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Wrestling’s 4R’s Tuesday Edition 9.09.08: TNA Impact, WWE Smackdown and WWE Unforgiven Reviewed!
How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO times a week. On Tuesdays I will discuss TNA Impact and WWE Smackdown. Also, if there is a PPV, that will be covered in this column as well. The column will run again on Friday’s, covering WWE Raw (with Jeremy Thomas) as well as ECW on Sci-Fi. If there is a PPV that weekend, I will also run the RETRO R’s of the show from the year before as well as address some comments when time permits. I will group my feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~! This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.
In HD where available…
By: Larry Csonka
iMpact! 9.04.08:
ROYAL T and KURT SPEAK: The show began with a very solid promo segment. Kurt Angle and Booker T came to the ring as a united front and explained that they were distinguished gentleman, and that they carry themselves with dignity, honor and respect. Traits that they share with Sting. They claimed to be real champions, and promised to take Joe and either Cage or AJ out, so that they could decide the TNA Championship as gentlemen at No Surrender. Good delivery from both guys and again it not only builds to the PPV main event, but to the upcoming angle that will be the top angle in the company. This brought out Cage, who also delivered. He admitted that AJ Styles was the future of this business, but that No Surrender was in his backyard and he would make it there, and he would become champion for the third time. This of course led to the brawl, AJ makes the save for Cage (mutual respect) and Cornette banning Angle and Booker T from ringside during the Cage vs. Styles match. Overall I thought that we had a solid and focused opening segment, which is what you want.
AJ LAYS IT DOWN/Four Ways to Glory Qualifying Match: AJ Styles vs. Christian Cage Another promo I thought was really good was AJ Styles. AJ has certainly improved in the promo department, but isn’t as consistent as he needs to be. But he delivered this week. He admitted that he was a fool for listening to Sting, and that Sting has done NOTHING to earn his respect. He claims that Sting, Angle and Booker T all jumped on the bandwagon of TNA, a company that HE helped get off the ground. And if there is any thanking around here they should thank him for that, his wife for caring for him and his kids for playing alone while HE is on the road making a living for them. AJ showed raw emotion here and really did an excellent job of delivering an emotional promo. We then moved onto AJ vs. Cage, which was the final Four Ways to Glory Qualifying Match, and it was the only thing that felt like a real match on the show. They got about 9-minutes after the commercial break, they worked really hard and it was a solid match. AJ looked to have the victory in hand, but Angle got the last laugh as Frank Trigg got involved and screwed AJ Styles once again. They also played it well as Cage “never saw” Trigg get involved. We should be headed towards AJ vs. Trigg, and that actually does interest me.
MAIN EVENT INTERVIEW: ANGRY OLD MAN STING SAYS TO STAY OFF HIS LAWN: Sting once again closed the show with another promo. And again it was a very good promo, but started off very much as if he was the face. He laid out the situations, he played the crowd and I was very worried about it. Great execution though. Samoa Joe would now come to the ring and he was going to kill a man. He didn’t want Sting’s bat or his respect, he just wanted to beat him down. This prompted Nash to come out and with his relationship with both guys he tried to be the peacekeeper, to a point. He wanted them to handle it man to man, no weapons. It looked as if Joe was going to agree to this, when out of nowhere Sting attacked him with the bat and then laid him out with the scorpion death drop. What a dick. Nash was shocked by these actions and wanted answers, but Sting had none for him. Jarrett’s music hit again to tease his return but Sting had it silenced, and said the time for games was over, and maybe next week they would talk face to face. I still have concerns as to many he is coming off way too face like, but I also don’t think that the angle is ruined like many think. I am willing to let it develop a bit more, but the promo work by Sting was again top notch.
25:00: I’d like to think we all know the drill by now. TNA is supposed to be the alternative, they try to be different, and they claim to be the wrestling promotion. So I am their conscience, their wrestling stopwatch. Each and every week I keep track of the time of wrestling on the show, and discuss it here. We hit the 25-minute mark this week, barely. But most of the time I felt as there was no wrestling, due to most stuff being so short and meaningless. Thankfully the promos delivered. I still say that when they offer more wrestling they tend to put on their better shows.
