By: Fernwood Gold III
So Chester and some of our entourage were comped tickets for the ECW/SUPERSTARS/SMACKDOWN taping at Madison Square Garden. It’s been awhile since we had been at a taping. This was the first one since the draft went into effect, so I thought I would give my initial post brand impressions as well as my thoughts on each show:
CHRISTIAN: Christian is on fire. This guy can’t cut a bad promo and gives 200% in the ring. He gave Tommy Dreamer a proper Garden send off by carrying Tommy through his best match in years. While I am a huge fan of Christian, I thought it was too early to take the belt off Swagger. I was wrong. Christian brings an A-list quality to the belt and to the brand as a whole. I would love to think they finally realize the value of this talented performer, and we’ll eventually see him hold more gold. But right now, it’s fun to watch him shine on ECW. Speaking of which...
ECW: Of the three WWE brands, I like ECW the best right now. Why? Well here are several reasons: Evan Bourne, Tyson Kidd, Jack Swagger, Paul Burchill (don’t count him out yet), D.H. Smith, Finlay (without the sidekick), Matt Striker and, of course, Christian. All this is telling me is that the future of our business is on this show. With the caveat being they actually book these guys properly. Now all they have to do is get rid of this piece of cardboard they call a general manager and replace her with someone with personality...perhaps a post retirement Dreamer?
JERICHO: Moving Jericho to Smackdown was a brilliant idea. His verbal sparring with Edge was great and having Jericho take his character to this show feels fresh. I think Jericho might be the only person on the planet who could actually turn Edge face. In the meantime, pairing him up with a face John Morrison has potential if they are able to take Morrison to the next level. It also wisely keeps Jericho away from the title picture which they can go to any time.
SMACKDOWN: If this show we were at is any indication of what lies ahead on this Friday nights, then count me in. Jericho, Edge, Hardy, Rey, Punk make for a solid top tier lineup that can put on great matches. There are some guys under the bubble, like Morrison, who can step up. Did you see Rey and Hardy go at it during the fatal four way? Off the charts. Notice I didn’t mention the Undertaker, who adds an even more exciting element. Michael Hayes has it in him to book a solid show here, and I am fully expecting him to do it. I hope this show wasn’t a fluke.
MVP: They have to be really careful here. This is a character rooted in being cocky and arrogant and now having him hanging out with some girl from The View is not going to help him connect with the fans. So far so good though. They have booked him mostly strong since he was drafted, but I think the other night on Raw they should have made him more of an equal to Batista when taking on Legacy. His matches are good and the Company seems to be behind him, and he is THIS close to connecting to the fans. He just needs to go over a known heel to hit that next level. Regal may be it. I’m not sure yet.
RAW: Honestly, RAW kinda sucks right now. The last two weeks were boring as hell. Cena is flat. The feud with The Show does nothing. Batista is Batista, he’s always going to be over, and maybe every now and then you get a great moment out of him. I thought having HHH off the show for a bit would help things, but it goes to show you they are lacking on the face side. Shane McMahon should not be getting the better of three guys during a 3 on 1 match while MVP is getting punked out. The drama is not compelling, the characters are cookie cutter and lacking personality, and the wrestling is so so. If this show didn’t have Orton, I don’t know what the hell they would do. I’ve never missed Shawn Michaels more in my life.
I know I should address TNA, but honestly, I can’t...well OK
MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS: Only thing worth watching on TNA.
TNA: I fast forward though most of it because Pokemon makes more sense than this booking.
