Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread | Page 70 | WrestleZone Forums

Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

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Grade tonight's RAW.

  • A

  • B

  • C

  • D

  • F

Results are only viewable after voting.
Smackdown
Date: August 27, 2010
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

Theme song leads to pyro, which is a very simple thing that this show does which I always like for some reason. I like basic stuff like that I suppose.

Rey vs. Kane tonight in a No DQ match. Where have I heard this pairing before? Kofi vs. Dolph again and if he’s disqualified Kofi gets the title. Taker returns…..again, as well.

Kane vs. Rey Mysterio

Kane dominates early since Rey’s arm is still messed up due to Del Rio last week, which is a nice bit of continuity. I know it’s not much but in the modern era of wrestling you have to take what you can get.

Kendo stick is brought in but Rey gets hold of it. His offense lasts less time than Andre’s title reign as a big boot gives Kane the advantage again. Rey tries to go aerial and gets kicked back again. In the words of Big Zeke’s theme song: this right here is domination.

As we go to a break a thought pops into my head: since anything goes here and there are no time limits, if someone say shot their opponent in a match and the match can’t end in disqualification, wouldn’t the match have to continue once the shooter got out of jail?

Rey fights out of a chin lock but gets caught in a sideslam. This has been completely one sided. We hear how Undertaker unmasked Kane. I’ve always been against them redoing history. Is it that bad to just say HHH made Kane take his mask off? 619 doesn’t work either and then Kane counters the rana.

Mysterio does manage to get some chair shots in and finally hits something. His offense lasts about a minute this time as he jumps into a chokeslam on a chair. Nearly total dominance from Kane here in what could be argued to be a squash. Now can we please keep these two apart for like the next two years?

Rating: C. Well the goal here was to make Kane look like a monster heel and they did just that. Rey jobbing twice in a row is a rare thing for him but it’s nice to see once in awhile. Also when you’re as high up on the roster as he is, it’s not like two losses really mean much, especially with one of them being to the world champion. Not a great match but it did its job.

Alberto Del Rio comes out makes fun of Rey before locking him in that armbar again. I wouldn’t mind if this got him off TV for a bit, but then again I don’t like Rey very much at all.

He gets the chair and Pillmanizes the arm against the post. Not bad for a guy two weeks into his career here and it’s getting close to making up for those irritating vignettes.

CM Punk vs. JTG

Definitely see JTG winning this one. I mean how else could it go? Immediate rollup gets two for JTG as we’re going rather fast paced in this one. This is really short as Punk does the pledge and hits the GTS before using the Anaconda Vice which is a nice throwback for him. Well done.

Rating: N/A. Too short to mean anything but it’s good to see old school style squashes. You can do a lot with things like that and this definitely worked for what it was supposed to do.

Punk calls in the SES and has them get on their knees. That is how you do it apparently. Lots of new tattoos for Punk it seems, unless I’ve missed all of those on his chest. He tells Gallows to beat Big Show and to be better or to be gone.

Rosa is doing one of those arm shaker things in Teddy’s office. After she leaves, Teddy reads WWE Magazine and a plant keeps inching towards Teddy. Inside of it is of course Horny who “tells” Teddy that he’s been spying on Laycool.

It’s all pantomime so Teddy doesn’t get it. Horny writes down some squiggly lines and Teddy doesn’t get it. Teddy has an idea for them to work together.

That Best of Raw DVD looks good actually.

We recap Raw again to fill in some time.

Taker is still coming tonight. Nothing has changed in the last 30 minutes.

We recap Dolph vs. Kofi last week where Dolph beat down Kofi despite losing the match and stomped on his face.

Cody Rhodes shows us how to shave properly. How to shave your legs that is. These are working, especially with the music that goes with them.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston

If Dolph gets disqualified he loses the title. Both guys have great theme music. Kofi goes nuts to start and hits an SOS for two as we go to a break. Back and Kofi misses a top rope cross body. Striker says Vickie jiggles when she claps, so, you guessed it, he names her and Dolph Jiggles and Ziggles. Moving on.

They slug it out for awhile and Kofi gets another SOS for THREE! Too bad Dolph grabbed the ropes just after two, so it’s a Dusty Finish to an extent. Not a full one but it’s nice to get the crowd excited a bit. Dolph takes over now and works on the neck. Sleeper doesn’t work and Vickie slaps Kofi, getting Dolph yelling at her.

Kofi gets a punch off the middle rope for two as this match is getting time. Top rope cross body gets two. Dolph uses an FU from his knees to get two. Naturally it’s just a fireman’s carry here though to avoid having obvious problems.

We hit the floor and I think I know what’s coming. Yep it’s a countout as Vickie doesn’t let Dolph beat the count. Kofi chases him into the audience to end the segment.

Rating: B. Very good back and forth match here although the ending was a little obvious. These two have had a solid rivalry lately and it’s been rather entertaining. This is supposed to be the wrestler’s title and that has been coming off very well. It’s good that this division and title are getting respect as they can be very valuable if used right.

We recap the Kane segment last week to push the Taker return for later.

Jack Swagger vs. MVP

This is under scientific rules. If MVP wins Swagger pays for the end of the Summer party and if Swagger wins he gets to hose the VIP Lounge one time. You win by getting five takedowns apparently. They wear headgear also. To get a takedown three limbs have to be touching the mat at once.

Swagger pauses to warm up. MVP slaps him before we start so it’s not a DQ. Swagger scores immediately. This is something like you would see in the Team Challenge Series in the dying days of the AWA. MVP gets a leg but Swagger gets a NICE reversal for the second point.

A half belly to belly half spinebuster makes it 3-0. This is going by really fast so I apologize if it doesn’t seem like there’s much commentary or play by play. And then MVP punches him to end this. Swagger jumps him in the aisle and puts him in the ankle lock.

Rating: N/A. Not sure what the point was here but it was pretty stupid. Swagger dominated and then MVP punched him. That’s all there was to it, literally. Maybe MVP was tired from the long match on Tueday.

Laycool is talking about various things and Kaval comes up. They bash Melina for a bit and Kaval makes two guys in there leave. Weird.

Alberto Del Rio’s announcer sets up this match.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Carlos Sanchez

The cars are a nice touch for Del Rio, although saying they’re valued at over ten million dollars is a bit much. Del Rio gets a choke and it’s more or less one sided. The armbreaker ends this relatively quickly.

Rating: N/A. Total squash and there’s no other way to put it.

Kelly Kelly and Big Show are coming to the ring.

Big Show vs. Luke Gallows

Punk is watching in the back as Show dominates early. Kelly and Serena go at it on the floor. Shame that Serena is gone so we won’t get to see the conclusion to that. Back in the ring and Gallows makes something close to a comeback. Then he gets punched in the face to end it quick. Lots of fast matches tonight.

Rating: N/A. I know I’ve been giving a lot of these, but what can you really do in like 3 minutes? Show squashed him for the most part other than about three shots from Gallows. That’s not particularly good or bad and I’m not going to say a match was bad just because it was really short. They did what they could in the time they had, but you can’t fairly say if it was good or bad most of the time.

Taker comes out and says he’s not dead yet. You could make a long DVD of nothing but his returns. He’s not dead but he’s a dead man. His voice sounds even more gravely than before. Taker says Kane will never be pardoned and that he doesn’t deserve to carry the title.

Cue Kane, with the belt. This is weird to see with Kane as champion. Taker coughs as Kane makes his entrance, which is just odd for some reason. Kane says Taker is living in a fantasy world if he thinks Taker is still the dominant one. This whole blue vs. red thing is kind of working for me.

Taker can’t remember the line Kane called himself last week due to the attack, which is a nice touch really. He sounds like he’s about to say he built this house brick by fucking brick but he says firey instead. This is a solid promo.

Deadman says he taught Kane everything Kane knows about being evil, but Taker didn’t teach Kane everything Taker knew about being evil. Kane says not this time and that Taker will Rest in Peace. His laugh ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. Yet again Smackdown manages to squeeze in a ton of stuff without making anything seem long. We even got a long promo segment and a long match. Michael Hayes is indeed a very good TV writer as he knows how to make nothing into something. This was another good show with plenty of stuff in it. The time flies by every Friday and it always comes off very well. Another good show as we build things up for Night of Champions. Good show.
 
