WWE vs. TNA -- Who Won this Week? 4/20 - 4/24

If you're wondering what this is about, please read this entry.

The WWE wins for me this week because of WWE Superstars (the show). I ALMOST want to give it to TNA because of last night's Smackdown!, but iMPACT! was promo city this week. I have the WWE up 1-0 over TNA en route to next month's PPV battle. What do you guys think? Sound off via the poll to the right and I'll combine those votes with my score to get a final outcome for this week!

WWE Superstars Review 4/23

Week two of WWE Superstars showed the true quality that the show is going to be. While we are not looking at the next Raw or even the next Smackdown, the show will be much better than Sunday Night Heat. I’m still getting used to the three match shows, but all and all, it was another solid night for WWE Superstars. Let’s take a look at tonight’s matches:

Rey Mysterio & CM Punk vs. Kane & the Big Show

First, let me say that I am not a fan of watching an exciting little guy carry an entire match against a bigger, far less exciting wrestler. Unfortunately, I was stuck watching double the fun as it was clear from the beginning what was going to happen.

Mysterio and Punk dominated the match punishing Kane and the Big Show with numerous high flying moves. The match lasted through a few commercial breaks and the little guys were still in control. Then, with one punch, Kane and the Big Show took over the match. Mysterio was thrown out of the ring and Punk was left to fight the two by himself. 20 seconds later, Punk was flat on his back and being pinned by Kane. Come on guys, this big guy little guy angle is played out. Bring back the Cruiserweight division so we can watch guys like Mysterio actually do their thing.

Tyson Kidd & Natalya vs. Finlay & Hornswoggle

This was clearly a farewell gimmick match for Hornswoggle and his “Father” Finlay due to Hornswoggle being drafted to Raw. The match barely lasted two minutes and Natalya never got in the ring. Hornswoggle did tackle her outside of the ring, but that was the extent of her action. The best part of the match was watching Hornswoggle hit Tyson Kidd with the Frog Splash after Finlay hit him in the head. Despite the match being short, I’m glad to see the WWE splitting Finlay from Hornswoggle. I hope he gets another push as a heel.

Kofi Kingston vs. Edge

This was one of the most exciting matches that I have watched in awhile and further proves my point that Kofi should get a major push. Edge carries most of the guys that he wrestles in the ring, but not Kofi. He is as high flying and acrobatic as they come. Edge won the match, but Kofi dominated most of the fight. Kingston shows skills in the ring that very few guys can match. The two of them battled back and forth hitting one another with numerous moves before edge speared Kofi and covered him for the victory.

Again, this is part of the problem that I have with the WWE. It takes way too long for new guys to get the proper push and then it is almost unbelievable. Who wants to see and or believes that a guy, who couldn’t win a match for years, is all of a sudden the most dominant wrestler in the business? Remember when WCW brought in Goldberg and he won over a 150 straight matches and you knew that he was the guy? Who is going to be that guy in the WWE? Only time will tell, but Kofi Kingston should be that guy!

Wrestling Galore!

Just like last week, we'll be reviewing both WWE Superstars and TNA iMPACT! tonight. So check out Headlocks 4 Breakfast tomorrow for the full reviews of both shows!

I Want YOU to Help Select a Pay Per View!

First off, let me just say that my rhymes are DOPE!

Alright, now to the point of this post (besides showing a "sandwich break" in an "Uncle Sam" outfit). In these economic times, one must be super careful where and how they spend their money. I'm not saying I'm dirt poor, but I wanted to make a game of this. To be honest, only one brand actually deserves money each month, and in that EXTREMELY rare occasion that both PPVs are a lock for quality, I'll purchase both. But that probably won't happen because let's face it, both promotions don't bring it every month.

So here's how the game will work. Each week Headlocks 4 Breakfast will review Monday Night RAW, WWE Superstars, TNA iMPACT! and Friday Night Smackdown!. I'll then, at the end of each week give one promotion a nod over the other. So, if I think RAW, Smackdown and Superstars was better than iMPACT this week, I'll give the WWE a score of 1-0 and vice versa. "But that's not fair! TNA only has one show that's not a recap!" I took this into account. That's why I'm doing it American Idol style! Every Friday, after Friday Night Smackdown!, I'll post a poll asking you guys which promotion won this week. I'll then process that final poll vote with my own personal score and use a very super complicated method to pick a winner for the week (which I'll announce). Whoever wins the most amount of weeks before the PPVs, will win my cash and extremely prestigious review skills.

