Monday, November 30, 2009

11/30/09 RAW

Maryse & Jillian vs. Melina & Gail Kim: 3/4*

Sheamus vs. Santino Marella: N/A

Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston: 1/2*

Mark Henry vs. The Miz: 1/4*

Triple H vs. Chris Jericho: **3/4
_____________________

Sheamus's squash was not really even a match, just a beatdown.

Mini-Miz! (One of Miz's lines to guest host Verne Troyer)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

11/26/09 Impact

Bobby Lashley vs. Abyss: **1/4

Desmond Wolfe vs. Suicide: **

Kurt Angle vs. D'Angelo Dinero: **1/2

Robert Roode vs. Homicide: **

Bobby Lashley vs. Desmond Wolfe: **

Robert Roode vs. Kurt Angle: **1/4

Knockouts Battle Royal: 3/4*

Bobby Lashley vs. Robert Roode: **1/2
____________________

Wow. An extremely solid show.

Friday, November 27, 2009

11/27/09 Smackdown

Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith vs. JTG & Shad Gaspard: *

CM Punk vs. Matt Hardy: *1/4

Batista vs. Kane: **1/4

John Morrison vs. Eric Escobar (IC Title): *1/2

The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho: **1/2
_____________________

I like how they repackaged Festus into Luke Gallows. He even has a good-looking finisher. Let's see how WWE handles this one.

And tonight proves yet again that Vickie Guerrero never needs a microphone. So much for Escobar.

11/26/09 Superstars

The Miz vs. Santino Marella: *1/2

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Goldust: *1/4

R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler: **3/4

Thursday, November 26, 2009

11/23/09 ROH

Kenny King vs. Brent Albright: **1/2

D-Lo Brown vs. Sal Rinauro: 1/4*

Super Smash Brothers vs. Brandon Day & John Kermin: *

Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (Tag Team Titles): ****1/4

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

11/24/09 ECW

Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder: **3/4

Vance Archer vs. Alex Reynolds: DUD

Yoshi Tatsu vs. William Regal: *

Monday, November 23, 2009

11/23/09 RAW

(3-hour Thanksgiving special!)

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler: *1/2

Sheamus vs. Finlay: 1/2*

John Cena vs. CM Punk: **3/4

MVP, Mark Henry, & R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger, Chavo Guerrero, & Chris Masters: *

Randy Orton vs. Evan Bourne: 1/4*

Melina, Kelly Kelly, & Mickie James vs. Michelle McCool, Layla, & Jillian: -*

Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith vs. Triple H & Shawn Michaels: *1/4

Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs. JTG & Shad Gaspard: *

Breakthrough Battle Royal: *1/2
_________________________

To me, all the skits were winners. From Vince/Ventura to DX to Santino, it was very entertaining. Seeing the pie go back in Vickie's face was an epic win. And Maryse made the Gobbledy Gooker watchable.

Aside from the Cena/Punk match, the wrestling was horrid.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

11/22/09 Survivor Series

The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, & Jack Swagger vs. John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Finlay, Matt Hardy, and Shelton Benjamin: **3/4

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio: **

Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry, Christian, and R-Truth vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, William Regal, & CM Punk: ***1/4

The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show (World Heavyweight Title): **3/4

Mickie James, Melina, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, & Gail Kim vs. Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, Layla, & Alicia Fox: *1/2

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE Title): ****
_________________________

Match of the Night: John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

Trash of the Night: Divas match. It was not horrible, but everything else was better and it really seemed like the feud was between Mickie and Michelle (with Layla) -- and everyone else was just dead weight.

Three Stars:
(1) Shawn Michaels. Trust me, I marked for that opening Sweet Chin Music.
(2) Kofi Kingston. If he wasn't a star before, he is clearly a star now.
(3) Triple H. For taking eleventy billion Sweet Chin Music shots.

Analysis: Only six matches over three hours? That's good news to give all matches enough time.

Team Miz vs. Team Morrison was a good match. Bourne got his spot in, but quickly got pinned afterward, so he's still gonna be in midcard purgatory. Shelton actually got time to shine, so now I know he is still somewhat cared about in the company. Morrison got in his usual offense, which was awesome (yes Miz, I said awesome). The right people survived in this one. Miz gets to gloat more, while McIntyre and Sheamus get something to brag about now.

