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MMA PW is by no means, to be taken as a serious and objective reporting of MMA/pro wrestling shows; this is simply your alternative MMA/pro wrestling news and opinion website. If you want play-by-play, either read Dave Meltzer, or watch the show yourself. My reviews are simply my thoughts on a show: I comment and mock and nitpick the show in a hilarious manner, for cheap laughs, for serious criticisms, and for anger management therapy.

 Impact Spoilers

For May 28th

- A.J. Styles defeated Daniels to get into the King of the Mountain match. Post-match saw Shane Douglas lay out Daniels with a chain. They'll be wrestling a singles at Slammiversary

- Suicide defeated Amazing Red to keep the X title

- Sting's first promo in charge of the Mafia saw him get rid of the women, because they are nothing but trouble, and get rid of security, because the food bill is too high

- Doug Williams defeated Cody Deaner in a ladder match. Williams retained his X Division title shot briefcase. Apparently the briefcase is at stake in angle beat downs.

- Angelina Love defeated Sojo Bolt to keep the Knockouts title. Love fired Cute Kip for the second time, saying he screwed up not getting rid of Kong. Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne were back. Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria) hit the ring and laid out all three heels, so she's getting the next title shot

- Mick Foley announced a match for "next week" (tomorrow's tapings with Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash in a cage to get into King of the Mountain

- Eric Young is mad and won't take it anymore, and vows to become a main eventer

- Jeff Jarrett defeated Young to get into King of the Mountain. Young then turned on Jarrett and attacked his injured hamstring. Jarrett had to be helped out.

- Dr. Stevie said Abyss' therapy isn't going well. He had a straitjacket and kendo stick with him. He told Abyss to put on the straitjacket. He went to hit him with the kendo stick, for Abyss' own good of course. Lauren hit the ring for the save, but she didn't have her trusty broken glass gimmick. Stevie was about to lay out Lauren when Raven came out, and grabbed the stick for Stevie and went to hit him with it. But it was a swerve and he laid out Abyss with it instead. Stevie & Raven hug and then challenged the Pitbulls for the ECW tag titles in Jim Thorpe, PA after stepping into TNA's new time machine where it's whatever year in the 90s they want it to be

For June 4th

- Daniels defeated Red

- Beer Money defeated Chris Sabin & Consequences Creed

So who ever had first match back for the Kennedy injury pool, come claim your prize
 
Mr. Kennedy suffered a wrist injury during the 10-man tag match on Monday's Raw. He rolled out of the ring after taking an RKO from Randy Orton and then clutched his wrist in pain. He winced when Jerry Lawler touched his wrist at ringside. He was able to join the other babyfaces in celebrating after the match.

Smackdown spoiler

-- For those annoyed with the basketball skits on Raw last night, you'll be pleased to know there is more planned for Smackdown tonight.

 Results

Divas champion Kelly Kelly d. Maryse via DQ for pushing Kelly over into the announcer’s lap or something (2:45).

Kofi Kingston d. Matt Hardy & William Regal when Kofi pinned Matt with the Trouble in Paradise (9:51).

Santino Marella & Mickie James d. Chavo Guerrero & Beth Phoenix when Mickie pinned Beth with the crucifix to decide the stipulation for Santina vs. Vickie Guerrero at Extreme Rules (1:35).

Goldust & Hornswoggle d. The Brian Kendrick & Festus when Goldust pinned Kendrick with The Final Cut (2:10).

The Lakers (MVP, Jerry Lawler, Mr. Kennedy, John Cena & Batista) d. The Nuggets (The Miz, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, The Big Show & Randy Orton) when MVP pinned Rhodes with the Playmaker.

Random Thoughts

- Vince really dragged this NBA thing all night and it was a great night for non-NBA fans. Well thought out. I guess this is what happens when you hurt Vince's ego. I did love the "I am not a Nugget" sign in the crowd, however.  

- LOL @ Lillian. From Montreal, Ontario, Canada...Maryse!

- WTF? Pushes are DQ's now? Womens wrestling is so crap. They may as well just kill the whole division, it's a joke.

- Whatever HGH Flair is on, it's working wonders.

- Kofi is awesome. That thing on the ropes he did was really impressive.

- Oh, Vickie, is there any angle you CAN'T ruin? The combined powers of Vickie suckiness and Santino awesomeness made it intresting.