WWE Smackdown - August 27, 2010

Kane vs. Rey Mysterio - Pretty good match overall, though I think we’ve really seen all we can or need from Rey & Kane. There wasn’t really anything overly memorable about the match, but it was a solid opener for the show with Kane getting the clean win at the 9.5 minute mark. Post match, Alberto Del Rio comes out and gives Rey a good beating. Rey’s pretty much squealing his head off with Del Rio working over his arm. It was a great way to close out as Del Rio already has tons of heat. Thumbs Up

CM Punk vs. JTG - Basically, this match was little more than a 2 minute squash with Punk getting the win. This was the first time Punk’s been in the ring since his arm was messed up. I know the point was to show Punk as a dominant guy that’s strong and all after being on the shelf for so long, but I’m just not a fan of squash matches. Thumbs Down

Punk Addressing The SES - Post match, Punk lines up all the members of the SES and lays it out for them. Comparing his performance just now to how the SES was supposed to be actually gave the previous squash a purpose, I still don’t like squash matches but at least it had some sort of point. Punk, as usual, gave a great promo and tells the SES be better or be gone. Coincidentally, with Serena now fired from the WWE, Punk can simply say he dismissed her and it shouldn’t be hard for WWE Creative to come up with a valid sounding reason. Thumbs Up

Hornswoggle - It wasn’t long ago that a threat popped up on the WZ forums asking what happened to Hornswoggle. Well, it looks like Vince might’ve seen the thread and brought Horny back. Yeah, he’s as annoying and pointless as ever. The segment with him being asked to be Teddy Long’s spy just made my stomach clench. The only consolation was that it didn’t last long, but it still took place and that’s bad enough. Thumbs Down

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler - This match didn’t feel like a repeat of other matches that they’ve had. I enjoyed it more than I have the last few times. They work well together and put on a pretty good match, but it’s getting time to put this feud to bed I think. There’ve been too many matches between the two in a short span of time and all of them have been standard matches. Kofi wins via countout about the 14.5 minute mark. I have a feeling the brush off for the feud will be at NOC. I’d like to see them really step it up if it is the last match in the feud and if it does happen. Still, a pretty good match overall. Thumbs Up

Jack Swagger vs. MVP - I was actually looking forward to this but it was just a waste of time. Basically, little more than a 2 minute shitfest that only really shows just how far Swagger has fallen in such a short span of time. Thumbs Down

Alberto Del Rio vs. Carlos Sanchez - Basically, a 2.5 minute squash match with Del Rio beating some local nobody. I like Del Rio, he’s impressed me overall thus far but, as I said earlier, I don’t like squash matches. There was at least some purpose to Punk’s, but there wasn’t here. Thumbs Down

The Big Show vs. Luke Gallows - What the hell is up with all the squash matches tonight? Basically, the Big Show destroys Luke Gallows at the 2.5 minute mark. Thumbs Down

Kane & The Undertaker - Taker came out to a huge pop and he does look pretty weak. Truth is, he looks like he’s been rode hard and left wet. Both Kane and Taker gave a great promo and I’m honestly looking forward to this feud. The Undertaker being “weak” adds a unique perspective to the feud that we haven’t seen from Taker before. I honestly look for Taker to lose a couple of matches against Kane and I expect they’ll be clean losses. A strong closing to an otherwise lackluster show. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Thumbs Down - Tonight’s episode of Smackdown is easily the overall weakest and worst of the year. Much of what we saw consisted of either squash matches or two matches we’ve seen lots of already. While I did enjoy the Kane/Mysterio and Kofi/Ziggler matches and thought they were good overall, we’ve just seen them so much. That goes particularly for Kofi and Ziggler and all the squash matches/filler matches just sapped a lot of the excitement from me. I thought the Undertaker’s return came off very well. I’m intrigued with this feud with Kane as it has a different tone and feel than past feuds between them. Even Smackdown has to stumble a little now and then I suppose. I give tonight’s episode a D+.
 
Hornswoggle's back!? YAY! I love his mischievous attitude. I loved him and dx. Kane and the undertaker was a great promo, kane stealing undertaker's line. when kane cashed in and won, i starting loving seeing him dominate. his mic skills are now really showcased, and i can't wait to see who he'll face at NOC. I laughed when gallows got punched. it looked like he got shot! Del Rio has an awesome finisher. The arm submission, but preceded but a flip and arbreaker. i really like hi, not so uch his gimmick, but that eans he's getting heat. Cant wait to see the swagger vip lounge.
 
I think the word of the day, for this episode is...disappointing.

The 900th episode of RAW was supposed to be some big, special event. We were supposed to have some fun guest appearances from legends of the past. We were supposed to have some big event happen, maybe a major match announcement or even a title change.

Well, we didn't get any of that. What we got were clips from old RAWs (and not even the best clips in a lot of the cases), a teased appearance by Austin that never happened, few clean finishes, and no major announcement at all. It just felt like your typical RAW, except worse.

That's really a damn shame. I mean, the night started off so well, with a great opening segment between Bret, Taker, and Kane, and a match featuring a Kaval/Daniel Bryan team. But things just went downhill from there. Barely any matches had clean finishes. The divas match was typically bad, though the announcement of a unification match at NOC was great. The tag team contendership match had potential but it had a quick bullshit DQ finish. The aforementioned match featuring Kaval and Bryan was over in five minutes, and we didn't even get the Bryan/Miz match announced even though that would have worked well. There was no Triple H return despite there being an obvious moment for it to happen. There was no Y2J. There was nothing to differentiate this RAW from any other RAW, except for video packages and the appearance of Smackdown stars.

How sad is it that the best parts of the show were parts with only Smackdown wrestlers? The CM Punk/Big Show promo and segment was just gold. Alberto Del Rio was as well.

The only really good match in this thing was the final one. Nexus got a much-needed victory, with Gabriel and Slater pinning Cena and Sheamus respectively to gain some credibility. It's a shame they didn't let Tarver pin someone, as he needed it more than anyone really. He has the best mic skills and persona out of anyone in the Nexus apart from Barrett, and they aren't giving him enough in-ring credibility. Sad.

In summation, this RAW had its highs, its lows, but nothing special happened. It was supremely average in every way, and for what was supposed to be a major celebration, that's just not good. It wasn't bad, it was, as I said, disappointing.

C
 
Bret Hart/Kane promo - A pretty good promo, not a bad opening to the show, my.

Kofi Kingston & Michael McGillicutty vs Daniel Bryan & Kaval vs Alex Riley & The Miz - A match that could've been really good, and was cut short.

Team LayCool vs Eve Torres & Melina - Another short match. Though I am glad to hear about the diva's/womens title unification.

#1 Contender Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
John Morrison & R-Truth vs "Dashing" Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre - Didn't even happen, I know Rhodes and Drew was a thrown together team, but atleast let them wrestle A LITTLE.

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs The Undertaker - First off, knew something was going to happen to make this a non-match. Bret shouldn't even be attempting to wrestle. The constant back and forth with the theme songs had me laughing, I thought maybe Doink the Clown's music was next. Nexus getting over on 'taker, even if it was 5v1, was good for them.

Jack Swagger vs Evan Bourne - See the first match, could've been good...but all we saw was Del Rio coming to the ring. Not saying Del Rio getting more camera time is bad, but completely ruining a match is.

CM Punk Promo - The thing that saved RAW to me, and another reason I can't wait till SD! comes to SyFy, because I don't get the channel it's no right now and never want to spend the time to watch it online. The fake SCSA pop then the heat he got was awesome.

Edge, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, John Cena & Sheamus vs Nexus - I didn't see the entire thing because I was busy, but I atleast heard most of it. Cena (FINALLY) losing during a match with Nexus was good to me, and Orton almost winning 3v1 makes him even more hot right now, to me. But Barret winning was also good for Nexus, to give them some momentum.

Overall Thoughts: About 15 minutes of blabing about how many shows RAW has beaten by themselves or combinded, but 5 of the 6 matches lasted no time at all. Orton, Nexus being shown stronger, and Punk's promo is all that saved it to me.
 
For all the hype they put behind this episode all week running it down our throats, that was a let down IMO, nothing really noteworthy or anything.....This is why WWE needs competition cause they know we will watch whatever they throw at us...
 
Man I loved how the show started off. Brett and Kane did a great job. That was a good way to open up what I thought was going to be a great raw.
I thought there was a great nostalgic feel with taker and brett. You knew they were not going to wrestle. And Nexus got some great heat off that

The other highlight was CM Punks promo. That was great and very entertaining. Though it was a little let down that it was big show who interupted him and not Austin or Rock.

There really were no standout matches. No big time surprises. Everything else was pretty boring. Very dissapointing after all the hype. Hopefully they do a much better job with the 1,000 epidsode of raw.
 
Tonight's Raw was a good one. It kept me entertained the whole time. That is something that rarely happens anymore for me. It was not a perfect show by any means. However, it accomplished what I believe was a major goal going into it: I want to watch Smackdown now.

To me, the most entertaining parts of the show were when the Smackdown stars got to show what they could do. I haven't watched Smackdown in a few years. In fact, I took a break from WWE for quite a bit so most of the wrestlers on Smackdown, I know by name through checking out the results here or there, but have never seen what they got.

Tonight I saw what Kofi Kingston could do in the ring is awesome, that Kane is back to truly being a monster, Undertaker's always been awesome, Alberto Del Rio is a character that can keep me entertained if he was on screen the whole show, and CM Punk has amazing mic skills to go with the incredible wrestling ability I saw him do in ROH.

