In Your House

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Let's see what 2008 has done to the top 3+* match-getters.

1. Edge: 29
2. Chris Jericho: 27
3. The Undertaker: 24
4. Chris Benoit: 22
5. Matt Hardy: 21
6. Triple H: 20
7. Steve Austin: 19
8. Rey Mysterio: 18
9. Shawn Michaels: 17
9, Jeff Hardy: 17
9. Christian: 17

[cwoy2j]

Quote

Edge Vs Jeff Hardy Vs Triple H: Edge is the champ now, after stealing the belt at Survivor Series (we're in the midst of the whole 'who attacked Jeff in the hotel stairway' angle). Not a good match, with neither challenger really rising to the challenge. Man, does Triple H even get off the ground with his 'Harley Race' high knee at this point. I think Harley today could get more elevation. I loved Edge spearing Jeff through the announce table. Cracking spot. A bit of excitement in the stretch as Kozlov and Matt do a run in, and then Jeff finally wins the big one, pinning Edge with the Swanton. Felt like a big moment, with a long celebration afterwards, but I guess Jeff's personal issues always meant this wasn't the coronation it maybe should have been.

IMO, it felt like they held off too long on the Hardy coronation. I get that it was part of the journey but I think that having him come up short vs. HHH all those times diminished the final win. Also, the fact that he pinned Edge instead of HHH sort of lessened the whole thing to me. Hindsight being 20/20, I guess they made the right decision b/c of Jef''s problems but sometimes I think they wait too long to pull the trigger on things and keep stretching out storylines to diminishing returns (i.e. Goldberg chasing HHH).

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Agree with you 100%. Jeff should really have won the belt at Cyber Sunday at the latest. Hunter had really only survived Hardy in their previous match, so it would have made sense for Jeff to take the final step and knock him off at CS. I guess with regards to his issues you could say either do it properly or don't do it at all, and it kinda seems like they half-hearted it.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE No Way Out 2009.

Edge Vs Jeff Hardy Vs Triple H Vs The Undertaker Vs Vladimir Kozlov Vs The Big Show: Elimination chamber for Edge's title. I really liked Edge getting pinned by Jeff right off the bat. Came out of nowhere and felt like a holy shit moment, just because they don't usually do stuff like that. I also liked Triple H spitting his water on Big Show, who was locked in his pod, and Show not being able to do anything about it. Kozlov really dragged this down quite a bit when he was in there. Just a boring worker. Jeff looked very good, and was protected pretty well, finally falling to a tombstone. In a way, that legitimised him. It came down to Hunter and Taker, and they had what was really a truncated version of their Wrestlemania 'epics', so if you liked those, you would have probably liked this. Trips getting a foot on the ropes from a Tombstone seemed kinda bullshit, especially as the very next move in the match was him delivering a Pedigree. Literally trading finishers. A second Ped was the death blow, and Hunter is champ again. Long match, that only really felt long when Kozlov was in there. Which was quite a while.

Randy Orton Vs Shane McMahon: This is fucking terrible. Orton walking to the ring at a glacial pace. Taker could have walked out twice in the time it took Orton to get to the ring. Shane is just a horrible worker. Worst punches ever. The match is booked fairly logically, I must say, with Shane not really able to compete with Orton except with the use of plunder, or catching Orton by surprise. He basically has a punchers chance. A shit punchers chance. Cody and Dibiase do a run in, and they go all out with Shane busting out the 'coast to coast' and the elbowdrop through the announce table. But nothing can redeem this.

Jack Swagger Vs Finlay: Swagger is the ECW champ now, and looks green as hell. Very goofy and hard to take seriously also, especially with that chest-beating thing he does when he walks out. Finlay can't really get much out of him, and they don't get much time anyway. It looks like they're setting up some dissension between Finlay and Hornswoggle, which I don't remember ever paying off at all. Hornswoggle comes out and jumps onto the apron for no reason when Finlay is in control, just so Swagger can push Finlay into him, and get the win. Striker says he's really tired of Hornswoggle always being at ringside. I agree. Then again he also said, with regards to Hornswoggle, that a child has no business being out there, which is just ridiculous. Were we really supposed to think Hornswoggle was a kid?