Non-Title Match: Beer Money © (Storm and Roode) w/Miss Jackie vs. The Prince Justice Brotherhood (Sharky and Super Eric): After Beer Money was celebrating the fact that they are in the TNA Video game, the Prince Brotherhood of Bullshit got involved and this led to a match, yeah. The match was fine, they all worked together well but it was too short and they focused more on Curry Man trying to get Infected, only to get his ass beat. What I really hated is that the match was basically not important. It was a simple backdrop just to get to the angle AFTER the match. They throw 3-4 minutes out there, we get a finish and then ANGLE ATTACK. It isn’t a bad tool to use, but when it is constantly repeated, it is extremely annoying.
CHRIS ABYSS MAKES AN OPEN CHALLENGE: Following up on last week’s edition of Karen’s Angle, CHRIS ABYSS PARKS came out to lay out an open challenge. This was answered by Johnny Devine, through Team 3D and it was to be a hardcore match. The whole deal was this. Devine would use a weapon, Abyss, the tortured soul, refused to but was beating Devine without the weapons. Team 3D would get involved and Devine would use a weapon again. I liked that they played off of Abyss’ conflicts here, but then they did a NO FINISH in Hardcore match and I sat there scratching my head. What I hated is that the match was basically not important. It was a simple backdrop just to get to the angle AFTER the match. They throw 3-4 minutes out there, we get a finish and then ANGLE ATTACK. It isn’t a bad tool to use, but when it is constantly repeated, it is extremely annoying.
X-Division #1 Contender’s Match: Consequences Creed vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir: Consequences Creed did battle with Sheik Abdul Bashir this week to crown us a #1 contender for the X-Division Title. I expected a non-finish here as I thought that they were headed towards a three-way title match at the PPV. I was wrong. They worked an unsatisfying 4-minute match, Bashir won but then they overturned the decision since he cheated. He went to cheat again, but the referee (Glamour Boy Shane from Puerto Rico) did the kick the hands off of the ropes deal and Creed won. Now, I liked how they did that, unfortunately the match was so short and it all felt as if they were building to the drama of the end, instead of Creed becoming the #1 contender. Also I like the idea of the Bashir/Referee angle, but it came out of nowhere. Bashir has been spewing his propaganda, and this is something where he could have been cheating for weeks and Shane could have been the one to constantly work to overturn the cheating, and fight the good fight. Instead they ran 4-6 weeks on TV on 4-6 minutes. STUPID! And finally I disliked that the match was basically not important. It was a simple backdrop just to get to the angle AFTER the match. They throw 3-4 minutes out there, we get a finish and then ANGLE ATTACK. It isn’t a bad tool to use, but when it is constantly repeated, it is extremely annoying.
Raisha Saeed vs. ODB/After Match Brawl: Coming out of recent weeks where ODB and Awesome Kong have been at odds, and the departure of Gail Kim, ODB and Kong become the secondary Knockouts program. I really like that they not only have the title feud and this feud, but have the angle with Brooks taking over the division. Unfortunately Brooks was nowhere to be seen this week, and coming out of last week when they announced her as the head of the division, that is a bad move. The match as not good, which is a shame and surprising. ODB is good, and Saeed (Melissa) is awesome, but she is so limited in the gimmick that we don’t get to see it. ODB takes the win, and then decided to go after the Burka/Mask of Saeed. People seemed to get VERY offended by this because of what the Burka means and such. Here’s the deal, it is wrestling. This was no different than when they remove a mask in lucha. ODB is sick and tired of Saeed screwing her and the rest of the division, so she figures if she unmasks her, then she wins. It’s pretty simple really. But if it offends you, so be it. Thankfully the brawl afterwards helped save this from being total shit. Kong left ODB laying in the ring, Roxxi came out and she got laid out as well. Kong looked great, but again Roxxi seems to have no direction other than “extra good girl chick that takes ass whooping.” That’s a shame. What I hated is that the match was basically not important. It was a simple backdrop just to get to the angle AFTER the match. They throw 3-4 minutes out there, we get a finish and then ANGLE ATTACK. It isn’t a bad tool to use, but when it is constantly repeated, it is extremely annoying. Do you see how annoying that got when I kept repeating the same ending?
