Play-by-Play Week #2

WWE RAW: 08/02/2010
A lot of people called this a filler RAW, I'm not so sure I totally agree, but looking back, it wasn't a particularly fantastic show...

The Good
● SHEAMUS! This was the single most important moment of the entire show and I believe has built into two moments we're about to see. By decimating arguably RAW's biggest two names in John Cena and Triple H, Sheamus has finally been established as a wrecking crew. Not only that, but I feel we're down to our final (for now) Cena/Sheamus confrontation in the Elimination Chamber, as well as planting the explosives for a big Triple H/Sheamus match for the title at WrestleMania, which is a brawl I would love to see.
● Batista/Cena, this is the build their first match should've received, Batista is totally on form as a heel and Cena is at his arguable best since early 2007, this could be the biggest face/heel confrontation on a WrestleMania card in quite some time if they keep up the low boil and just let it explode at 'Mania.
● Ladies and gentlemen, The Viper is loose and it looks like we're finally getting Randy the face, which could potentially be absolutely massive, the moment he hit that RKO, I literally jumped out my seat and cheered, I can not wait to see what this could potentially bring, just so long as they don't make Randy buddy-buddy with anyone, this could be brilliant to watch.

The Bad
● Where the hell was Shawn Michaels? After last week I didn't even catch a mention of him, we got more coverage on Smackdown with a passing comment than we did all RAW.
● The Bret Hart segment, everybody messed up, Cena's timing, the effects crew, the cameraman, it just didn't work at all and I can't see the point in it except to say that Bret can't wrestle at WrestleMania.
● Jerry Springer, originally I was going to put this in the "Okay" section, but man, this segment (whilst nothing particularly offensive) could've been so much more. Imagine Jericho appearing as the jilted ex of Big Show (now with Miz), imagine HBK pouring his heart out and destroying the set, heck, I even would've given for them to reveal in Kelly Kelly's ultrasound that the baby was the hand that Mae Young didn't give birth to!

The Uh... Okay
● I'm going to ruin any credibility I have here, but Antonio Inoki, I know who he is, I know all he's achieved (and I know he's worthy of Hall of Fame status), but it just doesn't mean much to me personally coming on the tails of Ted DiBiase.
● DiBiase and Kofi, I don't know what's happened to Kofi in 2010, but he's gone from absolute megastar to Carlito-esque going through the motions, Ted did a good job, but I'm a little disappointed that the Man-A-From-Ghana is not delivering right now considering his epic with Randy Orton.
● MVP and Mark Henry beating Miz & Big Show - served no real purpose since there's no match yet booked for Elimination Chamber (a card that's going to struggle to fill two hours from what I can see), I'm hoping that these guys are going to develop into a multi-team match at WrestleMania for the Tag Titles as a replacement for Money In The Bank.
● Bret Hart, on a rare moment in the last two months, Bret's speech did nothing for me, though the fact a Hart was left in hospital and we were to get reports felt horrible, and not in the right way.

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WWE Presents... ECW on Scyfy: 09/02/2010 (UK Airdate: 11/02/2010)
This wasn't what it should have been, this should have involved nods to the ECW of old and new, it should've featured a goodbye video package and it should've been given a proper burial... but what it did do in its last match is delivered the TRUE spirit of ECW.

The Good
● What do I mean by the "True" spirit? I mean it established a man - Zeke. Christian did his usual fantastic job of putting a man over and Zeke now looks like a force to be reckoned with since he's not only grabbed a title, but he's the LAST champion.
● Three men came out of this looking like the stars they're going to be, Zeke and Christian of course... and Zack Ryder - woo woo woo... you know it.
● The Abraham Washington Show. How is it that on potentially the last ever segment of this, it was actually entertaining? Not to mention Kozlov and Shelton is a team I'd like to see. Here's to hoping we see Abe as a mouthpiece for someone, because he draws heat fantastically - heck, if they ever turn Shelton again, he'd be the absolute perfect match for a mouth to match the in-ring talent.

