Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[thetruemike]

The nXt stable made everyone care about them with the last 15 minutes of RAW. Easily the most shocking and moment of the year. In 15 weeks they didnt do as much as they did in 15 minutes but I think this was along the plan. WWE just game people a reason why nXt was made because this surprise was pure brillance. The faces of the fans were like when Punk came out as jeff hardy. TNA better take notes lol. This was almost like it was the end of an era. hopefull the PG era haha, dont need attitude era but its 2010 so i can see this beckoning something. every wwe fan has given them an emotion and thats what they wanted. 2010 so far has been looking good for the WWE. nXt take over storyline (we hope) was awesome. They made an impact!

 

[dotty_84]

Best ending in years! Raw ran over a few minutes and i felt giddy that hasn't happened to me watching Raw in years it felt so wrong that it was running over but so so right!

Credit to WWE the past month things have improved.

I would love this NXT faction to be run with Wade in charge and lay some hellish beatdowns for a few weeks hopefully on smackdown too!

 

[razerp]

what a statement though.. taking out the biggest face on raw, and THE face of the company, plus taking out a Heel stable from Sdown, beating the king down, destroying the Ring, tearing up mats, Striker laid out, Cole too. And the fact of no promos, no announcers hyping just gave that extra oomph.
A genuine WTH moment!

 

[peep4life]

GREAT ending probally best this decade if not the best ever like someone said early they did more in 15 minutes than 15 wks i loved it
did anyone else notice when PIPER was out he said damn i thought it was PG and then the NXT thing looked like an end to an era kinda thing maybe the END OF THE PG ERA[ we can hope right]

 

[Kenny Powers]

Raw had one of the best endings in years, but the rest of show was mind numbing to me. Most of the matches were ridiculous gimmick matches like dance offs or body slams. The A Team skits were probably some of the worst celebrity skits I have seen on Raw. The crowd certainly wasn't cheering for it. Even IRS, Mean Gene, Dusty Rhodes, and Roddy Piper couldn't save these horrible skits. Rampage pulled an Abyss by breaking off his handcuffs. This skit was probably worst then the Abyss skit and that is saying something.

I liked the last few weeks of Raw and thought they were on a good start. If it weren't for the ending of the show this would be one of the worst Raws ever. The rest of the regular matches were too short and ended in DQ to even care about. IRS stealing the King's crown and Hot Rod getting mad at Rampage for being Mr. T's character in a movie based on a outdated television show made thirty years ago was mind boggling. I know I've said the creative team needs to be removed from TNA, but good God. Whoever is in charge of these skits needs to replaced.

I guess if the guys backstage find it funny that is all that matters while the rest of the fans change the channel and sit on their hands. Raw was just a bad episode of the Twilight Zone from start to finish. The weird thing was that the ending was so great. Too bad the NXT rookies didn't come out sooner to trash Raw so we wouldn't have to suffer through 3 hours of nonsense. I don't think I ever want to watch another 3 hour wrestling show again. It's too painful. Hornswoggle and Khali as a tag team challenging The Hart Dynasty. Really?

At least the rookies looked great. It paints them in a corner though. All of them are heels now. In hindsight though it's not like Daniel Bryan or Justin Gabriel were receiving a huge amount of cheers. This was just a really awkward Raw for me but the ending is making me excited for things to come. Here is hoping the goofiness and comedy will be over with.

 

[sand99]

WOW! Never have I been more interested with what's goin' on at RAW for a while now.

I expected a few of these 'rookies' to make a big impact on the main roster (mainly Barret, Danielson, and Otunga), but this really blew me out of seat.

One question that comes to mind is why didn't the wrestlers or security come out and help break things up like they do with all the brawls that happen?

On to my thoughts besides the ending:
1) Hornswoggle and Khali getting over the tag teams not paired randomly? In the words of the Miz "REALLY?"

2) I like how they are making Kane relevant again. No longer is he a job- excuse me "enhancement talent" to the stars now and is now in his own storyline.

3) Kozlov has some 'rad' moves

Overall, if it wasn't for the fact that I watched to see if Daniel Bryan would appear and continue his story line with Cole and Miz, I would have stopped watching due to all these "WHAK ASS" voting.

 

[Coco]

I'm going to ignore the ending because I'm sure you can guess what I thought of it. Let's jump to what everyone's mercifully forgotten already: Tonight was a pretty awful show.

In point form:

-Bret Hart really has nothing to offer on the stick anymore. His job could be done by anybody and he probably isn't worth the money.

-Edge and Orton are really struggling through this feud. It's just so status-quo and "meh." While some may say this is because of the injury mucking up the works, I called this from the night it started. Orton's red hot but this feud couldn't have less of a spark.

-So the voting thing is pretty worthless but I'm going to have to listen to the announcers sell it like death all night. Like Jericho-Show in an over-the-top-rope contest will be remembered five minutes after it's over.

-Lethal Weapon is on. They're just starting to get along. Mel Gibson is full of potential.

-Body Slam Contest. Sorry. So, Jericho continues to be marginalized despite being a better heel and worker than Edge and someone who could do more for Randy than Edge can. All is well.

-Hey, a useless choice of tag teams! Wow! Don't you feel empowered? Now clap for the applause sign and shut up. DANCE, MONKEY!

-Danny Glover's wife can't cook. Danny Glover's (oldest) daughter has the hots for Mel Gibson, who, as established earlier in this post, is full of potential. Mel Gibson finds it easy to kill people. This thing is stocked with commercials.

-On-going A-Team skit was one of the last straws for me. I damn near vowed to never watch Raw again. I likes me some proper wrestling shows, but that's not why I was pissed. My problem comes from WWE not heading into it's new direction with passion and a desire to put on a good show. They could at least TRY to put out a quality variety show. I know that "quality variety show" sounds like a contradiction, but some effort would be nice. That's all.

-That scene at the shooting range gets me every time.

-It's amazing how few people voted to see a wrestling match on a wrestling show. Even more amusing is that the only time the word "wrestling" was used in this segment was to talk about arm wrestling. Fuck you dead in the ass, Vince McMahon. Dead in the ass.

-Kane's there to undercut Bourne's momentum from last week. I refuse to accept that Kane is worth my time. Back to the movie.

-The bullet went through his milk carton. Milk? Yeah. I think that's what that was.

-All 1980s drug kingpins look alike.

-More A-Team. This movie will not be bigger then Iron Man 2.

-John Morrison is still better in the ring than Miz. And he might be more over than Christian, which is sure to piss some people off.

-Edge gets DQ'd. Why? He broke free of the rope tying his arm behind his back so he could attack Orton while not using his arm. Gotcha.

-Mel Gibson is going to get bloody. That means it's on.

