When a WWE fan hears the name John
Morrison, they think awesome athlete who hasn't gotten that main-event
push.
Superstars: Solid matches that didn't lose my interest. Good to see Kofi Kingston beat Chavo Guerrero and Ted DiBiase Jr. beat Goldust. Santino Marella beating Jimmy Uso was a little surprising, but made sense since Tamina is interested in Santino. Great, funnier than usual commentary by all involved.
Smackdown: Christian-Alberto Del Rio-Drew McIntyre is a decent feud. I was glad to see Christian top McIntyre. I was a little surprised Michelle McCool pretty much dominated Kelly Kelly. Dolph Ziggler topping Chris Masters made sense. Big Show disposing of The Straight Edge Society made even more sense. Jack Swagger-MVP is a strong feud. The push for "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, who beat Matt Hardy, needs to continue.
FCW: I usually just watch the match finishes and interesting angles, but two things that caught my attention the last few weeks were Husky Harris losing a battle royal at the end to Eli Cottonwood (interesting after all the nauseating Harris pushes) and Steve Keirn being stripped of his FCW power (WWE loves GM angles).
Reminder: FCW is in DeLand this Friday.
TNA Wrestling -- 10-10-10 main event set
Those days might be over. At least I hope they are, as
Morrison deserves a world title.
Morrison beat Chris Jericho on Monday Night Raw. It
was a shocker, as there was a stipulation that Jericho would be out of the Six
Pack Challenge at Night of Champions if he lost.
Jericho was preoccupied early in the match as to who
the mystery general manager was. That didn't help him. Then, when Morrison got
to the ropes to break up the Walls of Jericho, it led to the shocking
finish.
On the flip side, Jericho is now in an angle where he
is frustrated. It's a defining moment in his career. He will either be taking
some time off again, and have a lighter schedule, or he will have a face turn. I
prefer the latter, but I don't see that happening on a limited
schedule.
WWE even followed up later in the show with these two
as Morrison sat down next to Jericho and said, "Bad day, huh?" Simple, yet so
effective, and even more of a hint of a Morrison push and a Jericho face
turn.
John Morrison photo: Courtesy
of Twentieth Television
As for the rest of Raw:
The angles:
1. The Nexus. REACT: Strong opening segment. I loved
the opening pause for crowd heel heat. I also liked the reference to the new
phenoms, playing off of The Undertaker beatdown and nickname. It was also nice
to see the general manager put his foot down with The Nexus by setting up
individual matches.
2. Edge and Zack Ryder. REACT: Funny Edge comment,
saying he shoved the referee in last week's match because the referee said
something about his mom. Ryder was especially solid here. Too bad Edge didn't
follow through in bashing the GM's computer. Very funny segment
overall.
3. Ted DiBiase Jr. and Maryse. REACT: Strange but
interesting segment. Strange in that there is some mystery as to who the "I want
you" note is from (it can't be DiBiase's mom, can it?) and interesting in that
it seems Maryse might be splitting from DiBiase soon and going back to wrestling
(remember when she used to do that?).
4. John Cena's movie "Legendary." REACT: It does seem
like a positive, powerful story.
5. The Miz's critics promo. REACT: Strong recap of The
Miz's career. I forgot he was once the "host of Smackdown." The magazine cover
revelation was a good idea. The segment dragged on a tad bit too long and seemed
long overdue. The Miz might turn face soon, but I don't think it will be really
soon. I thought Daniel Bryan picked the segment up with a strong promo. His
magazine cover was funny. Alex Riley seemed thrown into this
segment.
6. WWE Classics moment 1995. REACT: Wow. I can't
believe they showed the WCW Nitro debut with images of current TNA Wrestling
stars Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Ric Flair. At least
they focused on Lex Luger.
The matches:
1. Divas Champion Melina beats Alicia Fox. REACT:
Decent promo by Alicia, except for the fact she said "undefined" instead of
"undisputed." Oops! Physical match.
2. John Cena beats Justin Gabriel. REACT: Smart mat
game early by Cena, followed by a surprising Cena beatdown. Dangerous Attitude
Adjustment finisher. Good to see there wasn't an injury on that
one.
3. Edge beats The Great Khali by countout, then in an
over-the-top-rope challenge. REACT: Smart to have the GM texting Michael Cole,
in case Edge bashed the GM's computer. Edge was hilarious mocking Khali. Smart
for Cole to point out Khali actually eliminated himself by stepping over the top
rope and going to the floor. I wonder if Khali was scheduled to win and WWE had
to change the outcome after that happened.
4. Randy Orton beat Wade Barrett. REACT: Having
Sheamus, Edge and Cena at ringside was distracting. Effective Barrett beatdown.
Darren Young showing up really came out of nowhere and Orton needing Young's
distraction to beat Barrett actually doesn't bury Barrett, so I'm OK with that.
However, Orton RKO's everyone else but Cena was rather silly.
Raw analysis and
grade: Entertaining matches, but mistakes by Alicia and Khali didn't
help. The backstage angles were especially effective. Grade:
B.
Next week's Raw: Raw
Roulette. REACT: I've always been a fan of this. Crying shame we haven't seen it
in three years.
OTHER SHOW
REVIEWS
Superstars: Solid matches that didn't lose my interest. Good to see Kofi Kingston beat Chavo Guerrero and Ted DiBiase Jr. beat Goldust. Santino Marella beating Jimmy Uso was a little surprising, but made sense since Tamina is interested in Santino. Great, funnier than usual commentary by all involved.
Smackdown: Christian-Alberto Del Rio-Drew McIntyre is a decent feud. I was glad to see Christian top McIntyre. I was a little surprised Michelle McCool pretty much dominated Kelly Kelly. Dolph Ziggler topping Chris Masters made sense. Big Show disposing of The Straight Edge Society made even more sense. Jack Swagger-MVP is a strong feud. The push for "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, who beat Matt Hardy, needs to continue.
FCW: I usually just watch the match finishes and interesting angles, but two things that caught my attention the last few weeks were Husky Harris losing a battle royal at the end to Eli Cottonwood (interesting after all the nauseating Harris pushes) and Steve Keirn being stripped of his FCW power (WWE loves GM angles).
Reminder: FCW is in DeLand this Friday.
LATEST HEADLINES AND MY
REACTS
WWE
WWE
TNA Wrestling -- 10-10-10 main event set
After Monday's tapings, which are scheduled
to air next week (no show this week), the main event for Bound for Glory at
10-10-10 in Daytona Beach is scheduled to be Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson vs.
Jeff Hardy for the world title. I'm not sure where that leaves The Pope,
who was rumored to face Hardy in a singles match. Other rumored matches are
RVD's career on the line vs. Abyss and Lethal Lockdown with Fortune vs. EV 2.
REACT: I like Angle, Abyss and Fortune here.
Angle reportedly dislocates a rib and has it
popped back in. REACT: Just like that. Angle rules.
Stars will appear on Family Feud from Nov.
1 to Nov. 5. REACT: DVR.
Hulk Hogan twitters that he is in the
hospital for back pain. REACT: Sorry to hear. Heal up, big
man.
