The Great American Bash usually wins the award for worst PPV of the year, the card is normally terrible, the matches equally as bad and no good storyline developments. This got me to the point where I started to think if this was done deliberately by Vince to bury a PPV concept originally created by WCW for his own amusement. However on Sunday night I witnessed in my opinion the best minor PPV of the year so far.

Good Points

Freshening up

Was good to see the bottom end of the card getting a shake up with Hawkins and Ryder winning the tag title and Shelton Benjamin winning the US Title. This frees up Matt Hardy to go after the ECW title and gives Ryder and Hawkins the chance to establish themselves. The tag match was also very well put together.

Good Matches

With a few exceptions those being the ECW title match and the Divas title match there wasn’t a bad match on the card and luckily the two matches that weren’t up to scratch were kept short. Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels was another great match in the series between these two and kept their feud going.

We Make Movies

In the documentary Beyond the Mat Vince said that about the WWE ‘That they make movies’ which was true of the Cena vs. JBL match. Yes it was preposterous that Cena could get run down on Raw and not have a scratch on him and then participate in a match which saw cars getting set on fire, vehicles smashed and so on but it was great fun. Like every action film needs a good chase scene or a good fight scene I think there is a place for matches like the Parking Lot Brawl on a PPV.

Feuds continue to SummerSlam

I expected nothing else than HHH to keep his title but they managed to do it in a way that kept Edge strong which was important for SummerSlam then we had the double dq finish for the CM Punk / Batista match to keep that going. With one month to go to SummerSlam the Bash should be about building and developing feuds for SummerSlam.

Bad Points

Needed better build

WWE need to just be careful of how they build storylines for the PPV’s with the most exciting developments happening on the episodes of Raw and Smackdown directly before the PPV was a mistake. If fans had missed one week they would have missed some pretty pivotal developments. The big things should happen as early as possible as you want to start the build for a PPV on the first Raw after the last PPV.

Overall

A great PPV after some of the shockers of the last twelve months this restored my faith in the WWE.

After a terrible Victory Road I was interested to see how TNA were going to turn things round. TNA are erratic at the moment they aren’t consistently good and they aren’t consistently bad so here’ hoping this was going to be a good week.

Good Points

Great Booker T / Samoa Joe Promos

After a duff main event at Victory Road these guys really pulled out all the stops tonight. Great in ring and backstage promos throughout with a brilliant ending. Again no in ring action for Joe but he made up for it on the mic.

Unpredictability

I know it’s my favourite word but TNA had it in spades tonight as first three men get out a limo with Sting masks who we later find out to be Kurt Angle and Team 3-D then we have Beer Money going around beating on anyone fans, production crew and visitors to Universal. All really good stuff very reminiscent of NWO days.

Push for Matt Morgan

There was a great push for Morgan as he beat both members of the Rock and Rave Infection. Next they just need to give a one on one feud for a PPV and see from there.

Bad Points

No Sting

After his actions at Victory Road I personally would have started the show with him but to not have him on the show at all is criminal. I know TNA have to use him sparingly but it just seems to be the case that TNA are doing that with too many guys at the moment like Abyss, Angle, Joe etc.

Lack of consistency

After not doing much for a while Eric Young was thrust back on to our screens and after not being on the PPV Consequences Creed was in the main event on iMPACT. Yes you can’t highlight all your roster at the same time but when your not highlighting someone you need to keep them around and involved so when you want to push them back in to the spotlight the crowds aren’t scratching their heads to think of the last time they did something.

Overall

On millions time better than the PPV and it was free. The backstage, segments, promos and in ring mic time really stole the show tonight which it should on a TV show. After feeling gloomy about TNA I finally see light again but saying that next week I could be back in gloom again.

With only a few days to go to the Great American Bash and with one of the most mouthwatering matches that being HHH vs. Edge coming from the Smackdown roster I was looking forward to see how it was all going to pan out before the PPV.

Good Points

Brilliant Build for Edge and HHH

There wasn’t much of it but the last 15 minutes or so were brilliant. It was like late 90s WWF all over again. Great to see HHH playing the heel everyone loves. It was well executed and left us wondering what was going to happen at Great American Bash.

Continuation of storylines

One thing I like is continuity so I was glad to see Big Show this week get put against four opponents because of what he did to Edge last week. They should be doing more with Big Show but what he is involved in is good.

The Wedding Reception

It gave the show a good theme and kept continuity running through the show to keep fans tuned in to see what was going to happen next. I like it when they do things like this once in a while just as long as it doesn’t become common place.

Bad Points

No Depth

The only quality math of the night was Mr. Kennedy vs. Umaga and that as a halway point match. The main event of Matt vs. Jeff could have been great but it was ruined by pointless interferences. When Smackdown does do some more creative stuff they can’t afford to let the wrestling side down as that is the side of the show that they are renowned for.

More HHH

What we saw of him was great but we need him on TV more. It would have made sense for him to have a title defence early in the show and for Edge’s crew to attack setting up the ending they did.

Overall

Pretty good, besides the last fifteen minutes nothing outstanding. Smackdown aren’t really offering a lot to this PPV.

After a decent Slammiversary but a not so good last couple of weeks on impact I wasn’t sure going in to this PPV whether I was going to like it or not but still hoped TNA would pull something out of the bag.

Good Points

12 Man World X-Cup match

Match of the night by far this one but by having it on first and having it go for over half an hour it then meant nothing else on the card could compete with it. Would have made sense to have this further down the card. Will be watching this match again though, great action for the wrestling fan which is what a PPV should be about.