The Bad
● The lack of nod to ECW's history, pure and simple, felt like a total waste.

The Uh... Okay
● The CATFIIIIIIIGHT, it was good to see, and we all understood it, but would it have killed them to have one of the announcers call it in true fashion?
● The NXT stuff, I kind of hoped we'd get to meet the wrestlers in person in just a brief "about me" segment, but it's no big thing.

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WWE Superstars: 11/02/2010 (UK Airdate: 12/02/2010)

I'll make this brief since Superstars is my "don't pay attention" show.

The Good
● Gail Kim/Katie Lea was good, how Katie has yet to win a title is baffling though - and where's Paul?
● The tag match was entertaining, but I can't help but think it's time Primo turned heel and joined his brother and Chavo and Evan teamed up in a sort of veteran/rookie (in comparison) tag team that would benefit both.

The Bad
● --

The Uh... Okay
● Mysterio/Knox served no purpose but to show that Rey's had a match before the Chamber like most other wrestlers.

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WWE Smackdown: 12/02/2010

Great show all-round, only one out of place moment and the rest really built me up for Elimination Chamber.

The Good
● Jericho delivers, as you'd expect, that Codebreaker moment to one-up Undertaker has me excited, if HBK doesn't face Undertaker, I'm praying it's going to be Jericho, these two could deliver potentially a match greater than last years HBK/'Taker match if given a chance. In fact, that entire last match was probably the best show ender WWE's put on in quite some time.
● Crofetta's (or as I should now call them again - The Dudebusters) were on fine form against Cryme Tyme. I'm hoping this is going to lead to Smackdown having an actual tag division whilst RAW has thrown together teams, could make for a different dynamic and benefit Smackdowns superior wrestling and RAW's superior entertainment.
● Punk and Gallows going over Morrison and Truth, Morrison is clearly out of the Chamber at this point and we all know who's going to replace him, but the point is the Straight Edge Society looked strong, and Rey's failed revenge just throws fuel on the fire of what should be a very cool feud.
● The Hart Dynasty beating Team Khardy and Maria (should that be Khardia now?) and the post-match segment with Team Laycool was very entertaining. Laycool are like a less awesome Beautiful People and their insults to Hardy and his return fire made me laugh.
● Zeke is coming to Smackdown, and believe me, this right here? It's domination. I hope he'll be thrown into the US title mix sooner rather than later. 

The Bad
● Vickie and Mickie, I repeat from last week, why is this happening?

The Uh... Okay
● Kane and Dolph Ziggler, again Dolph suffers from "lack of storylineitis" and has to lose to Kane, I love The Big Red Machine, but he didn't need this win, it could've just as easily been Mike Knox or someone who could take the loss without looking like even more of a bitch than they have done.

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TNA Impact: 11/02/2010 (UK Airdate: 13/02/2010)

Coming off of a strong PPV, TNA have a lot to offer now in terms of where stories are going, and they delivered the goods.

The Good
● Pope starts off the show, just as he should and cuts a great promo, then he enjoys some fantastic interaction with Ric Flair. As old as the "Dick Flair" nickname is, it's delivered with great humour from Dinero and is a lot of fun, this feud could be something to behold when we get AJ and The Pope back in the ring together again.
● Daffney is fantastic, as usual, seeing her wail on Tara makes me think they aren't done with Tara's angle of being a "Diva" turned "Knockout", and if that means a hardcore brawl with Daffney I have no issues with that.
● Orlando Jordan and Samoa Joe had a great match, and oddly enough, I feel that the right man won, OJ has put in some great performances since being in TNA and I'm sure this is just building to a feud or angle for Samoa Joe. The finish was a very cool counter (something we've seen a lot of this last fortnight) and it didn't make anyone look weak.
● Abyss, if they're turning him into a main event player again, they're going about it right, and though the segment with Hogan was awful, I genuinely thought that the concept delivered.
● The return of Kaz was a triumph, as a guy who doesn't see the big deal in Kazarian, he really impressed me, better match than I've ever seen him as Suicide and better than most of his previous stuff. Him and Doug Williams should gel fantastically.
● Jeff Jarrett was on fine form with Abyss, I'm enjoying his slow moving storyline and lack of spotlight, it allows him to perform under minimal scrutiny and he really delivers.
● Eric Bischoff and Hogan, all night both were on fire, Eric's "naughty boy" face when Hogan caught him trying to unmask Abyss is a facial expression that will stick in my head forever, as was Hogans "dad is here and he's not impressed" look.
● Big Rob's clothesline, I said it on Twitter, I'll say it again, looked deep and harmful, cool turn and I hope it develops him a little.
● The Band finally got me interested, but I can thank Nash for that. Say what you might about Kevin, the man can deliver a promo.

