Week in Reveiw (3/11/12-3/17/12)

[Chris]

Week in Review (3/11/12-3/17/12)

Alright guys, I'm going to start doing a weekly review over the wrestling shows throughout the week. I will provide a quick summary of what I thought of each show, the match and promo of the night, then the overall rating. I'll then rank the shows, and pick a match and segment of the week. PPVs will be worked in accordingly, and I'll try to post this every Saturday, so let's start with Raw.

WWE Raw Supershow (3/12/12) ​

Chris's Thoughts: We start the show with a rap from Cena. Great stuff, as usual from him, though strangely short. Real good, kept me entertained though. Ziggler vs Sheamus was a really good match that had both of them looking good. Don't know if it was just Ziggler's greatness or if he's genuinely improving, but Sheamus looked really impressive. Billy Gunn actually trended on Twitter during this match after Ziggler did the Fame-asser. The Laurinaitis/Long feud has been alright, not good, not bad. I'm just so glad they aren't going to have a match against each other at 'Mania that the feud could probably be complete crap and I wouldn't care. Henry is a nice edition to Team Johnny, looked like a monster during this match/segment that followed. I'm skeptical with Brodus still, he makes me laugh, and is entertaining, but man, I don't like watching his matches at all. They need to go somewhere with him at least, don't just have him do the exact same thing. Next we have a promo between Shawn and Undertaker. Good stuff from both of them. I think adding Shawn as the referee really adds something new to that match. It's got me more interested at least. I love how they're teasing Shawn and Hunter screwing 'Taker with the crotch chop at the end, that was perfect. Great stuff from all three guys, even if I didn't originally want this match to happen. Miz vs Punk was really a joke, served as nothing more than to bury The Miz and bring Punk out so Jericho could do his promo. Now Jericho's promo is something else I don't know what the think about yet. I really didn't enjoy it at all, but I don't think it was the concept, I think the concept is great, adds a whole new dynamic to the feud, but it was really just poorly executed. I'm one of the guys that doesn't mind WWE being PG because I think they can still put on great stuff while being PG, but this was a promo that really felt like they tried to overdo the PG-ness, which you really can't do when making things personal still. I have faith that the feud will be better though, even if this one segment was not so good. Orton vs Swagger was an alright match, don't really think it was needed at all though, kinda' bored me, as is this Kane/Orton feud. I'm hoping on Smackdown they do something with this to at least make it interesting. Now we have The Rock Concert. This was really entertaining, and The Rock proved he still knows how to play a crowd. Wasn't too keen on the ending, but the crowd was into it, and that's nice. A funny bit, but hopefully they get more personal in the next couple weeks. Overall, an alright Raw. One good match between Ziggler/Sheamus, and some good stuff between Cena, Rock, HBK, and 'Taker.

Match of the Night: Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus

Segment of the Night: Almost wanna' give it to Cena, but it was just so short. HBK/Taker take this one.

Overall Rating: 5.7/10

WWE Smackdown (3/16/12)​

Chris's Thoughts: We start off with The Peep Show, and it's great to see Christian back. He asks Teddy for one more match, which I found hilarious after like 6 months away that that's the first thing he asks for. Pretty good segment that didn't go on any longer than it needed and got it's point across. Kofi vs Otunga was a decent match, Otunga seemed better than usual. Real short, but it built the GM feud nicely, which is great that they're doing that with wrestlers and not the GMs fighting. I can't stress that enough. People seem to be split 50/50 on whether they like Daniel Bryan's character or not. I'm one of the ones that love it. His little skit with A.J. backstage was hilarious. He should be a role model for men because he's such a prick to his girlfriend and she's still with him. A.J. vs Nikki Bella was an alright little Divas match, Bryan stopping twin magic was a nice touch. Good to see A.J. picking up a win, big fan of hers. Bryan celebrating more than she did after the match was a nice touch. Cody vs Khali was horrible, not even watchable in my opinion, and not a bit of it was Cody's fault. WWE has got to get rid of Khali, he is the worst wrestler in the business today. I could put on a better match than him. The Kane/Orton promo was good, a bit boring because they both have monotonous voices, but I liked it. I also like that they're using that match from last summer as a basis for the feud, since that's the first thing I thought of when Kane attacked Orton a few weeks back. Drew McIntyre has his job back, that means more jobbing, but at least they had him put up a good fight against Show. I enjoyed the match. Mark Henry vs Yoshi Tatus was another short match, no real comment on that. Much better promo by Jericho on Punk here than the one on Raw. Got my interest back up that was completely destroyed on Monday. It was followed by a tremendous match between Jericho and Sheamus. The ending was perfect because it got the Bryan/Sheamus feud some much needed build, as it has kinda' gotten the shaft as of late. Not a bad show overall, better than last week, but it needed one more good match, as I'm used to seeing good wrestling on Smackdown. Oh, and Khali sucks.

