it out some more.


That's the end of the show for this week.


Average Match Rating: 5.7/10 (+1.7)

Match of the Night: Brie vs. AJ

Overall Show Rating: 5/10 (--)

Magic 8-Ball: With the elimination (and Aksana's potential deportation) looming next week, things will be interesting. I see one of 2 things happening:

Aksana and Goldilocks fail to get married for whatever reason, meaning she gets deported and Maxine gets voted off. Or, Aksana is eliminated, rendering her marriage and immigration issues moot.

Ted and Maryse will most likely crash the above mentioned wedding, and there will be more infighting between the Bellas. Nothing spectacular in the future, but I kinda have to watch it if I'm going to write about it.

I don't know what to do for a feature post this week so I'll just wing it when I think of something.

October 26, 2010

Raw Review: Oct. 25/10

We start out with Nexus in the ring. Barrett says that Nexus is the most dominant team in WWE history. He talks about Nexus helping Kane. I'm sick and tired of only seeing pictures from the PPV's on Raw. I want to see some kind of video footage.

Barrett doesn't explain why they helped Kane. He calls out Cena on why he got Orton disqualified. Cena explains that he would get fired if Barrett didn't win. He helped Barrett win, so everything works out. An email comes in.

Barrett gets a rematch at SS for the WWE Title. There will be a match tonight between Orton and Cena (as chosen by Barrett). Whoever wins gets to choose the special referee for the SS match. Otunga now says that Cena ignored him during their tag title match, then gave him the AA.

He says that on principle alone, Cena should be fired. Barrett says that Otunga is right, but he has a solution. Cena and Otunga are going to face Slater and Gabriel for the titles right now. I guess the Freebird Rule isn't in effect.

Match 1: Otunga and Cena vs. Slater and Gabriel, Tag Title defense

Barrett orders Otunga to "do the right thing" and lie down in the middle of the ring. Otunga questions him but eventually does lay down. Slater gets the pin and we have new tag champs.

Rating: 3/10. I don't understand why they didn't just hand the titles over citing the above mentioned Freebird Rule*. Utterly pointless.

*Freebird Rule: A team or stable consisting of more than 2 members is allowed to determine which 2 members defend the tag team titles on any night

Vickie is blabbing about how Dolph lost at Bragging Rights. She claims it was shoddy officiating that showed facvouritism towards Raw. We're having a rematch right now. CM Punk is on commentary for some reason. According to him, he's scouting talent.

Match 2: Danielson vs. Ziggler

Danielson with a decent high spot diving through the ropes at Ziggler. I dunno if Danielson was supposed to hit the announce table or not, but he took a pretty good hit.

Danielson in a sleeper hold by Ziggler. Danielson manages to stand up and ram Ziggler into the turnbuckle, but he hangs on. Danielson tries to shake him off on the ropes and it works. He counters into the LeBell Lock. Dolph is tapping as Vickie moves his leg under the rope.

The ref doesn't see and the match is over.

Rating: 8/10. Another awesome performance from these 2. I didn't expect this to go anywhere beyond Bragging Rights but I'm glad it did. Can't wait to see where it goes. My guess is a title unification match.


Backstage with the Bellas, Toby Keith and Santino. Here comes Sheamus. He says Santino embarrassed team Raw at Bragging Rights. He wants to face Santino tonight.

Now we see Cena yelling at Barrett. Cena's really close to quitting, but he doesn't, unfortunately. Barrett just says to focus on beating Orton tonight.

Match 3: LayCool vs. Melina and Gail Kim

Layla tags in McCool. Melina doesn't notice and McCool boots her in the jaw for the pin.

Rating: 4/10. Gail Kim didn't do anything, and Melina is looking weak. Better fix that soon.

Here's Miz in the ring now with Alex Riley. He talks about how Team Raw failed him at Bragging Rights. He also talks about how he's on the cover of the new SvR game.

Eve comes out and Miz says that she doesn't have to apologize for what happened at Bragging Rights. Eve says she isn't there to apologize. She tells Miz that everyone in the WWE Universe thinks he's a "frog-faced loser" among other things. He retorts by insulting the Packers.

Eve cuts him off during his catchphrase. She says he's the furthest thing from awesome the WWE has ever seen. And he's ugly.

A-Ry starts up now. He says Miz could beat any of the slackers on team Raw any day. Eve is about to leave when R-Truth's music hits. I'm starting to miss "What's Up" while we're talking about his theme.

Truth cuts a quick promo before an email comes in. And I quote: "Ding. ding. ding."

Match 4: Miz vs. Truth

Miz kicks out of a pin then ducks the axe kick. He grabs Truth and plants him with the Skullcrushing Finale.

Rating: 7/10. I'm not a fan of Truth, but it was a decent match.

We have Toby Keith in the ring pandering to the crowd. He introduces the next match (horribly).

Match 5: Sheamus vs. Santino

John Morrison shows up for some reason. Santino in the corner. Sheamus tries for the Brogue Kick but Santino ducks and gets the pin.

Rating: 5/10. Really? Santino over Sheamus? Really? Really? I can't believe it.

Backstage and Otunga wants some alone time with Barrett. He questions why Barrett made him lay down earlier in the night. Otunga says Barrett was trying to take focus off of his loss at the PPV. Otunga says that if Barrett crosses him, he'll reveal the real reason why Nexus attacked Taker.

Barrett introduces Harris and McGillicutty as the 2 newest members of Nexus. Barrett tells Otunga to make up his mind. Is he Nexus or against us? He says Nexus after a long pause.

Match 6: Orton vs. Cena

I'll spare you the crap. RKO. Cena rolls out of the ring. Cena goes dead weight and Orton has to lift Cena into the ring with literally no help from Cena. Cena is back outside. Barrett hits him. Cena wins.

Rating: 4/10. Boring horseshit.

Cena is named special ref for SS. Barrett also says that if he doesn't win, Cena is fired on the spot, and if Barrett does win, Cena's obligation to Nexus is over. We can all see where this is going....

That's the end of the show. Thank GOD.

Average match rating: 5.2/10 (-0.4)

Match of the Night: Ziggler vs. Danielson

Overall Show Rating: 5/10 (-1)

There was nothing exciting besides the Ziggler/Danielson match. I was hoping for better.

October 25, 2010

Bragging Rights Review: Oct. 24/10

Okay, I've decided not to do a full write up, but here is a link to WZ's results of the event.


Dolph vs. Danielson: I'm not surprised that Danielson won but I am surprised that it was clean. Like I said in my preview on Friday, I thought either Vickie or Kaitlyn would cost Dolph the match in some fashion. Good for Danielson to get a win again. Maybe Vince isn't shitting on the indy star anymore.

Where it will go from here: For Danielson things will go back to him losing. Dolph will continue to argue with Vickie before ultimately ending up with Kaitlyn.

Drew Mac and Cody Rhodes vs. Cena and Otunga: This match was added on during the PPV by the Raw GM. I wasn't a huge fan of Drew and Cody as a tag team, but at the same time I would rather see them as champs than Cena and Otunga. Hopefully the Freebird rule is in effect so we can see Slater and Gabriel defend them.

Where it goes from here:  Cena will be forced to relinquish the belt to Barrett and continue hesitantly aiding Nexus on a weekly basis. The titles will be defended by Slater and Gabriel. Nexus will go on to face a team representing WWE at Survivor Series.


DiBiase vs. Goldust: Apparently they had good ring chemistry but I can't see the match being exciting to watch. I dunno about this one.

Where it will go from here: They'll fight over the belt some more until it culminates in a mixed tag match for the title and another as yet undetermined prize.

Layla vs. Natalya: I'm not shocked. I figured there would be more bullshit with LayCool winning. Can they give anyone else a chance?

Where it will go from here: Sadly, Natalya will not get another title match. LayCool will continue to rule the womens division until Beth Phoenix makes her return. God speed, Beth.

Kane vs. Taker (Buried Alive): Why did Nexus have to interfere? Kane beating Taker legit is very believable. I hope this ends the storyline between the two so Kane can go and defend his title against someone more deserving.

Where it will go from here: Taker is taking time off as always and Kane will feud with Swagger. There will be a couple of title changes before it ends up on Swagger in time for Mania.

7-on-7 Tag Match: Another unsurprising result. I didn't like some of the eliminations, such as Rey over Punk, Morrison over Swagger and Rey over Zeke. Not too exciting and after next week meaningless.

Where it will go from here: Nowhere. There is no long term gain from winning this match for either side. They ride a 2 week high and then go right back to how things were before.

Orton vs. Barrett: I didn't expect that ending. I figured Cena would do something to help Barrett win, but I didn't see him doing it like that. but then I should have. It's Cena helping Barrett while hindering him at the same time. I totally forgot that this was a possibility. Given the circumstances, I would rather have seen Orton win.

Where it will go from here: Barrett will get a rematch, in a steel cage, with Nexus banned from ringside. Who wins that I can't say, but I'm willing to bet Nexus will end up with all the belts at some point in the next year.

Overall PPV Rating: 6/10

Prediction Accuracy: 4/5 matches (80%)

The above accuracy calculation does not include the Goldust/DiBiase match or the tag title match as they were not announced at the time of writing my preview. That said, I did predict that there would be matches added during the show.


Hopefully Raw will be better tonight.

Smackdown Review: Oct. 22/10

Yes, a day late, I know. I have no reason for not doing this saturday night. I apologize.

We start with Teddy Long and both Bragging Rights teams in the ring. Alex Riley is standing in for R-Truth because he's not allowed into Canada. Teddy announces that the superstars are going to make the matches tonight.

Miz starts by announcing a 6-man tag match featuring himself, Sheamus and big Zeke against Big Show, Rey Rey and Kofi.

Edge wants to face CM Punk, JoMo is facing Alberto Del Rio and Swagger is facing Santino for some reason.