WHY IS EVERYTHING THE SAME?: I have to say the one thing that truly bothered me on this show was the fact that everything came off the same. The first four matches in fact were basically the exact same lay out. They had a match, it was short (between 3-4:30 in length) and when the match was over, they immediately shot to some sort of post match angle. Now I have no problem with them using matches to build their angles, but when the match is essentially a throw away JUST to get to the post match angle, that is where I have the problem. These matches came off as such a backdrop to everything else that it was a true shame. I think the worst part about it all is that the matches not only felt like a backdrop, but it felt as if everyone was going half speed and not really giving a shit for that exact reason. The ONE match that actually felt like a match, Cage vs. Styles ended up suffering from this as well. Overall it was VERY annoying and took away from the program in my opinion. I liked that they were building programs for the PPV, but couldn’t they have broken it up a bit and not done it all in the same episode? Seriously.
DEAR MIKE AND DON… Dear Mike and Don,
Solve this puzzle.
Love,
Larry
ODB TAKES A SHIT: There are times when it is hard to be a wrestling fan. There are those segments on TV that you THANK YOUR GOD that you are alone while watching. That was the feeling I had during Impact this week as Lauren attempted to interview ODB. Now let me preface this by saying that I enjoy ODB more than most. She has a very wacky charisma that you either love or hate, I tend to enjoy her act. This week however, the writing was beyond idiotic as Lauren followed her to the bathroom, where ODB dropped a record fast deuce, naming them Saeed and Kong, complete with sound effects. It was absolutely horrific. The fact that they would air something this stupid should amaze me, but for some reason it doesn’t. Couldn’t we just stick to her being crazy and drinking?
By: Larry Csonka
WWE SmackDown 9.05.08
TAKER IS SUPER SERIAL ABOUT TAKING SOULS/VICKIE WANTS AN APOLOGY: Taker graced us with his presence again this week, without this 5-minute entrance, which seemed odd but at the same time refreshing. I know that the big Taker entrance is part of the gimmick, but when it can last longer than his matches and or promos on TV, then it comes off as a waste. But he was here this week to promise that he would be at Unforgiven to take Vickie’s soul, burn her in the coffin and send her to hell with her husband, what a guy! He then did his disappearing act, which I could have done without, but this was fine as it sets his appearance for the PPV. Vickie would appear later on, completely pissed off and explained that she did everything to make this right. She promised not to be a victim any longer and demanded an apology from HIM. This was good work from her as well, as she was back to the Vickie you love to hate mode, which is a good thing. I am expecting her to enlist Big Show for help, and try to correct that “oversight” problem she has.
Jeff Hardy vs. THE Brian Kendrick w/Zeke: The match that stood out this week was the scramble preview bout between THE Brian Kendrick and Jeff Hardy. They had a match that I really wished would have gone longer because it was a lot of fun, and outside of squashes, we haven’t gotten to see a lot of Kendrick against REAL competition. Also I really, really liked the booking here. What they did was get THE Brian Kendrick the “big” win he needs for credibility heading into this match. But Jeff Hardy is also protected because Zeke caused him the loss. I wish it was a bit longer, but the match was also fun while it lasted and was solid back and forth action. Kendrick looked like he belonged in there against Hardy and that is a very good thing.
Victoria vs. Brie Bella: Coming off of her loss last week, Victoria was VERY pissed off and demanded a rematch against Brie Bella. The veteran diva wanted to show that the newcomer jus had beginners luck. They had a short but fine three-minute match, nothing went noticeable wrong and the result was the same as last week as Bella pulls the switch again and sneaks out another victory…And Twins! Again what we saw was fine, it was short so we don’t know how talented the twins really are, but they are being booked safely thus far because they haven’t run the risk of exposing them in the ring. I just hope that they are careful with the, because it COULD become way too obvious and predictable in a bad way just as easily as it could work.
Maria vs. Maryse: Stemming off of their encounter a few weeks ago where Maria “broke” the nose of Maryse, they continue to follow up and this week we had the EPIC match up of Maryse vs. Maria. I will freely admit that I thought that this match would suck as much cock as Maryse in her free time. Thankfully I was wrong. Don’t take this as me thinking that this was a good match, nope, but it was passable. Maryse is on her way to the title shot, and she should have and did win this match. Maryse continues to improve, which is nice to see. She hit a wall a while back, she looked horrible, she was falling down and was stiffing people badly. But slowly she improves, and she looked a hell of a lot better in there than Maria did this past week. So when I take into consideration her improvement, that this didn’t suck and that she won heading into the PPV, I’ll give them the right this week.
