WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Smackdown Review 11/11/11 & TNA Turning Point thoughts

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown on 11/11/11. Can SD continue with the best wrestling on TV (at least at the moment)? Well, let's find out and start the review.

We open up the show with Randy Orton. It's an Orton promo, so you know what that means. Time for monotone Randy to say basic stuff, but get the biggest reaction of the night. It still kinda baffles me how over Orton is with the crowd, despite the fact he is less than stellar on the mic. He talks about being team captain and not working well with others. He says he can't promise his teammates anything, but he did mention he doesn't like any of Wade Barrett's team members. Do you ever think Orton wasn't loved enough as a child? Anyway, Wade shows up and talks about how he is a natural born leader, while Orton is a predator. Wade also mentions wanting to get the WHC, but he sees Orton as a threat, so he must deal with him. Christian shows up in a neck brace (to "sell" the Big Show attack from last week) and talks about how he was offered the captain position, but he is injured and decided to let Wade handle things. Orton ends up striking them, which starts a 2 on 1 attack. Sheamus arrives to even the odds, but the bad guys retreat. Teddy Long arrives and says it will be Sheamus vs Christian, and Orton vs Wade in the main event. Now we're seeing why Wade was given the captain position as opposed to Christian or Cody Rhodes. They seem really serious with this current push for Wade. In order for Wade's stock to go up, he needs to get some bigger screen time. Being a Survivor Series leader can help, especially if his team wins the match. The opening scene was basic since it shows the tension of the teams. Either way, we are off to a good start.

Match #1: Sheamus vs Christian
Another good match between Christian and Sheamus. These two work very well together. This was a well paced, back and forth match. I can definitely recommend watching this match. The finish comes when there is a bunch of counters between Sheamus and Christian. It finally ends when Sheamus is able to hit High Cross for the clean win. I think after Survivor Series is over, they should end this rivalry between these two. While the two put on great matches, it's completely one-sided and I think it did its job by pushing Sheamus. Not sure where both guys go after this.

Winner via pinfall: Sheamus

Backstage where Daniel Bryan is talking to AJ and Kaitlyn. Both ladies seemed really interested in the fact Bryan almost cashed in MITB last week. Bryan admits he wanted to save the cash in for WM, but he got caught up in the moment. Mark Henry arrives, which makes the divas leave. That's either cock blocking or Henry has a diva repellent. Anyway, Henry arrives to talk about how Bryan has no chance of becoming a world champion. Bryan shows some fire in this eyes and says he will become the champ at WM. Henry admits that Bryan has guts, but that won't be enough to take him down. Bryan goes up against Henry in a rematch for later tonight. Two matches in as many weeks against Mark Henry? Did Bryan piss in someone's corn flakes? There was a video package of Ezekiel Jackson. It showed his family side and his domination side. Yeah, Zeke is so dominating that he hasn't shown up in over a month. What is this? Like Zeke's 4-5 repackage? If you're reaching that kind of territory for a superstar, you might want to think of a different career path. Another backstage scene between Teddy and Aksana. She wants to compete in her first match, but Teddy thinks she isn't quite ready for a match. Since Teddy is trying to get somewhere...

Teddy wants Aksana to pay close attention to Alicia Fox (who just happens to be in the scene at this moment in time). Aksana mistakes her for Rihanna and decides to go along with it. As Aksana is walking away, Teddy is paying close attention to her. So, I haven't really talked about this, but where is this all going? Then again, it's a throwaway/comedy attempt, so I don't really care. I have to wonder how Teddy gets all these ladies? Maybe it's the bald head?

Match #2: Ted DiBiase vs Jinder Mahal
You might be a WWE jobber if you get no entrance music. You might be a WWE jobber if you get 2-3 attacks. You just might be a WWE jobber if you lose a match in under two minutes. Do you see a pattern? DiBiase wins this match with Dream Street in a matter of seconds. Mahal might be the top candidate for worst wrestler of 2011.

Winner via pinfall: Ted DiBiase

Match #3: Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan
Bryan came out to a new entrance theme. It's a rock version of Flight of the Valkyrie. I'm not sure about this one. It just seems way too generic. Anyway, Bryan is trying to put up a fight to the big man, but it was just impossible. Bryan even got to a point where he almost had the Le Bell Lock, but Henry was able to counter it. Henry went into killing mode as soon as he countered the submission move. Henry hits World's Strongest Slam, but pulls Bryan up to punish him some more. Bryan is stumbling to his feet at one point and encourages Henry to continue. Henry hits WSS again and finally wins the match. After the match, Henry is about to take out Bryan with a steel chair. Bryan actually gets up at one point and actually took a chair shot towards Henry. Henry didn't like this, thus Henry hits WSS again...

How many times have I used that clip? Either way, Bryan is getting the s*** kicked out of him.  Anyway, Henry is about ready to use the chair on Bryan's leg, but Big Show runs out for the save. Show actually punches the chair out of Henry's hand, thus he retreats. Well, I like the fact they showed that Bryan is tough, despite the fact he got killed out there tonight. This might be WWE finally trying something with Bryan, but who really knows at the end of the day? Guess we have to wait and see where they are going with Bryan. On the other side of the coin, Henry and Show continue their build up. It will be interesting to see how things go this time around between the two giants.

Winner via pinfall: Mark Henry

Match #4: Big Show vs Three Random Guys
You know you are jobbing if they don't even bother giving you a name. That's even lower than normal jobbers. Makes you feel bad for them. The three random guys did manage to knock down Show, but it goes nowhere. The match ends with Show hits Chokeslam on two of the random guys, and punches the other one to win this match. After the match, Henry cut a promo in how Show doesn't stand a chance of beating him. I really didn't like Show going up against three random guys, but I guess it beats having to see Tyson Kidd be the whipping boy yet again. Consider him lucky....for now.

Winner via pinfall: Big Show

Match #5: Tamina vs Alicia Fox
Natalya was on commentary for this match. Aksana and Rosa Mendes were at ringside. They definitely seem hell bent on building up Alicia. Want to know the odd thing? She is making more of an impression than Kelly Kelly. The finish comes when Alicia hits a rollthough legdrop. It looks like they got rid of the Scissors Kick. I for one am happy about that. Wouldn't be surprised if somebody got a concussion since Alicia was out of control with that kick.

Winner via pinfall: Alica Fox

Match #6: Hunico and Epico vs Usos
Primo joined Hunico and Epico. It seems there is a new stable on SD. Some people are going to say it's a Mexican America rip off. Keep in mind that before there was Mexican America, there was Los Guerreros, the Mexican NWO, Mexicools, and a few others, so......it's just a recycled concept. Funny thing is they are kinda looking to set this up as a Mexican stable, but 2/3 of the stable is Puerto Rican. Talk about false advertising if they go down that route. I really like the Usos battle dance before matches. They should be using the Usos more often. The match was very basic. The finish comes when Hunico hits a Swanton Bomb and wins the match cleanly. After the match, all thee guys take out the other Uso. They hit Code Breaker, Back Stabber, and a Swanton on the same guy. GANG RAPE!!! Well, I guess this whole Sin Cara/Hunico deal is starting to make some sense......I think.

Winner via pinfall: Hunico and Epico

Match #7: Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett
This was a pretty decent brawlers match. It was very physical and both guys looked okay. The finish comes when Orton is setting up for the RKO, but Wade pokes Orton in the eye (A That 70s Show clip would be perfect for this part) and rolls him up for the victory. If you look at the thumb to the eye, you can tell that Wade threw more of a punch as opposed to a eye poke. Hey, at least it wasn't the eye poke of doom. A win like this really does a lot of good for Wade. I think WWE has finally picked a path for Wade and they seem hell bent on pushing him towards bigger and better things. Keep in mind that Cody Rhodes never got a victory over Orton, but Wade did. While I like Rhodes, he should try to be the best IC champion possible. I think that can do wonders for him. I think most people are upset that Wade is getting the better push as opposed to Cody. I like both guys and I think they can really make it far in the business. Either way, the Barrett Barrage continues.

Winner via pinfall: Wade Barrett

Overall Impression:
I thought SD was pretty entertaining this week. There wasn't as much filler as there was last week. They definitely focused on the Survivor Series style match, establishing a new stable, and something involving Daniel Bryan, so there was a couple of new things this week. There was a lot of action for this week's SD and I really enjoyed some of the matches. The opening match was awesome, while the main event was fair to watch. I once again see SD as the best wrestling show of the week. It isn't perfect, but I find it to be very entertaining at the moment. Not a groundbreaking episode or a must see, but an entertaining evening for the blue brand. Time to rank the shows. In terms of wrestling quality, I rank it SD, Raw, and Impact. TNA did have a lot of matches for this week, but a lot of them weren't very interesting or worth a second look. In terms of promos/segments, I rank it Raw, SD, and Impact. Kevin Nash and CM Punk's promos is what made Raw stand out this week. The MVP of the Week......that's a tough one. Nobody really had that breakthrough type of week...unless you look at the bare knuckle fighter. Yeah, I'm gonna give it to Wade Barrett. I thought about Punk and Nash, but I think Wade had the bigger week. He was able to pick up a victory over Randy Orton and seems to be on the rise in SD. Since I didn't do a Turning Point Rundown, here's some quick thoughts on this week's PPV. Yes, there is a PPV this week. Honestly, I feel like I do more advertising for TNA's PPVs than TNA.

Austin Aries vs Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen for the X Division Title: Jesse isn't ready, while Kash just seems there to make things interesting. I think Aries will retain.

Velvet Sky vs Gail Kim for the KO Title: This is a tricky one. While Gail has looked good on the show, Velvet just won the title and it would be kinda stupid to finally crown Velvet and have it end so abruptly. I think Velvet gets a miracle roll up (or a Kelly Kelly finisher) to take this match. Rematch should definitely happen.

