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Arcademan:
ECW on SyFy Results: 9-22-09

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

1. Yoshi Tatsu defeated Paul Burchill (with Katie Lea) in 6:28. Burchill bumped a lot early and Yoshi a couple of nearfalls. Burchill hit a Fisherman’s suplex from the top rope. Burchill hit a sick Samoan drop for a long two count. Striker made a comment about Yoshi’s popularity that seemed to have been taped after the original broadcast.

Yoshi hit a series of kicks, a rolling snapmare, and a top rope spinning heel kick for a two count. Both men fought each other back up to the top. Burchill pushed Yoshi off and hit a flying knee drop for a two count. Yoshi scored the win after his weak finisher kick...

Twill’s Two Cents: Nice follow up win for Yoshi, but there was not one mention of Yoshi beating Zack Ryder last week, so that was a dropping of the ball. Good match here with conflicting styles working well together.

2. Ezekiel Jackson and Vladimir Kozlov (with William Regal) defeated two jobbers in Zeke won the squash match with his version of the Rock Bottom. Kozlov hit his finisher after the match...
Twill’s Two Cents: This was an obvious way to get Zeke and Kozlov ready for an ECW Tag Team shot. Oh wait. They can be impressive, but are they really getting over when it counts?

3. Christian defeated Zack Ryder to retain the ECW Championship. Christian was having his way with Ryder on the floor, but Ryder rammed Christian into the post. In the ring, Christian was standing on the top, but Ryder ankle swept him heading into commercial...

Back from commercial, Ryder hit a huge backdrop for a two count. Christian finished a long Irish whip sequence with a standing dropkick. Ryder was able to lure Christian to the apron. He pushed him from the apron into the ring steps. Ryder locked in a leg scissors around the ribs of Christian in the center of the ring.

Ryder worked on the lower back and ribs of Christian. He locked in the leg scissors again. Ryder went to the top rope and mistimed his jump, allowing Christian to surprise Ryder with a flapjack. Christian scored a nearfall with a reverse DDT.

Christian tried a springboard sunset flip, but Ryder sat forward and nearly pinned him. Striker did a nice job saying “Shades of Wembley Stadium,” referring of course to Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith. Ryder hit the leg lariat for a two and there were several good nearfalls late in the match. Christian hit the Killswitch to win the match...

William Regal’s music hit and he came out to the ring. Christian had a sick cut on his right ribcage. Regal called the previous match a farce and said the slate was wiped clean. He said he would be the next ECW Champion. Christian attacked him. Regal retreated to the back as Christian celebrated with the belt...

Twill’s Two Cents: I really enjoyed the match between Christian and Ryder and they really turned it up in the last few minutes. Although I am a William Regal fan, I was not happy with how they quickly threw Ryder aside after the loss to go right back to Christian vs. Regal. I hope Ryder has more to say about this next week and he is not done at the top of the ECW card.

Arcademan:
WWE Superstars Results: 9-24-09

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

1 -- CHRIS MASTERS vs. PRIMO COLON

Back-and-forth early on, then Masters blasted Carlito with a left-arm lariat. Nice piece of sound sweetening on the contact ala the Dallas Mavericks's American Airlines Center on free throws to enhance Masters's move. Masters then went to work on Primo with a methodical attack before airballing on a leg drop. Primo made his comeback, but Masters reversed a whip to the ropes and sent Primo crashing into the turnbuckles. Masters called for the Masterlock, but Carlito kicked him in the gut and landed a kneelift before landing a series of left arm lariats that led to a spinning elbow smash taking Masters off his feet. Primo followed with a missile dropkick for a two count only. They went to the finishing sequence where Masters attempted the Masterlock after blocking a cross body splash, but Carlito slipped into a victory roll for the quick pin and the win. Carlito was shocked he won the match post-match while Masters had his usual look of frustration losing yet another match.

