GAB Review

So the Great American Bash was last night. *I* would first like to offer a scathing review ... not to the Bash but to my cable company for making it so very hard to watch! There was a glitch in the ordering, which led to two hours on the phone on hold with our provider, which led to having to watch the show, half-asleep, on the 11:30pm rerun. Nonetheless, to me it was a good solid PPV, even though it seems to have disappointed some others. Here are my thoughts, match by match and promo by promo.

MATCH #1: Miz & John Morrison vs. Hornswoggle & Finlay vs. Jesse & Festus vs. Hawkins & Ryder (WWE Tag Team Title Match)
This was actually pretty good as these matches go. I'm not usually a fan of the three- or four-way matches, but these guys pulled it off. My prediction of Miz and Morrison retaining their titles didn't go off here, but my dark horse call of Ryder and Hawkins winning them did. It gets the titles back on Smackdown, on a legitimate team that can be taken seriously, and it protected the new M&M because they weren't involved in the finish (my peeve about these 4-ways; you don't need to defeat the champion to win the belts; it's first fall, whoever you pin/get to submit - in this case, Miz and Morrison were outside the ring at the time of the fall). I see this being a legitimate and somewhat compelling tag team feud, where it's unpredictable right down to whether either team will turn face for the sake of the feud, and if so, which one? Ryder and Hawkins have some decisions to make regarding Edge and Vicki Guerrero coming up, which could turn them, and Miz and Morrison have a legit claim to having never lost the belts, thus looking strong due to being outside of the ring. It should be interesting going forward.

MATCH #2: Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin (U.S. Title Match)
Well WWE didn't adequately update their online match listings to include this match, but I'm glad I went and made a prediction on it anyway yesterday, as it probably surprised many but had the outcome I expected. I'm disappointed that means Matt's most important singles title run to date was so short, and not particularly auspicious (I don't recall him really defending it against too many people ... although mind you he's only held it through one or two PPVs). But this does mean they're probably priming him for a run against Mark Henry's ECW title, which I anticipate him ultimately winning - not even as big a prize in itself as the US Title, but traditionally a decent launch pad to some bigger things. Plus, as underappreciated as Matt Hardy has traditionally been around the WWE, Shelton Benjamin has had it worse. He's had a lot of shit dealt to him in terms of non-character, non-plot, and basically non-matches in the last two years, to the point his unbelieavable talent as an athlete has been all but overshadowed. It's good to see him getting his due, and I look forward to feuds between him and Mr. Kennedy, him and MVP, him and Jeff Hardy, even him and Umaga. Oh - and did I mention this was a tremendous match? Well, it was. Not that that should be terribly surprising to those who know these two men and their abilities. The only disappointing thing about this match and its outcome is just how predictable it renders the remainder of the title matches on the card; when the first two matches on a PPV feature title changes, it's highly unlikely that trend is going to continue, especially at such a breakneck pace. Still, two decent matches featuring a changing of the guard gets a PPV off to a brisk and interesting start. Good show.

CM Punk Promo recap from WWE Mobile:
I liked this promo - particularly the ending, where he says that he isn't HBK, or Hulk Hogan, or Bret Hart. I've been as guilty as anyone for comparing him to wrestlers past, particularly the last name on that list. And while I still stand by those comparisons to the situations in which the first Hart title reign began and this one, Punk is also absolutely right to want to be seen as his own man. "The Next Hulk Hogan" or the "Next Ric Flair" or the "Next ... Anyone" is always a dangerous label to ascribe to a young up and comer who then feels tremendous pressure to live up to a name which they will never completely match - although left to their own personality and character development, they could surpass by being themself. Punk's reminder that he's proven people wrong before is an important one, and while he came off in this promo as a bit cocky, SOMEONE needs to believe in this kid and put him over, so it might as well be himself. Besides ... if the glimmer of what I saw later is to be believed, that might not be as out of place as it might seem on this humble, polite, straight-edged performer.

