Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[Kenny Powers]

Last night's episode of Raw scored a 2.37 overall rating, which was down 15 percent compared to last week's previous year-low 2.80 rating. If the rating is a 2.3 or a 2.4 then this is the lowest rating in 13 years. I've read on pwtorch.com that the rating was either the lowest in 3 years or 13. If the rating was a 2.7 then it would be 3, but a 2.3 to a 2.4 would be the lowest in 13 years. Monday Night Football or not, this isn't a good sign.

 

[klunderbunker]

Last night's episode of Raw scored a 2.37 overall rating, which was down 15 percent compared to last week's previous year-low 2.80 rating. If the rating is a 2.3 or a 2.4 then this is the lowest rating in 13 years. I've read on pwtorch.com that the rating was either the lowest in 3 years or 13. If the rating was a 2.7 then it would be 3, but a 2.3 to a 2.4 would be the lowest in 13 years. Monday Night Football or not, this isn't a good sign.

From the Wrestling Observer's website.

2.7

The Bears vs. Packers game last night was the 5th most watched television show in the history of cable television.

That sounds much more likely and would be a huge relief for WWE somehow. I figured Bears vs. Packers would be a big game but WOW I wouldn't have bet on 5th biggest cable show of all time. Raw wasn't much last night and in the LD the talk seemed to be that everyone was having issues getting into it. I just have very limited interest in the PPV this week, namely due to we're two weeks removed from NOC which is just not enough time. Either way this isn't good for WWE, but it's not catastrophic like it could have been, assuming PWT is wrong which they very well may not be.

 

[MisterMondayNight]

Wow. That is incredibly low. I read it was 2.37, and the last time it was that low was the Raw before the Screwjob.

I wouldn't be worrying too much if I were the WWE for three reasons:

A) It went up against the (apparently) the 5th highest program in cable television history.

B) It was a taped Raw, so I'm guessing a lot on the IWC read spoilers,and forewent watching the show.

C) It's still the one of the highest rated shows on USA (if not the highest)

It is still very low, but I wouldn't be surprised if the ratings go back up to the 3.0-3.2 range after HIAC. Next week we'll see the fallout of the Cena/Barrett match, see who Orton will be feuding with post-Sheamus, and the revealing of Maryse's admirer. Plus further GM development, Jericho's status after being punted, and to see if the HD can pull it together.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

A recap of The Miz/Bryan feud is shown. This is pretty big. Usually we would see something involving Orton, Cena, Sheamus, or Nexus to start off the show, but instead, we get a Miz VS Bryan recap.

The Miz & Alex Riley VS Daniel Bryan & John Morrison

Miz cuts a promo. He bashes Bryan again. Bryan's extravagant music interrupts. Miz pokes fun at Bryan for not having a tag team partner until John Morrison shows up. Miz hits Bryan with the Skull Crushing finale for the win. Miz goes for another beat down after the match, but Morrison steps in to help Bryan. You think Bryan would appreciate this kind gesture, well if you did, then you thought wrong. Miz turns on Morrison, and then a brawl erupts between the three men. The mystery GM breaks up, and he has a special announcement. At Hell In A Cell, Bryan will defend his US title in a submissions count anywhere match. Out of all the matches listed so far for the HIAC PPV, this one has me pumped up the most.

The match was okay. We got to see more of Alex Riley here, and the brawl after the match helped build everything up for the title match at HIAC.

All the divas are shown backstage, as they prepare for the battle royal which will determine the #1 contender for LayCool's Unified Women's Championship.

Divas Battle Royal

LayCool joined for commentary, and they were pretty funny as usual. Come to think of it, LayCool was a lot more funny then Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler tonight. This was a decent battle royal, but Natalya winning here kind of shocked me. I thought Maryse might win this, but I was very happy to see Natalya come away with the win here. Natalya really hasn't seen any spotlight for a long time as far the women's division goes. I thought she would sky rocket to the top after her feud with McCool a couple of years ago, but she's been busy with The Hart Dynasty for a while now. It would be awesome if Natalya won the title, but I don't think it's going to happen at Hell In A Cell.

WWE tries to plug Legendary again. Cena is shown doing a horrible freestyle.

Cutting Edge is coming up. The mystery GM will be the special guest.

Maryse and Ted DiBiase argue backstage. Someone slips a letter under the door. Maryse starts talking in French, and then DiBiase tells her to switch to English. The letter reads, "next wekk, you will be mine." Maryse walks off frustrated. Umm, yeah, I really don't care about this storyline.

Sheamus gets on the mic. He tells on old Irish folktale. He says he will cut off his hand to win back the WWE Championship. He mentions taking out Triple H again(I hope he's close to returing soon) and then he issues an open challenge to the Raw locker room. On a side note, Cole and Lawler plug Mick Foley's new book. I was surprised to hear this.

Sheamus VS The Great Khali

Nothing really happened here. Khali got a few shots in, and then Sheamus snapped. He was disqualified for using the announce table and chairs as a weapons. Then The Celtic Warrior made sure to send a message to his opponent at Hell In A Cell by delivering two nice Brogue Kicks. Although, I'm still not excited for the WWE Championship. Not at all.

The Cutting Edge With Special Host, The Anonymous Raw GM

Edge talks to the computer, which is on a podium in the middle of the ring. The GM has this weird robotic voice. Edge berates the GM, and then he wonders why he's yelling at a computer. The GM announces Cena VS Edge is up next. This was a very funny segment. Edge's tirade cracked me up.

Edge VS John Cena

Nexus is shown backstage watching the match. Edge hits a spear for the win, but the GM overturns the ref's decision, because Cena's leg was under the ropes. As soon as the match is restarted, Cena locks on the STF, and he gets Edge to tap out for the win. Edge and Cena has been done over and over again, but that's not what kills this match for me. It just wasn't that good, and you just knew Cena was going to get the win once the match was restarted. I've seen better from Cena and Edge, and this was probably one of their weaker matches.

After the match, Edge goes ballistic. He destroys the computer, as the GM pleads with him to think about what he's doing. Edge is getting a nice little push here. It's obvious that he's going to be the guy who feuds with GM when he or she is revealed, and that's going to be big for him, because Edge has been lost in the shuffle ever since he came to Raw.

Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel VS Mark Henry & Evan Bourne

Bourne hit Air Bourne, but Slater helped Gabriel roll over Bourne with a push. Gabriel managed to get the three count for the win. I enjoyed this match. Lots of speed from Gabriel and Bourne here, and Henry displayed a nice feat of strength here as. Nexus was going to win this, because they were going to gain some extra momentum for the high stakes match at Hell In A Cell.

After the match, Nexus beats up Henry and Bourne. Barrett gets on the mic, and he says Cena will become Nexus' property at Hell In A Cell. Everything was going fine until Otunga started talking. Just like the majority of the Nexus, he is FUCKING TERRIBLE when it comes to cutting promos. Tarver was able to salvage things a little bit when he said his piece, but I just couldn't get over how bad Otunga was.

Johny Knoxville is going to be Raw's guest host next week. Be on the look out for plenty of Jackass 3D plugs.

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

So because Drew decided to use an exposed turnbuckle on Smackdown last week, the mystery GM decided to grant The Hart Dynasty another match. Why couldn't Teddy Long do this? Oh, that's right, he's too busy trying to help Hornswoggle speak Anyway as far as this match goes, I just couldn't get into it. It was quick, and you just knew Rhodes and McIntyre were going to retain here. Although, I was surprised to see DH Smith use a high knee. I wonder if Triple H was okay with that..........

Smith and Kidd argue after the match. Natalya tries to bring some peace between these two, but DH Smith walks off. I smell a break up coming. I think Natalya will be fine, but I don't know about Smith and Kidd.

Orton VS Jericho is next.

John Cena and R-Truth are in the locker room. Truth wishes Cena luck in his match against Barrett. Cena announces he's going to Smackdown.

Chris Jericho VS Randy Orton

Jericho starts of by naming a ton of people he beat. He makes sure to include some wrestlers who are currently on TNA's roster. This match was pretty solid. The match wasn't as predictable as I thought it would be. A lot of Orton's moves were countered here, and that made this match a lot more fun to watch. Sheamus comes in with the obvious interference we were all waiting on. Orton hits a DDT on Sheamus. He goes for the punt, but Jericho gets in his way with a Code Breaker. Jericho looks as if he's going to clobber Orton with a chair, but Orton hits the RKO. The fans actually start a punt chant. Wow, what a difference one year makes. Orton kicks Jericho in the head. Sheamus looks as scared as scared can be, as Orton stares him down. Michael Cole reminds us Orton is not an honorable man, and that ends this week's episode.

I thought this was an okay show. Jericho VS Orton was solid, but all of the other matches were mediocre or sub par.

Now there has been a lot of discussion about Raw's drop in ratings over the past couple of days, and I'll give a couple of reasons why I wasn't too interested in last night's show. The matches weren't all that good, and some of the storylines just don't interest me. I really, really can't stand TeD DiBiase, and this mystery lover storyline between him and Maryse just seems very dull to me. Natalya won the battle royal, but I doubt she's going to win the title anytime soon. And then there's the build for Hell In A Cell. I was excited for Night Of Champions, but I can't say the same about Hell In A Cell. I don't want to see Sheamus and Randy Orton in a Cell match. I just don't. Both of their WWE Championship matches were terrible, so why in the hell would I want to see these two in a Cell match? Then there's the US title match. Look, I'm happy Bryan's the champion, and his feud with Miz is the main reason why I've been able to keep watching Raw, but throwing Morrison in the match at HIAC just seemed so sudden. Everything on Raw feels so rushed right now. The HIAC PPV is this Sunday, and the build hasn't been that good. Orton has only been WWE champion for a couple of weeks, so I don't think you can put all of the blame on him just yet. Yeah, I know the guy can be extremely boring, but still, a couple of weeks is just not enough time to place so much blame on him. The Raw ratings could pick up some where down the line, but everything on WWE's flagship show just seems very bland and dull right now.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: October 1, 2010
Location: Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Matt Striker

This is the debut of the show on SyFy and is called the season premiere of the show. There was apparently a countdown show for an hour before it which I didn’t see at all. Alberto vs. Rey tonight and Cena and Nexus are here. Apparently there was an episode of NXT which I’ll have to find a copy of and post later on. Let’s get to it.

New theme song tonight which makes me sad because I liked the other one far better. It sounded like Green Day.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP

The intros were on the preshow which I caught the last 2 minutes of. Dolph is all aggressive to start. I wonder if he’s like that when he’s in bed with Vickie. We’re told this is the first title Ziggler has ever held which isn’t true as the Spirit Squad held the tag titles. MVP sends him to the floor and here’s Nexus to jump Dolph and it’s a DQ a minute and a half in.