Match 1: Team Miz vs. Team Show

Big Show chokeslams Miz and tag in Rey, who climbs onto Show's shoulders. Rey just kinda falls off Show and onto Miz for the pinfall.

6/10. It was alright, until the end. Typical pre-PPV tag match.

Backstage with Dolph and Vickie. They talk about Daniel Bryan Danielson a bit. It's announced that Danielson and Dolph will be facing off at Bragging Rights.

Match 2: Swagger vs. Santino

The eagle tries to attack Santino. Hornswoggle for some reason keeps the eagle at bay. Santino pokes the eagle and the eagle goes down. Yes, I referred to the Cobra as a poke. It is not a real move.

Santino takes too long setting up another poke that Swagger grabs his ankle and makes him tap.

Rating: 4/10. For a Swagger match, this was sad. But then it's average for a Santino match. Add in the bullshit with Horny and the eagle, it's a waste of time.

We now have a Cody Rhodes segment on Chapstick. Woohoo.

Match 3: Del Rio vs. Morrison

Morrison misses Starship Pain and Del Rio drops him into an armbar.

Rating: 7/10. It was actually pretty good. I usually enjoy Morrison's high flying and it was a nice mix with Del Rio's style.

Match 4: Edge vs. Punk

Edge is on the top rope and Punk is down. Edge hops off the turnbuckle and is going for the spear, but Miz and Riley pull him out fo the ring forcing the DQ.

Rating: 7/10. The match was great until the ending. I don't see the point to the DQ but then I'm not WWE Creative.

Post match finisher fest that ends with Edge finally hitting the spear on Punk.

We now have "Natalya" and "Bret Hart" in the ring. Just kidding. It's Layla and McCool. Layla's wearing an Anvil-esque chin tail. It's actually kinda funny. They insult Natalya and Bret a bunch before the match.

Match 5: LayCool vs. Kelly and Natalya

Long story short, McCool taps to the Sharpshooter.

Rating: 4/10. Meh. Not impressed.

Natalya is now wearing Layla's chin tail. Funny stuff.

Match 6: Kane vs. Orton

Kane has Orton down. He's got his arm raised for a chokeslam. The lights go out (accompanied by the bell sounds) and when they come back on, Orton is behind Kane. Kane turns arod right into an RKO. Orton gets the win.

Rating: 6/10. I disliked the ending, but it was probably one of the better parts of the match. At least ti was over after that.

Kane is in the ring, and he's been bathed in blue light. Taker now rips his way through the ring mat and pulls Kane down into "hell." Kane is screaming like a little bitch as he's dragged under the ring. The lights go out and that ends the show.

Average match rating: 5.7/10 (-0.3)

Match of the Night: Morrison vs. Del Rio

Overall Show Rating: 5/10 (-2)

This show was actually dominated by wrestling and I was surprised, but it wasn't the best I've seen. If you're going to have more matches than promos, make the matches worth watching.

Monday will bring my Bragging Rights recap. I've decided not to do full write ups anymore, just talk about my feelings on who won and how I see things progressing from here. My next feature post will talk about how the Cena/Nexus angle will continue.

October 23, 2010

Bragging Rights Preview

An now for something completely different. I know I was going to write about pro wrestling's hypocrisies, but then I decided that the topic was overdone and that anyone who's smarter than a mark knows what they are. Instead, I'm going to discuss my thoughts on the upcoming Bragging Rights PPV.

First off, isn't Bragging Rights the same ideas as Survivor Series? I mean, Smackdown vs. Raw has been a SS staple for as long as I can remember and now it's apparently not enough to showcase it at one of WWE's Big 4 PPV's. The concept of the brands facing off needs to have its own niche for some reason I fail to understand.

To side track for a moment, gimmick PPV's are starting to devalue certain matches and themes. I remember when a Hell in a Cell match was rare, and a TLC match happened once a year if we were lucky and to have both of them on the same night was unheard of (Unforgiven 2006, it happened). Now, it's not something to look forward to, it's another mundane day on a calendar that will come as predictably as my hate for John Cena.

Knowing when the next Hell in a Cell match will take place a year in advance ruins the magic. It's no longer the ultimate test it used to be, it's not the final solution anymore. I know I'm focusing on HIAC matches here but the same can be said for TLC and other match types. Did I hear someone mention TNA's Lockdown PPV? I like the concept of Lockdown, because they actually offer up some kind of variation on the steel cage match that isn't some random tacked on stipulation. They tried to give us variance which I applaud as much as some of the matches suck.

Back on track, we have Bragging Rights this sunday and there's 5 matches so far.

Orton vs. Barrett w/ Cena: I'm looking forward to this one, aside from Cena. I can see this match going a few different ways.

My first thought is that it will go exactly like every other bit with Cena and Barrett. Cena will grudgingly do Barrett's bidding after being threatened with termination. This is the most likely case.

Second, Cena will find a way to make the match a triple threat, then after beating down Orton so Barrett can pin him, Cena will steal the victory from Barrett and come out on top. Cena will of course wait until Barrett is somehow unable to stop him from pinning Orton.

Last (and least likely) is that Cena will gladly help Barrett win and be revealed as the leader of Nexus.This will never happen. I can still hope though. Not so much that I want to see Cena leading my favourite faction, but because a Cena heel turn would be the only thing to actually make this angle interesting.

Who I want to win: Barrett

Who will win: This is tough. Precedent shows that Orton will win, but Cena being forced to follow Barretts orders could mean that Cena will help Barrett win. As the magic 8-ball once said: Outlook not so good.

LayCool vs. Natalya: I can't see Natalya winning. The only way Natalya will win is if there's civil unrest within LayCool. I don't see that happening as they are currently the lead heels in the womens division and are (by choice of WWE) carrying the division.

Who I want to win: Natalya

Who will win: LayCool

Kane w/ Paul Bearer vs. Taker (Buried Alive): Another tough call. Kane is looking awesome, but then Taker is making his predictable comeback from the brink of extinction. The only real way this storyline will continue is if Taker wins. I can't see it going anywhere beyond Bragging Rights if Kane wins, but that may be a good thing.

Who I want to win: Kane

Who will win: Taker

Danielson vs. Ziggler: This won't go anywhere after Bragging Rights so the winner is inconsequential. If anything, this match is taking place to further the storyline between Dolph, Vickie and Kaitlyn. One or both of the women will cost Dolph the match in some fashion.

Who I want to win: I really can't decide

Who will win: Danielson

7-on-7 Raw vs. SD match: It's a given that this will be a total cluster fuck. I think Raw has the (slightly) stronger team, but Vince is saying he wants SD to be the A show now according to a couple of articles I recently read.

Who I want to win: I honestly don't care

Who will win: Smackdown

Only 5 matches in 3 hours? Either expect REALLY long matches, a couple of impromptu matches or a metric assload of filler.

Anyways, that's how I see Bragging Rights going down. I'll post my review on monday after my visit to Isaac Yankem DDS.

October 22, 2010

WWE NXT Review: Oct. 19/10

Here's my review for this week's edition of NXT.

We of course start with the girls in the ring. Here comes Vickie. She's insulting Kaitlyns outfit. Vickie tells her to put on this big ugly sweatshirt. Maxine now jumps in and starts saying Kaitlyn has no respect for Vickie and how Maxine would love to have Vickie as her pro.

This upsets Alicia Fox (Maxine's pro). There's a bunch of talking and basically it ends in a match between Kaitlyn and Maxine.

Match 1: Kaitlyn vs. Maxine

Kaitlyn is wearing the sweatshirt and both pros have a mic to coach their rookies. Why am I reminded of Pokemon?

Cole is taking a phone call and has left the announce table. Enjoy this brief respite while it lasts

There's some kind of weird looking pin by Maxine that ends up winning the match.

Rating: 4/10. I wasn't that impressed. The ending had potential but something about it didn't look quite right. I also didn't enjoy hearing Vickie screaming instructions at Kaitlyn. Seriously, her voice annoys the shit out of me.

Now we have the first challenge. The girls have to identify the torso of the superstar on screen. Long story short: Lots of stomachs, not enough titties.

Naomi wins.

Backstage with Goldust and Aksana now. More marriage talk. Goldilocks produces a ring for Aksana.

Time for another challenge. Limbo time.

Kaitlyn warms up with a couple of push ups, with AJ riding her to provide more of a challenge I guess. I wish AJ would ride me.

All of the girls make it through twice. AJ and Kaitlyn horsing around with more push ups.

Kaitlyn is the first one out on a controversial ruling. AJ is out next for bending her shoulders. Aksana bumps the bar. Maxine is out because her hand touched the ground leaving Naomi as the winner.

Match 2: Kelly Kelly and Naomi vs. the Bellas

Naomi has one of the Bellas down. Because I can't tell them apart, it's Bella 1 and Bella 2 from now on. Bella 1 fights back and Irish whips Naomi off the ropes. Bella 2 grabs Naomis ankles and she falls to the mat. The ref is distracted. Bella 2 gets Bella 1 out of the ring behind the refs back and Bella 2 picks up the pinfall victory.

Rating: 4/10. Do the Bellas always have to win with the whole twin switching thingy? Also, why is it always the rookie that gets pinned by the pro? That to me does more harm than good in the long run.

That's the end of the show.

Average match rating: 4/10 (-0.5)

Should I be holding the divas to a lower standard? I feel like I never give them enough credit, but then the matches are almost always bad. What do I do?

Overall show rating: 5/10

There was more time eaten up by ads and replays from Raw, previews of Bragging Rights and whatnot than there was actual show. I think the competitions are getting dumber by the week as well. Maybe a bikini contest next week?

Tomorrow will see my feature post about hypocrisies in pro wrestling. I think for my next feature post I'll talk about WWE taking heat from Linda McMahon's senate opponent. Or, shoot me an email if you'd like me to share my thoughts on something.

