First let me apologize for not having a Raw column this week. I had minor gum surgery on Monday and I thought at least by Wednesday I would feel better, but it took a few days longer to get back on my feet than I thought it would. I should have mentioned it last Sunday, but honestly I didn’t think I would miss a column. Now second this is a Smackdown column, but I just want to start off very quickly with Raw. I will just do a paragraph, but I definitely want to get Raw in, also I thought of one more thing, I just got done watching Superstars since we get it here on Sunday’s and I have to talk about one of the EXCELLENT matches that I saw. I’ll start with Raw and then on to Smackdown and end with Superstars.
The only thing that I can say about Extreme Rules is that I am glad that I did not order it. This is one of the first times that I didn’t give in, and from what I read I am very thankful that I passed on the show. From all accounts the two matches that I wanted to see, Jericho vs. Mysterio and the ladder match with Jeff Hardy vs. Edge were the only highlights of the show. I do feel bad about missing the ladder match because it sounded brutal, and you all know brutal is what I like, but again I’m glad I didn’t get it. Also I never thought about CM Punk going for the gold after Jeff Hardy won that caught me completely off guard. And from the reaction that the Hardy fans gave him, I really think a heel turn is in Punks future, the near future. Now the show that I’m glad I watched was Raw. I thought this was a super show. Yeah there were some blah segments, but all in all I would have praised the show like crazy in my column. I won’t get into the whole WWE title thing, you know putting it on an injured Batista, but I promise when I put my column out this week I will let you know what I thought about having Batista win on Sunday’s show. So it sounded like a miserable pay per view, but I definitely liked Monday’s Raw very much.
But the show of the week again was SMACKDOWN. The matches that we got were just off the charts and I just wonder why Vince can’t put out at least a few good quality matches on Raw, but at least Friday night Smackdown offers a hell of a lot of solid matches. First we got a sweet opening segment with CM Punk the new World Champion. He got a few boos, but plenty of pops and he came off well with his promo. He acknowledged that not all were happy with what he did to win the title, but he also explained how hard he worked to attain the title and that he would bring honor to the title. Punk came off very well and as he was talking Jeff Hardy appeared and his mic work was good too. Hardy played up to the fans by asking them if they thought Punk deserved the title, and man did they responds with LOUD boos. Hardy felt Punk cashed it in the wrong way and that he wanted HIS title back and the fans went nuts. This was just all going so well and it only got better when arrogant Edge came out and said that he was the one that wanted the title back. I loved the part where Edge said that he was trying to figure out Punk and he finally did. Punk wanted to be Edge. I started laughing when Edge said that Punk called his lifestyle Straight Edge; see he named it after him. That was a good one, Edge, Punk and Hardy were just awesome during the segment and it ended with Hardy kicking Edge out of the ring, and hitting the twist of fate and Swanton Bomb on Punk. Man this was just a crowd pleaser.
All of this brought out Theodore Long and Teddy told Punk he would defend his title Monday night on the three hour Raw, facing either Edge or Jeff Hardy. That would be decided after the Edge vs. Jeff Hardy match later in the show. What an opener and as it all ended we saw a not so happy Edge and a very upbeat Jeff Hardy reacting to Long’s announcement. So the next cool segment was Chris Jericho asking Teddy why he continues to deny him access to the world title. Jericho came up with this being a conspiracy against him. Long reacted by making a Jericho vs. Punk match, and let me tell you not only did that please me, but the match was, well wait I will tell you exactly how that match was in a little bit. The first match was a quickie and it was Dolph Ziggler vs. The Great Khali. Now listen this might not have been a work of art, but Ziggler again made me care about what was going on. He was able to get plenty of offense against Khali and got the win. Once the match took place out of the ring, Ziggler grabbed Singh and used him to protect him from Khali, and right before the ref counted to 10, Ziggler got back in the ring and got the win. I have to say I enjoyed watching this, and that’s something I never thought I would say months ag0. Ziggler is showing me so much week after week, and I hope he continues to impress.
