Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[WWEIsLife2]

Good RAW tonight,Good Main Event and Ending with the NXT Guys abducting The Hitman. I wonder what Bret will do on Sunday. The Brawl was fun and was interesting Jericho did not come out to help. Surprised Miz won the US Title again but that Match was very good. I enjoyed the Royal Pains guy as Guest Host and him doing the Worm was hilarious. 9/10 tonight.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 14, 2010
Location: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler
Guest Hosts: Mark Feuerstein

You know what we start with. Bryan is visible in them but like many others he’s not focused on. He’s not being edited out though and you can see Roberts out cold on the ground.

Barrett is in the ring to start us off. He’s being made to apologize and calls down the other rookies. No Bryan of course. They mention Roberts getting jumped….and there go the announcers. Slater won’t apologize and says he’d do it again. Gabriel says he has goosebumps still. Sheffield has no regrets. Tarver says no one here can make him say he’s sorry. Young says no chance and he had the time of his life last week.

Otunga says the NXT Rookies deserve an apology. No mention of Bryan at all so far and I wouldn’t expect it. Barrett talks a bit more and here’s Bret Hart. Damn that jacket is still awesome. He says 8-1 still so there we go. We hear about the ring announcer being beaten up too. They blame him being gone on his remorse. Well that’s a new one on me. Cena will be at the PPV and Barrett doesn’t care. The NXT guys all want contracts, their own dressing rooms, and first class travel. Bret says no. They say that’s a mistake. BRET FIRES BARRETT! Bret calls it WWF again by mistake and we take a break.

We’re back and we’re talking about math. We get the 25% thing. And now we’re going to have a fatal fourway. Well ok then.

US Title: R-Truth vs. John Morrison vs. Zach Ryder vs. The Miz

Everyone is in at once. Sweet. Oh and Cole now feels safe because the guys that weren’t under contract last week are still not under contract. I love idiotic comments like that. Morrison hits a sunset flip over the top into a release powerbomb onto Ryder. Nice one. And of course we go to a break. Wait…he slammed him into the concrete. This could invoke ideas of brain injury and something to do with buttons. FIRE THEM ALL NOW!

My fragile mind can’t take this! We have Miz vs. Ryder which is a weird combination if there’s ever been one. The best tag team in awhile explodes on the floor for about the 100th time. And there’s the stupid forearm smash to Ryder for two. I’m liking the little change of pace to open things up. That and opening with a title match is never a bad thing. Morrison takes forever to his Starship Pain but Miz steals the pin and the title! HOLY SCHNIKES!

Rating: C+. Nothing great here but for an opener it’s a very nice choice as not only do they give us a nice match but also we get a title change on TV which is always a good sign. It worked well for what it did, although I fail to see the point in Truth losing.

Orton vs. Sheamus later.

Orton is in the back and Josh asks about his shoulder. He says he’ll be ok and then says the NXT guys were punks. They should be fired or beaten up. Since Barrett only got fired, they got off lucky.

The guest host hits on the Bellas. Ted DiBiase comes up and wants to be co-host. Big Show, who is guest starring on Royal Pains Thursday, comes up and suggests a tag match with the two of them vs. Virgil and DiBiase.

Cena is coming.

The rewind is Show vs. Jericho, setting up….

Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne

New pyro for Jericho I believe. Well I can’t say they’re not pushing Bourne. How often is Jericho the bigger guy in a match vs. someone not named Rey? There isn’t much here but Bourne kicks out of the Codebreaker! Jericho freaks and beats the hell out of Bourne and apparently it’s enough for a DQ. He hits Air Bourne afterwards anyway.

Rating: N/A. Too short to really mean anything but Bourne kicking out of that was a great thing for him as it makes him look tough. Jericho not being able to beat him is huge for him to say the least. I’m liking this push.

Cena is up next.

Oh yeah he’s still over. He’s using his serious voice here and says they’re radicals but he understands what they did to an extent. AND HERE THEY COME! Lawler, Bourne, Truth, Regal and Santino come out and HERE WE GO! And there’s ORTON! And there go the NXT guys. Edge spears Barrett. Sheamus has a pipe and the NXT guys go running. As in they run out of the building. Uh….what just happened? To be fair there’s an hour left.

Sheamus says if anyone is going to get Cena, it’s him.

We recap the Battle Royal from last week where Maryse actually got a win for once.

Eve Torres/Gail Kim vs. Maryse/Alicia Fox

These four in a match at the PPV for the title. When Gail is the fourth best looking girl in a match, that’s saying a lot. Alicia cheats early and Maryse hits a great kick to Eve’s very good looking head. Eve gets out of some double teaming and after heel miscommunication, a spinning neckbreaker gets the faces the win. Gail was never in there.

Rating: N/A. Too short to really think much of it. If nothing else it set up the match on Sunday and Eve looked GORGEOUS. She looks good in anything but blue is probably her best color.

Miz vs. Truth on Sunday.

And now it’s Orton and Cena vs. Edge and Sheamus. And remember, the NXT guys will NOT be back. Not going to happen.

THIS WEEK in HISTORY: Don Muraco won the IC Title from Pedro Morales in Philadelphia. I need that channel.

Ted DiBiase/Virgil vs. Big Show/Mark Feuerstein

Morales vs. Muraco to this? Sure….why not? Let’s get this over with, but to be fair this guy isn’t that terrible and has a good bit of charisma. Isn’t Show a Smackdown guy? After Ted gets beaten up, here’s Virgil vs. Big Show. Wow that’s strange to write. Show palms his head. That can’t be pleasant. I guess that’s what he gets paid for though. There’s his chokeslam and then the host uses the Worm for the pin. Oh but he uses an elbow drop instead.

Rating: N/A. Were you expecting anything else? This was fine for what it was.

Santino Marella vs. William Regal

Kozlov is the referee here. Hey did you know Regal used to be King of the Ring? Maybe a minute in, Santino uses the tights for the pin. And here’s Bret.

Rating: N/A. No dance-off though.

The whole roster comes out other than the big names I think to apparently watch the main event. Oh something is coming.

Edge/Sheamus vs. Randy Orton/John Cena

I’d think these are some decent teams. The Orton pose continues to be awesome. Oh and the roster is still at the top of the stage. Khali and Henry do not have the right to do the salute. Cena vs. Sheamus to start us off as Lawler keeps talking about how awesome Sheamus is. I guess they made up after him kicking Lawler in the head. Cena busts out a full nelson just because he’s awesome. Orton is mad over of course.

We come back to see Cena vs. Edge. I can’t believe it! Those two fighting on Raw??? What parallel universe have I landed in? Cena plays Morton Lite here which is interesting to an extent, but then again either guy is going to get a huge pop so it’s not like it really matters is it? Are you really expecting anything special here? I can’t imagine why you would be. Lawler makes sure to point out how safe he feels as you can feel Bret getting beaten down from here.

Sheamus climbs on Cena’s back which is a funny looking visual indeed. The hot tag doesn’t happen yet as Cena is in a chokehold and Sheamus was on his back. At least they’re a bit realistic. There’s your hot tag and the elevated DDT which I’m rapidly loving. Amazingly enough though Sheamus comes back and hits the Irish Curse, which is that backbreaker move he uses at times. This match is getting a lot of time. Cena gets the NEXT hot tag as we cut to the back.

The lights are out in the arena also, and of course the NXT guys are destroying stuff. Why, that looks like a Hitman! They throw him in a limo and it drives off, hitting another car on the way. Not sure on the driver. It hits another car. Then another. I feel like I’m in a Steve Austin promo. Then a BIG one into a final car. Bret is left bleeding and out cold, but at least he’s not wearing a tie. The driver is never seen.

Rating: B. This was better than the average main event tag match because it went longer than most. You give four talented guys time in the ring and you get good results like these. While it’s not a great match or anything, as an end to a TV show, this was solid.

Overall Rating: B. The show was hot tonight. That’s the best way to put it. While the wrestling wasn’t great, the whole night there was always something going on and the NXT guys were the driving theme throughout it. All night long you knew something was coming but you just didn’t know when, and THAT made you keep watching. We also got a new champion and two matches for the PPV to flesh out the card some more. For a go home show, this was excellent.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw - June 15, 2010

Thumbs Up

Opening Segment - The opening segment of the show was really well done in my view. It made sense to open the show with the NXT Rookies of course and Wade Barrett truly showed himself to be very compotent on the mic. I can buy into Barrett being the "leader" of the group as certainly has the look, presence and ability on the mic. Bret Hart making an appearance only helped things move along nicely and "firing" Wade Barrett made The Hitman look like the kind of GM that we were all hoping to see on Raw. Very solid opening segment.

R-Truth vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz vs. Zack Ryder - This was a pretty good 4-Way match, though it was a little bit short at about 10 minutes. Still, the action was hot inside the ring and the crowd was hot for the match. All four of the wrestlers worked hard and I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see The Miz regain the United States Championship. I just hope he doesn't turn around and drop it back to Truth come the ppv. The WWE has been pretty good about avoiding hot potato reigns in 2010 so far and I'd hate to see them start now. Anyhow, a very solid match to follow a hot opening segment.

Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne - This match was too short to be all that great, but I'm giving it thumbs up as it accomplished a couple of things. Even though Bourne won by DQ, he still won at least and he managed to kick out of the Codebreaker. A month ago, Bourne would have been laid out by Jericho at the 3 minute mark, which is where the match ended. I like that they didn't have Bourne win decisively in the first match of his push. The WWE has been very good for a while when it comes to a slow, steady build for something and it's something that I've personally missed seeing in wrestling. Bourne getting the last laugh by hitting Air Bourne gave the crowd what they wanted. I'm not a fan of 3 minute matches, but at least this one did actually manage to accomplish a little something.

