Saturday, January 31, 2009

1/30/09 Smackdown

As a note, Matt Hardy's promo to open the show was excellent. I hope this brother vs. brother feud lasts a while.

R-Truth vs. The Brian Kendrick: *

MVP vs. Chavo Guerrero: *3/4

Umaga vs. Jimmy Wang Yang: -* (Squash)

The Undertaker vs. Mark Henry (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match): *3/4

The Big Show vs. Festus (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match): DUD (Glorified squash)

Triple H vs. The Great Khali vs. Vladimir Kozlov (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match): 1/2* (Just not a good match overall, and that was one of the worst Pedigrees ever.)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

1/29/09 TNA Impact!

Sojourner Bolt, Rhaka Khan, & Raisha Saeed vs. ODB: DUD

Booker T vs. two referees (Rudy Charles & Andrew Thomas): -****

Matt Morgan vs. Petey Williams (Petey Williams has one arm tied behind his back): -***

Team 3D vs. Sting: -*** (The longer the match went, the more pissed I got.)

Abyss vs. Scott Steiner (Weapons Match; Steiner cannot use weapons): 3/4* (Steiner got DQ'd)

Kurt Angle vs. LAX (Handicap): **1/2

__________________________

TNA's show having the Main Event Mafia "take over" the show was a complete disaster.

Booker T's imitation of Don West was funny at first (since it was spot on), but got extremely annoying as the show wore on. I didn't think I would want to hear Don West actually speak again, but it happened.

Honestly, this was the absolute worst show I have ever seen on TV, and basically confirmed the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's awards: TNA was the worst promotion of the year and had the worst TV show of the year in 2008, and they are well on their way to claiming that honor for 2009.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

1/27/09 ECW

The Boogeyman vs. Ricky Ortiz: N/A (no match happened)

Finlay vs. Paul Burchill: *1/2

Mark Henry vs. Tommy Dreamer: **

Monday, January 26, 2009

1/26/09 RAW

The Miz & John Morrison vs. Cryme Tyme (World Tag Team Titles): *1/4

Kofi Kingston vs. Kane (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match): 3/4*

John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match): **3/4

Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall vs. Melina & Kelly Kelly: 1/4*

Rey Mysterio vs. William Regal (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match): *1/2

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match): *1/2

Sunday, January 25, 2009

1/25/09 Royal Rumble

For this PPV, I welcome two special guests to my rating system. Both my guests will provide their own comments to each match and use their own rating system, which I will not go into here since it's so subjective.

For anyone that reads this blog and cares, give it up for my guests, Tom Delgado and Red!

Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy (ECW Title)
S2X: **3/4 (Very good opener. Swagger continues to have good matches.)

Tom: *1/2 (Jack Swagger is a talentless hack!)

Red: *** (Pretty good match with some unique moves thrown in there. Jack Swagger looks like he belongs with the big boys. Unfortunatley didn't feel that different than an ECW TV Main Event, but that's not completely bad thing.)

Melina vs. Beth Phoenix (Women's Title)
S2X: ** (Very surprisingly good. Melina's flexibility was put to great use in this match.)

Tom: -3/4* (Good for a Divas match, bad for any other match)

Red: **3/4 (Some good moves from these women, they have nice chemistry. Especially loved the part where Beth forced Melina to kick herself.)

John Cena vs. JBL (World Heavyweight Title)
S2X: ***1/4 (Typical Cena match at a PPV. Great false finishes and nice tension between HBK, Cena, and JBL.)

Tom: ***1/2 (He did not care for the finish, however.)

Red: ***1/2 (A pretty good straight up wrestling match that may be a little above their previous efforts, but what got me hooked on this one was the story. They managed to keep you on your seat the whole match, and now I can't wait to see what happens. I was cheerinng for JBL (for 1 night only), so since Cena won, I would like to start a riot.)

Edge vs. Jeff Hardy (No DQ Match; WWE Title)
S2X: **** (Excellent spots and excitement. The Matt heel turn was outstanding. I cannot wait to see how this brother feud will pan out.)

Tom: **** (Points off for Vickie being Vickie. Props to WWE for thinking of using Matt in this match. Matt v. Jeff at WM much?)

Red: **** (Sad to see Hardy lose the title, but awesome to see Matt turn heel. Can't wait to see what thing brings. Great match by the way.)

Royal Rumble Match (Randy Orton wins)
S2X: ***1/4 (Good picks to have Mysterio and Morrison start. I liked the final four at the end between HHH and Legacy. Excellent spots as always.)

Tom: *** (Did not like Orton winning the Rumble; does not want to see Cena vs. Orton for the millionth time.)

Red: ***3/4 (Started off great, got crowded, slowed down, kept my interest, good finish, good Rumble.)