The women’s match with Layla and Michelle McCool vs. Eve and Melina wasn’t bad. I didn’t mind the match at all. In fact I think all four put a lot into this one. I guess I just wish Gail Kim would start getting a hell of a lot more time including mic work and get to show the fans what she brought to TNA. Hopefully that will happen soon, but with Vince you just never know. I really liked the tag team match with R. Truth and John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. I’m very pleased that Truth is finally being given a chance and I have to say he’s coming along very well, at least I think he is. Morrison came through as did Haas and Benjamin and together this was a damn good match. I will be honest with you and tell you I would prefer Morrison to go solo, but as long as he is on every week I can handle the tag team role for him as long as it’s just a temporary thing.
And now comes a segment that I loved. Listen Chris Jericho has become the Shawn Michaels of Smackdown. Since Jericho and HBK’s program on Raw, Jericho has been on a wonderful streak. He is not only ruling as far as his mic work goes, but in the ring he is making his opponents look like gold. And this man I think is one of the main reasons why Smackdown is just such a great show to watch. Jericho came through again big time first by bashing Rey Mysterio and how he removed Rey’s mask at Extreme Rules. He made the comment that he no longer had to worry about whether the mailman or the store clerk knew who he was. Like Edge’s line where he said Punk was trying to be like him, I also got a good laugh when Jericho said that instead of Rey thanking him for removing the mask, Mysterio disappeared. He was also going to expose Punk for being a fraud. Yes, Jericho was excellent here and it all got so much better when Punk came out and the match began. What a fantastic match, my match of the night. Listen feel that Punk is a hell of a wrestler, but in this match he came off better than I have ever seen him. This was a MUST see match and man did they work their asses off. Words cannot describe really how great this match came off. Punk got the win, and maybe it’s me but I noticed a little hmmm “EDGE” in him. During the opening and after his victory Punk didn’t come off maybe as sweet as usual, now don’t get me wrong he was still a face, but I could definitely see a gradual heel turn happening extremely soon. He seemed to have a look like “hey I’m unstoppable no one can stop me.” I guess seeing him would be a lot better than reading my explanation, but I just saw a tad different side to him. As I said this was just a great match and plus a super Jericho promo to get this all going.
And the main event was another solid and very strong match. I read all week about all the major bumps these two took in that ladder match on Sunday. So watching them work this one made me think that these two must have been in quite a bit of pain. This was a very good main event and CM was sitting at the announce table with JR and Todd Grisham. Again I found Punk coming off as a face, yet maybe with a little dash of heel added to his character. I love it that they keep having Punk bring out that the fans were not happy about his win on Sunday. I hope when we least expect it, the man makes a full heel turn. Now back to the match, as I said this was a well-done match and even with injuries from that ladder match Edge and Jeff Hardy gave 110% percent. There was a lot of action going on here and one of the highlights for me was when Edge threw Jeff onto the announce table and Hardy landed on Punk. Edge got back in the ring, and Punk went after Edge, which caused a DQ. Once Hardy got back up and realized it he got in the ring and attacked Punk. Edge went right after Jeff Hardy, but it was Hardy who hit the Twist of Fate oh him. And to put the icing on the cake, Punk got up and Hardy received the GTS from Punk. Man were the fans into all of this and so was I. Smackdown came to an end when Teddy and Tiffany were watching the match and he told her that on Monday night we will see Punk vs. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy for the World title. Hey I have a feeling that this will definitely but the top match on Raw.
Now before I go I mentioned Chris Jericho reminding me of Shawn Michaels because of the way he gets the very best out of his opponents. This holds true for the match on Superstars with Jericho vs. Morrison. This was just a hell of a great match. Morrison has proven time and time again that he’s GOT IT, but he looked even better during this match. I have been waiting since Thursday night to see just how fantastic this match was. I mean many of you emailed me raving about it, as did so many of different sites. This was well worth the wait. That’s why I said I wish Morrison would be on his own because he definitely can handle going solo. I think with Raw, ECW, Superstars and Smackdown we got some very good shows this week. Okay I will return, Tuesday or Wednesday with my Raw thoughts. Remember it’s a three-hour show with all the brands involved. So on paper this show should be a good one. Also let’s not forget that in two weeks the Bash will be on, so I would guess that matches for that show would be made tomorrow night. I mean really some should have been made this past week on each show.
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