Make sense? If not, actually READ this story.

Monday Night Raw Review 4/20

Whenever there's a show before a PPV, THAT should be the show that makes you salivate at the mouth to purchase the PPV because you can't wait to see what happens next. Did the RAW brand deliver on this with tonight's episode? Partially, but I can't help but feel a little robbed of my intelligence. Sure, we (wrestling fans) are ADD, forgetful (on purpose), and we keep coming back for more, but that shouldn't make the writers sit in cruise control and do the same crap all the time.

With that said, RAW brought it tonight to London, England. The set was very London-esque with the stereotypical phone booths and rounded 1960's car. The crowd was pumped and seemed louder than a typical US crowd, often clearly telling the WWE who they liked and hated. At the top of the show, I said to myself "RAW is completely different from Smackdown! (in a bad way)," but after tonight, I think they took a page from Smackdown's all wrestling, little drama approach. I think the WWE is turning a corner a bit. It may be predictable, it may insult our intelligence, but it's wrestling none the less. It's a hell of alot better than Vicky Guerrero's love triangle though, so let's see how the night played out...

Chris Jericho opened the show claiming that this was his final RAW appearance, and that he's glad because he was never appreciated. Ricky Steamboat's music hits, and he and Jericho trade words for a bit, then Jericho challenges Steamboat to a match Sunday at "Backlash." John Cena then interrupts and Jericho cuts him off before he can say a word, and starts to walk backstage. Steamboat then says that he accepts the challenge which garners a sly smirk from Jericho. John Cena, after Steamboat, then says that since Vicky Guerrero is not at RAW tonight, they're going to have a match to send him (Jericho) off to Smackdown!.

There's something I just don't get....why do all of you boo Cena? Are you sick of him being the face of the WWE? I can't help but like the guy because he's all about the business and I applaud that. Sure, he can get a little corny sometimes, his rap skills suck, "The Marine" and "12 Rounds" suck, but the guy's a beast that gives his all night in and night out. Plus, did all of you get on Hulk Hogan for Suburban Commando? I don't think so (I secretly liked that movie). I'm one of you, but I'll never understand the mentality of the wrestling masses. I think you're all waiting for Cena to go heel, which I agree, would be awesome, but I don't think it's happening anytime soon. The WWE needs a big babyface, Cena's perfect for the role.

Batista vs. Chavo

The entrances of the two took longer than this entire match. Chavo went running at Batista who then nailed him, then gave him a Batista Bomb for the win. Why did the WWE waste space with Chavo? If you're going to commit to Chavo as a jobber, I'd rather see a "Barry Horowitz" than a Chavo. Make a new jobber, don't take someone from your ranks and then give him jobber status. I know what some of you are saying, "Chavo has always been a jobber." Well not a 10 second match type jobber...

Kane vs. CM Punk

I'm not sure why, but I just can't get into CM Punk. He's a good wrestler, executes some killer moves, but I just think his gimmick is boring. Maybe it's the fact that his music (screaming) is extremely lame. On the other hand, Kane is officially a mid-card wrestler. It's a sad thing to see too. Where's the old Kane that would slowly walk down the aisle, stalk his prey, and dominate them? Instead, he's an ugly human being (not a super power) who acts tough, but always loses. Punk had a great counter DDT for the win, but would the old Kane lose like that to a DDT? Not a chance...

Beth Phoenix vs. Melina

"sandwich break"

Chris Jericho vs. John Cena

This match was the best of the night. Again, Cena got alot of boos, but when he did the "five knuckle shuffle,(google that for me)" the fans chanted loudly "you can't see me!" See what I told you? ADD...

The match went back and forth for a lengthy period of time (which now equals a good match in today's standards), and both wrestler's kicked out of each other's finishers and didn't tap to their secondary finishers. I think the WWE saw everyone's reaction to Taker / HBK at Wrestlemania 25, but this one felt totally scripted. Jericho would hit the code breaker (which is an awesome finisher btw), and then take his time, because he's tired, to make the cover resulting in Cena kicking out. Then Cena would hit his FU, and again, take his time to make the cover resulting in Jericho kicking out.