Shawn Michaels Vs JBL: The blow-off to the JBL employs Shawn angle. That JBL is sub-Ted Dibiase is no surprise, but Shawn being sub-Virgil is really criminal. This was an okay match, but nothing more. Rebecca Whisper is at ringside, simpering a lot like Miss Elizabeth would in her pomp. She has a terrible fake tan. JBL is a ruthless heel, dominating proceedings. When he talks trash to Rebecca, Shawn fires up, runs through his comeback routine, and wins the match. Shawn's fire at the end was pretty good. 

John Cena Vs Rey Mysterio Vs Kane Vs Mike Knox Vs Chris Jericho Vs Edge (!): So, this is awesome pretty much from start to finish. First, the angle with Edge attacking Kofi Kingston and injecting himself into the match. I loved Rey coming out and acting like a) a good babyface by checking on Kofi and b) a normal person by trying to get Edge out of the pod, while the referees just stand around looking at each other and shrugging their shoulders. Rey is pretty God-like in this, going coast to coast and bumping and flying all over the shop. Jericho is very strong too. Actually everyone has a role to play and does it very well, with the possible exception of Kane who is really just there to make up the numbers it seems. I mean, he has pretty much the same role as Knox- come in and do some damage and then get pinned, but Knox being in there was actually an attempt to elevate someone. Also, Knox is awesome and really killed it in his cameo. I also like how everyone wants a piece of Edge, which is logical as here's some guy who crashed their championship match, who totally doesn't deserve to be in there. Jericho cutting Rey off from hitting the 619 on Edge twice was some good heeling. And then there's Cena. Cena really is the fall guy in all this, because he comes out the pod all guns blazing, with Edge seemingly at his mercy, but it turns out that just on account of his standing, his reputation, his dominance, that he is suddenly the target for everyone. And when Edge pins him after a Codebreaker, a 619 and a spear, the reactions of Rey, Jericho and Edge are absolutely amazing. Just utter shock. Edge has the best reaction though, because he goes from 'holy shit, I just eliminated John Cena' shock to 'HOLY SHIT, I might actually win this thing' smugness, his lips curled up in a Grinch-like smile. He entered the match as a crazed madman, lashing out in petulance at his earlier embarrassment, on nothing more than a wing and a prayer, but at that moment he transforms back into the old devious opportunist, and it's just realised so beautifully. Finally, the finishing stretch between Edge and Rey is just fantastic, because just with Rey's sheer will to win, Edge ends up back in desperation mode, and the game-changing head-first shot into the side of the pod is really well done. Just a great piece of of storytelling across the night, with the show starting with Edge losing his title, and then ending with him winning another one. Loved it.

Match of the night: Obviously, I'm gushing over the main, and that's my pick here. 4.5 stars. The opener could just about make 3 stars.

Show rating: This was my first time watching this show, and I would recommend anyone who hasn't seen it do so. I think you really have to watch the whole show for the final match to have the same impact. Well, maybe not Shane/Orton. Yeah, don't watch Shane/Orton. 3.5 stars.

[Brian Fowler]

Oh god I love that second Chamber match from that show. Nearly perfect.

[tbarrie]

On 09/01/2017 at 10:17 AM, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

WWE No Way Out 2009.

Trips getting a foot on the ropes from a Tombstone seemed kinda bullshit,

There are rope breaks in Elimination Chamber matches?

[Brian Fowler]

Yes and no. You can't get disqualified for not breaking a hold, but it still stops the count on a pin attempt. *Shrug*

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

Watched IYH 2 and the Raws around it..

I wish they'd made more of Bret, Taker, Bulldog and Luger not being lumberjacks for Diesel.

Have a faction of Bret, Bulldog and Luger as a heel trio, bitter they never got their rematches against Diesel, Shawn and Razor. Beats the alternative. Could even do the Gang Warz~! two years early, and feed off the real life drama and have the Clique against the Harts (Owen and Yoko join Bret later) and then have Taker's BSK come in too.