Match of the Night: Chris Jericho vs Sheamus

Segment of the Night: Jericho's promo before his match

Overall Rating: 6.0/10

WWE NXT (3/14/12)​

For those of you that don't regularly watch the show, William Regal is now the guy kayfabely making the matches, so him being involved in anyway is just awesome. He decides that we should have a tag team night since it has become a lost art (genius). Great opening promo by the man who I think should be GM of both shows. First match is The Usos vs Darren Young and Titus O'Neil. It was a pretty good match, glad The Usos got the win as I'm not a fan of either of the two other guys. Titus is a bit better in the ring, but still sucks. Young is still real good. Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins vs Percy Watson and Alex Riley is the second match, great match here. Hawkins and Reks are probably my favorite tag team in WWE (not saying much) today. After the match they continue their little feud they have going with Regal. This next promo by McGillicutty is by far the best thing I've ever heard out of his mouth. Tyson Kidd's promo skills still need a good bit of work, but he never talks much anyway, he's just amazing in the ring. McGillicutty though, showed a lot of emotion in this promo, and really captivated me, and hopefully everyone else watching. This is a great feud that's been building for three or four weeks now, that will continue with a match next week. Very impressive. Very short main event with little wrestling, not good at all, though the little wrestling between Bateman and Curtis was alright, when Maxine and Kaitlyn were in the ring, it was a trainwreck. Not really enjoying whatever this is between these four, don't even know if you'd call it a feud, I guess a love rectangle. Johnny Curtis manages to entertain me with his wacky antics though, the rest is just weird and stupid.

Match of the Night: Reks/Hawkins vs Riley/Watson

Segment of the Night: McGillicutty/Kidd in-ring segment

Overall Rating: 6.1/10

WWE Superstars (3/15/12) ​

Superstars is usual one of my favorite shows of the week because there's no chance for a stupid storyline, it's just wrestling. We start off with Justin Gabriel vs Hunico. Freakin' amazing match 12 minute match. Both of these guys looked so good in this match. I encourage you to watch it if you haven't already. Kingston/Truth vs Reks/Hawkins was a good tag match, wish Hawkins/Reks would have won, but they weren't thrown together in 30 seconds so they have to job. I'm just not a fan of the Truth/Kingston tag team at all, it is so rushed. They should have just pushed The Usos or Hawkins/Reks instead of throwing these two guys together. I did like the ending of this match though, cools little spot. Beth vs Kelly was good for a Kelly match, probably one of her better ones. It lasted about 5 and a half minutes, and the only real downside was Kelly doing her stupid tilt-a-whirl headsiccors. Beth winning could not have been more obvious, but the crowd was still actually kinda' hot when Kelly reversed a Glam Slam into a roll up for two right before the end.

Match of the Night: Justin Gabriel vs Hunico

Segment of the Night: N/A, Unless you count the Raw Rebound

Overall Rating: 5.33/10

Impact Wrestling (3/15/12)​

Great promo to start the show with Storm and Roode. They work so well together, I really hope they have a good feud if Storm beats Roode for the belt at Lockdown, that would be great. Nice build for their match at Victory Road until then though. Madison Rayne vs Velvet Sky was alright, glad it was quick, and it served it's purpose. Crimson really sucks, and I hate to see him getting the win over Joe, or anyone really, but especially Joe. I hope Magnus and Joe beat them at Victory Road and we're done with Crimson beating credible wrestlers, but that's probably not going to happen. Great segment with Austin Aries and Zema, though Zema using Sorensen's injury is so low, they should really stop that. Both guys were trending after this, only things that trended during the show. Maybe TNA should give them a little more time. Mickie James vs Gail Kim was a much better KO's match than earlier, and it got Kim over before her title match, which is good. I'm so confused by this A.J./Anderson/Daniels/Kaz stuff. Not a bit of it makes sense, so I'm just hoping for a good match at the PPV, but in the meantime, we got a pretty good match between Anderson and Daniels here. Garett Bischoff sucks, I'm not even going any further into his little five minute challenge with Angle. Him on TV is nepotism at its finest. Gunner vs James Storm was a nice match, Gunner's really improved, and I'm a huge James Storm fan as of late. I kinda' wish it would have went on a little longer. I don't see the point of contract signings, especially when they're rare anyway, so you're saying the other matches can be signed in private, but only certain ones get to end up with someone thrown through the table? This one didn't end up with that unfortunately, and was just an overall boring segment. Wasn't bad, just boring, I expected more. Not a bad show, but I expected much more after how good it's been lately.