Cena would then get the STFU on Jericho and he wouldn't tap, then Jericho would get Cena in the Walls of Jericho (lion tamer was a better name), and Cena wouldn't tap. This is a classic case of the WWE screwing up a good thing they had with the match at Wrestlemania 25. We didn't expect HBK or Undertaker to kick out. They could've gone either way, and it floored us the entire time. With Cena / Jericho we knew what was going to happen the entire time. The writers have to think this stuff through. But they won't because they think so top line and without any depth. I guarantee you that creative was sitting in a room and mentioned "people loved what happened with Taker and HBK, we should shock them with both wrestlers kicking out of their respective finishers." Ok, maybe they didn't use the words "respective finishers."

Anyway, I'm griping, but it really was a good match (don't you believe me now? haha). Edge came in to ruin the party, but that's the WWE right now. They use Edge to do this type of crap and instead of using him as a fantastic wrestler (which he is), they have him end a match that both wrestlers worked their tails off in. "Couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?" - "Johnny" in the Karate Kid.

Rey Mysterio vs. Big Show

Before going into this one, I thought to myself "If they make Mysterio win this match, I'm going to keep watching because I have nothing else better to do." I said last week that I'd like to see Big Show go on a little bit of a run, and it looks like he's doing just that. I'm now sold on the "knockout punch," and he did exactly what he should have done to Mysterio, destroyed him. There were some great "big man" moments in this match, most notably Big Show palming Mysterio's head from outside the ring and lifting him up over the top rope. If you get a chance to see that on YouTube, do it. It looked awesome and really made you feel like you were watching a "giant."

Triple H vs. Randy Orton

This was announced as a no DQ match last week which I think everyone in the world knew that it wouldn't end cleanly. You just knew Rhodes and DiBiase would get involved, and likewise with McMahon and Batista setting up the classic mini-battle royal to lead up to a stable vs. stable main event at a PPV. It's a proven formula. The actual match before that chaos was pretty good. I actually wouldn't mind seeing these two in a main event (singles) competition again because of it (it erased my thoughts on the underwhelming Wrestlemania 25 Main Event). I think the Backlash main event is a cop out, and in no way am I ordering the PPV to see this match. I have a feeling Batista's going to turn on Triple H, but we'll see.

There were a few things in this match that was all sorts of awesome. Triple H's spine buster on Orton onto the trash can and Triple H's figure four were my two main highlights, but let's go back to all of that chaos I mentioned in the previous paragraph to find out the result of this one.

When everyone who will be in the Backlash main event interrupted the match, Batista accidentally speared Shane giving Triple H an excuse to turn his back on Orton. Once this happened, did anyone who was watching not know that Orton would hit his RKO? Seriously, I'm sick of these results. I don't mind at all if Orton wins cleanly, but you've had this result about 1270273189047389278423902317908412378940321890324 times. Please be original. This just kills momentum that you have built up throughout a pretty good show when you end like this. There's no chance that the talent is enjoying this writing. No chance.

Overall I enjoyed the show. I know I complained, but that's me. I could look past the writing tonight and see that the talent gave an A+ effort. They're only as good as the creative makes them, but tonight they overshadowed the creative brown stain.

We have WWE Superstars and Friday Night Smackdown! left to make us feel like we should plunk down our change to order Backlash. RAW brought it tonight. Your turn Wednesday and Friday...

Random Notes:

- It's cool to see the Jericho / Steamboat angle considering Jericho's a HUGE Steamboat fan. Watch the "Greatest Superstars of the 80's" DVD to hear him go on and on about Ricky.

- The WWE plugged "The Wrestler" DVD release throughout the show. Mighty big of them. I think they realized that any publicity on their business is good publicity.

- Lawler was on FIRE tonight. He had some gems. "London is such a historic city (understatement of the year)," and his ribbing of Jericho's former band, "Fozzy" were two of my favorites.

- I really wish they'd go back to cutting promos with an interviewer instead of making us think that there happens to be a camera where an intimate conversation, like the one Rhodes, Orton and DiBiase had, happened. The hidden camera approach sucks.

- Santino's skit with his "sister" "Santina" was epic. Santino pulled a Milli Vanilli. (Wrestlecrap)

- When RAW did their "WWE Slam of the Week" segment, they showed Shane's "coast to coast" that he attempted to do on last week's WWE Superstars. He doesn't get over as far as he used to...

- Cody Rhodes has a lisp like his father and it is fantastic!