- Goldie still has some of the best intro music ever. And why does he have Tourette's again?

- Did they buy the jerseys from kids Foot Locker? Why are they all so small?

- Batista has the jersey AND shorts and he "ran" like a retard.

- The mystery guy was Kennedy. Nobody seemed to care. Dont blame them either. All he's known for is getting injured and saying his name. My bet is that he won't last past Summerslam.

- LOL @ "VINTAGE KING WITH THE RIGHT HAND!" Now punches are vintage.

- Was Kennedy hurt at the end there, it looked like he was holding his wrist, I wasn't really paying attention to the match. This guy is even worse than Rey Mysterio...

 From Orlando, Florida. Original airdate: 5/24/09

Red d. Kiyoshi on the preshow, Red Star Press -- pin (**1/2).

Crowd points out that Amazing Red is, in fact, Amazing. Anyways, this was an extended Impact Special, though it was fun enough. Red looks a lot better with those new tights. He doesn't look like a backyard wrestler.

Foley arrives in a car. Hehe, Sting arrives in a bee coloured car and Foley arrives in an old banger.

Eric Young & Lethal Consequences d. Motor City Machine Guns & Sheikh Bashir, Lethal roll up -- pin Bashir (14:00, ***1/2).

Eric Young's back from being raped by Fat Joe. Anyways, this was fun and energetic and great way to start the show. Matches like that are what made me initially love TNA, though it lost all semblance of a tag team match halfway through as I seriously didn't know who the legal man was at the end. And Don West is more annoying than usual as his mic has been turned way up.

Taylor Wilde d. Daffney in a Monster's Ball match -- TKO (4:00, DUD).

Nothing match as calling it a "Monster's Ball" raised expectations that it couldn't meet. Post-match, Dr. Stevie wanted Abyss to put Wilde through some tacks, but he hesitated. Lauren then came out to stop him, so Stevie put his hands on her and Abyss chokeslammed him into the tacks for his troubles. Daffney losing this was weird, especially as it didn't really tie into the post-match stuff anyway.

Meanwhile, Borash says that two former world champs and a new Knockout will appear on Impact next week.

X-Division champion Suicide draws with Daniels -- time-limit draw (17:00, **).

MCMG caused Suicide to lose in 12 minutes, but Daniels didn't want the title that way, so he wanted 5 more minutes, in which he ran out of time. Poor guy. Match was OK, but not good.

Knockouts champion Angelina Love d. Awesome Kong, rollup -- pin (7:00, *).

End came when Love sprayed Kong, but nothing actually came out of the spray bottle, but Kong sold it anyway. Wow, I was predicting a Kong squash and this wasn't quite the Knockouts match I was expecting. Post-match, Angie eats a pair of Implant Busters.

Meanwhile, Sting promises to retire on his terms.

Samoa Joe w/ fear for cardio d. Kevin Nash, Coquina Clutch -- submission (8:00, DUD).

Joe needs a tan. Brown pants and his white flabby gut just don't look right. Anyways, I was surprised by Nash getting killed here and this was easily one of the worst matches of the night as Joe looked like crap. They actuality had a decent match at Turning Point all things considered. Joe went haywire post-match, killing referees then Steiner came out to check on Nash once Joe was gone. It's funny how Joe came across as more of a killer when he didn't have a knife.

Beer Money d. British Invasion in a 3D Invitational Final, Storm superkick -- pin Williams (12:00, ***).

Good tag action as it was entertaining. Beer Money are actuality better faces than heels right now as when Robert Roode got the hot tag, I thought I was watching a tag match from the Rock N Roll Express. Beer Money shake with 3D, post-match.

TNA Legends champion AJ Styles d. Booker T in a I Quit Match -- towel throw (16:00, ***).

Every time I hear Book's TNA theme, all I can think is DAMN I miss the Harlem Heat music. End came when Jenna Morasca threw in the towel. Anyways, this was a good match, one of Booker's best in TNA, but the finish turned me off big-time as "unrelated person throwing in a towel into the ring and the ref calling the match" is my least favorite finish ever. And the fact that this match ONLY existed to put over the Sharmelle/Jenna feud? Disgusting.

Sting d. TNA World champion Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, & Jeff Jarrett in a Ultimate Sacrifice Match, (14:00, ***).