[cwoy2j]

Quote

Chris Jericho Vs Batista: Austin is the guest ref, as picked by the fans (over Shawn and Orton). Disappointing match, hampered by issues both small (Batista botching a slap) and big (Jericho's legwork being rather uninspired). Two of the best of 2008 just didn't really mesh. Then Austin takes a bump and silly season sets in with interference from Shawn giving the world's slowest count (funny actually, and makes sense considering his issues with Jericho), JBL (for no discernible reason) and Orton, who is fine with Jericho's blatant use of a steel chair, but in standard heel ref fashion, is surprisingly strict when it comes to actually counting Batista's shoulders down (that always makes me laugh). Austin, of course, recovers to stunner Orton and Batista gives Jericho the Batista Bomb to win the belt. I was very surprised by that, as I thought Jericho held the belt until Cena came back.

Jericho talked about this a bit in his book. Vince also thought it was too early to take the belt off of Jericho but he also didn't want a heel to win a match where the fans voted a face ref. He said it would feel like the fans got cheated. So that's why they had Batista win this match but drop it the next night.

[The Iron Yuppie]

It's interesting reading this thread at this particular point. I started to sour on WWE in 2006: the distasteful (even by WWE standards) Orton-Rey feud; Vince feuding with God; the atrocious DX 2006 stuff; and the ECW reboot. I also REALLY hated Cena in 2005/2006. 

I tuned out altogether after the Benoit murders, and would check in here and there once or twice a year from the summer of '07 until Mania 27. 

It's fascinating to see some of these PPV results and what I was missing. So many names and angles I'm completely in the dark on -- for example, Vladimir Kozlov being in a title match at Elimination Chamber?! 

On 1/16/2017 at 10:34 AM, cwoy2j said:

Jericho talked about this a bit in his book. Vince also thought it was too early to take the belt off of Jericho but he also didn't want a heel to win a match where the fans voted a face ref. He said it would feel like the fans got cheated. So that's why they had Batista win this match but drop it the next night.

Does Batista blade in this match? I heard a recent interview where he bladed in a match with Jericho, which he says was VERY shortly after the move to TV-PG. Vince was so incensed, he fined Big Dave $100,000(!). That was pretty much the beginning of the end for Batista's relationship with the company, sounds like. 

[DreamBroken]

On 1/20/2017 at 1:52 PM, The Iron Yuppie said:

Does Batista blade in this match? I heard a recent interview where he bladed in a match with Jericho, which he says was VERY shortly after the move to TV-PG. Vince was so incensed, he fined Big Dave $100,000(!). That was pretty much the beginning of the end for Batista's relationship with the company, sounds like. 

Not the Cyber Sunday match, but the Raw steel cage match the following week is the one

[sydneybrown]

Vince fined everyone who had anything to do with the match, and Batista said F that and paid their fines too.  That probably pissed him off more than his own punishment.  

[cwoy2j]

8 hours ago, sydneybrown said:

Vince fined everyone who had anything to do with the match, and Batista said F that and paid their fines too.  That probably pissed him off more than his own punishment.  

Vince's explanation for fining Malenko (the agent) was something like, "you know these guys and have been in the business forever so you should've known what they were going to do." I didn't know that being friends with someone and being in the wrestling business for 30 years granted you ESP.

[cwoy2j]

Quote

It's fascinating to see some of these PPV results and what I was missing. So many names and angles I'm completely in the dark on -- for example, Vladimir Kozlov being in a title match at Elimination Chamber?! 

Kozlov actually has a clean pin on the Undertaker as well.

[Wyld Samurai]

On 1/15/2017 at 1:28 AM, RolandTHTG said:

Could even do the Gang Warz~! two years early, and feed off the real life drama and have the Clique against the Harts (Owen and Yoko join Bret later) and then have Taker's BSK come in too.

Al Isaacs, is that you???

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Backlash 2009.

Jack Swagger Vs Christian: For the ECW title. This isn't as good as their classic bout from I believe February of '09, in which Swagger retained the belt, but the chemistry is there for all to see. It's funny how Swagger looked so green against Finlay, whereas here he looks like a legit prospect, and makes you wonder how it all went so wrong for him. Love the spot with him gorilla pressing Christian over the turnbuckle to the floor. Going over the corner always looks way more devastating than just going over the ropes it seems. Swagger didn't use power spots like that enough. Huge guy who wrestled too small, I think. Bit too much trading of spots in the stretch for me, but I did like the finish of Swagger getting caught trying to remove the turnbuckle pad, but Christian succeeding in doing so and using the exposed steel to help him pick up the win and the belt. Good stuff.