Of course, there are always negatives, such as a bell sound with the lights going off a million times in 3 minutes which is supposed to explain why one slam and a splash can keep down the Undertaker, a guy known for people being unable to keep him down. And the absolute worst part of the show, Jack Swagger. Change his character. He's NOT Kurt Angle. He'll never be Kurt Angle. In fact, he'll never be anywhere near the status of Kurt Angle. I'll change the channel every time he's on the screen. But I digress.

All in all, I loved the Smackdown stars on the show tonight and will be watching Smackdown this week and see if it can get me to tune in the next.
 
I am surprised by the negative reviews. When you look at a show like the 900th episode of Raw and expect to see Shawn Michaels, The Rock, or Austin then you are probably going to be let down. I was hoping to see someone besides Bret Hart and Undertaker to come out on Raw last night, but I wasn't surprised that non one showed up. I liked the clips even though there were tons more they could of shown that were better.

There weren't many matches to brag about. We could of seen a great 6 man tag with Kaval/Bryan, Miz/Riley, and Kofi/Magillicutty, but we didn't. I did enjoy the opening segment with Bret, Taker, and Kane. I don't think anyone was jumping for joy when they heard the main event would be Taker vs. Bret Hart. Maybe it would have been exciting to see 10-13 years ago when the men were in their prime and Bret was healthy.

CM Punk's promo was the highlight of the night. It would have been awesome to see Stone Cold come out and spray beer all over SES, but that was unlikely. CM Punk pulled the same trick that Shawn Michaels pulled 5 years ago by fooling the fans to think Bret Hart was coming out on Raw in Canada. I'm glad they are unifying that lame excuse for the Diva's/ Women's championship. I would rather watch paint dry then "LameCool" or any of the divas though at this point.

Edge cut a good promo against Sheamus. Something tells me we are seeing the end of Jericho's run in WWE for quite some time. If he is taking time off than I doubt we will see him win the championship at the PPV. That's fine with me because Jericho has done everything in the WWE. I would love to see him turn to the dark side and be an Impact Player one day. Hopefully after the Hogan regime.

Nexus finally got some credibility and much needed wins with Slater beating Sheamus, Gabriel beating Cena, and Barrett beating Orton. I haven't seen Cena lose a match clean on Raw in months. I can't believe Gabriel got the pin on Cena. Gabriel must be doing something right backstage.

If you are used to the normal basic Raw format then this show was better then the last few weeks in my opinion. If you were looking for something special since it was the 900th episode, you were probably disappointed.
 
WWE Raw - August 30, 2010

Opening Segment - The show opened strong with Bret Hart talking for a bit before Kane came out. Kane was very good on the mic and continued to further along the storyline with The Undertaker. The Undertaker himself did appear before Kane could chokeslam Bret. The bell gonged and the lights went out and all that with Taker standing in the ring to a huge pop. I like the tension that was there but I also like the fact that Kane left the ring rather than fight as to drag things out a bit. Taker was shown coughing a few times, which serves to further push his physical "weakness" following the attack. The Raw GM announcing a match between Bret Hart & The Undertaker was interesting as I figured the match would be a prelude to something else as we all know Bret can't wrestle. Strong opener I thought. Thumbs Up

Daniel Bryan & Kaval vs. Kofi Kingston & Michael McGuillicutty vs. The Miz & Alex Riley - This was a fun, fast paced match, though I wish it would've gone on a little longer. It gave the NXT Rookies some further exposure before tonight's NXT Season Finale and made good use of the match to further along The Miz/Daniel Bryan situation. Kaval was once again the stand out in the match and would have won the match with the Warrior Stomp had Miz not snuck in and hit the SCF for the win. A short match, but it was fun while it lasted. The Miz attacking Bryan post match also pushed the thing along and I like that the WWE hasn't jumped right into this feud with both feet yet. The IWC is dying to see it happen and they're making them wait. Thumbs Up

WWE Raw Episode Vinyettes - Throughout last night, several vinyettes featuring some memorable moments from past episodes of Raw were shown. The older ones from the Attitude Era were my favorite as it brought up a lot of memories of watching Raw with my friends back in high school. Part of me would have preferred longer matches rather than the vinyettes, but I liked the vinyettes as they did feature, mostly, some very memorable and fond moments. Thumbs Up

Melina & LayCool - The match, if you want to call it that, between Melina, Eve & LayCool lasted about a minute with Melina getting the win. I would have just mentioned the match, given it a thumbs down and moved on, but the aftermath of the match was the payoff. Melina taking on one member of LayCool to unify the Divas and Women's Championships at NOC is a good move. There's no need for two women's titles and it leads me to wonder if the remaining titles are going to be unified later on down the line and/or if we might also be seeing the beginning of the end of the whole exclusive brand thing as a whole. LayCool also wasn't as annoying as they generally are and I could give this whole thing a thumbs down. But, I like the idea that they're unifying these titles and at least getting rid of one. One useless title is better than two at least. Thumbs Up

John Morrison & R-Truth vs. Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre - I was excited about this match and one reason was because it didn't feature Santino & Koslov. I was surprised to see Cody Rhodes and McIntyre as a team. I know they've been allies against Christian and Matt Hardy for the past few weeks, but that doesn't necessarily make a team. I was looking forward to a good competitive match and we get a double DQ after 1 minute. Quite frankly, it just kinda pissed me off. The WWE has relied on a lot of cheap finishes over the past few weeks and I think it's time to cool off a bit on them. This could have been a good match and maybe this means that the WWE has decided to ultimately get things back on track with the tag team division. Thumbs Down

The Nexus Takes Down The Undertaker - The Bret Hart/Undertaker match was interrupted by Wade Barrett as he comes to the ring. He cuts a short, but good promo and jumps into the ring before Taker swats him around. The gong hits, lights go out and come back on with Kane in the ring. Having him and Taker go at it for a bit was nice and Kane won the exchange of right hands, again showing Taker's "weakness". The other members of Nexus coming out was something I enjoyed because Taker is the last really big dog in the WWE that The Nexus hasn't taken down. Taker holds his own for a while and the lights flickering out and the gong on worked nicely to move along the Kane/Undertaker feud as Kane was using Taker's "powers". Nexus gains the advantage and Barrett his his finisher Wasteland before Justin Gabriel hits the 450 splash. The WWE is really emphasizing Taker's "weakness" due to being in a vegetative state and it's keeping things interesting with him and Kane as we've never seen a "weak" Undertaker before. The Nexus generated some great heat and the story between Kane and Taker is moving along nicely. Thumbs Up

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger - This is another match I was looking forward to as we haven't seen Bourne for a while. The match in and of itself was a 2 minute affair with Swagger getting the win via the ankle lock. I'm wondering if Bourne's mini-push has been put on hold. Thumbs Down

Alberto Del Rio - It was unusual to have Del Rio appear on Raw, especially while a match was going on. It took a lot away from the Bourne/Swagger match, although there wasn't much to the match to begin with. I like this guy, some people hate him but I like him. He's got charisma and he's got tons of heat already. His work on the mic is smooth and he seems quite comfortable with the role he's playing. Del Rio does some good work on the mic before putting his armbar submission on Evan Bourne. Bourne sold it well and it worked overall. Good appearance by Del Rio even if it did take away from a match. Thumbs Up

The Straight Edge Society & The Big Show - This was a long promo segment, but it was really good quality. As usual, Punk was gold on the mic and gave a great promo. Running down The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin only to have Austin's music hit was beautiful. The crowd popped only for Punk to reveal that he set that up as he relished the disappointment of the crowd and that their disappointment at Stone Cold not coming out was akin to what he felt everytime he looked at them. Great stuff. The Big Show came out and was genuinely entertaining. His impersonation of Hulk Hogan's voice and mannerisms was dead on. While the segment probably did run longer than it needed to, both Show & Punk, especially Punk, delivered. Thumbs Up

John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge, Chris Jericho & Sheamus vs. The Nexus - This was the match of the night and while that isn't exactly saying much, it was a good solid match to close the show with. I would have liked to have seen it go longer than 12 minutes, but it was pretty good. Jericho allowed himself to be counted out and Edge got himself intentionally disqualified. Orton, Cena & Sheamus put up a good effort against The Nexus and Nexus did well here. Heath Slater got himself a clean pinfall over Sheamus, Justin Gabriel pinned John Cena after hitting the 450 splash and Barrett pinned Orton with Wasteland. Orton eliminated Gabriel & Tarver via the RKO in a way I wasn't crazy about. I'm not crazy about them all hitting their finishing moves in a row, but the important thing is that The Nexus came off looking quite strong and this only further enforced their beatdown of The Undertaker earlier in the show. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - I enjoyed Raw overall last night and thought it was ultimately better than what I've seen the past few weeks. I do hope Raw returns to a stronger wrestling match format soon as the past several weeks have been kind of lackluster overall. Still, I thought last night's show was pretty entertaining though it wasn't this epic that some may have been expecting it to be. Young talent was featured pretty prominently last night, there were some very good interview segments, some good storylines were furthered last night and there were a couple of fun matches. Not a spectacular night of Raw, but a pretty good 2 hour show. I give last night's 900th episode of Raw a B.
 
