Night of Champions- Review

Welcome to my second PPV Review, and with every title on the line this PPV promised much- but did it deliver?

Pre-Show
I honestly didn't watch the Pre-Show so I can't comment, however from what I read it sounded like there was some good mic work from Christian, Jericho and Orton and Orton was legitimately funny for once.

The Usos v Star and Goldust- Tag Team Championship
DDP Yoga is a miracle cure when it comes to Goldust it seems. Considering the amount of time Goldust has been in the business he's never looked better in my opinion. These two teams delivered a outstanding match, which we knew they could deliver given time- and it looks as though with the outcome we could be going back to that time when the Rhodes Brothers had the best match every time they were featured. The Title change was a good way to open the show, although considering the match following it I'm surprised they did open with this match as it seems they were sprinting a marathon.

Cesaro v Sheamus- US Championship
These two also delivered a great match, which I said they would right back when the pairing was first announced. You didn't expect the match to be like The Usos match with lots of dives and flips, rather a good story centered around power moves. Naturally in this kind of match there was a lull in the middle but the build to the crescendo more than made up for it. Cesaro hitting Sheamus with almost everything he had in his arsenal and Sheamus kicking out of everything made the US Title relevant in my opinion, with there only being one title the "Secondary" Titles need to be elevated a lot more, and this was done in my opinion as the two involved told a very good story- and made it look like the wanted to win/retain it. I don't have a major issue with the finish as I discussed in my previous blog- on a Heel Oriented Winners list there needed to be a babyface win, and also I think the next step for Rusev would be to go after the US Title- which of course means he needs a babyface to feud with.

The Miz v Dolph Ziggler- IC Championship Match
You know when I was just talking about elevating "secondary" belts? Well the way not to, is to have the primary focus of a title match at a PPV on a country band nobody has ever heard of. The constant cutting to Georgia Florida Line made getting into the match very difficult for me, and I'm sure many others, and given the workers involved that was awful planning. I said in my Summerslam Review and NOC Preview that I thought they only had Dolph win to pop the crowd and didn't have any long-term plans for him as Champion, and what do you know they had him drop the belt at the very next PPV. The only thing that stopped me from completely hating this segment was Sandow. Sandow mimicking Miz to a T is entertaining enough when they're entering, however when Miz was selling after the match for Sandow to copy him rolling around on the floor holding his head was absolutely sublime.

Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns
Match of the Year right here. Both Men delivered everything and I think Reigns surprised everyone with his new 720 Corkscrew Splash Finish.

In the words of Shawn Michaels "Now, Back to Reality" I didn't see the need for Rollins to have the Forfeit Victory, and I can only assume its so they're covered given the limited time they had to announce Reigns wasn't able to compete- so they therefore had the "match" to avoid being sued for false advertisement as (Unless its changed) When the announced the Final Card on Friday I don't think they do the "Card Subject to Change" in the fine print.

Ambrose coming in was kind of what I expected, although (as I shall discuss) they should of held off on him coming back just a little bit longer. Although given what happened later I'd of rather Rollins attacked Ambrose once he was tied up.

Rusev v Mark Henry
Murica. Having the National Anthem, Henry with the American Flag on the singlet and everything was too over the top in my opinion. It doesn't feel like an organic storyline considering Henry had his USA gimmick when he first came in, and has suddenly rediscovered his patriotism.

The match was never going to be a spot fest, however I thought the story they told was really good- however I do wonder how long they're going to keep Rusevs win streak, and whoever does it would be a made man in my opinion- Which of course means they'll have Cena do it.

Randy Orton v Chris Jericho
What we had here would of been an amazing RAW match, the feud these two seemingly had was based around Orton wanting to go after Jericho for no reason other than he wanted to. Which isn't a bad story but considering Jericho only just finished his feud with Wyatt they didn't really have a chance to build the feud properly. As such, we had a perfectly serviceable match- but without any significant story behind it, it was never going to be a show-stealer.

Nikki Bella v Paige v A.J.
This felt like a missed opportunity in my opinion. Instead we simply had "just another match" rather than any really story development. There were some good spots in the match. but Paige needs to learn how to call spots without the whole arena hearing her. A.J. winning was a surprise in my opinion- however with the reports that WWE want to go more Risque with A.J. and Paige the rematch clause was probably the best way to keep this pairing going for a little while longer.

John Cena v Brock Lesnar- WWE Championship
Why? Why does WWE and specifically Vince feel the need to wrap Cena in cotton wool at every opportunity. I'm not even overly upset that they had Rollins break the fall up because of what followed, however what did annoy me was the way in which they built to it.

After Summerslam you could be forgiven for thinking Lesnar would have the upper hand for most of the match, but nope. Instead we had Cena hitting 4 Attitude Adjustments on Lesnar- and the match did nothing for Lesnar other than highlighting how tough he was. The commentators really annoyed me in this match as they were putting over Lesnar was about to tap when Rollins interfered... When Cena was going into a pinfall! They soon rectified that, but it annoyed me so much that they didn't have the attention span for the Main Event to realise what was going on before a replay was shown.

Instead of having Cena take out Rollins, I'd of had Ambrose do his run-in now. This showed to me the confidence, or lack thereof when it comes to the powers that be's view on Ambrose in the Main Event. After everything that Rollins did, Ambrose costing Rollins an almost guaranteed WWE Championship would of been a stronger foothold for Ambrose returning than what we actually got. The F5 after all of this felt like a token gesture in my opinion, and was just a way for Vince or Kevin Dunn to keep Lesnar happy.

Thanks again for reading, I'll be on Twitter for the RAW tonight, Feedback is appreciated.

Night of Champions- Predictions

Welcome to my second prediction blog for PPVs, and the less said about my predictions for Summerslam the better. I hope I do better this time around.

Pre-Show
Unless I'm mistaken there isn't a Pre-Show match for the PPV, rather a Peep Show with Christian and Jericho. I'm not sure what the angle for this'll be- but I think it'll be something along the lines of Orton punting Christian.

Star and Goldust v The Usos- Tag Team Championship
This is pretty straightforward in my opinion, The Usos (unless I'm mistaken) are the longest running champions currently in WWE- and considering the lack of a heel tag team to challenge The Usos in the long run (assuming The Ascension aren't called up) The Dust brothers will win this through some shenanigans to set the rematch up
Winner: Star and Goldust

Nikki Bella v Paige v A.J.- Divas Championship Match
Again this one is pretty straightforward in my opinion. Unless they do something along the lines of putting the belt on Nikki to have a Bella-Bella feud for the title (which is a possibility) the more likely scenario is Brie costing Nikki the match in order to further their feud, leaving Paige to pin A.J.
Winner: Paige

Mark Henry v Rusev
With Henry main eventing the RAW prior to this PPV, this match is a bit harder to call- as they've clearly got more behind Henry's USA gimmick than they did Swaggers. However I can't see Rusev losing yet, so I expect Big Show after the backstage vignette they had a few weeks ago to cost Henry the match, order Rusev and Lana to pull some shenanigans
Winner: Rusev

The Miz v Dolph Ziggler- Intercontinental Championship Match
I Can honestly see this one going either way. I spoke in my Summerslam Review of my thoughts that they were simply putting the title on Dolph in order to pop the crowd with a definitely heel-oriented card after. With the lack of contenders from a heel standpoint for the Title I can see Miz winning today. However Once again this card is very heel based in terms of winners as such;
Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Cesaro v Sheamus- United States Championship Match
Once again this could go either way, however contrary to what most people believe (or rather hope) will happen is Cesaro to go over Sheamus. However similar reasons to Dolph going over, I think in a very heel oriented card they'd want a Babyface to win. I also think after this match we will see Rusev going after the US Title meaning he of course needs a babyface to feud with.
Winner: Sheamus

Chris Jericho v Randy Orton
This is one of the definite ones (as much as there can be). With Jericho leaving the WWE after tonight its almost nailed on Randy will win. However I read somewhere there isn't a Fozzy gig tomorrow night, so there is always a possibility Jericho goes over tonight, and gets killed tomorrow. However I think its more likely;
Winner: Randy Orton

Brock Lesnar v John Cena
This is honestly the hardest one to call on the PPV. A lot of people I've seen have Lesnar nailed on for a victory, however its Cena. This'll sound weird, Roman Reigns getting injured may have just sealed this matches outcome. Reigns was (in my opinion) getting built for a Mania match at Wrestlemania where he'd of taken the belt off of Lesnar. However now Reigns is out (reportedly) for 4-6 Weeks that will of upset quite a few plans.