Overall
S2X: ***1/2 (Solid last few matches; Divas match was predictably the weakest one and even that was better than I thought it would be.)

Tom: *** (Did not like Cena and Orton winning matches on the same PPV.)

Red: ***1/2 (Great event that didn't consist of any "trash," but nothing that will probably be a MOTYC in the end.)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

11/22/08 ROH Rising Above

(Aired on 1/16/09; taped 11/22/08)

Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Tag Team Titles): **3/4

MsChif vs. Sara Del Ray (Shimmer Title): **

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Alex Payne vs. Sami Callahan vs. Sila Young (Four Corner Survival): **3/4

Chris Hero, Go Shiozaki, & Davey Richards vs. Ace Steel, Brent Albright, & Roderick Strong: ***1/4

Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs (I Quit): ****1/4

Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH World Title): ****1/2

1/23/09 Smackdown

The Undertaker vs. Shelton Benjamin: ***

The Great Khali vs. Chavo Guerrero: 1/4*

Michelle McCool & Natalya vs. The Bella Twins: DUD (DQ finish when Maria came to beat McCool up.)

Edge vs. Matt Hardy (No DQ): **3/4

The Miz & John Morrison vs. Carlito & Primo: ***1/4

Vladimir Kozlov & The Big Show vs. Triple H: **1/4

Thursday, January 22, 2009

1/22/09 TNA Impact!

Alex Shelley vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Chris Sabin (X-Division Title): **

ODB vs. Sojourner Bolt: 1/2* (DQ sucks)

Booker T & Scott Steiner vs. Petey Williams & Eric Young (Elimination): *1/2

Beer Money, Inc. vs. Abyss & Matt Morgan (First Blood): **1/4

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles (Tables): ***1/4

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

1/20/09 ECW

Ricky Ortiz vs. Adam Evans: -** (Drawn-out boring squash)

The Boogeyman vs. Paul Burchill: 1/4* (DQ sucks)

John Morrison vs. The Miz vs. Mark Henry vs. Finlay: *3/4

Monday, January 19, 2009

1/19/09 RAW

Over-the-top-rope battle royal (Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Kane vs. Santino Marella vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase): 1/4*

Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly: DUD

CM Punk vs. William Regal (IC Title): ***

Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox: 3/4* (DQ sucks)

Cryme Tyme vs. The Miz & John Morrison: 1/4*

Melina vs. Jillian: DUD

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Paul London/Akio feud

Their feud on Velocity from December 2004 to the early part of 2005 produced four very good matches. And to think, this was on Velocity, a show that doesn't even air anymore and was usually for the boring crap. There were more matches between the two, but these four that I watched with a friend really impressed me.

12/4/04: Paul London vs. Akio: **1/4 (London took a SICK bump, landing on his head.)

1/15/05: Akio vs. Paul London: **1/2 (A little longer match; London again lands on his head.)

2/12/05: Paul London vs. Akio: **3/4 (A bit longer match, more back-and-forth action, more moves, and a strong finish. Japanese crowd seemed to love that one.)

3/12/05: Paul London vs. Akio: **3/4 (Pretty much the same description as their previous match, but not in Japan for this one. Great way to finish off this four-match war.)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

1/16/09 Smackdown

Finlay & Matt Hardy vs. Jack Swagger & Mark Henry: **1/4

R-Truth vs. The Brian Kendrick: *1/2

MVP vs. The Big Show (Last Man Standing): **3/4

Michelle McCool vs. Victoria: **1/4 (Victoria's last match)

Thursday, January 15, 2009

1/15/09 TNA Impact!

Hernandez vs. Sting (World Title): *1/4 (DQ finish was not appreciated.)

Roxxi, Taylor Wilde, & ODB vs. Kongtourage (Raisha Saeed, Rhaka Khan, & Sojourner Bolt): **1/4

Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed vs. Matt Morgan & Abyss: **1/2

AJ Styles vs. Scott Steiner: *** (This one hit a home run from a storyline standpoint, and I actually found the go-home sequence of the match to be very effective.)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

1/13/09 ECW

Alicia Fox & DJ Gabriel vs. Katie Lea & Paul Burchill: 1/4*

The Boogeyman vs. Sammy Savard: -***

Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy (ECW Title): ***1/4

TNA Genesis thoughts

I felt TNA Genesis was a PPV that was great overall but unfortunately ended with a whimper.

The opening match, which was basically thrown together close to the last minute, was a well-done six-man tag team elimination match. It was pretty good action with the usual everyone-gets-involved chaos and the high fliers decide to do their suicide dives to the outside. Everyone completely got off their seats for Hernandez's one. Even though he's done it many times before, that guy never ceases to amaze me for his performances. As the sole survivor of the match, he is definitely groomed for that World Title shot thanks to the Feast or Fired match.

