The Hurricane vs. The Ripper (Paul Burchill): **
Ezekiel Jackson vs. Vladimir Kozlov: 1/4*
Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft vs. Julio Cruz & Jorge Arias: DUD
Kane vs. Zack Ryder: *1/4
_________________
The gamers (Barreta & Croft) finally got new music. The original music they had was crappy. Still though, this new theme is pretty generic.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
12/14/09 RAW
(3-hour special guest hosted by Dennis Miller)
Christian, Kane, & The Great Khali vs. William Regal, Vladimir Kozlov, & Ezekiel Jackson: 1/4*
Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs. Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne: *1/2
John Cena vs. CM Punk: 1/2*
Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker: 3/4*
Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show (Unified Tag Team Titles): N/A
John Morrison, Yoshi Tatsu, & Mark Henry vs. The Miz, Zack Ryder, & Drew McIntyre: 1/2*
Mickie James, Melina, Gail Kim, Maria, Eve Torres, Nikki Bella, & Brie Bella vs. Michelle McCool, Layla, Rosa Mendes, Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Maryse, & Alicia Fox: -*
John Cena vs. Randy Orton: **1/2
_______________________
2009 Slammy Awards:
Chris Jericho & The Big Show win WWE Tag Team of the Year: This was a no-brainer. They were not only the most dominant tag team of the year in terms of wrestling, but they were excellent on the mic in the process. At least putting the tag belts on them has made the tag division watchable again -- OK, maybe not totally watchable (since there still really is no tag division), but still.
Sheamus wins WWE Breakout Superstar of the Year: After TLC last night, this was a logical choice. With all due respect to Drew McIntyre (who won the IC belt from John Morrison), and Yoshi Tatsu (who has impressed me in some of his ECW matches), Sheamus's win was one of the most shocking in WWE history and to me was the "WTF moment of the year" for WWE matches.
CM Punk defeating Jeff Hardy in a Cage Match on Smackdown (and forcing Jeff Hardy to "retire") wins WWE Shocker of the Year: If you did not know Jeff Hardy was not interested in re-signing with WWE and wanted to take time off, then yes, it probably would be shocking to a WWE fan. However, for all intents and purposes, this was meant to further the CM Punk character as a mega heel. To me, Sheamus winning over Cena at TLC was truly the legit shocker of the year, but it probably happened too late to be considered a nominee.
Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXV wins the WWE Match of the Year: Again, another no-brainer. It is one of the few matches I have ever given the full five stars to. Sad to see that Morrison/Mysterio and Jericho/Mysterio were not nominated. I guess it was supposed to really be WWE PPV Match of the Year, huh? Nice tease by HBK. Could we have HBK/Taker again at Mania? Not sure if WWE will pull the trigger on that.
Bob Barker wins RAW Guest Host of the Year: I agree with this. Bob was a great host, and his segment with Chavo (poor Chavo) was entertaining. Dennis Miller really did put Vince on the spot here. Bret Hart as a RAW Guest Host? Now THAT is something I would love to see.
Jeff Hardy's Swanton Bomb on CM Punk at SummerSlam wins WWE Extreme Moment of the Year: While yes, it was quite an extreme moment for WWE purposes, this was also one of those feel-good moments to really send the fans home happy. I think the fans only had a hand in determining the Diva of the Year (see below) so the fans had no say here. And hey, Carlito had his 15 seconds of fame before getting nuked by Masters. Did anyone care? Nope.
Maria wins the WWE Diva of the Year: Strictly a feel-good moment for Maria. Fans really do love her. You know, I would love for this to lead to a Maria heel turn in the future (basically let the award get to her head and get an "I'm better than you" persona). As far as the award goes, I personally would have voted for either Michelle McCool or Melina, since they have had the most camera time and have been the most consistent Diva performers during the year (especially with Maryse out for a few months due to injury and Mickie James having a bunch of bad matches during the year). Of course, Batista has to pull a Kanye West during the show, and no one really cared about that. Oh, and Goldust helped present the award with MVP, and Goldust tried to pull some jokes that completely fell flat. Nice seeing ya, Goldy.
Michael Cole puking on Chris Jericho during the Smackdown 10th Anniversary Special wins the "Oh My!" Moment of the Year: I must admit, Big Dick Johnson and Tony Atlas were awesome. Abraham Washington was clearly disturbed in presenting the award. Personally, Michael Cole gets props for moving as fast as Usain Bolt up the ramp and showcasing one of the wildest celebrations for a Slammy award ever. I also loved his poking fun at J.R. and catering to the Texas crowd with the "Hook'em Horns!" Good stuff...VINTAGE COLE!
