A Debrief: WWE Superstars Report for 10/15/09

Anyway, it’s already the runup to Bragging Rights.  Does anyone else remember when PPVs actually meant something?  They’d usually come at the culmination of several huge rivalries, rather than just one.  Still, one of the biggest rivalries of recent times comes to a head in an Iron Man match, involving John Cena, a man who has a move-set consisting of around 10 moves... That seems to me to be an average of one move every 6 minutes.  I really hope Orton wins, but the Cena leaving RAW stipulation would tend to tip the balance in his favour, as would merchandise sales.  Plus, at some point it’s got to be DiBiase vs. Orton, so that gives him a chance to leave the Cena feud behind.  Since Smackdown just got Batista, I can’t see Cena following him.

Right then, action time.  To start us off we have a match that actually has a meaning!

RAW Contribution:  Mark Henry vs. Chris Masters

Mark Henry gets a HUGE pop on the way out.  This match will give us the 7th member of Team RAW, following Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Big Show, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger and Cody Rhodes onto the team.  Given that Rey Mysterio, Batista, Undertaker and CM Punk are all competing in the main event... I’m actually struggling to think of 6 people other than Jericho who would make it onto Team Smackdown.  Morrison’s facing Miz so I’d assume he’s out too.  I mean... Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty maybe?  Finlay?  Knox?  I’d assume Kane will be there.  Khali?  Basically, if RAW don’t win, I’ll be pretty shocked.  Don’t get me wrong, Smackdown’s a better show these days, but that’s down to RAW misusing their talent.  Of course, ECW doesn’t get a mention, but did anyone expect them to?  Are ECW even on the card?  Am I just asking too many questions now?  I think so, the match is starting anyway.

Mark Henry’s left knee is heavily bandaged behind his kneepad.  Masters flexes, Henry grins, then stops.  A man who means business, excellent.  Henry outstrengths Masters, then a couple of shoulder blocks before Masters escapes to the outside.  Cole mentions the Diva trade, that sent Mickie ‘Slightly chubby, but I’d still hit it’ James to Smackdown to be replaced by Melina.  Now Melina, I don’t mind girls who scream, but only when it’s appropriate... you know?

Masters still isn’t in the ring, hence the tangent.  Henry gets back on top and applies a vicegrip. Masters gets to the ropes, then tries a sunset flip, so Mark just sits on him.  Simple stuff, but entertaining.  Masters is outside again.  Apparently it was the Masters-Chavo vs Henry-MVP match that injured the knee.  Masters sends Henry into the ringpost, and it’s ads time.

We’re back, Henry’s got Masters in a bearhug.  At this point I wouldn’t mind a Masters win, he’s been dominated for basically the whole match.  Masters finally gets on top a bit, going after the knee, fails to get the Masterlock in and goes after the leg again.  Henry goes for the World’s Strongest Slam but his knee gives out (yeah, right), but manages to hit it second time as Masters comes off the rope.  It looked pretty good actually.

Winner:  Mark Henry

Rating: 4.8/10 – Decent, Mark Henry’s quite fun to watch in small doses, but there weren’t really any... well... moves.  If you were playing SD vs Raw, strike-fest.  Good for pumping up the strength, but doesn’t tend to get you a great deal of excitement stars.

Ask the Divas – Absolute drivel, apart from Kelly Kelly saying that she listens to Limp Bizkit in the gym.  That one made me crack a smile.

Wrestlemania promo.  Bit early.  Tickets go on sale in 23 days... way to take some more spotlight away from this upcoming PPV.  Bragging Rights, does anyone know if it’s a 14-man elimination tag?  If so, surely that detracts from Survivor Series.  If not, then it’s not really going to do the job is it?  I’m pretty interested though.

ECW Contribution:  Vladimir Kozlov (w/ Zeke) vs. Tommy Dreamer

Is it just me, or are all Kozlov matches really, really boring?  He’s only got the one dimension to his game, same with Zeke, and that’s why his stable just doesn’t seem that good.  Tommy’s had no momentum whatsoever since he lost the title, can’t really see it continuing here.  This is the only negative aspect for ECW for me at the moment, Kozlov and Jackson are getting pushes they don’t deserve.  Apart from the Jackson-Goldust match, I couldn’t have told you who was going to win the others.  Burchill beat The Hurricane.  Ryder betrayed Regal.  Sheamus cut an in-ring promo.  Apart from Drew McIntyre, I can’t think of any other rising stars who have been given that kind of opportunity.  Basically, ECW is more unpredictable, and that’s why I like it.

