Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[The Raven's Epitaph]

Raw: 13th September 2010

This was a pretty good Raw, but what I want to focus my post on is that Steel Cage Match between Jericho and The Hart Dynasty.

That match was the reason why the Hart Dynasty is a bunch of mid-card jobbers even though they hold a title.  Rather than keep the 2-on-1 advantage and help your partner beat down your opponent, you run out and take yourself out of the match. Way to go champs.

Aswell, I was seriously scared at one point. Jericho was on the top rope and Tyson Kidd went for a Hurrincanrana off the top rope, but Jericho caught him and JUMPED off the top rope with Tyson Kidd in an upside down position. His head must have literally been about 5cm from the ring mat. Not only was I dissapointed to see Jericho act so unprofessionally like that but it could not only have ended Tyson Kidd's career but it could have killed him. I was seriously scared when I saw that move. My literal reaction was that I put my hands over my eyes and said "FUCKING HELL." - That would have broken Tyson's neck or killed him if that would have gone wrong..

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw - September 13, 2010

John Cena & Randy Orton - The opener of the show kicked things off well as it put some more emphasis on the main event. I was looking at the Raw Roulette Wheel and some of the potential choices on that thing make me cringe, and not in a good way. Cena did his thing while Orton just stood silently stoic and glowered. The Raw Roulette landed Tables so the main event is going to be a Tables Match, so that should be fun. The purpose of this segment was to generate more excitement for the main event, so mission accomplished. Thumbs Up

The Miz & Chad Ochocinco - This was a fun opening segment with The Miz coming out and doing some quality mic work. Having Ochocinco on Raw in Cincinnati was a good idea as the crowd was jacked for him. The Miz ragged on Ochocinco, his reality show and the Bengals in ways that generated insane heat for The Miz and were actually pretty creative overall. The GM pinging in and allowing Ochocinco to pick The Miz's opponent in a Submission Match was a nice touch and Daniel Bryan was his pick. Very solid segment here leading into what will be the final hype for Miz v. Bryan at NOC. Thumbs Up

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan - Bryan came out to a big pop and the crowd was behind him through the match and afterward. The match in and of itself was generally solid, what there was of it. This wasn't really about having an actual match so much as building some last minute hype for their ppv match. The Miz rolled outside, faking an injury and takes himself out of the match and has Alex Riley replace him. In about 30 seconds, Bryan forces Riley to submit with The Miz making a miraculous recovery. Bryan worms out of the SCF and locks The Miz in the crossface submission. I like how The Miz fought it and didn't just basically lay there and let him hook the thing on. It's a subtle little thing that adds a little spice to things. The Miz taps and the crowd begins a "You Tapped Out" chant. Michael Cole also does a great job cheerleading for The Miz during this segment. I'm definitely interesting in this match at NOC and Bryan is definitely becoming a legit star in the WWE right now. Thumbs Up

Edge vs. Evan Bourne/Mark Henry - I was excited about this match. Haven't seen much of Bourne in a while but I was soon disappointed as it was announced that this was a body slam challenge. The match lasts about 90 seconds until Edge slams Bourne. Edge spears him afterward, the GM emails edge and isn't happy about Edge's lack of sportsmanship. So, he orders another body slam challenge against Mark Henry, which Henry wins in about 30 seconds. The crowd was into this match, but I was disappointed because this could really have been something fun between Bourne & Edge. Thumbs Down

R-Truth & Eve Torres vs. Ted DiBiase & Maryse - When I heard that this was going to be a song & dance contest, I immediately changed the channel. I don't know what happened during it and I don't care. The WWE doesn't need to waste time on meaningless and pointless shit like this. Thumbs Down

Sheamus vs. John Morrison - This match was a Falls Count Anywhere match and, if Morrison won, he'd take Jericho's place in the six pack challenge at NOC. I wish this match had gone longer because I loved it. Morrison looked like a star out there and was doing some sick athleticism. Sheamus & Morrison fought all over the place and Morrison gave as good as he got with both guys getting several near falls. The live crowd was eating this up, especially Morrison's high spots. Morrison's Parkour is really interesting to watch. I knew the guy was athletic but this looked like some shit Spider-Man would be doing and it impressed me I have to say. Morrison hit a high cross body off the Titantron and it looked killer. I was a little annoyed with Jericho for interfering in the match and whacking Morrison with the chair because this match could have and would have gone on longer as Sheamus kicked outta the crossbody. Sheamus picks up the win via interference. Great match while it lasted. Thumbs Up

Chris Jericho - Jericho's follow up segment to his interference in the Sheamus/Morrison match was great. Jericho was really on his game, though he's very rarely even off his game. His interruping Michael Cole as Cole tries to announce the Raw GM's e-mails was a fun touch and actually got Jericho a pretty decent pop. I think we've all wanted to say that to Cole at some point and everyone was just really glad that someone did. Jericho threatened to quit if he wasn't reinstated in the match and I thought we were going to be having a moment similar to Batista's last night on Raw. The GM puts Jericho in the match provided he won his match tonight. Jericho's put in a handicap tag match against The Hart Dynasty inside a steel cage. Thumbs Up

The Hart Dynasty vs. Chris Jericho - The booking strategy in this match definitely had some flaws in it, but it was a very fun match overall. The Harts beat on Jericho for a few minutes before Smith climbed over the cage and onto the floor. Cole stated that both members of The Hart Dynasty had to exit the cage and hit the floor before they'd win. They should've just made this a cage match with Jericho & Tyson Kidd as Smith was only in the cage for 2 or 3 minutes. At any rage, Jericho and Kidd had a good exchange inside the ring. Kidd looked strong during the match and was giving Jericho a good go of it. The ending with Jericho countering the attempted Hurricanrana off the top rope looked scary as hell and there was a huge gasp from the crowd when it happened. However, Jericho and Kid pulled it off smooth as silk and Kidd tapped out. A good match overall, even if slightly flawed logically. So, Jericho is back in the six pack challenge. I think a better ending for the match would have been to have several tag teams run out to the ring and beat down the HD, thereby allowing Jericho to win because there still isn't a tag title match for NOC. Thumbs Up

Goldust vs. William Regal - This was a Trading Places match, if match is what you wanna call it, with each wrestler dressing in the other's gear. I admit that Regal was kinda funny as Goldust but the match lasts all of 20 seconds with Goldust hitting Regal with brass knuckles. Pointless filler, but at least it was quick. Thumbs Down

John Cena vs. Randy Orton - This was a very good back and forth match between Orton & Cena. The first 10 minutes or so was solid with both guys out there doing their thing, but it really picked up with all the members of The Nexus interfering. They all got some offense on Orton & Cena, Barrett hit Wasteland on Cena while Orton was able to eliminate a few members of The Nexus by putting them through tables. The crowd was very much into all this. Cena eventually rallies and takes out Gabriel, pushing him off the top and through a table. Edge & Jericho hit the ring not long after, though they're both taken out as Edge accidentally spears Jericho through the table. Sheamus tries to take out Cena but gets an AA for his trouble. The Tables Match is no DQ so none of this interference stops the match. The ending comes when Cena hits the AA, or at least looks like it. Orton locks his arms around Cena's neck and hits a modified version of the RKO with using the momentum from Cena's Attitude Adjustment to put Cena through the table. Overall, a great match that I thought hyped the main event very well. Orton has looked strong and ultimately been the one standing for several weeks in a row, so I think there's a good chance that he won't be walking out of the ppv as WWE Champion. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Raw overall was a very strong show last night, though there were a few disappointments. The second hour of Raw felt pretty epic overall and I think that the entire show could have easily had that feel to it if the WWE hadn't wasted time on stuff like body slam challenges and dance offs. Still, the good of the show was extremely good and far outweighed the bad. The Miz and Daniel Bryan built some great last minute hype for their match, Morrison & Sheamus had a downright great match, Jericho was really on his game on the mic and looked strong against The Hart Dynasty, Orton vs. Cena was a high quality main event match that delivered and provided some great final hype for the six pack challenge at NOC. I almost forgot that the GM made the six pack challenge at NOC and elimination match and I love that idea. I'm glad the implemented it because I honestly feel that was the only thing really missing from the match and should have been part of it from the start. There were a few groan worthy moments, which did take a little away from the whole show I think. Vince loves his little cornball comedy and it's the only thing that hurt the show last night. With the exception of the body slam challenges and the dance off, I thought everything on the show was pretty much A-, maybe even A worthy but those things did bring the overall show down to some degree. Still, it was a very strong go home show for Night of Champions. B+

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

The only part I cared for on Raw was the ending. LOVE IT!!

I've never been a fan of Cena vs Orton. Not to say their matches are bad, but I don't look forward to them. (if that makes sense) But since there was no Nexus all night, I figured they would be in the main event or I would have to go through Barrett withdrawls. (ha ha ha)

I thought the Nexus run in might have been their best one to date (sans the first one). I thought it was smart to have the greener members just eat finishers. I really liked how Slater got eliminated but Gabriel's was much better. But most of all, I loved the final part of the Nexus attack.

Wade stood proud and alone and unsure what to do. He then saw the table on the floor and wanted to devenomize the Viper again. He went to chuck Orton to the floor, but Randy countered and sent Barrett flying over the rope. Barrett in an act usually reserved for smaller guys, landed on the apron. Too bad his luck ended with Orton pushing him, thus sending him smack dab on top of the table. (ha ha ha)


The ending was good enough to carry the show for me. B+ baby!

But like Raw only has three matches for the PPV? Oh Well, I am still ordering it.

 

[Kenny Powers]

The show wasn't bad, but it brought back for me some bad flashbacks of the Viewers choice Raw that was shown earlier this year. The gimmick matches really turned me off. Some gimmick matches are alright, but some are just too cheesy. Any time there is a body slam match I cringe because I know it will involve a small guy and The Great Khali, or another large uninteresting wrestler that we haven't seen for weeks. Regal and Goldust trading places was actually funny, but it was short and pointless. It should have been saved for Superstars where these two usually wrestle.

Chad OchoCinco was a good host for the Bengals fans in the audience. I can't stand the prick myself. I loved The Miz's promo bashing Cinco and the Bungals. Chad just really didn't seem too interested that he was there. I guess not since he was tweeting about watching the football game on ESPN during the time he was hosting.
Michael Cole was in super annoying mood last night, kissing OchoCinco's ass during every breath. I do enjoy his exaggerated commentary on the Miz though.

Bryan and The Miz didn't have a real match up on Raw, but they set up the feud nicely for the PPV. I'm disappointed at the lack of reaction Bryan's entrance gets. It's not as lousy as an Evan Bourne entrance, but its still pretty lousy.

The body slam match was lame, but even worse was the dance off. I'll give R Truth credit for actually having another song that is still crap but ten times better than the tired "Whats UP!" song. Eve is beautiful but she can't dance to save her life. Maryse and Dibiase were actually amusing for once together. I have to agree with Dibiase though when he said that this Raw not America's Got Talent. That dance off really accomplished nothing but maybe a few laughs.

Sheamus vs. John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match really surprised me. These two had a decent bout around the arena and for once Morrison isn't an after thought. Jericho's promo about demanding his spot at the PPV and calling out the GM was great. Also, Jericho screaming at Cole to shut up telling him to ust read the email was great. The match up that followed it just lacked logic though. The Hart Dynasty faced Jericho in a steel cage, but didn't work together as a team.

Smith left Tyson to fend for himself, which lead to Jericho getting the easy win. The good thing is Jericho is back in the main event, but the bad news is that at a PPV called Night of Champions, the WWE tag team champions still don't have a championship match. New belts don't equal a new division sadly.

Cena vs. Orton in a tables match was good, but there were too many run ins. It would have been better for the match to actually finish before everyone started to run in. It did set up the main event in a good way though for Night of Champions. The only thing I am interested in is whether Jericho will win or retire that night. Not a bad show with the Raw Roulette wheel, but I thought it could have been better.

For the comedy I would have liked to see a WWE flash from the past match instead of a body slam or a dance off contest. Maybe next time.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Randy Orton/John Cena Match Selection

Cena and Orton shared a brief stare down. Eve spins the wheel, and we have ourselves a table match for Raw's very hyped main event. You could feel the tension here. Every time John Cena and Randy Orton step inside the ring, WWE makes sure to hype the hell out of the match, and it makes sense, because Cena and Orton are top guys. This was a good way to start off the show.