The Bad
● The fact they're still doing the ringbell thing whenever there's any form of beatdown. Annoying.
● TNA wussing out on Orlando Jordan's bisexual kisses, I don't blame TNA for taking it out, but if you're not going to deliver it, don't record it in the first place.
● Generation Me. Oh man, TNA wrestlers are going on my hitlist for my most hated of all things in a wrestling match - pointless flips and high spots. Their flip was stupid and added nothing to that dropkick. Unless it looks like it would deliver momentum to a move DO NOT do it, it endanger you, your fellow wrestlers and looks pathetic.

The Uh... Okay
● Mick's makeover, I get that it was to stop Mick interfering with Abyss, but I really kind of hoped we'd get some humorous segments from it.
● Kurt Angle delivered a heartfelt promo and then Kennedy ruined it, it wasn't be being a heel, he just removed any heat from the segment somehow, I can't even explain it.

Play-by-Play Week #1

WWE RAW: 08/02/2010
Sure as hell chose a good RAW to open this thing with didn't I? From Bret Hart's rampage to Ted DiBiase one upping Randy Orton to new Unified Tag Team Champions and even the ECW Champion appearing on another brand.

I'm not actually doing "play-by-play" as the title suggests, in actuality I'm simplifying things, I'm putting them into categories, put simply, "The Good, The Bad, And The Uh... Okay", simple.

The Good
● As mentioned first, Bret Harts segment with Vince McMahon was of the high quality we've come to expect from these two, the "will they, won't they" back and forth on their face off is great fun to watch, and it even has the metafans guessing, is Bret healthy enough to fight? Will it end up being like The Battle of the Billionaire's in Cena and Batista's corners? Will we ever see Vince dance as majestically as he did after this segment was over?
● Cody Rhodes' win over stablemate / boss / pain in his backside, Randy Orton. Okay so it was partially down to interference, but it was still nice to see. I can see Rhodes sticking with Orton a while longer and DiBiase being the one to turn, a three way turn wouldn't work and DiBiase is clearly far more ready to strike out on his own than Rhodes is right now.
● Seeing Christian on RAW was an absolute delight, if anyone has any question over whether WWE is behind the ECW champ, I hope they were silenced to some degree, his ability to make any wrestler look like a million bucks was a great asset to the still unsteady Sheamus, and although he came out with the loss, he ended up looking strong and made his opponent look even better, than that's the end goal of almost every match.
● Seeing Miz with three belts was amazing, I only hope he can pull a Santino and become Mizina just so he can get more gold (that's a joke, for those people with just too little sense of humour).
● Carl Edwards, proving that those NASCAR guys from before were a one-off session of suck, the guy had enough personality that I wouldn't object to him returning any time.
● Shawn Michaels suckerkicks Teddy Long, HBK's desperation is bleeding through in everything he does, and whether he faces Undertaker or not, his story is going to be right up their in the story of the year candidates come year end.
● Save the best for last, Vince and John Cena, if you have ANY doubt that John Cena is the freaking man, watch this promo, I'm not going to say any more than that because it's one of those moments that speaks for itself

The Bad
● Despite Mizshow winning, I have to say I was very disappointed that the beloved Disciples of Jesus... uh Straight Edge Society didn't win the Tag Titles, it could've cemented them as potentially the most hated team in years, but there's still plenty of time for that.
● John Cena absolutely decimating Ted DiBiase - what was the point? Cena didn't need it, DiBiase sure as hell didn't need it and it could've been just as easily achieved with just being a Cena promo.