Only four of them here as they beat down MVP. MVP shows no fear, shouting who’s first but he gets beaten down as expected. Gabriel hits the 450 after Otunga hits his Rock Bottom/Spinebuster. And here’s Big Show who needs to just be called the Giant again. He fights them off for a bit but down he goes, out to the floor. Cue Cena’s music and here he is at a full sprint. Down he goes too but Big Show pops back in with a chair and he CRACKS Slater with it, sending Nexus running.

We get a replay of the chair shot where Striker says listen to the sound of the chair hitting Slater. Naturally it’s a silent clip. Barrett pops up on the screen and runs down the stipulations for his match vs. Cena. He says he has an announcement for the match and brings in Teddy Long who says nothing. Barrett has suggested some matches to the president of the network who is his friend for later tonight.

Teddy announces Show vs. Nexus in a handicap match and Cena vs. Kane, which has only happened one other time that I remember and it was back in 08. I’m not sure what the appeal is of having the Raw guys being the focus of the debut of Smackdown but that’s WWE for you.

Ok apparently the countdown show was merely a replay of this past week’s NXT. Less stuff for me to do.

And Cole is on commentary now. Oh great. Punk vs. Taker later.

Laycool/Alicia Fox/Maryse vs. Natalya/Bella Twins/Kelly Kelly

Oh this isn’t going to go well. More talking about Mick Foley and apparently there’s a new interview up with Foley on WWE.com. I wouldn’t have bet on that. He’s my all time favorite wrestler and he’s signing books at the bookstore I work at next Friday so I’m rather excited about that. Natalya and Maryse start us off. She goes for a Sharpshooter but it’s broken up.

It all breaks down and everyone but Maryse is on the floor. Horny’s arm pops out from under the ring and grabs Layla’s leg as I have a bad feeling about this. He chases Layla around as everyone else seems to be dead. Michelle kicks him in the head to end that idiocy. Natalya avoids the DDT from Maryse and the Sharpshooter ends it. Natalya vs. Michelle at the PPV.

Rating: N/A. The focus of the match was a damn leprechaun chasing Layla around the ring. Smackdown had been so awesome all summer but now apparently good and basic writing is evil so we need leprechauns to make this show watchable. I hate this company sometimes.

Jack Swagger’s homecoming celebration is next.

He comes out to Ross’ theme music which is the Oklahoma theme song to kind of confuse the crowd. They’re not sure if they should cheer or boo because it’s a heel. He has an eagle with him. Well at least it’s not the Gobbledy Gooker. Jack is in a robe too as the ring has a red carpet, a podium and his baseball jersey.

Swagger has a problem with everyone here and with the state of Oklahoma. He put Oklahoma on the map and didn’t get a parade and it’s not Jack Swagger Day. Where is his key to the city? The eagle is his personal mascot and the two of them have moved out of Oklahoma. They now live in Texas, drawing HUGE heat (Oklahoma vs. Texas is a legendary football rivalry if that doesn’t make sense).

He declares himself King of Oklahoma….and here’s Edge? Edge says he’s going to go on a mission of epic proportions to rid the WWE of anything stupid. Striker: SEE YA MICHAEL! The mascot is stupid apparently, pissing off Swagger. Edge is acting like a total face here. The eagle gets punched in the beak as Swagger runs away. Spear to the eagle, making Cole shout DEAD BIRD and Grisham suggesting putting barbecue sauce on it. Edge needs to be a face so this was good.

Cena vs. Kane later still with Nexus as lumberjacks of course.

More Dashing Grooming Tips. This week: avoiding sweat stains. He gives a detailed explanation of how to put on antiperspirant which comes off as great to me. He’s way into this character and it’s coming off well.

Nexus vs. Big Show

Show needs to lose the dew rag, period. The big man throws out as many guys as he can but gets caught in the corner. In a very cool idea that I’ve never seen before, Barrett wraps his legs around the neck of Show and each grabs a limb for a five man submission and Show is out cold very soon. That was really cool looking and makes perfect sense. There was no logical way Show could beat all five guys and they didn’t try to have him do so. Gabriel adds a pair of 450s but slightly messes up the second one. This was like 3 minutes total counting beatdown.

Rey is back tonight.

We recap Taker vs. Kane, including the return of Bearer last week which stupid or not, I absolutely loved as did the live crowd.

CM Punk vs. Undertaker

Time for Punk to lose again. Taker and Bearer together just feels….right. We go back and forth a bit to start as we mention the match from a few weeks ago which plays a bigger role here. The idea is to compare that match to this one where the only real difference is Bearer. While that one was a competitive match that Punk dominated, this is little more than a squash with Taker kicking out of everything and then sitting up, setting up the double finisher to end Punk without really breaking much of a sweat.

Rating: C. This was fine for what it was. The idea here being that Taker is FAR stronger than he used to be is a good one and it worked fine. Punk has no direction at this point so having him lose like this is ok I think. Nothing bad here as Punk got in some stuff but was just in over his head here.

We recap Alberto hurting Rey and Christian with a mention of the torn pectoral muscle that is going to keep Christian out for about six months apparently.

Alberto comes out but not in tights. It should be noted that his own announcer has an announcer introducing him now. He talks about how great he is and says he’s going to apologize to Rey. And here comes a dog in a mask with tape around his arm. After kissing the dog, here’s the real Rey. He immediately sets for the 619 but the announcer stops Rey. Alberto runs and the announcer gets beaten up, including a 619.

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

Yeah I’m sure this is going to be an open contest that either guy has a legitimate chance of winning. Elevated DDT is blocked very early and we head to the floor. Back in and Cody gets a modified crossface chickenwing on the mat. Orton gets back to his feet and punches his way out. The springboard kick misses, backbreaker, RKO, see ya.

Rating: N/A. Another 2 and a half minute semi-squash here. I get that Orton needs to look strong, but did it have to be over a champion? Not much to talk about here as it was more hype for the Raw match on Smackdown which is a theme for tonight it seems.

Post match, RKO to Drew but here’s Sheamus to KILL Orton with a shot to the head and the kick. He’s looking extra pale here.

Package about WWE and Make-A-Wish. Love WWE or hate it, THAT is cool. For those of you unfamiliar, Make-A-Wish is a charity for terminally ill children or children that have survived seemingly fatal illnesses and are granted one wish. A lot of them make the wish to meet a celebrity or sports star. WWE grants more wishes than any other sports organization and Cena is on track to breaking the record for most individual wishes granted. That is awesome indeed.

Kane vs. John Cena

There are in ring graphics during the entrances now, as in there will be the RKO logo for Orton or fire for Kane. Those are cool. Kane dominates to start thanks to the Nexus beatdown as we take a break. We come back to Kane having a chinlock on Cena. Cena makes his comeback and initiates his finishing sequence but the FU is blocked. Chokeslam doesn’t work and Kane hits the floor.

Nexus doesn’t go for Kane but get on the apron. Cena knocks Gabriel into Kane and the World Champion takes care of two of them. The other three go after Cena who takes them down and walks up the ramp. A gong goes off and so do the lights. Taker is behind Kane as I guess this match has been thrown out.

Rating: D. Not really a match but it was long enough to grade. This wasn’t anything of note and was just there to set up the long beatdown afterwards. Nexus played no real role here which is good I guess as we need to focus on the Smackdown guys because, you know, this is a Smackdown show and all. Nothing of a match and boring while it lasted.

Big old beatdown follows as Kane is in trouble. They fight into the crowd and just kind of walk around with the occasional punch thrown. The beating continues back towards the ring where Bearer is just kind of waiting. Kane goes for a chokeslam but Taker sees the Urn and counters, hitting one of his own. Kane bails before the Tombstone hits and Taker kneels to Bearer to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Excellent episode of Raw here with the Smackdown guys being solid guest stars. Orton vs. Sheamus and Barrett vs. Cena…..oh wait this was Smackdown wasn’t it? Let’s try this again.

Overall Rating: D. WAY too much of a focus on Raw guys here. Was there a need AT ALL for Orton to squash Cody just so Sheamus could come out and kick him in the head? Maybe they could have done that on Raw or something, as in the show that’s supposed to happen on? The longest match was what, six minutes long? This was far too much about the Raw guys and not enough about Smackdown.

Also if my math is right we have five matches scheduled for the PPV with a total of ONE being a Smackdown match. This really should have been next week so it didn’t have to build to a PPV that few care about anyway. Bad show and shows what happens when WWE pays attention to Smackdown: the quality goes WAY down.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Friday Night SmackDown! - October 1, 2010

Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP/The Nexus - I’m generally not all that wild about using title matches in this way. Ziggler and MVP were actually having a solid match, at least while it was going on. However, I think that The Nexus needed to build some heat and I suppose the first airing of SmackDown was the way to go. The Nexus ultimately beat down Ziggler, MVP, Cena & The Big Show. They looked more like The Nexus as a dominant faction than they have over the past few weeks. Wade Barrett delivered a promo on the Titan Tron in which a match was made between The Nexus and The Big Show in a handicap match. I have a bad feeling about this as it could be a good move or a bad one, depending upon how the WWE decides to go. Overall, a pretty solid start to the show though I kind of wish they would’ve done The Nexus thing after Ziggler and MVP had a match. Thumbs Up

Natalya, Kelly Kelly, & The Bella Twins vs. LayCool, Alicia Fox & Maryse - Pretty lame effort in general from the Divas here. Natalya looked crisp and smooth in the ring and was really the only saving grace of this match, but even she wasn’t enough. She did get the win by making Maryse tap a little past the 2.5 minute mark. We had Hornswoggle running around out there chasing Layla, though Michelle McCool did land a good kick on him. Way too short and way too much Hornswoggle for an 8 Diva tag match. Thumbs Down

Jack Swagger & Edge - This was alright for what it was. Swagger came out and gave a pretty solid promo, but the whole cape and crown thing just made it downright corny. I expected Kofi Kingston to be the guy in the eagle costume but Edge coming out was a nice surprise. Decent exchange between the two and a feud between Edge and Swagger could be fun. Edge said he was on a mission to get rid of anything stupid in the WWE, so he needs to run Hornswoggle over with a Mack truck and sell LayCool to a Tijuana ****ehouse as soon as possible. Edge made this bearable. Thumbs Up

The Nexus vs. The Big Show - This wasn’t really so much of a match as it was The Nexus beating Show down and that’s really what needed to happen here. I thought that they took The Big Show out in an inventive way with all 5 guys basically immobilizing Show on the mat with a guy on each arm and leg with Barrett using his legs to choke Show out. It was a logical strategy that made sense. Show lost this match and that’s what needed to take place. Gabriel delivered a couple of 450 splashes to dot the I on this, he messed up a little on the second but Show was further out in the ring than Gabriel was used to. The Nexus needed to look good here and it happened. Thumbs Up

