Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[lenguy]

Im sorry but Raw was so bad last night I switch to NCSI Orton and Y2J are two of the worse Heel I have ever seen and I been wacthing WWE for a LONG time

are you for real?seriously.raw was that bad for you?ncsi sucks ass btw.id rather watch a bad episode of raw rather than watch the opening credits of that show.and as for orton and jericho being the worst heels you have ever seen.well then.i strongly have to disagree with you on that one.very strongly.i havent been a life long wrestling fan.start watching in 02.but orton and jericho are the top heels in a long time.i know you intitled to your opinion but since iv been watching iv never been more entertained by two heels than jericho and orton right now

jericho himself has mastered the art of being a heel while orton is not quite on par with jericho but is on a level of his own.hes improving every week and will not doubt be the next top heel in the buisness like HHH was.flair and trips taught him well

 

[CKO]

i am old enough to know about the attitude era, not only that but i am very familiar with wrestling before the attiude era. i've watched wrestling from the time that hogan slammed andre. i'm familiar with WCW clash of the chamions X texas shootout when cactus jack took on mil mascaras and when doom was unmasked because i was there. i was there at wrestlemania X7 and watched austin side with mcmahon, causing a huge ass riot in houston, i watched jake the snake and the undertaker crash macho man's wedding reception in the 80's...so to say that i'm not familiar..not true.

if you read what i wrote correctly, i said i'm tired of people comparing what the wwe is doing now to the attitude era, and that's exactly what you did. you said it had a HINT, never did i say that you said it WAS the attitude era. be as it may, the attitude era is gone and the wwe is evolving into something much different. to keep comparing what the wwe is doing now to what it did then is really pointless. sure the attitude era had some fun times, but what's going on now is what matters.


on topic, raw was a blast last night. seeing shawn get under taker's skin like he did was great. taker losing his cool for the first time in years was epic.

orton's performace was dead on. seeing him play mind tricks on the "cerebral assasin" was something new. hopefull the momentum can keep going up to WM.

ps, i'm not a guy

 

[Scott Free]

The show started with an 18 women tag match, the time it took for the ladies to get into the ring was longer than the match itself, then, it progressed into a Santino comedy bit, also much longer than the match. Taking nothing away from Santino, who performed his given role to the tee, I failed to see how this event built anything for the 25 Divas battle royal match, in fact, one might say it put the entire women's roster in the straight man role to Santino's joke. I wonder what Gail Kim was thinking during this, one would think they brought her in to help out the current crop of less skilled Divas into a more credible level, this debacle didn't add any credibility to the Diva division at all.
Jerry Lawler vs Chris Jericho was a disappointing match, Lawler tapped out before Jericho even finished closing down on the hold, then he refused to get massacred like Flair did last week, I guess he's better than Flair.
Cena vs Big Show was surprisingly good, it seems that Cena has learned that one can lose a match and still not lose any steam with the fans, in fact, he's gained a lot from dropping the invincible persona and becoming more human.
HBK and Undertaker was yet another teaser, I liked the whole light vs darkness set-up, but was less fond of Shawn claiming he wasn't afraid then hiding and sneak attacking yet again, I'm guessing there will be hell to pay at WM.
Randy Orton's segment was underwhelming, while Trips and Vince cannot take out Legacy single handed, it's been proven that Super Shane can, so why bother with evening up the odds ?
I don't know, this show did nothing for me as far as motivation to buy WM 25, what about you ?