Push for Taylor Wilde

Just as the Knockouts division was getting stale in comes Taylor Wilde who out of nowhere wins the title on impact and then makes a successful defence against Awesome Kong on Victory Road. If this wasn’t enough it was Abyss who came down to save her from a beat down after the match.

Bad Points

Terrible ending

The ending to Victory Road is an ending which should be saved for TV. I won’t spoil it but if I had paid to watch it on PPV I would have felt ripped off as the creative team copped out. The first match of the night was what a PPV should be about the last match of the night was what a PPV shouldn’t be about. The ending just smacked of backstage politics.

Poor lighting and shot choice

Whenever TNA go outside of the Impact Zone they really struggle with lighting andcamera shots. I lost count of the time there was a camera or crane in shot. The lighting looked like an 80s style WWF with only the first few rows of the crowd visible and the rest of the arena in darkness. This was all capped with the ruining of the Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt match as every two seconds they had put the camera on Val which meant you couldn’t follow what was happening in the ring.

Ultimate bore

TNA have done everything they can with Ultimate X and should give it a rest now. Besides the odd new bump we have seen it all before. They should have just had one world cup match and left it at the twelve man and not have Ultimate X.

Overall

A shambles, if I had paid to see that I would have been ringing up and asking for a refund. It’s shows like this that show how far TNA still has to come and if backstage politics is already starting to play a part in this stage of the companies development it doesn’t look that hopeful for the future.

With one week to go to the Great American Bash we had three major feuds developing those being CM Punk vs. Batista, JBL vs. John Cena and Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels. Add to this you have Kane going crazy and still no Vince of general Manager to keep things in check.

Good Points

Shane and Stephanie may be coming to Raw

One of my Raw highlights was the fact that Shane and Stephanie started the show by saying they be coming to Raw next week if there was no change to the out of control nature of the show. I for one would be glad to see Shane back on our screens and I hope it happens. It’s good to be able to see what we would have seen if it hadn’t been for the Benoit incident last year.

Great Ending

One of the best Raw endings in some time this week as JBL put an exclamation point on his feud with John Cena. There has been some great heat built between these two over the last weeks and the cliff-hanger ending to raw is getting people wondering what is going to happen at Great American Bash.

More TV time for Katie Lea and Burchill

Great to see both of them getting full-blown matches on Raw. Hopefully the feud between Burchill and Kofi will continue despite the result of the match between these two on Raw. I think Katie lea and Mickie James can have some more great matches and this feud will really help push the women’s division.

Bad Points

Punk pushed down the card

To give CM Punk any chance of winning people over you have to keep pushing him not booking him way down the card. His match with Kane was thought up out of nowhere and happened around the hour mark of the show. The match was used to get Batista over as he came out and beat on both of them but Batista didn’t need to be built as it is CM Punk who everyone has doubts about not Batista.

Time given to the wrong guys

Tonight it was the turn of Paul London, Snitsky, Jamie Noble, Jim Duggan and Santino who used up valuable time. All of these guys can be used but they need to be used properly and not just as time fillers.

First thirty minutes too chaotic

I like the unpredictability factor in the WWE at the moment but they seem to be having a frantic first few minutes which then calms down for the rest of the show. They need to make the first minutes a little less frantic and pace it through out the show.

Overall

A solid show only down point was not pushing CM Punk but they pushed the other feuds nicely and had a cliff-hanger ending which is always good before a PPV and was reminiscent of the late 90s. Lets hope great American Bash delivers.

With an interesting main storyline surrounding Edge and Vickie Guerrero I was wondering if the creative team could this week put some interesting storylines around it to make it a fuller show.

Good Points

Another great day at the office for Edge

Edge held Smackdown together again this week with great in ring and backstage segments. They have crafted the storyline brilliantly with Vickie wanting revenge by putting Edge against the Big Show but then feeling remorse after she goes through with it.

New feud for Smackdown

It’s great to see two of Smackdown’s recently acquired stars Kennedy and Umaga starting a feud on the show. Both need something big to push them back near main event so hopefully this can help them back near the main event.

Bad Points

Poor use of HHH

This week HHH had no mic time and was used in a middle of the show match against Chavo. Ok Edge might hav a hot storyline at the moment but that doesn’t mean you sell the champion and established star down to five minutes and no mic time.

No Jeff Hardy

This week Smackdown gave time to Shelton, Hornswoggle, Chavo, Domino, Jesse & festus and Hawkins & Ryder yet there was no Jeff Hardy. Jeff is a crowd favourite and smackdown need him on the show every week.

Kozlov is a waste of time

This week Kozlov got to get another win against Stevie Richards who I had completely forgot was still employed by the WWE after not seeing him for years. Kozlov is a waste of five minuteso f TV time which could be used a lot better.

Overall

Until they put some interesting storylines around the Edge / Vickie Guerrero storyline Smackdown is always going to be lite and weak.

With WWE starting to get interesting again and with Victory Road just round the corner it was important that TNA hit a home run tonight.

Good Points

Unpredictability

TNA took a leaf out of WWE’s book this week with a wild start to show as we immediately cut live to a parking lot brawl between Roode and Homicide which eventually got in to the ring and lead Sting to appear from the rafters. I’m not normally a fan of promotions copying each other but in this case I make a rare exception.

A chance to see Doug Williams

Finally there is a reason for the World X Cup as we got to see Doug Williams on iMPACT in an impressive win putting points on the board for Team International. Can’t wait to see more of Doug in TNA.

Bad Points

Lack of build for the main event

The Samoa Joe vs. Booker T main event for Victory Road has been the worst built main event in Pay Per View history. I think Samoa Joe and Booker T have probably had a combined total of ten minutes of in ring action since the last pay per view. Then tonight they are given five minutes of mic time in the ring before Sting interrupts. Throwing Sting in to the mix last minute and not having this be the last part of the show is terrible. Two things you need to do with a main event. Push it above everything else and don’t change it at last minute, it’s not rocket science.

