Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[JWGunslinger]

Pretty good Smackdown for tonight's special Super Smackdown Holiday edition, left us feeling all warm and cheery.I actually enjoyed the Christmas influence brought to us from Mick Foley, big step up from that crappy This Is Your Life promo on Raw. Great intro with the announce team dressed up for the occasion, I was very happy to see Cole's frown in that Reindeer suit. Then we had Booker come out as Santa and do his spinarooni, which was followed by Cody Rhodes coming out and confronting him which then lead to Foley making a match between them. I gotta say that I was very pumped for this and was dissapointed when Cody attacked Booker backstage and made it so the match didn't happen but atleast we know that the feud is coming and I'm very excited about that.

The Divas Battle Royal, Mahal vs Gabriel and the Superstar's Battle Royal were all pretty blah. I enjoyed Kofi vs Kidd, they're both very dynamic in the ring and I think they work well with each other in the ring, very interesting when Kofi took the Reindeer cap from Cole and put it on to wear when he hit Kidd with the cross body to pick up the win. It was fun and I couldn't help but crack a grin when Kofi was wearing those damn antlers and the red nose. At first I wasn't very excited for Orton vs Otunga but fortunatly in this match Otunga was up against someone who can actually carry a less talented in ring compeditor, didn't really come into play too much since most of this was outside with Randy beating up on him. I laughed out loud when Randy threw the present and hit Otunga in the head as he ran away and then smiled, very funny moment there and overall entertaining match.

The Steel Cage Match with Bryan and Henry was good, it didn't really deliver like I expected and I had gotten myself pretty excited for this one but it was decent and made it look like future matches with Bryan against Henry could actually be pretty entertaining. Decent Smackdown, a few crummy matches but some good ones too, and Hornswoggle spoke!

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

I was pissed last night. Since me and my mom were getting our hair done I was literally falling asleep in the hair drying chair while Smackdown rolled on. When I finally got to turn it on it was near the end of the Battle Royal. And I got to watch my guy Justin go over the top rope.

XP Ouch.

In all honesty I thought the moment with Hornswoggle learning how to talk was really sweet. I love that ittle booger! Plus, him making Vickie cry was funny as hell. Aj+DBD= okay, not as cute but a little sweet?

*looks up at the last comment* Aw man,Orton hit Otunga with a present??? RAWR, DANG MY FEMININE NEED TO LOOK PRETTY!!!!

NO, there was no TEVO at the house I was at.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought their match was great. It went about exactly as I figured it would and, at this point in time, exactly as it needed to.

There was some fun action, the wrestlers were able to tell a great story, both did a good job of selling the moves of the other, there were a few dramatic moments in which it looked as though Bryan might pull it off and the crowd was extremely into it.

I don't believe anyone really expected Bryan to win, but he looked very good in there against Henry and was heavily over with the fans. At this point in time, Daniel Bryan can't beat Mark Henry. But, Bryan still has his MITB briefcase and, as of right now, it seems pretty obvious that WWE's plan is for a slow build for Bryan to WrestleMania. By the time WM does come about, Bryan will be painted as being able to beat Mark Henry unless something happens to really alter Bryan's career trajectory.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

From an overall perspective, last night's show was a big disappointment.

There was far too much comedy & holiday crap going on. You could definitely feel Vince McMahon's influence on last night's show because he loves all corny comedy stuff. I can't say I'm surprised but I knew it was gonna be one of those shows when Michael Cole came out dressed as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Aside from Henry vs. Bryan, which was a great match I thought, there wasn't anything on the show worth seeing. From top to bottom, SmackDown! is usually a great show but last night's show was easily the worst since the show's been on Syfy. Aside from the main event, it was almost entirely lame comedy, filler matches or some combination of the two.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I have no complaints with last night's show. Everything achieved what it needed to achieve. Henry vs. Bryan was a solid match and while Bryan shouldn't have won, this helps build him up a little bit and he can only go up. Orton vs. Otunga was a fun street fight and Barrett interfering furthers their feud. Cody attacking Booker was good as well and I could see them fighting at TLC. I'll give the show a B+.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

I normally dont post about Smackdown shows, but I wanted to give my 2 cents. My fiance and I watched it last night...we rarely watch Smackdown on Fridays cause there are other shows on we watch.

