Highlights for WWE Raw 4/30/2012

This is the night after Extreme Rules

Seems that they are going to humour Lesnar with the "changing" of the title of Raw to include "starring Brock Lesnar"    that's just bogus man.
Then Triple H came out and set the record straight that this demanding crap is just that, total crap. 

Lesnar then attacked Triple H and it looks like he broke his arm.   Bye Bye Lesnar!
That was difficult to watch and WWE would be wise not to replay that too much.

They announced a beat the clock match for the number 1 contenders for CM Punk's belt.
It started off with the Miz vs Santino. Miz got it with a 4 minutes and 18 seconds.

Diva's title match, triple threat- Layla, Brie and Nikki Bella.  Layla dropkicked the twins and rolled one up to keep the title.

Next beat the clock match - Jericho vs Big Show.  The clock ran out with Big Show out of the ring and Jericho sliding in as it was running out.  No one won this. 

Next up was Brodus Clay vs JTG.   Clay won this without much effort.

Next beat the clock match - Randy Orton vs  Swagger.  Orton got the win with 2 seconds on the clock. He set the new time to beat at 4minutes 16 seconds.

Tag team match- Primo/Epico vs Kofi/R-Truth.   Kofi got the pin and the win for the tag team belts.  This should be an interesting new tag champs.  Let's see if they can keep the belts for awhile.

Another match in the beat the clock- Kane vs Khali.  No contest, both men failed to beat the clock. Kane did however deliver a choke slam after the time ran out.

Final beat the clock match- Daniel Bryan vs Lawler.   Bryan won by a tap out and beat the clock at 3minutes and 21seconds. {if I did my math right} there was 1minute and 55seconds left on the clock
This means that Daniel Bryan will go one to the next ppv to be the #1 contender.

The ending was Cena coming to the ring to discuss the ppv last night and the events of the show so far tonight.
Laurnitis then came out to make comments about everything as well. Then Tensai came out and they continued to break Cena's already injured arm.

That was just wrong, sick and wrong...

Open Fight Night for Impact

I used screen capture for this post

First off, I'm actually watching the show right now as I write this, and as I write the review for it over on my personal blog. {link here to the review on my personal blog}

What do I think about this new concept?

On one level it's a totally great idea.  Everyone is on an even playing field.   On another level, it's Farbots!

I pretty much mentioned last week on my personal blog, that I think it could possibly lower the value of the belts and some of the talent.
The fact that as of now, all the champions must put the titles up every week if they are called out means that there is a much higher chance of the title changing hands on a weekly bases.

Though, the mirror echo of this is that anyone can be a champion if they have a good night.  There are some wrestlers who really deserve the chance to be a number one contender and some who have had more then their fair share of chances.

So I see this as a double edged sword, and more with the dark side of it.

I know, you can't really put a limit on how many rematches a wrestler can ask for, but maybe there should be a limit to how many in a 40 day time frame?

The best thing TNA has done in the last year has been putting the belts on Robert Roode and Austin Aries.  Both men have held on to their titles for months giving them a boost in value.  Both men have given the audiences pay-per-views worthy of their time and money.

If the belts change hands more then twice each in the next six months, then all the value boost those men and their opponents gave in the last 6 months will have been for nothing.
The same can also be said for having it stay too long with some of the other wrestlers who've held that belt more then often in the past.

In other words,  I would hate to see those belts in the hands of guys like RVD or Hardy.  It would just be the same old same old and nothing good could come of that.

-Love Ardeth Blood

Highlights for WWE Raw for April 23 2012

This was a 3 hour show tonight.

We opened the show with Edge.  He came to the ring to rant at Cena.

The first match of the night then was between Jericho and Kofi.  Jericho put Kofi in a very harsh looking walls of Jericho for the win. He then went on to talk about CM Punk and their match at the next ppv.

Next up was R-Truth vs Tensai. This match was just to show Tensai as a monster. He won with no trouble.

After that, there was a tag match with Alberto Del Rio/ Cody Rhodes vs Khali/ Big Show.  This was mostly for a chance to stick it to Rhodes after what he did on Smackdown last week when he injured the knee of Khali.  At one point Rhodes went after Big Show's knee as well. Big Show got the win on Rhodes with a choke slam. This was after Del Rio left.

