Pro Wrestling Ponderings

You see what I did there with the title? Because the TNA show was called “No Surren…” ah, forget it.

It’s time for yet another week of “I’m With Stupid,” and I’ve got to say…I don’t know what to do. For the FIRST time in the (admittedly brief) history of this column, yours truly had a difficult time selecting the “Stupid Person of the Week,” since we’ve gone a full seven days without some moron in the wrestling world publicly making a fool of themselves.

As a result, this week’s “Stupid Person of the Week” will get it for something more related to, you know, wrestling. Perhaps it will be a dumb booking decision; perhaps it will be a kayfabe thing. READ ON TO FIND OUT!!!

TNA: Before I talk about “No Surrender,” which I will be covered in depth in a few paragraphs, let me talk about the Impact that immediately preceded it. This was the first “bad” Impact in a while, but it wasn’t hideously awful. In general, I had problems with the fact that this is the show before a pay-per-view and yet the entire show seemed to be built around short matches with little hype and throwaway garbage.

And that leads me to the obligatory “Cody Deaner is Slowly Killing Me” moment for the week. I think we’ve gone into great detail about how much I loathe this entire storyline, and I know I’m not alone on this.

I get it – Deaner’s an idiot who wants the Knockouts Championship in an apparent effort to make every intelligent fan’s head explode. Or something. But is it really necessary to have him bury every woman on the roster?

Look TNA, let’s strike a deal – if you promise to keep Cody Deaner out of my line of sight, I’ll promise to make my Impact rundowns shorter.

Wait, TNA, you hired Ed Ferrara? Never mind.

Now that this angle is hopefully behind us forever though (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, KNOCK ON WOOD) because Deaner got beaten by ODB in a match that helped neither of them, there are some other problems. Namely Abyss. It’s like we went back in time to when every stupid angle was centered on “The Monster.” All the stupid backstage stuff is killing my interest (again) in the character. And to top it off, his match with Kevin Nash was absolutely God awful.

I’ll admit that that was what I was expecting, but still, if everyone knows a match is going to be hideously awful, then maybe, just maybe, it shouldn’t be booked.

“No Surrender” also had several other moments that were pure awful. Apart from the ODB/Deaner match and the Abyss/Nash debacle, I had two principle problems.

First off, the Bobby Lashley/Rhino match was pure stupidity. I know that Bobby needs to look strong, but his first match didn’t have to be against a guy who’s been a champion of the company. Anybody who bought the pay-per-view to see Bobby Lashley wrestle (and to be honest, I’m not one of them) did so because it was a chance to see him wrestle, not a chance to see Lashley wrestle. His match could have been against anyone. Hell, it could have been a squash against Cody Deaner.

I would have paid twice to see that.

The other complaint was the treatment of Hernandez. Why waste him cashing in to basically write him out of the title match? Is he getting another shot? Should I care? Honestly, I HATED the way this was booked.

WWE
Superstars: Welcome back to the “I’m With Stupid” fold, D-show! For the first time in a while, Superstars did something that got on my radar, and it was the same thing as the last time I mentioned: “Ask the Divas!”

Look, this was by no means awful, but I always have beef when a stupid segment is thrown onto a one hour show. You’ve got only a few minutes to build with, and segments like this do nothing for anyone.

Smackdown: Khali-Kane. Khali-Kane. Khali-Kane. Please, please, PLEASE let it be over.

In other news, I’ve really left the Dolph Ziggler stuff out of “IWS” for awhile now, but I’m getting sick of it. Where is this going? I’m assuming we’ll see a Diva feud develop out of this, but I honestly could not care any less than I do.

The Raw: Cedric the Entertainer sucked. I don’t like to talk Wrestlecrap too much, but if the whole “Raw Guest Host” thing doesn’t win Gooker of the Year, I will be amazed; yes, there have been some good hosts (Dusty, Bob Barker to an extent, DiBiase, Shaq) but for the most part, it’s taken most of my willpower to not fast forward through every time I see the Guest Host of the Week. And wouldn’t you know it, I didn’t watch Raw live this week!

I didn’t skirt my duties, though; I sat, and I watched, and I tried to not to hit the forward pointing arrows on my remote. So I got to hear about the son of Cowboy Bob Thorton, Mark Henry being the Kool Aid Man, and of course, how much Cedric loves “The Raw.”

And to make matters worse, Chavo Guerrero’s Burial of the Week continues with him now facing off with someone who has never wrestled before…AND his feud with Hornswoggle isn’t over at all!

For those that missed it (and be thankful you did), Chavo faced Cedric this week. Mid match, Cedric went under the ring, only for a large masked man dressed like Cedric to come out from underneath the ring. He beat up Chavo, only for Hornswoggle to jump out and hit the Tadpole Splash. So Cedric is now jobbing simultaneously to a midget and a guy who has never wrestled. Unbelievable.

I’ll ask it again: who did Chavo tick off? Why is it necessary to bury him every week when he’s actually a talented worker?

Before I move on to ECW, I would like to mention that despite the fact that she absolutely sucked on the microphone for the last two years plus, it is sad to see Lilian Garcia go; she has been a part of Raw for just way too long. Word is that the girl taking over Smackdown’s announcing duties is smoking hot, though, so I’ll likely be able to deal.

ECW: I honestly don’t care what anyone else says, I *hate* the Abraham Washington show. It’s just like Superstars. You get ONE HOUR to develop storylines and feuds, why waste time with this stupidity? I will admit that it led to more Sheamus stuff and that’s a good thing AND that it led to more Shelton stuff and that’s an AWESOME thing, but can anyone tell me why this needed to happen on this dumb segment?

On a positive note, Christian vs. Ryder kicked all kinds of rear end. I conditionally take back my badmouthing of Ryder. For now.

Stupid Person of the Week: As I’ve already mentioned, this week’s “Stupid Person of the Week” is the first to earn the dubious distinction solely on the merits of what they did in their respective company in front of the entire world (not counting Lilian Garcia’s horrible botch at SummerSlam.)

In honor of the Emmys, the nominees are:
TNA: Hernandez – for cashing in his title shot, only to get taken out of the match and looking like an idiot.

Cody Deaner – for wasting valuable airtime on Impact AND on pay-per-view.

Whoever Hired Ed Ferrara (probably Vince Russo) – for hiring Ed Ferrara, and for that matter, for probably being Vince Russo.

WWE: Chavo Guerrero – for taking a dump on Vince McMahon’s salad (the only explanation I’ve got right now).

Cedric the Entertainer – for horribly botching his opening promo AND being involved in a debacle of a match.

