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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Back - Quick Hits

So guys this is not one of the entries where I comment at length on the shows I've seen or updates I've read on Raw/ECW/SD that I missed last week, or any of that; it's 9pm, and I just got in from a much needed week's vacation that I enjoyed, and I'm thrilled (basically) to be catching up on my wrestling news. Too much to talk about all of it in detail though, so I'm going to be all over the map in this entry to touch on the basics of the last week, and will be back in full swing next week with my reax to Raw and hopefully the other programs, In This Very Ring along with my very capable cohost and dear husband Ari, and my comments on the wrestling news as it goes on. The major events of this week however:

  • I must start with my condolences to the family of Walter "Killer" Kowalski who died this week at the age of 81. As well as being one of the best villains in the sport himself, he is perhaps even better known for having trained some true luminaries in the sport - most notable Triple H. His family made the difficult decision last week to take him off of life support after months in a nursing home due to knee problems, and a recent heart attack. My thoughts are with the Kowalskis at this time. He will be missed.
  • John Cena out indefinitely with a neck injury: John Cena had neck surgery this week and will be off WWE programming for the forseeable future. He has been replaced in the Raw Championship Scramble by Rey Mysterio Jr. Also on Raw, Shawn Michaels returned and has a match with Chris Jericho at Unforgiven.
  • ECW will also be having a championship scramble, featuring Mark Henry defending his title vs. Matt Hardy, the Miz, Chavo Guerrero, and Finlay. NOW I believe the Championship Scramble setup is overkill - three of them? I suppose at twenty minutes each that kills an hour of show time before you even factor in entrances ... but the wrestlers will have to go above and beyond to keep an interest in a format we will see three times throughout the night. I don't doubt they can do it, given the participants in all three matches - it will just be interesting to see how. I also certainly hope this is a night where they space the title matches out over the card, instead of stacking them at the end.
  • And Smackdown? It doesn't sound like it was its strongest offering in recent months - the show is suffering without Edge, and Vicki Guerrero plays an unlikeable victim in trying to avoid the Undertaker's wrath. Good wrestling on the program, with Triple H facing Shelton Benjamin and Jeff Hardy vs. MVP, but weak follow-up to key storylines - bring back Edge!
  • In legal news: Mick Foley denies having completed any done deals with TNA, despite PW Torch's Wade Keller breaking the news that he had; also, WWE's lawyer, in an unusual move, discusses their defense to the independent contractor status - that it has always been in place, that these wrestlers agreed to that status and are only challenging it now while not under contract, and the IRS has never questioned the status through the years of its existence in wrestling. Perhaps more telling than Jerry McDevitt outlining WWE's case is the fact he is commenting publicly at all, given WWE's penchant to NOT comment on legal issues until cases have been dealt with.
And those are your quick hits (I suppose not so quick when put all together though) - tune in tomorrow night (Tuesday at the latest as usual) for your Raw reactions right here ... In This Very Ring. Take care!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Smackdown Thoughts

My reactions as promised to SD are not many-fold; mainly some disappointment and some pleasant surprise. My main disappointment is the lack of Edge on the program. I understand he took a beating from Undertaker at Summerslam and went to 'hell' when he was dropped through the ring, literally, into a fiery pit. But he's been the strongest performer on the show of late, and to have him take a sabbatical right now - howsoever appropriate according to storyline, is perhaps not the best judgement call WWE could have made.

Pleasant surprises, though, include just about everything about the Championship Scramble. Vicki Guerrero took a better crack at explaining the rules of the Scramble match than Mike Adamle did, and I have to say I have gone from an all-time low opinion of this concept - on Tuesday, when I was under the impression that the title could change hands ad-nauseum through the 20 minutes of the match, and then found out Smackdown was doing the same kind of match on Raw and thinking this was all WAY too much - to being at least cool with it.

Mainly, the title doesn't pass around with the pinfalls, but the last person to score a win in the match becomes the next champion - so you won't have, for example, Brian Kendrick becoming champion for two minutes on the way to a thirteenth (or fourteenth?) title reign for Triple H - which I thought this was a cheap excuse to create. This gives a great chance, for example, to give a young, solid midcarder like Kendrick a neat little sneak win over a main eventer like Triple H, or even MVP or Jeff Hardy, without giving him a title reign, which like him as I do, he isn't deserving of just yet.