 

[HeartWong]

The show started with an 18 women tag match, the time it took for the ladies to get into the ring was longer than the match itself, then, it progressed into a Santino comedy bit, also much longer than the match. Taking nothing away from Santino, who performed his given role to the tee, I failed to see how this event built anything for the 25 Divas battle royal match, in fact, one might say it put the entire women's roster in the straight man role to Santino's joke. I wonder what Gail Kim was thinking during this, one would think they brought her in to help out the current crop of less skilled Divas into a more credible level, this debacle didn't add any credibility to the Diva division at all.
Jerry Lawler vs Chris Jericho was a disappointing match, Lawler tapped out before Jericho even finished closing down on the hold, then he refused to get massacred like Flair did last week, I guess he's better than Flair.
Cena vs Big Show was surprisingly good, it seems that Cena has learned that one can lose a match and still not lose any steam with the fans, in fact, he's gained a lot from dropping the invincible persona and becoming more human.
HBK and Undertaker was yet another teaser, I liked the whole light vs darkness set-up, but was less fond of Shawn claiming he wasn't afraid then hiding and sneak attacking yet again, I'm guessing there will be hell to pay at WM.
Randy Orton's segment was underwhelming, while Trips and Vince cannot take out Legacy single handed, it's been proven that Super Shane can, so why bother with evening up the odds ?
I don't know, this show did nothing for me as far as motivation to buy WM 25, what about you ?

Last week raw was much better..
This week raw do not really have the "Impact"..
Kind of disappointing for the final raw before WM25..

 

[Profit]

Usually I tune in to 24 at 9 o'clock and DVR RAW and watch it later in the night, but after the previous week's RAW I was actually excited and looking forward to the show so I decided to tune in this week and watch from hour one till the end...

Well, the first thing I see is a promo screw up with HBK. Then we have an 18 diva battle royal, I mean really? This is how we kick off things just 6 days before the biggest PPV in the WWE? I wasn't enthused at all, in fact I wish I had just watched 24 and taped this so I could have skipped over it.

The Santino segment saved it a bit for me, it was comical and made me laugh, but as the topic starter stated this kind of diminished the entire match the diva's have at Wrestlemania. They turned it into a comedy segment, and if Santino IS in the diva battle royal then it will further diminish it, which is something i'm sure the diva's arn't thrilled about either.

The rest of RAW had it's up and downs, the Rey Mysterio/JBL match made absolutely no sense to me as we witnessed one of the matches on the Wrestelmania card for free.. the only difference is now we all know that Rey has no chance of winning see'ing as he went cleanly over JBL. I don't get the booking in this, not to mention the fact that this is basically just a mess as Rey and JBL didn't have proper time to get a feud going, it was just kind of thrown in there with the thought that since it's for a title that it will be worth watching. Well, title or not, this match still doesn't interest me. Sure, Rey's a good wrestler, but can he carry a match with JBL? A feud would have really helped this out, it could have garnered some interest from fans such as myself, but instead it's basically just JBL getting a victory. Thanks WWE, i'm so looking forward to this.

The HBK/Undertaker stuff was good, not great, but good. The appeal for me has been the feud these two have had in the past, and the fact that as Shawn has mentioned a few times, Undertaker has not pinned him. I first started watching wrestling around the time these two started fighting, and it was awesome to watch, I hope they can rekindle some of that magic in the ring and put on a fantastic and memorable match. The promo's have been widely praised by many people on here, but to me they seem kind of sappy and lame. Having HBK in a graveyard, or coming out of a hearse, it just seems cliche'd and lame to me. Though i'm nitpicking here, it does have it's entertainment value and the feud has been lively and fun to watch.

Orton/HHH was fantastic the last couple weeks, this kind of seemed like a bit of a let down to me. They should have strived to go out with a bang, which they probably think they achieved with the McMahon family and Legacy having a brawl as the camera's faded to black and the show ended, but to me that's just really anti-climactic and doesn't capture any excitement like last weeks RAW did. I have no doubt this will be an entertaining match, but the build up seemed to reach it's peek a week ago, and this was kind of on the downturn, which isn't what you want heading into Wrestlemania.

So to me, RAW was nothing short of a letdown, not horrible but not great and when you are 6 days away from the biggest PPV of the year.. GREAT is what you want.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

RAW is the same show every week. It rarely ever changes. You can pretty much call what matches are going to happen and how up until a PPV. How many times are we going to see a MITB participant tag match prior to Wrestlemania, or a giant Diva match. As previously stated, we even saw a match given away in JBL vs. Mysterio. I get disappointed every time I watch RAW...but I continue to watch it in the hopes it'll get better.

