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Arcademan:
WWE Great American Bash PPV Results: 7-20-08

Real-time results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's ongoing report) or to avoid pop-up and view in-ring results, go to Neo-Geo Forum: Official WWE Thread Post #8078 and posts thereafter.

1 -- WWE tag champions THE MIZ & JOHN MORRISON vs. FINLAY & HORNSWOGGLE vs. HAWKINS & RYDER vs. JESSE & FESTUS -- WWE Tag Title match

WINNERS: Hawkins & Ryder in 10:00 to capture the WWE Tag Titles. Fine match. Curious finish. They are determined to push these interchangeable "brothers" at all costs. ECW now has one less reason to tune into the show with Miz & Morrison now just a second-tier tag team without the belts.

2 -- U.S. champion MATT HARDY vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN -- U.S. Title match

WINNER: Shelton in 10:00 to capture the U.S. Title. I like the title change here, as Shelton is capable of so much. Of course, ECW loses yet another title. Every month, they chip, chip, chip away at the ECW brand. As for the bout, a very good mid-card title match. Potentially a stand-out match on the show. (**1/2)

3 -- ECW champion MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas) vs. TOMMY DREAMER (w/Colin Delaney) -- ECW Title match

WINNER: Henry in 5:00 to retain the ECW Title. Colin turning heel was so great. Clearly the top moment of the show thus far. Match wasn't anything to write home about, especially with a lack of post-production available for Adamle, but a fine conclusion to set up storylines on TV. (3/4*)

4 -- SHAWN MICHAELS vs. CHRIS JERICHO

WINNER: Jericho via ref stoppage in 19:00. This one will be heavily-debated, as some people won't like the match conclusion because it wasn't a four-star classic that some people expected. But, this was a darn-good storyline-oriented match on the middle of a PPV card. Two pros telling a real, authentic, believable story. It went a bit long at the end, but they played into the fact that WWE doesn't have a standard rule for when a ref can stop a match due to a wrestler unable to continue. Overall, though, this was the realism we want to see in wrestling and there are only a select few wrestlers who can carry that out in the ring. Michaels and Jericho are at the top of that list. (***)

5 -- MICHELLE McCOOL vs. NATALYA -- Smackdown Women's Title match

WINNER: Michelle McCool in 5:00. Good match. Not particularly memorable given the short amount of time, but a solid effort from both ladies sticking to a basic formula. (*)

6 -- World Hvt. champion C.M. PUNK vs. BATISTA -- World Heavyweight Title match

WINNER: No Contest in 12:00. Well, let's find some positives. Punk had a good showing to hang with Batista and win over the live crowd as the match progressed. Action progressed nicely and they had a good balance of offense throughout. Otherwise, it's tough to take two non-finishes to two of the marquee matches on the PPV. (**1/4)

7 -- JOHN CENA vs. JBL -- New York City parking lot brawl

WINNER: JBL in 17:00. Well, this was pretty terrible backstage in the "video game" portion of the "match." Things were slightly better once they came to ringside and told a simpler story. Memorable for all the wrong reasons here. Just so much wrong with the elements of this storyline, with the obvious questions of why cops weren't there with the men attempting vehicular homicide and just plain old murder. Over-done to seemingly promote WWE's films division. (n/a)

8 -- WWE champion TRIPLE H vs. EDGE -- WWE Title match

WINNER: Hunter in 17:00 to retain the WWE Title. Well, the finish sent the fans home happy, but three non-clean or non-traditional finishes to three of the marquee matches on the show was disappointing when WWE had a good streak of relatively clean finishes on their recent PPVs. Match was pretty much in first gear for most of the time, with flashes of excitement to keep the crowd interested. Fine, but not memorable main event to cap off a bridge PPV to Summerslam. (***)

Arcademan:
WWE RAW Results: 7-21-08

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only (since they did a lot of jawwing during the first half of the show)

1 -- LANCE CADE vs. PAUL LONDON

Cade won this on pretty quickly with a hard shoulder tackle to work over the shoulder before landing a sit-down Rock Bottom for the easy pin.

WINNER: Cade in 3:00. Not much here. Crowd was into it early, but the outcome was inevitable. Hopefully it leads to something for London after losing a series of squashes. (3/4*)

Post-match: Cade took the mic and said that if that wasn't enough to bring out Michaels, then maybe this will. He brought out Chris Jericho to take a bow for ending Michaels's career last night.