Next up a divas match. One of the Bella twins vs Beth Phoenix.  Nikki Bella became the new Diva champ after Beth fell breaking her ankle.

Then they brought CM Punk out to test if he'd been drinking... then gave Jericho a five minute beat down

Next up was Sheamus vs Mark Henry. Daniel Bryan was the guest ref.  Henry won by a quick count by Bryan.

Next was a tag match between Santino/Ryder vs Primo/Epico.  Santino got the win,

Then a match with Brodus Clay/Hornswaggle vs Dolph Ziggler/Swagger.  Ziggler messed up Hornswaggle for a few minutes before getting tossed across the ring.  Clay tagged in, as did Swagger but the match was called because Vickie got into the ring.

The end of the show was just Cena and Lesnar talking about the ppv on the weekend.

Highlights for WWE Raw for April 16th 2012

We opened with a match between CM Punk and Mark Henry.  This was for the title.
Punk was taking a lot of damage because this a no DQ match.  He then took a major risk and jammed Henry outside the ring.  Punk then continued to send kick after kick to the upper back of Henry, before Henry tossed him hard into the railing.
Henry then got Punk into the ring and was standing on him. Punk ended up resorting to a steel chair. But he only got a two count.  Henry then got the chair and turned it on Punk.
Punk went off the top rope but was caught in mid-air but somehow got a kick to the jaw of Henry.
He then went off the top turnbuckle with the chair and managed to get the win and kept the belt.

Next up - Santino vs Otunga for the United States title. They started with a tie up then Santino went for a go behind. Otunga turned it around quick, with a few stomps from the top rope. He went for a couple of covers but only had near falls.  He then kicked Santino in the jaw before going for another cover.  Santino had his foot on the rope and then turned it around with a headbutt and used his cobra to get the win keeping his title

Next up-  Zack Ryder vs Kane.  Kane kicked Ryder into the announce booth, then tossed him around like a doll, slamming him back first into the ring apron. Finally in the ring, Kane used his choke slam to end the match quickly.  There was no bell so was this even an official match?

Next up-  Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston.  Bryan seemed like he had it undercontrol until Kofi got in a few kicks. Then Daniel turned it back in his favour by working on the left arm of Kofi. He went for the cover but only got a near fall, before going back to work on the left arm of Kofi. Kofi used his leg strength to get out of the way of Bryan, and went for a high risk off the top rope to the outside.
Back in the ring, and Bryan kicked the ropes while Kofi was leaning on them. He then stood on Kofi's chest before kicking him in the chest while in the corner. He went for a cover but only got a two count.
Kofi managed to get a few kicks of his own in then went for his boom drop. He missed though with his trouble in paradise.  Both were on the top ropes, with Kofi going for a frogsplash and missing. Bryan got the label lock forcing Kofi to tap.

Next up-  Brodus Clay vs Dolph Ziggler.  Dolph went for a drop kick and failed.  Clay then tossed him across the ring, and was quickly thrown out by the ref because of interference.

Next up-  Khali/ Big Show vs Primo/Epico.  Khali was smacking around Epico for about two minutes. Then Primo and Epico grabbed the titles and started to leave but Big Show sent them back into the ring. Khali continued to chop them, and both men were choke slammed and Big Show got the win.

Next up-  Cena vs Tensai. They started by exchanging fists before Cena got his face planted in the turnbuckle. Tensai then stomped on Cena before giving him a headbutt. He shoved Cena into the far corner before delivering another kick to Cena's chest. He whipped him into the far corner again.
Cena rolled out of the ring.
Cena hit Tensai with the steps as the manager kicked him. Back in the ring, and Tensai went for the cover but only got a two.
Tensai ran at Cena but missed hitting the turnbuckle.  Cena lifted him and tossed him before going for his trademark moves.  But Tensai stopped him with a chop to the throat.
Tensai had him in an arm-bar on the mat, but Cena got the STF on him. But Ortunga ran into the ring and got slammed.
Tensai with the green mist and the cover for the win.