ACA-CT@hotmail.com is where you can reach me. If I ever feel like buying a webcam I may start doing stuff on Youtube but I think Jakob has that down better than I ever could.

October 19, 2010

Raw Review: Oct. 18/10

We start with Teddy Long invading. He has a back and forth with the Raw GM. talking about Bragging Rights.

Cole gets in Teddy's face as the GM keeps emailing. Teddy disconnects the Raw GM's computer. He now calls Team Smackdown to the ring. Just as all of Team SD makes it to the ring, here comes Miz.

He says that Team SD is what Smurf Village would look like if it was next to a nuclear plant. He called Edge Smurfette.

Here comes Team Raw. Ezekiel Jackson is revealed as the 7th man. Team Raw hits the ring and it's a total shit show. Team SD gets the upper hand and Team Raw is on the ramp.

Show challenges Miz to a captain vs. captain match tonight. Miz accepts.

If you're wondering where Truth was, he's not allowed into Canada because of a prior criminal record. Lulz.

We're back from commercials and we have our first match.

Match 1: Drew Mac and Cody Rhodes vs. Hart Dynasty


DH Smith has Drew in position for the Hart Attack. Tyson is about to slingshot over the rope when Smith puts Drew into the Sharpshooter. Cody breaks it up and Drew hits the Futureshock for the win.

Rating: 7/10. Good work from both teams, and the twist at the end was kinda neat. I just hope they don't break up the best tag team they have.

Backstage with Cena and Orton. As we found out last week, they'll be teaming together against Harris and McGillicutty. Pretty boring segment. Both men say that if the other one tries to hurt them, they'll hurt the other one instead.

Commercials are over and we have an R-Truth video. See above about him not being allowed into the country.

Match 2: Goldust vs. Zack Ryder

Fast match. Goldust uppercuts Ryder and hits the Final Cut.

Rating: 5/10. Meh. I guess it was only used to get Goldilocks in they ring for the next bit.

Ted and Maryse come out now and go rights after Goldust and the future Mrs. Goldust. Borat's wife runs off with the $Million Title while Goldust lays to DiBiase with the Final Cut.

Commercials are over and we're backstage with Cena and Nexus again. Barrett orders Cena to beat the shit out of Harris and McGillicutty. Even Cena doesn't understand it. Why would Barrett give Cena the chance to be his old self? Cena leaves to get Barrett a glass of water.

Some midget (or kid, I can't tell) is playing SvR '11. He's playing Miz vs. Big Show. Miz walks in and says that he's going to win tonight. Here's Show now and they exchange a few words.

Cena's back with Barrett's water. Barrett takes a sip and throws the rest in Cena's face. Good job.

Good LORD could there be any more commercials?

Match 3: Cena and Orton vs. Harris and McGillicutty

Nexus is watching from the stage.

Cena does his best "I'm injured" impression and "struggles" to reach the corner. He tags Orton in and he wins the match with an RKO after what is fast becoming his own 5 Moves of Doom.

Rating: 6/10. Harris and McGillicutty both looked good, but Cena was his typical derpy self and I don't like where Orton is heading.

Nexus now surrounds the ring and Barrett tells Cena to stand aside.

Nexus takes Orton out of the ring. They have him pinned against the barrier and are pounding him flat. Back in the ring now and the beating continues. Barrett orders Cena into the ring and orders him to deliver the AA to Orton.

On second thought, Barrett doesn't want Cena stealing his spotlight. He orders Cena to hand Orton over. Barrett then hits the Wasteland.

Yet again more commercials.

Why did Vickie have to show up too? At least she brought Dolph Ziggler along.

Dolph cuts a promo about how much he loves Vickie. Here comes Daniel Bryan Danielson. I'm still loving his theme. Danielson says that even he could do better than Vickie. Danielson challenges Dolph to a match at Bragging Rights. Dolph accepts, but why wait till Sunday. Let's to it right --

Ziggler attacks Danielson, and he quickly ducks behind Vickie for protection. Danielson dekes around her and tackles Dolph out of the ring. He sinks in the LeBell Lock (that needs a better name btw) and hee comes the Divas.

They throw a bucket of..... glitter(?) at her and she takes off running. Now Danielson is dancing with the ladies. Haha, he messed up his crotch going for the splits. Yes, it was terrible dancing, but it was better than what I could do.

Back from commercials and we find out that Danielson vs. Ziggler is official for Sunday.

Match 4: Natalya vs. Alicia Fox

Short match. It ends unsurprisingly with a sharpshooter.

Rating: 4/10. Divas matches are lacking lately.

LayCool comes out and starts insulting Canada. They make fun of our watered down beer (which actually has a higher alcohol content) and the way we say "eh" all the time. I have no idea what they're talking aboot.

They start brawling. Natalya tries to lock in the sharpshooter on both of them in succession, but McCool gets out and pulls Layla to safety.

We find out that Evan Bourne will be out of action due to Punk's attack last week. They say he'll be out for 4 months. In reality, he does need shoulder surgery but it's not from Punk's attack.

Backstage with Josh and Teddy. I like him on the mic.

Teddy says "watch this" and Hornswoggle leads the entire SD roster (Minus Kane and Taker) to the ring.

A video promoting the "stand up for WWE" initiative airs. The initiative was created in response to the comments of Linda's senate opponent.

Huh, shorty from earlier is the guest star. Big deal.

Both rosters are in the ring now. Instead of Show vs. Miz, it turns into an impromptu battle royal by order of T'Lo.

Match 5: Full roster battle royal

Of course it's a giant cluster fuck until it gets down to a handful of people. Hornswoggle attacks Cole and takes a headset.

At some point, Miz slips out under the ropes and is biding his time. After Swagger is eliminated, he pulls Edge out of the ring and has him in the ankle lock. Both men went under the ropes and are still in the match.


It's down to Show, Sheamus and Miz now. They have Show on the apron. Here comes Edge. He delivers a Spear to Miz and tosses him over the rope. Next up is Sheamus over the ropes.

Rating: 6/10. It was nothing more than a typical battle royal but I will say I'm surprised that SD won. I did read something though about Vince wanting SD to be the #1 brand recently so that's probably why.

We're backstage with Nexus and Cena. Barrett orders Cena to raise his hand the same way it will be raised on Sunday.

That's the end of the show.

Average match rating: 5.6/10 (-1.1)

Match of the Night: Hart Dynasty vs. Cody and Drew

Overall show rating: 6/10 (-1)

It was alright for a go-home show I suppose, but there were a few segments that killed it, like Cena's. I'm glad to see Big Zeke as the 7th man on Team Raw, plus I enjoyed T'Lo taking over. I didn't really expect anything more or less from this show than it delivered.


Tune in on thursday for my NXT review and friday for my feature post on wrestling hypocrisies.

October 17, 2010

Smackdown Review: Oct. 15/10

I should make this clear: I am a night owl. I do my best work between 5pm and 2am which is why my posts are so late at night. I'm not a slacker I'm not procrastinating I just work better at night. Also, I've decided to move my feature posts to every 2 weeks. That will give me more time to write them and make them as good as possible for you guys.

Here's this week's Smackdown review.

We have T'Lo starting things off in the ring. He talks about Bragging Rights and announces that there will be qualifying matches tonight. We already have Big Show captaining for some reason and we'll find out the other members soon.

Match 1: Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

Rey counters an Alabama Slam into the 619 for the win.

Rating: 7/10. Pretty good athleticism but it was lacking a certain level of excitement.

Backstage with Kaval and Big Show. Kaval wants on Team Smackdown and Show says no. They eventually come to an agreement: if Kaval can last 5 minutes in the ring with Show, he's on Team SD.

We now have Paul Bearer talking about Undertaker's final reckoning. It's going to be a buried alive match at Bragging Rights.

Show's at ringside for the next Bragging Rights qualifier.

Match 2: Swagger vs. MVP

Somewhere along the way the Eagle gets taken out. The men are back in the ring and MVP taps to the ankle lock.

Rating: 6/10. It served it's purpose, but not much more.

Undertaker is standing on a balcony or something outside the arena. He's just standing there and that's all the segment was.

Match 3: Del Rio vs. Chris Masters


Del Rio counters the Masterlock attempt into the cross arm breaker into an armbar for the win.

Rating: 5/10.  Figured. NEXT!

Match 4: Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler

Dolph jumps Edge's Spear attempt, leaps to the turnbuckle and dives at Edge. Edge catches him midair with a Spear for the victory.

Rating: 8/10. Great work from both men. Hope to see more matches of this calibre.

Match 5: Kaval vs. Big Show, 5 minute challenge

Long story short, Kaval lasts the full 5 minutes.

Rating: 4/10. Meh.

After the match Tyler Reks (yes the surfer from ECW) appears and takes on Kaval for his spot on Team SD.

Match 6: Kaval vs. Tyler Reks

Reks hits an inverted Death Valley Driver for the win.

Rating: 4/10. Why did they even bother having Kaval win then? Better yet, why didn't they just have Kaval vs. Reks in the first place?

Back from commercials and we have a Cody Rhodes beauty segment. Something about fingernails. I didn't really pay attention.

Match 7: Drew Mac vs. Kofi

Drew kicks out of a pin and delivers a series of punches to Kofi. Drew Irish whips Kofi, who rebounds and rolls over Drew's back. Drew turns around into Trouble in Paradise. Kofi gets the pinfall victory.

Rating: 8/10. Great match but I'm kinda not liking Kofi so much anymore. Dunno why.

Undertaker is now in the arena. Again we just see him walking through a door in an "eerie" purple light.

Kane and Bearer are in the ring. More stuff about Kane being superior to the Undertaker. It's the same old stuff but Kane does manage to make it sound new every week. I'll give him credit for that. The man can talk.

Here comes Taker now.

Intense staredown for what seems like forever. Finally Taker starts throwing punches. He beats Kane down pretty good before Kane is able to slip under the ropes.