BEHOLD…THE TRIPLE OF H’s: Smackdown kicked off with the champ, HHH in the ring. And for the most part this was fine. He came to the ring, he hyped the Scramble match, made fun of Joey Styles and the WWE.com nerds about their statistics and that was cool. Shelton came to the ring, proclaimed again to be the gold standard and reminded HHH that he left MVP Hardy and HHH laying. HHH made the joke that Shelton accidentally left out the part where he pinned Shelton, and we were fine. MVP came to the ring, he said his peace, he and Shelton argued and then, then this is where things went wrong for me. HHH decided that this is where he needed to be SUPER SERIAL COOL. He laid out his “formula,” where, “he comes to the ring, he talks about defending the title, “that’s called a promo.” At that point, while he cuts “this promo,” they interrupt him, they talk trash that they can’t back up and he then takes the mic and insults them and their families to the point that they get upset. They charge the ring, try to beat him up, he beats them up and they run away and we don’t see them for the rest of the night. It’s a simple formula.” Wow dude, great fucking work there. Instead of putting over the two guys out there (the longest running WWE US Champion and a guy that holds wins over you and is the current US Champion) you go out there and try to make them look like SHIT just to make yourself look better. And this isn’t just because it is HUNTOR doing it, if ANYONE did this, I would be annoyed. Counterproductive is what this was. It got better and THE Brian Kendrick got the sneak attack and they got to beat HHH down a bit. Jeff tried to make the save, but he got beat down as well until HUNTOR and his chair and no selling cleared the ring. I wanted Zeke to rip his head off and shit down his throat, because Zeke looks like the kind of guy that could do that, wipe off his hands and then go home and ready Mother Goose to his kids with no worries, but we didn’t get that. We had some good and some bad here, so purgatory it is.
Super Crazy vs. Ryan Braddock: Super Crazy was back in action against the latest developmental goof Ryan Braddock. They had an acceptable 2-minute match, and really that’s all you can say about the action. Crazy takes the clean win, and that was that. As I wrote in the Friday R’s when Spears lost to Crazy, “when you’re losing to Super Crazy all that means is that jobbing to Funaki is right around the corner.” Sup Ryan Braddock, I wish you well in your future endeavors. But Super Crazy gets the win, and while I know that they aren’t even going to push him to the US or IC title, they are at least building him up to mean something so that when he gets beat he still has some credibility. But I hated that right after he takes this win, that Kozlov comes to the ring and treats him like an absolute bitch. We can’t even use the “Crazy was tired from a hard fought match” deal because the match was 2-minutes, he barely broke a sweat. Sure I will agree that they have bigger plans for Kozlov than they do for Crazy, but if you constantly treat people like shit, they have no credibility because everyone else sees them as shit.
R-Truth vs. Bam Neeley w/Chavo Guerrero: R-Truth was in action again this week. This time he came through the crowd, singing his theme music and all I could think is, “why didn’t they do this for his debut?” It would have at least made him seem a bit cooler. Well maybe not since not that many people wanted to know “WHAT’S UP” this week. He had another 2-minute match this week, against Bam FN Neeley of all people and much like last week he sold too much for such a short match. Also, Bam is NOT the guy to put in there and make someone look good. And what was the purpose of Chavo out there? He was just as useless as Bam is during his matches. Either let Truth go out there, run through his offense and give him a chance to entertain that way, or give him an opponent people buy if you want the back and forth match. Thus far “R-Truth” is just another guy that no one seems to care about, and again I say that’s a shame.
Non-Title Match: Shelton Benjamin © vs. MVP: MVP and Shelton met in what was to be a preview of the scramble match. This was a fine idea as Kendrick and Hardy were to face, and HHH met with Shelton last week and had another match on this show where the guys in the scramble would be the lumberjacks. This all made complete sense to me. Shelton has been on a roll having good matches, and MVP has been delivering, so I think most of us figured that we were in for a hell of a match. WRONG. We got the Reader’s Digest version of a 16-minute match that had the potential to be good. We got 4-minutes of grab assign back and forth, which ended with a finish completely out of nowhere. While I have no problem with Shelton taking clean and or dominating victories, this one made no sense to me and made MVP look like shit. Doghouse or not, going into the PPV they should be building contenders, not destroying them.