The Undertaker vs. CM Punk - Seeing Paul Bearer come down to the ring with Taker and carrying the urn was great for me. It’s been so long since we’ve seen that and I admit that I marked out a little. The match in and of itself was solid and good for what it was, which was primarily a showcase match for The Undertaker. Taker did look smooth and crisp against Punk tonight and sold the aspect of him being “rejuvenated” thanks to the presence of the urn came across well. Taker gets the win via the Tombstone at the 5 minute mark. They’ve had much better matches but, as I said, this was a showcase match designed to make Taker look strong for his match against Kane at HIAC so this worked out pretty good. Thumbs Up

Alberto Del Rio - I thought that Del Rio gave a great promo tonight. I’m really starting to like this guy and he just seems so natural and smooth with the character he’s playing. Bringing a Chihuahua out in a mini Rey Mysterio mask with one if it’s legs taped was a good little chuckle and Del Rio’s put downs of Rey worked well. I like the idea of a heel calling someone a peasant. I mean peasant is a word you don’t hear used often and you certainly don’t hear it used as an insult anymore. Rey came out to a big pop and Del Rio managed to get away while Rey kicked the crap outta Del Rio’s ring announcer. I would have liked a match between these two, but I’ve got no problem waiting for it really. Tonight built that eventual match up well and there should be some high quality matches involved in this feud. Thumbs Up

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes - All the WWE accomplished here was making both Rhodes & McIntyre look like a couple of scrubs. Orton gets the win over Cody Rhodes with the RKO in about 2.5 minutes and then lays Drew McIntyre out. Just a shame and a waste of time here. If the WWE wanted to make the WWE Tag Team Champions look like a couple of weak *****es, mission accomplished guys. Sheamus coming in and laying out Orton was nice, his hand taped symbolically with red tape in reference to that Irish folk tale he told on Monday works for me. Still, there were much better ways go to about making Orton look good than demolishing the tag champions. Thumbs Down

Kane vs. John Cena - This match was solid, what there was of it really. Kane controlled most of the match with Cena getting in his usual offense. The Nexus interfered and ultimately wound up with Cena & Kane fighting them off. Taker appears in the ring and he and Kane have a nice little brawl that ranges across the arena for about 5 minutes or so. Taker gains momentum heading into HIAC by hitting Kane with a chokeslam and Kane taking a powder. This was a solid final push for The Nexus/Cena angle and for the HIAC World Heavyweight Championship match. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I’m pretty disappointed in tonight’s show. I had some high expectations here and they were pretty well dashed I have to say. Overall, this was the weakest episode of this show in quite a while. In all honesty, it felt more like a bad episode of Raw than anything else. The show in and of itself seemed to take a backseat to Raw as it felt like that Raw pretty much invaded SmackDown!. The wrestling content on the show tonight was pretty weak, the weakest probably I’ve seen on the show all year and that’s a shame because it usually has quality wrestling. The Nexus was able to gain some heat and the Raw HIAC matches got some good hype in general. I hope that this isn’t a new format that we’re going to be seeing for the show because it’d be a real shame.D+

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Dolph Ziggler VS MVP- Intercontinental Championship

This was cut short by Nexus interference, but it seems as if MVP is headed for a feud with Dolph Ziggler. The match they had on last week's show was pretty solid, and maybe we'll see the rematch added to the Hell In A Cell card.

Big Show comes out for the save. He tries to fight Nexus off, but the numbers game catches up with him. Cena's music hits, and he rushes to the ring. Cena doesn't last long, but Show is able to chase the four members of Nexus off with a chair. Wade Barrett comes on the titantron. Barrett talks about being friends with one of the higher ups at SyFy. Long announces Nexus VS Show, and Cena VS Kane in a Nexus lumberjack match for later.

Michael Cole joins the commentary team.

LayCool, Maryse, & Alicia Fox VS Natalya, Kelly Kelly, & The Bella Twins

This was just one big mess. Hornswoggle chased Layla around the ring, but luckily Michelle McCool hit him with a superkick. It was so awesome. I laughed very hard at that moment. I really don't like Hornswoggle. Natalya made Maryse tap out to the Sharpshooter for the win. LayCool was terified, as they watched the #1 contender for their title stand in the ring without fear. Hornswoggle probably received the loudest pop here. Again, this was just sad. But what else can you expect from these clusterfuck style Diva tag team matches?

Jack Swagger's Homecoming Celebration

Swagger returned to Oklahoma tonight. He crowned himself king, as his eagle mascot stood by his side. He turned on the home crowd by praising Texas. This was an easy way to get tons of heat. Edge interrupts. He mocks Swagger's lisp. He takes out the mascot with a hard punch, and then he puts the icing on the cake with a spear. How many times have we seen Swagger celebrate his accomplishments? This has been done a lot, and Edge saved this segment if you ask me.

Nexus talks strategy in the locker room.

Cody Rhodes tells us how to prevent armpit stains.

Nexus VS Big Show

Show tried to put up a fight here, but it just wasn't enough. Every member of Nexus managed to get Show in a submission hold, which looked great. Show passes out from the pain, and he gets hit with a pair of 450 splashes from Justin Gabriel. This was just another way to show Nexus' dominance.

Undertaker VS Kane promo for Hell In A Cell is shown.

CM Punk VS The Undertaker

Paul Bearer and the urn accompanied Taker to the ring. I knew Punk was going to lose, but this was still a nice match. Taker's speed was very impressive here, and he was hitting every move with so much precision. Although, I'm still not too excited about the Hell In A Cell match.

Rey Mysterio Returns

Alberto Del Rio cuts a promo. He runs down Mysterio again, and he mocks him by bringing out this small dog wearing a mask. Mysterio comes out to confront Del Rio. He goes for a 619, but Del Rio's ring announcer gets in his way. Since Rey couldn't get to Del Rio, he decided to take his frustrations out on Del Rio's ring announcer by giving him a 619. Del Rio had an impressive debut against Mysterio, and I'm anxious to see how this feud will unfold.

Randy Orton VS Cody Rhodes With Drew McIntyre

Nothing special happened here. Orton needed to look strong for Hell In A Cell, and Cody Rhodes was just fed to him like a piece of meat. After the match, Drew goes for the future shock DDT, but Orton counters it into the RKO. Sheamus comes out of no where. He takes down Orton, and then he puts him away with the Brogue Kick.

Make-A-Wish Foundation highlights are shown.

Kane VS John Cena-Lumberjack Match

You just knew Nexus was going to get involved at some point. The match here wasn't terrible at all, but this was just another way to build some more hype for the Hell In A Cell PPV.

After the match ends, Cena runs to the entrance ramp, and then the lights go out. Undertaker appears in the ring and he attacks Kane. They fight goes into the crowd, but Kane starts to get the upper hand once they get back in the ring. I have no idea where Paul Bearer came from, but he's standing there with that creepy look on his face, as he holds the urn up high. Undertaker fights off a Kane choke slam. He delivers one of his own, but Kane runs away before Taker can hit the Tombstone.

This was Smackdown's premiere episode on SyFy, so you just knew they were going to fire the big guns for this show. This episode felt like a big event, and the show itself was pretty okay. Although, the Raw roster was given a good amount of time tonight. Wasn't this supposed to be Smackdown's night? Anyway, WWE made sure to hype all of the big matches for Hell In A Cell, but I'm still not too excited about that PPV. The only match I'm looking forward to is Cena VS Barrett. Still, this was an okay debut episode on the SyFy network.

 

[Miss Flawless]

Overall Rating: D. WAY too much of a focus on Raw guys here. Was there a need AT ALL for Orton to squash Cody just so Sheamus could come out and kick him in the head? Maybe they could have done that on Raw or something, as in the show that’s supposed to happen on? The longest match was what, six minutes long? This was far too much about the Raw guys and not enough about Smackdown.

Also if my math is right we have five matches scheduled for the PPV with a total of ONE being a Smackdown match. This really should have been next week so it didn’t have to build to a PPV that few care about anyway. Bad show and shows what happens when WWE pays attention to Smackdown: the quality goes WAY down.

I agree. But, I think they needed to focus on RAW superstars, just because of WWE's problem with PPV's. Was there really a need to have Hell in a Cell two weeks after NoC? No. RAW basically ruined the SD! debut. It's nice to see that they tried to build up the feuds more, but they should do it on RAW. They didn't have enough time to do that though. Here's a solution WWE creatives, DON'T HAVE A PPV TWO WEEKS AFTER ANOTHER PPV.

It seemed like there was more time for all the RAW superstars, than SD! Not even, they were so busy trying to build up for the PPV, they didn't try to give anybody on SD! enough mic time. Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio were the only people who actually had a story going on for SD! Jack had the help of Edge. Who is still doing nothing, but came out with a SD! graphic...which is interesting.

Over all this is a B show for RAW, and a D+ show for SD!

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Not gonna lie. I thought the show needed more Wade Barrett. Yes, I realize that pretty much half the show was focused on Wade Barrett, but I wanted more.

Ziggles vs MVP
Was any really upset when Nexus stopped the match? Just sayin'. The Big Show and Cena run in's were what they were. I lol'd at the replay no selling Matt Striker. I loved the visual of Wade Barrett staring down at Teddy Long like he was in a prison movie or something. haha

Divas Whatever
The only thing that got a reaction in this match was Hornswoggle chasing Layla. So, naturally Michelle had to kill the heat.

Swaggie and Edgie
I am caring because?

Nexus vs Big Show
I've grown to really like the Nexus theme song.. I dunno. lol Any who, the match was what it was. Otunga is terrible. He was tripping all over everyone and just looked completely lost. How do you look lost just punching someone? The ending was just funny to me. I would've prefered Wade to have finished Big Show himself like with a corner powerbomb spot. haha

I think something big is in store for Justin Gabriel. It was the first time he questioned something Wade told him to do. Plus, he dyed his hair back to black. When he was face, his hair was black. Interesting.. haha I can live with him semi-botching the second 450. His abs were hurting and that could easily play into it.

Taker squash
I smile when some unfavorable booking happens to CM Punk. I love the way the internet reacts to it. It just cracks me up, it really does.

Alberto Del Rio and Mysterio Returns
Eh. I don't get the deal about Del Rio and I've never been a Mysterio fan. Next.

Make-a-Wish Highlight Video
Anyone who think Cena turning heel would be a good business move.. Well, this video proved that these said people are idiots.

Kane vs Cena with Barrett and goons
The match was it what it. I loved the focus on Wade. I also liked the way Wade charged at Kane only to hit the brakes like he seen a ghost. Wade and Gabriel really got nailed by nail. Didn't care for the aftermath.

 

[Tired0FthePeople]

OK what in the WORLD is WWE doing with Danielson?? Why would you have your US champion who's fresh off a title retaining match at last nights PPV standing in the ring after a commercial only to get destroyed by Shaemus? I not one to say what does and doesnt make sense but...I really dont get that. That would have had anyone in the back be Shaemus's victim in that spot. Why Danielson? Does anyone see a good reason at all for this?