-Matt Hardy's eating hair, hungry hippo that he is. I'm sure Vince McMahon will have that overturned.

-Dusty Rhodes is plugging A-Team. Ah, the ever trendy Monday Night Raw bump!

-Punk getting the nod was a surprised. If it means people still want to see heels get beat up, something is right in the world. Which is the first positive thought I've had in the two and a half hours I've been trying to get into this show. Which shows you just how much I hated it.

Rating: PG.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw - June 7, 2010

Thumbs Up

Kane vs. Sheamus - This match was pretty solid, nothing spectacular, but a solid match overall. Personally, I would have preferred Evan Bourne to go up against Sheamus as there's not really a chance for a Kane/Sheamus feud given that they're on different brands. I thought the ending was kind of weak but Kane is going to be getting a big feud, Sheamus is a contender for the WWE Championship, so a countout win for Kane makes sense. Personally, I would've just had the two start brawling all over the place that ended in a double countout or double DQ.

John Cena vs. CM Punk - This was easily the best match of the night, though that honestly wouldn't take very much. Punk came off looking much stronger in this match against Cena than he did the last time he faced him. A strong showing for both Punk and the SES last night.

NXT Rookie Invasion - The Punk/Cena match ends in a no contest as all the Rookies from the first season of NXT came to ringside and just demonlished everyone and everything in sight. They trashed the announce table and turned it over on top of Lawler, they practically tore apart the ring itself and much of the ringside area, they kicked the piss outta the ring announcer, Michael Cole ran off screaming into the night like a little bitch, and the NXT Rookies beat the shit out of John Cena and CM Punk. It was completely unexpected and one of the best endings to a wrestling show that I've seen in a very long time. I can't wait to see what's going to happen with this next week. The Rookies trashing everyone and everything out at ringside was filled with symbolism, namely an attack on the WWE in and of itself. An outstanding segment and easily the highlight of the night.

Thumbs Down

First Hour - The first hour of last night's three hour show was a complete waste of time. The matches or contests that they had were absolute shit and a perfect example of the type of show that the WWE has been very good at avoiding in 2010. The Hart Dynasty vs. Hornswoggle & The Great Khali, Santino vs. Koslov in a Dance Off, Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show in a body slam challenge and a Diva Battle Royal. All of these matches were the result of "Viewer's Choice" and they were filled with lame gimmicks that were downright insulting in my opinion.

Viewer's Choice Aspect - This was completely lame. There's no way you're going to convince me that 88% of the voters wanted to see something like The Hart Dynasty take on Hornswoggle & The Great Khali, the two worst talents on the WWE roster. I firmly believe that these matches were already made and the "votes" were nothing more than fodder for the purpose of getting a lot of people to visit WWE.com in a short span of time. Just an extremely disappointing aspect that the WWE should really be ashamed of.

The A-Team - The skits featuring the A-Team were unwatchable. The WWE did the same shit with the MacGruber cast showing up to host Raw as the characters from their movie. It's just a lame concept in and of itself. The skits weren't funny, they took up way too much time and it seemed that much of the show was built around them. Complete shit.

Drew McIntyre vs. Matt Hardy - A true piece of shit 2 minute match that accomplished nothing whatsoever. It was nothing more than something to burn some air time.

Randy Orton vs. Edge - The stipulations voted on by this match from the fans in attendance were a debate, a sit-up contest and having Edge compete with one arm tied behind his back. Gee, I wonder what they were gonna pick. Orton & Edge are two quality stars in the WWE and deserve better and so did the fans. The ending with Edge using a chair on Orton's arm was a nice touch, but it wasn't enough to save this.

Overall Show - Last night's show overall was a big disappointment. The show was filled with pointless skits, a bullshit fan voting concept and 2 minute matches. This is the sort of show that we saw pretty often from Raw in 2009. They've done a fantastic job of avoiding this kind of crap in 2010 and I have no idea what made Vince McMahon decide it would be a good idea to have one last night. Raw could have been something epic last night, but it was mostly a waste of time. The last 30 minutes of the show were fantastic and is the only thing that prevented last night from being the worst Raw since the one they had on December 22nd of last year. One good thing is that much of what happened last night will be irrelevant in the long run. Last night was mostly a throwaway show as most of the various matches we saw won't lead to anything beyond merely putting on a show for last night.

 

[Morpheus101]

I agree with Coco The Monkey's point about Bret Hart. He hasn't made an impact so far and has been pretty much redundant, just hanging around backstage. Maybe with the new NXT invasion angle, they will find more use for him. I would expect more from someone placed in the General Manager role -- they're supposed to be making most of the matches and getting involved in the storylines. Vickie Guerrero was annoying, but at least she interjected herself into what was going on. Maybe we'll see this soon from Bret, who knows?

 

[Vash21]

as someone at a different site mentioned, I can see Michael Cole leading this faction. The Daniels- Cole storyline was a setup until this point. Thats why Cole wasn't snagged first. He should have been a target considering his anti daniels stance, and Daniels actions during the beatdown. They should have removed his head from his body, and unlike the stupid ring announcer he knew to hit the road so that he wouldn't have to take the beatdown.

as Barrett will be the new HHH, Cole will follow the path Vince took when he turned heel, also the similarity to Eric Bischoff if unoriginal if he in fact leads this group.

Anyone maybe see J.R. comming back to replace Cole when he takes over this stable? Or maybe to fued against Cole who took his job?

Just a thought.

 

[airvar]

The "viewers choice " raw was pretty terrible outside of about 45 minutes.

They tried it and it failed. I'm not going to say the WWE Fixed the voting, because frankly in the 5 minute commercial span ANYONE can get a shitload of votes, and I think the Hornsoggle & Kahli getting picked was proof enough that the votes were legitmate ( The Hart Dynasty actually got a bit of heat for pinning hornswoggle, and couldn't get over when the Uso's attacked afterword, the WWE obviously WANTED the uso's to get picked, especially since they attacked anyway after a quick squash - esque match).

Plain the "wwe Universe" cannot choose a good show. You can't set up a good show and progress storylines with that amoutn of un-predictabliity. I mean. The entire first two hours were pretty terrible, I almost quit watchign completely.

But the night was full of complete awesomeness followed by just terrible segments

A + Stuff

Sheams V Kane

The Promo was just epic, Hell these Kane promo's are amazing I love them. The match was intense and fun to watch. Just great overall segment IMO.

CM Punk v Cena

Punks halarious when he's being interviewed, shitting on striker reminds me of the Rock shitting on cole. Then the match was pretty back and forth, it was a fun thing and having HIM in the match meant something more then rey mysterio imo

Valdimir Kozlov and Santino...

