Smackdown ...

Hi guys - yes I know - ITVR? It won't be airing this week, as it was actually a bit of a reverse of last week - while we caught Raw, which I shared my feelings about last-post, we missed everything else we usually try to watch. Those of you readers who know us personally, you know why that is, and that we do have a legitimate excuse - those who don't, I hope you understand as well that it isn't something I can share on a public blog at this time - soon enough though. :) And I know over this summer particularly the blogging and podcasting have been a bit spotty - so has our wrestling watching. Please rest assured in the near-future, however, that ITVR will either become much more regular in its airing, or go on a bit of a hiatus (as a podcast - I will always continue blogging) - although absolutely not permanent, we enjoy doing this far too much. We have some other exciting news to announce too in the coming days and months - but in the meantime there's still wrestling to talk about!

First of all I do want to express my sympathy to the family of Skandor Akbar who passed this week - a legend on the wrestling circuit, who will be missed.

I also want to recommend to anyone - as this is the main part of Smackdown I caught - to check out Kane's promo from last night, explaining his attack on his brother that left him in a 'vegetative state'. One of the man's greatest promos. For all the WWE has done some serious botching of the Kane character, it is at its most compelling and intriguing when working in tandem with the Undertaker character, and I for one am looking forward to this feud, as predictable as it might have been. I also suggest everyone catching Alberto del Rio's debut last night after months of Razor Ramon-esque promos. The man started big (well - in terms of star status lol) facing off with Rey Mysterio and making a blue-chip showing for himself. One to watch, as so often those stars do not live up to their hype. Between that and the chinks beginning to develop in the Straight Edge Society armour (as Punk seems to have more patience with Serena than Joey Mercury or certainly Luke Gallows) ... Smackdown is again destination programming, perhaps even moreso than TNA and Raw of late, both running invasion angles (albeit more interesting ones than we've seen in awhile).

It's a good time to be a wrestling fan again, despite an uncharacteristically poor Summerslam showing, and it's unfortunate that we've had a busy August (after a fairly consistent May, June and July) ... but we promise, despite the fact the next few weeks might remain spotty as we have a few routine-changing events going on here, by September we should be back into a rhythm. Thanks for staying tuned in along with us!