As Kane and Bearer stumble back up the ramp, Undertaker make's Kane's ring pyro motion and the ringposts ignite. Kane and Bearer make it to the stage and Taker raises his arms. Lightning strikes in front of Kane and Bearer.

The show fades out from there.

Average match rating: 6/10 (+0.2)

I was hoping the rating would be higher given a lack of Divas this week, but the whole Big Show/Kaval/Reks crap pulled the rating down from what would have been an easy 7.

Match of the Night: Edge vs. Dolph

Overall show rating: 7/10 (+1)

It was a decent show but I would have liked to see something other than Bragging Rights qualifiers in terms of matches and maybe some different promos. Other than that, a typical episode of Smackdown.

Next friday will be my feature post on hypocrisies in pro wrestling as I mentioned earlier on. I'm still working out the kinks in my posting schedule so please, bear with me.

October 14, 2010

WWE NXT Review: Oct. 12/10

Here's my thoughts on this week's NXT. Sound worked this week thankfully so there's no issues there. Without further ado, here it is.

We start off the show with a "name that tune" contest. Basically they play clips of superstars themes and the girls have to guess whose theme it is.

AJ gets literally all but 2 of them. Naomi had one, and the other one nobody got. Striker was trying not to laugh and was constantly having the air horn buzzers blown in his ears. I can see where AJ would be good at this given how hyper she is.

In the end, she won it 1900 points to Naomi's 100. Everyone else had zero.

Best line ever: *Vince's theme* Striker: "If you don't get this one, I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours."

Match 1: Naomi vs. Alicia Fox

Alicia wins after hitting her finisher.

Rating: 4/10

Still kinda on the fence about Naomi, but the biggest problem is the fact that Alicia won. I mean sure, it's believable given that Naomi is only a "rookie" compared t Alicia, but I don't think there should be pro vs. rookie matches at all, unless your pro can't wrestle like Vickie.

We have another segment talking about Aksana's potential deportation. I care why?

Back from commercials and another competition. The girls have one minute to talk about a subject of their choice.

Naomi is first. She rants about Michael Cole. Sweet.

We have AJ with a personal ad. Come over to her place, turn off the lights light some candles and play some Xbox and Playstation. She's already ordered some pizza and there's action movies on tap.

Kaitlyn is making fun of Vickie again. What's new?

Aksana kissing up to America. Yay for Double Double E reference! I'm too busy looking at her double double D's to listen closely.

Maxine talking about disrespect. Hornswoggle, pie, big deal.

Backstage now with Vickie and Kaitlyn. Vickie wants to make amends, on the condition that Kaitlyn has absolutely zero contact with Dolph.

Competition #3 now. This time, the girls are testing their punching power.

Naomi: 801
AJ: 362
Kaitlyn: 22
Aksana: 666
Maxine: 604

Kaitlyn whiffed on her punch and wanted a second try, but didn't get one. I will also no longer be using Aksana's name. From now on, she will be referred to as Borat's wife.

We're back and we have another match.

Match 2: Borat's Wife vs. AJ "my future wife" Lee

Okay, Josh Matthews just ruined Pepper Potts for me (Tony Stark's secretary). Apparently Cole is the Pepper Potts to the Raw GM's Ironman.

Anyways, on with the match.

AJ floats over Borat's Wife into a small package for the win.

Rating: 6/10

AJ is great and Aksana isn't bad but the matches are never long enough. I can't stress that enough.

Now we have Goldust consoling Borat's Wife. Holy shit! Goldilocks just proposed to Aksana. Something about visas and the like to get her out of her immigration troubles.

She says yes. Alrighty then.

That does it for this week's show.

Average match rating: 5/10

Pretty self explanatory

Overall show rating: 6/10

Interesting twist at the end with Aksana and Goldust but other than that, just another episode of pointless contests.

Tomorrow will bring my post on the hypocrisies of pro wrestling.

October 13, 2010

Raw Review: Oct. 11/10

We start out with, surprise surprise, Cena.

I'll spare you the drivel. Thank god for Miz.

He says that he's taken it upon himself to captain Team Raw. Sadly he has to offer Cena a spot on the team.

Cena then goes on about how he should lead Team Raw instead. Barrett cuts him off. He tells Cena that the only thing he'll be doing at Bragging Rights is being in Barrett's corner. Cena says he could do both. Barrett says no.

Alex Riley spoils the fact that Miz will cash in MITB at Bragging Rights. First email.

Basically the GM says that there will be a series of matches to determine the make up of Team Raw. The GM wants the best team possible. The main event will be Miz vs. Cena for captaincy.

There's some more lip flapping, a beatdown and Barrett yelling at Cena as we go to commercial.

Commercials are over and Ted DiBiase and Maryse are in the ring. This is the first Team Raw qualifier.

Match 1: The $500,000 man vs. R Truth

DiBiase has Truth down when Goldust interrupts. Truth capitalizes on the distraction. Ted kicks out the first pin, but Truth catches him with the Lie Detector.

Rating: 6/10. It was an okay match. Ted looked good as always, but Truth brought him down. The ending wasn't that surprising.

Commercials are over and we have Team Raw qualifier #2.

Match 2: JoMo vs. Tyson Kidd


Kidd in control. Several pin reversals. Out of nowhere, Morrison with a  backflip uranage. Morrison gets the pin.

Rating: 7/10. I'm normally not a Morrison fan, but this was an impressive match. The outcome was again predictable but it was still a good match. I don't mind that Kidd lost because I'm sure it means there's plans for the tag titles at Bragging Rights.

We have a backstage segment with Nexus. Nexus is grilling McGillicutty and Harris. Barrett comes in and says that someone needs to face Orton tonight. Otunga says he'd do it, but points out that Gabriel's 450 would hurt Orton more. It's settled. Gabriel is facing Orton tonight.

Back from commercials and we have qualifier #3.

Match 3: Santino vs. Zack Ryder

Santino is in control and hits the Cobra.

Rating: 5/10. What happened to "the best possible team?"

Tamina runs out and celebrates with Santino and kinda overpowers him. Didn't they do the same thing with him and Beth?

Are there more commercials than usual tonight?

Gabriel (with Nexus) makes his way to the ring now for his match with Orton.

Match 4: Gabriel vs. Orton

Nexus (Slater and Otunga) get tossed from ringside early on.

Gabriel with a slingshot moonsault on a downed Orton, who kicks out of the pin. Gabriel remains in control, stomping Orton in the corner. Orton fights his way out and drops Gabriel with an uppercut. Gabriel with a jawbreaker followed by a dropkick.

Near fall for Gabriel. Orton fights his way out of a submission. He runs off the ropes, but Gabriel catches him with a knee to the gut. Another near fall. Back to the submission hold for Gabriel. Orton gets out again and slams Gabriel. Orton waits for Gabriel to get back up. Gabriel misses with a jumping back kick and Orton nails a backbreaker.

Orton whips Gabriel off the ropes. Gabriel rolls over Orton's back, but Orton hits a clothesline. Powerslam by Orton. Gabriel is down. Orton picks him up for another slam and a near fall. Gabriel kicks Orton's leg out of his leg and goes for the 450.

Orton (yes Jakob, ORTON) botches it and doesn't roll far enough. Gabriel lands on Orton's side/back/shoulder. Orton sells a shoulder injury. Out of nowhere he hits the RKO for the win and suddenly his arm is all better.

Rating: 8/10. Everything until the ending was awesome. I only docked points for the botch.

Commercials are done and we have our 4th Team Raw qualifier.

Match 5: Daniel Bryan Danielson vs. Sheamus

Danielson dives over the ropes at Sheamus but the Celtic Warrior catches him. Sheamus is going to run him into the ring post, but Danielson slips out of his grasp. Back in the ring, Danielson tries for a pin. Sheamus kicks out.

Sheamus is in control now. He clotheslines Danielson and covers. Kick out at 1. Irish Curse and a submission hold by Sheamus now. Danielson breaks the hold but isn't out of the woods yet. Irish whip by Sheamus, but Danielson gets away and drops him with an elbow. Danielson on the offensive with a flurry of kicks.

Danielson with a pin attempt but Sheamus kicks out. Danielson to the top rope for a missile dropkick. Danielson tries for his submission hold but Sheamus takes control.

High Cross attempt and Danielson rolls through for another near fall. Both men are back up and Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick for the pin.

Rating: 8/10. Another awesome match. I'm surprised there's been this much good action. That said, is Danielson going to win a match ever again?

Backstage with Cena and Truth. More useless crap.

We have our next Team Raw qualifier up now after seemingly endless commercials.

Match 6: Evan "That Little Shit" Bourne vs. CM Punk

Punk comes over from Smackdown in place of Edge. Good trade in my mind.

Punk is out of the ring. Bourne dives off the apron for a hurricanrana, but Punk stays upright and slams Bourne into the barricade. Punk tosses Bourne back into the ring and tries for a pin. Bourne kicks out.

Flurry of punches by Punk and another pin attempt. Bourne kicks out again. Bourne counters a suplex and both men end up in opposite corners. Bourne dodges a running knee and hits a series of kicks. Punk counters an Irish whip and Bourne rebounds with a spinning kick.

Punk ducks a kick but Bourne hits the back kick. Bourne is up for the shooting star, but Punk knocks him down. he lifts Bourne off the turnbuckle and hits the GTS for the win.

Rating: 8/10. This match was a little short for my liking but overall it was still great. I was hoping Bourne would win but Punk is still good.

After the match, Punk beats Bourne down. I guess this is how they're writing Bourne off TV so he can have that shoulder surgery.

Commercials are over and Natalya is in the ring talking about LayCool. Of course LayCool cuts her off. They go on their typical insult tirade. Here comes a picture of Natalya with her dad's chin tail. This was only a matter of time in my mind.

