Saturday, November 29, 2008

11/28/08 Smackdown

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/28/08 Smackdown:
Jeff Hardy vs. The Brian Kendrick (Beat the Clock): **3/4 (Kendrick needed more impact offense for the match to hit three stars)

Maryse, Victoria, & Natalya vs. The Bella Twins & Michelle McCool: *1/2

Matt Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov (Beat the Clock): *1/4 (match seemed to drag on until the end)

Jesse & Festus vs. The Miz & John Morrison: *1/2 (post-match stuff was hilarious)

Triple H vs. Shelton Benjamin (Beat the Clock): ** (finish was exciting, but Shelton's stalling detracted from the match for me)
_________________________________

Given the finish of Smackdown, I would bet the farm that we have a Triple Threat Match or something at Armageddon.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

11/27/08 TNA Impact!

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/27/08 TNA Impact!:
Rhino vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Hernandez (Turkey Bowl Semifinal): *3/4

Alex Shelley vs. Consequences Creed vs. Cute Kip (Turkey Bowl Semifinal): **

Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Matt Morgan (Turkey Bowl Semifinal): *1/4

Christy Hemme vs. Raisha Saeed: 1/2*

Rhino vs. Alex Shelley vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir: **1/4

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Wrestling rumors

From what I have read, WWE has plans to make Michelle McCool a full-fledged heel in the near future. The seeds have already been planted, if you have been keeping up with Smackdown. Several weeks ago, McCool took a verbal shot at Maria behind Maria's back when getting all dolled up in the back. Also note in some of the matches with Maria how McCool has acted.

This might also coincide with Gail Kim's return to WWE. WWE apparently has plans for Gail to star on the Smackdown brand. So it seems Gail will be a face upon her return. I have no idea if they will use her little gimmick that she used during her first run with the company a couple years back, but that gimmick wasn't too bad. To me, what was horrid the first time around was the way WWE brought in Gail Kim. WWE should have used vignettes to introduce her to the fans. In any event, it didn't matter, as Kim's debut match (and a few matches after that) were sloppy. Hopefully, WWE will learn from that - even though she is more well-known now anyway.

I would like to see a Victoria/Natalya feud. These two can wrestle, so WWE might be able to pull a three-star match out of it if they do it right. But it's WWE...so I'm not expecting it.

Jack Swagger is doing well for himself on ECW. His Extreme Rules match with Tommy Dreamer was quite impressive. I am just a bit concerned with Swagger wanting to go after Matt Hardy and his ECW title so quickly. But I guess with very little standing in Swagger's way (other notable names appear to be preoccupied with one another), then I guess Swagger is next in line.

DJ Gabriel is an interesting character. His character should make him more of a face, but I think fans are still trying to figure out who the hell he is first. That's the disadvantage with not introducing a character properly...the crowd reaction sucks in the early going because fans just don't know you. But hey, it never stopped John Cena when he made his debut in 2002.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

11/25/08 ECW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/25/08 ECW:
Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer (Extreme Rules): **1/2

DJ Gabriel vs. (jobber): 1/4*

Finlay vs. Mark Henry: *1/2 (no contests suck too)

Monday, November 24, 2008

11/24/08 RAW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/24/08 RAW:
Shawn Michaels & Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz & John Morrison: **1/4

Kofi Kingston vs. Kane: DUD (DQ finish sucks)

Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista (#1 Contender's Match for World Heavyweight Title): ***

Goldust vs. Santino Marella: DUD (Entertaining, but Santino barely got anything in...if at all)

CM Punk vs. Snitsky: *

Mickie James, Candice Michelle, & Melina vs. Jillian Hall, Katie Lea, & Beth Phoenix: *1/4 (Melina's move blew my mind - I'm calling it a modified Canadian Destroyer)

Survivor Series recap

Since I can't sleep just yet, I figure I would share my thoughts (and reasons) for my ratings at the Survivor Series PPV that took place Sunday night in Boston.