Mexican America vs Ink Inc; Mixed Tag match for TNA Tag Team Titles: What a bizarre concept. They decide to throw in Rosita and Toxxin for this match. Then again, me analyzing it means I am showing interest in this match.....which I don't. Since Sarita is the wild card, Mex cheats in typical fashion.

Eric Young vs Robbie E for the TV Championship: How many times is Robbie E going to get a TV title match? Robbie E must really know how to "pleasure" the creative staff to keep getting these chances. I see Young retaining, but I really want to see this belt used as a serious mid card title and not for comedic purposes.

RVD vs Christopher Daniels: A freakin' screwdriver started this whole rivalry? I'm sure there have been equally stupid reasons to start a rivalry in the history of wrestling, but this one is up there. I'll go with RVD, but the lack of story really loses my interest for what could be a good wrestling match.

Bully Ray and Scott Steiner vs Mr. Anderson and Abyss: Wow, this is the definition of putting a match together at the last minute. There should be more intrigue in this match, but TNA is spending more time on the Bischoffs than they are with their wrestlers. Anyway, I got the heels winning for now, but this one can go either way.

Crimson vs Matt Morgan: I really wish the build up to this match was done a lot better. You think for an undefeated streak that you would want to talk about it every week. TNA really needs to get rid of some of their storylines. Then we wouldn't have matches where it should be interesting, but a lack of story doesn't grab your attention. I have Crimson winning.

Jeff Jarrett vs Jeff Hardy: Well, at least this match has a proper story going into it. I personally want to see Hardy win since Jarrett bores the crap out of me, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this go for a while. I will go with Jarrett for the time being.

Robert Roode vs AJ Styles for the TNA World Title: What? No more free world title matches on TV? Roode just won the title, so it would be overly stupid for TNA to crown AJ as the new champion. If AJ wins, TNA basically takes a s*** all over their most intriguing storyline. Roode needs to win. I'll repeat, Roode NEEDS to win.

Those are my quick thoughts for Turning Point and that's finally gonna do it for the review. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd see, see you next time.

WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Impact Wrestling Review 11/10/11

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Impact Wrestling on 11/10/11. With Turning Point set for this week...really? To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if you had no idea it was this weekend since I almost forgot. Anyway, how will the "go home" edition of TNA fair out? Well, let's find out and start the review.

We open up the show with the new TNA world champion, Robert Roode. He's a little angry that the audience is booing him and says he expects to hear cheers since they cheered for him last week. Roode says Beer Money is dead and explains why he used a weapon on James Storm last week. He says that opportunities to become world champion don't come around often (unless your name is John Cena) and wasn't going to let this second chance slip by. He refers to himself as the new leader of this generation. Storm arrives, but security is surrounding him. Storm breaks away from security for a brief moment and charges towards Robert Roode. Robert escapes as security breaks it up. Sting comes out and says it will be Roode vs Storm for the TNA World Championship tonight. Damn, you think with all these free TV world title matches, it makes you wonder what's the point of TNA even doing PPVs anymore? Anyway, a very basic scene that shows Roode as a heel and how pissed off Storm is. I liked it. I normally wouldn't like the announcement of a world title match, but we would get an explanation towards this a little later in the show.

Match #1: Pope vs Crimson
Speaking of the Pope, what the hell ever happened to that storyline involving Pope and Devon? Why address it for as long as they did and not finish it? Reckon this sort of thing happens in the world of wrestling, but this is almost a regular occurrence in TNA. Some people are going to think I am being mean when I say this, but this match should've been a jobber match. While the match was short and Crimson won cleanly with the Sky High Powerbomb, he was on his back for most of the match. It would add a lot more to Crimson's stock if he would just go in there and squash opponents as opposed to looking like a guy who is getting lucky during this undefeated streak. Keep in mind that Pope's stock is basically dead at this point and him losing this match in a jobber fashion wouldn't hurt his stock. By the way, that's all the build up you get for Crimson/Morgan. Did TNA forget that this match takes place THIS Sunday? Clearly, TNA cares a great deal about Turning Point.....(sense the sarcasm?)

Winner via pinfall: Crimson

Match #2: Gunner vs Garrett Bischoff
Backstage where Gunner cuts a promo....or, at least I think that's what he's doing? He talked over and over again about "chain of command". What the hell is he talking about? He also brought up his military background. Man, Gunner is basically screaming outloud "I'm trying to seem important". I was also under the impression that this would be Garrett vs Eric Bischoff, as opposed to Gunner. Great job of explaining you storylines, TNA. Tazz and Mike Tenay talked about how the current referee in this match was fired by Eric, but Sting re-hired him. Yeah, because THIS was the important matter of the show. Screw the world championship situation, we want to know the state of some random referee. Who's idea was this? Anyway, Gunner taunts the kid for a while, but Garrett manages to pull off a couple of moves. He performs a few arm drags and a hip toss. Nothing impressive, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are already thinking future world champion with this guy. Ric Flair gets involved in the match and the ref calls for the bell. Garrett ends up retreating as Immortal members storm the ring. Eric starts stomping the ground like the space hillbilly from Futurama. I want to like this storyline, but Garrett gives you no reason to care about him. By the way, have you see the TNA Direct Auto Insurance commercial? Damn, and you think Adam West's Batman was campy?

Winner via DQ: Garrett Bischoff

There is a backstage scene of James Storm all f***ed up. He is on the ground with blood all around his head. A random security member shows up and gives another horrible acting performance by showing "concern" for the injured wrestler. They help him to his feet to go see a doctor. Anyone who works in wrestling really needs to consider taking some acting lessons....just saying. I would talk more about this scene, but I will save that for when the time is right.

Match #3: Zema Ion vs Jesse Sorensen
Jesse needs to stop bringing the letterman jacket and football to the ring. There is no point for Jesse to bring these props if he isn't going to do anything with them. Yeah, he was a quarterback in high school, but why should we care? If he did more football crap in the ring, NOW we would be getting somewhere. Hey, if you're going to get a silly gimmick, you might as well go the full distance. This match was very quick as Jesse wins with a clean finisher. After the match, Kid Kash shows up and talks about giving Jesse an opportunity at the X Division title. It will be Austin Aries vs Jesse Sorensen vs Kid Kash, three way dance for the X Title at Turning Point...IF Jesse signs the contract. The kid signs it, which starts a brawl between old man river and greenie. Aries arrived in the middle of this and hits Jesse in the head with the championship belt. The scene ends with Kash hitting the Double Underhook Piledriver on Jesse. I don't care if the IWC loves Sorensen, it doesn't change the fact he's a generic character. I will admit, the guy can wrestle, but it takes more than wrestling ability to make it in the business. You need a good character, promo skills, personality, and you need to be able to connect with the audience. Jesse is missing a lot of these components while Aries has a lot more of these tools to get farther. It would be amazingly stupid for TNA to give the title to Sorensen. If they have bigger plans for Aries, that will be okay on his behalf, but Jesse is still a poor choice for an X Division champ since he isn't ready. Sorry for cutting down Jesse so much, but I just don't see what other fans are saying about him. Youth is on his side and maybe he can find out what works, but whatever he's doing now, it isn't working for me. Regardless, this might be a fun match to watch, despite Jesse being greener than Link from Legend of Zelda.

Winner via pinfall: Jesse Sorensen

Match #4: Gail Kim and Madison Rayne vs Velvet Sky and Mickie James for the TNA KO Tag Titles
It's funny how TNA tries to make you care about these tag titles every once in a while. I wouldn't be surprised if after tonight, these titles don't get defended again for another month. Did anyone see Santa Clause in the audience? I know, that was pretty random. There was a lot of heelish shenanigans for this match. Karen Jarrett was getting involved while Madison and Gail would take shortcuts during this match. The finish comes when Velvet hits X Factor on Madison, but Karen distracts the referee. Gail hits her finisher and pins the KO champ. This match really told the story of the KO title match this Sunday (Velvet vs Gail for KO title at TP). While I didn't like the match, the storytelling aspect of this scene is harmless and it makes sense. Gail so far has proved her dominance, while it seems Velvet is up against a wall going into her match on Sunday since Karen is still in charge. So, I actually don't have a problem with how things were written tonight. I still wish the TNA KO Tag Titles didn't exist since the division doesn't exist.

Winner via pinfall and still KO Tag Champs: Gail Kim and Madison Rayne

Backstage where Storm is being looked at by doctors. Sting is very concerned with Storm since he feels he isn't quite right in the head, but Storm wants to compete. I like how Sting is concerned about his wrestlers. Try to remember that later on in this show.

Match #5: Robbie E and Rob Terry vs Eric Young and Ronnie
I can't believe that my satellite provider only mentioned this match for tonight's Impact. All they talked about was how Ronnie from Jersey Shore was going to compete. Really? And there was no mention of Robert Roode, James Storm, or the world title? Either Dish Network hates TNA, or Spike TV wrote this in for s***s and giggles. Neither one would surprise me. The match gets underway and Eric Young immediately goes for comedy by attacking the referee. Technically, this match should be called off since Flair did the same thing earlier tonight and got DQed. Wrestling logic can be a bitch sometimes. Want to know how uncreative Robbie E can get? He is wearing Zack Ryder's colors. That's right. Bright orange with purple. Who the f*** is Robbie E blowing to get this much screen time? Anyway, the match changes once Ronnie gets involved. He does the basic clothesline and scoop slam. Eric follows up with a Flying Elbow. Ronnie ends up pinning Robbie E while Young tosses Terry out of this match. I wasn't looking forward to this match, but I understood what TNA was trying to do here. I don't have too much of a problem with TNA trying to bring in more mainstream attention. It isn't like Ronnie will be involved in more matches....at least I hope not. In other words, I can't be too harsh on this scene since it was most likely a one time deal. The match wasn't really designed to be good, but do you honestly care?