I'm also thrilled with the names of the SD Scramble entrants - Brian Kendrick, Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy, MVP and Triple H should put on an awesome match that contrasts well with the Raw bruisers (and CM Punk) in the Scramble on the Raw side. I'm still skeptical about having two of the same kind of match on the card, but hey it worked for the Elimination Chamber, and now that I'm less dubious about the match setup, it should actually be entertaining. And having the qualifiers for the Scramble to unify SD with WRESTLING, instead of the (however-well-executed) La Familia storyline, was great. Another awesome offering from the SD side, way to go.

Also - award for interaction of the night:

Ken Dykstra: "My name is Kenny ..." (interrupted with a Triple H wallop)
Triple H: "Hi Kenny." (walks away)

Classic.

Friday, August 22, 2008

ITVR broadcasts - See you in September

Hi guys - so we ended up out with friends again tonight and are going on vacation this weekend so not the best time to sit and take the time to broadcast an hour long show, then take the hour it takes to upload and post it. I think it's fair to say we're on vacation this week and next after a fairly successful relaunch (only one hiccup, on an operation we're running on a shoestring from home, not too shabbeh). So stay tuned this weekend for my thoughts on Smackdown, and the news of the week, next week I'll try to post at least once, and we'll be back cooking fulltime on Labour Day. So some regular posting this weekend, sporadic until Labour Day, and then we'll be back to our regular schedule - including our next ITVR broadcast Wednesday, September 3. So stay tuned for that and thanks for your patience and support as I know this blog's quality has dropped over the summer with holidays and busy-ness. Stay tuned! :D

Thursday, August 21, 2008

ITVR ...

Hi guys - I posted a message about the ITVR broadcast yesterday being cancelled due to a last minute day trip I ended up taking, and getting back from later than planned, but it accidentally ended up on my other blog (doh!). Anyway, though, the delay, in a way, turns out well, as we will not be broadcasting next week, because we will be going away on vacation. So if we broadcast a bit late this week, it won't be so long between broadcasts! Look for this week's ITVR to go up tomorrow night a couple hours after Smackdown, so we can talk about Summerslam, Raw, and SD all in one shabang, and wrap up the week in wrestling. So say that will be by around midnight EDT - we hope to see you there ... in this very ring!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Raw Thoughts

So I actually got to this today! Go me! :D

Yesterday's Raw had some real high points - it was actually mostly a solid show. I want to preface this piece with that thought right now because I'm going to get kinda negative here, and I want to make sure it's clear that there weren't a LOT of low moments or missed notes - it's just that the missed notes were REALLY unpleasant to experience, and took away from what could have been a solid show. Similar to my vibe from Summerslam, it felt like Raw was running and had the potential to run on all 8 cylinders, and would get up some good steam, and then backfire. Examples:

