Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Here are my thoughts as the show aired.
I thought it was a good thing to have no pyro for Batista as he came to the ring for his match due to his heel turn. It would seem counter productive for him to have his usual pyro to play up to the crowd. This was the first time that I noticed that they have had Batista introduced as a former World Champion as he came to the ring for a match.
The Batista/Hardy match was a good set up for the match between Rey and Batista. Batista was methodical and much like not having his pyro, Batista wrestled a heel match where he was not playing to the crowd. He did not shake the ropes after the spinebusters and just finished off Hardy. Hardy got in some offense but it was not enough to stop Batista.
Batista’s promo in the back when confronted by Josh Mathews was a good finish to the package for Batista’s portion of his match. His comments were brief and direct. He said what needed to be said about why he is angry at Rey, even though it is strange that Batista would not expect Rey to want to win the title when he has the opportunity and is a former World Champion.
I thought the Undertaker/Kane video package was well done and showed some of the devastation that they have brought to the company.
I thought the backstage segment with Vickie Guerrero, Teddy Long, and Vince McMahon was okay. I have to agree with everyone who has commented on how WWE has people referring to everyone by their full name. Why couldn’t Teddy have said hello to Vickie instead of ‘Vickie Guerrero’. I like that Teddy is getting a bit of a backbone when people blame him for things that Vince suggested. Maybe that will lead to Teddy letting Taker know that it was Vince’s idea for Montreal Screw Job 2009 to possibly set up Taker’s opponent for Wrestlemania 26. Vickie’s reaction to being named a consultant was good while a bit over the top.
Drew McIntyre’s promo was solid before his match with Finlay. I don’t know if it is something that WWE is trying to do, but there are a lot of people who are cutting promos that are very calculating without being over the top so when there is any explosion in their comments, it is infrequent to make an impact.
I liked the way that the Finlay/McIntyre match started, after Finlay came to the ring by slapping hands with the fans despite the comments by McIntyre and the intensity of their prior confrontations. Finlay should have been angry at McIntyre and it showed with his aggressive behavior. However, I did not like that an eye poke and one DDT can finish the match. While I like the fact that it makes McIntyre’s finisher effective by being able to be the only move needed, it did not seem like it should be enough to finish off a man like Finlay.
I thought Punk’s promo was very good and had a similar impact to the promo that he cut at the last Philadelphia pay per view. It felt like the promo was a bit longer than it could have been to convey the same message, but was still effective. I did not know that they made cartons of cigarettes without individual packages. It would obviously not have conveyed the same visual image if Punk dumped 10 packs of cigarettes instead of the individual cigarettes.
Like Batista’s no nonsense walk to the ring, I liked that R Truth came to the ring without rapping because of his past issues with Punk. R Truth’s promos have also been strong during this feud and have helped things and gives a counter point to Punk. I thought it was good that Truth was able to get an advantage on Punk with his attack. When you consider what Punk has done to Truth, it seems justified to me.
I liked that the first fall of the Ziggler/Morrison match was a quick inside cradle. I was hoping that at the start of the match that Striker and Grisham would have discussed who would benefit more by getting the first fall instead of talking about who had the better endurance. I do not like that while Morrison has been showing a rib injury during many of his matches, he is always trying his split legged corkscrew moonsault. That move should be the last thing that he tries because of what it should do to his ribs and abdominal region. For the second fall, I wish they would have shown some of the action that allowed Ziggler to take control of the match to lead to the second fall. I did not like the finish to the match because of the work that was done on his abdominal area during the third fall and he is able to hit his finisher like nothing happened to him.
Since Ziggler has turned into the Buffalo Bills and Atlanta Braves of the 1990s (if you ignore the 1995 World Series), why does he keep getting title matches when he never wins the title. If Ziggler is given another title match and is able to win the Intercontinental Title, will it mean anything?
The Mickie James/Layla match was too short to really comment on. It was okay for its purpose to give Mickie a win over the Layla/Michelle team. The post match video presentation was something that was unnecessary. I would rather have seen the Tony Luke’s video package that was filmed during the ECW taping instead. The pig jokes weren’t funny when they were used for Vickie Guerrero and they were not funny or needed for Mickie James. The Mean Girls gimmick is not interesting to me (in either company that utilizes it). But Thanksgiving is next week, so I assume we will see more with Michelle and Layla ragging on Mickie.
When Rey came to the ring during his match against Tyson Kidd, why did we need any commentary while Batista is staring down Rey? Television is a medium that allows us to watch the action without someone explaining everything. If this was a radio broadcast, I can understand something telling us about the way that Batista is staring at him. I realize that it may come off strange for me to talk about minimalism, but there is a reason why I used to mute ECW broadcasts and if I wasn’t doing these thoughts for Buck the last few weeks, I would probably be doing the same for Smackdown.
I thought Batista saying nothing at the announce table was a great build on what Batista did earlier in the show. He is focused on his goal of destroying Rey Mysterio. I probably would have had Todd and Matt give up trying to get Batista to talk earlier.
With Batista at the announce table, you could figure that Tyson Kidd was the unnecessary part of the equation for that segment. It is a shame because I think if given the chance, Kidd and Rey could have a very good match. This match started off good and had potential until the expected interference by Batista. I liked the way that Rey went after Batista and then was able to avoid any retaliation by Batista.
The Jericho/Big Show backstage segment was good and continues to develop the fault line between the tag team champions. It was a bit surprising to hear Show mention that he was a tag champion with both Taker and Kane, but it was a good touch to provide some history (going back 10 years). Jericho might not be afraid of the Undertaker, but I guess he is afraid of the dark.
Even though they have shown the Madison Square Garden video package on all shows this week, it is a great video package. While I prefer the one that aired on Monday night, the one that includes footage from this week’s Raw was also very well done.
The main event was a good match that focused on the three participants in the brand’s main event at Survivor Series and a guy not on the pay per view. It set up the potential/likely/foreshadowed dissension between Show and Jericho. I did not mind that there was no finish to the match because the image of Jericho holding the title belt on the stage while Taker and Show were down in the ring looking back at him was effective for the pay per view.
Things to Watch if you DVRed the Show: Other than the Michelle McCool on a Farm segment, everything else was good. I would focus on the CM Punk/R Truth promos and the segments involving Batista. Also watch the main event.