Chris Jericho Vs Ricky Steamboat: Oh man, who didn't love Steamboat's little mini-run here? You'd have to have ice water in your veins. This is a pretty basic match, but wrestling can be basic and still be awesome, and this was just that. Steamer gets to run through his greatest hits, Jericho gets to be an asshole, which he was really good at during this run, and then they went home with Steamboat tapping to the Walls, but getting a standing ovation post-match. 

CM Punk Vs Kane: Punk has just won his second Money in the Bank, so of course he's jobbing to Kane here. These two had decent chemistry too, and have a pretty solid little match here, with Punk working on Kane's arm to counter the chokeslam, but Kane eventually using both arms to hit the move and win.

Jeff Hardy Vs Matt Hardy: This was an I Quit match to blow-off their feud. I think the feud was a bit of a letdown in general (and I hated the story of Matt burning Jeff's trailer down and killing his dog - just way too over-the-top), and they ended it with a really poor match. I think of the great I Quits, the Tully/Magnums, the Bret/Austins, and the hate that those guys brought, and these two are gonna serve up a finish based around duct tape? What was with WWE's fascination with duct tape around this time anyway? So, the body of the match wasn't anything special, although it was fine, but then the finish has Jeff tie and tape Matt to a table and then climb a ladder. Matt then cuts a promo into the mic, begging for forgiveness and asking Jeff not to jump. I would think, with all the tables and ladder matches Matt has been in, that he would have a bit more of a stomach for it than this. He quits to protect himself, but of course Jeff puts him through the table anyway. I guess I'd call this a very WWE-ified finish. I liked Matt's ring jacket though.

There was a bit next with the Great Khali calling out Santina Marella (ugh) for a kiss. Santina says she can't kiss Khali because she's in love with Jim Ross and that he loves her too. You could just tell that this was a rib on JR, and that he didn't know Santina was going to say that. That was some amusement to be had from JR's reaction, who handled it like a pro (maybe apart from saying to Cole "I wonder who fed you that line" as Cole is making fun of him, but you can certainly forgive him that). Anyway, Beth Phoenix mercifully comes out and tells Santino to knock it off, challenges him to a match for the Miss Wrestlemania crown, but then gets knocked out by Khali. Santina covers for the win. Beth came off really good in this, and credit to JR for keeping his cool, but this was really trash. Oh well, not long until Santina is making pig jokes about Vickie Guerrero, at which point I'll probably look back on this angle fondly, and way I'm now fondly looking back on GW Bush's presidency.

Legacy Vs Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon: The stip is that if any member of Legacy (Orton, Cody and Dibiase, of course) pins any of the other team, then Orton wins Triple H's world title. Of course, there's some dissension teased between the faces, but it doesn't really come to anything. I liked how it started with Trips and Orton brawling around ringside, leaving just a tag match in the ring, and then Trips returning to make it a handicap match. I thought they worked the story pretty well of Shane and Batista both being responsible for Hunter's title, and, as I thought for sure this was just a way for Trips to lose the belt without getting beat, I was pleasantly surprised to see him getting punted and pinned by Randy. I owe you an apology Triple H. Finish to this was hot, and an enjoyable match overall.

Edge Vs John Cena: Last man standing match for Cena's WWE title. I started off not really liking this, as neither one of these guys is a particularly good brawler in my estimation, but the longer the match went on and the more violent it got and the more things escalated and the more they threw at each other, I started to like it more and more. Which is surprising because usually I'm a less it more kind of guy, but I liked that they weren't just spamming finishers, and were being a little more creative, and it made sense as the end of a years long rivalry (and one which I, at least, bought as being a signature rivalry for both guys) that they would both pull out all the stops and dig that little bit deeper. So you had stuff like the steel step throwing spot that Cena used with Umaga, which always looks great, and Cena AA'ing Edge from the announce table, not through the table, like I expected, but into and onto a bunch of plants in the crowd, which just looked way more violent and out of control a spot (despite the fact that Edge was basically being caught by a bunch of burly dudes). And I just thought they got over the violence and the stakes and the suffering well. So it was a shame to me at least that the match ended with Show coming out and chokeslamming Cena through a floodlight. First, it didn't look that good. I mean, it looked good on it's own, but they kind of ruined it by having a big explosion with the impact, which was just too much. Secondly, I feel like we were cheated out of having a real winner, which the match deserved. So, bad booking scuppered hard work in the end here, which was a shame.