WINNER: Primo in 6:00. Very nice finishing sequence. Fluid and told a good story of Masters being just a step slow compared to his faster opponents on WWE TV. Neither man seems to be going anywhere overall, but this was good. (**)

2 -- WILLIAM REGAL (w/Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson) vs. GOLDUST

Goldust started with the early advantage working Regal's left arm, then Regal went to work on Goldy's arm. Goldust made a comeback a minute later, then out of nowhere, Jackson interfered against Goldust and the ref caught it for a DQ.

Afterward, Regal sneered at Goldust and his henchmen laid him out. Regal then put Goldust in the Regal Stretch. Suddenly, ECW babyfaces stormed the ring including ECW champ Christian, Yoshi Tatsu, and Tommy Dreamer. After a brief battle, Goldust finally cleared the Roundtable out of the ring. Christian, Yoshi, Dreamer, and Goldust stood tall in the ring as Regal's group retreated on the floor.

WINNER: Goldust via DQ in 4:00. I liked this on all fronts. Regal vs. Goldust didn't need a finish here, as there's a program to be had on ECW TV that could be similar to Goldust vs. Sheamus. Also, it was good to see Yoshi included with the big kids to give him a little rub being in the same camera shot as the brand's champion. This was good. (*1/4)

3 -- Women's champion MICHELLE McCOOL & LAYLA vs. MELINA & MARIA

McCool and Melina picked up their feud to start, then Maria tagged in and was cheap-shotted from behind, leading to McCool and Layla working over Dolph's gal pal. Maria teased a hot tag, but then walked into a big boot to the jaw from McCool behind the ref's back. Layla then made the easy cover on Maria for the pin and the win. Afterward, McCool and Layla celebrated while Maria motioned she didn't want any of Melina's sympathy.

WINNERS: McCool & Layla in 3:00. Standard divas match. Storyline reinforcement was good, though. (*)

4 -- MATT HARDY vs. KANE

Kane was quickly in control as Grisham talked about Hardy's World Title/main event aspirations. No mentions of Jeff Hardy, who kind of has that "Jeff who?" label on WWE TV now. Plausible explanation is they don't want to draw attention to Jeff and take away from the remaining Hardy on the roster. Matt was in control going to the break.

Back from break, Kane was on the attack going to work on Matt with hard stomps and kicks. Hardy made a comeback at 10:00 and hit a top rope bulldog for a two count. Crowd interest escalating to its peak as the wrestlers are picking up the pace. Nice match developing here as Kane elbowed out of the side effect and tried a powerslam, but Hardy hit a DDT instead. The action moved to the corner where Hardy landed successive right hands, but Kane put up his fists to block. Kane then crotched Hardy across the top rope. Ref warned him. Kane then yanked him up in the air and back down across the top rope crotch-first a second time and the ref called for a DQ. That might be a first.

WINNER: Hardy via DQ in 12:00. Okay singles match. Kane is limited on what he can do in the ring, but he's still making a good living with his recognizable character and memorable traits that WWE has reinforced over the years. Hardy was fine, but he's still getting his bearings back in the ring. Unsatisfying end to the show after the acceptable DQ in the other top singles match of the show between Regal and Goldust. The DQ in the ECW match seemed to have a purpose, whereas this seemed like WWE trying to protect two wrestlers on the mid-card. (*3/4)

Arcademan:
TNA Impact! Results: 9-24-09

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

1. Suicide defeated D'Angelo Dinero in a street fight. Suicide made his entrance on the stage only to be attacked from behind by Dinero. D'Angelo sold the pay-per-view match by coming out with his ribs taped. Suicide went right after the ribs by striking them with a kendo stick.

They fought inside the ring where weapons were scattered. Dinero picked up a cane and struck Suicide with it, then strutted while using the cane. Nice. They traded offense and used a variety of weapons, including a hockey stick, crutch, and trash cans. At 4:45, Suicide went for a springboard move, but Dinero ran, leapt off the chair, and speared Suicide in mid-air. Great move that scored a big pop. In the end, Suicide hit his finisher on a trash can and scored the clean pin...