Jeff Hardy – because it was such a slow week, he might just deserve it again!

Miscellaneous: Me – for watching all of this crap every week.

While I’m strongly tempted to go with either myself or Cody Deaner (who, I feel will get Stupid Person of the Year even if I never give him the weekly award), I have to go with Cedric the Entertainer! You can pick up the award when you finally become entertaining.

That’s it for this week. Hopefully someone in the wrestling world will commit a crime so I don’t have to do a nominee list again, because I’m sure Ernst and Young botched the ballot counting.

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Hello friends, it’s time for another WWE Pay-Per-View. Whoever scheduled this show on the same day as the first day of the NFL season should be shot.

-Opening melodramatic video package. Apparently, this concept is innovative. I thought it was gimmickly, but I guess that shows what I know.

-Live from Montreal, Bizarroland (Site of a rather famous event if I recall… that being Ring of Honor’s “The Hunt is On,” featuring some of the quietest fans ever)

-Your hosts are the only six people who chose to watch Breaking Point over opening night of the NFL season.

-Unified Tag Team Championships: The Big Show and Chris Jericho (champions) vs. Mark Henry and MVP

Let’s just get out of this way. MVP has no sleeves, and he starts with Chris Jericho. Announcers bring up Jericho denouncing Canada to remind everyone of WWE’s hatred of this country. Hiposs leads to a quick cover. Henry gets a shot in, and Jericho isn’t looking so good until a fist to the face changes things. Doesn’t last as MVP gets a neckbreaker. Tag to the big man. Jericho bolts for the corner and Show is tagged in. Oh God. Show and Henry have the slowest sequence this side of Kane and Khali. We’ll go to the other side of the match later. As Henry is about to slam Show, Jericho runs in and prevents the enormous slam. Henry is your dark-chocolate-in-peril. Double clothesline spot leads to Henry getting the hot tag to MVP. Jericho is also in. Throw, elbow, and a big lariat. Now it’s time to go ballin’. Long two count. MVP counters out of the “Walls of Jericho.” Spear by Show after a blind tag. MVP is now your ex-con-in-peril. What a dreadfully boring opener. MVP hits a DDT and makes a hot tag of his own to Henry. Jericho is stuck in the ring with the rather portly Henry. Press slam and a big splash. Show interrupts. MVP gets tossed out of the ring. Show does as well. Henry with a clothesline but as the referee is about to count to three, Jericho gets his foot on the ropes. Henry throws Jericho to counter the codebreaker. Show hits the power of the punch. Jericho gets three. I yawn.

Winner/Time/Rating: STILL Unified Tag Team Champions- Chris Jericho and The Big Show/13:12/*

-I think it’s time for this little experiment to end. Jericho has now been involved in two dreadfully boring matches on the last two Pay-Per-Views after having one of the best feuds of 2009 with Rey Mysterio. If it were to keep D-X out of the world title picture, I say let them have the tag belts. That way they can be on both shows, but don’t necessarily have to be in the main event all the time. I really just want Jericho to start having show-stealing matches again.

-Interview with Legacy. Apparently, D-X has never submitted. That’s high comedy right there. Seriously, what other sport or television show could get away with this level of changing history without getting torn apart by their fanbase? It says a lot about WWE fans that there isn’t even that level of awareness. Dibiase throwing the glow stick was awesome.

-United States Championship: Kofi Kingston (champion) vs. The Miz

Miz cuts a promo in French before we officially get started. You want a guy who should be wrestling for the world title in 2010? Kofi should most definitely be that man. He’s over. He has great matches. He appears to be clean. Why not? Can’t be any worse than that guy who wrestled CM Punk in the Summerslam main event. MIz takes the early advantage with a headlock. Miz goes for his finisher early, but Kofi reverses. Miz regains control with lefts, but two crossbodies switch things back. Kofi bounces off the ropes using his head. In the corner and Miz kicks away. Slingshot as the crowd treats this match like they treated Jimmy Jacobs against Tyler Black. Modified chickenwing. Announcers talk about how Miz’ matches with Cena elevated him. In what way? Nice boot to the face. Kofi is quite awesome. Faceplanter. Miz deposited to the outside. Miz grabs Kofi and causes him to land backfirst on the edge of the ring. Miz uses a double axehandle for two. He gets a little penisy and Kofi fires off a couple kicks. Kofi just can’t get anything going. Kofi finally gets a series of kicks. Miz goes for the finisher again, but Kofi counters out and hits… something. Not sure what it was but it looked cool. Backbreaker and a reverse DDT by Miz. Blind charge leads to a double boot. Leaping lariat. Boom drop doesn’t work out so well as Miz lefts his knees. Only a two count. Series of covers now. Russian legsweep and the boom drop. To the top and a crossbody is reversed into a two count for Miz. Roll-up with a handful of tights and Miz is not happy. High knee countered and sends Miz into the ropes. Trouble in Paradise kick. 1-2-3.

Winner/Time/Rating: STILL United States Champion- Kofi Kingston/11:59/***1/4

-I think these two guys were almost trying to have a great match instead of simply having a great match. Overall, the effort was certainly there, and there were enough quality moves and counters to make this a nice little match. I’m a huge proponent of seeing both guys elevated, and this did nothing to convince me otherwise. Here’s hoping both guys find their way into the upper card at some point in 2010.

-Submissions Count Anywhere: D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) vs. Legacy (Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes

Eleven years ago, these guys were cooking sausages. Now they’re tossing glow sticks.  Triple H mentions something while the crowd chants “You Screwed Rhett?” I’m confused. When was Rhett Titus in WWE? And I thought he was a virgin. Very confusing.

I think the problem with this match is that the babyfaces already won the first match, and no one actually believed Legacy has a chance in hell of winning that match or this match. The fact D-X so thoroughly dominates the first few minutes of this match only confirms what the crowd is likely thinking. They go out into the crowd and brawl, pretty dumb move considering Shawn Michaels is in this match and Canadians aren’t exactly in love with him. All we need is a spot in the bathroom and it’s Kevin Sullivan booking. Hunter and HBK go for figure fours in the freaking lobby. That was cool. Dibiase rakes the eyes. “Ole” chants by the crowd. Where’s El Generico? Back towards ringside and Legacy has had minimal offense. Triple H hooks Cody in a sharpshooter while Shawn gets a camel clutch. This all takes place with Cody tangled in a chair. That was also cool. Dibiase saves the day and rams Hunter into the stairs. Back inside with Dibiase working over Hunter untila spinebuster changes the advantage. Crossface but Rhodes saves the match now. Shawn skins the cat and gets a headscissors on Cody. Dibiase counters and Cody then hooks some sort of backbreaker. Hunter saves his buddy.

