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Introduction
This week had a ton of good wrestling on it and it also advanced a lot of angles both for the upcoming TNA PPV Final Resolution, and WWE’s Royal Rumble. As usual, later today and next week I will have my regular column “PPV by the Numbers” to go over my thoughts on if you should buy the Pay per Views before they happen. As far as this week goes, I really enjoyed RAW and thought TNA was just fantastic. So let’s take a look at this week in wrestling and rank our wrestlers, shall we?
Chavo vs. CM Punk (ECW)
This was one of the best matches of the week. This feud is getting better and better. There was a lot of high flying action but a lot of mat wrestling too. Punk proved a lot to me and he is one of the best in the business today. That said, I think Chavo has a world championship run in his near future.
HHH vs. Ric Flair (Raw)
This was an outstanding bout between two veterans. I was surprised they didn’t save this one for a PPV though but the way it ended definitely leaves room for these two to mix it up again, maybe at Wrestlemania? There were a couple spots that were homeruns in my opinion; Ric Flair and HHH trading “Harley Race” Knee drops was very enjoyable. I loved that when Flair went to the top he finally didn’t get caught and actually nailed his axe handle on HHH. The figure four was timed well and you could actually feel Flair might win…And though most didn’t enjoy it; I really liked the use of Regal for the DQ finish. As a fan I didn’t want a black and white pin ending on this one, because I want to see it again. I also think it makes sense from a storyline point of view, Regal screws McMahon by saving Flair, and it possibly sets up a HHH/Regal feud or because Regal is manager he can overturn McMahon’s “HHH doesn’t wrestle at the rumble” decision, and everyone leaves happy.
James Curtis vs.
No company right now needs a match like this and ECW had two of them. Basically these guys are jobbers. WWE has a strong talent pool, why not use it? Benjamin and for that matter Big Daddy V aren’t going to get over by kicking jobbers, they need real talent. Where was Kane this week? Why not have Flair fight Big Daddy V and further that storyline when Flair wins in another strange way? This didn’t even really showcase
This was a very solid bout and for my money one of the best on the Smackdown card.
I think that Kelly and Layla are still green but they worked really hard in this match. The four men in this match are absolutely at the top of their game and this feud is very good. I do hope they put the straps on Yang and
Finlay vs. MVP (Smackdown)
Old school meets new school. Personally, if Matt Hardy can’t be in the mix, I’d love to see a Finlay/MVP feud. I think they would have great chemistry together and they definitely work well together in the ring. It was really nice to see MVP throw down in a grapple wrestling way for once. He hasn’t done that in a while (Since fighting Chris Benoit for the
The Knockouts Gauntlet match (TNA)
I really loved the idea of the gauntlet matches deciding the contender order on TNA this week. When I first heard about this I figured for sure I’d be writing about the X division gauntlet or the Heavyweight Gauntlet, but that isn’t the case. TNA to me has the BEST division of any division in all of wrestling right now, and it is the ladies. I loved the booking where instead of just having Kong dominate like usual, the gals teamed up and knocked her out like the guys would Big John Studd back in the day. I think ODB is the perfect person to put the lights on in TNA as she will bring a lot of in-ring skill and personality to the women’s title picture. Every single woman in the ring worked hard in this match and it showed.
The Angles and Promos
The WWE and TNA both did a lot to move their storylines. The stuff with AJ styles at his grandmothers house was brilliant, thanks a lot to the “supporting cast”. Kurt Angle and Christian Cage is getting interesting but I don’t know that people are going to buy that PPV based on that match. Awesome Kong and Gail Kim…all I can say is wow, what a feud. This week they weren’t even around each other and they furthered it by using well placed comments on commentary and Kong’s offensive in the ring. As for WWE I really am enjoying the CM Punk/Chavo feud but I really think Punk should have been the one to help Mysterio on Smackdown because it would have had the same result as the Undertaker but also furthered ECW’s top feud. Edge going one on one with Rey is going to be a good match and they did a good build up this week. I really liked the booking of Batista’s match. With Matt Hardy out, the best angle right now goes to Ric Flair’s retirement storyline and I can’t wait to see where that goes, it caught a ton of steam this week and I hope it continues. I loved Tomko’s solo promo backstage and his stuff with Angle – it was really well done. JBL and Jericho FINALLY got me excited about their match and feud.
***
Match of the week – HHH vs. Ric Flair
Superstar of the week – William Regal
Promo/Interview of the week – Tomko
The Thumbs Up List
#1 William Regal – He played his part really well this week with subtlety and no ego.
#2 Ric Flair – the man just keeps on giving
#3 HHH- He was in the best match of the week an proves why he is the man
#4 Tomko – He made TNA sing this week
#5 ODB – she had a great match and is looking to the future
#6 Yang and Moore – two great matches and two different programs
#7 Relik – He had a great Gauntlet match. If you watch closely, he did a lot.
#8 – Kurt Angle – he gave a good back and fourth with Tomko
#9 – Batista – he actually had a great match this week
#10 – The Edge Heads – a joke they are no more.
The Thumbs Down List
#1 Matt Striker – He could be Bobby Heenan instead he’s more like The Goobley Gooker
#2 – BG James – His backstage stuff was horrible and he looked worse in the ring
#3 – Team 3D – See James and rinse and repeat.
#4 – Ken Kennedy – His match with Shawn was okay but not what he can do
#5 – Big Daddy V – Why was he at Smackdown?
#6 – Vicki Gurrerro – ugh…please Teddy, kick the chair.
#7 – Randy Orton – He isn’t a believable champion
#8 – Jonathan Coachman – “Don’t go away mad, just go away”
#9 – Colin Delany (Jobber on ECW with Tazz) – Where’s X-Pac?
#10 – MS. Brooks – She could be great, so why isn’t she?
