Hey this will shock you I liked HIAC and I also liked Raw. What? Does that mean there won’t be a list? It sure does mean that. I have to say I was quite happy with both shows, but not too happy about how many I got right on Sunday. I only got three right, so let’s move on. Seriously that’s okay I really didn’t expect to do well so that prediction really came true. Let me very quickly touch on both shows because you know I really could make this an extra long column, and I would hate to do that to all of you. So it’s on to HIAC and then Monday’s Raw, which I really didn’t expect to care for, but I really liked it. And I’ll tell you why I think the show came off as well as it did.
The Hell In A Cell pay per view was a very solid show. I can’t really complain about a thing except for the bloodless HIAC matches. I mean really I knew the chances of any blood at all were so slim. And like my friend Molly said, once she saw the Ninja Turtles in the skybox she knew blood wasn’t going to make an appearance on the show. I guess it’s one thing to keep that squeaky clean image on Raw and Smackdown, but why can’t things change for a pay per view? Ah that wonderful PG rating. Unfortunately its really done more harm than good. Anyway I did like the show and the HIAC matches were all good, I wouldn’t say any were brutal like from years ago but they came off well. Taker vs. Punk was the opening match and it was a GOOD one. I thought that Punk really stepped up here and he and Taker put on a great opener. But I was not happy that Taker won, not when you hear that he is in horrible physical shape. In fact supposedly he’s worse off than first thought. I just feel that Punk should have won, and it bothers me because since the Jeff Hardy program ended Punk isn’t coming off as HOT as he was during that feud. But this was a very good match.
One of my most favorite matches of the night was Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison. I expected a lot from these two, but this match went way beyond my expectations. This was such a strong showing for both guys and after watching the match it gave me a lot of hope that Ziggler and Morrison will continue to get a push, because they really deserve it, especially after this match. The tag team match between JeriShow vs. Batista and Rey Mysterio was excellent. In fact Batista and Big Show came off as well as Mysterio and Jericho. Everyone in this match did a super job and it was one of my favorite matches of the night. Mickie James vs. Alicia Fox was an okay match, but it was definitely not a pay per view match. You have to hand it to Fox and James because they worked hard out there, and had this match been on Raw then I probably would have praised it much more. Randy Orton’s win totally shocked me, and I’m not exactly thrilled about that win either but along with Cena they put on another good match. Honestly the Cell wasn’t needed for this one, but then again that was kind of the case for each Cell match, but I think this was the best match that these two have had together in a while.
Another match that would have been a good one on Smackdown but didn’t really belong on this show was Drew McIntyre vs. R. Truth. I happened to like the little that we got, but there wasn’t enough I don’t I guess fanfare to slip this on the show. You could hear boring chants which I always hate hearing, but it could have been because as good as the build up came off on Smackdown both guys just don’t have that star power yet for a pay per view.
The Miz vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston came off well with Kofi winning which I didn’t expect. I knew this match would be a good one because we have seen this combination a few times. As the match got to the end it really became fun and exciting to watch. Again I wouldn’t say that this was an exceptional match, but Swagger, Miz and Kingston put a lot into it. And finally the main event with DX vs. Legacy. This one really started out cool with Legacy beating the crap out of Triple H and Shawn before anyone got into the ring. And then there were good parts and weird parts. The first weird part was when Hunter was on the ramp and Rhodes attacked him and knocked him “unconscious” with the CrossRhodes. Hunter was out for quite a long time so it was up to Shawn to take on Rhodes and DiBiase. See I couldn’t understand why they kept showing Hunter flat on his back and there was no ref or medic out there helping him. I thought that was handled poorly.
HBK took a major beating in the Cell from Legacy and sold like crazy. I was completely into all of this. Okay so we get some very exciting things going on in the Cell and we see Triple H stagger to the Cell only he can’t get in because he was locked out thanks to DiBiase. Okay so that’s fine, but what I didn’t get was why was Hunter killing himself to get in? Why didn’t a ref come to him with the key to unlock the lock? Why did Hunter have to leave for a few minutes to get bolt cutters? None of that made sense at all. But all in all Shawn and Legacy made this a good match. Hunter then got in and helped Shawn. I got a kick out of the beating that Rhodes got from them, and even though Hunter finally got into the match this was Shawn’s baby and he got the pin on Rhodes. I thought this was a good match to end the show and as I said HIAC was a good pay per view.