Hunter tells Dibiase to suck it as Shawn and Rhodes head to the backstage area. Now they go back into the crowd. Shawn chops his opponent as he sits in one of the seats. Shawn is sent flying out of the stands onto a table. Wasn’t that impressive looking. Hunter looks over his fallen comrade, and he hulks up. He goes to work on both members of Legacy. Dibiase gets backdropped on the stage. Rhodes gets Triple H to chase him backstage. FINALLY, Legacy gets the advantage. I bet the crowd loves having to watch one of the main event matches happen on a screen instead of live. Hunter hooks in a crossface, but Dibiase puts an end to that. Rhodes hits Hunter with a chair, and they leave to go back to work on Shawn Michaels. Now Legacy goes to work on Shawn Michaels. Back inside the ring. Michaels vainly tries to come back, but Rhodes hooks an anklelock. This match has NO HEAT. This really does feel like “The Hunt is On.” Michaels hits the superkick on Rhodes as Hunter tries to get back on his feet. Michaels grabs a figure four, a nice callback to Michaels picking up the win with this same move last Monday. Dibiase prevents his partner from tapping. Legacy tries a spike piledriver, but Michaels gets out of it. Rhodes and Michaels battle by a corner post before Rhodes applies a figure four on it. Dibiase hooks the Million Dollar Dream as Triple H tries to make his way to ringside. Michaels finally taps.

Winner/Time/Rating: Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes/21:43/***

I’m ecstatic about Legacy winning, but this match happened in front of the wrong crowd. There was zilch heat for this, and it went way too long. I’m giving it a good rating because the execution of the last ten minutes were excellent, and the drama was there. Too bad the crowd didn’t give a lick. At least Legacy got to actually win a match. Too bad this should have been their second straight victory because we all know what’s happening next month. Whether in Hell in a Cell or not, D-X is putting this feud to sleep.

-Randy Orton interview. He asks Josh Mathews to sit in a very Chris Hanson like way. I fall asleep. God, what a boring interview Orton is.

Kane vs. The Great Khali

I’m not going to make any jokes about the general crappiness of this match due to Khali’s health being so poor. I feel it would be truly unfair to rip a guy in this bad a shape. Needless to say, the match isn’t very good and Kane wins. Somehow, it was even worse then what I saw at Summerslam.

Winner/Time/Rating: Kane/4:53/-**

-I said no jokes, but seriously… We lost Dolph Ziggler against John Morrison for this garbage? This is why no one in the states wants to buy the Pay-Per-Views anymore.

-Eve Torres is now an interviewer again. CM Punk sounds as cocky ever, and he takes a shot at Jeff Hardy. What a great line about the mug shot. Lights go out but it’s just Jimmy Wang Yang. Punk beats him up. Poor Jimmy.

-We see the ECW title match from Summerslam. All eight seconds of it.

-ECW Title: Christian (champion) vs. William Regal (Vladamir Kozlov and Exekiel Jackson)

We really needed a Kozlov interview talking about breaking Christian. Little Rocky IV for everyone out there. Jackson and Kozlov are banned from ringside, meaning Christian gave Tiffany something French. What that is I leave up to the reader. Stryker mentions a major title in 1997 changing hands in Montreal. What is he talking about? Crowd seems into this match which is a change of pace. The match thankfully goes more than eight seconds, and there’s a basic wrestling sequence to start. Christian hits a crossbody, but is pushed off the other corner to the outside. Modified chinlock. Regal stretches Christian out with a modified surfboard, but he eats some elbows to the face. Leap off the second rope into a sunset flip. Regal quickly recovers and hits a knee. Vicious. Regalplex gets two. Submission hold focusing on the neck. Left forearms followed by a European uppercut. Christian comes back with a tornado DDT. Left hand again by Regal that almost gets two. Another beautiful Regalplex gets two. Wow. Christian with a flurry of offense now. A big elbow to the face gets two. Regal hits a rolling senton again only two. Killswitch attempt sends Christian to the ropes throat first. Regal bounces off the ropes, but Christian counters into the killswiitch for the victory.

Winner/Time/Rating: STILL ECW Champion-Christian/11:16/***1/2

-See what happens when you give these two time. You get a fucking great match.

-RAW promo. Batista has announcement. Don’t care. Trish Stratus is coming back. Okay, that I care about. Her presence will literally keep me away from Monday Night Football.

-Pat Patterson comes out… not the first time that’s happened. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for this until Dolph Ziggler comes out… not in the same way I don’t believe… and Morrison makes the save. What an incredibly lame segment with unfunny scripted lines that make Ziggler seem like the biggest geek in the world. Considering how low on time we’re running, this should have been cut immediately.

-“I Quit” WWE Championship: Randy Orton (champion) vs. John Cena

Five letters. Two words. Let’s see how WWE squeaks out of this one without having one of these guys say those magic words. Hot and heavy to start. Cena quickly misses a dive and gets knocked into the RAW announce table. Orton takes one of the monitors and nails Cena with it. Orton hits the DDT from the middle rope. He grabs a chair and places it right in the middle of the ring. Crowd has woken up and is going with duel chants. Orton tries the RKO into the chair again, but Cena hits his usual offense before hitting the five knuckle shuffle. Attitude Adjustment thwarted as Orton rams Cena’s neck on the top rope. Orton preps for the punt. He misses but Cena tries to hook in the STF. Both men end up on the outside and Orton throws Cena into the steps. Cena gets those same steps right in the face. Orton places Cena on the bottom two steps that remain, and he kicks him right in the head. Cena still won’t quit.

I’m actually digging this match because they’re playing off what happened on Monday. They’re actually using storytelling. Orton grabs a bag, but thankfully they aren’t thumb tacks. Instead, Orton has handcuffs. He puts the key around his neck in a mistake every other supervillian I’ve ever seen make. Orton goes to town on the handcuffed Cena. Microphone shot which unfortunately doesn’t make a good noise. Orton handcuffs Cena’s hands together and hangs him from the top rope. Oh boy. This is rapidly becoming that one scene in Pulp Fiction. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve seen it. Orton punches Cena and spills water in his face to make sure his opponent doesn’t pas out. When the referee asks Cena if he wants to quit, he spits water in Orton’s face. Awesome. Now it’s kendo stick time. Some pretty vicious shots, including one to the skull. Cena… will… not… quit. Low blow by the challenger, and Cena is scarred up.

