WWE’s pay per view streak of hot shows ended for me on Sunday night. I can’t say that I was much of a GAB fan. The Bash looked so strong on paper, but unfortunately live the show just didn’t come off strong. There wasn’t really one dud of a match but most of the matches were nothing more than what we get on Raw, ECW or Smackdown. Hey maybe I’m just being a downer because I did so badly with my predictions. No the show really was weak and I’m not going to spend too much time talking about it. I will tell you that there were three matches that I liked, and I will go into each one just a little bit, and then I have a few things to say about last night’s Raw.
The match of the night is a tie; I’m giving it to HHH vs. Edge and CM Punk vs. Batista. I can’t tell you how much I loved the Punk/Batista match. These two worked beautifully together and even though Kane’s run in wasn’t a surprise, it took a little a way from the match. But other than the ending this was a 5 star match. And so was Edge vs. Triple H. This was a very hard worked match by both guys and just like Punk and Batista’s match, this one had interference by Vickie, but Vickie’s interference I didn’t mind because I knew that Edge wasn’t leaving champion. And you had to expect her to run out there and go after him. The only complaint I have about this match is, I would have loved Edge to go after Hunter like a mad man through out the match. He started out that way but then just went into a wrestling mode. I would have booked him to be a maniac and just go crazy on Hunter. But as I said these matches were excellent and my third favorite of the night was Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho. This match told one hell of a story and even though I was waiting for these guys to have a high flying match, I didn’t mind the match that we got because it just portrayed Jericho as a true SOB and HBK sold his injured eye and ribs like he was on his last leg. This match was brilliantly done and at least these three matches gave this show something to talk about.
Now that’s really all I want to say about GAB, because I want to get right in to Raw. I thought Raw was much better than GAB, and the Uncasville, CT crowd was so much hotter than Sunday’s Long Island crowd. Sure I have a few negatives to say about the show but this time I’m going to start with all the good things that Raw gave us. Raw had a dynamite opening with Batista and CM Punk. How refreshing to open the show with Batista talking tough and CM Punk not taking any crap from Batista. This was a cool opener and things continued to shine, starting with Lance Cade vs. Paul London. I’m telling you once London ditches that outfit I think more people will take him seriously. I like this match because even though it showcased Cade, London still looked pretty damn good here. But the best part of all of this was Chris Jericho. This had to be one of Jericho’s best promos ever. This guy did an amazing job again talking trash about Shawn Michaels and then putting the fans down. When Jericho said that the fans did not embrace him when he came back he was definitely shooting. I thought everything he said about his return was right on and Jericho was never better on the mic. Even with Shawn out nursing his “eye injury” this feud is still red hot and I can’t wait to see Michaels return and finally get revenge on Jericho.
I have to give it to Kelly Kelly. Last night she did another very good job in the ring against Beth Phoenix. I liked this match a lot and for a girl that has a hard time keeping a beat when she “dances” she has really upped her game in the wrestling department. These two put on such a cool match that the crowd was totally into it. I can’t remember the last time when a crowd popped like this crowd did for a women’s match. I was very impressed with the reaction these diva’s received.
I was quite happy with Jim Duggan saying goodbye, and The King talking him out of retiring. Once Lawler came to the ring, the crowd woke up and made a lot of noise, and this was all a perfect way to bring out the new tag team champs, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes and give them some hot material to use against the old guys, Lawler and Duggan. And they used their time wisely, with insult after insult. This was another one of my favorite segments because I like the way these two guys come out and make out that they are above all. Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, and JBL vs. John Cena and Cryme Tyme was so much better than last week’s main event. I thought this match was full of action and unlike last week, Cryme Tyme and DiBiase and Rhodes looked good and got enough time out there. This was my match of the night. And things continued to work for me with the next match, Kofi Kingston and Mickie James vs. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea. Finally Burchill looked strong in the ring. I was very impressed with his moves last night and Kingston also put on a fantastic performance. Mickie and Katie did what they needed to do and this turned out to be a very strong match.