But you know what? So was Raw. I can’t tell you how happy I was with Ben Roethlisberger. I didn’t know what to expect from him at all. But this guy was just so natural. He wasn’t on throughout the show and when he was on he was pleasant and didn’t try to over do it. I totally enjoyed him. I even liked the Annual Diva Bowl. This was short and sweet and I had no problem with this at all. It was fun while it lasted. I wasn’t happy with the Randy Orton/John Cena segment. I’m just not into this feud. I just don’t care about either guy. They both need to move on. I kind of got to a point where I wasn’t paying attention to what was being said. But I did hear that they are doing an Iron Man Match at Bragging Rights. I’m not so sure that I could take an hour with these two. But the first match of the night had Swagger beating Primo. This was an okay match, but it was way too short for me. And like Evan Bourne I hate seeing Primo go out like this. This is another guy that brings so much to the ring. So a quickie like this isn’t what I want to see. Hey did you hear Swagger he’s not going to lose another match this year. Yeah I could see that he’s only got about 12 weeks left so it makes sense to me. The backstage segment with Santino and the Diva’s was okay. The funniest part for me was when Santino wanted Mickie and Felicia to kiss and make up and then he said really kiss, and then I think he said seriously kiss. That was funny. Also I thought the Miz and Roethlisberger had a good moment in Ben’s “office.” It was the Miz that got pinned by Kingston on Sunday night, but when he complained to Roethlisberger about Swagger’s promo saying that he wasn’t pinned on Sunday night, Roethlisberger came back and asked well who was pinned, and of course the Miz had to admit it was him. It’s something you had to see but it was quite funny. The Miz got his wish and Ben gave him a rematch for the U.S. title. But if the Miz lost, Roethlisberger wanted the Miz to say that he was AWFUL. Now see I figured that was a sure sign that the Miz was losing. But again I was wrong.
Before that match it was Chris Masters and Chavo vs. Mark Henry and MVP. This match was really good. I have to say unlike his first run in the WWE, Masters is doing nothing but wrestling. Before they would bring him to the ring and he would immediately put the Masterlock on and that was it. Week after week the same crap. But now Master’s is wrestling in full matches and it definitely makes a difference to me. He has looked good in the ring and it’s nice that he’s being used so much better than the first time around. I LOVED the whole Roethlisberger/Big Show/Jericho DX segment. My God Jericho is a total riot and Big Show wasn’t bad either when he was trying to come off bigger and better than Big Ben and his offensive line. This was a really fun segment and Jericho was right in there like a little brat. Then DX came out and I was thrilled because I have been hoping for something between DX and JeriShow. I got a big kick out of Hunter and Jericho. Hunter complimented Jericho on how nice his hair looked, and Jericho being the egomaniac that he is bought it and smiled. He asked Hunter really” and Hunter said No. Again something you had to see, because Jericho was just glowing because he believed Hunter meant it. This was one nice segment and I was so excited that the main event would be with these four guys.
But first we go the Miz vs. Kingston for the U.S. Title. And this was a fantastic match. I loved this I think much more than their match with Swagger from the night before. This was one hard worked match and to my surprise Kingston lost and the Miz became the new U.S. champion. Oh why wasn’t that done the night before because I could have gotten 4 right, oh well this match was so good that the Miz’s win was just fine with me. And finally Raw put on one of their best main events in a long time. DX vs. Big Show and Jericho. This was just awesome and so much fun to watch. There was a lot of excitement going on and I was just so into watching this foursome. Everything worked so well in this match and Jericho was again perfect playing the poor sport and trying to leave. He didn’t get to far because Big Ben and his guys now in DX shirts blocked Jericho from leaving. Hunter and HBK were standing directly behind Jericho and it was Michaels that brought him back in the ring with Shawn hitting Sweet Chin Music on him and Hunter getting the pin. Big Show wasn’t involved because minutes earlier Hunter took Show out and clothes-lined him into the stands. This was a super way to end a good show and here’s hoping that this wasn’t a one-time thing, this could be one hell of a good feud.
So back-to-back good shows. That is a nice thing to finally be able to sat. So props to Big Ben for coming through on Monday night’s show. And, props to all the hard working superstars that made Sunday’s pay per view so worth watching. Okay look for me over the weekend with my Smackdown thoughts, and after reading the spoilers this just might be another good show. By the way I watched ECW last night and I’m very happy with William Regal’s role on the show. I’m starting to think that ECW is the perfect place for him. I like the fact that he is the head of the stable with Kozlov and Ezekiel. He seems very comfortable in his role. Okay remember check out my Smackdown thoughts over the weekend.
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