- During the Orton / Triple H match, Michael Cole said "Orton's been waiting 5 years for this opportunity." Really? At Backlash? Didn't he have his "opportunity" at Wrestlemania? That's just poor writing there and not believable.

WWE Superstars Review: The Debut Show 4/16

First, let me say that I had no expectations for this show. As a kid I sat through endless episodes of Sunday Night Heat holding onto hope that one day a main event type match would take place and I was left with disappointment. Despite questioning whether or not the quality of the show will be maintained, the only show where you can see superstars from RAW, ECW, and Smackdown had a promising debut. Let’s take a look at the night’s matches.

Undertaker vs. Matt Hardy

I was shocked to hear the show open with the distinctive music of the Undertaker as he walked to the ring to in his first public appearance since beating Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania. Matt Hardy came down to the ring and it was clear from the start that he was going to be the heel yet again. Seeing Hardy in this role is somewhat hard for me to believe because I have met him in person and he was an all around nice guy. Regardless, Matt does a good job of selling it.

The Undertaker dominated the match from the beginning and sat Hardy up for the finisher before he crawled out of the ring and intentionally caused himself to be counted out. As Matt walked up the ramp with the entire crowd booing him, his brother Jeff ran out and attacked him. The two fought back in forth, before Matt ran into the ring and into the arms of the Undertaker who delivered a devastating choke slam to end Hardy’s night.

Christian vs. Finlay

These two were fighting for more than just pride as the winner would go on to Backlash to face ECW Champion Jack Swagger for the belt. Christian is the type of guy who can carry a match against anyone he is facing and adjusts well to their style. The match started out as a hard nose technical battle just how Finlay likes it. Finlay continued to force a physical match, but made a critical error after running Christian into the corner and was finished off with the "Killswitch."

I get the fact that Christian is a “fresh” face in the WWE again, but he needs to be on RAW. He has always been a main event attraction and that is why Vince brought him back. If you’re going to bring the guy back, then give him the push that he deserves and the fans want! Anyone who questions my thought process here, go back and watch any of his matches at TNA and/or his classic WWE matches.

Shane-O-Mac vs. Cody Rhodes

First things first, Shane might have my favorite entrance in wrestling. Let’s face it, Shane is not your typical athlete, but he is a great showman and will serve the company well along with his sister when it is time for Vince to pass the torch. Should I buy a Shane-O-Mac shirt?

The match started out with Shane taking the fight to Cody and even showing some submission skills. He put Cody in an arm bar triangle. Can you believe it? Shane continued to take the fight to Cody and rammed his head and left arm into the ring post and continued to work on the arm in the ring. For a second, I thought Shane paid for lessons at the Dean Malenko School of Wrestling.

Shane continued to force the action with his high flying offensive attack and dropped Rhodes to the concrete floor outside of the ring. After five minutes of domination, we all knew that it was time for Shane to take a bit of a beat down and that’s what happened. Rhodes choked and taunted Shane repeatedly and had the match well in hand before he let his cockiness get in the way. He bulldogged Shane from the top of the ropes, continuously kicked him in the ribs, tried to beat Shane with a steel chair and punched him in the face. After being thrown out of the ring, Shane grabbed the steel chair and beat Rhodes with it. That was just the beginning. Shane then grabbed a trashcan, put the can over Rhodes head, and hit him with the “Coast to Coast.”

What a way to end the show! I like the angle of using the McMahons with Triple H and showing the family unity, but I’m curious to see how they are going to play this out at Backlash. I wouldn’t be shocked if someone (Batista) does not turn their back on Triple H and cost him the title. The feud has to end somewhere and take the focus off of the McMahons. Seriously, Vince is 63 years old and still out there performing at a high level. It’s time to give the guy a break.

WWE Superstars (New WWE TV Show)

Just in-case you didn't have enough wrestling on TV, the WWE saves the day and decides to give us all another show to not watch if it sucks ("Heat"). "WWE Superstars" will air every Thursday night at 8 PM EST / 5 PM PST on WGN. Hopefully, this revival of a classic tv show will be up to snuff.

So when I say "you can watch," I actually mean people living in the United States. Unfortunately, because I live in Canada, I have to wait until Sunday to watch.

Therefore, my brother-in-law, Justin Dewiel, will be posting a review for all of you. Yes, we're a regular family business now. So, to recap this novel that I wrote, I'll be covering TNA IMPACT! tonight, while Justin will be following along with WWE Superstars.

Thanks wrestling for so much TV....