Well shit, it’s been hyped up and spit on by wrestling fans and now the moment of truth we see whether or not TNA can put on a good enough show. Taz starts in the ring a cuts a very good promo to start the show which involves one of my all time favourite lines “survive if I let you”. Now that’s out of the way we get the first match and it’s the FBI (Tracy Smothers, Tony Marmaluke and Little Guido) better known as the Full Blooded Italians vs. Kid Kash, Johnny Swinger and Simon Diamond. This match started well enough but when everyone started dancing I really just got out of it, I don’t know whether this was an original stunt done by ECW but I just didn’t like it and while the action started to pick up and there were a couple of really good spots I just couldn’t get into it after the dancing. Mike Tenay is announcing and while that may seem strange he addresses that right after the match and got it out of the way early, RVD is now apparently facing Sabu and I like this matchup a lot more than Jerry Lynn because a lot more people know who Sabu is and it would have been a better match to book. The I remember segments were nice a brought back some great memories, 2 Cold Scorpio looked great in his match against CW Anderson and while CW Anderson may have lost a step or two (nothing serious), Scorpio raised the bar for the night and I loved his performance. Taz said something that worried me a little he said that Scorpio could be better now than ever before in his career, that sound like a message to TNA.
Stevie Richards with the BWO vs. PJ Polaco (Justin Credible) was a pointless match and while both wrestlers looked good it really just felt like filler. After the match Polaco attacked Stevie with a Singapore Cane and the lights went out and once again the Sandman is in the ring and he destroys Polaco and breaks the Singapore Cane. This was a good match followed by a good bit, it’s a shame that Sandman isn’t going to wrestle but this was a nice cameo appearance from him. The three way dance between Brother Runt, Al Snow and Rhino was the best match so far and the three contrasting styles worked well in this match, the ending was good and I liked this match best so far. Joel Gertner did a fantastically funny bit before the Philadelphia Street Fight between Team 3D and The Chair Swinging Freaks (Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten). This was a fantastic match; it was hardcore, it was funny and it was just damn entertaining. The bit after the match with the Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa) was nice and didn’t take anything away from the match but felt a little bit like an afterthought to the main action. Another nice point is all the ECW originals paying tribute to Joey Styles which I thought showed some real class. The next two matches needed to define the PPV and first up we had Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer with Mick Foley as the referee. This was a fantastic match; it was the only one with a lead up and any storyline so it was important that it did these two hardcore legends justice and it did. For some reason the BWO came to the ring to help Raven, once again I don’t know why but I assume it’s due to a previous hatred between the BWO and Tommy Dreamer. I was surprised that Raven won the match as I was sure that Tommy would have won but it was a nice twist. The Main Event was up and I really do prefer Sabu to Jerry Lynn but I have to wonder where Sabu would have been in this show if Jerry was fit? Still what’s done is done and this was a highly enjoyable match with both wrestlers hitting all their famous spots perfectly and it was a good final match although I think Tommy vs. Raven was the true main event. To end the show everyone got in the ring including Dixie Carter and had a beer, the crowd started a big “f*** you Vince” chant and it all ends with Tommy Dreamer saying thanks to Dixie one last time.
Match of the Night: Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven. Fantastic between two great wrestlers that lived up to their reputation. The fact that it was the only match with any lead up definitely helped
Worst Match of the Night: Stevie Richards vs. PJ Polaco. Not a good match, too short, and it felt like filler which annoyed me.
Smart Move: Putting Sabu in the Main Event was brilliant and I think should have been chosen over Jerry Lynn in the first place.
WTF: A number of things I didn’t understand and I don’t think anyone that didn’t watch ECW religiously will understand. For instance the BWO’s interference in Dreamer vs. Raven and the dance competition between Simon Diamond and the FBI.