End came when Sting suplexed Foley on the floor while Jarrett gave Angle a stroke off the middle rope onto a chair in the ring (SUPER CHAIR STROKE~!), but Sting jumped in and pinned Angle to become the new leader of the MEM, but not the champion (THAT DAMN ULTIMATE OPPORTUNIST STING~!). Again, this was an entertaining match, but hated the dumb rule where you had to pin Foley to become champ. Even the ref looked confused when the bell rung. There was no indication on the television that you had to pin Foley to win the title, the whole idea was that each guy was sacrificing their stake to win the title not take Jeff Jarrett's stake away, or becoming a Mafia leader or retiring Sting for good.

Final Thoughts: This PPV wasn't bad, but it was just so boring. That's TNA in a nutshell. It's not WCW Millionaire Club bad though, as the actual wrestling wasn't bad at all. From a booking perspective, the main event and the I Quit match were big turn offs. Did you know beforehand that Foley had to be pinned in order to lose the title?

Death Threat of the Night: Russo - his stench strikes again. Why the hell would someone decide to become the leader of a crappy stable instead of the top champion? Man, logic and Russo don't mix together very well.

Best Match of the Night: The Opener - reminded me of the old school X-Division matches.

Worst Match of the Night: Nash v. Joe - Joe looked so unmotivated.

Jobber of the Night: Nash for doing the clean job.

Blown Spot of the Night: No spray coming out of the spray bottle.

Surprise of the Night: Ref Bump? In a TNA Main Event? Inconceivable!

Well Done: Sting pinning Angle was the most harmless outcome, and therefore, probably the stupidest ending outside of Jarrett becoming the new Godfather.

Over Done: Don West - he sucks as a heel commentator. I just don't buy him as a heel at all. You can't make someone a heel broadcaster that easily. The reason JBL and Lawler were so great was because they were heels for most of their careers.

Screw the Smarks: Jenna Morasca throwing in the towel. Bret and Helen Hart say hello.

Idiot of the Night: Bashir - using WMD in your move names? This is 2009, not 2003, right?

Thank God For: They didn't kill 10 minutes with the trophy presentation.

 The two former TNA champions returning to iMPACT! this week are Raven and Shane Douglas, and of course, the WWE diva coming to TNA is former Women's champion Victoria - Lisa Marie Varon.

Victoria to TNA? Good for her. Hate how WWE used her from '06 and on. Her stuff with Trish and others back in the days were very good. Hope TNA uses her appropriately.

 I honestly believe that Pro Wrestling Guerilla has overtaken ROH as the best promotion on the Indies as PWG's been having some great shows lately. They are certainly on a roll, but thats as much to do with the roster as it is anything to do with the booking; the most recent DVDs I've seen have the same feel about them as the classic 2004-2006 era in ROH and with ROH's recent booking change away from what made those years so beloved, I think it's only natural that some fans will have gravitated away from the new ROH and found PWG putting out a product very similar to the ROH they loved.

That being said, the backlash towards ROH and the new booking team has been hilarious; I'm not even sure people know what they want, or even what good wrestling is nowadays. I can't count the number of recent ROH shows I've read the results for and been left with a highly negative impression, only to order the DVD and find myself thinking "what the hell were those guys on? This shows great." Unfourtunatly, there have been a good few shows that were deserving of the negative reaction, and other changes within ROH that have rightly irked some of the fans, however it's clearly a transitional time for ROH and they certainly deserve to be given the time to work things out, yet the number of fans that have sworn off ROH forever, lamented the loss of their golden boy Gabe and generally turned the ROH board into a pit of negative, anti-Pierce crap, is just staggering.

 Idiots at Slam

"WWE Superstars continues to show it's a "do-nothing" show whose only purpose is to try and get a higher rating than TNA iMPACT! and ECW on Sci-Fi."

A do-nothing show? So now wrestling is not good? Seriously, WTF?

The show has had some of the best matches on current WWE TV since April. There are 3 matches, 1 from each brand. No segments or filler. Although there was once a Cutting Edge instead of an SD match, prior to Backlash, which was great as usual.

It is a pure wrestling show. The promos and crap are left for Raw/SD/ECW, here is only more wrestling to watch, which is something that lacks on Raw, and that there's not enough time on ECW.

Storylines are carried over by the matches themselves. But it seems those idiots at Slam seem to find that there is too much wrestling on the show.