MATCH #3: Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) vs. Tommy Dreamer (w/Colin Delaney) (ECW Title Match)
Well I have to say I was pleasantly surprised here in terms of plot development, if not in terms of this ending up being a great match. But I didn't expect it to be - really, neither of these guys are a catch-as-catch-can type, nor do I consider them particularly adept brawlers overall like John Cena or JBL or Finlay either. So I didn't expect a wrestling or brawling clinic of any sort. While I know Mark Henry has stepped up his game since his arrival in ECW, I still can't get past the fact he doesn't really deserve to be there; if he's earning his spot now, then great. It's still not a spot he should be in. And while I am on the Tommy Dreamer bandwagon in terms of sentimentality for the one remaining active ECW original on the WWE roster, I've never thought him the Great White Hope true ECW fanatics think he is. He's a middling wrestler who succeeded strongly with Paul Heyman covering his deficiencies - and if saying so means I've drunk the WWE Koolaid, well, I do apologize for that. Having said that, the match was passable - perhaps because it was short - and they actually came up with an interesting plot development (Delaney's turn on his mentor Dreamer) which can keep some interest on two guys who seem to flounder under WWECW's auspices. They can focus on each other, while Henry can focus on his REAL threat (since WWE won't let Dreamer really be one) - Matt Hardy. Excellent imbuing of importance into a match that otherwise had none - despite being for a title. And for that, I commend the WWE.

MATCH 4: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
I'm not going to dwell on this one too much except to say it was almost great because it wasn't the match I expected. When I saw these two listed on the card, especially with another sure bloodbath in Cena-JBL listed a bit further down, the last thing I expected was a technically unsound, unscientific bloodbath of a brawl - although I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me given the emotional buildup between these two men. But with their track record, one cannot be blamed for expecting a match is going to be more high-flying, or at least amateur-like and holds based, with few real mudhole-stompin' kicks and punches and blows thrown around. Michaels' eye getting so badly busted up made for some dramatic imagery, and even though this wasn't their typical match, they still told a compelling story through the violence. I was able to adjust my expectations and enjoy this match for what it is, though I think WWE risked alienating their audience who tuned in to see a wrestling classic. I know the fans in the arena weren't as into this as they could have been, and if that's any indication, unmet expectations I think are going to lead some to judge this match unfairly. For an emotional brawl between two men who hate each other, this was a tremendously good match. I even liked the ref ending the match, making Jericho look strong and sinister as a heel, Michaels look courageous in defeat as a face, and letting them both live to fight another day. My only problem with that is, as the card proceeded from here to fill up with similar finishes, the dramatic power of this one got lost in the shuffle.

Edge Promo
Not much to say on this one - a typical "Unhappy, desperate and deranged" Edge promo. In terms of kayfabe, he did an excellent job of making us as fans question Triple H's decision to wound this particular tiger; with his personal life in a shambles, he has nothing to focus on BUT his professional success. Beating the man who ruined his marriage AND has the belt he's so hungry for is just a bonus. Thanks to the announcers for emphasizing this, questioning whether this heated Edge up or whether he'd be distracted by personal issues. Relevant point and well considered without bashing us over the head with it.

MATCH #5: Natalya Neidhart vs. Michelle McCool (Diva's Championship)
Not much to comment on the match itself here - it was short, sweet and passable in terms of action. The two main things to discuss coming out of it are (1) Michelle's win! while I expected - as did most people - Natalya to get the duke, this makes more sense in terms of long-term planning. Michelle is the only viable women's wrestler who is a face on Smackdown. On the heel side, there's Natalya and Victoria. This builds in two potential feuds for the champ, and assuming one of Nattie or Vicky turns face along the way, leads to the next feud once one of them gets the duke on Michelle. The (2) thing to talk about was Jericho's promo interrupting Michelle's victory celebration. While this probably should have a headline of its own, it flowed so smoothly from the match that I want to say it was a good, intense promo instead of Jericho's mouthy, witty banter; a good change he pulled off well, showing you don't need to have the size of a Batista, or the backstage clout of a Triple H, to be an intense, scary, depraved monster heel. And Jericho might be the scariest thing of all - said depraved monster heel, who also has a highly, highly impressive technical wrestling move set!