Chad Ochocinco Gets Into It With The Miz

Chad comes out to cut a promo, but he gets interrupted by The Miz. Miz of course takes a shot at the Bengals and Carson Palmer to get some boos from the crowd. Chad throws out his catchphrase "child please," which is just a nice way of saying "fuck you." They trade insults, and then the mystery GM interrupts. After Alicia Fox spins the wheel, Miz gets a submission match. Ochocinco picks Miz's arch nemesis, Daniel Byran as his opponent.

Miz VS Daniel Byran

I was surprised to see Miz slap the figure four on Byran here. We heard a lot of woooooo!!!!! chants. Nothing really happened here. Byran got the LeBell Lock on Miz, he faked a hernia, and that ended this one.

Daniel Byran VS Alex Riley

Since Miz was "injured," he choose a substitute to fill in for him......Alex Riley, his NXT season 2 rookie. Again, nothing really happened here. Riley tapped out to the LaBell Lock pretty quickly to end this one. After the match, Miz tried to send a message to Byran by attacking him. He went for the Skull Crushing Finale(even for a finishing move, this name is soooo over the top) on the US title belt. Byran counters this into the LeBell Lock, and of course he makes sure to leave on for a while, so he can send Miz a message in return. This was a really good way to hype the match at Night Of Champions. I'm really pumped for it now.

Jillian and Edge do this weird dance, while Jillian sings horribly as always. I know Jillian's bad singing routine is supposed to be a joke. It always manages to get a large amount of heat from a live crowd, but I've grown tired of this over time, and I just don't find it to be funny anymore. The wheel spins, and Edge's match is up next.

Edge VS Evan Bourne-Body Slam Challenge

Umm, yeah, I think we all knew who was going to win this one. Bourne put up a valiant fight, but Edge ended it pretty quickly with a body slam. But I must admit, that was a nice enziguri by Bourne, and Edge sold it so well. Oh, and of course Edge had to get a cheap shot in with a spear after this one was over.

Edge VS Mark Henry-Body Slam Challenge

Edge pissed off the GM again, and he was given yet another punishment.....a body slam slam match with Mark Henry. Henry ended it quick with the World's Strongest Slam. Just like his match with Bourne, this one was pretty quick. I chuckled a little bit at this challenge.

R-Truth & Eve VS Ted DiBiase & Maryse- Sing and Dance Challenge

R-Truth kicked things off with some new music. He rapped, while Eve danced. The crowd gave both of them a pretty nice pop. And then there was DiBiase and Maryse. DiBiase's Sinatra impression managed to get him a good amount of boos from the crowd, and Maryse's dancing didn't go with DiBiase's singing at all. Their whole routine was just very awkward. Truth and Eve received a good reaction from the live crowd, and they managed to win this. After the challenge, DiBiase and Maryse attacked Truth and Eve, but they managed to fight them off. This could be a sign of a tag team match between these four next week.

The Bellas spin the wheel for William Regal. He gets a trading places match with Goldust. Later on Sheamus confronted Chad. Both men didn't have anything nice to say to each other. The Bellas spin the wheel to determine Sheamus' match.

Edge threatens to hold out if he becomes WWE champion. He tells all of this to Zack Ryder. Ryder and Edge have a good amount of time together over the past couple of weeks. I wonder if these two are on the verge of a reunion..........Anyway Sheamus interrupts. He doesn't believe Edge will walk away with the belt.

John Morrison is shown backstage during his extravagant warm up session. This seriously looked like something out of a movie.

Sheamus VS John Morrison-Falls Count Anywhere Match

I really, really enjoyed this one. This match had a nice pace to it, and it was very physical. Also, Morrison's cross body off of the titan tron was such an awesome spot. As far as the wow factor goes for Morrison's cross body, it kind of reminded me of the jaw dropping Air Bourne into the RKO a little while ago. Now in this match, Morriosn had a chance to replace Jericho at Night Of Champions if he won, but of course, Jericho would have non of that. He whacks Morriosn with a steel chair, which allows Sheamus to get the win.

Chris Jericho VS The Hart Dynasty-Steel Cage Match

Jericho started a protest by sitting in the middle of the ring, and refusing to leave until he got a chance to speak to the mystery GM. The GM agrees to put Jericho back in the match, but only if he can defeat the Hart Dynasty in a steel cage match. DH Smith managed to escape early, and we saw a nice little scuffle between Tyson Kidd and Jericho. Jericho won, and now he's back in the WWE championship match.

William Regal VS Goldust-Trading Places Match

Nothing much happend here again. Regal looked goofy dressed as Goldust and vice versa. Regal mocks Goldust, and Goldust uses brass knuckles to clock Regal for the win.

Randy Orton VS John Cena-Tables Match

This was pretty solid. I've seen better matches from Orton and Cena, but this match did a good job hyping the WWE championship match at Night Of Champions. The Nexus got involved, but Cena and Orton did manage to fight off everyone. This one ended ended when Randy Orton countered Cena's Attitude Adjustment into an RKO through the table. I'm not too sure, but I think Cena and Orton did this before at Bragging Rights 2009 during the iron man match. Anyway, It was a very, very cool spot, and it was nice way to end the match.

Chad Ochocinco was good guest host last night. Chad is a charismatic guy, and he's a good talker, so he was a perfect choice to host Raw. For some reason, Michael Cole managed to piss me off a lot more than usual last night. Cole is definitely better as a heel announcer. He can be entertaining as the obnoxious nerd, and I even got annoyed when he started calling the Attitude Adjustment the "AA", but I wonder if that was Vince's idea. Raw Roulette was a very entertaining show, and WWE did a really good job hyping the Night Of Champions PPV last night.

 

[ctln4rko]

I loved the ending! Slater and Gabriel's falls were amazing! Then edge speared jericho, then the attitude adjustment into an rko!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE SmackDown - September 17, 2010

The Cutting Edge - SmackDown opened with an edition of The Cutting Edge featuring Christian and Alberto Del Rio that I enjoyed a lot. Del Rio continues to impress me, he’s great in his role as was Christian. Both were great on the mic and I like the dynamic they seem to have already. This could be a very entertaining feud. Christian challenged Del Rio to a match at NOC and for Del Rio to turn it down was a simple and yet effective way to generate heat. Even after he gets slapped by Christian, he says no. I honestly hope that a match between them isn’t made for NOC because I like this little build up that’s going on. It’s too soon for a ppv match and I’m already interested in seeing where this goes. Thumbs Up

The Hart Dynasty vs. Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre - Pretty good outing from these two, though I think it could have been better. We haven’t seen a legit tag team match in a while without it being some mixed tag or taking place on the throwaway show Superstars or being some lame comedy match so I was glad to see this. Some people are still giving the new tag titles crap, but I personally like ‘em. There’s a definite old school feel to it and I think the Roman helmets are great symbolism. I thought they worked well together and put on a good match. Rhodes & McIntyre score the clean pinfall about the 11.5 minute mark with Cody hitting Cross Rhodes. These two will probably have a match at NOC, it’s unfortunate that there’s been so little build up for this. At any rate, this was a pretty good match, nothing overly spectacular, but it was still good. Thumbs Up

Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger - Fun match between Kofi and Swagger. It was a little slow paced, but I enjoyed it overall. The second half of the match ultimately is where things picked up and finished really strong. Kofi gets the win around the 16.5 minute mark via Trouble in Paradise after managing to get out of Swagger’s ankle lock. I enjoyed the match and it ultimately did what it was supposed to do in giving Kofi some momentum heading into NOC against Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship. Thumbs Up

Hornswoggle - This shit is even dumber than the stuff they were doing with him on Raw. I don’t know what they did with him because I just changed the channel. I dunno and I don’t care. Vince McMahon must love this shit, that’s the only possible explanation for why it’s going on. Thumbs Down

Kelly Kelly & Rosa Mendes vs. LayCool - Just your basic stuff, what you’ve generally come to expect from the Divas on Raw or SmackDown. Layla and Michelle McCool are actually pretty decent overall in the ring, but they were in there with possibly the two worst on the roster. LayCool gets the in in about 2 minutes. Thumbs Down

Christian vs. CM Punk - I thought Punk and Christian had a strong match. I do think it could have been better, but I thought it was a pretty good quality match just the same. It was a good back and forth effort, they work well together and Del Rio’s presence out at ringside was a nice touch. Del Rio distracted Christian on the mic enough for Punk to hit the GTS and score the win a little past the 12 minute mark. After the match, Del Rio coming in and sitting the chair over top of Christian and again refusing his match at NOC was great. I love that there’s not going to be a half assed, last minute match with these two, or at least there doesn’t seem to be at this time. WWE might just book the match on the ppv anyhow, but I hope not. Big Show came out and made the save, chased Del Rio off and layed out Punk with the right hand. Thumbs Up

Kane & The Undertaker - This was a fantastic way to end the show. I know it’s been said a lot, but Kane has been so good the past few months. He’s given some of the best promos of the year by any wrestler and he’s doing the overall best work of his career. Kane was gold again on the mic and the match against Taker will indeed be a No Holds Barred match. The Undertaker came out to a huge pop ready to fight but Kane dominated Taker the entire time. The crowd was chanting for Taker but Taker got his ass haded to him all around the ringside area. Kane used some of Taker’s signature moves against him like Snake Eyes and hitting the big boot. Kane laid Taker out with a chokeslam followed by the Tombstone and ended with Kane doing Taker’s classic kneeling pose. I have to admit that Kane has made me eat crow. I didn't want this feud to go forward, but Kane has been great and I've never seen Taker look this weak in any feud he's ever been in. A physically weakened Taker does add a different dimension to this feud and to Taker in general. This was really the only part of SmackDown to hype their contributions to Night of Champions, but there’s been a lot of build up over the weeks with Punk/Show and Kofi/Dolph so I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. I hope that Kane goes over The Undertaker at NOC, he needs it and this feud needs to keep going because it’s been great for both Kane and Taker. I don‘t expect Kane to go completely over during the feud, but I do think he needs to go over Taker in this particular match. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - SmackDown was a strong show tonight. With the exception of the Divas tag match, the wrestling action tonight was very good with three enjoyable matches. The matches weren’t epics, but I don’t expect some sort of “epic” all the time. The matches were of very good quality and they were coupled with some damn good promo segments. The show ended strong with the final push for Kane/Taker at Night of Champions. The Hornswoggle stuff was terrible, I know that much and I didn’t even have to see most of it to know that. Overall, SmackDown was quality tonight and I’m definitely excited for the World Heavyweight Championship match. B+

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: September 17, 2010
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Matt Striker

It’s the go home show for Night of Champions and most of the card is already set which is the perk of this show. The only thing not set is the tag title match which I guess there’s a chance we’ll set up tonight. The other thing we could get out of this is the no holds barred stipulation added to Taker vs. Kane. Let’s get to it.

I really like that theme song.

Kane will answer the Undertaker tonight. Punk vs. Christian also which should be a solid match.

Christian is in the ring for the Peep Show. I know a lot of people want him to get the big push but I think the problem is his name. As a casual fan how ¬excited would you get about a guy named Christian? It just comes off as uninteresting and has no pop. Watch his return to the company on ECW and listen to them say IT’S CHRISTIAN and you’ll get what I mean.

Anyway Alberto’s announcer interrupts Christian and of course here’s Alberto to probably set up their match at NOC. Christian says there are two Albertos (nice touch on his other ring name): the one here that is a very cool looking person, and the one we saw in the hours of BORING promos. The man speaks the truth.

There’s a big old bandage on Christian’s forehead. He says he’s seen it all and has outlasted them all. I’m assuming he means in the business as he took off three years from WWE. We get the Dos Equis (I probably spelled that wrong) reference as he asks if Alberto is the most interesting man in the world.

Alberto talks about Rey and how he’s going to change the company. We get the challenge for the PPV of course and Alberto says the interview is over. He’ll think about it though and he taps Christian on the chin. Christian channels his inner Stephanie and slaps the HELL out of Del Rio. On the ramp Alberto is ticked off but actually turns the match down. That grin is awesome.