Raw/NXT Brawl - This started out with Cena giving an in-ring promo, the crowd was hot as shit for him, and he addressed the NXT guys in his "serious voice". The promo didn't do much for me as Cena sounded like some John Wayne clone going on about how you're supposed to fight and how the WWE ring is sacred and all that. The brawl was brief but it moved the storyline along and showed some Raw locker room unity. I'm not really sure where this is going to go as the NXT guys can't overcome all of Raw with just 7 members. Still, it was a pretty decent segment overall.

This Week In WWE History vinyette - I love when the WWE takes itself seriously and that goes especially for its history. Showing highlights of Don Moroco's win of the Intercontinental Championship from Pedro Morales was a nice little treat. I know that it didn't add anything to the show or anything, but it's always nice to see the Old School get any sort of tribute or air time.

John Cena & Randy Orton vs. Sheamus & Edge - Very good tag team match involving the participants in the WWE Championship match at the ppv this Sunday. All of the wrestlers worked hard and looked strong during the match. There was some good back and forth action going on and, just when it seemed the faces were about to get ready to put the heels away, the heels manage to stay in it. Even though the match ended with a no contest at about the 20 minute mark, it was still a great closing match.

NXT Attacks Bret Hart - The above match ends when the lights in the stadium go out and the NXT Rookies are shown trashing the backstage area at first. About 10 seconds later, they're shown dragging Bret Hart before tossing him into the backseat of a limo. The driver of the limo begins ramming the rear end of the car into other cars in the backstage parking area, presumably shaking Bret around in the back. Afterward, Bret is pulled out of the limo and is told he has until Sunday to agree to the demands given to him at the beginning of the show. Most of the Raw locker room is out on stage at the tag team main event to ensure the NXT guys don't run in and leave Cena and the other laying. I thought it was a pretty interesting way to close things out. When you consider Bret Hart's condition, I guess it makes sense to do it this way instead of beating the guy down as complications from the strokes he's suffered before could mean severe consequences if he'd taken a beat down. Also, I'm wondering who was the person driving the limo. I've speculated that the limo driver may have possibly been Michael Cole and he was able to sneak to the backstage area while the lights in the arena were out and everyone was watching the Titantron.

Thumbs Down

Eve Torres & Gail Kim vs. Maryse & Alicia Fox - This was a shitty match. I know that some of the Divas are really good inside the ring, they're allowed to actually showcase their talent on Superstars. I don't know why they're not allowed to on Raw or Smackdown. Gail Kim was never even tagged into the match and much of the match was some hair pull takedowns, a few kicks here and there, etc. I'd much rather they just didn't have Diva matches on Raw or Smackdown because, more often than not, this is what you get. Really poor showing and it doesn't really make me want to see these four in a 4-Way match for the Diva's title at the ppv.

The Big Show & Mark Feuerstein vs. Ted DiBiase & Virgil - Whenever you have the Guest Host involved in a match, it almost always turnes out to be shit. This match proved no exception. The segment in which Feuerstein is backstage was fairly entertaining but I shuddered when they decided on a tag team match. For the most part, this was about 4 minutes of hell. The Guest Host angle has run its course in my view. The WWE has done all that it can with it and it's time to put an end to it.

Santino Marella vs. William Regal - I dunno what the frig the point was with this match. It lasted less than 90 seconds with Vladimir Koslov as the referree. Santino goes over Regal. It was short at least.

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Overall, last night's Raw as a pretty good effort. The entire night, you were given the impression that something important was going on or was going to happen. The wrestling content was a mix of good and bad, but the good outweighed the bad as the bad was mercifully short. The ppv this Sunday was hyped and built well and a few matches were added onto the card. I thought that the follow up with the NXT Invasion angle was well done though, like everyone else, I'm disappointed that Bryan Danielson is gone. That's easily the dumbest move the WWE has made this year, but last night's go home Raw was still a pretty good showing. I give last night's Raw an 8 out of 10.

 

[gd]

RAW!!!!!

Watched the whole show again this week. Incredible. I'm on fire.

Fine opening, but Barrett should be the only one that ever talks out of the group. Likely the only one that isn't shit. Not sure if the Barrett firing was a work or not, stay tuned for that.

The US Title match was damn fine. Peaked my interest throughout. R-Truth really is quite entertaining in the ring and even Ryder was able to do something of note. While the Starship Pain does continue to be the worst finisher of all time, it somehow keeps working. R-Truth/Miz on PPV won't be terrible.

Have the Bellas had sex with every guest host? I think it's very likely. Main Event Mark was actually pretty entertaining and Big Show as the Garbage Collector may be something I want to see.

Jericho/Bourne was quite shit and the SSP after didn't look that great either. Why are they so shocked that Jericho lost a few matches in a row when that's all he does?

Pretty bad/nonsensical promo from Cena for the most part. NXT invasion and subsequent brawl was great though. Probably best part of the show. Henry running definetly made me laugh.

Shit Diva's match if I've ever seen one. The one on Sunday may even be worse. Fun.

Guest host match was fun at least. Like I said, actually liked him. Big Show continues to be doing well and Dibiase continues to be shit. All is well with the world.

Regal/Santino was an encounter of epic proportions. Intense Russians always make the best refs. Not sure what the point of this way, just waiting for Santinolov to team up.

Main event was fine, I guess. Nothing memorable at all though, as far as the match goes. Odd way to kick the shit out of Hart, but it was effective. NXT angle still going quite strong.

Overall, pretty good show, I'd say.

 

[Ferbian]

I loved this episode as well, the levels of entertainment and intrigue behind it kept a very well balanced level of last week's ending.

I liked the matches, while some were definitely nothing to brag about, some were decent and balanced the show to make that as well be superior as opposed to just revolving around storylines to make it great.

The promos tonight were awesome revolving around the NXT season 1 rookies, definitely making them look strong, without making the RAW roster look weak, I loved how they all refused to apologize and how they kept them looking dominant.

While the help from the whole roster was a kinda anti climaxing thing because of the fact that it kinda "killed" the NXT rookies, I feel it was somewhat needed, and it made it great to watch how the rookies revenged the situation by kidnapping Bret Hart, and posing him an ultimatum, I will love to see what will happen if the ultimatum is not followed.

This episode was strong, it kept me entertained, while the ending of last week made the show absolutely epic, this week was still at a high level, and I'll give it an b++ (close to A, but not completely A)

 

[Mitch Henessey]

This week's Raw was pretty decent. We started things off with the eliminated NXT rookies(led by Wade Barret) demanding contracts. GM Bret Hart refused, and then fired Barret in the process. This segment was done well, and the NXT invasion angle has to be the best storyline WWE has right now.

Evan Bourne defeated Chris Jericho due to a disqualification. The match was okay, and Bourne hit the shooting star press afterwards to make the crowd happy. It seems like Bourne's push will continue. I know he won because of a DQ, but a win over Chris Jericho is a win over Chris Jericho.

The Santino VS Regal match was something to laugh at. And having Vladmir as the special guest referee made things even more funny.

The Gail Kim & Eve VS Alicia Fox & Maryse tag team match was okay. Nothing really special here. It was just like a random diva match. All four women will face Eve for the title at Fatal 4 Way, but I'm not really expecting that from that match either.

The Miz regained the US title in a fatal four way match. I kind of wished R-Truth would've held on to the title for a little longer, because it was refreshing to see him as champ. He's fun to watch in the ring, and he's way over with the crowd. The Miz will begin to rise to the top of the roster again, and there's a good chance he will have a lengthy title reign. I highly doubt he will lose the belt back to Truth on Sunday.

Big Show & Raw guest host Mark Feuerstein defeated Ted Dibiase & Virgil. This match was just not good at all, and you could see a Show/Feuerstein win coming from a mile away. After the match, DiBiase seemed to be embarrassed by the loss, and he was not pleased with Virgil. He shoved money in his mouth, but then he took it back to add insult to injury. Man I hope that rumored stable with Ted as the leader starts soon, because DiBiase is just very uninteresting right now.

The NXT rookies tried to beat up Cena again, but the Raw roster(and Jerry Lawler) came to his aid. This segment was awesome, and you could tell that the crowd was really into it. Cena cut a very good promo before the brawl started. Also, seeing Sheamus with the lead pipe was very cool.

Orton & Cena VS Edge & Sheamus was the main event. This match was pretty solid for a while, but then the NXT rookies struck again. They took a beaten Bret Hart, and threw him into the back of a limo. A mysterious driver then constantly rammed the back of the limo into cars. After everything was over, the rookies once again demanded Hart give them contracts, and they said they wanted their answer by Sunday. The NXT invasion storyline continues to grow more intriguing each week, and I can't wait to see how things will develop.

 

[airvar]

Raw starts off with the NXT rookies demanding a raw contract.. They even mention bryan dainelson , implying they beat the living hell out of him for having remorse, and took credit for making sure we would NEVER SEE BRYAN AGAIN... Which was pretty cool , and made them seem pretty damn ruthless.. Barett got fired which was a big shock, ( thought they would play up the fact he had a title match).


Miz Regains his title

Kinda weird, a good match but odd to see Miz get the title back after just loosing to R-truth for the vacant title.. I mean Truth - Miz feud or Morriosn miz feud?

Big show and the guest host were bearable, they didn't do a terrible job and worked pretty well.. Dibiase is the new guest host jobber now I guess...

Cena Cuts a promo followed by the NXTers attacking again (two times in one night was a suprise , especially to end the second hour) nice little group of face wrestlers come to his aid and its pretty even.. Then Orton comes down the ramp and the crowd pops big... then out of nowhere it cuts over to EDGE hitting a spear on a NXTer, apparently this isn't a Face convention, this is the WWE standing up against this "invasion" , Sheamus comes out late with his lead pipe and they run off the NXTers.. That was just epic, sheamus with the pipe was a big suprise, I really didn't expect that..

