Fan voting: an excuse for shitty booking?

Yeah, it's been a few months since I've done anything here. I'm finding I need to take a couple months off every so often just to stop myself from getting too damned bored with this. Don't get me wrong, I love my writing, but there are times it becomes tedious and annoying. Plus WWE hasn't given me a lot to work with lately. They haven't inspired me to write recently. Tonight is different though. I actually have something to write about again.

With that out of the way, on to business. Tonight was a "power to the people" edition of Raw. The premise in that is, fans get to vote on a list of things. Match types, opponents, shit like that. Now here is where my beef comes in. How legit is the voting? Are we actually seeing what the fans voted for? Or is it just WWE giving us utter bullshit and blaming the fans? If the voting is real, I have lost all faith in humanity.

It does seem like a free night to book whatever crap they want and have a scapegoat in the fans. I'd be surprised if it is legit. There were some trends in the voting (the majority of the winners were B, by just over 50%) which made me wonder. Some of the options were ridiculous as well. Who came up with these things? I swear they just took the dumbest things they could think of, stuck them to a board and threw darts. But that hardly differs from their normal writing process.


They give us the freedom to vote, but only give us shitty options. It's worse than a bloody election. I felt like I was choosing between a douche and a turd tonight, no joke. There is no reason they couldn't have given us something better than they did. Tonight was just lazy booking and I assure you it will catch up to them. To make matters worse, next week is (ugh) Raw Roulette.  Thankfully it's only 2 hours. Is this a thing now? Every Raw will have a theme? I can see that getting old faster than Miley got skanky.

Magic 8 Ball says: Shit remains where it is not flushed.

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.

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.

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.

Monday Night Raw Review: Mar. 28/11

Yeah, it's wednesday, but hey, at least it isn't thursday.

I want to say again like I did last week, that it really does not feel like Wrestlemania is less than a week away. It doesn't. I'm not seeing any hype outside of the small plugs they're doing on the shows. I'm not feeling it. I want to feel it, but I just.... don't. Oh well.

WZ Coverage

Win:

-- CM Punk's opening promo. Most of the opening promos in recent weeks have been good. This was no exception. He's really good on the mic and I like his character. I don't think anyone else could be a heel with the Straight Edge gimmick. Plus it did a good job building up their match.

-- Sin Cara next week on Raw. Fuck yeah.

-- Everything about the Taker/Trips/HBK segment. It was completely epic. I will say I'm getting sick of hearing him come out to Johnny Cash though. It's a good song, but it's like watching an edition of Unfitting Themes on Youtube.

-- HBK. I'm mentioning him separately just because it's too awesome not to.

-- Orton's backstage segment. It was pretty good to see that intensity from him. He did really well here.

-- 3 words: Homeless Power Ranger. The Rock was golden tonight. The whole segment was good, but the Rock deserves recognition for what he said tonight. Nobody else could get the crowd chanting "Cena sucks" the way he does. I felt again like Miz was an afterthought in this, but there was still some good hype happening.

Fail:

-- Snooki. Need I say more?

-- Lawler vs. Swagger. I'm not even putting this under "matches" that's how bad it was. It was one big fail.

-- Another great wrestler falls victim to the worst finisher ever.

-- Vickie imitating JoMo's entrance. Not a fan of that.

WTF:

-- Edge and Christian reunite and we don't get a 5 second pose?

-- Kane doing Santino's taunt? That was just messed.

-- Only 4 matches? What's going on here?


Matches:

E&C vs. Del Rio/Brodus -- Pretty awesome match. I'm looking forward to Edge and Del Rio's match on Sunday. Everyone involved did a great job, and I'm surprised by how well Brodus can move. He has potential, he just needs to drop some of his bodyguard habits.

Rating: 7/10

Gabriel vs. Santino -- The match was nothing special, and I absolutely hate the Cobra. It is the worst finisher in WWE right now and I don't like that people have to lose to it. It's saddening.