The PPV got off to a good start with the traditional Survivor Series match pitting Team HBK against Team JBL. I'm not used to seeing HBK lead off a PPV, but it was a good way to get the crowd going. I gave the match *** for the feuds packed into the match itself, the decent action we saw, and for the good finish. Nice payback for HBK after getting nailed with a John Morrison superkick on RAW last Monday.

The divas Survivor Series match was not bad at all. Good job by WWE to make Beth look stronger by making her the sole survivor. What I did not like was the choice to make Maryse the last person Beth dispatches of. I would rather have seen McCool, Victoria, or Natalya be the last one standing for the Smackdown team.

The casket match had some nice moments (announce table breaking), but it really did not stand out as a better match than the first match of the night. It seemed like both Taker and Big Show held a lot back in this one. The finish was just very weird, with Taker just throwing Show into a propped up (second) casket on the stage (after Big Show destroyed the first one).

Team Orton vs. Team Batista was not as good as the first SS match basically because we saw a bunch of time where there were no pins and then all of a sudden, there are a ton of pins to make up for lost time. It made me want to snooze a bit and look at my law school stuff. Batista's performance at the end saved the match, honestly.

The WWE Title match was just a big time screwup. I'm sorry, WWE, but you really screwed up big time here. I apparently see the big picture of all this, but I'd rather have Jeff Hardy stay in the triple threat match and win the title. Survivor Series is certainly a big PPV, and it would have been nice to have him win there. I mean, Hardy doesn't have to wait till like, WrestleMania to win...right?

Anyway, having Edge come back to win the title is good for Smackdown. Edge lives up to his Ultimate Opportunist monicker, and HHH is free to feud with Kozlov - at least that was the rumored storyline. However, with the "BORING" chants and the "TNA!" chants during that match, I doubt WWE will want to pull the trigger. Frankly, Kozlov's push should not have happened, at least not yet.

It appears WWE wants Edge and Jeff Hardy to feud, which would be an excellent pairing. Edge and Hardy go way back in history, and are easily capable of delivering ****+ gold. The way I see it (and I don't know this for sure) is Hardy will use the story of him being found unconscious in the stairway and say Edge was the person who did that to him (either that or Edge will admit it himself). This will lead to a feud to last a few months, and hopefully, we will see Hardy eventually win the belt. I'd aim for the Royal Rumble for the title change, although I wouldn't mind it at Armageddon or on free TV.

Finally, the World Heavyweight Title match between Cena and Jericho was very well done. Jericho focused on Cena's surgically repaired neck throughout the match, and Cena pulled out his usual array of moves to keep the crowd alive. This was the loudest the crowd was all night, helped because it was Cena's home state. This was the match of the night for its great counters, and we even got two nice false finishes out of the match. Frankly, I would rather have seen Jericho hold on to the belt. Based on last week's RAW, it appears Orton will be next in line to face Cena. I have no idea what becomes of Jericho in that situation, although he will certainly at least exercise a rematch clause.

Survivor Series was passable, but nothing to get real excited about. The World Title match was clearly the best match, and WWE should know better than to take Jeff Hardy out of any match, let alone a match where he is fighting for the WWE Title. WWE basically made all of Jeff's work from the past 3-4 Smackdowns meaningless. I say WWE should have just pulled the trigger and made Jeff champ now. They could have easily still been able to work Edge into the title equation.

