April 13, 2011

Monday Night Raw Review: 4/11/11

I'm doing it on a tuesday again. Hopefully this trend lasts. I know I haven't been able to reliably post on tuesdays, it's just my work schedule. I'm doing my best to get it to you in a timely manner and I sincerely apologize to those who faithfully wait for me to post.

WZ Coverage

Win:

-- Sin Cara. Everything about this guy just oozes awesomeness. I love his look, his personality, his moves. Hell, I love his entrance. This guy is the future face -- er, mask of the WWE and I hope they don't stifle him.

-- Edge's retirement speech. I'm going to miss him a hell of a lot, but I know it's time. This was the most heartfelt speech I've seen in a long time, and mad props to WWE for letting him come out and be himself. This man is a legend and I hope he gets the HOF. Thank you Edge, you will be sorely missed. I will forever be an Edgehead.

-- Miz using the phrase "Super Cena" on commentary. I think the ACA has started something here...

Fail:

-- The opening segment tonight was terrible. First we have Cole getting an unnecessary introduction, followed by John Cena. I kinda liked everyone stepping up and saying they should get a title shot, but they could have picked some better people. Morrison and Ziggler, sure. Orton while he is a great superstar has had many good title runs and should be able to step aside. Same with Cena, aside from the great superstar part. Truth shouldn't even be there. I'm sorry, he's not a main eventer and he never will be.

-- Corre is already imploding. This is ridiculous. Do they really have nothing better for these guys? I don't like that the 3 best members from Nexus and a beast like Zeke are getting shafted. It's annoying.

-- A tag match is set for Extreme Rules and 3 of the participants are announcers. I'm excited, he said sarcastically.

-- R Truth AND Cena in a WWE Title match? I lost what little faith I had left in the WWE creative staff. I'm with Miz, they both go to the back of the line and hopefully never make it to the front again.

WTF:

-- Why did I just tear up during Edge's retirement?

-- Why is Miz talking about God? I don't think that fits somehow.

Matches:

Brie vs. Eve (Diva's Title) -- Yeah, this was horse shit. I am sick and tired of that "twin magic" crap. It's a waste of a title run.

Rating: 3/10

Sin Cara vs. Primo -- I was genuinely impressed for the first time in too long. Both men were excellent and I was actually watching with anticipation. Part of that may be because it was Sin Cara's debut match, but I think it's mainly because he was able to draw me in and make me want to see more. And Boy do I want to see more. This guy is going places. I'm docking points only for Primo's botch. I read today that management is down on both of them because of this match, but I don't see why. Shit happens. They did the best they could to sell it and they can't be faulted for that. Okay, maybe Primo a little, but don't hold it against him. We're all human after all. I wish the match was a little longer though. Damn WWE is teasing me.

Rating: 8/10

Corre vs. "Apple" -- Wow, Corre can actually win matches. I'm shocked. I wasn't a fan even though there were many good wrestlers involved. It just wasn't my thing. It was alright I suppose, but not much more than that.

Rating: 5/10

King vs. Swagger -- I think we all could have done without this one. Not to mention it means we now have to see Cole wrestle AGAIN, as well as JR. No thank you.

Rating: 1/10

The Gauntlet Match -- I liked the concept, but then I realized as soon as it started that Cena would be in last and thought he would inevitably win. That was further confirmed when Truth was the other man left. I knew that Cena was going to be in the title match no matter what at that point. My biggest gripe though? The fact that Truth is the third guy. He's not a main eventer and he never will be. Putting him in a main event match will not make him a main eventer. I will say he looked alright against Morrison, but that was it. The rest of this was just filler. The ending was rather unoriginal as well. This was so predictable it's not even funny. Plus it puts Cena back in the title picture.

Rating: 5/10

Average Match Rating: 4.4/10 (+0.6)

Match of the Night: Sin Cara vs. Primo

Overall Show Rating: 6/10 (+1)

Not a bad night, and I'm terribly saddened to see Edge go. He gave us a great run and I'm glad to see him go out on top. I hope he stays with the company in some fashion.

I've decided to just start making random pairings in my search for the greatest theme song. I'll post each paring on the ACA's wall, then I'll gather your votes and announce the winner for each pair here. Feel free to offer your opinions on each theme as well and I'll post them here, with full credit of course.

April 7, 2011

Monday Night Raw Review: 4/4/11

I do apologize for the randomness of my posting. I don't have the same schedule week to week so it makes things tricky. I really appreciate you guys still reading. I've been plugging away at it slowly since tuesday night. It's taken me this long to finish it just due to my work and sleep schedule.

WZ Coverage

Win:

-- Good to see JR on commentary.

-- "Stun them all" chants. That was hilarious. They all deserve it, too.

-- Miz's promo. He does good work almost every week. I loved his "Move, Buckwheat" comment too.

-- Sin motherfucking Cara. This guy is going to be huge.

-- Rock and Cena had a good back and forth tonight. I enjoyed it, except for Rocky being forced to pander to Cena. I didn't like Cena talking about how WWE is the place to see all these impossible matches like Ali vs. Tyson and crap like that. It's all hype I could have done without. The promo was alright aside from that though.

Fail:

-- I don't mind the whole respect thing Triple H had going on for Taker, I just didn't like this promo for some reason. I'm not sure what it was it just didn't appeal to me.

-- Cole's wrestling attire. It's just plain sad....

-- Everything Cole did to JR. That was bullshit.

-- The Tough Enough cast. None of them had any charisma. I understand it was their first time in a WWE ring, but come on, if they're going to win anyone over they'll need to do way better than that.