I might get heat for this one, but these two guys are pretty damn funny together.. I actually like where it is going and Kozlov dancing was just funny as hell.. I actually didn't mind this segment, If this was a normal raw and they had these two thrown in for there 5-10 minute comedy sketch as a tag team I defintaly would stay tuned in.. Sure some of the other segments were terrible , but this one, even though it was a dance contest (which i thought would be retartd) was pretty funny, especially kozlov with santino at the end

A ++ Stuff

NXT Invades

Just brilliant. Nothing else to say, it was too the point, it was destructive, it was violent, it is what you need when setting up the foundation for a major heel stable. Main event mafia? "new breed" How many young stars vs veteran stars storylines have we seen in Wrestling, it has honestly been tried over and over, and failed over and over. This has the POTENTIAL to FINALLY be a young talent vs veterans storyline that works. The young talent has to be the heels, they aren't over and they won't pull cheers over Cena/Orton/ HHH/ Taker.. If the WWE keeps in this direction we could honestly see some of the best TV in a long time.. A massive summer storyline that encompases teh entire rooster, just what the docotor ordered


FAILURES

The A-Team

In general, even though Jackson can actually wrestle really well, he would be one hell of a pro - wrestler lol..

Hornswoggle & Kahli

Not only did it do you no good, but you took away all backing of the Hart Dyansty because they pinned a midgit.. Not exactly face like behavior...


Viewers Choice

It sucked , the options sucked, the voting sucked, everything just sucked, you can't have a PRE DETERMINED fake sports show have that much unpredictablity.. the WWE has to be able to schedule whats going on, not to mention I'm sure the in-ring work was hurt quite a bit by the fact they had no idea who they were going up against, I mean how is Tyson Kidd supposed to creidbally take on the great kahli, hes like 3' bigger than him



I will give the WWE A mulligan on the viewers choice aspect, they tried it out again, with the Fatal four way comming up they don't really "need" to develop any feuds, the fatal four way thing covers it, everyone wants to win, and the contedors have already been set, and even though they had an unpredictable show they made the most out of there storyline advancing segments (i.e. Kane and Nxt Invasion) and honestly everyone is excited as hell to see the next raw... they have been on a massive roll of great episode after great episode, and I'm loving where the product is headed, despite tonights lackluster show.

 

[crazytrain]

well overall the show was crap the matches where mediocre the a-team skit was pretty stupid much like all the skits they do with the guest hosts with the time they spend on doing those waste of time skits they could put on like 3 more matches the only saving grace was the nxt invasion of the show which main purpose was to promote the nxt show since now people who havnt watched it are gonna tune in to see what the season 1 rookies are gonna do and if that aint the reason why still a nice story line start even though as usual the wwe is gonna turn it to crap since they always end up ruining story lines somehow.

 

[Ferbian]

This weeks episode was pretty damn good.

I have to admit although there were a little of an odd feeling with the whole A-team skit, but in the end it was actually quite entertaining, and I liked that Rampage got some in-ring action.

The matches were pretty good, even the divas match (because it weren't one that required particular wrestling, so it was watchable) and that's a definite plus, I think had the match not ended by interference John Cena vs CM Punk could've made the list of match of the week.

I think some of the choices made in the viewers choice, while they were entertaining, didn't have the same feeling that I had hoped, I didn't care enough for Chris Jericho vs Big Show for example, because it could've been much better with other stipulations.

I think the only match I didn't particularly like in this show was Randy Orton vs Edge, because of both the stipulation, and the fact that it ended in disqualification after basically no time.

I marked out, heavily for Mean Gene, and even more for Rowdy Roddy Piper, it was a great way of actually making some entertainment behind the A-team thing, I've always loved Piper's microphone skills, and last night was no exception.

Kane going around checking people again, was even better this time, I loved the interaction with Kane and Sheamus.

Good episode, definitely worth an A, the fact that some of the choices were absolutely ridiculous hurts it from being an A+ show although.

 

[nitefightr69]

At least the rookies looked great. It paints them in a corner though. All of them are heels now. In hindsight though it's not like Daniel Bryan or Justin Gabriel were receiving a huge amount of cheers.

Trust me, Bryan is over. I was at the NXT/Smackdown taping in Seattle back in March and there was a RIDICULOUS amount of cheers for him. I would venture to say he was the most over of anyone there. It may not seem that way on TV, but he gets a huge reaction live.

 

[Chill]

I thought this episode of Raw was largely lack luster and marginaly disappointing.

The segment at the beginning of the show was a bit awkward between Bret Hart and Teddy Long I felt. I'm all for Bret as Raw GM but he's going to have to be a bit more fluent on the stick if he's going to survive in the role. When they decided Orton and Edge would face each other, with Edge having one arm tied behind his back, I thought 'Good Lord, here we go!'...

The Big Show and Jericho in a body slam challenge match was just all right and nothing special. The conclusion of this match was obvious from the get go and some of the viewer's choices were simply moronic I thought...

Next we had the talented Hart Dynasty go up against Khali and Hornswoggle...terrible! I would much rather have seen the Harts take on an actual wrestling team, whether that be the Dudebusters (what a name) or the Usos, who I actually already quite like... maybe I should have been arsed to vote, whoops! Nonetheless, the only saving grace from this segment is that it appears we will be getting a Hart Dynasty/ Usos match somewhere down the line...

Vladimir Koslov v Santino in a dance competition was just....stupid. However, I will say that was the most entertaining thing I have ever seen Koslov do in a WWE ring since his debut...which means we'll probably be seeing more of it, I'm sure Vince found it hilarious.

The Divas battle royal was just your typical WWE divas' stuff, although I liked that Maryse won.

Up until this point, the show had been quite dismal in my opinion...I could and probably should have skipped everything in the first hour or so...

Then we get to a point in the show that I really enjoyed. Being the Kane fan that I am, I naturally enjoyed his interaction with Sheamus and their subsequent match which while wasn't spectacular, still wasn't bad and the fact that Kane didn't job here pleased me. Both men emerged looking credible which is what WWE will want as they try to push Sheamus and build up Kane for this Undertaker storyline.

So the Miz and Zack Ryder defeated R- Truth and the returning Morrison, kind of suprised that Miz and co. won here as I thought they would have had Morrison go over...again nothing spectacular...

Thank God Edge untied himself to prevent a bore fest of a special attraction match with Randy Orton. This turned into more of an excuse for Edge to once again beat down Orton, if only the crowd had cared (although you can't blame their lack of enthusiam given the general poor quality of the show). If anything, this segment did achieve a sense of wonder over whether Orton will (or will not) compete at Fatal 4 Way.

Matt Hardy against Drew was fine, although poor Matt gets fatter by the day and the sight of him eating hair was humourous, whether that was the intention I don't know...