Orton & Cena vs Sheamus & Edge

Great main event, took forever, just a nice compettive tag match, which of course ends with the lights going out and Bret Hart being abducted.. Wow the NXTers are ending the show too, they REALLY are pushing this angle, and its comming off AWESOME, I'm loving the build and I might just buy the PPV to see what happens , they drive around in the limo and smash the shit out of it, then toss hart out and tell him he has to sunday...

They DO NOT need some mastermind because Barrett is just a bad ass , and the perfect leader for this group.. Definatly is going to be HUGE for a long time, you can really see the future of the main event in the WWE taking form now... and with all this TV time these rookies are getting they are really given a chance to shine.

Another great raw, it did exactly what it was supposed to do, Got me to consider buying Fatal Four Way to see whats gonna happen..

 

[Ferbian]

Last nights smackdown was pretty good

Starts off with CM Punk coming out, loving the mask still, promo time.
I wouldn't mind seeing him come out as champion, I could imagine the promos would be awesome when he's alongside Serena and Luke Gallows.
I'm glad that it seems everybody is poking at Undertaker's storyline, makes it that much stronger if all of the "main event players" are involved in it.

I loved the Luke Gallows - Undertaker thing, I have always loved people dressing up like Undertaker, hilarious, made the segment much stronger.
And CM Punk mocking Undertaker put the top of the icing.

Kane coming out to be attacked by everybody seems like a great move, makes Kane look like a threat, Michael Hayes and WWE has a strong thing going here.
I'm still curious to see who the masked guy is, they should reveal him sooner or later, or he just becomes someone nobody really cares about, I know I'm slowly getting careless of him at least.

I'm not a fan of the whole Big Show and Rey Mysterio interfering, why in the world would they want to help the guy who took them out a week earlier only to attack him themselves? that was awful.

Big Show yelling at Kane had me thinking "tweener potential"? but nah, should remain a face, he's a great face, but Kane vs Big Show could probably be a good feud, don't you guys think? I certainly do.

Christian, MVP vs Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer was pretty decent, nothing out of the ordinary, only Christian really doing anything for me in this tag team match, couldn't care less about the rest, but they did a decent job, I guess they made an impact now? nah, I still don't care about them.

Still loving LayCool and Kaval, Michelle is so hot, Layla in there doesn't exactly make it any worse, loved that they trashed Rosa, she would've made the group much worse, these girls are hilarious, reminds me so much of teenage girls, and they're doing a great job, from a kayfabe point I feel bad for Kaval actually.

I don't get the hyping they do for McIntyre vs Teddy Long with promo video's here, promo video's there, I've been following Smackdown, I know what happened, I don't need you to show me promo video's of something I've already seen, for the sake of hyping what is most likely gonna be a god awful match.

Dolph Ziggler and Vicki Guerrero's backstage segment were pretty funny, Dolph in those handy man pants, he's definitely Vicki's bitch.

Chris Masters only made that segment better, I don't really know why they made him pop up although, he's not doing anything anyway, so why remind us of him when people most likely have already forgotten about him?

JTG vs Chavo Guerrero had the potential to be a good match, they both have decent in-ring skills, why in the world would they insist to make Chavo look so weak when he could be putting on decent to half good matches weekly to make people look better, he could be the lower card's Christian.

Kofi Kingston vs Drew McIntyre should be a good match at Fatal Four Way, they did it well before, can certainly do it again, Kofi needs to retain at that one really, would be ridiculous to make him loose it, and regain it.

I don't get the security thing for Drew vs Teddy, that didn't stop Matt Hardy some weeks ago, why should he not be able to do it again? much less Kofi Kingston.

That was awful really, only a promo, a decent promo but all in all it was god awful and it wasn't needed on the show at all, took up time that could've made a great match or hyped Fatal Four Way for the Championship match instead, now I know there's a tag team match, but you can't hype a Pay Per View too much.

And if security was to keep Kofi or Matt from interfering, why in the world would he bother to start attacking him? sure it furthers the feud, and there we go, Matt, told you guys the security wouldn't work for shit.

Kelly and Tifanny looking hot as always, I like the little ass to ass bump they do, I love Matt Striker during divas matches, only time he's really entertaining to me.
The match was pretty decent for a divas match at least, Kelly winning was decent, couldn't care less who wins in those matches as long as they're not championship matches although.

I love Jack Swagger's promos, I'm torn who should win at Fatal Four Way, I wouldn't mind seeing CM Punk as champion because the promos could be epic, but the promos with Jack are good as well.

Only thing I really care for about Masters is the entrance music, it's pretty good, and perhaps the pec dance, anyelse he's just another pumped guy, it was a decent match really, well deserved to have Dolph Ziggler win this one, he shouldn't go down to Masters.

Jack Swagger, CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio and Big Show was a pretty good match, most likely match of the week, I didn't think Rey and Big Show needed to come out the winners, they seriously need to make Jack Swagger strong, well that's too late now, unless he retains cleanly at Fatal Four Way.

Kane interfering again was a good move, keeps that storyline flowing as well, a tombstone was the perfect choice for Rey Mysterio to suffer from, I'm almost certain Kane will be doing some kind of interference in the Fatal Four Way match.

Was a pretty good show hyped the pay per view nice, score: B

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Smackdown - June 18, 2010

Thumbs Up

Opening Segment - Smackdown started off strong last night. Punk came out and did a solid promo, comparing The Undertaker's vegetative state to that of all the fans in the arena. It ended up with all the particpants of the WHC match at the ppv going at it in the ring. After Big Show and Mysterio send Swagger and Punk packing, they take Kane out as a bit of retribution for last week. Solid segment.

Vance Archer & Curt Hawkins vs. MVP & Christian - This was a pretty solid tag team match and I was surprised by how well Archer and Hawkins work together. While I admit that I'd rather see Christian used for something meaningful, it was still a good tag match. Archer & Hawkins getting the win was the right call and they could potentially become a force in the tag team scene.

Drew McIntyre & Kofi Kingston - The segment started with Teddy Long and Drew McIntyre having a "match" which consisted of Long being pinned in 10 seconds. Teddy leaving the ring crying and embarassed was a nice touch. Kofi made his appearance when Drew hooked Long up for the DDT and a brawl ensued. With security trying to seperate them, McIntyre got the upper hand and managed to hit Kofi with the DDT. A solid segment and a nice build up for their title match at the ppv tomorrow.

The Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk & Jack Swagger - This was a good match to close the show with and Mysterio & Show got the win. Kane coming back out there and getting a little taste of revenge for the beatdown he took at the beginning of the show. The hype for their match at the ppv has been well hyped on Smackdown overall and there really is a general feeling that it's anybody's match Sunday.

Thumbs Down

JTG vs. Chavo Guerrero - This match was little more than a piss break. Just two guys that nobody particularly cares about filling up about two and a half minutes of air time. These are two solid guys inside the ring and could have put on a good match. It would've been a throwaway match, but it still could've been fun to watch.

Kelly Kelly vs. Layla - Layla have improved a lot inside the ring but it's almost impossible to have a good match against Kelly Kelly. She's just not got the stuff in the ring. While Layla has improved, she's not good enough to carry someone as bad as Kelly at this point.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Masters - As with JTG and Chavo, these two could have had a good match but they were used simply to fill up about three minutes of air time. I've seen them have good matches on Superstars and, while they were throwaway matches, they were fun to watch. I'd rather watch ten minutes of good wrestling than three minutes of crap.


Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Smackdown was a pretty decent show last night, though it wasn't as good as it had been in weeks past. The saving graces of last night's show was the World Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championship angles primarily. The overall wrestling content of last night's show both in quality and time is well below what Smackdown's been doing for a while. Still, the WHC and IC matches were hyped well last night and kept interesting. I give it a 7 out of 10.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: June 18, 2010
Location: RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

It’s go home show time! We open with Kane’s actions last week as he beat up Rey, Swagger, the SES and Big Show. Something tells me that’ll play into the show later tonight. This angle is working very well right now and I’m excited about where it’s going to end up.

How awesome are WWE’s theme songs at the moment? I have a new favorite every time I hear any of them.

Show/Mysterio vs. Punk/Swagger later on. That’s logical at least. Drew vs. Teddy later also and if Long doesn’t show up he’s fired.

Punk comes out and says he wins the title Sunday and then talks about how Straightedge is great. He’s right too. It is indeed great. Now he wants to talk about Undertaker and his vegetative state. Seriously, they can’t say dead or in a coma? He wishes he could be responsible but he isn’t. He was beaten into such a state.

Wait….he was just beaten up really badly? What sense does that make? And there go the lights. TAKER IS IN THE RING! He has his back to us, but of course they wouldn’t fake this. Nah that’s really him. No way they would make something like THIS up. Of course that’s Taker. Yep I knew all along he would be fine. Punk pokes him a few times and then slaps him.

And it’s Luke Gallows. I’M SHOCKED, yes SHOCKED I say! Imagine, a fake Undertaker. What’s next, Undertaker vs. Undertaker? No way. I mean, I could see Fake Kane vs. Kane. Nah that’s idiotic. Who in their right mind would sign up to be a Fake Kane? Here comes the real Kane but Swagger jumps him in the aisle leading to a 4-1 beatdown. See what continuity gives you?

They beat the hell out of him with Swagger hitting a Vader Bomb to the middle of the ring. That looked good. He hits a THIRD and Kane is more or less done. Rey and Show come in for the save….and they beat up Kane too. Why is Striker confused by this? Ah that’s right: it makes sense. Long and logical opening segment.

We get clips of Drew’s career and his path as the chosen one. That’s very true, and his music still kicks ass.