 

[The Doctor]

Overall I loved tonight's RAW. The Cena/Nexus storyline is already shaping up to be amazing, Goldust actually has a storyline over a belt, the promos and segments were all great fun, and as someone who prefers storylines to matches, this was just an awesome show for me since all these storylines were pushed and pushed well.

The only dark spot on the whole show was having Sheamus kill Bryan. Yes, I'm a Bryan mark, but come on... The man had just had a successful title defense the night before. He should at least have gotten an entrance or had a promo. Even a decent match against a random jobber would have been fine! Unless this somehow leads to a Sheamus/Bryan feud, I will consider this to be the only bad part on an otherwise excellent RAW. Really, after that happened all the good feelings I had about the RAW really lessened slightly.

Luckily, the excellent battle royal at the end brought me back to happy-land. The drama between Cena and Barrett was insane! When Cena actually eliminated himself, the emotion was palpable and it was just...Man, I can't describe it. Words fail me. It was just a great, great moment.

A

 

[WCWMondayNitroOnYT]

Luckily, the excellent battle royal at the end brought me back to happy-land. The drama between Cena and Barrett was insane! When Cena actually eliminated himself, the emotion was palpable and it was just...Man, I can't describe it. Words fail me. It was just a great, great moment.

A

The end of the battle royal reminded me way too much of HBK laying down to JBL for me. It seems like this all has been done before and just another recycled storyline. Hopefully they'll throw more wrinkles in it than an eventual Barrett/Cena match for Cena's "freedom."

 

[Balls_of_Jericho]

OK what in the WORLD is WWE doing with Danielson?? Why would you have your US champion who's fresh off a title retaining match at last nights PPV standing in the ring after a commercial only to get destroyed by Shaemus? I not one to say what does and doesnt make sense but...I really dont get that. That would have had anyone in the back be Shaemus's victim in that spot. Why Danielson? Does anyone see a good reason at all for this?

Maybe he picked up an injury and this was a way of getting him off tv for a while??

Anyway, just wanted to say that last night was the best RAW i've seen in a long time. Emotion, uncertainty, tension, Goldust, great stories. It even had 2, yes TWO diva's matches and goddammit, I didn't care! Great episode.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 4, 2010
Location: Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler
Guest Star: Johnny Knoxville

So it’s the night after Hell in a Cell and obviously the big story is that Cena is now a part of the Nexus. Other than that I’m not sure what to expect other than the beginning of the build to Bragging Rights. Again I slept through the show so this is the next morning and I know some of the results already. Let’s get to it.

Nexus opens the show with only five coming out, as in no mystery guys (confirmed to be McGillicutty and Harris) and no Cena but I can understand that. Barrett confirms that the two men were the aforementioned pair but he had NOTHING to do with this (in a serious tone, not a tongue in cheek one) and that they’re not a part of Nexus.

Barrett gets on the other four, namely Otunga, for coming down and almost getting him disqualified. But that’s not important right now, because we have a new member of the Nexus. Here comes Cena in his own gear with no music. He doesn’t do anything but just walks to the ring.

After a brief speech from Barrett, Tarver talks down to him and presents him with his armband. He takes his own off and reluctantly puts the Nexus one on. Slater says the rest of the team will be there for him and presents him with an official statement to read to the public. All choked up he reads a proclamation that says he’s officially part of the Nexus and that he’s an enemy of all of their enemies. His acting is awesome here.

Barrett says that it’s going to get easier every week which is a great line. Tonight he has his first match, which will be a tag match against Bourne and Henry. He even gets to pick his own partner and he selects Tarver. Apparently the match is right now!

Evan Bourne/Mark Henry vs. John Cena/Michael Tarver

Bourne and Cena start us off and they shake hands. Bourne is skeptical about it, I guess because the months and months of Cena being a good guy, the helping Bourne and losing last night via cheating in a match Bourne tried to even the odds in and the proclamation that Cena read so begrudgingly, Bourne isn’t quite sure if Cena can be trusted. Cena tags out almost immediately and Tarver takes over as we go to a break.

Back with Henry beating on Tarver. Does someone want to explain to me why Bourne and Henry are a team again other than they both wear red? Tarver tries to make a tag but Cena keeps pulling his arm back. Every time I see that weightlifter on Henry’s tights I think it’s a pair of testicles with a penis hanging down from them. Tarver finally breaks Bourne’s momentum and goes to tag Cena but Cena drops to the floor and pulls out a Sharpie to sign some autographs. World’s Strongest Slam ends Tarver.

Rating: C. Going with average here because this wasn’t about the match whatsoever obviously. This is a nice introduction to the story that they’re going with here and it seems to be intriguing. I could see a few possible endings to this with the main one being Cena keeps rebelling until one day he joins willingly and turns full heel but I doubt it. Either way it’s something for him to do which doesn’t involve the title so all is fine there. The C grade isn’t indicative of the wrestling here but rather that the wrestling wasn’t the point here.

Cena makes a statement of his own after the match, saying he’s going to destroy Nexus from within and hits Tarver in the head with the mic. Tonight he proves you can be Nexus and against us. He beats Tarver us badly with two slams on the steps and a chop block to set up the STFU. We get an E-Mail (with the added touch of Cole having a screen in front of him and actually pausing to read something first) saying Cena has to listen to Barrett and do as he says or he’ll be fired. So the GM now has powers over stables now?

Cena walks off very sadly. This whole opening segment/segments took over half an hour which felt like about 10 minutes.

Natalya vs. Alicia Fox

Both were in the ring when we came back. Natalya catches a cross body from the middle rope in a nice display of power. Discus lariat sets up the Sharpshooter and this is done in 20 seconds. This might be the most pointless segment in Raw history and that covers a lot.

Edge will apologize tonight.

Johnny Knoxville is up next.

We were literally not on the air for two minutes between commercials and had a match and two announcements. Now THAT is speedy programming.

Knoxville is in the back and talking to Melina and Gail before being interrupted by Ryder. Bad comedy results in Ryder being knocked down.

Josh tries to talk to Cena and doesn’t know what he’s going to do. He has to be in the WWE. Someone pops up in the hallway behind him and Cena SPRINTS after him but runs into the Nexus locker room. Ah apparently he was chasing McGillicutty. He and Harris were in the room with Nexus.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

The name plate on the US Title is broken and hanging off the belt by one of the two screws. Sheamus shoves him into the corner and kicks the hell out of him. He sure looks like he’s in great shape after being in the HORRORS of the Cell last night. A bunch of knees to the back of the head and Bryan is out and the match is stopped in about 20 seconds again. Well great to see the split between the main event guys and the midcard guys there. I like Sheamus and don’t like Bryan but dude, was there any kind of a need to destroy the US Champion like that?

Edge is coming to the ring.

Cole has his podium in the ring and has to use some steps to get above it. We recap Edge vs. Cena last week and Edge getting screwed out of a win that he didn’t earn. I really didn’t think this was such as bad a segment as everyone else seemed to think it was. The GM wants Edge to apologize and then there will be an announcement about the WWE Championship.

Edge comes out to a big old pop. He talks about how he’s trying to get rid of everything stupid, including the computer and Michael Cole. Edge mentions having an attitude which is a nice flashback. We get an E-Mail and I wish Edge would just spear him. There will be a battle royal to determine the number one contender. Edge won’t be in it though, as he has been TRADED to Smackdown. This is good actually as it unclogs the main event scene on Raw which is overcrowded at the moment. Also Smackdown is DYING for faces at this point so Edge is a welcome addition there.

Edge threatens to spear Cole off the podium and cue Miz who is ROCKING a suit. Cole stumbles off the podium which is rather funny. Riley is out there too and Edge towering over both of them is funny. Edge runs through the reasons why Miz is an Edge wannabe which is frighteningly accurate. We get some gay jokes as I think it’s official that Edge is a face now. I’m going to refer to him as one if nothing else from this point on. Brawl of course erupts. Riley takes the spear but Miz gets the Skull Crushing Finale on Edge. Could be a solid feud there.

We go to the back where Barrett is lecturing Cena more. Otunga slips up and implies that someone other than Barrett could win the match tonight.

Bella Twins vs. Laycool

Laycool are miked up here so you can hear every word they say. Damn Michelle can look awesome at times. The Bellas look good in blue. Michelle starts but it’s not like it matters which she’s against. They’re on mics throughout the match so they have live commentary the whole time. One of the Bellas hits an X Factor for two as Layla breaks it up with a boot shouting GET OFF MY FRIEND! The Bellas switch and the Bella rolls her up for the pin. Another 40 second match means no rating. This was interesting if nothing else.

Maryse is talking to Knoxville in the back about the messages she and DiBiase have been getting. DiBiase thinks Johnny has been sending the letters. Bad comedy leads to Ted getting knocked down. Same With Maryse. Yeah this is stupid. It’s supposed to be a Jackass stunt or something.

We come back from a break to see a clip of Jackass and Johnny comes to the ring to say hi and go see his new movie. He tries to bail but here come DiBiase and Maryse to his new horrible music. Bad jokes lead to a slap and the Dream to Knoxville.

While they’re still in the ring a video pops up saying YOU ARE MINE and behind him is Goldust, who hits the Final Cut. Goldust says he doesn’t want Ted or Maryse. Instead he wants the Million Dollar Belt. Somehow this is an upgrade for DiBiase as he’s been doing nothing for so long. At least he’ll get some decent matches.

Battle Royal up next.

Make-A-Wish video which is cool.

We recap the Cena angle from earlier tonight. In the back Cena is sitting in a chair and Otunga sits next to him. He says that they can make this work and that if Cena needs to talk he’s there. This came off as serious and genuine which could be an interesting sign.

Jericho’s injury angle is shown as an explanation for why he’s not in the next match.

Battle Royal

I’m not going to list all 20 people in this. More or less think of most guys on Raw other than Edge, Jericho and Orton (hasn’t been on the show tonight) and they’re in this. So far it’s Morrison, Truth, Santino, Kozlov and Sheamus but we get Cena’s theme music. Instead it cuts off and we get the Nexus theme. That makes it 11 members as all six members come out for this. The others are introduced during the break.

Back and also in this appears to be Bourne, Young, the Hart Dynasty, Henry, Primo, Ryder, DiBiase and Regal. Ok so apparently I did list them all. Ok wait Miz is in there too. Isn’t that 21? Ah ok there’s no Tarver due to the injury angle from earlier. That makes sense. Bourne is put out almost immediately and we start with a standoff. Smith is out as Sheamus has put them both out so far.

Cena puts out Regal as they’re flying out so far. Miz gets rid of Santino and Henry dumps Ryder. There isn’t much going on here as it’s just random eliminations. Miz goes at it with Sheamus in an interesting battle as Henry throws out Primor. Cena eyes Henry but doesn’t go after him yet. Henry goes after Barrett and Cena makes the save but doesn’t jump Henry. Henry, the Rhodes Scholar that he is doesn’t get it until Nexus throws him out, without Cena’s help.