Match of the night: Quite a tough choice for this one, but I think I'm going to go with the opener at about 3 and a half stars. I think Jericho/Steamer and the 6 man are both 3 and a quater, and Punk/Kane and Edge/Cena are both 3 stars.

Show rating: Well, with only the Hardy match not hitting the 3 star mark, you would have to say this was a successful ppv, and a very fun watch. I'd go 3.5 on this one.

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Judgment Day 2009.

CM Punk Vs Umaga: So, now Punk is wrestling in his home town, as well as being the Money in the Bank holder, so it's even more of a given that he's doing the job. This is a really good match. Great to see Umaga back. He hasn't lost anything. Punk was always at his best, to me, as a scrappy underdog against bigger men. Not quite on a par with the best Jeff/Umaga matches, but in that ball park. Umaga wins with the Samoan Spike after a Punk flurry.

Christian Vs Jack Swagger: Another strong effort from these two. Striker is getting to be unbearable on commentary with his heeling. They continue with the story from the last match, being that Christian has too much nous for the rookie Swagger, and once again Christian uses questionable means to win, grabbing a handful of tights on a roll-up. Show is two for two so far.

Shelton Benjamin Vs John Morrison: And here the run ends. Dire match. Surprised Benjamin is still with the company at this point, let alone wrestling on ppv. They shoot their load in the opening minute here, Benjamin popping off a nice exploder, and then Morrison hitting a springboard 450 to the outside (which Shelton had to sprint into position for). Then it was a mixture of shitty offence and dull control sections. Bad.

The Miz came out next, to talk trash about John Cena and the Chicago Cubs. Decent heeling from the Miz. Santino Marella came out to confront him, but got a beatdown. Then Chavo came out and frog splashed Santino as retribution for Santino making fun of Vickie. They always have to have these long in-ring segments during these shows.

Chris Jericho Vs Rey Mysterio: I remember really liking this feud at the time. The story of the match is Jericho avoiding the 619, since he made a promise that Rey wouldn't hit it. Double-edged sword as it gave the match a solid foundation, but I really am not a fan  of all the 619 set-ups. I don't like how all Rey opponents had to sunset flip him either, just so he could roll through and kick them in the face. Otherwise this was a good match, although they left some in the tank for future outings. Rey finally hits the 619, followed by a splash for the win.

Randy Orton Vs Batista: Orton defends the WWE title in a pretty terrible match. Orton really was the drizzling shits at this point, and there's no-one in the company I'm less eager to watch. Things are compounded by a dogshit finish, Orton slapping the ref to draw the DQ. I'm sure this is a well they've gone to before, and it doesn't make anyone look good. Legacy then attacked Batista, but Flair made a surprise return to make the save. This was the best part of the whole shebang.

John Cena Vs The Big Show: Cena is all banged up from going through the spotlight, and Big Show dominates the entire match, until Cena digs out an AA in the ultimate 'Cena gets beat up all match but wins with a single AA' finish. Cena's selling is mostly really good though, but I didn't find Show particularly compelling in control. Another match based around strong storytelling rather than great in-ring action.

Edge Vs Jeff Hardy: Edge is defending the World Heavyweight title against Hardy once again. JR has a shocker on commentary, calling Whisper in the Wind the Twist of Fate, and then repeatedly calling the match-ending Edgercution off the top rope a superplex. The match builds slowly into something decent, and has some decent big spots, like Edge meeting Hardy as he jumps off the barricade with a spear. Matt Hardy interferes - I thought that feud was done. And the finish looked vicious. It wasn't a superplex though. 

Match of the night: A good show overall, but it got no better than the opener, which I'd put at 3.5 stars. 3 stars for Christian/Swagger, Rey/Jericho, Cena/Show and Edge/Hardy.

Show rating: This company is on a roll in 2009, as this is the third straight recommended show. 3 and a quarter stars.

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Extreme Rules 2009.