RAW
Bret Hart makes his first appearance since being named in the Summerslam team and when he started talking about how he watched the team fall apart I couldn’t help but think “Where the F*** were you?”. Thankfully Edge and Jericho are out and did what they do best; insult and assault. You knew something was wrong with the Hart Dynasty as soon as Natalya ran to the ring on her own and sure enough when something on the show goes bad it’s the Nexus. The idea of the Nexus attacking the possible replacements for Jericho and Edge is sheer brilliance and one of the reasons why I love a good stable. After a few weeks of the Miz attempting and failing to cash in the briefcase it was good to see him beat down an in form Evan Bourne. I saw Alicia Fox win the Diva’s championship and I thought she looked pretty good in that PPV match, over the last two months she has established herself as a terrible champion in a terrible division, but thankfully Melina came back last week and will undoubtedly get her title back. Alicia did some good work and the over one shoulder Torture Rack was very well executed and I have never seen it before, but Melina is just better in the ring and out, and this match showed it. For some reason Ranjin Singh is not with Khali which just makes his interview segment stupid. Jericho was second guessing himself backstage and I really hated that, he is arrogant and self-assured why does he need Edge to build his confidence?
Mark Henry getting jumped was another good move by Nexus but I wouldn’t mind him in the Summerslam match. Sheamus and Orton cut a very good promo that leads nicely into the match at Summerslam but I am surprised that Orton didn’t punt Sheamus but I suppose that it’s a sign of his baby face status. Why the hell did the NXT rookies appear tonight? Sorry, that was a stupid question they are obviously there to get some exposure with the fans and get stomped on by Sheamus, but I still didn’t like seeing it I mean these guys in this show. The tag team match of John Morrison/R-Truth vs. William Regal/Zack Ryder wasn’t half bad and John Morrison looked great but it was a little quick for my taste and another problem was William Regal’s lack of wrestling, I consider Regal one of the best brawlers over the last ten years and is one of those familiar faces that is all too often underused so that was a little disappointing. I lost so much respect for the WWE after this stunt; I am of course referring to the summertime spectacular with Santino and Koslov as guest referees. Santino and Koslov are great wrestlers and were great heels with good gimmicks, and now they are clowns for idiots who found the fact that these girls are destroying any reputation that women’s wrestling has entertaining. After the match Tamina came down to flirt with Santino, hopefully she brings out the bad guy in him. Nexus destroying Khali was good and opens up Cena’s team once again, the promo that was cut afterward was great and Nexus really seemed like an impressive unit. The final match was good and the fact that Edge and Jericho helped their team mates was a good and means that the WWE only has one spot to fill and that should lead to a great surprise.
Match of the Night: The Miz vs. Evan Bourne. The Miz was very impressive and allowed Evan Bourne to get of very few offensive moves but when he did he did it big time and hit some great spots.
Worst Match of the Night: Percy Watson, Kaval & Lucky Cannon v. Husky Harris, Alex Riley & Michael McGillicutty. It was pointless and only served for the rookies to get destroyed by Sheamus.
Smart Move: Nexus destroying their opponent’s team. These guys are portrayed as destructive vultures and this fit perfectly with their gimmick.
WTF: Diva summertime spectacular was horrible, a supposedly sexy show were the women actually put on clothes in order to participate? The reason this is WTF is because I refuse to acknowledge this as a match.
NXT
The opening video which demonstrated the power of the punch challenge was interesting to say the least, Michael Cole looked like the world’s biggest tool and when he got beat by Josh Matthews was funny as hell. Lucky Cannon is a little bitch and his teary eyed act pissed me off and the power of the punch challenge was just stupid; Kaval kicked the thing, Harris nearly missed and Lucky Cannon nearly killed himself trying to hit it. The fact that Alex Riley won was a nice touch because I thought for sure it would be McGillicutty, also three rookies actually did worse than Michael Cole, weren’t the WWE was supposed to be building these guys up? The opening match was a six man tag team match between all the rookies, and this has to be the best showing I have seen from all these rookies. Kaval, Harris and Riley really stole the show for me and Percy Watson and Michael McGillicutty weren’t bad either. I actually forgot that this was an elimination week until Striker asked the pros to tally their votes.