WWE Hall of Famer from 2009 class appears at TNA house show

By James Caldwell
May 22, 2009 - 10:13:54 PM

Terry Funk, a WWE Hall of Famer from the recent 2009 class, appeared at tonight's TNA house show in Amarillo, Tex. - the Funk family territory.

Funk was the guest enforcer for the show's main event of Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner. He was joined ringside by TNA World Hvt. champion Mick Foley, who was inseparable from Funk in the 1990s hardcore wrestling scene.

TNA posted photos of Funk appearing live with Foley, Steiner, and Joe on their Twitter page.

 Well, looks like the LHW title isn't going anywhere for a good while.

From Las Vegas, Nevada. Original airdate: 5/23/09

Big Lightweight vs Small Lightweight: Frank Edgar d. Sean Sherk w/ short arms via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Why does Sherk think he is a boxer? He is built like a wrestler, his body is basically the antithesis of a boxer's. The guy is not gonna knock anyone out, period. Has he watched too many Rocky movies or something?! Anyways, Sherk should not be on another main card until he changes things up. I feel like the UFC put pressure on Sherk's camp to make him strike more, but it just doesn't work and his fights are still boring. Anyhoo, this was an easy win for Franky, but unless he's fighting KenFlo or a recovered Din Thomas, I'm really not interested anymore.

Not Pointless Middleweight Bout: Chael Sonnen d. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

This one was a bit of a snoozer and I actually like Chael Sonnen as any fighter who can put up with BodogFIGHT and the IFL and still get some time in the UFC deserves my props and I also think Dan Miller has a great future in the sport; he’s generally well-rounded and has exceptional submission skills that seem to be natural for him.

Pointless Middleweight Bout: Drew McFedries d.  "Professor X" Xavier Foupa-Pokam via TKO (strikes) at 0:37 of round 1.

First knockout of the night and it was worth it as it was one hell of a knockout and X folded like a cheap chair; X should've kept his hands up, especially when he was back against the cage.

Sidenote: Is Tyson rich again? How can he afford the seats? His movie paycheck looked like it was spent on his "date".

Welterweight GRUDGE Match: Matt Hughes w/ annoying entrance music d.  Matt Serra w/ Rocky theme via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Well that was anticlimactic. I was expecting more after all that trash talking. This match should have happened a year ago and had a boring finish to boot as they gave the win to the guy who wanted the decision rather than to finish it. Serra had intent to end the fight, Hughes just wanted some fucking points. Disappointing decision. Plus the third round should have at least been a split; Serra had a takedown in the 3rd as well and while Hughes did some damage on the ground, Serra did plenty to counter that.

Light Heavyweight Championship bout: "Put him in a bodybag Johnny yeah!" Lyoto Machida w/ Linkin Park music d. Rashad Evans via KO (punch) at 3:57 of round 2 to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

HOLY CRAP MACHIDA STOPPED A FIGHT. Machida fight good. Me love him long time. This went from "OMG BORINGEST FIGHT EVAR" to "HE BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF HIM" pretty quick. Evans didn't even throw a single punch as Mach's punches are so accurate that every single one of those punches in the ko hit Evans flush on the chin. Also Evans looked like his body suddenly didn't agree with gravity or something right in the middle of the knockout as his leg looked like it was about to snap off as he was going down. Machida doesn't look quick until he strikes, then all of a sudden out of nowhere it's like where the hell did that come from? I guess Karate is officially back. Anyways, Evans did the best anyone could have done. The UFC is indeed screwed now, as no one will beat this guy. That entire match was a damn promotional video for karate. A new era has dawned in MMA history my friends; screw Muai Thai and BJJ, I'm signing up for Shotokan Karate tomorrow. This Ryu guy is going to bring in so many new fans/bandwagoners.

Final Thoughts: I found most of the performances rather "eh". I LOVED seeing Rashad getting knocked out though. That was amazing. That makes my list of favorite knockouts. Although my judgment on that list may or may not be questioned seeing as my all time favorite is Shamrock's knee to the chin knockout victory in his second fight against Kimo Leopoldo.

 I think Heaven has a better roster than WWE.

 If only he had one of Ronald Reagan performing the Reagan Smash.

 And speaking of comedy, to set this all straight, Vince McMahon has been crying for five days now that Raw got bumped for an NBA game. Now whether his gripe is legitimate or not, the fact is that at last count WWE has now cancelled FIVE EVENTS as a result: Loveland, CO, Colorado Springs, plus August 8 in Saskatoon, August 8 in Kamloops, BC, and August 9th in Kelowna, the last three due to rescheduling the Colorado shows.