Kofi Kingston Vs MVP Vs William Regal Vs Matt Hardy: This is for the US title, which Kofi now holds. I don't remember him being US champ. Very short match, with Regal being the only guy who really stands out. He brings the violence and big offence, while Matt brings the sneakiness. Kofi is pretty bad, but retains his title.

Rey Mysterio Vs Chris Jericho: Jericho is vowing to unmask Rey as this feud continues. This is a better match than their last one. Has a more personal edge to it, and Rey actually dominates a lot of the match, which is cool to see. This is no DQ but they don't really go to the plunder much. Finish is really good as Jericho pulls Rey's mask off as he goes for the 619, and then in the confusion rolls him up to win the match and the Intercontinental championship. Rey scurries off covering his face.

CM Punk Vs Umaga: Samoan strap match. Good match, but not to the level of their last one. They don't really use the strap much at all, which is surprising. No whipping, no choking, no Umaga dragging Punk around the ring by his throat. So it's mostly just a straight match with touch all four corner rules. Punk wins after hitting a GTS on the big man. I think that might be it for Umaga, which would be a shame.

Christian Vs Jack Swagger Vs Tommy Dreamer: Adding Dreamer to the mix doesn't really do much for this match-up. It was nice that he got this little run, and very out of character for the company too, but I'd rather have just seen Christian keep the belt.

Santina Marella Vs Vickie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero: This is a hog pen match for the Miss Wrestlemania title, which Vickie now has. I don't even care how that came about. Vickie adds Chavo to the match, but he ends up accidentally slopping her and allowing Santina to roll her up for the win. About as bad as it gets.

Randy Orton Vs Batista: Steel cage match for the WWE title. Batista promises to get revenge for Orton punting Ric Flair. This was pretty much their usual boring match-up, saved only by the surprisingly convincing manner of Batista's victory, which came in pretty short order after a Batista Bomb. Was this another case of Orton having an injury? And what's with Batista having all these title wins that I don't remember? And furthermore, why are so many of these matches so short?

John Cena Vs The Big Show: Submission match. This is worked pretty much exactly the same as their last match, with Show dominating the match, and Cena struggling to get even the most token of offence in. Very slow match, and lacked the drama of their last match. Good idea on the finish, with the rope-assisted STF, but it might have looked better had they gone the other way, with Cena applying the toehold himself and using something else to apply the facelock portion of the move.

Jeff Hardy Vs Edge: This is advertised as the blow-off to this feud, in a ladder match for Edge's world title. A lot of talk on commentary about these two being the best ladder match competitors ever, which is fair from a kayfabe perspective. The match is kinda ladder-match-by-the-numbers though, and I would have expected them to put some more thought into some of the spots. There is one crazy spot, where both guys fall off a ladder and go through another ladder which is suspended between the ring apron and barricade. That did not look like a happy landing for either guy. They do a call-back to the famous spear spot from Wrestlemania 17, only this time Jeff counters with a midair Twist of Fate. Jeff finally wins the match and the belt, and the show ends with him celebrating. Or does it...?

Jeff Hardy Vs CM Punk: Of course not. Punk cashes in his briefcase on a battered Hardy, putting him away at the second time of asking with a GTS. I still like the MITB cash-ins to this point. This was a great way to start Punk's heel turn, and it's a fun atmosphere as the fans are kinda excited about what is going down, but then are like 'wait, not on Jeff'. Fun finish to the show.

MOTN: Definitely Rey and Jericho at 3.5 stars. 3 for Punk and Umaga.

Show rating: This was a blah show. A lot of filler, some downright bad stuff, and for me the main events didn't deliver. You did get the good angle at the end though. I'd give this 2 and a half stars.

[kafkonia]

I think it was Batista who was injured, not Orton.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

So, of course, they put him over.

[DreamBroken]

1 hour ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

So, of course, they put him over.

Yep, seemed a swerve because word got out that he was hurt. As a huge Batista fan, I loved it at the time and marked for him at least getting to win the WWE Title.

Legacy would beat him up the next night forcing him to vacate due to injury afterwards and Orton regained it the following week on Raw.