I have to say I am not at all interested in Wrestlemania. Besides the fact that it's become way too expensive, it seems that most of the card was just thrown together.

At least RAW will be different for one week after Wrestlemania.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels the same way about this week's Raw and last week's Raw. I was like "What the Hell happened?"

The 18 Diva Tag didn't even involve half of the participants in the actual match. Terrible way to start off the show. Especially since from most accounts I've seen, this is one of the matches on the Mania card that people could care less about. The bit with Santino, was okay. I did get a chuckle when he said he went above Vickie's head to President Jack Tunney. Hysterical. It's sad, but I doubt even half of today's wrestling audience even knows who Jack Tunney was.

Lawler vs Jericho? Why do they even bother anymore with Lawler? Everyone knows as soon as they see Lawler in a match, that he is there to do the job. They've turned the guy into such a joke over the years, it isn't even funny.

One of the things that I strongly feel would make the WWE more entertaining on Mondays is to turn Lawler heel, by coming up with a program for him to involve himself in. That guy can draw Heel heat like no other wrestler on the Roster, and anyone familiar with his work with Bret Hart back in 1993 knows exactly what I'm talking about. He would make for some great television, which is what the WWE badly needs at the moment. Plus, when he's done the program, he has an excuse to go back to the broadcast booth as a Heel. Somebody like Lawler and Cena, for example, in a short term program together, two awesome talkers, would be absolutely golden television on the mic.

Undertaker/Shawn was .... okay. But not great, as has been pointed out. That's what I feel about this whole build to the match, to be frank. They come across as two guys who's reactions are very forced to the audience. I mean seriously. Last week, Shawn does a video (which lasted way too long, btw) and after he was done, Taker was fuming, ready to have a heart-attack ... over a video with Michaels saying he was going to beat Undertaker and end his Streak?????? You would have thought judging by Taker's reaction, that Shawn Michaels found Paul Bearer and assaulted him, or something. I just don't feel the intensity in this feud, like there should be.

I was most definitely not a fan of last week's segment with John Cena who was reading nursery rhymes to Big Show, Vickie, and Edge. At least this week they cut that crap out and went straight for the match. Fine for what it was.

Closing segment was flat. Very flat.

Orton ran on for too long on the mic, and they went right back to his non-psychotic character, which was their biggest mistake to begin with. I am convinced that doing this ruined Orton's character for the past several weeks. Then, they change that and salvaged the damage by what they did last week, by pulling off an incredible segment. Only to go revert Orton back to the same thing again, which hurt Orton in the first place. One week he's psychotic. The next week he's normal. Then he's normal for a few weeks. Then, he's psychotic again. Then, the next week, he's normal again. He was the hottest character WWE had in years, and they have badly mis-managed him since.

Just a very under-whelming Raw leading into Mania. If they absolutely couldn't come up with anything better than what they did last night, I would have swapped last week's show and this week's show, with last week's show being the show heading into Mania.

I actually used to get on Stephanie's case in Creative quite frequently, but I actually think Vince McMahon is the bigger problem. After reading that report on him canceling the Creative meeting at the last minute and telling his talent to fly back to Stamford ... and then yelling at Michael Hayes, who was only trying to do the right thing and write a good show for Smackdown (to which Vince essentially told him "I don't give a shit about my own program"), I think it's time for Vince to step away from Creative, and just concentrate on his duties as Chairman of the Board. It's obvious that he's becoming erratic in his old age, which is only frustrating his writers, and giving us what we see on our screens today.

 

[rolltide_pisco]

I've been saying in other threads and posts that the only 2 matches worth watching is HBK/Taker and HHH/Orton. For the first time in a while, they hit it out the ballpark with Orton/HHH/McMahons. Great buildup, the heel runs rampid and then he meets his doom at Wrestlemania. They've turned Orton into what HHH was years ago, a sadistic human being. As far as Taker/HBK, they didn't even have to go to links with this one. This match has been in the making for years to find out who is #1.