Winner via pinfall: Eric Young and Ronnie

Backstage where Immortal talks about dealing with Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson later tonight. I hate how this scene ended because Scott Steiner said some random stuff and went to the bathroom. Bully Ray told him to flush twice. Thanks, TNA. I really wanted the image of Steiner taking a s***. Maybe it's a metaphor? Another backstage scene where Ink Inc and Mexican America are brawling backstage. It appears this match will happen at Turning Point. When will TNA learn? When will they learn that in order for people to care about a storyline, you need to put it on TV. You can't just take these people off for three straight weeks only to spring this match at the last minute. Then again, I don't know how intriguing this match would be with extra build up. Let's just move on.

Match #6: AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels
Some guy from Bellator was on commentary. He was talking about MMA competition (or something like that. I was trying to ignore it) during this bit. This was probably the best match of the night, but I was easily taken out of it with how Tazz and Tenay cared more about another product than their own product. This type of announcing would've been better in a garbage match, not in this type of match. If you watch this match, put your TV on mute. The finish comes when Daniels goes for First Degree Screwdriver, but RVD arrives and steals the screwdriver. Styles ends up hitting the Styles Clash after these events and wins the match. I still don't like how this has all played out. It still makes no sense for Styles/Daniels to be done with their rivalry when they went for the type of ending they did at BFG. Plus, it really makes no sense how RVD is now taking Styles' place for all of this. Damn screwdrivers.

Winner via pinfall: AJ Styles

Match #7: Bully Ray, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner vs Mr. Anderson, Jeff Hardy and Abyss
This was pretty fair match. The finish comes when there are finishing moves left and right by all the competitors. It finally ends with Abyss hitting Black Hole Slam on Steiner for the clean win. TNA also gave a rundown for their Turning Point PPV. I will talk more about that later.

Winner via pinfall: Mr. Anderson, Jeff Hardy, and Abyss

Match #8: Robert Roode vs James Storm for the TNA World Championship
Storm didn't show up right away, but eventually staggers towards the ring. Even though he was attacked over 90 minutes ago, the blood is still wet and not dried up. Opps? The match started and Storm is fired up. He is throwing punches and seems to be digging deep to win this. He might be able to do. Ladies and gentlemen, do you believe in miracles!!!! Well, it went well....for about 30 seconds. After that flurry of offense by Storm, he falls to the ground and seems to be passed out. Well, I guess there won't be any miracles this evening. Remember how Sting was concerned for the health of Storm? Well, he isn't even there to stop Storm from doing the match, nor does he show up and cancel the match. The biggest example of wrestling logic for this evening. Anyway, medics arrive to take Storm out of the building. Roode starts to show some concern for his former friend. He starts to help him out of the ring, but realizes the ref never rang the bell, thus the match was still in progress. Since he's a bad guy now, he rolls up Storm and the ref stupidly makes the three count. So, the ref not only didn't bother to waive the match, but he made the three count on a guy who is passed out? Wrestling logic or not, that ref should be fired. Worst referee since Garrett Bischoff. After the match, Kaz and Styles arrive to check on Storm while Roode runs away and starts gloating over his "amazing" performance. Styles gets on the mic and says if Roode is going to pull that stunt, he should fight him. Sting finally shows up and decides to make it Roode vs Styles for the world title at Turning Point, which ends the show. So, one of the immediate questions is who attacked Storm? The obvious culprit is Roode, but let's not forget about Samoa Joe. I do recall how Joe said he would make his voice be heard when he was talking to Sting last week, and I can see a storyline in which it's Storm/Joe. While I understand what they are going for if it turns out to be Joe, I have mixed feelings on the matter. Mainly because I want to see Storm go right after Roode and the world title. However, if it did turn out to be Joe, it would give Storm a quick revenge rivalry with Joe, thus increasing his stock. With his stock on the rise, he would then go right after Roode. I would rather it be Roode since it would really add more to his heel character. Either scenario can work.....if done correctly. For the most part, this storyline was rushed. If they did the Storm/Roode title match at Turning Point, it would've been fine. Then on the following Impact, you can do the angle that takes Storm off of TV for a while and then Styles can take his place. I am still interested in this whole deal, but they rushed through this entire storyline. Now to be fair, there was reports (and I mentioned this in last week's TNA review) that Storm suffered a concussion and would be out for 6-8 weeks. It's very possible he suffered a real concussion, but it's also very possible the whole thing is a work. At this point, I can't really say which is the case since there isn't a ton of facts to support either cause, regardless of what smarks are saying. If Storm really got hurt, it makes sense to rush through the storyline. If it turns out Storm's injury is a work, I really have to question TNA creative on this one since they could've dragged out this whole thing until the beginning of 2012. With Storm being injured (real or kayfabe), it appears Styles will be taking his place. It's a fair substitute. Roode going up against Styles will get his foot in the right direction for his bad guy persona. I really see this as a chance to build up Roode, while AJ is just there to make Roode look good. Either way,  Roode's rise through the rankings and Storm's future return can really make for a terrific storyline. This is the type of storyline TNA needs, so let's hope they don't drop the ball on this one....again.

Winner via pinfall and still TNA World Champ: Robert Roode

Overall Impression:
There was a lot of stuff on tonight's show. I felt like they really jam packed the show. One of the common problems I see out of TNA is a poor use of time management. You roughly have four weeks to put together a PPV, but TNA barely had a card through the first three weeks. They invested a lot of time to fatten up the Turning Point card tonight, and it can be a bit of an overload if you are watching this. I felt like my head was going to blow up since there was too much stuff going on at one time. TNA really needs to work on time management. Strangely enough, this happens in a lot of TNA's go home shows. A lot of the Turning Point matches got thrown together at the last moment. Mexican America vs Ink Inc, Bully Ray and Steiner vs Anderson and Abyss, Eric Young vs Robbie E for TV Championship, Jarrett vs Hardy, Triple Threat X Division title match, and the world title match were all announced on tonight's show. That's six matches. Prior to going into tonight's show, there was only three matches on the card. These announcements need to be spaced out a lot better or else it can be disorientating for people to watch this show. Then again, I have stated that TNA should focus on making 5-7 good storylines as opposed to having 11-12 storylines that really aren't eye grabbing. I wouldn't be surprised if TNA has more storylines than WWE, and WWE has an extra two hours in the week to showcase their storylines. You see the problem? Some of the Turning Point matches have potential, but some of them didn't have a good storyline going into it, and that could be a problem going into this event. As I said in the beginning of this review, I barely remembered the PPV was this Sunday. The card is fair, but the storylines do hurt the intrigue of the PPV. There's always a chance this could be an awesome PPV. Remember WWE Vengeance? The card wasn't anything too special and that PPV turned out to be awesome, so the same thing can happen with Turning Point. I can't really recommend tonight's show, but I wouldn't say this was a bad episode of Impact. I would call it average for the most part. There was a lot of action of tonight's show, and some of it was pretty entertaining. Still, too much stuff going on at one time can really take you out of the evening. Things need to be spaced out better so people who watch Impact don't feel like they miss like ten different things if they blink for a second. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Damn, this was a long review. See what I mean about TNA having too much stuff going on? As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 11/7/11

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 11/7/11. With Raw taking place in Liverpool, England, how will the show fair out? Well, let's find out and start the review.

We open the show with John Cena. Just like any advertisement whore, Cena plugs his WM match with the Rock and teaming up with the Rock at Survivor Series. I'm surprised he didn't plug his movie while he was at it. Anyway. Awesome Truth interrupts. They talk about how Cena embarrassed them last week and now they will be upping their game and vow Cena will never destroy them again.....at least until Survivor Series. R-Truth talks about how Cena and his tag team partner will get got tonight. The two start to attack Cena until Zack Ryder runs out for the save. Ryder even managed to hit Rough Ryder on Truth. The opening ends with the heels retreating while Cena and Ryder play to the crowd. If you haven't put it together yet, it will be Awesome Truth vs Cena and Ryder tonight. The opening was basic while the match itself is okay. It might be fun to watch.....unless it's another chance to make Awesome Truth look like they can't even hold Cena's jock strap.

Match #1: Dolph Ziggler vs John Morrison
Michael Cole and the King talked an awful lot about Ryder's online petition to get a US Championship match. That's right folks, John Laurinaitis is such a terrible GM that he doesn't even hand out championship matches. I realize it's wrestling logic in order to find out where Ryder stands among his fanbase, but you figure Laurinaitis would actually care about putting title matches together. For the first half of this match, Dolph was in control. Morrison would fight out of it to make it a pretty good match. Cole and King also talked about how Morrison is on a losing streak and is trying to get his mojo back. I think his "mojo" left when Melina was released from this company. The finish comes when Morrison gets a quick roll up victory, thus ending his losing streak. Not really sure if this is a sign of new things to come for Morrison, but at least he finally won a match. On the other side of the coin, Dolph continues to lose match after match. For being a US Champion, he sure doesn't look like a champion at the moment. Then again, maybe this losing streak for Dolph is a sign of things to come? I can only hope.

Winner via pinfall: John Morrison

Match #2: Mason Ryan vs JTG
It was announced that it would be Team Orton vs Team Barrett in a classic Survivor Series match at SS. I am fine with the match and pairings, but Team Orton vs Team Barrett? Wouldn't it make more sense if it was Team Sheamus vs Team Christian, or Team Orton vs Team Rhodes? Hell, I'll even let Team Orton vs Team Christian slide. Now, I get they are trying to push Wade Barrett to bigger and better things, but him being the team captain doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Then again, should we really be bitching and moaning about team captains in a match like this? It isn't like they mean anything....well, at least to a degree. This is just a minor nit pick, but it doesn't really bother me that much. The team members on each side is as follows. Team Orton has Randy Orton, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Sin Cara, and Mason Ryan; while Team Barrett has Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Christian, Hunico, and Jack Swagger. A lot of people are wondering why Evan Bourne isn't part of this pairing? Well, it was reported last week that Bourne was hit with a wellness policy suspension, so he is out for 30 days. I am surprised they didn't take the tag titles off of Air Boom when this news hit, so I guess they are still the tag champs for the time being. This match was a joke. Mason went in there and made JTJobber look like his own personal bitch. Mason wins with a Full Nelson Slam.