Aside from it being somewhat out of season, Smackdown was ok. It was what it was, A FUN SHOW. It helped push storylines and create some.

OPENING SEGMENT
Was decent for what it was. It helped push the Rhodes/Booker storyline while also giving us the match run-down for the night. I didn't really see the need to dress the announcers up though.

DIVAS BATTLE ROYAL
You had to know that this match was going to be anything special...I mean, look at who was involved. I knew there wasn't going to be a GOOD prize for the winner. Why would they throw a new #1 contender into the mix for the Diva's title?

JUSTIN GABRIEL vs JINDER MAHAL
Pointless. I guess it was good to help get Justin Gabriel over, but that didn't help him. Im glad to see DiBiase in a somewhat meaningful feud. This is what he needed to help get over with the crowd.

KOFI vs TYSON KIDD
Glad to see Kidd get some exposure, however this was also pointless. There was no need for this match, it was only made to keep Kofi relevant to the crowd as a tag team champion. What was with him laughing at Cole?

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET FIGHT
Fun match. You could tell Orton was improvising this match and was having fun with it. Everything from him eating the cookies to throwing a present at Otunga to throwing him into the christmas trees. Good to see Barrett interfere and cost Orton another victory. Im happy Orton is putting guys over like this.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS BATTLE ROYAL
As soon as Hornswogle was introduced I knew he would win. Its just that it TOOK TOO DAMN LONG! Plus him gaining the ability to talk afterwards was lame. Swoggle should've already been talking!

STEEL CAGE MATCH
Good match. Bryan showed it can run in the main event with everyone else. I just have 1 question. If Henry has a bum ankle, and Bryan kept attacking it...HOW WAS HE ABLE TO CLIMB THE ROPES, HOLD BRYAN UP THERE AND JUMP OFF!!?? Worst booking for a steel cage match.

Smackdown was ok. There were some really lame backstage segments. I wish I could've see some interaction between Cody, Goldust and Dusty. They really dropped the ball by having Goldust on screen with Dusty.

My Smackdown rating: C

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

Am I the only one who thinks they might be going somewhere with Justin and Alicia Fox? I mean, two weeks ago she so OBVIOUSLY flirted with him (*growls*) and this week if you didn't want to watch Teddy and Aksana, you could've looked over Aksana's shoulder to see Alicia flirting with Justin AGAIN. Wtf, is goin on there? Or is WWE trying to get these two over as faces by being a couple- and facing Derrick Bateman and Maxine....? That'd be something. ._.

 

[This is the return of WTM]

Am I the only one who thinks they might be going somewhere with Justin and Alicia Fox? I mean, two weeks ago she so OBVIOUSLY flirted with him (*growls*) and this week if you didn't want to watch Teddy and Aksana, you could've looked over Aksana's shoulder to see Alicia flirting with Justin AGAIN. Wtf, is goin on there? Or is WWE trying to get these two over as faces by being a couple- and facing Derrick Bateman and Maxine....? That'd be something. ._.

While I don't care for any of the four, if it will give them something to do, I would be okay with this.

Anyway onto the show. The only thing that kept me interested was the World Title Match. This was good. Bryan got good offense in and Henry looked like a monster threat. The only thing I didn't like about that match was the fact that Bryan used the Ankle Lock. He probaly should have used a Boston Crab to sit on Henry for a while. It would have been a little harder for Mark to get out of the hold. All in all, 3 1/2 stars.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Gonna keep it kinda short this week.

Overall, I thought Raw was solid tonight. It wasn't on the same level as last week. Wrestling was ok, with Cena vs. Ryder & Sheamus vs. Ziggler were easily the best matches of the tnight. I thought WWE did a good job of moving along storylines tonight as they set the WWE Championship match for TLC as a triple threat TLC match with Punk against The Miz & Alberto Del Rio.