John Cena beats CM Punk and Randy Orton in separate matches on RAW to win WWE Superstar of the Year: As much as some fans hate Cena, he is truly the franchise player of WWE. Cena = money and ratings.
Christian, Kane, & The Great Khali vs. William Regal, Vladimir Kozlov, & Ezekiel Jackson: 1/4*
Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs. Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne: *1/2
John Cena vs. CM Punk: 1/2*
Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker: 3/4*
Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show (Unified Tag Team Titles): N/A
John Morrison, Yoshi Tatsu, & Mark Henry vs. The Miz, Zack Ryder, & Drew McIntyre: 1/2*
Mickie James, Melina, Gail Kim, Maria, Eve Torres, Nikki Bella, & Brie Bella vs. Michelle McCool, Layla, Rosa Mendes, Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Maryse, & Alicia Fox: -*
John Cena vs. Randy Orton: **1/2
_______________________
2009 Slammy Awards:
Chris Jericho & The Big Show win WWE Tag Team of the Year: This was a no-brainer. They were not only the most dominant tag team of the year in terms of wrestling, but they were excellent on the mic in the process. At least putting the tag belts on them has made the tag division watchable again -- OK, maybe not totally watchable (since there still really is no tag division), but still.
Sheamus wins WWE Breakout Superstar of the Year: After TLC last night, this was a logical choice. With all due respect to Drew McIntyre (who won the IC belt from John Morrison), and Yoshi Tatsu (who has impressed me in some of his ECW matches), Sheamus's win was one of the most shocking in WWE history and to me was the "WTF moment of the year" for WWE matches.
CM Punk defeating Jeff Hardy in a Cage Match on Smackdown (and forcing Jeff Hardy to "retire") wins WWE Shocker of the Year: If you did not know Jeff Hardy was not interested in re-signing with WWE and wanted to take time off, then yes, it probably would be shocking to a WWE fan. However, for all intents and purposes, this was meant to further the CM Punk character as a mega heel. To me, Sheamus winning over Cena at TLC was truly the legit shocker of the year, but it probably happened too late to be considered a nominee.
Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXV wins the WWE Match of the Year: Again, another no-brainer. It is one of the few matches I have ever given the full five stars to. Sad to see that Morrison/Mysterio and Jericho/Mysterio were not nominated. I guess it was supposed to really be WWE PPV Match of the Year, huh? Nice tease by HBK. Could we have HBK/Taker again at Mania? Not sure if WWE will pull the trigger on that.
Bob Barker wins RAW Guest Host of the Year: I agree with this. Bob was a great host, and his segment with Chavo (poor Chavo) was entertaining. Dennis Miller really did put Vince on the spot here. Bret Hart as a RAW Guest Host? Now THAT is something I would love to see.
Jeff Hardy's Swanton Bomb on CM Punk at SummerSlam wins WWE Extreme Moment of the Year: While yes, it was quite an extreme moment for WWE purposes, this was also one of those feel-good moments to really send the fans home happy. I think the fans only had a hand in determining the Diva of the Year (see below) so the fans had no say here. And hey, Carlito had his 15 seconds of fame before getting nuked by Masters. Did anyone care? Nope.
Maria wins the WWE Diva of the Year: Strictly a feel-good moment for Maria. Fans really do love her. You know, I would love for this to lead to a Maria heel turn in the future (basically let the award get to her head and get an "I'm better than you" persona). As far as the award goes, I personally would have voted for either Michelle McCool or Melina, since they have had the most camera time and have been the most consistent Diva performers during the year (especially with Maryse out for a few months due to injury and Mickie James having a bunch of bad matches during the year). Of course, Batista has to pull a Kanye West during the show, and no one really cared about that. Oh, and Goldust helped present the award with MVP, and Goldust tried to pull some jokes that completely fell flat. Nice seeing ya, Goldy.
Michael Cole puking on Chris Jericho during the Smackdown 10th Anniversary Special wins the "Oh My!" Moment of the Year: I must admit, Big Dick Johnson and Tony Atlas were awesome. Abraham Washington was clearly disturbed in presenting the award. Personally, Michael Cole gets props for moving as fast as Usain Bolt up the ramp and showcasing one of the wildest celebrations for a Slammy award ever. I also loved his poking fun at J.R. and catering to the Texas crowd with the "Hook'em Horns!" Good stuff...VINTAGE COLE!