I don't get the hate for this show. Sure it didn't have a lot of wrestling, and sure it felt like a normal Monday Night Raw. But who gives a damn? It delivered what it was supposed to do, furthering numerous storylines as well as it produced some great promos.

This weeks RAW had the most mark-outs I've had for a weekly produced wrestling show of all time. The Undertaker vs Bret Hart announced match had me hyped as fuck, and I was pretty bummed by the fact that they didn't have it anyway, because it would've been fucking awesome no matter the fact that Bret couldn't take bumps, but it's primarily because of the past and the presence of two legends.

The triple threat match was decent, and showcased the NXT guys, while furthering Miz vs Bryan Danielson, which is made a whole lot of sense.

They had The Nexus looking good last night, they didn't look incredibly strong, however they looked good. They laid out The Undertaker which is a big fucking deal, and they defeated the 5 top guys on RAW, which is more than enough to brag about to establish the Nexus.

Also, how could I forget. CM Punk's promo was fucking fantastic. There's a reason this guy is regarded as the best promo cutter in WWE right now, perhaps the business. This showcased exactly why Punk is one of the best things going on in WWE.

RAW did what it was supposed to do last night, and it hyped Night of Champions, while furthering potential non Pay Per View matches.

Definitely worth a B rating.
 
We open up with Bret talking about the history of Raw. He says the only other guy that was there for the first episode that is still here is Taker. Kane's music hits. Kane talks about how Taker is weak and how he's gonna take him out, blah blah. Kane says he needs to take out another legend.....Bret. He goes for the chokeslam. Lights go out. Taker and Kane stare down, but Kane leaves the ring. GM says that tonight it will be Taker/Bret. 10 years ago? Fuck yeah. But now? Ugh.

Kofi and Hennig/DBD and Kaval/Miz and Alex Riley - I marked out for the DBD/Kaval teaming. This wasn't very long, but it keeps interest in the NXT competition, and it advanced the Bryan/Miz feud. Not to mention it had some good in-ring action.

Laycool/Melina and Eve - Well this was about 30 seconds. I don't have a problem with that seeing it would have been terrible, but this was pointless. If you wanted to announce the title unification match, couldn't this have just been done in a promo, rather than a useless match?

Nexus talks in their locker room how they will do something that people will never forget.

Y2J tells Josh Matthews that if he doesn't win the WWE title at NOC, then he's gone forever. Fuck. Goodbye Y2J.

Morrison and Truth/Rhodes and McIntyre - Once again why WWE has no Tag Team division. This didn't even get started before it ended. The ref stopped the match after he couldn't get "control". Seriously? This was a Number 1 contenders match, so what the fuck is the point of delaying this? It's not like people actually care about this match, so just get it over with.

Bret Hart/Taker - So this didn't actually happen, thankfully. Wade comes running down, trying to take out Taker, but Taker gets the better of him. Lights go out. It's Kane. They exchange blows. Lights go out again. Kane is gone. Nexus is here. They start attacking Taker. Lights out again. Really? Lights on. Barrett has Taker in position for Wastelands, and he hits it. Gabriel hits a 450. Kane is at the top of the ramp laughing.

Swagger/Bourne - This wasn't about them at all. During the match, Alberto Del Rio comes out. After the match, Del Rio chases Swagger off. He talks about beating up Rey, and how that the only place you'll see Rey is in the hospital. He "re-creates" the moment by putting Bourne in the Armbar. And here comes Henry? He chases Del Rio off. God damn this show has been poorly booked.

Punk comes out and asks if the crowd misses The Rock. Huge pop. He says he's better than Rock because he's straight edge and he doesn't make crappy movies. He talks shit about DX, Katie Vick, and some other classic Raw moments. He asks the crowd if they want to see Austin spray Punk with a beer hose. Austin's music hits. Crowd goes fucking nuts. But it was a work. Punk cracks up. Big Show comes out and pulls some lame face heat and mocks Hogan. Whatever. Ends up in a brawl with Show coming out on top. Why does Show keep going over? Punk's promo was the highlight of this show though.

Cena, Edge, Orton, Y2J, Sheamus/Nexus - As the match begins, Y2J just walks out on the team. He leaves in laughter. Edge comes in. He intentionally hits the ref in order to get DQ'd. What the hell? Then Slater gets the pin on Sheamus. Really? Now Slater has pinned Y2J, Edge, and the WWE Champion Sheamus. Cena pins Slater. So it's 4 on 2 in favor of Nexus. Cena gets Otunga with the STF. Gabriel then hits the 450 on Cena and pins him! Damn. As Gabriel celebrates, Orton turns him around for an RKO. Then an RKO on Tarver. Barrett gets Wastelands on Orton, and it's over. Those last 4-5 decisions all happened within like 30 seconds. Terrible booking. Raw ends with Wade standing on top.

The best part of this show were the clips from past shows, and Punk's promo. The problem is that this was like a really really bad episode of iMPACT. Hardly any wrestling, constant run-ins and overbooking, and the booking was just illogical in many spots. Even for a regular Raw, this would have been pretty bad, but especially seeing this was a special supershow with Raw/SD guys and it was a celebration show, there is no excuse for how terrible this was.

Punk's promo and the clips saved this one from utter failure. D- for Raw this week.
 
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Reviews for last night's Raw were mixed but the show pulled a strong 3.50 Nielson Rating for the night. The first hour scored a 3.35 with 4.76 million viewers while the second hour scored a 3.64 with 5.35 million viewers. The ratings in and of themselves were around 8% higher than last week's and viewership was between 5-6% higher.

All in all, a good night for the show numbers wise but the key'll be the follow up. Some people like last night's show, some hated it so we'll just have to see if the WWE gained any new viewers as a result of last night's show.
 
Last night's RAW was the 900th episode. Unlike other specials, it was only 2 hours long, aside from the usual 3 hours. RAW videos from the past are aired throughout the show. Let's take it from the top!

Opening Promo- Bret Hart/Kane/Undertaker
Bret Hart's here! I thought the GM didn't like him so we weren't gonna see him anymore?... Oh well, he talks about the history of RAW until Kane interrupts. Kane wants to take out Bret, but before he can, the Hart Dynasty comes in and they fail to save Bret. Then Undertaker comes out and saves Bret. 'Taker and Kane stare at each other, then Kane leaves. Undertaker vs. Bret is made for later tonight. Good job, GM, you're only like 10 years late. I didn't care much for Bret, but it did further the whole Undertaker/Kane thing. 3/5.

Michael McGillicutty & Kofi Kingston vs. Kaval and Daniel Bryan vs. Alex Riley and The Miz
Riley, Kofi, and Bryan start with Riley getting some hits in. Eventually he hits a cool sit-out powerslam. Bryan and Kofi start battling it out once Riley is down. A double cross body and then all 3 men are down. Bryan and Kofi get the tag, and Riley is writhing in the corner. McGillicutty comes in hot and whips Kaval in to the ropes, where Kaval gets a standing sleeper hold variation. Riley breaks it up, but he gets whipped into his corner. Miz tags himself in, but a dropkick knocks him off the apron. McGillicutty and Kaval battle it out after a two count roll-up by McGillicutty. Kaval gets the Warrior's Way, but Miz comes in and gets the Skull Crushing Finale for the win. Miz then smacks Bryan with his MITB briefcase for some revenge after last week. This was a triple threat tag match done RIGHT. It was a ton of fun, albeit a little short. 4/5.

Laycool vs. Melina & Eve
Typical Divas match... Melina pins Layla with a roll-up, and Eve never even got in the match. This was a pointless match. Laycool challenges Melina to a match at NoC, and if they win the Women's titles are unified. Okay. I really don't care about the Divas at all, but this could end well. I don't know, 1.5/5?

Nexus is in their locker room, and Wade says something about doing something that'll leave people talking.

Chris Jericho is interviewed by Josh Matthews. Good stuff from Jericho (as always) but he says that if he loses at NoC then he's gone for good. I think we all know that after NoC there will be no more Jericho. That's gonna be a sad day... But hey, maybe he'll win?

John Morrison & R-Truth vs. "Dashing" Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre
This COULD'VE been a great tag match, but things break down like a minute in. Double DQ, and Morrison and Truth get the upper hand. What was the point of this? 1/5.