Used to they would build the final RAW up great to Wrestlemania but its like, if you wanna watch then go ahead if you don't oh well. This could be one of the most lame WM's of all time and it shouldn't be due to it being the 25th one.

 

[jhaze22]

raw sucked. flat out. the divas thing...that was bad. it's a shame cuz the divas could be a lot better than some of the men, but they dont' give the right divas the right about of time for their matches. i hate santino. his charecter is a disgrace. he's such a joke. he might be a good wrestler, imo, the damage has been done. he is just not credible.

jericho-lawler...it was ok...could have been better. after the match i was looking for lawler to give jericho a low blow and then kick his ass for a while...sadly, didn't happen.

jbl-mysterio was boring. basic match that we've seen plenty of times before. someone needs to get that ic title and make it credible again. i really hope rey wins...but i doubt it...

JR needs to come back to raw! period!!! i'm tired of michael cole. he isn't horrible, but he's annoying as hell sometimes and was left alone way too long! he can't cary 10 minutes of the show by himself!

big-show and cena was average. could have been a lot better. show could have booted edge i nthe head after he was done with cena...but w/e. that feud was thrown together poorly....very poorly.

hbk-taker- was really good. it wasn't great, but it was really good. i thought maybe hbk was under the casket...but i thought it was just mind games and that he had just disappeared like the undertaker does etc.. i can't wait for this match. i hope it's on last...it won' be, but at least i hope it's 2nd to last.

HHH-Legacy. sweet new shirts! bad segment. it started too late and didn't go long enough on tv to make an impact. i hope no one from the mcmahon family joins legacy. i hope it's just clean or someone else gets involved and screws HHH. i don't want to see a mcmahon vs HHH again! at least not for a while. they just "revealed" that they were family....it would be silly to screw with that already.

it wasn't a bad raw...if it wasn't the last raw before mania...but it was, and was a big let down.

 

[hollowpoint]

Starting Raw off the way they did put it on a downward spiral. Im not a huge fan of the divas in the first place, but Im even less of a fan of them kicking off the final raw before Wrestlemania! Usually the featured events of the PPV headline the show at the beginning, but I guess Vince had something else in mind when it came to the show.

HBK is kinda setting himself up to get crucified the way he is carrying on. How many wrestlers who went up against the dead man said they were not afraid and by the end of the match, they were a different person. HBK will be no different than all of the rest.

Triple H/Orton - Maybe the only intriguing situation as far as im concerned. Bring the McMahon men into the fight was a decent surprise. They waited too late in the show to start this up though.

 

[truk24]

Raw is just very boring to me, and it has been for a long time now. That is just how I see it. Orton and HHH aren't really doing it for me. It seems like the only two people in to this storyline are Teddy/Cody. Taker/HBK is ok, but it has been done before. The only difference is it takes place at WM25. If you think Taker will lose good for you, but I don't see that happening. Taker has not defeated HBK yes, and so he will at WM 25. Like I said Raw is awful.

 

[Mr. 619]

So wow smakdown sucked this week. I know they have to hype the WM matches but there was WAY too many video packeges and pretty much nothing happened at all.

 

[Scott Free]

So wow smakdown sucked this week. I know they have to hype the WM matches but there was WAY too many video packeges and pretty much nothing happened at all.

Something did happen, Gail Kim's in ring debut since her return, decent match, also Jeff Hardy vs Zeke and MVP vs Shelton Benjamin, excellent match, 3 matches total, all the rest of the show was video recaps and Axxess promos. During the Jeff Hardy match, the crowd chanted "Hardy, Hardy" I wonder what will they do during the Jeff vs Matt match.

 

[S.O.H.O.O.D]

Having Vickie come out and say the only person who will determine who and when anyone will face Randy Orton is her was ******ED. Stephanie told Shane that RAW was her show just months ago and made herself the interim GM and now suddenly Vickie holds rank over Shane ? Your telling me Shane can't overrule Vickie ?