Non-Title LUMBERJACK Match: HHH © vs. The Great Khali w/Singh: Before the match, HHH was cutting his “PROMO” when Jeff Hardy broke up the party. Hardy explained that he was a problem for HHH, and HHH replied with BERRYING Hardy with the two strikes remark. Apparently this was edited as he also made a Dr. Black joke. Just bullshit. The match was what you would expect, Khali dominated, HHH overcame the odds and got the win. Overall I will say that this was about as good as their Summerslam match. But I didn’t dig the SUPER HUNTOR deal as he fought everyone off for the most part. He was at such a disadvantage that he wouldn’t have looked bad if he got beaten down and or defeated here. I know Hardy helped, but would it have really killed him to lose to Khali and three other guys kicking his ass for 10-minutes? Maybe it’s just me. I will say that Jeff standing tall was nice, considering he was BERRIED with the wellness shit earlier in the night. That just makes no sense to me. I know they want to play off of his “problems,” but the insider wellness shit needs to stop. That’s my opinion anyway.
NONE
By: Larry Csonka
The Matches:
ECW TITLE SCRAMBLE: As I predicted the ECW Scramble match kicked off the PPV. I figured this would because they had to spread out the scrambles, ECW usually curtain jerks and I also figured that this is where the title change would happen. Go me! For the most part they built to the match well on TV, and with the hometown boy Miz and fan favorite Matt Hardy opening up the match I have to say that it was certainly the right call. I thought that the match was laid out well, as it worked to everyone’s strong points and with everyone working hard, it clicked. Matt Hardy winning the ECW title was coming as soon as he was drafted to the brand, due to his popularity and the fact that a perceived “major star” now holds their title. In the end the Hardy title win comes off as a bit anticlimactic to some, but the way he was booked in the homestretch of the match, clawing and doing anything he could to keep the title came off very well in my opinion. This was a good match to open the show with and it is nice to see the ECW brand gain some success on PPV.
UNSANCTIONED: HBK should win some sort of Emmy, because the man gets across so much emotion just through the look on his face. An amazing performance once again from HBK as they played off of the angle leading in very well and continued the trend of making the match feel completely different from anything else on the card. The stoppage fell flat, partly because the audience isn’t educated on it and partly because they announced that “The only way to win is by pin or submission.” The stoppage can be seen like an MMA fight, in where the fighter cannot submit himself, so the referee does it for his own safety. But overall this was great stuff that will be remembered for a good while. As for the no blood stuff, I will again say that I completely understand those that were unhappy that they didn’t bleed. I too expected blood here, but again they brutalized each other and were showing the signs with REAL injures, not blade jobs. Jericho’s elbow was shredded, he was bleeding from his nose and had a TON of bruising on his back. So real injuries and bruising with real blood, plus the great storytelling were enough for me. Again if it wasn’t for you, I completely understand. Part of me wished they would have kept it one on one, but the run in by Cade makes sense. Unfortunately he got treated like an incompetent goof, sucks to be him. But the rage in the eyes of Shawn was amazing, a man full of rage not only out for personal revenge but out for revenge for what Jericho did to his wife. I loved the way that Shawn constantly looked torn towards the end, falling down and weeping at one point. Finally the way that commentary played the, “will God ever forgive Shawn Michaels, but more importantly can Shawn Michaels forgive Shawn Michaels” was excellent. I want these men to feud forever, and judging by the excellent interview by Shawn later on in the show, this feud WILL continue and in this case that is a VERY good thing.