Hart Dynasty vs. Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre

I liked the belts when they debuted on Raw but in the graphic here they looked terrible. They look like a ceramic plate you buy to celebrate Roman heritage month or something. As Rhodes makes his entrance, Grisham points out why he’s Dashing now and explains the Divas poll.

That’s something I really like about WWE: they explain things often. I know it gets annoying for people that watch all the time, but for a person that either hasn’t watched in awhile or is watching for the first time, you just got an explanation about why Rhodes is like that plus everything else you need to know about him in less than 15 seconds. That’s what a commentator is supposed to do and it worked very well here.

Drew and Smith start us off. We’re told the Harts will wrestle on Sunday but we just haven’t been told against whom. Cody comes in and David hits a NICE belly to belly on him as he pops the hips perfectly and throws Cody over his head. Natalya slaps him in the face and Cody is FURIOUS as we go to a break.

The announcers keep talking about how awesome the Harts are, more or less sealing their fate in losing here. Kidd hits a nice springboard wristlock which is something I remember Rey doing a few times. Rhodes continues his very old school style and also continues to make it work. Camel clutch on Kidd from Rhodes followed by a corner version of the Flash Kick that Morrison uses.

We get a Kawada reference that maybe 3% of the audience understood or noticed. Cody and David both get hot tags and Smith cleans house. Sharpshooter attempt is broken up by Drew but David walks into Cross Roads to end it clean. Yep there’s your title match and likely the new champions.

Rating: C. Standard tag match here but nothing that bad at all. The ending was very predictable but at the same time it worked. Drew and Cody have a weird little chemistry out there and the Dynasty just isn’t interesting at all anymore. Granted 3 months of fighting the Usos will do that to anyone. Not bad here but nothing great.

Here’s Kofi who says that the only reason Dolph has the title is Vickie and questions Dolph’s manhood. This is one of his better promos as he’s getting a bit of time out there and sounds interesting. He guarantees Trouble in Paradise this Sunday and calls his fans the Boom Squad.

Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston

Well this is a step up from MVP. Ankle lock attempt very early but Kofi evades. The second goes but is countered almost immediately. Swagger takes a break on the floor as Kofi has dominated other than the ankle lock attempts. Seated double chickenwing by the former world champion into a nice takedown.

Springboard forearm is caught in a nice powerslam by Swagger. We come back from a break and Jack is still in control, working on the ribs and back of Swagger. That’s fine if he tries to end it with the powerbomb, but if he goes for the ankle lock I’ll roll my eyes. Vader Bomb gets two. We hit the mat where of course Swagger dominates.

Pendulum kick is blocked and for no apparent reason we don’t get an ankle lock out of it. Could this be Swagger THINKING? We get a weird little sequence that looked like Kofi was just trying to get away but it looked like they missed something in there. Seated abdominal stretch to Kofi and he’s in trouble.

Kofi gets some knees/kicks from out of nowhere to set up a top rope cross body for two. Chops take Swagger down but the SOS is countered. Kofi goes for the Trouble in Paradise but in a nice counter Swagger just falls down so Kofi misses it. Ankle lock goes on for a bit as we hit the floor. Back in and the fourth attempt at the ankle lock is reversed. Swagger goes up and jumps into the boot to set up Trouble in Paradise to end it.

Rating: B-. Solid enough match but Swagger’s psychology was just way off by the end. If you’re going to work on the ribs and midsection the whole time that’s fine but don’t try to end it by going after the ankle. Swagger looked good here though as he dominated for the most part before hitting the kicks at the end to win it. That at least plays up to the whole he can win at anytime thing for Sunday. I’m not sure who wins on Sunday which is the main idea.

We go to the back to see the latest attempt to get Horny to talk. This time it’s a Catholic school with a nun. Teddy writes out ABC on his paper while Horny draws a picture of the teacher as Satan. Horny switches the papers and then throws a paper airplane at her. She tries to slap their knuckles with a ruler and Horny goes nuts. This was idiotic.

Kelly Kelly/Rosa Mendes vs. Laycool

Kaval is still hanging out with them and I can’t say I blame him. There’s something sexy about them unzipping the vests and just pulling them off. Why would anyone be afraid of Kelly? Has she ever won a match or anything like that? We finally get the bell after about a minute of this. Kelly rams Michelle’s head into the mat so Layla offers some breathing exercises.

Rosa comes in and swings at Michelle. Crowd has died it seems. This isn’t much at all so I can’t say I blame them. Layle hits her neckbreaker on Rosa for the clean pin. What happened to her wanting to be part of Laycool? Are we just forgetting that story?

Rating: N/A. Just another quickie here where nothing of note really happened. Laycool looks dominant going into the PPV. Great to see the exposure Melina got this week too. I mean it’s not every week you see her in the opening video for Raw.

Long but pretty good video about the Raw World Title match Sunday.

Laycool is in the back and has their names put in a hat for Kaval to pick out. Winner gets the match with Melina. Michelle wins it and Layla is kind of pissed off. Apparently there were a ton of papers in there and they all say Michelle. Layla says Michelle is alone Sunday.

CM Punk vs. Christian

Punk is on his own here which I think I like him better as. More or less he has to win the match on Sunday as it’s in his hometown and probably the final match of the feud. Alberto comes out for commentary. He goes on a short rant about Christian and Todd asks hima question. Del Rio: “Why are you talking to me?”

Fast paced start leads to a standoff and clapping. Christian hits some of his usual stuff before running into a knee. It could have been the shouting before he charged but maybe only I noticed that. Punk knocks him to the floor as we take a break.

Back and Punk has a leg vice on Christian. Abdominal stretch goes on for a little bit as Punk works the ribs. Matt Striker speaks Italian in your fact of the night. Both guys go down as we get a double count. Christian prevents the draw as Alberto speaks a lot of Spanish. Punk reverses the Killswitch into a rollup as this is a fairly good back and forth match.

Christian makes his comeback but Del Rio gets on the mic to say he’s reconsidered the offer from Christian. The distraction allows for the GTS to end it. Post match Del Rio puts a chair over Christian’s throat and says his answer is still no. Punk goes after Show who punches him into unconsciousness.

Rating: B-. Nothing that great here but the match flowed very nicely. For more or less a throwaway TV match with a cheating ending this was fine. Punk and Christian are always pretty dependable for a decent match and that’s what you got here. Guys like Christian are invaluable to the company as he can just go out there and on any given night give you a 10-15 minute match that is entertaining. Guys like that are always great to have around and Christian is one of them.

Kane comes out and says that this Sunday is the final chapter. He talks about how this time it’s going to be different and how he has the power now. More solid emotion here and we even get a reference to him starting this plan back in 1998, which is a BIG stretch but I can appreciate the effort. Kane agrees to no holds barred, which makes me think he could retain at the PPV.

He says Taker will rest in something but the lights go out and a gong sounds. DAMN IT I WANTED TO KNOW WHERE TAKER WAS GOING TO BE RESTING! No robe or anything here which is a weird look for Taker to say the least. Ok maybe not weird overall but it’s weird to see him come to the ring like that.

They go at it with no actual words spoken. Kane dominates to start as the fans chant for their hero. A single punch and the people are back into it. In something that’s a bit intriguing, Kane uses Taker’s moveset to beat him down. Chokeslam puts Taker down. Tombstone kills him dead and Kane doing Taker’s signature pose as the fire goes off ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Not as good as last week but other than the tag title match probably being set up they more or less just held down the fort here. It’s not a great show but it’s still rather good with a nice Kofi vs. Swagger match. As usual with this show everything had a point and it worked rather well. The Horny stuff was just totally pointless and not funny so they’ve been going on with it for weeks now. Not a great show but still good and solid for a go home show.

 

[grandia]

that kofi v jack match was the best of the night, the writers should've booked this as a world title match previously, great stuff from both of them

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

WOW...you gotta love the wrestling Smackdown put out there...I think it was a great show..My top matches..

Kofi vs Jack Swagger - This match was great, both wrestlers were great especially Kofi..

Hart Dynasty vs Cody/Drew - This was a good tag match..the crowd were into it..so was i..

Punk vs Christian - Another top match...and it furthered Christians feud with Del Rio..

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Alberto Del Rio On The Peep Show

Christian wants some retribution for what happened to his friend Rey Mysterio a couple of weeks ago on Smackdown. Christian challenges Del Rio to a match at Night Of Champions, but Del Rio declines. Not even a slap from Captain Charisma could persuade Del Rio to accept the match.

I thought this entire segment was okay. It's obvious Christian and Del Rio will lock up soon, but I have to believe Del Rio is going to come out on top. He's been riding a big push ever since his debut on Smackdown, and Christian will be used as another stepping stone for him.

The Hart Dynasty VS Drew McIntyre & Cody Rhodes

I really enjoyed this match. We haven't seen too much of the Hart Dynasty recently. Tyson Kidd looked good here, and he can be fun to watch in the ring. The Hart Dynasty's feud with The Usos went no where, and now it seems Drew and Cody are next in line for a shot at the gold. I wouldn't be surprised if Cody and Drew took the belts off of the Harts on their first try.

Kofi Kingston cuts a pretty decent promo. He runs down Vickie and Dolph, and talks about winning the Intercontinental Championship.

Jack Swagger VS Kofi Kingston

Kofi VS Swagger was given a good amount of time, and these two had one hell of a match. This was a good way for Kofi to gain some momentum, as he heads into Night Of Champions for his IC title match.

Hornswoggle Goes To School

I really, really couldn't get into this. Teddy Long continues the quest to help Hornswoggle speak. They're in this pre-school style classroom, and Hornswoggle is being taught by a nun. Teddy Long accompanied him, and he was right by the little guy's side. After a while, Hornswoggle snaps, and he terriozes the nun.

Yeah, this just wasn't funny to me at all. Who cares if Hornswoggle speaks? And shouldn't the GM of Smackdown being doing more important things?

Kelly Kelly & Rosa Mendes VS LayCool

LayCool started things of by bullying Kelly's NXT rookie, Naomi. Nothing special here. Rosa's selling was terrible, and I'm glad this match was short. Michelle starts off the match by dodging Smelly Kelly, and eventually, Layla hits a neck breaker for the win. You just knew LayCool was going to win this, because Michelle and Layla have been dominating Smackdown for a long time now.

After the match, LayCool had Kaval draw names out of a hat to see who would face Melina at Night Of Champions. Michelle's name gets drawn, and Layla doesn't look to happy about this. Kaval reveals Michelle's treachery after she walks away. Apparently, Michelle rigged the drawing, so that only her name would be in the hat. Layla says Michelle will be on her own at Night Of Champions. This could be a the first signs of a split between these two. LayCool is really the only thing going on Smackdown as far as the women's division goes. I don't think a split would hurt Michelle at all, but when it comes to Layla, I'm not so sure.

Christian VS CM Punk

Del Rio joins Grisham and Striker for commentary. Del Rio distracts Christian, and this allows Punk to hit the GTS for the win. Del Rio still refuses to face Christian. The Big Show runs down, and man does he look ridiculous with that do-rag. Punk tries to fight off the big man, but he gets hit with the knockout punch. I have a feeling we'll see the same thing this Sunday. Punk and the SES have been dominated by Show over the past couple of months, and I don't think things will change at Night Of Champions.

As far as the match goes, it was solid. You knew there was going to be some kind of interference with Del Rio sitting at ringside. I was expecting more from Punk VS Christian, and I did feel kind of let down.

Kane Answers The Undertaker

So of course Kane accepted Taker's no holds barred challenge for their match Night Of Champions. Taker comes out to confront the champion, but Kane continues to use the Deadman's powers. Kane hits snake eyes, a chokeslam, and a tombstone piledriver. He poses over Taker to end the show.

I wonder how far WWE will go with the "Kane has The Undertaker's powers" storyline. I wonder if he's going to use Taker's move set at Night Of Champions. After watching last night's episode of Smackdown, I think there's good chance it could happen on Sunday. I like the no holds barred stipulation for this match. This could be a good way to cover up some of the Deadman's ring rust.