Winner via pinfall: Mason Ryan

Backstage where the Bellas are talking about random stuff until Ryder shows up and talks about teaming up with Cena....again. Didn't they do this scene like two weeks ago? If you're going to do a filler show, the best you can do is not make it look so obvious. Oh, and Cole once again takes cheap shots at Jim Ross since he wasn't able to appear in Liverpool tonight. What's the point of all this? It's not even funny and it's doing the same old jokes over and over again. JR has to have the patience of a saint if he continues to take these verbal shots on TV every single week. Hell, this has been going on for over a decade. JR does not get enough credit for the stuff he does for this company. It also turns out Cole has laid out the Michael Cole Challenge for next week. I kinda just want to see them get this over with already, regardless of where this is all going.

Match #3: Alberto Del Rio vs Kofi Kingston
This was another short match. Kofi gets a couple of strikes, but Del Rio is too much for him. Del Rio wins cleanly with the Cross Armbreaker. WWE barely acknowledged Del Rio losing to Big Show on last week's show. I guess we have to pretend that never happened and let the evening continue. Actually, that was the best course of action if you think about it. After the match, CM Punk shows up and we go to a commercial. Promo time after this.

Winner via submission: Alberto Del RIo

Back in the ring with Punk and Del Rio. Alberto calls Punk a coward for using a dirty trick to get his title match. Dude, you screamed out loud "You can have you match". I wouldn't really call Punk a coward based on that. After heelish logic, Del Rio continues to cut down Punk and says nobody cares about him or Liverpool. Del Rio said he talked to Carlton Banks in asking Punk to cancel the match. Punk basically says his co-workers are babies for not wanting to fight as opposed to use all this lawyer bulls***. He totally has a point here. This isn't wrestling anymore.....it's an episode of People's Court. Anyway, Punk refers to Del Rio as a cheap shot artist and always taking his opportunities, so that's why he did the attack last week. Punk would then go on to say how Del Rio is one dimensional character who always talks about destiny and how nobody is interested in what Del Rio has to say. Thank you, Punk. You basically said what I've been saying for months. Del Rio is a great wrestler and the guy can talk, but this character sucks and is always saying the exact same thing every week. That's not the marks of a champion I want to see every week. Punk vows not only to beat Del Rio, but to actually make the WWE Championship important once more. Del Rio says he doesn't care what Punk has to say about his genericness, he just wants to know if Punk will cancel the match or not. Punk mockingly thinks about it for a while. When Punk finally tells him no, Del Rio attacks Punk. He is about to lock in Cross Armbreaker, but Punk counters into the Anaconda Vice. Ricardo Rodriguez attacks to once again let Del Rio escape. The segment ends with Punk hitting GTS on Rodriguez. Damn, Ricardo needs a raise. This guy takes punishment every single week. Whatever they are paying you, it isn't enough. Anyway, I really enjoyed this segment. I did mention how the storytelling aspect of the WWE Championship match took a step backwards on last week's show, but that wasn't the case for tonight. Based on what these two said to one another, I am interested in this rivalry and the match once more. Reckon, a good portion of the hype up for this match was thanks to Punk. That's how awesome Punk is. He can make anything interesting when you just let him do his thing.

Match #4: Santino vs Jack Swagger
Swagger cut a short video promo in how he lost to a Muppet last week. Swagger proceeds to do some really bad, eye twitch, acting. Swagger's a good wrestler, but his lack of charisma continues to make me sad every week. It's getting so bad that I think I want to cry. The match was a carbon copy of last week's match. The only major difference is Swagger wins this match with the Ankle Lock. Does anyone really care?

Winner via submission: Jack Swagger

Kelly Kelly is out there to plug her cover of Maxim magazine. She talks about her accomplishments in an uninspiring manor until Beth Phoenix and Natalya show up to mock her. Beth and Natalya talk about wanting to show the little girls that looking like Kelly isn't what it takes to become a diva (Not in this day in age, which is unfortunate). It seems they are ready to attack until Eve and Alicia Fox show up. They talk about how they don't belong here and this is Kelly's time. They show the magazine cover, which seems a little to risque for PG television. Then again, who gives a s***. The scene didn't do a whole lot for the storyline of all of this and shows why Kelly shouldn't be allowed to talk on a microphone. She acts like the damn thing will kill her. Someone should tell her that the term "pipebomb" doesn't mean an actual bomb.

Back in the ring where Laurinaitis introduces Kevin Nash. Kevin explains why he attacked Triple H. Nash said back in 1995, he wanted to bury Trips since he didn't think he had what it took to make it in the business, but Shawn Michaels convinced him he was legit and to let him join the Kliq. Nash explains that he eventually grew a close friendship with Trips and talks about the heavy response he got at the Royal Rumble earlier this year. He talked about getting the biggest pop of the night. Nash went into the mindset that with that type of response, people wanted him back, so he pitched the idea of bringing the band back together....

Yeah, I'll let you think about that one for a second. Nash went on to say that Trips ignored his phone call and idea to get the band back together. Nash said Trips got a little too full of himself and Nash still believes he can be a big time player in the WWE, but Trips was holding him back. Overall, a pretty good promo by Nash. He explained pretty well in the realms of kayfabe/worked shoot why he attacked Triple H. I can't believe I am saying this, but who would think a rivalry between Nash and Triple H would work in 2011? I think it's coming together very nicely and I actually want to see where this is all going at the moment. I'm entertained by this. Who would've thought? By the way, did you catch the WWE 12 shots on tonight's show? I have to say. I'm not impressed with the character design. Punk and Del Rio look like they have the derp face. Then again, graphics aren't everything with a video game.

Backstage where Mr. Camel is talking to David Otunga about how Brodus Clay was set to debut tonight, but he wanted to debut him in the USA as opposed to Liverpool. Hooray for cheap heat. Punk shows up and says Laurinaitis doesn't know anything about making a star and he will become the WWE champion. Otunga takes a verbal cheap shot in saying how Punk would be a terrible champion because he looks like a gas station worker. This is coming for a guy who mooches off his wife. Anyway, Punk attacks Otunga, but Del Rio would show up and attack Punk. Officials arrive to break it up. Ladies and gentlemen, that's the most interesting thing Del Rio has done during this rivalry.

Match #5: Awesome Truth vs John Cena and Zack Ryder
This was a pretty good match to watch. As you would've guessed, Ryder was the weak link for this match, but they didn't make him look too bad. They made him look like he can hold his own and has potential, but is still a young guy and is going to make those rookie mistakes at times. So, at least they told a good story for Ryder's character. They are definitely trying something with Ryder since they talked quite a bit about him tonight. The finish comes when Cena is about to hit AA, but Miz hits a kick and goes for a cover. R-Truth is on the outside and grabs Cena's leg to hold him down, thus Awesome Truth picks up the victory. Well, at least they made Awesome Truth look decent tonight. If Cena and crew had won this match, I think I would have to break something. At least with this type of finish, it shows Awesome Truth getting smarter and stronger, while it shows this time around the Cena needs an assist in order to deal with Awesome Truth. See, NOW it kinda looks like Cena needs the Rock in order to deal with Awesome Truth. I still didn't like how things went last week, but maybe WWE wants us to quickly forget what happened. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time the wrestling companies wanted the fans to have a one track mind. Still, I feel the magic of this Rock/Cena team isn't quite getting my interest at the moment. I feel it's missing something. I think what it needs is for Awesome Truth to take out BOTH Rock and Cena on next week's show. I think this can really hype up the match, since at this point it looks like a match where Rock and Cena and simply there to flex their muscles and see who can out perform the other. Reckon, I feel that's what will happen when Survivor Series happens, but that doesn't mean you don't have to basically say this match is only happening to make a quick buck. I still feel the hype up can still be put together very well. And with good build up, that will get a little more interest for this match up. Regardless how I feel about the build up for this match, WWE is still looking to gain a ton of money from this pairing, so maybe my criticism doesn't even matter? Screw the rivalry, I have money.

Winner via pinfall: Awesome Truth

Overall Impression:
This really felt like a filler episode of Raw. It's funny how Cena talked about how everyone is talking about the three hour Raw in which the Rock would show up, but nobody seems to care about tonight. Well, based on how WWE wrote the show, it seemed pretty clear they were going for filler and would just wait to do everything they want to with their three hour show next week. Now, was it a bad filler episode? I wouldn't say that. Some of the matches were fun to watch, and I enjoyed the Punk and Nash promos this evening. It might have been filler, but at least it was somewhat entertaining. They did announce ONE MORE MATCH for Survivor Series. They seem to be hinting at a few more matches, but nothing else has been announced as of this moment. I can see Dolph vs Ryder for the US Title, and there will probably be something involving the divas. I can see Nash go to SS and talk about Triple H until Trips shows up and we get a brawl at the PPV. Now, can I recommend tonight's Raw? I wouldn't go that far since you really didn't miss much, but there was a few interesting moments here and there. This in many ways reminded me of what Smackdown put on last week. It was filler, but there was a entertaining moment here and there. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Smackdown Review 11/4/11

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown on 11/4/11. The blue brand has been the best wrestling show for the last few weeks. Would that trend continue? Well, let's find out and start the review.