Powell's POV: A good brawl. These two are working so hard, but the creative team never bothered to establish a purpose. They've hinted that there's a history between the two wrestlers, but they never bothered to tell the story. As such, the fans just sit back and cheer the moves more than one wrestler or another. Again, though, the wrestlers worked their asses off.

2. Rhino fought Brother Devon to a double countout in 1:15. Rhino was introduced first and ran to the ring, only to be attacked by Devon. Wait, didn't something similar happen before the last match? The two wrestlers rolled inside the ring briefly and then fought at ringside until the referee counted them out. Devon was busted open.

Security ran out to pull them apart. Brother Ray joined them. After security cleared out, Ray stood between both bloody wrestlers and asked why they were fighting given their history together. He continued to talk without a mic while the camera mics picked up his comments. Rhino and Devon shook hands. Ray said the feud was over. Suddenly, Rhino gored Ray and left him lying. "That SOB," Taz said. "You gotta be kidding me"...

Powell's POV: It's good to see Taz pick sides. It's a heated feud between some of his longtime colleagues, so he can help get Rhino over by expressing his frustration and anger over Rhino's actions.

3. Sarita and Taylor Wilde defeated Tara and ODB to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Title in 3:45. Tenay and Taz reminded viewers to double check their onscreen guides to insure it was properly set to record the show. Two minutes into the match, Awesome Kong came to ringside. Tara went right after Kong and they fought their way to the back.

ODB fought off the champs for a bit, but they hit her with the springboard dropkick into the suplex move they used at the pay-per-view to beat her. Tara returned to the ring afterward. ODB shoved Tara and they bickered briefly until the show went to commercial...

Powell's POV: ODB had her title stolen by her boyfriend and she lost on the first show since she officially won the TNA Knockouts Title. Even Rey Mysterio is sitting at home saying, "Damn, that's a bad title reign." By the way, bonus points to Tenay for calling out Taz for making dated references. First, he mentioned Phil Espisito when hockey came up, and he referred to ODB's panties as bloomers in this match. Tenay asked if Civil War references were coming up next.

4. Samoa Joe defeated Homicide and Daniels in 6:10. Joe debuted a new look. It's like boxing shorts with a touch of gladiator. All three wrestlers went to ringside and Homicide asked a fan (Vince Russo) for a chair. The referee stopped Homicide from using it. Late in the match, Homicide hit a neckbreaker on Joe and then gloated. Joe stood up, suplexed Homicide, and applied the Kokina Clutch for the win...

Powell's POV: Wow, a Russo cameo. That's as much as I want to see of him on camera going forward. The presentation of this match was lousy. If you're going to give away title matches on television then you should at least hype them and make them seem meaningful. There's no reason this match couldn't have been a main event one week. Instead, it just came out of nowhere and they didn't even bother to give replays of the finish.

5. Hernandez and Matt Morgan defeated Kurt Angle and Eric Young in 2:25. Sheik Abdul Bashir sat in on commentary while Kiyoshi stood behind him. Bashir mentioned something about the Mexican who mows his lawn on commentary. Hernandez showed off his strength early by picking up Kurt and tossing him. In the end, Morgan hit the Carbon Footprint on Young and scored the pin while angle watched from ringside.

Daivari wasn't happy with Angle. The British Invasion came out and stood on the entrance ramp to block Angle's path. Booker T and Scott Steiner came out and stood on the stage. The Invasion split to allow Angle to walk by. He did the Mafia hand sign in their faces as he walked by...

Powell's POV: Fun, short match. The babyfaces were both over. The only question I have is if Angle is wrestling Morgan at the pay-per-view, then why was all the focus placed on the bickering between the Mafia and World Elite?

6. Bobby Lahsley beat Jethro Holliday in 1:25. Lashley dominated the match and finished off Holliday with a submission hold...

Powell's POV: Poor hype throughout the show for this match. I honestly forgot about it. It's just a shame that they can't find anything for Holliday in TNA. He's a talented guy who they just won't get behind. His only offense in this match was a boot to the face.