I thought tonight's episode was good. We saw a good amount of matches tonight, and some of them really delivered. This episode raised some interesting questions for the matches at Night Of Champions. How will Layla turn on Michelle? Who's side will Kaval take? Also, the Undertaker VS Kane storyline picked up a little bit more. Seeing Kane uses the Deadman's move set makes you wonder if he will do the same during their match Sunday, but I'm sure we'll see a lot of brawling with the no holds barred stipulation.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 20, 2010
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

It’s the first show after Night of Champions and one of two, yes I said TWO shows before Hell in a Cell. For the life of me I can’t believe Vince is stupid enough to think that his fans can afford 135 dollars in five weeks on wrestling shows. Tonight is a double taping so we’ll know the whole Raw card by tomorrow. The show is starting now so let’s get to it.

Orton comes out to start the show with his newly won title. Damn can we get him a belt that doesn’t look like a 3rd grade girl designed it? Before he even gets off the ropes here’s Sheamus to complain. He says the title was stolen from him and bitches to Orton about it. After a basic back and forth thing we get the E-Mail announcing, of course, Orton vs. Sheamus in Hell in a Cell. I hate this show for reasons like these: NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THESE TWO IN A CELL MATCH. It’s like regular match, regular match, multi-man match, CELL TIME BABY!

We argue a bit more. Orton says he’d RKO his own grandmother to keep his title, then RKO Sheamus’ grandmother to see the look on her face. That’s either really stupid or TOTALLY AWESOME. Sheamus wants the belt so Orton throws it to him. You know what’s coming. Sweet jumping RKO and Sheamus is left laying as Orton gets to pose with it a bit more. He comes back and sets for the punt but Sheamus gets away.

Cena vs. Barrett tonight. Glad to see they’re giving it a full day before having that showdown. Of course there’s no way that ends clean but you get the idea.

The Hart Dynasty is at ringside for the next match. Cole of course makes fun of them.

Drew McIntyre/Cody Rhodes vs. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov

Cole of course is an annoying dick about everything and Smith does a sweet McIntyre impression. Santino gets beaten up, Kozlov gets beaten up, Santino goes for the Cobra, Drew kicks his head off. After about two minutes of nothing happening, Futureshock ends it. Rematch for the titles next week on Raw apparently.

Rating: N/A. This was short and bitter but it did the job it was supposed to get done I guess. They were just out there to get a quick squash win which it did well enough. The rematch is more of a formality than anything else but that’s fine as the first match they did was decent enough.

Legendary is on DVD next week.

We recap the AWESOME Sheamus/Morrison match from last week and up next is Jericho vs. Morrison. Either it’s swerve time or he signed a new contract or this is a one night thing.

Edge is in the back and here’s Ryder to be annoying. Daniel Bryan comes up as Doc explodes into about 1000 pieces. Bryan vs. Edge is made for tonight and Ryder is an idiot.

Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison

Well ok then. Cole of course repeats the whole training thing Morrison does for about the 5th time tonight. HUGE dive over the post but he hits the feet of Jericho. Still looked decent though. We take a break and come back to Morrison pounding Jericho down. Jericho makes his comeback and calls Morrison a stupid man.

Lionsault misses as does the Flash Kick but Jericho gets the Walls. I know I haven’t said much here but there hasn’t been much to talk about in this match. It’s been pretty decent though. Ropes are grabbed to a very solid pop. Morrison reverses the hold again after about 10 rollup combinations for both guys. He kicks the CRAP out of Jericho’s head and Starship Pain HITS to give him the clean pin.

Rating: B-. Pretty solid match here as Morrison’s push continues. Now if they could actually get something out of it rather than it fizzling out like so many other pushes have done. He looks much better with the beard and something behind all of his insane stuff like the training. This was more good stuff but it’s Jericho in there so what did you expect?

Cena is happy and says he enjoyed seeing Orton beat Barrett. He goes back to his I’ll take out Nexus thing, saying he’s starting with the leader tonight because if he’s gone then there goes the team. The Winds of Change stop tonight.

Here comes Miz to say he had a bad knee coming into last night. He gave up to cause the match to end so he wouldn’t have to take time off for surgery.

Edge vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan comes out to the fucking RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES. Ok that’s awesome. Big pop for Edge too. Bryan beats him up for the most part but the main idea is Miz on commentary. Bryan goes for a shoulder or something but jumps into a big boot. Well what else would he jump into? LeBell Lock is attempted out of nowhere but here’s Riley to get on the apron. A shot by Edge sets up the spear to end it.

Rating: C+. Pretty decent little match here but it was all about the GM angle after it which we’ll get to here in a minute. This wasn’t bad or anything but it just kind of came and went. Miz is always entertaining on commentary and certainly was here. Bryan looked good but the pin needed to go to Edge. Bryan isn’t a bigger star than Edge is yet, but I like the ending they went with here eventually.

There’s an e-mail while Edge is still in the ring. He looks PISSED. The e-mail says the decision is reversed and Bryan wins it. WE GET THE SONG AGAIN! Edge fucking SNAPS and goes off, saying he’s sick of the GM, the beeping (AMEN), the computer and Cole. Riley and Miz beat up Bryan in the ring for the big beatdown and some solid slaps. This was pretty intense and Miz came off as vicious which is always good. Miz’s last line of “your champion ladies and gentlemen, your champion” was great stuff.

Ad for Legendary. Let it go Vince. Let it go.

Divas Title: Layla vs. Melina

Michelle is on commentary here. They both are champions still here and both have the big butterfly belts still. Oh dear. Melina gets sent to the floor early on and takes Layla’s head off with a clothesline. Melina goes after Michelle and then drills Layla. This is rather intense. We randomly start a count at seven and back in the ring Layla hits one move: Diamond Dust, to end it.

Rating: N/A. This was really quick but we got a cool finisher to it (girl sits on the top rope and grabs the other by the head and does a front flip into a Stunner) if nothing else. That and Michelle looked great. This hopefully ends it as we wait for Beth to come back and take the belts from them. Nothing special here but more intense than usual.

Nexus is collaborating in the back.

Jericho talks about his DVD which is one long past due. He isn’t here for that though but rather to yell at the GM. Jericho has found Cole’s IP address and is THIS CLOSE to exposing the GM’s identity. He changes his mind though and says he’ll blackmail the GM and control Raw. Jericho demands a title match and Orton pops up behind him. Match next week, if Jericho wins he gets a shot. Orton implies Jericho will be gone after the match.

R-Truth and Eve come out to the new song and NO reaction. Eve looks good in those shorts but can’t dance.

R-Truth/Eve vs. Ted DiBiase/Maryse

Ted has a new song too. It’s borderline Bluegrass music. I’ll let you figure out what I think of it, and keep in mind I hate country music deeply. The fans chant WHAT’S UP but hey it’s time for a new song so who cares. The guys start us off and in case you couldn’t guess, this match sucks. Truth dives to take out DiBiase and the French Kiss is blocked into a neckbreaker to end Maryse.

Rating: N/A. Nothing at all of note here as these four continue to be stuck in the same place they’ve been in for the last few months. This went nowhere at all and just more or less sucked. At least it was quick.

As Ted and Maryse are leaving we get a cryptic love video, saying I Will Have You. Yeah I don’t care either.

Wade Barrett vs. John Cena

Nexus comes out with Barrett and I’m expecting an E-Mail soon. They stay on the stage though just to mess with our heads. Wade grabs a mic and climbs up on the announcers’ table. Since Cena wants to pick apart Nexus one by one, it’s a gauntlet match. Slater comes out first and Cena hits a gutwrench suplex for two. Slater gets a neckbreaker for two and controls for a bit. He goes up for a top rope cross body but Cena rolls through into an FU for the pin.

Otunga comes down as we go to a break. After nothing of note a small package takes care of Otunga. This was pretty worthless.

Tarver is next and Cole says he’s one bad dude as we go back to the 80s I guess. STF ends him in like 45 seconds.

Gabriel comes in and does some nice stuff, hitting a spinwheel kick to get two. After a long beating Cena hits a dropkick just to piss off the smarks. DAMN good one too actually. It doesn’t do much though as Gabriel takes over, hitting an AWESOME moonsault where he jumped from the mat to the top rope with Cena like a foot from the ropes and hit it perfectly. That was awesome.

Nexus is still at ringside as Cena and Gabriel punch it out. Cena initiates his ending sequence and here’s Nexus for the DQ. Barrett stood on the table the whole time. Barrett gets a chair but Cena takes him down and steals it, scaring the Nexus off.

Rating: C. This is hard to grade as it’s really a bunch of quickies thrown together. Gabriel continues to be absolutely awesome in the ring as Tarver keeps coming off as a clueless putz which fits I guess. The ending kind of sucked but I’m very glad they’re saving this for the PPV which they should to. This was ok but I went with an average grade because I have no idea if you can say this was good or not.

Cena gets the mic and says he wants Barrett right now. Barrett says no because he wants more incentive for it. Cena says name the stakes, so Barrett says if Cena loses he joins the Nexus. The match is at the PPV of course, but Cena isn’t done yet. If he wins, Nexus is DONE. He makes jokes about the Nexus members being gone, including saying Otunga can go back to leeching off his wife. The big staredown ends it.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show. It hit the ground running and while I’m definitely not wanting to see Orton vs. Sheamus again, Orton showed some life tonight which worked pretty well I thought. The ending was solid too as Barrett vs. Cena to end the Nexus is a natural progression to this angle. Other than the mixed tag this show worked rather well. The Jericho/Morrison match was your wrestling of the week as they hit everything pretty well I thought. Good show, but seriously, next week is the go home show. That says a lot about WWE at the moment and it’s not a good thing.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw - September 20, 2010

Opening Segment - Last night's Raw opened with a really solid segment with Orton & Sheamus. Orton came out first, as usual for the new WWE Champion, did his pose thing and Sheamus came out almost immediately. I like that they brought Sheamus out so quickly as we got to avoid the usual opening speech from the new champ. We all knew that Sheamus was going to make an appearance, so the WWE got with it quickly. Sheamus and Orton both cut good promos and the fact that Orton has never pinned Sheamus one on one was brought up. Orton is clearly not a typical babyface with his comments and it gives him an edge that definitely makes him stand apart. The tension between Orton & Sheamus felt legit, the facial expressions and body language helped sell everything. Orton ultimately hits Sheamus with an RKO but not before the Raw GM announces Sheamus will get his rematch at Hell in a Cell. Orton goes for the punt, Sheamus rolls out of the ring. Strong segment that sets up the Raw main event for HIAC. Thumbs Up

Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. Santino Marella & Vladimir Koslov - I groaned when I saw it was going to be Santino and Koslov, but it actually turned out to be a fairly decent 4.5 minute match. Santino did try to do the comedy stuff but neither Rhodes or McIntyre let him get away with it, so that was a plus. The match overall was decent with Santino mostly getting kicked around during the match. Koslov gets tagged in eventually but McIntyre hits the Future Shock DDT for the win. During the match, the Hart Dynasty is out there doing commentary and they're pretty damn awful, DH Smith in particular. This match was designed to basically just show off Cody & Drew a bit and establish them as new champs by having them win a match and actually hand the undefeated team of Santino & Koslov their first win. It's nothing to get too excited about, but at least it's a start. Whether WWE will continue it is another matter. Thumbs Up

Edge, Zack Ryder & Daniel Bryan - There's a fun dynamic between these two and Ryder really is kinda funny. He comes across as such a tool that legitimately doesn't see how much of a tool he is. His comments are pretty funny and Edge playing the straight man that's just plain annoyed with Ryder works because it seems genuine to me. Daniel Bryan made an appearance in their promo asking them to keep it down and the crowd popped big for him. Edge challenged Bryan to a match with Ryder doing his thing. Overall, it as a fun little backstage promo. Thumbs Up

John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho - JoMo & Jericho had a very good match against one another last night. There were a few sloppy spots in the match, but there was a lot of energy during the match, the crowd was into it and both of them worked very well together. There was some great back and forth action and JoMo looked stronger than he has in a long time, particularly when it came to being locked in the Walls of Jericho. He'd have tapped within 5 seconds a few months ago. Morrison gets the win at about the 10.5 minute mark with Starship Pain. Morrison needs to keep the beard, he's been dynamite since he's had it. Worship the beard. Worship it!!!!!! Thumbs Up

The Miz - Prior to the Edge/Bryan match, The Miz came out and cut a promo on his way down to do commentary. The Miz cut a very good old school type promo in which he blames his loss on a pre-existing injury as a means of saying he didn't tap out. It's just classic heel mentality and cowardice. Thumbs Up