Match #1: Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes in a Street Fight
We open up with a street fight. There's something I never understood about the term street fight in pro wrestling. They call it a street fight, where they are no rules. However, they are nowhere near the street. If this was a real street fight, they would be fighting down a dark ally. Anyway, this was a pretty damn good match to kick off the show. It was a well paced match that showed off what Orton and Rhodes are capable of doing in the squared circle. They fought in the audience, in the ring, on the entrance ramp, and by the announcers' table. I can definitely recommend checking out this match since it might be the best match of the week (James Storm vs Robert Roode does come close). Does anyone else think Booker T is the John Madden of the WWE? He points out the obvious and has those moments where he gets way too excited about the action. BOOM!!! Orton also took out the baggers during this match. This went on for nearly the first half hour of the program. There was a moment where Rhodes used his mask as a weapon. The finish comes when Orton counters Cross Rhodes and goes on the attack. After a couple of moves, Orton finally hits the RKO to win this match cleanly. Michael Cole talked about how Rhodes took Orton to the distance and really made a claim that he belongs in the main stage. Cody has improved quite a bit over the last year, but he needs to eventually get some victories over some of these main eventers (heelish victories work as well). In mainly ways, Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler have the same position in the WWE. Ironically, both are holding mid card championships at the present time. Even though I would've preferred for Cody to get the win, I think his stock is rising. It isn't really clear if his rivalry with Orton is done at the moment since these two can end up meeting up in a Survivor Series match, but I guess we will wait and see. After the match, Orton ends up putting a paper bag on Cody's face and takes his mask. Is the Depressed Cody Rhodes character done? Well, not really sure about that, but I personally want to see the thing go. Even though Cody is doing pretty well with this bad guy persona, the mask is a bit silly.

Winner via pinfall: Randy Orton

Match #2: Ted DiBiase vs Tyson Kidd
A match that really doesn't seem to present much for future storylines.....at least for the time being. I do notice that the commentators talk a lot about how DiBiase does a tailgating deal with the WWE Universe before live events. This might be the start of things to come for DiBiase. I still find him incredibly boring, but I have always been about second chances and I am willing to see what DiBiase brings to the table this time around. This was a really short match. The finish comes when DiBiase hits Dream Street for the clean win. Want to know what Tyson Kidd and John Morrison have in common? They are both going nowhere at the moment with WWE.

Winner via pinfall: Ted DiBiase

Backstage interview with Mark Henry. He talks about how he won't give Big Show another title shot, until he sees someone from a distance. Who is it? Is it Batman? No, it turns out to be Michael Cole's verbal punching bag, Daniel Bryan. Henry thinks Bryan is plotting something since he sees Bryan's MITB briefcase. He tells him he has no chance of beating him for the world title. He has an idea and challenges Bryan to a non-title match for later tonight. Bryan unfortunately takes the bait and it appears we have a match for later tonight. Well, I guess the Aberdeen, Washington funeral service will be busy this weekend.

Match #3: Alicia Fox vs Natalya
I can't believe I didn't make the "I'm Batman" joke since Eve (who was dressed up as Robin) won the Battle Royal this past week. Well, better late than never...

This match again proves my theory that Alicia was supposed to win the battle royal and become the #1 Contender. I guess those ring ropes have butter on them. Well, better than having butter on your head, wouldn't you say (If you get this reference, you're awesome)? Anyway, the finish comes when Alicia hits a roll through legdrop for the clean win. Pretty big win for Alicia. I wouldn't be surprised if they do away with the Beth Phoenix/Eve match right away and just name Alicia as the new title chaser. I am still not the biggest fan of her, mainly because of his Axe Kick that can give people a concussion since she loses control of the move. Then again, maybe the roll through legdrop will be her new finisher? Only time will tell.

Winner via pinfall: Alicia Fox

Back in the ring where Big Show has something to say. Show says he would rather fight than talk or else he would be Frankenstein. Really? So, you would be a mad scientist? Seriously, how many people make this mistake? The monster technically doesn't have a name, while Frankenstein refers to the doctor. Sorry, just one of my pet peeves. Anyway, he threatens the WHC by punching his lights out on every SD until he gives him a title match. Show is taking the CM Punk approach to this since Punk did this on Raw this past week in order to get a title match. Christian interrupts and says he figured Show was done talking since he was set for his match with Sheamus. He decides to tell Show really quickly that he doesn't deserve a title match because he blew his opportunity. Christian would go even further to say he deserves ONE MORE MATCH because he got screwed over. Christian starts to get a little paranoid that Show will KO punch him, but Show assures him it won't punch him. Instead, he Chokeslams him. A very basic scene in which Show is once again trying to get a title match, but Henry continues to ignore him because he knows Show is a threat to steal the only thing that matters to him. After a commercial break, Sheamus is ready to do this match, but it appears Christian is selling an injury and can't compete. Wade Barrett interrupts and says since Christian can't go, he will take his spot. So, now we have a match between Sheamus and Wade.

Match #4: Wade Barrett vs Sheamus
Christian is still on the outside selling the Chokeslam from earlier. I think Josh Matthews asked the dumbest question possible. He said "Who will win a world title first. Sheamus or Wade?". This is pretty stupid considering that Sheamus has already become a world champion.....twice. I guess Matthews was asleep during that time period. Anyway, this was a physical, brawling match between the two. The finish comes when Sheamus is about to hit High Cross until Christian gets on the ring apron and Sheamus tries to take a shot at him. This allows for Wade to score a quick roll up for the win. After the match, Sheamus attacks Wade until Christian hits a Spear on Sheamus. The bad guys retreat while Sheamus is really pissed off. Want to know the funny thing? You can always tell Sheamus is angry by just watching his skin color change. He's like a chameleon.

Winner via pinfall: Wade Barrett

Backstage where Sheamus, Christian, and Wade are all brawling backstage. Security shows up to break up the fight. It does seem random for Wade to jump in the middle of all this, but I think this will lead to some sort of SS pairing. There was another backstage scene. Bryan and Big Show are talking about the match Bryan has tonight against Henry. Show tells him to keep that briefcase warm because he will be using it tonight. Show of hands. Is anyone really buying a MITB cash in tonight? Yeah, I don't think so. Especially when Show/Henry has already been established. At the moment, it makes no sense for Bryan to cash in the briefcase when there are still a good majority of people that don't care about him.

Match #5: Sin Cara vs Epico
Epico is a new guy on the WWE roster. It turns out he is the cousin of Carlito and Primo Colon. Well, it appears the guy comes from a wrestling background. Overall, the guy didn't look too bad out there. The finish comes when Sin Cara is about to hit the Swanton until Hunico (Used to be Sin Cara Negro) attacks Sin Cara. By the way, I like how WWE didn't hardly say anything in regards to Hunico's new name. The only way you would know about this is if you barely heard Cole say this or looked it up on the internet. I hate to say this, but this looks like something you would see on TNA. Based on the very little explanation, that is. The storytelling aspect of this whole thing hasn't been done very well and I wouldn't be surprised if casual fans have no idea what's going on at the moment. After the match, Hunico and Epico continue to attack Sin Cara. So, I guess Epico is going to be in this feud.....yeah? From a storytelling perspective, it really isn't that engaging. This would help if there was more promos between the two. Then again, Sin Cara's English is a little rusty. That's kind of a problem. Maybe they should get a translator? Either way, they need to start explaining things.

Winner via DQ: Sin Cara

Match #6: Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan
Bryan was getting destroyed in this match. He does get some moves on the big guy, but it really doesn't go anywhere. Keep in mind that WWE needs to establish Bryan as a top contender in order to make this a fight. Lately, they haven't done much with Bryan and just recently ended his losing streak in an uninspiring manor. At some point, WWE really needs to figure out what they are going to do with Bryan so when the time comes to cash in MITB, people will pay attention. Still, I bet this further puts the idea that Bryan will be the first MITB holder to not win the world title. Then again, that discussion is for another day. The match ends with Show gets involved an KO punches Henry, thus causing a DQ. A DQ in two straight matches? Whatever. After the match, Show is encouraging Bryan to cash in the briefcase, but he is still beaten up. After a while, it appears Bryan is about to cash in MITB, but Henry is back up and attacks. He hits World's Strongest Slam on Bryan. The bell never rung, so the MITB cash in never happened. Show runs in to attack Henry, but the WHC is able to take out Show with WSS. Teddy Long comes out and says it will be Henry vs Show for the WHC at Survivor Series. Well, the match was inevitable. You knew it was going to happen. Based on how things turned south with the WWE Championship picture, the WHC picture might be the most intriguing of the two world title matches, and this is coming from a big CM Punk fan.

Winner via DQ: Mark Henry

Overall Impression:
In many ways, this felt like a filler episode of Smackdown. They did establish some new things like Epico joining in the Sin Cara/Hunico rivalry, but it really felt like a filler show. Now, was it a bad filler show? I wouldn't say that. I really enjoyed the opening match. In fact, there was a lot of action on tonight's episode. Then again, only the Orton'Rhodes match felt like really good action. The Sheamus/Barrett match was entertaining at times, but the rest of the matches were pretty forgettable. This is a SD were if you missed out on it, you didn't miss a whole lot. Still, I do recommend people to check out the Orton/Rhodes match, cuz it was really good. Everything else is skippable, but there was some decent entertainment to be seen. Okay, time to rank the shows for this week. In terms of wrestling quality, I rank it SD, Impact, and Raw. In terms of promos/segments, I rank it Raw, SD, and Impact. Outside of some of the Muppet gags, there really wasn't anything special with the segments for this week. MVP of the Week is a pretty easy choice. I'm going with Robert Roode over on TNA. He made a heel turn and won his first world championship. This is probably the first face/heel turn in TNA that actually made sense and just wasn't spur of the moment/Vince Russo style writing. If done correctly, Roode/Storm can be the best thing TNA has every put on television in years. Only time will tell if they do it right or screw it up, but I will be optimistic about it. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.

WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Impact Wrestling Review 11/3/11 (Two Times in a Row)

 What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Impact Wrestling on 11/3/11. The first wrestling show of November. How did it fair out? Well, let's find out and start the review.

We open up the show with James Storm. He talks about having Southern pride. Part of me wants to makes jokes during this, but I will let it slide.....at least for now. He invites Robert Roode out there to hype up their title match. Roode thanks Storm for getting him to the top and how Storm gave him all the opportunities to show management that he can be a main eventer. The two shake hands, but both say they will walk away world champion. Very basic scene to hype up the title match for later tonight. I think they set up the show nicely. So, we are off to a good start right off the bat. Hopefully, this will be a continuing theme for tonight.

