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Arcademan:
WWE Smackdown Results: 9-4-09

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report).

1 -- FINLAY & GREAT KHALI (w/Runjin Singh) vs. MIKE KNOX & KANE
WINNERS: Finlay & Khali in 10:00. Fine tag match continuing the Knox-Finlay feud and building up a PPV match. (*1/2)

2 -- IC champion REY MYSTERIO vs. JOHN MORRISON -- Intercontinental Title match
WINNER: John Morrison in 26:00 to capture the Intercontinental Title. Wow. Felt like I was watching Undertaker vs. HBK all over again with the multiple legit nearfalls, the counters, the use and teasing of trademark finishes to build crowd anticipation, and all of the elements of an amazing pro wrestling match. Crowd was also red-hot from start to finish just like HBK vs. Taker. Grisham wasn't kidding when he said before the match this would be a five-star-caliber match. I think what also made this that close to a five-star level was the emphasis on the title belt at stake. The little things like Rey rolling Morrison back into the ring instead of taking an easy way out to win, plus Jim Ross's commentary on this being a fight for money, prestige, higher place on the card, etc. Rey went out in style before taking his suspension. (****3/4)

3 -- MARIA & EVE vs. NATALYA & LAYLA
WINNERS: Maria and Eve in 5:00. Okay divas match. Positioned as a filler match in-between the two main-event singles match, which isn't a bad place to be. Can't complain about TV time in the second hour of a hot show. (3/4*)

4 -- World Hvt. champion C.M. PUNK vs. MATT HARDY -- non-title match
WINNER: Hardy via DQ at 17:00. Good TV main event. Hard to follow the Rey-Morrison near-five-star match, but Punk and Hardy had a fundamentally-sound match that held its own in the final segment slot. We assume Hardy will get his conditioning down after getting back in the ring for some more two-segment-length matches. Punk is just so in tune with his character right now. He was born for this role. Taker's appearance one hour and 58 minutes into the show was a bit misleading per the pre-show advertising, but crowd went home happy with Taker putting Punk through the table. Good conclusion to a very good show to keep Taker strong on TV when Punk is expected to find a way to win at the Breaking Point PPV. (**3/4)

Arcademan:
Ring of Honor Results: 9-7-09

Results courtesy of ProWrestling.net (direct link to Mathieson's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

Jay and Mark Briscoe defeated Kenny King and Rhett Titus in 12:30. King and Titus came out with two random girls. Nice. No handshake as the Briscoes jumped King and Titus. The Briscoes controlled the offense early, getting a nearfall with an STO from Mark and top rope senton from Jay. King made a hot tag to Titus while Mark was trying a sunset flip and Titus got a nearfall with a double-team lungblower.

A chant of "Man Up" broke out. Titus and King continued on the offense while somebody in the audience laughed like a douchebag and drew a "Shut the f--- up" chant. Mark tried to tag out, but Titus pulled Jay off the apron and King hit an Elijah Express.

Mark finally tagged out to Jay, who hit about four clotheslines and then a dropkick, and followed that up with a sick spinebuster. King tagged out to Titus, who hit a top rope X-Factor for a nearfall, then tagged in King and set up Jay for the powerbomb/blockbuster combo, but Jay reversed it into a huracanrana.

The Briscoes tried some double team work on King, but he ducked everything up until twin superkicks, followed by a Doomsday Device for the pin. Post match, the American Wolves came out and Davey Richards told them that they should cherish these moments, because they'll just cripple them again. Eddie Edwards took the mic and started to say that the hunt was on, but Kevin Steen and El Generico came out and the two babyface teams beat up the Wolves, then had a three-way standoff.

Joe's Judgment: Not a great match. It was nice seeing the Briscoes back, but Hogewood and Prazak, as well as the crowd, seemed disinterested and it really took me out of the match. King was pretty good though, and I am looking forward to seeing the ROH tag division heat up.

2. Eddie Kingston defeated Sal Rinauro in 0:20. Rinauro kneeled down and prayed before the match started, then stood up, got punched in the face, and ate a Backfist to the Future for the pin.