MVP/Christian vs. Vance Archer/Curt Hawkins

Oh joy. It’s MVP. Can’t you tell how excited I am about this? We see a clip of Archer and Hawkins beating up MVP from two weeks ago. I knew I liked them. Well at least this makes sense from a storyline perspective. Why is Vance Archer an American psycho again? The heels are officially signed now. So they’ve earned ANOTHER 30 day contract which I guess makes sense.

The heels dominate early as you would expect them to. We go to a break and the same thing happened. Striker seems to have a man crush on Archer. Christian gets a BIG old pop. Archer has a tramp stamp. Never noticed that before. Killswitch doesn’t hit on Hawkins but the heels hit their finishers on Christian for the pin. That came from nowhere. Post match they beat up MVP.

Rating: C+. Have to give them points for the ending as I didn’t see a clean win coming. This worked fine though as they look awesome now as they beat two solid midcard guys and do it in a more or less dominant fashion. Nicely done.

Kaval has the title belts as Laycool want to give him a makeover. Rosa wants to join Laycool but they turn her down. Damn they’re awesome at this.

More Drew/Teddy shenanigans.

Chavo is talking to Vickie and she doesn’t care. Dolph comes in in TINY shorts and Vickie likes it. And he’s wearing a toolbelt. Vickie wants him to hang a picture for her and of course she checks him out. Chris Masters comes in and leaves immediately in a funny moment.

More Drew/Teddy stuff as this must be what the show is centered on. Shame no one cares about Teddy.

JTG vs. Chavo Guerrero

Uh…sure. Chavo is taping his wrists on the way to the ring and doesn’t have his boots laced up. Vickie made this match to get rid of Chavo if that makes any more sense. Still don’t get the appeal of JTG at all. He runs around like an idiot and shots random things. He uses an X Factor out of the corner and it’s called a Mug Shot. WOW.

So I guess they’re not even bothering trying to hide that he’s a stereotype. He hits that spinning clothesline thing for the pin. Ah it’s called the Shout Out. That helps. Kids get to dance with him.

Rating: D. Just a lot of nothing here and I don’t get what the point of this was at all. JTG is just not an interesting person at all and neither is Chavo. Did this really warrant TV time to further the Ziggler thing without furthering the Ziggler thing at all? I don’t get it.

Drew vs. Kofi on Sunday, and Kofi says it’s going to be a fight, which is fine with him. The Long match isn’t fine from him.

We see Kofi having to give Drew the title.

MORE Drew/Teddy stuff which is evolving into Drew/Kofi.

Drew McIntyre vs. Teddy Long

Well we know Kofi is coming here. If not, you’re a moron. And there’s no Teddy. Ah here he is, sans glasses and in a suit. Drew has private security to stop Matt and Kofi. Teddy gets checked for foreign objects. Wouldn’t Drew be considered a foreign object? Drew wants Teddy to get on his knees. I wonder if Vince taught him to say that line. Drew wants Teddy to declare himself the chosen one. Ok then.

Drew gets him to lay down on his back and calls him pathetic as I’m getting flashbacks to Vince and Trish. The bell rings as that was all pre match stuff apparently. Drew puts his foot on the chest for the pin and Teddy looks like he’s crying. Post “match”, Drew won’t let Teddy leave. Drew sets for the Futureshock and here’s Kofi.

He gets stopped by security and Drew beats the hell out of him. You know you might have gotten through better without your music playing. Matt Hardy sprints through the crowd and gets a few shots in but is taken away. Matt takes the DDT and so does Kofi. Drew stands tall.

Layla vs. Kelly Kelly

DAMN Michelle looks great. Kelly isn’t looking bad herself. Somehow Layla is the worst looking chick out there. Tiffany is with Kelly. So are we just supposed to forget about the whole ECW GM thing from her? Oh who cares? She looks great and that’s all that matters I guess. The girls on the floor do some stupid stuff and Kelly hits a Fameasser for the pin.

Rating: N/A. Too short, but DAMN there are some beautiful women on Smackdown.

Jack Swagger says he remembers a track meet when he was four years old and he won four gold medals. He just wins…which is why he’s always losing. He dedicates his win to his father on Father’s Day.

We see Ziggler choking out Christian from a few weeks ago.

Here’s Vickie, so I’m betting Ziggler is next.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Masters

Ziggler’s song is freaking CATCHY. Hmm I wonder who wins here. There’s nothing of note here as Drew gets the sleeper, the sleeper is broken, the Masterlock goes on, the Masterlock is broken, and then the sleeper ends it.

Rating: N/A. We get it. The sleeper is good. Now beat someone of note with it.

We recap the NXT rookies stuff on Raw.

We run down the PPV.

We recap the Kane beatdown earlier tonight.

Rey Mysterio/Big Show vs. CM Punk/Jack Swagger

Mystero and Swagger start us off. I love that mask. Show of course will be staying out until the end as there’s no point to having him getting beaten down since it makes no sense. Rey goes for the mask but once they get on the floor Gallows half kills him as we go to a break. And of course Punk has him in a chinlock when we get back. I love that powerslam Punk does.

Of course Striker has a name for it as it’s dubbed the Mad Dog powerslam. I know that he means Mad Dog Vachon, but do we need to name it? Can’t it just be a scoop powerslam? Vader Bomb by Swagger to Rey for two. They work on Rey’s back so now let’s work on his arm. Show gets the hot tag and commences destruction. Swagger uses the DDT counter that everyone uses on the chokeslam.

Oh but his athleticism is unparalleled. Swagger goes for the Gutwrench Powerbomb but Rey counters and lands on Swagger and of course pins him because he’s world champion. And here’s Kane. They all get beaten up as I’m loving Smackdown lately. Kane says one of them is guilty and will be in hell on Sunday. Ok then.

Rating: D+. This was another run of the mill main event tag match as I wonder what the point is in having Swagger never win at all. Hopefully they take the title off of him on Sunday so he can just stop losing once and for all. That would mean he would have to lose to stop losing but whatever.

Overall Rating: B-. Is Smackdown capable of producing a bad show? It certainly doesn’t seem like it as the show is once again solid with the main angles being pushed and having room for guys to get on TV in two squash matches. The two big angles are now tied together and this show is just working. I’m interested in the match Sunday as I actually don’t know who is going to win. That’s a great sign as another great Smackdown ends.

 

[vanderhevel]

Boy that must have been one heavy table, poor john cena.

idk what to make of nxt at this point, i thought vince was gonna be the mastermind behind it but now who knows who it is.

 

[The Rock is Awesome]

Boy that must have been one heavy table, poor john cena.

idk what to make of nxt at this point, i thought vince was gonna be the mastermind behind it but now who knows who it is.

I was hoping to see who was the new General Manager but looks like we will have to wait until next week. I didn't think Vince was behind the NXT thing. Im expecting it to be Triple H since everyone wants him to be a freakin Heel and he wants a heel turn before he retires. Having him be the mastermind behind NXT.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 21, 2010
Location: Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole
Guest Host: N/A

They’re the NXT Seven now. Not horrible I guess. It’s the night after the Fatal Fourway PPV where Sheamus stole the belt from Cena thanks to the NXT guys. We begin the build to MITB here, so let’s get to it.

And here’s Vince. He botches the name of the PPV right off the bat. He blames Bret for what happened last night and blames him for everything, prompting a big WE WANT BRET chant. Bret is fired as GM. That lasted longer than I expected. YOU’RE FIRED. Oh like he wasn’t going to say it. The new GM will remain anonymous and will send e-mails to a computer, which Cole will announce via a microphone. Here’s the first one while Vince talks. All of the NXT Seven are hired and they’ll be talking tonight, thereby making the entire NXT season worthless but whatever.

Here’s Sheamus. He’s sad looking….and he VACATES THE BELT??? Ah ok never mind. That was GREAT. He said he couldn’t accept the title this way, but he will anyway after holding it up to Vince. That was hilarious. He thanks the NXT guys for all the hell they’ve raised. This is a great idea as it implies the roster is divided, which makes sense as the Raw roster vs. NXT would be dominated. And here’s Cena, who Sheamus has beaten for both of his world titles.

He likes the new GM because the hiring means he’s guaranteed they’ll show up. He also wants his rematch TONIGHT. E-MAIL NUMBER TWO! It says the main event tonight is a WWE Title match between Sheamus and Cena, meaning we have a mixed GM. I like it. Ah here’s a third one, and the match will have a guest referee: Vince. Oh I like this.

Evan Bourne vs. Chris Jericho

Really? Ok then. He has a mic little to my shock. He says if he loses he’ll leave WWE FOREVER. Damn they’re hitting on a lot of cylinders here. We go to a break about 30 seconds into this. Bourne keeps going for a quick win which is a smart idea at least. He goes to the floor and BARELY makes it back in which was a nice touch. Jericho might be spitting up blood or something but as Jericho goes for the Walls Bourne gets a tornado DDT for two.

I love that butterfly suplex into a backbreaker that Jericho does. They repeat some spots from last night but Jericho pulls Bourne back to the middle of the ring in the Walls. This is an intriguing match and Bourne gets a BIG pop for reaching the ropes. They’re buying it. Air Bourne hits knees to the face and the Codebreaker ends it. Maybe now we can hear the end of this jobbing bullshit. Jericho helps him up and then shoves him down like the asshole that he is. Nice and predictable with the emphasis on the nice.

Rating: B-. Another solid outing from these two. Bourne got his big win and then he lost to someone he’s supposed to lose to. That’s what you need here and it worked very well. Jericho and Bourne work very well together and it worked well here. This was solid, although not as great as last night, although it was a different kind of match.

Vince is on the phone with the GM and says to surprise everyone else, but not to surprise Vince.

Virgil is in the back with Ted who fires him and introduces Maryse as his new….whatever. Virgil asks what about protection. Without missing a beat, Ted says he’ll go to the drug store, making me laugh.

The Hart Dynasty say they don’t like the NXT guys. Kidd is BAD on the mic. Natalya isn’t bad and neither is David, but Kidd is BAD.