Rating: 5/10

Ziggler/Sheamus vs. Danielson/Morrison -- Second decent tag match of the night. The only gripe I have is that Danielson lost cleanly again. Other than that it was a solid match.

Rating: 7/10

Average Match Rating: 6.3/10 (+1.3)

Match of the Night: E&C vs. Del Rio/Brodus

Overall Show Rating: 6/10 (+1)

Not the best score for a go home show, especially Wrestlemania. That said it did a decent job hyping the matches but it wasn't great. I wish there were more matches, but the ones we did get were decent overall. They could have done so much more than they did and I can't help but feel just a little disappointed.

Monday Night Raw Review: March 21/11

Wow, it's tuesday and I'm doing my review. What's wrong with me? Anyways, I've rounded up the nominees for the greatest entrance theme and the list looks good. I want you guys to post here with your top 10 (from those nominees) for both the classic and modern category. Once you've done that, I'll finalize the brackets and present the weekly matchups. Whichever theme gets the least votes of each pair will be eliminated, all the way to number one.

So, on to Raw. I just want to say, is Wrestlemania really next weekend? For some reason I haven't seen as much hype as I have in years past. Where did the spirit of Wrestlemania go? Am I the only one that lost it?

WZ Coverage

Win:

-- Danielson's theme song. I love Ride of the Valkyries and I seriously thought it would make a great entrance theme for a long time. I was right.

-- Hearing from more people than just HBK on Taker vs. Trips.

-- Miz's closing promo. He did everything right here. Plus he made the WWE Title look better, even if it is only slightly so. Of course Cena had to ruin it. He's a bigger buzzkill than Buzz Killington.

-- Okay, Cena actually was there. He made me look like a fool. congrats. Don't get used to it.

Fail:

-- BOOMER SOONE -- Fuck you Cole!

-- Triple H, while he did a good job at working the crowd, repeated almost verbatim what he's been saying for the last couple of weeks. "If the streak dies, you die too" can only be said so many times, especially if he's going to keep saying it the same way over and over.

-- DiBiase getting beat down like a punk. This was a bad move on WWE's part. The kid has some talent and they aren't using him properly. I just don't like seeing it go to waste like this.

-- Practice what you preach Cena. Get your candyass out to the ring and deliver a real promo. Not that I'd care to see it either way.

-- More Lawler family bullshit from Cole. I'm sick and tired of it. This is one of the lowest bows you can throw and I thought that WWE was better than this.

-- Alex Riley being re-hired by Miz. I do like them as a pair, but at the same time this is basically what happened when Cena was "fired." He just showed up again and came back as if nothing ever happened. The rest of the promo was good.

WTF:

-- Orton has a big match at Wrestlemania, and we get to hear him talking about a bus.

-- Again, Snooki being in a match at WM. It's bullshit. The chick shouldn't be wrestling. It's not a business move, it's just stupid.

-- Not that I'm complaining, but was there only one email all night?

-- Can't even get the same girl to play Orton's wife again. Some people do notice these things. On the other hand she could be a Time Lord....

Matches:

Bourne vs. Sheamus -- Good match. I don't like that Bourne is losing, but I hope that it leads to him competing for the title down the road. It was a short match but it was pretty good for the time it was given.

Rating: 7/10

 Maryse vs. Eve -- I don't know why, but I get bored with womens wrestling. The matches (especially lately) are all dull and generally useless. That said Eve is pretty good in the ring. She's doing alright but WWE needs to start using her (and the other women) properly. I honestly think this match was meant as filler until Cole's announcement.

Rating: 4/10

Santino and Kozlov vs. Slater and Gabriel -- WWE needs new tag teams like Charlie Sheen needs to be sedated. For those not informed, that's very badly. Slater and Gabriel are one of the best duos they have right now and I'd like to see some decent competition for them. I'm not usually a fan of random pairings as tag teams but honestly it's time to start trying. The match itself wasn't as terrible as some of the tag team matches can be. The Cobra is also one of the worst finishers ever and I'm glad to see it not winning as many matches as it originally did.