I got a total kick out of tough guy and ladies man Jamie Noble again coming on to Layla and trying to be a hot shot when Batista got in his face asking if he had seen Kane. Noble was a riot with his answer, and I think this was Noble’s funniest segment to date. And from there CM Punk was interviewed, and two nights in a row CM’s mic work rocked. His promo at GAB was outstanding, and last night’s interview with Todd Grisham was done very well. It’s just a shame that everything isn’t working for Punk but of course that’s to come. The next match was a good match with the return of D’Lo Brown accepting Santino’s challenge. I knew D’Lo signed with the WWE but I wasn’t sure he would be brought up so soon, and surprise there he was. He seemed as agile as ever and even though he beat Santino in a quick match, it was still a good match. And to top things off I loved the interaction between Santino and the Glamazon. I didn’t see the kiss coming right away but when it did I liked it and I really loved Santino’s facial expressions after the lip lock. This was another fun segment. And finally a World Title rematch with CM Punk vs. Batista. But before that got started Kane came out and attacked Batista, and the World champion ran out to make a save. And then the action started. Okay this is where things start to go sour for me.
Let me start at the beginning. Okay I really didn’t mind at GAB that Punk not only got the Batista bomb after the bell ring, but then got choke-slammed by Kane. I wasn’t in love with all of it but I could handle it. But last night I started getting slightly pissed off. For two nights in a row Batista almost beat Punk but he was stopped due to interference. Sunday I could accept Batista looking like he had a chance, but to have him come off the same way last night takes so much away from CM Punk. How are the fans supposed to believe that Punk HAS IT if he can’t take Batista out in back-to-back matches? I hated the way this played out and to make matters worse, after the match was stopped thanks to JBL’s interference, we got Cena running out and going after JBL, and the World champion rolled out of the ring and he’s out of the picture and now it’s Batista and Cena going at it and that’s how the show ends. Yeah all of this really turned me off. Vince sure didn’t do Punk any favors Sunday or last night. I want to see Punk rise to the challenge and be able to handle anyone that goes against him, but in the last two nights he’s come close to losing and I think that stinks.
Oh and don’t think I left JBL out by accident. He was another BIG NEGATIVE last night. Listen he can be a good heel if we don’t get too much of him, but when you get him all over the shows like last night, he wears his welcome out very fast. I was sick and tired of seeing his face last night and anytime something good was happening JBL would show up, and it totally turned things around and not in a good way. As I said a few weeks ago I couldn’t wait until Randy Orton returns, because, JBL is just getting too much TV time. And I don’t think he’s doing Raw any favors.
So as you can see I thought Raw rocked, and The Great American Bash was just average. I’m all ready for ECW and Smackdown and it’s already been posted that there will be a Battle Royal to see who will face Triple H at Summer Slam; I’m betting that the winner will be The Big Show. I will be back over the weekend with my Smackdown thoughts and I can’t wait to see how the Edge and Vickie soap opera plays out. I could not get over the pops that she got Sunday so I’m anxious to see how the fans react to Vickie on Friday night. The website forum TheWrestlingAsylum.com has recently just re-opened after some severe technical difficulties. If you’ve ever wanted to join an online community and be part of a wrestling forum, now’s the time to jump in. TWA is an acclaimed wrestling forum that has some of the best wrestling discussions out there in addition to many interactive features such as our matches of the week, wrestling pool, et cetera. Currently, TWA is holding an interactive feature where members will vote on their favorite wrestlers of all time and in the end, TWA will count down the top 100. People who participate in this contest will receive a free DVD-R of some famous matches of the top 10 or 20 wrestlers on the list. In addition to all of this, TWA also has a very active Off Topic section of the site for random discussion, movies, music, graphics, and of course, TWA has an ever-growing multimedia section on all wrestling and all other media as well. TheWrestlingAsylum.com is just waiting for you to make its mark on it, so why not join up today?
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
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