What I'd like to see in TNA this spring

So I just watched the ppv that was on tonight.  Which I did a review of on my main blog {here}

And besides the fact that I was upset with the MMG match... I had a few other thoughts.
One was were are the rest of the tag teams in the tag division?  There is what three teams?

Here's a thought, why not team up Austin Aries and A.J. Styles?   They seem to be working well on the ppv as part of the big 10 man tag, so why not create another X-Division tag team?   I mean, they would give the MotorCityMachine Guns! something of a fabulous feud and put both the X-Division and the Tag Team division back into the spotlight.

So I say team up A.J. Styles and Austin Aries and send them against Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin for a few months.

-love Ardeth Blood

My Thoughts on TNA Impact for the week of April 13 2012

Originally posted on my personal blog on April 13th 2012 
 


I used screen capture for this post

The show opened up with Eric Bishoff, who got a round of "you suck" from the crowd. And a round of "we don't care".  He was introducing his team for the ppv this weekend.  Then young Bishoff came out to introduce his team.

Cut to- Mr. Anderson vs Gunner.   This was the first of a best of three for the team members. Gunner was given the win after Anderson was DQ.

Cut to- Eric Young getting ready in the locker room for his wedding.  And Abyss's "brother" came in to talk to him.

Cut to- the MotorCityMachine Guns!  see the last paragraph

Cut to -Daniels vs  Austin Aries.   this was the second of the best of three for the Lockdown teams for a man advantage.  The crowd was cheering for Aries throughout and gave the bonus chant of "this is wrestling"   see the match of the night at the bottom of the paragraph

Cut to-Hardy coming down to the ring to talk about his match this weekend against Kurt Angle.

Cut to- James Storm backstage with guests, telling Robert Roode he's gunning for him.

Cut to- EY in the locker room again getting ready for the wedding, with a few of the KnockOuts trying to seduce him.

Cut to- The wedding of EY and ODB...um yeah er...everyone in the ring got naked.

Cut to- backstage where Team Bishoff are yelling at each other.

Cut to-  Roode and his back up replying to Storm's earlier comments.

Cut to- Bully Ray vs A.J. Styles. This is the third match in the best of three. Bully Ray got the win with a cheap shot.  This gives Eric Bishoff's team the advantage at the ppv. But Hogan came out to tell them that the odds just went up. It's now going to be 5 men per team.

Cut to- Another promo of Roode vs Storm for the ppv this weekend.

Cut to- KnockOut tag match.Velvet Sky and Mickie James got the win.

Cut to - James Storm came to the ring to talk about the ppv this weekend. Roode then came out to give his point of view as well.  They talked about their times as tag champs, and the tournament last summer.

The Match of the Night:
Daniels vs Austin Aries.

They started this match with a side collar tie up that Aries turned into an arm-bar then smoothly turned it into a side head lock.
Daniels got out of the move by pushing on the back of Aries's knee. While he had him down on the mat, while hanging on tight to a wrist lock.
Aries used a few quick flips to get out of the move. He then got Daniels into another side headlock.
Daniels managed to get control for a moment pushing Aries off the ropes, but Aries sidestepped him. Aries then managed to get him off kilter with a clap behind the ears.
Daniels pushed Aries into the corner giving him a round of shoulder blocks before bringing him back to the center of the ring with a simple punch.  Aries then with a deep arm drag, but it was countered by Daniels with a head scissors on the mat.  Aries did his trademark handstand to get out of it followed by a short dropkick.
Daniels then went barreling into the corner, only to get an elbow full of turnbuckle, as Aries jumped over the top rope to the apron.  He then slingshot himself back in giving a well placed elbow to the jaw of Daniels. 
Daniels fought back by whipping Aries into the far corner but got another elbow for his trouble. Aries then went outside the ropes for a high risk move but Daniels jiggled the ropes causing Aries to fall onto the turnbuckle. Daniels then used an open handed palm thrust knocking Aries out to the floor for a few seconds.
Getting back into the ring, Aries was on the mat with Daniels stomping on him before sending him shooting into the far corner. Aries was on the mat once again with Daniels over him stomping.
Daniels then used a suplex before trying for a cover but only got a one count.  He then got Aries in a form of shoulder noose -backbreaker combo.
Aries used a series of knees to the side of the skull to get out of the hold. Daniels then shoved Aries out to the floor and went for his sitting moonsault.  He missed.   Aries climbed back into the ring and landed a beauty of a suicide dive straight to the chest of Daniels forcing him back hard into the gates.
Aries then in control, began to run Daniels face first into the turnbuckles before giving him a few elbows to the back of the neck, a shoulder block and a roll over from outside. Aries followed up with a discus elbow. This opened up for Aries to go off the ropes with another flying back-eblow.
Aries went for the cover but Daniels kicked out.
Daniels pushed Aries into the far corner, but Aries managed to get a slideover and a roll up but still only a near fall.  Both men then went for roll ups both using the tights and both getting a warning from the ref.
Daniels then with a hard forearm to the back of the neck of Aries knocking him down for a moment. This was followed by a hard side slam as Daniels was getting ready for his trademark Best Moonsault Ever, only he missed.  Aries had rolled into the corner and managed to get to his feet. He landed a double kick to Daniels knocking him down on the mat.
Austin Aries then with a double missile dropkick, followed by a running drop kick in the corner before using his brainbuster for the win. 