  • They got it right that John Cena and JBL needed strong wins over strong opponents last night to stay at the top of the card and justify their inclusion in the Championship Scramble match (more later) at Unforgiven. But JBL beat a guy in Jamie Noble who they'd given a nice little program with Layla and William Regal to, and then the ref screwed up the ending (he had to ... I mean, slap the mat once for a three-count and then end the match on ref stoppage? why not just slap the two-three?), and John Cena defeated tag team champions Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase Jr. singlehandedly. Now don't get me wrong - they didn't do this as poorly as they could have, and they gave Rhodes and Dibiase some offense, which was good. But one guy should very, VERY VERY rarely, beat two (only if they are TRUE jobbers or one or both are injured or there was interference), and certainly not earn a clean and clear win over the very talented up-and-coming tag team champions. What do those belts mean, then, if they can get defeated by a singles non-champ?
  • In fact none of the champs were treated with a whole lot of respect. Coming off of one of the bigger victories of his championship reign, CM Punk loses clean in his hometown centre-ring to Chris Jericho. Not to knock the match - it was the best of the night, and here's the thing - I think I even get the logic here. In WWE's mind, the reasons for and results of this are: Jericho's the hot new heel, they want him in the title scene, he now has a compelling case for at LEAST getting added to the Championship Scramble, and with a couple guys now who have wins over CM Punk (Jericho and Batista) in that match, it plays into what WWE perceives as the allure of the underdog champion going into a lion's den which he can't possibly escape - if he does, he earns the cred he needs, and if he doesn't he will have fought valiantly, and it doesn't look bad on Punk. But getting pinned in the middle of the ring to create this storyline DOES look bad on Punk. They should have had Jericho defeat say Batista or Cena and then say he has as much a right to be in it as they. Not handed him their already-vulnerable champ (and add to the vulnerability of the title itself, for that matter) on a platter. And don't even get me started on the comedy act which is Santino Marella ... :P Funny, yes. IC champ? Uh ... enjoying Glamarella though. :)
  • The Championship Scramble: I will give them that this is innovative. It's also risky. With the title belt already a bit cheapened by being perceived as not being on WWE's biggest star, it can only be besmirched further by risking being handed around potentially several times in 20 minutes. Think, in theory anyone in that match could accomplish in 20 minutes what it took people like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart years to do - become a multi-time world champion. John Cena won 3 world titles in three years - say he wins it three times in this match. He's halfway to catching up with Triple H, and he's wrestled not even half as long. Not right. This is all in how they play it, and I'm afraid even the theoretical possibilities make the title seem like a relay baton or football being passed around. It makes me nervous.
  • I'm also afraid it's an opportunity to pull the plug on the Punk experiment without actually having him beaten. WWE does not have the courage of their convictions lately - when they made CM Punk their champ, either have him as a transitional champion, in which case he should no longer be the beltholder, or REALLY get behind him. And if you're going to have him lose at Unforgiven, have him REALLY lose, not just fall back into the pack but not really damaged in case you need to call him up again. It's like we all KNEW John Cena would win last night because he lost to Batista - can't we just have people 'lose' anymore, and come out on the short end and have to earn their way back over time?
  • One compliment on this vein though: they acknowledged the Championship Scramble as the McMahon children's idea. Given it fits right into Mike Adamle's gimmick match affinity, it would have been the easiest thing to pawn this off as an Adamle Original - that way if it works, well it's another case of the know-nothing hack stumbling into a decent idea, and if it doesn't, there's a lap to throw the garbage in. With the McMahons taking onscreen responsibility for this match, they are also taking perceived responsibility for this match in real life ... which is brave, given it could be crap.
Again though, strong overall show. Punk-Jericho and even Cena-Rhodes/Dibiase were solid matches, even though I wasn't a fan of the finishes; Kane had one of his better promos in awhile, although apparently I'm the main one who was a fan of it; Jericho's promo at the start was gold, and I'm glad Shawn Michaels didn't appear, so he can continue to play the face who's more concerned about his family, rather than 'seeing his name on the marquee', or the very un-Christian-like 'revenge'. This feud, which is already bordering on 4-5 months now, just earned another 2-3 month shelf life imho, with this one old-school 'Major Happening' angle. I mean, when was the last time a simple punch elicited that kind of reaction from a wrestling audience? Gold. Pure gold. That neither of these men has a championship belt right now is beyond me ...

And I think that's it - as if it weren't more than enough! Be sure to tune in to hear those thoughts (and Ari's reaction to them) and more tomorrow night on our podcast, right here ... In This Very Ring. :) Take care y'all.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Summerslam Thoughts

So sorry I didn't get this up last night, or get hubby to do it - we both were up a long time yesterday, and out in the fresh air, by the time Summerslam ended we were both pretty tired and it was definitely bedtime.

That said - this show was definitely not the weakest offering I've seen from the WWE - the last two matches in particular were standouts, and Cena-Batista was better than I had any expectation of it being. I was quite annoyed with how Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry ended - I'm not one of the one-track mind that DQ finishes are patently unacceptable on PPV if done right and if they fit into the storyline - which a schmozzy ending in this match would have, to prolong the feud - but 10 seconds, barely, into a match? Boo!

I was sorry to see CM Punk get hurt, and there were a few sloppy-ish spots like that over the night where I had to wonder if maybe the boys partied a bit too hard on Saturday night - Jeff Hardy vs. MVP was good, but not the 3- or 4-star match I'd have expected to come out of the solid work they've done with each other leading into SS. But nothing that really took away from this being a decent PPV that exceeded the WWE's poor hype machine leading into it. Even H-Khali was decent, which it had no right to be.