Mess of a six man

After some great weeks of build for the six man tag at Victory Road it all went for nothing this week as like the main event TNA cocked it up as well. Putting Angle and AJ in with the girls who are having a separate match and to not have any mic time for Bubba is criminal.

Overall

This week’s iMPACT made me glad I don’t have to pay for TNA PPV’s. With the stupid build they have done this could be TNA’s lowest buyrate in some time.

After the best episode of Raw this year I was wondering what the creative team were going to pull out the bag this week.

Good Points

New Feud for Burchill

After his last feud finished very abruptly with Mr. Kennedy Burchill has now been set up as an opponent for Kofi Kingston. Burchill waited for Kofi to secure the victory over Charlie Haas before laying him out. Good to see Burchill already being put in the Intercontinental title scene.

In ring return of Rey Mysterio

Was great to see Rey back in the ring and eased in lightly against Santino. All of his trademarks were as crisp as ever and I can’t wait to see what the long term plans are for him.

More out of control action

This week it was Stephanie’s turn to come out and appeal for calm before Raw started. However what we witnessed was out of control as all the top stars booked themselves in to the main event match to become number one contender for CM Punk.

Bad Points

Poor match quality

For CM Punk’s second title match he had to go against Snitsky In a middle of the card match. We also had Charlie Haas and a terrible Diva tag match to add to the mix. It was like Smackdown last week.

Use of Smackdown stars

I thought it was poor to start Raw with Vickie Guerrero in the ring talking about how CM Punk had ruined her life. I think yes use Smackdown stars on Raw and vice versa but don’t use storylines which have only played out on a specific brand on the other brand. Viewers need continuity and consistency.

Kane getting pushed

Out of nowhere Kane received his biggest push as he went crazy after the main event following Batista beating him in the fatal four way. Add to this what looks like the return to the JBL / Cena feud and Raw suddenly looks a mess again.

Overall

Making the show seem uncontrollable is good entertainment but there has to be some sensible booking underneath the madness.

After an average iMPACT last week and with WWE starting to pick up TNA need to start working hard again. With Victory Road getting closer some more matches need to be made for it and soon to give them enough time to build them correctly.

Good Points

Finally Samoa Joe has match on iMPACT as he partnered with Kevin Nash against Robert Roode and James Storm in the main event. It was also good to see Roode and Storm in a main event and was one of the best main event matches for a little while on iMPACT.

Great match made for Victory Road

With Angle injured the TNA are doing well to keep him around this time putting him in to a six man tag match at Victory Road as he partners with Team 3D to take on Rhino, Christian Cage and AJ Styles. This has the potential to be match of the night although it will be AJ’s team who will have to do most of the work.

Bad Points

Angle loses intensity and credibility

After being involved in some tense stuff with AJ Kurt has now been withdrawn in to a comedy role. The show had many segments with Angle from during the week where he had been set up on dates by Team 3D. This made all the previous weeks of building his intensity worthless.

Booker T

For someone who is suppose to be in a PPV main event to only have one backstage interview during the show with less than two weeks to go before the PPV is crazy. This makes even less sense than not having Samoa Joe wrestle on a regular basis.

No build for Two PPV matches

Tonight there was no build for Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt after TNA finally gave Sonjay Dutt some good TV time last week. We also saw no build for LAX vs. Roode and Storm except for a backstage LAX promo.

Overall

A terrible mess I don’t know who wrote this nightmare of a show. Probably the same person who was directing as some of the camera angles were shocking.

Following on from one of the most eventful Raw’s in sometime Smackdown had a lot to live up to this week. How was Edge going to react to losing his title and who would HHH be facing at the next PPV? All these questions needed to be answered.

Good Points

Edge gets a lot of TV time

The fallout from Raw was the main theme of Smackdown. Edge was involved in many segments starting with Vickie Guerrero announcing that he would be next to face HHH at Great American Bash. Then we had Edge beating on Jesse and Festus, followed by him falling out with Hawkins, Ryder and Vickie Guerrero. The show ended with Edge breaking off his upcoming wedding to Vickie.

Push for MVP

Was great to see the show kicking off with VIP Lounge and with MVP interviewing HHH. MVP hasn’t had much to do as of late so would be good to see him around the main event scene.

Bad Points

Poor main event

The four way between Kennedy, Shelton, Chavo and Matt Hardy was a terrible main event for Smackdown considering their new acquired talent. It was that bad that it wasn’t the last segment of the show. The match had no build up and no reason to be happening. The match quality tonight as shocking with Funaki, Hawkins & Ryder and Jesse & Festus all being involved in matches.

Not enough HHH

After the first fifteen minutes HHH might as well of had the night off. If they are serious about turning Smackdown in to a major brand they have to use HHH as much as they can.

Overall

Not a patch on Raw if it hadn’t been for the Edge developments then it would have been the worst Smackdown in history. The Edge development was great but they need to have a couple of good storylines underneath the main to make it a good show.

With ratings at a low and with the results of Night of Champions meaning Raw had no champion I was wondering what they were going to do on Raw tonight. WWE needed to do something big to win back the ratings and following Vince’s accident last week I was hoping for a good one and boy did it deliver.