Match #1: Tara and Tessmacher vs Gail Kim and Madison Rayne for the KO Tag Titles
Haven't they thrown these belts down a volcano yet? Why do these things still exist? What I find hilarious is how Tara and Tessmacher finally debuted new shirts for their tag team. They are calling themselves TNT (Tara n' Tessmacher). You will see where I was going with this in a second. The match was basic for KO standards. The finish comes when Tara hits Widow's Peak on Madison, bur Karen Jarrett is distracting the referee. Gail shows up and hits her finisher on Tara and puts Madison on top of Tara (giggity). The referee turns around and we have new KO tag champs. Now do you see where I was going with that debuting a tag team name earlier? Seems kinda pointless to debut a name and T-shirts only to lose the titles on the same night. What kind of marketing is that? To be fair, they can keep Tara and Tessmacher as a tag team, but I don't see the point. This division barely exist and there shouldn't even be championship belts. Either way, we have new KO tag champs. Gail already wins gold after only three appearances. She must be pulling some massive strings to already get gold for TNA. They really must love her.

Winner via pinfall and NEW KO Tag Champs: Gail Kim and Madison Rayne

Garrett Bischoff is in the ring and talks about how he didn't want a falling out with his father, Eric Bischoff, thus is ready to apologize. Garrett.....sucks. He just plain sucks. He stops too much while on the mic and has this "deer caught up in headlights" look on this face. Who's idea was it to give this guy some screen time? Anyway, Eric shows up and Garrett starts kissing his own father's ass. Yeah, that's a great way to make a good face in wrestling, doing what the heels want you to do. To be fair, Garrett was just setting up his father. He finally says he is sorry for this, thus he attacks his own father. Immortal runs out for the save, but Garrett retreats. This scene ends by Eric shouting "You son of a bitch". Really poor choice of words by Eric. By saying that to your own son, you are basically calling your wife a bitch. Well, I guess Eric isn't getting any action from Mrs. Bischoff this evening? Then again, maybe you can use one of those prostitutes that Karen Jarrett is always talking about?

Backstage where Sting and Ric Flair confront Sting. They kinda tease the fact Sting can't fire Bischoff because of some kayfabe stipulation on Eric's contract. With that said, Eric is willing to restructure his own contract, IF his son can beat him in a wrestling match. Sting thinks it's an interesting idea, but he needs to run it by Garrett first. This must be the weakest father/son fight in the history of anything. I'm being serious here. Garrett gives you no reason to feel sorry for him since we know nothing in regards to his character, while Eric is just being a typical heelish jackass. Now, I can't blame this on Eric's behalf since his character has already been established. I would care about this rivalry more if Garrett had an identity. There was also a backstage scene in which the Fallen Boredom, Christopher Daniels is talking about how he beat AJ Styles in their rivalry and taking out RVD. Well, it turns out RVD was listening in on this interview and the two start to fight. They fight for a while until Daniels runs away. What baffles me is RVD saying "See you at Turning Point". Turning Point is TNA's next PPV. Why would RVD/Daniels happen at Turning Point? This makes no sense. The rivalry was Daniels/Styles, which had no conclusion (It did have a conclusion until Daniels ran out to attack. Really stupid move, TNA creative). So, why did they put RVD in this whole thing? Because of that stupid screwdriver incident? Did we just see a wrestling rivalry start because of a screwdriver? I'm pretty sure there is something equally as stupid to start a wrestling rivalry, but this is pretty bad in its own right. Not to mention how lazily put together this whole thing is. Anyway, I guess it will be RVD vs Daniels at Turning Point. It could be a good match, but you have to give me a reason to care about the storyline, and this is a fail in my book.

Match #2: Austin Aries vs Jesse Sorensen
Anyone else feel that Aries is being wasted? The guy is loaded with charisma, but is only being used in the X Division. I realize Aries is a really small guy, but this guy has more charisma than the entire X Division put together. Hell, I would go even further and say Aries has more charisma than some of TNA's current mid card/main eventers. Anyway, Kid Kash gets on the headset and talks about how Jesse doesn't respect him and he should be kissing his ass. Yes, because Kid Kash now apparently has Hall of Fame credentials. I get where they are going with this, but it's kinda laughable when you think about it. What's next, Hardcore Holly gonna be demanding respect? The match was okay to watch, but nothing amazing. The finish comes when Jesse gets a miracle roll up for the victory. Lately, TNA has been doing this bit where they name the Direct Auto Insurance Impact of the Night for one of their matchups. Well.....THIS was the Impact of the Night for this evening. Are you kidding me? A roll up as your Impact of the Night? Maybe Direct Auto Insurance doesn't give a s*** anymore. Hell, why should they? They probably make a fortune for all of Kurt Angle's DUI/DWIs. With the victory, this keeps Jesse in line for a future title match against Aries, which I think is a mistake. Jesse wasn't ready earlier in the year when he got a title match, and he sure as hell isn't ready now. The guy is really green and gives you no reason to care about him. To me, all I see is a generic spot monkey. Then again, that's a problem in general for the X Division. Outside of Aries, there really isn't anyone else who leaves much of an impression. I still feel Alex Shelley is the best out of the X Division who is suited for a decent rivalry with Aries. Why not? It isn't like he's doing anything at the moment since Motor City Machine Guns is done until Chris Sabin is all healed up. So, why not use him? I don't care if Shelley and Aries had a feud earlier in the year, they could go much deeper a second time. This Sorensen guy isn't ready for this kind of exposure and it will blow up in TNA's face if they push him too fast. Then again, maybe that's what they want?

Winner via pinfall: Jesse Sorensen

Back in the ring where Robbie E and Rob Terry call out Eric Young and Ronnie from Jersey Shore. Robbie E talks about how Grizzly Adams is a joke, Jersey Shore sucks, and so does Ronnie. Wow, that's the most sense Robbie E has made in his entire career. Anyway, Robbie tells Ronnie to leave, which starts a fight. Of course, being the TV Champ, Eric Young.....is totally useless. With Young down, they start whipping Ronnie with a belt. Hey, I bet there are tons of people who have wanted to do this to those whiny Jersey rejects, right? After the beatdown, Young gets on the mic and challenges them to a tag match for next week. Now, as much as I hate Jersey Shore, I don't really have a problem with TNA bringing in another person from the cast to show up on their show. Keep in mind that celebrities have been appearing on wrestling since WrestleMania 1. Then again, does the phrase Jersey Shore and celebrities go hand in hand? Regardless, I don't have a problem with this match, nor do I have a problem with Young's comedy act. Even though I don't find it funny, there is nothing wrong with comedy on a wrestling show. I think my problem is they are using comedy at the expense of the TV Championship, which should be looked at as the mid card championship for TNA. That's my only gripe with this whole ordeal.

Match #3: Bully Ray and Jeff Jarrett vs Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy
How much longer is AAA Mexico going to allow the anal raping that is Jeff Jarrett wearing that abomination of a Mexican world title? Reckon it isn't the real AAA belt, but that thing needs to go since it's never used on this show. Don't we have enough pointless championships with the KO tag titles, Young's old TNA world title, or the TV Championship? Championships in wrestling are really losing credibility. Anyway, there wasn't much to say about this match. It was okay, but I couldn't really get into the match. The finish comes when Scott Steiner shows up and causes a DQ. After the match, Immortal takes out both Anderson and Hardy. Even though there is a lot of people who don't like Hardy these days, the guy is still getting a huge reaction from the audience. As long as Hardy is serious about cleaning up his habit, he can be useful for this company. Although, it's a big "if".

Winner via DQ: Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy

Backstage where Sting is talking to Garrett. After a while, Garrett agrees to work a match against his father on next week's show. If there's anything being a wrestling fan has taught me, having a famous last name does have its perks. Back in the ring where Matt Morgan calls out Crimson. He talks about getting a ton of messages from fans to face off against Crimson and it appears he wants to do the match because he wants to prove he's the best giant in the business....

Now, I like Morgan, but this is insane. He's the best giant/7 footer in the business? What about Undertaker, Kane, Andre the Giant, Big Show? Morgan, you got a long way to go before you're in this class. Anyway, Crimson agrees (For some stupid reason) and vows to defeat Morgan and keep his undefeated streak. Well, a guy like Morgan can help Crimson in many ways. One of the things I've criticized in regards to this undefeated streak is that it feels TNA isn't pushing the competition towards Crimson. For having an undefeated streak, he should really be over, but is still struggling to find an identity. With a person who is established like Morgan, it can help Crimson find his character and maybe this is what he needs to finally arrive. I do admit Crimson is under developed, but I still think the guy has great potential to go far in this business. This match will happen at Turning Point.

Match #4: James Storm vs Robert Roode for the TNA World Championship
I wouldn't call this a great wrestling match, but it was a good back and forth exchange. The match was well paced and it was entertaining to match. I would call it a damn good wrestling match. I can definitely recommend checking this one out. The finish comes when there is a slight ref bump. For some reason, the referee is selling a knee injury, which is kinda unusual. Roode is on the outside while Storm is recovering in the ring. Roode sees one of the beer bottles Storm brought to the ring earlier and ponders to use it or not. He eventually caves into envy and blindsides Storm with the beer bottle. This is a prime example of wrestling logic. You would think the referee would realize Roode cheated since there is shattered glass everywhere, but decides to let it slide. Anyway, the ref makes the three count and we have a new world champion. The show ends with Roode celebrating by spitting at his former best friend while the audience is booing. Back in a second.

Winner via pinfall and NEW TNA World Champion: Robert Roode

First thing I want to say is I wrote this in my Bound for Glory review. I said that with Roode losing, it would lead to Storm winning the world title. At some point, Roode would get bitter and make a heel turn. Thus we will get to a Storm/Roode rivalry involving the world championship. Since I freakin' called that, I need to say this...