2 -- KELLY KELLY vs. BETH PHOENIX

Bell sounded and Beth bullied Kelly into the corner with a shove to the chest. Kelly tried to use her quickness with a leg sweep and short dropkick before attempting a roll-up in the corner. Beth blocked, however, and took Kelly in the air for a running slam across the way. Beth slapped on a mat hold as the fans tried to rally behind Kelly. Kelly made a nice comeback and countered the double chicken wing stretch into a roll-up, but Beth rolled through into a wheel barrow implant buster for the decisive pin.

WINNER: Beth in 3:00. Actually, this was a good divas match. Kelly showed good offense and Beth was able to show off her power offense in a decisive win after Kelly put up a competitive fight. Nicely done. (*)

3 -- JBL & World tag champions CODY RHODES & TED DIBIASE, JR. vs. JOHN CENA & CRYME TYME (J.T.G & SHAD GASPAR)

Cena started off with Cody and maintained eye contact with JBL throughout his work on Cody. Ted and Shad then took tags, and Ted took the wrong end of a t-bone suplex that knocked him silly for a few seconds, almost to the point of not being able to kick out of a pin attempt in time. Ted slingshot JTG across the top rope to regain control for his team, then the heels worked over JTG for some time. JTG tried to come back with a roll-up, but Cody kicked out and made another tag to Ted to continue working over JTG. Fans chanted for Cena as Cody eventually lost control for the heels. JTG crawled over to his corner and finally made the tag to Cena. DiBiase also took a tag as Cena went off on DiBiase with trademark moves. The action broke down into a melee as JBL took off running through the crowd. Cena piled up the tag champs in the corner, then took them up on his shoulders. He flung Cody off with an FU, then dropped DiBiase with a traditional FU for the pin and the win. Impressive. Cena then hugged his dad ringside before celebrating the victory with Cryme Tyme.

WINNERS: Cena & Cryme Tyme in 10:00. Formula six-man tag match, but they laid out a nice, smart match to eventually showcase Cena's strength 24 hours removed from the beating at the PPV. I would have liked to have seen WWE get some more mileage out of the JBL-Cena brawl, but the announcers did a fine job mentioning the injuries from last night throughout the show. Tag champs aren't at that Spirit Squad level of jobbing-to-the-stars, as they have a credible program to work with, but it's worth keeping in the back of the mind. (**)

4 -- Women's champion MICKIE JAMES & IC champion KOFI KINGSTON vs. PAUL BURCHILL & KATIE LEA

Action broke down early with Burchill tackling Kofi from behind with a chopblock to start an attack on Kofi's lower body. At 2:00, Mickie and Katie started brawling on the floor. Burchill and Kofi got involved, then Burchill smashed his ankle into the ringpost. Burchill then hit a neckbreaker in center ring and made the cover for the win.

WINNERS: Burchill & Katie in 3:00. Good win for the heels to establish some credibility for their respective title chases. The villains have to get the upper hand at some point on the show, so this was a good spot. (*)

5 -- SANTINO MARELLA vs. D-LO BROWN

Good response for Brown here despite being off TV for seemingly forever. Brown with the signature set-up moves leading to a top rope Lo-down for the easy pin and the win.

Afterward, Beth hopped into the ring to stare down Santino. She just stood there glaring at Santino, who finally pulled himself to his feet and begged off. Beth then smacked Santino in the face. They had a mini-brawl that consisted of exchanging standing waist locks until pausing to stare down each other. Breathing heavily, they stopped and stared at each other. Santino then put his hand on Beth's shoulder in a forward manner. Beth did the same. Oh dear. This led to a brief, awkward liplock that popped the crowd. Santino was so confused by what just happened. He quickly left the ring with a Mr. Bean-like random series of facial expressions. Beth was merely mad. Or just confused. Oh, this was great.

WINNER: D-Lo Brown in 2:00. Good return for Brown, but the obvious story was the liplock between Santino and Beth. That was classic. (1/2*)

6 -- World Hvt. champion C.M. PUNK vs. BATISTA -- World Heavyweight Title match

They returned from break and Lillian Garcia handled the formal ring intros after the ref gave Batista the commercial break to regain his bearings. Punk quickly focused his attack on Batista's head to work on the body part affected by Kane's pre-match chokeslam. He continued to work over the body part until Batista started his comeback at the top of the hour.