John Cena beats CM Punk and Randy Orton in separate matches on RAW to win WWE Superstar of the Year: As much as some fans hate Cena, he is truly the franchise player of WWE. Cena = money and ratings.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
12/13/09 TLC
Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin (Ladder; ECW Title): ***1/2
Drew McIntyre vs. John Morrison (IC Title): **3/4
Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James (Women's Title): **1/4
Sheamus vs. John Cena (Tables; WWE Title): **1/2
The Undertaker vs. Batista (Chairs; World Heavyweight Title): **
Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston: **3/4
Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show (TLC; Unified Tag Team Titles): ***3/4
___________________
Match of the Night: Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show (TLC). TLC won out over the ECW Ladder match for two reasons: (1) more original spots and (2) better crowd reaction.
Trash of the Night: The Undertaker vs. Batista (Chairs). It was a decent effort, but the restart finish all but sealed its fate as trash of the night. Sheamus/Cena would have nabbed TOTN honors from me, but then Taker/Batista came along.
MVPs: The veterans had their moments (see Christian/Shelton and DX/JeriShow), but newcomers Drew McIntyre and Sheamus get a special nod for winning their first titles in WWE.
Analysis: Shelton/Christian was great. Nice sick spots from Shelton, while not as much from Christian. it was clear to me that Shelton was the star. Ladder-split-in-two spot has been done several times before, so not as many points from me as one may think. It was a great effort, though, and while I think the two of them did not necessarily steal the show in the end, it came close.
Drew wins the belt? I'm not sure if I agree totally with doing that, but it's good to elevate a young star's career. It was a pretty standard match in my book, nothing overly spectacular. Maybe a few more points for the Morrison Flying Chuck on the outside and McIntyre's foot under the bottom rope.
McCool/Mickie was a surprisingly good match. Nice aggression shown, and the crowd got into it at the end. Good tease with Mickie looking like she would win with the rollup. Actual finish was a bit weak. I mean, just a kick to the head wins it? Hopefully there's more to this, because it's actually one of the few Diva storylines existing right now -- actually, it's really the only noteworthy one (sorry Maryse/Melina).
Sheamus winning over John Cena? Wow. I can guarantee people betting on Sheamus won a TON of money tonight. I was pretty much like the rest of the WWE Universe: in complete shock at the finish. The match was good for what it was, but did it really deliver for me? Not totally. I liked some of the tease spots, but the match lagged A LOT. I definitely grew restless with the slow pace, and I'm pretty sure a bunch of the crowd boos in the match were not only because people hate Cena (X-Pac heat) and Sheamus (gimmick heat). I think if more tables broke (with the opponent moving out of the way), that would have been a better showing. After all, a person must put the opponent through the table on an offensive move; putting oneself through the table doesn't count.
Taker and Batista were going pretty good, in my book, until the weird "restart" finish. It basically made a passable match that much crappier. So this is what happens when you have two 40-year-olds battling it out and HBK is not one of them. The match is...meh.
Orton and Kingston had a decent match. The storytelling was great before the match, and kept going strong throughout the match. Kofi has definitely established himself as a force even with the loss.
DX vs. JeriShow was awesome. There were innovative spots, and the crowd reaction was great. Big Show breaking two ladders was impressive. Jericho cracking his head on the table at the end (when he should have gone cleanly through) and the innovation on trying to retrieve the tag belts (Jericho climbing on Show and DX using half a ladder) really stood out and made it better than the ladder match, in my opinion.
Overall, it was a solid show. Two matches stood out (Ladder and TLC), and Kofi continues to impress in his feud with Orton, even in defeat. But let's face it, the night was also about two newcomers -- Drew McIntyre and Sheamus -- getting their first taste of gold.
Overall Rating: ***1/4
Drew McIntyre vs. John Morrison (IC Title): **3/4
Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James (Women's Title): **1/4
Sheamus vs. John Cena (Tables; WWE Title): **1/2
The Undertaker vs. Batista (Chairs; World Heavyweight Title): **
Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston: **3/4
Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show (TLC; Unified Tag Team Titles): ***3/4
___________________
Match of the Night: Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & The Big Show (TLC). TLC won out over the ECW Ladder match for two reasons: (1) more original spots and (2) better crowd reaction.
Trash of the Night: The Undertaker vs. Batista (Chairs). It was a decent effort, but the restart finish all but sealed its fate as trash of the night. Sheamus/Cena would have nabbed TOTN honors from me, but then Taker/Batista came along.
MVPs: The veterans had their moments (see Christian/Shelton and DX/JeriShow), but newcomers Drew McIntyre and Sheamus get a special nod for winning their first titles in WWE.
Analysis: Shelton/Christian was great. Nice sick spots from Shelton, while not as much from Christian. it was clear to me that Shelton was the star. Ladder-split-in-two spot has been done several times before, so not as many points from me as one may think. It was a great effort, though, and while I think the two of them did not necessarily steal the show in the end, it came close.