Overall rating (on my five-star scale): **1/2

Sunday, November 23, 2008

11/23/08 Survivor Series

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/23/08 Survivor Series:
Shawn Michaels, The Great Khali, Rey Mysterio, & Cryme Tyme vs. JBL, John Morrison, The Miz, Kane, & MVP (Survivor Series Match): ***

Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Jillian, Candice Michelle, & Kelly Kelly vs. Michelle McCool, Maryse, Natalya, Victoria, & Maria (RAW vs. Smackdown Divas Survivor Series Match): *3/4

The Undertaker vs. The Big Show (Casket Match): **3/4

Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Shelton Benjamin, William Regal, & Mark Henry vs. Batista, R-Truth, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, & Matt Hardy (Survivor Series Match): **1/2

Edge vs. Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov (WWE Title): *1/4

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho (World Heavyweight Title): ***3/4

11/21/08 Smackdown

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/21/08 Smackdown:
R-Truth & Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin & Mark Henry: **1/4
The Miz & John Morrison vs. Jesse & Festus: 3/4*
Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H: ***
The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson vs. Carlito & Primo: *1/4
James Mason vs. MVP: -**
The Bella Twins vs. Natalya & Victoria: *
_________________________________

Guess MVP will be paying back that signing bonus after losing to James Mason, who was apparently supposed to look like a hometown jobber. Having MVP pay back the cash looks to set something real huge up down the line.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

11/20/08 TNA Impact!

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/20/08 TNA Impact!:
Consequences Creed & Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt & Tanahashi: **

The Beautiful People vs. Sojournor Bolt & Christy Hemme: 1/4*

AJ Styles & Samoa Joe vs. Motor City Machine Guns: **1/2

Booker T vs. Eric Young (Legends Title): *1/2

Kurt Angle & Kevin Nash vs. Matt Morgan & Abyss: *3/4

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

11/18/08 ECW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/18/08 ECW:
DJ Gabriel vs. Sal Rinauro: -**

Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer (Amateur Wrestling Challenge): -****

Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, & William Regal vs. Kofi Kingston, Finlay, & Matt Hardy: *3/4

Monday, November 17, 2008

11/17/08 RAW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/17/08 RAW:
Kelly Kelly vs. Victoria: DUD

Batista vs. Manu: 1/4*

The Miz & John Morrison vs. Shawn Michaels & Rey Mysterio: **3/4

JBL & Kane vs. Cryme Tyme: 1/2*

Matt Hardy vs. William Regal: -*** (double countout + short = crap)

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk (Lumberjack Match): **1/2
_________________________________

Santino's rap at the beginning was hilarious.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

11/9/08 Turning Point

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/9/08 Turning Point:
Eric Young vs. Consequences Creed vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Petey Williams vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Volador vs. Doug Williams vs. Tanahashi vs. Homicide vs. Jay Lethal: Excellent fast-paced action. The crowd was really into it. Every person in the match got in at least 1-2 of their trademark moves. The fact that you did not need to tag (just make sure two people are going at it in the ring) makes for a nonstop action atmosphere. The stuff between Volador and Jay Lethal was very impressive. Lethal was very impressive throughout the match. The stuff between Volador and Sonjay Dutt was also amazing. Homicide's suicide dive actually landed him OVER the railing and into the crowd. Just total nonstop action all the way through. ***3/4

Roxxi & Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed: Quick start. Very good teamwork from Roxxi and Taylor. I don't care for Rhaka Khan's interference. Good semi-false finish with Kong's splash on Roxxi turning out to be just a near-fall. I loved the chemistry between the four ladies. Roxxi's top-rope "dive" on Kong to the outside was nice. Very solid match. **3/4

Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Rhino: Decent action, although I have no idea why ICP and Scott Hall were in the audience. Only a matter of time before Shane Sewell (the ref) becomes a full-time wrestler. *1/4

Beer Money, Inc. vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Tag Team Titles): Good start. Nice high-flying action from the Guns. Guns have such excellent chemistry and they produced their usual amazing tag moves. Beer Money also got in some good-looking double-team moves. Shelley's double DDT was pretty cool. The intensity picked up once Sabin of the Guns got the hot tag. Great suicide dive from Shelley. Great false finish after the Shelley frog splash. The double-team action continued all the way through. Tower suplex near the end was very impressive. The only knock on the match was the interference at the end. ***1/2