Good Points

CM Punk cashes in the MITB

CM Punk followed up his draft to Raw by cashing in his MITB after Batista had laid out Edge and won the belt. Edge had come down to cut a promo on how nobody from Raw could now touch him after Night of Champions which Batista had interrupted. This was the only logical way to get the belt back on Raw and to use up CM Punk’s Money in the Bank without him cashing it in at a main event. Nobody ever believed he would win the title because of backstage politics, his size and the relatively small period of time he has been in WWE for. To have all this happen in the first half hour of Raw was amazing.

Vince off the scene and inmates are running the asylum

I think the WWE creative team are trying to recreate what they wanted to do with the aborted Vince death angle from last year. Having Shane come on to not comment on his father’s injury all but writes him out for the time being so that no one has on screen control. Just left us with the unpredictability factor. First JBL came down to proclaim marshal law with his own team of security to remove Cena from the building after challenging CM Punk to a title match later in the evening only for Cena to come back with Cryme Time to take out the security team.

JR Speech

Was great to see JR come down to give a farewell speech and plug the life out of Smackdown which is the first time I have seen and heard Smackdown plugged so much on Raw. WWE are really getting behind Smackdown at the moment to give it a good launch on the new network.

Bad Points

Women’s scene is dead

It was time for another throwaway women’s match on Raw between Mickie James and Jillian. Was good to see Katie lea get some backstage time but they need to keep her involved in the women’s title scene.

Use of jobbers

With the talent in WWE and a packed Raw I was dismayed to see two no name jobbers being used to go against Rhodes and Dibiase. It’s like a flashback to the 80’s. Matches like this do no one any favours.

Overall

The first world title change on Raw for some time shows just how much WWE are trying to up the ratings. I am loving the current climate on Raw with no one in charge should make for some entertaining TV. For the first time in a while I am really looking forward to the next Raw.

After missing last week’s iMPACT I was looking forward to seeing what was happening in TNA this week after hearing good things about their UK tour.

Good Points

Brother Ray getting good promo and mic time

I think TNA are really starting to use Brother Ray well giving him time to get over his heel persona. Although his best performing days are behind him its great to have him around one of the main event scenes to drive and add heat to a storyline.

Good use of Karen Angle

Great to see TNA really using Karen well and developing a feud between her and The Beautiful People as a little side storyline to play off the main Kurt and AJ thing is great thinking.

More guys getting time

It was good to see both The Guru Sonjay Dutt and Matt Morgan getting good TV time. Sonjay has had to hang around for months with not much to do but now that the storyline with him, Jay Lethal and SoCal Val has come to a head he is finally getting his rewards. Good to see Matt Morgan being given promo time hopefully this means they are actually going to commit him in to a proper feud soon.

Bad Points

Again no Samoa Joe in ring action

When Angle is injured TNA really need Samoa Joe to step up with more in ring action. To build him as the main event star they need to have him performing week in and week out and if they are building a PPV on him they need to give him the chance to help attract PPV buys through the weekly shows.

Poor Main event

To have Booker T and Nash headlining an iMPACT is terrible, it’s like we have warped back to WCW in 1999. Don’t get me wrong Booker deserves a push but to put him in there with Nash is the wrong move. WE maybe bad at the moment but I bet they are laughing when they see that as a main event.

Overall

Ruined by the main event and the lack of TNA made guys around the main event scene at the moment. Besides from that very good in places.

It was the first Smackdown after the draft and the last Smackdown before the PPV so it had potential to be an explosive Smackdown especially with raw mainstays HHH and Good Ol’ JR making their debuts.

Good Points

An exciting main event picture

The show started well with HHH cutting his first promo in Smackdown only to be cut off by Edge who reminded him whose house it was. Batista was thrown in to the mix and took down Edge to leave both HHH and Batista in the ring but it is the Edge and HHH feud which I am most looking forward to over the next few months. HHH later made the save for Batista after The Family set upon him.

Push for Umaga

Was great to see Umaga in the main event of the show against Batista. After doing diddlysquat on Raw for months this move to Smackdown seems to have already invigorated him as he aligns himself with the heel faction The Family.

Rey Mysterio leaving speech

It’s not often after a draft that a superstar gets the chance to say goodbye to their fans so it was nice to see Rey being given the chance. This was well done and classy by the WWE and I thought it was a fitting end to his Smackdown tenure.

Bad Points

Crazy Booking

After their heated rivalry of years gone to put Edge and Matt Hardy in a throwaway match was a bit stupid and then to have Finlay and Hornswoggle who in the supplemental draft got moved to ECW beat up and coming Smackdown team Hawkins and Ryder made no sense. Add all of this to the under use of MVP Smackdown’s creative team just needs to start thinking sensibly for once.

Kozlov

Another week another boring Kozlov match which does nothing to build him. Are we just going to have him going a year beating no name wrestlers on the slowest push ever.

Overall

Even after the draft Smackdown still has nothing going on in the undercard / midcard as it continues to be a top heavy brand.

Instead of my usual style Raw review this week I am going to talk about the draft movements in detail that took place on Monday night.

From Smackdown to Raw – Rey Mysterio

Not surprised by this one Rey has done anything he possibly can on Smackdown and his highflying style will fit well on Raw. Being on Raw will also give him time to develop his character and persona which has never really been done well on Smackdown.

From Raw to Smackdown – Jeff Hardy

Again not surprised by this one after the drugs violation when Jeff was on a main event push on Raw this could be seen as some sort of punishment. Also Jeff Hardy’s body is worn down so I think Smackdown will be an easier gig for him. The fans love Jeff but has terrible mic skills and no character so I think he will fit in better at Smackdown.

From ECW to Raw – CM Punk

A great move to push CM Punk. However CM Punk struggles in five minute matches so he will never get the chance to show his full potential on Raw. I think he would have been a better fit with Smackdown.