They sling a couple more insults before backing up the entrance ramp and into a wall of divas. The Bellas, Melina, Gail Kim and Eve chase LayCool back into the ring. Natalya grabs Layla and locks in the sharpshooter.

McCool pulls Layla out of the ring and LayCool runs off.

Cena vs. Miz is up now and it'll be no DQ.

Match 7: Cena vs. Miz

Here we go. This'll be a good time for a bathroom break.

Cena has Miz up for the AA but Harris and McGillicutty interfere and Miz gets the pin.

Rating: 5/10. Glad Miz won, but was it really necessary to have the match if Barrett told Cena no?

Cena attacks Harris and McGillicutty. Barrett runs in and pulls Cena off of them.

Email.

Next week, the main event will be Harris and McGillicutty vs. Cena and Randy Orton.

Barrett is adding his own twist. If Cena loses, Harris and McGillicutty will be inducted into Nexus.

Barrett is taunting Cena now, practically ordering Cena to hit him. Barrett now says Cena's let everyone down by not hitting him. I'll admit I wanted to see him to it too, if only for the fact it would get him fired. Cena walks out but Barrett tells him to stop.

Barrett mocks Cena with his own "you can't see me" as Cena continues to leave. That's the show for this week.

Average Match Rating: 6.7/10 (+6.7)

There were many great matches tonight, but there were still a couple that dragged the rating down. All in all the best wrestling I've seen on Raw in a long time.

Overall Show Rating: 7/10 (+7)

There were a few good segments, but in the end it was just more of Cena sulking. Team Raw is looking a little weak at this point but that's Santino pulling the rest down. If they find a way to get rid of him and maybe R Truth things will look better.

Match of the Night: Bourne vs. Punk

Thursday will of course bring my NXT review and Friday will see my feature post talking about the hypocrisies of pro wrestling. See you then.

October 12, 2010

Fantasy Storylines: WWE Title gets a little more awesome, Part 2

Okay, here's part 2 of the Miz storyline. Forgot this weekend was thanksgiving and ended up spending most of it with family. Gobble gobble. On to business. I'd also like to clarify that for the purposes of this storyline, the Cena/Nexus angle didn't happen.

When we left off, the Raw GM made a stipulation that if anyone interfered with Randy Orton's matches on behalf of Miz, Miz would lose his title shot at Bragging Rights. Wade Barrett has done just that, and we'll find out why this week.

Week 4: Monday Night Raw:

The anonymous GM sends in an email.

Cole: "And I quote:

Due to Wade Barrett's actions last week, I hereby strip Miz of his WWE Title match at Bragging Rights. To find a new contender, there will be a battle royal tonight. The winner will take Miz's place at Bragging Rights."

Miz makes his way out to the ring and he looks like he's about to blow.

Miz: "Hold on for just one minute! I never asked Wade Barrett to do anything for me. You really think I'd cost myself a match for the WWE Title? How stupid do you think I am?"

Another email.

Cole: "And I quote:

Miz, I do agree that it would be a very dumb move, but I would not put it past you. However, since I'm feeling generous tonight, if you can prove that it wasn't you who hired Barrett, I'll reinstate your title match at Bragging Rights."

Miz: "Just be prepared to start apologizing."

Later on in the show, we see Barrett talking to someone whom we can't see.

Barrett: "I did what you asked last week. Now I understand you'll help me win the battle royal tonight? ...... Perfect. Thank you."

The battle royal is up next.

A bunch of people get tossed out. It comes down to Barrett, Sheamus and Cena. Sheamus and Cena instantly go after Barrett, who manages to fight them off. They go right back on the offense and almost have Barrett out when Orton's music hits.

The men stop trying to eliminate Barrett as Orton hits the ring. He RKO's Cena and Sheamus. Orton punts Cena and helps Barrett toss him over the ropes. Barrett hits the Wasteland on Sheamus over the top rope and wins the battle royal becoming the new #1 contender.

Orton and Barrett celebrate in the ring before getting interrupted by Miz.

Miz: "I think we just proved that it wasn't me who hired Barrett last week. This battle royal is meaningless now. I'm taking back my spot at Bragging Rights."

*email*

Cole: "And I quote:

Miz, I do apologize. I hereby reinstate your match at Bragging Rights. Furthermore, while the match may be no disqualification, I can adjust that slightly. If Nexus interferes on behalf of Orton, he will automatically lose the WWE Title to Miz."

Miz: "Thank you. I knew my innocence would be proven here tonight. And Orton, I knew you hadn't changed. You're the same manipulative worm you've always been."

The show goes off the air.

Week 5: Monday Night Raw

We're less than a week away from Bragging Rights. Miz is in the ring now.

Miz: "Last week, your hero turned his back on each and every one of you. Not only that, but he tried to pin his actions on me. He did that in order to get out of facing me this Sunday at Bragging Rights. He knows that I'm going to win, and tried to worm his way out of it like the coward he is. I'm going to decimate him this Sunday, and everything I do will be legal because it's no disqualifications. I actually welcome Nexus to interfere. It would just make my victory that much easier."

Nexus music hits and Orton makes his way out along with Nexus. Orton joins Miz in the ring and Nexus surrounds them on the apron. Orton tells them to wait there.

Orton: "You think I'm a coward for ensuring that my WWE title stays where it belongs? For protecting its prestige by making sure only the most worthy were given title shots? Miz, you got lucky at Money in the Bank when you won that contract. I made sure that you didn't get lucky again at Hell in a Cell, and you certainly won't get lucky at Bragging Rights."

Miz: "Nothing up to this point has been luck for me. I am where I am because of my undeniable talent. Because I'm the Miz, and III'MMM -- "

Orton: "Let me stop you right there. If I have to hear you call yourself awesome one more time I'm going to break. Your. Skull. Your only talent is getting yourself into situations where luck is the only way out. Take this sunday for instance. You'll be lucky to leave with your head intact let alone my WWE Title."

Miz: "Am I supposed to be scared? Threatened? There is nothing you could say or do that would make me fear you or your ragtag group of thugs."

At this point, Nexus starts to move in. Orton steps out of the ring as Nexus charges Miz. He fights them off, and they all scramble, except for Otunga who is in Miz's clutch. Miz sends him to the mat with a Skullcrushing Finale.

Later on in the night, Miz is in the main event against Sheamus.

After some back and forth action, Miz has Sheamus beaten down pretty good. The match is about to come to an end when Nexus hits the ring. The match is tossed and Nexus begins their beatdown of Miz. Orton now joins them.

Slater and Gabriel are holding Miz up. They push him towards Orton who delivers an RKO.  The show ends with Orton and Nexus standing tall over Miz.

Week 5: Bragging Rights

It's time for the WWE Championship match between Miz and Orton.

The men fight their way around ringside, using anything and everything as a weapon. There are a few near falls for both competitors. They're circling one another in the ring when Nexus makes an appearance. Remember the stipulation that if they interfere on behalf of Orton, he instantly loses the WWE title.

Nexus is surrounding the ring on the apron now. Orton is screaming for them to leave, but they don't move. Instead, they enter the ring. They look at Miz, who steps aside. Nexus now corners Orton, who is still screaming at them to leave.

Slater makes the first move and Orton is down. The ref is confused as hell but lets them continue. Barrett drops Orton with the Wasteland followed by a 450 from Gabriel. Nexus exits the ring as Miz drags Orton out of the corner. He picks Orton up and puts him right back down with the Skullcrushing Finale.

The ref makes the count and we have a new WWE champion.

The show fades out to stunned silence from the crowd and Miz and Nexus in the ring.

Week 6: Monday Night Raw

King: "Last night at Bragging Rights, we witnessed the most shocking event in recent memory. Nexus turned on their leader Randy Orton to help Miz win the WWE title. I still can't believe we have a new WWE Champion."

Cole: "I agree, King. It certainly was shocking. We can only hope that Nexus offers an explanation tonight."

Miz comes out to the ring with Nexus. He's wearing the Nexus armband and a new t shirt that says "Miz" in Nexus font with the "M" on a yellow background. He's also using the Nexus theme with his "AWESOME!" at the start (can you say "epic mashup?").


The crowd has reached Vickie Guerrero levels of booing.

Miz: "What happened last night was pure poetry. My genius has finally paid off. You see, I knew that I was never going to be able to jump through all of the general managers ridiculous hoops to get my title match, so I came up with the most brilliant plan in the history of the WWE

It all started several weeks ago when Barrett interfered in Randy's match. It was in fact me who recruited him, but not to directly interfere. I had him make an offer to Orton to interfere on Orton's own behalf, and act like Nexus was aligned with him.

That of course got me kicked from the title match, but when it was discovered that Orton was behind the attack the following week during the battle royal, I was allowed back in at Bragging Rights. The stipulation of Orton losing the title if Nexus interfered for him was added, and everything came together perfectly.

Of course I had to take a couple of bumps to keep up appearances. But it was all worth it in the end.

Nexus was working for me all along. Orton was never leading Nexus, Orton didn't make them do anything. They were all acting under my direction. I knew Orton wouldn't pass up an opportunity to make his life easier, he's still the coward he's always been. Deep down, he's still the Randy Orton of old. He can try and mask it all he wants, but I definitively exposed it.

That's right. I played each and every one of you for fools. You actually thought that Orton had turned on you. I didn't think it would be that easy to fool you, but I guess I gave everyone too much credit. I'm most disappointed in you, though Randy. I thought you would have at least suspected that something wasn't right.

The only wild card, the only variable was how our esteemed general manager would act, and I was pleasantly surprised.  He did everything right and actually fixed the problems that were in front of him for a change."

*email*

Cole: "And I quote:

Congratulations Miz. No, really. I underestimated your ability to put something like the together. That said, we have a problem to resolve, and this time, I won't allow myself to be taken for a ride. We have a former WWE champion in need of a rematch, and that match will be tonight."

Orton comes out now.