They get on him and Cena throws out Otunga. Cena shouts I’M HELPING YOU which is true as Otunga was one of the guys in the way of Barrett winning. They argue as we go to a break. Back and there appears to be ten left: Four Nexus, Sheamus, Morrison, Truth, DiBiase, Miz and someone that I’m missing. During the break Kozlov and Young were put out. Oh Tyson Kidd is the tenth guy.

Cena keeps running interference for Barrett. We slow down a bit as the jobbers are mostly gone. Morrison puts out Slater and goes after Barrett for a bit. Truth and Morrison try to put him out but Cena is on the top rope. He gets out and makes the save with some weak forearms to the faces. Morrison gets a springboard kick to put Kidd out. Eight left now: Cena, Barrett, Truth, Gabriel, Miz, Morrison, DiBiase and Sheamus. Morrison gets a SWEET springboard leverage move (imagine he gets a springboard from the outside and jumped forward to get his legs under the other guy’s arms like he’s being put in a Boston Crab but swings backwards to launch them out. It looked awesome) to put out Miz.

Barrett and Sheamus go at it and Cena makes the save. Truth kicks Gabriel out to get us down to six. DiBiase backdrops Truth out to get us to the final five. Barrett dumps DiBiase to get us to the two Nexus guys and Morrison and Sheamus in a weird handicap triple thread. Sheamus vs. Cena and Morrison vs. Barrett, the latter of which is rather interesting sounding. Barrett gets Morrison to the apron but Morrison kicks him so hard he loses his grip to get us down to the final three.

After a brief exchange Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick and Cena pushes him out, getting us down to the final two of Cena and Sheamus. They have a long standoff and Cena drops to the floor to eliminate himself and make Barrett the number one contender. Orton comes down for the big standoff and I like what I’m seeing here.

Rating: B. Battle royals are hard to grade but this was a good one. There was a running story throughout it and that played out rather well I thought. Cena and the Nexus is going to be part of a long running storyline and this part of it was a very good opening to the whole thing. I liked this more than I thought I would as battle royals aren’t something that I get into other than the big one in January. That being said this was good.

Overall Rating: B. This was a different kind of show and I really liked it. There was an old school Nitro kind of feel to it as we had one major angle and everything else was just going on around it. There’s nothing wrong with that either as things got going very well tonight and it lays a lot of groundwork for the future shows. This worked very well I thought and makes me want to see more of the angle which is the entire idea here. Solid show indeed and everything clicked on it. Well done.

 

[The Raven's Epitaph]

Perfect analysis there, KB. You always serve up an immaculate review.

Personally, I thought this Raw was great aswell. It centered the main Cena-Nexus angle around the whole show, with minor stories in-between which is a good thing. I don't like seeing an entire 2 hour episode based around one single story, it's good to have more than one thing going on to keep people interested.

Johnny Knoxville as the guest host was, as expected, meaningless. He's basically just appeared to crack out some Tom and Jerry style comedy and advertise his new movie. Clever move by the Jackass himself.

I was interested in seeing what Edge had to say this week. I knew he wouldn't apologise to anybody for what he did, which is typical Edge. I like it. So what if it cost him a match for the WWE Championship? He's on Smackdown now, and records would show that face or heel, he performs better on Smackdown. Not to mention the fact that Smackdown, like you said, are dying for faces right now. I liked the confrontation between Edge and The Miz. It was a verbal insults session if nothing else and I enjoyed it. Edge showed Miz who's boss and put the facts down straight. Edge was there whilst Miz was in high school popping zits. Crude joke, but's that Edge. Lewd, Crude and Tattooed. Alex Riley and Michael Cole were there to backup Miz as usual, nothing new here though.

The whole Nexus area of this episode was interesting. It pains me to say that no matter how badly I wanted Cena to be apart of the Nexus, I'm actually confused now. I don't know whether I like Cena in the Nexus or not. They treat him like dirt and use him for their own manipulative schemes, which is typical Nexus, but seeing John Cena without his usual exploding personality is something I already miss. Nevertheless, my opinion aside, Nexus are performing extremely well and Barrett has already bagged himself another WWE Championship match at Bragging Rights. With help from Cena of course.

The Battle Royal itself was incredibly predictable from the get-go, but I wasn't dissapointed. I was thoroughly entertained through the match and the entire show. Usual Battle Royal situation. The jobbers are eliminated first, leading up to the final few. Those being John Cena, Wade Barrett and Sheamus. I knew it was going to come down to Cena and Barrett in the end anyway. Seeing Cena in such a vulnerable state is actually quite shocking, if that's the right word. It's not the Cena we've ever seen before. Since his debut match against Kurt Angle up until Hell in a Cell, Cena's always been one to defend himself at any cost; even against legends like The Undertaker. Thus Cena angrily and dissapointingly eliminates himself from the Battle Royal without say in the matter. The term now is 'You're either Nexus, or you're fired.' in Cena's case.

Overall, I'd give this show a 7/10. It was a good Raw and I was entertained throughout, despite having literally around 14-15 commercials. Typical Sky Sports. I'm anxious to see Edge this Friday on Smackdown, and I'm anticipating Bragging Rights now. All is good in the WWE right now.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

If you think the Cena vs Barrett storyline is stupid, a waste of time, etc.. You need to stop watching Raw. Not because it is the focal point of the show, but because this is like the quintessential wrestling storyline. Cena was perfect last night and Barrett is a great asshole. This is like Dusty Rhodes having to work for the Four Horsemen stuff. Awesome. Simply awesome.

This storyline has really made me glad they went back to PG. I was glad before, but now I will defend PG to the bitter end. (haha) The crowd completely brought the Cena/Barrett stuff. "Don't give up" as a chant? I'll take twenty.

The only match that matter last night was the battle royal:

- John Morrison is a fucking moron and sucks. I don't care what anyone else thinks.

- I was surprised how loud the reaction was to Gabriel being tossed out. Odd considering he did nothing but look cute all night. haha

- Cena and Barrett have incredible chemistry.

- HAHA Orton didn't exist on the show until the last minute or so.

This whole opening segment/segments took over half an hour which felt like about 10 minutes.

Which is proof that the angle is a success. We've seen Diva matches that were a minute and felt like it was 30 minutes. i.e. Bellas defeating LayCool tonight. Who the fuck thought of giving them a microphone in their matches? And why wasn't this person bitched slap when s/he purposed that?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Monday Night Raw - October 4, 2010

First Half Hour - The first 30 minutes or so of Raw last night all kind of blended together revolving around John Cena’s official joining of Nexus. I think that the WWE did a really good job in making it feel like Cena joining Nexus was a big deal and some big event that set Raw on its ear. It also generated great heat for Nexus. The tag match between Cena & Taver vs. Mark Henry & Evan Bourne was interesting because, like everyone else, I was curious to see exactly what Cena was going to do. Cena didn’t see action during the match but refusing the tag and even dropping down to sign autographs added a lot of tension and Tarver actually showed a lotta heart in the match. Bourne & Henry ultimately get the win by pinning Tarver around the 10 minute mark. Cena getting on the mic and saying that he was going to destroy Nexus from the inside was a letdown for me as he started to beat the shit outta Tarver. However, the Raw GM’s announcement set things right and put things back on track. It was a great tease and I was relieved to hear that Cena was basically going to have to tow the line or be fired. Cena looked as dejected as a lost puppy and the crowd reaction during the first half hour was great, the WWE couldn’t have asked for more. There are so many different directions this angle could ultimately go that I’m genuinely intrigued to see what’s going to play out over the next several weeks. Thumbs Up

Natalya vs. Alicia Fox - I didn’t even see most of this match. It was literally that short. I was standing in the doorway of the kitchen when Raw came back on the air, I turned and walked 5 steps to the fridge and got a Pepsi, I came back to the doorway and the match was over. What the hell? I‘m happy that they‘re pushing Natalya, but it pissed me off. Man can‘t even go get himself a caffeine fix during a Divas match now without it being over before he can pop the top. Thumbs Down

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan - I honestly didn’t see the point of this. The locker room is full of guys that the WWE could use to make Sheamus look like a monster, so why use the United States Champion as fodder for Sheamus’ wrath after Bryan wins the two overall biggest matches of his career over a 2 week stretch? Bryan wins by DQ but I think it just ultimately made Bryan look weak. I hope something happens later in the night or at least over the coming weeks to put things right. Thumbs Down

Edge & Michael Cole - I loved this segment with Cole & Edge. Cole comes across as such a genuine tool and douche bag that I just loved watching and listening to the guy. He has such a sycophantic aura about himself during this segment. Edge’s work on the mic was great and got big pops from the crowd. His crusade against stupidity seems to be working thus far and I know the IWC got a kick out of it as Edge’s comments towards Cole mirror what I’ve read posted about Cole dozens of times. Edge refused to apologize, as expected, and it resulted in him being traded to SmackDown!. This is what needed to happen and I’m glad that this is the end of the Edge/GM feud. You can’t keep a feud with a laptop interesting over a prolonged period of time and I’m glad they ended it before it got stale. The Miz came out and defended Cole, calling him a visionary, and there was some good back and forth between Edge, Riley & The Miz. Riley catches a spear and Edge gets hit with the Skull Crushing Finale. There hasn’t been much in the way of in-ring action on this Raw. It’s been quite talk heavy, but the promo segments have been very high quality. Thumbs Up

LayCool vs. The Bella Twins - This was just beyond awful. LayCool wrestling while having headsets and mics on is just pure torture. You can hear all the mindless chatter and the annoying squeals and screams. It only lasted about 60 seconds, it was a painful minute, but it was short. Still, having LayCool do this is something I hope they don’t make a habit of. Thuuumbs Down

Goldust - I was a little surprised to see that the “I want you” angle culminated with Goldust wanting the Million Dollar Championship. The stuff with Johnny Knoxville backstage was weak but I like that DiBiase took him out in the ring with the Million Dollar Dream. Goldust was crawling around on the ring and was basically doing his creepy bit and that’s something we really haven’t seen in a while. I can understand if someone dislikes this, but I like Goldust. It’s nice to see him get tv time on Raw and a feud with DiBiase over the MDC could yield some fun matches. Thumbs Up