[cwoy2j]

Interesting story behind the Y2J/Rey match. So Y2J and Rey worked out that finish with Jericho pulling off Rey's mask but Steamboat who was their agent, didn't think they could pull it off and nixed it initially. Jericho, being the headstrong guy he was, thought they had a great idea (which it was) and went straight to Vince. He felt bad going over Steamboat's head and thought he might get heat but did it anyway. Vince sided with Steamboat but said that if Jericho and Rey could pull it off a bunch of times in a row before the show while he and Steamboat watched, he'd allow it. Jericho and Rey did it perfectly like 10 times in a row so Vince gave them the go-head.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE The Bash 2009.

Tommy Dreamer Vs Christian Vs Jack Swagger Vs Finlay Vs Mark Henry: ECW championship scramble. Oh, so they did bring the scramble match back. Dreamer ended up retaining the title in a so-so match. Henry really looked great in this, just dominating everyone. I'm kinda done seeing Swagger at this point. I think it's mostly his ridiculous entrance that just puts me off him. How can you take that guy seriously? A Henry/Christian feud over the belt would have been great, but it was not to be.

Rey Mysterio Vs Chris Jericho: Jericho puts the IC title up against Rey's mask. This is a tremendous match, and a clear step up once again from their last one. It kinda slow burns, mostly carried along by a great Rey performance for the first half, before Jericho really raises his game too and the two of them just click into gear so well. A couple of really great high spots from Rey too, and then a fantastic finish, playing off the finish of the last match, and really the whole feud. Jericho once again takes off Mysterio's mask, but this time Rey is wearing a second mask underneath. So, while last time the mask proved to be Rey's undoing, this time it is Jericho's pre-occupation with the mask that is his own undoing, and Rey can hit the 619 and the splash to win back the title and cap off a great feud. Excellent work from these guys.

The Great Khali Vs Dolph Ziggler: Oh look, it's Dolph Ziggler before he became stale as hell. No DQ match, which ends with Kane coming out and attacking Khali, and Dolph getting the pin. It was a decent enough little match.

The Colons Vs Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes Vs Edge and Chris Jericho: I loved the Colons so much. Mostly I just loved (and still love) Primo. Such a great old-school babyface. Teddy Long adds Edge and Jericho at the last minute to this match because he's feeling the heat from Vince McMahon and also because he's a terrible GM. This Teddy storyline was so weird at the time, as Vince had been a babyface feuding with Orton just prior to this, but was now showing up and bullying Teddy (and playing heel opposite, ugh, Donald Trump, which they made sure to recap just to spoil my day). Anyway, triple threat tag matches are kinda dumb, with the tagging in and out despite there being no rules, but they worked this okay with nobody wanting to tag in Edge or Jericho. When Edge eventually does tag in, he misses a spear and is immediately tagged back out. Of course, Edge finally is able to tag in and spear Carlito to win the tag belts. And my beloved Colons would split up very shortly afterwards (although Carlito needed to be a heel, as his babyface offence was terrible).

Michelle McCool Vs Melina: Speaking of terrible babyface offence... Melina was at her best as just a vicious, nasty heel, so it's appropriate that this match only starts picking up once they just start laying into each other. Not a good match, but they did work hard.

CM Punk Vs Jeff Hardy: This is the match where Punk fakes the eye injury and then 'accidentally' kicks Scott Armstrong to get disqualified and retain the title. Another really great storyline/feud from the Smackdown side of things. I really loved Smackdown back then, whereas Raw really couldn't have been much worse. This was warming up really nicely when the finish came, and you can tell they had a really good match in them.

John Cena Vs The Miz: Here's the first ppv match between these two, as we ready ourselves for them to clash at a Wrestlemania for the second time. The whole Cena thing was a good midcard angle for the Miz, and it ended here the way it really had to- with him getting decisively beat. If anything, Miz got too much offence in. I did hate how Cena was like "congrats, you get to main event a ppv.. against me!", like just assuming because he's in the match that it's a main event. I mean, he's right, I guess, but for a guy who is supposed to be so humble most of the time, he sure is aware of his own spot in the company.