Match of the night with no equivocation goes to the Hell in a Cell, where a reinvigorated Undertaker and a rejuvenated Edge character did tremendous battle - never thought an HIAC could be so entertaining without blood, but good job boys. Segment of the night - there were a couple strong ones and I give credit to Santina Marella, Beth Phoenix and Maria Kanellis for making me laugh - but Shawn and Rebecca Michaels and Chris Jericho were far and away the most compelling thing to watch until the main event. Props to Rebecca for her involvement in this angle, props to both men for their performance and I can't wait to see what comes of this on Raw tonight. We've said for awhile that SD has been the more entertaining show - tonight's Raw, with a hurt but victorious CM Punk, a cleanly pinned Cena and back on track Batista, and the Jericho-Michaels angle to be furthered, should be one of their strongest shows amongst a series of fairly strong performances.

Bottom line: Summerslam felt like a beginning in a lot of ways, rather than a finish, but I don't mind that as it will be interesting to see where everything goes. Tune in tomorrow for my Raw thoughts, and as always, remember to tune in Wednesday for Ari and I to go more in depth on Summerslam and Raw, and all the backstage news of the week right here at 10pm on our podcast ... In This Very Ring!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

You Think You Know Me ...

I just want to throw my two cents in that Edge has been better than ever these last 3 weeks or so on SD! I didn't get to watch Smackdown last night - we got home too late for the first airing, and were asleep by the replay - but from what I've heard of his performance, and what I've seen since his promo and beatdown on Mick Foley (and for that matter, his angle with Vicki and La Familia before that), I'm definitely looking forward to HIAC ... and to more great Adam Copeland goodness in coming weeks. The fire that was lit under his butt and began his ascent into the orbit of the WWE Universe, is now going to skyrocket him to the next level I think and this is easily the best-built match on the Summerslam card - and as UT hasn't appeared on TV at all to hype the match, only one person is responsible for that.

On this day, I see clearly
Everything has come to light

GO EDGE! :D

Oh also - nice to see Kenny Dykstra back. Hope to see more of him in the future, he's as much a bright up-and-comer as Cody Rhodes or Ted Dibiase Jr is. It sounds overall like SD was a great show - the only thing I've seen questioned that I would agree with (I think - again, barring seeing how it played out) is there were two post-match brawls between Summerslam opponents which resulted in the faces coming out on top (Jeff Hardy got the last laugh on MVP, and Triple H bested the Great Khali and his interpreter Ranjin Singh) - as Jason Powell points out, then what's the incentive for us to watch these matches? If the usual payoff is to see the villain 'get theirs', and they already have ... what's left?

Oh well - good enough matches this doesn't ruin watching SS tomorrow night for me by any stretch ... just some odd booking. Meh. Anyway - this was mainly to sing the praises of Edge's performance these last few weeks, and mention I didn't catch SD but will of course catch the Summerslam PPV tomorrow and comment on it - again, haven't decided if it will be in audio form or written, but check for that shortly after the show either way. And meanwhile - enjoy the weekend all, it's one of the last ones of the summer (as indicated by, well, Summerslam being tomorrow lol). Cheers!

Friday, August 15, 2008

WWE Cuts

It's the summertime and the WWE is doing their usual belated Spring Cleaning of the roster. As well as Nunzio, Big Daddy V, longtime referee Nick Patrick, and Shannon Moore last week, they have now released Cherry, Colin Delaney, the Highlanders, Stevie Richards and referee Wes Adams.

I'm not going to speak to the Adams release as I feel ref releases have more to do with stuff that goes on behind the scenes than on; the best refs are not exactly characters in themselves but an invisible guide who makes matches run all the smoother and communicates with and between the wrestlers to facilitate that smoothness.

However, I will say a few of these releases surprise me. Perhaps the release of Colin Delaney shouldn't be surprising, given he certainly doesn't fit the WWE look, they recently fumbled a heel turn (face/heel turns usually indicate a push, which they never really gave Delaney to capitalize on), etc. But the fact they gave him a Mikey Whipwreck/1-2-3 Kid esque storyline of the underdog who succeeded against all odds, had him fight for his contract, championed by ECW original Tommy Dreamer, and then turn heel on Dreamer, providing him a storyline, it's surprising it went downhill so quickly.

Likewise the Highlanders - since WM the writing has been on the wall for this team, as one of them (can't remember which - gee don't know how I could confuse them) appeared at a TNA event the weekend of Wrestlemania, and they haven't teamed up since as the culprit has been kept off TV. A lack of screen time usually presages a release, and tells the wrestler that phonecalls from Stamford CT should be unwelcomed; but these two just reunited and fought the most over babyface tag team on Raw - Cryme Tyme - just four days ago. So given that, I'm surprised at this release, even though I perhaps shouldn't be.