Okay, now that I am done gloating, time to talk about what just happened. Many people are ready to bash TNA after tonight. While they made some silly mistakes, I am actually going to defend this. I think TNA's goal during the BFG Series was not to establish Roode. I think they wanted to establish Roode and Storm. While it wasn't done in the best way possible, I think they are trying to make something happen here. I actually prefer Roode as a heel based on his previous work. For some reason, Roode as a bad guy just seems to work as opposed to him playing the good guy. What I can see happening is Roode dodging Storm for a while and picking up some victories to establish himself as the top heel on the show. During this time, they can build up Storm as the top face and when it comes time to go full circle with the rivalry, I think it can be built up properly to make a big impression. Now, the question comes will TNA do this right or will they drop the ball? History shows that TNA most likely will screw it up, but let's try to be positive about the move as opposed to jumping on the "I hate TNA" bandwagon that seems to go around every Thursday night. Now, even though I was just talking about how they can use this opportunity to build up Roode's heelish reign as world champion and Storm's rise as the top face, there is a bit of a problem. It turns out that Storm ended up getting a concussion during the Georgia tapings. It probably happened during the beer bottle strike, but I can't say for sure as of this moment. Reports are saying Storm will be out 6-8 weeks, but concussions are a serious matter, so it could be longer. This is very unfortunate for Storm because he will be on the shelf while Roode is making his rise as the top heel. Then again, TNA can use this to their advantage in terms of kayfabe. Roode can go out there and gloat about the fact he took his best friend out to get his world title. For the time being, Roode goes up against a bunch of other guys to prove his dominance. Finally, when Storm is ready to get back in the ring, he can immediately go right after Roode and it can really be the storyline that TNA needs. Overall, I kinda like what they did tonight. It makes a lot of sense for Roode to not win the title at BFG, because they wanted Roode to be a heel and also want to start establishing Storm. Maybe this will make the IWC stop bitching about how Roode got screwed over, but I doubt it. It's interesting and I want to see where it goes. If there is one gripe I have with the title change tonight, it's the fact it didn't happen on PPV. This type of thing would've looked a lot better on PPV as opposed to free TV. This is why in so many ways the title match between Roode and Storm didn't get a lot of attention. Why? Because it was rushed. I will definitely say the heel turn would've looked a lot bigger on PPV. Other than that, I kinda like the storytelling aspect of this scene. I just hope TNA does this right and we will find out if Roode is capable of being the top heel on this show. Both guys aren't quite main eventers, but they can be if TNA creative actually follows through with all of this. I also wish Storm a speedy recovery.

Overall Impression:
I really didn't like everything else in between Impact this evening. I did enjoy the opening, and I liked the main event, but it was everything else that can take you out of the evening. To be fair, the other matches were tolerable, but the matches made no attempt to care about the other storylines. I am trying to get invested in this father/son rivalry with the Bischoffs, but I just don't like it. I don't find it entertaining and it seems kinda dumb. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of it has to do with how Garrett Bischoff gives you no reason to care about him because the audience doesn't know anything about this kid. They spent a good chunk of the show building up the PPV, which is in two weeks. While I like what they are doing with the main event picture, the PPV card doesn't really seem promising. RVD/Daniels is really a forced fued. Plus, it makes no sense for them to start a rivalry when the Daniels/AJ Styles rivalry had no conclusion. A KO tag title change means nothing on this show, and I don't really care about this Jersey Shore nonsense. Morgan/Crimson can be interesting, but I hate the fact they just barely said something about this match. They could've announced this weeks ago and start fueling the tension between Morgan and Crimson to make the audience care. Now, it just looks like another one of those matches TNA puts together at the last moment because TNA crams too many storylines on their show. TNA should really stick to building up 4-6 good storylines as opposed to one good one and like 8 bad ones. There was a heavy amount of talking on this show, but I thought the balance between wrestling and promos was a little more balanced than say, two weeks ago. The main event was about 15-20 minutes of action, so that has to be worth something. I can't recommend the whole show since a lot of the stuff they're doing isn't very interesting, but the main event is definitely worth checking out. Just watch the last 15-20 minutes of Impact and I think you will be pleased with what you saw tonight. I still think this show overall was okay to watch and I was entertained, but only because of the ending. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Hey, I said something good about TNA this week.....and I bet I will still get bitching and moaning from TNA fanboys. Oh well, I guess it comes with the territory. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time and.....I WAS RIGHT!!!

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 10/31/11

What up wresting fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 10/31/11. With the Muppets set to invade Raw, how did the show fair out? Well, let's find out and start the review.

We open up with the Rock....via satellite. That's the bad ass way of "bringing it". Anyway, he talks about the positives of teaming up with John Cena since they both represent a generation of pro wrestling. He says he would normally say no to this request, but the Rock's fans see things differently. Since the Rock isn't too fond of Miz and R-Truth, he decides to accept Cena's offer and will be his tag partner. He wants it understood that he is only accepting this request because of his fans. He also tells Cena to pay close attention to the match so he can witness the Rock's greatness. Very basic opening. Couldn't the Rock pick a better location to do this satellite segment? He was out on the beach while it was windy. Was he in the middle of a vacation? Did someone play the Song of Storms during this part? Outside of that, there wasn't anything too special about this. I can see how some people are up in arms whenever the Rock makes an appearance, but it isn't the same if he's not in the building. This also means you can pencil in Rock and Cena vs Awesome Truth at Survivor Series. At this point, I was looking forward to the match, but my feelings would change by the time this night was over.

Match #1: CM Punk vs Mark Henry
John Laurinaitis announced that in order for Punk to get a WWE title match, he needs to beat Henry tonight. The match was pretty short. For the early going of the match, Punk is trying to mount some offense against the Sexual Chocolate. Punk eventually takes him down and hits the Macho Man Flying Elbow, but still a two count. Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez arrive and Del Rio tells Rodriguez to attack Henry. He eventually goes through with it and because of Ricardo's actions, Henry wins this match via DQ. Needless to say, Punk wasn't happy about this since Del Rio found a way around the system. After the match, Punk hits a suicide dive on Del Rio. He grabs Ricardo and is about to attack, but ends up throwing him back in the ring. Henry is back up and hits World's Strongest Slam on Ricardo. You had to figure they wouldn't have Punk beat Henry because of his size and the fact he is champion. They simply want to keep both guys strong without looking completely weak. Then again, we would have a similar scene like this later in the evening that went the total opposite. So, it appears that Punk has lost his championship match...at least for the time being.

Winner via DQ: Mark Henry

Time for the Muppets to make their first appearance of the night. Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are talking about the show until they immediately get interrupted by Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger. Vickie says it's a joke they have to give away screen time to the Muppets this evening. Kermit did get a good one liner in which he said towards Jack "We don't want any trouble from you....or your mother". Vickie and Miss Piggy start to argue until Santino interrupts. He announces it will be Santino vs Swagger and Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder later tonight. It appears this segment is almost over, but Kelly Kelly has to steal the spot light by making out with Kermit. I bet that isn't the first time Kelly has made ou with a frog during her life. Come on, I was set up for that one. The first scene of the Muppets actually didn't go too badly. By the way, it's not easy being green? This should be the catchphrase of Jinder Mahal. Being green can't be all bad. Hell, look at Rydia from Final Fantasy IV?

Match #2: Diva Battle Royal; winner is #1 Contender to Divas Championship
This was a Halloween battle royal, meaning the divas were in costume. Being a video game nerd, I was happy to see the Bellas as Mario and Luigi and AJ as Kitana from Mortal Kombat. Beth Phoenix was on commentary for this match. The match went really quickly and it wasn't anything you aren't used to seeing with the division. The finish comes with Natalya eliminates Kelly and Alicia Fox (might want to remember this). This allows for Eve to sneak up and quickly eliminate Natalya to win the match. Something about Eve winning doesn't really add up. If you watched the show last week, you saw Alicia win a match over Natalya. That would be the first clue that Alicia would be the next diva in line for a title match. If you watch this match, you can see Alicia trying to grab the rope and avoid elimination, but it appeared she slipped. Reckon, I would rather have Eve over Alicia in a title match any day of the week, but I can't help but think Alicia was set to win this match. Well, with her screw up, Eve gets another title match....for no apparent reason. In a way, it kinda proves that Alicia has no business getting title matches when she is slipping up this easily. Again, what does WWE see in her?

Winner via pinfall and "NEW" #1 Contender to Divas Championship: Eve

Backstage where Dr. Bunsen and Beaker are making some sort of super energy drink. I think they invented that already, it's called HGH. Anyway, Beaker runs over to give it to Santino, but ends up running into Christian. In typical bully fashion. Christian picks on the smaller guy and ends up pouring the drink on the floor. Sheamus sees all of this and wonders what is going on, but Christian says nothing and leaves. As Christian leaves, Sheamus and Beaker talk about their family. When I first heard the Muppets would guest host Raw, I knew there would be a scene involving Sheamus and Beaker. I always wondered if Beaker was the inspiration for Sheamus' hairstyle?

Match #3: Air Boom vs Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes
Kind of a random pairing up to go up against Air Boom. Hmm....me thinks this is a set up for a possible Traditional SS match. This was a pretty good match between the four competitors. They went back and forth for a while. The finish comes when Wade hits Wasteland on Evan Bourne for the clean victory. After the match, Christian arrives to attack Air Boom until Sheamus arrives for the save. If they are going this route for a SS match, Randy Orton might end up getting thrown into this match since he is working a program with Rhodes. I can also see Swagger, Dolph, Ryder, or Mason Ryan getting involved in this match. Oh, and Statler and Waldorf watch this and mock Stone Cold's "What" catchpharse. Damn, that was terrible. If you watch the Muppets, Statler and Waldorf are like the best part of the show. Who's wrote this scene? Well, they would redeem themselves later in the night. By the way, Slatler and Waldorf didn't get to call a match. Come on, WWE. We need a break every now and then from Cole.