20 Man Battle Royal - This battle royal was to determine who would face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at Bragging Rights. Cena is told earlier in the night that his orders are to protect Wade Barrett and do whatever he can to ensure that Barrett wins the match. Pretty standard fair for a battle royal with a few eliminations early. Cena played the bodyguard well throughout the match, though he lost his cool when Otunga got in his face and eliminated him. John Morrison looked very strong in the match as did The Miz and Sheamus. I was hoping that Daniel Bryan would come down and cause Sheamus to be eliminated but it didn’t happen. Hopefully, they’ll address the situation with those two next week. It ultimately came down to Cena & Barrett and there was great tension in the ring. The crowd was really into all the stuff with Cena & Barrett, and Nexus in general throughout the night. Cena made a great show of not knowing what he should do but eventually eliminated himself making Barrett the #1 contender. Randy Orton came out afterward and had a stare down in the ring with Barrett. I’m glad that they didn’t have Orton RKO Barrett and just stand over him holding the title or something. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Last night’s Raw was a very different show. There wasn’t all that much in-ring action except the tag match and the battle royal, though those two matches did equal a little over 30 minutes combined. Raw was talk heavy last night but the promo segments were very strong. The Nexus gained tremendous heat last night and the situation with Cena was and is intriguing. The WWE did a great job making this seem important and being the overall centerpiece of the show last night. There’s still a chance that they can screw this up, but there are a lot of options open to them as to which direction this will go. As we know, there’s been a lot of talk about turning Cena heel and it could possibly happen. How and when it could happen is completely open. Or, maybe Cena will still find a way to dismantle Nexus from the inside, maybe he’ll replace Barrett as leader eventually, etc. The stuff with Edge, Cole & The Miz was cool and Edge being traded to SmackDown! Worked nicely as it ends things with the Raw GM & Edge. The battle royal was a good way to end the show and continued the situation with Cena and Nexus. There were some lame moments on Raw last night and I do wish there’d been some more wrestling, but I thought the show was entertaining overall. It had a different feel about it and I’m anxious to see what they do next week, particularly when it comes to Cena & Nexus. There was a lot of drama, excitement and the crowd was emotionally invested in a lot of what went on last night and last night's show potentially laid the groundwork for a lot of shows in the future. B+

 

[FightOwensFight]

I have seen a couple people comment on the Sheamus/Bryan match and how using the US Champion was not needed.

I actually think it worked. If you really think about it, once one of the monster-type wrestlers get a smaller wrestler cornered or in the ropes they would be able to destroy them, which is why you have the break at 5 or when reaching the ropes. What happened last night is exactly what would happen if a monster like Sheamus got that initial "stunning blow" and didn't break the assault when ordered at the count.

I see how people think it made Bryan look weak, but I think it just showed Bryan getting caught off-guard, getting overwhelmed by the initial assault, and showed Sheamus as an out-of control monster, like he was when he first debuted.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The ratings for last night's episode of Raw are in and it's an encouraging sign for the WWE. Raw scored a 3.31 Nielsen Rating last night with a 3.26 from hour 1 and a 3.39 for hour with an average audience of roughly 4.8 million people. It's a big jump compared to the 2.8 and 2.7 Raw has done for the past few weeks and Raw added almost a million viewers this week compared to the past 2 weeks.

These numbers are in the ballpark as what Raw has been pulling throughout most of this summer. They're certainly not record breaking or anything to that degree but they're good solid numbers comparatively speaking and are loads better than what the show has pulled the past few weeks. The follow up with Cena & Nexus is going to be important to keep people interested.

 

[MUFC619]

Good show I'd give it an 7/10
Best parts by far were the Cena/Nexus angle and the Miz/Edge confrontation. Miz for WWE champ. The guy draws heat easily,great in ring and mic skills,just ditch Riley,can't stand him.
Worst Parts-The 2 minutes of Diva's "action". Laycool with mics?? not for me but it may have amused some people. Also Orton didn't wrestle. Would have liked to see him.

Overall- Not to shabby WWE. beats watching football

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Friday Night SmackDown! - October 8, 2010

Edge vs. Jack Swagger - The show started off tonight with Teddy Long introducing Edge as the newest star to SmackDown!. Swagger came out with his soaring eagle and talked a bit before they got down to business. This was a good, strong back and forth match between Edge & Swagger to kick the show off with. Edge eventually taking out the Swagger Soaring Eagle was a nice touch. It was a good paced match in which both guys looked strong. Edge seemed to be more energetic to me than I’ve seen him in a while. Maybe it’s just me, but he seemed to really put forth more effort here. Edge eventually lands the spear on Swagger about the 10 minute 20 second mark to win the match. I’m a little surprised they had this match so soon, but it was a strong match to start the show. Thumbs Up

Dashing Cody Rhodes Grooming Tips - In all honesty, these little vinyettes work for me because Cody Rhodes seems very natural in this role and comfortable. The tip this week was on brushing your teeth. Of course it seems to be a little stupid, but that’s what makes Rhodes a good heel in this character. He’s showing something that everyone already knows how to do, something very common and mundane. But, because he’s who he is, he thinks only he can instruct the less attractive how to do it properly. Thumbs Up

Layla vs. Kelly Kelly - As far as Diva matches goes, this honestly wasn’t bad. It was short at about 2.5 minutes but it was a good match for what it was. LayCool wasn’t on microphones, which is a big plus for me. Kelly Kelly actually looked pretty coordinated tonight and wasn’t botching everything in sight. Truth is, she didn’t screw up once that I could see. Layla looked ok in the ring and got the win via neck breaker. As usual, this wasn’t some classic, but it was a decent women’s match that’s far and away above what’s usually shown on Raw or SmackDown!. Thumbs Up

Big Show, Hornswoggle & The Dudebusters - I wasn’t all that wild about this segment, but it wasn’t ANYWHERE near as bad as I thought it might be. I have to admit that I kind of like The Big Show’s new energetic side. He’s done the whole big brooding, one dimensional big man for so long that it’s refreshing to see what’s probably a little more of who he is. Hornswoggle came out there, which would’ve been an automatic fail under most circumstances, but he didn’t do anything except look stupid really. Big Show mentioned his movie and that he’s going to be the team captain at Bragging Rights for SmackDown!. The Dudebusters then came out, wanted on the team and all, Big Show said he didn’t know who they were. They were wearing shirts with the logo for SmackDown! That they ripped off soon afterward showing Raw shirts. Show double chokeslams them and leaves ‘em laying. It really wasn’t a bad segment, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I’m not really buying into the brand rivalry for Bragging Rights yet. Thumbs Down

Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston & Kaval - This was a short 3 minute match but it was good while it lasted. All four of the guys looked good, especially Kaval and he got himself a good reaction from the crowd. He looked crisp and fluid in the ring and hit some fun offense. Cody ultimately hits Cross Rhodes for the win. I could give this a Thumbs Down but I actually kind of liked this match and it’s nice to see the tag champs racking up some wins. Rhodes & McIntyre have been featured more in the past 2 weeks as champs than The Hart Dynasty was for 3 months as champions. Thumbs Up

Kane - It started out with Paul Bearer in the ring as he introduced Kane. Kane came out and delivered another very good promo. I like the ominous mood it sets with the lighting and the music playing in the background. The music makes it hard to hear the crowd reaction sometimes but they did start a pretty loud Undertaker chant over the music, so it was pretty damn loud. Kane gave the promo with his usual intensity and put over his plan of getting rid of Taker and comparing his weakness to the weaknesses of the fans that idolized him for all these years. I have to say again that Kane has made me eat my words regarding this whole feud with The Undertaker. I thought it was going to be more of the same we’ve seen from them in years past, but the direction they’ve gone with this has made this a very entertaining feud. Thumbs Up

Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP - Very good back and forth effort from Ziggler and MVP in this IC title match. MVP has really improved in the ring, he doesn’t seem to be slow or plodding as he used to be. The crowd was pretty into this match and recognized that both guys put out a very solid effort here. Vickie Guerrero’s presence was nil as she and Dolph are having “problems” due to Kaitlyn and she left the ringside area. This could be a solid program if the WWE continues to go forward with this. Kaitlyn grabs MVP’s leg at one point as he’s going for Ballin’ and provides just enough distraction for Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag and win the match about the 12 minute 10 second mark of the match. I’m not sure about this whole love triangle thing with Vickie, Ziggler & Kaitlyn, but this was a quality IC title match and a good win for Ziggler. Thumbs Up

Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio - Great television main event between these two. I thought it was a great back and forth match that told a great story. The crowd was heavily into this match and reacted with pops at just about the slightest thing that went on. The match went at a good pace with Rey & Del Rio hitting some physical offense and a lot of near falls. The match looked as though it could go either way throughout its length and provided an entertaining way to close the show. The end comes with Del Rio is tossed into his ring announcer, allowing Rey to hit the 619 and the splash to get the win at the 13.5 minute mark. I hope this feud continues as I’m digging Del Rio and this is the second high quality match these two have had. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I thought that tonight was a great show and it went back to the formula that they should have used last week. SmackDown! is a show that’s done great by combining strong wrestling content with strong promo segments and that’s more than fine with me. It’s a great formula that ain’t broke, so don’t worry about trying to fix it. In all honesty, I enjoyed all of the matches on the show tonight but the Edge vs. Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP & Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio were clearly the stand outs. The Diva match was short but it was a surprisingly decent match, the tag champs are racking up wins and Kane gave another great promo. I thought the stuff with The Big Show was alright, but I’m just not feeling a Raw vs. SmackDown! feud right now. I also loved how they kept hyping the Mysterio/Del Rio match tonight and made it feel important like an actual main event should be. Great rebound show from last week’s awful debut on Syfy. A-

 

[Morpheus101]

I really enjoyed tonight's Smackdown, other than the stupid Laycool BS (someone please get rid of these "divas").

Jack-Hammer summed it all up brilliantly, but my personal favorite match was the main event....absolutely brilliant, although I wasn't expecting Rey to win. Both men worked very well together, pulling of a match filled with drama and excitement. Del Rio really added fuel to the fire too with the great promo he cut earlier. I genuinely look forward to him becoming champion.

I also enjoyed Edge vs. Swagger and MVP vs. Ziggler. These were two very good matches that could have been dragged out for longer. Edge did look a lot more energetic too. I think the trade to Smackdown will really work out for him.

Kane cut a great promo against the Undertaker. Honestly, this is by far the best feud that Undertaker and Kane have ever engaged in. All others before this have been forgettable, but Kane has really come into his own now.

Another hilarious "Dashing" Cody Rhodes segment too, with some handy tips for keeping your teeth clean! My only gripe is that I don't like the fact that Cody has been paired with McIntyre. These guys should both be enjoying pushes as singles wrestlers right now and are not really matched as a tag team (even their entrance music is as different as night and day).

I give the show 8.5/10. Smackdown is definitely on a par with Raw, IMO. The addition of Del Rio, Kane's mega push and Edge's trade have definitely leveled the playing field.

 

[Heartachetonight926]

Here are my thought's on this Week's Smackdown......


Edge vs Jack swagger

I was very happy to see that Edge has gone back to wearing his Long jacket and Sunglasses, reminded of the Edge from 2004. This was a very solid match, both men got in some good offense and the crowd was pretty into it. Pretty funny spot with Edge spearing the Soaring Eagle off the apron, then Edge got the Win the a Spear.