Drew wins the belt? I'm not sure if I agree totally with doing that, but it's good to elevate a young star's career. It was a pretty standard match in my book, nothing overly spectacular. Maybe a few more points for the Morrison Flying Chuck on the outside and McIntyre's foot under the bottom rope.
McCool/Mickie was a surprisingly good match. Nice aggression shown, and the crowd got into it at the end. Good tease with Mickie looking like she would win with the rollup. Actual finish was a bit weak. I mean, just a kick to the head wins it? Hopefully there's more to this, because it's actually one of the few Diva storylines existing right now -- actually, it's really the only noteworthy one (sorry Maryse/Melina).
Sheamus winning over John Cena? Wow. I can guarantee people betting on Sheamus won a TON of money tonight. I was pretty much like the rest of the WWE Universe: in complete shock at the finish. The match was good for what it was, but did it really deliver for me? Not totally. I liked some of the tease spots, but the match lagged A LOT. I definitely grew restless with the slow pace, and I'm pretty sure a bunch of the crowd boos in the match were not only because people hate Cena (X-Pac heat) and Sheamus (gimmick heat). I think if more tables broke (with the opponent moving out of the way), that would have been a better showing. After all, a person must put the opponent through the table on an offensive move; putting oneself through the table doesn't count.
Taker and Batista were going pretty good, in my book, until the weird "restart" finish. It basically made a passable match that much crappier. So this is what happens when you have two 40-year-olds battling it out and HBK is not one of them. The match is...meh.
Orton and Kingston had a decent match. The storytelling was great before the match, and kept going strong throughout the match. Kofi has definitely established himself as a force even with the loss.
DX vs. JeriShow was awesome. There were innovative spots, and the crowd reaction was great. Big Show breaking two ladders was impressive. Jericho cracking his head on the table at the end (when he should have gone cleanly through) and the innovation on trying to retrieve the tag belts (Jericho climbing on Show and DX using half a ladder) really stood out and made it better than the ladder match, in my opinion.
Overall, it was a solid show. Two matches stood out (Ladder and TLC), and Kofi continues to impress in his feud with Orton, even in defeat. But let's face it, the night was also about two newcomers -- Drew McIntyre and Sheamus -- getting their first taste of gold.
Overall Rating: ***1/4
Friday, December 11, 2009
12/11/09 Smackdown
CM Punk & Luke Gallows vs. Matt Hardy & R-Truth: **1/4
Chris Jericho & The Big Show vs. Eric Escobar: 3/4*
Kane vs. Mike Knox: *1/4
Mickie James & Maria vs. Michelle McCool & Layla: *
Batista vs. Rey Mysterio: *3/4
_______________________
Punk's mic work = awesome
I love the name of Gallows's finisher ("The 12th Step")
And Morrison = win
Chris Jericho & The Big Show vs. Eric Escobar: 3/4*
Kane vs. Mike Knox: *1/4
Mickie James & Maria vs. Michelle McCool & Layla: *
Batista vs. Rey Mysterio: *3/4
_______________________
Punk's mic work = awesome
I love the name of Gallows's finisher ("The 12th Step")
And Morrison = win
12/10/09 Superstars
Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay: **
Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith vs. Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J: **
MVP vs. Jack Swagger: **1/2
Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith vs. Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J: **
MVP vs. Jack Swagger: **1/2
Thursday, December 10, 2009
12/10/09 Impact
Chris Sabin vs. Brutus Magnus, Doug Williams, & Big Rob: *1/4
Bobby Lashley & Kristal Lashley vs. Scott Steiner & Awesome Kong: *
Eric Young vs. Hamada (Global Title): 3/4*
ODB vs. Tara (Trailer Park Throwdown): *
Brother Ray, Brother Devon, Rhino, & Jesse Neal vs. Matt Morgan, Hernandez, & Suicide: **
Velvet Sky vs. Lacey Von Erich (Mud Wrestling): -*
AJ Styles vs. Desmond Wolfe (World Title): *1/2
Bobby Lashley & Kristal Lashley vs. Scott Steiner & Awesome Kong: *
Eric Young vs. Hamada (Global Title): 3/4*
ODB vs. Tara (Trailer Park Throwdown): *
Brother Ray, Brother Devon, Rhino, & Jesse Neal vs. Matt Morgan, Hernandez, & Suicide: **
Velvet Sky vs. Lacey Von Erich (Mud Wrestling): -*
AJ Styles vs. Desmond Wolfe (World Title): *1/2
12/7/09 ROH
Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: **3/4
Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega vs. Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong (World Title): ***3/4
Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega vs. Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong (World Title): ***3/4
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