Bret Hart vs. Undertaker
When Undertaker's entrance ends, Nexus's music hits and Wade appears. He repeats that he wants to do something people will remember, and says that the Undertaker will be a deadman. He attacks, but Undertaker throws him out of the ring. Bret's impressed. Then the lights go out. Kane's here! After a short exchange of fists, lights go out and Kane's gone. Nexus comes out, and they surround 'Taker. Where did Bret go? Anyway, 'Taker fends off Nexus until the lights go out again, there are sounds of a struggle, the lights come back on, and 'Taker's up on Wade's shoulders. Wasteland, then 450. Kane's on the stage, laughing. Fun stuff, and we didn't have to watch Bret stumble around the ring! This was very well done, I thought. 3.5/5.

Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne
Jack says he's bringin' some swagger to RAW! But he's not the same Swagger we had before he was a world champ, so eh. Like 20 seconds into the match, Alberto Del Rio comes out in a Bentley and apparently Michael Cole loves this guy. I like him too. He ignores the match, Swagger wins with the Ankle Lock after he dodges Airbourne. Del Rio talks about what he did to Rey, and wants to recreate it for the RAW audience. So he attacks Evan, but is thwarted by Mark Henry. The outcome was fine, and Alberto showed lots of charisma, and he spoke clearer than usual. So it wasn't a total loss, 3/5.

CM Punk
CM Punk is out, and he's showing clips of RAW that aren't straightedge. He makes some funny comments, and ends with Stone Cold spraying Mr. McMahon with beer... out of a fire hose. Punk teases Stone Cold doing the same thing to him. Wait! Stone Cold's music hits! But Punk was just kidding. He's not here. Punk is cracking up (and I laughed too), and he asks if the audience is disappointed, which is what he feels when he sees them. He closes with a clip from a pretty good show he likes, Smackdown. Maybe you've heard of it? It's Lesnar superplexing Big Show and breaking the ring. Punk loves this clip and it's because it represents what he could never be. Which is criminally obese. Show comes out and entertains, finds his 'lost fat' and imitates Hulk Hogan. Funny stuff. Things break down, with Show getting the upper hand of the SES. This was a GREAT segment, funny and well done, I loved every minute of it. Big Show and Punk work well together, I give this a 5/5.

Team RAW vs. The Nexus
When the match starts, Jericho gets himself counted out, laughing. Okay, Edge is in next and he shoves the ref, getting himself DQ'd. Cena gets mad and goes in next. He tags in Sheamus, who dominates almost every member of the Nexus. But eventually they neutralize him, and Slater gets his terrible finisher for the pin. What the heck!? He's pinned like 3 world champions in his little time in WWE! Argh, anyway, it's 2 to 5, The Nexus with the upper hand. Cena gets the usual on Slater, pinning him after an AA. He then gets dominated by Otunga, but reverses a suplex, then gets the STF. Otunga taps, and Cena rolls away, right into a 450 Splash! The crowd is on fire! Cena's out! Orton comes in and RKO's Gabriel for the pin! The crowd is still exploding, and they keep going when Tarver gets RKO'd too. This is crazy. Wade quickly comes in and gets the Wasteland on Orton for the pin and the win. This was pretty incredible, and I actually like Orton tonight, probobly because he didn't end up on top. Another 5/5.

This last night's RAW had some pretty bad spots, but for the most part, it was the most entertaining show I've seen in a while. And that isn't a bad thing, cause there have been plenty of great RAWs recently. They didn't even need the extra hour. Only problem was that there was no Dolph Ziggler, the INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION, involved. What the heck. Oh well, last night's RAW gets a 4.5/5!

Probobly not an average.
 
Monday Night Raw
Date: August 30, 2010
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the 900th episode and Raw and Smackdown both will be there. Surprisingly enough this is only a two hour show though. There hasn’t been much announced for this, so let’s get to it.

We open up by YET AGAIN being told how awesome Raw is. Vince, let it go. Mainstream media flat out does not care, so stop trying to make them accept you. It simply isn’t going to happen.

Cole says the 900th consecutive week. We’ll ignore the preempted shows and the Best of shows I guess.

5 on 5 elimination match with Nexus vs. Sheamus, the Canadian duo, Orton and Cena. Good to see they’re not overkilling the match before Survivor Series.

Here’s Bret to open the show, which makes sense since this is a show about old school. He talks about how great Raw is and how many records it holds etc. Bret says only Taker was on the first show also, cueing Kane. This is a new pairing if nothing else. Baldie says there is no more phenom because he hasn’t meant anything since he beat Shawn at Mania.

Kane talks about how Bret hated Shawn etc. Bret can’t wait for Taker to beat Kane like he always does. Good line and simple. Old guys know how to talk. Kane says he needs to take out an icon like Taker did, so he grabs Bret. Hart Dynasty comes out for the save but gets knocked back with ease. Bret does better but the lights go out.

I’m sure you know who’s in the ring now as we get the staredown. Taker looks like he’s about to cry and Kane bails. Cue the e-mail and tonight it’s Bret….vs. Taker? Well that’s the biggest name Taker has never been able to beat, so that fits pretty well.

We go back to the first episode of Raw for some clips which are always fun.

Back from a break and we see the zamboni incident, which was the night after Taker and Kane beat Austin in a triple threat at I think Unforgiven.

Michael McGillicutty/Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan/Kaval vs. Miz/Alex Riley

Someone get me a boat to navigate the river of semen in the IWC at this point. Miz has a sweet new shirt with an id sticker on it saying “Hello I’m AWESOME!” I would totally wear that and I haven’t bought a WWE shirt in over 10 years. It’s a very fast paced match that I won’t even bother trying to keep track of.

Everything goes insane and Kaval hits a sweet rolling kick to Riley, setting up the Warrior’s Way. Cue in Miz for the Skull Crushing Finale to end it on Kaval. Bryan takes the MITB case to the head post match.

Rating: C+. It was very fast paced and worked rather well I thought. This was designed to get the crowd going and to give us a look at the NXT guys. It did that in just a few minutes which is always a good thing. Quick match but certainly entertaining and it kept my attention, making it a win.

Laycool vs. Melina/Eve Torres

Well you can’t say they’re not attractive. Melina pins Layla in maybe 40 seconds with a rollup. Well ok then.

Michelle throws out the predictable challenge for the unification match at NOC but doesn’t say which member of Laycool is it. Melina insists it’s a lumberjack match. The Divas all come out and stand by her to end this segment.

Another Raw moment is Nexus beating down Cena, which is a big moment but damn man there are bigger ones than that.

Nexus is in the back and there are only five of them given Sheffield’s injury. Barrett says they have to do something to remember tonight and says he knows what it is but doesn’t say what it is.

We get another “historical” moment, this time the Bob Barker hosted show. Ok they’re stretching here methinks.

Jericho talks about how he says he’s great because he is great. If he doesn’t win the title at NOC, he’s gone. Josh says Jericho has been thrown out or fired at least a dozen times now, making me laugh. Jericho says watch what he’s going to do tonight.

John Morrison/R-Truth vs. Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre

Well this was unexpected. Something tells me Morrison is going to do something of note here. It’s a big brawl almost immediately and there’s a double DQ. This was for the #1 contenders slot so screw that apparently. Truth dives over the ropes to take out Rhodes. Was there a point to this at all?

Another Raw moment is Bret and Shawn making up. This is a legit major moment so I’ll give them that.

Undertaker vs. Bret Hart

Taker’s robe is a bit different now as he has the hood and sleeveless thing again, meaning no trenchcoat. And here’s Nexus. Ok make that just Barrett. He says it’s about the future and not ht epast, so he goes after Taker. Barrett gets knocked to the floor and then the lights go out. Kane is here and they slug it out, which Kane wins to a degree.

Taker goes for a chokeslam and there go those lights again. Someone really should look into that. Kane is gone (as is Bret) and here’s Nexus. Taker fights them off and has Barrett ready for the chokeslam but the lights go out AGAIN. We come back and Barrett has him up in the Wasteland. Kane is on the stage as it hits. A 450 hits Taker and he can’t quite sit up.

If you can’t tell this show has more or less sucked beyond belief so far.

Here’s Jack Swagger. Damn he’s fallen since the summer.

Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne

As Bourne makes his entrance, Cole lists off MORE shows that Raw has been on the air longer than with Lawler saying Friends only had 236 or some odd shows. I’m not even going to go into the rant about why that’s incredibly stupid because here’s Alberto Del Rio of all people with his full car entrance and pyro. He even gets a split screen. Air Bourne misses and Swagger gets the ankle lock for the tap. We saw maybe a minute combined of the in ring action without a split screen, meaning no rating.

Del Rio cuts off Swagger’s music and talks about how he got rid of Rey. However since none of the Raw fans saw it he’s going to recreate it here. He grabs a chair and Evan is in trouble. MARK HENRY of all people comes out for the save. Ok him just punching the chair out of Del Rio’s hand was in fact cool as hell.

We get a video about the China tour, which is indeed awesome.

This is Your Life Rock, which is actually a cool moment.

