Smackdown and Raw...
Match 1: Spike Dudley defeated Chavo Guerrero,Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio in a fatal fourway to retain CW Title. Excellent non-stop pace made the 9 minute duration seem a fair bit longer. A little bit too much one on one action in a fourway for my liking, but it wasn't over the top. Very good spots which were booked & performed well, even if there was nothing we haven't seen before. Being critical, the storytelling could have been a little better & the booking of Spike retaining the title is questionable. But overall, an excellent example of how most ppvs should be opened; Fast-paced, entertaining action. 8/10
Match 2: Shelton Benjamin beat Christian to retain IC Title. What looked like a good feud on paper was booked & performed very well in this 13 minute match. Excellent storytelling, very good psychology, a more than sufficient pace, a few new moves & enough near falls to make anyone happy. MOTY 9/10
Match 3: Eddie Guerrero, RVD, John Cena and Big Show defeated Kurt Angle, Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak and Carlito. Except for a prolonged period where Eddie played the face in peril, the faces pretty much dominated this 15 minute match. Carlito never took part in the match & Cena did almost as little. As short & relatively unexciting as the match was, it fit the style of the classic 4 on 4 format to a large extent. Angle was great, while Reigns & Jindrak tried. If anything, this match suffered due to the unfortunate timing of Carlito's shoulder injury, but once they announced Cena's return, the match had to go ahead as planned. The rating is a little nice, but I felt this was still a decently entertaining old-style elimination match. 6/10
Match 4: Undertaker beat Heidencrap. A very slow opening, but the match gathered steam as Heidenreich felt a little more comfortable in the ring. Fortunately, he didn't do anything too badly, while 'Taker was his usual self. 3/10
Match 5: Trish defeated Lita via DQ to retain Women's Title. The match itself only lasted 1 minute & all up (including entrances) only 5 minutes was used up. 2/10
Match 6: JBL beat Booker T to retain Smackdown World Title. Good intensity to begin with, but fairly quickly became a plodding mish-mash of a nothing match. That was until Booker found another gear, got the crowd involved, and genuinely looked like a main eventer. Ref bumps & run-ins meant the finish was overbooked, but at least it kept up the excitement all the way through to the ending at the 15 minute mark. No classic, but I really liked the stronger points of this match. 8/10
Match 7: Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Maven and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named defeated Triple H, Edge, Gene Snitski and Batista. Orton's push continues as he was the sole survivor here, pinning Edge & Triple H with an RKO each at the end. Plus, those eliminated early in this 24 minute match, were made to look strong just before their eliminations. Could have been better in so many ways, but at the end of the day, it was sufficiently intriguing, intense, well-performed & entertaining 7/10
Overall: 5.3 Not bad, not great [/center]