I am definitely surprised at Cherry - right now they have two very capable heel wrestlers over on Raw in Natalya and Victoria. Michelle McCool is learning and growing by leaps and bounds and a credible face champ; Cherry wasn't even that polished, but probably the second most popular Smackdown diva to McCool. With her gone, similarly to Mickie James on Raw, you have only one credible face diva, amidst a few credible heels. Cherry was very visible on SD, a popular and sympathetic character with a storyline and a gimmick that set her apart from the rest of the "T&A"; why they would release her is beyond me - make way for Maria Kanellis as the secondary challenger to Victoria and Natalya when one of them wins the Diva's Title ... unless they start fighting each other (oh please God ...).

In (not-so-)short, it is always sad to hear of people losing their jobs, and I feel for those released in these past two weeks. I wish them luck perhaps more sincerely than the WWE in their future, and hope in the case of this round anyway that they get signed elsewhere, and fairly quickly. Or that, much like Matt Hardy, or the Highlanders already, or Charlie Haas, that they are back soon. Good luck, everyone - and remember to stay tuned on Sunday if no sooner for my Summerslam feedback (no predix this weekend as I already made them on the radio show). Be well everyone!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

New ITVR Episode

Better late than never - I uploaded this to my storage account on time and ready to go last night, and then forgot to link it here! :) An hour and a half long pre-Summerslam show for y'all. Click the title of the entry to listen and enjoy.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Randy Orton's Motorcycle Accident

OK let me start by acknowledging the elephant in the room - no I didn't write my Raw reax yesterday. However, unlike other weeks where I've just been feeling lazy or uncreative, moreso that had to do with my actually not feeling well - I was doing housework and tutoring all day and was then asleep by around 11pm, which might not sound particularly early but for me, during the summer, believe me, it is.

But on the plus side it gives Ari and I more to talk about tonight when we podcast "In This Very Ring"! Lots of thoughts, especially since this is our go-home show before Summerslam, so be sure to check in for that, as well as many other topics tonight around 10pm.

Meanwhile, want to also wish Randy Orton a healthy and speedy recovery from this weekend's motorcycle accident which saw the Legend Killer and new daddy reinjure his collar bone from which he was about to be cleared to return (likely at Summerslam?) - he will now be out approximately three more months. While that must suck, the silver lining is that Orton gets to spend his time with his new baby daughter, and will perhaps come back to wrestling healthier and more ready to go than he would have in the coming weeks. Be well, Randy!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Happy Birthday Hulk

So Hulk Hogan turns 55 today! That means he qualifies for many seniors' discounts. HA! Seriously though it's been a tough year for the Hogan family - much of it brought on themselves, admittedly, but I doubt they had any idea how any of the consequences of their actions would snowball, and precious little of it seems to have to do with Hulk. So I wish him a better year than last, and some sanity, finally, to the whole proceedings.

As a note as well, of course you will get my Raw thoughts either late tonight or sometime tomorrow! Thanks as always for reading.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

SD and Behind the Scenes Thoughts

So ...

First I want to say that I miss Mick Foley already. Not that Tazz is bad, or that he and JR didn't work well together on last night's Smackdown. But WWE let Ric Flair go, and now Mick Foley is expressing displeasure at his announcing role (which surprises me, as he is really good at it and receiving much respect for it). WWE also let a whole bunch of wrestlers go yesterday - in particular I'm thinking of Shannon Moore, who was on my screen on SD as I read online of his dismissal. Interesting stuff, and almost makes what's going on on TV irrelevant at times, as you notice when we talk about things as we did on ITVR this week, such as Stephanie McMahon's nomination as best writer for the CableFAX awards ... or Tyson Tomko's dismissal from TNA.

That said, it is the onscreen product that brought most of us to be wrestling fans to begin with, and commenting on SD's onscreen offering was the point of this entry. Therefore, without further ado ...

This week's show was actually really good. I was pleased with them teasing and suggesting it was the Undertaker going after La Familia, to have it turn out to be a newly aggressive and re-invigorated Edge, no longer tied down by his friendships or his love for Vicki on his quest for his One True Love - the WWE Title, and revenge against the Undertaker. Edge plays a truly spectacular crazy heel, and it was interesting last night, as it was last week, to watch him develop back into a character he's shied away from recently.

