Evolution opening promo was solid as a starting point for the show. The “take a look at greatness” being the first line for Triple H is interesting, since Orton used that line during his 2008-2009 WWE title reigns. No idea if that was intentional, but just stood out to me for some reason. All of Evolution’s main feuds are mentioned here which is fine, and Bischoff making the matches he did for tonight is great. Obviously Joe wins the four way, we’ve got a tag title match and Triple H/Angle is a PPV worthy main event. A good start to the show.
Tag title match here seemed solid enough, ticking all the boxes. Batista looked incredibly strong for the most part, and the heel champs retain. Show and A Train don’t lose face due to The Hardyz interference, continuing that issue as well. Solid stuff.
Eh, the Christian/Trish segment didn’t quite hit the mark for me. In theory it all makes sense, but they haven’t been together on screen for long so if this is hinting at issues already, it feels way to soon. The benefit is this at least did the job of promoting the two matches they’re both involved in tonight.
I liked the video package before the Benoit interview, making this World Title program seem like a big deal. Benoit’s interview here was good, and the brawl was pretty crazy here. Didn’t necessarily expect it to get so vicious but here we are. Maybe a little to excessive with the German Suplex at the end, one big car spot with the F5 was probably enough, but this was a nice shock moment for sure, which now puts even more heat into the World Title situation.
I definitely didn’t expect to see a Trish injury angle in the Trish/Lita match, but it seems you’re using it as a vehicle to put forward more issues between Trish and Christian. I assume that’s what will happen as Christian chose to compete instead of be by Trish’s side. Again, like I already mentioned, not huge on these two having so many problems already.
I’m not sure I like the booking of the Fatal Four Way match here either. Joe/Orton felt like a natural program last week so using this double pin thing to shoehorn AJ into that situation doesn’t work for me. On top of that, this is Joe’s first match or at least first real competitive match in WWE. He’s supposed to be booked like this scary, tough guy, and then he doesn’t even get a proper win? Feels like a momentum killing type decision. Also, we’ve just had this announcement from Bischoff. A big announcement that the IC Title match will be a Triple Threat. Let that marinate, the Orton attack and brawl could have come next week. Just felt like a bit extra that probably wasn’t needed.
Triple H/Angle main event would have been fun. Seemed like a good one. Evolution coming out to help Triple H after the ref bump is expected, but what’s great is that Angle has his own teammates ready to counter act that. Probably the first time during the Evolution run that they have a legitimate team ready to face them. Angle getting the quick win was fine, and yeah, I think I mentioned last week it seemed like we were heading to an Evolution vs. Team Angle deal, and I’m okay with that.
Only other thing worth mentioning as potential feedback is I don’t think we need Eric Bischoff making his way out from the back three different times in the one show to announce matches. Probably need to think about some more creative ways to announce/book matches, whether it’s a wrestler requesting it in the back, or whatever else it might be.
An okay show here. Some things I didn’t agree with, but some I liked. I felt you only had the one car crash (pardon the pun) type segment on this show with the Benoit/Lesnar stuff, which felt like a step in the right direction after Smackdown. Looking forward to what comes next.
Tag title match here seemed solid enough, ticking all the boxes. Batista looked incredibly strong for the most part, and the heel champs retain. Show and A Train don’t lose face due to The Hardyz interference, continuing that issue as well. Solid stuff.
Eh, the Christian/Trish segment didn’t quite hit the mark for me. In theory it all makes sense, but they haven’t been together on screen for long so if this is hinting at issues already, it feels way to soon. The benefit is this at least did the job of promoting the two matches they’re both involved in tonight.
I liked the video package before the Benoit interview, making this World Title program seem like a big deal. Benoit’s interview here was good, and the brawl was pretty crazy here. Didn’t necessarily expect it to get so vicious but here we are. Maybe a little to excessive with the German Suplex at the end, one big car spot with the F5 was probably enough, but this was a nice shock moment for sure, which now puts even more heat into the World Title situation.
I definitely didn’t expect to see a Trish injury angle in the Trish/Lita match, but it seems you’re using it as a vehicle to put forward more issues between Trish and Christian. I assume that’s what will happen as Christian chose to compete instead of be by Trish’s side. Again, like I already mentioned, not huge on these two having so many problems already.
I’m not sure I like the booking of the Fatal Four Way match here either. Joe/Orton felt like a natural program last week so using this double pin thing to shoehorn AJ into that situation doesn’t work for me. On top of that, this is Joe’s first match or at least first real competitive match in WWE. He’s supposed to be booked like this scary, tough guy, and then he doesn’t even get a proper win? Feels like a momentum killing type decision. Also, we’ve just had this announcement from Bischoff. A big announcement that the IC Title match will be a Triple Threat. Let that marinate, the Orton attack and brawl could have come next week. Just felt like a bit extra that probably wasn’t needed.
Triple H/Angle main event would have been fun. Seemed like a good one. Evolution coming out to help Triple H after the ref bump is expected, but what’s great is that Angle has his own teammates ready to counter act that. Probably the first time during the Evolution run that they have a legitimate team ready to face them. Angle getting the quick win was fine, and yeah, I think I mentioned last week it seemed like we were heading to an Evolution vs. Team Angle deal, and I’m okay with that.
Only other thing worth mentioning as potential feedback is I don’t think we need Eric Bischoff making his way out from the back three different times in the one show to announce matches. Probably need to think about some more creative ways to announce/book matches, whether it’s a wrestler requesting it in the back, or whatever else it might be.
An okay show here. Some things I didn’t agree with, but some I liked. I felt you only had the one car crash (pardon the pun) type segment on this show with the Benoit/Lesnar stuff, which felt like a step in the right direction after Smackdown. Looking forward to what comes next.