Joe's Judgment: I love watching Kingston beat people up. Nice storyline progression, and I love Rinauro taking Hero's place playing off of him getting punched out twice in five minutes. Kingston vs. Hero is signed for Glory By Honor VIII, and I can't wait.

3. Nigel McGuinness defeated Aaron Scott in 6:20. Scott didn't get an entrance, but he did get some nearfalls. Nigel worked exclusively on the mat for most of the match, which was as close to a squash as a mat wrestling match can be. In the finish, Scott ducked a Jawbreaker Lariat, but Nigel connected with a DDT for the pin.

After the match, he applied the London Dungeon and Scott tapped out, even though the match was over.

Joe's Judgment: I'm glad Nigel signed with the WWE so he can heal his arms. It's kind of sad to see him unable to do much beyond the mat wrestling and the occasional DDT or Tower of London.

4. Jerry Lynn defeated Tyler Black in 16:45. Holds and counter holds from both wrestlers for the first five or so minutes. Lynn worked on Black's arm with various armbars. Black fought out and hit a dropkick for a nearfall. Black got another nearfall after a back body drop.

At 8:00, Lynn tried an O'Connor Roll, but Black held the ropes. They both tried crossbodies and ran into each other. Nigel McGuinness came down the ramp as Lynn got a nearfall with a sunset flip. Black tried a quebrada, but Lynn moved, so Black hit a standing shooting star press. Black kicked Lynn in the head and tried a Paroxysm, but Lynn floated over into an inverted DDT for a nearfall.

They exchanged nearfalls, and then Black hit a Pele kick and tried the running forearm in the corner. Lynn backdropped him to ringside and then hit a springboard moonsault as Nigel applauded. Lynn brought the action back inside and legdropped the back of Black's neck.

Black went for the buckle bomb, but Lynn countered into a huracanrana sending Black into the turnbuckles. He hit a top rope sunset flip and then a TKO for a nearfall, then went for the cradle piledriver, but Black countered into a TKO of his own for another nearfall. He got Lynn up and hit a Paroxysm for yet another nearfall, then hit the buckle bomb and superkick and covered, but Nigel put Lynn's foot on the ropes. Black pointed to Nigel who denied doing anything. Black went for God's Last Gift, but Lynn countered into a small package for the pin.

Joe's Judgment: Not the best of main events. The match was slow paced and there were too many nearfalls that couldn't be taken seriously. Overall, it just felt disjointed and wasn't a great way to close the show. Nigel's interaction was fairly well done, but I'm not sure what his motivation was, because it was a face vs. face match and he had never given any indication that he would rather see Lynn win than Black.

Arcademan:
WWE RAW Results: 9-7-09

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). or check my blog at TOKYOPOP for complete results since posts above 10k characters don't fly around here...

1 -- CHRIS JERICHO vs. MVP
WINNER: MVP at 11:02. Another great finish to a match that was stalling around 9:00. Jericho is so great at putting together a flurry at the end leading to the finish. Jericho teasing the Walls of Jericho and MVP escaping really built up the crowd. Related to building up the PPV, there was zero emphasis on the submission aspect of their match at Breaking Point and MVP doesn't even have a submission hold in his arsenal. I don't even know why they created a Submissions PPV when there is little emphasis on submissions in WWE. (**1/4)

2 -- EVAN BOURNE vs. CHAVO GUERRERO
WINNER: Evan Bourne at 4:20. Bourne's credibility is completely shot, although audiences are just having so much fun with Bourne and Hornswoggle that they're just so willing to look past the idea that Bourne needed four minutes to win a match that would have taken Hornswoggle one minute. (1/2*)

3 -- JOHN CENA vs. CODY RHODES
WINNER: Cena via DQ at 10:35. Expected finish to build up Cena vs. Orton for the PPV and save Cody from taking a "Miz" clean loss to Cena. Cody was given a lot of offense and credibility by avoiding Cena's typical offensive attack, similar to Cody and Ted avoiding DX's usual routine at Summerslam. Cody is being built like a star more than DiBiase right now. (**1/2)