I just didn't get The A-Team segments and they really made RAW feel like the variety show it has been accused of being...so yeah, nothing much to note here for me. If you like the A Team then maybe you would have enjoyed them, but I don't.

Cena against Punk was going good until the best part of the show occurred with the NXT invasion. T'was very reminisent of the NWO days and the carnage they caused was cool. Loved seeing Stiker get decked, God that man is annoying and the look on Justin Roberts face as he was being choked with his own tie was hilarious...that was nearly worth sitting up to 4 am alone. Also, it was great how Cena was the only one afforded any medical attention, to hell with Punk, Gallows, the buried under an announce table Jerry Lawler and the rest of the crew...so long as our John is okay!

In all seriousness though, this segment was a great, unexpected suprise and it was executed well. One of the best endings to Raw in quite some time I may add.

On a lesser note, no matter how many times I hear the phrase 'WWE Universe', I will never get used to it...it is cringeworthy and should be dropped.

Overall, not a very good Raw at all and the viewer's choice was largely a let down I felt. I enjoyed the stuff with Kane and the ending definitely saved a sinking ship I believe...

 

[KnowYoRole]

I find it ridiculous that you people expected the rest of the people to get stretchers. Cena got beaten up 100 times worse than anyone else, and matt striker got punched in the face once.

The show, from the very beginning up until the john cena/ cm punk match was very lackluster. I found myself getting bored. The A-Team skits weren't bad, but not anything special or too funny. I laughed my ass off at kozlov dancing though.

I think it's safe to say that I freakin loved the ending. Loved it. I was speechless for a while after it was over. It was so surreal, it was so confusing, yet so exciting. It seems as if, looking at the armbands they all had on, that there would be a new faction of NXT season 1 rookies led by wade barrett. I hope they continue their reign of terror in the WWE and gain dominance. greatest ending in years.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Last night's Raw was pretty okay. I would love to say that it was a great show(mainly because I was there, and this was my first Monday Night Raw ever), but there was some stuff on last night's show that made me scratch my head. The Hornswoggle & Khali VS The Hart Dynasty match was such a travesty. Why the hell would WWE have their Unified tag team champions in a match like this? I was glad when the Usos attacked the Dynasty after the match because I couldn't take anymore of Khali/Hornswoggle.....I just couldn't. Plus, the screaming kids around me were driving me nuts.

The Big Show VS Chris Jericho body slam challenge was entertaining. Show is doing a great job at being a face, and I was laughing very hard when he threw Jericho over the top rope.

I really liked the Miz & Zack Ryder VS R-Truth & Morrison match. This was a good tag team match, and Ryder seems to be on his way to a push. Plus, the promo the Miz cut before the match was great.

Edge's beat down on Orton was okay. This was something else you could see coming from a mile away. You just knew Edge would cheat in this match, and he did. Orton got a massive pop when he came out at the beginning of the show, and I was a part of the cheering.

The Divas battle royal was passable. There was nothing really special about this one. You just knew Maryse was going to toss Jillian out, and she did. Although, I was happy to see Maryse win. She's a pretty good heel, and she will wear the Diva's title again some where down the line.

I was kind of surprised with how the Santino VS Kozlov dance-off went. I thought Kozlov would just beat the crap out of Santino before things got started, but Vladmir didn't do it. Kozlov was hilarious, and it took me a while to stop laughing after this one was over.

The Kane VS Sheamus match was solid. Sheamus is on Kane's long list of suspects, and this match was very physical. I would've liked to see Sheamus get the win here, but I'm okay with count out victory.

I really don't care about the Hardy VS McIntyre feud. So I wasn't into this match that much. It was so obvious who the "mystery man" was. Seriously, who couldn't figure that one out? Anyway, this match just didn't excite me at all. Matt ripping out Drew's hair did make him look a physco, but we all know this feud won't do anything for Hardy.

The cast of the A-Team was missing Liam Neeson, but they still did a pretty good job. Bradley Cooper disappeared quick, but Rampage Jackson and Sharlto Copley did an awesome job. All of the backstage segments were very good, and the final showdown in the ring was done well. The Wrestlemania 1 reference between with Piper was just classic. Also, it was cool to see IRS,Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Virgil, and Gene Okerlaund all together.

I went nuts when Punk was announced as Cena's opponent. I'm a huge fan of Punk's, and I thought WWE was surely going to give us a Rey Mysterio VS Cena match. The match was solid, but what happened afterwards was completely shocking. I couldn't figure out was going when I saw all of the eliminated NXT rookies, and Wade Barret appear. I thought they were going to save Cena when they attacked Punk, but things took a very violent turn. The mood in the American Airlines Arena when Cena was getting the shit beat out of him was just unbelievable. So many people were in shock, and they couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Of course the younger fans took things a little bit more seriously(most likely because they don't know pro wrestling is scripted), and this was a great way to end the show. The ending to last night's Raw raises so many questions. It's been a long time since Raw has had a great ending like that.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 7, 2010
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler
Guest Hosts: Cast of A-Team

It’s Viewer’s Choice tonight so we get three hours and both brands. That’s always fun if nothing else. Norcal and I have begged for this to be a TV special instead of a PPV like Taboo Tuesday or Cyber Sunday for the better part of ever so we’re both happy here. Let’s get to it.

We open with Bret and Teddy Long in the ring, talking about tonight’s show. Bret wants to talk about Orton. Of course that means cue Orton with his arm in a sling. He wants Edge tonight and if he doesn’t get him he’ll go find him. So if he doesn’t get him he’ll go get him? Yeah….that makes sense. Edge of course comes out and that’s the Viewer’s Choice main event. Oh in case I forgot, tonight is Viewer’s Choice. The options are a debate, a sit up contest, or an arm behind the back match.

Now it’s time to have our first actual vote which is for Jericho vs. Show. The options are Over the Rope Challenge, Submission Match and Body Slam Challenge. It’s one of those shows I guess.

Striker has the results. He’s actually good in a roll like this.

Over the Rope Challenge: 11%
Submission Match: 41%
Body Slam Challenge: 48%

Big Show vs. Chris Jericho

To be fair, there are at least two options that were possible there so that’s better than nothing. Show pulls Jericho up from the floor to the ring BY THE HAIR. FREAKING OW MAN. Jericho works on the arm for no apparent reason. He then tries a cross body and Show ends it easily. He throws on the Colossal Clutch and Jericho taps. And of course he throws him over the top too. That’s kind of funny I guess.

Rating: D. This wasn’t much of a match at all, but it did the job. Wait no it really didn’t as nothing at all was accomplished here. Jericho is feuding with Truth…kind of, and Show is going for the world title. What was the point here? Yeah this was actually bad.

