Raw, February 22, 2010

It takes a grown man to admit when he cries... and cry I did last night... figuratively anyway. Maybe it's because I realize the implications on the business but maybe just maybe, it's because a little piece of my childhood will come to a close on March 28, 2010 just 35 days after I turned 25.

Shawn Michaels will be done at Wrestlemania 26, he will not go over on Taker, beating the streak, this is the Heart Break Kid's retirement match. Maybe he has seen Flair, Nash, Hall, Waltman and Hogan on TNA and has decided he doesn't want to be there in his career. He wants to go out, having a spectacular match with a man who can put everything he has into it to make them both look good, but it will be a sad day for me. A buddy and mine, who previously did not have plans to go are looking into now, and if we aren't there to see it we will definitely be watching on Pay-Per-View.

Now on to Raw... I guess...

Jericho's heel promo was good, a little predictable with Edge coming out since we all knew this is where we were headed about 7 months ago when Jericho ripped on the Rated R Superstar for getting injured. I'm excited to see the match, don't think they needed the belt to make it good, but I'll take it.

Cena is pissed and Vince is condescending. Cena demands a match with Batista for the belt and Vince says Batista won't defend until Mania. Vince says that both Cena and Sheamus have rematch clauses and Cena gets to decide who gets the rematch, if he wins his match Cena gets the rematch, if he loses Sheamus. Cena is pumped, "Who's it gonna be?" Cena said. "Batista." Vince responds. Cena looks concerned....

WHAT THE HELL!

Cena just asked for a match with Batista, he wanted him so badly he demanded it and then when he gets it he looks concerned for his life like Batista is going to come kill him. YOU JUST ASKED FOR THE MATCH DUMBASS... Okay, I get it, it's not for the title, you have to earn it... but after Batista took advantage last night you should be hoping for any opportunity to get your hands on the Filipino Playboy.

Gail Kim vs. Maryse for the belt... wait Raw has a Divas' belt... oh, right, the tournament... I thought that was over considering there were three rounds and it started at the beginning of January. Maryse won after a bunch of botching... the end... over... stupid.

For the record if you want good Women's wrestling (not just hot blondes in skimpy outfits on a PG show), something I am a huge fan of, check out TNA on Monday nights starting March 8. Unless, of course, Hogan goes through with his plan to stop showcasing the Knockouts... in which case, there's always Shimmer (on DVD or the web).

I wish I could slap the writers for wasting Jillian like this... instead Jillian gets slapped again, but speaking of hot blondes in skimpy outfits, check out Kelly Kelly... Jesus Christ... I love her.

Orton and Cody stare off for a while and then banter back and forth, Randy apologizes for not being the leader Legacy needed. I like where this is going, it almost seems as if they are trying to turn the Viper face and he is getting cheered. This is probably one of the best team breakups that WWE has ever done.

Yoshi, Evan Bourne and Kofi vs. Randy, Ted and Cody it was a short match but did what it needed to, Randy got over on Legacy to some cheering, Ted and Cody didn't complete their plan and Evan got a high profile (for him) pin. One of the only decent parts of the night.

Christian vs. Carlito (MITB qualifier) there was rumblings that there wasn't going to be a Money in the Bank match at Mania due to a PPV be renamed Money in the Bank, but it looks like it's going to happen. It's one of the better matches each year at Mania so that's cool and Christian is always good in it... what you didn't think Carlito was going over did you...

Ty Murray actually had a few good lines and Kelly Kelly looked very good. The bullriding segment was done well, it was short and to the point, the guest hosts got some jabs in on Big Show and Big Show never looks weak and is really good in a comedic role. Jewel on the other hand... not so funny...

ShoMiz vs. Mark Henry and MVP, I don't get it, what do these two guys keep doing to get title shots. They earn a shot and lose, earn a shot and lose, earn a shot and lose, whether it is a singles match or a tag match. They suck, move on.

Wendi Richter in the Hall of Fame makes as much sense as the rest of the HOF, she was good but not great... although Rock and Wrestling did bring a new audience in... Whatever, it's alright, nothing spectacular though.

Bret Hart broke his leg and Vince invites him back... how did this get so boring so quickly.

Cena vs. Batista, Batista gave Cena the win so does that mean Cena vs. Batista for Mania... The announcer said NOTHING... there was no explanation...