Booker T vs. Christian Cage (Legends Title): Basically, if Christian did not win, he would be forced to join the Main Event Mafia. Slow start to the match. Some nice moves on the outside. Seemed like the match was too slow of a pace early on, and too many rest holds up till the middle of the match. Action finally picked up when Christian got in most of the offense. There were some spots where we saw some nice counters. Again, interference (from Sharmell) is disliked. Good superplex from Booker. Nice axe kick from Booker leads to a nice false finish. Nice job by Christian to use Booker's own Bookend finisher against him for another false finish. Seemed like a cheap finish with the rollup and the use of the tights. So basically, the two false finishes was the only reason for the decent rating. **1/2

Kurt Angle vs. Abyss (Falls Count Anywhere): It was a semi-slow start to the match. Shock Treatment delivered real early from Abyss leads to a semi-false finish. Then the action spilled into the crowd for a while, where the two men beat the crap out of each other. Good chair shots from Angle to the burnt back of Abyss. Unreal somersault off the stage from Angle onto Abyss; just looked very graceful and the height Angle got was impressive. Abyss came right back with offense, which gets a few points. Some "This is awesome!" chants. Angle's spear onto Abyss sent them through a wall...more points there. Angle got thrown through the other wall, which looked pretty cool. Angle is the master of counters, and it led to another false finish with the Angle Slam. Angle introduced to a chair wedged between the middle and top ropes. Another amazing false finish with Angle kicking out of the chokeslam. Moonsault from Angle onto Abyss has ANOTHER false finish. Crowd really into it now. Angle with the ankle lock; counter from Abyss. Black Hole Slam from Abyss leads to ANOTHER false finish. The finish was acceptable (but not overly fantastic) because both men had exhausted all their finishers and they had to end it somehow. ****1/4

Kevin Nash vs. Samoa Joe: Storyline buildup was very well done. Nice fast start to the match. Match went to the outside for a little while, which was nice. Apparently, this is a no-DQ match, especially when Nash used the chair more than once in front of the ref. Nash's offense is just slow, usual for many 7-footers, but at least Nash targeted the back, which was nice. Very nice back-and-forth action. Jackknife power bomb from Nash got only a 2-count, which made for a nice false finish. Crowd into the match now. Good use of exposing the steel turnbuckle to bloody Joe. Joe kicked out AGAIN from the Jackknife...amazing. Nice counter into an armbar for Joe. Ref bump. Seemed like a cheap way to win with the low blow, but it's not as bad here because Nash already used to Jackknifes. This was just two guys beating the crap out of each other. ***

Sting vs. AJ Styles (World Title): We have the main event intros and then a normal start to the match. Styles worked on Sting's arm early on. Good counters from Styles to keep the offense going. Sting with a press slam on Styles in the ring, but Sting dropped Styles to the outside...sick spot. Crowd really was into the match. Styles just hits kicks out of nowhere, wow. Styles pulled out all the stops, coming from all directions. Good false finish with Styles kicking out of the Scorpion Death Drop. Sting counters the Styles Clash and follows up with a Stinger Splash. Styles came back AGAIN and hits that awesome Spiral Tap from the top. Main Event Mafia came down, which I did not like - again. Here's a shocker: Styles MISSES the Pele and Sting rolls him up for three. Overall, still a great match. ***1/4

11/14/08 Smackdown

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/14/08 Smackdown:
Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin: ***3/4

The Brian Kendrick vs. Carlito: **1/4 (collateral interference took away from the ending of the match)

Kung Fu Naki vs. MVP: DUD

Michelle McCool vs. Maria (Divas Title): 1/4*

Jeff Hardy vs. Undertaker (Extreme Rules): ***1/2

Thursday, November 13, 2008

11/13/08 TNA Impact!