A LONG black limo is here.

Natalya vs. Tamina

The whole lifting Natalya up is cool for some reason. Cole says there’s no return address on the e-mails. Ok then. After not much, HERE THEY COME!

It’s the NXT guys and Barret tries to talk but Kidd dives on them. Ass kicking commences and it’s NXT in charge. And now it’s commercial time. Back from break, they say that since they have contracts now, things can be returned to normal, and they apologize. Damn it. Gabriel apologizes to Hart, Kidd and Smith. Young says they had to make a statement so they attacked Cena. I don’t like where this is going.

Young acknowledges that he is the Black John Cena. Barrett says that they’re united and it’ll never be broken. He also gets his PPV title shot back. They need to get in the ring and actually win some matches soon. Barrett wants Sheamus or whoever is the world champion after tonight.

John Morrison vs. Ted DiBiase

Morrison has Cottonwood with him and I’m starting to like him a bit I think. Ted comes out with Maryse, the belt and a mic. Ted says he has more important things to do so instead we get this.

John Morrison vs. Zach Ryder

Yep the music is awesome. This is about what you would expect with both of the rookies on the floor. Hey look it’s another chinlock. This is fairly short and fairly bad, ending with Morrison hitting Starship Pain.

Rating: D. This was fairly short and just not interesting at all. Morrison hit like 2 moves in the whole match which does very little for me. They even point out on the replay that the move hit the knee and not the chest. Yeah it’s pretty damn bad.

Cena doesn’t buy the apology and wants to get his revenge and his title back. Vince comes up and says the best man will win.

Great Khali/Eve Torres vs. Alicia Fox/Primo Colon

Oh dear. The guys start us off and Primo runs. We can’t go gender vs. gender here so the girls go at it. I hope Eve is going to wear blue all the time now. And that’s about it for the guys. Alicia takes a moonsault and then the guys are in again. Punjabi Plunge ends it. They dance afterwards. PLEASE not a romance thing here.

Rating: D-. Uh, point to this? At least Eve looked great so I can’t complain. The guys were about as awkward as you could ask for though. At least it was short.

Orton is on the way to the ring.

And here’s Orton. At least he didn’t pull a Jericho from 99 and get lost, even though those were some absolutely hilarious segments. He says he’s going to punt all of the NXT guys in the skull. He focuses on Barrett and accepts his apology and wants him to win the WWE Title, because if he does then Orton is going to take it from him…..AND HERE IS MIZ. OH I LIKE THIS A LOT.

Miz talks about how sick he is of Orton and then fucks up his line by saying he’s held the US Title and WWE Title at the same time. He wants the next title shot. He goes for the catchphrase and it’s on. RKO is blocked and Miz runs….and here’s Edge to spear Orton. Edge says that now the real fun begins. As long as that doesn’t mean Edge/Miz as a tag team I’ll be somewhat happy.

World title match is next.

Raw World Title: Sheamus vs. John Cena

The tie dude gives us the big match intros. There’s a regular referee here too for no apparent reason. They get going early and Sheamus is dominating, which isn’t something you see that often. The dueling chants start up and the CENA SUCKS voices are deeper, which implies guys hate him. WHITE hot crowd here also. Back from break and we’re more or less even. You can feel something coming here as both guys are down from a double clothesline.

The kick misses and here comes Superman (Lawler’s words not mine). FU is blocked and Sheamus hits the Irish Curse which is a great name. Cena counters the Celtic Cross into the STFU. And there are the ropes of course but damn they’re doing a great job at building suspense.

Cena doesn’t break until four because HE HAS TIL FIVE. We head to the floor now and both guys are down. Sheamus sets the steps up on their end in the aisle. Cena is more or less out cold and gets thrown into them which isn’t a DQ somehow. The fans are looking around for the NXT guys and after the Bicycle Kick HERE THEY COME.

Rating: C+. Nothing that special here but it’s definitely not supposed to be about the in ring stuff here but rather the angle that came after it, and I’ll shut up now since you know that’s what you want to hear about. Or read about since this is a text review. Wow that’s a common mistake. Wait…I was supposed to be quiet wasn’t I? I’m not talking so I can’t imagine what you’re looking for. OH! You want me to quit typing! Ok I’ll stop. Damn I just did it again. And again. HEY! Where are you taking my com

They go for Sheamus and Skip is directing traffic. There go the announcers as I’m guessing it’s a no contest. Cena goes onto the table and damn there are a lot of wires under there. BUT HOW WILL WE CHECK OUR EMAIL NOW? Vince has a mic and gets in the ring and asks if Cena is still breathing. He invites the NXT guys into the ring and says he can take at least partial responsibility and wants applause.

Next week the GM is going to reveal something. The NXT guys stare Vince down and look PISSED. And then they all smile. That was awesome again. He makes a joke about Wade and they all circle him. There’s a Daniel Bryan chant as THEY BEAT DOWN VINCE! Sheffield hits a huge clothesline and Barrett hits his mat slam. This is amazing as the 450 hits as well. The fans chant for NXT, showing how much Vince really is hated. That’s either awesome or awful and I’m not sure which. Justin “NO NOT A TIE” Roberts calls for help as the show ends.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling wasn’t great here, but this was about the NXT guys. This was about the drama that was derived from their imminent threat and that was almost perfect. The bad wrestling does hurt it here though as there was only one good match out of four, but this has a drama to it that I haven’t had in a long time which is great TV, so I can’t complain at all.

 

[joesgoingtoeatu]

Just when you thought maybe they were blowing it too early by giving them contracts, they dont disappoint and give you another good ending. Obviously the new GM will be behind it and its someone who wants Vince out so they can have full power, which means HHH and/or Stephanie probably. Only problem for me is, if Vince can "fire" brett couldnt he "fire" NXT and whoever the GM is ? Hopefully they come up with something good to explain that, it wasnt that brutal of an attack on Vince.

So pretty good show overall. I like the Ted and Maryse idea. I like the Jericho swerve because no one thought he was winning im sure. Loved the Orton/Miz/edge segment. Once again well done by the E !!!

 

[jonboi24]

Wow an ok show. Got a good solid match from Evan and Jericho. Man I love how those two work together, though this match was pretty much the same as last night, except for the outcome. And did I hear a theme/entrance song for the NXT1 guys? I think their segment with Vince was really good. For a second I thought, oh no Vince is the mastermind again. But then they beat him down. Major props for Gabriel for the 450 because if he screwed up, oh man would Vince have his ass. The whole anonymous GM thing reminds me of the whole "power to be" thing from WCW. I wouldn't be surprised if he/she is the mastermind, how I strongly wish it to be HHH.

I think I have an awesome name for this group. I heard Barret say it at the beginning of Raw and I thought hey it starts with an N, could be an awesome name. "NEXUS", so what do you guys think of the name? According to dictionary.com Nexus means, a connected series or group. So I think it would be an appropriate name for them. It plays off the NXT name, so you call them "NeXTus".

 

[Greg4WWE]

i thought it was an OK show at best.. just one solid wrestling match.. and i don't think they really moved the NXT angle forward at all.. they made Cena look like a wuss with a beat down at the hands of Sheamus and probably a fair loss coming.. I don't know.. call me unimpressed with tonight.. I'd like to see some of these NXT guys wrestle.. i also think they are blending to many story lines at once.. so the Edge/Orton feud continues.. what is the Miz role in it now? is Sheamus really gonna be a "face" Character against the NXT? i just dont see that.. i got more questions about this now than anything.. Still has a chance to be real good.. but i also still think it has a chance to flop!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw - June 21, 2010

Thumbs Up

Openint Segment - Very solid opening for last night's show. It was nice to see Vince and I do like that they've at least toned down the Mr. McMahon character to some degree. I like the idea of an anonymous GM for Raw, though I had no complaints about Bret Hart. A little bit of mystery is always nice and it could be fun. For a second, I thought that Sheamus was going to vacate the title. He looked legitimately distraught and he managed to sucker everyone in. The fans were going nuts for him for a few seconds and it was a great way to generate heat. Cena came out and did his thing, bopping around and playing to the crowd. While it can be gagworthy at times, it wasn't bad. Having Vince as a special enforcer during a Cena/Sheamus title rematch was a nice touch.

Evan Bourne vs. Chris Jericho - Another really good match between these two. The crowd was super hot for this match and Bourne is easily among the most over faces on Raw right now. I thought the idea of Jericho saying he'd walk out of the WWE was a bit over the top but, with the rumors flying that he's the mastermind behind Nexus, I thought that there might be a chance he'd lose and eventually come back and be revealed as the mastermind. Great match with these two with Jericho pulling out the win around the 11 minute mark. I'm just waiting for a thread to pop up with someone saying that Bourne's push has now been killed since he lost to Jericho last night.

Anonymous Raw General Manager - I know I already mentioned this a little in the opening segment, but I think this could be an interesting thing and could be an angle that the WWE can milk for a while if done properly. It wouldn't surprise me if the GM, whomever that is, might ultimately be revealed as the mastermind of Nexus. The idea of a concealed, mysterious and powerful player on Raw is just ingriguing for me.

Nexus - I might be wrong, but I think that Nexus is going to be the official name for the NXT group. Anyhow, they came out and interferred in the Natalya & Tamina match, leaving The Hart Dynasty laying. It was a good twist to see The Hart Dynasty actually be the ones to get a fight going despite being heavily outnumbered. Having the members of the group apologize individually and stating that they have WWE contracts now is risky and could have ruined the angle. However, I think everyone could feel that there was going to be more to the group last night than that, which left us wondering what the end result of the night was going to be. Interesting and solid mic work really from all the NXT guys.