Quick Notes

• Elimination Chamber sucked, when it wasn't predictable (Jericho, Taker, HBK)  it was lame (everything else)
• The Air Bourne looks awesome every time
• Metroplex Wrestling's live show will be April 3, 2010 at the Metroflex Gym-Ft Worth MMA, more details will be available soon on Metroplex Wrestling's Web Site. 

Raw, February 15, 2010

With a week to go before the Elimination Chamber I was excited to see what was going to happen... Would Shawn Michaels continue his decent into madness? Would Edge make an appearance to taunt the World Champion? Would Sheamus and Cody reveal they were in "cahoots"?

All of this and more, coming up....

Wait, what the hell happened? Nothing, that's what, Raw was lame as hell with little plot revealed, shitty matches and the worst guest host in a line of terrible guest hosts.

The best part of the night was the anthem in the beginning, good job random 15-year-old I don't know because I don't give a crap about pop culture. I'm sure she is popular or famous to someone, just not me.

Sheamus vs. Randy Orton, these guys just couldn't seem to get it together, it was slow and boring, nothing big and exciting. Rhodes cost Orton the match again and Randy RKO'd him afterward. Ted took a nice boot from Sheamus though.

I know he's had a stroke but come on Bret, at least try and be excited. A lot of "barrel" talk from the Best there was (I think I am officially on the bandwagon that the idea of Bret Hart is better than Bret Hart). Bret says he's done and begins an irritatingly long slow walk to the back shown with multiple faces from the WWE Universe. No Hart Dynasty (way to go WWE)!

The final guy, of course is Super Cena who walks Bret to his car. Did anyone else notice that the sound effect of the cars happened and Cena didn't react for a whole 8 seconds? And then the terrible acting began again, Cena concerned, some random blonde in the back (probably a ring rat) apologizing for mutilating a WWE legend.

And Michael Cole spouts off, "this may be the worst night of the Hitman's job." Really Michael Cole? Really? (Sorry Miz). What about the Screwjob, his brother dying on Pay Per View, getting kicked in the head by Goldburg, his stroke, his father dying, his wife leaving him.... any of these would be worse than breaking a leg, much less getting nudged by a door. You suck at life Michael Cole and I hate you, very very much.

WWE continues the stupidity as MVP and Mark Henry beat double champion The Miz and the World's Largest athlete. So let me get this straight, ShoMiz (awesome new TitonTron by the way) can beat DX and the Straight Edge Society but can't beat two guys who barely team together one of which can't breathe after walking 10 feet. Whoever wrote the last couple shows, must've taken off this week.

I refuse to even recap the ridiculous Jerry Springer segment so I will adapt a line from Billy Madison:
WWE, what you've just shown is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever seen. At no point in your rambling, incoherent display were you even close to anything that could be considered entertainment. Everyone who watches this program is now dumber for having watched it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Kofi Kingston vs. Ted DiBiase, Ted gets the win after too short of a match and Kofi getting most of the offense. It was too short to be memorable, I hope these two are the first two in the chamber.

Cena and Batista talk a bit and to be honest I didn't watch, I don't care about either one. Cena can be good but not when his opposite is Batista. And for the record, Batista is the worst dresser in WWE, sweater vests, pink shirts, the denim on Smackdown, whatever bright red polo that was last night... and the sunglasses, always the sunglasses.

Cena vs. Triple H, another match we have seen too much of and this one didn't go any differently. However, it did lead us to the best part of Raw... the end. Especially with Sheamus standing above both HHH and Super Cena. I still can't believe Trips took the Razor's Edge-Celtic Cross-Border Toss move that no one seems to know what to call. He and Sheamus must be buddy-buddy for Trips to be willing to take a high-risk move such as that, most of the time, he won't even take something as simple as a Superkick.

Quick Notes

• Where the hell was Shawn Michaels....
• This is easily the worst Raw in a LONG time
• TNA is moving to Monday nights
• I hate you Michael Cole, just want to reiterate, I hate you.

Raw, February 8, 2010

I felt good about last week, and even called DX losing the titles, maybe not for the exact reason I said but I was still right so I count it. Also real quick WWE, you make great video packages... but the Batista/Cena conflict we saw once on Smackdown and twice on Raw. Then the Bret Hart package we saw once at the beginning and once at the end. That is too much. Stop it, stop it now!