Cena never usually loses "Rubber" matches where its billed as "Redemption", Never. As such if Lesnar were to win it'd be a very big deal. However with the report that Vince wants Cena to be even stronger (see what I did there);
Winner: John Cena

I don't however think the night will be done there, Lesnar will deliver a substantial beating to Cena- that much has become clear, and I can foresee him crawling into the Pinfall which he'd win the belt with. Cue Seth Rollins. Rollins obviously not now having a match at the PPV is an unfortunate set of circumstances- however he will still make a substantial impact on the PPV. I can see him coming out (maybe with Kane- although I'd hope not) and hitting a curb stomp on Cena who is only just getting to his feet. He's about to cash in the contract for what will undoubtedly be his first WWE Title when- Dean Ambrose comes out. Ambrose (apparently) finished his film this week, this combined with the fact there is no obvious feud for Rollins whilst Reigns is on the sideline I think we'll see Ambrose's crazy eyes finishing the PPV.

Thanks again for reading, feel free to tweet me your predictions for the PPV. Feedback is appreciated- Thanks Again.

Fulham v Blackburn Review- Rome Can't be Built in ONE DAY

Hello, welcome to my blog- although we lost again we looked very competent, and on a different day (with a different referee) we'd of got 1 if not 3 points.

Before I get on to the game itself there were a number of notable players off the field of play; Hangeland sitting in the Hammersmith End was absolutely great, I don't know if he is trying to maneuver a Loan Deal back to us as he's fallen out of favour with Palace- or he simply wanted to show solidarity with us as a club, as there has been a degree of negativity surrounding the circumstances of his departure. I personally would love Hangeland back, not to play every game necessarily but as a mentor- and the players at the club no doubt respect the hell out of him, and as said in my "Curious Case of Felix Magath" blog I think that level of respect was one of the reasons he was forced out of the club.

Karagounis (it would appear) is edging close to returning to Fulham for a third stint at the club, this could be a very shrewd bit of business on the part of the club. He (or rather his agent) has shown there is a definite willingness from Giorgos to come to the club and fight for the Fulham cause, and especially in today's game we lacked an element of creativity in the midfield- and it was very frustrating because from the perspective I have at the Cottage I could see numerous runs being made by our wide players which simply weren't picked upon. The argument of his age is redundant in my opinion as he showed in the World Cup he can play at a decent level for 120 let alone 90 minutes, and in games where he played last season we looked noticeably better in my opinion (especially Spurs and Villa home).  Him being in the directors books surely means something is in the pipeline for Karagounis to return, I hope if he does he gets a fair crack at the whip- because for whatever reason in his prior two runs he hasn't ever really had an extended stay in he first team despite (in my opinion) his performances meriting one.

Malky Mackay was definitely at the ground today, I know this for a fact because I saw him walking through the little walkway divide there is between the pitch and the fans. Mackay wouldn't be a bad appointment from a purely on the pitch standpoint- as he showed with Cardiff he can definitely win promotion from the division, and with the signings of players like Medel he has an eye for talent. However at this stage the man I think Fulham need, needs to be someone who can get on with the substantial job as quietly as its possible to be given the circumstances. Mackay becoming the manager would add an extra note of pressure and could divide the fans which is exactly what we don't need at the moment.

Now onto the game, we were much improved from previous games- however in direct contrast to Wednesday we looked defensively sound, but lacked any real bite up front. I accept its different in away games when the onus is on the home team to attack, however we didn't really look like creating much today. Symons first team selection may of surprised some, however to me it was a very good selection- and crucially MADE SENSE;
                 Bettinelli
Hoogland Burn Hutchinson Amorebieta
       Parker LVC Stafylidis
Ruiz        Rodallega    McCormack

If I'm wrong about the formation someone tell me, purely from watching the game and the positioning I think this was the formation we used.

I was surprised that we opted for Hutchinson and Burn as I thought it would either be Burn and Amorebieta or Burn and Bodurov with Amorebieta Left-Back. However we started with Hutchinson- and I don't think Symons will make that mistake again in the future. As such Amorebieta had a very poor game as well, however I think he was very stretched today- and his crossing is by far the best we have so I'm willing to persist with him.

The tackle from Hutchinson was appalling. It ranks with one of the worst tackles I think I've ever seen, if you haven't seen the game imagine an out of control lunge where the player who was on the receiving end was lucky he didn't break his leg. This left us at a definite disadvantage for the rest of the game. The Goal from my view in the Hammersmith End looked very unlucky for us. As far as I could tell it looked like the ball was deflected into the path of THE ONE PERSON YOU DON'T WANT TO GIVE THE BALL TO Jordan Rhodes, and that for me summed up the game- to put it simply we were very unlucky.

The Ref today was atrocious. It seemed like he blew up everytime one of our players touched a Blackburn player, I'm not disagreeing with the Red-Card as that was borderline GBH, however the ref today appeared to greatly favour Blackburn- and every 50-50 appeared to go Blackburns way. I feel we should of had a Penalty for when Hugo was pulled to the ground, I had a perfect view from where I sit (H2) and the defender had a handful of shirt, whether Rodallega would of got on the end of the pass is another matter- however it was a definite penalty in my opinion. I've noticed it in pretty much every game so far, however we've been bad enough in all but Cardiff to not use the Ref as an excuse for losing- however there is a definite gulf in quality from the Premier League refs to the Championship refs, and as far I can tell the ref we had today has been a Premier League reject for nearly 10 years.

As referred to above when talking about Karagounis, we lacked a creative spark in the Midfield in my opinion which Karagounis could add to us. Although Christensen took a while to settle into the game he (along with almost everyone) had a very good Second Half, however he seemed to be lacking a spark that Hyndman has- and I would hope Kit gives Hyndman a chance in the team. Hyndman would also in my opinion help to get the best out of Bryan Ruiz. Ruiz needs to be played centrally in my opinion, and it would appear as though Kit wants Ruiz to play on the wing- which isn't where he's best utilised in my opinion- however If we are to keep him on the wing, we need someone to "take the heat" off of Bryan and Hyndman would succeed in doing this and would give Bryan more space to pick a pass or shoot- as his chances to make an impact on the game today were very limited.

Rodallega demonstrated an incredible work ethic, however for the role he was expected to play today didn't suit him. Blackburn are a very physical team, and players like Hanley dominate the air unless you give them something to compete with. Rodallega is good in the air, but a definite lack of height affected his ability to make an impact on the game today. McCormack looked very lively today- and I think he could of definitely scored at least one goal today if he shot simply a split second earlier. We definitely lacked a cutting edge today in front of goal, however if we are to keep playing Rodallega and McCormack we would need to have either Smith or Woodrow play as well.

Overall this game was much improved, my next Fulham blog will be in the lead up to the Doncaster game- which is interesting in terms of team selection in my opinion as wholesale changes which you'd usually expect to see in a Cup Game after a very intense game at the Weekend, however for Symons every game counts so I expect him to take this game as seriously as todays.

Thanks again for reading, Feedback is appreciated.

Fulham v Blackburn Preview/ Magath Out Thoughts

He's Gone!

It took a mass exodus, numerous mediocre signings, and taking 1 Point from 7 games. But the Last Dictator in Europe is gone from the Cottage. As such I shall never mention his name again, and he is dead to me.

Kit Symons coming in is something which has been long sought after for quite a while it seems, and in my opinion its his job for losing at the moment. Although there are some more "experienced" options, there isn't a man alive who isn't as experienced with the current crop of young players we have seemingly forming the basis of our team. I'm not expecting Kit to play the whole youth team- what I am expecting is the youth players we have to be played right. I don't expect to see Kavanagh, Burgess, R. Williams, Joronen and Dembele in the starting eleven in the League anytime soon. I'm also expecting to see Hyndman, Bettinelli and Pat Roberts becoming a key part to the team over time (if Kit were to get the job full-time, or at least have the ear of whoever did take the helm).

I'm praying to god we never see Fotheringham in a Fulham shirt for the rest of time. He is quite possible the worst signing we've ever made, and is atrocious to everyone but the eyes of He Who Shall Not Be Named.

The Damage "he" has caused isn't fully apparent yet, but we're going to be stuck with quite a few below average or downright awful players sponging off our wage bill as a result of him. Players like Chihi, Kiraly and Fotheringham you have to assume will be earning pretty decent money, which their ability doesn't match- and will be taking wages that whoever is in charge could potentially use in January to sign good quality players.

The lack of communication from the club in my opinion has come from the top, and the interview with Sarah Brookes on YouTube today has shown that he simply didn't care about the fans- and that bond between fans and manager is crucial for any manager to succeed in my opinion.

Now onto a happier topic. Kit Symons in one interview has filled me with more confidence than 7 months under Magath. Symons actually makes sense in what he says, and the things he says (if put into practice) could bring a very bright future for Fulham. The absolutely overwhelming number of Ex-Players coming out in support of Symons has shown the regard in which he is held, and he seems like he already has the respect of the players at the club- and they'll be playing for Symons rather than in spite of the prior manager.

Symons speaking about rotation isn't what "he" was doing. "He" was simply ripping the team up and starting again characterised by the stat of playing 5 goalkeepers in his time at the club. I accept rotation is necessary in the Championship- but what I expect to happen now is we see a definitive core of players that start week-in week-out with rotation around them.