Up next the Hart Dynasty vs. YOUR PICK. It’s either the Usos, the Dudebusters or Khali and Horny. That….could actually go a few ways.

Usos: 36%
Dudebusters: 10%
Great Khali/Hornswoggle: 54%

NO FREAKING WAY this is legit. NO WAY.

Hart Dynasty vs. Great Khali/Hornswoggle

I’m fairly sure this is non-title. Khali and Kidd start us off as for one of the first times, Natalya looks great to me. Tadpole Splash misses thank goodness. Horny gets pinned in like 8 seconds. Oh this was stupid. The Usos run out and get beaten up for the first time. The Harts needed that one.

Rating: N/A. This was barely a match at all. The good thing to come out of this though is that the Harts now look actually credible against the Usos which is the most important part of this I think. If nothing else they look like they would have a fighting chance in a match against them which I’d bet happens at the PPV. Yeah I know that’s a fairly safe bet but you make a ton of money that way in the long run.

Lawler says something is wrong and leaves. Ok then.

We recap the Taker is dead thing which is at least elevating Kane for once.

The guest hosts come out and there’s just one of them. He says there’s a great show coming. Ok then.

Lawler is in the back and the other two guest hosts in fake mustaches are in character and say that Lawler wanted to hire them. SOMEONE STOLE HIS CROWN! They leave and run into the Bellas who they refuse to break character for. This is actually working for me.

Santino Marella vs. Vladimir Kozlov

The choices are Match, Arm Wrestling or Dance-Off. Hmm I wonder what’s going to win.

Match: 9%
Arm Wrestling: 7%
Dance-Off: 84%

Oh did you expect it to be anything else? Santino says he used to be a Backstreet Boy. Santino’s isn’t that funny or special. Kozlov does something similar to a robot. He’s actually not terrible. Ok this is sort of funny. Ok it’s VERY funny. They dance a bit afterwards and Santino gets slammed. Find a video of Kozlov dancing. It had me dying of laughter.

The Divas are in the back and they’re going to have a match next. The choices are 6 on 6 tag, Battle Royal or Champion vs. Champion. Wow those are actual wrestling matches.

Lawler is back.

6 on 6 Tag: 11%
Battle Royal: 73%
Champion vs. Champion: 16%

Divas Battle Royal

Again, I can live with this. Also it’s only 8:56 so we should step it up a bit soon enough. There isn’t much you can say here. Ah apparently going through the ropes counts too. Rosa is out. Tiffany is put out by Laycool. The same goes for Kelly. Gail hits a SWEET hurricanrana as nothing of note is going on. Gail and Alicia who have a match on Superstars are both out as are the Bellas. Laycool vs. Eve and Maryse are the final four. Make that Maryse, Eve and Jillian who I didn’t notice at all. Eve is out which is surprising. Jillian says they can be co-winners but Maryse throws her out. Boring but the girls looked good so there we are.

Rating: C-. Battle royals are hard to rate but this worked fine for what it was. It was about having hot women in small outfits fighting each other. In that sense it was a success. This is also a good idea as the less talented wrestlers are allowed to not have to actually, you know, wrestle. Maryse winning was a nice surprise also.

Sheamus and Kane have a staredown in the back. I’d like to watch that. He accuses Sheamus with some bad acting. Kane says he hopes to see him real soon.

WHO SHOULD SHEAMUS FACE? Kane, Mark Henry or Evan Bourne. HMM! I wonder who it’ll be!!!

Kane: 88%
Mark Henry: 3%
Evan Bourne: 9%

Sheamus vs. Kane

Yeah this works. I love big men fighting. Sheamus beats him up for awhile. We take a break. Sheamus is still beating him up. Kane starts beating him up for awhile. Chokeslam is blocked twice, Sheamus takes over again. Seriously that’s all that’s happened and it’s taken nearly 8 minutes. Chokeslam hits but Sheamus rolls to the floor and he just takes the count out. Eh that makes sense I guess and Kane looked very strong here.

Rating: C-. Very smart booking here as both guys get to look strong as well as giving us a decent match. Again it’s not particularly good but it did the right thing. Sheamus needs to stay strong going into the PPV and Kane needs to look strong going into the big angle he’s in. If he plays his cards right he could get to job to the world champion out of this which is a step up for him.

Edge vs. Orton in the behind the back thing.

Cena vs. Swagger, Mysterio or Punk later. That actually could be any of them.

We look at Wade Barrett who is indeed the best guy for that show. And here’s Wade Barrett. He’s asked what it’s like to win NXT. He says you wouldn’t ask a genius about passing a grade school exam. GREAT LINE. He says in one week he’s going to do something that’s never been accomplished before.

DiBiase and Virgil are in the back. I never get over saying that. The A-Team guys are here and accuse DiBiase of taking the crown. IRS IS HERE, WEARING THE CROWN! Apparently the crown was taken for not paying back taxes. There’s a gas attack and the heels wear masks while the faces are out cold. Ok then.

Miz and Truth have a tag match next and you get to pick their partners. Here are the options.

R-Truth: Christian, MVP, John Morrison
Miz: Zach Ryder, Dolph Ziggler, William Regal

R-Truth/??? Vs. The Miz/???

A REALLY annoying fan keeps chanting MVP for Truth’s partner.

Christian: 29%
MVP: 17%
John Morrison: 54%

That’s rather telling, and THANK YOU for not being MVP.

Dolph Ziggler: 38%
William Regal: 17%
Zach Ryder: 45%

Well he has the best music I guess. Weird team if nothing else. Morrison is back as he hits all of his big kicks, but in a rather short match, Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale (GREAT one too as Morrison’s head just bounced off the mat) on Morrison to get the pin. He signals that he wants the belt back. Liking the young four guys being out there.

Rating: D+. Not bad here but it was really too short to get anything going. Is there a point to bringing Morrison back to job him out though? I really fail to see the point to that but if nothing else it fuels the Miz/Truth thing which I guess is just starting now. I still don’t get the Morrison losing thing though.

Bret and Edge talk for a bit in the back and Kane accuses Bret of attacking Taker. Interesting little thing: Taker has NEVER beaten Bret clean.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Remember that Edge will have an arm behind his back. Edge’s left arm is behind his back but Orton’s right arm is in a sling. Ok then. After about a minute Edge pulls the rope off and stomps on Orton’s arm. This gets the DQ. He goes for a spear but Orton gets a kick up to block it. Edge gets a chair and hits Orton in the arm with it.

Rating: N/A. This was an angle rather than a match but it opens a very interesting door as it’s now possible that Orton is out of the PPV match. This was a great idea and it came off rather well.