WWE TITLE SCRAMBLE MATCH: I had high hopes for the WWE Title Scramble match, there was a lot of talent in there and there was NO reason that it shouldn’t have delivered. It did. Everyone worked hard and played their roles just about perfectly. Again I feel that they used the concept very well and it had a different feel than the ECW Scramble match, which is also good. A good show of athletics from the usual suspects, if they choose this is a good “close but not enough” angle for the possible Jeff Hardy title win. It is the tease, the “he was that close” feeling that they want to play off of. Lets hope he doesn’t hit strike three before they pull the trigger. Even though he took three pins, THE Brian Kendrick had a star making performance here on PPV. He looked as if he belonged in there, he had a title run in there and for 10-minutes he got to shine on PPV, and he did it WITHOUT the help of Zeke. If they want to get behind him, they easily can after this performance. I think we’re heading towards HHH vs. Jeff, and a possibly three-way feud with the heels (Kendrick, MVP and Shelton) over the US Title. My only complaints are that I wish Kendrick didn’t have to take THREE pins, and fuck man, would it kill HHH to drop a pin? Help make some stars man.
ORTON TEACHES THE KIDS: Playing well off of the return of Randy Orton, he continued to teach the young kids how this shit works in the WWE. Rhodes, DiBiase and Manu were very proud of themselves for retaining the title and beating down Cryme Tyme. Orton claimed that they had skills, but everything that they were doing was luck. “Why should I be proud of you, keep telling yourselves that you accomplished something. But I will tell you that luck runs out, but ability and skill lives on forever. Truth me on that; I am NOT impressed AT ALL.” Later on as Orton and Punk had a confrontation, Rhodes, DiBiase and Manu attacked and helped Orton take Punk out of the scramble match. “THAT was impressive. “ The continued association between Orton, DiBiase and Rhodes and now Manu is a very good thing, ala Cena and Cryme Tyme. After a bit of a set back on Raw, I feel that with Orton in the mix that Rhodes and DiBiase not only gain instant credibility but will also be a good part of the show in the coming months. I also think a lot of others are seeing where this could be heading. With Cena out for 2-4 months, this could build to the Survivor Series where Punk, Kofi and Cryme Tyme face Orton, Manu and Simply Priceless. If booked correctly, this could work out nicely.
WORLD TITLE SCRAMBLE MATCH: With Punk all but gone from the match as it began, it would be interesting to see how things worked out. This was another solid match that worked the gimmick a little differently than the other matches did, but I will freely admit that this was the weaker of the scrambles. JBL and Kane seemed particularly slow during the match, Rey looked pretty good, and I give credit where it is due, Batista was on his game. Jericho’s involvement was perfectly played because he barley got to the ring, he got beat down more and only snuck in for the last minute pin. He’s an asshole, he’s undeserving, people are pissed and IT DID ITS JOB. He sold the earlier beating and it worked. Punk NOT making it out also works perfectly because four guys kicked his ass and he took the CONCUSSION KICK. A move that has been put over very well and yes, beat John Cena. If it can beat the company’s top star, it can take out the on the rise CM Punk. The win does some interesting things. It freshens up the World Title scene with HBK and Jericho now at the top. That is nothing but a good thing there. CM Punk loses the title WITHOUT LOSING. Now if he would have came out, been the brave soldier and then lost, people would have bitched there as well. He got jumped by FOUR guys, was then taken out of the match by the GM and LOST without LOSING. I repeat, CM Punk lost the title WITHOUT BEING PINNED, JOBBER or SUBMITTED. He was summarily FUCKED IN THE ASS by Orton and his cronies. Now he can move onto the biggest feud of his career with Randy Orton, while the whole time chanting that he NEVER lost the title. He’s the rightful champion and the people can get behind that. Kane and Rey will pair off, Batista and JBL as well. I feel that these are all good things that came from an average PPV match. One thing is for sure, no one saw Chris Jericho winning the world title coming. Sometimes surprises are good. Bottom line is this: People bitched that Jericho hadn’t won the title yet. People bitched because Punk was the champion. People bitched about no surprises. Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it.
WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Ina refreshing change a set of tag team titles was not only on the line on PPV, and not only was built to but they actually got time to work. Color me shocked. Overall this was a match that was just there. It wasn’t bad in any way, but it just seemed as if they didn’t quite know hot to fill the time given to them. The heat on JTG lasted seemingly forever and when the match was done, it felt much longer than it was, which is never a good sign. But it was passable as the first meeting, the heels won through sneakiness and afterwards they debuted a new member of the second-generation stable in MANU, aka Afa Jr. The match was not much to write home about, but there were signs of good things to come I think.