MATCH #6: CM Punk vs. Batista (World Heavyweight Title Match)
This match between the two was decent, and I didn't even entirely mind Kane getting involved - especially since he smacked around both guys, so if Punk had come out of that and won it could have still not looked flukey, which was the main thing I was looking for here - let's give Punk a strong win to silence those critics who say the Punk experiment is over practically before it's started. No such luck though - the overzealous referee (perhaps the same one who, after years of this being let slide, decided to DQ John Bradshaw Layfield for kicking the man pinning his tag team partner at the two-count) declared it a double DQ, leaving Punk a man still lucky to have retained his belt. WWE needs to take smaller bites and digest their food here - building Kane, and building Punk, at the same time is fine; but you can't build them 'together'. Someone ultimately is going to come off looking week if and when they fight, and then the build is for naught. Punk getting a decisive victory over Batista, by contrast, will not hurt the established main eventer, while making Punk look good. Kane should be terrorizing the IC division until Punk is more established; then go after the title. One last thing to comment on, and not sure if it's good or not: was it just me who found Punk kind of cocky and ... well ... Punky at the end? For someone who doesn't want to accept fluke wins, he sure took this one and stuck his (unearned - tonight anyway) title in Batista's face. Was I the only one thinking he was asking for the Batista Bomb? I'm not sure if that's the way they MEANT us to feel about it - or if Batista was supposed to be more heelish. But that's the way it played out to me ... which is not necessarily a bad thing, if they capitalize and give Punk the strength as a heel that they don't quite seem to be willing to as a face. If he stays a face, though, WWE needs to realize: look at Rey Mysterio, look at John Cena. Being a face champion is a HARD position to be in because there's no more incentive to root for you - you have it all. Building them around being a flukey underdog champion is NOT the way to build sympathy; all it does is lead fans to question why they're champ in the first place. Especially when they lose non-title squash matches, non-televised or not. YOUR WORLD CHAMPION SHOULD NEVER BE SQUASHED. We get that Punk has his detractors; let's get to proving them wrong, or let's turn him heel and go with that, but it's time to do something. That chapter of the story is established.

MATCH #7: JBL vs. John Cena (Parking Lot Brawl)
This was NOT bad. Even the stuff others called cheesy - the jumper cables on JBL's ... well ... you figure it out ... the setting the car on fire, the forklift; it worked somehow. Most of the match, as expected, was taped Saturday, but WWE did apparently hear the complaints about the backstage match not being before the live crowd, as they did have the match ultimately end up in the arena in front of their fans. Here there was no cheese, and it was just brutal - a wicked windshield bump led to the surprise JBL victory, and my first 'didn't even cover my bases by pretending to predict this one' wrong prediction of the night (I think ... I can't remember what I predicted for Michaels-Jericho right now). Surprising, and not necessarily pleasantly so, although I guess JBL is the most pressing heel challenger for CM Punk's title right now, assuming they keep Punk face and that Kane's not going out and out heel. A good match, and surprisingly credible given the cheesy buildup and some of the nonsense which did pop up in the match itself too.

MATCH #8 - Triple H vs. Edge (WWE Title Match)
This feud has always been a sideshow to the Edge and Vicki saga, which is truly unfortunate given as I said in the predictions, these are WWE's two biggest stars, a Wrestlemania-worthy main event, and their first one-on-one match with each other since ... well, ever, as far as I can tell ... has been overshadowed by the 'entertainment' side of sports-entertainment - granted one of the better angles to come out of WWE in a very long time, and an entertaining one, but weird that this is all WWE thinks of its biggest offering right now - the main event of a basically minor PPV, overshadowed by Edge's wife and mistress catfighting, Edge ambiguously going to spear either the mistress or the ref separating them, and ending up spearing his wife, and looking distraught in the aftermath. I mean, it's great in that they're obviously going to revisit this, be it a month or a year from now - there was no clear winner (although between the Jericho match, the Punk-Batista no contest, and this, it was a somewhat unsatisfying PPV for non-finishes ... although each on their own had a good reason, they were just overloaded); I just think this should have been front and centre, not a throwaway match to forward an angle.

Let's look at that angle though, as IT was the main event of the show, and highly entertaining when looked at on its own: a love triangle with lots of unanswered questions and lots of places to go here. We get that Alicia loves Edge and Edge loves Vicki - does Vicki want Edge back? What would she have done with the belt if Alicia hadn't interfered? Is Edge going to be turned face by the vengeful and hateful things Vicki's about to do to him? Or does she want him back too and it's going to be a fight between herself and Alicia over Edge? Personally I'm not sure WWE knows where to go with this, and I think that's what their PPV poll through last night was - who do you sympathize more with, Vicki or Edge? I think the question more honestly phrased would have been "We realize we have to turn ONE of these characters face now - which one do you guys like more?". Surprising support for the adulterer Edge here who brought it on himself - most of the respondents MUST be guys, lol. Anyway bottom line: a compelling match and a compelling storyline; I'm not just sure the one should have interfered so very much with the other.

And overall ... a solid PPV which I enjoyed. A clear enough direction that I could foresee some angles and have my expectations met as a fan, with enough surprises thrown in I didn't feel it was OVER-predictable and therefore not even worth watching. Wasn't terribly impressed with the number of non-finishes on the card, but not in and of themselves - each served a purpose. There was just a glut of them on a show fans paid $40 to see, and on which there should have been some issues resolved then. 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for me on this show - would have been 4 if it hadn't been quite so sloppy.