From Smackdown to ECW – Matt Hardy

A great draft for ECW. I think Matt is a great fit for the brand and takes the US title with him. Shame the Hardy Boys reunion on Smackdown only lasted five minutes but for once I think Matt will have the chance to be the star he deserves to be on ECW.

From Smackdown to Raw – Batista

Batista needs freshening up as his character and work has been stale for some time. With Batista wanting to take time off I think this is another way of WWE convincing him not to take time off. Due to his cross promotional work as of late the only feuds out there for him at Raw are Cena and Orton when he returns.

From Raw to Smackdown – Umaga

Again Umaga needs freshening up. After a run in the main event when he first came the last 6 – 12 months have seen him rarely used in a major PPV feud. I think Umaga has the chance again for another main event run at Smackdown.

From ECW to Raw – Kane

Not a biggee, the only interesting thing about this one is that he still the ECW champion.

From Raw to Smackdown – Mr. Kennedy

Again not another biggee just another sign that Mr. Kennedy is going round in circles as he returns to where he came from. Annoyingly this may cut short his programme with Burchill.

From Raw to Smackdown – HHH

This has been rumoured for some time. With Smackdown going on to a new network and WWE wanting to start off strong and with Stephanie expecting their second a lighter schedule for HHH makes sense. Also HHH has been on Raw forever so it’s nice to show that nobody is safe in the draft and this could open up some interesting possibilities for him.

Commentator Draft – Michael Cole and JR change places

This was one of the most shocking drafts of the night JR and the King have be an institution on Monday nights and now its going to be Cole and The King. Michael Cole has called all but two Smackdown’s but again with Smackdown going to a new network and the chance to reunite old friends Foley and JR it makes sense.

Overall

Mainly good and interesting decisions by the WWE creative team. From a creative point of view I don’t think they should do a draft before a PPV as the week before a PPV should be used to build the matches not confuse them with draft moves but I understand from a promotional point of view as the draft is a way of getting viewers to tune in and then buy the PPV.

As far as the title picture is concerned this is what I think will happen. HHH will beat Cena and his title will be the Smackdown belt where as Edge will lose to Batista with that belt becoming the Raw title and start his raw career off with a bang. If not Cena will beat HHH and Edge will beat Batista which is equally as possible.

Hey guys

Sorry but due to a hectic schedule this week there will be no reviews until raw next Monday. Hope you all have a fun week watching and talking our favourite from of sports entertainment. I will be attending the NOAH European Navigation event in Coventry this weekend so hopefully see some of you there and remember you can read my exclsuive NOAH content and articles in the build up to the event by going to:

www.thesun.co.uk/wrestling

After a mediocre at best Slammiversary it was time to see if TNA could deliver with a strong iMPACT.

Good Points

Great build for tag team feud

TNA did a great job of building a feud between the team or Roode & Storm and LAX. First Storm and Roode cheated to get the win and the belts then the ref reversed the decision and started the match over. Then LAX picked up the win but it was after that when Roode and Storm got LAX handcuffed to the ring posts and started strapping them mercilessly which has put the real fuel on this fire.

Good develop of the Karen / Kurt storyline

Karen was confirmed as a signed talent to TNA meaning Kurt Angle could no longer hit her. This meant that Kurt was going to get a female wrestler to do his dirty work for him. It wasn’t until the end of the show that with surprise Awesome Kong cam down to knock Karen out. Wonder what’s going to happen next?

Abyss is back on iMPACT

Great to see Abyss back on iMPACT and after beating on Scott Steiner at the PPV I assumed he would stuck in a feud with Scott but Abyss made his presence felt on the main event scene as he cleared house after the AJ vs Angle main event.

Bad Points

Build up for World Cup

There was a big too much time given to the upcoming X-Division tournament with many wrestlers featuring in preview matches for the tournament that the crowd had never seen. This as a viewer took you out of the action for lengthy spots during the two hour show. I know they have to build it but should build more steadily over a longer period.

Dropping the ball with Kaz

After having Kazz win in the best match on iMPACT last week to secure a shot at the champion on iMPACT this week I was disappointed to se this match out first. They should have main evented this match an made it something special so they could push Kaz. With so much going on in TNA right now I think Kaz just got lost in the shuffle.

Overall

A superb show. I love the pace of TNA shows they always have me feverishly scribbling notes in order to keep up. They’ve got some good feuds already set for the next PPV so am looking forward to see how they develop.

With some good feuds building on Raw I was wondering how Samckdown this week were going to continue to build Edge vs Batista and what other feuds they were going to develop for Night of Champions.

Good Points

Good build for Edge and Batista

I’m really looking forward to this at Night of Champions as they are building this feud well. This week Vickie got Batista to sign the contract for the match without realising that he signed on a clause which said he had to beat the Great Khali tonight to get his shot at Edge. Seeing Batista continuing to overcome huge obstacles is continuing to build his position and is start making the fans believe he can beat Edge at Night of Champions

Continuation of non wrestling segments

Was good to see a lot of backstage stuff and in ring interviews. Not as much as last week but better than most weeks on Smackdown.

Finally Kozlov gets some mic time

After weeks of wasting time with Kozlov the WWE creative team finally started the ball rolling on his character. As the interviewer tried to interview him backstage he delivered a tirade in his native language which no one could understand. This leaves great scope for them to bring in an interpreter or for other ways they could take his character.

Bad Points

Not enough feuds for Night of Champions

So far the only two matches we have on the Smackdown side for Night of Champions is Edge vs. Batista and Matt Hardy vs Chavo which Chavo announced this week on Smackdown. All the matches at the PPV are going to be title matches so they need to set in stone a tag team title match and the new Divas Champion match.