 

[Scott Free]

Having Vickie come out and say the only person who will determine who and when anyone will face Randy Orton is her was ******ED. Stephanie told Shane that RAW was her show just months ago and made herself the interim GM and now suddenly Vickie holds rank over Shane ? Your telling me Shane can't overrule Vickie ?

Vickie is now the new GM on RAW because, well, Steph got hurt, ok, so she showed up to kiss HHH a short while ago, so she's not all that hurt, but hey, she's gotta stay home with the kids ! Didn't you hear Triple H ? He was mostly pissed at Orton for trying to take Steph, the mother of his children, out ! Imagine that, Steph going out with Orton, who will cook ? Who will wash the clothes ? ...and the kids ? Who's going to watch the kids ? Pat Paterson ? No way. I hope I've made it a bit clearer for you now, but in case you still didn't get it, here's a hint, before watching WWE programming, disconnect your logic circuit in the brain, drinking massive amounts of beer helps in this task, being naturally ******ed is a definite plus, but if you have no expectation of logic or something that makes remotely any sense, you'll enjoy WWE programming much more. Boy, I can hardly wait for Santino to wear a dress and get kissed by Great Khali next week ! Like Vince would say, "Oh, My, now THAT is entertainment !"

 

[Mighty NorCal]

NorCal Night Cap

Very mehtastic show tonight. Nothing particularly impressive, besides the opening match between Big Show and Hardy. Very good bumping, fun match to watch, although I question how wise it was to put Show over the guy who will be SD! top guy on the face side of things until Kurt Angle comes back in the fall. Hm.

Morrison goes over R Truth, sadly. On the bright side, R Truth now has a snazzy T shirt to go with his entrance now. he and Morrison put on a pretty subpar match, in which Morrison goes over, well on his way to another push that leads to nothing. Oh well.

Kahli kiss cam. shit, really.

Maryse and Gail Kim have a match, in which Gail Kim uses the phoniest move of all time to beat maryse. I cant even describe this abomination. You have to see it for yourself.

Shelton benjamin and Taker have what seemed to be a pretty decent match. At one point, Shelton has a quick go behind for a solid german suplex into a bridge pin. his shoulders were on the mat too. I think it wouldve been nifty to have both guys counted down, leading to a draw, and a rematch at Backlash. It certainley wouldve benefitted Shelton more than tombstone in the center of the ring, which is how the match ended.

Triple H and Orton have a mean face staring contest. whatever. I mean, obviously, they need the TV time and character development more than the mid carders. definately. [sarcasm/]

Batista Vs Dibiase was the ME. from what I understand, Dibase was put over pretty well in a loosing effort. I wasnt paying attention. Was busy slaughtering faces in my TNA thread.

Ok show, uninspiring if anything.

 

[TheGlassSnake]

Last's night Smackdown was atrocious. One thing you forgot to touch on NorCal was the Dolph Ziggler non-title victory over MVP, which was both a shocker and a nice surprise. Dolph has got the look and the in-ring talent to make it in the WWE, and it looks like he might be up for a decent push. But Smackdown as a whole tonight was basically like watching a Monday Night RAW while Cena is off promoting a movie. I saw more RAW guys then Smackdown guys, while only TWO draftee's made it on the show. No Jericho, No Punk, No Mysterio... what is the deal? I didn't like Smackdown last night one bit, but I agree that Gail Kim's "finishing move" was garbage.

Hopefully next week, they show why they have the best roster out of any brand.

 

[mean_gene_roberts]

WTF?!?!?

No RAW reviews for 4/20? Was everyone stoned and missed it?

Don't worry if you didn't see it. You didn't miss anything. Absolutely nothing happened. At least not in the first hour. There was approximately 4 and a half minutes of in ring, bell to bell action out of 3 matches!