The attacks on La Familia created a continuity through the show, and the show otherwise had great action; Ryder and Hawkins had a decent match, and the Jesse vs. Vladimir Kozlov match, while nowhere near technically sound, served its purpose. Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy was tremendous, and it's unfortunate after a long, strong matchup that MVP had to interfere, but it makes sense - it protects two wrestlers who are currently on a similar rung of the ladder, while furthering the ACTUAL feud being peddled right now, between MVP and Hardy (presumably, the winner ends up going after Triple H, the loser after Shelty).

I was dreading the Triple H-Khali armwrestling match, but they made it interesting, and made Khali a credible threat - a facet he's been lacking as we've all been downplaying and underexcited about this match. The intrigue level for me just went up a notch or two. Which speaks to the whole show - very strong, intriguing, forwarding the plots just enough to keep them fresh and interesting without giving away too much. Even the women's match was a decent short match with which to start the show. Strong offering from SD, amidst a lot of the aforementioned backstage shakeups in personnel which have been the story of the week. SD in my opinion has become WWE's flagship program in terms of quality of late - and that is no knock on Raw which has also been strong ...

In fact, I take that all back. The truest statement, is while both shows have different things going for them and different strikes against them, for the first time since the Brand Extension created SD and Raw, both brands in my opinion have actually achieved parity. They are not the same, as they strived to be for so long which simply resulted in SD being Raw-lite; they offer different types of entertainment and different vibes - primarily due to Raw's being live providing it an edginess and an 'anything can happen' feel, while SD's pre-recorded status allows it to be a bit more clean and polished. WWE was attempting to create its own competition in creating the two brands; two different products which would compete for audience, and ideally pull in the same audience for different reasons. And I finally believe they've accomplished that. Wrestling is stronger than it has been, in my opinion, since WM XX's magic ending, and I hope they keep it up. Way to go WWE - now with all due respect and love ... don't fuck it up! ;)

Friday, August 8, 2008

Just a note

Will be posting a SD reax either later this night or tomorrow sometime. :) Keep your eyes out.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

As promised - ITVR Ep #3

And a big juicy hour and a half long show to make up for the missed show last week and the tardiness this week. :) Click the title of this entry to enjoy.

Broadcast soon

Just a note broadcast #3 of ITVR is in the can and should be uploaded soon - just a few tech glitches at my hosting site. Before I go to bed tonight though it WILL be up! :D

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Raw Thoughts

OK so not so first thing in the morning but ... ;)

  • Mike Adamle as GM: I think he's great so far - his talk of Ronald Reagan as a poor performer but beloved president was apt (my inability to see why the Great Communicator is so beloved aside), and he definitely has come up with some unique concepts, while being able to 'calm down' Raw is awesome. I'm afraid this whole 'Adamle Original' concept - the idea of an outsider's fresh eyes trying some different things - could lead to a whole lot of unnecessary and cheap gimmick matches, and therefore 'Dusty Finishes' (look it up kiddies), but so far it's unique. They're obviously playing him as an outsider from the biz, and whether that is meant to represent refreshing and new or clueless has yet to be seen, as Adamle pointedly did both, and made decisions favouring both faces and heels over the course of yesterday. The name of the game is 'new' and they managed to establish that without giving any firm answers as to where GM Adamle is going - good stuff.
  • I'm not entirely sure how I feel about John Cena and Batista as tag team champs - this didn't surprise me as much as it seems to have surprised some - namely my hubby. I don't like that Ted Dibiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes were defeated fairly handily without so much as a promo or anything to remind us they were strong beforehand - but I don't generally mind the 'reluctant tag champs' storyline if done well; it's been used twice now on Cena alone (he coheld those belts with Shawn Michaels during their feud last year), and having two singles standouts as tag champs cheapens the division which actually between the two brands is quite strong, but if it enhances storyline then I can overlook it - I just have yet to see if it does so I withhold judgement to see how this plays out in the lead up to Summerslam.
  • Shawn Michaels' promo was great, and it sets up where things go from here; he will be back at Summerslam, without wrestling a match, which forwards the storyline and gives us a sampling of where he goes from there, without giving us his 'first match back'. Progress without giving you the whole main course with the appetizer - this is how wrestling should be booked, and good job.
  • Some solid wrestling; I was pleased with the women's match, and the final tag championship match given that even though Cena and Batista won clearly, they didn't exactly *Squash* Rhodes and Dibiase, thus leaving them quasi strong. I was skeptical at first about the handicap match for the #1 contendership at Summerslam (remember what I said about silly unnecessary gimmicks?), but the performers made the concept work, and worked hard to pull it off so good on them!
Overall a strong Raw - more thoughts on that and more tomorrow night on "In This Very Ring" broadcast. Other comments will include discussion of Ric Flair's contractual parting of the ways from WWE, Tyson Tomko's leaving of TNA (Yes, for the first time, I believe, since I started writing at this location, I will actually address The Competition), and Summerslam as it's building up - of course, also furthering our discussion of the Adamle-ader (thanks JG) and the Edge-Vicki-Undertaker-etc. saga on Smackdown. 10pm EDT tomorrow night ... see you right here, In This Very Ring.