The Uh... Okay
● Gail Kim and Maryse's stuff isn't really doing anything to hype me for the match, I mean, they do it themselves by just wrestling, but these segments just feel like absolute filler. Hopefully the Divas division will pick up in time for WrestleMania instead of leaving us with another pitiful Miss WrestleMania contest.

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WWE Presents... ECW on Scyfy: 09/02/2010 (UK Airdate: 11/02/2010)
Well, the penultimate ECW was less satisfying, over the last year it's gone from the best wrestling show in North America to an afterthought with some great talent, and with that in mind, we did have some good matches.

The Good
● Tiffany channelling DDP - that's not a bad thing, that's a GOOD thing.
● Yoshidust beats Crofetta, not really "good", but the right team went over and the match was good fun, I look forward to hopefully seeing Yoshi J-Popping the ever loving heck out of RAW or Smackdown crowds.

The Bad
● Zeke beats a local competitor? There's nothing I hate more than seeing a local competitor, nobody enjoys these matches and it doesn't make the guy look strong, guys like Funaki are on the roster for the very reason of being beat by the big guys, it adds that tiny bit of hope to any match seeing a name you know.

The Uh... Okay
● Shelton Benjamin and Vance Archer, I can't see either of these guys shining on RAW or Smackdown, though considering how creepy Archer is I can see him in the Straight Edge Society. As for Shelton, this match made me think it's time for him to sink or swim, the guy has no consistency, I say throw him into the United States title mix over on RAW and he can't handle it, it may be time to just call it a day on giving the guy anything resembling a push.

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WWE Superstars: 11/02/2010 (UK Airdate: 12/02/2010)
I'll be honest, I dread watching Superstars each week, there's not that many significant or entertaining matches these days, it's like a slightly above Heat level show thanks to WWE's diminished jobber level. With that in mind, this will be brief

The Good
● Seeing Zack Ryder get his shot at Christian, if ECW is going down, I think we can agree that Ryder is one of the triumph stories of the brand, his massive change from being a forgettable Edge-head to having the best "Woo" since the Nature Boy has been a pleasure to watch, and I pray he doesn't get lost in the shuffle on whichever brand he goes to.
● Jack Swagger and Santino's feud has been fun, hopefully this won't be a drag on feud like Chavo/Hornswoggle and now both men can move on to doing what they do best with other people. If there's one man I want to see take Miz's US title, it's Jack Swagger - the era of the All-American American United States of America champion will come!

The Bad
● Booking JTG vs Dolph Ziggler as the main event on a show featuring the ECW champion and a match featuring RAW's most entertaining comedy wrestler and RAW's potential best wrestler? To top it off it was an match with about as much consequence as scratching your elbow - as I said on Twitter, putting Dolph in nothing matches helps no-one, he's too talented to be doing nothing, put him in a feud or some kind of angle already!

The Uh... Okay
● --

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WWE Smackdown: 12/02/2010
Smackdown is absolutely stacked with talent right now, and this showed it.

The Good
● Chris Jericho... (I held that for a minute because Chris Jericho is just outright good, you need to understand that) beat the Undertaker, and once again, we managed to get the match end without absolute clean finish. Edge's interference was perfect, Undertaker clearly showing he still doesn't trust Edge (and why should he after the battles those two have gone through) and it serves to further Edge's journey to WrestleMania and put doubts in the minds of those who thought Undertaker winning Elimination Chamber was a foregone conclusion. As an aside, as I mentioned on Twitter, Jericho VS Undertaker in a steel cage is turning into destiny, we need a clean decider as to who is the absolute best!
● Batista has really turned around since turning heel, everyone knew it was time and Big Dave is showing the world that he belongs among the bad guys. He and the writers said more by not saying anything than they ever could've by having a long winded promo, Batista has always been a man of few words as a face, why change that as a heel?
● Rey Mysterio versus CM Punk, oh man, I pray that rumoured Hair VS Mask match is true, because that match was great, between Punks offence and Rey's ability to sell, those two could put on a match of the year candidate with enough build.
● Drew McIntyre versus Kane. Can't help but love both these guys, the Scotsmans new theme suits him perfectly and I always love the secondary title chase when Kane's involved, he's the perfect stepping stone because he never loses his aura, so putting him in a match involving a man your trying to elevate who's also holding a title is a stroke of logic.