Orton: "Miz, I will give you credit. It's not every day that someone gets the better of the Viper, but again, it came down to luck. I have my demons under control now, and these past few weeks were a moment of weakness. I allowed myself to be caught up in the path of least resistance. Now that my mind is clear I will never take the easy way out again.

Tonight, there will be no easy way out for you. I'll take my WWE Title back and make sure people like you never have the chance to get near it again. I'll see you later tonight, in the steel cage."

The rematch for the WWE Title is on now. The steel cage is lowered and the men go at it.

Orton dominates early on, with Miz coming back for a near fall. Orton takes control again and almost makes it out of the cage before Miz pulls him down. Orton dodges a running knee in the corner and goes for the RKO. Miz counters into the Skullcrushing Finale for the clean win.

The cage is raised as Nexus hits the ring. Miz is in Orton's face as he's laying on the mat.

Miz: "WHO'S LUCKY NOW ORTON? WHO'S LUCKY NOW?"

Miz and Nexus stand tall in the ring as the Age of Awesome and Nexus are cemented as a force to be reckoned with.

End part 2.

I hope you all enjoyed that. It feels good to let the creative juices flow again. Tune in tomorrow for my Raw review. This week's feature post will discuss the many hypocrisies of pro wrestling.

October 10, 2010

Smackdown Review: Oct. 8/10

I'm still getting into a good schedule for posting, so bear with me. Like I've said before, my work schedule changes weekly, so I don't know until thursday or friday when I'll be free for the following week.

Here's my Smackdown review for Oct. 8/10.

Dammit! Cole's on commentary. Can someone please get him out of the WWE?

Teddy Long start off the show introducing Edge, who was traded to SD on monday. It's nice to see the trench coat and sunglasses look again.

Match 1: Edge vs. Swagger w/ The Swagger Soaring Eagle

Before the match, Swagger talks about Edge spearing his mascot last week. Do you know how hard it is for an eagle to get medical insurance?

At one point, Edge knocks the eagle off the apron. He got stretchered out during the commercial break.

Near fall for Edge. Swagger counters an Irish whip. Edge ducks on the rebound. Swagger catches Edge and drops him onto his knee. Swagger goes for a springboard splash in the corner, but Edge rolls out of the way.

Edge connects with a DDT for another near fall. Belly to belly by Swagger off the turnbuckle and a near fall. Edge bounces Swagger off the top rope and drops out of the ring. Edge back in now and thinking Spear. Swagger counters, and Edge counters him into a unique pin attempt. Swagger kicks out.

Edge counters an ankle lock and gets another near fall. Edge slips out of Swagger's grip and gets the Spear for the win.

Rating: 9/10. One of the best matches I've seen in a while. PPV quality for free. If the rest of the roster could perform like these 2 just did the WWE would be in better shape.

Match 2: Kelly vs. Layla

There was a comment from one of the commentators about how Kelly Kelly is improving in the ring. Yeah, right, so is Cena.

Rating: 3/10.

Layla goes after Natalya, who tries for a sharpshooter. McCool breaks it up.

Back from commercials and Big Show is in the ring. Apparently he's the Team Smackdown captain for Bragging Rights.

Hornswoggle is the mascot for team SD. Joy.

Now the Dudebusters are in the ring. They're trying to get onto team SD. Show says no. They say they could get themselves traded to Raw to join the Miz's team. Some more lip flapping and it ends with a double chokeslam. Nothing special.

Commercials are over and Cody Rhodes is on his way to the ring with Drew McIntyre for a match.

Match 3: Rhodes and McIntyre vs. Kaval and Kofi

Rhodes drops Kaval across the top rope and hits Cross Rhodes for the win.

Rating: 5/10. Not bad, but it could have been a lot better. Also, is Kaval going to win any time soon?

Back from commercial and Paul Bearer is in the ring looking fat as ever. He introduces Kane who makes his way out now.

He's talking about the same basic stuff he has for weeks. It's getting repetitive, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's good on the mic. The eerie music is a nice touch.


Match 4: MVP vs. Dolph Ziggler

This must be a rematch from last week when they were interrupted by Nexus.

Dolph and Vickie start arguing. Vickie storms off as we go to commercials.

MVP reverses an Irish whip, but Ziggler holds on to the ropes. Ziggler walks right into a big boot just as Kaitlyn makes her way to ringside. Ziggler is down. Kaitlyn grabs MVP's leg and Dolph hits the Zig Zag for the win.

Rating: 6/10. Alright match, but it did more to further the Dolph/Vickie/Kaitlyn thing than anything else. They need a proper storyline for the IC title.

Back from commercials and Josh is backstage with Alberto Del Rio. He basically insults Rey the same way he's been doing. I'm not big on his mic skills either. Already time for more commercials.

It's time for the main event.

Match 5: Rey "Yo quiero Taco Bell" Mysterio vs. Alberto "Dog Lover" Del Rio

Rey on the top rope. Hurricanrana to Del Rio, who lands on the middle rope. Rey's going for the 619, but Tattoo (Rodriquez) distracts Rey. Tattoo is on the apron now. Rey drops Del Rio onto the second rope, knocking Tattoo off the apron.

619 connects and Rey wins.

Rating: 6/10. Being a Rey Mysterio match, there were a few high spots but aside from that it didn't excite me that much.

Average match Rating: 5.8/10

The saving grace was by far Edge vs. Swagger. I can't wait to see what they do at the PPV. Again the divas match and other mediocre matches brought the rating down. Admittedly I was kind of holding the matches to the standard set by Edge and Swagger so I may have been a little harsh but then I want to consistently see good performances from everyone. Is that too much to ask?

Overall Rating: 6/10 (-1)


Kane's segment was great as always, if it was a little repetitive, but the crap with Show and Hornswoggle and that killed it for me. Show has been irrelevant on Smackdown until tonight. Why give him the captaincy? I would personally have given it to Edge given what went down on Raw this past monday. Other than that, good show.

I'll do my best to have the finish to the Miz storyline up by monday. Again, it's taking longer to write than I had hoped.

October 7, 2010

WWe NXT review: Oct. 5/10

I had audio issues so I'm going to use the coverage from WZ to do this. Sorry about that, I have no idea what happened. I just lost sound after the first competition. I still watched it, but it wasn't the same.


Matt is on the stage and he brings out the six rookies. Matt reminds them that this is the biggest night of their careers because the WWE Universe and the pros will determine which one of them will no longer be a part of the competition. Matt reminds AJ that she has won three competitions and is closer to immunity. Kaitlyn, Naomi, and Jamie can still get immunity.

It is time for the first challenge and it is time to get the mechanical bull out for a Mechanical Bull Riding Competition. The person who stays on the bull the longest will win the competition. Matt wants someone to demonstrate so the Bellas volunteer. They ride first and it is on super slow. Then it speeds up and they are finally thrown from the mechanical bull.

Naomi is first and her time is 12.5 seconds. The next rookie is Aksana and her time 17.9 seconds so she in lead. AJ is the next to mount the mechanical monster and after commiserating with Kaitlyn before donning Kurt Angle’s cowboy hat. AJ with a time of 9.6 seconds. Jamie is the next one to go and her time is 10.9 seconds. Maxine gets to be on top . . . of the bull and she lasts 9.8 seconds. Kaitlyn is the final one to challenge the bull and she ends up with 10 seconds.

Aksana gets her first win in competition and then she will face Maxine in the ring.

We are back and Did You Know that a lot of children are going to do the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge?
We see footage from last night when Goldust was revealed as the one who left the messages for Ted DiBiase and Maryse because he wants the Million Dollar Belt.

Match Number One: Aksana versus Maxine

They lock up and Aksana with a hammer lock and Maxine with an elbow and forearms. Maxine with a kick and she misses a charge into the corner. Aksana takes Maxine down and gets a near fall. Aksana works on the arm but Maxine with a neck breaker for a near fall. Maxine with a side head lock into a submission hold but Aksana gets a near fall. Aksana with a clothesline followed b a boot to the head for a near fall. Aksana with an Irish whip but Maxine with a clothesline and Aksana floats over and gets the three count.

Winner: Aksana

Rating: 5/10. I wasn't that impressed with either girl to be honest.
 
Michael Cole wants to talk about last night’s Raw when he saw John Cena working with Nexus. Who wants a Raw Rebound?

We are told that there is going to be a Talent show when we come back from commercial.

We are back and the rookies are in the ring with Matt Striker. Matt reminds us that Aksana rode the bull the best. Matt also reminds us that AJ is in the immunity lead now but Naomi and Kaitlyn can tie her.
Aksana is the first to show her talent and her talent is push ups. Aksana does some unorthodox push ups.

Naomi is next and her talent is rap and she goes freestyle.

AJ says that she is going to give Michael Cole some personality and then she says that her talent is flexibility. AJ does some stretching on the mat. Jamie is next and her talent is turning men on. Jamie tells Matt that since the first time she saw him, she thought he was hot and then Jamie kisses Matt.

Kaitlyn is next and her talent is art. She has Striker assisting her with her easel. She shows a stick figure drawing of Vickie Guerrero. Kaitlyn says that she can’t wait to get Vickie on the canvas after putting Vickie on her canvas. Maxine is next and her talent is . . . Maxine says that she wants to apologize to Hornswoggle. She says that they had a little mishap and we see Hornswoggle go down and go down hard. Maxine has a pie and she made it just for Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle stops to hug AJ before going to Maxine and her special pie. She says that she is truly sorry and she gives him the pie she specially made for him. She puts some of the pie in Hornswoggle’s face and then he gives the rest of it to Maxine.

It is time to find out who Topeka liked the most. The winner is Kaitlyn and she has tied AJ with three wins.
It is now up to the WWE Universe to decide who gets immunity. The people of Kansas like Kaitlyn and she has immunity.

It is time for the Make a Wish Foundation video package.

We go to commercial.