Not so much here though, Kozlov does his thing, Dreamer mostly reverses for the majority of the early going, culminating in Kozlov being given a low bridge and tumbling to the outside.  The ECW chants start as Dreamer hits a baseball slide to both men on the outside, then he faceplants the announce table.  The crowd’s enjoying this one it seems though, the USA chants start getting pretty loud as Kozlov hits a series of trapped headbutts.  There’s a close-up of Dreamer’s elbow, which looks pretty badly damaged actually.  In Striker’s words ‘that’s not a normal elbow, it’s like a softball under there’, happened when he faceplanted the announce table.  A lot of arm work from Kozlov – a side we don’t often see from him.  He’s doing alright at it, but still not the level of Sheamus, for example.

Tommy gets to 3 punches at the turnbuckle, but Kozlov escapes and Jackson gets a shot in on the injured arm and Kozlov cracks him with the running headbutt, then the Iron Curtain

Winner:  Vladimir Kozlov

Rating: 3.8/10 – Kozlov dominated, but the injury seemed pretty real and credit for Dreamer for continuing.  Still, disappointing for a match that was supposed to be championship calibre only months ago.

Batista DVD promo – Something about his troubled past.  I hope this doesn’t mean he’s going to win at Bragging Rights.  He’s just not interesting enough a character to be worthy of the belt for more than a couple of months at a time.  Punk on the other hand could be, but he seemed to be pushed too often, too early.  Rey Mysterio, same as Batista really but is more likely to be able to put on a great match.  And that’s why I think The Undertaker has to retain.  I don’t buy wrestling DVDs anyway, but I really can’t see anyone wanting to sit through a series of Batista matches.

Smackdown Contribution: CM Punk vs. John Morrison – The Miz on commentary

Miz is already laying into Morrison ahead of their match at Bragging Rights, which could well steal the show.  This could be a pretty hot match as well, but it seems all too obvious that Miz will interfere at some point.  Morrison gets on top in the early chain grappling, and catches Punk out running the ropes as Punk goes for monkey flip.  Meanwhile, Miz likens Punk’s rivalry with Taker to his own with John Cena.  He mentioned that he said everything about Cena that anyone has wanted to say, and it’s true!  That’s what made him into a very good heel, he was telling us what we already knew, but the crowd still hated him for it.  Then he calls Grisham a nerd.  Miz is definitely the winner from this match already.

Morrison hits a pancake and the standing shooting star press.  Just realised JR isn’t actually on commentary, Miz is doing a really good job.  Punk with a powerslam, he’s back on top.  Punk throws Morrison to the outside for ads, while Miz continues to verbally lay into Grisham.

During the break, Morrison was suplexed onto the ring steps, and now Punk has the body scissors locked in.  Miz has been occasionally complimenting Morrison throughout the match, striking a good balance between promoting his own match at Bragging Rights, commenting on the match and ripping Grisham.  Morrison misses an elbow drop, Punk hits a big flapjack.  Grisham asks Miz if anyone’s ever told him that he’s ‘maybe a little bit annoying’.  Abdominal stretch after a brief response from Morrison.  The return of the Dirt Sheet on Smackdown!  Sweet.  It’s the exact opposite of the Abraham Washington show, in terms of a segment.  Morrison hits a flurry of strikes and a dropsault, dodges a kick while hitting a spinning back kick of his own and gets 2. Punk counters into a reverse suplex for a near fall.  The running knee hits, but the bulldog’s reversed into a throw, and Morrison hits the running knee for a very near fall.  Punk blocks a Starship Pain attempt, but gets knocked back down into position.  Miz runs in, stomps on Punk and pulls him out of the way of Starship Pain... causing the DQ before backing away up the ramp.  Morrison hits the springboard flying Chuck kick on Punk, and cue his music to finish the show.

Winner:  John Morrison

Rating: 7.5/10 – It was probably more like a 6, but I really enjoyed Miz on commentary.  Punk wasn’t great, Morrison didn’t show off his full repertoire, but Miz was golden.  I really think Morrison-Miz at Bragging Rights is going to be the one to watch.

Show rating: 5.2/10

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about ECW, and how to improve the show.  However, since JB’s been given the RAW article, I figure I might as well angle for a promotion from the #4 to the #3 show.  So, if you want to hear my words of wisdom when it comes to all things ECW... we'll see.

I’ve been The General, consider yourself debriefed.

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