Rating: 5/10

Ziggler/Vickie/LayCool vs. Morrison/Stratus -- I'm just going to avoid this one. The men did well, Trish did well, but that's the end of anything decent. Nothing against the women per se, but when they give us women that can't wrestle, I start to lose faith. The match was underwhelming at best.

Rating: 4/10

Orton vs. Rey -- Potential for an okay match here. It was going alright until the whole thing with the tour bus. Yes, Punk did need to get some more heat and momentum going into next week but at the same time it was so obvious this was going to happen as soon as they started talking about the bus and showing Orton's (kayfabe) wife.

Rating: 5/10

Average match rating: 5/10 (-0.2)

Match of the Night: Sheamus vs. Bourne

Overall show rating: 5/10 (-1.5)

Not the best Raw by a long shot. The show has gone way downhill from where it was a couple weeks ago. They have one more week to impress before the big event. They'd better figure it out, and fast.

Monday Night Raw Review: Mar. 14/11

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone. Yes, late again. I've been busy with work as usual, but I have next tuesday off, to I should be able to post on time next week. Thanks for sticking with me even through all my lateness. Oh and one small change. Instead of good and bad, we now have win and fail. I'll leave you to the brain-busting task of figuring out which is which.

WZ Coverage

Win:

-- The Rock's opening promo. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. The kid did a pretty good impression of Cena and the Rock was spot on as always. I missed his promos. I'm honestly looking forward to his next promo.

-- Miz's promo was really good as well. He's continuing to improve his promos over the last couple of weeks, and it shows.

-- Lawler cutting off Cole. Well done, it's about damn time.

-- BOOMER SOONER! Fuck yeah, JR's in the house. It's good to see him again. He didn't really do much, but then he didn't have to. He's JR, he makes everything better.

-- Miz as the Rock. This was pretty funny. This is one of the more creative things I've seen in recent weeks. He did a good job with that Rock Bottom to boot. Miz definitely has what it takes to be a champion. I haven't seen anyone own Cena like this since Nexus destroyed him a while ago. Maybe creative is coming around, finally.

Fail:

-- Miz seeming like an afterthought in the Rock's promo. He's the WWE champion for fuck sake, give him SOME credit.

-- Snooki. What was the point? Why give her a match at WM? I don't care what kind of publicity it gets the event, she shouldn't be wrestling. I think that if you can't sell an event based on the wrestlers/matches on the card, you shouldn't be having events.

-- Grand Master Sexay. I liked Too Cool back in the day, but bringing family into this stuff has never sat well with me (aside from Cena's dad getting RKO'ed) and nobody knows who the fuck he is anymore. This segment bombed. Badly.

-- Cole butchering the Ankle Lock on JR. According to his blog, COle actually injured him. Some people have suggested that it's kayfabe to keep up appearances, but I don't think JR would bullshit his fans like that.

-- Nexus getting mangled in less than a month. WWE was doing pretty good with the group until they sent Barrett to SD. Sure, they'd been losing credibility since Cena was fired then rehired for no reason, but there was still hope. Now, it's all dead. The once great group has been reduced to a piled of punted corpses. WWE dropped the ball here.

-- Drew Carey in the HOF. Move over Pete Rose.

WTF:

-- Not that I'm complaining, but when did Cole decide to lock himself in a glass box?

-- Is it just me, or was JR's mouth barely moving? It's like watching an episode of Speed Racer.

Matches:

Miz vs. Khali -- This was very underwhelming. I can understand the DQ finish as it helps build Miz's heel status, but at the same time I feel ripped off. When they say "first time ever match" I expect something big and spectacular, not a slow Indian giant whose novelty has worn off.

Rating: 4/10

Sheamus vs. Danielson (US Title) -- This was a decent match. It's actually nice to see them doing something with the US Title. Both men did a great job in the match. I'm surprised it went as long as it did, but it left me wanting to see more. Not because it was lacking anything, but because it was a great match and I want to see them go at it again.