The Straight Edge Society is here, and Punk is better than The Rock. Punk says that Raw has pushed negative family values, and he has two words to prove it: Katie Vick. “If you don’t know who that is, Youtube it. It’ll drive you to drink and then you can come see me.” He has a list of four things that WWE has been bad about over the years.

Property Damage: HHH breaking into Orton’s house.

General irresponsibility: Cena throwing Edge in the water. Punk talks about never throwing anyone into water (with the joke of course being that he won a match like that against Chavo in ECW)

Tresspassing: DX invading WCW.

The last one is exhibit D for drunkenness, which is due to the beer bath…..on SANTINO. Yeah they picked that one instead of what was voted the #1 Raw moment back at the tenth anniversary show.

Punk makes fun of Austin and CUE GLASS SHATTERING!

And he’s not here. Punk literally rolls on the mat with laughter. He asks if the fans feel empty inside now, because that’s how he feels with every one of the fans. Punk has one more clip, which is the ring breaking thanks to Show and Lesnar. It’s to bash Show and he won’t say Lesnar’s name.

Show comes out and he mentions Eddie and a burrito. He wants to know why Punk picked a fat joke when he’s done all kinds of stupid stuff. We get a Show promo about the SES as Hulk Hogan. Show clears the ring of course and we go to a break.

HHH’s return in 2002 was in fact amazing.

Sheamus comes out to talk on the ramp. Surprisingly he doesn’t get a big pop since we’re in Boston. He mentions HHH and says he’s never coming back. Here comes Edge, who gets a BIG face pop. He talks about how many moments he’s had on Raw and all that jazz which is true. Edge also says Sheamus should go back to the lab with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Total face promo here.

Sheamus/Randy Orton/John Cena/Edge/Chris Jericho vs. Nexus

This is elimination rules and the bell rang at 10:59. Jericho walks out after a few seconds and it’s 5-4. Edge immediately shoves the referee and it’s 5-3. Tarver and Cena are in now and Cena dominates for the most part. Sheamus beats up various people for awhile and this is just awful. High Cross is blocked and Nexus takes over. SLATER PINS SHEAMUS! Totally clean for the most part too. He hit his finisher and that was it. Hokey smoke.

FU gets rid of Slater. Big beatdown and Cena is in trouble. Otunga goes out to the STFU. 450 to Cena and he’s out! Orton vs. Gabriel, Barrett and Tarver. Make that Barrett and Tarver as an RKO takes out Gabriel. It’s Barrett vs. Orton now. That happened in less than 15 seconds. Wasteland and it’s over. Less than a minute passed between Cena’s elimination and the end of the match, which included the eliminations of Gabriel, Tarver and Orton.

Rating: F+. Just a total reversal of what we saw at Summerslam. This was boring and not interesting in the slightest, although BIG props for the clean pins on the three mega stars from the non-Nexus team. Those were very unexpected and made them look like they were human. That being said, the match was just awful. Three eliminations in about 40 seconds? Seriously? Just a bad match if there ever has been one and a fitting end to an awful Raw.

Overall Rating: D-. Just a horrible show all around. Punk’s promo and segment is the only good thing this had going for it really. For a special, there were so many quick matches that you barely remember anything about, including one that was about 12 seconds long. The main event was just bad all around but to be fair they did get the point of NOC across. Shame that it two me about a day to get that idea. The lack of wrestling and the lack of nostalgia hurt this a lot as apparently barely anything has happened other than in the last two years. This could have been worse but not by much. Punk’s promo was all that made this passable, which is saying a lot since he’s a Smackdown guy. Bad show.
 
Pretty weak show here. I admit, I didn't watch the whole thing as It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia re-runs have become my go to show from 9 to 11 on Mondays. I don't care how many episodes that show has, it still kicks ass.

Anyway, couldn't care less about Bret opening up the show. And in a match with Taker? Many that'd be interesting, like, 10 years ago. The 3 way tag was just dandy, I guess. Good for NXT at least.

I didn't bother with the Diva's shit. A unification? Good thing they didn't introduce the Diva's Title only 2 years ago. That'd just make them look silly. Skip's injury really sucks, for all involved. What a bummer. Jericho leaving? Sounds about right.

The tag match was apparently like 5 seconds long. Alright then. Cody's music is still sweet, he really deserves a better tag team partner. Also, if they were going to have a number 1 contender's match, why didn't they make it a match where someone would win? Whey are Morrison and Truth still a team? They could be the most unsuccessful pairing of all time.

The beatdown on the Undertaker segment was just a mess. The lights going out things works well in moderation, not if you do it every fucking second. This Kane feud is really shaping up to be a rough one. The Nexus beatdown was awful as well. In reality, all 5 of them got their ass kicked before the lights went out and you could here them shuffling around the ring, obviously helping to lift Taker up onto Barrett's shoulders. Worst Nexus segment ever, by far.

Why is Swagger worthless yet again? Why is Bourne worthless yet again? I'll never know. Anway, Alberto Del Rio is cleraly a cunt. Can't stand him.

Punk was awesome though. Great segment. For a moment, I got the overwhelming feeling Rock was going to come out. That would've been something, eh?

The main event was rather pointless. Why exactly did it start so late? Anyway, the two early eliminations plus the 93 eliminations in a span of 30 seconds didn't make much sense. Just a mess of a match to end a mess of a show.

This would've been bad for a normal Raw. For the 900th episode spectacular, it was just awful. Surprising, because the WWE rarely completely misses on these kind of shows.
 
I'm a bit late getting to this, as I've been preoccupied, but I was actually there and can tell you that it was every bit as disappointing as it was on TV. The show was mediocre and at best, a giant Smackdown-moves-to-cable advert. Seeing Bret, my childhood idol, live for the first time in however many years was great, and seeing him in the ring at the same time as Undertaker was pretty nostalgic. Aside from a few clips and the Austin tease, there wasn't much nostalgia or pageantry, which I was expecting a lot more of, given that it was the 900th episode. I wasn't expecting much, but I was expecting more than we got.

Matches were pretty bland, even down to the dark main event (triple threat steel cage, Sheamus vs. Cena vs. Undertaker). The highlight of the night, match-wise, was DiBiase vs. Goldust, which was taped for tomorrow's Superstars show. That's pretty sad, really. And for fuck's sake, Slater pinned the WWE Champion. The main event was awful, as was the 'Taker beat-down. I'm sick to death of Nexus, and this was just more BS showcasing them at the expense of credibility. Also, how many times do they think they are going to fool us by putting Bret into matches? If he could still wrestle, I'd be marking out, but he can't and they either find a way out of it or he doesn't do anything but put the Sharpshooter on after other people take out his opponent. Regardless, he is my favorite wrestler of all time and it was great to see him, especially just a few feet away.

I'm by no means saying I wasted money on the ticket, but I was at the house show on Friday and actually had a better time there. Being able to say that is a testament to just how little effort they're putting into their biggest show, and it's sad.
 
I just started watching tonight's Smackdown, but I just had to say... Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving Christian a microphone! I didn't expect him to come out and interrupt Alberto Del Rio, or Juan as Christian was calling him, but I was very pumped! Getting ready to watch Christian vs Drew McIntyre, again. I don't mind as long as Christian gets some tv time, unlike last week.
 
Smackdown
Date: September 3, 2010
Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

We open this week with more of Kane and Taker. More or less this is a recap of the feud minus the beginning. It’s certainly the focal point of the show so I can’t complain about it being the thing we start the show with.

Theme song hits. Get your reinforcements.

Kane has a major announcement for later on tonight.

In the ring is the setup for a big party, made up to look like a fiesta. Del Rio comes out in a Bentley, as I’m starting to get into the car aspect of this. It’s a nice touch instead of the same car every week.

The ring is full of servants and there is a piñata hanging in the middle. We recap the beatdown on Rey from last week, hearing that he now has a broken wrist. Rey is like a piñata somehow, prompting Del Rio to destroy the thing with a bat/stick.

Del Rio calls Rey a broken burro (the piñata was in the shape of a donkey) and then makes a toast to himself. Cue Christian of all people to a pretty solid pop. Christian calls him JBL: Juan Bradshaw Layfield, which gets a chuckle out of me.

After a few more jokes, Christian gets serious. He gets on Del Rio for hurting his friend and says Del Rio is the real jackass. All those years of Spanish classes clearly paid off as I can understand every word of Del Rio yelling at his servants. They tease a fight but Del Rio backs off, saying not here and now. I like this a lot as even though I’m not a Christian fan, Del Rio needs a solid midcard feud to get himself some credibility with and Christian could certainly provide him with that.

Drew McIntyre jumps Christian and apparently their match is now.

Christian vs. Drew McIntyre

The match started during the break and they cleared out the fiesta set. Blast it. I was hoping to see a Canadian fight a Scotsman in a Mexican fiesta in America. That truly would have been WORLD wrestling. Drew throws Christian into the stairs and hurts his ribs.