The situation with Cena & Ryder was interesting. They had a pretty good match and even though Cena won, he took himself out of the WWE Championship match so Ryder could have another shot at getting a US Title match. I didn't really expect that but I'm happy about it personally. Like a lot of people, I'm just kind of tired of Cena always in the title picture. With Ryder's assisted win over Mark Henry via Cena's interference, Ryder got his United States Championship match. I expected Ryder to ultimately get screwed again and the saga of Ryder's quest would go on for a while longer, but I'm glad they pulled the trigger at an unexpected time.

The contract signing was solid, though unspectacular. After all, there's only so many times you can do a contract signing without it being a cliche and it was fun of Punk's character to point that out. Him ultimately leaving Del Rio & Miz laying was a nice touch. He's still new as champ and he looked strong here.

I'd give tonight's show a B-. Some decent wrestling, though it can't compare to some of what we've seen lately, coupled with nice storyline progression and hype for TLC.

 

[Theo Mays]

I enjoyed Raw tonight. There was a good amount of wrestling and decent matches at that. Would have liked to see ADR/DB get more time and I thought DB looked a little weak tonight. Though he took a beating from Henry, so I guess it sort of makes sense.

I really enjoyed Cena tonight. It was a new side of Cena. We all know Cena is always itching for the title but tonight he put his title aspirations to the side and gave Zack Ryder the chance to finally get that US title match. Justinsayne made a good point (on twitter) stating Cena should be GM and I actually like that move. It gives us a break from Cena and it keeps him away from the title for awhile. It is a nice way to keep him fresh while building up to his Mania match with Rocky. Hell even after Mania I'd still love to see Cena as GM. Something new and different, plus I'm sure he could use an extended period of time off.

Punk was great tonight and was probably my favorite part of Raw. Him poking fun at Miz and ADR was a nice touch and the overall mocking of contract signings was a nice touch as well. We all know something is gonna go down, so it is no surprise to us when it does. Punk mocking that was pretty cool.

TLC is shaping up rather nicely it seems after tonight. We got the triple threat WWE title match, Nash/Trips, the WHC match, and most likely we will see Ryder/Ziggler and Barrett/Orton as well if tonight was any indication. Plus we get another Kane promo and the Itbegins stuff has finally hit the air ways, so that is now appealing to the casual fans that aren't going to jump to youtube to watch a vignette. Overall a nice show, nothing spectacular but nothing to really complain about.

EDIT: And dare I say it? I actually (gulp) enjoyed Laurinaitis tonight. Never thought those words would leave my mouth.

 

[metalbass]

Pretty good RAW tonight. Now we know 3 matches for TLC now are the triple threat tlc match for the WWE championship, Ziggler vs. Ryder for the US title and Nash vs. Trips in a ladder match with the sledgehammer hanging over the ring. Ryder got some double duty and looked good in a loss to Cena, then later in a turn of events where Cena forfeited his spot in the main event to give Zack Ryder his title shot he beats Mark Henry with an assist from Cena. I'm kind of liking this change Cena is making as he is looking like he's taking a back seat for a while. It's a great decision IMO.

All the matches were solid, except for the diva's tag team match and Nash vs. Santino. Nash looks incredibly slow and cumbersome in the ring and the match felt like it served no real purpose. I'm not really looking forward to this match simply because I don't want to see Nash wheeled to the ring in a wheelchair and leaving on a stretcher. He's done, washed up, finished.

Overall though, RAW served as a good build up for TLC and helped generate some interest for me at least.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

The highlight of the night was Laurinitis looking right into the camera, breaking the fourth wall, and wishing John Morrison the best in his future endeavors. As much hate as Johnny Ace has gotten recently (and rightfully so more often than not), he really deserves praise for the brilliance of that 10-15 second spot.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I forced myself to watch RAW. I hate myself now. Didn't really change from the last time I did. Pretty much the same 'ol thing.

- Boring
- Boring
- Boring
- Dolph Ziggler
- Boring
- Boring
- CM Punk

At least no midgets won Battle Royals. I must say, there is not one storyline that caught my interest. Nothing. No conflicts, no drama, no antagonists, protagonists, no twists, no developments. What happened to the conspiracies? What happened to Nash's whole deal? What happened to Miz and R-Truth talking about the same conspiracies? That was interesting. Was. I don't even know how it ended. What was the payoff of these storylines? Anyone? Illuminate me, I don't watch the show often so I want to hear what the ending was before I condemn it as stupid.

