Let’s finish the week of with Smackdown, as we are five days removed from Wrestlemania. With Jack Swagger targeting Randy Orton, will the Edge and Jericho continue? Tonight’s episode is subtitled “Jackpot”, and I don’t think it’s from Las Vegas, so let’s find out what that means. Never mind, they are in Las Vegas, my bad.
Well, here we are twenty-four hours removed from Wrestlemania 26. Last night at Wrestlemania Bret Hart got his revenge after thirteen years on Vince McMahon. Jack Swagger scored the surprise of the night, winning Money in the Bank. Shawn Michaels career came to an end after being Tombstoned for the third time by Undertaker. John Cena regained the World Title for the 6,245th time, or it just feels like it. OK, so it wasn’t all good news, but it was a surprisingly good show. Of course with Cena as champion, again, we’re going to have to hear the same tired crap. Seriously, can Cena try and freshen up his spiel?
Well, it’s finally Wrestlemania time. I watched the show live last night and honestly some of the matches were really big let downs. I hope they redeem themselves upon second viewing, but not optimistic. I went into this Wrestlemania not expecting much, only three matches interested me (Jericho/Edge, MITB, Rey/Punk) and they just were not as good as they could’ve been. If you follow me on twitter (nala310) you’ll see I posted my opinions up after each match. For those that missed it, here are my quick thoughts on the show and we’ll see if the replay changed anything. The tag match was good but way too short, under five minutes, what a bad start to the night. The triple threat match was surprisingly better than I expected, but Randy winning was obvious. Money in the Bank was a massive disappointment this year, ten men is way too many and most of the time they spent laying around. Jack Swagger winning made me happy, but made little to no sense. Triple H pinning Sheamus was a stupid thing to do, Sheamus needed a win here, and a Triple H loss would’ve been a catalyst to his heel turn. Maybe Sheamus is on the future endeavor list? Rey wins of course, as CM Punk is basically dead and buried at this point. I don’t think he’s won much since the Rumble, and beating JTG on Superstars isn’t a big win. CM Punk is the best they have and they don’t know how to utilize his talents, way to drop the ball. The Bret and Vince match was just boring, basically ten minutes of Vince getting his ass kicked. Went too long for what it was, but always nice to see Natalya. Jericho beating Edge just seemed wrong, all the buildup for the return of Edge and he loses? That is what they call stupid booking! The best part of the match happened after the match, and I’ll get to that later. Screw the diva match; it was a load of shit and not worth mentioning. Although I’m glad I got to stare at Mickie in those tight jeans for a couple minutes! Cena wins, no surprise there as once again we get Cena shoved down our throats. Get over it WWE, stop shoving Cena down people throats, it’s just not working. Was really hoping Swagger would cash in the Money in the Bank at this point, but no, nothing good there. Undertaker ends the career of Shawn Michaels in a good match, not great but good. I assume Shawn won’t be gone for long, probably return around Summerslam. Wish they’d stay gone when they lose, Ric Flair we’re all looking at you. All in all this was a mediocre Wrestlemania, and could’ve been a lot better. With that said, let’s see how the replay holds up.
Well, it’s time for the final stop on our Road to Wrestlemania. However before we get there, I finally reviewed the Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels match from last year. The introductions were impressive; I have to admit, seeing Shawn descend from Heaven while Undertaker rose from Hell. The two best parts of the match were the near death moments, as Shawn missed the moonsault and splattered on the floor. Then a few minutes later Undertaker did his best impression of Brock Lesnar attempting to break his neck doing a dive. The match had a lot of just laying around, which I knew is supposed to be exciting, but it just felt like they couldn’t keep the pace. I admit I liked all the reversals of the finishers, but the ending felt like a letdown. The reversal from the moonsault to the Tombstone just felt lame, overall I’d give the match an 8/10 overall. Wasn’t as great as everyone claims but still not bad, I just didn’t like all the kickouts from the finishers, made the moves look weak doing that. Honestly it felt like it dragged, not as bad as the Iron Man Match from Wrestlemania 12, but if they clipped off about ten minutes it would’ve been better. Curious to see what they pull off this year still, but I hope Shawn loses. The streak should never be broken, or if it is it should be a young talent who can use the push for years. Anyways, let’s get to the final Smackdown and finally Wrestlemania! Well, I didn’t realize there were two different versions of Smackdown this week, and downloaded the usual one, which wound up being the International Version. This one has classic matches from Wrestlemania, where as the US one has the new stuff. So guess we’ll do the International one first and then the US one.