Kelly Kelly should not be an announcer, I am sure to take shit for this but, Kelly has continually impressed me in the ring, she has gotten better and better considering she never had to wrestle a day in her life if she didn't want to. She could've come in like every other WWE Diva and got by solely on her looks and put on terrible match after terrible match, but she goes out and tries. She needs a chance with the belt, she deserves it.

His promo wasn't great, all he really did was talk about the Daytona 500, the crowd didn't care. Christian came out to try and save him but he had a couple jokes fall flat.

Sheamus vs. Christian, I am a HUGE fan of Sheamus and everything he does, from how much of a dick he is on the mic to his Irish accent to his no-tanning, brighter than the sun, pale white skin. So seeing him against anyone for me is a huge deal. Christian played his role well, taking the beating that the WWE Champ deserved to give the future former-ECW Champ.

High points again for HBK who continues on his decent into madness about losing the Rumble, the EC qualifier and now Trips turning his back... this is going to get really good.With this small segment and the one later with Teddy Long, HBK is really showing some acting chops, which once again proves why he is one of the very best of all times.

Cody, Ted and Randy get in some more verbal sparring and some matches are setup, I'm so glad that WWE decided to slowly break this team apart rather than splitting it so quickly like they do other teams, it creates so much more tension.

The triple threat tag team match turned into an elimination style match which was fine. And ShowMiz went over and won the belts which is fine, but here's my problem. WWE continually is pushing this Straight Edge Society, look no further than the Rumble and how big of a spotlight was on CM Punk as evidence. But then they turn around and miss a title opportunity to a relatively new team, one that includes Big Show who just held the tag titles for forever with Jericho. Bad form WWE, push SES or don't push them, but quit toying with the fans.

Jillian Hall vs. Gail Kim, isn't really worth even typing their names. More fake sincerity from Maryse (whose skirt looked amazing but whose voice still sounds retarded until she speaks French) and some French and we are done. Why the WWE is withholding the Women's Title match, I don't know but this was stupid. I do believe, however, that they are making Maryse speak more French so everyone can rush to put out bad translations of what she says. Also, Gail Kim is from Canada, you would think she would at least know some French.

I know they try to stagger HOF entrants, but I am so glad Ted DiBiase is finally going in. He deserves it, and is a total badass. Watch that video package and you will see why, kicking that ball away from that kid while he was trying to dribble, priceless.

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton, good back and forth between the two partners with Cody looking like he didn't want to fight Orton and then taking it to him. Define convenient: right as King said Cody was in cahoots with Sheamus at the Rumble,  Sheamus comes down, distracts Randy and Cody gets a win with the Cross Rhodes.

Cena vs. Ted DiBiase, this wasn't a match. Cena came down and beat on DiBiase until he tapped out, on the outside for a no contest. This was the right move for Cena but the wrong guy. DiBiase shouldn't have been his squash, put Mark Henry out there, don't punk out Ted like that, especially after he is going to be in the same match as Cena in TWO WEEKS!

Holy crap did Raw slam to a halt all the sudden. Vince and Cena talking this week was like an entire vortex of suck. At least they finally announced that Bret vs. McMahon will happen. Hart showed up and threw some good punches (and some bad ones) and then tore up the arena, not thrilled with the ending but I guess it makes sense.

I was not impressed overall with the show, for some reason it felt off, like they were trying to shoehorn in stuff that didn't necessarily make sense. But some storylines moved on and I am still excited for the future, even thinking about ordering Elimination Chamber.

Quick Notes

• Glad to see Carl Edwards back flipping off the turnbuckle, was hoping he would. 
• Is the WNBA even still around? I don't know and neither did anyone else in the Cajunbowl.
• I want to see Teddy Long get superkicked more often, it was well done.
• The Miz Show was better than ShowMiz.

Raw, February 1, 2010

I know that most of you are used to seeing J-Call’s blog but he is on hiatus so I am stepping in. A little background before we get going, I’ve been watching wrestling since the early 90s and have lived through two glorious eras of WWE product, starting with the the gimmick era. And as the gimmicks began to fade to show the real badasses of the business, I got more enthralled. Not to say that I haven’t fallen out of love with “the business” now and again, but I still believe it is a great sport put on by top-notch athletes who day after day put their body on the line to entertain us.

So without any more BS from me, let’s get down to Raw.