Cena and Bourne are talking in the back. Savannah comes up and asks Cena how he feels about he main event tonight. He says his life has been hectic and tonight the people make the pick and its their opinions that matter the most. The crowd is rather pro-Cena to say the least.

The A-Team guy wakes up…and MEAN FREAKING GENE IS WITH HIM! Gene makes fun of Josh Matthews who is right behind him.

Drew McIntyre vs. ???

The options are:

Yoshi Tatsu: 4%
Goldust: 8%
Mystery Opponent (does Matt Hardy poses): 88%

And it’s….actually Matt Hardy???? WOW. Drew says the match isn’t happening because of the suspension. Teddy comes out and says that he’s suspended from Smackdown, not Raw. Matt punches the hell out of him and never lets up. I like this angle actually. You can’t beat an old fashioned grudge match. Drew misses a charge and hits the post which POPS. Twist of Fate ends this clean in like 90 seconds. Post match he slams Drew’s head into the mat and keeps beating the hell out of him. Matt pulls some of his hair out. This was impressive for Hardy.

Rating: D. Uh…what was that? We build Drew vs. Matt up for weeks and him inside of 3 minutes clean? What was the point of that? Wasn’t Drew supposed to be getting a mammoth push and now he’s jobbing to Hardy in what could have been a decent PPV match? It fits but it’s just rather odd.

BA Baracus (Rampage Jackson) is in the back tied up and Virgil, IRS and DiBiase say they’re taking him to the ring. I like this actually.

Back from break and we’re in the ring. DiBiase says that he has a price, including him. Apparently someone wants BA…and it’s……RODDY PIPER??? What the hell? HUGE Roddy chant. Oh that’s right Piper feuded with Mr. T. WAY back in the day. Piper has a hat on for no apparent reason. He’s pissed off because he doesn’t want more hype over the A-Team again. He says it’s time for a fight and here’s the other A-Team guy along with Mean Gene and Dusty Rhodes on a golf cart.

Jackson breaks the handcuffs and it’s on! Jackson can actually fight of course so this is a massive beatdown. Dusty thinks he’s Murdoch from A-Team and plugs the movie……IF YOU WILL. This worked in the weirdest way you can possibly imagine, but it did in fact work. Oh and Lawler gets the crown back.

Next week’s host is the star of Royal Pains which Big Show is guest starring on soon. See what happens when you have RELEVANT hosts?

Josh is with the three options for Cena’s opponent. Rey says to be the top dog, you have to go after the top dog. Yeah that’s not at all like To be the man you’ve gotta beat the man. Swagger says it should be champion vs. champion. Punk just makes fun of Matthews and asks why Cena should get to fight Punk.

Here’s Cena and it’s only twenty minutes until eleven. That’s a good sign of a long match.

Jack Swagger: 23%
Rey Mysterio: 32%
CM Punk: 45%

John Cena vs. CM Punk

As a Punk fan, this works. Immediately Cena goes for the mask as you would expect. Punk is wearing camo tights. That’s just odd. The fans pop for Cena like a cherry but then chant you can’t wrestle. Odd crowd. Gallows cheats to get us to even and we go to a break. We come back and Cena starts taking over and goes for the 5 Knuckle Shuffle….and here’s Wade Barrett. Then all 7 other rookies show up and beat the hell out of the SES. Then they all get in the ring….and beat the hell out of Cena. What is going on here. AND THEY THEY BEAT UP STRIKER! AND LAWLER! Cole, of course, runs.

This is actually really cool. They turn over the announce tables and are all wreaking havoc. Security gets beaten up and they punch the announcer. They’re tearing the mat off the ring. Justin Roberts is getting choked out by Bryan. They’re destroying the arena. The ropes are torn up. Now they’re back to Cena. The ropes are literally falling apart, you can see the wood that is under the ring mat and they’re all clotheslining Cena.

Punk even tries to fight them and he gets beaten down. This is AWESOME by the way. Danielson yells at Cena that he’s better than Cena and spits in his face. Barrett hits his finisher on Cena, Gabriel hits the 450 on him. They’re all heel here in case you didn’t get the idea. They leave with Punk and Gallows out cold on the floor. This was original NWO level of insanity and one of the coolest endings to a Raw I’ve seen in forever. Also with there being 8 of them, that’s one hell of a force to fight off. Cena goes out on a stretcher but does the thumbs up as he leaves.

Rating: A+. The match was decent, but the angle was absolutely incredible. If nothing else it lasted longer than the Slammys match they had where Punk lost in like 2 minutes. I’m still in awe over the NXT thing which is saying a lot as it’s 7am at this point.

Overall Rating: B+. I’ve heard a lot of negative things about this show since it aired, but this was a very successful show to me. Angles were advanced, feuds were partially ended and the ending blew my mind. I’ve been watching Raw since it debuted and this is easily one of the best endings I’ve ever seen. NO ONE would have called this and it came off perfectly. Good show overall and the ending was amazing beyond belief.

 

[Ashton Nauran]

I'm proud of WWE.

I haven't been this surprised during an episode since... The Rock made his titantron return. And that's not all that hype-creating. This has been the best end to an episode that I've been alive to see.

The NXT Rookies were the ones that put Undertaker in a 'vegetative state'.

 

[Ferbian]

Last night's episode was pretty good.

The start of the show had a great promo, loved the fact that they concentrated a lot around the flaws of their opponents, CM Punk's mask, "Rey Mysterio's mask" and Jack Swagger's lisp.
The promo in itself hyped the Fatal Four Way Pay Per View pretty nicely.

Jack Swagger vs Rey Mysterio was a great match, I think it's a shame Jack was made to loose to Rey, because Rey definitely doesn't need the victory as well as Jack needs to look strong going into Fatal Four Way.
I can't help but look at Jack as Kurt Angle, especially after tonights match with the sprint to the top turnbuckle and then the throw, very well handled.

While I think it's somewhat ridiculous that Kaval is paired with LayCool, I can't help but liking it just a little bit after last night, Matt Striker helps this so much, no matter how much he screws up, he still has some good ones when it comes to the divas.
They have some pretty good timing on their promos, no matter how boring a diva match might be, LayCool make divas worth watching for more than just eye candy.

I hope WWE will capitalize on Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero, Dolph has such a bright future in WWE, such a great talent if given the possibility.

Kane's involvement in this episode was absolutely golden, WWE is doing great with him as of late, and I hope they continue to build him properly with the involvements after matches and the promos he's been getting.
The fact that he talked about not only one being able to do this to Undertaker actually had me thinking "yep NXT is gonna get involved"
And boy did I love the chokeslams of EVERYONE.