Edge vs. Daniel Bryan - Pretty good 5 minute match between these two. Bryan looked very crisp throughout the match and hit some fun offense. Daniel Bryan coming across as the Anti-Superstar works well because it seems genuine. It fits in with who he legitimately seems to be and the crowd reacts to that. Bryan looked strong throughout the match and looked as though he had a main eventer and 9 time world champ right where he wanted him. The Miz interferred as expected and initially got Bryan speared for the pin. The Raw GM chimes in and reverses the ref's decision, disqualifying Edge and giving the win to Daniel Bryan. Edge just about goes apeshit and his facial expressions and body language sold his outrage well. Following this, The Miz & Alex Riley beatdown Bryan and The Miz was extremely intense while it was going on, screaming at Bryan, slapping him repeatedly, raking his face, etc. The Miz's hatred of Bryan felt legitimate and gives this feud a little more heat. I expect there'll be a return match between these two either on Raw or at HIAC. Thumbs Up

Layla vs. Melina - If I wanted to nitpick at this but, believe it or not, it honestly wasn't bad. I know, I know that it's rare for a Diva match on either Raw or SmackDown to be worth a piss. This match was on the short side, but both Melina and Layla were pretty aggressive throughout the match and Layla actually hit a pretty cool finishing move to get the clean pin. Also, LayCool weren't annoying out there. They didn't do the whole mindless gibberish back and forth like two ditzy schoolgirls last night and, even more shocking, Michelle McCool actually did a pretty good job out doing commentary last night. As expected, this was little more than filler, which is really what the Divas tend to be in general, but it was actually pretty decent filler. Thumbs Up

Chris Jericho & Randy Orton - Jericho cut a good promo backstage, still doing the best in the world at what he does rhetoric while plugging his new DVD, which actually gotta good pop from the crowd. I'm gonna get it at any rate. Jericho threatens the GM by saying he's close to finding out who he is. Randy Orton showed up, they give a good little back and forth while staring each other down. Orton agrees to give Jericho a match next week and, if he wins, he'll give Jericho a title match anytime he wants. Now, like just about everyone, I have little doubt that Jericho will win next week but it should be a very good match all the same. So, we know there's going to be at least one high quality match next week that should prove to be a strong main event. Thumbs Up

R-Truth & Eve vs. Ted DiBiase & Maryse - I just wasn't into this, it just didn't click with me. I don't care about seeing Truth & Maryse out there dancing to bad hip hop music. The match wasn't bad really, Eve gets the win over Maryse about the 3 minute mark, but this just hasn't really clicked with me. Eve & Maryse both looked gorgeous, so that was really the only consolation. Thumbs Down

John Cena vs. The Nexus - I was hoping to see Cena & Barrett in a main event, but Barrett convinces Cena to make this a gauntlet match. Cena starts out with Heath Slater and Later looked pretty good for a few minutes before Cena eliminated him with the Attitude Adjustment. David Otunga was next and worked Cena over. He looked pretty good for a 5 minutes before Cena rolled him up with a small package. Michael Taver came down next and was pretty aggressive, beating Cena down in the corner but was made quick work of via the STF. Justin Gabriel was next and looked very strong against Cena, including hitting a great springboard moonsault. Cena eventually gets Gabriel in position for the AA, though Gabriel is fighting out of it. The other members of The Nexus then swarm the ring but Cena is eventually able to fight them off after grabbing a steel chair. Cena ultimately gets the win via DQ at the 15 minute mark. Barrett gets on the mic, cuts a very solid promo I thought and challenges Cena to a match at HIAC. If he loses, Cena joins The Nexus. Cena eventually counters the offer by agreeing to Barrett's terms if Barrett agrees that The Nexus disbands if he loses, to which Barrett agrees. I would have liked to have seen Barrett & Cena go at it last night, but I do understand why they saved it for the ppv. The stipulations of the match make it feel important and I do think something needs to happen to either push The Nexus a little more forward or they should just break up. On the surface, it's clearly logical to see that HIAC will be the end of The Nexus, but there's been a lot of rumblings about Cena turning heel so there's always a slight chance Cena loses. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Last night's Raw was a really strong show overall that already set a few big matches for the HIAC ppv. I do think it's a huge screw up having HIAC so soon. I already spent $45 on NOC so I doubt I'm going to be ordering HIAC and I'd say the same will be said for lots of other people as well. Still, the show last night was very solid with some good wrestling content in general and some strong promo segments. The only thing that I just wasn't really into was the mixed tag match last night. Everything else was at least solid and served some sort of actual purpose. With the Jericho/Orton main event, Sheamus & The Nexus running around doing something and the continuation of The Miz/Daniel Bryan feud, next week's go home Raw before HIAC could be another strong show. B+

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Meet The New WWE Champion, Randy Orton

Orton came out to a nice pop, and again, he was smiling more than usual here. It's just weird to see Orton smile so much.....Anyway, before the new champ can even address the crowd, Sheamus interrupts. Sheamus tells Randy he doesn't deserve this moment. The mystery GM intervenes, and a re match at Hell In A Cell is announced. Ugh, Orton VS Sheamus in Hell In A Cell. Yeah, I'm really not looking forward to that one. Orton says he would RKO his Grandmother, and Sheamus' Grandmother. Hmmm, that would be interesting. Sheamus wants to hold on to the belt until Hell In A Cell. Orton hands it over, and then the obvious RKO follows. Orton teased a punt here, but nothing happened.

This was a an okay segment. I'm not excited about the Hell In A Cell match between these two, but the RKO to Sheamus was pretty cool.

John Cena VS Wade Barrett is announced.

Drew McIntyre & Cody Rhodes VS Santino & Vladimir Kozlov

The Hart Dynasty joined Cole and Lawler for commentary. The bickering between The Harts and Cole was hilarious. Also, I thought DH Smith's impersonation of McIntyre was spot on. Drew hits the Future Shock DDT for the win. The match was okay, and The Harts will have their re match next week. I can't see The Dynasty winning back the belts next week, and this raises an interesting question....who's going to challenge Drew and Cody next? Are The Dude Busters ready?

Cole and Lawler try to plug the Legendary DVD. Wow, this is sad. Even for a limited release, this movie flopped big time. Maybe the DVD sales and rentals will be decent.

Morrison is shown warming up backstage.

Zack Ryder tries to cheer up Edge. The new US champion, Daniel Bryan interrupts. Edge challenges him to a match, and of course the new champ accepts.

Chris Jericho VS John Morrison

Solid match. It seems as if Morrison might be back on the road to being pushed again. Jericho took yet another long walk to the back after everything was over. I don't know where WWE is going with Jericho right now. I don't see him being a part of the WWE championship picture any time soon, so it'll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

John Cena hypes up his match with Barrett. He continues his quest to destroy Nexus.

Miz whines about losing to Bryan. He says he didn't tap out. He calls a fan fatso, and he vows to regain the US title.

Daniel Bryan VS Edge

Miz joins Cole and Lawler for commentary. Michael Cole sucked Miz's ass a lot more than usual here, but even I have to admit, it was very funny. I love Bryan's new theme music. It's way better than having to hear him come out to yet another generic rock song. The match was decent, and interference had to be expected. Alex Riley causes a distraction. This allows Edge to hit the spear for the win.

Everything seems to be over, but then the mystery GM interrupts. He reverses the ref's decision, and gives Bryan the win as a result of a DQ. Edge snaps, and yells at the computer again. After Edge's tantrum, Miz and Riley beat down Bryan. This gets a lot of heat from the live crowd.

Layla VS Melina- Unified Divas Championship

Michelle does guest commentary. According to McCool, Layla and Michelle can both defend the championship.

Really? A rematch already?!? This was okay. The most entertaining part of this match is when Melina chased McCool away from the announce table. Layla reverses a move Melina was about to do from the top rope into a neck breaker for the win. I don't know where Melina is going to go from here, because I'm sure LayCool will hold on to the championships for a while.

Nexus is shown plotting.

Jericho plugs his own DVD. He vows to expose the new GM Orton interrupts. Randy challenges him to a match next week. Orton says if he wins, then he will get a WWE championship match.

R-Truth & Eve VS Ted DiBiase & Maryse

Eve and R-Truth's entrance looked like something out of a music video. Teds new music sucks.

I didn't get into this match at all. R-Truth did a good amount of dancing, and Eve hit a neck breaker for the win. After everything was over, the words "I will love you" popped up on the titantron. I'm guessing all of this leading to some type of love chase storyline between Maryse and Ted.

John Cena VS Wade Barrett

I had a feeling this wouldn't happen last night, and I was right. Barrett goaded Cena into a gauntlet match. Barrett said that if Cena can defeat every other member of Nexus, then he would finally get his one on one match with him. Cena made quick work of Nexus. Cena hit a drop kick here. I don't think I've ever seen Cena do a drop kick before. This almost amazed me more than a drop kick I saw Dusty Rhodes hit on Ric Flair in one of their matches. Anyway, the Nexus attacked after Cena's attempted Attitude Adjustment on Justin Gabriel. Cena managed to fight off Nexus again, and then Barrett and Cena began to argue.

Barrett proposes a match to Cena at Hell In A Cell with a special stipulation. If Cena loses, he must join the Nexus. Cena demanded Barrett put something on the line. Cena tells Barrett if he loses, then the Nexus must end. John mocked every member of Nexus, and he did an excellent Barrett impersonation. This was very funny. I don't think Barrett has a chance in hell at winning this, because I just can't see Cena in the Nexus, but I'm anxious to see these two finally lock up.

I really enjoyed this show. This was a good follow up after Night Of Champions. Miz VS Bryan keeps getting better. Also, it seems as if we're getting closer and closer to revealing the new GM. I think Jericho will lose to Orton next week, and then he will unite with Edge to help expose the mystery GM. Hopefully we can find out who it is after Hell In A Cell or before Bragging Rights.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: September 24, 2010
Location: U.S. Cellular Coliseum, Bloomington, Indiana
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

It’s weird to think that a show is a followup as well as being a week away from a go home show but in the wacky world of WWE and Vince’s refusal to accept that people can’t afford $135 in 3 weeks on WWE PPVs alone we’re a mere 9 days away from Hell in a Cell. I wouldn’t expect much of a change at all in the main event scene as Taker vs. Kane in the Cell is about as much of a given as you could ask for. Other than that the card is kind of unpredictable on this side, so let’s get to it.

I still love this theme song. It gets me in the mood for a wrestling show which is the exact point of such a song.

Kane has a challenge for Taker tonight. I wonder what that could be with just over a week before Hell in a Cell. Here’s Kane but for a match.

Kane vs. Chris Masters

How often do you see the world champion opening a show? I do love a good squash so this should be fun. Why didn’t they announce this throughout the week? I see nothing but dollar signs here. The announcers point out that Masters has one move and one move only of note which is the sign of a true jobber.

Masters gets some offense in, including a decent second rope tackle. He actually gets the Masterlock for a good while but Kane rams him into the buckle to break it. Kane hits that low dropkick of his which is a fairly decent move for him I think. As Kane dominates we hear about the plan he’s been working on for 15 years which is a stretch but it’s continuity so big points for that.

Some quick offense from Masters results in him jumping into an uppercut from Kane to put him back down. Kane gets the Chokeslam but wants the Tombstone. I missed that move and am glad that it’s been making a comeback. This is of course the end of the match, which got a full six minutes. That’s far longer than I expected but it wasn’t bad at all.

Rating: C-. Not a great match at all but for a long squash this was perfectly fine. Kane beat up Masters for the most part but showed a bit of a comeback as Masters wasn’t completely destroyed. Matches such as these allow a champion to look good while at the same time not having to waste a big encounter. They can be very effective and I’d love to see more of them.

The champion gets a mic and talks down Taker and the people. I love the way he speaks as it sounds like he’s orgasming on every word. He’s really into this role and it’s definitely working. Kane gets out of the ring and goes into the crowd, talking about the stench of fear in the arena. He gets on a knee and gets in the face of a ten year old or so kid, talking about how afraid everyone is. He has a challenge for Taker later tonight. Effective promo here as Kane looked very intense and into the promo which is something you don’t often see in this company.