Other than that - Dolph Ziggler is amazing. Punk is too. I did enjoy Miz's little "shooting" on Ziggler. Problem is, he tried to get a Punk vibe out of it. Didn't work. Why? It wasn't tasteful. Punk mixes his shoots with something that is a standard among the fans. Calling someone boring or bland is fine. It's a standard backstage AND on the air. Someone not getting a reaction is a backstage standard, fans don't give a shit about it. Or at least shouldn't. Caught Ziggles off guard too, you could tell he didn't like it.

I hope WWE doesn't ass rape Ziggler. He's too good for it. But him being good means they probably will. And don't tell me it's not true. When your most recent/current Champions and contenders are the likes of Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio and Miz, you know you're a part of a company that doesn't give a flying fuck about talent. They'll chew his ass up, squeeze whatever they got from him in the coming years and eventually release him. God forbid anyone had more charisma, a better look and more in-ring ability than Cena. The world just might explode.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I forced myself to watch RAW. I hate myself now. Didn't really change from the last time I did. Pretty much the same 'ol thing.

- Boring
- Boring
- Boring
- Dolph Ziggler
- Boring
- Boring
- CM Punk

At least no midgets won Battle Royals. I must say, there is not one storyline that caught my interest. Nothing. No conflicts, no drama, no antagonists, protagonists, no twists, no developments. What happened to the conspiracies? What happened to Nash's whole deal? What happened to Miz and R-Truth talking about the same conspiracies? That was interesting. Was. I don't even know how it ended. What was the payoff of these storylines? Anyone? Illuminate me, I don't watch the show often so I want to hear what the ending was before I condemn it as stupid.

Other than that - Dolph Ziggler is amazing. Punk is too. I did enjoy Miz's little "shooting" on Ziggler. Problem is, he tried to get a Punk vibe out of it. Didn't work. Why? It wasn't tasteful. Punk mixes his shoots with something that is a standard among the fans. Calling someone boring or bland is fine. It's a standard backstage AND on the air. Someone not getting a reaction is a backstage standard, fans don't give a shit about it. Or at least shouldn't. Caught Ziggles off guard too, you could tell he didn't like it.

I hope WWE doesn't ass rape Ziggler. He's too good for it. But him being good means they probably will. And don't tell me it's not true. When your most recent/current Champions and contenders are the likes of Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio and Miz, you know you're a part of a company that doesn't give a flying fuck about talent. They'll chew his ass up, squeeze whatever they got from him in the coming years and eventually release him. God forbid anyone had more charisma, a better look and more in-ring ability than Cena. The world just might explode.

After I went on the Real Housewives board, the European soccer board, the tea party board, and the ayn rand fanclub board and bitched about everything I hated and wasted my own and everyone else's time, i decided to come here....seriously, fuck off.

Talent in pro wrestling is objective if you look at it like any other job. You get over, you're good, you've done your job.

WWE isn't where they are because they're bad at their job. Before you go saying "7s in the attitude era, 2.89 now", do some fuckin research, times change, you can't compare them. It was more popular then, markets change, everything changes. Go away. Go watch Alex Shelley work Austin Aries' leg for 5 minutes only for Aries to run across the ring and hit shelley with a dropkick, then run up the top rope and jump off with a dive and not sell the leg the rest of the match.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

After I went on the Real Housewives board, the European soccer board, the tea party board, and the ayn rand fanclub board and bitched about everything I hated and wasted my own and everyone else's time, i decided to come here....seriously, fuck off.

Talent in pro wrestling is objective if you look at it like any other job. You get over, you're good, you've done your job.

WWE isn't where they are because they're bad at their job. Before you go saying "7s in the attitude era, 2.89 now", do some fuckin research, times change, you can't compare them. It was more popular then, markets change, everything changes. Go away. Go watch Alex Shelley work Austin Aries' leg for 5 minutes only for Aries to run across the ring and hit shelley with a dropkick, then run up the top rope and jump off with a dive and not sell the leg the rest of the match.