Royal Rumble felt new and exciting, Randy lost to the Great White Wonder, neither Shawn nor Triple H won the Rumble which the majority of spoilers were claiming, hell, even Rey Rey and Taker put on a good match considering how hurt they both are. Now can they keep the momentum through Raw?

The shows starts with a promo from Edge that made him neither a face or a heel. He’s still a little heavy from not being able to work out for six months but he gets a pass. The act just doesn’t work if he is going to be a face, he got a pop for attacking Sheamus but then sits there pulling on his hair and looks crazy . I still want to see where WWE is going with this before I judge, since Edge didn’t pick an opponent for Mania.

Cena vs. Cody Rhodes, not digging the new purple tights but at least they aren’t black like so many other guys. While we have seen Cena and Rhodes, most of the time it’s not 1-on-1 so it felt fresh and ended before it got stale with Cena gaining a spot in the Elimination Chamber. Obvious booking, but strong, I expected to see Randy come down to the ring and beat on Rhodes some more, but it looks like they are building it slow.

Jack Swagger vs. HHH, we haven’t seen much of them against he other but I want more. Swagger held his own, and while everyone knew that Trips was getting the win, Swagger looked like he could pull it out as he dominated most of the match. It was a sloppy finish, but I’ll take it.

HBK cuts a serious promo about losing the Rumble and another shot at Taker. Shawn is one of the best guys on the roster, hands down, he can do the stupid, goofy stuff and play the DX foil and then turn everything and make everyone fan feel for him.

Orton vs. HBK, again a match that we have seen before, but somehow still felt different, especially with Randy playing a face Sunday night against monster heel Sheamus and having the crowd (for the most part) on his side. One of the best moments in this match was the beginning when they would move to the corner, Randy would stare down HBK and HBK would stare right back, it built a ton of tension. Nice rollup (even a little botched) from Randy after the kip-up for the surprise win. Shawn should’ve superkicked someone after the loss, maybe it would’ve been too much two days in a row, but I wanted to see it again.

Ted DiBiase vs. Mark Henry in almost a squash match with Ted winning, it was quick and Henry looked ineffective against DiBiase. And now both Ted and Randy are in the Elimination Chamber. Orton and Ted is being booked for Wrestlemania 26 and if I had to pick a dark horse to blow the roof off the building, this would be it. I have high hopes for Ted DiBiase and I think breaking up Legacy will help him.

Kofi vs. The Big Show, I was excited to see this, how the hell was Kofi going to use his offense against the Big Show. I thought it ended up okay, the small botch on the ropes can happen to anyone, they recovered and made it work. MVP attacked the Miz at ring side, which furthered their story without being intrusive. Again, the finish wasn’t strong but it made sense and it was different, Kofi in the Elimination Chamber, I’ll take it no matter how it happened.

Now came the biggest let down of the show, it’s not that I don’t love Bret Hart being back, but honestly I know he can’t do much, I know he can’t bump or take a hit to the face, I know that he can’t move like he used to, but I want him to. Vince had the better lines between the two, but Bret had a few good lines. We had a chance to see a sharpshooter, but then Batista (WTF?) came out to ruin that, he through some VERY BAD punches at Hart and held him up for Vince… And then………. Nothing, the crowd wanted Cena, Vince looked ready to kill Hart…. And nothing… NOTHING HAPPENED. It was going so strong and then it just ends, like the Sopranos.

Quick Notes
• I’m glad that Bret Hart is back too, and the video package was great the first time, but we have seen it twice a show, every show for a month, that is enough.
• Wiliam Shatner is one of my favorite guest GMs so far, because A) he didn’t screw anything up; B) most of the bits were funny; C) he wasn’t overused. Good job WWE and Captain Kirk.
• Jack Brisco video package was nice and well done, WWE always puts together nice packages when they lose one of their own, as long as they want to. Did you know that Ludwig Borga died a few weeks ago?
• The Straigtedge Society vs. Miz and Big Show vs. DX for next week on Raw. I’m calling it right now that SES gets the win. Shawn’s heart won’t be in the match, Big Show just had the belts with Jericho for a long time, and CM Punk’s gimmick on Smackdown is taking off (as evidenced at the Royal Rumble).
• Maryse, while hot, should never talk, unless it’s in French, she is irritating as hell and sounds like she is mentally handicapped when she speaks English, there I’ve said it, it’s over.