Tag Titles: Drew McIntyre/Cody Rhodes vs. Hart Dynasty

Are Dusty’s kids just a massive rib on him from Vince’s warped mind? We have a guy like Goldust and a metrosexual as the sons of the Common Man. Isn’t this match supposed to be happening on Raw? The challengers control early as we take a break. Back and momentum has changed with Drew beating up David. David will be playing the role of Ricky Morton tonight.

Scratch that as I’ve never seen Morton hit an electric chair drop to get himself out of trouble. He makes the tag anyway as Kidd comes in with dropkicks for everyone. He’s definitely the more interesting and better of the team. Everything falls apart and Drew gets the turnbuckle pad off. A hot shot into the exposed buckle and Futureshock to Kidd end this.

Rating: D+. Way too short to be much of anything here which surprises me. It wasn’t horrible but I was expecting more than this. The new champions looked effective here which is the idea, but I kind of question putting them both in a team instead of singles action. I’d also like to know who the Harts ticked off to be almost buried this fast.

Taker is sitting in a stairwell doing nothing at all.

We cut to a closeup of Alberto Del Rio’s face and pan out to see Christian holding his arm in agony. There’s his writeoff angle I guess. Best choice to get rid of him I would think.

Raw recap, or Nexus vs. Cena recap that is. The insane emphasis on Cena’s dropkick makes me smile. Thanks for spending over three minutes on a recap of a show like this.

The Dudebusters try to make Horny laugh. They can’t get into Tag Team Turmoil but they can get a bad comedy sketch. Ah ok it’s about moving to Sci-Fi. Well it’s better than just trying to get him to talk for the sake of getting him to talk I guess.

NXT’s newest commentator is putting the X’s on his tape when Gallows comes in. Punk runs him down and Gallows shoves him against the wall and lifts him off the ground by the throat. Gallows talks about how Punk is better than no one but Gallows is better than Punk. When he beats Punk tonight he’s going out and celebrating by having a beer.

Kaval vs. Chavo Guerrero

No Laycool here which takes my interest level down a bit. Chavo tries to throw him to the floor but the bald one gets a nice counter to stay in the ring. Dragon Sleeper on the ropes as this is a rather intense match so far. Striker contradicts himself by saying how Kaval has been wrestling for about ten years and then says he’s a rookie. I get what he’s saying but it’s kind of a weird statement.

Three Amigos hit Kaval but the third is closer to a brainbuster than a suplex. Frog Splash misses and Kaval gets a rolling Liger Kick. Chavo knocks him off the middle rope though as Kaval goes for a suplex but gets shoved off. A Frog Splash gives Chavo the clean win.

Rating: C+. Better match than I expected and the ending makes sense. I know a lot of fans will think it’s a waste, but keep in mind Chavo is a veteran and very talented in his own right. Kaval is in his second match as a member of the roster so maybe he shouldn’t get such a win yet. Match was fairly good actually.

We recap Del Rio hurting Rey. What perfect timing as here’s Alberto. He talks about how all of his opponents wind up in the hospital which is the silver lining for Christian’s injury. It makes Alberto look even more dominant and deadly as Christian isn’t someone that is easy to get rid of. He’s like a bad fungus that way.

We see Rey’s injury angle again and Alberto tells us that Rey will be here next week. This gets ZERO reaction which is kind of weird. Rey has challenged him to a match for next week but we don’t get an acceptance as here’s Christian. The ring announcer slows Christian down and there’s the arembreaker which Christian taps to. The same chair around the arm to the post spot takes Christian way down as Alberto laughs.

Taker is still all emo in the stairwell.

Big Show vs. Gatecrashers

Well this is random and pretty easy to predict but let’s do it anyway. The team has to tag in and out with Hawkins starting. A LOUD slap on the back sounds absolutely painful. How awesome is that when a guy just slaps you on the back and later chest? Big Show is twice the size of Archer apparently. A camel clutch on Archer ends this in like a minute. No rating obviously.

Swagger comes in to talk to Josh. He’s all happy and peppy and bursting with love here because he gets to go back to Oklahoma for Smackdown next week. He has some jerseys with him but some guys take them away in a cardboard box. The segment just kind of ends. That was odd.

CM Punk vs. Luke Gallows

Gallows goes straight after Punk as Punk wants to talk about this. The fans chant for Punk as it’s all Gallows so far. Luke throws him BY THE BEARD across the ring. Punk gets the springboard clothesline to take over as we hit a facelock. Punk unleashes the kicks which work about as well as they did on Show Sunday. Gallows makes a comeback but charges into the corner. Punk dodges and the GTS ends this.

Rating: D+. Here lies the SES I suppose which to be fair is about the extent of the ending that it deserved. Punk has somehow reached the point of needing a win over Luke Gallows of all people to maintain his credibility. The SES has finally ended so thankfully Punk can move onto something else. This was a quick little ending to it though which is fine I guess.

Taker would come to the ring or do something but he needs to find his computer to post on his LiveJournal about how much his life sucks and no one gets him while talking about slitting his wrists.

Striker and Grisham give what sounds like a legitimate thank you to MynetworkTV before talking about the move to Sci-Fi. Thankfully the new network isn’t censored like Spike did back when Raw was leaving it which came off as kind of cheap to me.

Vickie and Kaitlyn come out to introduce Dolph.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP

Commentary kind of stops during the entrance of MVP. Long sleeves for MVP tonight which is very different. Nice move by MVP as he gets him in a Fireman’s Carry and just kind of throws him backwards. Dolph hits the floor and the girls look after him. Kaitlyn gets fed up with Vickie bitching at her and shoves her down before leaving, much like we do as we take a break. Vickie leaves too.

We come back to MVP missing a Drive By in the corner. Very PG name there. We slow things way down until Dolph misses a Stinger Splash. Play of the Day is blocked into a rollup by Dolph with tights for two. Drive By in the corner gets two but Ziggler gets a foot on the rope. Zig Zag is blocked and MVP sets for Ballin. Dolph rolls out and takes a walk for the count out.

Rating: C+. Decent match here as Smackdown’s midcard continues to be the best thing they have going for them. MVP has been getting a bit better lately which I think has to do with less Percy Watson around him. He still needs to be a heel but you take what you can get I guess. Not bad here and I won’t mind when this continues.

Rosa is jumping rope despite giving up on being in Laycool but the Dudebusters take her jump rope. I’m assuming they were the same people that took the jerseys earlier. Vickie is looking for Kaitlyn and wanders into the production truck which the Dudebusters lock up and send away. I like these guys.

Taker is STILL sitting in that stairwell in full wrestling attire. Someone comes in and he says to get out of here. Taker looks up and is shocked to see whoever it is. He stands up and does the eye roll as we go to our last break.

Here’s Kane for the final segment of the show. He declares the ring to now be HIS yard which Taker has said like twice in 7 years. Kane says the obvious thing, that he’ll end Taker in Hell in a Cell which is complete with dramatic music behind it. Taker will never rest in peace but rather will burn forever in Hell.

Cue druid chants and a casket. I always wonder what if these druids go to catering in the back. Kind of a funny image for some reason. The lights come up and Kane cautiously opens the casket. Inside is PAUL FREAKING BEARER! I knew the ending beforehand and I still marked out. He gets a very good pop actually. The lights go out again and Taker is behind him. Older brother beats down Kane and the champion bails. Taker kneels to Bearer and the Urn to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a bit weaker than previous shows but it still worked. Everything here had a point as they were mainly plugging the move next week. Things mostly worked here though and the wrestling was at least decent every match. The main thing from a storyline perspective was of course Kane vs. Taker. This feud is one that actually belongs in the Cell as it’s been building all summer. Pretty good show this week but a step down from what they’ve been doing, albeit just a minor one.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Kane VS Chris Masters

I thought this was pretty bad, and you just knew Masters was going to lose here. Kane dominated Masters for the majority of this match, and he did break the Master Lock, so I guess this was just another way of making Kane look good.

After the match, Kane gloats about his victory over Undertaker at Night Of Champions. He talks about the WWE Universe being weak and pathetic. He goes into the crowd to continue his promo, and he scares the shit out some little kid. This was just awesome. He proposes a challenge to Undertaker.

Drew McIntyre & Cody Rhodes VS The Hart Dynasty-WWE Unified Tag Team Titles

This was kind of short, but it wasn't terrible. I wish this match would've been given more time, because the match these two teams had on Smackdown last week wasn't bad. Drew exposes the turnbuckle, and then he hits the future shock DDT for the win. I think Cody and Drew will hold on to the titles for a while. The Dudebusters might get their shot next, but I don't see them winning the titles anytime soon.

Undertaker is shown backstage sitting on the stairs. He's still weak, and coughing pretty bad. It was weird to see Taker in the regular backstage area. If he's not in the ring, we usually see The Deadman in a cemetery or some other type of spooky setting.

Christian is shown laying on the ground in the parking lot. Apparently, he's been attacked by Alberto Del Rio.

The Dudbebusters try to help Hornswoggle speak. Seriously WWE, you're still continuing this atoryline? The Dudebusters start taking stuff out Teddy Long's office, so they can prepare for the move to SYFY. This reminds me of what WWE did with Jesse and Festus a couple of years ago. Teddy Long assures Hornswoggle he will continue the quest to help him speak.

CM Punk is shown backstage getting ready for action. Luke Gallows shows up. Punk expresses his disgust for his former disciple. Gallows chokes Punk, and then he slams him against the wall. Gallows says he will have a beer if he wins. A Luke Gallows face turn? Yeah, a lot of people are going to care about that.

Kaval VS Chavo Guerrero

The outcome of this match kind of surprised me, because I'm so used to seeing Chavo lose. The last time he saw any real spotlight was during his very forgettable run as ECW champion a few years ago. Anyway, this was a pretty solid match. Kaval is still pretty new to Smackdown, so it's going to take some time for him to break through.

Alberto Del Rio Updates Us On Rey Mysterio's Health

Del Rio is proud of what he did to Christian, and he announces Rey's return. Mr.619 will be back for Smackdown's debut episode on Smackdown. Mysterio will have a match with Del Rio. Christian tries to put up a fight, as he comes down to get some payback for what Del Rio did to him earlier. Christian was holding his own, until Del Rio's personal ring announcer got involved. Del Rio made sure to take out Christian in the same way as he did Mysterio. This segment was okay. Everything seemed very similar to what happened to Mysterio last month, the only major difference was Del Rio's ring announcer getting involved.

We all know about Christian's real life injury, and WWE used this another way to help push Del Rio. Del Rio has now taken out two of Smackdown's popular faces, and his push doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Undertaker is shown backstage again.

Vance Archer & Curt Hawkins VS The Big Show-Handicap Match

Umm, yeah this was nothing but a squash. Show hits Hawkins with a hard open hand slap, and Archer quickly taps out to the Camel Clutch. I wonder where WWE is going with Big Show. I don't see him fitting into the world title picture anytime soon. I think all these squashes are just a way of giving him something to do.

Josh Matthews interviews Jack Swagger. He's excited for his return to Oklahoma. His jerseys are shown in the background. As he contiunes to talk to Matthews, The Dudebusters and Hornswoggle take the jerseys for the move.

CM Punk VS Luke Gallows

Punk hit the GTS for the win. I thought this was a very sub par match. Seriously, who gives a fuck about Luke Gallows? I doubt the crowd will care about him enough, and I just can't see the people getting behind him. Even if he is going against a top heel like CM Punk. Gallows is just boring and bland, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets released soon.

Undertaker is shown sitting backstage again. Okay, we get it WWE. He's weak. Jeez.

MVP VS Dolph Ziggler

Vickie comes out with her NXT rookie Kaitlyn. She gets a ton of heat as usual, when she introduces Dolph. Things get off to weird start. Vickie becomes jealous of Kaitlyn, as she tries to help Dolph who landed on the outside. Vickie starts to bully her again, but Kaitlyn has had enough. She pushes Vickie to the floor, and walks away. Dolph tries to comfort his woman, but she won't go for it. Vickie walks to back by herself. It'll be interesting to see what happens on NXT this Tuesday.

Dolph gets counted out here. It seems as if MVP will be next in line for an Intercontinental title match. As far as the match goes, it was solid. Dolph kind of went crazy with elbows at one point, but this wasn't bad.

Rosa Mendes is shown jumping rope backstage. As long as she's not in the ring, then I can deal with Rosa. The Dudebusters load her jump rope into the moving truck. Vickie looks for Kaitlyn. She gets lured into the truck. The doors close, and the move is on, as Hornswoggle and The Dudebusters watch the truck drive away.