-- Rock vs. Cena..... Next year. While it's cool to have the match a year in advance as it's unprecedented, it, like Danielson vs. Sheamus, is too little too late. This should have taken place at Wrestlemania this year. Oh well.

WTF:

-- Cole has tattoos?

-- I have a new drinking game: watch the Tough Enough segment and take a shot every time Austin refers to the mic as a "horn"

-- Cole admitted to wearing women's tights. "Vickie has tights like me!" lol

Matches:

Lawler vs. Swagger -- Do I have to?

Rating: 0/10

Orton/Mysterio vs. Punk/Rhodes -- It was an alright match, although I'm not a fan of these WM rematches. The 619 into the RKO was kinda cool, if a little predictable. The match was solid, but it seems like an easy way out so to speak of keeping the 2 feuds relevant. I'd rather see 2 separate matches, but that's me.

Rating: 6/10

Del Rio vs. Bourne -- Bourne is doomed. Poor kid didn't even get an entrance. He deserves so much more. I hope WWE realizes this soon and gives him a US Title run or something. Don't get me wrong, it's good to see Del Rio getting a push, but Bourne deserves one as well.

Rating: 4/10

Ziggler/Vickie vs. JoMo/Trish -- Bad match, thankfully it was short.

Rating: 4/10

Sheamus vs. Danielson -- Too little too late in my opinion. They had the chance to do this last night. In fact, it was supposed to happen last night. It should have happened last night. Both men were solid in the match but I would rather it took place at Wrestlemania like it was meant to.

Rating: 5/10

Average match rating: 3.8/10 (-2.5)

Match of the Night: Orton/Mysterio vs. Punk/Rhodes

Overall Show Rating: 5/10 (-1)

This show was pretty weak, but then it followed a weak Wrestlemania. Vince is slowly losing his marbles backstage so they say and it's starting to have a dramatic effect on the product. I'll give everyone credit for doing what they can with the scripts but I think we as fans deserve more. If Vince is really as worried about the product as this makes him out to be, I hope someone steps in soon and helps him get back on track.

April 3, 2011

The Obligatory Wrestlemania Preview

With Wrestlemania 27 taking place in a little under 24 hours, I figured I'd give you guys my thoughts on the card. Overall this is a rather lackluster show. I don't see any standout match aside from maybe Taker vs. Trips. There hasn't been as much hype as there could -- or should -- have been. I wanted to get into the Wrestlemania spirit, but it wasn't there. Sure, the card does have a few matches that look great, but there was nothing drawing me in, making me feel like I had to watch it.

Miz vs. Cena (WWE Title) -- I would love to see Miz win this one but I somehow doubt he will. The match itself has minimal hype, it's all been about Rock and Cena. There's no excitement here for me. I see one of 2 things happening: Miz wins and goes on to feud with someone else while Cena and Rock continue their thing, Or Cena wins and feuds with Rock for the belt. I wouldn't put the second one past WWE. Miz would be the best choice in terms of storylines, but Cena winning would keep the younglings happy so I could see this going either way. That said, my choice is Miz.

Edge vs. Del Rio (WHC) -- This match looks really good. I think Del Rio has the talent to be a world champion, but he's not quite there yet. Giving him the belt might get him there but then you're giving it to someone who isn't ready. It would be nice to see a fresh champion but Edge has the experience. I think I'll go with Del Rio on this one. WWE seems to be moving towards new stars and this seems like a good way to keep that going.

Taker vs. Trips -- This is probably the match I'm most looking forward to. I'm a huge fan of the Undertaker as most of you probably know. I don't know what to make of this. On the one hand, the streak should end, but not to Triple H. It should be a young talent who could use the rub it would give him. On the other, I'd like to see him retire with it intact. Walk away on his own terms instead of slinking away defeated. The no holds barred stipulation to me makes it sound like someone will interfere for Triple H and help him win. That, or HBK will turn on Trips and help Taker win. I'll go with Taker though. I think the streak is too big of a draw at WM for them to give it up just yet.

Sheamus vs. Danielson (US Title) -- I really don't care who wins this one either way as they're both great champions. I do think it's a step down for Sheamus as he is a 2 time WWE champion but it is good to see him with some form of gold. I think no matter who wins it will work out well. I don't see a downside to either man winning and they both have the potential for good follow-up feuds. I'll say Sheamus though just because it wouldn't make sense to take the belt from him so soon.

Orton vs. Punk -- I think WWE is going to take this chance to introduce a new member of Nexus. Who that will be, I don't know But I think they won't interfere in the match, just cause enough of a distraction to help Punk win. It falls right into the crafty heel thing of skirting rules. I'm going with Punk based on that alone.

Cole vs. Lawler -- Uh, pass.

Mysterio vs. Rhodes -- Rey will probably win this one on the basis that a surprise mask vs. mask clause is added to the match just prior to it starting. Even without that, I don't see how it would progress if Cody won. Rey gets my pick, grudgingly.

Morrison/Trish/Snooki vs. Ziggler/LayCool -- I think the faces will come out on top, more so for the sake of Snooki than anything wrestling related.


Corre vs Kane/Show/Santino/Kozlov -- I think this will go to a no contest or a Corre DQ. It just fits with what Corre has been doing recently. It's the best way to keep this storyline going.

These are just guesses based on what I've seen leading into Wrestlemania and what I think makes the most sense from a creative standpoint. I don't like some of my choices but I had to make them going by objective criteria. I won't be able to see Wrestlemania live because I'll be working, but something tells me I won't be missing much.