The Mix vs. John Morrison was a hell of a lot better than I am used to on NXT and they really showed the rookies how to work a good match. John Morrison has put on two great performances in two nights and the whole “injury” thing adds some more spice to the Summerslam match, which I think is a very good thing. The rookies are asked who they want to get kicked off and almost everyone says Lucky Cannon and if he doesn’t I expect Percy Watson to go; His everyone should win philosophy is crap and I feel like he is just trying to earn brownie points from what was a very enjoyable gimmick to begin with. Lucky Cannon has been kicked to the curb and I couldn’t be happier; he was bad in the ring, he had no personality, he never one a single match and it felt like he was just trying to cash in on his tragedy gimmick time and time again. Next week two guys are going to get kicked off in some double elimination crap, so goodbye Percy Watson and whoever gets kicked off with you.
Match of the Night: The Miz vs. John Morrison. Great match between two guys who know each other very well. Morrison “injuring” himself was a good thing as it makes the odds even worse for team WWE at Summerslam.
Worst Match of the Night: Kaval, Percy Watson & Lucky Cannon vs. Husky Harris, Alex Riley & Michael McGillicutty. This wasn’t a bad match by any means it’s just one of only two matches and the other was better.
Smart Move: There is a god and he hates Lucky Cannon as much as I do. I actually got up and did an incredibly embarrassing celebration dance when I heard the magical words “Lucky Cannon is eliminated”.
WTF: The power of the punch segment wasn’t that good and while I did laugh at Michael Cole, the fact that he beat half the rookies ruins a lot of respect I had for them.
TNA Impact
The Impact “super show” kicked off with Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles and thankfully it looks like TNA have gotten rid off the long ramp that went all the way to ringside. Both these guys were at their best and this match could have gone on for twenty minutes and I’d still be happy. AJ has looked great over recent weeks and Kurt has put on great matchup after great matchup in this little rankings rise of his even if it is predictable. Angelina Love finally beat Madison Rayne for the title in a clean victory in what was a slightly short but still quite good matchup, the biker chick came out towards the end of the match and distracted Angelina only to be clubbed from behind with a chair by Velvet Sky. Hopefully this means TNA are going to reunite the original Beautiful people, the only problem I have with that is Velvet and Angelina are going to be faces this time round which contradicts the mantra of the Beautiful people, still this way a better than average match that finally gave Angelina a clean title win. The three way match was alright but far too short for me to get really into it, but the real problem is why do Pope and Morgan get jobber entrances? Oh wait, Popes cash is on the ground did I just miss the entrance? The infighting between Pope and Anderson was enjoyable and Morgan at ringside was good to watch and we even saw a bit of pope’s former boxing gimmick in the corner at the start of the match. Hopefully this leads into a feud between Pope and Anderson, although Anderson's face turn makes this a little difficult.
Let’s move on to the mystery opponent for Jeff Hardy and it is … Shannon Moore?! Did somebody cancel? How in any sense of the word does he qualify as a former WWE star? He didn’t even win one title and spent most of his time as Matt Hardy’s bitch. This is also confusing because it almost seems like a singles push for Shannon, what does this mean for Jesse Neal? Still all that crap aside Shannon and Jeff put on another good match and the whole running around the ring thing was very amusing. Beer Money vs. MCMG was brilliant and nothing TNA can do from this point on can top this match hell I would be surprised if TNA can do anything better than this all year. I actually pity the main event for having to follow that fantastic performance. Abyss vs. RVD was great match and Abyss looked better than he has for quite some time, it started as an ordinary ladder match but when Abyss got a bag filled with tacks and a bag filled with glass, Tenay called it the daily double, and then everything went nuts. When the barbed wire board got stuck to Abyss I was visibly flinching and when RVD took that really bad tumble of the ladder I was actually holding my breath and the way it ended was great too. The end of the show involved everyone from ECW coming to the ring to be thanked one last time by Hulk Hogan, at this point it felt like a KISS farewell tour it’s a nice gesture but it’s going to happen again. Fortune’s appearance was great and that beat down really looked brutal until we saw Abyss and RVD backstage and that looked hideous, well done TNA that was a great way to end the show.
Match of the Night: Beer Money vs. MCMG. TNA has a huge void to fill now that this feud has ended.
Worst Match of the Night: Matt Morgan vs. D’Angelo Dinero vs. Mr Anderson. It wasn’t a bad match by any means it was just too short for me to really get into it.
