WWE RAW/Smackdown/NXT/Superstars Discussion Thread 2010

Overall, I had a really great time at the WWE events at Staples Center. The double taping of raw kind of dragged due to its length and hearing the Nexus and Cena themes 18 times each, but all the shows were fairly good.

Facebook friends: You can check out my pics on there. Otherwise, I will be posting Photobucket links for each show.

SummerSlam was somewhat like a TNA PPV with good matches that had crappy finishes. I haven't seen the TV broadcast yet, but I know based on the Titantron and where I was sitting that I was on TV a lot. I even made a few brief appearances on Raw. We've still got Superstars tonight and next week, plus next Monday's Raw, to air.

They were slow letting people in, so I missed seeing my hero Zack Ryder job to Evan Bourne in the dark match. :(

Kofi vs. Dolph was a really good match given the time they had to work with. Dolph looked strong and seemed to have the match won. I'm not sure why they couldn't have saved the Nexus run-in for after the bell (why were they attacking Smackdown guys, anyway?) except that I guess they didn't want Kofi to lose to Ziggler again.

The program for the show actually listed a 6 pack challenge for the belt including Christian, Hardy, McIntyre, and Rhodes (all of whom I thought should have been in a 4 way) but I think they scrapped that idea because... well, if I told you here, it'd be a spoiler. Skirt Tiffany & Kelly Kelly vs. LayCool was also in the program, but we all know what happened with my beloved Tiffany.

The Miz/Jericho/Edge promo was funny and included 3 of my favorite WWE Superstars. The Slim Jim bit was great.

Melina vs. Alicia Fox was probably Alicia's best match, but that's not saying much. Melina won, as I expected, and will be a much better champion than Alicia, at least between the ropes. Melina looked to have hurt her knee at one point, but she finished the match and wrestled a couple times the following night, so I guess she's okay, thankfully. I got a nice shot of Melina hitting her finisher. LayCool's involvement afterward was a pleasant surprise.

The handicap match was better than I thought it would be, honestly, but I had a bad feeling as I cheered on Punk & co., wearing my SES shirt, that they were going to lose. Punk got a lot of good offense in, but I fear that, based on the finish, the SES may be falling apart. That makes me sad.

The Miz's promo was awesome. That is all.

The Orton vs. Sheamus match was really good, but the DQ ending was disappointing. I kind of expected it, but the way it was done with the ref being shoved was lame. I'm glad they're keeping the belt on Sheamus for a while longer, though. The post match attack and RKO were pretty cool.

Rey's orange gear looked really cool. This match was actually one of the best matches Kane and Rey have had with each other. The ending was as it should have been, with Kane chokeslamming and tombstoning the **** out of Rey.

Then we got to see The Undertaker return at SS for the second year in a row. We couldn't hear what he was saying to Rey in the corner. Kane actually took Taker down, so I guess Taker hasn't fully recovered from whatever Kane did to him.

The reveal of Daniel Bryan in the main event was something I kind of expected, but the guy sitting next to me showed me the spoiler on WWE.com anyway. Damn him. I still went crazy when he made his return.

the beginning of the match was hot with Daniel Bryan going wild and Team WWE getting 2 quick eliminations. Nexus then regrouped, and Skip Sheffield (unfortunately, but it made sense) came in and started wrecking ****. Bret Hart's elimination kind of sucked, but I guess he can't really take any bumps.

Heath Slater pinned Edge and Chris Jericho both in the main event of SummerSlam. Think about that for a minute. Then he tapped to Daniel Bryan, of course. The Miz's run-in was the best way to book it if they were going to have Bryan lose, but I think it should have been Bryan who was the sole survivor, making Barrett tap, if Team WWE was going to win.

I think Cena was supposed to sell the floor DDT longer, but it was damn near 8 P.M. by the time that spot took place and the PPV had to go off the air. Still, it was really disappointing seeing Cena pin Justin Gabriel and tap Wade Barrett in the span of 1 minute.

Overall, it was a really fun show, but the finishes to almost every match were disappointing. If they were going to have Team WWE win, at least let Bryan get the win. The Nexus needed Bret Hart to get himself DQ'ed and The Miz to interfere to eliminate Bryan. They looked kind of weak, but Raw the next night softended the blow a bit.

SummerSlam Pics: WWE SummerSlam August 15 2010 pictures by MattYoung - Photobucket

Raw 8/16/2010:

Wade Barrett was cutting a quality promo when Cena came out and just ruined everything. It wasn't that he came out... it was the fact that he completely belittled every Nexus member and made them look about as credible as the Spirit Squad. His "jokes" were mostly stupid and unfunny, especially the Wendy's thing. Bleh.

Barrett vs. Jericho was a match I had been wanting to see, and it was the best match of the night as far as the live broadcast was concerned. Barrett actually won cleanly over a multi-time world champion, which was win he needed badly.