The rib injury gives Drew the early advantage, which is logical. He works the ribs with some basic holds, showing that he’s thinking. I love basic psychology in a match. Drew hooks on a bearhug and throws a knee into the ribs as he has looked completely dominant so far.

Christian is just barely hanging on in there but he’s getting some shots in here and there to keep himself in it. On the floor Christian shoves Drew into the table to get us almost close to even. After more offense on the ribs, Christian gets a double leg sweep into a Jackknife pin out of NOWHERE.

Rating: C+. Rather short but the psychology was there. The ending makes limited sense though as Christian gets a quick rollup for the pin kind of makes Drew look stupid, but at the same time Christian had stayed in the match the whole way. It’s not a horrible ending, but it’s just an odd choice for it. Decent match though.

Michelle McCool vs. Kelly Kelly

As Michelle comes to the ring we get a recap of the unification match being set up on Monday. If any division needs that, it would be the Divas division. Layla is on commentary here. This is a rather short match with my biggest issue being able to tell them apart as both are in blue/green colors. Kelly makes a short comeback but walks into the Faith Breaker to end it. Nice counter.

Rating: N/A. More or less a glorified squash by Michelle, which is more or less the only third Kelly is good for other than being hot. Michelle looks dominant heading into the PPV in ten days, so this was more or less set up for the PPV despite them having no real connection to each other. This was fine.

In the back, Horny is with a psychologist who is trying to get him to speak English. I guess he forgot how to do it since he was in DX. The doctor suggests electric shock, which is an homage to George Steele on Tuesday Night Titans. If you’ve never seen that clip find it as it’s very funny stuff. Horny electrocutes the doctor and leaves. Good to see they have found new ways to waste my time.

Chris Masters vs. Dolph Ziggler

Masters looks smaller now and has a beard. Ziggler’s music is very catchy to put it mildly. Something tells me this isn’t going to last long. Ziggler tries a Flair Flip in the corner but lands in the ring again. Masterlock is avoided and a BAD Zig Zag ends this in just over two minutes. Told you it would be short.

Rating: N/A. Not sure if this was a title match or not but it’s not like it matters. I’m a big fan of squashes like these as they build up a guy like Dolph and it saves the big matches for later on. Old school booking can still work today, and Smackdown often proves that. This was fine.

Big Show is invading Smackdown. How you can invade the show that you’re an active member of is beyond me but logic never really has meant anything in wrestling.

Big Show vs. Straightedge Society

Gallows and Punk here in a handicap match. Show has a dew rag now. Mercury’s arm is in a sling. He tore a pec and is out for about 6 months. Is this stable cursed or something? Punk starts with Show and the man with hair gets nothing.

Gallows comes in and Show actually uses amateur stuff to get him down. All things considered it was actually pretty good. Show is more talented than he’s given credit for at times. Double team shenanigans give the heels the advantage and nearly gets them a count out win.

No mention at all of Serena’s absence yet, which doesn’t really surprise me. Punk goes for the springboard clothesline and Show just knocks him out of the air. There’s something cool about a guy that can do that and have it look realistic. We hit the floor again and Show dives at Punk but eats stairs as we take a break.

We’re back and the Society is in control. You immediately see the inherent problem with beating up Show though: you can really only stomp him due to his size. It’s a benefit and a perk at the same time I suppose. Show takes over with ease, hitting the Alley-Oop on Gallows before a camel clutch ends it with ease. Punk hits the GTS on Gallows after the match.

Rating: D. Pretty bland match here as yet again the Society looks completely weak. I get that Show is the monster here, but would one win be too much to ask for the heels? It was a pretty weak match too as Show was never really in any danger. This could have been worse, but it was still pretty bad.

It’s time for the VIP Lounge with Jack Swagger as a result of Swagger beating MVP last week. The guest is of course Swagger’s dad, played once again by former WCW Tag Team Champion, Bunkhouse Buck. Senior is in a neck brace, I’m assuming due to Kane beating him up a few months ago.

Senior talks about his son setting a pushup record when he was a kid, and we get a demonstration. He counts faster than the pushups are coming, until MVP’s music hits to end this “riveting” demonstration.

MVP criticizes the show and the guest Swagger picked, before closing it for renovation. They wind up playing tug-of-war with Swagger’s father, eventually launching him into a downward spiral (he changes the name of the move so often that I’m not even going to try to remember it anymore) from MVP.

Swagger junior goes over the top rope and MVP, the saint that he is, drops an elbow on a senior citizen in a neck brace that was in a wheelchair not 30 seconds ago. What a role model!

Matt Hardy vs. Cody Rhodes

I still say Rhodes’ song sounds like Living on a Prayer, or at least the chorus of it. According to Striker Matt is the Modern Day Warrior. Today’s Matt Fact: Matt wishes he had half of the talent and charisma that Kerry Von Erich (the original Modern Day Warrior) had.

Before the match, Rhodes makes fun of Matt, including even calling him fat. These are probably getting a little too close to home, but that’s the point of a heel I suppose. Cody has a mirror on the back of his jacket, which is fairly awesome but I’m not sure why. Him shouting THAT IS NOT DASHING is a good line.

We take a break and Matt is in control as we’re back. Matt’s ankle is still hurt from the beatdown Rhodes and McIntyre gave it over the last few weeks. He misses his elbow off the middle rope and there goes the ankle. Cross Roads follows soon after for the pin.

Rating: C. Simple yet effective again. The ankle comes into play at the end of the match and it gives Rhodes the win. What more can you ask for than that really, especially in just a five minute match? Rhodes continues to be awesome and Matt continues to be better than he is given credit for.

Here comes Kane for his major announcement. Ok never mind as he’s just on screen. He talks about how Taker’s Armageddon is coming, and it will come when he defends the title at Night of Champions. We get the Devil’s Favorite Demon line again which sounds like a cheap cliché.

The arena is covered in blue light (is this K-Mart all of a sudden?) and druids appear with a casket. I always get funny mental images of druids standing around catering during the show and having doughnuts whenever they’re on the show. The shots of Undertaker break in through the video which I don’t know the name for but they’re the same ones they have every week.

The casket pops open and it’s Kane. The lights turn to red and the booing is great. Nice little surprise there. Kane goes into another insane rant about how he’s the dominant one and how he is going to end Taker because Taker has grown weak. It’s more good stuff from him as he’s just been in a groove the last three months or so.

Cue Taker, and I know he’s not as good as he used to be and I know he’s old and banged up, but the entrance with the organ music and the silhouette and the lightning and smoke is still awesome. He gets to the ring after about 87 minutes and the lights go out again.

No Kane of course so Taker checks the casket, which is empty. Kane pops up on screen and says after Night of Champions, they will no longer be the Brothers of Destruction but Taker will be simply the brother that Kane destroyed. I like that line. Kane’s laughter ends the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Smackdown has gotten the art of weekly television down to a science. In two hours, the hot new heel has a new feud, the Divas’ Champion looked dominant, there was a comedy bit, the Intercontinental Champion was showcased, we got a decent midcard match, an interview segment that furthered a feud, the possible disintegration of a stable and a solid world title promo sequence.

All this in two hours with no major recaps and nothing really all that bad. This was a very well put together show with everyone looking good and just about every major angle being either advanced or addressed in some way. I love watching Smackdown every week and this is a great example of why. Another very solid TV show this week as this show continues to destroy Raw in just about every way possible.
 
WWE Smackdown - September 3, 2010

Opening Segment - Alberto Del Rio opened up last night's show. I like this guy, I'm not completely sold on him yet but I like what I see so far. He has a lot of charisma, seems extremely comfortable in his character, is confident on the mic and simply plays his part very well. Christian coming out was a nice surprise and it's always good to see him get some time on the mic as it doesn't happen often enough. I got a little chuckle of the Juan Bradshaw Layfield joke, it also makes sense as a lot of people have made comparisons between JBL and Del Rio for the past few weeks. I think these two could have an interesting feud with one another and Del Rio came off with a lot of heat. Thumbs Up

Christian vs. Drew McIntyre - Pretty solid match, though it could've been longer. It's not as good as matches they've had in the past, as the match only lasted about 5 minutes, but the psychology was there. I think the match needed another 5 minutes to really be on the same level of their previous matches, but it was still solid while it lasted. Thumbs Up

Michelle McCool vs. Kelly Kelly - Basically, this was little more than a glorified squash match. However, it was against Kelly Kelly so that's not necessarily a bad thing. In general, I'm not a fan of squash matches but Kelly is pretty limited overall in the ring, she's often slow and clumsy so McCool spending 2.25 minutes beating on her and looking dominant going into a big ppv match in a week and a half did have something of a point. As far as Diva matches go, it was still better than what we usually are treated to on Raw or Smackdown. McCool looked good, Kelly played her part as the sacrificial lamb and it was alright. Thumbs Up