Batista vs. Mysterio was kept short and was entertaining for what it was. The whole point to me was to make Batista more of a monster, but of course, being in Batista's hometown of Washington, D.C., his every move was pretty much cheered. The match told a great story, and that (along with crowd reaction) is the main reason for the rating being what it is. Rey can choose to have his knee surgery now if he wants; an injury angle would not be surprising.

Team Kofi vs. Team Orton was a great match. The lone big man (Henry) gets knocked out early, leaving the other nine to go at it. And for those that think CM Punk is being demoted, that's not the case. Instead, Punk's job is really to help elevate R-Truth, and it's been working lately. Punk did a tremendous job in this one, especially when it was down to Kofi vs. Punk/Orton. Kofi looked great again, especially getting two pins on World Champions in about a six-second span. That finish was brilliant.

Taker/Jericho/Show was good, but not the best. Nice tension between JeriShow, even though they still managed to work on Taker as a unit. I thought the finish was pretty good, having Show tap to Hell's Gate. This should lead to more tension between JeriShow.

Divas Survivor Series match was good for what it was. Some quick eliminations occurred, and Beth got to look strong by pinning two Divas in mere seconds. Melina had the strongest showing of the face Divas. Nice to see Mickie on the winning side after all she went through on Smackdown. But yeah, seemed like a bunch of dead weight in there.

Cena/HHH/HBK was a Match of the Year candidate that started with a shocking Sweet Chin Music from HBK to HHH. The crowd was into it all the way, usually with split chants for and against Cena. The match had excellent drama, and the finish was well done. This too should lead to DX tension.

It should be Taker/Cena for WrestleMania (from what I've gathered), but I wouldn't be surprised to see HHH/HBK on the grandest stage of them all, either. My friend and I agree that this latter match can get five stars.

As for this PPV, another well-executed show. Excellent time management.

Overall Rating: ***1/2

Saturday, November 21, 2009

11/20/09 Smackdown

Batista vs. Matt Hardy: *

Drew McIntyre vs. Finlay: DUD

John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler (2 out of 3 falls; IC Title): **1/4

Mickie James vs. Layla: DUD

Rey Mysterio vs. Tyson Kidd: *

The Undertaker & Kane vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show: **1/4
_______________________

I now know what is worse than Vickie Guerrero saying "Excuse me!" all the time: her squealing after being named consultant for Smackdown.

R-Truth's response to beating CM Punk was a huge success. This program will be good for R-Truth's career.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

11/19/09 Impact

Amazing Red vs. Scott Steiner: 1/2*

Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, James Storm, & Robert Roode vs. Brutus Magnus, Doug Williams, Sheik Abdul Bashir, & Kiyoshi: *3/4

Hamada vs. Taylor Wilde: *1/2

Abyss vs. Dr. Stevie & Raven: 3/4*

Sarita vs. Alissa Flash: *1/2

Brother Ray, Brother Devon, & Rhino vs. Matt Morgan, Hernandez, & D'Angelo Dinero (Street Fight): **

Daniels & Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle & AJ Styles: **1/2

11/19/09 Superstars

Zack Ryder vs. Shelton Benjamin: *1/2

Eric Escobar vs. Jimmy Wang Yang: *

Mark Henry vs. Cody Rhodes: *1/2

11/16/09 ROH

Chris Hero vs. Delirious: **1/4

Grizzly Redwood & Necro Butcher vs. Prince Nana & Joey Ryan (Beard vs. Beard): *1/2

Skullkrusher Rasche Brown vs. Darren Matthews: DUD

Roderick Strong vs. Bryan Danielson: ****
___________________________

And with that, Danielson heads to WWE, likely with a new trademarked name. Hopefully WWE does not drop the ball here.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

11/17/09 ECW

The Hurricane vs. Paul Burchill: ***

Vance Archer vs. Johnny Andrews: DUD

Christian & R-Truth vs. CM Punk & William Regal: **1/2

11/16/09 RAW

The Miz vs. MVP (U.S. Title): *1/4

Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero: -*

Melina vs. Alicia Fox (Lumberjack; Divas Title): 1/4*

Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne: *1/2

John Cena & The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show vs. Triple H & Shawn Michaels: ***
_____________________________

Kofi + Orton = epic win! I could have easily rated that segment around **3/4 to *** had it really been a match.