One of those who I think could be in the core of the team is someone who Kit Symons has described as "very upbeat", Ruiz could add the creative spark which he undoubtedly possesses and will also provide an experienced, calm head among the young players- and if we can build our team around Bryan (as well as a few others) he WILL flourish and I expect bright things, and judging by the pictures of training out today he looks very happy and doesn't have the "I Don't want to be here" body language which I noticed quite a few possessed under "him".

I also expect to see a decisive decision made about the Goalkeeper situation, I would hope Bettinelli comes in and STAYS as he has looked the best of the three options we have available. Not to say Kiraly and Joronen are completely useless- but 5 Goals, with 5 Shots on Target on Wednesday has shown Kiraly simply isn't good enough for us, and in Symons attempt in his words to "try and rectify" the defensive woes which have dogged us for what feels like forever I would expect Bettinelli to start, and as I've previously stated have a constant pairing with the Centre-Backs in front of him. Any combination involving Burn, Amorebieta and Bodurov would be very good for us- as I don't want Amorebieta playing Left-Back I would play him and Burn as the Centre-Backs, with Bodurov being a "Third Option" if we're going to play against a team with a particularly fast striker. I just feel Amorebieta and Burn would be able to deal with the physicality the Championship brings.

The Right-Back position is interesting as I feel Hoogland is better in the holding midfield role he took up against Cardiff, as such I would give Voser the Right-Back slot with Hyndman covering the right-hand side- I feel this would be the best we've got as Voser is a competent Right-Back, but can't cross-, so we should give him the Right-Back slot- but in an attacking sense his job should only consist of laying it off to another Midfielder. Left-Back could be a dilemma for Symons as Amorebieta (despite his pace) did show himself to be somewhat decent at Left-Back and his delivery for Rodallega's goal was absolutely top notch, however as stated above I'd keep Amorebieta central and therefore its up to Stafylidis to prove himself- and if he doesn't we can easily change Amorebieta to Left-Back with Bodurov covering him with the extra yard of pace he possesses.

The Midfield is pretty straight forward in my opinion. The players we have lends itself to a 3 Midfielder Formation, and unless we recalled Tunnicliffe the only three midfielders from my standpoint I think we should play are Hyndman, Parker and Hoogland. This provides the best balance in my opinion- and would allow the attacking options we have to flourish.

The Attackers are interesting, I would keep Rodallega and McCormack without a doubt after Wednesday until they prove why they shouldn't be in there- leaving one position empty. As stated above I would play Ruiz just behind the strikers in an attacking midfield role, however Ruiz is quite versatile and he could easily play Striker ahead of Rodallega with Chris David slotting in behind- this is where rotation will come into play, however for now I'd have Ruiz behind Rodallega and McCormack (who was sublime on Wednesday).

My Team for Blackburn (4-3-1-2)
                Bettinelli
Voser Burn Amorebieta Stafylidis
    Hyndman Hoogland Parker
                   Ruiz
McCormack       Rodallega

The core of the team which I referred to earlier would in my opinion be; Bettinelli, Burn, Hyndman, Parker, Ruiz, McCormack.

This team would be very good under the right man- and I hope we've found that man in Symons, we also have many rotation options which as Symons rightly said is crucial for this level. However for now we need to think short-term and get ourselves out of the relegation zone.

Thanks again for reading, hopefully its onwards and upwards from here on in.

TNA Impact Review- 17th September

Welcome to a belated Impact review, Blame my Modem. We had another TV PPV and the card promised some very good matches, bu did it deliver?

Knockouts Battle Royal
This was the best way to build Havok to the Title Match in the time frame they've set out it seems, however I'm worried we're getting too much too quickly when it comes to Jessicka Havok. She's been with the company for 3 episodes and she's already the #1 Contender- and you have to assume she's going to win the Knockouts Title when her and Kim face each other. I would of preferred a slow(ish) build with Havok going over Brittany, Rebel and Madison Rayne- escalating to Taryn and only then going after Gail. This would (in my opinion) of made Havok look like a fully fledged monster- which the Battle Royal also accomplished, but would of filled a lot more TV Time and would of been more effective when Havok does take the belt- as she would be defending some kind of win streak which could of been played up on commentary when Gail hits the "Eat Defeat" and Havok kicks out (which is what I'd do).

The other knockouts played their part, Rebel looks pretty bad- and it looked like she injured he wrist because she couldn't hold onto a rope properly and half belly-flopped onto it.

Thank God for a Womens Battle Royal where they can only go over the Top Rope!

MVP, Kenny King, Chris Melendez Promo
I don't really see why MVP would want to recruit Melendez (even as a slave) so this seemed a very forced way to get the match that followed off the ground. Melendez is an ok talker- but his voice doesn't really sound great for TV, in my opinion its too soft. However King going for the cheap heat making fun of an amputee was an alright way to get the match underway.

Kenny King v Chris Melendez
MVP completely leaving ringside is reinforcing my opinion that we're in line for a King v MVP/Lashley feud soon(ish). I did see something on the dirtsheets which said ***************************SPOILER ALERT**************************************
***************SERIOUSLY IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS SKIP THIS BIT***********
Bobby Roode wins the World Championship in one of the episodes after Bound For Glory, this usually means in wrestling terms a stable is due for an implosion.

**************************ITS SAFE TO COME BACK NOW**************************
Melendez was surprisingly quick, and the finish was well executed. King going after Melendez's prosthetic is an interesting way to go, however the commentators speaking over the events after the match in the way they did took a lot away from the beat down- and is one of my major gripes with retrospective commentary.

Samoa Joe v Homicide- X Division Title Match
On a very stacked Two Hour card this felt like it was very restricted. I understand every match can't be very long and have endless spots- but seeing as they were giving it away for free anyway, they could of had this match in the Impact which is broadcast next week and made in the Main/Semi Main Event. These two always know how to put on a good show, but you know they were capable of so much more.

The beatdown after the match is interesting, as Storm has Two (Primarily) X-Division stars under his tutelage- and you would assume with the added aggression which is being added to "The Great" Sanada and Manik they would both want the X-Division Title, and once Bound for Glory is over and (I Assume) we won't see anymore Japanese Stars coming in to feud with "The Great" Sanada it'll be interesting to see the way they handle these characters, as one of the two could easily get lost in the shuffle.

Team 3D v The Hardys v The Wolves- Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match
It was pretty obvious what the outcome was going to be, and they're building to a TLC at Bound for Glory (Bully Rays contract notwithstanding). So I won't talk about the permutations for the finish- rather the journey it took to get there.

Wow. It amazes me that they've given this level of match quality for free on three separate occasions now. Its a great thing for the fans, but on a business level it doesn't really make sense from my viewpoint. This match on its own would of been worth paying for, let alone the card this match had around it.

The highspots were what we expect from these teams, but they also delivered a very good story throughout the match- something which can be lost in these types of matches. The Wolves showed an element of desperation at some times which made for a compelling match, and I would hope (haven't read any spoilers) The Wolves would retain at Bound for Glory which would put over the Team that can carry TNAs Tag Division for years to come.

Gunner v Bram
I think Samuel Shaw will turn with Brittany encouraging him in a Lady MacBeth role. However this story still doesn't make much sense to me. I'm assuming we're building to Shaw against Gunner, however Gunner is being painted as the bad guy getting upset with Shaw after (the way the commentators described it confirms this) he wanted to help him, and with the commentators putting him over as the clumsy babyface it doesn't really lend itself to a heel turn.

I'm hoping Bram is on the precipice of a really long feud with Joe, as their styles would (in my opinion) mesh really well together. That notwithstanding I'd have Bram become a "Hardcore" Babyface and feud with Magnus (remember him).

Bobby Rooooooooooooooooooooo v Lashley
Another great match FOR FREE! I won't go over the Spoiler I mentioned earlier, so will speak about this match for what it was. Lashleys run as World Heavyweight Champion has surprised quite a few people in my opinion- as its actually good. Lashley has always been an athlete than had an outstanding ability, but his lack of charisma was the issue in WWE. This has been rectified with having MVP doing the talking and the sublime ring work of Lashley has made this run one of the best TNA has seen in a long time.

These two's styles worked really well together, and they once again told a great story. Roode kicking out of the spear put over his insane drive to win and conquer Lashley- and Lashley sold very well when needed to and showed his insane athletic ability for a man his size, which is only bettered by Kane and Brock Lesnar in the world of Pro Wrestling. Lashley winning was good in my opinion as Roode didn't really have a long time to build himself- which is vital for whomever takes the belt off of Lashley

Thanks again for reading, feedback is very much appreciated. Once again- Don't blame me for the delay, blame BT.

RAW Review- 15th September

Welcome to another RAW review, and after last weeks mild improvement the only way wasn't up anymore- but did this episode continue into the upper echelons of just mildly irritation, or plummet back to the depths of a Kardashian marathon?

Cena-Heyman promo
Why should a beating of a 50 year old non-wrestler, who hasn't done anything to his counterpart make me "pop"? Both of the promos were good, however they were bested in their second segment together- however the "Halftime" thing was stupid and was another pathetic attempt to get a rub off Monday Night Football, and Cena kidnapping Heyman (and a cameraman it would seem) isn't exactly "babyface" behaviour- and Heyman (considering he had a Dad who was a lawyer- and should be quite familiar with a court of law) could of used the kidnapping as grounds to arrest Cena!

The mildly racist Khali segment was stupid, considering if he had his back to me I could probably take him considering I had a full locker room of potential weapons to use on his legs.

Chris Jericho v Kane
So it seems Jericho wasn't finishing up last week with Bray- which makes having the rubber match on RAW last week even more idiotic. You have to presume they sacrificed the PPV match for a mild rating spike for their "Season Premiere"- but in turn they've left Jericho treading water for his last week on his current run with the company and (more later) it looks like they're going to kill Brays momentum AGAIN after he gone over a top star. The match itself was perfectly fine, it amazes me that Kane still has his knees considering the amount of time he's had in the business and the moves he still does.

Jack Swagger v Bo Dallas
So it seems they're done with this feud after 2 weeks, with Bo hardly getting in an offensive maneuver. Bo's gimmick had so much potential in my opinion- and you just have to look at his NXT work to prove this, where the Full Sail crowd absolutely hated him. But once again all of Triple H's good work down in NXT has counted for nothing once the stars get to the main roster. Swagger "still" getting a big pop is surprising me given they've basically tried to bury him on commentary in the last few weeks- combined with the fact he's a babyface who hasn't lived up to his promises recently. This has also shown (at least in my opinion) that if he hadn't been busted in the build to Wrestlemania 28 he'd be in and around the upper echelons of WWE at the moment rather than where he's currently at.

Brie Bella and A.J. v Nikki Bella and Paige
Its pretty clear (at least in my opinion) whats going to happen at Night of Champions. The non-addition of Brie to the match has made it pretty clear she's going to cost Nikki the match, leaving Paige to pin A.J. most likely. You know why this segment was bearable? There wasn't a microphone in sight!

Have WWE really gone so broke they can't afford "real" prop phones?

Big Show v Bray Wyatt
Firstly they've turned Harper and Rowan into a joke. These two should of been built only slightly less strongly than Bray in my opinion- and this would allow Bray to become a bigger attraction which (more later) will always mean it has a greater impact when he does wrestle. As such they've turned into a Curtis Axel (with Heyman) role where they have to take all the beatings to protect to main provocateur. If the dirtsheets are to be believed Big Show is behind Cena in the line to Lesnar (although I still think Cena will win on Sunday) which doesn't bode well for Bray- and could easily undo the last three months of good work Jericho's done with him.

The Usos and Sheamus v Cesaro and The Dust Brothers
I would hope the irregular occurence of having the babyface win on the last RAW before a PPV would mean we could see on/both of the titles involved in this match change hands. I would put the belts on The Dust Brothers personally- although my wish for them to revert to Cody and Dustin Rhodes hasn't appeared to come true they still could be a very entertaining heel tag team. I can't see them putting the belt on Cesaro just because there are so few midcard babyfaces for Cesaro to feud with in comparison to the number of heels. The match was pretty good to be fair, the amount of time they were given did limit the amount the 6 men could do- however the fast paced finish was what we've come to expect from matches involving the Usos and the Dust Brothers not taking the pin reinforces the potential title change in my opinion.

Cena-Heyman Promo Part 2
Wow! Heyman absolutely owned it in this promo. Even by Heymans ridiculously high standards this exceeded expectation. The teasing of Cena "embracing the hate" so to speak- is just that a tease, however it adds another dimension to Cenas character which has been stale for the last 6-7 years. Cena attacking Heyman after what Heyman said leaves the direction Cena is going unclear for the first time in seemingly forever.

I've had a bad feeling about Cena winning this match ever since Cena went through the Wyatts as he did. Cena NEVER usually loses Rubber Matches, and with recent reports of Vince wanting Cena to look even stronger I think Cena could be having the belt around his neck pretty soon.

The brawl has given me some hope with regard to Lesnar retaining as usually the person who gets the upper hand usually loses on the PPV, however with Cena you never know. The commentators putting over Cena breaking Lesnars nose was stupid- A) Because there was no blood B) Cenas punches were so limp wristed a hug from a puppy would probably have more chance of breaking someones nose.

Cameron v Naomi
She botched a Cover! It would appear NXT doesn't teach you which way the body needs to be facing in order to cover someone. I would like to think it was intentional, but Cameron being generally awful I highly doubt it.

Dolph Ziggler and R-Ziggler v The Miz and Mizdow
The commentators- specifically Cole pretending they couldn't tell the difference between Ziggler and Truth was stupid and childish- as the whole point (unless I've misinterpreted it) is they look so ridiculously different like those old films when they would always cut to a wide angle but you could see the stunt driver in the car and they looked completely different to the main star. I'd like to think Miz hitting Mizdow (although by accident) could lead to a face turn by Sandow and he could start regaining some credibility, however this is too logical so it won't happen.

Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns
Whats the point of PPVs? The babyface to go over the dastardly heel who's tormented him from previous RAWs. Instead we've had Reigns beat Rollins/Rollins and Kane together every time they've touched. This isn't just making Rollins look bad, its making Ambrose look like the weakest of three former Shield members- which judging by crowd reactions should be completely flipped. The problem with this match was once again, it was made wholly apparent Reigns isn't ready for the push they're giving him. Rollins was carrying him for large parts of the match, although these two definitely have better chemistry than Reigns had with Orton. I don't see why we should care about the PPV match now the babyface has already gone over clean!, Its basic story telling WWE has somehow messed up

Mark Henry "Rallies America"
What was more out of place in the Main Event segment, This or The Bellas? At least Stephanie had some kind of heat on her which made the crowd get into the segment- Henry came out and the crowd went mild.

I was in a discussion with someone on Twitter who I shall name (@BestInTheGalaxy) about why WWE should tone down the USA gimmicks when they want to make up their Network Subs internationally, and his argument was I shouldn't let one feud affect my buying or lack-there-of of the Network. However when an (albeit big) niche gimmick is Main Eventing their flagship show I don't see why as a Non-American I should care for the company as a whole.

I didn't mind the Swagger gimmick against Rusev as thats been his long-term gimmick, however Henry has seemingly just rediscovered his patriotism. Henry getting the bett of Rusev presumably means Rusev will go over, and hopefully this'll be the end of the USA gimmicks for now- as the Network launches in WWEs second biggest market (UK) at the end of the month

To Summaries there are three words to summarise whats wrong with Wrestling Currently- Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Thanks again for reading, Feedback is appreciated. In case you come here to read both my Wrestling and Fulham blogs I'm simply not doing Fulham blogs at the moment because its frankly too depressing. Thanks again for reading.

Reading v Fulham- Preview

We're finally back after the International Break, and we're coming back with a very tough game of Reading at the Madejski Stadium. Reading have some injury problems, but the addition of Glenn Murray on Deadline Day is a very, very good acquisition for the Championship- and he could cause endless problems.

After Deadline Day the new buzz word when it comes to Fulham appears to be "options". We somehow managed to hold on to Rodallega, Amorebieta and Ruiz. This provides us with some squad depth which is vital over a 46 game Championship season. However Ruiz is still with Costa Rica for this game so we don't have him available to repeat what he did the last time he came to the Madejski with us. However with Rodallega especially I'm hoping we see him play a part.

Amorebieta is an interesting player in that we don't obviously need him. Bodurov and Burn played very well together against Cardiff, and I wouldn't like to drop either of them as especially in Bodurovs case they've looked very good this season. That would mean (if we are going to start him) Amorebieta playing Left-Back, or a change in formation neither of which I'd be in favour of as against Cardiff (especially in the first-half) the team looked settled and like a team.

I would hope Bettinelli done enough against Cardiff and Brentford to cement his place in the team, until he proves otherwise- however with Magath you never know. This is my first Fulham related blog since Magath done the interview about Kiraly coming in, and in retrospect not selling a senior goalkeeper. The way in which the article was written makes me think Kiraly is purely in the team to provide a senior head to Joronen and Bettinelli, which of course means he'll start tomorrow.

The Midfield is pretty straight forward for this game in my opinion. With the absence of Ruiz, there are three midfielders who are definitely in, in my opinion- Parker, David and Hoogland. I would play 4-3-3 tomorrow with these three as the midfield. Hoogland would remain in the enforcer role, Parker would be going box-to-box and David would be the creative one- and I would hope he sees Ruiz being here and tries to step his game up.

If we were to play a front three, I would play Rodallega-Smith-McCormack. This in my opinion provides a good balance between pace, physicality and experience. Rodallega and McCormack could obviously interchange on either side- and if they adapted to this system quickly and became adept at cutting in from the wing quickly we could be lethal in front of goal. You have to assume Rodallega was given some kind of assurances over his place in the first team given his tweet when he said he was going to stay. One problem that could arise is the crossing ability in the team. Smith has come into the team in Magaths words because he's good in the air, and a good header of the ball. The crossing against Cardiff from Voser in particular was woeful, this is where Ruiz would come in when he comes back- and McCormack and Rodallega, as well as Stafylidis should provide adequate service to Smith.

Team I would Play v Reading Tomorrow
                   Bettinelli
Voser     Burn     Bodurov     Stafylidis
                   Hoogland
          Parker                 David
Rodallega     Smith     McCormack

This team is the team I would use going forward with the exception of bringing Ruiz in for Chris David, although if David consistently performs well that opinion would change.

Thanks again for reading, We have to win eventually right?

TNA Impact Review- 10th September

Hello, Welcome to another Impact review the first of which for me on a new Netbook I bought, so forgive me if there is a few typos but my fingers are fat.

Chris Melendez v DJ Z
We started with the American National Anthem which I was fine with given the significance of the date, but I hope this doesn't become a regular thing when Melendez is around. Onto the match itself- Melendez looks green as anything, from what I've read the match they aired was retaped because the first one was so botchy. That being said the very basic moveset he had, he utilised well, and he appears to know how to sell. I said it before I don't care where Melendez has come from (I do respect the armed forces don't get me wrong) I don't like the "cheap pop" gimmicks. If (as I would assume) he's in for the long haul he needs to really knuckle down, I was surprised they didn't play up Zema's Filipino aspect and disrespect Melendez but thats just me. I don't know what Melendez is like on the mic but I would honestly turn him heel pretty quickly as he could get some heat "I'M A WAR HERO DAMMIT".

Bobby Roode, MVP, King, Lashley Promo
Roode is a lot better than the promo he delivered. I don't like the "fighting spirit" promos from anyone but I especially don't like them when they come from a guy capable of so much better. The "heart and passion for pro wrestling" line made me want to throw up rainbows. The Joe run-in made sense to me after the "events" of last week, however I think they could of easily had someone else come out with him other than Roode. I think (at least in my opinion) they're gearing to an Eric Young heel turn which would enable Lashley to retain, so they shouldn't of had them reconcile so quickly after last week.

Lashley, King, MVP v Roode, Young and Joe
Firstly I'd of had King take the pin. As I've said in previous weeks Kings anonymity should lead to a storyline further down the road either against Lashley or MVP. As such MVP took the fall for Roode which is also perfectly acceptable looking at it as a singular event. The match was perfectly good, although I'd of liked to see Joe and Lashley go at it again as that has the makings for a very good long-term feud.

Is it Brittany who's after Shaw? I don't recognise her.

Beautiful Bros v The Menagerie
Rebel looks awful. She's slightly better than Eva Marie because she at least looks mildly athletic, however aside from the gymnastic like moves she looked woeful. I'm not sure where I read it, but I read somewhere that she injures herself in the Battle Royal next week, which doesn't surprise me. The match itself was alright Crazzy Steve should become more like The Joker in my opinion, maybe they're saving that for a heel turn. But the whole angle for the match worked well.

Kurt Angle, EC3 promo
Once again EC3 delivered a good promo. I think Paul Heyman said it on Steve Austins podcast best "Fire Me, but I'll go somewhere else- and you'll end up paying me more money to rehire me". I'm not saying EC3 is going to go back to WWE, although we're in desperate need for another entertaining midcard Heel act alongside Miz- but the point remains. If he'd stayed in WWE he might of been earning slightly more money, but he clearly has a passion for the Wrestling business. And whilst TNA's future is still up in the air, whether he re-signs with TNA or goes to GFW, ROH or Japan or wherever he's added an extra "0" onto the paycheck he's going to be getting.

EC3 v Rhino
This match was pretty good, I said it last week that its a must that EC3 goes over Rhino- as such I hope this brings an end to this mini-feud over the grand feud of EC3 wanting to kill everyone complicit with putting Dixie through a table. I would hope this was by design but EC3 winning without Spud to help him added something extra to the victory as he went over "clean". I would hope this isn't the last we see of Rhino in TNA. Although there aren't any obvious storylines for him, he could easily be in the "Jericho" role and help make a few people along the way as his name still carries some weight.

Knockouts Calendar Reveal
It would appear as though the Beautful People are close to combustion, which is alright in my book as they haven't really gotten the momentum their original run got. This will also mean we'll be getting a Velvet-Angelina feud I would assume, on top of whatever they're going to have Brittany do (I think its her in the Samuel Shaw stuff) the Jessicka Havok-Gail Kim feud we could every knockout involved with something interesting in the coming weeks. I expected Havok to take out a few more of the knockouts when she came out, but after events that occurred later I don't mind it as much.

The James Storm character is getting very interesting in my opinion, and (in my opinion) they've steered clear of any Wyatt Family comparisons because of the manner in which Storm has cut his promos, and the mannerisms of "The Great" Sanada. I was expecting Manik to come out as Suicide next week but it would appear he's going to wrestle as TJ Perkins after the removal of his mask- which is equally acceptable in my opinion

James Storm and "The Great" Sanada v Tajiri and Austin Aries
Tajiri doesn'r look like he's lost a step, and I would assume he's going to have some kind of part in Bound for Glory or some of the Impacts leading up to it as the outcome meant there was room for at least one more match between these four. Storm using the "beer mist" I wasn't sure about, as (in my opinion) he should be distancing himself from his previous characters in order to get this new character over- which is also why I'm not overjoyed about TNA still referring to Storm as "The Cowboy" James Storm. I do wonder if Aries is in the dog house over his comments over the 6-Sided Ring in the early summer, as he could at the very least be after Joe for the X-Division title, rather than becoming an enhancement guy for a new gimmick.

Jessicka Havok, Gail Kim brawl
This is what Womens WRESTLING should be. No stupid Jerry Springer and menacing finger brandishing soap opera storylines. Why can't we just have two women want to kill each other? Havok's chokeslam is one the best I've seen from a women in a long time, and I liked they kept the fight pretty 50-50 as that in turn will lead to some doubt when Kim and Havok face off after Havok wins the Battle Royal next week. (I haven't read the spoilers- but I've got a brain cell). Havok destroying two guys was a nice touch as they should book her as a destroyed until (fantasy booking) Kong comes back, although from what Kia Stevens has said about Dixie before I highly doubt thats a possibility.

The Hardys v Team 3D v The Wolves
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that either The Wolves or The Hardys were going to win, and pick a Ladder match building to a TLC match (or Full Metal Mayhem or whatever they call it in TNA) at Bound for Glory. Although that could be up in the air given Bully Rays alleged contract situation they're still advertising Team 3D for the TNA Hall of Fame at Bound for Glory so I would assume they've resolved it with a short-term deal. I'd of booked the teams order of winning differently as if they're building to putting The Wolves over (which I think they are) as they the best team, they should of had The Wolves pick either Tables or Ladders matches as that is viewed as the specialty of Team 3D and The Hardys respectively. I also don't see the logic in having The Wolves win the Ladder match if they are building to The Wolves going over when its 1-1-1 as them winning two in a row won't have as much of an impact (no pun intended) with the crows.

Thanks again for reading, Its honestly a pleasure at the moment to watch Impact, and I hope you all feel the same way. Thanks again, feedback is very much appreciated.


 

RAW Review- 8th September

After the worst Season Finale in TV History we were back with the "Season Premiere" of RAW. With the previous season dating from 1993-2014 you had to wonder how the new season would change the product. After last weeks abomination I had very little in the way of expectations for this edition of the "Longest Weekly Episodic TV Show" but given it was their "Season Premiere" you had to expect some fireworks. Besides it couldn't be worse than last week right? RIGHT?!

Chris Jericho v Bray Wyatt
If I had unlimited time I'd go back into all the previous RAWs and work out the last time a Match opened the show (if someone does know can they tell me), this made the opening of the show refreshing off the bat. Someone (genuinely can't remember) on Twitter during the match said this was Jericho's last appearance in his current run, although I thought he was going through until Night of Champions the manner in which the match played out means I'm inclined to believe this. Firstly, I loved the match.,For me it was the best RAW match since CM Punk v Cena in the build up to Wrestlemania 29. I loved the way they ended it with Bray sliding over the top of Jericho, which enabled Jericho to still look strong with Bray going over, Take Note Cena. The flying crossbody from Jericho was a memorable spot for Jericho to leave on- and the knee injury is a good way to facilitate it. I would assume Jericho won't be back soon- at the earliest in the build to Mania. Although the Orton attack was unnecessary- as in my opinion it should of been Bray who should of been able to solely take credit for vanquishing Jericho. Overall this 20-25 minute match was better than the last 6 hours of the two preceding RAWs.

Dolph, Miz, Mizdow segment
Why? Why does WWE feel the need to "hip" and do up to date pop culture references in such a childish way? I don't see why they felt the need to do this as... well... what did it accomplish other than a cheap laugh? I wanted Miz to go to a gimmick similar to "Dashing" Cody Rhodes after he lost the belt but instead he's been relegated to childish jokes. Although Sandow copying all of Miz's mannerisms/gestures made the segment worth it.

AJ Lee and Paige v Rosa and Natalya
Why is Rosa Mendes suddenly relevant again? They're playing up the Natalya-Rosa angle despite the fact they dated the episode to just after Wrestlemania meaning they're feuding over something which happened roughly 4 and a half Months ago. AJ slapping Paige on the boob was unintentionally hilarious, and the aftermath didn't do much for me- but I'm hoping they give them a solid build for the match next week as the Bella story will intertwine with it.

Paul Heyman, John Cena Promo
Breaking News: Paul Heyman is awesome. At the risk of sounding like a Broken Record Heyman is one of/the most interesting character on TV currently- and in recent memory. The promo from Heyman was sublime, and if a lot (I Mean A LOT) of things fell into place Cena becoming a Heyman Guy would be very compelling TV.

I always read over the summaries of RAW just to make sure I haven't forgotten anything and skim through the comments, however it seems I'm in a minority of 1 who actually liked the Cena promo. Firstly I think people are going Over the Top with the "Ermahgerd He Buried The Undertaker" train of thought. What he was trying to do (at least in my opinion) was put over how much of a monster Lesnar is, and how a man regarded by many as the toughest man in the business was destroyed by Lesnar. Yes he said he was back the next week etc. but that fits with his "Never Give Up" mantra so I didn't mind it. I didn't even mind the "Sick Children Wounded Soldier" bit of his promo as he legitimately seems to care about them with the number of Make-a-Wishes he does, although I do agree it was a bit over the top the amount of time he spent on that aspect of his promo. Overall this segment was very good in my opinion and sold the angle really well.

Sheamus v Seth Rollins
Rollins does seem to be treading water a bit at the moment. Although I understand everyone can't be pushed to the moon at the same time- I thought Rollins would do something a little bit more meaningful match wise given how he's been booked in previous weeks. The Cesaro-Sheamus feud should of been grown organically in my opinion as these two (from what I've read and heard) are friends in the back so they would know how to get the best out of each other, and I'll reiterate if Cesaro and Sheamus are given time they could easily steal the show at Night of Champions.

Lana, Rusev Promo
What was the point? At least have Rusev squash someone or something. I didn't even hear that many boos from the crowd- this was just a pointless segment.

Tyson Kidd and Tyler Breeze v Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville
I went to bed just before this segment because I thought there was nothing worth watching. What these four delivered was a refreshing tag match that was clearly put in because they "just" needed to fill a 5 minute segment, and they were going in cold with the majority of the audience and they (especially Neville) won the crowd over in the very short window they were allocated. If this match had taken place on either of the two RAWs preceding it- it would've been Match of the Night. Admittedly I'm a mark for all four of these guys because (especially in Zayn and Breeze's case) I've followed them from Day 1 in NXT and prior. I've also been aware of Adrian Neville/PAC for ages being a Brit who's into wrestling.

I've had a long-standing thought for the Pre-Show matches at Pay-Per-Views to be for the NXT Championship- or just a general NXT match. I first thought we were going to get Cesaro-Zayn on the PPV after Arrival because of the buzz around both guys, but this 5 minute match was a giant step for NXT- and I hope we get a 10minute segment on RAW for two NXTers to have a match every week and get themselves over slowly, preferably different guys as often as possible.

One thing you have to admit (whether you like him or not) is Triple H understands Wrestling. What he's done with Developmental is sublime, to the point every star going up to the Main Roster you think they'll make waves. But then Vince and Kevin Dunn give them a Pink Cobra or job them to Cena. The one fear I do have for the NXTers is Vince/Dunn start getting hands on with the NXT talent and before we know it they'll be Sandow'd.

Jerry Springer-Bellas Segment
No, Just No.

Stardust and Goldust v Los Matadores
This match was perfectly serviceable for what it was- a vehicle to get the Rhodes brothers over in a convincing way, the Uso attack after was a nice touch- although with the consummate babyface way they've been booked as of late it didn't really fit their characters in my opinion. Cody Rhodes is absolutely brilliant, he's had so many "gear changes" since he's debuted and he's made all of them work, and I hope once the Stardust character runs its course he moves into the upper echelons of WWE and becomes WWEWHC.

Adam Rose v Titus O'Neill
If the NXT Tag Match was Triple H, this was Vince McMahon. Childish jokes and just being generally awful. I'm also 99.9% sure the Bunny is Justin Gabriel which is awful considering the athletic ability he has.
At least Rose's winning streak on RAW is still in tact.

Roman Reigns v Randy Orton
*sigh* This is still way too early for Reigns to be Main Eventing in a Singles Capacity. It was pretty clear Orton was carrying him from the word go. Whilst Reigns is pretty good- he's nowhere near ready for the way they're booking him and they should of protected him a lot more than what they have done as of now.

One thing that really annoyed me about this segment is; Reigns beat Orton at Summerslam, Reigns got the better of Rollins and Kane in that Eulogy thing. So why is Reigns now finding it difficult to cope with them? I understand story telling but at least treat the audience with a modicum of respect.

Overall this was a much better RAW than the previous two weeks, I would of said a million times better- but 1,000,000x0=0. Thanks again for reading Feedback is very much appreciated- even if you think I'm wrong give me something in order to improve future blogs. Thanks again.

TNA Impact Review- 3rd September

Hello, Welcome to my third review of the WRESTLING show we get every week. After last weeks Impact which was good- but not extraordinary we came into a week which promised a #1 Contender Match between Eric Young and Bobby Roode, and a Knockouts Title match between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell this episode of Impact promised a lot; and boy did it deliver.

MVP, Lashley, Kenny King, Samoa Joe segment
I really like MVPs gimmick seemingly of a boxing promoter, as his promo skills lend itself greatly to it- and he's completely jumped into the gimmick from the way he dresses to his mannerisms. The only thing I'd say which is negative with regard to the MVP situation currently is; Kenny King is non-existent. King is a very good wrestler, and with MVPs "promoter" gimmick I thought he'd be hyping both of his "clients". Although this could lead to something down the road with King and Lashley/MVP King is quickly becoming irrelevant in the three man faction

I loved the next bit of the segment, It was a real throwback with regard to the match being made around who's tougher. It didn't have any bells and whistles, it was simply Joe wanting to prove he was tougher than Lashley. This was a great way to build the match because its seldom so simple now to build a match, so when they give us this build its very refreshing.

Gail Kim v Taryn Terrell
These two seemingly deliver every time they're given a full match in which to work. Taz (for once) made sense on commentary when he said the Knockouts leave everything on the line, and this is in direct contrast with the Divas who aren't given enough time or storyline with which to merit a high impact (no pun intended) match at the end of it. The match itself was very good I liked the Neckbreaker spot on the Steel Steps incapacitating both Gail and Taryn as such a damaging move is usually no-sold by the person delivering it. It also added an element of doubt with regard to the finish as they were both selling injuries after the move. The finish was good with both of them delivering their finishers- although they have to name Taryns RKO/Diamond Cutter finish eventually. With Gail picking up the victory.

Gail picking the win up I presume was because of what happened next; Jessicka Havok debuted. Havok is someone I'm relatively familiar with, as I'm sure quite a few people are- and I really liked her coming in as the wrecking ball with the weird mask and face paint. However, WHY DOES EVERY SINGLE MONSTER HEEL KNOCKOUT HAVE TO SCREAM? It didn't work with Lei'd Tapa and it won't work with Havok. However with Gail in the opposite corner for the feud these two should deliver matches which could rival or better Gails matches with Kong.

EC3, Spud, Rhino Segment
EC3 is quickly becoming the best talent TNA has picked up from WWE. When Derrick Bateman was feuding with Johnny Curtis over Maxine I absolutely hated him, and when he was released I assumed he would work a few independents, and would maybe get picked up by TNA for a brief run similar to Trent Barreta. Whats happened instead is EC3 has become one of the best parts of WWE and TNA combined, his promo's have improved a million times over and he's become the most entertaining part of any feud he's been involved in since he joined TNA (okay, with the exception of Norv Fernum).

The segment itself was fine, and I like the fact they keep holding off on Rhino getting his hands on EC3- and if it were up to me it would turn into a Dreamer-Raven type feud where whatever Rhino does he can't beat EC3. As in my opinion they should keep building EC3- and Rhino going over him isn't going to do much long-term.

Gunner and Samuel Shaw v Bram and Magnus
Is Shaw a babyface now? Does this mean Anderson is a heel? Sometimes a "blurred line" character is interesting, but only when its done correctly. I simply don't understand what the end game for this is. At first I thought it'd be Gunner turning on Anderson, however I explained why that wouldn't work a few weeks ago- and it seems TNA agreed. But what is going to happen? I thought Shaw being late for the save would lead to an argument of some kind but instead Shaw attacked the ref until Gunner pulled him off and calmed him down. I'm intrigued as to whats going to happen with regard to this story, however if they don't pull the trigger on whatever they're going to do they run a very real risk of losing any momentum the story would get.

Bobby Roode v Eric Young- #1 Contender Match
Firstly I assumed the backstage vignettes with MVP would lead to a "win at all cost" kind of finish. But as such we got a clean finish with Roode going over, which isn't the worst way they could of done it- but wasn't the best either. I think they should of had both men put everything on the line, and play up an element of distrust between the two men. With Roode going over with Youngs leg being under the ropes, however I do understand why they've had Roode go over clean as they need to have him look strong going into a fight against Lashley.

6 Way X-Division Match
Firstly the match was painfully short, I understand we can't have 20minute matches for every single match- but with the workers involved I thought they'd get at least 10 minutes. However Homicide went on to win the match- which was fine by me because of the history between Joe and Homicide. The aftermath with "The Great" Sanada and Storm ambushing Manik was much more interesting in my opinion. "The Great" Sanada using the superkick is an interesting development, and it seems Storm is going down the route of a cult- which they have to be very careful with to avoid being called a "Wyatt Family Ripoff"

Rockstar Spud v Rhino
I must admit I thought Spud was going to win this. I thought he'd win with a roll up after a lot of interference on the part of EC3. However the way it worked was also fine by me, because this could lead to a Spud feud down the road with EC3, where Spud eventually gets annoyed that he takes all the heavy blows. The match was perfectly good for what it was meant to be with Rhino looking very dangerous, and as said previously the strong build for Rhino should make EC3 get even hotter with the crowd when he goes over.

Samoa Joe v Lashley
This wasn't a "wrestling match" this was a fight. Although Lashley went over the manner in which the match went down meant it didn't greatly affect Joe, and he still looks like a complete killer. Lashley going through guys at the rate he is, is a very dangerous game- especially with his Bellator fight coming up. I don't claim to know much about MMA however I know from a Pro Wrestling standpoint having your TNA World Heavyweight Champion losing in a "shoot" fight wouldn't be good business for TNA after he's gone through pretty much everybody on the TNA roster.

Thanks again for reading, It seems TNA is becoming the "wrasslin" show every week which is high on praise, and hopefully this praise turns into a TV deal. Thanks again for reading- feedback is very much appreciated, even if you think I'm completely wrong about something.

RAW Review- 1st September

I'm back with my third RAW review on this blog, and after last weeks attempt it couldn't get much worse- Could it?

Highlight Reel w/ Almost everybody in a Storyline
The word cluster springs to mind. Everyone in the ring by the end of the segment has at least serviceable promo skills, however sticking them all in the ring at the same time was poorly thought out and meant everyone was left really underwhelmed as nobody had the time to cut a promo. Also a question I was posing on Twitter during RAW last night, How would a 6 Man Tag prove any of the 6 worthy of a singles match? As such it was just a pretty average segment, and the  Rollins failed attack did little for me- because you already knew Cenas team was going to win later meaning Reigns would of got the better of him everytime they've met in the last two weeks- How to build a Feud eh?

Cesaro and The Miz w/ Mizdow and a Makeup Artist v Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler
All four of these workers are very good, and Damien Mizdow delivered my favourite part of RAW by ripping his trousers off and shouting action. Altogether this was probably the best overall segment in terms of in-ring quality and the manner in which they built the feuds. However, This was another two storylines condensed into one tag match, when they could easily of had Sheamus beat a jobber and Cesaro sneak attack him- and Dolph beat Mizdow again. This would mean a lot less filler during a RAW (more later) and would simply put make RAW better.

"Growing Up Bella" Part 1
Jesus Christ this was awful, them having issues going back to their prom is simply put- stupid. We're supposed to believe Nikki has all these backdating issues with Brie, yet happily teamed with her for 7 years?! Its just insulting the audiences intelligence- and there were more of them!!!

Cameron, Eva Marie and Rosa Mendes v Layla, Naomi and Summer Rae
Jesus Christ this was awful, this match is still going on now ya know seeing as they didn't even ring the bell when the "brawl" broke out. Firstly why did they put the worst three workers on the same team? Off the top of my head I can't remember Eva Marie officially turning heel to people other than people who value the sanctity of Wrestling. It also meant everything in this match looked really off, and even Layla looked pretty off her game last night. Overall Awful... Just Awful.

The Worlds Baldest Tag Team v The Wyatts
They clearly forgot they'd booked this match three times in the last week and a half, or they didn't forget and in an attempt to make it seem fresh decided to add the tag line "1400 pounds of Humanity" You know who's the winner from that tagline? Obesity. The match was serviceable however ONCE AGAIN they put two storylines into one segment which is stupid! I also felt it really unnecessary to have The Wyatts get chased off at the end by Big Show which did nothing other than make The Wyatts look weaker than they've already been made to look.

"Growing Up Bella" Part 2
Jesus Christ this was awful, We're supposed to believe that Nikkis hook nose wasn't noticeable on her Drivers License photo- and what Nikkis said is fraud, which they could use as grounds to fire Brie and get her arrested. But of course they won't, and of course We're supposed to believe Nikki has all these backdating issues with Brie, yet happily teamed with her for 7 years?! Its just insulting the audiences intelligence- and there was more of these!!!

WWE inviting Michael Sam just stinks of WWE being desperate for publicity in my opinion. As a Brit I had no idea who he was, and from googling him it turns out he's a below average American Football player who'd only claim to fame is his sexual orientation- which in 2014 shouldn't be that much of a big deal. Its pretty obvious they're trying to get the rub from Monday Night Football returning in America- and they seem to be subscribing to the TNA policy of getting a quick spike (no pun intended) of viewership as opposed to gradually building up their audience which long-term would be better.

Jack Swagger (reunited with Zeb) v Curtis Axel
This segment was the definition of "Meh". Swaggers USA gimmick is beyond repair- especially considering Mark Henry is also doing a USA gimmick and JBL crapping on Swagger is just damaging the product. The Bo aftermath was just strange, as one of the guys was getting deported (which Swagger and Zeb should be happy about), one of them lost his life savings betting on a Fixed-Outcome sport which clearly shows he has a gambling addiction and should seek help and the last one was a Mum who's kid wants to grow up to be a Lunatic World Leader. Which one of these are we meant to feel sorry for? And why should Swagger care about them?

Adam Rose v Titus O'Neill
The Streak Lives!
Jesus Christ this was awful, I think Bobby Roode put it best "WTF am I watching???". The three people involved in this are all good workers, but they've been relegated to playing second fiddle to a guy in a bunny costume.

"Growing Up Bella" Part 3
Jesus Christ this was awful, We're supposed to believe Nikki is the smart twin? and once again they make no reference to the hook nose which Nikki possesses which makes a clear difference to the appearance of the Bellas without the airbags. Also the fact Nikki said she "tutored" Brie, along with Nikki saying she passed the exam "with flying colours" insulted the audiences intelligence even more than it already had been.

Rusev v Zack Ryder
Ryder nearly had him! I Don't see what use Rusev squashing Ryder had at this point- by this point even Ryback had moved on to semi-competitive matches when he was getting his push as a monster. The Mark Henry promo was good after, but the USA pop is getting pretty drawn out in my opinion- and once Rusev goes over Henry (which I expect he will- more later) they shouldn't go straight into another USA v Russia feud.

Stephanie, Nikki, Brie, A.J., Paige Segment
Jesus Christ this was awful, NIKKI SHOUTING DOESN'T MAKE YOU A GOOD HEEL!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously why are they getting the A.J.-Paige feud involved? Presumable so they can have a Total Diva win the belt at Night of Champions, they've also (as I predicted) seemingly abandoned the Sexual Tension-Lesbian angle between A.J. and Paige making all the shows from Summerslam to last night a waste of time. And Once again we had one segment contain two storylines (albeit they look like intertwining now) which makes the filler segments even more abhorrent.

Goldust v Jimmy Uso
I liked the Rhodes Brothers heel turn, however I don't see how they can be taken seriously as heels unless they change something. There entrance is exactly the same, there movesets are exactly the same, there mannerisms are almost the same the only difference is the fact they're desperate to get a Tag Team Title Shot, and will do anything to get it- which isn't exactly clear cut heels. Overall the match was good and I assume the leg injury is a way for The Usos the drop the belts and still being able to continue the feud.

Big Shows turning heel for the 49th time it seems- this time on Mark Henry which'll be a way for Rusev to go over without making Henry look really weak.

Cena, Reigns, Jericho v Rollins, Kane and Orton
Firstly after last week when Reigns got the better of Kane and Rollins, after beating Orton clean at Summerslam we're supposed to believe Reigns with two partners won't beat these three? Until roughly the last 5 minutes the match was painfully slow in my opinion, and the change of pace was good- but the outcome was so blatantly obvious (except I thought Cena would get the Pin) when they went into the "taking it home" part of the match you just went Yep, That Happened.

Cena grabbing the sign and holding it the wrong way round for the Hard Camera summed this RAW up for me, it was poorly planned- and the execution was awful.

Thanks again for reading, Feedback is appreciated. I truly hope next week is better, it can't be worse right? RIGHT?!

Fulham Transfer Window (Summer 2014) Review

Welcome to my Fulham transfer window review, where we saw an absolutely ridiculous turnover of players- With 14 incomings and 26 outgoings. I'll look over the signings we've made and what they can add to the team, and also if it was the right decision to get rid of the players we did- I won't look over all the outgoings because I don't fancy writing a book today.

Ins (note these are in chronological order)
Shaun Hutchinson- From what we've seen of him thus far he's a very mixed bag. He looked shockingly bad against Ipswich and was at fault for both goals in my opinion, however he looked much more composed against Brentford- and him alongside Burn delivered our first clean sheet of the season so something has to be said for that.

Adam Taggart- He's yet to pull on a Fulham shirt so there's not much you can say about him, however every person thats seen him play has said he's got bags of goals in him- and you would have to hope the fact he was deemed good enough to get into the Australian World Cup squad, and play against Spain is a good sign.

Tim Hoogland- As a Right-Back he's a bit meh, however playing as a Defensive Midfielder in the enforcer role he's looking like a very shrewd but of business on the part of Felix Magath. He looked very comfortable in the role and could be the answer to our long standing plea for a Holding Midfielder. He's also chipped in with two goals this season already and if we can get 5+ from him thats a very good return.

Kay Voser- In direct contrast with Hoogland, Voser looked very good in the right-back role. He looked very comfortable going up and down the line- and preoccupied Fabio quite a lot at the Weekend which in turn created more space for other people. However his crossing is woeful, As such I think he'd work best doing overlapping runs with someone like Chris David, Bryan Ruiz or Emerson Hyndman as they can then receive the ball and cross it.

Ross McCormack- Our only proper big money signing this summer, and so far its been a mixed bag with regard to performances from him. He was pretty ineffective against Ipswich and Wolves, however when he came on against Millwall he looked very dangerous- and if Magath is to be believed his fitness is only just starting to get to 100%, which is understandable because he's looked very good in our last two games against Brentford and Cardiff, scoring and assisting in these two games and looking very dangerous.

Kostas Stafylidis- He's looked alright. He played very well in Pre-Season and I think that inflated a lot of peoples expectations, and when he's been played Left-Back he's looked very competent- if a bit wasteful in possession. However when he's been played Central-Midfield he's looked very out of his depth.

Thomas Eisfeld- He's looked decisively average from what I've seen of him so far, however from speaking to Arsenal supporting friends they really rate him, as such I'm willing to give him more time- however he can't afford to keep missing chances like he did against Cardiff.

Adil Chihi- When he came on against Cardiff I think my brother said it best... "Wheres Patrick Roberts". He didn't look attrocious, his first touch was pretty bad- and for a winger he looked like he'd swallowed a tyre. He's not bad, but we have much better wide options available to us.

Nikolay Bodurov- He's been the pleasant surprise from this window. I assumed he'd be a squad player, filling in for Amorebieta and Burn if they were injured- and would be playing cup games. However he's turned into *at this stage* the best signing we've made this summer by a long way. He looked very self-assured and was by far and a way our best defender until Dan Burn came in against Brentford and Cardiff.

Mark Fotheringham- No, Just No.

Dino Fazlic- What to say about a guy who's not even made it onto the bench for one game, and was a free agent prior to signing for us? His name's Dino.

Tiago Casasola- Again its way to early to judge Casasola, and I know very little about him outside of Football Manager where he develops into one of the Worlds best Centre-Backs.

Gabor Kiraly- I'm hoping the fact Kiraly started on the bench on Saturday means we're going to play Bettinelli as our starting goalkeeper, and we won't see those sexy trackies that often. However if we're going to use him as our second goalkeeper its a very shrewd bit of business as he can provide Joronen and Bettinelli with a senior head to mentor them.

Matt Smith- Our only Deadline Day signing, and one that got Leeds fans very upset- which makes it alright by me. I think we weren't buying Matt Smith for his individual talents as much as we're buying him for his link up play with McCormack which judging by the statistics from last season looks very, very good for us. We also needed a Target-Man desperately in my opinion as Woodrow has looked decisively average so far this season, and he was the closest thing we had to a Target-Man before his arrival.

Overall these signings were good, however I (and I'm sure many others) expected us to sign 3 experience players on Deadline Day, as Magath said that and all.

Outs (I'm only going to cover the main ones)
John Arne Riise (APOEL Nicosia)- Possibly the worst Left-Back we've ever had, and one of the worst attitudes to boot. The fact he's going to be playing Champions League this season is shocking- however the idea of him getting absolutely destroyed in the Champions League comforts me greatly.

Steve Sidwell (Stoke)- I'm not upset that he's gone, although I would obviously of loved him to stay it wasn't ever going to be likely after the season he had. Although the fact we let him go for free was an awful bit of business. The fact whomever is in charge of contracts deemed it unnecessary to give Sidwell a new contract was frankly stupid. Even if we intended to sell him Sidwell could of easily commanded 2-3 million after last season.

Brede Hangeland (Crystal Palace)- I don't claim to know the behind the scenes aspects at Fulham, what is common knowledge is Hangeland had a year left on his contract. Even if Magath/Hangeland decided they no longer wanted to work with each other we should of at least tried to get a fee for him rather than allowing him to go on a free.

Kieran Richardson (Aston Villa)- He was coming into his own as a Left-Midfielder for us last season, and I did hope we'd of been able to hang onto him. However with his long-standing injury problems and presumably Premier League wages I understand why we done it. At least we got a fee for him.

Pajtim Kasami (Olympiakos)- How we managed to get the fee we got for him is beyond me. Yes, He scored one of the best goals ever. That was one goal surrounded by an entire season of mediocrity- and this was by far our best bit of business sales wise this window.

Sascha Riether (SC Freiburg)- He played very well in his first season, but aside from Stoke home last season he was pretty average, and his shortcomings were highlighted quite a lot. As such I'm happy for him going back to his first club- and I'm also happy for us getting North of £1million for him.

Damien Duff (Melbourne Heart)- He's been a fantastic servant for the club, however he's way passed it at this point and I can fully understand him going.

Johnny Heitinga (Hertha Berlin)- I'd hoped we might of been able to convince him to stay, however once again I full understand why we don't currently have him.

Giorgos Karagounis (Free)- It was pretty clear he wasn't going to stay with us for quite a while, but I still maintain we should of played him more as the games he did start against Spurs and Villa under Meulensteen we looked noticeably better.

Muamer Tankovic (AZ Alkmaar)- Clearly those 45 minutes against Man Utd made him too first team for Magaths liking, and we saw the end of Mujo and Fulham. Once again I'd hoped we could of kept him, however I'm more annoyed we've left one of our most promising youngsters leave on a free- and he's currently doing very well for Alkmaar.

David Stockdale (Brighton)- This is the one (if there was going to be one) that I would of stopped going through at all costs. He's shown a willingness to stay and fight for the cause, and he is by far (and still would be) the best Keeper we would have. The fact we sold him to a fellow Championship team is also criminal in my opinion as he's going to greatly strengthen Brighton's promotion push, and with limited places and with us hoping to get up there we categorically shouldn't of done it.

Ashkan Dejagah (Al Arabi)- I was hoping because he knew Magath well, and he clearly got the best out of himself under Magath he'd of wanted to stay- however with the fee we got offered, and also the wages Dejagah got offered I fully understand why he didn't stay.

Maarten Stekelenburg (Monaco-Loan)- Once Stockdale was sold, I had a faint hope we'd of kept Stekelenburg to play. However if the stories are to be believed Stekelenburg doesn't want to play under Magath- and the loan aspect is interesting as (assuming we haven't been incredibly naive) we could recall Stekelenburg WHEN we sack Magath.

Kostas Mitroglou (Olympiakos-Loan)- *sigh*

Ryan Tunnicliffe (Blackburn-Loan)- Once again we've strengthened a Championship rival, although it seems he has an attitude problem his performances with Ipswich last season has shown he's clearly good enough for this level, and I hope this doesn't come back to bite us.

Alex Kacaniklic (FC Copenhagen-Loan)- This transfer was truly bizarre. He signed a contract extension with us and went out on loan on the same day. Once again we could of clearly used him to our advantage in the Championship but for whatever reason he's been deemed surplus to requirements.

These are all of the outs which I perceive to be "major", however there are more

Perhaps more noteworthy, we've managed to hang on to Rodallega, Amorebieta and Ruiz (At the time of writing this is true) which provides us with very strong options we've been lacking for quite a while.

Thanks for reading, I know this is a longer than usual blog- but there's been a lot of transfers from Fulham this summer. This'll be my last Fulham related blog for about a week (barring something major happening). So I'll be back in the build up to the Reading game. Feedback and Opinions are very much appreciated- If you disagree with a point I've made feel free to tell me. Thanks again.