Undertaker is still sitting on the stairs. The door opens, and all of the sudden, Taker rises with a fury.

Paul Bearer Returns

So Kane announces the obvious Hell In A Cell match. Kane says he will finally end Taker at Hell In A Cell. He's interrupted by druids who are carrying a casket. Kane opens the casket......and Paul Bearer is inside! The father has returned ,and boy does he look creepy as ever. He holds up the urn. The lights go out, and when they come back on, a rejuvenated Undertaker is in the ring. He attacks Kane, but before he can hit the chokeslam, Kane rushes out of the ring. Undertaker kneels before the urn, as Kane stands at the entrance ramp in disbelief. This ends Smackdown's tenure on MyNetwork TV.

I thought tonight's episode was okay. Kane's promo to open the show was excellent. The matches tonight were either solid or mediocre. My favorite match of the night was Kaval VS Chavo. It wasn't great, but it was solid enough, and seeing Chavo win was kind of a surprise. Paul Bearer's return was a good way to end the show. He's obliviously going to play a big part in this storyline, and I think Undertaker will walk away with the World Heavyweight Championship at Hell In A Cell.

 

[Balls_of_Jericho]

Hmm,

First time i've read through your analysys KB (very thorough and well written by the way!). There's quite a few things we didn;t get over here in good old Blighty though which I found odd.

You had what.. two segments with the Dudebusters? Not a peep here!

No follow up from the Kaitlin and Vickie escapade

We missed the bit with Hornswoggle (thanks the Gods)

But.. we did get a "from the vault" from 2008 featuring a face Y2J vs a hell MVP which was quite cool - and boy, did Jericho look in much better shape back then!?

Totally agree with you about the dead atmosphere when it was mentioned about Rey returning next week - like me, it seemed people didn't give a flying fuck about the mexican midget..

All in all - we probably got the better deal, hehe =)

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Smackdown was a little down from recent weeks but it was still good.

1. I was a little surprised that Chavo went over Kaval but it made me think that Chavo could do so much more for Smackdown. When it comes to in-ring ability, he is top three in my eyes. Maybe this could be a little push for the IC Title. One can hope.

2. It may be time to see if Ziggler will sink or swim without Vickie. He has the skills to succeed but without that mouthpiece behind him, he may start to fall back a little. Maybe a sign that Kofi is ready to be that next main event face.

3. Would have liked if the tag team match was longer but I liked what I saw. If the Hart Dynasty could ever develop something resembling a personality, then they will be better off. I don't see Smith or Kidd being better in singles competition then what they are now and we know how the WWE likes to split up tag teams (Cryme Tyme). The next time the Hart Dynasty loses, expect Smith to turn on Kidd.

SN: I will never get used to Rhodes not wearing kneepads. Just looks odd but whatever works for him is fine with me.

4. I fear that Big Show will interject himself into the Kane/Undertaker feud. He's currently doing nothing of note right now and I see a Swagger/Kofi feud in the next couple of weeks. Punk will probably be busy with NXT and his former SES brethren so that leaves Show. He has history with both Undertaker and Kane. He should stay far away from this as possible but it's about time for his yearly heel turn so anything's possible.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 27, 2010
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

This is the go home show to Hell in a Cell somehow. How is that even remotely possible? This is a taped show due to the roster being over in Europe for a tour. The main event is Jericho vs. Orton and if Jericho wins he gets a title shot more or less whenever he likes. Other than that I don’t think there’s anything else to the show tonight. Let’s get to it.

The recap video is about Miz vs. Bryan. I didn’t expect that one.

We open with Miz and Riley, coming down to bitch about Bryan and his lack of intelligence.

The Miz/Alex Riley vs. Daniel Bryan/John Morrison

The former NXT guys start as we’re told Riley just signed some contract. Not much going on to start as Morrison gets beaten of for awhile to set up the eventual hot tag to Bryan. Nice to open the show with a match too. It takes about three minutes but we finally get the tag. I know that’s a good deal of time to not say anything but there was just nothing of note. LaBell Lock doesn’t work and Miz gets the Skull Crushing Finale for the clean pin on Bryan.

Rating: D+. Just a tag match really. I like that they set up Miz vs. Bryan a bit better as he just countered the submission and hit his finisher for the win. As I’ve said many times a lot of the time all you need to do is just have basic wrestling out there and that’s what they did here. And then were get this to ruin all of that.

Post match Miz and Bryan fight on the floor and for no apparent reason Morrison jumps in there too. An E-Mail says we’re going to have a triple thread submissions count anywhere match for the Title on Sunday. So all you have to do to get a title shot is clothesline a guy? Good to know.

Divas Battle Royal

This is for the #1 contender spot. Laycool comes out for commentary and Melina is out almost immediately. Crowd seems to not care in the slightest. Since it’s a battle royal there just isn’t much to talk about here. Everyone just does their basic stuff and goes out in pointless spots. Even, Alicia, Jillian and Natalya are the final four. Scratch Eve and the hells try to get rid of Nattie but she hangs on. Jillian goes out and Nattie backdrops Alicia out.

Rating: N/A. This sucked. Then again it’s really hard to grade battle royals, especially one that gets like two minutes. It didn’t interest me if that answers anything but having Nattie get into the title scene helps a bit.

Package on Cena promoting the movie. Vince is like a damn pitbull here. I’ll give him that.

Cutting Edge is next with the Mystery GM as the guest.

Ok apparently it isn’t as we recap Ted/Maryse from last week. In the back they argue some more and there’s a knock at the door and a note is slipped under the door. Next week you will be mine apparently.

Here’s Sheamus to talk about a race between princes or something. The point is he’ll do anything to get the title back. He makes an open challenge and we go to a break before it’s accepted. Back and here’s Khali.

The Great Khali vs. Sheamus

From NOWHERE we get a Mick Foley book plug and even hear the name Lockdown. What the hell??? We go to the floo after about 45 seconds and Sheamus beats him up with everything, drawing the DQ. Brogue Kick puts him down.

Alright NOW the Cutting Edge is next.

Cutting Edge

This is just Edge arguing with a computer voice which is apparently the GM. Jericho has nothing on the GM apparently. Edge has a match now and it’s with Cena.

John Cena vs. Edge

We’re going at it after a break. I can’t get into this show at all but it could be that I’m rather sleepy. The commentary is all about Cena possibly joining Nexus which isn’t that interesting at all. Nexus can’t get involved on Sunday. Edgecution gets two. Some dueling chants begin which make me smile since Edge is still getting over as a face.

Cena goes for the FU from the middle rope but can’t get it. Spear hits and it’s a Dusty Finish since Cena’s foot was under the rope. The music plays and there’s an E-Mail complete with the synthesized voice. Spear is reversed into the STF and there’s the tap out.

Rating: D+. Usual match between these two but it just wasn’t that much. It’s ok but I’m not a huge fan of these two. It furthers the Edge vs. the GM angle though which is the most important thing. This went fine I guess but it wasn’t anything special.

Edge breaks the computer in a funny bit. After a break we recap it complete with really bad jokes from Jerry and Michael.

Mark Henry/Evan Bourne vs. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater

This show still has a weird feeling to it. I guess that’s due to it being taped but this show is just kind of offbeat. Slater misses a running forearm in the corner and Bourne gets the lukewarm tag. A massive beating sets up Air Bourne but it’s broken up. Gabriel misses 450 and Bourne hits Air Bourne, but Slater rolls him over for the pin. Henry and Bourne get beaten up afterwards. 450 crushes Bourne. Nexus is coming to Smackdown. Yep Cena will be there too I’d bet.

Rating: N/A. Very quick match here which was just to show that they’re still awesome but they can’t do this at the PPV, making it kind of pointless. I don’t get the Bourne/Henry pairing other than big guy and small guy which I guess is good enough or something. The double high spots were nice.

Johnny Knoxville of Jackass will guest star next week.

Tag Titles: Hart Dynasty vs. Drew McIntyre/Cody Rhodes

Is there a reason this happened on Smackdown also? Apparently this match is due to the cheating in that match. Then why did we have this match announced already? Cody hits his kick and it’s called the Beautiful Disaster. Why does every single move have to have a name? Screw you Matt Striker. Kidd is the face in peril for awhile. David gets the tag and of course they’re not going to win the titles back. Hart Attack is blocked by Drew as he shoves Kidd into Smith. Cross Roads end this.

Rating: D+. Another really quick match here. This is the third match between these teams and they’ve gotten progressively worse. It’s not too bad but there was nothing to put this ahead of either of the other two matches. I really don’t like that this would probably imply we’re going to split the Harts now.

Hart Dynasty have an issue afterwards which I’d assume means we get the same tag team formula as always.

Truth talks to Cena in a rather pointless segment. Yep he’ll be at Smackdown.

Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton

Points for having the world champion on last if nothing else. Jericho says when he wins the title he’ll get his title back. He lists off people he’s beaten as we go to a break. We come back and he’s up to the Japanese guys. We get Sting, Goldberg, Booker and Flair name drops. He lists off Hall and Nash and all of their incarnations. Orton finally comes out and Jericho takes over as we go to a break.

Back from break and Sheamus is on the stage. The distraction allows the an enziguri to take Orton down. Backslide gets two for Jericho as he starts yelling at the referee. We hit the chinlock as Chris Jericho does his best Randy Orton impression. Actually I’d think that’s not his best one. We get another Foley reference as we hear about Taker throwing him from the Cell. Must be a new policy or something.

Orton starts him comeback and hits the (not scoop damn it) powerslam for two. Lionsault misses but so does the RKO. Lionsault hits this time for two and Jericho is for some reason stunned. Elevated DDT is avoided because every major star needs an escapable signature move I suppose. A nice counter to the Walls sets up the DDT and here comes the RKO. It also cues Sheamus for the DQ.

Rating: C-. Eh not bad here but it was very clear that Sheamus was going to run in. Orton gets to be in the ring before the main show though which is a good thing. This wasn’t much of a match but Jericho is always entertaining. Kind of a paint by numbers thing but it could have been a lot worse.

Post match Sheamus takes the RKO but Jericho hits the Codebreaker as Orton looks to punt Sheamus. Jericho winds up taking it and is stretchered off to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t a horrible show but I just couldn’t get into it for some reason. For one of the first times ever I was more or less just counting down until the end of the show. It wasn’t the worst Raw in a good while as we had some stuff here that worked but a lot of this stuff felt thrown together. For instance the Nexus match or the tag title match. They just felt tacked on for the sake of getting to the angles they were furthering. This show did not work for me but it’s not awful.

 

[ctln4rko]

My favorite raw from the summer! ( Summer is not quite over) The miz is my favorite wrestler, and Riley my favorite rookie! then they beat Morrison and Bryan an an great opening match! I loved how they began raw with the miz and riley last week's highlights. Then, the team i have always hated, The Dynasty, lost to my 2nd and 3rd favorite wrestlers, McIntyre and Rhodes. Then, we see the dynasty may break up! HOORAY! Kidd is unbelievably and indescribably talented and a high flyer. He's canada's rey mysterio! He makes moves up every week, at least this week and last week on smackdown. Ok, i am amazed they had jericho punt kicked to let him out for a tour, but come on! thats not original.

