Columnist Corner
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Every week, Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Graham "GSM" Matthews analyzes the weekly Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown broadcasts, as well as the monthly WWE pay-per-view events.
These reviews and recaps cover each segment, match, and an overall look as to how the program either succeeded or failed in making the show worthy of watching. |
Monday Night Raw SuperShow - May 14, 2012
WWE COO Triple H gets physical with Paul Heyman.
Strong promo to kick off the show featuring Triple H and Paul Heyman. I believe they could held off another week with Triple H's return until after Over the Limit, but it was one of the few highlights of this show. Both HHH and Heyman played their roles extremely role, and this segment has me intrigued regarding the Brock Lesnar angle going forward.
Good tag team match with WWE Champion CM Punk and United States Champion Santino Marella defeating Daniel Bryan and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Punk had great chemistry with Rhodes throughout, and it was smart to have Punk and Bryan keep their distance going into Sunday. Santino felt like the odd man in this bout, whose comedic antics didn't do anything to enhance the action in this action. Santino's newfound feud with Rhodes feels a bit random, but at least it brought more star power to this match.
Quick Divas match that saw Beth Phoenix squash Alicia Fox. Like most Divas matches, the action was kept under a minute, so it didn't mean much other than getting Phoenix over as a threat to the title. However, that momentum was quickly diminished when Layla rushed the ring and get the better of the Glamazon.
Throwaway match between Big Show and Kane that served no purpose. Sure, Kane got the victory, but it meant nothing since it was due to a distraction from John Laurinaitis. The firing of Big Show showed nice emotion from Show, even if it was a bit over the top. The feud between Lauinaitis and Show seemed odd at first, but it's successful in the sense that it's getting heat on Johnny Ace. However, Show's "firing" was quickly forgotten by the end of the show since they only lasted about a week or two these days.
Decent match with WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth with Brodus Clay defeating Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, and The Miz. The action was fine for what it was worth, but it wasn't given enough time to truly get anyone excited about the pending tag team title match at Over the Limit. Having Clay pin Miz to end the bout wasn't the best way to give anyone involved any real momentum going into the show on Sunday.
Read the conclusion of this review and more recaps at the Columnist Corner.
Good tag team match with WWE Champion CM Punk and United States Champion Santino Marella defeating Daniel Bryan and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Punk had great chemistry with Rhodes throughout, and it was smart to have Punk and Bryan keep their distance going into Sunday. Santino felt like the odd man in this bout, whose comedic antics didn't do anything to enhance the action in this action. Santino's newfound feud with Rhodes feels a bit random, but at least it brought more star power to this match.
Quick Divas match that saw Beth Phoenix squash Alicia Fox. Like most Divas matches, the action was kept under a minute, so it didn't mean much other than getting Phoenix over as a threat to the title. However, that momentum was quickly diminished when Layla rushed the ring and get the better of the Glamazon.
Throwaway match between Big Show and Kane that served no purpose. Sure, Kane got the victory, but it meant nothing since it was due to a distraction from John Laurinaitis. The firing of Big Show showed nice emotion from Show, even if it was a bit over the top. The feud between Lauinaitis and Show seemed odd at first, but it's successful in the sense that it's getting heat on Johnny Ace. However, Show's "firing" was quickly forgotten by the end of the show since they only lasted about a week or two these days.
Decent match with WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth with Brodus Clay defeating Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, and The Miz. The action was fine for what it was worth, but it wasn't given enough time to truly get anyone excited about the pending tag team title match at Over the Limit. Having Clay pin Miz to end the bout wasn't the best way to give anyone involved any real momentum going into the show on Sunday.
Read the conclusion of this review and more recaps at the Columnist Corner.
Friday Night SmackDown - May 18, 2012
Daniel Bryan attacks Kane with a vicious chair shot.
Effective opening segment featuring John Laurinaitis and WWE Champion CM Punk. It was a pleasant surprise in seeing Punk make an appearance on SmackDown, and he led Laurinatis to a good promo that helped hype a match with Kane later in the night. Once Punk walked off, Laurinaitis garnered major heat by badgering the audience and playing his role extremely well.
Fun match with WWE Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Kofi Kingston defeating Titus O'Neil and Darren Young. I would have liked to see O'Neil and Young continue their recent momentum with a victory here, but the tag team champs needed a win going into their title defense at Over the Limit. Hopefully, we see more from these two teams in the near future.
Intense segment with Damien Sandow refusing to face Yoshi Tatsu, only to viciously attack him moments later after Tatsu called him out on it. Sandow's gimmick has me intrigued, and it certainly seems to accumulating heat fairly quickly. Although I would have loved to see him compete, forcefully beating down Tatsu was an awesome way in foreshadowing his aggressive characteristics in the ring.
Brief match with Daniel Bryan quickly defeating Zack Ryder. Based upon past matches between the two, I would have loved to see this go longer, but keeping it short made Bryan look strong into his WWE Championship on Sunday. Ryder hasn't meant anything in ages, so having him to job out to Bryan in this fashion didn't do much damage that wasn't already done.