Hour 2 wasn't much of an improvement. Cena v. Jericho went for about 13 minutes before ending in a DQ thanks to Edge running in attacking Cena. And Cena looked weak as hell against Jericho. What's up with that? He is made to look like Hercules at WM26 pulling off a double FU...er, AA, on Edge and Big Show and then barely survives Swagger and nearly losing to Jericho who is relegated to matching up with retirees. And somehow I'm expected to believe that he can retain at Backlash?

Mysterio is squashed by Big Show in a totally meaningless match in a minute and a half. At least that is more believable than Rey over Show for the title, which he only got because Eddie died and Chavo is a joke not worthy to carry on the family name but that's another subject.

Then there was the cluster-fuck of Orton v. HHH in a no DQ match that amounted to a 15 minute promo for their 3-on-3 match at Backlash.

I watch the WWE, NWA, TNA, ROH and NWA Anarchy on a regular basis. So, please, don't say that I'm a WWE hater. I like a good wrestling show. This wasn't one of them.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

NorCal Night Cap


I fucking HATE those stupid ass double decker buses they put at the entrance. It was cute the first time, or so. No more. Please do something else to signify the show being in England. I beg of you.

Anyway. Edge promo first. I didnt hear a word of it, becuase I said something about how stupid people were for freaking out over the Notorious BIG movie, and me and the roomate proceeded to get into an argument about it. I figure Edge said something to the effect of him thinking he would beat Cena on sunday? Yea? Am I warm?

The opeing tag match was pretty damn good, and was given good time. Is anyone else noticing the production value rising this week? What I mean is, the camera angles seemed more intimate, clearer, and crisper. Maybe they upgraded equipment, or asked the camera men to take a different apparoach. Or maybe im the only person who noticed, and im just totally out of my fucking mind. I should stop smoking crack. I really should. Anyways, nice high flying from Punk and Jeffy, good heel dispostion from Kane and Matt. Just an all around solid TV match.

MVP had a match with Chavo Guerrero, which I entirely lost interest in the moment Chavo came through the curtain. I couldnt even BEGIN to tell you if this was any good or not. Dolph Ziggler came out and cut a decent promo. I really think if they truly got behind this guy with a puch, and some better theme music, he could be so much more.

Taker Vs Big Show, is what I felt was one of the better matches they have had. The punches Show used to end the match were positively brutal, and will likelby be added to the opening video sequence of SD in the future. They were truly that awesome.

Cant remember what happened next. to the ME we go.

The ME I didnt pay attention to. the whole lot of the guys involved are just...bland. Fucking SWEET Spine Buster by Batista for the finish though, and everyone should check out the match if not just to see it. Truly awesome.

Overall, I give the show a solid B. Two very good TV matches, along with two decent ones, and decent build for Backlash. from what I am told, Edge's promo was really good, but that comes as no suprise.

 

[Scott Free]

Watched SD, and it was ok or the most part. One thing I noticed was the Gail Kim vs Maryse title match, Kim lost clean and thus sent the message that a former TNA Knockout champion is no match for a Diva champion, obviously a brand promotional move. Keeping the illusion of WWE dominance is very important for the company, no matter how talented the wrestlers are, if they achieved any high success in other organizations, they must be brought down when they enter the big league, at least in the beginning. I can't disagree with this strategy, but I don't have to like it. I expect the best performance from the talent, and having the WWE downgrade or hamstring the wrestlers just because they have to make their brand look good is somewhat irritating. Just for the record, I didn't expect Kim to be given the title already, but I did expect some sort of screwjob or a non-conclusive ending for that match.

 

[Scott Free]

WTF?!?!?

No RAW reviews for 4/20? Was everyone stoned and missed it?

Actually, if you're stoned, it does help the product.

Don't worry if you didn't see it. You didn't miss anything. Absolutely nothing happened. At least not in the first hour. There was approximately 4 and a half minutes of in ring, bell to bell action out of 3 matches!

I think that pretty much sums up why there wasn't a review.