Hornswoggle - I wish they'd put Hornswoggle back under the rock they've kept him for the last 6 months. He's been off WWE tv and that's been great. Vince McMahon loves cornball comedy and the skit with Horny last night was a perfect example. I wish they'd have used the 3 minutes this killed and given it to one of the other matches on the card. Thumbs Down

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Masters - This match just didn't do anything for me. It lasted a little over 2 minutes and it was just really bland and forgettable. These two have had matches against one another on Superstars in the past and they've actually been pretty good so this just fell flat. While it was kinda nice to see Ziggler wrestle someone other than Kofi Kingston, beating Chris Masters in 2 minutes just doesn't do much for me overall. Thumbs Down

CM Punk & Luke Gallows vs. The Big Show - Overall, I thought this was a pretty decent match. Nothing great or spectacular, but an overall solid 10 minute match. Show ultimate gets the win over Luke Gallows via submission and that doesn't surprise me as Show typically wins handicap matches. Punk nailing Gallows with the GTS post match seems to signify that the SES is on its last legs. Its a shame too because I think that the faction could really have been something if the chance had been given. Still, a pretty solid match overall. Thumbs Up

VIP Lounge - I kind of enjoyed this, although I'm not exactly wild about the Swagger/MVP feud. There were a few chuckle worthy moments during the segment, but I still would have preferred this time had been given to other matches. Still, this wasn't a bad segment, but it wasn't great. It was overall passable. Thumbs Up

Dashing Cody Rhodes vs. Matt Hardy - Pretty good outing from these two. Hardy's injured ankle coming into play continues the story that's been spread out over the past several weeks. Rhodes got the win around the 8 minute mark via Cross Rhodes. It could've used another 5 minutes but it was a solid match and Cody Rhodes continues to look strong and to improve. Thumbs Up

Kane & The Undertaker - Kane gave another great promo last night and I like the fact that creative is having him ultimately be the one carrying the feud this time. It gives it a fresh twist that we hasn't generally seen before. That coupled with Taker's weakness coming out of his "vegetative state" adds some fun and interesting aspects. Taker didn't say anything but Kane doing the mind game routine that Taker usually does is a nice change and Taker's entrance is still awesome. I'm not all that fond of Kane's evil laughter, just doesn't really sound authentic, but he's been awesome on the mic. Months ago, when it was leaked that this feud might be the direction they were going with Taker's attack I wasn't thrilled but Kane has sold me on it. Taker will probably ultimately go over before its all said and done, but it doesn't need to happen at NOC. The WWE can still ultimately screw this up, I just hope they don't. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Overall, I thought Smackdown was pretty good last night. It was a much better show overall last week, as last week's show left me cold. The wrestling content overall was solid, not as good as we've come to expect from Smackdown, but it was still pretty good. Some modest build towards the NOC ppv with McCool going over Kelly Kelly and the Taker/Kane segments, so I expect next week's show to probably hype the ppv more. Overall, a pretty good show. Not fantastic, but a good show all the same. B-
 
So we started off last night's episode with Christian interrupting Alberto Del Rio's celebration for getting rid of Rey Mysterio. This was pretty entertaining, and I'm starting to like Del Rio more and more. It seems as if Christian might be headed for a feud with Del Rio, and that can't mean anything good for him. Del Rio will most likely come out on top when this feud is over, because WWE seems to want to push him hard.

After Del Rio and Christian finish exchanging words, Drew McIntyre attacks Captain Charisma from behind. The match between Christian and Drew was okay. Christian picked up a win, but I doubt this will mean anything for him.

I just couldn't get into Michelle McCool vs Layla. I didn't think the match was terrible, but I just knew Kelly Kelly had no shot at winning this. As I've said before, the women's division on Smackdown has just become LayCool and everybody else, but maybe things will change when Beth Phoenix returns. On a side note, I did thoroughly enjoy Layla's commentary.

Dolph Ziggler VS Chris Masters just felt pointless. The match wasn't that good, and Masters is just not going anywhere in WWE now. I like Masters, and I do think he could be a solid mid card guy, but he's better off on Superstars, because at least there, he might be in the main event every now and then. WWE just doesn't seem to want to give him any type of real push.

Big Show dominating the Straight Edge Society is just getting old now. We've seen it for a while on Smackdown, and we saw at Summerslam. I didn't like this match at all. The outcome was pretty predictable, and it was just bland. Plus, that shoulder block Big Show delivered to Gallows just looked awful. After the match, CM Punk hit the GTS on Gallows. This could just be another form of punishment from the leader of the SES or this could mean Gallows is about to be dropped from this stable. I think Punk was just venting his frustrations here. Gallows better hope he isn't dropped from this stable, because I just don't know where he would go from here. I don't believe the fans would care about him if he were to turn face. The only way I could see the crowd being entertained by him is if he were to go back to being Festus.

I did laugh at the Jack Swagger/MVP VIP lounge segment. Seeing Swagger use his wheelchair bound dad as a shield was just hilarious. It seems these two are headed for another feud, and I hope Swagger can come out on top, because it would be nice to see him back in the World Heavyweight Championship picture. Then again, by that time, Undertaker might be champion, and I doubt Swagger would go over The Deadman.

Cody Rhodes continues his nice push, as he defeated Matt Hardy. Hardy was stealing dealing with his storyline injury, so it's no surprise he lost this one. Also, Rhodes continues to impress me with his mic skills. He really came off as a jerk, when he ran down Hardy before the match.

The Undertaker/kane segment was good. Kane's promos have sparked my interest for this feud. I was strongly against Undertaker VS Kane 2010 at first, but things just seem different this time around. Kane is the champion, Taker is "weak", and I feel as if this storyline is better than the previous ones. I don't think Undertaker and kane should touch each other until Night Of Champions. It will help add more suspense to this feud.

I enjoyed last night's episode of Smackdown a lot more than last week's show. The Undertaker/Kane segment was the highlight of this episode of Smackdown. This was a good way to start the build for the match at Night Of Champions. Chris Masters VS Dolph Ziggler was just pointless, and I just couldn't get into Kelly Kelly VS Michelle McCool. Next week we should see more hype for Night Of Champions, and maybe the SES will do something that doesn't involve the Big Show destroying them again.
 
ok so i watched his match with justin gabriel and he once again got his ass kicked, then did he move set and won the match. so i got to thinking the reason he gets his ass kicked is because he knows no more moves. but is still at the top of the wwe.



your thoughts? agree or disagree? with my reason why he gets his ass kicked every match. because he only knows a very limited move set.


not a bashing thread just asking for opinions on why he gets beat up for most of the match. agree or disagree and give your own reason.
 
I've counted and he averages like 7 moves minus punches and kicks. He adds a new move once every year or so. I find it pathetic and always have. At least guys like Orton, HHH, Sheamus use a diversity of moves while still using their key signature moves.
 
Okay...I am not not to usually complain about Raw mistakes, but tonight has been horrible. First Alicia Fox messes up on the mic. "Undefined Championship" come on Alicia. That's a bad mistake, but I can forgive it. The Great Khali vs Edge match was horrible. Michael Cole even pointed it out. Over the top rope means match done. Why did the WWE writers even Khali in this match? I actually wanted to see Edge vs Zack Ryder in a real match. But nope, throw in the filler Khali who hasn't won a match since who knows when. Why keep doing this? Come on Raw staff!
 
Man, I LOVED RAW! It had a great, unpredictable, interesting spirit. Sure there were botches but the good parts more than made up for it. I'm obviously really excited that the Miz/Bryan match was finally made, and I just really loved everything about tonight.

First, Jericho losing was a big shock. I have no idea who could take his place, and I can't believe it looks like Morrison is actually getting a real push! I don't care much about Morrison, but it's still a pretty cool shocker that threw a wrench into an already good storyline.

The Edge/Ryder segment and the Maryse/DiBiase segment were both actually pretty darn funny, and the second set up a possible good storyline for Maryse and DiBiase. You couldn't ask for more.

Gabriel looked VERY strong in his match against Cena. Today, I really thought that Gabriel could be a future breakout star. He's much more than a one-trick pony, as evidenced by his good use of submissions and cool flippies.

It was great to see Alicia Fox on the mic. Alicia is one of the few divas with a real personality that can talk, and I actually kind of wanted to see her win tonight. I'd rather she be champ than Melina. Not really a Melina fan. It's the screams.

Even though Miz flubbed a line, the promo and segment with Bryan was very well done. I'm really, really, really looking forward to that match and I'm glad it was made. Hey, LetEmKnow, looks like he isn't going to team with Kaval after all!

Darren Young coming out at the end was a pretty cool surprise that hopefully leads to a good storyline. I saw a real spark in Darren Young tonight and was impressed with him for the first time...ever.

Overall this RAW gave us good matches, good segments, and pushed storylines. What more could you ask for?

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