We are back and Goldust tells Aksana that he has longed to hold it so tight. Someone from Immigration stops by to talk to Aksana. He tells her that she has four weeks before her application is up for review. Goldust says that she has been here for a while. The agent says that it doesn’t matter if she is the Russian Trish Stratus. Goldust says that they will take care of things and then he comments on the agent’s hair.
It is time to take a look back at the decades long . . . well, weeks long rivalry between Kaitlyn and Vickie Guerrero.

Match Number Two: Vickie Guerrero with Dolph Ziggler versus Kaitlyn

Vickie wants the referee to wait until she has warmed up. Vickie does some stretching and then it is time to wrestle . . . or is it because Vickie’s shoulder is a bit tight. Vickie does some meditation too.
Kaitlyn wants to know what is going on and Vickie pushes Kaitlyn but Kaitlyn with a drop toe hold and Vickie says that she is bleeding from her lip. Vickie yells at Kaitlyn and then she tries to slap Kaitlyn but Kaitlyn blocks it. Vickie connects but so does Kaitlyn. Vickie goes to the floor and Dolph kind of checks on her but Vickie pulls Kaitlyn to the floor and sends her into the ringside barrier a few times. Vickie kicks Kaitlyn as she tells Kaitlyn to get up.

They get back into the ring and Vickie kicks Kaitlyn and she taunts her rookie. Vickie sends Kaitlyn into the turnbuckles a few times. Vickie chokes Kaitlyn in the ropes. Vickie yells at Dolph and then she chokes Kaitlyn some more. Vickie works on Kaitlyn’s back but Vickie cannot get Kaitlyn up for a slam. Kaitlyn slams Vickie but can only get a near fall. Vickie sends Kaitlyn into the ropes and then she tells Dolph to help her but Vickie gets rolled up by Kaitlyn for the three count.

Winner: Kaitlyn

Rating: 4/10. Why did they have to put Vickie in the ring?

After the match, Kailtyn celebrates with Dolph right in front of Vickie and Dolph pushes her away. Vickie screeches at both of them and then she leaves the ring.

We go to commercial.

We are back and Matt is at ringside with the rookies and one of them is going home, other than Kaitlyn who earned immunity.

It is time for the random Rookie Eliminator 2010 and the unlucky rookie is Jamie.

Jamie gets her last name back before she gives her exit promo. She thanks everyone so much. She says that the WWE has the best fans and the most supportive people. She thanks the Bellas. She tells the rookies that she wishes them the best of luck.

 Average match rating: 4.5/10

The matches weren't long enough to really make an impression, plus Vickie wrestling is like Cena rapping (or wrestling, or making movies).

Overall show rating: 6/10 (+1)

I'm surprised Maxine didn't get eliminated, but I'm glad AJ and Kaitlyn are still in it. The talent show was a good concept, but there were some dumb talents. I also still want to fuck AJ.

This week I'll finish off my storyline form last week. Will Miz ever face Orton for the title?

October 6, 2010

Raw will not be reviewed this week

I have decided that based on the absolutely horrible quality of Raw this past Monday night, I shall not soil my blog with it. Here are the highlights:

Edge traded to Smackdown
Goldust was sending messages to the Million Dollar Title
Cena's fired if he doesn't listen to Barrett
Maryse got smacked out of her dress by the Jackass giant hand
Barrett is the #1 contender and is facing Orton at Bragging Rights

Rating: 0/10 (-7)

There you have it folks. That was this week's Raw. I hope you don't waste your time like I did and watch it. I want my 2 hours back.

October 4, 2010

Hell in a Cell Recap: Oct. 3/10

Welcome to my Hell in a Cell recap. As always, I'm using Wrestlezone's coverage.

We start off with Danielson defending his US title against Miz and Morrison.

Match 1: Danielson vs. Miz vs. Morrison, US Title, Submissions count anywhere

Miz gets on the mic and says he is the mentor of both Daniel Bryan and John Morrison. He says he never tapped out. Match is underway. Early on, Morrison is thrown to the floor, where he remains for a bit, allowing Bryan and Miz some one-on-one time in the ring. A few minutes in, all three guys brawled their way into the audience of Dallas fans. Miz slams Morrison onto the steel guardrail, and follows it up by ramming Bryan through another guardrail. Up near the stage, Miz attempts to slam a crate into Morrison. Morrison blocks it with his foot and counters, leaping over it and nailing Miz. Moments later, Miz recovers and hits a Skull Crushing Finale on Morrison on the floor. Next up is a one-on-one brawl with Miz and Daniel Bryan on the stage. Both guys go for submissions at times, but neither can finish the job. Morrison is climbing the site, and doing so pretty fast. Morrison is up onto the lighting deck and dives off it onto both Miz and Bryan on the stage. Crowd pops huge for that. Morrison applies a Texas Cloverleaf on Miz. Out of nowhere, Alex Riley comes out and breaks things up. Bryan is up now and rams Riley into a camera, knocking him off the stage completely. Bryan secures his LeBell Lock on Miz on the stage. Miz taps. Crowd goes nuts.

Rating: 8/10. Sounds like it was a great match, but the outcome was rather predictable.

Match 2: Orton vs. Sheamus, WWE Title, HIAC

Video package airs, showcasing the history of the Orton-Sheamus feud. Our WWE Championship match, and first Hell In A Cell match of the night, is getting underway now. Both guys go at it immediately. Orton clotheslines Sheamus into the cage on the floor outside the ring. Sheamus returns favor by whipping Orton back-first into the cell. Sheamus is grabbing the ringside steps to use as a weapon. Orton stops the attempt and winds up nailing Sheamus with the ringside steps himself. Back in the ring, Sheamus hits a huge shoulder-block on Orton, blasting him into the cell. Sheamus attempts a pinfall, but only gets two. Sheamus removes the top turnbuckle padding, exposing the steel from within it. He misses an attempt to slam Orton into it face-first. Turnbuckle padding remains off as the match moves away from that particular corner of the ring. Orton ends up dodging a Sheamus attack, resulting in Sheamus slamming himself into the exposed steel in the ringside corner. Later on, the ringside steps come into play again, this time with Orton hitting a sweet snap-slam on Sheamus onto the steps which were placed in the middle of the ring. Sheamus focusing his attack on the ribs of Orton, which he is beginning to sell big now. Add shoulder to the list. Orton selling the shoulder now, while the announcers remind everyone of his past problems. Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick and almost gets the win off of that, but Orton managed to kick out at 2 1/2. Sheamus goes to the floor and pulls a chair out from under the ring. Sheamus nails Orton across the back with the chair repeatedly, setting up another nearfall. Out of nowhere, Orton hits the RKO on Sheamus. Orton goes for the punt kick, but Sheamus avoids it and counters with the Brogue Kick. Sheamus goes for the pin but Orton again manages to kick out at 2 1/2. Crowd popped big for that, as they begin to rally behind Orton. Orton avoids a Sheamus attack and hits an RKO out of nowhere for the clean pin. And it's over that sudden.

Rating: 7/10. Predictable ending, and the cell was almost as useless as I thought it would be. Other than that, it looks like it was a great match.
Albert Del Rio comes to the ring in street clothes. He gets on the mic and says this is his PPV debut and he wants to make it special. He shows a shot of the dog he had in the Rey Mysterio mask on Smackdown. He says he's richer than Mark Cuban and more handsome than Tony Romo. He tells the crowd he is better than they are. Edge's music hits and out he comes. He mentions that he's not here to defend Mysterio, Texas or Christian, he's here to fight against stupidity. He says Del Rio's dog mask is stupid. Del Rio and Edge square off, but are interupted by Jack Swagger's theme music. Swagger complains that Edge roughed up his mascot on Smackdown. Edge says he'll pay for the mascot's medical bills. Edge attacks Swagger, but Swagger and Del Rio team up and begin the two-on-one beatdown of Edge. The anonymous general manager chime sounds. Michael Cole announces that Edge must apologize to the general manager on Raw tomorrow night. He also must face Jack Swagger tonight. This leads us to our next match.

Match 3: Edge vs. Swagger
Early on, Swagger is bleeding from the mouth from an Edge attack. Edge sends Swagger to the floor. From the floor, Swagger grabs Edge by the leg and attempts an ankle lock from the floor. Edge ultimately escapes and flips Swagger into the ringside steps in the process. Crowd dug that. Edge goes to the top rope, but Swagger quickly leaps to the top rope and suplexes him down below, ala Kurt Angle. Swagger attempts a Swagger Bomb, but Edge blocks with a kick to the gut. He follows up with a DDT and a big spear. One more spear shortly thereafter and Edge secures the pinfall for the victory.

 Rating: 7/10. For a last minute add-on it was decent, if a little short. I would liked to have seen Swagger win, but Edge winning is cool too.

Match 4: Barrett vs. Cena, join vs. disband

For those unaware, the rules state that Nexus must disband if Barrett loses. If he wins, John Cena must join Nexus. Cena and Barrett are both in the ring, and this match with big repercussions is underway. Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment early on, but the rest of Nexus hit the ringside area to distract him, allowing Barrett to escape and nail Cena. Barrett goes out to yell at the rest of Nexus. He reminds them who is in charge. Barrett back in the ring now, in firm control of the action. Cena begins making a comeback as Nexus surrounds the ring during the set up of his Five Knuckle Shuffle. Before you know it, out comes Big Show, MVP, Daniel Bryan, the Hart Dynasty, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison, Goldust, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne and Chris Masters. All of the WWE guys rough up four of the Nexus wrestlers, chasing them off as Cena smiles in the ring. The WWE guys head backstage. Cena signals to Barrett that it's "one-on-one" now and smiles big. Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but Barrett escapes and hits a suplex. Both guys fight on the top rope before Barrett is knocked off. Cena follows in with a leg drop off the top. Cena again goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but Barrett again avoids it and hits his own finisher. He attempts a pin there, but Cena kicks out. Out of nowhere, Cena finally hits the Attitude Adjustment. He goes for the pin but Barrett manages to kick out at 2 1/2. Cena locks in the STF when a "fan" (maybe Michael McGillicutty) enters the ring, distracting both Cena and the ref. Another "fan" (maybe Husky Harris) hits the ring and nails Cena with a lead pipe. Barrett makes the cover and gets the three count. Wade Barrett wins.