7. Scott Steiner and Booker T (w/Sharmell) defeated Mick Foley and Abyss to retain the TNA Tag Titles in 2:45. Foley brought the video tape to ringside and left it with the announcers. Tenay announced Nash vs. Stevie, and an X Division ladder match with the winner becoming No. 1 contender for next week.

The fans were behind Foley and Abyss. Foley tagged in and DDT'd Abyss, which received no reaction from the fans. The heels finished off Abyss for the win. After the match, Foley blamed Abyss for ruining the caricature. Foley slammed the videotape over his head. He continued to beat him down and talk to him over the mic at the same time.

Jeremy Borash came out and asked what Foley was doing. Foley clamed down and started to leave with Borash, but stopped and grabbed his barbwire baseball bat off the table. Foley returned to the ring and struck the already blood-soaked Abyss with the bat several times. Foley left the ring and said, "Now he's learned his lesson." Blood was pouring from Abyss's head as he cried out, "Why?" to close the show...

Powell's POV: I get that Foley is deranged and his character is big on the light comedy, but the whole caricature thing was just ridiculous. The fans didn't even know how to respond because they clearly like Foley more than Abyss at this point. I wish the roles were reversed and Foley was the babyface and Abyss was back in monster mode.

Arcademan:
WWE Smackdown Results: 9-25-09

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

1- JOHN MORRISON & FINLAY vs. MIKE KNOX & DOLPH ZIGGLER

Big shoulder tackle from Finlay, as he was pretty much hitting anything that moved (save for his partner and referee John Cone- so I guess only two guys). Then Knox capitalized on the over-aggressiveness of the Irishman. Ziggler tagged in and applied a unique rear chin-lock. He settled in that move as they went to break 1:30 into the match.

This time, it was Knox with Finlay in the chin-lock. Those poor fans there live. Jaw-buster allowed Finlay to get out of it, but Knox clotheslined him back down. Good teamwork thus far from the heels. Like every tag match over five minutes in WWE in the last two years (at least), the heels worked to stop Finlay’s many attempts at a tag. Another chin-lock from Knox. JR once again talked about “buying stock” in Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler kept Finlay grounded, but took a risk in a splash in the corner that did not pay off. Ziggler and Finlay both made tags. Morrison flew around the ring and hit a hurricanrana on Knox. Leg lariat followed, then a standing shooting-star press for two. Bicycle kick by Knox out of the corner on the I.C. Champ. He knocked Finlay off the apron, but that allowed Morrison to recover and land the Flying Chuck kick, and the pin was broken up by Ziggler. Cross-body by Knox, but Morrison ducked and Knox landed on his partner. Finlay with the shillelagh shot, then Morrison hit his finisher on Knox for the win.

WINNERS: Morrison and Finlay, at 9:20. Way too formula. I still don’t get the booking of Finlay, a face, to constantly use a foreign object.

2- SLAM MASTER J vs. KANE

Saw this one coming a mile away. J started off with some dropkicks, then Kane followed with a corner clothesline and side slam. For those that didn’t hear on Superstars last night, Kane has yet to be pinned or submitted since coming over to Smackdown. And as I typed that, Kane finished off the former Jesse with a chokeslam.

WINNER: Kane, at :45.

3- THE BIG SHOW vs. BATISTA

Jericho walked to the ring with Show. Crowd chanted for Batista as soon as the bell rang. Show displayed his power by shrugging Batista off on a collar-and-elbow tie-up. He shoved him off harder this time, and Batista fell to the mat. Batista left his feet for a shoulderblock, but Batista himself ended up on the mat with little effect on Show. Hard slap to the chest by Show in the corner. He followed it up with one more in another corner. Jericho shouted some play-by-play at the fans from ringside. Batista’s right hands had little effect, but Show’s clothesline did. Shot to the ribs by Show. Batista again fired back with rights, and then dodged a big boot try by Show. Show ended up crotched on the top rope, and Batista shoved him to the floor. They went to break about 3:30 into the contest.