BIG SHOW/VICKIE/TAKER:Working off of the recent Smackdown shows, we knew at some point that the Undertaker would be coming for Vickie’s soul, and that Vickie wanted an apology for the Undertaker’s actions. With the way Vickie was treating the Big Show, the blind man saw this one coming. Show was out to talk to us, because he’s a nice guy. Vickie yells at him, Taker comes for her soul and Show makes the much-needed heel turn and beat up Taker for Vickie. I suppose that it was not wrong in ways, but seeing it coming a mile away just killed it all. Besides the fact that the beat down was slow and did nothing for me or the live crowd, I generally do NOT like these segments on PPV. This is the kind of shit that should be reserved for TV, not a filler for a PPV. That’s my gripe, it is something I have generally always disliked unless it has been done perfectly and this wasn’t one well. It was slow, predictable and felt as if it went too long, and that is never a good thing. Actually it didn’t feel like it lasted too long, it WAS too long. It lasted FOR-EV-ER, FOR-EV-ER, FOR-EV-ER!
DIVA’S TITLE MATCH: While the build wasn’t bad and the ladies are improving, as far as the matches go this was the only real blemish on an otherwise excellent PPV. They got some time to work, but the fact is that the match wasn’t that good. This was not as bad as some have said, it is not the worst match of the year, but the work overall was sloppy, they forgot to sell the knee work the majority of the match and unless I am mistaken, Maryse got confused on which leg to work during the match. I don’t want to hear that she is still learning and that horseshit either, they put her on PPV, therefore she is open to critique and criticism. While McCool is better than Maryse, she is not in the position to be carrying anyone, especially on PPV. Again if they do sign Gail Kim she desperately needs to be on Smackdown.
NONE
Overall I will go with a 8.0 out of 10 for the event and a recommendation to order. I like Lockdown, I liked No Way Out, when booked the correct way I like concept PPV’s. I felt that Unforgiven delivered big time. All three scramble matches were good to very good, Michaels and Jericho delivered big time once again, Rhodes, DiBiase and Manu gain credibility with their association with Orton, Punk loses without losing and that sets him up for the biggest feud of his career with Randy Orton. While Jericho gets the surprising title win, which will continue his feud with HBK. I felt that there was a lot to like here, and that WWE did a lot to set up for the future. Punk vs. Orton, Taker vs. Show, HHH vs. Hardy, and more of HBK vs. Jericho. The show felt fresh to me and never slowed down, which is a refreshing change from some recent WWE PPV efforts.
–ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II {8.8}
–WWE WRESTLEMANIA {8.7}
–ROH RISING ABOVE {8.6}
–ROH UNDENIABLE {8.5}
–ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS {8.3}
–TNA LOCKDOWN {8.2}
–WWE NO WAY OUT {8.1}
–WWE UNFORGIVEN {8.0}
–WWE ROYAL RUMBLE {8.0}
–TNA VICTORY ROAD {7.9}
–TNA SLAMMIVERSARY {7.7}
–TNA HARD JUSTICE {7.6}
–TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {7.5}
–WWE SUMMERSLAM {7.4}
–TNA DESTINATION X {7.2}
–WWE BACKLASH {7.0}
–WWE ONE NIGHT STAND IV {6.8}
–TNA FINAL RESOLUTION {6.75}
–WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS {6.7}
–WWE GREAT AMERICAN BASH {6.1}
–WWE JUDGMENT DAY {6.0}
–TNA SACRIFICE {6.0}
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) CAREER THREATENING MATCH: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels *****
–(WWE UNFORGIVEN) UNSANCTIONED MATCH: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho ****½
–(WWE SUMMERSLAM) HELL IN A CELL: Edge vs. The Undertaker ****½
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) WORLD TITLE MATCH: Edge © vs. The Undertaker ****½
–(ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Tyler Black ****½
–(ROH RISING ABOVE) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Austin Aries ****½
–(ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II) ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Age of the Fall (Jacobs and Black) © vs. Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries ****½
–(TNA LOCKDOWN) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Samoa Joe ****½