Orton hits Cena with a chair and handcuffs him to the bottom turnbuckle. Another chairshot. Cena says no. Orton misses a second shot and gets backdropped. Cena finally gets the key and unhandcuffs himself. The hands shaking were an excellent touch. And in the bitterest of ironies, Cena handcuffs Orton to himself. Cena beats Orton up outside and inside the ring. Attitude Adjustment is turned into an RKO. Orton has to drag Cena over to get the key. Cena begins struggling and just chokes Orton with the handcuff. Wow. Orton QUITS. He said the words. Holy shit.

Winner/Time/ Rating: NEW WWE Champion-John Cena/19:50/****1/4

-I’m not kidding with that rating folks. This was one of the finest bits of storytelling you’ll ever see in a match. As far as moves, it might not have been spectacular, but it was more than made up for with the camerawork and the facials. Whoever conceived this match deserves a raise because I guarantee you this is one of the best executed matches of 2009. This is easily the best WWE match since Undertaker/Shawn Michaels. Props to both Cena and Orton. And considering how much I hate Orton, that takes a lot for me to say.

-We’re rapidly running out of time, but of course we get another long ass video package. Seriously, why are Punk/Taker main eventing? There’s not a chance in hell of them topping Cena/Orton. And believe me, that is not easy for me to say either.

-World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (champion) vs. The Undertaker

Undertaker’s entrance also takes forever. Jesus, what a waste of time. Punk flees to start. Tick. Tick. Tick. I’m still somewhat receovering the last match. Taker and Punk just go back and forth until Taker just throws Punk out of the ring. Impressive. Taker goes to work with right hands. He absolutely dominates this match and Punk gets a minimum amount of offense until Punk finally hits the dead man with chairshots. Big knee shot, but Punk is sent to the corner. Shoulders by Taker and it’s time to go old school. Punk uses a counter and fires elbows and rights. Headbutt but a running kick stops the Taker rally. Superplex by Punk. More back and forth. Taker rams him into both corners, hits the snake eyes, hits the boot, and finally hits the leg drop. Chokeslam countered by a kick. Gogoplex and Punk taps. Oh, fuck you WWE.

BUT WAIT!

Teddy Long comes out and announces that this hold was banned by Vickie Guerrero, and it is still banned. So the match gets restarted. Punk hooks in the Anaconda Vice. It doesn’t appear Taker taps, but for some strange reason the ref call for the bell? Huh? What the hell is going on? Too hard to time this with the bell ringing and the restart.

Winner/Time/Rating: STILL World Heavyweight Champion- CM Punk/N/A/ *1/2

-I need to go to Wikipedia and do some research on this because I’m really confused. I’ll have more on this ending and a couple of other strange comments coming up Thursday in “This Week in Wrestling.” Boy am I confused.

-What I do know is this match didn’t get near enough time, and you’d think WWE would be smart enough to know how to time these Pay-Per-Views after 25 years of doing them. Seriously, look at a clock or stopwatch. It’s not that difficult. I assure you.

Final Thoughts: With the exception of a strange ending, this was a fairly good WWE Pay-Per-View. There was some good and creative booking. In the greatest of all ironies, RAW and ECW actually produced the good matches on this card while Kane/Khali sucked a big one and the world title match was cut short because of incompetence. I’d definitely recommend the DVD for the WWE title match and ECW title match. Also, D-X does the job. When does that ever happen?

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Welcome once again to another edition of “I’m With Stupid,” or as the kids (don’t) call it, “I’m with Stu!” This week wasn’t the craziest week of wrestling stupidity out there, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t moments worth chronicling! Just as a note about this week’s edition: it’s the first week of school for yours truly, so while I will gladly chronicle the week in idiocy, I have my serious doubts that this will be a laugh riot. So please just bear with me for this week and I’ll make with the ha-has again next week.

TNA: We got YET ANOTHER good Impact this week, one that featured two VERY good AJ Styles matches (that match with Williams is one of the better free TV matches TNA has ever put on). That said, though, there were, as always, moments worth pointing out as, well, stupid.

First and foremost, the Sting-Rhino opening match annoyed me to no end. Don’t get me wrong; I had no problem with the result or the post-match beatdown or anything like that. I suppose that my complaint is that, well, things were a bit rushed this week. Granted, that’s what happens when you have two rounds of a tournament in one week while trying to advance angles and storylines and all that. But maybe…just maybe…someone should have stopped and said “this is a stupid idea.”

The first rule of booking a tournament is normally “make what the guys are fighting for seem important.” It’s nearly impossible to do this when matches go less than five minutes, and that’s what has to happen when you book so many tournament matches in one show. What’s more is that the losers of these matches are made to look pathetic.

Take Rhino for instance. At the next pay-per-view, he’s in a pretty big match against Bobby Lashley. Now, I’m of the opinion that given the match he already has, he shouldn’t have been in this tournament at all, but since he was, having him lose in such a short amount of time really hurt him. I think most people have already figured out how this match will turn out, but at least make Rhino look like a credible threat! Is it so much to ask for a ten minute loss? Or hell, a DQ loss after he goes to far yet again? Did whoever book this tournament lose their common sense?

Up next…I’ve got to talk about the Main Event Mafia backstage segment. Look, there was nothing particularly bad about the backstage antics of Booker, Angle, and Steiner. However, I only say that because I had no idea what was going on. I rewatched the segment a good ten times and I still have no earthly idea what Booker T said. I don’t know if he was hopped up on speed during the segment, but his mouth was moving at a speed that would get him caught on the radar gun! Seeing as how Impact isn’t taped live, couldn’t they have reshot the segment? Is Booker T TV’s Calculon? Does he not do second takes? (Semi-obscure Futurama joke FTW!)

Seriously folks, if you have any idea what Booker was talking about, please comment!

Finally, while I didn’t particularly care for the main event of Impact, I understood that it needed to be where it was to lend way for the crazy brawl to finish the show.

There’s only one other TNA thing to mention, but you better believe I’m saving that for later.

WWE: No complaints at all about Superstars due to it being basically ALL-WRESTLING, and Smackdown continued with the awesomeness for yet another week. ECW really had nothing to complain about either! Too bad that had to be ruined by Raw.

Raw: Before I talk about the events of The Price Is Raw proper, I have to say that I’m filled with a sense of dread and foreboding. Next Monday, Batista will be appearing to make a special announcement. While some are speculating that “The Animal” will be retiring, I’m thinking that based on a teaser in this week’s Smackdown spoilers, we’re going to see Big Dave head back to the blue brand.