You could tell Jericho was worried out of break, because he had his jacket off. Apparently, he got involved during the break. Batista with a weak jaw-breaker to get out of a chin-lock, but then he jumped right into a bear-hug. It eventually got down to a rear waist-lock by Show. Leg-drop from an inverted DDT position by Show for a two-count. Another waist-lock. Batsita elbowed out of it and got his boots up on a corner charge. Show was able to slam him down though. To the middle rope for Show, but he missed the splash. Show also missed a running (and I use that term loosely) splash in the corner that Batista followed up with a spear. He tried a Batista Bomb, but really, who is he kidding? Show went for a chokeslam but couldn’t get it. Batista with a single-leg take-down, then an ankle-lock(!). Before Show could tap, Jericho interfered for the DQ.

WINNER: Batista, via DQ, at 11:02. Way too long for these two. But it was watchable. Batista ended up hooking the ankle-lock on Jericho, who tapped to the move.

4- JTG vs. DAVID HART SMITH

JTG came out firing, getting to Smith before he knew what hit him. Smith quickly re-grouped and was on offense. He really put the boots to his opponent in the ropes, then began to work the back. Smith lowered his shoulder into the gut of JTG. JTG fought his way out of the corner though and made his comeback. He got the crowd into it and hit a flying legdrop off the top, but Natalya put Smith’s leg on the bottom rope on the pin attempt. That brought Eve over for a brawl. Natalya found solace inside the ring while Tyson Kidd cheapshotted JTG. Back suplex variation from Smith for the win.

WINNER: Smith, at 2:49. This feud went from entertaining and interesting to very dull quite quickly. Seeing them in the ring together every week has watered things down.

5- C.M. PUNK vs. THE UNDERTAKER

They’ve really drawn this segment out. Punk’s entrance, videos, a commercial, Taker’s long entrance, and the match will likely start nearly 15 minutes after the match set-up began. Taker cornered Punk, and Punk could not escape the Dead Man’s grasp. Punk with some body shots in the corner, and numerous kicks to the legs of Taker. Taker just grabbed the champ by the throat and threw him out of the ring. 1:10 into the match, they went to the final break of the show.

Punk was in control out of break, with a side-headlock on Taker. Shoulder knock-down by Taker though, and he once again easily tossed Punk over the top and to the outside Punk ran away from Taker outside the ring, so JR could get his “nowhere to run in Hell in a Cell” comment in. Taker out-smarted Punk as the champ tried to catch Taker coming back into the ring. Couple elbow smashes by Taker, then he dropped his leg over the throat of Punk with C.M. draped over the apron. The fight continued on the outside until Taker finally (mercifully?) threw Punk back in. Taker worked over Punk’s left arm and decided to go Old School. But Punk had other ideas and he stopped Taker on the top rope. Punk tried a suplex off the top, to no avail, as Taker kept up with the punches and knocked the champ off. Punk tried again and this time the suplex was successful. Pin, after Punk recovered, got two. Punk locked in a head-scissors on Taker as Taker tried to push away the hands of Undertaker, trying to get himself out of the hold. He eventually did and got Punk in a choke for a possible chokeslam. But Punk struck the legs of Taker to break it. Taker laid in the punches and clotheslined Punk in the corner. Snake Eyes followed up by the big boot. Only a two count there. Another chokeslam attempt, but Punk kicked Taker right in the temple. But Taker surprised him with Hell’s Gate. Punk got his feet on the ropes and fled to ringside to grab his title belt. Taker sensed his opponent was intending to flee, so he went out to stop him. He threw the championship in the ring and went to powerbomb Taker on the announce table. Punk got down off of Taker’s shoulders and scurried into the ring to win by count-out.

WINNER: Punk, at 11:58. I’m not sure the purpose of this match. They couldn’t further build the feud without giving away a one-on-one match?