John Morrison vs. Zack Ryder - This was a decent match, though entirely forgettable. I guess one reason why I'm giving it a thumbs up is because there'd been a lot of good stuff on Raw prior to this match. The level of intrigue was up and this match benefitted from it. It was a good little 5 minute match, nothing special, but I probably would have given this a Thumbs Down on most nights. Ryder and Morrison are two very solid in-ring workers and they can do more than provide filler.

The Miz & Randy Orton - I really liked this segment as The Miz came out and basically made a big move for himself. I like Orton, even as a heel I've liked him, but The Miz coming out and saying he's tired of always seeing Orton in the main event vocalizes the frustration of a lot of WWE fans and viewers. As always, both guys were solid on the mic and I was a little surprised to see The Miz was actually the one to initiate a fight. It was nice seeing him take it to the bigger star, show he's not intimidated and not look like a total punk. I thought Edge coming out of nowhere and spearing Orton sort of took a little bit of the fire away from The Miz, but this could be the start of a nice little threeway feud between them.

Sheamus vs. John Cena - I enjoyed this match a lot and both guys looked very strong during it. Sheamus, throughout the match, was pretty much the more dominant one and just kept coming with Cena just always managing to figure a way out. While it would have been nice to have seen a clean finish to the match, I understand why it didn't happen. Sheamus looked as though he had John Cena right where he wanted him before Nexus made their appearance, so Sheamus came out looking very credible against Cena. Once more, Sheamus gets outta Dodge before Nexus can lay a finger on him, another nice touch.

Nexus Beatdown Of John Cena & Vince McMahon - I was very, very happy with this angle and how it all came about. Nexus didn't go completely apeshit on Cena this time, but Cena had been in a tough match with Sheamus so he gets off with having the announce table dumped on top of him mostly. I was extremely, extremely glad that Vince wasn't revealed as the mastermind and it was great having them beat the snot out of him. I wish that McMahon hadn't fired Bryan Danielson, it sucks all the more because Vince really wants the NXT Invasion angle to work. Vince took some solid bumps, especially from Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel. Excellent way to close the show out.

Thumbs Down

Eve Torres & The Great Khali vs. Alicia Fox & Primo Colon - There's not really much to say about this. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, but The Great Khali just has the ability to suck all the good out of any match he competes in. He and Hornswoggle are easily the two biggest wastes of space on the WWE roster. It's fortunate that we haven't seen much of them this year.

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Personally, I thought that most of Raw last night was great and kept me entertained almost the entire time. I'm a little disappointed about the overall wrestling content, but Raw last night was primarily about the fallout of the WWE title match, generating a little mystery and hyping the NXT Invasion angle. I've got no complaints at all about the Cena & Sheamus or Bourne & Jericho matches. There was no guest host for last night and it looks like there might not be one for next week either. I'm hoping that this is going to end soon because it really has just run its course. I give last nights episode of Raw an 8.5 out of 10.

 

[jherr1]

I would give RAW a C for last night... The onle thing killing me is when are we going to get a main event without a interruption from our new NXT guys. Don't get me wrong it's a good angle but damn its getting a little repettive dont you think?? I feel the WWE is losing some of what made it famous.. I can't understand how you bulid a billion dollar industry like Vince did to help get your wife in a senate seat... I guess he feels bad about the shit she did for him in some of the old vintage RAW's

 

[Suneeboy]

Good God All Mighty, the WWE hasn’t been this fun to watch in years. They still have some more holes to patch up, but I’m not complaining right now. Another solid television show…that’s what it’s all about. Answer all the questions that need to be answered, and then create some new questions so that we can tune in next week. Simple formula that has worked for years, and I like it.

Bourne and Jericho had another solid match. Not as good as the one at F4W, mainly due to the fact that they used some of the same spots, but it doesn’t really matter. It was still solid, and although Jericho got the win, Bourne still came off looking strong, and he’ll get a huge win some time down the line. I’m hoping their feud can continue and get some build, as Jericho works well with smaller guys (see Mysterio).

A potential Miz/Orton feud would be fun as hell to watch one Orton and Edge blow off their feud at Money in the Bank or Summerslam. Khali is shit as usual, and Maryse is great upgrade over Virgil for Dibiase. Morrison and Ryder was ok, but I don’t know what the purpose of it was. A no-contest or DQ finish would’ve been better with the rookies getting involved to help them get over. Could’ve spilled over into tonight’s NXT episode.

Sheamus is underrated as a worker and psychologist in the ring. That guy has “it” and he knows what he is doing out there. He has a great, unique look. I hope he doesn’t get a tan, because his paleness is his identity. Sheamus and Cena had another good match. I can’t wait for them to have a straight up one on one for 20-30 minutes at a PPV. Hopefully this is the Summerslam Main Event.

Now on to Nexus/NXT Seven. This angle is so fucking fun to follow that I feel like a school girl watching it. Wade Barrett is legit, and they have built these guys beautifully. They are all going to get their asses beat sooner or later, but let’s hope they aren’t made out to be non-credible jobbers like the minions of so many other stables in the past have been made out to be, because these guys have potential. If HHH is revealed as the stable leader I am going to mark the fuck out. Another solid show and it wants me to tune in next week. Hell, RAW has been so good lately, that I actually paid 44.95 for a WWE PPV. I give credit where credit is due.

 

[Ferbian]

Last nights RAW was awesome

I liked the whole Vince starting off the show and getting a little bash at Bret once again, something tells me the Mr. McMahon character will never die.

I loved Sheamus trying to act like he's all good now and such, then only to screw over the crowd, was pretty funny, hopefully WWE books him properly this time, I like him, and I think this reign could go far.

John being in there was a nice touch, these two click like very few does, it gives John some entertainment factor back (some of the dissing thing, he had it with Randy, but not as much as with Sheamus) and it was an overall good promo from those guys.

I'm gonna hate Michael Cole if the "anonymous GM" keeps sending that annoying Iphone message, my Iphone is on soundless, so I was like "what the" and tried to figure out what the hell that was.

I do think it will be an interesting twist to the whole General Manager thing, and give some fresh air once more to WWE, although I have always liked the actual General Manager who makes appearances, and I think WWE should have sticked with that, I guess now we have to think up who the General Manager is, Jim Ross? Undertaker? Stan the crew guy? I don't know.

Yep I'm definitely gonna hate the constant sound of the e-mail.

Evan Bourne getting to wrestle Jericho was a classic at Fatal Four Way, it has to be good this time as well, Evan is going places if he gets to wrestle Mr. I-make-you-look-good.

Loved Jericho complaining as usual, the whole "I'm gonna walk out of the WWE" thing would open up for Jericho to leave for the Show hosting thing, I wonder how WWE plans to do that, certainly it wasn't through Evan Bourne, great match nonetheless, could be a match of the week candidate, although I think their match at Fatal Four Way was better.

Virgil still looks in great shape really, I wonder if last week is the only time we'll see him in there, I liked the backstage segment between him and Ted, oh Maryse, Lucky Teddy, Virgil was great, but Maryse has to be perhaps an even better choice, gets him over as a heel and ultimately, gives Maryse something to do now that she most likely won't be feuding with Eve.

Natalya looking great as always, I wonder whether Wade Barrett will be thrown against John Cena, and some of the other guys to adding that, and then have the Hart Dynasty feuding with the rest of them, I could see that working very well.

What is it with WWE and limosines?

I absolutely LOVE The Uso's and Tamina and Natalya was absolutely amazing at Fatal Four Way, this has to be absolutely great, give them the main event scene, and the division will blossom greatly once more.

Back to the Uso's, they really need to continue this feud, makes The Uso's a real threat in the division (they probably already are, seeing as their feuding with the top dogs, but yeah) and they will go far, both teams, this could be a great feud.

Natalya vs Tamina was a pretty good match for a divas match really, as I said, they could take the division far.

NXT interfering in the whole thing was a great thing, I'm certain they will be put together in some manner sooner or later, and I would absolutely dig it that they get spread across the roster and not just the main event scene, because we all know Wade Barrett is the only one that could fare well in the main event, so the others need to be build into some other division.

The NXT season one people probably shouldn't be apologizing really, while they certainly did continue to beat down the Hart Dynasty, they did try to apologize, something that wasn't needed because they could be build to be a great heel faction, and sure heels makes mistakes, but they sure as hell don't apologize, but it was good, and that's what matters.

I do like although that the NXT rookies have contracts, while some I don't necessarily want / need to watch on the show, I do like that I don't necessarily have to choose one, two, three people over the rest, they put on some decent promos, nothing great, Wade, Tarver and Otunga are still the superior on the microphone than any of the others.

I think they could be made into great tweeners all of the, if they continue the ravashing of all kind of talent, Sheamus, John Cena, you name it, they rip it apart, wait, that's his theme music? or the whole factions theme music? I like it.

Eli Cottonwood looks awful really, I'm not interested in him and John Morrison, I think him and Ted could have had a great match, still liking the Ted and Maryse pairing even though it's new, Zack Ryder was probably a good choice to throw against him.

Titus has a great name by the way, at least the Titus part (You know what I mean CH David).

Zack Ryder vs John Morrison was a pretty decent match, personally I didn't care who won that one, neither one of them interest me that much, they really don't.

John Cena and Vince McMahon always has some good face to face confrontations, Vince still has some heel life in him it seems, I would like that at least, Vince just don't do it for me with the whole face thing.

Oh god, Khali and Eve, you got to be shitting me, Eve looks great, she always does, but Khali? vs Primo and Alicia? well let's hope it's not a divas match, Alicia's reign will be short, awful match, anything Khali is involved in is awful really.

I'm liking Randy's shirt, it's not really new or anything, but it looks good nonetheless, worth investing in? no, I certainly wouldn't, but still looks good.

I like that he talked about the NXT people, they are bound to remain heels with all of the faces out to get them, I think Wade Barrett vs Randy Orton could be magical, and I would love to see the two of them feud it over the WWE championship.