If this is the case, I feel as though a LOT of Smackdown’s momentum will disappear. While I’m sure he and Punk would have excellent matches, the only way for him to work would be as a heel due to the sheer lack of main event level heels besides Punk.

Whatever the announcement may be, I’ll talk about it more next week.

Onto The Price Is Raw! The opening segment was gold. You will not hear (or read, as the case may be) me complain about a Contestant’s Row with IRWIN R. SCHEYSTER, but I am going to have to moan about the continuing saga of Hornswoggle and Chavo.

Just when you think the feud couldn’t make Chavo come out worse, it swerves us and makes Evan Bourne look like a total loser. Remember kids, for the last ten weeks, Chavo has been beaten by a midget. Rather than win because he’s lucky, Hornswoggle has outsmarted Guerrero and made him look like a total idiot every week. He’s barely broken a sweat doing so and hasn’t suffered an offensive move. So this week, rather than face Hornswoggle, they had Chavo take on Evan Bourne. Now, Chavo lost, which is what should have happened, but Bourne got killed throughout the match. Guerrero looked dominant and looked to be in control throughout the match and only lost because Hornswoggle interfered for Bourne to help him get a roll-up. Are you kidding me? Evan Bourne needs the help of Hornswoggle to get a win?!?

I can deal with Chavo actually getting some offense in; the matches with Hornswoggle were all about Hornswoggle outsmarting Guerrero and getting a fluke victory. It’s only natural for him to be at an even level with Bourne since these matches actually involve wrestling. But come on! Did Evan Bourne really need to look like he needed a dwarf’s help him win? Who is that helping in the long run? Who is this feud helping in the long run? WHY DO I ALLOW MYSELF FIVE MINUTES OF THIS STUPIDITY EVERY MONDAY NIGHT?!?

The show went more or less fine after that, until all of a sudden, the show suddenly stopped being about wrestling. Out of nowhere, Raw cut to a backstage interview between Josh Mathews and Bob Barker. Barker hawked his new book and talked about memorable moments from The Price Is Right for a good five minutes. I was dumbfounded; while I’m sure this was part of the deal to get Barker in the guest hosting spot, I couldn’t believe that precious time was wasted on this segment. PEOPLE, YOU HAVE A PAY-PER-VIEW ON SUNDAY THAT NEEDS TO BE BUILT UP!

I mean, you wonder why buy rates are down for pay-per-views. I’d contend that with such little time between shows, part of the problem is that there’s precious little time to make every match on the card seem like a blowaway, must-see match (another reason is that so many shows make each one seem less special, but I digress). Every moment should in some way be building up to the pay-per-view, especially every moment on the show IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE PAY-PER-VIEW! If the WWE needed Barker so badly and that was part of the deal, they could have waited until *after* the pay-per-view so that this show could focus on things that mattered.

ROH: Before anyone gets their panties in a twist, let me just say that this little thing is not really part of “I’m With Stupid.” Since I don’t have a column of random thoughts (and I missed the cutoff for the weekly review column), “I’m With Stupid” is the place where I come to vent about whatever I’m thinking about. This week, I need to mention that ROH did the right thing.

With Nigel McGuinness following Bryan Danielson out the door at Glory by Honor VIII, many fans (including yours truly) were clamoring for one last Dragon-Nigel match, despite both guys already having matches. Ring of Honor has done the right thing in my book by putting the two guys against one another and letting Aries and Roddy do whatever it is they’re supposed to be doing.

So bravo guys. While your financial position is currently unenviable, you made GBH8 even more awesome!

Stupid Person of the Week: Forget the teaser. I’m getting right to it. When you started reading this column, could there be ANY doubt that this week’s SPOTW would be Angelina Love? While the exact nature of her work visa problems eludes me, the fact that she didn’t ever go out of her way to get the issues resolved and lost her job with TNA as a result of it RIGHT when she was about to win the Knockouts Tag Titles made me slap my forehead with a ton of force.

Seriously Angelina, this was open and shut, even with Sean O’Haire’s push for the award yesterday with his arrest. You can claim you award whenever you get your work status figured out and can return to the country.

That’s gonna do it for me this week. Until next time, stay stupid!

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Welcome one and all to the first edition of “I’m With Stupid!” For those of you who do not know me, I am Jason Sterlacci, the ninety-third former member of The Cool Kids Table to join Pro Wrestling Ponderings. In my tenure at the Table, I wrote the “CHIKOLUMN”, the “WWEvaluation”, and, my experiment with letting other people do the bulk of the work for me, “Oddsmakers.” Now, I bring you something totally different from all that other stuff.

Let’s start with the basics. Presumably, you’re here at this website because you’re either a fan of pro wrestling or you’re my fiancée and you’re trying to figure out why I was up until 2:30 AM writing this column. If you’re in the former, you’re probably a lot like me: you have spent a LOT of time (and money) following this pre-determined sport-like entertainment. You do this despite the fact that every single week, you encounter something, either on television, at a live show, or scouring a news site, that is unbelievably stupid. “I’m With Stupid” is all about chronicling these “stupid” moments, just in case you missed something in the previous seven days.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. ‘Jason,’ you’re thinking, ‘this sounds an awful lot like Wrestlecrap.’ Not so fast. While I’m a huge fan of the work of RD Reynolds (and Triple Kelly), this column is NOT trying to rip off, emulate, or in any way copy the scope or style of wrestlecrap.com. While I will certainly make note of stupid segments and gimmicks, this column is also about the stupid decisions made behind the scenes and in the streets (*cough*Kurt Angle*cough*). This isn’t meant to be a humorous column that’ll have you rollicking with laughter; this is more of a “Week in Review” that focuses on all the stuff you’ll want to forget about when your girlfriend sits next to you on the couch and asks you why you still watch this stuff.

The astute reader will note that this weekly review is published on Thursday, an odd choice of day to do something like this. Let me just note as I get started that for me, when I think of “stupid” and “wrestling,” my mind can’t help but naturally gravitate to Thursday nights and a certain promotion that always seems to make my brain hurt.

TNA: I’ll be the first to admit that Impact was pretty good this week. I mean, it started off with Don West finally, mercifully being pulled off of my television set, which automatically makes it the best Impact of all time. Plus it featured a GREAT promo with AJ Styles and Sting that makes me hopeful for TNA’s future for the first time in a looooooong while. But there was still plenty of the asinine stuff that makes TNA what it is.