Did you even read my damn post? Why are you rambling about Attitude Eras and talent being objective as if I even implied that I didn't like the show because it's not like before and I shat on some talent. Well, I did trash The Miz. But hey, why shouldn't I? What the fuck has he done to earn anyone's respect? Hey remember the last great match Miz had? No. Remember that wicked promo he cut? No. Remember how great of a title reign he had? Nope.

P.S: Nice example there. Use two of the most talented and charismatic wrestlers in the business and make them out to be sucky performers. You're a smart one.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Did you even read my damn post? Why are you rambling about Attitude Eras and talent being objective as if I even implied that I didn't like the show because it's not like before and I shat on some talent. Well, I did trash The Miz. But hey, why shouldn't I? What the fuck has he done to earn anyone's respect? Hey remember the last great match Miz had? No. Remember that wicked promo he cut? No. Remember how great of a title reign he had? Nope.

P.S: Nice example there. Use two of the most talented and charismatic wrestlers in the business and make them out to be sucky performers. You're a smart one.

Miz's title reign was the best title reign in ANY promotion over the past 3-4 years. Nobody booked a better title reign.

Dolph Ziggler is mediocre at best. Being funny does not mean you're charismatic, and his charisma isn't even close to being high enough to outweigh his shit ringwork.

The Zack Ryder stuff throughout Raw was awesome. CM Punk was indeed, awesome. Other than that, Raw was a bit bland.

Not feeling a long drawn out post where I creatively insult you, so I'll just end it with the standard, "You're stupid" and be on my way.

Love,
Nathaniel

 

[RicoLen]

Did you even read my damn post? Why are you rambling about Attitude Eras and talent being objective as if I even implied that I didn't like the show because it's not like before and I shat on some talent. Well, I did trash The Miz. But hey, why shouldn't I? What the fuck has he done to earn anyone's respect? Hey remember the last great match Miz had? No. Remember that wicked promo he cut? No. Remember how great of a title reign he had? Nope.

P.S: Nice example there. Use two of the most talented and charismatic wrestlers in the business and make them out to be sucky performers. You're a smart one.

Let me explain something here, that I would be willing to bet that 95% of the people at this site (including the people arguing with you) don't get.

As we all know pro-wrestling has a stigma of being a soap opera for men. Now, go ask a woman what happens when they don't keep up with their soap opera and get out of touch with it, or follow it only by reading about the current events?

The answer, generally speaking, is that they stop caring or liking anyone on the show.

The same holds true for pro-wrestling. I followed the WWF from 1987 through 1995 before I jumped ship to WCW, when my parents changed cable companies and suddenly I had a choice between WWF and WCW. I lost touch with WWF, and in the meantime WCW had gathered everyone I knew and loved growing up. It was simple for me to get invested in WCW, and I felt no desire to even give a crap about the WWF and all their nobodies and WCW rejects. The absolute breaking point for me when I stopped watching Raw all together was King of the Ring 96 when Austin treated one of my favorites of my childhood Jake Roberts like total crap, when dammit Jake never won any titles. He should have been IC Champ but Vince screwed him out of that in favor of Honky Tonk Man, and now he should have won the King of the Ring but no this idiot, formerly Ringmaster asshole not only took that feather from Roberts cap but then proceeded to rub his nose in it. Screw that, I'm done with the WWF.

WCW was better anyways because the new guys (IE Hall and Nash) were way better.

Now... fast forward 15 years, and I'm watching the attitude era's monday night Raw episodes in order without skipping, and now that I know who all those "nobodies" are/were I'm having a great time with it.

WCW failed, I went back to WWF with my tail tucked between my legs, and it took months and months and months to get interested in what was going on there, but at least there was Kurt Angle, The Rock, and Booker T, and best of all nWo was brought in and then later Bill Goldberg too. Eventually I loved the WWE again.

But then I got married, bought a house, had a kid, and stopped watching all together. I finally started getting back into it in 2010 when I found out that Bret Hart was coming back (also that Hogan was going to debut on TNA the same night). I didn't know anyone, I didn't LIKE anyone either. Edge was a nobody in my eyes, same with Chris Jericho, The Miz, CM Punk, Batista, Randy Orton, John Cena, you name it, and I hated HHH. So there was HBK who I did like, but not love, and of course the Hitman, Vince, and I always like The Giant (Big Show).