Smart Move: The Fortune and Abyss attack. The importance of Fortune has waned over recent weeks but this put them back in the spotlight, and Abyss attacking RVD is a good way for RVD to lose the title without Abyss winning the title.
WTF: Shannon Moore. When we were promised an ex-WWE star we expected a new signing not a man who has spent most of his WWE career as a lackey and is already on the roster.
Smackdown
Vickie Guerrero and her newest boy toy Dolph Ziggler come out and cut a nice little promo in holiday gear so naturally Dolph will be booked for a match tonight; Kofi going nuts is great he needs a little more edge and this is giving it to him. Kofi vs. Kane was a great opening match but I don’t think Kane was in any danger of losing this one but Kofi looked really good when he was aggressive. Kane has really impressed me as of late, I am a big Kane fan but without the mask he doesn’t seem to cut it in the main event area but lately he has done very well. The Kane/Rey Mysterio promo took on a very good vs. evil, demon vs. saint kind of theme and as an atheist I really didn’t like the angle but hey the US are a 90% Christian nation so I can understand and respect the choice. Rey’s part of the promo was much better than his previous work and Kane seems to be the rock in this angle which is really odd. Cody Rhodes’ gimmick is just stupid and it irritates me so much even though the fact that it irritates me means that the gimmick is working. His match with Christian was another good one and both guys looked great and Cody got the win through typical heel means but it didn’t do as good as Kofi vs. Kane. The Big Show’s squash match was just tedious but what was interesting is the fact that Luke Gallows started berating Show before Punk allowed him to talk. Punk cut another good promo and the Big Show vs. SES matchup is the most difficult Summerslam match to call in my opinion. McIntyre vs. Hardy was another highly enjoyable matchup and the level of brutality McIntyre showed was great but it still didn’t do anything to outshine Kane vs. Kofi.
Swagger cut a promo about how much has been taken from him and for some reason MVP decides to step up and I can’t help but think MVP is a little out of his depth but for some reason MVP wins, did the WWE lose that much faith in Jack Swagger that they make him lose to a guy who hasn’t done anything for the last two months? This wasn’t a good match and the finish really let me down. Alberto del Rio will finally debut next week, so these painful vignettes will finally end and this week is just an amalgamation of all the other vignettes. Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler was a good way to end the show and it was very important for Rey to win this match and then survive the attack from Kane afterwards, otherwise Rey would be the hands on favourite to win the title at Summerslam. Overall the match was a very good one but Dolph just shouldn’t be in the main event at the moment, maybe in a year or two but not now.
Match of the Night: Kane vs. Kofi Kingston. Both guys looked great and this could have easily passed as the main event. Kofi is great when he’s got a little edge and Kane just did what he does best, dominate the little guy.
Worst Match of the Night: Big Show vs. Jobbers. Barely a match but the whole thing was just stupid and made no impact on the lead up to the match.
Smart Move: Vickie and Dolph starting the show. Kane and Rey starting the show would have just put the show on the back foot right from the start and the Kofi/Dolph situation needed more attention and this gave it just that.
WTF: Why do Christian and Matt Hardy still have to put over the young talent? Christian should have stayed in TNA and Matt Hardy just feels a lot like Owen Hart, always in his brothers shadow and loyal to a fault. I just hope WWE doesn’t do another stupid thing like they did with Owen.
ROH
Tyler Black started the show off, for obvious reasons, and he proceeded to babble on about how the fans spur him on and all his doubters should kiss his ass and how he will beat Christopher Daniels before he even gets a chance at a title shot. This was all well and good until he vowed to be the ROH Champion for a long time, and that felt like a bit of a shot because everyone in the room knew he was leaving for the WWE and it just felt unnecessary. The opening match was alright and the Necro Butcher hit a few moves I didn’t think he had in him and Rasche Brown did some good work as well and this was looking like a really good match, until the referee disqualified Butcher for outside interference. Wasn’t it a Butcher’s rules match? How can he get disqualified from a match were he makes the rules? Still the embassy ends up getting chased off by the Dark City Fight Club just like last week and the week before. Backstage Christopher Daniels cut a good promo that’s makes me think TNA just didn’t allow Daniels to be Daniels and forced him to conform to their ways to much. It seems ROH are going for a Daniels/Strong/Richards match for the title. I’m not including Black because whoever faces him will win undoubtedly. Colt Cabana squashed Alex Anthony in what was just an excuse for Kevin Steen and Steve Corino to come out and beat down on Cabana. Another promo for the World’s Greatest Tag Team and apparently Roderick Strong is fighting Davey Richards for a title shot. The main event was Tyler Black vs. Christopher Daniels and this was a fantastic match but I am a quite pissed off that the match ended in a draw because I really wanted to see Daniels beat Black, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. After the great match Roderick Strong and Davey Richards decided to come out to the ring and argue over whom will be the next ROH world heavyweight champion, but Daniels and Black also interject into the argument to end the show.