Rating: 8/10

Orton vs. Ryan -- Mason Ryan is still pretty green but he's got a ton of potential. I definitely see him going places. This was a good match, but not great. Sure, Orton was as solid in the ring as ever, but his Superman persona is continuing to inflate. The "flash" RKO is getting boring, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. I don't mind it every now and then, but every week? It's old news now. The last truly exciting RKO was when he nailed Bourne mid-air. The match was pretty predictable but it was still some good technical work. Like I said at the start, good but not great.

Rating: 6/10

Vickie vs. Trish -- I think this was total bullshit. I'm glad Vickie's win wasn't clean, but still. This match made a mockery out of an already laughable womens division. Trish is one of the greatest divas of all time and to do this to her is just stupid. I knew as soon as I heard it was no-DQ that there would be interference. It was not worth my time in any way.

Rating: 3/10

Del Rio vs. Cena -- Del Rio was looking good tonight. He did pretty good given what he had to work with. That said, I was not a fan of this match at all. Cena was just as bad as ever and it's really dragging everyone else down.

Rating: 5/10

Average match rating: 5.2/10 (-1.55)
Match of the Night: Danielson vs. Sheamus
Overall show rating: 6.5/10 (-1.5)

The next few weeks, I'll be rounding up your thoughts on which entrance theme is the best. Join the discussion on the ACA Facebook page.

Monday Night Raw Review: Mar. 7/11

Well, I'm back on a tuesday again. I hope I can keep this up. I'm trying to come up with a good idea for a feature post. Instead of doing something serious, I think I'll do something more light-hearted and funny. I'll figure something out. As always I'm open to suggestions. Anything you want to know my thoughts on, feel free to email me at ACA-CT@hotmail.com

The Good:

-- Taker's opening promo. I've liked every opening promo for the past few weeks now. I don't have a thing for the opening segments, WWE is just doing a good job delivering on them. Taker can still send a chill down my spine and that's what makes his promos awesome. Plus the match is now no holds barred. I don't see them doing anything huge with that, but it does leave room for hope.

-- Brodus Clay still getting a spot on the main roster. He may not have been my favourite and I don't disagree with the NXT results but I think he definitely has a future with WWE. Plus with Del Rio as his mentor he's going to be seen around the main event which doesn't hurt anyone.

-- Del Rio continuing to impress. He's got everything it takes to be a top heel and I'm glad WWE sees it too. Jakob complained about him being shoved down our throats. I don't see it that way at all. He needs the time to cement his on-screen presence, just like every other star.

-- Christian returning. I'm a die hard peep and it while it may be a little bit due to national pride, I'm still happy to see him.

-- The HOF is looking pretty damn good.

-- WWE's already hyping Sin Cara. I can't wait to see this guy in action. I've seen a few highlights and I've been inpressed. I think he's just what WWE needs right now.

-- I never liked JBL as a wrestler. Yes he was solid in the ring but I just wasn't a fan. That said, he's got a great character and he's good on the mic. I hope he comes back and does commentary. Granted I don't see any connection between him and Cole aside from both being from Texas. Other than that I have no complaints.

-- Stone Cold opening a can of whoopass on JBL and stealing the contract AND dumping beer all over Cole. Anything that makes Cole cry is good in my books.

-- Dolph Ziggler on Raw. This will be great.

-- Trish Stratus wrestling next week. I would be more excited if the circumstances were different and I wasn't so sure she'd have to lay down for Vickie.

-- Miz's ending promo. He really stepped it up tonight. Even Vardy agrees with me.

The Bad:

-- "Ain't No Grave" in itself is a great song but it doesn't suit Taker one bit. Well, it does and it doesn't. It's good for promos, but not theme music. PLEASE go back to Graveyard Symphony.

-- Cole talking over Taker's entrance. I'm sorry it's just annoying. I want to enjoy seeing the Deadman without useless blabbering, especially from that ass-miner.