4 -- BIG SHOW vs. SANTINO -- Bodyslam challenge
WINNER: Big Show at 0:16. (n/a)

5 -- BIG SHOW vs. MARK HENRY -- Bodyslam challenge
WINNER: I liked last week's match. I didn't like this week's. This dragged unmercifully. More signs pointing to Jericho and Show retaining on Sunday with the challengers looking strong on TV. (n/a)

6 -- WWE champion RANDY ORTON & CHRIS MASTERS vs. DX (SHAWN MICHAELS & TRIPLE H)
WINNERS: DX at 14:10. WWE's backwards booking on display trying to make the storylines fit the PPV concept instead of letting the storylines naturally flow into the PPV. Tag match was okay with Masters just there to bump around for DX, but not add much. (**)

Arcademan:
ECW on SciFi Results: 9-8-09

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- PAUL BURCHILL (w/Katie Lea) vs. THE HURRICANE

Hurricane landed an early European Uppercut as Striker debated whether Hurricane is or is not Gregory Helms to enhance the mystique of the character. He suggested Hurricane could have a twin named Sydney Helms. Yeah, that's it. Hurricane applied an abdominal stretch into an octopus stretch that Burchill escaped before nailing a clothesline to begin an offensive attack. Hurricane was in jeopardy near the ropes at 4:00, prompting some kids to scream. Definitely a good sign for the character that the kids are buying into him being in jeopardy. Action moved to the floor and Burchill dropped Hurricane hard onto the mat. Both men down, ref counting, let's grab a break.

Back from break, Burchill was in control, but he missed with a running shoulder tackle in the corner. Hurricane then went up top and nailed a high cross-body block, but Burchill escaped a pin attempt. Action moved up top again where Burchill elbowed Hurricane into position for a top rope powerslam. Striker referenced Bam Bam Bigelow with the Bam Bam Slam. Nice reference. Great spot. Hurricane kicked out at two, though. Hurricane then blocked another corner charge and nailed a Hurricane-rana for a two count. Burchill sold it well. Katie then became involved, but Hurricane made it back-fire by ramming Burchill into Katie to bump her off the apron. Hurricane then followed up with the Eye of the Hurricane for the pin and the win to the delight of the audience.

WINNER: Hurricane in 12:00. Another very nice TV match. ECW is really letting their mid-card wrestlers do their thing in the ring. It's very refreshing when the Raw brand doesn't even have a mid-card. One of Burchill's best performances I've seen in his WWE career. Helms looks good since making another return from injury. (**1/2)

2 -- GOLDUST & YOSHI TATSU vs. SHEAMUS & SHELTON BENJAMIN

Shelton and Goldust started things off, then Sheamus came in and picked up his feud against Goldust. Announcers loosely talked about the main event of Sheamus vs. Goldust last week, which needed more emphasis than just mid-match chatter after they delivered a special match. Shelton and Yoshi battled, then Yoshi crawled to Goldust in the corner for a tag, but Shelton ran around the ring and yanked Goldust down to the floor. Sheamus and Shelton then resumed their attack on Yoshi. Yoshi suddenly blasted Sheamus with a kick strike and Goldust came in to work on Sheamus with a flurry of offense. Sheamus let Goldust wear himself out, then Sheamus blasted him in the corner with a kick to the face. Shelton blind-tagged himself into the match, then made the cover for the win.

WINNERS: Shelton & Sheamus in 5:00. Apparently this was the transition from Sheamus to Goldust to Sheamus vs. Shelton. Perhaps we'll finally get a clear character definition for Shelton as a babyface opposing the strong heel Sheamus. Match was just there to transition to the post-match brawl. (*)

3 -- ZACK RYDER vs. RORY FARGO

Ryder took control early on and trash-talked to his "bro" Rory. Ryder then slingshot Rory into the second turnbuckle throat-first. Ryder followed with the Zack Attack for the pin and the win. Woo woo woo.