Match of the Night: Daniels vs Anderson

Segment of the Night: Storm/Bully promo

Overall Rating: 6.4/10

Ring of Honor Wrestling (3/10/12)​

(Note: I know this technically took place last week, but I don't usually get to watch it until Tuesday or so, so I'll always have the ROH show from the week before in my reviews. )

So this show is gong to have three Blind Destiny qualifying matches. I absolutely love this concept, and it especially work with them having 2 day PPVs, so let's get started with the first match. Jay Lethal vs Kenny King is first and man was I disappointed by this match. Not that it was bad, it's just that I expected so much more. Lethal has really been boring me ever since he returned to ROH. He needs something, not sure what, but I'm starting to dislike the guy. Kevin Steen is really carrying ROH at this point. He's doing everything right and has me completely marking out for him. Great match between him and someone else I'm loving at the moment, Adam Cole. It was a gimme that Steen was going to win, but nonetheless this match was entertaining. Peculiar that Steen is going to face Eddie instead of Davey on Day 2 of the PPV. Seems they're setting up a Best in The World match between Steen and Richards since that is the money match. Inside ROH was pretty good this week. Roderick Strong's mic skills suck as usual though, really dislike him no matter how good he is in the ring. Bennett having Maria is the best thing to happen to him, adds a whole new dynamic to his character. I can't wait for his match against Storm at SitS, should be great. Kyle O'Reilly vs Michael Elgin end the show, and it's a great match to end on. Both men put on a great show, and Elgin impresses me more each week with his agility and quickness matching up with his power. He's a future big time player, and I'm happy he gets the win. I see him facing Davey for the title on day 2 in a losing effort, but he gets a title shot nonetheless.

Match of the Night: Kyle O'Reilly vs Michael Elgin

Segment of the Night: N/A

Overall Rating: 6.2/10

Match of the Week: Chris Jericho vs Sheamus (Smackdown)

Segment of the Week: McGillicutty promo, and I guess Kidd's as well, but it was mainly McGillicutty that shined

Top Shows of the Week: 1. Impact Wrestling (Last week: N/A) 2. Ring of Honor Wrestling (N/A) 3. WWE NXT (N/A) 4. WWE Smackdown (N/A) 5. WWE Raw (N/A) 6. WWE Superstars (N/A)​

 

[Deuce]

I liked reading the reviews for each show you posted, good work man, can't wait to see more from you.

 

[Chris]

Just realized that I misspelled "review" in the title. Boy do I feel stupid, but that's fixed now.

 

[The New F'n Show]

Very solid read. Good work man nice to here detailed thoughts from people.

 

[The Nicker]

Wow, an incredible read. I am just surprised how WWE Raw is one of your least-liked shows of the week. I actually enjoyed this week's Raw and I enjoyed it more than iMPACT! Wrestling and Smackdown. I will definitely keep my eye on these reviews though. Very entertaining read.

 

[Chris]

The only thing I liked on Raw was the Cena, Rock, and HBK stuff. They didn't have but one good match, the rest were pointless. The shows were so even this week though, usually Impact and maybe even Smackdown would have been higher, but they weren't near as good as they usually were. Neither was ROH, but NXT was much better than it usually is.

 

[The Nicker]

The only thing I liked on Raw was the Cena, Rock, and HBK stuff. They didn't have but one good match, the rest were pointless. The shows were so even this week though, usually Impact and maybe even Smackdown would have been higher, but they weren't near as good as they usually were. Neither was ROH, but NXT was much better than it usually is.

So let me just ask you a quick question here: Is WWE Superstars ever not going to be the least of your favorite shows of the week? Hell, we should do a countdown or maybe some kind of streak. How many Week-In reviews in a row will you have with WWE Superstars being at the very bottom of the list. Hell, you can actually do that for all the shows in all their spots on your Week-In review.

 

[Chris]

Superstars is usually one of my favorite shows actually, it just really sucked this week other than a great match between Hunico and Gabriel.

 

[The Nicker]

Hunico really isn't all that great. I hear a lot on other forums that Hunico is this amazing wrestler and his AAA stuff is great, but all he is a spot-monkey, and one of those dudes who sell too well but can't look the least bit entertaining. Should be in the Ragdoll Division. You know you like that idea.

Justin Gabriel I like but his face-turn should have meant more instead of just him becoming a generic good guy who does high spots out of nowhere. He was part of very big storylines and WWE totally jipped him in my opinion.

 

[Chris]

I agree, I never was a big Hunico fan, though I thought he did a better job as Sin Cara than the original, but this match was really good, almost picked it for match of the week.