The Bad
● John Morrison almost getting injured, he confirmed he was okay on Twitter but I'm wondering if that's an elaborate piece of kayfabe - if JoMo can't compete at the Elimination Chamber, which other long haired innovator could possibly take his place I wonder...?
● First of all, no-one wants to see more degrading Team Laycool/Mickie segments, second, why the heck would VICKIE GUERRERO not defend Mickie? Every wrestler on the roster was insulting her with the exact same comments for two years. And yes, I get that it was because of the cottage cheese, but it still annoyed me.

The Uh... Okay
● "The Team I Can't Portmanteau Well" Hardy and Khali versus The Hart Dynasty served no purpose, what happened to the Dynasty's involvement with Vickie Guerrero a few weeks back? And why do they not have anything interesting to say about the developments with Bret Hart? Call me old fashioned, but I miss when stories followed through and plot points weren't ignored.

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TNA Impact: 11/02/2010 (UK Airdate: 13/02/2010)
Before the show I prayed for no Band, after the show, I ended up hopeful... that there'd be no more Band.

The Good
● Seeing EY again, I know he's not everyone's favourite guy, but I find him entertaining, I've never had a moment where I've found him otherwise, and the fact he's partnered up with Kevin Nash is a touch I've found to be perfect.
● Orlando Jordan VS The Pope was entertaining, these two guys have some great back and forth and Orlando really presents himself as a true superstar now, his days as JBL's lackey are well behind him, the guy has the talent that WWE gave him credit for and he never showed with them.
● Amazing Red VS Doug Williams was fun, and it was great to see Doug in a match with no British Invasion on his side, the guy has long since earned his time in the spotlight and it's great to see, I look forward to seeing his next opponent.
● MISSSSSTEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR... wait for it... Wolfe. That's right, the highlight of every Thursday (US) and Saturday (UK) night cut a promo that just shows how talented he is, he belittled his opponents without making them look weak and looked like the star he is in the process.
● AJ VS Joe looks to be a good match, the promo was interesting, highlighting that Joe did the EXACT same thing as AJ did when he joined the Main Event Mafia, this feud shows promise, I just don't get why Bischoff is now involved.

The Bad
● I'll ignore the fact the Knockouts match should've been at Against All Odds and go straight to Lacey von Erich, this woman is an absolute imbecile, she does a moonsault flip into an elbow, it doesn't look impressive (which is the point of high risk offence), it's dangerous if she mistimes it (for both herself and, if she misjudges her landing, her opponent) and everybody watching know it wouldn't do any more damage than a regular elbow. If you're going to hit an aerial elbow, do a flying elbow drop, it's tried and tested and has never been bested.

The Uh... Okay
● The Jarrett stuff is tiresome, they've gone from having him as potentially a superface to doing... uhm... well actually he's not done a whole lot and yet he's meant to be earning his way back into the company, yes it's been two weeks since he returned to the ring, but it's been two months since he returned to TNA.
● Matt Morgan won, nobody was surprised or impressed since he was facing Suicide.
● Foley's desperation is just kind of... there... maybe it's just because he's up against HBK's storyline right now, but I'm not buying it.
● The Band, uhm... yeah... where was Kevin Nash's redemption? Why DID they attack him? Are we finally rid of them? These are all questions I hoped for answers to and won't care about by the time next week rolls around.