WINNER: Ryder in 2:00. Nice use of the squash match formula to enhance Ryder. He just needed to get his hand raised on ECW TV after a series of losses. (n/a)

4 -- ECW champ CHRISTIAN & TOMMY DREAMER vs. KOZLOV & EZEKIEL JACKSON (w/William Regal)

Bell sounded and the vocal minority started an "E-C-Dub" chant for Dreamer. Christian stared off against Kozlov and the fans picked up the chant again. Christian used his speed to avoid Kozlov early on. Kozlov staggered backwards after taking a slap, then he slowly walked over to Jackson for him to get a piece. Dreamer said he wanted in, so Dreamer entered. Regal just kept on smiling. Zeke ran over Dreamer early, but Dreamer lured him into a trap to fall to the apron. Christian quickly tagged in, then wanted a plancha on the outside, but Jackson caught him mid-air. No problem. Dreamer splashed Christian onto Jackson to knock everyone down. Christian and Dreamer then stood tall going to break. Nice opening.

Back from break, Dreamer was in control working over Zeke. Jackson then smacked Dreamer in the face and sold shock having to take so much offense from Dreamer. Kozlov and Jackson then began exchanging tags working over Dreamer. At 9:00, Kozlov took Dreamer up top, but Dreamer blocked and kicked Kozlov in the face. He followed with a clothesline from the second rope that generated a reaction from the crowd. Christian then hot-tagged in and went wild on Kozlov, who stood his ground like a brick wall. Christian even tried a missile dropkick from the second rope. He needed to go all the way up to the top rope to finally get Kozlov off his feet with a dropkick. Christian then fought out of the heel corner before Kozlov dropped him with a hard headbutt to the chest for a close nearfall.

Heels began working over Christian at the top of the hour. Love the reaction from Regal just turning his head and slyly watching Jackson stretch Christian with a modified Camel clutch. Regal could teach a class on facial expressions. Heels continued to work on Christian, who elbowed out of a submission before taking a Scott Hall fallaway slam from Kozlov for a two count. Jackson back in. Regal tried to ignore the "Let's go Christian" chants from the outside by staring a hole into Christian's soul. Announcers told the audience not to be fooled by the witticisms of Christian calling his opponents life partners because inside the soul of the man is a cagefighter. Christian showed his UFC skill escaping Jackson before making a tag to Dreamer.

Dreamer blasted Jackson with a running knee smash before stalking him for a running bulldog. Dreamer lost control, but then countered a lift-up slam into a fallaway neckbreaker. Dreamer then went up top and hit a frog splash that made time stand still. Kozlov broke up a pin, then Christian took him through the ropes to the floor. Regal distracted Dreamer just enough during the chaos to take Dreamer's eye off the ball, then Jackson blasted Dreamer with his uranage finisher for the pin and the win.

WINNERS: Jackson & Kozlov in 16:00. Good tag match leading to the PPV. Kozlov and Jackson have a certain "it" factor to their tag team that makes them work well. Perhaps part of that is standing next to William Regal, who is just so great telling a story with his facial expressions. Dreamer was solid in the match and Christian looked like a star, as he should as the brand's champion. Regal stood going into the PPV, so Even Steven booking says Christian picks up another win on Sunday. Strong overall conclusion to a strong show. (**1/2)

Arcademan:
TNA Impact! Results: 9-10-09

Results courtesy of ProWrestling.net (direct link to Powell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1. The British Invasion defeated Team 3D, Beer Money, Scott Steiner and Booker T in a non-title gauntlet match. The match was joined in progress to start the show. Apparently, the wrestlers came out in intervals, as Booker T and James Storm hadn't come out yet. The announcers noted that a pinfall couldn't be made until all eight men were in the ring.

Booker came out about 90 seconds into the match. Storm eventually was the last man out. He wore a football helmet with beer bottles on it. A shot aired of Kurt Angle watching the match intently on a backstage monitor. Late in the match, Team 3D hit their finisher on Steiner. Booker broke up Devon's pin attempt, but Brutus Magnus covered Steiner and scored the win. Angle was shocked by the finish backstage because the Main Event Mafia and World Elite had been on good terms...