-- Orton is starting to get his own Superman status. Granted he does deserve it a hell of a lot more than Cena, but I don't find it believable that anyone can come back from such attacks. The way I see it, while most people say it makes the face look strong I see a heel looking weak. If I'm to believe that Punk (or any heel) is credible I want to see their actions have negative consequences for the victim.

-- I'm torn about where to put this, but Sheamus' "win the US Title or quit" promise. In a way ti could be good because it's a storyline involving an often-forgotten title, but at the same time I don't like these stipulations. I decided to go with bad because I think this type of thing is way out of character for Sheamus and I don't like that he's back on the mid card after 2 successful WWE Title runs.

-- Why does Vickie have to come with to Raw too? Sure she has to fight for it, but we all know she'll win.

-- Cena's closing promo. I thought the shirt was funny but after that I stopped laughing. He's been good these last couple of weeks but he lost me tonight. The whole hip hop thing was dumb, but the overall point was okay. It's not really rap or hip hop either, it's more spoken word. But whatever, it wasn't as great as his other recent stuff was.

WTF:

-- Banning mention of WM17. I don't see why. I honestly don't. Someone said that it's good for the storyline but I don't see it. Trips is going to look like a credible threat no matter what because the fans will think he is.

-- Way to go, King. Orton is the Viper. Austin (or should I say "Autsin") is the Rattlesnake.

-- That "Autsin" sign. Really? Really?

-- Josh calling himself a Diva. Lol.

-- I could never understand the "MOO" in JBL's theme. It's funny in a weird way.

-- Vardy agrees with me?

The Matches:

Orton vs. Otunga -- This is a tough one. Orton was great, Otunga wasn't and again I don't know what to think of Orton's new Superman status. Decent match but nothing special.

Rating: 6/10

Christian vs. Brodus Clay -- Clay was very impressive. He still has room to improve but I think he's off to a great start. Christian was in good form tonight as well. Christian is long overdue for a push and I think this might be it. Brodus Clay will be a big player on the mid card in the future for sure.

Rating: 7/10

Brie (Nikki?) vs. Eve -- Yeah, no. What Cole did was bullshit, but I'd rather he do it here than another match. The match itself was a typical Diva match. Am I the only one that thinks the Bellas should be automatically DQ'ed if they're caught trying to switch?

Rating: 4/10

Danielson vs. Sheamus -- I liked the match but I'm not a big fan of countout endings. Other than that both men were superb. I just wish it had gone on a little longer. I think these guys will have a great program. It's good to see a US Title feud again. The belt is often forgotten about especially around WM. Good to see they have at least some kind of plan.

Rating: 7.5/10

Punk vs. Truth -- I really enjoyed this match. Punk was great and Truth looked decent for a change. It was great to see Punk use the Anaconda Vise again. I almost forgot he had a submission finisher.

Rating: 8/10

Ziggler vs. Morrison -- Great match. I think people underrate Morrison as a competitor. He's not quite there with his mic skills, but in terms of ring work he's doing fine. Yeah, he may rely a little more on high spots than some more technically gifted wrestlers but that's his style. Dolph is also well on his way to the main event.

Rating: 8/10

Average match rating: 6.75/10 (+1.75)
Match of the Night: Ziggler vs. Morrison
Overall show rating: 8/10 (+0.5)

I'll figure something out for a feature post at some point soon. Sorry for the delay on one, I'm having creative block again. As always, feel free to email me or hit me up on Facebook with any questions comments or suggestions. I'm always open to them.

Monday Night Raw Review: Feb. 28/11

Yeah, it's late again, but earlier than it was last week. I guess that's something.

WZ coverage

The Good: 


-- HHH's opening promo. He hasn't missed a beat. I'm not as much of a fan as I used to be, but he's still able to capture an audience. He's got great delivery, and he can draw people into what he's saying. Not a lot of people can do that. That said, I didn't like Sheamus coming out. It was good to see the Pedigree through the announce table but other than that I don't think it was necessary.

-- Lawler calling Cole "cold sore." That was awesome.