Watching and getting back into wrestling after getting out of touch with it personally, not watching people's progress as characters, and learning to appreciate what they do bring to the table, absolutely sucks. The level of talent never really changes that much, to be honest. There are waves of popularity that rise and fall with certain stars, but it's not nearly so much because of the quality of the show, but with pop culture fads. Now that's not to say that quality of the show doesn't have a major role it in, but the biggest role in making pro-wrestling popular is pop culture itself. When wrestlers can get booked on late night talk shows, and Saturday Night Live or MadTV (loved Mad TV back in the day) suddenly extra interest in generated. The rise of pro-wrestling's popularity has a lot to do with the same thing that brought rise to reality stars like Kim Kardasian, and Paris Hilton, who aren't famous for doing anything but are just being famous.

Sooner or later, some star, or group of stars outside pro-wrestling, grow up and say "Hey! I loved this guy when I was a kid" and suddenly a buzz is created and the popularity of pro-wrestling surges.

Point being, you can't say that pro-wrestling sucks now. It doesn't, any more or less than in the past. However it does sound like you are just completely out of touch with the wrestlers that currently are the major stars.

Do yourself a favor, turn on Raw every Monday night, and then get yourself something else to do while the TV is on if you get bored or annoyed. A few months from now you'll be hooked and a avid fan and have a new appreciation for all the guys that are on the current roster.

This last night's raw was great. Like, really really good. I can't think of a single thing well, aside from the Diva's, that I could complain about from last night. IMO it was the best Raw I've seen in ages and ages. And it wasn't all that special, it was just on the whole a very solid episode without any pitfalls.

Cena was great, Punk was great, Ziggler was great, Miz was great, ADR was good, Ryder was good, Lariniatus was good, King Cole was good, and the Diva's annoyed me.

To me, if you're saying that you don't like anyone but Ziggler and Punk, you sound out of touch personally. I'm not saying you're not keeping up on current events, but rather that you're just not watching it night in night out. Even moreso, you've admitted as much.

Take my word for it, even if you don't like it, keep it on, and do something else while you have it on in whatever room you're in. Play a DS or PSP, or on a laptop, whatever, knit yourself a scarf, I don't care point is occupy yourself with something else but keep the TV on and pay attention when you care to and don't when you don't care to, in time, I promise you'll enjoy Raw much better. It may take 6 months (which is about what it took for me) but eventually you'll find more and more guys you enjoy watching and appreciate more, and in time you'll have a personally memory of everything that's happened to bring a story line to it's current place. You'll be able to remember seeing this happen, and you'll remember when that happened, and as a result, you'll start liking the whole show, because now, you get it on a personal level rather than just reading about it online, which is not at all the same.

 

[XXJJ]

I thought Raw was okay. Their are a couple of things though that bothered me from last night.

-I didn't like Punk getting the "upper hand" on ADR and Miz. I'm assuming Punk wins at TLC. I thought Miz and ADR beating Punk up at the end would of made them look like bigger threats going into the match. That was very "Super Cena" of Punk.

-Will the writers ever write anything different for Del Rio to say? After Punk killed him a couple of weeks ago... He is still saying the same shit. It makes him look really bad.

- And the ending to Orton and Miz match was corny. Orton putting Miz on the apron and then running after Barrett was stupid. And Barrett then punching him in the back of the head once and running away was equally stupid. Barrett attack should of been more vicious. Plus, they spend the last couple of weeks making Miz look more aggressive, and they just killed that with that flukey/cowardly win. Thats the best creative could come up with?

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Did you even read my damn post? Why are you rambling about Attitude Eras and talent being objective as if I even implied that I didn't like the show because it's not like before and I shat on some talent. Well, I did trash The Miz. But hey, why shouldn't I? What the fuck has he done to earn anyone's respect? Hey remember the last great match Miz had? No. Remember that wicked promo he cut? No. Remember how great of a title reign he had? Nope.