The biggest problem I’ve got with Impact right now is Cody Deaner. Maybe I’m just being sexist, but when a man is competing for a women’s title, it automatically makes my list of stupid. We get it, you got the pin for ODB. Now give her the Knockouts Title without conflict so I don’t have to sit through an uncomfortable manager v. woman match that demeans both the title and the fans. Please.

Speaking of women’s titles…it’s one thing to have two women’s titles in WWE, given that they have two rosters of women that don’t compete against one another (unless WWE has decided to yet again ignore the brand split). TNA DOES NOT need a Knockouts Tag Title. I don’t care how many women they bring in or even if they wind up getting their own show down the line; use an influx of female talent to re-establish the importance of the Knockouts belt, which has fallen by the wayside in recent months, and hold off on the ladies’ tag belts.

Finally, I’ve got to say this because it’s been bugging me for a few weeks now. I like Matt Morgan. I really do. I want to see him succeed because, quite frankly, he’s pretty close to a total package (not Lex Luger): the man is enormous, can cut a good promo, and is pretty good in the ring. That said, right now, I don’t think he’s ready to be TNA World Champion. On the same note, I don’t think Hernandez is ready yet, either. And that leads to a problem, because right now they’re the obvious go-to guys for Angle to feud with. I just don’t see either one being the champ any time soon.

WWE: Busy week from WWE when it comes to stupidity, so I’m going to go from show to show.

Superstars: Superstars was trash. Usually, there’s one or two good matches that make it worth watching, but this week, there was none of that to be found. We had an hour of matches that were best watched in fast forward on the old DVR. There’s really very little to talk about, and that’s a problem. Remember kids, Superstars is still a very young show. It needs to give us a reason to keep watching every week, and Chris Masters losing via countout is not exactly must watch. It’ll be interesting to see where Superstars goes in the coming weeks, but I hope this was just a one off bad show.

Smackdown: Let me start by saying that I’ve loved what the blue show has been putting on since the draft; I’d venture to say that I haven’t enjoyed a wrestling show this consistently since the days of the original ECW. That said, I genuinely hope and pray that the Kane-Khali stuff ended at SummerSlam. Other than JR’s verbal flubs, which are becoming a bit more common each week, there’s little else that can be called stupid on Friday nights, except that John Morrison needs to be World Champ now.

Raw: Raw is becoming a chore to watch. Segments like the opening of this week’s episode are major reasons why. Look, I loved the Rock-Mankind “This Is Your Life” segment that went a good twenty minutes, but this was just tedious. Any time I see Big Dick Johnson on my TV screen, I want to burn my eyeballs out, so just realize that I sat through this Raw and kept my retinas intact for the sake of you readers. And was there really a need for that segment to go that long? They couldn’t trim it by fifteen minutes and still set up the main event for the night? Then, TO TOP IT OFF, we get even more segments during the show about it being Vince’s birthday? I must be a masochist to sit through this.

In other news, I’m officially sick and tired of this Hornswoggle-Chavo stuff. I think it’s been nine weeks in a row now where these two have wasted precious TV time with a silly gimmick match. It was barely funny the first few times, now it’s just got me itching to change the channel. This reminds me of the Hornswoggle “Looney Tunes” stuff from (I think) last summer. Just end it, and for the love of God, stop burying Chavo. At least ECW was alright this week.

SummerSlam: SummerFest gave me one minor gripe and one huge complaint. Right off the bat, I can’t understand why Dolph Ziggler cannot get the Intercontinental Title. Don’t get me wrong, Rey Mysterio has been great this year, but Ziggler has caught my attention since coming over to Smackdown. I was positive when the year started that the former Spirit Squad member would be gone from WWE by year’s end; now I’m sure he’s got a bright future ahead of him, so pull the trigger and give the man the belt!

The ECW Championship match was a disaster. I like Christian. I LOVE William Regal. I was looking forward to a good match between the two. Instead, we got six seconds and a beat down on Captain Charisma. So let’s get it straight: the ECW title is again made to look worthless, Regal is made to look like an idiot, and the champ is destroyed. I understand that they’re building to a rematch, but the title match could have been given more than SIX SECONDS.

One last WWE thing to mention: potentially changing and re-theming yet another pay-per-view is a terrible idea. We don’t need a three hour show featuring three TLC matches. Those things are fun in part because they’re so rare. Don’t overdo a cool match to pop a buyrate, WWE, because I can tell you for certain I won’t be sitting around on my couch to watch Hell in a Cell…although I assure everyone that it’s a coincidence that I have tickets to that very show.

ROH: Not much to report for ROH since I don’t have HDNet and don’t attend Philadelphia tapings any more. Ring of Honor didn’t really do anything stupid this week, but it’s worth mentioning that they did something VERY stupid a few months ago and HD Net decided to screw them over a few weeks ago and those two things came back to bite them this week.

By moving ROH’s show to Mondays, the little promotion that could officially got the notice of WWE. And when a company is on WWE’s radar, that means only one thing: talent raids. With the fact that just about no one reportedly re-signed their contracts a few months ago because of a number of problems (including cut pay and a loss of health care), it’s only inevitable that people will leave when offered a chance to make it to the big time, and the first of these losses came over the weekend.

I’m not going to talk about it in excessive detail, but to me, Bryan Danielson IS Ring of Honor. With him leaving, I don’t see a strong future ahead for the company. It’s fought through a lot of adversity in the past, but this year it seems like ROH has taken a lot of blows all at once. And with rumors of more people leaving soon (plus Jimmy Jacobs), one has to wonder if they can get up from those blows.

With that, I wrap up the first edition of “I’m With Stupid.” Join me next week for more of me pointing out the failings of others!

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Hello everyone this is ChrisGST and I’ll be taking over the Raw recap tonight.  After viewing the TNA PPV, I was hoping to at least get some wrestling satisfaction from WWE.  I was semi rewarded.

We have the opening segment of guess who, Legacy alongside Triple H and John Cena.  What a surprise, we have Orton demanding that he make the main event a  handicapped match.  Guess all wrestling champions are seemingly getting more “power” from the belts they hold.   Of course the faces accept, I will note that this is obviously a chance for them to cripple Orton before the big three way.  So this could work in their favor though I will say that reminding everyone that two years ago we had already seen this match doesn’t help their case that they are doing new and exciting stuff.  It really doesn’t.

We then had what was supposed to hype up the big 6 Pack Challenge of US champ Kofi, Primo, MVP against Big Show, Jack Swaggar, and Carlito.  Now why Miz couldn’t be in this match is beyond me, despite the fact that he showed up later on but they are trying to get the most out of the brothers Colon mini feud so I guess it makes sense.