And once again, my "main event"  The MotorCityMachine Guns!...Alex Shelley, after making a few comments about the tag team of Crimson and Matt Morgan; damn I missed that sarcasm, announced that they will be taking on the team of Samoa Joe and Magnus this weekend at the Lockdown ppv.

  Joe and Magnus then came to the ring to answer the challenge. Magnus made a comment about how Sabin managed to come back from his injury which for some would have been career ending. They were about to get into things with them when Mexican-America came down to the ring. Both members of Mexican-America were made fast work of.

I have to say, I can not wait for the pay-per-view this weekend.
I am not one for cage matches at all, and I've never been shy to express that, but I am very much looking forward to seeing this tag match.

So what do I think will happen at the ppv?
I am going on record saying that Team Garrett Bishoff will get the upper hand,  that Angle will win his match, and that the MMG will win the tag belts.

Highlights for Raw for April 9th 2012

Back to having guest stars, with the three actors playing the Three Stooges in the new movie remake.  {that's another rant for another blog doing a remake of the stooges}

But the show opened with John Laurinaitis who came down to the ring and blah blah blahed for a bit, showing footage from last week.  Then introduced Brock Lesnar.   snore
John Cena then came to the ring and smashed Lesnar in the face.  An old fashion fight broke out causing the entire locker room to come to the ring.  Now, normally that would not even raise an eyebrow cause it happens all the time, but this time, some of the guys were only half dressed in pieces of their ring gear and pieces of their real clothes, and Cena was left looking like he should be an extra on Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

There was nothing to do next but go to a match after the commercial... Brodus Clay/Santino vs Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger.   Vickie, I don't know how I feel about that dress, I do however wish Brodus Clay would give up the gimmick and just wrestle.  Brodus Clay got the win over Ziggler

The second match of the night was R-Truth vs Codey Rhodes.   The Big Show came out in the middle of the match to distract him. This gave R-Truth a chance to get the upper hand, and the win over Rhodes.

Tensai vs Yoshi Tatsu. Was the next match, and it wasn't much of one. The ref had to stop the match giving the win to Tensai.  bored now

CM Punk came out to the ring a few minutes later to address the situation from last week where Jericho had broken a bottle of whiskey over his head.  Personally I think this Jericho plot is a bad storyline idea. 
Punk then had a match against Mark Henry.  This was a title match, which ended really fast as Punk used a monitor to bash Henry over the head getting a DQ.  That helped him keep his title.  Jericho came down to the ring then, with two cases of beer. Punk managed to retaliate for a few seconds before getting a codebreaker from Jericho.  Jericho then poured beer all over Punk.

Next up was Zack Ryder vs Albert Del Rio.  Del Rio was looking like it didn't even cause him to break stride.  And it didn't take him long to make Ryder tap out to the arm-bar.