Too many guys getting time on the show that yod don’t see on PPV’s

Smackdown this week gave TV time and matches to Mark Henry, Tommy Dreamer, Chuck Palumbo, Deuce & Domino and Jesse and Festus. Now when was the last time you saw these guys on PPV or actually do something meaningful on PPV? Smackdown writers need to invest in guys they are actually going to use at PPV.

Overall

Smackdown needs three strong feuds to hold the show together whereas it currently has only one. The entertainment factor has gone up they just now need to more thoughtful and careful with the time they have each week.

After some very entertaining editions of impact I was looking forward to TNA’s biggest show of the year Slammiversary. I was looking forward to Angle vs. Styles and the King of the Mountain match especially. TNA have invested a lot of time in promoting these two matches but hopefully the rest of the card could provide some good entertainment.

Good Points

The Return of Abyss

After many weeks of Abyss promos being run on impact Abyss finally made his return to the TNA ring by attacking Scott Steiner, Petey Williams and Raka Khan leaving them all laying in the middle of the ring. Abyss was sporting a new outfit and a new attitude. Looks like TNA are just slowly putting him back in the mix with the Steiner feud but hopefully he will make his way back up the ranks shortly.

Two brilliant matches

The two best matches of the night weren’t the two main events. These honours went to Petey Williams vs Kaz and team 3D vs. LAX. As good to see a great tag team match as we rarely get one these days on WWE programming and Petey Williams underlined why he is one of my favourite wrestlers in TNA.

Push for Samoa Joe

Although the match was a shocker it was good to see Samoa Joe’s push continued as he won the honour of being the first champion to step in to a King of the Mountain match as champion and walk out with the belt. It was very obvious that Samoa Joe was going to win but it needed to happen.

Bad Points

Terrible use of Moose

The new muscle for the Beautiful People debuted on Thursday’s edition of impact knocking down everyone in her path and then three days later she is getting beaten up and losing in her match teaming with the Beautiful People against ODB, Gail Kim and Roxy.

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

After some of the most heated segments ever on impact in recent weeks this match fell in to the Booker T / Robert Roode trap of have no intensity in the match. TNA are doing well at building intense storylines on impact but it just seems recently that these intense storylines have been ruined by less than intense pay paer view matches. When this happens it undoes all the good work that has been one before it.

King of the Mountain

The match had nothing we hadn’t seen before and did little to keep the viewer hooked. If you are not going to do anything new in the match then you need to have an excellently worked out match in the ring which didn’t happen.

Overall

I’m glad I don’t have to pay for TNA PPV’s. The problem with developing good storylines on impact is that you have to deliver them on PPV”s which they don’t seem able to do.

The last week has been a hive of press conferences and media relations for the WWE in the build up to Mr McMahon’s Million dollar Mania which was happening tonight on Raw. With Smackdown gaining on Raw every week in the viewing ratings WWE were hoping this would be a ratings winner.

Good Points

Three Good Feuds

Chris Jericho / Shawn Michaels feud

This has to be the best feud on Raw after tonight’s show. Jericho is one of the most intelligent guys on the mic and played the crowd brilliantly tonight. This ended with Jericho finally snapping after weeks of threatening to by putting HBK’s head through a TV screen.

Mr. Kennedy / Paul Burchill

Great to see Burchiil in a feud with such an established star. Although Mr. Kennedy got the victory in their match an attack by Burchill on Kennedy after the match means it isn’t dead in the water. Unfortunately though unless one of them gets a title in the next couple of weeks we won’t see them at the next PPV.

HHH / Cena

Good to see these two headlining again. Although this has been put together due to injuries to other stars I would quite happily sit through a series of matches of these guys culminating at Summerslam.

Bad Points

Mr. McMahon’s Million Dollar Mania or should I say madness

The viewing ratings are in from Monday night’s and after Vince gave away his own money and the ratings haven’t improved so Vince gave away his money for nothing. There were many segments of the show dedicated to the competition which were agonising to watch. First off when Vince tried to dial the number of the winners many of the calls didn’t work and watching someone make a phone call in a five minute segment isn’t entertaining.

Beth Phoenix getting misused

After being built up for months as an unbeatable wrestler Beth seems to now be coming out on a weekly basis to lose to Mickie James. For Mickie James to be built again she needs a strong opponent to go against.

Santino and Carlito getting the mess around

Again it’s another case of crazy booking. After weeks of being built and getting mic time this week they lost to Cryme Time to who are regularly on Raw and with no mic time. If this wasn’t bad enough Ted Bibiase Junior and a partner of his choosing have next tag title shot and the tag champs just lost to the new pairing of Snitsky and Umaga in a non title match.

Overall

You could fast forward through a lot of this week’s show if you have it on record. Besides Jericho’s Highlight Reel there wasn’t much mic time for anyone and there was no flow to the show thanks to the Million Dollar competition. Three good feuds are in place they just now need to give them time and develop them properly.

This being the iMPACT before TNA’s biggest Pay Per View of the year Slammiversary I was expecting big things this week. TNA have built some good storylines and it as going to be interesting to see what they were going to do for the final push.

Good Points

Great Push for AJ Styles

I am so happy AJ is finally getting pushed in the top feud after months of playing the comedy sidekick. After weeks of getting a beatdown on iMPACT AJ returned the favour for Christian Cage for his help last week at the beginning of the show and then it was turn for the faces to win the skirmish at the end as Samoa Joe came to the aid of Styles and the faces. The love triangle angle with Karen, Kurt and AJ is brilliant and each have played their part in making this an intense rivalry.