The match of the night to me was the X-Division match between Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. It was basically a match usually reserved for the ROH shows...yes, that's how excellent it was. The pace was quick, the crowd was electric, and the two men pulled out every move they knew. It took a pretty weak finish to get the pin, but the rating wasn't affected too much because they had already exhausted their moveset.

The match between Sheik Abdul Bashir and Shane Sewell was built up extremely well, and they delivered a decent match. Sewell did a good job of keeping the crowd on his side, but basically I did not care for the finish. Sheik had his problems with refs again, this time Earl Hebner, and all the refs coming out to congratulate Sewell for his win was just one of those "whatever, get outta here" moments. I just didn't dig that finish.

The Three Team Tag Title match was pretty good. Another fine performance from Beer Money, who delivered perhaps the spot of the year with the threesome with Jackie. My friend and I just laughed at that one. Beer Money rightfully got the tag belts back; they should have never lost them on Impact, but thank TNA's bad booking for that one.

The six-woman tag match put up at the last minute was a forgettable match that basically saw ODB get the pin, so now she's next in line to face Awesome Kong (who's been battling injuries of her own). It's unfortunate Christy Hemme had to suffer an injury; she most likely would have won the title at Genesis.

A close second in the match-of-the-night category was between Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett. Sick spots galore and bloodshed made this one memorable. Jarrett took some real bad bumps out there, and he was obviously in a lot of pain after the match. The history between the two was amazing, and I'm pretty sure Meltzer will give this match a higher rating than the Shelley/Sabin match. It's just that, in terms of wanting to watch either match again, I'd pick the X-Division in a heartbeat because it had more near falls, more amazing moves, and, to me, more excitement.

Note: My prediction is that Meltzer will give the Angle match around ****1/2 and the Shelley match **** to ****1/4

And then the matches basically got worse from there. The World Title match played second fiddle to Foley's return, which was mistake #1. Sting has been banged up, yet they made him wrestle at the PPV. That was mistake #2. Then, they made Rhino look weak from a beatdown, strengthening the Main Event Mafia more (which wasn't needed at all), and basically we're back at square one again. Three strikes and you're out.

If I ran things, I would have done some sort of attack on Sting at the last Impact taping before Genesis. Mafia could have worked their influence to cancel the title match for whatever reason. Sting gets to recover and keep the belt longer. I know they wanted to have the World Title defended on the show somehow, but I'd rather take no match than have a big letdown of a match on a show I would need to pay money to see.

The six-man tag was just a big mess. It was horrid at the start as a regular match, got putrid when the double countout was done, and then Foley had to exercise his power to get the match restarted under Hardcore rules. The rating got saved thanks to some nice weapon shots and the AJ Styles frog splash.

I know that Kevin Nash was supposed to be a part of the main event and he was held out due to a legit severe staph infection, but still, couldn't they have gotten someone better than Cute Kip?!

In closing, Genesis was a PPV that impressed early on and past the midway point with two matches at ****1/4 or higher. However, it simply did not deliver at the end. The injuries to Sting and Steiner, and the unfortunate infection for Nash really make me think that the Mafia's days on TV are numbered big time.

Rating: ***3/4

Monday, January 12, 2009

1/12/09 RAW

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz: *1/2 (Mysterio got some good offense in, but Miz only got in mediocre moves.)

William Regal vs. CM Punk (IC Title; if Regal gets DQ'd, he loses the title): DUD (At least we should have a good match next week, when RAW is in Chicago. Punk looks groomed to win the belt then in his hometown.)

Randy Orton vs. Kane: *3/4 (Finish looked weird and confusing.)

Kelly Kelly & Melina vs. Jillian & Beth Phoenix: N/A (Rosa took shots at Melina and then it was just a beatdown from the heels.)

Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena: **** (Excellent match. Amazingly, their match a couple years ago was better.)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

1/11/09 TNA Genesis

Eric Young and LAX vs. Sonjay Dutt, Jimmy Rave, & Kiyoshi (Six-Man Elimination): ***1/2

Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin (X-Division Title): ****

Shane Sewell vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir: **1/4

Beer Money, Inc. vs. Abyss & Matt Morgan vs. Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed (Tag Team Titles): **3/4

ODB, Roxxi, & Taylor Wilde vs. Kongtourage (Raisha Saeed, Rhaka Khan, & Sojourner Bolt) (Person getting fall gets title shot against Awesome Kong): 3/4* (ODB gets the pin)

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett (No DQ): ****1/4

Sting vs. Rhino (TNA World Title): ** (Good aggression at the start, but the match seemed just too pressed for time.)