Randy Orton Vs Triple H : 3 stages of hell. I was dreading this, thinking we were going to get an epic. As it is, it 'only' went about 20 mins. Weird stips as well- straight wrestling match, falls count anywhere, and then stretcher match. You'd think they'd have thrown in a cage or an I Quit or a more traditional WWE game-ender time match. For being the Cerebral Assassin, I have to question Triple H giving away the first fall by DQ by hitting Orton with a chair, even if it did yield him the second fall. I mean, you're basically putting yourself in a sudden death situation. This is mostly a typical Orton/Triple H match, ending when Dibiase and Rhodes come out to beat down Triple H and allowing Orton to win the decisive fall. Very predictable. Hunter got to lay everyone to waste with a sledgehammer afterwards though.

Match of the night: Rey and Jericho at 4 stars. Punk and Jeff made 3 stars

Show rating: Pretty decent show all in all, and definitely worth watching for the IC match. 3 stars.

[DJ Hero Morganti]

I was at that show live. 

That's really all i have to say about it. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Night of Champions 2009.

Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Vs Chris Jericho and the Big Show: This is the debut of Jeri-Show. I remember being really disappointed by the Show reveal at the time. I always have ridiculous expectations for any surprise partner/opponent angle though. They ended up having a really great run. Weird situation here though, as they end up playing de facto faces against Ted and Cody. Decent match that puts over the new team well.

Tommy Dreamer Vs Christian: Dreamer's ECW title run comes to an end. It was a nice run for him, but time to get the belt back on quality match machine Christian. Nothing really memorable about this.

Kofi Kingston Vs MVP Vs Jack Swagger Vs Carlito Vs Primo Vs The Miz: 6-pack challenge for Kofi's US title. Surprised this guy still has the belt. Yay, it's Primo! He looks great too, until the booking makes him look stupid by having him trust Carlito only to get turned on, again. Typical clusterfuck match with Kofi pulling out the win to retain.

Michelle McCool Vs Melina: This has already merged in my head with the match they had at The Bash. All I really remember here is McCool dropkicking Melina to the floor as she did her entrance, which looked pretty vicious. 

Randy Orton Vs John Cena Vs Triple H: I've got no time for this match at all. Orton has got to be the worst wrestler to ever get a sustained main event push in this company. Not just bad, but just so weird as well, in the way he moves and the way he bumps. Just something very off-putting about the guy, and not in a good way. And the finish is just rotten. Orton taps as Hunter has him in a sharpshooter and Cena in a crossface, but the ref is just standing there like he has no idea what to do. Make a fucking call. That's your job. Then Legacy run in and start to beat Cena and Hunter down, which is just the laziest shit. The only cool thing about this was Orton giving Cena an RKO while he had Cody on his shoulders for an AA, which I have to give Cena major props for taking, as it could easily have gone very wrong. I don't know if I can take the endless Orton/Cena feud which I know is coming up.

Mickie James Vs Maryse: Maryse is the Divas champ. Amidst the talk of the rumoured Cena/Nikki Vs Miz/Maryse match, no-one seems to have mentioned (or remembered) the fact that Maryse is dangerously awful in the ring. I mean, she got the heel mannerisms down okay, but in every other area she looks completely incompetent. They absolutely murder the crowd here with a terrible match, which considering Mickie usually gets at least decent reactions, I have to put on Maryse. Mickie wins the belt, but this goes way longer than it should have.

Rey Mysterio Vs Dolph Ziggler: Shit, even Rey can't get the crowd back into the show after Maryse. Hmm, Dolph seems to be struggling to stay with Mysterio here in the early moments. Looks very unpolished, which I'm finding surprising, as he thought he was pretty good out of the gate, and it was only much later that the rot set in. This is a decent match though, mostly because Rey is pretty much in God-mode at this point in his career and could probably have a 3 star match with Maryse. Dolph gets a ton of offence in, but Mysterio pulls out the win.

CM Punk Vs Jeff Hardy: This is such a refreshing feud to have at the top of the card and I'm glad they got the main event slot. Jeff couldn't half be laxadaisical in the ring at times. Some of his offence just looks awful. These could have done with an extra 5 mins or so to build things, as the finishing stretch seems a bit rushed. Still, a nice progression to that point, and a couple of good nearfalls before Jeff hits the Swanton at the third time of asking and picks up the world title. A good match that could have been great.

Match of the night: There's only two really good matches on the show - the last two - and I think the Rey match is just better at 3 and a quarter stars. Punk/Hardy is a 3 star affair.

Show rating: This is the weakest show for a while, and I can't really go higher than 2.25 stars.