Lord Steventon

The Great American Bash 20/7/08

The Miz & John Morrison vs The Edgeheads vs Jesse & Festus vs Finlay & Hornswoggle
Damn, the crowd for this PPV are HOT. Basically a really fun match, with every team bringing something to the table and everyone looking impressive. As much as I have grown weary if Hornwsoggle’s act now, I actually found him to be ridiculously funny in this match. Like, a suicide dive and a headscissors takedown. Really? A fucking headscissors takedown? Jesse really was man of the match here, really showing lots of potential and more fire then he usually shows in the comedy matches. Hell, Festus was no slouch either, he was great when he got the hot tag and just layed out the ownage left, right and center. Miz/Morrison bring their signature greatness as usual with their cocky, yet smart offence. The Edgeheads also looked quite impressive in their PPV debut, but despite doing everything right (working as a team, heeling it up, etc)…idk, they just seemed to lack much character and presence in the match. They build quite nicely to the finish, but it felt a bit underwhelming, I didn’t really feel as if just falling from the top alone would get the three, but meh. I’m pissed Miz/Morrison lost the belts but I expected it, and it was nicely to see Edgeheads get treated as a legit team for once rather than a pair of jobber lackeys. For what it was, it was pretty damn entertaining.
**1/2

Matt Hardy vs Shelton Benjamin
Maybe it’s the fact I had no idea why this match was made, but I just didn’t really get into the match as much as I would have thought. Shelton starts out really impressive, he was all over Hardy with the mat wrestling. There was a lot to like in the match, both men going for the win early, reversing each others finishers, the crowd were really into it… and it just felt so average. It had the feeling of “these men know each other so well, they can tell whats coming next”, but that made no sense as this is like the second time they’ve faced each other. I only really started to enjoy the match when Hardy started to fire up and make a comeback. Finish was kinda weak, I think Shelton winning clean was a mistake, but it seems as if he’s in for a push and after his performance in this match I’d say it’s long overdue. A good match that suffered severely from a lack of build up.
**1/4

Punk promo from last week: I have to say, as much as I hate the booking of Punk, the guy himself is still so great to watch. Promo was good, felt a bit idk “smarky”, but it was still a good way to push the angle.

Lol @ Vickie/Edge poll, they might as well have renamed it “who should we turn face?”

Mark Henry vs Tommy Dreamer
Squash match ahoy! For all the charisma and look Henry has, he sure as fuck is a bore in the ring. It’s exactly what it says in the tin, Henry dominating Dreamer, with Dreamer trying to mount an offence everytime Henry slips up. Bog standard Henry match where the highlight seems to be him out-stretching and arm and moving slightly. The crowd start a loud “boring” chant and I’m inclined to agree, a boring, pointless wrist lock that serves no purpose is quite tedious. On the plus sides….errr.. being a Dreamer mark, I enjoyed his effort, however small it was, and the Delaney heel turn was very surprising. Didn’t see that coming at all and it was quite well done. I have to question how credible this makes Henry look, he got caught offgaurd several times through the match and needed both Atlas and Colin’s heel turn in order to get the win over a guy half his size.
½

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Oh yeah, this is the match I’m looking forward to. This is easily my favourite fued of the year so far BAR NONE! The stare down at the beginning is so intense, it just reeks of epic beyond belief. And for the most part, it is pretty awesome. It keeps a slower pace rather than racing at 100 mile per hour and it’s just the little things that make it so enjoyable, like Jericho cowarding behind the ref in the corner, or tyh way Michaels flips backwards when dropkicked off the apron. Jericho focuses in on Michaels’s back and really goes to work. Watching this match, I can’t help but honestly think theres a good case for Jericho being one of the best in the world today. Great story with them really getting the struggle between them across and loads of great reversals and sequences thoughout. Cade coming out further added to the drama, but the blood angle kind dampened it for me :/. First of all, the amount of blood was ridiculous, even if his eye is injured. This is certainly is good fuel for the “HBK is an attention whore” argument. Even though I disliked it, Jericho was still great with his facial expressions and the way he really worked over the eye. Not really sure I liked the way it ended. It felt like such a underwhelming moment. Decisive finishes ftw. It kinda boils down to wether or not this is the end of the fued. If this is just another chapter in the fued and they continue it later, then great way to keep it interesting, if however this is their final encounter then it’s a pretty lame way to finish a great fued. I can’t really rate it because I still can’t make up my mind wether I liked the finish or not, but I’ll just say if this is actually the end of the fued then Jericho seriously has to be the top heel on RAW now after this performance.

Edge promo: Good way to actually put the focus on their match rather than his soap opera wedding. Definetaly one of the better Edge promos this year as he feels a lot more natural and gets the point across well. Simple promo but increases my interest in their match significantly.