Match of the Night: Christopher Daniels vs. Tyler Black. Not much competition tonight and both these guys put on a great match.
Worst Match of the Night: Colt Cabana vs. Alex Anthony. Squash match that just was an excuse for Cabana to get beat down.
Smart Move: Corino and Steen destroying Colt Cabana with the chain. This is a great way to keep this feud going and the chain was a really nice touch.
WTF: How can the Necro Butcher get disqualified from a match were he makes the rules?
The Wrap-Up
I was really nervous about Hardcore Justice; would it be terrible? Would it be considered a cheap rip-off? The answer is neither, it was entertaining but it still wasn’t ECW. There were too many names missing, which is of no fault of TNA, and considering how much I enjoyed particularly the last half of the show I think TNA did a respectable job overall which is all I could ask of them. All the WWE programs put on very good shows as well and even NXT put on their best show yet which really stunned me. But TNA stole the show for me this week with a superb show that, despite two or three real issues, delivered a great overall performance. The WWE needs to start to show some respect to female wrestlers because it is just embarrassing to watch the summertime spectacular and worst of all they have two potentially great heels in Santino and Koslov that are doing bad baby face gimmick wrestling.
Summerslam Predictions:
• Melina beats Alicia Fox for the Diva’s Championship.
• Dolph Ziggler to beat Kofi Kingston
• Straight Edge Society beats Big Show, interference caused by a new member.
• Kane beats Rey Mysterio.
• Team WWE beat Nexus. Mystery seventh wrestler will be the Undertaker. I like Nexus destroying the Undertaker more than Kane or Rey Mysterio and it make sense after all the times Kane ran through them. This is mainly wishful thinking on my part.
• Sheamus beats Randy Orton.
R.I.P Lance Cade
D.O.B: March 2, 1981
D.O.D: August 13, 2010
I skimmed through this because there was just so much text, from what I did read it was good. Your on to something but, I'll tell you what all the vets told me. Presentation wise it was bad, giant walls of text turn readers off, believe me I know. Try and shorten those big paragraps into smaller ones. Also puncution your gonna hear that from everyone, just keep at it and maybe add some picutes of the logo's of the shows you review. Keep'em coming you'll do better and better with every one you do.
This column was okay for a read, but it was somewhat forgettable. Although you did voice some of your opinion, it felt more of a recap. Honestly, I can go to the main page of this site and get a recap for any of these shows. You should focus more on personal opinion in these types of columns. Also, you just seem to dive immediately into the recap / your opinion on each show, making it a bit difficult for those who don't watch a specific show to follow. I think briefly talking about what happened on the previous show, like if there were previously announced matches or cliffhangers or something, would give some additional insight.
As mentioned above, the presentation was horrible. Those paragraphs were huge. You can easily separate those big paragraphs into 3-4 smaller paragraphs, each talking about different segments / matches of the particular show you're talking about. That would greatly improve readability. I got lost a couple of times in the middle of one of these gigantic paragraphs when I got distracted by something else. That would be the main thing you should focus on doing for your next column.
Added Ring Of Honor in there was a nice touch, since it's not a widely-seen show - I don't even know where that show is broadcast. Another thing that was pretty good were the Best / Worst Match / Smart Move and WTF? sections at the end of each show recap. You should keep those around, since they offer something different from the norm.
This was okay, but it does need some more work. That will come in time. I think writing these types of columns on a weekly basis will help. Practice makes perfect, after all. Read you soon.
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