–(TNA VICTORY ROAD) (World X Cup Semifinal Elimination Tag Match) Curry Man, Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin vs. Puma, Yoshino and Milano Collection AT vs. Rey Bucanero, Averno and Ultimo Guerrero vs. Williams, Dux and Kozlov ****½
–(ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS) Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries ****¼
–(ROH UNDENIABLE) GRUDGE MATCH: Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong ****¼
–(WWE NO WAY OUT) RAW ELIMINATION CHAMBER ****¼
–(TNA HARD JUSTICE) LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles ****¼
–(TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Christian Cage ****
–(TNA FINAL RESOLUTION) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Christian Cage ****
–(WWE ROYAL RUMBLE) The Royal Rumble Match ****
–(WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS) WWE TITLE MATCH: HHH © vs. John Cena ****
–(WWE ONE NIGHT STAND) TLC: The Undertaker vs. Edge ****
–(WWE GREAT AMERICAN BASH) Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels ****
–(ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II) FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR: Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong ****
–(TNA VICTORY ROAD) (Full Metal Mayhem – Six-Man War Match) AJ Styles, Christian Cage & Rhino vs. Kurt Angle & Team 3D ***¾
–(TNA SLAMMIVERSARY) TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH: Petey Williams © vs. Kaz ***¾
–(TNA FINAL RESOLUTION) TNA NO-DQ WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Gail Kim ©vs. Awesome Kong ***¾
–(TNA LOCKDOWN) LETHAL LOCKDOWN: Team Cage vs. Team Tomko ***¾
–(TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS) HARDCORE STREET FIGHT: Team 3D and Brother Devine vs. Black Machismo and the Motor City Machineguns ***¾
–(ROH UNDENIABLE) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Jay & Mark Briscoe © vs. The No Remorse Corps ***¾
–(ROH RISING ABOVE) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH – 2 of 3 Falls: Jay & Mark Briscoe © vs. The No Remorse Corps ***¾
–(ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II) ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Go Shiozaki ***¾
–(WWE NO WAY OUT) SMACKDOWN ELIMINATION CHAMBER ***¾
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) WWE TITLE MATCH: Randy Orton © vs. John Cena vs. HHH ***¾
–(WWE BACKLASH) WORLD TITLE MATCH: The Undertaker © vs. Edge ***¾
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH: Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. CM Punk vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin ***¾
–(WWE JUDGMENT DAY) HBK vs. Chris Jericho ***¾
–(WWE SUMMERSLAM) John Cena vs. Batista ***¾
This is a little added deal I started last year, as I feel that there are some other things that should be mentioned from the PPV’s. Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.
–ROH RISING ABOVE: Nigel vs. Aries (Stealing the Show)
–TNA FINAL RESOLUTION: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong (Making us Care about Women’s Wrestling on the National Stage)
–ROH UNDENIABLE: Strong vs. Aries (The Grudge is Settled)
–WWE ROYAL RUMBLE: John Cena Shocks the World (No One Saw it Coming)
–TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS: Black Machismo Saves the X-Division (He is a Superman)
–WWE NO WAY OUT: Taker Eliminates the Competition (Elimination Chamber MVP)
–TNA DESTINATION X: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong © vs. ODB (Stepping up Again)
–WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXIV: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Thank You Flair)
–TNA LOCKDOWN: Angle vs. Joe (Great Build, Great Delivery)
–TNA SACRIFICE: Roxxi gets a Haircut (And makes the ultimate sacrifice…)
–ROH TAKE NO PRISONERS: Tyler Black (Becoming a Star at 21)
–WWE ONE NIGHT STAND: The Undertaker (You Crazy Fuck)
–TNA SLAMMIVERSARY: Kaz vs. Petey (Stealing the Show)
–WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS: HHH (Silencing the Critics)
–TNA VICTORY ROAD: Alex Shelley and Yoshino (Stealing the Show)
–WWE GREAT AMERICAN BASH: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (The Art of the Story)
–ROH RESPECT IS EARNED II Tyler Black (Stealing the Spotlight …Again)
–TNA HARD JUSTICE: AJ Styles and Kurt Angle (Last Man Standing)
–WWE SUMMERSLAM: Hell in a Cell (Edge and Taker do it again!)
–WWE UNFORGIVEN: Unsanctioned (Jericho and Michaels Deliver Again)
And I’m out of here!