Rating: 8/10. I never thought I would rate a Cena match that high, but with Barrett winning, I had to stop myself from giving it a 10. My biggest gripe is that Cena still managed to save face because it took outside interference for Barrett to win and therefore isn't good enough to win when it really is 1-on-1.

After the match, the rest of Nexus comes out to celebrate with Barrett while Cena laid in the ring. Nexus heads to the stage, stopping to look back at Cena in the ring with smiles on their faces. As they make their way backstage, Cena is shown sitting in a corner in the ring with a discouraged look on his face. Fans are shown individually on-camera with stunned and depressed looks on their faces. Cena continues to look on in disbelief before slowly walking to the back. He stops at one point and rubs a small kid on the head. Good stuff.

Match 5: McCool vs. Natalya, Diva's title

McCool is accompanied by Layla. Natalya is out now and this one is getting started. Natalya had the match won at one point, but Layla stood on the ring apron to break up the pinfall count. As Natalya continued her assault of McCool, Layla again manages to interfere during a finish attempt, distracting the ref. Out of nowhere, Natalya locks in the Sharpshooter on McCool. Layla goes to interfere again. This time the ref disqualifies McCool. Pretty quick match, thank god.

Rating: 4/10. Bullshit. I knew that DQ would be the only chance Natalya stood at winning.
Match 6: Kane vs. Taker, WHC, HIAC

As he was entering the Hell In A Cell structure, Undertaker was attacked by Kane. No dramatic in-ring introductions for this main event, as these two are duking it out now. Both guys fight outside the ring on the floor, where Kane attacks Taker's knee with a chair. Kane slams Taker's knee with the heavy ringside steps. Kane continues to work over the left knee of Taker, as the two work their way back inside the squared-circle. Kane suffered a cut on the top of his head, which was bleeding on camera a bit. Kane continues the assault of Taker's leg as the action resumes. Taker and Kane exchange punches, with the crowd "boo'ing" and popping for Kane and Taker, respectively. Taker hits his infamous diving clothesline off the ropes. Taker goes for Old School but Kane yanks Taker down, hurting his knee in the process, the same knee he's been working on the majority of the contest. Kane hits a top-rope clothesline on Taker. Taker slaps on Hell's Gate out of nowhere, but Kane ultimately breaks the hold by falling to the floor at ringside. When the action resumes in the ring, both Taker and Kane land a simaltaneous big boot to the other. Taker hits a Chokeslam on Kane. Paul Bearer is heard freaking out at ringside. Kane avoids the pin. Taker hits a Last Ride on Kane for a nearfall. Taker goes for the Tombstone, but Kane counters and hits a Tombstone of his own. Taker kicks out of a pin attempt. Kane hits the referee out of nowhere, dropping him. Paul Bearer enters the ring. Kane looks at Bearer and decides to go after him. Bearer runs as Kane chases him around. As Kane nears getting his hands on Bearer, Taker does his infamous sit-up and chokeslams Kane. Taker does his throat-slicing gesture and a bunch of lightning flashed and struck in the arena. Taker picks Kane up for the Tombstone. During this, Paul Bearer opens the urn up and flashes a light into the eyes of Taker, who releases the hold. Bearer stands between Kane and Taker. Bearer eventually hands Kane the urn and Kane uses it to blast Taker with. Kane follows up with a Chokeslam and pins Taker, 1-2-3.

 Rating: 7/10. The cell was useless again. I was hoping for SOME decent use of the cell from the guy that made the damn match famous. I'm glad Kane won, but Bearer turning was the most unoriginal way to do it.

After the match, Kane and Paul Bearer leave the ring together. Bearer held open the urn in front of his face as the glowing light shined while they stood on the stage. The light shines, they look on at Taker laid out in the ring, and the show fades off on that note.

Average match rating: 6.8/10 (-0.2) (rating change is based on the last PPV. In this case, Night of Champions)

The Diva's match brought the rating way down (what's new?) and there were several predictable endings, but other than that it was a great PPV, with Barrett winning the highlight of the night for me.

Overall show rating: 8/10

A decent PPV from WWE for a change. Good segment between Edge Swagger and Del Rio. I expect good things from Edge and Swagger in the future.

Tune in tomorrow evening for my Raw review. See you then.

October 3, 2010

Smackdown Review: Oct. 1/10

We're live for Smackdown's first broadcast on SyFy. they changed their theme song. I miss the old one.

The action starts right away with Dolph vs. MVP for the Intercontinental title

Match 1: MVP vs. Dolph, IC Title

Alright match, but I guess it was really only used to set up the Nexus appearance.

Rating: 4/10. It served it's purpose but it was a waste of a potentially good match.

Nexus (minus Barrett) takes Dolph out first to cause the match to be tossed. MVP is now taking the beating. They pretty much finish him off when Big Show comes running out. He also gets beaten down.

Here comes Cena. He gets his ass handed to him before Show comes back in and decks Slater with a chair. Show chases them off and now Barrett is up on the screen.

He says that since he's good friends with the network owner (or whoever it was) he's suggested some matches.

First off, Big Show will face Nexus in a 5-on-1 handicap match, and Cena will face Kane with Nexus as lumberjacks. This will be a fun night /sarcasm.

Aw shit, Cole is on commentary. This sucks.

Here comes LayCool, Maryse and Alicia Fox. Their opponents are Kelly Kelly, Natalya and the Bellas.


Match 2: LayCool, Maryse and Alicia Fox vs. Kelly, Natalya and the Bellas

Hornswoggle drags Layla under the ring. She runs off with little Horny chasing her. He runs right into Michelle's foot. Nice. Meanwhile in the ring, Maryse taps to Natalya's sharpshooter.

Rating: 5/10. Hornswoggle didn't help and neither did the Bellas.

We return to Swagger's homecoming ceremony. He's using Boomer Sooner as his entrance music tonight. He has an eagle mascot with him.

Pretty decent pop. He kills that pretty fast by dissing the state of Oklahoma. He says him and his mascot (the Swagger Soaring Eagle) have moved to Texas. He also proclaims himself the king of Oklahoma.

Edge cuts him off. Edge says that he's on a mission to rid the WWE of everything that's stupid.

Edge says he's going to start his mission right now. Edge drops his mic and Swagger ducks behind his mascot. Edge knocks the mascot away and Swagger slides out of the ring. It looks like Edge is going to spear the eagle. He does and Swagger is heading up the ramp.

Backstage Nexus segment. Barrett says that if anyone lays a finger on Nexus, they'll be suspended indefinitely.

Their match with Big Show is next.

Match 3: Nexus vs. Big Show

Short match as expected. The end sees Nexus each pick a limb and apply a submission. Barrett takes the neck and Show passes out.

Rating: 5/10. Nothing interesting except the 5 simultaneous submissions.

After the match, Gabriel delivers a 450. Barrett sends him back up for another one. I dunno if it was botched or done on purpose, but Gabriel landed his knees on Show's ribs.

Kane vs. CM Punk is on now after the commercials.

Match 4: Punk vs. Taker

Taker hits Snake Eyes on Punk. He tries for a pin but Punk kicks out. Taker delivers a chokeslam. Punk gets back up and walks right into a Tombstone for the pin.

Rating: 8/10. I really like where this storyline is going and this was a great match going into the PPV. Taker can still deliver a good match.

Alberto Del Rio is in the ring now.

He says tonight he's going to apologize to Rey Mysterio. He brings out a chihuahua wearing a Rey Mysterio mask and a little cast on it's leg.

He apologizes to the dog, and kisses it as promised. He wipes his lips off afterwards.

The real Rey makes his way out now. He beats down Del Rio and tosses him onto the second rope. Before he can do anything, Ricardo Rodriguez  grabs Rey's leg. Del Rio escapes as Rey 619's Ricardo.

Back from commercials and we have Orton in the ring. He's going to be facing Cody Rhodes (still waiting for his and Drew's mashup theme).

Match 5: Dashing Cody Rhodes vs. Orton

Cody with a chin lock on Orton. Orton fights out. Rhodes goes for a springboard kick, but Orton ducks and hits a backbreaker. RKO quickly follows for the pin.

Rating: 6/10. Could've done more but it was decent.

Drew Mac i the ring now trying for a DDT. Orton counters into an RKO. Sheamus runs in now and drops Orton with a Brogue Kick.

Commercials are over and here comes Kane.

Match 6: Kane vs. Cena, Nexus as lumberjacks

Unsurprisingly, Nexus attacks Cena as soon as he's out of the ring. Kane is out of the ring now, and they give him a wide berth. Nexus drags Cena out of the ring now. The lights go out.

Rating: 5/10. Meh at best.

Taker appears in the ring once the lights are back on. Kane and Taker fight into the crowd now. LOL at dude falling. They fight their way back to the ring where Kane takes control. He grabs Taker for a chokeslam, but Taker overpowers Kane and hits a chokeslam of his own.

Kane staggers out of the ring and the show ends with Taker bowing to Paul Bearer and the urn.

Average match rating: 5.5/10 (+0.2)

The useless IC title match is what brought this rating down. I don't see why the title needed to be on the line if it was just going to be interrupted before it really got going.

Overall rating: 7/10 (--)

An okay go-home show for Hell in a Cell, and it could have been worse for a debut on a new network. I liked how Barrett brought the network into the show with his "friendship" with one of the higher-ups. There were definitely some weak points. I really hope Edge rids WWE of all things stupid, starting with Cole and Cena.

Monday will see my HIAC review, done as always through the coverage on WZ.