The guest hosts (minus Justin Long) seemed to be on some sort of crazy drugs. I still love Jason Sudeikis, though. Their promo wasn't too bad by guest host standards.

Not sure what I think about the new tag belts. I wonder how this will affect the title lineage, since WWE.com had been keeping separate lineages for both sets of belts in the unified titles. Also, I really liked the Smackdown belts' design.

Bryan and Tarver had a good thing going for a couple minutes, although Tarver's punches looked pretty weak, given that his gimmick involves knocking people out. The match did its job, keeping Tarver in The Nexus and furthering the Miz/Bryan storyline.

I thought Alex Riley was supposed to get some solo time to shine on Raw as a result of NXT? I guess they scrapped that idea. He and Miz were awesome on the stick, as usual, though.

Orton vs. Gabriel, like most matches on the show, was short. I'm not sure what the kayfabe explanation would be for not disqualifying Gabriel after Sheamus interfered, but Sheamus didn't come in the ring, nor did he really land any solid shots. The aftermath was awesome, with the chair beatdown and multiple RKOs

Next, we got the 2 worst wrestlers in Nexus teaming up- Sheffield and Otunga. No mention on commentary of Truth being Otunga's mentor on NXT, sadly. Morrison deserved better than this.

The women's match sucked, but it was nice to see Jillian actually get a win for a change.

Edge vs. Heath Slater was pretty good. It sucked to see another countout finish, but Slater did pin Edge the night before. Slater got in some good offense on a 9-time world champion and outsmarted him at the end for the win.

The Khali segment was terrible except for the "butt ugly" line making me laugh. Why was he even on the show if he was "too injured to compete" at SummerSlam?

The Cena vs. Young match was actually competitive, which surprised the hell out of me after what happened at SummerSlam. I used to loathe Darren Young, but he's turned out to be better than Otunga, Sheffield, and Tarver. I kind of hope he comes back as a face. Raw needs midcard faces, and I figure they will do something with him after putting him in the main event.

Also, 2 Superstars matches were taped, but I'll avoid mentioning results since they haven't aired yet. Spoilers for those matches are in the photo album, though.

Raw pictures: WWE Raw live Staples Center August 16 2010 pictures by MattYoung - Photobucket

I will refrain from giving my thoughts on the Raw taped for next Monday for now. If anyone wants my opinions, I will share them later if asked, but will otherwise wait till Monday/Tuesday after the show airs. But I will say that it was a much better show, wrestling wise, compared to this past Monday's, and they announce some stuff related to the next PPV.

You can obviously read spoilers at various sites. Pics of that Raw and the post show dark match Raw/SD/Nexus battle royal (Cena won) can be found at the following link:

WWE Raw August 16 2010 taped for August 23 pictures by MattYoung - Photobucket

Ugh... Skip Sheffield got injured at a RAW house show in Hawaii.

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Originally Posted by TooCool

Ugh... Skip Sheffield got injured at a RAW house show in Hawaii.

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Broken ankle... he's going to be gone for a while. Sucks, I was just starting to like him.

At least they have some time to come up with a story since Monday's Raw is already taped... Maybe Darren Young attacks him backstage? Or will Rey Mysterio put him in a coma?

Justin Gabriel also hurt himself last Monday when he landed the 450 splash on Darren Young, but it doesn't sound anywhere near as serious as Sheffield. He usually acts like it hurts, but you could tell something was different on Monday. He more or less took a shot to the.... :nutkick:

NXT Review - 8/17/10

I actually watched NXT and I must say, it was one of the best NXT episodes I've seen so far.

NXT Elimination Segment - "Showtime" Percy Watson Eliminated

They had two eliminations so they kicked off the show by eliminating one. Not surprised that Percy Watson got eliminated. Compared to the other wrestlers remaining, he was the weakest. I don't like his "Oh yeah!" + pose he does.

Speaking of which, Kaval did a HUGE NO-NO in his promo. He was trying to rap and rhyme but come on dude, you can't end your promo with the words, "Total Nonstop Action." I honestly think that this will be the reason why he doesn't win NXT Season 2.

Zack Ryder vs Michael McGillicutty w/Kofi Kingston

I thought Zack Ryder would have to job to McGillicutty when he faced him and boy am I glad I was wrong! It was cool to see Kofi Kingston on the ring apron. Did they start doing that recently? I remember in Season 1 or something, the Pros would just hang out ringside. But to see Kofi Kingston on the apron (like a tag team partner without tagging in) was really nice to see. It made it seem like he was really trying to give advice to his rookie.

The match wasn't too long and Zack Ryder gave Michael McGillicutty the Rough Ryder and won the match.

Final Result: Zack Ryder by pinfall after the Rough Ryder.