Drew McIntyre keeps convincing me the heat he's getting is solely based on relying on the regular heat that Vince so easily draws, it's a shame, I think he could get a decent amount of heat from the crowd if he wasn't simply delivering Vince's orders.
Kofi getting involved in it was a good move, Kofi cuts some decent promos when he's "pissed" and I think WWE should carry on with this feud, it has more potential behind it than Matt Hardy vs Drew McIntyre, because these two actually interest me as opposed to Matt Hardy as a whole.

I couldn't help but notice during CM Punk vs Big Show that Todd Grisham refered to Punk as the Second City Saint, wasn't that some independent nickname he had?
Either way, it was a mediocre match, nothing proper, could've been better had it not been for the size difference between Punk and Big Show, and the fact that Punk couldn't possibly dominate that match even if he tried.
I didn't exactly get the ending, sure Big Show was beaten down, but am I to legitimately believe that Big Show just got held down by Luke Gallows and that hooded guy, someone of Big Show's strength, held down like that? can't possibly be believable.

It was a pretty decent episode, great ending that made Kane look fucking strong, and it hyped the Pay Per View amazingly, I'm looking forward to the Pay Per View so much now, I can imagine Kane getting involved in it.

I thought this episode was pretty damn good. B+

 

[Mitch Henessey]

The confrontation between all of the participants in the fatal four way match was a nice way to kick off the show, and Kane sent another ominous message to the attacker of The Undertaker.

I really enjoyed Rey Mysterio VS Jack Swagger. This match had a quick pace to it, and the match did a good job at building hype for the Fatal 4 Way ppv. After the match, Swagger tried to get revenge for losing to Mr.619, but Kane quickly came to break things up. Although, Mysterio wasn't safe either, because he also received a devastating chokeslam from Kane.

I'm enjoying the Dolph Ziggler/Vickie Guerrero storyline, and I really hope Ziggler will go further than Eric Escobar did. Ziggler and Christian had a nice match. Christian got the win, but he was beat down by Hawkins and Archer. They're trying to make an impact, but I don't think anyone cares. I really don't see why WWE still has Archer on the roster. He's as boring and generic as they come. And Hawkins isn't anything special either. Ziggler was able to lock in the sleeper hold on Christian after the match, and of course this pleased Vickie.

Layla was able to get the victory over Tiffany in a pretty bad match. We also got see an appearance from Kelly Kelly, and the NXT rookie, Kaval in this match.

Drew McIntyre continued his complain, and next week he will have a match with Teddy Long. Yeah, I can't really say I'm looking forward to that one at all. Drew will probably beat the shit of Teddy for a while, and he will be saved by Kofi Kingston. By the way, the in ring segment between Drew and Kofi was done very well, and the brawl towards the end of it was a nice touch.

The Big Show VS CM Punk match was okay. We could all see the interference from the SES coming from a mile away, and you just knew Kane would come down and send a message.

Last night's episode of Smackdown was pretty decent. The best match of the night had to be Rey Mysterio VS Dolph Ziggler. The Undertaker storyline will take a while to develop, so we will see a lot of chokeslams from Kane in the coming weeks.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Smackdown - June 11, 2010

Thumbs Up

Opening Segment - The opening segment of Smackdown last night was pretty good. Nothing overly spectacular, but it was pretty fun. Kinda nice to hear someone make fun of Swagger's lisp as it's something that hasn't happened in a while. As long as it's done sparingly and rarely, I've got no problem with it. It's not being driven into the ground like the Asshole thing Anderson is doing in TNA at least. The match was hyped well but the highlight of it was Kane's message to the members in the ring. Kane hasn't been this interesting in a long time and, as I said last week, I didn't really think that he had it in him. Solid way to open the show.

Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio - This was a really good 16 minute match, though I think they should have ultimately closed the show with it. I think these two work well together and I still like the fact that the WWE is making Swagger look somewhat fragile as champion. I think it makes him look more interesting and it even humanizes him a bit. I've seen too many instances of the "superhuman champion" in wrestling over the years and someone that doesn't seem to become this ultra-dominant force all of a sudden makes for a nice change.

Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler - Pretty good 8 minute match and it was fun. Having Christian go over Ziggler after getting jumped by The Gate Crashers was the right move. I'd like to see these two given a 15 minute match on a ppv and let them go at it. It's been a decent feud between them, nothing overly special, but the matches have been good.

Kofi Kingston & Drew McIntyre - I really liked Kofi Kingston's intensity here. This is really his first promo since the Orton feud really kicked off later in the year last year. I think Kofi has what it takes to be really good on the mic. Kofi has really gotten back on track since the move to Smackdown. McIntyre played his part in the scenario well. I know people rag on him but McIntyre's a pretty good wrestler in my book. Really solid promo segment here overall.

CM Punk vs. The Big Show - This was a decent match, nothing spectacular, but it was pretty decent overall. When you factor in that it's The Big Show participating in the match, then having a pretty decent match is an accomplishment. I'm a fan of CM Punk with the mask as people are dying to see it get taken off. People wanna see his bald ass head and the fact that Punk won't let them just gives him a little bit of extra heat. This is the match that they should have opened the show with and closed it out with Swagger and Mysterio.

Thumbs Down

Layla vs. Tiffany - This was pretty much nothing but a 90 second squash match. It was a Diva squash match so that makes it even shittier. I really don't understand why Raw and Smackdown doesn't feature good Diva matches all that often. The past two weeks, I've seen a couple of pretty damn good women's wrestling matches on Superstars. I know that they've legitimately got some really good women's wrestlers on their roster, so why not use them on the big shows? Piss break.

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Smackdown was a pretty good show last night. Overall, the wrestling was pretty solid, some good promo segments, Kane's newfound intensity is kept up, the Smackdown main event for the Fatal 4-Way ppv got hyped nicely and I was entertained most of the show. I give the show an 8 out of 10.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: June 11, 2010
Location: St. Petersburg’s Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Matt Striker

We open with a video about the Undertaker. I’m looking forward to this story as it’s likely going to go on for months since Taker is out 8-12 weeks while recovering from his surgery. Everyone denies being the person doing it but he beats them up anyway.

Damn WWE has some great theme songs.

Show vs. Punk and Rey vs. Swagger tonight.

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger

Rey has a mic and says that if he wins at the PPV then it’s the people’s title, not his. Swagger comes out and says he’s built for success. Rey makes fun of his lisp which is hardly there anymore. The size difference between these two is hilarious. Why does Rey constantly talk about how great the 619 is when it’s not even his finishing move?

You didn’t hear Hogan talking about the big boot or Austin talking about kicking someone in the ribs. Punk and the SES come out and he says that he was a target of an assassination attempt. Thirty six people tried to jump them apparently. This could be funny. Punk talks about becoming a 4 time Straightedge World Champion.