Then the actors playing the Three Stooges came out to the ring, Will Sasso  was dressed like Hulk Hogan... um... dude the gimmick got booed. And I'm so not a fan of him... the wrestler, fan of Sasso but I think that was just... um... bad idea.  This was Kane's cue to come to the ring... just a crap segment.

I did not care to see Lesnar back... moving on. The review of the cage match from Wrestlemaina between Undertaker and Triple H... interesting that he chose to wear the Hellraiser style trenchcoat. There is a naked actor somewhere wondering why his Pinhead costume is missing.

Main event - David Otunga vs John Cena.  Otunga ended up having to tap out.  Lesnar then ran in with a low blow. 

If you're looking for a rating or something tonight on the show... it would get a letter grade of C- or a star rating of only 2 stars.  I think if the crew spent more time thinking about the direction of things and less time having everyone breaking their thumbs on twitter it would have had a better chance. 

I'm just waiting for Wade Barrett's arm to heal and for him to be able to make his return. The next couple of months will be long as we wait.

My Thoughts on TNA Impact for the week of April 6 2012

Originally posted on my personal blog on April 7th 2012
And I realized after I posted that it actually aired on the 5th not the 6th... I made a boo-boo.  You might also notice I'm trying out a new format for the thing.  This is a cross between my old commentary style and the highlights style.

I used screen capture for this post

Impact.  Wrestling that Matters.
Humm.  You know, this could have been a fabulous show this week.  It had so much promise.

But then, it started off the way it has in the past, the way all the companies seem to do every so often when they think that they are reinventing themselves and always fall flat.
And yeah, I switched to the "new" logo for this...

Opening scene - The entire locker room standing around the ring, waiting for Hogan who is now the new official on air GM.
Cut to - Angle and Hardy in a match, where upon of course Hardy won. But it was by the fact Angle took a count out.  But Hogan was waiting backstage for Angle, as he walked right into the set up for Lockdown... Angle vs Hardy in a steel cage.
Cut to- Flair on the phone to Bishoff.
Cut to- Bully Ray checking his phone. He then went to the ring to call out Austin Aries. Aries gave him a what-for; until he got massively powerbombed.  But Aries looked great in the grey.
Cut to- Abyss... er Abyss's brother looking for him in the catering area.
Cut to - A.J. Styles in the back area also looking fabulous in grey, talking about who he thinks will win at Lockdown.  James Storm then came over to him and asked him to be in a match later in the show.
Cut to- An all former women's champ challenge.  Velvet Sky won becoming the new number one contender
Cut to- The locker room with Mr. Anderson talking about his thoughts on Lockdown. In walks Roode and his back up.
Cut to- Footage from the Country Music Awards where James Storm and Hardy were guests.
Cut to - Eric Young's geek fest... er bachelor party. 
Cut to - James Storm vs A.J. Styles.  James Storm won with a superkick from nowhere as Styles was doing a springboard off the top ropes.
Cut to- Backstage with Hogan and Sting
Cut to - Backstage with James Storm's guests. Roode stepped in to make a few comments.
Cut to- MotorCityMachine Guns!  {see the paragraph at the end}
Cut to-Backstage, Flair and Bishoff 
Cut to- Hogan calling out Eric Bishoff
Cut to- A promo of James Storms leading up to Lockdown
Cut to- Anderson vs Roode. Robert Roode got the win with a beer bottle to the back of Anderson's skull. But the decision got reversed giving the win to Anderson.