Kaval w/LayCool vs Husky Harris w/Dashing Cody Rhodes

I like these two men, especially Kaval. Like I mentioned earlier... him mentioning TNA will probably be the reason why he doesn't win NXT. Kaval's foot stomp finisher is SICK. Husky Harris took it right in the chest (very close to his throat). I wonder if its because Husky Harris gave him the okay to do so. Because I've seen Kaval do this sometimes and he would just land both of his feet on the mat (while making it look like he stomped on the opponent). But to see the double foot stomp right on Husky Harris's chest was crazy.

Final Result: Kaval defeated Husky Harris.

Kofi Kingston w/Michael McGillicutty vs Alex Riley

The Miz wasn't on NXT this week (and next week) since RAW went to Hawaii for their house shows. So Alex Riley was left alone and he kind of sucks without The Miz.

I really like Alex Riley as well and I figure he would be the dark horse to win NXT. He is really talented on the mic, probably the most talented out of all the rookies. Unfortunately, his wrestling is a bit bland. Kofi Kingston made short work of him too when he hit the Trouble in Paradise and got the 3 count.

Final Result: Kofi Kingston by pinfall after using the Trouble in Paradise.

NXT Elimination Segment - Husky Harris Eliminated

This segment was crazy. Obviously, it was a work but it felt real and when that happens... it's always a plus when I watch wrestling.

Husky Harris got eliminated and Dashing Cody Rhodes went bonkers! :nutkick:

Matt Striker was going to let Husky Harris say his final words but Dashing Cody Rhodes started ranting on the mic. He even insulted Zack Ryder (because the pros supposedly voted on the eliminations) and went as far as saying something like... "Zack Ryder? The Pro?! Future endeavored is more like it!"

That was quite intense since it's almost close to the truth. :tantrum:

He then started ranting on all the remaining rookies. He said The Miz may be awesome but you're awful to Alex Riley. He said something about McGillicutty not being close to perfect like his daddy. Forgot what he said to Kaval but it certainly wasn't good because he started attacking him. Oddly enough Husky Harris, who tried to stop Dashing Cody Rhodes started attacking Kaval too.

This led to all the WWE Pros rushing from the stage to attack Dashing Cody Rhodes and Husky Harris. The whole segment felt surreal and it was a great way to end NXT.

Bravo WWE. :love:

Smackdown review coming up later... Alberto Del Rio was AWESOME! :pepper:

Friday Night Smackdown Review - 8/20/10

Really great episode of Smackdown this past Friday night. Everything was top notch. Kane's promo and Alberto Del Rio's debut were the highlights of the show.

Rey Mysterio & Alberto Del Rio segment

The show opened with Rey Mysterio coming out. Do the majority of Spanish speaking people live in Bakersfield something? Rey Mysterio spoke a lot of words in Spanish and got a huge pop for doing so. He talked about Summerslam and how he was glad he didn't end up in the casket. He said his "good name" was cleared and that he didn't put The Undertaker in a vegetative state.

I still thought it was funny how Rey Mysterio accused Kane of being the attack with ZERO evidence. :103smile:

Alberto Del Rio then suddenly interrupted Rey Mysterio. I loved how he said, "I'm Alberto Del Rio... but you guys already know that." because we've been waiting for his debut for months now.

Basically, he calls Rey Mysterio a peasant :clap2: and brags about being rich and so on. Rey Mysterio talks about how respect needs to be earned and its not given to you. Alberto Del Rio then challenged Rey Mysterio to a match and he'll show him what respect meant.

Good solid promo to kick off the show. It made me look forward to the main event for sure!

Intercontinental Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler (IC Champion) w/Vickie Guerrero vs Kofi Kingston

Smackdown GM Teddy Long made this match because Nexus interrupted their IC Title match at Summerslam. Sounds good to me. Both guys put on a fairly entertaining match. Really nothing we haven't seen before.

Vickie Guerrero eventually shoved Kofi Kingston off the top rope and the ref disqualified Dolph Ziggler. Kofi Kingston continuing his new persona of being extremely angry looked like he was about to hit Vickie Guerrero. But he hesitated and Dolph Ziggler attacked him. Ziggler gave him the Zig Zag and the sleeper. With Kofi out cold, Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero celebrated.

What was really cool was that Ziggler went back into the ring, and stomped on Kofi's face as he is still passed out from the sleeper hold. It was a legit kick to the face too. Looked really brutal on the replay.

Final Result: Kofi Kingston by DQ. Dolph Ziggler still the IC Champion.

I guess one could complain that this rematch was stupid... Summerslam match? Nexus ruined it. Smackdown match? DQ. But I have nothing against this one since it was on Smackdown and it further continues the storyline.

Luke Gallows & Serena w/Joesph Mercury vs Big Show and Kelly Kelly

There was a backstage SES segment before this match where Luke Gallows was pissed about Punk walking out them at Summerslam. Serena said Gallows doesn't understand and that tonight, they needed to win to show Punk that they are capable of doing something right.