-- Punk vs. Orton at WM. That will be a great match. I just don't understand the point to the matches against Nexus members. Why not just get it over with and ban them all? We all know none of them will win against Orton so why bother?

-- The escape-only cage match. This is the way they should all be. Otherwise, there's no point to the cage and they may as well just have a normal match.


-- I love how they didn't even try to censor the Rock this week. The entire promo was gold.


The Bad:

-- Sheamus getting beat down so Evan Bourne can return and win. I know that's the only reason they did the match when they did, because they don't think Bourne beating Sheamus is believable otherwise.

-- Cole vs. Lawler at WM. This is going to be one of the worst matches in WM history. I have this awful feeling that Cole will win for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the clause that says Lawler can't touch Cole. I think it won't be mentioned between now and WM, then suddenly brought back up seconds before the match starts.

-- Miz's promo. I didn't like the fact that he's pissed off about the Rock not answering him. He really shouldn't care. I can just hear him saying "what about me? What about Miz?" This whole promo was a flop, which is a rarity for Miz. I think Cena somehow made it better which is something I never thought I'd say. Miz came up with the worst "if I -- or rather Riley -- wins" stipulation ever.

-- Rock not appearing in person. The promo itself was good, but I wish he'd done it live. The fact that it was pre-taped showed through in the timing of it as he talked over the crowd a couple of times which would never happen live (at least not intentionally). Plus I could have sworn he was in front of a green screen.

-- Miz attacking Danielson for no good reason. I didn't see the point to it at all but maybe I missed something. Oh, well there you go. He did it because he can. What the fuck?

WTF:

-- King saying "I don't think Undertaker's WM streak is in more jeopardy than it is right now." Don't they say that every single year?

-- What was up with that dance Cole did? He looked like an epileptic rat.

-- Cena: Learn to grammar. The apostrophe in "doctor's note" was unnecessary. Back to grade 3 for you.

-- Worst. Toilet joke. Ever. Thank you A-Ry for proving that you shouldn't be talking.

-- Will they ever explain why Alex Riley is carrying that briefcase around?

The Matches:

King Sheamus vs. Evan Bourne -- Good to see Bourne back. I missed the kid. The shooting star was epic as it always is, but this did nothing for either man involved. It was a quick "hey I'm back" match that in the end only hurts Sheamus and doesn't put Bourne further ahead.

Rating: 5/10

Orton vs. McG -- Solid performance from both men, but I don't think McG is quite there yet. He's come a long way, but he's still lacking in the charisma department. He's not at the stage where he can have an exciting match yet. Almost, but not quite. All the excitement here came from Orton.

Rating: 7/10

Divas battle royal -- Uh, pass.

Rating: 2/10

Cena vs. Riley -- Cena was useless as ever. I knew something was up when Riley slowed way the hell down when he was on top of the cage. I love the cover-up Cole tried to do for it as well. "Maybe he's afraid of heights." Yeah well maybe Cena needs to get his monkey ass up and do something right for a change. I liked Miz taking the picture of Cena. For those interested in seeing it, it's the ACA's group photo right now. Pretty funny stuff.

Rating: 6/10

Average match rating: 5/10 (-0.3)

Match of the Night: Orton vs. McG

Overall show rating: 7.5/10 (-0.5)

Overall a good show but a lack of matches and too much talking made it a little boring. It didn't have the same feel the last couple of weeks did. It wasn't as exciting which with a month until Wrestlemania is not something you want to skimp on. The show definitely had its moments, but there weren't as many of them as I would have liked.

Monday Night Raw Review: 2/21/11

Yeah, I knew the tuesday thing wouldn't last. Sorry to get your hopes up.

WZ Coverage

The Good:

Cena's promo. I'm glad he dusted off the PhD in Thuganomics. It was literally the only thing he could do to get the fans back on his side after the Rock totally owned him last week. I can't wait to hear the backlash from the gay jokes.

Orton/Punk. This is going places, and I like it. This is a great angle, mostly because everyone had forgotten about Orton punting him. I know I did. Now we have a revelation that this might be why Punk went heel. I hope they don't drop the ball with this.