We had a semi decent match with the obvious end of getting The the Big Show over.  Even to the point that after the match he destroyed his own partners which is fine.  Big Show is a decent talent and should be in some title chase at some point though his limited mobility should also suggest using him at special times a la Undertaker.

The Brian Kendrick was quickly shown jaw jacking with Cole and King when finally he had to get in the ring for his match.  Needless to say Jerry wasn’t going to take this crap from a youngin and with the unlimitless power that the announcing team has made an impromptu match against Kendrick and soundly defeated him with the classic heart punch.  Needless to say the debate of what is more deadly, the Heart Punch or MVP Ballin elbow is still up in the air.

Mark Henry oddly enough after nearly 13 years is finally getting some fan response and honestly I don’t mind.  The man is legitimally one of the strongest men on the plant having won multiple awards including a Hummer from my governor.  Jericho played to point of being scared perfectly and honestly this match really did what it was supposed to which is showcase that Henry can work with main event level players and still seem unstoppable.  The chair spot and code breaker attempt I feel went over well with the crowd and hopefully Mark will at least get  a tag title shot as him teamed with someone with a mouth is always good.  Kofi and Henry for Tag Champs is going to be my goal for him.

Hornswaggle vs Chavo is just a waste of life and honestly how this BS comes across to these writers/bookers as comedy is beyond any intelligent reasoning.

Alicia Fox and Rosa had a “Legs” match against Gail Kim and Kelly Kelly.   For all the males watching this episode of Raw, obviously this was directed at them and it did what it was supposed to.  I don’t see why Gail is being wasted in this kind of a role but I’m sure she’ll get a shot at the Divas title at some point.

The legendary Shaq is going to be next weeks host.  Well at least this doesn’t make the fed look out of touch so we’ll just have to see.

The strongest segment of the entire night had Rhodes and DiBiase confront Jericho with how they are going to beat him at NoC.  Greatest line of the night where Jericho, after taking a verbal beating and a threat that Orton could take him out with the dreaded punt to the head had Jericho propose that possibly Orton could be his partner.

Finally we have the main event of John Cena and Triple H vs Legacy.

A good match leading up to the Night of Champions.  The tension between Triple H and Cena was obvious and of course deserved as both are challenging for the same title.  Orton and Legacy looked strong and did look like they were targeting Triple H which actually made sense.   I have to say that this is the match I was hoping to see over the weekend and yet never got from that other company and even though I don’t agree with the booking WWE proves once again that their professionals seemingly can actually work the finales of their matches without looking like complete crap.

Anyway, not the strongest go home show, but what WWE show is nowadays and we still have three more WWE based shows til Night of Champions and for the most part at least didn’t make me want to go online and electronically scream at a would-be celebrity.  Thanks for reading and supporting PWP.

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Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day (unless you’re not American, then I hope you had a nice Monday). This weeks column is going to be different than the first, as I want to find my niche with this column. This week I’m just planning on ranting and raving about what upset me, and praising the (very few) good things. Without further ado, let’s get to the crazy man blabbering.

So of course, the big thing going into Raw last night was the building issue. For those of you who don’t know, Vince had the stadium in Denver booked for Raw, but had to move it do to a Nuggets VS Lakers playoff game. So what does a wrestling promoter do when he gets a new rival? Why he runs in their town (see the death of the territories)!

Naturally, Vince failed to do his research and blamed the building owner Stan Kroenke for not believeing his team would make the playoffs. What Vince either failed to realize, or did and decided to ignore it, is that the team managers don’t schedule the games, it’s the NBA. So if he is to blame anyone for this fiasco it’d be the National Basketball Association.

So last night, Vince decided to have “fun” with this situation. He had someone come out to start the show off dressed as Stan Kroenke, then Vince came out. Do you see where this is going? No? Well, Vince proceeded to make childish jokes about Stan, and if you didn’t see it, I’m happy for you.

Anyways, they announced a 5 on 5 tag match with Lakers VS Nuggets. The Nuggets in this instance are (SURPRISE!) the heel team. This team consisted of The Miz, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase JR, Big Show, and Randy Orton.  The faces were the Lakers with MVP, the returning Mr. Kennedy, John Cena, Jerry Lawler, and Batista.

So this match went on for about 10 minutes with (SURPRISE AGAIN!) the “Lakers” winning it. Surpsingly, it didn’t suck too bad, and MVP was way over with the crowd tonight.

Speaking of MVP, he just seems to be the one of the few things on Raw these days that make me tune in each week. Next week he’s scheduled to face Kofi Kingston in a United States Championship bout. I don’t even need to hype the amount of athleticism in this match do I? What Jerome? I do? Well, its going to be INSANE and CRAZY. I know thats redundant, but it serves a purpose.

The other shining star on Raw (excluding Legacy, Kendrick, Orton, and “Vintage” Michael Cole) is none other than Mr. Kennedy………..KENNEDY! After being out way too long, he made his return in great fashion. Sadly, he reportedly ijured himself last night while taking the RKO. While it’s not serious, it’s still scary that on the night he returns he gets injured. Here’s hoping he doesn’t miss anytime, because it looks like he’s getting a push.

That’s it for this week kiddos. Keep an eye out in the next few days for my monthly column “Pure Puro” which covers Dragon Gate, Pro Wrestling Noah, Dragon Gate USA, and every now and then the other two big promotions. Until then, good night and good luck.

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Hello everyone, and welcome to what I hope is the first of many editions of “In The Raw.” I’m your not-so-humble host Zane Thornsberry, and this column is going to be a tad different than the normal review column you see from other sites. Instead, I’m breaking this down segment by segment and talking about what I liked, and what pissed me off. While doing this, I’m going to “trim the fat”, meaning I’m not going to write about the video packages and when the commentators run down the card. Without any further ado, let’s get going.