Batista made his comeback, then Punk went for a turnaround splash off the top, but Batista ducked and nailed a big spear. Batista wanted the finish, but JBL suddenly ran to the ringside area and Batista ran to the outside. The ref called for the bell when JBL attacked Batista. Groan. The action spilled into the ring where JBL KO'ed Punk with a clothesline from hell. Cena then sprinted into the ring and brawled with JBL until JBL ducked a punch and Cena accidentally hit Batista. Cena and Batista had a stare down, then they teased finishers on each other. Referees spilled into the ring to break up a potential fight as the show closed.

WINNER: No decision in 9:00. Well, that's another disappointing ending to a major title match. WWE is playing with fire with the non-finishes, even if it did lead to the inevitable Cena vs. Batista confrontation. Punk's "journey" to a credible title defense is an interesting story that seemingly will be followed for weeks and possibly months at this pace. Plenty of potential match-ups going forward with SNME and Summerslam on deck. Probably a tag match on SNME, but I don't see WWE giving away Cena vs. Batista at Summerslam. (*1/2)

Arcademan:
ECW on SciFi Results: 7-22-08

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

1 -- TOMMY DREAMER vs. COLIN DELANEY (w/ECW champion Mark Henry and Tony Atlas)

Dreamer quickly went on the attack in this one. Colin tried to make a comeback with fists of fury, but Dreamer cut him off in the corner and landed the basement dropkick. Dreamer then set up Colin for the DDT to win, but he paused for a second before smashing Colin into the mat. Dreamer with the pin for a decisive win.

WINNER: Dreamer in 3:00. Well, they didn't get a whole lot of mileage out of Colin's heel turn, except reinforce his character as a total loser. It was funny hearing Adamle and Tazz pile on, as if they had been waiting months to rip on Colin. (*)

2 -- EVAN BOURNE vs. JAMES CURTIS

Hey, good to see Curtis back on the show with the facial hair of doom gimmick. Chavo tried to get his heat back for losing to Bourne last week because his mind was on other things, such as the Edge-Vickie wedding. Chavo said he can't wait to get his hands on Bourne. Match started with Curtis working over Bourne in the corner before Bourne ducked a clothesline. He tried a monkey flip, but Curtis held onto the ropes to block. Interesting.

Curtis went back on the offensive and tried to wrench Bourne's neck, but Bourne came back with a nice high-angle huracanrana in center ring. Bourne then laid out Curtis in the corner before hopping up top. He nailed the gorgeous Shooting Star Press to a strong crowd reaction for the pin and the win. Afterward, Chavo and Neely tried to corner him in the ring, but Bourne escaped for higher ground to leave the heels wanting to get their hands on him.

WINNER: Bourne in 4:00. That finisher is so sweet. Nice action here, although a bit slow at times with Curtis not a seasoned technician at this point in his infrequent ECW run. Fine for a Bourne showcase. (*)

3 -- THE MIZ vs. FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle) vs. MATT HARDY vs. JOHN MORRISON -- #1 Contender match to ECW Title

Miz and Morrison quickly found themselves on the floor to start the match. Finlay and Hardy had a brief stare down, which led to a lock-up and test of wills. Miz and Morrison took advantage to attack them from behind to set up a mini-tag match. Real nice exchange leading to a four-man stand-off as they cut to a break.

They had a series of nearfalls out of the break, with Adamle having one of those moments where he got lost without a map trying to keep up with the rapid-fire action. Morrison then knocked Finlay to the outside and went after Hornswoggle, but Finlay smashed him across the back and clotheslined Morrison over the guardrail to the front row. Finlay followed to the front row, but Morrison chucked a brew into Finlay's face. Miz then came to Morrison's aid and they set up a big catapult-into-clothesline-into-elbow-smash on the floor to presumably KO Finlay.