Brother Devon, AJ Styles, & Mick Foley vs. Booker T, Scott Steiner, & Cute Kip: ** (Things picked up after restarting the match, otherwise it would have been a pretty bad rating.)

Saturday, January 10, 2009

1/9/09 Smackdown

Triple H vs. John Morrison (Tables Match): **

The Undertaker vs. Shelton Benjamin: *** (If Shelton got in some more signature moves and more exciting offense, the rating would have been higher.)

The Bella Twins vs. Victoria & Michelle McCool: 3/4* (Good spots, but a weak ending.)

Triple H vs. The Miz & Chavo Guerrero: *1/2

Carlito & Primo vs. The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson: **1/4

Triple H vs. The Big Show (Last Man Standing): **3/4 (KO punch from Big Show was a decent ending.)

Thursday, January 8, 2009

1/8/09 TNA Impact!

Alex Shelley vs. Eric Young: **1/2

Awesome Kong vs. Madison Rayne: -*

Matt Morgan vs. Robert Roode: *1/2 (Ref stoppage was a disappointing way to end the match. Sucks for Roode.)

Consequences Creed & Jay Lethal vs. Beer Money, Inc. (Tag Team Titles): **3/4 (I was so happy when the cashing in of a briefcase was not just a five-second match - and was really a great performance. Did not care for the interference.)

Kurt Angle vs. BG James (No DQ): ***

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

1/6/09 ECW

Jack Swagger vs. Finlay: *** (One of Swagger's best performances yet.)

Katie Lea Burchill vs. Alicia Fox: -* (Crowd was dead and the finish was weak.)

The Boogeyman vs. Bret Barnes: -*** (Complete squash match. The crowd finally came alive when the match ended and Boogeyman reached for the worms.)

Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry: **3/4

Monday, January 5, 2009

1/5/09 RAW

Goldust & Melina vs. Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix: 3/4*

CM Punk vs. William Regal (IC Title): DUD (You could feel the DQ finish deflating the crowd.)

The Miz & John Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio & Kofi Kingston: ***

Kelly Kelly vs. Jillian: 1/4* (Virtually no crowd reaction; action was not fluid at times. The match was headed for negative stars until the end sequence.)

Cody Rhodes & Sim Snuka vs. Cryme Tyme: **1/4

Shawn Michaels & John Cena vs. Randy Orton & Chris Jericho: ***1/2 (Excellent storytelling; crowd was into it; good finish.)
_________________________________

Looks like Stephanie is losing some weight. The camera cutting to Stephanie making her entrance showed her whole body (on accident) and it did appear she was smaller than in past weeks.

Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano

Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano - Matches of note:

Summer 1994: Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano: **3/4 (Bull Nakano's debut as a full-time member of the WWF roster)

8/29/94: Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano: ***1/4 (Dave Meltzer's highest rating of any WWF/WWE women's match; he also gave it the same rating)

There are more matches, but I am unable to track them down at this point.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Gail Kim/Awesome Kong feud

Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong matches of note:

10/11/07 Amazing Kong vs. Gail Kim (TNA Impact!): *1/2 (Awesome Kong's debut)

1/6/08 Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong (TNA Final Resolution; No DQ match for Knockouts Title): ***1/2 (A bunch of people still say this was their best match one-on-one match.)

1/10/08 Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim (TNA Impact!; for Knockouts Title): ***1/4 (Kong finally dethrones Gail for the belt.)

3/9/08 Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim vs. ODB (TNA Destination X; for Knockouts Title): ***1/2

5/15/08 Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim (TNA Impact!; for Knockouts Title): ***1/4

8/21/08 Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim (TNA Impact!): **3/4 (Gail Kim's last TNA match)

I have also heard great things about their encounter at Turning Point in 2007. However, I was unable to locate a working video of that match. I hope to find that match and rate it someday.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

1/2/09 Smackdown

Finlay & The Great Khali vs. Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder: 1/4* (I just could not get into this match. Khali is too slow and Finlay's work just didn't fly with me.)

The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jesse & Festus: *1/2 (Interesting move to have Festus act as the injured person in the match.)

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Hurricane Helms: 1/2*

Kizarny vs. MVP: 3/4* (Great moves, but crowd reaction was horrid.)

The Hardys vs. Edge & The Big Show: ** (However, Big Show leaving for apparently no reason was just weird.)

Friday, January 2, 2009

1/1/09 TNA Impact!

The first TNA Impact! of the new year was mostly a Best of 2008 show, highlighting several matches from 2008. There was one new match:

Beer Money, Inc. vs. LAX (Tag Team Titles): **1/4 (Good spots, but finish was weak and the crowd seemed to not care at times.)