Arcademan:
Ring of Honor Results: 9-28-09

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

1. Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black defeated Rhett Titus and Kenny King in 13:20. Nothing happened for a couple minutes. Black and King locked up resulting in some sort of a botch. Black finally hit an offensive move five minutes in with a nearfall off a quebrada.

King went on the offensive and proceeded to not do anything exciting. Lynn hit an inverted DDT for a nearfall, but was distracted by Titus. Titus tagged in and pelvic thrusted in Lynn's face. Mike Hogewood was disgusted on commentary. Lynn hit a sort of second rope springboard powerbomb and tagged in Black. Black dominated King with all four of his jumping moves.

Titus tagged in and was hit with an atomic drop, top rope elbow drop from Black, and then a doomsday-style leg drop. Black went for the buckle bomb on King, but he fought out. King and Titus tried their powerbomb/blockbuster combo, but Lynn kicked King in the head. The faces hit stereo dives.

Titus lowbridged Black to ringside while Lynn was on the top rope, allowing King to kick him in the head, and then Titus to get an awesome nearfall with a top rope codebreaker. Black returned, wiping out King with a springboard lariat, and Lynn hit the Cradle Piledriver on Titus for the pin.

Joe's Judgment: The early part of the match sucked. Flat out sucked. It picked up towards the end and became okay, but when a match doesn't get off to a good start, it's hard to really get into it. The crowd was firmly behind King and Titus the whole match, and considering that Philly is Black's "second hometown", that says a lot about how bland the two babyfaces are.

2. Sara Del Rey defeated Nikki Roxx in 3:30. Roxx is Roxxi from TNA. Del Rey hit a nice Capo kick early. Roxx went on offense and hit a nice looking overhead suplex. However, her offense was short lived, as Del Rey picked her up in the Royal Butterfly and dumped her on her head for the pin.

Joe's Judgment: Too short. Both of them can work and while this was fairly impressive in the three and a half minutes they were given, a seven minute match would have impressed more.

3. Sonjay Dutt defeated Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne. Flippy armdrag offense early with lots of dropdowns. Major X-Pac heat for Sugarfoot as he dropkicked Sonjay several times. Sonjay kicked him in the mouth and applied an STF, but Payne got to the ropes. Sonjay hit a stiff-looking springboard dropkick (seriously!) and applied a Camel Clutch for the tapout win.

Joe's Judgment: I never thought I'd say this, but Sonjay is awesome. He's making 2009 Delirious entertaining on his own. He may be a bland face, but he's an awesome dick heel. This match wasn't great, but Sonjay's mannerisms were brilliant. His promo was annoying in a heelish way, not in an annoying way.

4. Brent Albright defeated Claudio Castagnoli (w/Prince Nana, "Dirty" Ernie Osiris) in a Steel Cage match. Claudio tried to escape the cage about thirty seconds in... and then again fifteen seconds later. Strikes and lots of them carried the early portions. Albright tried to get out, but either Nana or Ernie Osiris slammed the door on his face.

Castagnoli slammed Albright's head into the steel cage several times. Albright bled from the forehead. Claudio tried the Alphamari Waterslide, but Albright reversed it into a small package for a nearfall. Albright made his big comeback, sending Claudio into the cage. Claudio bled as well. Albright tried slingshotting him into the cage, but Claudio landed on the second rope and tried a crossbody or something, but was caught in position for an Air Raid Crash.

Claudio avoided the Air Raid Crash and tried to climb out, but Albright caught him and German suplexed him into the ring. Both men made climbs for the exit. Albright gave Claudio an exploder from the top of the cage. Claudio gave him a low blow and called for a chair. He tried to stomp Albright's head in, but Albright moved and gave him a low blow in return, and then stomped his head in with the chair for the pinfall.

Joe's Judgment: Well that got better as it went on. A couple nice spots, but overall the match was just okay. A couple of nice spots, but no real story or anything of that sort. It was basically "hey, let's throw each other into the cage a few times, then suplexes, and finally chair stomps!" Overall the show felt like filler, what with all the filler in the two longest matches.

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