Cody Rhodes grooming tips

I'm getting a little tired of these to be honest with you, I know it's part of his gimmick....but it's getting a little stale.


Layla vs Kelly kelly

Nothing special here, but then again it wasn't horrible.


Rhodes and Mcintyre vs Kaval and Kofi Kingston


This match definitely could of been longer, but it was pretty good in the time it was given. I know a lot of people are gonna be pissing and moaning about Kaval losing again, but look at it this way. Kaval is a pretty small guy, it's obvious he's gonna have trouble "Beating" guy's that are much larger than him, I don't think WWE want's to make him look like a Superhero.


Kane and Paul bearer promo

Oh I can't tell you how good it sound's to hear Paul bearer speak on the Mic again, brings back so many good memories. Kane was once again very good in this promo and once again rekindled my interest for this rivalry, the matches so far haven't been that great, the Promo's like this are sure to keep people's interest.


Dolph ziggler vs MVP

I actually took a big steamy dump during the first half of this match so I can't really give much of a review for it, but from what I saw it looked like a Pretty solid match. I'll have to re-watch it later on Youtube.


Rey Mysterio vs Alberto del rio


This was a VERY GOOD main-event, Mysterio really look's like he's moving faster since they gave him that Month long break. Del rio continues to impress me every week and this match was no Exception, The Crowd was also really into this match which is always a plus.


Overall

B+

This was a very good addition of Friday night Smackdown, In my personal opinion it was a lot better than last week. The Wrestling was a lot more solid this week, and it just felt a lot more like Smackdown, because last week definitely had a "RAW" feeling to it.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: October 8, 2010
Location: Landon Arena, Topeka, Kansas
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham, Michael Cole

This is the first show after Hell in a Cell and there isn’t much we know for sure. Edge is the newest Smackdown superstar and Kane is still world champion, now with Paul Bearer in his corner. Other than that there isn’t much to say. I’d assume more Alberto vs. Rey and the beginning of the Smackdown team for Bragging Rights tonight. Let’s get to it.

Not a fan of the new theme song. We’re no longer live here either.

Kane has a message for Taker tonight. That’s a weekly thing anymore.

Great Cole is here again. The word overkill is totally foreign to WWE isn’t it?

Here’s Teddy Long to bring out Edge. We still don’t know who he was traded for.

Edge vs. Jack Swagger

Cole slips up and says “didn’t you hear what Miz said last night?” Swagger has his eagle with him again. Can they please decide if Swagger is a serious character or not? He gets on Edge for hurting the eagle, getting in the line “do you know how hard it is for an eagle to get medical insurance???” Nice to start with wrestling. Swagger goes for the ankle almost immediately.

Swagger celebrates again after sending Edge to the floor but as he stops paying attention Edge nails the eagle again and we take a break. Back as Edge hits a spin wheel kick and the eagle is stretchered out. I know it’s stupid but I’m getting a kick out of this thing. Swagger works the arm which will make the spear more difficult according to Striker. It’s the arm he uses for it too so I can’t make fun of him.

Rollup for Edge gets two. Edge avoids the Vader Bomb and hits a tornado DDT for two. Double axe handle from the middle rope is countered into a belly to belly by Swagger for two as well. Pretty good match so far. Both guys counter a lot of stuff as we’re told Rey vs. Alberto happens tonight. Swagger gets sent into the corner and there’s the Spear to end it. It didn’t end as suddenly as it sounds.

Rating: C+. Decent little match here that I thought worked pretty well. It worked fine for the opening to a show like this as both guys looked decent. Swagger continues his slide down the card but I guess he wasn’t up there that long and won on a fluke anyway. Edge continues to look solid as a face which might have been what he’s needed all along. Nothing great but fine for what it was supposed to be.

Edge says he definitely just flipped the bird.

Mini video on Rey vs. Alberto. Two things here: first off, since when is Rey a working class hero? Second, Striker says something that’s rather misleading: “For the first time ever one on one! Only on Syfy!” I guess you could say he meant first time they have gone one on one on Syfy but it’s a really odd way to put it.

Cody shows us how to brush our teeth. He’s nailing this character and making it way better than it has any right to be.

Layla vs. Kelly Kelly

Michelle with her hair down, a cutoff shirt and black jeans: WIN. Natalya is with Kelly here. I love how the girls are in these tiny outfits and this is PG. What PG movie can you find where girls more or less are in bikinis wrestling? I want to see that movie. Thesz Press by Kelly as this is your standard Divas match. Still better than what we have on Raw usually though. Layla blocks a handspring elbow and hits a reverse neckbreaker to end it. Natalya goes for a Sharpshooter on her afterwards but Michelle makes the save.

Rating: N/A. Another two minute Divas match but this was better than the usual stuff they do. There was a little offense from both girls here but still nothing to really make a lasting impression. More to just make Laycool look good while having Natalya sort of get involved. If only the Raw main event scene would do this more often.

MVP vs. Ziggler for the IC Title later.

Big Show literally RUNS to the ring. When’s the last time you saw that? He talks about his movie coming out which could be funny actually. Show has been named the captain for the Smackdown team at Bragging Rights. Well it gives him something to do at least. And he brings out the mascot: Hornswoggle, now dressed….as a female Viking? Show says don’t adjust your television sets (has anyone ever done that?)

The Dudebusters come out and want to be on Team Smackdown. I hope they cut the number down from seven members this year. He says it’s too early to decide so they pull off their SD shirts to reveal Raw ones. Apparently the Miz is captaining Team Raw? Where did I miss that? Also you can see the lack of foresight as just after Bragging Rights we have Survivor Series but who cares about having a match like this at a show where it fits the history? Show chokeslams them both for fun.

According to the announcers Miz is only the self-proclaimed captain. That sounds better as I didn’t remember hearing that at all Monday.

More Alberto/Rey stuff. Striker makes it even more misleading this time, flat out saying first time ever before adding the Syfy aspect. Yeah now they’re just lying.

Taker is in WWE Magazine. That’s good to know I guess.

Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre vs. Kaval/Kofi Kingston

Non-title here. Both of the heels have awesome music here so we have that to listen to. What a random face pairing. Surprisingly we get an explanation: Kofi was at Gamestop playing Smackdown vs. Raw and Kaval came in and challenged him, resulting in a 3 hour showdown. I’m actually not making that one up but I like it. It’s not exactly interesting but you can’t say it’s overplayed.

Kofi and Drew start us off. Kaval comes in and kicks the hell out of Cody. Everything breaks down as this is going very fast. Kaval not winning yet is a nice little angle they’re going with for him. With Drew and Kofi fighting on the floor Cody hits Cross Rhodes to end it. Short match but did its job, whatever that was.

Rating: D+. Too short to mean much but this worked fairly well I thought. The champions get to look good and Kaval and Kofi both get a little face time. It’s not a classic or anything but for a 4 minute TV match this will do fine. It does however continue to show the total weakness of the tag division, if you can even still call it that.

We come back from a break with Paul Bearer in the ring. After a brief intro he brings out Kane. Striker talks about Bearer stabbing Taker in the back. He had been back for ten days after last being seen being encased in concrete by Taker who he betrayed for his son. Why was this supposed to be surprising? I love the music that plays for his promos now.

Kane brought Bearer back apparently. He tries to convince us that everyone was shocked but I think I have a bit of an issue with that one. I’ll give them this: almost everyone and their mother had Kane losing at HIAC and that didn’t happen. Kane goes on a rant about how everyone answers to someone and now Taker answers to Kane. Apparently Kane and Bearer are just warming up. No challenge or anything here but just a promo. I like that.

Hey look it’s Rey/Alberto but no misleading line this time.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP

No Kaitlyn this week darn the luck. Vickie is rather pissed off here. Ziggler controls and sets her up for the slap while he distracts the referee but Vickie doesn’t do it. She walks away as he asks what’s going on and reminds her that they’re a team. MVP jumps him as we go to a break.

Back with Ziggler holding a chinlock. We get a clip from during the break where Dolph kicked MVP in the knee to take over. Reverse neckbreaker gets two. MVP makes s brief comeback with some rollups until Dolph kills him with a kick to the head. He hits the big elbow drop that Luger always missed for two and we hit the chinlock again.

Belly to belly overhead gets MVP out of trouble and makes his comeback. This has been a bit better than I was expecting but then again I can’t stand MVP for the most part. He’s been a bit better lately though. Big boot gets two for MVP. Kaitlyn comes out in a little black and gray dress that looks great on her. Sleeper is countered and both guys are down. MVP sets for Ballin but Kaitlyn grabs his ankle, allowing the Zig Zag to end it.

Rating: C+. Much better than I expected and it got a good deal of time. It wasn’t a great match but I liked it. Ziggler getting pinfalls like these even with moderate cheating is great for him. He wasn’t beaten when Kaitlyn helped him out so it keeps him looking somewhat strong. I liked this and it’s more of the Smackdown midcard doing their thing.

LONG video about WWE and the troops.

We see what has to be the final Rey/Alberto video.

Another two-three minutes wasted on a Raw recap.

Josh is in the back with Alberto who says he isn’t concerned about the little Chihuahua. Rey may be a Mexican God but he’s not Alberto apparently.

Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio

Big pop for Rey. It never ceases to amaze me that he went from this little pinball that stole so many WCW shows to a two time World Champion. Apparently a bad ankle doesn’t stop the 619 but a bad wrist can. Even in wrestling that makes me scratch my head. Rey gets a shot in to start and takes over early on.

On the floor a drop toehold puts Alberto into the steps. Cross body hits from the apron and Alberto is in trouble. The fans want the 619 and pops huge when Alberto is put in position for it. Apparently all of Mexico is talking about this match. That might not be as much of a stretch as I was thinking it was initially as it’s far more popular in Mexico and Rey is the biggest star in the country’s history on an international scale.

Running dropkick to a seated Alberto in the corner looked sick. Alberto catches Rey coming off the top with an enziguri that sounded AWESOME. Del Rio works on the arm as Todd mentions the first match these two had, making me wonder why they would say that as well as the first time every thing earlier on.

All of a sudden Alberto’s voice can be heard as he calls Rey a perro (dog). You can hear the mics’ volume go down a bit which was kind of weird. Little production issue there I’m guessing. Sunset powerbomb out of the corner gets a LONG two for Rey. The crowd loudly exhales on that one.

Nice kick to the head as Rey continues his dominance. It’s been probably 80/20 in Rey’s favor so far and we’ve been going at it almost ten minutes now. Alberto gets a powerslam out of nowhere for two as the pace is picking up here. Running enziguri in the corner misses this time for Del Rio allows Rey to hit a top rope rana. After years of the guy taking that going flying across the ring, Alberto of course lands in PERFECT position for the 619. The announcer interferes but a few seconds later the 619 and a top rope splash ends Alberto’s undefeated streak.