 UFC 98 is tonight. Meltzer really puts over the preview show strong. Says Hughes/Serra is a must-see with Serra playing whiny heel.

Tonight after Impact.

My picks:

MAIN CARD

Light Heavyweight Title!
Rashad Evans 5' 11" 18-0-1 Versus Lyoto Machida 6' 1" 14-0-0
Prediction: Machida. I'm definitely pulling for him. He's a fun fighter to watch and his style is a breath of fresh air compared to other fighters. Besides, I can't imagine this fight could be worse than the Silva-snoozefest that happened some weeks ago. GO MACHIDA!!!

Welterweight GRUDGE Match!
Matt Hughes 5' 9" 43-7-0 Versus Matt Serra 5' 6" 16-5-0
Prediction: Hughes. If Serra wins, he may get another run at the title though.

Pointless Middleweight Bout
Drew McFedries 6' 0" 7-5-0 Versus Xavier Foupa-Pokam 6' 1" 20-10-0
Prediction: Foupa-Pokam

Not Pointless Middleweight Bout
Dan Miller 6' 1" 11-1-0, 1 NC Versus Chael Sonnen 6' 1" 23-10-1
Prediction: Miller

Big Lightweight vs Small Lightweight
Sean Sherk 5' 6" 37-3-1 Versus Frank Edgar 5' 6" 9-1-0
Prediction: Sherk. I like Edgar but Sherk is just gonna be too big.

UNDERCARD

Average Welterweight Scrap
Brock Larson 5' 11" 26-2-0 Versus Chris Wilson 6' 1" 13-5-0, 1 NC

Big Heavyweight vs Small(er) Heavyweight
Pat Barry 5' 11" 235lbs 4-0-0 Versus Tim Hague 6' 4" 265 lbs 9-1-0

TUF Fighter v How did that guy get in the video game?
Phillipe Nover 5' 9" 6-1-1 Versus Kyle Bradley 5' 9" 13-6-0, 1 NC

Average LHW Scrap
Krzysztof Soszynski 6' 1" 18-9-1 Versus Andre Gusmao 6' 2" 5-1-0

Remember those nasty KO’s from the Fight for the Troops? Yea, that was these guys. (WW)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida 5' 11" 10-3-0 Versus Brandon Wolff 5' 9" 7-3-0

Who gives a crap.
Dave Kaplan 5' 6" 3-2-0 Versus George Roop 6' 1" 8-5-0

My other gripe about the card is that there just isn't a ton of well known names on this card. Hughes, Evans, Machida Serra, Shirk, and then thats pretty much it...

 No one gives a crap but me and the MILLIONS of fans who want a SAPP TIEM/Kimbo fight. Screw Rashad/Rampage, THERE's your Black on Black CRYME TIME fight winner.

 WTF, now Punk is 2-0 vs both Edge and Jericho?! And holy crap! Umaga talked in English. Anyhow another fine episode of Smackdown, but I hate this time of the year for the WWE as it runs through the same feuds for these 2-3 PPVs because there is little time to build up more feuds.

And pretty much the story of this Smackdown are the 3 main matches, which are the same 3 from Judgement Day.

 I like the wrestling in TNA tons, but so far I'm not really liking the writing or the storylines. In fact, they're awful. Even my old favorites like Kevin Nash, Sting, Booker T, Jeff Jarret etc seem like ass on the mic and don't have that personality they used to have.

I also laughed how Mick Foley was winded after fighting a cardboard cutout.

Oh, and if you're going to shoot a backstage promo, make sure we can't look right up the ramp and see the empty arena (meaning it breaks the illusion of a "live" promo).

 This is the highlight of the year so far for WWE. And probably the show that 90% of the people are probably missing out.

After the first episode a few weeks back, I thought that the great matches that day were only because of the premiere of the show, but how I was wrong. Week after week, the matches keep being as good as SD's or sometimes even ever.

This week the 3 matches were:

Christian vs Dreamer for the ECW Title: Another good match with these two, ruined by Swagger once again. If this doesn't settles it for a 3-way at Extreme Rules, I don't know what it will.

Kofi vs Regal: Good match with a contrast of styles. Regal's persona might suck, but his in-ring skills are excellent, and he did great putting Kofi over.