P.S: Nice example there. Use two of the most talented and charismatic wrestlers in the business and make them out to be sucky performers. You're a smart one.

I didn't ramble about the attitude era, I hedged against a response every douche has "7s to 2.8s".

You said everything was boring and you said Ziggler was good, so the WWE would misuse him. WWE pushes a guy, if he gets over, they're pushed more, if not, they aren't. Pretty simple and objective.

"last great match miz had" subjective
"that wicked promo he cut" subjective
"great title reign he had" subjective

Look up the definition of words. Everything you say is subjective. fact is, Miz got a promo on a subway sandwich over. Miz has the crowd in his matches. As someone who has talked to guys like terry funk and harley race about matches, Miz does the little things and is always in character, and that's just based on the small amounts of character work and ring psychology I know. Again, my opinion aside, he's over. That means he's good. You may not personally like him because he was on a reality show and sells moves and doesn't do a lot of flips, but he's over. If you're over, you're doing it right.

"who of the most talented and charismatic performers in the business" yea, Aries and Shelley are so over...o wait. They have NEVER fucking been over with anyone but moves marks. They don't stay in character at all times and have only mariginally gotten better over the past 10 years. Shelley does everything so fast that no one catches what he's doing (doesn't make you good just because you do it fast, audience has to digest it), Aries doesn't sell a damn thing on his finishing run. Again, subjectively, if they were good at their job, they'd be more over. How is it that i can walk up to a random stranger and say "what makes a good pro wrestler?" and they'll likely say "getting over". Not in those terms obviously. Shit, when I was a kid and i asked my dad 'why is Hogan always in the main event?" He said "he makes them the most money". My dad, who isnt' a wrestling fan, who only watched because I was into it, immediately got what made you good at your job. for some strange reason, a segment of the IWC who calls it "the business" fails to act accordingly. are you guys just that dumb? can you not see that how fast you do the moves or how many moves you do doesn't really matter? If Aries and shelley were as charismatic as you think they are (and not just looking like two guys trying really really really REALLY REALLY REALLY hard to look cool) then why aren't they more over and why is it that their only success has been in smaller companies and with the same segment of the audience?

You are the epitome of the "dumbass IWC mark". You think small guys who do a lot of moves makes a good match. You are wrong. If Aries and Shelley were as good as you think they are, they'd be a hell of a lot more over and with a hell of a lot more people than just fatass virgins who like to yell 'look at me I'm smart' chants at shows.

As for Raw, I really liked it. The mini story of Cena and Ryder through the show was fun and really showed a lot. The "win a match vs a smackdown guy" kept the whole show engaging. Ziggler again sells like a son of a bitch and makes guys look amazing. The last segment was really fun too with each guy doing their thing (including laryngitis).

Yea, not a lot I disliked about Raw. Fun show.

 

[JWGunslinger]

One of the best episodes of Raw that we've had in a while, overall I was very happy with it. Good opening statement aside from ADR's blandness kinda getting to me, I am really really loving Dolph's charisma. I liked the way Miz and ADR got into the match with Punk at TLC by winning their matches against Orton and Bryan, I was hoping to see Ziggler pick up his win but unfortunatly no luck there.

I enjoyed the whole Cena/Ryder deal they had going and I thought that it had alot of good twists and turns but I must say the match itself was one of the worst in a long time. I'm not here to bash either guy but that was some shitty stuff we saw there, it was slow, jerky and akward. I had been thinking that Ryder had improved so much as of late that we wouldn't have to worry about anything like this but they just did not work it well together, almost everything they did looked horrible. On a positive note I thought all the other matches were great.

I was really excited to hear Nash was going to be in a legit match but when it turned out to be Santino the excitement went away, it's smart to not have him do much before TLC but they could have had him crush someone else. Also sidenote here, aside from maybe at Summerslam I have not seen Nash do one Jack knife Powerbomb that didn't look bad, not trying to bash anyone's performance here but it just didn't look great like his old ones, it's to be expected but I'd like to see decent one.

