WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us

Columnist Corner

Monday Night Raw SuperShow Review - May 28, 2012

5/29/2012

Comments

 
Picture
CM Punk reveals the new WWE '13 cover.
Logical promo from Big Show to kick off the show. The content and delivery was much better than last week and made sense as well. This was a successful way in establishing Show as a dominant heel, rather than turning heel just for the sake of getting his job back.

Brief match with Alberto Del Rio quickly defeating United States Champion Santino Marella. If Marella is losing in under a minute as United States Champ, it just goes to show that the strap isn't doing anything for him or the title itself for that matter. Del Rio, however, regains momentum with the squash victory.

Fine tag team title match with WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth successfully retaining against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. We've seen the two teams battle so many times over the last few months that the action wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I never felt the titles were in jeopardy since Ziggler and Swagger have lost so much recently. Thankfully, the highlight here was Ziggler walking out on Swagger and Vickie Guerrero, foreshadowing a long overdue singles run and breaking out on his own.

Great match between WWE Champion CM Punk and Daniel Bryan that successfully furthered their feud with smart booking. The promo featuring John Laurinaitis prior to the bout didn't do much for me since they're still building Punk's feud with Laurinaitis despite it ending months ago, but it was a nice plug for the WWE '13 release coming later this year. As for the Punk-Bryan match, it wasn't an epic encounter as some of their previous contests, but I see that as a good thing since them holding back means they can save it for the pay-per-view. It's about time AJ finally got involved in the story by standing at ringside, and she played her role to perfection. I'm glad they're portraying Kane as a tweener and not a full-fledged face, but he still shouldn't be apart of this feud regardless.


Read More
Comments

Friday Night SmackDown Review - May 25, 2012

5/26/2012

Comments

 
Picture
Alberto Del Rio connects with a well-timed kick on Randy Orton.
Effective opening segment featuring Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, Kane, and Eve that set up the main event match nicely. All three competitors made their claim as to why they deserve a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, so it was common booking. Eve continues to excel in her role as an authority figure.

Good match with Intercontinental Champion Christian defeating Hunico. These two had an innovative clash of styles that meshed together nicely to make for a fun bout. The finish was pretty cool, and I'm liking adding more moves into his arsenal such as the Frog Splash to finish off his opponents. Cody Rhodes constructed a great promo following the contest, claiming that his quest on regaining the Intercontinental title has only begun.

Fine tag team match with Titus O'Neil and Darren Young defeating The Usos. There wasn't much action, but the victory helped Young and O'Neil regain the momentum they lost last week. Here's hoping this string of recent wins gets these two in the WWE Tag Team title picture very soon.

Impressive outing from Ryback. While it would have been more beneficial to Ryback had he been facing two contracted Superstars rather than local athletes, his domination over his two adversaries was done in such an intimidating fashion that will certainly get him noticed. I'm not entirely sure whether the reaction he received was piped in for not, but the live crowd seemed to enjoy his power moves he used throughout the contest. 

Throwaway match between United States Champion Santino Marella and Ricardo Rodriguez. Obviously, most of it was for comedic purposes, but thankfully, it didn't last long. It's funny that both Marella and Rodriguez are very good wrestlers, but their characters aren't allowed to truly exhibit that. This mini-feud between the two is meaningless, so it's time to move Marella into an actual title program.


Read More
Comments

Monday Night Raw SuperShow Review - May 21, 2012

5/22/2012

Comments

 
Picture
CM Punk applies the Anaconda Vise to Daniel Bryan.
The segment that kicked off the show featuring John Cena, John Laurinaitis, and Big Show felt extremely forced. I usually enjoy Cena when he's at his most intense, but his promo didn't show that despite Cena venting his frustrations. Show, whether he's heel or face, is a tired act and I honestly couldn't tell if he was a sympathetic character last night or a full-blown heel.

Meaningless match between John Cena and David Otunga. Why did this even happen? It was a quick squash by Cena that didn't accomplish anything. We've seen these former WWE Tag Team Champions clash numerous times over the years, and it's always the same thing. The only interesting aspect about this segment was when Curt Hawkins, Tyler Reks and company started beating down Cena, which would be the first time those lower mid-card guys have been exposed on Raw in a long while. Of course, Sheamus quickly ran down to steal their thunder, but that was a cool moment for sure.

Good match from Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton. They have nice chemistry and hope to see them engage in the near future. Thankfully, they saved the clean finish by having Chris Jericho interfere and give Orton the disqualification victory. Jericho's "disturbing" promo following the bout in addition with the three Codebreakers is the most aggressive we've seen him in years, so I'm highly anticipating this apparent feud with Orton that I've been waiting to see since late 2010.

Strange segment featuring WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Kane. Bryan's promo was logical and was exactly what I wanted to see following the controversial finish to their title match at Over the Limit. However, Punk didn't respond the way I anticipated and instead brought out Kane, a heel who decimated Punk only mere days ago. I surely hope this isn't a face turn from Kane, who works much better as a monster heel anyways. The match was over in minutes, and having Punk attack Bryan following the match gave him his vengeance, but felt like something a heel would do. Bryan needs momentum if he looks to be challenging for the title again at No Way Out.


Read More
Comments

WWE Over The Limit Review - May 20, 2012

5/21/2012

Comments

 
Picture
CM Punk prepares to defend his WWE title against Daniel Bryan.
Fine match between Kane and Zack Ryder during the pre-show. Obviously, this match came three months too late, so the crowd wasn't all that in to it. I'm glad we didn't get a total squash here, but the consistent burying of Ryder has me disappointed.

Decent battle royal that featured the right amount of top names to keep viewers intrigued. A number of guys were able to shine here, especially Tyson Kidd. I throughly enjoyed the final moments of the contest between Christian and The Miz and hope to see more from them in the near future. The shocking return of Christian was an awesome surprise, and having him emerge victorious in this battle royal was great booking.

Fun match with WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth successfully defending their titles against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. The heels had an impressive showing that established them as threats to the titles, but the formulaic hot tag from the faces could be seen coming from am mile away and was nicely executed. Ziggler and Swagger have run their course as a team and really need to split in hopes of better success in singles competition.

Quality Divas match between Layla and Beth Phoenix. It's no secret that Layla and Phoenix are two of the better workers in the division, and they produced a fairly good match. They told a great story during the course of the bout that saw Layla emerge victorious still the Divas Champion. With the Glamazon seemingly no longer a threat to Layla, fingers crossed the returning Kharma will be next in line for a shot.

Strong Fatal-4 Way with World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus successfully defending against Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and Alberto Del Rio. All four participants worked extremely well together and pulled out some suspenseful spot all throughout the match. The crowd bought into a lot of the near falls and made for a great atmosphere every time the bout came close to ending. Sheamus going over here makes sense and was the best route to go in making him out to be a credible champion. Since Chris Jericho was the one who got pinned, I'm interested to see how he takes the loss and where he goes from here.


Read More
Comments
<<Previous

    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2021 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us