Punk vs Jericho: The main event. Punk might lose against Kane and Umaga, but he certainly won't lose against the top guys. Another espectacular match for both Punk and Jericho, with a great clean victory for C.M Punk.

Everyone that doesn't watch Superstars should feel ashamed. This is WWE's second best show at the moment.

 Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Shawn Michaels recently told company officials that he's looking to take more time off than originally planned. He believes he's financially set for life and his children are at a certain age where they like him around, and he knows that's a very short window.

Original plans called for Michaels to return at SummerSlam, but he's looking to hold his return off until late this year or early next year for a good WrestleMania storyline. Although, this could change depending on his mood or if any of the major Superstars come down with an injury. If you recall, two years ago, Michaels talked about not coming back for a long time as a result of knee problems. Then John Cena tore his pec and his wife joked that he would be getting a phone call soon. He received the phone call the next day and was back in the ring sooner than initially hoped.

Michaels appears unsure about his long-term future in wrestling as he's made noise about retiring next year at WrestleMania, but he also feels he can still make appearances at big shows well into his fifties like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. He also said that once his children become teenagers, being at home won't be as much as priority anymore as his kids won't want to hang around him as much. At that point, he'd be more open to spending more time on the road.

 KNBC in Los Angeles is reporting that Raw on Monday is now planned for the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The station reported WWE is scheduled to hold a news conference at 7 p.m. Eastern time for the announcement.

 Originally Posted by Matt Hardy:
May 20, 2009 - Wednesday

Much to my chagrin..

The deal has been reached, the contract has been signed as of May 19th, 2009.. Why? What about Matt? I'm sucking it up and giving every fiber of my being for..for them. With a legitimately excruciating broken hand.. but really.. for what? Nothing really ever changes.. I hope this makes everyone happy..

"I never ever cried when I was feeling down.. I've always been scared of the sound

Jesus don't love me, no one ever carried my load.. I'm too young to feel this old"

Cold Desert, Kings Of Leon

Matthew

 1. Writers write, fighters fight.
"I see myself as an actor, and I choose not to have much input in my story. So I find out only a few hours before the broadcast what will happen. The creative team doesn't know inside-the-ring stuff, though. They tell us who's going to win or be disqualified and we take it from there."

 From Rosemont, Illinois. Original airdate: 5/17/09

Umaga d. CM Punk, Samoan Spike -- pin (***1/2).

So why is Umaga battling Pepsiman anyway? Anyways, hometown rule applies here as Punk does the job, though it was a really good opener otherwise with lots of nifty spots like G2S countered into a Samoan drop. I don't understand WWE's obsession having their talent ALWAYS lose in their hometown, unless you're Jim Ross, then you're embarassed on a grand scale.

ECW champion Christian d. Jack Swagger, handful of tights -- pin (***1/2).

I really enjoyed this match and loved when Christian jumped down from the top rope over Swagger and ran to the other side haha... classic Christian. End came when Swagger went for the gutwrench powerbomb, but Xian flipped out, went for the killswitch, as Swagger pulled away, then Xian did a rollup, with a handful of tights FTW and to further the feud. I guess Christian is the new dirtiest player in the game. Kind of a lame ending, though. Too bad Christian isn't "popular" enough to have a clean win.

Meanwhile, Edge and Chavo argue. Edge told Chavo to do something about the cross-dresser calling his aunt a pig. Edge is awesome and one of the best actors in WWE. He can make a mediocre promo amazing by the way he delivers it.

John Morrison d. Shelton Benjamin, Starship Pain -- pin (***).

Sadly Charlie Haas has dropped the impersonation gimmick. While I'm excited to see the World's Greatest Tag team reunited, The Great Charli > WGTT. Anyways, this was a good match, but it was missing something. Maybe it was the crowd; they didn't quite seem to be buying Nitro as a face. Anyhoo. great stuff at the end as both guys hit some beautiful spots and in the end Nitro wins with his flippy spinny indy move. Both these guys need more match time; they can put on a hell of a show.

Comedy segment saw The Miz straight up jack Alfonso Soriano at ringside and mentions Jannetty (which was a nice reference), bunch of Ducks, Chicago Cubs & SMH. Then bizarrely, Santino makes the save for Soriano and calls him The Fiz. Raw's two most hilarious wrestlers against one another? They should keep that going. A Miz-Santino feud would be priceless.