Joey Mercury then mentioned that Serena never wrestled before and that is could be trouble. (So WWE is going to go with Serena having zero wrestling experience even though she can wrestle.) Okay then. ;)

Punk asked SES if they watched RAW. They said they did and Punk said he'll do what Nexus did. Punk said if Gallows and Serena loses their match tonight, they're out of SES.

Now to the match... it was mostly Kelly Kelly and Serena fighting. Kelly Kelly looked really hot but maybe it was because she was side by side with Serena... :lol:

Anyway, Kelly Kelly eventually went for the K-2 leg drop finisher but Serena countered it and lifted her as if she was going to use the GTS like Punk. Instead of Serena lifting her leg for the GTS, she throws Kelly Kelly onto her knee with a gutbuster attack. Really cool looking finisher and it really looks like the Go To Sleep that Punk uses.

Punk then congratulated SES at the ramp with a pleased look.

Final Result: Serena & Luke Gallows after a Gutbuster from Serena.

Kane segment

Can't really explain this... you must check this out whenever you can. Whether its on Youtube, WWE.com, TiVo.. anything! This promo was great. Kane is tremendous on the mic and he should do it more often.

They added in lots of old footage between him and Undertaker as he told his story. Good stuff. Teddy Long told Kane later in the show that Undertaker will be back next week.

Christian vs Drew McIntyre. Dashing Cody Rhodes joins Todd Grisham & Matt Striker on commentary

Fun match. John Cena, you need to watch Christian's matches and learn how to sell like he does. They played up the angle where Drew McIntyre injured Christian's left shoulder 3 weeks ago and Drew McIntyre worked on it the whole match. Christian kept fighting back whenever he could but he really made Drew look good.

Dashing Cody Rhodes was hilarious on commentary with lots of jokes. He even gave Todd Grisham some cotton swabs so Todd can look as Dashing as Cody.

Christian won with a surprise roll-up and then Drew McIntyre and Dashing Cody Rhodes attacked Christian. Apparently they have a new alliance going on or they're teaming up. Matt Hardy comes out for the save but gets beat up as well. :lol: Matt Hardy can't do anything right can he?

Final Result: Christian with a roll-up win over Drew McIntyre.

Rey Mysterio vs Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio entrance was AMAZING. He comes out on a Rolls Royce, goes to the ramp and poses for a pyro. The pyro reminds me of Randy Orton's when he first debuted. And if that's not all... he has his own Spanish Ring Announcer! :dancey:

I must say, Alberto Del Rio is really agile for his height. Rey Mysterio did a pretty good job in making Alberto Del Rio look good in his debut match. The finish came when Alberto Del Rio did some kind of rolling cross armbar that looks pretty cool. It was one swift move that led directly to an armbar submission. Rey Mysterio tapped out immediately to sell the effectiveness of the move.

Final Result: Albertio Del Rio by submission.

Very good Smackdown. Like the RAW crew, they're all overseas in China and Japan now. They taped next week's Smackdown on Wednesday night.

Hopefully the taped RAW comes out good on TV tomorrow night. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBbkkzdiJjE]YouTube - SmackDown: Kane admits attacking The Undertaker[/ame]

Kane's promos since winning the belt have been especially terrible. Honestly, it's some of the worst promo work I've seen in a looooong time.

But as for what I came here to say- Holy ****... I was just watching Smackdown on my DVR, and Alberto del Rio's ring announcer is a guy I've met before. He's the boyfriend of a girl I'm friends with, and he's an independent wrestler here in southern California. I marked out for that. He and I both made it on WWE TV in the same week! :)

Serena has been released what a big surprise, I wonder if its a wellness issue? and I guess the SES will soon be over too.

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Originally Posted by Dawdler

Serena has been released what a big surprise, I wonder if its a wellness issue? and I guess the SES will soon be over too.

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Oh wow, I'm shocked. She can wrestle. Probably has to do with a wellness issue unless she did something really inappropriate backstage somewhere.

I guess storyline wise, Luke Gallows could probably call out CM Punk about how he shouldn't have forgave Serena. Gallows was suppose to be pissed off that Punk didn't originally kick her out of the SES the first time.

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Originally Posted by TooCool

Oh wow, I'm shocked. She can wrestle. Probably has to do with a wellness issue unless she did something really inappropriate backstage somewhere.

I guess storyline wise, Luke Gallows could probably call out CM Punk about how he shouldn't have forgave Serena. Gallows was suppose to be pissed off that Punk didn't originally kick her out of the SES the first time.

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from what I have been reading she wasn't living the "Straight Edge Lifestyle" away from the ring and was warned about it repeatedly. I guess this last time she got too out of hand and it was the final straw.