A storyline for Nash

Nash is being used well by TNA. After weeks of helping Samoa Joe as an advisor and protector Nash now has the position of special enforcer in the King of the Mountain match and Samoa Joe now thinks he is going to screw him. I am expecting a Nash heel turn at Slammiversary.

The Beautiful People getting good TV time

The Beautiful People are the best female tandem in wrestling at the moment ok they are the only female tandem on TV but they are good. Now they have a new girl as their muscle to back them up things can only be getting better.

Bad Points

Samoa Joe has the cushiest job in wrestling

I can’t remember the last time Samoa Joe had a match on iMPACT or the last time he was on the screen for more than five minutes. Samoa Joe has been king of the pre-records lately and if you work it out he must be on some pay per minute. If he was doing a ton of media I could kind of understand it but Kurt Angle is the one doing all the media so it definitely is the cushiest job.

Kurt Angle has the second most cushiest job in wrestling

When TNA has a much lighter schedule than WWE and when you are trying to establish yourself as a real competitor you need your top guys doing the work in the ring which TNA don’t have at the moment.

Overall

The cast that you see in the ring are really pulling their weight but with your main stars not pulling theirs its hard to see if TNA will ever become a competitor for WWE. This said I’m looking forward to a couple of good storylines they have put in place for Slammiversary.

After the Smackdown main event stole the show at One Night Stand it was about time that Smackdown started winning the war of the brands. As Raw is currently experiencing its worst ratings in some time can Smackdown pick up the slack and show thm how it’s done.

Good Points

Lots of non wrestling segments

Finally the Samckdown team have got the balance right between matches and non wrestling segments. The show felt like an entertainment show and not a wrestling show which is what Smackdown needs to be. If they can continue with this balance they are on to a winner.

Two long term storylines put in place

Batista is the new challenger for Edge as after Edge set him what he thought was an impossible task which was to beat The Familia in an eight man tag team match but with Edge and Vickie picking Batista’s partners. Batista and his team of Funaki, Nunzio and Colin Delaney got the win and provided an entertaining main event. On a weekly TV show your job isn’t to put on five star matches but to entertain which I think this match did. The other long term storyline is the planned wedding between Edge and Vickie which got announced at the top of the show, the wedding is going to happen on smackdown.

Women’s division on Smackdown finally gets some direction

After years of just being there for decoration and pointless matches they finally have their own Smackdown only women’s championship entitle the Divas Championship. There is now a good group of female wrestlers on Smackdown and it’s great to see them getting a championship. Natalya won the Golden Dream match to win a place in the first title match, we still wait to see who her opponent will be.

Bad Points

Kozlov

Having Kozlov win squash matches for over two months is not entertaining. They have to do something with him soon and actually integrate him in to a proper storyline.

The Jimmy Kimmel experience

Having a match on Samckdown with on of the cast called Cousin Sal against Raw wrestler Santino Marella made no sense. If they were going to have a match with one of Jimmy’s crew they should have saved it for a filler on a PPV.

Overall

Superb, best Smackdown I have seen in some time. The show was well paced and had lots going on. Smackdown went from being the wrestling show to the entertainment show which it needed to do. Top marks.

After the lowest viewing ratings in some time for Raw last week WWE really needed to start bringing their A-Game to get the ratings back. We had the fall out from One Night Stand and Mr. McMahon’s Million Dollar Madness to look forward to so I was intrigued to see what Raww was going to be like this week.

Good Points

Good development in the main event scene

After Randy Orton breaking his collarbone at One Night Stand HHH opened the show to inform everyone he had ended the era of Orton. This meant we needed a new challenger so John Cena and Jeff Hardy came down to the ring to both stake their claim for hwy they should be the number one contender. This created the headline match of Raw between Hardy and Cena with the winner getting a shot at HHH. Good to Cena not stuck with JBL and to see Hardy getting his push back after his recent suspension.

Burchill / Kennedy feud

Great to see WWE investing time in this feud. We thought we were going to get a match between the two but Burchill pulled out due to Katie lea having her first match later in the show in his place Umaga stepped into face Mr. Kennedy. This left Burchill with a chance to do a run in and blindside Kennedy in typical heel fashion. Not to be out done later in the show Kennedy attacked Burchill when he came down to celebrate his sisters’ victory.

Chris Jericho turning

Chris Jericho is going through an interesting character progression in the mid card of Raw. After coming back as the fan favourite he has now on many occasions showed heel or close to heel like qualities turning and flipping on some of his opponents. This has been teased for some time now and I for one am looking forward to when he fully lets go.

Bad Points

Mr. McMahon’s Million Dollar Madness

It’s a good way to get people to watch as people will watch for a chance of winning a million but from a televisual view point it sucks. What s entertaining about someone announcing how to win a million dollars. If there was an interesting task that entrants had to complete to win the money that would be one thing but all they have to do is register on WWE.com.

Night off for HHH

After the first fifteen minutes HHH effectively had the night off with only brief non wrestling appearances throughout the show. With both TNA and WWE at the moment they start to need using their champions better on TV.

Lance Cade and Murdoch

No one really knows why they are feuding, Murdoch likes to sing Lance Cade has no character or personality whoever came up with the idea of putting these two against each other.

Overall

No substance. Without Orton now we are left with only two big drawing main event stars and a weak to non existent mid card. The WWE aren’t going to create any new stars over night so they really need to step up their creative ideas to keep us entertained.

After a terrible Judgment day and a drop in viewing ratings WWE really need to pick their game up for One Night Stand. After two chaotic weeks of crazy booking on the TV shows I wasn’t expecting great things but was looking forward to seeing the return of matches like TLC.