Great non-title match between WWE Champion CM Punk and Kane. It's been quite awhile since we've seen these two go at it, so this bout felt fresh. Given the correct opponent, Kane can produce an above average contest, and this was no exception. I enjoyed the chemistry between him and Punk, so a future feud between Punk and Kane is something I'd love to see. Smart booking with Kane winning via disqualification, as it protects the Straightedge Savior and gives the Big Red Monster some much-needed momentum. Having Kane brutalize Punk following the bout was an awesome way of making him look vulnerable as the conniving Daniel Bryan looked on from afar.
Read the conclusion of this review and more recaps at the Columnist Corner.
Fun match with WWE Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Kofi Kingston defeating Titus O'Neil and Darren Young. I would have liked to see O'Neil and Young continue their recent momentum with a victory here, but the tag team champs needed a win going into their title defense at Over the Limit. Hopefully, we see more from these two teams in the near future.
Intense segment with Damien Sandow refusing to face Yoshi Tatsu, only to viciously attack him moments later after Tatsu called him out on it. Sandow's gimmick has me intrigued, and it certainly seems to accumulating heat fairly quickly. Although I would have loved to see him compete, forcefully beating down Tatsu was an awesome way in foreshadowing his aggressive characteristics in the ring.
Brief match with Daniel Bryan quickly defeating Zack Ryder. Based upon past matches between the two, I would have loved to see this go longer, but keeping it short made Bryan look strong into his WWE Championship on Sunday. Ryder hasn't meant anything in ages, so having him to job out to Bryan in this fashion didn't do much damage that wasn't already done.
Great non-title match between WWE Champion CM Punk and Kane. It's been quite awhile since we've seen these two go at it, so this bout felt fresh. Given the correct opponent, Kane can produce an above average contest, and this was no exception. I enjoyed the chemistry between him and Punk, so a future feud between Punk and Kane is something I'd love to see. Smart booking with Kane winning via disqualification, as it protects the Straightedge Savior and gives the Big Red Monster some much-needed momentum. Having Kane brutalize Punk following the bout was an awesome way of making him look vulnerable as the conniving Daniel Bryan looked on from afar.
Read the conclusion of this review and more recaps at the Columnist Corner.
WWE EXtreme Rules - April 29, 2012
John Cena delivers an Attitude Adjustment to Brock Lesnar.
Quick match with United States Champion Santino Marella successfully retaining his United States Championship against The Miz. The promo from Miz before the match was well done, but the bout was too quick to mean anything. As I've said before, Marella doesn't need the strap, while a former WWE Champion getting pinned by a comedy figure doesn't do anything for Miz whatsoever.
Great Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Orton and Kane that was, much like their WrestleMania encounter, better than originally expected. The crowd died down a bit when they went backstage, but Orton and Kane had suspenseful back-and-forth action throughout that kept the Chicago crowd alive. Orton going over was predictable, so that wasn't a major miss. Cool finish with the RKO onto the chair as well.
Fun match between Brodus Clay and Dolph Ziggler that worked as a nice buffer. Initially, Ziggler got cheered while Clay got booed (thanks to his association with Hornswoggle), so this didn't seem to serve much purpose. However, the crowd warmed up to Clay while hitting his signature spots and Ziggler sold like a beast as usual. Good win for Clay, but Ziggler needs to regain credibility quickly.
Good booking in the Intercontinental Championship Tables match between Big Show and Cody Rhodes. The action was fine for what it was worth, but Rhodes winning the belt in the fashion he did was a smart way to protect Show and give Rhodes back the title. Although the crowd booed the World's Largest Athlete for attacking Rhodes following the bout, he won them over with those two impressive spots through to table. Nicely done.
Read the conclusion of this review and more recaps at the Columnist Corner.
Great Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Orton and Kane that was, much like their WrestleMania encounter, better than originally expected. The crowd died down a bit when they went backstage, but Orton and Kane had suspenseful back-and-forth action throughout that kept the Chicago crowd alive. Orton going over was predictable, so that wasn't a major miss. Cool finish with the RKO onto the chair as well.
Fun match between Brodus Clay and Dolph Ziggler that worked as a nice buffer. Initially, Ziggler got cheered while Clay got booed (thanks to his association with Hornswoggle), so this didn't seem to serve much purpose. However, the crowd warmed up to Clay while hitting his signature spots and Ziggler sold like a beast as usual. Good win for Clay, but Ziggler needs to regain credibility quickly.
Good booking in the Intercontinental Championship Tables match between Big Show and Cody Rhodes. The action was fine for what it was worth, but Rhodes winning the belt in the fashion he did was a smart way to protect Show and give Rhodes back the title. Although the crowd booed the World's Largest Athlete for attacking Rhodes following the bout, he won them over with those two impressive spots through to table. Nicely done.
Read the conclusion of this review and more recaps at the Columnist Corner.
Alumni Archive - Roger Gaylord
Roger Gaylord
Being one of the elite few to debut on the inaugural episode of AJM, Roger Gaylord has found success in the span of his three year NEW career including becoming a multiple tag team champion alongside his brothers, Greg and Gary, as well as emerge victorious as Intercontinental Champion in his own right. Following an attack from Billy Deadman a few months back, Roger hasn't been seen since, but his legacy of being an original will never be forgotten.
Meet more Next Era Wrestling Alumni by clicking here.
Meet more Next Era Wrestling Alumni by clicking here.
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