I loved all the backstage stuff though, I can't stop talking about how great Ziggler has been and I love that he's showing more personality in his backstage segments and in his promos, he's really stepping up. As annoying as David Otunga's ass is I think that his little bitchy lawyer spot is pretty good, I'd rather see him there than in the ring. Nash's backstage thing with Otunga was great as well, even though it wasn't much more than discussing his match with H at TLC I still savor every second of him on the mic, I loved when Otunga told him that he'd be in action and he said he didn't care who it was if it isn't Triple H, he's getting me excited for a match that I know is probably gonna suck. Then we had the contract signing for the Triple Threat match between Punk,ADR and Miz, good stuff but nothing worth commenting on, can't wait for TLC though because the matches we got from tonight are gonna be good.

 

[Cracka Jack]

I'm not gonna give my thoughts on the entirety of this week's Smackdown, mostly because I can't quite remember everything that happened, but I do feel the need to point out how great Cody Rhodes was. Not only did he cut a very good promo on Booker, but his psychology in his match with Bryan was fantastic. My brother and I both took quick notice of how nearly every single move he did in that match focused on Bryan's midsection. Considering his taped ribs, it made perfect sense for him to attack that way. My only gripe is how that match ended, with a DQ from a Booker T run in. I would have liked to see a concrete end to it, but I'd guess that they wanted to protect both Cody and Bryan.

 

[XXJJ]

Smackdown had a big rating this week of 2.24. That is more than the live Tuesday show they did last week. I'm thinking that doing a live Smackdown every once in a while brings in some new viewers to Friday nights. They seemed to have been gaining some momentum from these last two live Smackdown.

Quick little review of SD. I thought Smackdown was really good. They bounced back from a weak holiday episode.

-I love the opening. I dont even think they even played the intro.

-I thought all the Barrett/Orton stuff was very good. Orton vs Ziggler beat the clock was a good main event. And it had a nice ending.

-I liked that they spent multiple segments promoting Barrett/Orton and Booker/Cody TLC matches.

-the Big Show/Mark Henry segment was very good. I thought Big Show did a great job on the mic. Seeing those two big guys bashing each other with chairs should be fun at TLC.

 

[closet_fan]

i watched some of last night's RAW. was pretty cool seeing Road Dogg again, although i think many didn't know who the F he was, which is obvious since the audience is mostly kids.

crowd seemed a bit dead when Kane came back. loved it. for me it was unexpected. loved the mask he wore coming down to the ring. "would he have a mask?" "wouldn't he?"

 

[stephenjpunk317]

I don't think last night was as bad as people make it seemed. Yes that opening segment was pretty bad. But there were some good matches and interactions get the build for TLC. Having the Miz and Del Rio weaken Punk was a nice touch. The fatal four way match was a fantastic way to show off Ziggler, Ryder, Bryan, and Rhodes. I really didn't know who would pick up the win there. That might as well been a pay per view match. The Kane return was great where people weren't sure who he was going to attack. I even enjoyed the idea that it was like a real awards ceremony. It just had that feel of a big event.

Here's more of my reaction to last night if you care to read!

http://stephenjpunk.blogspot.com/2011/12/slammy-awards-reaction.html

 

[ctln4rko]

Besides the opening segment, what I saw of Raw was good. Building for TLC quite nicely. As a poster said previously, Cody and Dolph showed great chemistry. I really enjoyed seeing Ryder, Rhodes and Ziggler, 3/5 of my Fav 5, in a match. I think that those two could be a great team and even better opponents down the road.

Kane returning...wasn't expecting it so soon. They've been airing the vignettes for a few weeks, but I was expecting a Rumble return. The new mask(s) are great. The cover mask looks really scary, makes him look like a serious killer. Hopefully this heel run goes better than the last one; feuding with Rey on raw (2008). His cash-in at MITB and feud from that, I enjoyed, the whole Undertaker story. I think a short Kane/Cena feud could be nice if done correctly. I don't see why else they'd have him return and attack their biggest star.

TLC has me excited. I'm glad Ryder has a US title match again, but I really wish it was Ziggler/Miz/Punk for the title. Randy and Barett has me excited as well, could be a good match, and I hope the plot thickens after Sunday for their feud.

Henry and Big Show, I could care less. Not much mileage can come out of their feud after Sunday. Hopefully both move on to better things.