Miz? oh boy, let's meet Miz's future push, these two could work magic together, Miz is great, mocking Randy is awesome, Miz could get far by feuding with Randy, just don't botch something Miz, great promo from him as usual, this was just a little bit better than usual, must be Randy, he makes promos great when he's the target, MVP, Edge, The Miz, John Cena, Triple H, yep.

Seems Randy's arm is fine again, would be dumb pounding the mat like that anyelse. Edge with the spear, yep, Miz vs Edge vs Randy Orton would be absolutely win, ON THIS DAY, love that song, got it on my Iphone, one of my favorite drum songs.

Vince is so cocky, gotta love it, he does it so naturally that it comes off as if he thinks people loves him, and that's why I love Vince, great choice for the "new GM" to throw Vince in there.

I'm hoping John goes to feud with the NXT rookies, let Sheamus feud with someone else on his way to the top, I wonder who although, Edge and Orton will be busy, John should be with the NXT guys, Triple H is out, where are you faces? oh yes, there you are, Smackdown.

Wait weren't Vince supposed to be the special guest referee? did I misunderstand something?

There comes the NXT guys, love that they definitely seem like tweeners now going after Sheamus, no matter alignment, Champion you're dead to them, oh wait, there goes John, yep tweeners, I love it although, WWE made the right choice there, Vince telling them to stop it was probably not too smart a thing.

If they are to feud with him as well, oh boy are they going places, Vince = ultimate enhancement talent, great choice that they attacked him, they're going far, very far if Vince books himself to be attacked by them, sorry my ass.

Awesome show once again, RAW has been awesome as of late, I really loved this show and the only thing that probably dragged the show down was Khali and his match, A

 

[Ferbian]

Smackdown this week was pretty good

We start off watching Teddy Long and Vickie Guerrero announcing that new champions have been crowned at Fatal Four Way.
They talk about Money in the Bank, finally someone that pronounces anything about the Money in the Bank show, apparently it'll be the exact same thing as Wrestlemania, damn, and only Smackdown champion? that sucks.

Drew McIntyre coming in, furthering the storyline between the two of them, I'm still liking them, especially with Teddy Long's new found confidence, talking about being in a position to do what he wants now, reinstating Matt Hardy to fight against Drew, guess they will work the feud now.

Big Show making it to the ring, I like his T-shirt really, Jack Swagger coming out as his opponent, are they gonna do like Sheamus? finally build him properly AFTER he lost the belt? he looks angry, looks like he fell asleep in the sun tanner as well.

Jack talking about a protest towards WWE about loosing his belt, typical really, talking about it being impossible to retain, right, it furthers the promo yes and his heel character but that's not true Swaggie.

Swagger wanting to revoke his rematch at Money in the Bank, good choice, Rey Mysterio vs Jack Swagger at Pay Per View level might be good, sure was a pretty good promo that one, glad he gets some good microphone time even after loosing the belt.

Jack Swagger vs The Big Show was pretty good, saw a sick super plex, glad we still get to see those. Jack getting dominated, it's a shame though cause Jack Swagger should be getting some offense in as well, Big Show is one of the rare cases it seems of a face getting a lot of offense.

There we go, Jack getting some offense in against Big Show, actually putting him in a submission hold, looks good, Jack could accomplish something going for that leg. ANKLE LOCK! SWANGLE! that was awesome, Jack using that submission hold could do well for him, even if it'll scream Kurt Angle, it works, especially with the scissor hold around the leg.

It was a great match, at least when Jack Swagger started doing the submission holds, looked strong even if he got disqualified, but he had Big Show tapping after that, it's a good thing.

Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer still bores me, weren't they supposed to be gone now because they didn't make an impact? because they haven't, they've hit a few backstab things but that's about it, that's not impact.

Dolph Ziggler coming out, looking great, he has a great future in front of him if WWE continues to book him slowly pushing him.

MVP coming out looking like he always does, with Christian, getting some pretty good pops, I'm not surprised, I wonder who the 3rd guy will be, oh yes, Kofi Kingston, throw Dolph Ziggler against him now? please and thank you.

Kofi Kingston, Christian and MVP vs Curt Hawkins, Vance Archer and Dolph Ziggler was a pretty good match, showed off Curt and Vance pretty well, alongside Dolph Ziggler, they all 3 have potential, even if I only care for Dolph, Christian picking up the win for his team.

Fatal Four Way commercial to hype Rey Mysterio's victory, I don't get why WWE doesn't have Rey on the show after winning the title, isn't he supposed to be representing the brand?

Kane backstage promo once more, I'm loving his vengeance promos, I love the whole "we" talk like he's talking to The Undertaker, talking about how he's gonna end CM Punk, I am loving Kane as of late, great push this way making him relevant again.

Time for Drew McIntyre vs Matt Hardy, they shouldn't let them face off, they should have something for the pay per view between those, so that we don't focus on Money in the Bank matches.

Matt Hardy got a huge pop, he definitely is over, just not main event material that's for certain, the match was pretty good, mostly Drew just dominating as usual, getting frustrated for not being able to pin him, the usual wrestling match, Matt getting offense back, and gets the win.

Haha Drew McIntyre being escorted away because his Visa has expired, that's a pretty well done thing, I'm surprised only 2 people came to escort him away, but Matt Hardy needed how many people to escort him away? Drew screaming for Vince, that's pretty good actually, loved the "don't touch me" thing, reminds me of Jericho.

Cody Rhodes coming to the ring with Husky Harris, I love Cody's theme music, I think lyrics would ruin it.

Talking about being WWE's most attractive superstar, yeah right, that's ridiculous, that has to be crooked somehow, but I love his reaction to it, chuckled at his "ha!" he does have some great microphone skills, really cocky, good heel, mocking his rookie, father and brother and ultimately the crowd in the process HAHA Dashing Cody Rhodes.

Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero backstage, talking about their relationship, Dolph wanting a title match, against Kofi Kingston, I knew it, it could be a great match, hopefully it will finally make Dolph a champion.

We return from commercial to watch Rosa bouncing around I'm not really that much for her, but her jumping isn't bad, if you know what I mean.

Kelly and Tiffany coming to the ring, looking great as always.

LayCool coming to the ring, not looking as hot today, must be the dresses, what a shame, Kaval with the LayCool shirt, this group cracks me up.

Kelly vs Rosa Mendes was awful, a squash match, Kelly bouncing as well, looking much better than Rosa.

We see some segment of someone called Alberto Del Rio, don't know what that was, looked like some kind of commercial, but it seems it was a promo video for someone to debut soon after googling his name.

CM Punk making it to the ring, being paranoid, I love then new mask, looks absolutely epic, much better than what he wore before.

CM Punk cutting a brief promo, talking about being innocent, followed by Kane coming to the ring after the commercials, the match starts off instantly as CM Punk attacks Kane.

Kane punishing Punk, looking strong I'm curious whether he's a face, a tweener or a heel right now, seems to scream tweener.

Gallows interfering as well, getting his ass kicked by Kane as well, this looks to be a good push for Kane, he looks strong, getting attacked by the complete Straight Edge Society now although, including the masked man, he looks ripped without a shirt, and a Straight Edge Society mask.

Kane getting a little dominance back now, chokeslamming the masked man, dominating them again, and trying to chokeslam Punk through the announce table, Gallows suffering the wrath of kane in stead although, now chasing Punk through the crowd.

This match is pretty damn good, Kane looks strong like this, looks like a horror movie chase now, being thrown around in the front center through merchandise stands and ultimately to the outside, Punk fleeing as Kane stands by watching.

Great episode, made Kane look strong, didn't further the Pay Per View although which I think is a shame, Raw failed to do it as well, but nonetheless it was a good episode. B+

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Smackdown - June 25, 2010

Thumbs Up

Opening Segment - I enjoyed the opening segment quite a bit. I like the idea of a "roster evaluation" to determine who'll be in the Smackdown MITB match at the ppv. It makes each match feel that it has some real significance and importance. Teddy and Vickie both hyped the concept well and the both of them showing something of a united front when McIntyre interrupts them was a nice touch, partially cuz it was unexpected.

Jack Swagger vs. The Big Show - This was a pretty good match overall, which is something of an accomplishment in and of itself since it's a singles match involving The Big Show. Swagger looked very strong and aggressive against Show and I like how they're progressing with Swagger overall. As champ, he wasn't all that dominant or aggressive and the WWE built him to where it looked as though he was in over his head to some degree. Now, having lost the title gives the reason to jack up the aggression factor and add another little mindset. I admit that The Big Show being helped back by those two teeny refs was kinda ridiculous in a way, but it didn't really take anything away from the angle.

Christian, MVP & Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler, Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer - This was a fun and really solid six man tag match with good action all through it. I do think that the wrong team won the match, however, as Hawkins & Archer really could have used a win here. However, all six guys were very good in the ring together and it showed.

Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre - I enjoyed this match a lot and at around 16 minutes, they were really give enough time to have a really good showing. I personally like McIntyre much more than Hardy, but I admit that it was nice to see Hardy get a win here. For the most part, the feud between the two overall thus far has been pretty one sided with McIntyre getting the best of Hardy in most encounters. The deportation angle with McIntyre's visa having expired was a cute little swerve and capped things off nicely for this match.

Cody Rhodes - It looks as though the WWE is finally giving Rhodes some sort of direction. The "Dashing" Cody Rhodes thing already reminds me a little of the Ravishing Rick Rude angle to some degree. Punking out Husky Harris was a nice touch and made Cody seem like a real douche, which was the point. Punking out a lot of people down at ringside over their appearance also worked well. Rhodes looked stronger than he probably ever has thus far.