Show opens with Lillian Garica (who looks fine tonight) introducing Randy Orton:

Orton came out with Priceless at his side, and ran the WWE fans into the ground. Randy got quite a few boos from the crowd as they were eating up his heel schtick. Orton announces that Vickie Gurrero (more on her later I promise) made a “no phyiscal interaction” ruling when it comes to Batista and Orton.  Orton then calls Batista on down to the ring, for a “promo war”. Orton then does something I thought was really good, and I would like to see actually happen: he offered Big Dave a spot in Legacy. Orton said that Batista could be the Arn Anderson to Orton’s Ric Flair. Another shining moment of this, is Ted DiBiase JR got some mic time in which he briefly talked about Orton punting him. Naturally, I am hoping this is foreshadowing to DiBiase one day turning on Orton for that action thus becoming a main event heel. Batista tells Orton that he talks a lot of sense, but there is one big problem in this entire plan: Batista loathes Orton. Orton threatens to drop Batista, but says he won’t due to the clause enforced by Vickie. Of course, Big Dave says he doesn’t care about that, and then proceeds to threaten Orton. This is when Vickie Gurrero comes out to what a good friend of mine once dubbed “Osama Bin Laden levels of heat”. Vicke then makes the match of Batista VS DiBiase and Rhodes, and if Batista wins it’ll be Orton VS Batista one on one, and if Legacy wins it’ll be a 3 on 1 handicapped match. This is the part that pissed me off. Why even bother mentioning the no contact clause if you’re just going to over-rule it in the first 15 minutes of the show?

Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase JR VS Batista

Nice short little match with Ted and Cody getting some surpisingly decent offense in. The finish however is very poorly done, as Cody Rhodes brings in a chair, Batista takes it, and when the ref sees Batista with it, he DQ’s Batista. The last time I checked, it’s not a DQ if a wrestler is HOLDING the chair, but rather if he uses it to inflict harm upon their opponents. Once again, bad writing strikes.

Maryse and Jillian Hall VS Mickie James and Kelly Kelly

They recapped last week when Mickie pinned Maryse before the match. Maryse also cut a promo in French that I could not understand. Nice little womens match that got a decent amount of TV time before Mickie once again pinned Maryse in the middle of the ring. Here’s hoping this is leading towards putting the belt on one of the best female workers in the WWE in Mickie James.

Josh Matthews interviews Orton

We go to the back where Josh is interviewing Randy Orton. Before Orton can answer Matthews’ question, DiBiase shows up and informs Randy that Cody went missing. Orton then pulls Ted aside, and when the camera follows them, Orton shoves the camera back. Nice to see they’re no longer doing the “invisible camera” thing anymore. This segment ends in a funny bit where Orton tells Ted to “follow me” and upon walking away from the area, they both go completly seperate ways.

Chavo and Vickie chat

Backstage Vickie and Chavo are having a conversation. Chavo suggests that Cena have a “warm up” match to see if he’s good to go for Judgement Day this sunday. Vickie agrees and says he’ll face none other than The Miz. I like this because just like last week, Chavo winds up over-ruling Vickie which can lead to two things. Either they’re going to do a relationship angle with Vickie and Chavo (which seems to be kind of what they’re hinting at with them being so friendly all the time), or Chavo takes over Vickies job as GM of Raw.

Orton and DiBiase hunt

We go backstage once more to see Orton and Ted still looking for Cody. Orton sends Ted down one hall, and continues walking. Orton just happens to stumble upon Cody. Orton then goes back and finds DiBiase laid out, and when Orton asks what happened, all DiBiase can say is “Batista”.

Carlito VS Brian Kendrick

Really nice short match between these two. Personally, I’d love to see them go at it again in the future. Kendrick wins via rollup after ramming Carlito’s shoulder into the ring post. Kendrick grabs a mic and says that was only phase one. He said phase two was to find himself THE partner, and step three would for them to be THE WWE Tag Team Champions. I am really hoping that Kendrick chooses James Gibson, as I believe those four (Gibson, Kendrick, Primo, and Carlito) could have some damn good matches with one another.

Miz VS John Cena

Before it got under way, Big Show came out and sat against the announcers table for the duration of the match. Cena comes out and cannot take his eyes off of Big Show. Miz makes his way to the ring, and while walking to the ring decides to make fun of Cena’s film and music ventures. Vickie stops the match  (via Titan Tron) at around 3 minutes, then Cena turns back around to recieve a DDT from The Miz who apparently didn’t see nor hear Vickie.

Cody and Orton make a decision

Orton tells Cody to prove himself and to take out Batista. Shortly thereafter, Cody is seen walking aroud with a pipe in his hands looking for Batista. Batista sneaks up behind Cody and shoves him into a room locking the door, which of course means it’ll be Orton VS Batista 1-1. Why not just do that from the get go? You could have saved some time, and given every match a bit more length. It seems lighting can strike three times in one night.

Beth Phoenix VS Santina Marella

I love how WWE is always talking about being “PG” and “Targeted for kids” then they show a cross dresser predominenately. Not only that, but by having Santino dress up as a female and wrestle women, it’s senseless man on woman violence. I know for certain that if I was a parent, I sure as hell would not let my son and/or daugther watch these segments. Nonetheless, “Santina” wins the match.

Cena interview

Cena mentions how he’s going through hard times like most Americans and will get over it. Really? Most Americans are on TV each and every week making hundreds of thousands of dollars for showing up, and hundreds of thousands more based off the selling of t-shirts that bare their likeness? I was under the impression most Americans are losing their jobs and barely getting by. Even more bad writing tonight!

VIP Lounge

Before this, they show when Regal attacked MVP for “no reason” (besides the obvious fact that Regal wants MVP’s belt) from last week. Regal comes on out and talks about being King of the Ring and former GM of Raw, to which MVP responds that Regal is “boring”. Regal takes off his robe, and out comes Matt Hary. Hardy then complains that he had to wrestle these past two weeks with a broken hand, which leads to Kofi Kingston coming out and attacking Hardy. Chavo then comes out and announces MVP and Kofi Kingston VS Matt Hardy and William Regal.

William Regal and Matt Hardy VS MVP and Kofi Kingston

I really thought this match had some potential as I like all four men involed in it, and think two of them are going to be stars soon. The other (Regal) should be moved to ECW soon and given a run at the top over there against another UK Legend in Finlay. Sadly, the match started during the break and I was unable to catch all of it. MVP pinned Regal following a playmaker to pick up the win for both him and Kofi.

Orton VS Batista

At less than a minute, Batista brings in a chair and once again gets DQ’ed for it. It seems that this dumb move was so nice it had to been done twice. Batistsa brings down the chair on Orton’s ankle, and is going to use the steps when out comes Cody. Cody recieves a Batista bomb and then Ted sneaks up behind of The Animal. The Anima does not like this, and spears Ted. Batista then launches the ring steps at Orton (who is now on the ramp) and they miss by a couple of feet to end the show.

All in all, not the best Raw I’ve seen and certainly not what I’d do for a “Go Home” Raw show. Oh well, hopefully it’ll be better next week. I’ll be back next Tuesday with my review of next week’s Raw and the Raw matches from Judgement Day. Until then wrestling fans, good night and good luck.

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