Del Rio/Kofi. I hope this leads to a title feud. Maybe with Kofi's kayfabe injury, there'll be a tournament that Del Rio will win, then Kofi will return to seek revenge. It's been done before, but it's the most likely scenario. That, or a straight up title match.

Taker AND Trips returning in one night. While I'm not a big Triple H fan anymore, Raw needs him the way SD needs Taker. Plus I dig Taker's new entrance. I don't know much about pyrotechnics so I always find it cool when they can perfectly aim lightning.

Hacksaw in the hall of fame. I think he's a good addition.

The Bad:

Only showing pictures from the PPV's. This bothers me every time. I don't really watch PPV's so I kinda want to be able to see some highlights that aren't stills. I can understand why they do it, because they want people to spend the money to see it, but at least give those that can't or don't want to pay for it a chance to see at least something.

Punk's ass scrape. I'm all for some violence, but that just looks painful. I don't like seeing guys get legitimately hurt.

The 2/21/11 hype. We know who it is, just get it over with. Plus, it's supposed to be a surprise. Don't put a time on it. Honestly, I think it would have been better to do for Taker what they did for the Rock. Just shut off every damn light in the place and do it that way. Maybe I'm being too critical because I'm glad Taker's back, but they could have done it a lot better.

Cole interviewing Lawler. Well, just Cole's half. I liked Jerry's part. I'm more upset about the fact Cole was able to bash Jerry's recently deceased mother on air. I guess it wouldn't have happened if Jerry wasn't cool with it, but I just don't think it's right.

Cole vs. Lawler at WM. I want to see Cole get his ass handed to him, but I just don't think WM is the place and nor is King the person to do it.

WTF:

Cena on my good list? AGAIN? Is this the apocalypse?

Miz having trouble saying "unquestionably, undoubtedly....etc" he's usually good on the mic but this was just funny.

This one isn't so much WTF but I still laugh at it: Punk using Orton's full name. I giggle every time and I don't know why. Maybe it's because Orton is supposedly this cool, tough, hardened SOB, then to her his name is Randall kinda kills that persona.

Why did they put Taker and Trips in the middle of the show?

Did Taker just break character? I have NEVER seen any flicker of emotion on his face until now.

Why put the belts on Cena and Miz for literally 5 minutes? What did it accomplish?

Only 4 matches? C'mon, you can do better than that.

The Matches:

Morrison vs. Punk --  Great match. I loved the way they sold their injuries from last night (take notes, Cena). I wish it had gone on a little longer, but it was pretty good for the length. Both guys had some great moves here tonight. Morrison is continuing to get a good push. I hope they have him face Danielson for the US Title.

Rating: 8/10

Bellas vs. Eve and Gail Kim -- I don't overly like divas matches, and I don't overly like tag team matches. Put them together and we have a clusterfuck. Don't get me wrong, when done right, they're both great. This was not one of those cases. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing the whole twin schtick as well. Yeah, we get it, they look enough alike that the ref can't tell the difference. It's old. Do something else.

Rating: 5/10

Sheamus vs. Mark Henry -- I said I wanted them to do something other than give Mark Henry random tag partners, but this is not what I had in mind. Henry looked sweaty -- I mean sloppy, well maybe both -- as ever. Add to that they stopped Sheamus' push dead in its tracks (assuming that he doesn't feud with Danielson) and we have a pretty shitty match.

Rating: 5/10

Miz/Cena vs. Slater/Gabriel -- Yeah, This was pointless I'm not even going to bother. This goes for both matches.

Rating: 3/10

Average Match Rating: 5.3/10 (-1.2)

Match of the Night: Morrison vs. Punk

Overall Show Rating: 8/10 (+0.5)

I gave the show an 8 for it's surprisingly decent promos and the returns of Taker and Triple H. There was some great setups for things to come, but at the same time the show was lacking a little bit. I think this is the highest rated Raw I've reviewed.