Kane vs. CM Punk - I loved this match as it really showed Kane as this crazy friggin' beast. Action was all over the place with both Punk and Gallows eventually getting put through tables. Punk and the SES sold everything perfectly and Kane tossing Punk out the door and him fleeing down the street was the perfect way to end the show.

Thumbs Down

Kelly Kelly vs. Rosa Mendes - This doesn't even quality as a match as it was over in about 15 or 20 seconds. However, I can't really complain too much as it involves two of the worst female wrestlers the WWE has, probably the two single worst if you think about it.

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - I thought Smackdown was great last night. The two hours went by fast for me and I was entertained pretty much from top to bottom. Swagger's new aggressive streak serves him well, the roster evaluation gives a meaningful twist to just about every match taking place, really good wrestling content overall and Kane comes off looking like a beast. I'm giving last night's Smackdown a 9 out of 10.

 

[MissCG]

Overall Smackdown was really good last night. Show/Swagger was good and I liked Swagger busting out the ankle lock and doing some damage to Big Show. The six man tag was very enjoyable too.For some reason I like the team of Christain, Kofi and MVP. Still not nuts about Hawkins and Archer, but I like Dolph Ziggler a lot. My favorite match was surprisingly enough, Hardy/McIntyre. They got a good amount of time and both looked really strong. I think this might be the longest match we`ve seen Drew have, on SD at least isn`t it? I think it actually made a little bit more of a fan.I wonder what`s gonna happen now though that his visa "expired" though? Cody`s promo was really entertaining too. Nice touch having him insult Husky Harris and people in the crowd too. Dunno about calling him "Dashing"Cody Rhodes lol. Kinda reminiscent of "Ravishing" Rick Rude though and I guess maybe that`s where they`re going with this. Kane/Punk was fun and Kane looked really dominant. Is this a return to the Kane of old possibly? I especially loved the ending of Punk getting chased out of the building and running across the street in full ring gear lol. The lowlight was Kelly/Rosa. Other than that, really good show

 

[HBKevin]

# Big Show def. Jack Swagger (Disqualification)

Good match with the return of the ankle lock being a nice surprise.

# Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, Christian & MVP def. Dolph Ziggler, Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer

Say what you want about Ziggler, but he sells moves better than most of the roster. His sell of the Killswitch was Shawn Michaels level.

# Matt Hardy def. Drew McIntyre

Nice way to wrap up the feud, Hardy looked intense. Who knows what's next for Drew.

# Kelly Kelly def. Rosa Mendes

A boring squash, but saved us from a really bad diva's match. Neither of them can wrestle.

# Kane vs. CM Punk - No Disqualification Match (No Contest)

Very entertaining brawl, with the classic through the arena finish, but Punk running out through the street made it hilarious.

Grade A, better than Raw, as usual.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: June 25, 2010
Location: Verizon Wireless Center, Manchester, New Hampshire
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

We open with Teddy and Vickie in the GM’s office and we’re told about Rey winning the title. He’ll defend it at MITB and there will also be an 8 man MITB match. So there are going to be 16 men in two matches. Great. There’s no time table given on how long the contract is good for which is odd. Drew comes in and yells at Teddy for not caring about Vince. Teddy has full control now since Vince is hurt. Matt Hardy is no longer suspended and it’s Drew vs. Matt tonight. Teddy has a spine now.

Cue theme song.

Big Show vs. Jack Swagger

Striker says ginormous isn’t a word when it actually is. I love him being wrong. Kane vs. Punk tonight in a No DQ match. Interesting. Swagger looks PISSED. He’s protesting this match and that he had to defend in the Fatal Fourway. He’s using the rematch clause at MITB, meaning he’s out of the ladder match I guess. He’s going to make everyone suffer because of his loss, starting with Big Show. Solid promo I though. Nothing great but solid.

Ok so the contract is good for a year. Got it. Show dominates early and hits a SUPERPLEX from the top. NICE. Show stands on his arm after we get back. That’s not something you see that often. Big Show chant starts up. ALL Show so far as Swagger has had nothing at all. Swagger hits a shoulder block to the leg which makes sense at least to take him down. Here we go. Wait, does this EVER work? I can’t think of anytime that it has.

Swagger hits a pair of very unique DDT’s to the foot. That’s innovative if nothing else. Swagger hits a middle rope shoulder block which is one of my favorite moves. The Vader Bomb hits once but the second time he catches in a chokeslam. Wouldn’t that like, hurt his arm in theory? I mean it’s just a 260lb guy landing on his arm. Swagger busts out an ANKLE LOCK of all things and then the leg lock too, but Show makes the ropes. Swagger doesn’t let go though and Show TAPS, even though it’s a DQ.

Rating: B-. Well they made Swagger look weak to start but they more than made up for it at the end. This was something Swagger needed as it made him stay strong looking after losing the title. He made Show tap, which just isn’t something you see that often. This worked very well for Swagger and I liked it.

We recap Archer and Hawkins beating MVP and Christian last week.

Vance Archer/Curt Hawkins/Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP/Christian/Kofi Kingston

So after about 5 minutes of intros we’re ready to go. Hawkins and MVP start us off and Grisham talks about how we haven’t seen Hawkins and Archer wrestle in a regular match. You know, because it’s not like there was a clip of their match last week or anything else that Grisham talked about less than 2 minutes ago. The faces all hit planchas or medium height spots. Back from a break and it’s MVP vs. Ziggler.

Grisham asks if Striker can imagine Kofi jumping off a ladder. Yeah because that’s nothing we’ve ever seen before. This is a fairly standard six man so far bit this has been fine. Ziggler is a guy that interests me a bit but they need to give him a significant win once in awhile. Everything breaks down and it’s all six in at once. Trouble in Paradise for Hawkins as MVP and Archer go to the floor. Zig Zag is blocked and Killswitch hits on Ziggler for the pin.

Rating: C+. Fairly standard stuff here but this was fine. It gives MVP and Christian their revenge and it possibly opens a door for Dolph vs. Kofi. This worked fine for what it was and was a fine use of about ten minutes or so. It’s nothing great but for what it was this was more than adequate.

Rey is on Smackdown….next week. You know because the world champion can’t be on TV right?

We see the Vince beatdown segment again, which is a big deal but do we need to see it on both shows not named Raw? I do like that they’re acknowledging it on Smackdown now though.

Kane vows to the coffin that he’ll destroy the SES tonight by cutting off its head.

Matt is on the way to the ring.

Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre

Matt is in an undershirt now which might be the best thing for him. It worked for Swagger if nothing else. They actually go back and forth for awhile here with Drew hitting a Michinoku Driver from the top. Oddly enough Striker calls it the proper name first and then just calls it a Driver on the second one. This is a fairly back and forth match, but I don’t think many people wanted to see a match go this long between these two.

This is supposed to be a huge and violent feud and instead we’re getting a regular match out of it with Drew dominating for the most part. Future Shock is countered and Matt takes over by shouting a lot before his moves. Is this WOW or something where you have powerups for moves? Drew goes for the stomp on the stairs like he did a few months ago but Hardy avoids it. Back in the ring a Twist of Fate hits to a pop for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: D+. This just didn’t do it for me. It ends the feud I guess, but at the same time it just didn’t work that well at all. It was too long for them as Drew continues to live off of a single push/match from months ago. This wasn’t what it should have been and it suffered badly because of it.

Teddy pops up on screen and says he’s been doing some research and says that McIntyre’s Visa has expired and he has to go back to Scotland. Apparently it lasts for 90 days. Oddly enough he was IC Champion for longer than that but why pay attention to details?

Cody Rhodes and Husky Harris are here. Cody says he’s naturally good looking and is the most handsome star in WWE. He has a poll from WWE.com which has him, Jericho, Orton, Cena and MVP. Rhodes wins with 35% of the poll which is more or less dominance. NO ONE cares at all.

He says Harris is nothing special and says that it’s not because of his genetics that he’s hot since his dad and brother are ugly. He goes around ringside and tells a fan, Grisham and Chimmel that it’s not their fault that they’re ugly. He wants Teddy and Vickie to consider him for MITB and calls himself Dashing Cody Rhodes at least 15 times. Ok then.

Dolph wants Vickie to get him gold or else.

Rosa Mendes is jumping rope. Ok then.

Kelly Kelly vs. Rosa Mendes

And here’s Laycool with Kaval. Rosa keeps jumping rope. Kelly hits her Fameasser thing and this is over in ten seconds. Now Kelly jumps rope. Ok then. No rating obviously.

We recap Swagger hurting Show. Ok then.

Kane vs. Punk STILL later tonight.

We see a vignette for a guy named Alberto del Rio. He’s Dos Caras from FCW. This is painful to watch. He talks about lies etc.

And no, Rey still won’t be here this week. Wow he never stops making my head hurt.

Kane vs. CM Punk

Punk asks if this is the face of a liar while wearing a mask. Nicely done. Kane dominates early and might have new tights. Gallows comes out and gets taken down. The masked guy is here and gets taken down too. All three of them beat on Kane and finally take him down. That lasts not long at all and it’s all Kane now.

Kane and Gallows look alike. The could even be twins. Nah maybe not. Gallows goes through the table and Punk runs through the crowd. We’re out in the lobby now and it’s Kane destroying him. We break some concession stands and merchandise tables. Punk goes outside and runs away. Pay no attention to the sweaty man in the mask and underwear running down the street.

Rating: C-. Eh this was what it was. This was about Kane beating up Punk and that’s what he did. He looked awesome here and completely dominated, but it kind of left something to be desired, which might have been the point. This worked well enough though I guess, but I doubt it’s over.

Overall Rating: C+. While not as great as their previous shows, this was still good. Again, Smackdown just know how to do television. A lot of feuds were addressed and a lot of angles were advanced a bit. That’s all you can really ask for from TV, especially in the first show before MITB. You even got a new character out of this. I can’t complain much here as this is another good TV show, which has become par for the course here.