Good Points

Big Push for Edge

Was great to see him in the main event putting on a good match with Undertaker which featured some great bumps. Edge won the match thus forcing The Undertaker to leave the WWE which is a big thing to have on his resume. It also frees him up for a new challenger to work with on Smackdown in the coming weeks.

Jeff Hardy starting where he left off.

Before his lay off Jeff was enjoying one of his biggest pushes to date and it looks like the WWE creative team want to start where they left off with Hardy opening the show in a good match with Umaga. The match featured the spot of the night as Hardy did his Swanton Bomb out in the parking lot from a huge scaffold structure to get the win.

Nice continuation of the storyline for Batista

Many were saying that Batista was about to take some time off from WWE but with his big win against HBK it looks likely he will be the first challenger for Edge. Was great to see Jericho getting involved again as that also provides another option for Batista or HBK to work with.

Bad Points

Not Extreme enough

For a show that was being billed as the most extreme of the year it was very mild to say the least. Except for Hardy’s Swanton and a few stand out bumps in TLC the action was very tame. I wasn’t expecting anything like the old ECW style but a bit more hard hitting would have been nice.

Orton Injured

It is being reported that Orton suffered a broken collarbone during his match with HHH which could put him on the shelf for a little while. This means we need a new contender for HHH whilst we wait for the draft. This means we will probably see either JBL or Cnea pushed to fill the gap.

Cena vs. JBL just doesn’t work

To have a good match Cena needs to work with a technical or highflying wrestler. JBL’s smash mouth style doesn’t work with Cena’s fan orientated style. Hopefully this is the last Cena/JBL match we have to see for some time.

Overall

Besides from the first and the last match it was all pretty much filler. With only two weeks to build for the show none of the storylines were intense enough or as strong as they should have been. We have got two more pay per views to go until Summerslam now so it will be interesting to see what storylines the WWE will go with to push for Summerslam.

After one of my favourite episodes of iMPACT for some time I was really looking forward to seeing this week’s offering from the TNA crew.

Good Points

Great set up for Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

This is the match that myself and I think many of the TNA fans have been looking forward to for some time and we are going to be able to see it at Slammiversary. TNA are building this feud brilliantly with more debate on whether AJ had an affair with Kurt’s wife Karen and AJ getting the beat down two weeks in a row from Kurt, Team 3D and Booker T. This week he didn’t take the beating alone as Christian Cage tried to help him, let’s see next week if anybody else tries to come to his aid.

Push for 3D and Booker T

This little faction is getting a lot of TV and mic time. Even in the twilight of his career Brother Ray is still a great talker on the mic and is a good mouthpiece for the group. Just need to see these guys in more matches as they just seem to be doing a lot of talking and backstage stuff at the moment.

Something for Nash to do

TN have come up with a good little storyline for Nash. No one wants to see him wrestle any more but he still has a part to play. This week he acted as security for Jim Cornette so he could get the spot as Special Enforcer for King of the Mountain which I think is a good move for his career in TNA.

Bad Points

Very little TV time for Samoa Joe

If you missed five minutes of the first segment of iMPACT you missed Samoa Joe this week. They need to start using him more on weekly TV episodes and not just save him for PPV’s. Ok he may not be the best talker but he is a good wrestler and if you are going to put him as your champion you have to give him a fair chunk of TV time every week.

What’s happening with Tomko

One minute it looks like they are going to give him a big push the next he is on a losing streak. This week Tomko did the honours for Christian Cage in the King of the Mountain qualifiers. I think TNA need to start committing one way of the other with Tomko and not do this stop, start approach.

Will Eric hurry up and find Elvis

Now I find Eric Young amusing and there is a place for his out of ring comedy segments in the show. The problem is with Eric’s segments if they aren’t funny which this search for Elvis are then they start to look stupid and out of place. It’s ok doing the wacky stuff but you have to make sure the crowd will find them funny for them to work.

Overall

Not a patch on last week’s show but an entertaining two hours none the less. The build for Kurt vs. AJ has been brilliant and if nothing else this match will have me tuning in to Slammiversary.

After an entertaining Raw I was hoping this week Smackdown could provide a bit of entertainment. Normally the episodes of Smackdown that are just before the PPV’s are the most exciting ones so I’m normally not disappointed.

Good Points

Great build up for TLC

The build up for the match between Undertaker and Edge was brilliant. With the show kicking off with a great Edge promo on how it was going to be the last time the fans saw the Undertaker on Smackdown which was followed by a great end segment. The end segment saw the family put Undertaker in a coffin just for the lights to go out and for The Undertaker to appear right next to Edge at the top of the ladder.

Building for the future

Was a good move by the writers to start building for after One Night Stand with Batista stating his intentions of going after the heavyweight title after he beats Michaels on Sunday. His match with Hawkins and Ryder was instantly forgettable but at least it saw Batista getting involved with Vickie Guerrero and some of the family.

Jamie Noble

Was involved in some funny backstage segments with MVP and Vickie Guerrero that guy should be given better storylines.

Bad Points

Too Many matches

Normally on an episode of Raw we get five matches tonight on Smackdown we had seven matches. In a two hour show seven matches is far too many it is better to invest time in a smaller number of guys and give them more out of ring time than having seven matches.

Guys in need of something to do

Now I may not be the biggest fan of Chuck Palumbo but WWE need to give him a decent storyline which involve a PPV match and see what happens if they don’t he is just wasting TV time. Other guys that need better things to do are Finlay, Jamie Noble, Big Show, Chavo Guerrero and MVP who isn’t even on the PPV.

Overall

A nice edition of smackdown which managed to keep me entertained and get in the mood for One Night Stand.