Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

No formal review this time as I watched it with my mates and not my laptop. So just some meandering thoughts for your consideration. I thought this PPV expose everything that is wrong with the WWE at the moment. The show was incredible stale and unexceptional.

First of all there are far far too many PPVs, and many big matches are thrown out there far to often without the hype they deserve. Second of all the stars are getting extremely overexposed. I mean we've seen Cena-JBL four times in a row now, not to mention there countless tag matches and encounters on Raw. Its just to much.

First off I'd follow up on the recent draft with a strong re-emphasis on the brand split. Now this doesn't mean going back to the rivalry days, just a clear seperation. So no more randomly appearing on each others show with no explination and no hype. No more joint PPVs, except the big four. There are just too many big matches on each show, and not enough time to do them all justice, Triple-Edge and CM Punk-Batista didn't get the time an attention they deserved. Nothing on the show, with perhaps the exception of HBK-Y2J, felt as important as it should have.

While in the past Smackdown PPVs were a derge, the brand has been strenghen in the draft, Triple H, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, Kennedy, MVP, Matt Hardy, Great Khali and returning Undertaker is easily a strong enough top card to carry a PPV. The Bash clearly showed some confidence in the SD midcard as the US Title Tag Titles, ECW Title and the Diva Title were put on the show.

The main benificary of this redefinition, other than the big four, whose lineups would once again seem monumental, are the midcarders, due to the overwhelming number of "big stars", midcarders like Kofi Kingston, Rhodes & Dibiase and Mickie James can't get on PPV, all mentioned are champions. All didn't appear on the last PPV, with a single brand PPV they'd get a chance to develope there own characters and work against more established stars to round out there own act.

Had the great American Bashes line up been:

CM Punk vs Batista
JBL vs John Cena
Shawn Micheals vs Chris Jericho
Kofi Kingston vs Pual Burchill
Rhodes & Dibiase vs Cryme Tyme
Mickie James vs Katie Lea
Rey Mysterio vs Santino Marrella

Would that be such a bad thing, sure not as many marquee names but it seems fresher and would have left SummerSlam with a supercard in comparison. It must be kept in mind that line up leaves out the likes of Kane, Kelly Kelly, Randy Orton, William Regal, Lance Cade among others, so there is plenty of room for development in future.

At the moment, on RAW especailly it is next to impossible for undercard acts to truely break out, with a PPV to fill RAW would have to develope the undercard sufficeintly. Remember back when they were seperated, how much time Randy Orton, Batista and John Cena got to develope there acts?

Anyway as for the show itself.

Hawkins & Ryder win the WWE Tag Team Titles against Miz & Morrison, Jesse & Festus and Hornswaggle & Finlay.
A Bland match, a few nice sequences but nothing to write home about, no one really stood out in this one, and its sad to see Miz and Morrison lose there titles with such little fanfare. (*)

Shelton Benjamin wins the US Title from Matt Hardy with the Pay Dirt by pinfall.
Another PPV another solid Matt Hardy match, mr. dependable the king of the two and a half style match hands over to the underwhelming Shelton Benjamin, can he finally sort out his attitude problems and live up to his potential. (**1/2)

Mark Henry Retains the ECW Title over Tommy Dreamer as Colin Delany turns heel.
Well that turn was the highlight of the show so far as Delany makes up for his physical deficiencies by being a great role player and facial actor. The Match was dreadful the angle was stong. (1/2*)

Chris Jericho defeats Shawn Micheals by referees stoppage due to an eye injury.
Match of the Night hands down. Strong physocology, telling a great story throughout with good action till the finish, which was dramatic and builds strongly to Summerslam, unfortunately this would not be the stand alone "cop-out" finish on the show. (***1/4)

Michelle McCool Becomes First WWE Diva Champion defeating Natalya.
Acceptable display of womens' wrestling but nothing to see here. (3/4*)

CM Punk retains World Heavyweight Title when Kane interferes in Batista's match.
This match was chugging along nicely, and seemed really fresh as a main event before the finish. CM Punk however is being presented as a weak champion without a clean win over an established talent, if this continues the fans won't take him or title matches seriously. However the writers are doing a good job of convaying his quest for his first big victory. Where the Kane storyline is going, I don't know, and don't care. (**1/2)

JBL defeats John Cena in a Cartoony WWE Films Parking Lot Brawl.
Well other than finding this match hysterical, its was incredibly silly, I'm sure the kids will have loved it and there were some cool spots but its was over shadowed by the ridiculousness of the whole affair. Glad to see JBL finally get a win over Cena, and I'm sure THQ are happy this is a close as wrestlign will ever be to there game. (1/2*)

Triple H retains WWE World Title against Edge following Vickie-Fox brawl.
Stuck in first gear, and felt like the end of a marathon show, which started slow and never manages to capitalize on the momentum of the HBK-Jericho encounter. Over shadowed by the spectacle match that preceeded it and never had a chance of living up to expectations. (**1/4)

Show Score: 3/10
Not a Horrible in ring terms show, just dull and lifeless in places, overloaded but underdelivered.