At the top of the hour, Miz and Morrison re-entered the ring to double-team Hardy in center ring. Morrison told Miz to check out Finlay, then he suddenly rolled up Hardy for a nearfall. Miz, stunned, turned back around to find Morrison trying to sneak one in. Hardy tried to take advantage of the disagreement with a roll-up on Morrison, but Morrison kicked out and Miz clotheslined Hardy. Miz and Morrison decided to work together, but Hardy fought them both off when Morrison accidentally kicked Miz in the face. Hardy smashed Morrison with the side effect, but Morrison kicked out. Finlay suddenly re-entered the picture and nearly pinned Hardy, but Morrison broke it up. Finlay cleaned house with a major burst of energy, then he came off the second rope with a missile dropkick on Morrison for a nearfall. Whew.

They took it home with Hardy nailing a double bulldog on the tag champs. Finlay then nearly scored a pin on Hardy with a big clothesline, but Hardy kicked out. Finlay wanted the Celtic Cross on Miz, but Miz hot-shot him across the top rope. At 17:00, Hornswoggle got involved, which temporarily gave Finlay control until Morrison smashed him in the face with a kick. Morrison wanted a big springboard kick on Hardy, but Hardy kicked him in the gut in mid-air and hit the Twist of Fate on Morrison. Hardy with the pin for the win.

Post-match: Hardy pumped his fist in jubilation. Henry and Atlas then came out on stage. Henry held his ECW Title for Hardy to get a good look, then Hardy stared him down to close the show.

WINNER: Hardy in 18:00 to become #1 Contender. That, my friends, was a heck of a TV match. Probably the best ECW TV match we've seen this year. Good energy, nice counters, crowd involved, good finish, and desperation/sense of urgency from all four men trying to get their hands on an ECW Title that was presented strongly on TV tonight. Excellent conclusion to the show. (***1/2)

Arcademan:
TNA Impact! Results: 7-24-08

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

1. Consequences Creed defeated Eric Young and Johnny Devine and Jimmy Rave (w/Lance Rock) in a four-way in 4:00. There was a series late in the match with everyone scoring nearfalls. Creed fought off Divine Intervention and turned around a rollup attempt to pin Devine. After the match, the heels roughed up Creed until Abyss came out for the save.

Powell's POV: The announcers sold the storyline that Abyss keeps coming out to rescue people when they're in trouble. The other end of the storyline is that he is trying to fight off his violent tendencies. In this case, he picked up a chair and dropped it. Of course, the fans want him to use it.

2. Matt Morgan pinned Cory Chavis in 2:20. Tenay acknowledged Morgan's debut on "American Gladiators" as "Beast." Morgan has joined Batista in doing the "Goldberg jump." In the end, Morgan finished off Chavis with the Hellevator finisher...

Powell's POV: Really nice energy from Morgan this week. The live crowd picked up on the energy and stayed with his reaction.

3. Robert Roode and James Storm (w/Jacqueline) defeated The Motor City Machine Guns in a strap match in 7:45. In this version of the strap match, both teams are attached to each other by the strap. It's not a country whipping strap match or a fans revenge strap match, but the creative team member with the fetish for watching men whip each other still gets his rocks off. I'm just kidding, but not really.

In the unintentionally hilarious moment of the night, Tenay watched the Guns crotch Storm and Roode with the straps and said, "You've gotta be loving this more than anyone, Don West." He followed up by pointing out that West was strapped by the heels, but it was really awkward before the followup.

Late in the match, Jacqueline passed handcuffs to Storm. Sabin rolled up Roode, but Storm hit him with the handcuffs. Roode rolled up Sabin and scored the pin. Afterward, the heels used the straps to whip Shelley until LAX ran out for the save...

Powell's POV: Leather straps and handcuffs. What the hell? This is getting weirder every week. Maybe they should put Jackie in "The Gimp" outfit from Pulp Fiction

4. Taylor Wilde pinned Velvet Sky (w/Angelina Love) for the TNA Knockouts Title in 0:05. The bell that you can barely hear on television rang while Sky was talking to Love in the corner. Widle ran over and rolled her up for the win. The ring announcer stated that it was a new TNA record for shortest match. Afterward, Sky said she wasn't ready and dared her to give her another match.

5. Taylor Wilde defeated Velvet Sky (w/Angelina Love) to retain the TNA Knockouts Title in 0:20. This time the ring announcer noted that she set a new record for winning two falls in 25 seconds. Afterward, Love asked who Wilde was dating to get the special treatment in TNA. I've wondered that myself. