Hello, Welcome to another one of these Fulham blogs- and what a game yesterday. I was put through the ringer and I was just following the game on Twitter (but I refresh it every 10 seconds thinking something must have happened). But we (eventually) took a point away from the New York Stadium which considering everything is a very good point for us to get.
Because we don't get as much media coverage as last season its hard to say whether Rotherhams first goal was offside, however Kit has said he was on so I'll take his word for it- as such I don't think we could have done much for any of Rotherhams goals- Clarke Harris' goal was sublime and the Bodurov Own Goal was very unfortunate. But what we did do which was very pleasing was we responded within 5 Minutes every time. Granted "responding" will only every get you a point, but for the purposes of a tricky away match in Mid-Week in pretty bad weather conditions managing to muster a response three times speaks volumes for the belief, and character of the team which simply wasn't there under our previous manager.
The Team Selection was quite strange from my point of view. The reason I didn't suggest making more changes in my Preview blog was simply because I didn't think Kit was the type of manager to make 5 changes in a game- however I'm glad he did as some of our key players should look fresh on Friday. The selection was pretty strange although obviously we got something from the game so its harder to criticise than it was under Penfold. "The midfield will be where we win or lose this game in my opinion. We could easily get overwhelmed if we're not careful". This was what I wrote in my Preview Blog for this game and when I saw the Midfield we did start I was incredibly worried.
Eisfeld-Hyndman-LVC-G. Williams
We were apparently playing an "orthodox 4-4-2" to quote the Fulham Twitter. What I emphasised in my preview blog was the need for a bit more of a physical presence. So naturally the midfields tallest player was 5ft 9. Hoogland was ill, so my idea of inserting Hoogland into the Midfield obviously didn't come to fruition, that also meant we'd struggle for the physical presence I thought we'd need- especially once the team selection came out and we were resting Parker. If this midfield hadn't yielded any points then I'm sure there would have been some critics over Kits team selection, especially the midfield selection- however we got the point so all is good with the world, the fine lines of Football Management eh?
There wasn't something obviously wrong with the defence for all three of Rotherhams goals, except maybe we should have closed down Pringle quicker than we did for the third goal- but given how late it was in the game and the fact we'd had to chase the game that is perhaps understandable. As such despite conceding three goals I don't think you can really criticise our defensive display, and considering this is the first time we've conceded 3 Goals+ Under Kit I'll happily acknowledge the defensive progress we've made under Kit and move on. It appears Zverotic is now our 2nd Choice Right Back which is perhaps better from a defensive standpoint as I highlighted in my Preview Blog. I think Zverotic is perhaps the better option on balance because he is pretty solid defensively in comparison to Voser- and I think thats what Kit values above all else. Hopefully Hoogland isn't out for much longer- but having Zverotic come in and play decent can only be a good thing. It would appear as though Stafylidis is now firmly back in his natural habitat of Left-Back which is good from my point of view because I was never sold on him in Central-Midfield and I thought he looked better going forward when he was in the Left-Back position as well.
The fact we started a whole different midfield (with the exception of LVC) showed great squad depth on our part, and also gives me hope we could go on a good cup run without impacting on our League performances. As said in my Preview Blog resting Parker was a must for yesterdays game, as he looked dead on his feet by the end of the Norwich game- and I read somewhere he was going to come off but then didn't. I was surprised we rested/dropped Kavanagh because he would have been confident going into the game after Saturday, but with the Formation change that was perhaps a good thing as I'm not sure where he'd have fit into the formation. Chris David not getting into the team when Eisfeld did surprised quite a few people, but not me. Eisfeld scored a double for the U-21s at the Weekend against Chelsea and I'm sure that played a factor when Kit was naming his team. David is obviously a very good player- but I don't think Kit is sold on him, and I hope this doesn't come back to bite us in January if Ruiz leaves (likely) and David also leaves because of the lack of game time.
The Forward situation is now a very interesting debate to be had. Woodrow getting his first goal of the season (and it was a peach), combined with his physical presence has now put Rodallega's place under threat as purely from the point of who's a better Target Man Woodrow wins every time. Of course Smith is also in that debate, but after Woodrow scoring I think he's put himself firmly above Smith in the pecking order. McCormack was (again) great yesterday, his penalty was sublime- and his delivery for Burn's goal was spot on. But also his work ethic was very good again, and he's made a significant contribution in every recent game. Dembele is also in the fold as he's come off the bench in recent games, which means we have 5 Strikers all staking a claim for the Striker positions which in turn means people up their games to stake a claim for their place which is only a good thing for the team.
There we some notable performances from our young players, perhaps most notable was George Williams who provided a nuisance to the Rotherham defence all night- and won the penalty which got us back in the game (the first time). Also for anyone who says the penalty was soft please rewatch Cameron Jeromes belly flop from Saturday. Pat Roberts could have perhaps made a similar Impact, but I'm not overly concerned about his lack of minutes recently as I'm sure his time will come- and I think we're perhaps trying to hide him a bit to deter any interesting in January.
Its a good sign when we're picking up points when we perhaps didn't deserve them, and if we can keep picking up wins/draws when we perhaps didn't deserve them we should be able to climb up the table. We're now on the verge of getting out of the Relegation Zone which will provide a confidence boost to everyone at the club given the position we were in when Kit took over.
Thanks for reading these blogs, its really humbling when I see people are actually reading them. As usual any feedback is appreciated. I'm not sure if I'll do the Charlton Preview on Thursday or Friday so I'd like your suggestion on that. Thanks again.
Wednesday 22 October 2014
Tuesday 21 October 2014
RAW Review- 20th October
Hello! After we had a good old fashioned wrasslin show for last weeks RAW you'd be forgiven for having high hopes for this edition of RAW, but did it live up to expectations?
The Authority Promo
So John Cena lost his match to Ambrose, to get a #1 Contender Match? I really don't see the logic in the "Sloppy Seconds" match getting the #1 Contender Stipulation- and its probably just a way for WWE to justify Orton and Cena Main Eventing the PPV despite there being one week of build for it. The promos were perfectly fine and they did an alright job hyping the PPV but it was nothing special, and the back and forth between Orton and Rollins was a bit meh in my opinion.
Sheamus and The Usos v Damien Mizdow, Goldust & Stardust
The reason they had Mizdow in the match was basically so they could keep the audiences attention on what was going on in the ring in my opinion, because for the last few weeks Mizdow has stolen all the attention away from the in-ring action. The match was good, but the number of 6-Man matches these men have been involved with in recent times cheapens the "Everyone gets taken out" part of the match because you've seen it a million times before. Mizdow winning the match was a nice surprise, and is presumably so after Sheamus beats Miz at Hell in a Cell they can build to a Miz v Mizdow match which Miz'll probably win and Mizdow will be forced back into irrelevancy. Miz's overreaction to Mizdow winning was hilarious though "I WON!".
The Orton backstage promo was weird, although them having Rollins effectively book Orton's PPV match was an interesting development- and after what happened later will help set up Ortons face turn presumably.
The Bray Wyatt vignettes are still amazing... But you already know that *winks*. Where's Ricardo?
A.J. v Alicia Fox
Fox and Paige were never going to look bad the day of the announcement they were going to be on Total Divas (which I might write a future blog about when it comes to Paige on the show) so the distraction roll-up win was the best way they could have booked this. The fake fight between Fox and Paige was a good ruse, and it was one of the better Diva distraction moments in recent memory.
The second Orton backstage promo with Rollins helped to further tease what was going to happen later, but it was the third time we'd seen Orton already.
Randy Orton, John Cena, Paul Heyman promo
Oh Look its Randy again! This Orton promo was pretty good in my opinion, he spoke at an unnaturally fast pace and he got his point across really well in my opinion- although the cheap heat of going after (insert hometown) sports team was unnecessary in my opinion. As unnecessary as Cena getting the cheap pop for praising (insert hometown) sports team. The mic work on both of these two was perfectly alright, but its hard for Cena to hype the match effectively when he was chasing Rollins every week prior to this one. Then we got the return of the king. Heyman coming back was presumably just to remind the casual viewer that Brock does in fact still exist, however I read somewhere Brock isn't coming back until 8th December so god knows what they'll have presumably Cena do for over a month other than threatening Heyman, which as I've said previously just feels really uncomfortable. Orton RKO'ing both wasn't unexpected after all the Vines this previous week- and i get the feeling the whole segment was mainly because they wanted to feel socially relevant.
Rusev v Big E
Rusev rediscovered his anti-black vendetta this week- and it was back with a vengeance. I'm not going to really comment on the match because it was what it was, and we've seen the match a million times before- and on PPV where they got more time. What happened after was one of the weirdest and most uncomfortable segments I think I've ever seen. As Rusev was going to rip the flag down, which would have been the first physically provocative thing he'd have done directly against the US off the top of my head. We had a "soldier" jump the barrier and try and attack Rusev- which is illegal by the way. So Rusev was well within his rights to kick the "soldier" in the face. We the found out later there were a number of inaccuracies in the "Soldiers" uniform which is properly disrespectful to the armed forces in my opinion. We then had Big Show come out to help the invader- Moral of the story children, Jump the Barrier to attack someone and you get to meet your favourite superstars.
Big Show Promo
"You Don't disrespect a US Soldier"... So why have an awful mock up of an army uniform? The promo was what it was and Show did his angry and constipated look really well. Nobody really expected Rusev to still be in his dressing room when Show got back there- but overall they've built this feud pretty well in my opinion.
The Ambrose backstage promo was really strange, which is a good thing. I like the idea of using WWE Films to scout opponents so when HHH comes back they can use the Chaperone.
Brie Bella v Summer Rae
I was slightly distracted by a block of cheese during this match, which was probably a good thing on balance. Although Nikki not even being able to act in a backstage segment cemented this feud as the Gooker Winner in my opinion.
Dean Ambrose's Prop Comedy Hour
Even Ambrose couldn't save this. Whoever thought Ambrose should come out and make bad puns and attack a sex doll should be fired on the spot.
Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Mick Foley Promos
This was better. Foley coming out was a nice surprise, and definitely added something to the segment after all he is the man who truly got the Cell over in my (and many others) opinion, and the legacy of the match was built off of his broken body. The Rollins and Ambrose promos were good as well but Foley stole the show with his mic work, which is saying something. It also reminded me of the feud we never had with Ambrose and Foley.
Cesaro v Dolph Ziggler
Sheamus lost, The representative (sorry, Advocate) for the WWE Champion was laid out, the Tag Champions looked ordinary and now the IC Champion lost clean. A Week before a PPV ladies and gentlemen. Don't get me wrong the match was very good, but with the men involved it would be more noteworthy if they didn't have a very good match. But having Cesaro beat the IC Champion clean in the middle of the ring with no kind of shenanigans was a stupid decision by whoever made it.
Another backstage segment, another Orton appearance I make that 6- and he hasn't even wrestled yet!
Randy Orton, Kane and Seth Rollins v John Cena and Dean Ambrose: Street Fight
This was perplexing to me. They were always going to lower the cell, and anyone who didn't think they would should be locked up. But why have "Cell Spots" on Free TV? I thought they'd use the Cell to isolate either Cena or more likely Ambrose and every would hit their finishers on him the crowd would boo and fade to black. Instead we had a mini cell match with proper cell spots- which given the confines of PG you don't really see many Cell spots aside from getting flung into the Cell which is what we saw Rollins do. I understand because of the Network PPV numbers are dropping as such they might transition to having more stuff on free TV. But the segment didn't immediately make me want to watch the PPV on Sunday. Rollins curb stomping Orton was a nice development, if a bit obvious and if they could somehow maneuver it so Rollins cost Orton the Cell match at Hell in a Cell it'd be good.
Thanks for reading, Its a full week of blogging for me as its a Fulham review tomorrow, Impact review on Thursday, Fulham Preview on Friday, Fulham review on Saturday, Hell in a Cell Predictions on Sunday, Hell in a Cell Review on Monday and then we're back with the RAW Review this time next week! Thanks again for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated on any of my blogs.
The Authority Promo
So John Cena lost his match to Ambrose, to get a #1 Contender Match? I really don't see the logic in the "Sloppy Seconds" match getting the #1 Contender Stipulation- and its probably just a way for WWE to justify Orton and Cena Main Eventing the PPV despite there being one week of build for it. The promos were perfectly fine and they did an alright job hyping the PPV but it was nothing special, and the back and forth between Orton and Rollins was a bit meh in my opinion.
Sheamus and The Usos v Damien Mizdow, Goldust & Stardust
The reason they had Mizdow in the match was basically so they could keep the audiences attention on what was going on in the ring in my opinion, because for the last few weeks Mizdow has stolen all the attention away from the in-ring action. The match was good, but the number of 6-Man matches these men have been involved with in recent times cheapens the "Everyone gets taken out" part of the match because you've seen it a million times before. Mizdow winning the match was a nice surprise, and is presumably so after Sheamus beats Miz at Hell in a Cell they can build to a Miz v Mizdow match which Miz'll probably win and Mizdow will be forced back into irrelevancy. Miz's overreaction to Mizdow winning was hilarious though "I WON!".
The Orton backstage promo was weird, although them having Rollins effectively book Orton's PPV match was an interesting development- and after what happened later will help set up Ortons face turn presumably.
The Bray Wyatt vignettes are still amazing... But you already know that *winks*. Where's Ricardo?
A.J. v Alicia Fox
Fox and Paige were never going to look bad the day of the announcement they were going to be on Total Divas (which I might write a future blog about when it comes to Paige on the show) so the distraction roll-up win was the best way they could have booked this. The fake fight between Fox and Paige was a good ruse, and it was one of the better Diva distraction moments in recent memory.
The second Orton backstage promo with Rollins helped to further tease what was going to happen later, but it was the third time we'd seen Orton already.
Randy Orton, John Cena, Paul Heyman promo
Oh Look its Randy again! This Orton promo was pretty good in my opinion, he spoke at an unnaturally fast pace and he got his point across really well in my opinion- although the cheap heat of going after (insert hometown) sports team was unnecessary in my opinion. As unnecessary as Cena getting the cheap pop for praising (insert hometown) sports team. The mic work on both of these two was perfectly alright, but its hard for Cena to hype the match effectively when he was chasing Rollins every week prior to this one. Then we got the return of the king. Heyman coming back was presumably just to remind the casual viewer that Brock does in fact still exist, however I read somewhere Brock isn't coming back until 8th December so god knows what they'll have presumably Cena do for over a month other than threatening Heyman, which as I've said previously just feels really uncomfortable. Orton RKO'ing both wasn't unexpected after all the Vines this previous week- and i get the feeling the whole segment was mainly because they wanted to feel socially relevant.
Rusev v Big E
Rusev rediscovered his anti-black vendetta this week- and it was back with a vengeance. I'm not going to really comment on the match because it was what it was, and we've seen the match a million times before- and on PPV where they got more time. What happened after was one of the weirdest and most uncomfortable segments I think I've ever seen. As Rusev was going to rip the flag down, which would have been the first physically provocative thing he'd have done directly against the US off the top of my head. We had a "soldier" jump the barrier and try and attack Rusev- which is illegal by the way. So Rusev was well within his rights to kick the "soldier" in the face. We the found out later there were a number of inaccuracies in the "Soldiers" uniform which is properly disrespectful to the armed forces in my opinion. We then had Big Show come out to help the invader- Moral of the story children, Jump the Barrier to attack someone and you get to meet your favourite superstars.
Big Show Promo
"You Don't disrespect a US Soldier"... So why have an awful mock up of an army uniform? The promo was what it was and Show did his angry and constipated look really well. Nobody really expected Rusev to still be in his dressing room when Show got back there- but overall they've built this feud pretty well in my opinion.
The Ambrose backstage promo was really strange, which is a good thing. I like the idea of using WWE Films to scout opponents so when HHH comes back they can use the Chaperone.
Brie Bella v Summer Rae
I was slightly distracted by a block of cheese during this match, which was probably a good thing on balance. Although Nikki not even being able to act in a backstage segment cemented this feud as the Gooker Winner in my opinion.
Dean Ambrose's Prop Comedy Hour
Even Ambrose couldn't save this. Whoever thought Ambrose should come out and make bad puns and attack a sex doll should be fired on the spot.
Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Mick Foley Promos
This was better. Foley coming out was a nice surprise, and definitely added something to the segment after all he is the man who truly got the Cell over in my (and many others) opinion, and the legacy of the match was built off of his broken body. The Rollins and Ambrose promos were good as well but Foley stole the show with his mic work, which is saying something. It also reminded me of the feud we never had with Ambrose and Foley.
Cesaro v Dolph Ziggler
Sheamus lost, The representative (sorry, Advocate) for the WWE Champion was laid out, the Tag Champions looked ordinary and now the IC Champion lost clean. A Week before a PPV ladies and gentlemen. Don't get me wrong the match was very good, but with the men involved it would be more noteworthy if they didn't have a very good match. But having Cesaro beat the IC Champion clean in the middle of the ring with no kind of shenanigans was a stupid decision by whoever made it.
Another backstage segment, another Orton appearance I make that 6- and he hasn't even wrestled yet!
Randy Orton, Kane and Seth Rollins v John Cena and Dean Ambrose: Street Fight
This was perplexing to me. They were always going to lower the cell, and anyone who didn't think they would should be locked up. But why have "Cell Spots" on Free TV? I thought they'd use the Cell to isolate either Cena or more likely Ambrose and every would hit their finishers on him the crowd would boo and fade to black. Instead we had a mini cell match with proper cell spots- which given the confines of PG you don't really see many Cell spots aside from getting flung into the Cell which is what we saw Rollins do. I understand because of the Network PPV numbers are dropping as such they might transition to having more stuff on free TV. But the segment didn't immediately make me want to watch the PPV on Sunday. Rollins curb stomping Orton was a nice development, if a bit obvious and if they could somehow maneuver it so Rollins cost Orton the Cell match at Hell in a Cell it'd be good.
Thanks for reading, Its a full week of blogging for me as its a Fulham review tomorrow, Impact review on Thursday, Fulham Preview on Friday, Fulham review on Saturday, Hell in a Cell Predictions on Sunday, Hell in a Cell Review on Monday and then we're back with the RAW Review this time next week! Thanks again for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated on any of my blogs.
Monday 20 October 2014
Rotherham v Fulham Preview- Lets Get Ugly
Hello, welcome to another blog- and with this being the second of seven games in 21 days these will become quite a frequent occurrence after the amount of time between my Norwich Preview and Blackburn review blogs.
Now, to fit the title of this blog- lets get straight to the point. The Norwich game wasn't exactly the "beautiful game" on our part, however we got the 3 Points which at the end of the day is all that matters. We're now going into a game against a Steve Evans Rotherham side who will be one of the more difficult teams in the League to face because of their physical style, and coming off of the back of an energy sapping defensive display against Norwich I think changes are necessary- and vital if we are to continue our good run of form.
The Defensive situation is a fairly straight forward one, Kit said after the Norwich game that Hoogland should be alright for Tuesday (Thankfully)- so theoretically we should keep the same defence. I do believe we should keep the same Back Three of Bettinelli, Burn and Bodurov as much as possible- and I would keep this as the constant in our team throughout the entire season (barring injury). However I think for the purposes of this game Hoogland would be best suited in the Midfield Enforced Role he has played previously for us. This opens up a spot at Right-Back which could be fulfilled by either Voser or Zverotic, which is an interesting debate to be had. On the one hand Voser is very good at going up and down the line and general attacking play, but his defensive skills are sometimes found wanting- quite similar to Riether for large parts of last season. Zverotic on the other hand is a polar opposite in that he is quite good defensively and able to read the game very well, but sometimes its like he's never seen a ball before when he gets it. With respect to Rotherham, we should be looking at trying to win the game- if we are serious about trying to get up the table really quickly and maybe pushing for a playoff spot by April and May, as such I'd give Voser a chance as Bodurov playing on the right side of defence should provide a good amount of cover for Voser if he were to get caught out. Amorebieta is still injured, so I can see us continuing with Stafylidis as Left-Back.
The Midfield will be where we win or lose this game in my opinion. We could easily get overwhelmed if we're not careful. As I've previously said I'd have Hoogland playing as a Midfield enforcer, and he should hopefully be able to break up the play effectively which is something Parker can't really do in my opinion. Given we're playing Saturday-Tuesday-Friday-Tuesday I'd give Parker a rest for tomorrows game in anticipation of the Charlton game where he will be vital in my opinion. This leaves two midfield spaces available, as I can't see Kavanagh getting dropped after scoring the winner this will leave one spot open. I don't know LVC well enough to make a fair judgement on his stamina, however one thing I can say for certain was after the shift he put it on Saturday there isn't a fathomable way he'd be playing at 100% if he started tomorrow- as such I'd leave him on the bench for this game and start Hyndman, who is a better passer of the ball in my opinion. Once again I'd rest Ruiz for this game, as he's come back from presumably a CONCACAF country, and he looked pretty jaded against Norwich and was understandably subbed off- as such I'd give him a rest for this game as I think he'd be overwhelmed in this type of game anyway. This leaves the "Number 10" Role open, and it could fulfilled by a number of players- but I think we should only be considering Williams, David and McCormack for that Number 10 Role. I don't think Roberts is ready to start yet, and like Ruiz I think he'd be overwhelmed in a very physical game- although I would bring him off the bench as his technical ability could overwhelm a tired Rotherham defence. All three have their merits, however I think we should start McCormack in this role for the game tomorrow, Him playing in a deeper role would bring him into the game a bit more- and with who I would play up front I think he would get a number of chances if he can find the space between the Rotherham midfield and defence.
I said in my Norwich Review Rodallega shouldn't be a target man, but should still be in team because of his undoubted ability- who he plays with determines how well he does in my opinion. I saw Woodrows tweet that he was going to Rotherham with Pat Roberts so I'm presuming he's fit despite his absence on Saturday. As such its between Woodrow and Smith for the position alongside Rodallega in the team in my opinion. Both have their positive and negatives, but this is a Devil I know scenario as I haven't seen Smiths hold up play much- and that is one area where Woodrow excels, however Smith has shown in the friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Cardiff he can score goals, this selection could go either way, however I would pick Woodrow just because I've seen him play more- but because Kit sees him train everyday the selection could go the other way.
My Team for Rotherham
Bettinelli
Voser Bodurov Burn Stafylidis
Hyndman Hoogland Kavanagh
McCormack
Rodallega Woodrow
I've seen a number of people (not just Fulham fans) touting us as potential playoff candidates- and if you look at our form under Kit of Winning 4 of our Last 5 it could come to fruition. However (with respect) if we are to get to the Playoffs- or at least contest for a place in them we need to beat teams like Rotherham who's primary goal will be to stay up- and I think the balance this team selection would provide would give us the best chance of doing so.
Thanks for reading, I'll obviously do a review on Wednesday once I've seen the game- and hopefully I'm watching us make it 5 wins out of 6 under Kit. Thanks again, Any and all feedback is appreciated on these blogs.
Now, to fit the title of this blog- lets get straight to the point. The Norwich game wasn't exactly the "beautiful game" on our part, however we got the 3 Points which at the end of the day is all that matters. We're now going into a game against a Steve Evans Rotherham side who will be one of the more difficult teams in the League to face because of their physical style, and coming off of the back of an energy sapping defensive display against Norwich I think changes are necessary- and vital if we are to continue our good run of form.
The Defensive situation is a fairly straight forward one, Kit said after the Norwich game that Hoogland should be alright for Tuesday (Thankfully)- so theoretically we should keep the same defence. I do believe we should keep the same Back Three of Bettinelli, Burn and Bodurov as much as possible- and I would keep this as the constant in our team throughout the entire season (barring injury). However I think for the purposes of this game Hoogland would be best suited in the Midfield Enforced Role he has played previously for us. This opens up a spot at Right-Back which could be fulfilled by either Voser or Zverotic, which is an interesting debate to be had. On the one hand Voser is very good at going up and down the line and general attacking play, but his defensive skills are sometimes found wanting- quite similar to Riether for large parts of last season. Zverotic on the other hand is a polar opposite in that he is quite good defensively and able to read the game very well, but sometimes its like he's never seen a ball before when he gets it. With respect to Rotherham, we should be looking at trying to win the game- if we are serious about trying to get up the table really quickly and maybe pushing for a playoff spot by April and May, as such I'd give Voser a chance as Bodurov playing on the right side of defence should provide a good amount of cover for Voser if he were to get caught out. Amorebieta is still injured, so I can see us continuing with Stafylidis as Left-Back.
The Midfield will be where we win or lose this game in my opinion. We could easily get overwhelmed if we're not careful. As I've previously said I'd have Hoogland playing as a Midfield enforcer, and he should hopefully be able to break up the play effectively which is something Parker can't really do in my opinion. Given we're playing Saturday-Tuesday-Friday-Tuesday I'd give Parker a rest for tomorrows game in anticipation of the Charlton game where he will be vital in my opinion. This leaves two midfield spaces available, as I can't see Kavanagh getting dropped after scoring the winner this will leave one spot open. I don't know LVC well enough to make a fair judgement on his stamina, however one thing I can say for certain was after the shift he put it on Saturday there isn't a fathomable way he'd be playing at 100% if he started tomorrow- as such I'd leave him on the bench for this game and start Hyndman, who is a better passer of the ball in my opinion. Once again I'd rest Ruiz for this game, as he's come back from presumably a CONCACAF country, and he looked pretty jaded against Norwich and was understandably subbed off- as such I'd give him a rest for this game as I think he'd be overwhelmed in this type of game anyway. This leaves the "Number 10" Role open, and it could fulfilled by a number of players- but I think we should only be considering Williams, David and McCormack for that Number 10 Role. I don't think Roberts is ready to start yet, and like Ruiz I think he'd be overwhelmed in a very physical game- although I would bring him off the bench as his technical ability could overwhelm a tired Rotherham defence. All three have their merits, however I think we should start McCormack in this role for the game tomorrow, Him playing in a deeper role would bring him into the game a bit more- and with who I would play up front I think he would get a number of chances if he can find the space between the Rotherham midfield and defence.
I said in my Norwich Review Rodallega shouldn't be a target man, but should still be in team because of his undoubted ability- who he plays with determines how well he does in my opinion. I saw Woodrows tweet that he was going to Rotherham with Pat Roberts so I'm presuming he's fit despite his absence on Saturday. As such its between Woodrow and Smith for the position alongside Rodallega in the team in my opinion. Both have their positive and negatives, but this is a Devil I know scenario as I haven't seen Smiths hold up play much- and that is one area where Woodrow excels, however Smith has shown in the friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Cardiff he can score goals, this selection could go either way, however I would pick Woodrow just because I've seen him play more- but because Kit sees him train everyday the selection could go the other way.
My Team for Rotherham
Bettinelli
Voser Bodurov Burn Stafylidis
Hyndman Hoogland Kavanagh
McCormack
Rodallega Woodrow
I've seen a number of people (not just Fulham fans) touting us as potential playoff candidates- and if you look at our form under Kit of Winning 4 of our Last 5 it could come to fruition. However (with respect) if we are to get to the Playoffs- or at least contest for a place in them we need to beat teams like Rotherham who's primary goal will be to stay up- and I think the balance this team selection would provide would give us the best chance of doing so.
Thanks for reading, I'll obviously do a review on Wednesday once I've seen the game- and hopefully I'm watching us make it 5 wins out of 6 under Kit. Thanks again, Any and all feedback is appreciated on these blogs.
Saturday 18 October 2014
Fulham v Norwich Review- Kit Symons Black and White Army!
You'll never see a more comfortable game than that one. Seriously though, I think this game was one of- if not our best performance of the season. I understand some people would say Bolton, or even Forest despite us losing. However todays performance spoke volumes for the character of the team, and the belief that Kit has instilled into the players. We rode our luck yes, but we were due some luck this season and I have always believed you make your own luck- and we (in a Fulham Fans opinion) deserved the three points today.
I'd like to start by saying... What do I know eh? In my Preview for this game I said I wouldn't start Sean Kavanagh. It surprised me to an extent he was starting, but when I was watching the warm-ups I had an inkling Stafylidis would be at Left-Back because he was warming up with the defence, so I thought Kit had went the way of Penfold and gone off the deep-end! However, credit where its due, Kavanagh had a very good game in Central Midfield against a very strong midfield he also took his goal very well. Kit has obviously seen a lot more of him than I have, and in his post match interview he said Kavanagh has a good left peg on him- so hopefully that isn't the last goal we see from him this season. I don't know if Norwich didn't expect him to play, or simply like 99% of people at the ground today thought Kavanagh simply couldn't shoot- but he had acres of space, and he took the chance well.
It would be a disservice for me not to talk about all 4 Defenders in the game today, they were sublime. Nikolay Bodurov was outstanding, simply outstanding. When he first came in I thought he would be a "squad depth" player, and his height definitely deterred me knowing how physical and "Route One" oriented some teams in the division can be, however he has taken the Championship in his stride. This isn't me saying this after one good game, if you follow me on Twitter- or even look at the Fulham programme against Blackburn you'll see that I've been singing his praises for a while now. He reads the game extraordinarily well, and his anticipation of what is going to happen- almost before it happens means he's seldom caught flat-footed and it makes me wonder what the outcome would have been against Blackburn if Bodurov had started instead of Hutchinson and Bodurov is much more disciplined. He also surprisingly given his height, has coped with the aerial threat of players amazingly. He as a great spring and he was winning headers against Jerome quite frequently today which definitely helped the defence as a whole. Overall he was my MOTM today, with only LVC really challenging him for that.
Stafylidis and Kavanagh almost as a Double Line of defence on the Left-Hand side for us wasn't what I expected, but it worked very well as they limited Redmond to just a few opportunities and he has the potential to change a game. I thought Stafylidis played very well, and his pace was a definite advantage today as I thought it would be against a Norwich team who have (slightly) an imbalance between physicality and pace in my opinion. Hoogland going off was unfortunate, however Kit has said he's fine concussion wise and was taken off because he was ill in mid-week, but didn't want to miss the game (tell me about it Tim). Zverotic coming on makes me wonder what Kay Vosers role at the club will be, as I didn't think he was "awful" in any specific game- and I know people were slating him after Reading but we were ridiculously stretched in every area during that game, so I don't think its fair to flag up any specific player as a bad performance in that game. Zverotic was "ok". He didn't do an awful lot of things wrong, or right- He was just kind of there. He looked really uncertain on the ball, and Neil Adams definitely picked up on that because for the last 15 minutes of the first half (roughly) he switched wings to have Redmond play up against Zverotic, but thankfully he was ok- and he had good cover in LVC so he wasn't completely shown up like i feared he would be once I saw they'd made the switch. Dan Burn was another good performer today, and he will be crucial to us in "these" games where we won't necessarily run away with it like we did against Bolton and we need to dig in and cope with all of the balls being launched into the box etc., which we did today surprisingly well in my opinion given the number of aerial threats they had in the box. Something also has to be said for Bettinelli, and something (surprisingly) that I said has come true, in that I said we needed a consistent back three pairing and it would be B Cubed. I know Norwich only had one shot on target today, but that can also paint Bettinelli in a positive light as I felt he came for balls really well- and the relationship between the Back Three is a very solid foundation for Kit, or whomever should take charge one would presume in the near future.
This is going to be a long blog, that was just the defence!
The Midfield as I've previously alluded to when talking about Kavanagh performed well given the circumstances, and the players facing off against them. Parker can frustrate me at times because of his complete lack of a creative spark and ability to play an accurate pass once its out of his 5 Yard Perimeter, however today he really dug in and fought which is what we needed from our captain- and was definitely needed in this type of game where we had little possession (38%?). The same can be said for LVC who I thought was great today, once again he fought for every ball and showed determination and spirit- a reflection on the man at the helm. He's surprised me, in that when he started against Blackburn I wasn't necessarily opposed to it as it was another "New Beginning" but the absence of Hyndman and/or Chris David in the Starting Eleven surprised me. However as I said in my preview blog for this game, he's more than earned his place in the team with his performances- and as long as he performs to the level he did today I don't have a major issue with him keeping Hyndman out of the team. I was surprised to see statistically (WhoScored) that Ruiz was rated as one of our better players today, however I realised that "statistically" Ruiz will always be rated highly because of his pass completion, touches etc. so I don't mind it now as much as I when I got home from the game and saw it. He didn't seem up for it today, perhaps understandably after coming back from where ever Costa Rica (presumably a CONCACAF region) so I'm not writing his performance as the Bryan we know and got frustrated with in prior seasons is firmly back.
The Strikers were the only major concern for me, they weren't even bad. McCormack has shocked me, in that I thought he was "just" a goalscorer- which was why I was questioning why we didn't go after Jordan Rhodes who prior to signing a new contract was available (allegedly) for £8 Million. What we've bought is a player with a sublime work ethic, and a team ethos that really embodies what Fulham is about in my opinion. His run to free space up for the goal was great, and showed how unselfish he is- which is something I thought he would be given the number of goals he was involved (Goals or Assists) at Leeds, I thought he would be desperate for the ball and seek it out at every opportunity. However instead he's proven himself to be a very smart player, and he understands (which some strikers don't) that it doesn't matter if you're not on the end of the cross to finish as long as someone is- and if he can draw a man away from the person in order to make it easier for him to finish he should do that. Rodallega was so frustrating today. I know why he's in the team, and he is one of- if not our best "finisher" in the team. However the one thing he most definitely isn't is a Target Man. Launching Balls up to Hugo didn't work the first time, so lets just keep trying it! This is not to say I don't value Hugo's work ethic and general team play- which is something Kit seems to value highly. However if we need a Target Man on the pitch, which is clearly a part of our game plan why don't we play Woodrow (was he injured or tired to not even make the bench?) or Smith who despite his tackle against Reading still has some value to the team because of his height, and especially in the last 15-20 Minutes we definitely could have used a player who could of held the ball up a bit more and give the defence (and me) some time to breath. Dembele's cameo was decent enough, he's still a bit too selfish on the ball for my liking- and from where I sit (H2) I felt he should of buried the chance he got from roughly 6 Yards.
I'm not completely full of positives however. The Ref was abysmal today. He didn't seem to realise that Football is still a contact sport (I know right) and what I call battling for the ball- the ref called foul play. I haven't seen the Dan Burn tackle for the penalty properly, and will look out for it on the Football League Show- however from where I sit it looked an awful decision, which I think the linesman gave given the amount of time between the "foul" and the Penalty being awarded. In a weird way I think his awful refereeing may have actually helped us though, the crowd were really riled up especially in the time period directly after the Penalty and I think that weirdly got everyone more behind the team and generated a better atmosphere, which can sometimes dwindle in these types of "gritty" games.
Overall, as I've said previously I'd rate this as one of our best performances of the season- and we learnt so much about the team ethic, and belief that Kit has instilled into them in this kind of game rather than a much more comfortable game.
Thanks for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated on these blogs as I'm always looking to improve on my writing style- so if you see anything you think I should change just tell me. Thanks again. KIT SYMONS BLACK AND WHITE ARMY!
I'd like to start by saying... What do I know eh? In my Preview for this game I said I wouldn't start Sean Kavanagh. It surprised me to an extent he was starting, but when I was watching the warm-ups I had an inkling Stafylidis would be at Left-Back because he was warming up with the defence, so I thought Kit had went the way of Penfold and gone off the deep-end! However, credit where its due, Kavanagh had a very good game in Central Midfield against a very strong midfield he also took his goal very well. Kit has obviously seen a lot more of him than I have, and in his post match interview he said Kavanagh has a good left peg on him- so hopefully that isn't the last goal we see from him this season. I don't know if Norwich didn't expect him to play, or simply like 99% of people at the ground today thought Kavanagh simply couldn't shoot- but he had acres of space, and he took the chance well.
It would be a disservice for me not to talk about all 4 Defenders in the game today, they were sublime. Nikolay Bodurov was outstanding, simply outstanding. When he first came in I thought he would be a "squad depth" player, and his height definitely deterred me knowing how physical and "Route One" oriented some teams in the division can be, however he has taken the Championship in his stride. This isn't me saying this after one good game, if you follow me on Twitter- or even look at the Fulham programme against Blackburn you'll see that I've been singing his praises for a while now. He reads the game extraordinarily well, and his anticipation of what is going to happen- almost before it happens means he's seldom caught flat-footed and it makes me wonder what the outcome would have been against Blackburn if Bodurov had started instead of Hutchinson and Bodurov is much more disciplined. He also surprisingly given his height, has coped with the aerial threat of players amazingly. He as a great spring and he was winning headers against Jerome quite frequently today which definitely helped the defence as a whole. Overall he was my MOTM today, with only LVC really challenging him for that.
Stafylidis and Kavanagh almost as a Double Line of defence on the Left-Hand side for us wasn't what I expected, but it worked very well as they limited Redmond to just a few opportunities and he has the potential to change a game. I thought Stafylidis played very well, and his pace was a definite advantage today as I thought it would be against a Norwich team who have (slightly) an imbalance between physicality and pace in my opinion. Hoogland going off was unfortunate, however Kit has said he's fine concussion wise and was taken off because he was ill in mid-week, but didn't want to miss the game (tell me about it Tim). Zverotic coming on makes me wonder what Kay Vosers role at the club will be, as I didn't think he was "awful" in any specific game- and I know people were slating him after Reading but we were ridiculously stretched in every area during that game, so I don't think its fair to flag up any specific player as a bad performance in that game. Zverotic was "ok". He didn't do an awful lot of things wrong, or right- He was just kind of there. He looked really uncertain on the ball, and Neil Adams definitely picked up on that because for the last 15 minutes of the first half (roughly) he switched wings to have Redmond play up against Zverotic, but thankfully he was ok- and he had good cover in LVC so he wasn't completely shown up like i feared he would be once I saw they'd made the switch. Dan Burn was another good performer today, and he will be crucial to us in "these" games where we won't necessarily run away with it like we did against Bolton and we need to dig in and cope with all of the balls being launched into the box etc., which we did today surprisingly well in my opinion given the number of aerial threats they had in the box. Something also has to be said for Bettinelli, and something (surprisingly) that I said has come true, in that I said we needed a consistent back three pairing and it would be B Cubed. I know Norwich only had one shot on target today, but that can also paint Bettinelli in a positive light as I felt he came for balls really well- and the relationship between the Back Three is a very solid foundation for Kit, or whomever should take charge one would presume in the near future.
This is going to be a long blog, that was just the defence!
The Midfield as I've previously alluded to when talking about Kavanagh performed well given the circumstances, and the players facing off against them. Parker can frustrate me at times because of his complete lack of a creative spark and ability to play an accurate pass once its out of his 5 Yard Perimeter, however today he really dug in and fought which is what we needed from our captain- and was definitely needed in this type of game where we had little possession (38%?). The same can be said for LVC who I thought was great today, once again he fought for every ball and showed determination and spirit- a reflection on the man at the helm. He's surprised me, in that when he started against Blackburn I wasn't necessarily opposed to it as it was another "New Beginning" but the absence of Hyndman and/or Chris David in the Starting Eleven surprised me. However as I said in my preview blog for this game, he's more than earned his place in the team with his performances- and as long as he performs to the level he did today I don't have a major issue with him keeping Hyndman out of the team. I was surprised to see statistically (WhoScored) that Ruiz was rated as one of our better players today, however I realised that "statistically" Ruiz will always be rated highly because of his pass completion, touches etc. so I don't mind it now as much as I when I got home from the game and saw it. He didn't seem up for it today, perhaps understandably after coming back from where ever Costa Rica (presumably a CONCACAF region) so I'm not writing his performance as the Bryan we know and got frustrated with in prior seasons is firmly back.
The Strikers were the only major concern for me, they weren't even bad. McCormack has shocked me, in that I thought he was "just" a goalscorer- which was why I was questioning why we didn't go after Jordan Rhodes who prior to signing a new contract was available (allegedly) for £8 Million. What we've bought is a player with a sublime work ethic, and a team ethos that really embodies what Fulham is about in my opinion. His run to free space up for the goal was great, and showed how unselfish he is- which is something I thought he would be given the number of goals he was involved (Goals or Assists) at Leeds, I thought he would be desperate for the ball and seek it out at every opportunity. However instead he's proven himself to be a very smart player, and he understands (which some strikers don't) that it doesn't matter if you're not on the end of the cross to finish as long as someone is- and if he can draw a man away from the person in order to make it easier for him to finish he should do that. Rodallega was so frustrating today. I know why he's in the team, and he is one of- if not our best "finisher" in the team. However the one thing he most definitely isn't is a Target Man. Launching Balls up to Hugo didn't work the first time, so lets just keep trying it! This is not to say I don't value Hugo's work ethic and general team play- which is something Kit seems to value highly. However if we need a Target Man on the pitch, which is clearly a part of our game plan why don't we play Woodrow (was he injured or tired to not even make the bench?) or Smith who despite his tackle against Reading still has some value to the team because of his height, and especially in the last 15-20 Minutes we definitely could have used a player who could of held the ball up a bit more and give the defence (and me) some time to breath. Dembele's cameo was decent enough, he's still a bit too selfish on the ball for my liking- and from where I sit (H2) I felt he should of buried the chance he got from roughly 6 Yards.
I'm not completely full of positives however. The Ref was abysmal today. He didn't seem to realise that Football is still a contact sport (I know right) and what I call battling for the ball- the ref called foul play. I haven't seen the Dan Burn tackle for the penalty properly, and will look out for it on the Football League Show- however from where I sit it looked an awful decision, which I think the linesman gave given the amount of time between the "foul" and the Penalty being awarded. In a weird way I think his awful refereeing may have actually helped us though, the crowd were really riled up especially in the time period directly after the Penalty and I think that weirdly got everyone more behind the team and generated a better atmosphere, which can sometimes dwindle in these types of "gritty" games.
Overall, as I've said previously I'd rate this as one of our best performances of the season- and we learnt so much about the team ethic, and belief that Kit has instilled into them in this kind of game rather than a much more comfortable game.
Thanks for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated on these blogs as I'm always looking to improve on my writing style- so if you see anything you think I should change just tell me. Thanks again. KIT SYMONS BLACK AND WHITE ARMY!
Friday 17 October 2014
Fulham vs Norwich- Preview
Hello! Its been a while since I've done a Fulham Blog for a number of reasons, but I'm back now and will be doing these previews and reviews for every game again.
We're back from the International Break, and we are still yet to appoint a new manager- you have to assume the 5-Man Panel will be getting close to appointing someone as to put it into perspective- Kit was the manager for two games prior to Bolton, we then beat Bolton 4-0 which resulted in Dougie Freedman being sacked, and Bolton have appointed their new manager. I know we'll want to take our time over the appointment, but it could get to the point when it just harms Kits position at the helm similar to when Chelsea appointed Rafa Benitez as their "Interim" and you could tell the players weren't really playing for him for quite a while.
Now onto the game itself, we always seem to do well against Norwich *touch wood*, which makes me hopeful of getting something from the game tomorrow. When Orlando Sa gets you a point against them you know we're someones "bogey team". However different to prior seasons, Norwich look like the stable juggernaut in comparison to us. Norwich are sitting top of the pile and we're still in the Relegation Zone which hopefully won't be the case for much longer. However the League Position in our case I'd like to believe is a false position given we gave every other team a 7 game head start.
The Team Selection for the game is pretty straightforward in my opinion, with Amorebieta injured and the players Norwich have in Redmond I think Stafylidis dropping to Left-Back is a must as his pace could counter Redmonds. I've seen some people picking Kavanagh in their team with Stafylidis continuing in his Centre-Mid role, however with Kavanagh I'm not sold on him- and with a tricky winger like Nathan Redmond likely to be up against whomever we pick at Left-Back we need someone who has Pace in abundance. I also think with Russell Martin likely to be at Right-Back for Norwich we need someone who can make overlapping runs effectively. The other three defenders have picked themselves in my opinion; Burn, Bodurov and Hoogland. I'd be very surprised if there is any variation in these three.
Bettinelli should continue in goal and I think he will. Joronen going out on Loan was something I suggested in my Deadline Day Preview blog, as he'd shown himself to be a good shot stopper in the games against Wolves and Ipswich especially- however his distribution was atrocious and you could tell he was very low on confidence, which was symptomatic of our previous manager in my opinion. I saw an article over the International Break that we allegedly tried to get Mark Schwarzer on loan, and I think it'd be a good move on our part, he showed in the games he did get at Chelsea last season that he's still a very capable goalkeeper- and most definitely would do a job in the Championship and would provide a good person to learn from for Bettinelli. However if the article was to be believed the offer was rebuffed due to uncertainty over Cechs future, and I have no objections to Bettinelli continuing in goal.
The Midfield situation has become a lot clearer in my opinion after Amorebietas injury. As I've previously said, I'd have Stafylidis drop to Left-Back, therefore there is a Central Midfield spot open; which would bring in Hyndman. Hyndman is someone who I thought should have been starting instead of LVC prior to the Bolton game, however I think LVC has earned his place in the starting eleven; not to say Hyndman hasn't. However Kit clearly sees something in Stafylidis as a Central Midfielder as such that was the midfield three, but now (in my opinion) Stafylidis is required to drop back down to Left-Back Hyndman is the only worthy candidate to replace him in my opinion.
The Attacking Three is a little bit more complicated. I saw multiple articles that had quotes from Ruiz saying he wanted to leave in January, and his agent specifically quoted Werder Bremen. This brings up the old question of "Do you play a player who wants to leave?" In this case I think Yes. Ruiz is undoubtedly (on paper) the best player in the Championship. His performance against Bolton showed what he was capable of, and in the "big games" such as this one tomorrow I hope Ruiz can show what he's made of. The two that play in front of Ruiz is also a bit tricky in my opinion, however I can't see a reason why Rodallega and McCormack shouldn't continue, provided we have Woodrow and/or Smith to provide a physical presence we may need against a Defender like Michael Turner, however if we get our gameplan right and use Rodallega and McCormacks pace advantage we could be in for a good game.
Team I'd Pick for Norwich
Bettinelli
Hoogland Bodurov Burn Stafylidis
Hyndman Parker LVC
Ruiz
McCormack Rodallega
Thanks for reading, I'll be back with my Norwich review sometime tomorrow evening after I get back from the game. I hope you enjoyed reading, any and all feedback is appreciated.
We're back from the International Break, and we are still yet to appoint a new manager- you have to assume the 5-Man Panel will be getting close to appointing someone as to put it into perspective- Kit was the manager for two games prior to Bolton, we then beat Bolton 4-0 which resulted in Dougie Freedman being sacked, and Bolton have appointed their new manager. I know we'll want to take our time over the appointment, but it could get to the point when it just harms Kits position at the helm similar to when Chelsea appointed Rafa Benitez as their "Interim" and you could tell the players weren't really playing for him for quite a while.
Now onto the game itself, we always seem to do well against Norwich *touch wood*, which makes me hopeful of getting something from the game tomorrow. When Orlando Sa gets you a point against them you know we're someones "bogey team". However different to prior seasons, Norwich look like the stable juggernaut in comparison to us. Norwich are sitting top of the pile and we're still in the Relegation Zone which hopefully won't be the case for much longer. However the League Position in our case I'd like to believe is a false position given we gave every other team a 7 game head start.
The Team Selection for the game is pretty straightforward in my opinion, with Amorebieta injured and the players Norwich have in Redmond I think Stafylidis dropping to Left-Back is a must as his pace could counter Redmonds. I've seen some people picking Kavanagh in their team with Stafylidis continuing in his Centre-Mid role, however with Kavanagh I'm not sold on him- and with a tricky winger like Nathan Redmond likely to be up against whomever we pick at Left-Back we need someone who has Pace in abundance. I also think with Russell Martin likely to be at Right-Back for Norwich we need someone who can make overlapping runs effectively. The other three defenders have picked themselves in my opinion; Burn, Bodurov and Hoogland. I'd be very surprised if there is any variation in these three.
Bettinelli should continue in goal and I think he will. Joronen going out on Loan was something I suggested in my Deadline Day Preview blog, as he'd shown himself to be a good shot stopper in the games against Wolves and Ipswich especially- however his distribution was atrocious and you could tell he was very low on confidence, which was symptomatic of our previous manager in my opinion. I saw an article over the International Break that we allegedly tried to get Mark Schwarzer on loan, and I think it'd be a good move on our part, he showed in the games he did get at Chelsea last season that he's still a very capable goalkeeper- and most definitely would do a job in the Championship and would provide a good person to learn from for Bettinelli. However if the article was to be believed the offer was rebuffed due to uncertainty over Cechs future, and I have no objections to Bettinelli continuing in goal.
The Midfield situation has become a lot clearer in my opinion after Amorebietas injury. As I've previously said, I'd have Stafylidis drop to Left-Back, therefore there is a Central Midfield spot open; which would bring in Hyndman. Hyndman is someone who I thought should have been starting instead of LVC prior to the Bolton game, however I think LVC has earned his place in the starting eleven; not to say Hyndman hasn't. However Kit clearly sees something in Stafylidis as a Central Midfielder as such that was the midfield three, but now (in my opinion) Stafylidis is required to drop back down to Left-Back Hyndman is the only worthy candidate to replace him in my opinion.
The Attacking Three is a little bit more complicated. I saw multiple articles that had quotes from Ruiz saying he wanted to leave in January, and his agent specifically quoted Werder Bremen. This brings up the old question of "Do you play a player who wants to leave?" In this case I think Yes. Ruiz is undoubtedly (on paper) the best player in the Championship. His performance against Bolton showed what he was capable of, and in the "big games" such as this one tomorrow I hope Ruiz can show what he's made of. The two that play in front of Ruiz is also a bit tricky in my opinion, however I can't see a reason why Rodallega and McCormack shouldn't continue, provided we have Woodrow and/or Smith to provide a physical presence we may need against a Defender like Michael Turner, however if we get our gameplan right and use Rodallega and McCormacks pace advantage we could be in for a good game.
Team I'd Pick for Norwich
Bettinelli
Hoogland Bodurov Burn Stafylidis
Hyndman Parker LVC
Ruiz
McCormack Rodallega
Thanks for reading, I'll be back with my Norwich review sometime tomorrow evening after I get back from the game. I hope you enjoyed reading, any and all feedback is appreciated.
Thursday 16 October 2014
TNA Impact Review- 15th October
Welcome to another Impact review, after the Tag Title series was finished- and with them coming off of Bound for Glory you had to hope they would address the storylines that weren't addressed at their biggest PPV, but how did the episode fare?
Kurt Angle, Lashley Segment
I'd have preferred a heel to announced in the Fourway, because its obvious who was going to win either way- and it could have been a good spot for James Storm or another upper-midcard heel and a match always works better when someone can play dirty. I was worried when they gave Lashley a mic however the lines he delivered were thankfully short and succinct and did benefit Lashley in he looked threatening even without touching Angle.
Madison Rayne v Havok- TNA Womens Title Match
I haven't watched Bound for Glory, nor do I intend to- however I'm presuming Velvet being Velvet the match was pretty average. Its clear the only reason she was on the PPV was because she was going to be there anyway because she's banging Bully. Either way this match must surely have been better. Havok needs someone who can work at a higher speed than Madison can, however the match was still alright. Havoks selling, or lack thereof would be something I'd address were I to begin booking as her selling in this match looked stupid- and she should either get hit harder, or no-sell in my opinion as her snapping her head back from pretty weak punches just looked strange.
Magnus v Matt Hardy
I'm not sure why Matt is still around, and Magnus was right to an extent in the backstage segment when he asked why he was still here after The Hardys lost the Tag Title series, and him being in Jeffs shadow. I've always respected Hardy, and from a pure wrestling standpoint Matt is better than Jeff- however there's a reason Jeff has been WWE & TNA Champion and Matt hasn't. This being said I don't like them having Magnus lose to Matt as Magnus is going to be integral to TNA's long-term success or lack thereof going if TNA is still around in 2015. I also don't really see a storyline for Matt other than a rehash of the Matt v Jeff storyline from WWE, which would be just that and fans would call TNA on that.
The Menagerie v Angelina Love and the Two Bromans who aren't on another show
They thankfully limited Rebel to 2 Offensive maneuvers and getting spanked. The Beautiful People have absolutely no chemistry with The Bromans and the crowd I think could sense it, and were dead during this match. I'd of liked to see more of Knux and DJ Z but I'm not adverse to seeing Crazzy Steve as he's surprised me with regard to his in-ring work. This match was proof to anyone who needed it that TV-14 doesn't automatically make better segments.
EC3, "Tyrus", Devon, Bram Segment
I like Brodus Clay coming in as EC3's bodyguard as he is a legitimate bodyguard, physically imposing, and can work to a good level given the opportunity that he never really was as the "Funkasaurus". I'm not sold on the name "Tyrus" but thats by-the-by in the short-term. EC3 is as good on the mic as he always is- and I look forward to a Spud facing off against "Tyrus". Bram is presumably being brought into the fold to take out Devon, and sell an injury angle which would write Devon off TV now Bully is done with the company (supposedly). Did you know Bram was married to Charlotte? I only just found out... Strange World.
EC3 v Devon
The greatest competitor ever has now beaten every member of the TNA Hall of Fame!
Tyrus v Sharkboy
This was a good squash match, and its helped because Tyrus looks and acts like a monster. I like his singlet with "Redemption" on it, as I've always thought he should of been given a fair crack of the whip as a monster heel in WWE which I thought he'd get when he turned on Tensai, but it wasn't to be- and much in the same way EC3 has gotten himself over as a key part of the TNA product I have high hopes "Tyrus" will do the same, if he is in for the long-term and not just here in a Snitsky/Ezekiel Jackson role.
Jeff Harvey v Austin Aries v Eric Young v Bobby Roooooooooooooooo
The double pinfall with Hardy and Young being eliminated was an interesting way to go, and was presumably so neither man had the tag line of being the worst of the big 4 Babyfaces in the match. I'm happy they had Roode pin EY as I still maintain they should go with an EY heel turn in the near future, and it could make a good title feud *wink wink nudge nudge*. The outcome was never in doubt, but I'm happy they had the sense to have a 1 v 1 match between Aries and Roode, as they always have more drama, which is befitting of a #1 Contender Match. I'm going to be bold and say Half of the men in this match will be a heel by the end of the year.
Thanks for reading, I hope you're still enjoying these review blogs. If you read all of my blogs you'll be happy to know I'm back with my Fulham blogs tomorrow in a preview for the Norwich game. and I'll have the review up on Saturday, and depending on what mood I'm in I might do a blog on Sunday which'd be another opinion based blog like my "Wrestlemania 31- 6 Months in Advance blog". Thanks again for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated.
Kurt Angle, Lashley Segment
I'd have preferred a heel to announced in the Fourway, because its obvious who was going to win either way- and it could have been a good spot for James Storm or another upper-midcard heel and a match always works better when someone can play dirty. I was worried when they gave Lashley a mic however the lines he delivered were thankfully short and succinct and did benefit Lashley in he looked threatening even without touching Angle.
Madison Rayne v Havok- TNA Womens Title Match
I haven't watched Bound for Glory, nor do I intend to- however I'm presuming Velvet being Velvet the match was pretty average. Its clear the only reason she was on the PPV was because she was going to be there anyway because she's banging Bully. Either way this match must surely have been better. Havok needs someone who can work at a higher speed than Madison can, however the match was still alright. Havoks selling, or lack thereof would be something I'd address were I to begin booking as her selling in this match looked stupid- and she should either get hit harder, or no-sell in my opinion as her snapping her head back from pretty weak punches just looked strange.
Magnus v Matt Hardy
I'm not sure why Matt is still around, and Magnus was right to an extent in the backstage segment when he asked why he was still here after The Hardys lost the Tag Title series, and him being in Jeffs shadow. I've always respected Hardy, and from a pure wrestling standpoint Matt is better than Jeff- however there's a reason Jeff has been WWE & TNA Champion and Matt hasn't. This being said I don't like them having Magnus lose to Matt as Magnus is going to be integral to TNA's long-term success or lack thereof going if TNA is still around in 2015. I also don't really see a storyline for Matt other than a rehash of the Matt v Jeff storyline from WWE, which would be just that and fans would call TNA on that.
The Menagerie v Angelina Love and the Two Bromans who aren't on another show
They thankfully limited Rebel to 2 Offensive maneuvers and getting spanked. The Beautiful People have absolutely no chemistry with The Bromans and the crowd I think could sense it, and were dead during this match. I'd of liked to see more of Knux and DJ Z but I'm not adverse to seeing Crazzy Steve as he's surprised me with regard to his in-ring work. This match was proof to anyone who needed it that TV-14 doesn't automatically make better segments.
EC3, "Tyrus", Devon, Bram Segment
I like Brodus Clay coming in as EC3's bodyguard as he is a legitimate bodyguard, physically imposing, and can work to a good level given the opportunity that he never really was as the "Funkasaurus". I'm not sold on the name "Tyrus" but thats by-the-by in the short-term. EC3 is as good on the mic as he always is- and I look forward to a Spud facing off against "Tyrus". Bram is presumably being brought into the fold to take out Devon, and sell an injury angle which would write Devon off TV now Bully is done with the company (supposedly). Did you know Bram was married to Charlotte? I only just found out... Strange World.
EC3 v Devon
The greatest competitor ever has now beaten every member of the TNA Hall of Fame!
Tyrus v Sharkboy
This was a good squash match, and its helped because Tyrus looks and acts like a monster. I like his singlet with "Redemption" on it, as I've always thought he should of been given a fair crack of the whip as a monster heel in WWE which I thought he'd get when he turned on Tensai, but it wasn't to be- and much in the same way EC3 has gotten himself over as a key part of the TNA product I have high hopes "Tyrus" will do the same, if he is in for the long-term and not just here in a Snitsky/Ezekiel Jackson role.
Jeff Harvey v Austin Aries v Eric Young v Bobby Roooooooooooooooo
The double pinfall with Hardy and Young being eliminated was an interesting way to go, and was presumably so neither man had the tag line of being the worst of the big 4 Babyfaces in the match. I'm happy they had Roode pin EY as I still maintain they should go with an EY heel turn in the near future, and it could make a good title feud *wink wink nudge nudge*. The outcome was never in doubt, but I'm happy they had the sense to have a 1 v 1 match between Aries and Roode, as they always have more drama, which is befitting of a #1 Contender Match. I'm going to be bold and say Half of the men in this match will be a heel by the end of the year.
Thanks for reading, I hope you're still enjoying these review blogs. If you read all of my blogs you'll be happy to know I'm back with my Fulham blogs tomorrow in a preview for the Norwich game. and I'll have the review up on Saturday, and depending on what mood I'm in I might do a blog on Sunday which'd be another opinion based blog like my "Wrestlemania 31- 6 Months in Advance blog". Thanks again for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated.
Tuesday 14 October 2014
RAW Review- 13th October
Welcome to another RAW review, and after a mixed bag last week how would this edition shape up?
Before I start I'd like to say was a appalled at WWE firing Justin Roberts as he was one of my favourite announcers, and definitely the best they have of the current crop- and it shows WWE has little in the way of respect for their employees given how long Roberts was employed.
Dean Ambrose & John Cena Promos
Both of these promos were decent, Ambrose has his character down to a T in the lunacy department- and his delivery is great, the same can be said for Cena and these two have a certain chemistry together that will probably put them in good stead when Cena equals Flair's record and they're looking for challengers. The Authority did their usual schtick and it seems they have to be in an opening promo segment every week.
Dean Ambrose & John Cena v Gold and Stardust v The Usos
This was a pretty good tag match. The outcome was always obvious- and with one of the matches that followed the Tag Champions losing was a bit stupid, especially as The Usos have very little momentum now- and their crowd reactions aren't very good in comparison to what they were a few months ago. I liked the fresh pairings we had in this match as Cena and Cody hadn't fought in (from what someone told me last night) 4 Years, and Ambrose aside from a few 6-Man matches wouldn't of squared off with either of these teams. The match was worked at a good pace, but as I said before I don't see the logic in having the Tag Champions losing to a "dysfunctional" tag team.
The making of the contract on a pole match was a bit contrived, but at the end of the day the match is one of a plethora to have Cena look strong with Ambrose still winning. (Before you shout at me for spoilers, I called it as soon as they said it so...)
AJ Lee and Layla v Alicia Fox and Paige
Layla turned face and heel in the space of 5 minutes. I'm surprised they're letting A.J. use a shining wizard as her finisher given the obvious connotations, however as an impact finisher its good- and it doesn't require the setup that the Black Widow does so in turn makes A.J. look more dangerous. The beatdown after the match was good, and I genuinely thought it'd be used as a way to write Layla off TV as I've previously said I think Layla is close to done with the company, however given it only lasted 10-20 seconds I doubt this'll be the catalyst for it.
I think the current storyline with A.J. trying to find a new partner would be perfect to bring Bayley up to the main roster given her "affectionate" personality, and it would be a good way to introduce her, and her character to a wider audience before they inevitably mess her up beyond repair by giving her a Pink Cobra.
Randy Orton Backstage Segment
I'm not sure I understand the logic in Orton wanting sloppy seconds, but its a way to get Orton on the card which is I'm assuming the main reason they did it this way.
Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan vignette
Whoever directed these needs an instant promotion, The Wyatt character is starting to look dangerous again- which is a credit to Bray's promo ability. Presuming this is a way to have Rowan and Harper step out on their own and look like monsters you have to wonder how long they'll keep their momentum up before one or both end up going the way of Luke Gallows.
Dolph Ziggler v Randy Orton
For once the RKO was literally out of nowhere! The match was good, which isn't a surprise given the in-ring abilities of both of the men involved. Rollins coming out, for the sake of coming out was an interesting event- but I didn't really see the logic in it as Orton won. Having the Intercontinental and Tag Champions and later the US Champion losing on the same show, two weeks away from a PPV is frankly stupid though.
Seth Rollins v Jack Swagger
It genuinely surprises me that Swagger is still over to the extent he is given how many times he's lost as of late. Once again this was a pretty fresh pairing and it once again provided a pretty good match, my thoughts of Orton being on the outside are the same as in the previous match- but teasing tension between Rollins and Ambrose is presumably a way for Orton to have his rumoured face turn in the near future.
Big Show v Rusev
The protecting of Big Show is really hurting Rusev in my opinion. I know thats hardly a revolutionary opinion, however its true. At least they made Rusev look strong before Henry intervened. They're presumably building to Big Show turning on Henry or vice versa which wouldn't really make sense unless they switch up the storyline pretty quick.
The 2 on 1 assault after the match didn't make sense to me, as surely facing seemingly insurmountable odds makes Rusev the babyface. Plus he's already beaten both men, which makes the two men going after him petty on the part of the babyface.
Sheamus v Miz
Mizdow.
Cameron, Nikki Bella and Summer Rae v Natalya, Naomi and Brie Bella w/ Rose and Wiki Leaks
Dear God No.
Bray Wyatt vignette
This was the best vignette we've gotten so far, the imagery used was great- and if you weren't behind the Wyatt character before, you surely must be now?
John Cena v Dean Ambrose- Contract on a Pole
It was what we expected with regard to having Cena look like winning and then being cost the match in some contrived way. However Cena didn't look ridiculously strong so I don't really mind it, at least they didn't sacrifice a great match in Rollins v Ambrose in a Cell, and I'll happy sit through Cena v Orton 900 in order to watch it.
Overall this was a very good edition of RAW, there were no abhorrent segments even the Wiki Leaks segment didn't go long enough to really annoy me. This was by far the best edition of RAW in god knows how long, and it seems WWE too the TNA route as of late in that they limited the bullshit booking to a minimum.
Thanks again for reading, I hope you're still enjoying reading these blogs and I appreciate any and all feedback. I'll be back with my Fulham blogs this week after the International Break- and my Impact review will be up on Thursday as per usual. Thanks again for reading.
Before I start I'd like to say was a appalled at WWE firing Justin Roberts as he was one of my favourite announcers, and definitely the best they have of the current crop- and it shows WWE has little in the way of respect for their employees given how long Roberts was employed.
Dean Ambrose & John Cena Promos
Both of these promos were decent, Ambrose has his character down to a T in the lunacy department- and his delivery is great, the same can be said for Cena and these two have a certain chemistry together that will probably put them in good stead when Cena equals Flair's record and they're looking for challengers. The Authority did their usual schtick and it seems they have to be in an opening promo segment every week.
Dean Ambrose & John Cena v Gold and Stardust v The Usos
This was a pretty good tag match. The outcome was always obvious- and with one of the matches that followed the Tag Champions losing was a bit stupid, especially as The Usos have very little momentum now- and their crowd reactions aren't very good in comparison to what they were a few months ago. I liked the fresh pairings we had in this match as Cena and Cody hadn't fought in (from what someone told me last night) 4 Years, and Ambrose aside from a few 6-Man matches wouldn't of squared off with either of these teams. The match was worked at a good pace, but as I said before I don't see the logic in having the Tag Champions losing to a "dysfunctional" tag team.
The making of the contract on a pole match was a bit contrived, but at the end of the day the match is one of a plethora to have Cena look strong with Ambrose still winning. (Before you shout at me for spoilers, I called it as soon as they said it so...)
AJ Lee and Layla v Alicia Fox and Paige
Layla turned face and heel in the space of 5 minutes. I'm surprised they're letting A.J. use a shining wizard as her finisher given the obvious connotations, however as an impact finisher its good- and it doesn't require the setup that the Black Widow does so in turn makes A.J. look more dangerous. The beatdown after the match was good, and I genuinely thought it'd be used as a way to write Layla off TV as I've previously said I think Layla is close to done with the company, however given it only lasted 10-20 seconds I doubt this'll be the catalyst for it.
I think the current storyline with A.J. trying to find a new partner would be perfect to bring Bayley up to the main roster given her "affectionate" personality, and it would be a good way to introduce her, and her character to a wider audience before they inevitably mess her up beyond repair by giving her a Pink Cobra.
Randy Orton Backstage Segment
I'm not sure I understand the logic in Orton wanting sloppy seconds, but its a way to get Orton on the card which is I'm assuming the main reason they did it this way.
Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan vignette
Whoever directed these needs an instant promotion, The Wyatt character is starting to look dangerous again- which is a credit to Bray's promo ability. Presuming this is a way to have Rowan and Harper step out on their own and look like monsters you have to wonder how long they'll keep their momentum up before one or both end up going the way of Luke Gallows.
Dolph Ziggler v Randy Orton
For once the RKO was literally out of nowhere! The match was good, which isn't a surprise given the in-ring abilities of both of the men involved. Rollins coming out, for the sake of coming out was an interesting event- but I didn't really see the logic in it as Orton won. Having the Intercontinental and Tag Champions and later the US Champion losing on the same show, two weeks away from a PPV is frankly stupid though.
Seth Rollins v Jack Swagger
It genuinely surprises me that Swagger is still over to the extent he is given how many times he's lost as of late. Once again this was a pretty fresh pairing and it once again provided a pretty good match, my thoughts of Orton being on the outside are the same as in the previous match- but teasing tension between Rollins and Ambrose is presumably a way for Orton to have his rumoured face turn in the near future.
Big Show v Rusev
The protecting of Big Show is really hurting Rusev in my opinion. I know thats hardly a revolutionary opinion, however its true. At least they made Rusev look strong before Henry intervened. They're presumably building to Big Show turning on Henry or vice versa which wouldn't really make sense unless they switch up the storyline pretty quick.
The 2 on 1 assault after the match didn't make sense to me, as surely facing seemingly insurmountable odds makes Rusev the babyface. Plus he's already beaten both men, which makes the two men going after him petty on the part of the babyface.
Sheamus v Miz
Mizdow.
Cameron, Nikki Bella and Summer Rae v Natalya, Naomi and Brie Bella w/ Rose and Wiki Leaks
Dear God No.
Bray Wyatt vignette
This was the best vignette we've gotten so far, the imagery used was great- and if you weren't behind the Wyatt character before, you surely must be now?
John Cena v Dean Ambrose- Contract on a Pole
It was what we expected with regard to having Cena look like winning and then being cost the match in some contrived way. However Cena didn't look ridiculously strong so I don't really mind it, at least they didn't sacrifice a great match in Rollins v Ambrose in a Cell, and I'll happy sit through Cena v Orton 900 in order to watch it.
Overall this was a very good edition of RAW, there were no abhorrent segments even the Wiki Leaks segment didn't go long enough to really annoy me. This was by far the best edition of RAW in god knows how long, and it seems WWE too the TNA route as of late in that they limited the bullshit booking to a minimum.
Thanks again for reading, I hope you're still enjoying reading these blogs and I appreciate any and all feedback. I'll be back with my Fulham blogs this week after the International Break- and my Impact review will be up on Thursday as per usual. Thanks again for reading.
Friday 10 October 2014
TNA Impact Review- 8th October
Welcome to another Impact review, and with the culmination of the Tag Title series the main selling point for this Impact- which would undoubtedly be an amazing match, but would the rest of the episode stack up?
MVP, Bobby Roode, Kenny King Promo
This was a bit "meh" in my opinion. I think TNA should cut promo time down to the absolute bare minimum, similar to what they did with Joe when he faced Lashley about a month ago, and give more time to the in ring product. The men involved are good at promos don't get me wrong, but this seems a bit too forced for my liking- although the teasing of some tension between Lashley, King and MVP in a backstage vignette a bit later made me appreciate this segment more as its become pretty clear they're building to a Lashley-MVP feud and this segment sans Lashley helped to eventually build to it.
Madison Rayne v Angelina Love v Taryn Terrell- #1 Contender Match
The crowd didn't do this match any favours. I understand with the amount of wrestling they've condensed into a three day period the crowd won't be hot for every match, but the crowd was completely dead for the majority of this show- and in a match where there isn't a sublime in-ring performer you need the crowd to get into it to distract you (to an extent) from a relatively clunky match. Havok destroying Taryn appears to be setting something up *wink wink*, and Madison and Velvet are perfectly fine opposition until they renew the Gail feud, or add someone else into it *wink*.
Low Ki and Tigre Uno v James Storm and "The Great" Sanada
This was a great match, but once again the crowd affected it. The in-ring product was great, and there was lots of flips and dips- and the match was wrestled at a very fast pace- and it put over "The Great" Sanada and Storm very strongly, but when the crowd is flat its hard to get into the match when you're watching at home. Overall it was a great match, but its like watching something on mute- you can't really get fully into it.
Samuel Shaw v Bram
This match was very good for the time allotted to them. Considering they were given roughly 7 minutes to have a "hardcore" match I thought these two did very well to work as much in as they did, and get both men to look good. I thought the spots they worked in were good, and the Sunset-Flip Powerbomb onto the steel chairs looked brutal, and the finish managed to keep Brams momentum, while not making Shaw look weak. You can kind of tell where they're going with the Brittany angle, but the execution of the Brittany leading Shaw astray angle will determine whether or not its a good idea.
Bobby Roode v Kenny King and MVP
MVP still looks a step off the pace in my opinion, and I think the addition of King in the match was for the best on multiple levels. The DQ finish was interesting, as it once again can lead to tension in the future between MVP, King and Lashley with regard to costing them the match, although MVP taking the pinfall wasn't what I expected as King has been the third wheel for the majority of the run these three have put together.
EC3, Rockstar Spud Promo
If you look at what we had on RAW with those two women, a Gator vs a Bull among other things- then you look at EC3 who was released by WWE, and what he's doing now speaks very highly for "Michael Hutter" and paints WWE in a very bad light. The promos were perfectly serviceable and the build for this eventual match has been very good thus far and if they can keep this momentum up, Spud could be one of the better babyfaces TNA has had in recent memory, and the reaction from the crowd when Spud got fired up proved this.
The Hardys v The Wolves v Team 3D- Full Metal Mayhem
The Wolves are made. Whoever does eventually take the Tag Belts off of The Wolves will get an unbelievable rub from beating them after this Tag Title Series.
Before I get onto the positives of which there were in abundance, you have to ask the question; Was giving every one of the Tag Series match on free TV "Best for Business"? Considering TNA always gets the same 1 (or just over/under)-1.5 (roughly) and they never seem to get above that, was it really worth giving 4 PPV quality matches away for free? I'm reminded of WCW when Goldberg won his first World Championship against Hogan on an episode of Nitro.
Now onto the positives, Wow! It amazed me The Hardys and Team 3D especially can "still" do what they do, to the level they do- and put their bodies on the line in the way they did in this match, and prior. There are too many notable spots to really go over all of them, so I'll just talk about my personal favourite ones. The spot where Hardy was pushed off the ladder onto Bully Ray looked sick, in every sense of the word- although these kind of spots are telegraphed by the way in which everything has to be set up beforehand, but it doesn't take away from the spot when it actually happens. This is most notable in the spot where Devon was pushed into the two tables, as you heard him tell the cameraman to get out of the way- which made you instantly go "Yep, He's going onto the outside".
The Wolves winning was the best outcome, in that The Wolves are the future of TNAs Tag Division- and this has truly made them no matter what they go on to do, and you have to believe that when The Wolves go on to lose the tag belts every team that subsequently wins the belts will look back at this match and you can look at it as "Well Team A, beat Team B who beat The Wolves, who beat Two of the best teams ever" and this has made the Tag Division in TNA made for the foreseeable future.
Thanks again for reading, Feedback is appreciated. I hope you're all still enjoying these reviews- and if you're not please tell me so I can move on to other types of blogs like the "Wrestlemania 31- 6 Months in Advance" blog I did last Sunday. Thanks again for reading.
MVP, Bobby Roode, Kenny King Promo
This was a bit "meh" in my opinion. I think TNA should cut promo time down to the absolute bare minimum, similar to what they did with Joe when he faced Lashley about a month ago, and give more time to the in ring product. The men involved are good at promos don't get me wrong, but this seems a bit too forced for my liking- although the teasing of some tension between Lashley, King and MVP in a backstage vignette a bit later made me appreciate this segment more as its become pretty clear they're building to a Lashley-MVP feud and this segment sans Lashley helped to eventually build to it.
Madison Rayne v Angelina Love v Taryn Terrell- #1 Contender Match
The crowd didn't do this match any favours. I understand with the amount of wrestling they've condensed into a three day period the crowd won't be hot for every match, but the crowd was completely dead for the majority of this show- and in a match where there isn't a sublime in-ring performer you need the crowd to get into it to distract you (to an extent) from a relatively clunky match. Havok destroying Taryn appears to be setting something up *wink wink*, and Madison and Velvet are perfectly fine opposition until they renew the Gail feud, or add someone else into it *wink*.
Low Ki and Tigre Uno v James Storm and "The Great" Sanada
This was a great match, but once again the crowd affected it. The in-ring product was great, and there was lots of flips and dips- and the match was wrestled at a very fast pace- and it put over "The Great" Sanada and Storm very strongly, but when the crowd is flat its hard to get into the match when you're watching at home. Overall it was a great match, but its like watching something on mute- you can't really get fully into it.
Samuel Shaw v Bram
This match was very good for the time allotted to them. Considering they were given roughly 7 minutes to have a "hardcore" match I thought these two did very well to work as much in as they did, and get both men to look good. I thought the spots they worked in were good, and the Sunset-Flip Powerbomb onto the steel chairs looked brutal, and the finish managed to keep Brams momentum, while not making Shaw look weak. You can kind of tell where they're going with the Brittany angle, but the execution of the Brittany leading Shaw astray angle will determine whether or not its a good idea.
Bobby Roode v Kenny King and MVP
MVP still looks a step off the pace in my opinion, and I think the addition of King in the match was for the best on multiple levels. The DQ finish was interesting, as it once again can lead to tension in the future between MVP, King and Lashley with regard to costing them the match, although MVP taking the pinfall wasn't what I expected as King has been the third wheel for the majority of the run these three have put together.
EC3, Rockstar Spud Promo
If you look at what we had on RAW with those two women, a Gator vs a Bull among other things- then you look at EC3 who was released by WWE, and what he's doing now speaks very highly for "Michael Hutter" and paints WWE in a very bad light. The promos were perfectly serviceable and the build for this eventual match has been very good thus far and if they can keep this momentum up, Spud could be one of the better babyfaces TNA has had in recent memory, and the reaction from the crowd when Spud got fired up proved this.
The Hardys v The Wolves v Team 3D- Full Metal Mayhem
The Wolves are made. Whoever does eventually take the Tag Belts off of The Wolves will get an unbelievable rub from beating them after this Tag Title Series.
Before I get onto the positives of which there were in abundance, you have to ask the question; Was giving every one of the Tag Series match on free TV "Best for Business"? Considering TNA always gets the same 1 (or just over/under)-1.5 (roughly) and they never seem to get above that, was it really worth giving 4 PPV quality matches away for free? I'm reminded of WCW when Goldberg won his first World Championship against Hogan on an episode of Nitro.
Now onto the positives, Wow! It amazed me The Hardys and Team 3D especially can "still" do what they do, to the level they do- and put their bodies on the line in the way they did in this match, and prior. There are too many notable spots to really go over all of them, so I'll just talk about my personal favourite ones. The spot where Hardy was pushed off the ladder onto Bully Ray looked sick, in every sense of the word- although these kind of spots are telegraphed by the way in which everything has to be set up beforehand, but it doesn't take away from the spot when it actually happens. This is most notable in the spot where Devon was pushed into the two tables, as you heard him tell the cameraman to get out of the way- which made you instantly go "Yep, He's going onto the outside".
The Wolves winning was the best outcome, in that The Wolves are the future of TNAs Tag Division- and this has truly made them no matter what they go on to do, and you have to believe that when The Wolves go on to lose the tag belts every team that subsequently wins the belts will look back at this match and you can look at it as "Well Team A, beat Team B who beat The Wolves, who beat Two of the best teams ever" and this has made the Tag Division in TNA made for the foreseeable future.
Thanks again for reading, Feedback is appreciated. I hope you're all still enjoying these reviews- and if you're not please tell me so I can move on to other types of blogs like the "Wrestlemania 31- 6 Months in Advance" blog I did last Sunday. Thanks again for reading.
Tuesday 7 October 2014
RAW Review- 6th October
Hello, Welcome to another RAW review- we had a much hyped Roman Reigns interview, and you had to believe with it being 6 months after Wrestlemania they'd do something special- but did they?
Seth Rollins, Ambrose, Cena, The Authority Segment
I liked Ambrose appearing from thin air seemingly as it adds a mystique to his character- although they couldn't of made it any more obvious it was going to happen. I don't like Cena's involvement in this storyline but if they're insistent on having him I'd like it if they kept him on his "crusade" type of gimmick, as we've never really seen Cena properly chase someone in a long time. It seems The Authority are Copy and Pasted into every opening segment- and the role they're taking up now could just as easily be done with a normal GM, and I hope they heat Triple H and Stephanie up again soon- because as I discussed in my Wrestlemania 31- 6 Months in advance blog I think Wrestlemania 31 will be the culmination of The Authority angle.
Cesaro, Gold and Stardust v The Usos and Dolph Ziggler
I was surprised by the outcome given Dolphs recent misplacement of the IC Title belt, and in my opinion we could see a new Intercontinental Champion tonight when Dolph faces Bo Dallas. The match was good- but not great, and the 6 man matches increasingly feel like "just" a way to get 6 people on RAW, and its taking away from the people involved to consistently book them in these matches. The tying in of two storylines in one segment is alright when done right- and if there isn't space on the card, but when we had what followed we should of had these two storylines in separate segments.
Adam Rose with Kathie Lee and Hoda
"CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk"
Bray Wyatt- Luke Harper vignette
Whoever shot these vignettes deserve a raise, the cinematography and the different scenes in the vignette edited together made it look like a proper movie trailer- and this is probably the best way to keep The Wyatts on TV without overexposing them until a good story opens up for them.
Bo Dallas v Mark Henry
Bo losing his win streak to R-Truth looks even more stupid in retrospect, I like Bo winning when he's the underdog, as that is legitimate grounds for his "bolieve" gimmick, and as discussed in one of my previous blogs I'd have him feud with everyone Rusev beats until a person turns around as says "Why don't you do it" and then beat Rusevs streak, although given what happened later- that might not materialise.
Ambrose and Cena segment
Ambrose once again proved why he should be in the Main Event, Cenas promo wasn't even as cheesy as usual- although this segment did stink of a last minute rewrite, after previously billing a 3-on-2 match. Ambrose "going for a hotdog" was funny, although they should of taped him going around NYC in a few comedy skits in my opinion.
Triple H trolling Cena made me laugh.
Brie Bella v Summer Rae
This was too short to be offensive, but literally handicapping an average at best wrestler isn't exactly the smartest thing WWE has ever done- and it pretty much buried Summer who given she's the number 1 heel on Total Divas I thought would be doing a bit more in the way of storyline.
Miz and Mizdow giving Kane a fruit basket was funny, and Mizdow even miming what Miz is saying now was really, really funny- and it speaks for Sandow that he's managed to make the gimmick work.
Jack Swagger v Tyson Kidd
Kidd deserves better, I like the fact they've seen his NXT "Natties Husband" gimmick and brought it onto the main stage, but unless they put a microphone in Kidds hand the gimmick won't get over- and him losing already isn't exactly a way to build him up.
Roman Reigns Update
They were hyping this since last week, and it lasted approximately 20 seconds- So lets just make "Via Satellite" jokes.
El Torito v Hornswoggle
Ugh.
The Rock return/ Rusev, Lana Promo
Wow. There was that story about him being in the city on the Dirtsheets earlier on in the day, but from the articles I've read since it sounds like his "business meetings" were legitimate meetings and this kind of fell into place. I think we've vastly underestimated the way in which WWE value Rusev as a commodity, and this showed they clearly have big things in store for Rusev- which I don't think anybody really saw.
The Rock has just an insane level of charisma, and a connection with fans very few people have managed to create in Wrestling- and if you consider the amount of time he's not been a Full-Time wrestler, you have to criticise WWE for not building new stars to have that level of connection with the crowd. I liked Rock getting the better of Rusev, but I can't see a match happening between the two anytime in the near future- but hopefully WWE keep surprising us and keep some of their forward momentum.
Paige and Alicia Fox v A.J. and Emma
The crowd was a bit flat- understandably about this segment, but the story told was a good one, although A.J. walking out on Emma isn't exactly a "babyface" thing to do so I'm intrigued to see where they're building this to.
Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan vignette
The stories about Harper getting a singles push were seemingly false, I don't know what this is building to but I'm very intrigued and in my opinion this is building to Harper and Rowan stepping out into the world on their own two feet hence the Pregnant Belly we saw at the end. I don't know if Bray will move on- or as reported earlier today will "recruit" The Ascension as his new family, but either way this should be good TV if booked right.
The Miz v Sheamus
Mizdow being the most over act in this match said a lot. These kind of matches are when the crowd is really interactive, and the match benefits from it. The crowd popping everytime Mizdow did Dirty Heel stuff made me laugh, although the commentators really, really annoyed me in this match. How does ducking a finisher, and winning with a roll up cleanly constitute stealing a victory?
I had my say on the Susan G. Komen situation on Twitter last night, if you want my thoughts go on my Twitter- but its not worth the rant.
John Cena v Randy Orton, Kane and Seth Rollins
We've gone from Beer Trucks, to Milk Trucks, to... a Hotdog Cart. Ambrose surprisingly has great comedic timing and if the situation were to arrive I could see him doing vignettes similar to the Austin ones when he had his injury. We all knew the match would deteriorate pretty quickly, although I did like Rollins playing the slimy heel and coming into the match when Cena was down. The Ambrose run-in was funny, although I thought he'd of done more stuff with the actual cart, and the set-up for the Cena-Ambrose match was played really well- and the Ambrose attack with the Futureshock made you want to see what was going to happen next.
Overall if you cut out some of the crap, and made it a 2 Hour Edition- it would be one of the better RAWs of the year. However they didn't so you can only describe it as passable- with Rock and Ambrose saving it from being completely woeful.
Thanks for reading, feedback is appreciated on all of my blogs. Thanks again.
Seth Rollins, Ambrose, Cena, The Authority Segment
I liked Ambrose appearing from thin air seemingly as it adds a mystique to his character- although they couldn't of made it any more obvious it was going to happen. I don't like Cena's involvement in this storyline but if they're insistent on having him I'd like it if they kept him on his "crusade" type of gimmick, as we've never really seen Cena properly chase someone in a long time. It seems The Authority are Copy and Pasted into every opening segment- and the role they're taking up now could just as easily be done with a normal GM, and I hope they heat Triple H and Stephanie up again soon- because as I discussed in my Wrestlemania 31- 6 Months in advance blog I think Wrestlemania 31 will be the culmination of The Authority angle.
Cesaro, Gold and Stardust v The Usos and Dolph Ziggler
I was surprised by the outcome given Dolphs recent misplacement of the IC Title belt, and in my opinion we could see a new Intercontinental Champion tonight when Dolph faces Bo Dallas. The match was good- but not great, and the 6 man matches increasingly feel like "just" a way to get 6 people on RAW, and its taking away from the people involved to consistently book them in these matches. The tying in of two storylines in one segment is alright when done right- and if there isn't space on the card, but when we had what followed we should of had these two storylines in separate segments.
Adam Rose with Kathie Lee and Hoda
"CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk"
Bray Wyatt- Luke Harper vignette
Whoever shot these vignettes deserve a raise, the cinematography and the different scenes in the vignette edited together made it look like a proper movie trailer- and this is probably the best way to keep The Wyatts on TV without overexposing them until a good story opens up for them.
Bo Dallas v Mark Henry
Bo losing his win streak to R-Truth looks even more stupid in retrospect, I like Bo winning when he's the underdog, as that is legitimate grounds for his "bolieve" gimmick, and as discussed in one of my previous blogs I'd have him feud with everyone Rusev beats until a person turns around as says "Why don't you do it" and then beat Rusevs streak, although given what happened later- that might not materialise.
Ambrose and Cena segment
Ambrose once again proved why he should be in the Main Event, Cenas promo wasn't even as cheesy as usual- although this segment did stink of a last minute rewrite, after previously billing a 3-on-2 match. Ambrose "going for a hotdog" was funny, although they should of taped him going around NYC in a few comedy skits in my opinion.
Triple H trolling Cena made me laugh.
Brie Bella v Summer Rae
This was too short to be offensive, but literally handicapping an average at best wrestler isn't exactly the smartest thing WWE has ever done- and it pretty much buried Summer who given she's the number 1 heel on Total Divas I thought would be doing a bit more in the way of storyline.
Miz and Mizdow giving Kane a fruit basket was funny, and Mizdow even miming what Miz is saying now was really, really funny- and it speaks for Sandow that he's managed to make the gimmick work.
Jack Swagger v Tyson Kidd
Kidd deserves better, I like the fact they've seen his NXT "Natties Husband" gimmick and brought it onto the main stage, but unless they put a microphone in Kidds hand the gimmick won't get over- and him losing already isn't exactly a way to build him up.
Roman Reigns Update
They were hyping this since last week, and it lasted approximately 20 seconds- So lets just make "Via Satellite" jokes.
El Torito v Hornswoggle
Ugh.
The Rock return/ Rusev, Lana Promo
Wow. There was that story about him being in the city on the Dirtsheets earlier on in the day, but from the articles I've read since it sounds like his "business meetings" were legitimate meetings and this kind of fell into place. I think we've vastly underestimated the way in which WWE value Rusev as a commodity, and this showed they clearly have big things in store for Rusev- which I don't think anybody really saw.
The Rock has just an insane level of charisma, and a connection with fans very few people have managed to create in Wrestling- and if you consider the amount of time he's not been a Full-Time wrestler, you have to criticise WWE for not building new stars to have that level of connection with the crowd. I liked Rock getting the better of Rusev, but I can't see a match happening between the two anytime in the near future- but hopefully WWE keep surprising us and keep some of their forward momentum.
Paige and Alicia Fox v A.J. and Emma
The crowd was a bit flat- understandably about this segment, but the story told was a good one, although A.J. walking out on Emma isn't exactly a "babyface" thing to do so I'm intrigued to see where they're building this to.
Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan vignette
The stories about Harper getting a singles push were seemingly false, I don't know what this is building to but I'm very intrigued and in my opinion this is building to Harper and Rowan stepping out into the world on their own two feet hence the Pregnant Belly we saw at the end. I don't know if Bray will move on- or as reported earlier today will "recruit" The Ascension as his new family, but either way this should be good TV if booked right.
The Miz v Sheamus
Mizdow being the most over act in this match said a lot. These kind of matches are when the crowd is really interactive, and the match benefits from it. The crowd popping everytime Mizdow did Dirty Heel stuff made me laugh, although the commentators really, really annoyed me in this match. How does ducking a finisher, and winning with a roll up cleanly constitute stealing a victory?
I had my say on the Susan G. Komen situation on Twitter last night, if you want my thoughts go on my Twitter- but its not worth the rant.
John Cena v Randy Orton, Kane and Seth Rollins
We've gone from Beer Trucks, to Milk Trucks, to... a Hotdog Cart. Ambrose surprisingly has great comedic timing and if the situation were to arrive I could see him doing vignettes similar to the Austin ones when he had his injury. We all knew the match would deteriorate pretty quickly, although I did like Rollins playing the slimy heel and coming into the match when Cena was down. The Ambrose run-in was funny, although I thought he'd of done more stuff with the actual cart, and the set-up for the Cena-Ambrose match was played really well- and the Ambrose attack with the Futureshock made you want to see what was going to happen next.
Overall if you cut out some of the crap, and made it a 2 Hour Edition- it would be one of the better RAWs of the year. However they didn't so you can only describe it as passable- with Rock and Ambrose saving it from being completely woeful.
Thanks for reading, feedback is appreciated on all of my blogs. Thanks again.
Sunday 5 October 2014
Wrestlemania 31- 6 Months in Advance
Welcome to a different type of blog, where I outline the card I would book 6 Months in advance of the show of the immortals.
Yes, I know it was 6 months last Sunday but I was in hospital last Sunday so gimme a break. I'm going to do it realistically(ish), and I'm going to limit the number of returns and I think this is a card that could very much happen- I'm working on the basis of the card last year in terms of numbers of matches, with one added on- as we won't have four 20 minute matches this year with Bryan not wrestling twice. I would appreciate your thoughts as this is firmly based on opinion.
Pre-Show: The Ascension v The Lucha Dragons v Hideo Itami and Finn Balor
I've had a long standing desire for there to be an NXT match on the Pre-Show of every PPV, and this could be the start of something great. I saw that they've teamed Devitt with Kenta on NXT in the last set of tapings- and that is personally how I'd bring them up to the Main Roster as it'll shield them enough to develop on the main stage and hopefully showcase some personality, much in the way Daniel Bryan did with Team Hell No- and it'll eventually set both men up for greatness.
Winner: Hideo Itami and Finn Balor
Sami Zayn v Cesaro
I expect Zayn to be called up before Wrestlemania- possibly in the Rumble, and once again like Daniel Bryan he needs to find his way to get over, and that will most likely be by putting on great matches. We all know what these two can do in the ring, and I would hope by this stage HHH has enough control that he can book at least half the card for this years Mania- and (unless theres a drastic change) we won't have Daniel Bryan in two matches this year, that means there'll be 5 minutes added to two other matches, with this match hopefully taking roughly 15 minutes.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
I think the plan was to have this to be an annual event, as such I've included it on my card- I'm not going to list everyone in the Battle Royal- as 25 of the 30 will be interchangeable, with the notable ones being Kofi, Rusev, Sheamus, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper.
Unfortunately I can't see much for Bray's character at the moment, and crucially it doesn't like WWE does either- as such I think he'll be relegated to the Battle Royal. However, I think there will be some character development with Harper and Bray. If the recent promo was anything to go by I can see Harper getting a push as a monster and eventually becoming out of control, even for Bray- and this is where I see it resolving with Harper turning on Bray.
Winner: Luke Harper
Chris Jericho v Seth Rollins
This is the first of four matches I can see happening at this Wrestlemania where The Authority will be involved, as this is where I see the culmination of The Authority Angle. This is the one which'll probably have the least amount of attention out of the four, however I still foresee this match being given 10+ minutes- as such it could potentially steal the show
Winner: Seth Rollins
Stephanie McMahon v Brie Bella
This will be ugly. The match quality won't be that good, however it'll be the blowoff for the Bella angle- so in my opinion the ends will justify the means. Stephanie could obviously interchange with Nikki, however I think Brie will beat Nikki in one of the prior PPVs and once again set her sights on Stephanie, and chase her for what'll feel like forever for us viewers- and finally get her revenge on the grandest stage of them all. This'd also fulfill the Total Divas quota for this Wrestlemania without overloading it, and also giving the Women "wrasslers" a separate spotlight.
Winner: Brie Bella
Dean Ambrose v Randy Orton
With this match and the Jericho-Rollins match the competitors are interchangeable, however given the pairings we're having now I think this'll be the most likely scenario. This match will be given slightly more attention than the Jericho match, just because in my opinion the WWE hold Randy in a higher esteem than Jericho- however this'll be another throwaway match in the grand scheme of things and will likely be on the short side.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Roman Reigns v Triple H
This'll be where the internet will go into meltdown. I don't think Reigns will be ready for Lesnar, so I think we'll see Reigns continue his feud with The Authority for the foreseeable future, with him going through Orton already, I can see him having matches with Rollins and Kane once he comes back from injury and eventually building to the match they teased when HHH and Reigns faced-off on that RAW many moons ago.
Winner: Roman Reigns
AJ v Charlotte v Paige- Divas Championship
Once again, I see Charlotte coming up very soon- and I would hope they begin to gulf the "Women" and the "Divas". This would be the culmination of A.J's reign as the top Diva in my opinion, and I can see her passing the metaphorical torch to either of these women. However I can see Charlotte getting an extreme push once she moves to the main roster, especially with Ric Flair potentially managing her on the main roster until Charlotte turns on her Dad somewhere down the line.
Winner: Charlotte
John Cena v Daniel Bryan
Let me explain this one, because it'll be very complex- but if done right would be the best storyline in recent memory. Bryan coming back around Royal Rumble time will likely be a huge pop for the crowd and a very feel-good moment. However I don't want Bryan to do "against all odds" type story again. Cena winning the belt as a consequence of Bryans injury could be used as a story, and with the real life relationships of both of these men they could play up a jealousy aspect considering the size of houses, style of living etc. This'd of course mean turning Bryan heel, but he's shown he can be a very entertaining heel during his WHC run with A.J.- and the pop for him returning will be all the better once he turns at the height of his popularity.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker- WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Yes, Sting is an option- and a very viable one. However this will be the most powerful story in WWE history in my opinion. We have Heyman doing his "1 behind the 1 in 21 and 1" schtick one week, and the good old gong hits and the lights go out and we see a creepy vignette with tombstones and lightning and then at the end of the vignette we see three words that'll shape the build to Wrestlemania "Nothing to Lose".
The Streak was undeniably the greatest part of every Wrestlemania in recent history, however every match since Wrestlemania 25 was solely about The Streak- as such The Undertaker was the one with something to lose. In this match Brock Lesnar has everything to lose, and Taker won't have anything to lose now The Streak is gone. This'll be the selling point for the match- and will also provide The Undertaker the right vehicle to finally ride off into the sunset with, by vacating the following night.
Winner: The Undertaker
There are some potential competitors for this Mania that I simply couldn't fit on the card- or simply don't think they will be such as Sting and CM Punk.
Thanks for reading this blog, its a different type of blog so I'd appreciate feedback- and when we get to the end of March it'll be interesting to see how catastrophically wrong I was. Thanks again.
Yes, I know it was 6 months last Sunday but I was in hospital last Sunday so gimme a break. I'm going to do it realistically(ish), and I'm going to limit the number of returns and I think this is a card that could very much happen- I'm working on the basis of the card last year in terms of numbers of matches, with one added on- as we won't have four 20 minute matches this year with Bryan not wrestling twice. I would appreciate your thoughts as this is firmly based on opinion.
Pre-Show: The Ascension v The Lucha Dragons v Hideo Itami and Finn Balor
I've had a long standing desire for there to be an NXT match on the Pre-Show of every PPV, and this could be the start of something great. I saw that they've teamed Devitt with Kenta on NXT in the last set of tapings- and that is personally how I'd bring them up to the Main Roster as it'll shield them enough to develop on the main stage and hopefully showcase some personality, much in the way Daniel Bryan did with Team Hell No- and it'll eventually set both men up for greatness.
Winner: Hideo Itami and Finn Balor
Sami Zayn v Cesaro
I expect Zayn to be called up before Wrestlemania- possibly in the Rumble, and once again like Daniel Bryan he needs to find his way to get over, and that will most likely be by putting on great matches. We all know what these two can do in the ring, and I would hope by this stage HHH has enough control that he can book at least half the card for this years Mania- and (unless theres a drastic change) we won't have Daniel Bryan in two matches this year, that means there'll be 5 minutes added to two other matches, with this match hopefully taking roughly 15 minutes.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
I think the plan was to have this to be an annual event, as such I've included it on my card- I'm not going to list everyone in the Battle Royal- as 25 of the 30 will be interchangeable, with the notable ones being Kofi, Rusev, Sheamus, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper.
Unfortunately I can't see much for Bray's character at the moment, and crucially it doesn't like WWE does either- as such I think he'll be relegated to the Battle Royal. However, I think there will be some character development with Harper and Bray. If the recent promo was anything to go by I can see Harper getting a push as a monster and eventually becoming out of control, even for Bray- and this is where I see it resolving with Harper turning on Bray.
Winner: Luke Harper
Chris Jericho v Seth Rollins
This is the first of four matches I can see happening at this Wrestlemania where The Authority will be involved, as this is where I see the culmination of The Authority Angle. This is the one which'll probably have the least amount of attention out of the four, however I still foresee this match being given 10+ minutes- as such it could potentially steal the show
Winner: Seth Rollins
Stephanie McMahon v Brie Bella
This will be ugly. The match quality won't be that good, however it'll be the blowoff for the Bella angle- so in my opinion the ends will justify the means. Stephanie could obviously interchange with Nikki, however I think Brie will beat Nikki in one of the prior PPVs and once again set her sights on Stephanie, and chase her for what'll feel like forever for us viewers- and finally get her revenge on the grandest stage of them all. This'd also fulfill the Total Divas quota for this Wrestlemania without overloading it, and also giving the Women "wrasslers" a separate spotlight.
Winner: Brie Bella
Dean Ambrose v Randy Orton
With this match and the Jericho-Rollins match the competitors are interchangeable, however given the pairings we're having now I think this'll be the most likely scenario. This match will be given slightly more attention than the Jericho match, just because in my opinion the WWE hold Randy in a higher esteem than Jericho- however this'll be another throwaway match in the grand scheme of things and will likely be on the short side.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Roman Reigns v Triple H
This'll be where the internet will go into meltdown. I don't think Reigns will be ready for Lesnar, so I think we'll see Reigns continue his feud with The Authority for the foreseeable future, with him going through Orton already, I can see him having matches with Rollins and Kane once he comes back from injury and eventually building to the match they teased when HHH and Reigns faced-off on that RAW many moons ago.
Winner: Roman Reigns
AJ v Charlotte v Paige- Divas Championship
Once again, I see Charlotte coming up very soon- and I would hope they begin to gulf the "Women" and the "Divas". This would be the culmination of A.J's reign as the top Diva in my opinion, and I can see her passing the metaphorical torch to either of these women. However I can see Charlotte getting an extreme push once she moves to the main roster, especially with Ric Flair potentially managing her on the main roster until Charlotte turns on her Dad somewhere down the line.
Winner: Charlotte
John Cena v Daniel Bryan
Let me explain this one, because it'll be very complex- but if done right would be the best storyline in recent memory. Bryan coming back around Royal Rumble time will likely be a huge pop for the crowd and a very feel-good moment. However I don't want Bryan to do "against all odds" type story again. Cena winning the belt as a consequence of Bryans injury could be used as a story, and with the real life relationships of both of these men they could play up a jealousy aspect considering the size of houses, style of living etc. This'd of course mean turning Bryan heel, but he's shown he can be a very entertaining heel during his WHC run with A.J.- and the pop for him returning will be all the better once he turns at the height of his popularity.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker- WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Yes, Sting is an option- and a very viable one. However this will be the most powerful story in WWE history in my opinion. We have Heyman doing his "1 behind the 1 in 21 and 1" schtick one week, and the good old gong hits and the lights go out and we see a creepy vignette with tombstones and lightning and then at the end of the vignette we see three words that'll shape the build to Wrestlemania "Nothing to Lose".
The Streak was undeniably the greatest part of every Wrestlemania in recent history, however every match since Wrestlemania 25 was solely about The Streak- as such The Undertaker was the one with something to lose. In this match Brock Lesnar has everything to lose, and Taker won't have anything to lose now The Streak is gone. This'll be the selling point for the match- and will also provide The Undertaker the right vehicle to finally ride off into the sunset with, by vacating the following night.
Winner: The Undertaker
There are some potential competitors for this Mania that I simply couldn't fit on the card- or simply don't think they will be such as Sting and CM Punk.
Thanks for reading this blog, its a different type of blog so I'd appreciate feedback- and when we get to the end of March it'll be interesting to see how catastrophically wrong I was. Thanks again.
Thursday 2 October 2014
TNA Impact Review- 1st October
Welcome to my Impact review for the October 1st edition- 2 in 2 Days I know right?!
Austin Aries v Samoa Joe
The promos before were perfectly serviceable, although the seeming lack of thought on Aries' part didn't fit his character in my opinion- although that could obviously lead to something in the near future if the plan is to have a prolonged Joe-Aries feud. The match was very good- which is what you expect when these two face off to be frank, and as stated previously I would hope they move on with this feud and give it some legs with Aries turning heel.
EC3, Spud segment
I'm with Spud. I've liked Spud since before he was with TNA- and I always liked him as a heel, however on the national stage he screams babyface to me now. He reminds be a bit of Mikey Whipwreck in that he can bump in such a way where you wince, and this makes him an ideal sympathetic babyface in my opinion.
EC3 v Eric Young
The match was good, and it seems as though EY is back in the position he was in before his (in retrospect) out of place title run. The finish was probably the best way they could of booked it with EC3 winning, although I'd of had Spud inadvertently cost EC3 the match if they are (as it seems) going with an EC3-Spud feud.
Mr. Anderson, Chris Melendez Segment
I don't like they're having Anderson "protect" Melendez from the big, bad world of wrestling unless they're building to Melendez turning on Anderson as I've said should happen in a previous Impact review. "I'M A WAR HERO DAMMIT".
Jessicka Havok sneak attack on Gail Kim
With the outcome of the match later in the night, the beatdown kind of made sense- however if the wanted Havok to look like a complete destroyer she should of gone over clean.
The Wolves, The Hardys, Team 3D- The Wolves deciding the final stipulation
What a surprise? Whoever didn't see the outcome of this segment at least two months ago need a psychiatric examination, however I'm not complaining because the match will undoubtedly be sublime. However I just want something more to happen. I understand why they're playing up "mutual respect" etc. but won't one of the teams attack the other to get the upper hand? Please? We've had a few of these "building" segments with these three teams that could easily be Copy and Pasted with the sound being dubbed over the stipulation announcement, and a few verbal insults on the part of The Wolves isn't enough to build a match of the calibre they were setting up.
Shark Boy v Manik
I really like Manik's new attire, I'm sure its intentional as from what I can tell TJ Perkins is a video game fan, but it looks like something you'd see in Final Fantasy or another game of that ilk. The match was what it was, Manik played up Storm much better than "The Great" Sanada has in my opinion in the way he was staring at Storm constantly.
Mr. Anderson v MVP
MVP looks a bit out of shape, but perhaps considering his recent injury thats understandable- and the match suffered from this in my opinion, as neither of these two looked like they were at the top of their games. Melendez and King at ringside was fine, although if I ran my own wrestling company I would never have a Heel and Babyface "manager" at ringside together because they should want to kill each other right? The finish was perfectly serviceable, however once again unless its leading to Melendez turning on Anderson (not vice versa) I'm not really interested.
Bobby Roode, Lashley segment
The segment was fine, although with the way Lashley has been booked as Champion thus far the "tactical retreat" didn't really work for me,
*SPOILER ALERT*
With Roode winning the strap in a few weeks, I'd of thought they'd of been more creative with the build to it, rather than just having "One More Match", considering both King and MVP can work in the ring I'd of had him in a gauntlet/handicap match which if he'd won he'd of gotten Lashley. Although with the "tactical retreat" it could still happen. Reminder, I haven't read the Week by week spoilers for these episodes so I genuinely don't know.
*ITS SAFE TO COME BACK*
Gail Kim v Havok
Havok needs more flattering attire, just because her "package" looked like slipping out at any moment, chiefly in the Figure Four around the Ringpost where it definitely looked like something came out.
The match itself was very good, and once again proved why "Knockouts" are better than "Divas". It comes right down to the philosophy of the respective divisions, We'll never in our lifetime see a Divas match Main Event a RAW, ever again. I know we've had a few promo segments, but those can be glossed over- and padded out with outsiders who are good on the mic such as Stephanie and HHH.
The WWE would never allow two of its workers a lengthy time frame in order to deliver a match, which they could undoubtedly do- you only have to look at the NXT "PPV" matches with Emma, Paige, Charlotte and Natalya along with the match A.J. and Kaitlyn had to show they can get the job done in the ring. So it comes down to philosophy;
I think its Kevin Dunn who has the "mans world" mentality of Women being out of place in "Wrasslin", and it'll take a seismic shift in personnel at the top for the Women to be respected in WWE.
In TNA the women are treated equally to the men, and its one of the reasons TNA was initially successful because they highlighted areas which WWE neglected such as the X Division- and the women. Gail Kim is the prime example of a woman who WWE simply didn't respect. Whilst I'm sure they treated her fine, and won't say otherwise- from an in-ring standpoint Kim is as good, if not better than almost everyone who was on RAW last week- but WWE relegated her to stupid segments, and of course she left because of this in that infamous Battle Royal.
Thanks again for reading, feedback is as always appreciated.
Austin Aries v Samoa Joe
The promos before were perfectly serviceable, although the seeming lack of thought on Aries' part didn't fit his character in my opinion- although that could obviously lead to something in the near future if the plan is to have a prolonged Joe-Aries feud. The match was very good- which is what you expect when these two face off to be frank, and as stated previously I would hope they move on with this feud and give it some legs with Aries turning heel.
EC3, Spud segment
I'm with Spud. I've liked Spud since before he was with TNA- and I always liked him as a heel, however on the national stage he screams babyface to me now. He reminds be a bit of Mikey Whipwreck in that he can bump in such a way where you wince, and this makes him an ideal sympathetic babyface in my opinion.
EC3 v Eric Young
The match was good, and it seems as though EY is back in the position he was in before his (in retrospect) out of place title run. The finish was probably the best way they could of booked it with EC3 winning, although I'd of had Spud inadvertently cost EC3 the match if they are (as it seems) going with an EC3-Spud feud.
Mr. Anderson, Chris Melendez Segment
I don't like they're having Anderson "protect" Melendez from the big, bad world of wrestling unless they're building to Melendez turning on Anderson as I've said should happen in a previous Impact review. "I'M A WAR HERO DAMMIT".
Jessicka Havok sneak attack on Gail Kim
With the outcome of the match later in the night, the beatdown kind of made sense- however if the wanted Havok to look like a complete destroyer she should of gone over clean.
The Wolves, The Hardys, Team 3D- The Wolves deciding the final stipulation
What a surprise? Whoever didn't see the outcome of this segment at least two months ago need a psychiatric examination, however I'm not complaining because the match will undoubtedly be sublime. However I just want something more to happen. I understand why they're playing up "mutual respect" etc. but won't one of the teams attack the other to get the upper hand? Please? We've had a few of these "building" segments with these three teams that could easily be Copy and Pasted with the sound being dubbed over the stipulation announcement, and a few verbal insults on the part of The Wolves isn't enough to build a match of the calibre they were setting up.
Shark Boy v Manik
I really like Manik's new attire, I'm sure its intentional as from what I can tell TJ Perkins is a video game fan, but it looks like something you'd see in Final Fantasy or another game of that ilk. The match was what it was, Manik played up Storm much better than "The Great" Sanada has in my opinion in the way he was staring at Storm constantly.
Mr. Anderson v MVP
MVP looks a bit out of shape, but perhaps considering his recent injury thats understandable- and the match suffered from this in my opinion, as neither of these two looked like they were at the top of their games. Melendez and King at ringside was fine, although if I ran my own wrestling company I would never have a Heel and Babyface "manager" at ringside together because they should want to kill each other right? The finish was perfectly serviceable, however once again unless its leading to Melendez turning on Anderson (not vice versa) I'm not really interested.
Bobby Roode, Lashley segment
The segment was fine, although with the way Lashley has been booked as Champion thus far the "tactical retreat" didn't really work for me,
*SPOILER ALERT*
With Roode winning the strap in a few weeks, I'd of thought they'd of been more creative with the build to it, rather than just having "One More Match", considering both King and MVP can work in the ring I'd of had him in a gauntlet/handicap match which if he'd won he'd of gotten Lashley. Although with the "tactical retreat" it could still happen. Reminder, I haven't read the Week by week spoilers for these episodes so I genuinely don't know.
*ITS SAFE TO COME BACK*
Gail Kim v Havok
Havok needs more flattering attire, just because her "package" looked like slipping out at any moment, chiefly in the Figure Four around the Ringpost where it definitely looked like something came out.
The match itself was very good, and once again proved why "Knockouts" are better than "Divas". It comes right down to the philosophy of the respective divisions, We'll never in our lifetime see a Divas match Main Event a RAW, ever again. I know we've had a few promo segments, but those can be glossed over- and padded out with outsiders who are good on the mic such as Stephanie and HHH.
The WWE would never allow two of its workers a lengthy time frame in order to deliver a match, which they could undoubtedly do- you only have to look at the NXT "PPV" matches with Emma, Paige, Charlotte and Natalya along with the match A.J. and Kaitlyn had to show they can get the job done in the ring. So it comes down to philosophy;
I think its Kevin Dunn who has the "mans world" mentality of Women being out of place in "Wrasslin", and it'll take a seismic shift in personnel at the top for the Women to be respected in WWE.
In TNA the women are treated equally to the men, and its one of the reasons TNA was initially successful because they highlighted areas which WWE neglected such as the X Division- and the women. Gail Kim is the prime example of a woman who WWE simply didn't respect. Whilst I'm sure they treated her fine, and won't say otherwise- from an in-ring standpoint Kim is as good, if not better than almost everyone who was on RAW last week- but WWE relegated her to stupid segments, and of course she left because of this in that infamous Battle Royal.
Thanks again for reading, feedback is as always appreciated.
Wednesday 1 October 2014
RAW Review- 29th September
Whats this? A RAW Review, Oh Yeah! Yes, I'm back after roughly a week off through illness, but I'm feeling a lot better than I did a few days ago and I've managed to catch up with the latest instalment of RAW. But was it worth it?
Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Rollins, Heyman, Cena segment
I do think WWE were showing this episode on a 5-10 second tape delay because of the "CM Punk" chants, however Stephanie still addressed them in the best and most succinct way possible... He Quit.
The promos from all 4 were perfectly serviceable, and Rollins stole this segment in my opinion- and considering the other people involved was no mean feat. Rollins claiming that The Authority didn't have anything to do with Rollins' attempted cash-in is interesting as it opens up a number of options. I spoke in my RAW Review directly after Summerslam that they should book Lesnar as a mercenary who eventually goes rogue, however they could easily do this angle with Rollins, as he is a more natural babyface in my opinion due to his offensive style.
The one thing that annoyed me, and from reading the comments on summaries of this episode is; Cena or rather Vince is insistent on attaching Cena to the hottest guy in the company. It happened with Ryder, Bryan, Ryback and numerous other occasions and is primarily used to further Cenas career at the expense of said person. However I'm not blind to the fact Cena (as far as I'm aware) doesn't have the infamous creative control in his contract, so don't blame him for this, rather blame Vince and/or Kevin Dunn who's ridiculous short-term thinking could kill the company.
Cesaro v Dolph Ziggler v The Miz- IC Title Match
It makes me laugh that Noble and Mercury are getting featured prominently(ish) on RAW now as I was popping for them on Twitter before it was cool.
This match was worthy of any PPV. All three men (yes even Miz) are at the top of their games in terms of in-ring work in my opinion, and showed in this show-stealing match that they should be doing so much more than what they are doing. The Finish was interesting in the fact they had Dolph steal the win against two heels, and it could be nothing- but they could turn Dolph heel and try to scrape together the babyface momentum Cesaro was building up in the build to Wrestlemania and this could lead to a very good feud.
I missed last weeks RAW completely because of my illness, however I did see the results- and it contradicts what I said about there being no long-term plan for Dolph to win the title and keep it, and after Night of Champions I thought I had been vindicated- however they had Miz drop the title which now makes me think theres something big in the work for Dolph and the belt.
Bray Wyatt Promo
As I said I didn't watch last weeks RAW, but the results I read didn't feature the Wyatts at all (?), but they were back this week with an amazing promo. I like the idea of a Luke Harper push as a singles star, as long as Bray stays with him- I'm not overly fond of Rowan, although he does have his place given his relative size. Harper is a great worker, and can hold his own on the microphone- however as we all know Bray is on a different level, and if booked right could hold Bray over in a manager role until another good feud opens up for him, as a "treading water" feud will derail Bray's momentum a lot more than him simply reverting to a manager role for a while like he was in NXT whilst he had his shoulder problems.
Rosa Mendes v Layla
I didn't (and still haven't) watched Total Divas from Sunday, however its pretty clear they're determined to build Rosa in some way, and *shudders* she'll be in line for a Divas Title match once the current Divas feud resolves in my opinion
I like they're using Tyson Kidd's NXT gimmick, although I'd of had him do something more than be completely oblivious to what was going on- if only we were as lucky. Layla definitely seems like she's finishing up with the company, and I think we could see a mini- Laycool run with Summer before she rides off into the sunset, and this has shown because her matches are getting noticeably more clunky- although the opposition in the match hardly helped.
Dean Ambrose segment
If there was any further proof needed that Ambrose is a bonafide Main Eventer this segment was it. Ambrose managed to carry an extremely long segment primarily on his own, and made it thoroughly entertaining. The one-liners he delivered were genuinely funny, which guarantees he thought of them as opposed to the army of writers they have.
Rollins getting "slimed" was a bit too Nickelodeon for my liking, especially because Ambrose is a bit more edgy- but I'm willing to forgive it because of the events that preceded it.
Mark Henry v Bo Dallas
I get WWE isn't known for its continuity, however Swagger dominating Bo should by any kind of logic mean "The Worlds Strongest Man" would also dominate Bo, No? Instead we had Bo win- which is fine by me because I'm very entertained by Bo as a character, although you have to wonder what they were smoking before they made this booking decision
It seems once you finish a Rusev feud you move onto Bo Dallas, which in my opinion is leading to something that will either infuriate, or delight people in the "WWE Universe". I see this angle leading into the New Year where someone tells Bo to deal with Rusev if he's so confident, and Bo Dallas (yes, Bo Dallas) will end Rusev's undefeated streak. BOLIEVE.
Brie Bella v Cameron and Eva Marie
You're doing this on purpose right? There's no way that Cameron and Eva should be in the ring at all, let alone in a ring on the same team- in a handicap match against a "competent" worker like Brie Bella. It seems Brie is using Bryan to get a pop, which is annoying me because after all the interviews she's done about wanting to get over on her own two feet, she's reverted to the safety bubble of the "Yes" chant. The match was what you expected given the workers involved, at least the pinfall was with Camerons back to the mat.
This is my first blog since the report came out of Vince reportedly not wanting Total Divas winning the Divas Title, which is interesting in my opinion because of how much they've pushed it- however I don't believe it personally.
Slator Gator v Los Matadores w/ Adam Rose and The Bunny
Its like Noahs Ark.
Big Show, Rusev, Lana segment
Its Wrestling. Shawn Michaels done all manner of inexplicable things to the Canadian flag, but Big Show ripping the Russian flag from its frame (?) you would think had caused World War 3. I don't understand why WWE felt the need to apologise for this incident as, its Wrestling. Rusev's doing a Pro-Russia gimmick so why not do stuff with the Russian Flag?!
A.J. v Alicia Fox w/ Paige
I'm just going to say it was a coincidence that A.J. was beaten to a pulp in Chicago.
Sheamus v Damien Mizdow
I love Mizdow, I'm sure even he would admit when he was doing his schizophrenic gimmick it was woeful TV despite his best efforts, however he's won me over (again) since becoming Miz's stunt double, and I would like to point out I thought the pairing would work as soon as we saw it.
"The Walking Advert" Hulk Hogan segment
C'mon. I'm not going to get into the politics of Susan G. Komen and the percentage of donations which go to research, as those are well publicised if you want to find out. However you give us Hulk Hogan in another segment where the only purpose is to shill merch.
Dean Ambrose and John Cena v Randy Orton and Kane
It would appear now Reigns is out of the picture Rollins has rediscovered his ability to stand tall at the end of a show, coincidence right? I'd of ended the match with Orton pinning Cena via Rollins interference, as from what I've read we're going to get Ambrose v Cena in the coming weeks to determine who gets Rollins in the Cell, and although it'd be a much better match I can't see WWE passing on an opportunity to have Cena in the Main Event (if Lesnars reported schedule is believed)
Overall it was a pretty average RAW, however Ambrose salvaged it from being a right off, Thanks again for reading- and for your patience whilst I was getting better, I'll be back and as grumpy as ever next Monday Night and look out for a blog which I was planning to do over the Weekend with my Wrestlemania 31 Card 6 Months in advance. Thanks again for reading, feedback is appreciated.
Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Rollins, Heyman, Cena segment
I do think WWE were showing this episode on a 5-10 second tape delay because of the "CM Punk" chants, however Stephanie still addressed them in the best and most succinct way possible... He Quit.
The promos from all 4 were perfectly serviceable, and Rollins stole this segment in my opinion- and considering the other people involved was no mean feat. Rollins claiming that The Authority didn't have anything to do with Rollins' attempted cash-in is interesting as it opens up a number of options. I spoke in my RAW Review directly after Summerslam that they should book Lesnar as a mercenary who eventually goes rogue, however they could easily do this angle with Rollins, as he is a more natural babyface in my opinion due to his offensive style.
The one thing that annoyed me, and from reading the comments on summaries of this episode is; Cena or rather Vince is insistent on attaching Cena to the hottest guy in the company. It happened with Ryder, Bryan, Ryback and numerous other occasions and is primarily used to further Cenas career at the expense of said person. However I'm not blind to the fact Cena (as far as I'm aware) doesn't have the infamous creative control in his contract, so don't blame him for this, rather blame Vince and/or Kevin Dunn who's ridiculous short-term thinking could kill the company.
Cesaro v Dolph Ziggler v The Miz- IC Title Match
It makes me laugh that Noble and Mercury are getting featured prominently(ish) on RAW now as I was popping for them on Twitter before it was cool.
This match was worthy of any PPV. All three men (yes even Miz) are at the top of their games in terms of in-ring work in my opinion, and showed in this show-stealing match that they should be doing so much more than what they are doing. The Finish was interesting in the fact they had Dolph steal the win against two heels, and it could be nothing- but they could turn Dolph heel and try to scrape together the babyface momentum Cesaro was building up in the build to Wrestlemania and this could lead to a very good feud.
I missed last weeks RAW completely because of my illness, however I did see the results- and it contradicts what I said about there being no long-term plan for Dolph to win the title and keep it, and after Night of Champions I thought I had been vindicated- however they had Miz drop the title which now makes me think theres something big in the work for Dolph and the belt.
Bray Wyatt Promo
As I said I didn't watch last weeks RAW, but the results I read didn't feature the Wyatts at all (?), but they were back this week with an amazing promo. I like the idea of a Luke Harper push as a singles star, as long as Bray stays with him- I'm not overly fond of Rowan, although he does have his place given his relative size. Harper is a great worker, and can hold his own on the microphone- however as we all know Bray is on a different level, and if booked right could hold Bray over in a manager role until another good feud opens up for him, as a "treading water" feud will derail Bray's momentum a lot more than him simply reverting to a manager role for a while like he was in NXT whilst he had his shoulder problems.
Rosa Mendes v Layla
I didn't (and still haven't) watched Total Divas from Sunday, however its pretty clear they're determined to build Rosa in some way, and *shudders* she'll be in line for a Divas Title match once the current Divas feud resolves in my opinion
I like they're using Tyson Kidd's NXT gimmick, although I'd of had him do something more than be completely oblivious to what was going on- if only we were as lucky. Layla definitely seems like she's finishing up with the company, and I think we could see a mini- Laycool run with Summer before she rides off into the sunset, and this has shown because her matches are getting noticeably more clunky- although the opposition in the match hardly helped.
Dean Ambrose segment
If there was any further proof needed that Ambrose is a bonafide Main Eventer this segment was it. Ambrose managed to carry an extremely long segment primarily on his own, and made it thoroughly entertaining. The one-liners he delivered were genuinely funny, which guarantees he thought of them as opposed to the army of writers they have.
Rollins getting "slimed" was a bit too Nickelodeon for my liking, especially because Ambrose is a bit more edgy- but I'm willing to forgive it because of the events that preceded it.
Mark Henry v Bo Dallas
I get WWE isn't known for its continuity, however Swagger dominating Bo should by any kind of logic mean "The Worlds Strongest Man" would also dominate Bo, No? Instead we had Bo win- which is fine by me because I'm very entertained by Bo as a character, although you have to wonder what they were smoking before they made this booking decision
It seems once you finish a Rusev feud you move onto Bo Dallas, which in my opinion is leading to something that will either infuriate, or delight people in the "WWE Universe". I see this angle leading into the New Year where someone tells Bo to deal with Rusev if he's so confident, and Bo Dallas (yes, Bo Dallas) will end Rusev's undefeated streak. BOLIEVE.
Brie Bella v Cameron and Eva Marie
You're doing this on purpose right? There's no way that Cameron and Eva should be in the ring at all, let alone in a ring on the same team- in a handicap match against a "competent" worker like Brie Bella. It seems Brie is using Bryan to get a pop, which is annoying me because after all the interviews she's done about wanting to get over on her own two feet, she's reverted to the safety bubble of the "Yes" chant. The match was what you expected given the workers involved, at least the pinfall was with Camerons back to the mat.
This is my first blog since the report came out of Vince reportedly not wanting Total Divas winning the Divas Title, which is interesting in my opinion because of how much they've pushed it- however I don't believe it personally.
Slator Gator v Los Matadores w/ Adam Rose and The Bunny
Its like Noahs Ark.
Big Show, Rusev, Lana segment
Its Wrestling. Shawn Michaels done all manner of inexplicable things to the Canadian flag, but Big Show ripping the Russian flag from its frame (?) you would think had caused World War 3. I don't understand why WWE felt the need to apologise for this incident as, its Wrestling. Rusev's doing a Pro-Russia gimmick so why not do stuff with the Russian Flag?!
A.J. v Alicia Fox w/ Paige
I'm just going to say it was a coincidence that A.J. was beaten to a pulp in Chicago.
Sheamus v Damien Mizdow
I love Mizdow, I'm sure even he would admit when he was doing his schizophrenic gimmick it was woeful TV despite his best efforts, however he's won me over (again) since becoming Miz's stunt double, and I would like to point out I thought the pairing would work as soon as we saw it.
"The Walking Advert" Hulk Hogan segment
C'mon. I'm not going to get into the politics of Susan G. Komen and the percentage of donations which go to research, as those are well publicised if you want to find out. However you give us Hulk Hogan in another segment where the only purpose is to shill merch.
Dean Ambrose and John Cena v Randy Orton and Kane
It would appear now Reigns is out of the picture Rollins has rediscovered his ability to stand tall at the end of a show, coincidence right? I'd of ended the match with Orton pinning Cena via Rollins interference, as from what I've read we're going to get Ambrose v Cena in the coming weeks to determine who gets Rollins in the Cell, and although it'd be a much better match I can't see WWE passing on an opportunity to have Cena in the Main Event (if Lesnars reported schedule is believed)
Overall it was a pretty average RAW, however Ambrose salvaged it from being a right off, Thanks again for reading- and for your patience whilst I was getting better, I'll be back and as grumpy as ever next Monday Night and look out for a blog which I was planning to do over the Weekend with my Wrestlemania 31 Card 6 Months in advance. Thanks again for reading, feedback is appreciated.
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