Michelle McCool vs Natalya
Dear God, the belt looks beyond horrible. Natalya does a good job of working over Michelle’s back, setting her up for the Sharpshooter. Michelle locks in a leglock and that’s about it. Literally, that is it. If you ever needed proof the womens’ divisions were nothing more than piss breaks, this is it..
1/2

Jericho is out again for another promo!~ He’s in full blown dark heel mode and he breaks the news that Michaels is seriously injured. Jericho is still covered in his blood, awesome. He lays on the line about him being good guy and finishes with a great line “the worst was truly come”. Obviously not the end of HBK, so hopefully just another chapter in their book of greatness.

CM Punk vs Batista
Yay for in-ring intros! Punk gets a mixed reaction! Starts off pretty good with a feeling out process showing each man’s strengths (Batista’s strength and Punk’s strikes). These two really worked well together I felt, their styles really complemented each others nicely. Batista controlling Punk with the power game made sense and Punk making short comebacks with his agility and strikes made him look good. Lots of interesting parts later on in the match as it escalated, but it felt a bit soon. They were only five minutes or so into the match and already busting out the big moves, could have done with more ground work at the beginning for my liking. Favourite part of the match was where Batista caught Punk’s leg, Punk layed into him with slaps, then Batista just murdered him with a brutal clothesline. Hell, Batista was awesome throughout the match. Another small gripe was how they were trying to put over Batista’s shoulder as being injured because Punk worked it over for five seconds which seemed retarded. Then Kane comes out! Kinda predictable but hey it’s a nice move. Match is DQ’d off which is a shame as it was quite an enjoyable match. Kane is so much better as a heel, the kick to the cameraman was pretty lawlerific. Batista Bomb after the match, Punk continues to be booked like an utter joke of a champion. Oh well, looks like Batista/Punk will continue which is a good thing.
***1/2

JBL vs John Cena – Parking Lot Brawl
Strange decision to have this higher on the card than Punk/Batista, but once again confirms that Cena is above the title. Feels more like a horror movie than a wrestling match as they try to do all these edgy camera shots of it all. Cena gets out of a car and pounds of JBL. The lack of a live crowd already annoys me about this match. No commentary either? Cena connects JBL's sack to a car battery. That would be cool if Kane hadn’t done it to Shane a few years back. JBL tries to get away in a car and Cena bashes his head against the horn. This feels like a comedy match, how retarded. They brawl a little bit before JBL throws Cena through a car door in the first decent spot of the match. The lack of commentary still puzzles me. JBL stays in control and the match gets seriose as he lays the beating on Cena on the cars. The beating is pretty brutal, in the good sense. JBL puts Cena in a car, then goes and gets some… gas!?~ Oh my. I love the ref telling JBL that this is too far as he douses the car in fuel. So yeah, he sets the car on fire and then gets in… a forklift?!~ That’s almost as bizarre as Cena getting out of the car unscathed. Cena no sells fire. Cena is pissed and just throws JBL repeatedly into a car before throwing him and getting a fork lift. He picks up the car and drives it to the arena. Smart move! WTF? Suddenly the commentary kicks in. That makes zero sense…. My biggest annoyance of this match is how Cena switches from serious to light-hearted every two seconds. One minute hes laying the beatdown on JBL, the next he’s posing for the crowd. Best spot of the match was where Cena went the FU JBL off the stage onto the car and JBL got out of it and threw Cena onto the windscreen. Good spot but weak for the finish. It was kinda entertaining it an outlandish sports-entertainment-y way, but as far as an actual match, it was pretty bad. Glad JBL went over though.
*

Edge gets more sympathy in the poll, lulz. Way to backfire the face turn on Vickie.

Edge vs HHH
This match started off well enough with Edge’s emotions getting the best of him and HHH keeping a calm head, but after the initial minutes I felt it got kinda dull. Not bad by any means, just not particularly interesting. There was some good back and forth action but no real direction. A lot like Benjamin/Hardy, the in-ring action was of a good level, but I wasn’t really into it tbh. Not sure wether it was the lack of build up or emotion, but it just felt as if they were going through the motions. That said, it got better near the end of the match with some nice near falls and high impact moves, but still kinda lacked any intensity, imo. Edge’s wedding planner comes out and grabs the belt. I’m guessing shes going to be a permenamt fixture from now on, but still…who the fuck? Then Vickie came out… to a pop? Wtf, I’m so confused Shes shoves the ref and JR explains it as “shes the GM, she can do anything she wants in a Smackdown match”…. Hi, we’re TNA. So then the women fight and Edge Spears Vickie! He was meant to hit the wedding planner? But she was helping him… I don’t know wether my brain is just not working or wether this is genuinely that retarded. Edge turns around into a Pedigree for the loss. This was only step above Joe/Booker in that they were both average matches with confusing endings, only this was slightly less of a mindfuck.
**1/4




Overall, a disappointing PPV. A mixture of uninteresting matches and /facepalm ending to the PPV make this one of the WWE’s worst PPVs of the year. On the positive side, there was also a lot of interesting booking moves: the Delaney heel turn, the title changes and the Jericho/HBK angle. However this isn’t really enough to compensate for the snoozefest ECW title match, the pissbreak womens match, a retarded main event and a special effects showcase passed off as a wrestling match. MOTN honors got both Jericho/HBK and Punk/Batista for being the only matches actually worth watching, along with an enjoyable fatal fourway.

