Knowing the majority of the RAW roster is stuck overseas and going to miss the TV taping this week, I thought this might be worth a quick recap. Not going to be a detailed recap but just quick points for the show. Before I start though, if you haven’t seen Impact yet, watch it, it was amazing. Let’s see what the WWE can pull out without the usual gang of idiots.
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.
With only three days till the biggest night in sports entertainment, the Road to Wrestlemania has just two stops remaining. First we have Superstars and finally Smackdown, and then Sunday is the big day. Still have no idea if we have a diva match at Wrestlemania, tomorrow is the last chance to make the announcement, so I guess we’ll know then. I still can’t find Smackdown, which is odd as it’s usually posted by this time. If I don’t find it by the time I finish Superstars, I’m finally going to rewatch the Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels match from last year’s Wrestlemania. I’ll post my comments about it in the Smackdown recap, right here on http://nala310.wordpress.com/ although I still don’t think it will touch the Randy Savage versus Ricky Steamboat match from Wrestlemania III. I’ve said before it was a good match on a horrid PPV, so I’m going to watch it by itself with none of the other PPV stuff. I want to see what all the commotion is about with the rematch this year, as I really don’t remember it being that great. For now let’s get to Superstars.
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!
As we rapidly approach Wrestlemania in three weeks and also the possible renewal of the Monday Night Wars, first we have to make our way through Smackdown. Last week Edge speared Chris Jericho again and said that he was all Jericho could think about, and that Edge was in Chris’ mind constantly. Also last week CM Punk was screwed out of his opportunity to win the Money in the Bank match for the third time as Rey Mysterio cost him his match. Tonight will Jericho or Punk get the opportunity to strike back at their oppressors, or will they fall again.
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…
WWE Superstars – February 18, 2010
Well, with the death of ECW on Tuesday that leaves Superstars as the place to see good wrestling. Tonight should be a good show with what looks like two matches I’m looking forward to, Gail/Katie Lea and Carlito & Chavo/Primo & Evan. The third match will probably not be as good, as we have the overrated Rey Mysterio v. the underrated Mike Knox. Personally I think Knox should injure Rey, pulling him out of the chamber Sunday and putting Mike in, but that won’t happen. Rey has been such a boring wrestler for the last few years, as most of his matches are the same bland formula. I wish we had the Rey of old, when he was in ECW/WCW, but the knee problems have killed that. Maybe it’s time to hang up the mask and call it a career? Well, let’s get to the matches and see what happens tonight, on WWE Superstars! 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…
Friday Night Smackdown – February 5, 2010
Tonight on Smackdown we should find out who the five men who will go in the Elimination Chamber to face the Champion, Undertaker in less than three weeks. I assume it will be Chris Jericho, Kane, Batista, Mysterio & maybe Punk? At the Royal Rumble Undertaker was able to repel the challenge of Rey Mysterio, but will Mysterio decide he wants a rematch? Also on RAW it was announced that D-X would defend the tag titles against Miz & Big Show and also CM Punk & Luke Gallows in a three way match. How will the Straight Edge Society respond to that? These questions will be resolved tonight on Smackdown. Read more…