Powell's POV: An interesting way to open the show. The gauntlet stipulation felt a little pointless, though, since they could have just done a four-way match and joined it in progress. They wanted to get the show off to a hot start by joining the match in progress, but for the first time in the history of TNA the announcers were too subdued.

2. Taylor Wilde and Sarita defeated Alissa Flash and Daffney in 5:00 in a tag team tournament match. There was a red tarp covering something at ringside. The announcers pointed it out, but said they didn't know what was underneath. After some solid back and forth action, Sarita pinned Flash...

Powell's POV: Taylor and Sarita will face Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed in the next round. It would have been really interesting to see Flash and Daffney advance since Flash also plays the Saeed character. They could be building up a heel of a rivalry between Flash and Sarita, but Sarita gets all the wins in their matches. Too bad. The fans seem to dig Flash more than Sarita at this point.

3. D'Angelo Dinero pinned Jay Lethal in 5:20. The Guns didn't last long on commentary, as Tenay and Taz quickly took over. Lethal had some offense, but Dinero hit the DDE (D'Angelo Dinero Express) for the clean pin...

Powell's POV: The DDE is the move formerly known as the Elijah Express in WWE.

4. Velvet Sky and Angelina Love defeated Roxxi and Madison Rayne. The Guns were on commentary again. Sabin said he's happy he brought the tissue box because he usually needs it when the Beautiful People are finished with their entrance. They joked about how inappropriate it is. Taz said the Guns are like "Madden and Michaels." Funny all around.

Tenay ran through Roxxi's history and recalled when she had her head shaved. Taz said she has a butcher boy haircut. Late in the match, Roxxi hit the Voodoo Drop for a good near fall. However, Love came back and pinned Rayne while holding the tights. The digitized Rayne's *** while it was exposed. Damn modern technology...

Powell's POV: I have a soft spot for Roxxi because she agreed to shave her head despite the fact that she was a cute girl with long hair. Unfortunately, her look in this match left something to be desired and it has nothing to do with her hair. The outfit she wore just looked minor league. She can and has done better. That said, she has some impressive offense. By the way, TNA should replay the match finishes. I don't think they've replayed one yet tonight.

5. Abyss pinned Dr. Stevie in 1:30. Abyss came out to start the match only to be attacked from behind by Stevie. Abyss came back and hit the Black Hole Slam for the win. After the match, Nash came out and attacked Abyss from behind. Stevie and Nash doubled up on Abyss until Foley ran in for the save...

6. Cody Deaner defeated Tara in 2:45. One of the Guns said Deaner has a child molester mustache. Totally inappropriate, but so damn funny. Deaner came out wearing headgear, Zubaz, and had duct tape covering his gloves. After Tara roughed up Deaner, Kong came out and attacked her from behind. The ref turned around to see Tara knocked out, so he gave the win to Deaner... 

Powell's POV: They actually had Tara cover the Tapout logo that was all over her gear. This was horrible. As if Deaner didn't look low budget and silly enough, Tara looked silly with the logo taped over. By the way, what happened to the referees being empowered and not tolerating outside interference? Oh, wait, this was an MMA match, so I guess it's different. Whatever. I'm so happy I watched football tonight.

7. A.J. Styles and Daniels beat Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe (w/Matt Morgan) in 6:40. Late in the match, Morgan stood up at ringside and held up his chair for Angle. Kurt tried to run Styles into the chair, but Styles reversed it and ran Angle into the chair and then pinned him.

After the match, Morgan entered the ring and acted like he didn't know what happened. Kurt slapped him. Morgan snapped and hit Angle with the Hellevator...

Before we could digest the payoff they've been building up to for weeks, they went backstage to give us more Eric Young. He was ordering the rest of the World Elite to bring Homicide to the ring. He said the blood would be on Hernandez's hands...

Powell's POV: Make it stop! I can't believe they would jump so abruptly from the big angle with Morgan and Angle to more of the World Elite.

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