11/15/09 Turning Point

Amazing Red vs. Homicide (X-Division Title): ***1/2

ODB, Taylor Wilde, & Sarita vs. Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, & Lacey Von Erich (Knockouts Tag Team Titles; Knockouts Title): **

Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams vs. James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (Tag Team Titles): ***1/4

Tara vs. Awesome Kong (Cage): ***

Rhino, Brother Ray, & Brother Devon vs. D'Angelo Dinero, Matt Morgan, & Hernandez: **3/4

Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley (Falls Count Anywhere): *1/2

Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe: ****1/4

AJ Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe (World Title): ****1/2
______________________________

Match of the Night: AJ Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe. A VERY close second is Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe.

Trash of the Night: Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley. It was not complete trash (backstage spots were nice), but it was still a slopfest.

Five Stars: Usually it's three stars, but AJ Styles, Daniels, Samoa Joe, Desmond Wolfe, and Kurt Angle all share the top spot.

Analysis: The card looked great on paper. I just hoped it would deliver.

The opener between Red and Homicide was fantastic. It was fast-paced (which I like), and Don West helped to keep the crowd loud. I thought it was well done and showcased the X-Division very well.

The Knockouts six-woman tag match was good for what it was, but not great. Lacey Von Erich (easily the weakest in wrestling ability of the six) was kept to a minimum in ring time. Please send Lacey to wrestling school.

Tag Title match was very good. It's safe to say the tag division is a strong point for TNA.

The Tara/Kong cage match was awesome. I never thought I'd see Awesome Kong do a missile dropkick, and Tara's dive off the cage was a great finish.

Six-man tag match between the veterans and the younger guys was also good. I liked that Dinero, Morgan, and Hernandez each got time to do their stuff. However, in the end, I was just not into the match as much as most of the other matches on the card.

Steiner vs. Lashley was very sloppy. Lashley either held back on the weapon shots or doesn't know how to hit people with it. Glad it was a falls count anywhere, no-DQ match, or else it really would have been a snoozer. I really got concerned when Steiner landed on his head attempting the Frankensteiner from the top rope. Why they gave Steiner the win puzzles me. I don't really want to see this feud go long. I did give extra points for the backstage spots.

Angle/Wolfe really delivered. Wow. Outstanding match with a couple of false finishes. The various submission holds each man delivered really impressed me. It is even more amazing when you consider that Angle threw his back out early in the match (as reported the day after the PPV). This is why Angle is one of the best in the world today at what he does.

And finally, the epic triple threat. Holy bleepity bleep. Words otherwise really can't describe the match, other than it did as well as it could to live up to their five-star encounter from Unbreakable 2005. Basically, they tried, but did not quite equal it. I know a bunch of people will think this match deserved the full five, but it was still clear to me that Unbreakable 2005 was better. As much as I would love Meltzer to rate this five, I don't think it's happening. My guess is that he rates it ****1/2 to ****3/4.

Turning Point 2009 was an outstanding PPV. Steiner vs. Lashley was a downer, but the others were great and the crowd was loud all night. TNA did a fantastic job with giving matches sufficient time. It is definitely worth the time and effort to see this PPV.

Overall Rating: ****1/4

Sunday, November 15, 2009

11/6/09 Untouchable

Dragon Gate USA
(Taped 9/6/09, aired 11/6/09)

Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino: ****1/4

Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush vs. Yamato & Gran Akuma: ***1/2

Naruki Doi vs. Bryan Danielson: ****1/2

CIMA vs. Brian Kendrick: **

Davey Richards vs. Shingo: ****1/2

Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (Open the Twin Gate Title): ***3/4
__________________________

Match of the Night: They all epic win.

Trash of the Night: None.

Three Stars: Everyone again.

Analysis: Could it live up to the first Dragon Gate USA PPV? Oh hell yeah. While we had edited matches (such as CIMA/Kendrick), we had epic matches in Doi/Danielson and Richards/Shingo.

For the Richards/Shingo match, I was pretty much spent after that. Certainly one of the most amazing matches I have ever seen. Please go out of your way to see it.

Another unbelievable PPV. Again...YOU BUY NOW!