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/13/08 TNA Impact!:
Rhaka Khan & Awesome Kong vs. Roxxi & Taylor Wilde: *3/4

Eric Young vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir (X-Division Title): *1/2 (a ref helping the face win is amusing, but detracts from the actual match)

Scott Steiner vs. Rhino: DUD (lost interest in this one)

Sting vs. Jay Lethal (TNA Heavyweight Title): **

Samoa Joe & AJ Styles vs. Beer Money, Inc. (Tag Titles): **3/4 (DQ finish prevented at least three stars)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

11/11/08 ECW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/11/08 ECW:
John Morrison, The Miz, & Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer & Cryme Tyme: **1/2

Mark Henry vs. Oliver Biney: -****

Matt Hardy vs. Finlay: ***1/4

Monday, November 10, 2008

11/10/08 RAW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/10/08 RAW:
William Regal vs. Santino Marella (IC Title): Nice pops for Regal in his home country. The match, however, stunk because it was short and anticlimactic. DUD

Mike Knox vs. D'Lo Brown: Squash match. Bathroom break time. -***

Rey Mysterio vs. Kane (No DQ Match): Nice action to start. Rey with a nice moonsault off the railing. Sick move by Kane whipping Rey arm-first into the railing. Kane showed his power game and attacked Rey's arm. Nice counters by Rey. Very enjoyable match. **3/4

Batista vs. Cody Rhodes: It was supposed to be Batista facing Randy Orton, but Cody wanted to face Batista instead. It was a respectable effort, but the crowd was pretty indifferent. 1/2*

Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James (Women's Title): Too much Santino interference. Crowd indifferent. Overall performance was junk. Crappy finish. -*

Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (Last Man Standing Match): WWE gave this quite a bit of time for free TV, which I like. This is clearly the best feud currently going on, and apparently it will culminate tonight. Great action from these two yet again, as they brawled on the stage for a good part of the match. They made good use of the car and the mailbox on the stage. Using the camera was nice. And naturally, what's an HBK match without a ladder? Nice broken announce table spot. JBL's interference helping Jericho win was a bit disappointing to see, but it still gets a good rating. ***1/2

Sunday, November 9, 2008

11/7/08 Smackdown

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/7/08 Smackdown:
Shelton Benjamin vs. R-Truth (U.S. Title): Shelton did a good job to focus on R-Truth's midsection early. R-Truth did a bunch of aerial maneuvers in this one, including a somersault plancha and a missile dropkick, stuff he hadn't done in his previous matches. Shelton managed to get the win after hanging R-Truth on the top rope and hitting Paydirt. Good stuff, and seems like they would have some great matches together. **1/4

Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jimmy Wang Yang: Squash match. Better off as a dark match. -**

John Morrison & The Miz vs. Triple H & Jeff Hardy: Good action to start. Hardy tagged in and did his aerial stuff. Nice somersault plancha from Hardy. Great tag team wrestling from Miz and Morrison. Great storytelling from Hardy, wanting to prove to Vickie Guerrero that he was resilient and did not need anyone's help to beat people up. DQ finish was somewhat of a letdown but Hardy showed a much-needed aggressive side that should let him have one more crack at the WWE Title in the future. **1/2

The Great Khali vs. MVP: To me, it was a boring match. It was basically a squash, although MVP got in a little offense. The bigger story is that Khali did not do his one-foot-on-opponent cover; he actually got down and hooked the leg. Amazing. DUD

Brie Bella vs. Victoria: Decent moves by Victoria in the match; I wish they would make her at least a Divas champ once. I don't like seeing the roll-up finishes like this where it just looks so much like a fluke. We finally see Brie's twin sister, Nicole, after the match. I'm glad they don't have reason to do that under-the-ring crap again. 1/2*

The Undertaker vs. Vladimir Kozlov: Nice back-and-forth action. Kozlov finally gets a true test, which is nice to see. Undertaker never ceases to impress me by making yet another person look good. Great counters and back-and-forth action. Hardy coming in for the DQ stopped whatever momentum the match had. **1/4
_________________________________

The Khali Kiss Cam is one of the best things WWE has come up with in a while. Great entertainment.