Intercontinental champion Rey Mysterio d. Chris Jericho w/ short pants, 619 -- pin (***).

Jericho is getting stale, he should go back to his smarmy and arrogant ways like his WCW days. Anyways, Jericho throws Mysterio around the ring like a rag doll and Rey is soooo small compared to Jericho, I don't think Y2J could make this feud work because of it. Anyhoo, the match would have been average if Jericho hadn't done the promo with the 'guarantee' that there wouldn't be a 619; gave a story to the match. And I usually hate Mysterio matches, because they're so formulaic, but that was a good match, thanks to Jericho. Rey is a total shell of his former self, however. The announcers talk about how he's a "high-flyer" but he hardly does that anymore. He should retire so he can walk 10 years from now.

Flying Batista d. WWE champion Randy Orton w/ out hair, attacking the referee -- DQ (*1/2).

Finlly, a toilet break match. Orton can be okay, but needs someone to help him, and that man is not Batista. Same goes for Batista. They just cancel each other out. Anyways, there was a sizable RKO chant and this was not a pro-DAVE crowd. This match just sucked the energy out of the show. Both of these guys are like video game characters. Repetitive moves, awkward animations, overexcessive normal mapping, and occasionally victim to lag. If Orton's finishing move was a headlock, he'd win every match. End came when Orton deliberately got himself disqualified, attacking the referee in a cheap ending. Those kind of finishes just make you wonder why he didn't slap the referee two seconds into the match and leave. Post-match, Legacy came down to attack Big Dave, but a 90 year old man makes the save. Whoo. Dammit Flair, stay retired.

John Cena w/ odds to overcome d. The Big Show, Attitude Adjustment -- pin (*).

I love how Cena looks like he's about to cry when he's in that staredown. The Cena Sucks chant is waaay louder as it should be. And if I had a dollar for everytime they said "No one evokes more emotion out of the WWE Universe than John Cena." and "The Worlds largest athlete." for this match alone I'd be able to buy the WWE 100 times over. And man, it's amazing how quickly and severely this PPV turned from possible PPV of the year to utter snoozefest. Anyhoo, in the end, Cena overcomes adversity and by God I am so inspired! Miracles do happen! Boring match, though. So if Cena is Superman, does that make having a good match with the Big Show his kryptonite?

World champion Edge d. Jeff Hardy, DDT off the top rope -- pin (***).

This has been a show where champions come out first. End came when Matt Hardy interfered and attacked Jeff, Cowboy Bob Orton-style with a cast on his arm. This was a good match going through until Matt Hardy came out. Judgment Day is then over and there's no Punk and no cashing in, just credits. I guess the hometown rule is still in effect. Still Edge is still the champion, so all is right with the world.

Final Thoughts: I didn't like Punk losing to Umaga, and the "beat the guys in their hometown for heat" thing is dumb. And he never should've lost to Kane either. Also the ending to Orton/Batista was the same ending as Orton/Cena at No Way Out 08 (consistency for Randy or just laziness?). Anyways, Cena/Show and Orton/Batista were the only blah matches of the night, but the rest were fun entertaining matches.

 The cameramen are morons. When Melina does the splits, you show the angle BEHIND her, not in front. God. And that black chick from the womens tag match was really hot.

Anyways, great show from start to finish. Smackdown > Raw.

 If anyone watched Impact, you would have seen TNA trying to build up their tag division. They actually have many teams with "personality" to them. The British Invasion is pretty much TNA's answer to La Resistance (an a-hole tagteam/three man faction). Anyways, I was indifferent to La Resistance, and I'm indifferent to TNA's hollow attempt at trying to fill up the tag division. All I care is that Beer Money don't have to stick around there for much longer and might actually be able to move up the card.

I'm torn on the Kip/Kong match. On one hand it was nice to see Kip get his ass kicked on the other hand, it was done by a woman. Hopefully, she will stay in the Knockout division.

Anyways, the rest of the show was ok. I am interested to see if they will go all the way with the Monster Ball's match with Daffney/Taylor. It also was nice that they remembered they were friends and giving Daff a reason to go after Taylor.

Also TNA debuted a new show, EPICS, on UK TV tonight. I watched it and it was good as they showed 3 MOTY cage matches (although clipped) and it was nice that Foley got to present it.