Overall Rating: ****1/2
___________________________________

NOTE: Here are Dave Meltzer's ratings from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino: ****1/4
Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush vs. Yamato & Gran Akuma: **1/2
Naruki Doi vs. Bryan Danielson: ****3/4
CIMA vs. Brian Kendrick: N/A
Davey Richards vs. Shingo: ****1/2
Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (Open the Twin Gate Title): ***1/2

Friday, November 13, 2009

11/13/09 Smackdown

CM Punk vs. R-Truth: *1/2

Natalya vs. Mickie James: 1/2*

Drew McIntyre vs. Finlay: 3/4*

John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler (IC Title): **1/2

Beth Phoenix vs. Lisa Taylor: DUD

The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho: **3/4

11/12/09 Superstars

Matt Hardy vs. David Hart Smith: **1/4

Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder: *3/4

MVP vs. Ted DiBiase: **1/2

Thursday, November 12, 2009

11/12/09 Impact

Dr. Stevie vs. Abyss: 1/2*

Alissa Flash vs. Traci Brooks: 1/4*

Jim Neidhart vs. Jay Lethal: 3/4*

Awesome Kong, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, & Lacey Von Erich vs. ODB, Taylor Wilde, Sarita, & Tara: *1/4

Amazing Red, Chris Sabin, & Alex Shelley vs. Homicide, Sheik Abdul Bashir, & Kiyoshi: **

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams: *3/4

Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles: *3/4
___________________________

The match ratings suffered likely because not enough time was given in each bout.

11/9/09 ROH

Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Super Smash Brothers: **3/4

Chris Hero vs. Bobby Dempsey: 3/4*

Skullkrusher Rasche Brown vs. Sal Rinauro: 1/4*

Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards vs. Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong: ***1/2
_________________________

Next week: Bryan Danielson's last televised ROH match! His opponent? Roderick Strong!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

11/10/09 ECW

Goldust vs. Paul Burchill: *

Vance Archer vs. Jason Blackwell: DUD

Christian vs. William Regal (ECW Title): ***3/4
____________________________

Great main event from ECW once again!

Monday, November 9, 2009

11/9/09 RAW

Alicia Fox vs. Kelly Kelly: 1/2*

Sheamus vs. (an unnamed local jobber): DUD

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger: *1/4

Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton: *1/4

Ricky Hatton vs. Chavo Guerrero (Boxer vs. Wrestler): DUD

Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show: **
_______________________

A "Happy Birthday Jericho" sign = epic win!

Well, that whole undefeated promise of Swagger's is dead. Way to go, WWE.

Friday, November 6, 2009

11/6/09 Smackdown

Dolph Ziggler, Tyson Kidd, & David Hart Smith vs. John Morrison, Shad, & JTG: *3/4

Beth Phoenix vs. Brittany Carter: DUD

Drew McIntyre vs. Jimmy Wang Yang: DUD

Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox: **1/4

R-Truth vs. CM Punk: *3/4

Matt Hardy vs. Batista: **1/4
________________________

Mickie James calling Layla "Scary Spice" = win

I'm not sure what the deal with Scott Armstrong and CM Punk goes from here. I don't know if I want it to be a full-blown feud spanning months, even though Armstrong can wrestle. If it's just a bunch of ref harassment and ref revenge stuff each week, it'll get old very fast. It's still fine to me for now, but I can't see this going much further.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

11/5/09 Superstars

Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero: *1/2

Jack Swagger vs. Primo: *1/2

Paul Burchill vs. Tyler Reks: *

Chris Jericho vs. Finlay: **1/2

11/5/09 Impact

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Eric Young & Big Rob: *1/2

Desmond Wolfe vs. Cody Deaner: DUD

Tara vs. Hamada: *1/4

Bobby Lashley vs. Homicide: 1/4*

Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne: DUD

AJ Styles vs. Daniels: *3/4

Matt Morgan & Hernandez vs. Brother Ray & Brother Devon: *1/4
_____________________________

The matches were too short. Period.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

11/2/09 ROH

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson: **3/4

Rhett Titus vs. Alex Payne: *1/2

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Grizzly Redwood: 3/4*

Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuinness: **1/2

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

11/3/09 ECW

William Regal vs. Goldust: *

Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder: *1/4

Vance Archer vs. Logan Jones: DUD

Christian & Yoshi Tatsu vs. Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov: *3/4

Monday, November 2, 2009

11/2/09 RAW

The Miz vs. Evan Bourne (U.S. Title): **

Sheamus vs. Jamie Noble: 1/4*

Kofi Kingston, MVP, & Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, & Ted DiBiase: **1/4

Divas Battle Royal featuring Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, & Eve Torres: -1/2*

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show: **
_________________________

The Sheamus squash match gets that 1/4* as a bonus for the power bomb on the floor. Otherwise, it's a DUD.

The battle royal was a mess. I would have rather watched paint dry.