Monday, August 4, 2008

OK - Deal Time

So in case you didn't notice, no, I didn't publish my thoughts on SNME or Smackdown this week. That's not out of laziness, it's just because I didn't have many. Smackdown seemed like a solid but not particularly forward-moving show after the last few weeks - which is fine; they've pushed forward plot-wise quite frequently lately and it was a big week for Raw, so having some breathing space doesn't bother me. I question having Shelton Benjamin lose a match so quickly after winning the US title but since he came up with an excuse and it sounded like an interesting match etc. there might be more there story-wise, and that's kind of cool.

I'm generally against making champions look week and having them lose a lot of non-title matches, or lose matches by DQ or countout (see CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio Jr. before him) - but (a) it doesn't bother me as much with heels and (b) if an explanation and discussion is provided and that becomes part of the story, it's not quite as bad. That's why Punk's flukiness has bothered me less than Mysterio's non-stop losing. With him, they didn't even acknowledge they were making him a paper champion.

As for SNME - I'm not going to bother getting into too much of it. Because we're past the days of WWE Superstars and WWE Challenge - their syndicated weekend shows full of squash matches which used to predominate in the early-90s, where you'd only see the big names wrestle one another on Saturday Night's Main Event or PPV - it's not as urgent that we have a special focusing on the big names in wrestling. It's already difficult coming up with 5 hours of weekly TV, plus 3 more on PPV weeks - then you add SNME is network television, thus faced with more restrictions than Raw or Smackdown is, and all of a sudden you have a show which is a shadow of what it used to be. Also, being on network TV and taking the place of Saturday Night Live every few months, it gets more casual fans tuning in for other shows, than Raw or SD might, so it's geared to them.

Which is fine, and has a place - most of their matches are tags building up to an upcoming PPV, and they shill for everything from Raw and SD to charities to their PPV, which is all good, and this is a great mini-showcase to garner new fans. I'm not complaining. But it doesn't offer a whole lot of important, meaty stuff for people 'in the know' enough to be seeking out and reading wrestling blogs online, etc. to sink their teeth into. Especially as it's not live, and taped at the same time as Raw, there's a whole week's worth of storylines they can't address by way of spoiler risks. So while SNME this week had some star power in the form of Jenny McCarthy and other celebs supporting her Autism charity, and probably gained some positive mainstream recognition for the WWE, and as such was successful, I don't have a whole lot to say about it from a wrestling standpoint.

Unlikely for that to happen with Raw tonight however! With Mike Adamle's first full night on the GM job, with Summerslam opponents Batista and John Cena teaming up together vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase Jr., and I'm sure a whole other host of unpredictable, live Raw goodness, it should make for an ... interesting, anyway ... evening. Look forward to my comments on that here late tonight, or else tomorrow morning first-thing ish. :) Have a nice day!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

So ...

I have to admit that I haven't been the best at much this week - you guys know about the tech difficulties for ITVR, and while I sort of caught up for that on Thursday, I was kinda sick yesterday (new blood pressure meds, making me VERY tired, nauseous and woozy), and today I felt better but was out living life ... I didn't see Smackdown OR Saturday Night's Main Event. And I'm in now, pretty much for the first time since 9:30 this morning, but obviously not quite feeling up to writing a full-on blog at 1:30 am after 16 hours out and about.

What I will do however is this - tomorrow, I will read up on SD and SNME and give my thoughts based on what happened; freely admitting up-front it could have played differently from how I read it. I will of course also be online Monday after Raw with my feedback for the show. So please check back here tomorrow and Monday. And remember - despite the tech problems last week, you can always tune in on Wednesday to hear my and Ari's take on the week in wrestling on our podcast right here ... In This Very Ring.

Good weekend everyone!

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