Spawn

WC Moderator

Nice review man. Yea, I was thinking about ordering it, but I'm glad I didn't. This sounds like basically a bridge for Sumerslam, like a pre-show for it. GAB usually isn't the best ppv in the world, so this was expected...now who do you think Punk will face at SS? Wouldn't really make sense for Tista, because he doesn't ave that "rematch clause" since he's not a champion, but he might. Cena lost, so it wouldn't make sense to have him face the champ...JBL already had an episode with Punk, so I don't think they would have him up against Punk. So it will either be Randy, which he may come back to Raw tonight, or Tista...

Crockerinho

Wrestling Moderator

The way the match ended it looks like Batista vs CM Punk vs Kane

Lord Steventon

Beat me to it.

Yeah, a triple threat looks like a dead cert now. Punk/Batista didn't end decisely enough and it seems as if Kane is being thrown into the mix.

And yeah, the Bash has always been a passable PPV, and due to the fact it focused more on booking than match quality I would agree it's definetly a stepping stone to SummerSlam.

Flash_Back

Very poor PPV I recorded it and was reading your review during the main event as it was boring me, I have no idea what the whole reason behind spearing the wedding planner who came down to help him win the title it was very confusing and HHH just felt he is a passenger in the whole storyline....would have liked to have seen these two first face off at summerslam giving this feud time to heat up.

Number Nine

Damn, this review sucks. You thought the opening tag match was better than the US title match? Give me a fucking break. Seems like you're one of those people that just shits all over everything and thinks it makes them insightful. I'd say this was a slightly above average pay per view, not bad at all.

Don't even front
You'd sunshine your pants if I licked your pony

Lord Steventon

The tag match was a lot of fun because of the people involved and the Edgeheads and Jesse/Festus upping their game. It wasn't trying to be anything more than alot of fun and thats what it was. The US title match just seemed like a bunch nice looking MOVEZ~! with no real direction or psycology. It felt alot like a TV match being put on PPV.

And as for you highly incorrect comments of me "trying to be insightful" I should say I have really enjoyed the vast majority of wwe PPVs, this year...hence why this was one of the worst. The general standard set by Wrestlemania, Backlash, etc were very high and I felt this was a let down. Hell, if you bothered to read I said I liked three of the matches on this PPV alot, so I don't really see how I'm shitting on it for no reason...

Papa Smurf

Super Moderator

I've only watched 3 PPV's this year (WM, NOC & GAB) & i agree that this was the worst. The finish of the Edge match confused me, because of the commentary. If they hadent said Edge was aiming for the wedding planner (Who is fairly hot btw) it would have made me intrested in watching Smackdown to see what happens, now, i dont really care.

Michaels bled waaaay too much for what happened to him.

Delaney is so boring they had to turn him heel? If he had joined Henry then fine, but he turned on Dreamer (The man who got him a contract) & then just left? Pointless & i doubt many will care all that much.

The womens match was a joke. Michelle has improved in the ring but she should not have even been in that match to begin with. Natayla dominated & looked great then Michelle won with a heel hook despite looking like a rag doll fr most of the match? Guess 'taker has a say in these sort of things.

I actually enjoyed JBL/Cena. It was a decent fight but someone should have bled. Cena when he got his head put through the window would have been a good time. Lack of commentary made no sense either, can the commentators not see what is happening outside of the ring area or something?

CM Punk still looks like a little bitch to me. Firstly he needed Batista to beat up Edge so he could win, then he needed Cena to distract JBL to retain. He could only beat Kane by countout on Raw & he got his ass handed to him on Sunday. Some champion he is.

Overall a meh PPV, the tag match was probably my favourite. Mainly because i like all four teams in the match.

Angel

Big 4 > Armageddon > Every other PPV

I only watch the big four PPV's because every other PPV (except Armageddon) in my honest opinion is crap. There are like one or two good matches in every PPV but that is not worth 30-45 dollars.

But sticking to the subject I think the Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho might of been the best match of the night by the looks of it. I can't believe Matt hardy lost his title already! Michelle McCool will be forgotten about and the Divas Championship defunt soon. CM Punk vs Batista... honestly! Interfierance in a WHC Title match at a PPV? WTF!? Triple H vs Edge was probably the next best match of the night. And thats about it... nothing much to this PPV it seems like so hopefully Summerslam won't dissappoint!

Biggest Party of the Summer is coming now!

Lord Steventon

For the last couple of years Backlash has been pretty great, imo.