Frankly, I really like what WWE is doing with Jeff Hardy. Next week's match (Hardy vs. Undertaker) could be good with Extreme Rules, but it also makes me think that Kozlov will be involved in the match in some way.
_________________________________

UPDATE ON NOVEMBER 13, 2008: I read an article courtesy of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the match between Brie Bella and Victoria was heavily edited and was real bad live. In that case, WWE did quite a job editing it, because it actually got better than a DUD on my scale.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

11/6/08 TNA Impact!

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
_________________________________

11/6/08 TNA Impact!:
Beer Money, Inc. & Booker T vs. Motor City Machine Guns & Christian Cage: **1/2

Matt Morgan & Abyss vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Volador vs. Team 3D vs. LAX (Tag Team Ladder Match for future Tag Team Title shot): **

Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs. Taylor Wilde & Rhaka Khan: 1/4*

Sting, Kevin Nash, & Kurt Angle vs. Eric Young, Consequences Creed, & Jay Lethal: **1/2

Scott Steiner vs. Samoa Joe: *3/4

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

11/4/08 ECW

(New guidelines for negative stars and DUD ratings)

Star rating key:

(negative stars) = Bathroom break; should not be on TV
DUD = Fit for TV, but a big letdown
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above-average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match-of-the-year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
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11/4/08 ECW:
Matt Hardy vs. Bam Neely: **1/4
Ricky Ortiz vs. Jon Davis: -***
Finlay vs. Mark Henry: **

Monday, November 3, 2008

11/3/08 RAW

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Huh?! (BS finish; most squash matches)
DUD = Boring match (or could not enjoy the match)
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match of the year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
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11/3/08 RAW (800th episode celebration; 3 hours):
The Hardys vs. MVP & The Brian Kendrick: *1/2

William Regal vs. JTG vs. Shad vs. Snitsky vs. Jamie Noble vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Manu (8-Man Over-The-Top-Rope Battle Royal): 1/2*

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Bret "Hitman" Haas: -**

D-Generation X vs. The Miz & John Morrison: **3/4

Beth Phoenix, Victoria, Maryse, Natalya, Layla, Jillian, Katie Lea & Lena Yada vs. Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, Candice Michelle, Brie Bella, Eve Torres, Tiffany, & Mae Young (!) (16-Diva Tag Match): -****

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton: DUD (hate DQ finishes)

Undertaker vs. JBL: DUD (hate countout finishes)

Kane & Mark Henry vs. Rey Mysterio & Kofi Kingston: 1/2*

Chris Jericho vs. Batista (Steel Cage Match; for World Heavyweight Title): **1/2
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As a note, during the cage match, Batista appeared to botch at least two spots. First, when Jericho was falling out of the ring, Batista had to catch him but he came too late, so Jericho had to look like an ass and hold onto the cage door to prevent from falling outside. Second, when Batista pulled Jericho back in the ring at one point, Batista had a clear shot to walk out the door to retain the title, but instead chose to go back in the ring. While this second one was not really a botch, it does make Batista look quite stupid, taking away from the rating just a tad from a good cage match (there were some pretty original ways of preventing escape.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

10/31/08 Smackdown

Star rating key:
(negative stars) = Huh?! (BS finish; most squash matches)
DUD = Boring match (or could not enjoy the match)
1/4* to 3/4* = It had watchable moments.
* to *3/4 = Average match.
** to **3/4 = Above average match.
*** to ***3/4 = Great match; usually saved for PPVs
**** to ****3/4 = Match of the year candidate
***** = The rarest of all matches. A classic.
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10/31/08 Smackdown:
John Morrison & The Miz vs. Carlito & Primo: **3/4
Jimmy Wang Yang vs. The Brian Kendrick: **
Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, & Rey Mysterio vs. Kane, Mark Henry, & MVP: ***
Maria, Brie Bella, & Michelle McCool vs. Maryse, Natalya, & Victoria: *
Undertaker vs. Chavo Guerrero (Casket Match): *1/2