Hour 2 wasn't much of an improvement. Cena v. Jericho went for about 13 minutes before ending in a DQ thanks to Edge running in attacking Cena. And Cena looked weak as hell against Jericho. What's up with that? He is made to look like Hercules at WM26 pulling off a double FU...er, AA, on Edge and Big Show and then barely survives Swagger and nearly losing to Jericho who is relegated to matching up with retirees. And somehow I'm expected to believe that he can retain at Backlash?

I liked that match, Jericho came out of it looking great and Cena has given the illusion he might lose at Backlash. I didn't like how Jericho suddently disappeared at the end, not even a parting shot of him leaving RAW on his last appearence there. (Supposedly).

Mysterio is squashed by Big Show in a totally meaningless match in a minute and a half. At least that is more believable than Rey over Show for the title, which he only got because Eddie died and Chavo is a joke not worthy to carry on the family name but that's another subject.

They are building up Big Show as a devastating monster heel, this squash was another step up for him, I liked the way he pulled Rey into the ring by palming his entire head and lifting him up with one arm, not exciting ring action, but fundamental character building..or in Big Show's case, re-building.

Then there was the cluster-fuck of Orton v. HHH in a no DQ match that amounted to a 15 minute promo for their 3-on-3 match at Backlash.

What, HHH get pinned clean in the middle of the ring and it's not a big deal for you ? Ok, I see you point, huge promo about a match I don't think many people are looking forward to see anyway.

I watch the WWE, NWA, TNA, ROH and NWA Anarchy on a regular basis. So, please, don't say that I'm a WWE hater. I like a good wrestling show. This wasn't one of them.

Well, it wasn't memorable to say the least, but if you watched TNA this week,they didn't do any better as far as in ring action.

 

[The Todd]

That Smackdown was on fire last night. There may have not been too many great matches, but the feel to the show was good and the was it was handled made me want to watch next week, unlike RAW.

Instead of reviewing each match, I would like to look at a few characters and assess the way the first show has set up their role.

Chris Jericho - Now, Jericho has always been a favourite of mine but even now I want to see him get his ass handed to him, what a job he's doing! He was involved in the whole show, and got on the wrong side of everyone. In one night he can have potentially set up feuds with Punk, Mysterio, Khali AND Morrison. One think I particularly loved was his interaction with Edge, both during the promo and backstage where they just looked at each other. It is going to be fun to see how their egos are handled. One way, due to Jericho feeling disrespected and Edge being alone, is for them to temporarily team up which would be interesting.

Edge - Lay down for Punk giving Punk the rub, and had a post match beat down from number one contender Jeff Hardy. Not a great week for him, which I can see helping the possible alliance with Jericho. He gives every opponent the main event rub, and is invaluable to Smackdown this year.

Jeff Hardy - Nice and simple, no words just a victory in the elimination fatal four way and a beat down on Edge, the way Hardy's character should be. He has got himself straight back to the top of the babyface rankings. I loved his in ring work with Mysterio.

CM Punk - Decent promo in the ring and did a great job winding Jericho up. Might have to watch it again to grasp the reason why he had to have a match first before cashing in the briefcas though. He has a big year ahead of him, looking like a start with Umaga before moving back on to Edge and Jericho.

Umaga - We now know he is a heel again after his good run in with Punk. He won't be winning the big title but he is a great worker who has a lot of up and coming main eventers to work with this year. He will be putting over people as usual whilst lookind dominant in the mid card.

Kane - They try and have him as a heel but he still gets cheers, so having him go psycho and attack everyone like they did may work better for his character. No alliances, no questions, just brutality. WIth Umaga, has a busy year of putting people over this year.

Mysterio - Was exciting in the ring as always and has unlimited options for the year. Can feud with the midcarders and the main eventers all year long. He is taking a backseat role for now it seems but he will be in his fair share of main events.

Morrison - Step forward John Morrison. He gets raised above Shelton in his first match, with noticeable cheers from the crowd. Then his backstage segment with Jericho seems to confirm him as a face. Brilliant interaction that got me into both characters even more. Morrison has a great chance to make it work this year and a Jericho feud is a great start.