 

[DanielBryansonDanielson]

Show died after the wacky Edge/GM skit. The state of this show in 2010 is astounding. How could anyone have thought that was a good idea?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw - September 27, 2010

Daniel Bryan & John Morrison vs. The Miz & Alex Riley - Pretty decent tag team match to start the show off with. Prior to the match, The Miz gave a solid promo running down Daniel Bryan. I was a little surprised to see JoMo as Bryan's tag partner, though pleasantly surprised. The match in and of itself was pretty good for what it was. The Miz & Alex Riley got the win a little past the 5 minute mark with Miz hitting the SCF on Bryan. The post match stuff is ultimately what made the segment with Bryan, Morrison and The Miz all going at it. Bryan's frustration getting the best of him and lashing out against his own partner was a nice little touch. The Raw GM chimes in during the outside brawl and announces a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at HIAC between Bryan, The Miz & Morrison for the United States Championship. The submissions stip is kind of odd and clearly gives Bryan an edge but the match could potentially steal the show at HIAC. Thumbs Up

Diva Battle Royal - As you would expect, this would be outright shitty if you compare it to a men's battle royal. When you take into account that it's the Divas and how this stacks up to what we usually get out of them on Raw, then I thought this was actually quite good. The match was to determine the #1 contender for the Divas Championship and a surprisingly decent number of Divas actually got eliminated by being tossed over the top rope. LayCool was out doing commentary and it was awful, just plain Plague of God awful. I thought my ears were bleeding at one point. The match ends with Natalya backdropping Alicia Fox over the top and becoming #1 contender. Natalya is one of the best wrestlers among the Divas so she should be a strong challenger overall. I can understand if some people hated this, it is the Divas after all, but I thought it was a pretty good effort in general. Thumbs Up

Sheamus vs. The Great Khali - Sheamus came out and delivered a promo comparing himself to a character from an old Irish folktale. It was kinda weird I thought, but that might've been because I'd never heard the story before. At any rate, Sheamus' delivery was solid and he issued an open challenge. I groaned when The Great Khali came out. Khali delivers a huge open handed chop on Sheamus' leaving a big red welt on that near albino white skin that you could see from the Moon. It woke Sheamus up and he just started kickin' the shit out of Khali. It wasn't so much of a match was it was basically 2 minutes of Sheamus just kickin' the snot outta Khali. Khali is usually someone that just tosses guys around but Sheamus looked very impressive beating him down. Sheamus was shown taking Khali off his feet with only a few shots, something I've never seen. Sheamus gets DQ'd but lays Khali out with a couple of Brogue Kicks. Sheamus looked aggressive and strong, particularly taking down a guy like Khali. Khali sucks, but the guy is huge and generally just tosses even most of the toughest guys in WWE around like sacks of potatoes. Thumbs Up

The Cutting Edge - This was kind of an unusual segment with Edge arguing with the Raw GM via the laptop, which had a computerized voice this time. The voice in and of itself sounded kinda creepy. It would have seemed campy to me but I thought Edge's overall delivery, especially his facial expressions, actually made it passable. I can understand if people didn't really get much out of this, but it served its point in progressing the storyline along with Edge and the GM. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was ok. Thumbs Up

John Cena vs. Edge - This was a pretty fun match overall between two old rivals. The match in and of itself was also used as a means of enhancing Edge's obssession with the Raw GM and his identity. There was some good back and forth action between the two, they still clicked well though it wasn't nearly as good as some of their matches in the past. Edge hitting the spear and getting the pin only for the Raw GM to overturn the decision as Cena's foot was underneath the bottom rope worked. On one hand, Cena was legitimately safe from the pin and this psyches Edge up at the GM. Cena ultimately gets the win via the STF around the 8 minute mark. Edge goes apeshit afterward and wrecks the laptop. He hits it with a chair lots of times, smacks it up against his forehead and even drops an elbow across it. Kinda reminded me of Ric Flair doing something similar with his jacket or a beer can. Thumbs Up

Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel vs. Evan Bourne & Mark Henry - This was a match I just generally wasn't feeling. Slater & Gabriel got the win a little past the 3 minute mark in a very flukey way. They did get the win, but they didn't look like a dominant team here. The match overall was solid for while it lasted, but Slater & Gabriel should have gotten a clear and decisive victory here. The post match beatdown of Evan Bourne was nothing new but it would have meant a lot more if Slater & Gabriel had come off looking like a dominant tag team. Thumbs Down

Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. The Hart Dynasty - I'm of mixed emotions on this match. On one hand, the match was far too short. It lasted only a little over 3 minutes and that's just simply not nearly enough time for a tag title match. On the other hand, the tag titles and the tag team scene in general seems to be gaining some life. This is the third tag team title match we've seen out of the WWE in a little more than a week and that hasn't happened in a while. Rhodes & McIntyre won the match and caused some problems with the Hart Dynasty. The match was far too short for a title match, but I will say that at least the WWE seems to be beginning something with the tag team division. Thumbs Down

Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho - I enjoyed this match a lot and it's hard not to have a good match with Jericho involved. It was a fun back and forth match with both Orton & Jericho looking strong throughout. Each guy hit some of their signature moves, including Orton being locked in the Walls of Jericho. Sheamus came down to ringside to look on with this stoic, nonemotional look on his face. The match ends about the 14 minute mark when Sheamus hits the ring as Orton is setting Jericho up for the RKO. Orton takes Sheamus down and is about to punt him in the side of the head before Jericho intercepts with the Codebreaker. Orton ultimately recovers, keeps from being hit with a chair, hits the RKO and takes Jericho out with the punt. Orton looked dangerous and vicious during the match, which is a good thing and the punt gives a reason for Jericho to take some time off and possibly have a feud when it comes back. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I thought Raw was a pretty solid show last night. Nothing about the show was overly spectacular or memorable, it was just a really solid night overall with only a couple of hitches here and there. They did the debut of SmackDown! on Syfy this Friday a lot and the Raw portion of HIAC looks to be pretty good. It's just a shame that they decided to have another ppv so soon. The overall wrestling content of Raw last night was generally pretty solid as well. Nothing overly spectacular, but there generally wasn't anything bad. This is the go home Raw for HIAC and compared to other go home shows, this would be considered pretty weak. But, they have only had 2 weeks to hype and build this ppv so that's a big reason why. In general though, Raw was a pretty good show last night. B-

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Anyone else feel like they phoned it in and are just waiting for Smackdown do to a real go home show? They didn't do anything for the PPV.

Daniel Bryan & John Morrison v. The Miz & Alex Riley

Why is John Morrison treated like a potential threat on Raw while Chris Masters is carrying Superstars almost ever week is beyond me. The guy is so bad at everything that matters in pro wrestling, specifically his strikes. Good gawd. That three way submission match is going to be damn near unwatchable to me.

Divas Battle Royal

The Bellas shaking it onto of Jillian's face was probably the best part of that Divas Battle Royal. I do like how they eliminated themselves. It isn't often people get out of the match because of a baseball slide. haha It also looked like Melina botched her elimination. Go figure.

Sheamus's Story-time Theater

Man, Sheamus chest after that chop was very painful looking. Maybe he screams to hide the crying. haha

Edge (vs. Cena)

I didn't care for the Cutting Edge thing. Didn't care for Cena vs Edge four years ago and I still don't.

Gabriel/Slater vs Bourne/Henry

I liked the Gabriel/Slater vs Bourne/Henry a lot. I think Gabriel in this match.. I dunno. It just felt like he pressed the "restart" button since last week and started training to work a heel. He was bumping much more than usual and he hit a body slam. I don't remember the last time he hit one of those. haha I know Slater isn't the most charismatic guy, but I like him. Everything he does is annoying, but I think that is done on purpose. I loved the way he just shoved Gabriel into the roll up position.

We all know I love Wade Barrett. I think his promo had more of a "good guy" vibe instead of menacing. I blame the smiling he did. And why did they give those other guys mic time? Jebus.

McIntyre/Rhodes vs Hart Kids

McIntyre/Rhodes vs Hart Kids.. Eh. DH Smith is absolutely bad. I wish the IWC would stop fighting to go down on this guy and start talking about how he actual performs. Cole and King burying the Hart Kids = win.

Main Event

Jericho vs Orton seemed really unmotivated and forced. And that's all I got to say about that. [/Forrest Gump]

 

[MWRedskins]

The Raw GM chimes in during the outside brawl and announces a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at HIAC between Bryan, The Miz & Morrison for the United States Championship. The submissions stip is kind of odd and clearly gives Bryan an edge but the match could potentially steal the show at HIAC. Thumbs Up

Diva Battle Royal - LayCool was out doing commentary and it was awful, just plain Plague of God awful. I thought my ears were bleeding at one point. The match ends with Natalya backdropping Alicia Fox over the top and becoming #1 contender. Natalya is one of the best wrestlers among the Divas so she should be a strong challenger overall. I can understand if some people hated this, it is the Divas after all, but I thought it was a pretty good effort in general. Thumbs Up



The Cutting Edge - This was kind of an unusual segment with Edge arguing with the Raw GM via the laptop, which had a computerized voice this time. The voice in and of itself sounded kinda creepy. It would have seemed campy to me but I thought Edge's overall delivery, especially his facial expressions, actually made it passable. I can understand if people didn't really get much out of this, but it served its point in progressing the storyline along with Edge and the GM. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was ok. Thumbs Up

The match in and of itself was also used as a means of enhancing Edge's obssession with the Raw GM and his identity. Edge goes apeshit afterward and wrecks the laptop. He hits it with a chair lots of times, smacks it up against his forehead and even drops an elbow across it. Kinda reminded me of Ric Flair doing something similar with his jacket or a beer can. Thumbs Up

Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. The Hart Dynasty -

Ok, i only want to comment on a few things, first the tag title match, it seems like DH Smith and Kidd are going on their own, hopefully, Kidd goes on his own (with Nattie) and DH Smith goes into a stable with Dibiase and maybe Michael Hennig???

2nd, hopefully Nattie wins the Diva's title, BUT sadly, i see LayCool retaining and we have to keep hearing their annoying voices, i dont mind McCool on her own, but together they just annoy me and not in a great heel type of way, more like a "i want to mute the TV" type of way.

Now last, but not least Edge and the GM. Hopefully, this is a way to get the GM to reveal himself since we ALL are pretty much getting sick of the GM not being known. The GM's voice today when i heard it, made me say, oh Verne Troyer is the GM, but then i thought better of it, hahaha. Seriously, the GM computer voice was creepy, but it was funny hearing it talk and the segment was actually surprisingly good, but like i said, hopefully it leads to Edge revealing the GM. Anyway, decent show, didnt like the breakup of the Harts, but the GM and Edge segment and Daniel Bryan's match was good enough for this show to be decent.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Ok, i only want to comment on a few things, first the tag title match, it seems like DH Smith and Kidd are going on their own, hopefully, Kidd goes on his own (with Nattie) and DH Smith goes into a stable with Dibiase and maybe Michael Hennig???

Well, it's really far too soon to make any sort of assumption about The Hart Dynasty. IF they were to split, it'd probably be more likely that Natalya would continue to be in Tyson Kidd's corner. I say that mostly due to the fact they've been a real life couple for so long. But, last night doesn't constitute as a tag team breaking up. Whenever a team breaks up, one of them almost always leaves the other laying after a beatdown. Last night may have been the first step towards that direction, I hope not as the WWE just needs good tag teams. But, plans can change in a heartbeat and things might be back to normal by next week as if the little blow up never even happened.

2nd, hopefully Nattie wins the Diva's title, BUT sadly, i see LayCool retaining and we have to keep hearing their annoying voices, i dont mind McCool on her own, but together they just annoy me and not in a great heel type of way, more like a "i want to mute the TV" type of way.

It's up in the air as to whether or not Natalya will actually get the Divas Championship or not. If she does, then there's the possibility that it's the end of LayCool. Even if she doesn't, then the matches in general between them should be pretty decent as Natalya is one of the better workers among the Divas. LayCool was just awful on commentary last night. I know that the mindless chatter is all part of their characters and all, but that shit's just annoying and not in the good way that heels need.

Now last, but not least Edge and the GM. Hopefully, this is a way to get the GM to reveal himself since we ALL are pretty much getting sick of the GM not being known. The GM's voice today when i heard it, made me say, oh Verne Troyer is the GM, but then i thought better of it, hahaha. Seriously, the GM computer voice was creepy, but it was funny hearing it talk and the segment was actually surprisingly good, but like i said, hopefully it leads to Edge revealing the GM. Anyway, decent show, didnt like the breakup of the Harts, but the GM and Edge segment and Daniel Bryan's match was good enough for this show to be decent.

Eventually, the Raw GM will be revealed. I've enjoyed the annonymous GM angle as it's just a fun little mystery as to who it's ultimately going to be. We're all pretty sure it won't be Vince McMahon and that's a good thing because Vince being revealed as a mastermind or plotter or whatever has been done to death. The segment with Edge & the GM came fairly close to coming off as corny but they managed to avoid getting to close to that line. Now, if it had been John Cena, then it ultimately would have come across that way. Edge beating up the laptop was just mindless fun in my opinion because I think a lot of people just wanted to see something like that go down just for the pure simple fact of seeing it.