I was watching Impact before watching RAW, but haven’t been able to find a copy of last night’s Impact yet. So, we’re going to start Wrestlemania week with Monday Night RAW, as we rapidly approach the big day. This is basically the last chance for Kofi to be added to the PPV, so wonder if they’ll finally do something, if not, I wonder who he pissed off. Right now we still have no women’s matches at Wrestlemania, and hopefully they rectify this problem. Of course knowing WWE they’ll either do a battle royal or multi woman tag to get everyone on the show. I’d rather just see a four corner elimination match with McCool, Phoenix, Maryse, if she’s healthy Mickie, if not Gail, to unify the titles. So with only six days till Wrestlemania, let’s see what the WWE has to offer to finish the build. Read more…
Tonight’s the second to last episode of Smackdown before Wrestlemania, and as it stands so far we have no diva matches at the PPV. This needs to be fixed immediately, not that they’d get sufficient time to put on a good match. Besides the fact that the two best female wrestlers are currently injured and won’t be at Wrestlemania, Melina & Mickie, it makes it hard to find a match that might be good. I expect them to do a tag match of some sort, probably won’t be announced till next week’s Smackdown. If they do a tag match it’ll probably be Michelle, Layla & Melina against Gail, Eve & Kelly. They really need to unify the titles and just move all the divas to RAW, there’s just not enough to warrant two titles. Also it seems like the Smackdown title match is being shunted lower and lower each week, as they’re now talking about the three main events of Wrestlemania being Cena/Batista, HBK/Undertaker, Bret/Vince and not Edge/Jericho. Personally I’m more interested in seeing Edge and Jericho then the other three matches, as both men can put on a great match, but I’m betting it gets the least amount of time of the four matches. Lots of guys so far not scheduled for Wrestlemania, wonder if we’ll get the return of the dark match battle royal? Mark Henry, Khali, Kofi, Tatsu, Regal, Jackson, Kozlov, Archer, Hart Dynasty, Cryme Tyme, Masters are all unscheduled for the big show. That’s a lot of guys not getting a Wrestlemania bonus, so I’d be surprised if they don’t do a battle royal this year. Well, let’s focus on tonight’s episode of Smackdown as I only know one match tonight, McCool & Layla versus Tiffany & Phoenix, which I guess means Phoenix is now a good girl? She’s better off as a tweener feuding with everyone and attacking random people, but at least she gets TV time. Maybe if they can do an eight diva tag for Wrestlemania and add Vickie to McCool’s team and Phoenix to Gail’s team. Let’s be real optimists and make it elimination, let it go about twenty minutes and end with McCool and Beth, with Beth winning and uniting both belts into the real Women’s title! Never happen, but would be nice.
Well, it’s been a pretty lackluster week of WWE programming so far. It’s really making me miss ECW, at least that could be counted on for a good match or two. With only 18 days till Wrestlemania, the WWE really needs to step it up and make the show look exciting. Right now Wrestlemania is a one match show for me, Edge versus Jericho, and maybe the MITB match. Everything else just does not impress me, Taker and Shawn won’t live up to the lofty expectations of the IWC and Shawn won’t stay out forever. I bet if he loses he’s back by Survivor Series or whatever they’re calling the November PPV now. Anyways, let’s get Smackdown finished and hope for a better set of show next week, as it will be kicked off with Stone Cold on RAW!