Winner via pinfall: Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes

Backstage where Punk confronts Laurinaitis. He wants to know what he plans to do after the bulls*** Del Rio pulled tonight. Laurinaitis says that Punk can get his title match, but only if Del Rio says it is okay. Laurinaitis has to be the worst GM ever. He doesn't make any decisions and just lets other people call the shots. Suddenly, a labtop as the GM isn't sounding like such a stupid idea now, is it?

Match #4: Alberto Del Rio vs Big Show
My God, this was a long and boring match. I know people are going to blame Big Show for how this match worked, but I think Del Rio deserves most of the blame. Del Rio was very technical in this match. He did a lot of headlocks, sleeper holds, and leg locks to take down the giant. That really doesn't make for exciting wrestling. After a long, drawn out battle, the finish comes when Show hits the KO punch and wins this match cleanly. After the match, Punk shows up and says he will lock on the Anaconda Vice until Del Rio agrees to give him a title match. Del Rio eventually gives Punk what he wants, and the match is on at SS. So, Show can beat Del Rio cleanly and Punk can't do this to Henry? Now, the Punk/Henry booking was correct, but Del Rio losing cleanly is really bad decision making. Keep in mind this guy is your current world champion and he can't be losing these kind of matches on free TV. Then again, you can argue that Del Rio isn't a really good champion at this point. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I don't really like the thought process here since your world champion looks really weak. In a way, this takes the value out of Punk/Del Rio match. This was a rivalry that had some potential, but they took a few steps backwards tonight. Well, they still have two weeks to make this interesting, but the damage might have been done. Well, I guess we will wait and see.

Winner via pinfall: Big Show

Backstage where Fozzie and Gonzo are talking. I was almost expecting Chris Jericho's band, Fozzy, to show up during this scene. Sadly, that wasn't the case. Vickie's crew arrives and they turn Gonzo into the blue Stretch Armstrong by stretching his hands over his head and tying him up. Fozzie shows concern for his friend, but Gonzo seems to enjoy it. This must be a sick new fetish that's going around.

Match #5: Jack Swagger vs Santino
Animal was the timekeeper for this match. If you are a fan of Animal, prepare to be disappointed since this was his only appearance for the night. Wasted opportunity, WWE. The match was nothing special. The finish comes when Santino appears to be in trouble. Beaker shows up and it appears they made another batch of HGH for Santino to take. He drinks it, but ends up spitting it at Swagger's face. He picks up a quick roll up for the victory. Now, I heard a lot of people bitching and moaning about this match. First off, you had to figure there would be a moment where the Muppets got involved in one the matches, so don't act like you didn't see it coming. Second, it's a Santino match. You know, the resident Bozo the Clown of the WWE. So, why would he not win in a stupid manor? I look at a match like this and it being nothing more than an attempt at comedy. To be fair, it really wasn't that funny. In fact, it would've been way funnier if Animal starting going bats*** crazy on Swagger. Still, I think people are blowing this match way out of hand. It's pro wrestling, so don't take it so seriously.

Winner via pinfall: Santino

Match #6: Zack Ryder vs Dolph Ziggler
This was a pretty good match to watch. This was the match I was expecting at Vengeance, so I guess better late than never. There was a strange moment where Ryder goes for a pin and Dolph has his foot on the rope. At first, the referee gives Ryder the victory, but then he reverses it and the match continues. I guess it quickly went through the referee's mind that this wasn't in the script. I also thought this could've been put in the show to show that Dolph get screwed out of it, but also giving some momentum to Ryder in the process. Then again, that wouldn't be the case when this match got restarted and Ryder ended up picking up a cleaner victory. My only guess is the first victory wasn't suppose to happen and the referee corrected his mistake. Then again, maybe it wouldn've been better if they went the original route since Dolph ends up losing for two straight weeks. The finish comes when Dolph goes for Zig Zag, but Ryder counters and hits Rough Ryder for the clean win. A win like this puts Ryder back in the US title picture. Does anyone else feel WWE can't quite make up their minds with Ryder and Mason Ryan? There are weeks were Mason shows up to take down Dolph, but so does Ryder. WWE really needs to make a clear decision in whom to push for this US title cuz it's kinda confusing. You can still push Ryder and Mason, but only one of them should be chasing the US title....at least for the moment.

Winner via pinfall: Zack Ryder (Woo woo woo!!!)

Cole makes an announcement that JR couldn't be here because of medical reasons. He proceeds to make fun of JR's medical history. That's classy, Cole. Making fun of colon cancer. From what I've heard, JR was available tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cole/JR match was called off because of time constraints. Statler and Waldorf make a crack in how there's nothing worse than listening to Cole. Well, nice to see Statler and Waldorf make a save for tonight. Backstage scene of Miss Piggy hitting on John Morrison. She wants to go out with him, but Morrison says he's busy (Busy doing what? Jobbing?). That isn't fair. Miss Piggy can hit on other people, but Kermit can't? Well, it's not the first time it has happened. Anyway, he has a replacement, which turns out to be Hornswoggle. Miss Piggy isn't too happy about this and does what THE MILLIONS....have wanted to do to Hornswoggle for years. Beat the crap out of him. Kermit arrives, only to be greeted to a Cody Rhodes' paper bag. Miss Piggy's scene was funny, but the paper bag was kinda lame. Oh, and it was announced, in kayfabe, that Kevin Nash has re-signed with WWE and will appear next week. They also claimed that Triple H will be out for five weeks. Just have to see where they are going with this. Either way, this might be the best work I have seen out of Nash in over a decade.

Match #7: Miz vs John Cena
This was a pretty good match. Miz and Cena went back and forth for quite a while. During the match, the two fought near the barricade. A guy in a Ghost Face costume ends up attacking Cena. This attack can't keep Cena down since he still manages to fight back. The finish comes when Cena wins with the STF. After the match, the Ghost Face person returns, but Cena takes him out with the AA. He takes off his mask and it turns out to be R-Truth. The show ends with Cena standing tall and posing towards the audience. I really didn't like the decision making here. I personally don't have a problem with Cena winning the match, but I didn't like how Cena took out BOTH members of Awesome Truth in one night. It almost begs the question. What's the point of Cena asking for the Rock's help if it appears he can handle Awesome Truth on his own? I would have preferred for Awesome Truth to take out Cena tonight. It would have added a lot more value that Cena does need help and maybe Rock and Cena could be in for a really long night. Instead, it makes Cena look too strong. I realize he is the face of the company, but you don't have to make him look this overpowered. In a way, it kinda takes away some of the value of the Rock/Cena pairing if Cena can do this all by himself. Now, I am sure there are plenty of people very interested in the Rock/Cena team, but I can see a lot of people losing interest after tonight. I was actually looking forward to this match at the PPV, but this performance kinda takes away some of the hype. That is at least my personal feelings at the moment. They can still turn this baby around, but I think they took a lot of the fun out of their main event. Just to clarify, I don't hate Cena. I respect this guy for what he does and realize he busted his ass in order to be the face of the company. However, I don't like how they make Cena look like he is made of steel every single week. It just gets a little ridiculous.

Winner via submission: John Cena

Overall Impression:
I think I will let Statler and Waldorf do this part....

Okay, okay okay. That's enough. Never mind. Maybe I should handle this part. Most people thought that the Muppets would have been the reason the show was lackluster tonight, but that wasn't the case. In many ways, I felt the Muppets were the saving grace of Raw tonight. Reckon, there was a lot of missed opportunities for jokes and gags with the Muppets around. They should've had Statler and Waldorf call one of the matches (They would've been perfect for the Santino match), and were was the Swedish Chef? I can't say the Muppets were perfect because there was some hit and miss moments for the Muppets. I felt what didn't help the show was a lot of the decision making tonight. I didn't like how Cena took out Awesome Truth by himself. It's like he doesn't need the Rock and it's just an excuse for the WWE to make a quick buck. To be fair, getting more buyrates was the overall goal by WWE, since more buyrates means more money. Still, it takes a lot of the fun that could've happened for this match....at least for the moment. I didn't like the decision to have Del Rio lose cleanly. This wouldn't bother me so much if he wasn't holding onto the WWE Championship. Well, that isn't the case and it makes your champion look bad. Even though I feel Del Rio is still a generic heel, how will his stock increase by loosing? Now, he didn't look completely weak to Big Show, but it would've made more sense to have that match end in a countout. There was miscues during the divas battle royal and the Dolph/Ryder match. It almost felt like the show was sloppy and half assed tonight. Does that mean Raw was really bad this week? No, but I also can't really call this an average Raw. There was some decent action going on in the ring, so that helps. The Muppets were entertaining, and keep in mind that pro wrestling is all about entertainment, so you can't really take it so seriously. It's kinda difficult to grade this show because there was entertainment, there was decent wrestling matches, but a lot of the storylines took a step backwards tonight and might have ruined the value of Survivor Series. No matter how you look at it, building up storylines is important since you have to give people a reason to care about the characters. The Punk/Del Rio match takes a bump in a bad direction, while Cena basically showed he doesn't need the Rock since he took out Awesome Truth by himself. These were a few of the WWE's main matches going into Survivor Series, and now I can see people losing a lot of interest in this PPV. They still have two and a half weeks to build up this PPV. There is still a good chance this will be a great PPV, but they need to really focus these next couple of weeks to drive up the interest. A very mixed bag sort of evening for Raw tonight. I enjoyed a few parts of Raw, but it was a pretty lackluster show tonight. I can't fault the Muppets for their performance tonight, despite all the of IWCs bitching about how the Muppets makes WWE more of a kiddy show. Anyone who watched the Muppets growing up knows they appeal to adults just as much as kids. In fact, adults tend to get a lot more of the Muppet jokes than kids. Then again, I know this is one of those things that will get a lot of praise and backlash because IWC hates the PG era. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.