So Smackdown has experienced heels with inexperienced main event faces. This is great thinking from the wwe. The experienced heels know how to get their opponent over. By the end of the year Morrison and Punk could be ready to lead the company. Undertaker is always there for those who have no feud to keep in the spotlight.

Smackdown was better than Raw this week. No question. It seems more exciting and it has fresh main events coming up, not Batista vs Orton II, Batista vs HHH IV and HHH Orton XI and feuds that will entertain me, unlike Cena Big Show. So for he actual show SXmackdown gets a B, but for the setup for the year, A+.

 

[makeitvab]

I agree smackdown this week was top notch and was better then the past few months of Raw imo.

I didnt read the spoilers, but whole time i was like "yea edge will win by dq or leave durin the first match, no cash in tonight." Then I saw punk hit the GTS and the way they handled him goin for the case was very nerve racking for me haha. Was like "shit 5 minutes left...he could win...but not enough time to celebrate hes going to lose....." was seriously the longest 5 minutes of wrestling Ive watched that was caused by excitement/query not boredom.

Might stop watching Raw in all honesty...I like MVP but have gotten terribly bored of Orton.

 

[Scott Free]

I really enjoyed this week's show, it was entertaining and unpredictable. Which makes me wonder, have they changed the writers of the show ? I heard that the WWE was a bit more serious about brand separation this time, and I could not help but wonder if they went and changed the creative team of the show. On another note, Kevin Dunn was reported ill and maybe hospitalized, could THAT unfortunate (depends on your views) event have had anything to do with the creative quality of Smackdown improving ?

 

[Mighty NorCal]

NorCal NightCap

Everyone seriously thought RAW was THAT bad? I dont get it....I thought it was sick...

Nice little chaotic start to get us going. Awesome to see MVP rubbing up against the ME scene already. In fact, that became a theme of tonights program for me, the shocking utilization of the draftees.

Matt Hardy and Kofi had a decent little match, and a possible kickoff to a mini feud. Love what they are doing with the whiny, bitter, Matt Hardy character. Wrestling on protest rocked. All very well done here.

MVP and Rhodes had a pretty decent match, but what stood out most to me was the commentary and involvement by Regal. Made me A. Get excited for what could be a BRILLIANT US title program between Regal and MVP. Fantastic matches and promos could come flooding from that. and B. holy shit Regal would be an awesome announcer someday, with some training. He could be hilarious. Couldnt be any worse than what they have going now.

I was excited to see Mickie and Maryse wrestle, and wasnt disappointed. Good, albeit fairly short match. Maryse has to be THE most charismatic diva they have. Decent ladies match, sort of a funny finish with Mickie winning, although its understandable if they are planning on going someplace with it.

Batista and Dibiase did well enough, with Dave having a hilarious "im a huge idiot" finish. Actually a fair preformance by both guys, Batista showing some decent range and swiftness.

LOVED the segment with The Miz, although it ran kind of long in the tooth at some points. I got this feeling like they just sent him out there, and said "if your ok, Cena will come out. If your shit, we are just gonna leave you out there looking like a fucking idiot". It was 50/50, it would seem. Miz is semi epic at times. So much potential. Cena looked dumb selling his "injuries". ah well.

Why draft the unified tag champs to your show to have them wrestle singles matches? Am I the only person baffled by this? TBK and Carlito have what I swear was a 45 second, yet still entertaining match. A confusing, poitnless one, but entertaining. I think introductions took longer than the actual contest.

People confuse me. They act as if the wrong things are being done with orton, when actually, if you think about it without smark goggles on, he is the most dangerous man on the roster. I mean think of it. He not only beat, but seriously injured the ENTIRE Mcmahon family. if Orton doesnt like you, not only do you loose, but you go to the hospital. You GO AWAY. Awesome ending segment. Orton fucking rocks. Solid show tonight. NorCal will give it a B.