The Match of the Night: 
We start the match with a review of the match from a year ago that caused the injury to Chris Sabin's right knee. The crowd was chanting a very deserved 'welcome back' as the match got underway.
It got started with a smack to the face of Alex Shelley who returned the favour before driving Anarchia {been a long while forgive my spelling} then proceeded to lay in a few high knees to the chest of Anarchia. Shelley got him down on the mat in the corner, kicking him a few times before doing something he's known for; spitting and snotting on his opponent. Shelley picked him up by the ears and tagged in his partner Chris Sabin.
Jumping into the ring, Sabin showed that he's as good as ever as he landed perfectly like a cat giving a double axehandle before working on the arm of Anarchia.
Hernandez tagged in a few seconds later just in time to walk right into a mule kick by Sabin. And during this I must add, the crowd was chanting for Chris Sabin. Sabin then used his quickness to apply a octopus style armbar before sliding down the back of Hernandez. He then landed a few chops across the neck and throat of Hernandez. Sabin then went off the ropes rolling through and ducking from a clothesline before delivering a bulldog in the middle of the ring.  Sabin went for a cover by only got a near fall.
Alex Shelley then tagged in and they used a double team fly-by-night on Hernandez in the far corner before doing their trademark running stepladder. Sabin slid out of the ring to the joy of the crowd while Shelley went for a side Slice Bread but missed. Hernandez then was with a running shoulder block on Shelley sending him flying across the ring hard.
Anarchia tagged in, and sent his own partner across the ring with an Irish Whip square into Shelley in the far corner before jumping at him himself.  Shelley managed to move out of the way, and Anarchia went face first into the top turnbuckle.
Shelley then used a running enzuigiri then to knock down Hernandez in the middle of the ring. Sabin then tagged in, giving full steam to a short arm clothesline on Anarchia before kicking Hernandez off the ring apron. Sabin then used a combo corkscrew elbow on Anarchia in the corner with his trademark hesitation drop kick.
He was then about to lay on his CradleShock, but Hernandez saved his partner and managed to get Sabin into position for a BorderToss.  Shelley who crawled up onto the apron, snagged the legs of Sabin saving him. Shelley pulled down the ropes, just as Hernandez was charging at them, causing Hernandez to fall out of the ring.
Both Guns! went for a Stereo Kick to Anarchia in the corner, just before Sabin did a beauty of a Suicide Dive out into the pit hitting him flush in the chest.  Shelley then off the top ropes for a double team move, allowing for Sabin to get the cover for the win.

If you're new to my stuff, the deal is that the MMG get the "main event"  on my blog.  And I felt this needed to be the match of the night.
I had asked a few questions the other day, {Shall We Do a Happy Dance} And it seems that most of my questions were answered.
For those who don't feel like flipping through my blog and I don't blame you cause there's alot to shuffle through; my questions were Does this mean they will be the number one contenders for the tag team titles against Samoa Joe and Magnus?  Will they take any kind of revenge on Mexican-America? Will they have the same theme music? What will their tees look like, will they be grey? Will Chris Sabin have his trademark long sideburns?  So to answer my questions, Yes, Mr. Sabin did have his trademark long sideburns with a wicked hair cut, yes they did have the same theme music, they did not have t-shirts on when they came to the ring, and yes they got some revenge on Mexican-America and YES, they are going to be going for that #1 contender's spot against Samoa Joe and Magnus.
And, even though they had new pants, they had red in them... I'm all smiles there.

April 4th 2012

Now that Wrestlemania is over for another year, I've got questions.
First off, let me say No, I did not see wrestlemania. I never do.  I did however, catch the updates as they happened on the WWE website this past Sunday night.

And let me say this to you, it was not handled as well as it could have been.  The updates I mean.
Links were open but went either nowhere or to the post before it. And the twitter.   Holy Anne Rice Novels Batman!  The twitter was the most irritating thing on that site.  You couldn't read it half the time as it was just flipping like mad.
Whomever it was over at WWE who thought twitter was a good gimmick needs to find a new plaything.  It's over and tired. 
  
I said I had questions... well, okay here's one.  Why?   Why did we have to sit through the last year of Rock and Cena?  Two months would have been good enough.  Why are we sitting through the Brodus Clay gimmick?  Give the man some pants and a tee shirt and just let him wrestle.  Why are we suffering through the Zack Ryder and Eve storyline?  Please tell me that one's over.  We get it, she's a bitch move on.  And why would you have had the whole Jericho plot when you are doing the Anti-Bullying program?  Isn't that just what Jericho has been doing for the last few weeks to CM Punk?  Bullying him.

So now that the year is over and we've started a new "road to wrestlemania"  can we think about the direction the shows are heading as we start the new wrestling year?

-Ardeth Blood

P.S.  yes I'm back.