Let’s get this week complete with Smackdown, tonight Mickie James defends her women’s title against the dog faced gremlin, no not Rick Steiner, Michelle McCool. The special referee for the match is Vickie Guerrero, which of course means the title will chance hands. Before we begin though, I’d like to acknowledge the release of three stars, Hurricane, Paul Burchill & Maria. Hurricane’s was not a surprise after his arrest, although he was talented. I assumed he’d slide by just because he was popular with the kids, the key demographic of the WWE now. Paul Burchill’s release was not a surprise as they’ve done nothing with him. Burchill is such an unused talent, he has charisma, character, talent and ability, but never got a real push. Hopefully he can get a chance in TNA and maybe be used right. After all look what TNA has done with Morgan & Dinero. Maria’s release was a huge shock though, as I just finished watching her match on Superstars. It seemed like they we’re going to be using her more and then suddenly she’s fired. Some people are saying it’s because of her tweets, as she has talked about wanting to concentrate on her music. If so WWE has dropped the ball, they could’ve used that to push her. Of course same could be said for Mickie, as her single debuted and we’ve heard nothing about it on TV. I heard Mickie’s single and it was actually pretty good, but WWE won’t acknowledge it. Of course if horseface brought out a CD of her scratchy voice they’d plug it to the moon, calling her the next megastar, but that’s what happens when you have ‘stroke’ with the top talent. Maria’s release came at a surprising time, considering she is on the next season of Apprentice which starts next week, another way they could’ve pushed her. I expect more releases as we head to Wrestlemania, and I expect that Jillian, Katie Lea, Goldust, Kozlov and others times are going to be up soon. Of course with Maria gone on Smackdown that leaves Mickie James as the only face on the show, something that needs to be fixed ASAP. Another reason I think we’re going to have Maryse v. McCool at Wrestlemania to unite the titles as the only ones on Smackdown are Mickie, McCool, Layla, Phoenix & Natalya. If the match happens, you can bet the house that McCool wins, as they’re hell bent on making her the biggest star in the company. Almost makes me wish Stephanie would come back to wrestle, picture that power struggle. Of course the promos alone could deafen the entire planet with those voices. Well, with that let’s get to the show. Read more…
Tonight the road to Wrestlemania becomes a little clearer as we have the final PPV before Wrestlemania 26. Tonight is the first PPV named Elimination Chamber, as WWE has gone just a little crazy with the renaming of PPVs. I liked the No Way Out personally, but guess it could be worse. This should be an interesting PPV as only four matches were announced, the two Chambers, the finals of the Diva tournament and Kane v. Drew McIntyre. I assume they’re going to add a match or two during the show, much like they did with MVP/Miz at the Royal Rumble last month. Supposedly they are going to start with a chamber match, which is interesting, if they do pull JoMo out and put Shawn in the Smackdown one, that won’t be the opening match. If they leave the match alone, then that’s the opening match, as I can’t see Truth, JoMo and Punk getting a main event shot. I still say Triple H wins the RAW Chamber, and Shawn wins the Smackdown Chamber, but if Shawn is not in it, then it will be Jericho. Of course if Shawn does win, where does that leave Edge? I can’t see Edge/HHH at Wrestlemania, although that would be interesting, I don’t think they’ve had a one on one match. Well, whatever happens this should be a fun show, I hope, so let’s get to it. Read more…
Friday Night Smackdown – February 12, 2010
Last week on Smackdown we learned who the five were that will enter the Elimination Chamber and face the Undertaker. Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, CM Punk, Chris Jericho and John Morrison made it past the qualifiers and will be in the better of the two Chamber matches. At least this match has four workers who can carry the two cripples, as opposed to the RAW Chamber, which basically has one guy who has to carry a paper champion, one who’s not ready yet and three who’ve had too many title shots. Anyways, tonight on Smackdown the Undertaker will face Chris Jericho in what should be a good match. Remember when it was the first match between them, about a month ago? That first encounter should’ve been saved for a PPV with a nice slow build, but of course WWE doesn’t do things that way. It’s all a matter of build, push and ends a feud within four weeks, which really makes it hard to get behind anyone. When they do the long feuds they do it poorly, Hornswoggle v. Chavo, we’re looking at you. Read more…