Rating: C-. Glorified squash here almost as Rey was dominant for about 80% of the match. That’s the right call though as there’s no way to validate Alberto going over him twice in a row. It’s a standard injury/revenge storyline and there’s nothing wrong with that. This did the job it was supposed to and now Alberto can potentially move on. Decent enough match and fine for a TV main event.

Overall Rating: B-. More solid TV here as Smackdown gets its groove back after the far weaker show last time. Shockingly once the “big stars” leave the quality of the show goes way up. We advanced some stories and started a bit of stuff for Bragging Rights. This wasn’t the best Smackdown ever but it certainly was good. Granted that’s par for the course for the wrestling show of WWE so everything is as expected. Good show.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 11, 2010
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

We’re two weeks away from Bragging Rights so I’d expect some new stuff on the Raw Team. Also probably some Orton vs. Nexus stuff which is likely going to build up to Orton vs. Cena somehow. Hopefully the Favre vs. Jets game doesn’t kill the rating again but hey, I’m sure we can scream about how awful Raw is and how much WWE is dying anyway right? Let’s get to it.

Cena opens the show in non-Nexus gear still other than the armband. He thanks the fans for things and says that while he doesn’t want to do what Barrett says but has to because WWE is his life.

And here’s Miz with Riley. It’s Miz’s birthday and also Taz’s. Wait the MITB case is only good til Mania? When did this happen? He has volunteered to be the captain of Team Raw at Bragging Rights. He offers Cena a spot on the Raw team which somehow turns into a Betty White in Playboy joke.

Cena says he has nothing better to do at Bragging Rights so why doesn’t he be the captain? This brings out Barrett who isn’t happy. He and Cena argue a bit until Riley pops in and says that maybe Miz will cash in there. Miz says there goes the element of surprise.

And there’s an e-mail. Qualifying matches for Bragging Rights tonight, including Miz vs. Cena for the captain spot. Miz gets in Barrett’s face and Barret headbutts him. Miz and Riley go off and Cena finally helps him out. FU to Riley and then Barrett gets in his face as we go to break.

Back and DiBiase and Maryse are in the ring and we get a recap of the Goldust thing.

Team Raw Qualifying Match: R-Truth vs. Ted DiBiase

DiBiase hits the following clothesline early which is one of my favorite moves. Ok that might be a stretch but I like it. Truth gets a gordbuster for two. This has a different kind of feel to it for some reason that I can’t place. DiBiase hits a spinebuster for two and sets for Dream Street. Naturally Goldust is on the stage. The rollup only gets two though but a Lie Detector ends it quickly.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and I like that they didn’t have the distraction instantly cause the pin. That was a nice little false finish. It’s also nice to see an actual lower card angle. So often all we have are people doing nothing in that part of the card so it’s nice to see something like this. Better than it sounds for some reason.

Taker will be on Smackdown on Friday.

Team Raw Qualifying Match: John Morrison vs. Tyson Kidd

This should be good. Apparently Smith is supposed to be in this but we can’t find Smith. Ok then. Kidd is apparently looking to unleash his aggression which is wrestling speak for heel turn. They’re clearly trying to make him into the bigger star which is a good idea. This should be solid.

Morrison is getting higher up into the but Kidd is right there with him. In a very nice counter Morrison goes for the springboard kick but Kidd jumped on onto the second rope and came off with a Russian legsweep. Sharpshooter is countered and Kidd goes to the floor.

They exchange twos on rollups as this is getting very fast paces. C4 out of nowhere wwhich they sell like a new move even though he’s hit it before to give Morrison the win. That was a fun match. Apparently there will be seven members per show. Blast it.

Rating: C+. This was very fun and Kidd’s size difference wasn’t a factor here at all as I forgot about it for a good while. Morrison has been hot lately as they’re just letting him be awesome and athletic as hell like he’s capable of. Sometimes that is the answer to a guy’s problem: just let him be awesome.

Nexus is talking to Harris and McGillicutty who have been promised something but won’t tell Otunga anything. Barrett comes in and cleans them out and yelling at the other three (remember that Tarver is injured). Gabriel vs. Orton later. Yep I was right.

Team Raw Qualifying Match: Santino Marella vs. Zach Ryder

Kozlov won’t come to the ring with Santino. Santino gets a HUGE chant early on, drawing probably the best non-Cena pop all night. Ryder takes over a bit but Santino gets a NICE judo throw. Another chant for Sanitno and here’s the comeback. Cobra ends it clean. Well you can’t say they’re not listening to the fans.

Rating: N/A. I’m almost stunned by the Santino love here but it worked. If the guy is that popular you might as well do something with him.

Tamina comes down afterwards and hugs him. The both make the cobra hand thing and kiss them together. More storyline development here as so far tonight (45 minutes in) everything has had a small storyline or some kind of development along with it. That’s a big difference than what they’ve done in recent years and it’s definitely a good thing.

Randy Orton vs. Justin Gabriel

Almost immediately Orton goes after Nexus at ringside but they get sent off. We take a break with Orton still on the floor. Back and it’s all Orton. Hot crowd tonight. Gabriel gets a shot in and hits a slingshot hilo for two (Eddie used to do it to a guy on the mat). He’s often considered to be a one move guy but he shows off very well at times.

Orton might be bleeding from or in the mouth. Gabriel hooks a fucked up version of a cobra clutch but it’s that way by design. After a long time on offense, Orton hits the backbreak to stop Gabriel. The ending sequence is initiated as Cole says it’s like Orton hears voices in his head. He hits a belly to belly suplex of all things that looked decent.

Gabriel breaks it up again though as this has been a more competitive match than you would expect. They botch the planned ending I think as Gabriel goes for the 450 and Orton tries to roll out of the way but doesn’t roll far enough and the splash hits Orton almost full on. RKO hits almost immediately thereafter for the pin and it was like the splash didn’t hit at all. Methinks that was a mistake.

Rating: C+. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. This is the benefit of a stable: you don’t have to have Orton vs. Barrett in a tag match or something standard like that but instead you can have him beat guys like Gabriel in consecutive weeks which still affects Barrett to a degree. The botch hurts this badly but this was better than I expected, much better.

We preview Knucklehead which is Show’s movie. This looks decent actually.

Team Raw Qualifying Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Keep in mind that this is Bryan’s home town or at least close to it. Bryan jumps him early on and goes for the LeBell Lock. A plancha is caught but Bryan almost sends him into the post. Big Daniel Bryan chant as Sheamus is in trouble early on. Bryan gets a running start but walks into the Irish Curse.

So much for that as Sheamus busts out a bunch of kicks that get two. Missile dropkick gets the same. BIG running axe handle takes Bryan down and he’s in big trouble. Bryan might be out but I smell possum. Yep I’m right as a rollup off the High Cross gets two. Brogue Kick ends it clean.

Rating: B-. This show has been awesome with the quick matches that are still good. Sheamus looked awesome here as usual but Bryan more than kept up with him which doesn’t surprise me. Before people freak, no this isn’t a burial. This match worked rather well and I liked it quite a bit. Solid stuff as we’ve had all night.

Truth comes in to see Cena (make your own jokes) and says that Cena isn’t being himself, but the other way out is to quit.

Package on WWE in the military, complete with an overly dramatic song.

Team Raw Qualifying Match: Evan Bourne vs. CM Punk

YES! The beard is mostly gone here. Punk sends him into the barrier in a SICK sounding spot almost immediately. This is allegedly the write off angle for Bourne so I’d expect near dominance. Bourne gets some kicks and sets for the Shooting Star but gets crotched. GTS ends clean. Glorified squash.

Rating: N/A. This was a very dominant performance by Punk and he looks like a superstar which is the idea. Perfectly done.

Post match Punk goes after him and sends him into the barrier. Bourne’s selling is great as he looks like a rag doll. Bourne’s shoulder goes into the post. Anaconda Vice goes on and Bourne is in trouble.

Natalya is in the ring and says Michelle is cheap. She has a title match at the PPV apparently. Cue Laycool with them looking DAMN good. Somehow Natalya has a beard or something. Nattie can’t talk. Well ok she can but you get what I mean. In short, Natalya got schooled here. As Laycool leaves the Raw Divas jump them.

Team Raw Captain Qualifying Match: The Miz vs. John Cena

This is now No DQ apparently. Riley jumps Cena as we go to a break. Cole mentions Miz being nominated for an Australian Kids Choice Award and apparently he yelled at Justin Bieber. Back and it’s mostly Miz dominance. He sets for the Finale on the table but Cena gets out.

Miz is looking more and more like a main event level talent every time he gets in the ring. Case shot misses and the STF goes on. Ropes are almost grabbed but Cena pulls him back. If it’s No DQ why do the ropes matter? If he gets them so what? You can’t disqualify Cena so what difference does it make?

Riley comes in and takes the STFU but here come Harris and McGillicutty who beat up Cena, hitting both of their finishers so that Miz can get the pin. The Miz is the captain of Team Raw.

Rating: C+. Miz gets more and more comfortable looking in this spot on the card every time he’s out there. Yes he had to have help to win, but the key thing here is that The Miz pinned John Cena in the main event of Raw. That’s a big step for him as he continues this climb towards the top that has gone so smoothly. Not a classic or anything but this worked rather well.

Post match they get in the ring again and stare down Cena who spears McGillicutty and it’s on. Barrett comes down and apparently it’s off. E-Mail time and next week McGillicutty/Harris vs. Cena/Orton. Barrett says that if Cena loses them the two rookies are officially in the Nexus. He implies that Cena needs to lay down next week.

Cena looks like he wants to kill Barrett and Barrett says you can’t do that. He taunts Cena to no end and even turns his back on him, saying he knows he’s safe because Cena can’t do anything. Barret calls Cena a failure and a disgrace. Cena’s reactions and facial expressions here are excellent. He walks off with Barrett saying you can’t see me. Excellent ending to an excellent show.

Overall Rating: A. This was a GREAT show and one of the best I can remember in a long time. While there are multiple reasons for this (good wrestling, longer matches, a theme for the show, storylines being built throughout), the main reason is that there was a point to everything.

Nothing came off as being on the card to fill time. Even in the qualifying matches you say little things happening. Take for instance in the Kidd/Morrison match. Smith isn’t there. Why isn’t he there? Did Kidd and he have an argument? Did Kidd attack him? Is he mad at Kidd and just not showing up? Is he mad at the GM?

Now obviously it’s not something that’s going to light the world on fire, but that’s a fine example of making something out of nothing. Rather than the standard “having problems” ending to a team (assuming they’re breaking Hart Dynasty up) they’re giving us something different. This was one of many such angles and stories like this tonight and it makes for far more interesting television.

With a core theme of the Bragging Rights team being formed and backing that up with Cena’s emotional struggle with the Nexus and having solid matches on top of that, this was an outstanding show and something that has me very intrigued for the upcoming weeks. Great show and one of the best they’ve had in a long time.