Punk says he’s already beaten Punk once and he should take the mask off. Aren’t we supposed to have a match or something like that? And here’s Big Show since we haven’t had enough chatting yet. He talks about how Swagger has issues, Rey is fine with the mask because of his heritage, but Punk needs to have his taken off. Show says he’ll do it tonight, and we get a red light over everything.

Kane talks about how he’s going to find who is responsible. What’s he going to do to them? Lay down so they can pin him? This is one of those so over the top it’s great promos. We go to a commercial and when we’re back at 8:22, the bell rings and the match begins! Apparently this is their first meeting and the Show/Punk match will be the first match between them also.

Swagger got a 1510 on his SATs. I think I got 1380 but I’m not sure. That’ll be a trivia question later. Rey dominates early on and hits the 619 and springboard splash but Swagger’s foot is on the rope and we get another commercial. Back and Swagger slides Rey under the ropes face first and his head almost slammed into the barricade.

Fatal Fourway is no DQ. Good to know. Swagger busts out the Angle running up the turnbuckles belly to belly for two. We get the THIRD commercial in 30 minutes. Are you serious? Back again and Swagger is bending Rey around the post which would hurt like hell. Mysterio is in the Tree of Woe which Striker calls the Porcupine Tree. What is he on because I want some of it.

619 hits the ribs and the next one hits the face. A springboard legdrop pins Swagger AGAIN. How many clean losses has he had on TV now? 5? Kane comes out and chokeslams both guys after Swagger jumps Mysterio.

Rating: C+. Not bad here but nothing really all that great. The commercials got annoying but I can live with that. This was a pretty solid TV match to open the show as Smackdown is definitely the one more about wrestling than Raw. That’s fine and good though so I can’t complain. Swagger losing again though I can complain about. The champion is supposed to be the best but at this rate he might be what, 5th best?

Layla vs. Tiffany

Kaval is with them here and he looks like a Power Ranger reject. We have to wait awhile before we find out who Layla is fighting but whatever. Layla is sickened by the people in Tampa even though Michelle is from here and her parents are here. I love this gimmick actually and while it’s stolen from the Beautiful People, they do it better and can actually wrestle a decent match.

So are we just supposed to forget about her being ECW GM? Damn Kelly’s boobs are epic. Tiffany is the most improved Diva in WWE? Striker….you fail. There is no way that line is acceptable. Layla hits her neckbreaker to get the win.

Rating: N/A. We need more than four Divas for a division. They need to merge the champions and have one division. They really do.

And now we’re reairing the beatdown from Raw. Sure why not. It’s still awesome by the way.

We get a clip of Dolph beating up Christian from three weeks ago because of Horny being annoying or something.

Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler

Apparently there was a handicap match on Superstars. I need to watch that show. Vickie comes out with new hair to introduce Ziggler. Vickie was bearable around Mania, but I don’t get why Ziggler needs Vickie to get heat. Christian is in control early on hitting that running springboard dive that he does very well. Back from break and Christian is in trouble.

Who would have seen that coming? And here comes YOUR Canadian. This feels a big rushed but not that bad. Ziggler hits a Fameasser for two. I love that Pendulum Kick. I like it better when it actually hits. The jumping elbow smash is one of my favorites though.

Christian rams him into the turnbuckle to escape the sleeper and a sunset flip out of the corner ends it. And here are Hawkins and Archer to beat up Christian as they search for an Impact. Try Thursdays at 9. Ziggler hooks a sleeper after the match and hugs Vickie.

Rating: C+. Given what they had this came off pretty well. The ending was pretty hot and it came off as a solid little TV match. This feud is starting to get good and I’m not at all shocked to see Christian wind up getting beaten down here. Not bad at all though for a TV match.

Kane I guess holds a funeral for Taker. Either that or he has a crush on a casket and can’t find a state where they can be married and have little Katie Vicks. Well she lived in a casket so maybe there’s a connection there. He says whoever did this will pay. Instead can we just bring him a blender?

Drew McIntyre is here and he looks awesomely evil in a suit. He demands that Teddy come out. Or maybe he wants the chicken. You can never tell with accents like that. He tells Teddy to look at the screen and we see the last two shows worth of Matt Hardy vs. Drew stuff. That was still just a bit strange having Matt destroy him like that but whatever.

He’s suspended from all programming according to Vince. Drew knocks Teddy’s mic out of his hands and says he has news for him. Kofi comes out as he’s about to say it. Kofi says he’s tired of Drew complaining all the time. Kofi talks about being a man and then hits him in the head and this Trouble in Paradise. No answer on what the bad news for Teddy was.

Teddy is on the phone trying to get in touch with Vince. Drew comes up and says next week he and Teddy have a match. If Teddy tries to get out of it he’s fired. Isn’t he eligible for Social Security yet or something?

Big Show vs. CM Punk

Striker says that Long has never been an in ring competitor. Of course this is incorrect but whatever. This is another first time matchup which is always cool. Punk kicks him a lot and Show just growls at him. Time for another break which should be the last one. Show is freaking scary. He truly is.

He goes for the mask but it doesn’t work. Show slaps his back instead which works fine I suppose. Show chokes him down and goes for the mask so the SES runs in for the save of course. After a short beatdown, Kane comes down and beats up everyone.

Rating: D+. Eh not bad I guess but the ending lacked a bit. It wasn’t terrible though and for the amount of time they had and the clash of styles, this was fine. Show is clicking as a face for me and Punk is of course fine so there we are. Not bad and it gave us the main angle to end the show so I can’t complain.

Overall Rating: B-. Smackdown puts out a decent show. What else is new? It may not be great all of the time, but it’s hardly ever bad which is a very good thing. This came off fine and sets up closer to the PPV. Also we got the four guys involved with each other which helps a lot and it combined with the Kane angle which helps it a bit as well.

This was a well rounded show with Kane tying everything up. Everything had a point which is the main idea of any show: giving everything meaning. I’m more interested in the PPV now than I was when the show started, making it a success.

 

[joesgoingtoeatu]

raw was well done tonight again. i was waiting for an nxt attack on brett being he was the only one left in the back. With the exception of the divas match and another idiot guess host ring appearance, raw was completely interesting for the entire night.

 

[Morpheus101]

Decent enough Raw tonight, 7/10. The NXT faction progressed well....loved the whole "you're fired" angle. Wade Barrett got plenty of airtime tonight and did well. The storyline is progressing well and isn't being rushed, which is good. Also, good 4 way match for the US title (aside from the title changing hands) and a good main event. The ending of Raw was good too....i.e. more chaos and destruction from the nXTWo, which is something that hasn't been seen on Raw in many years.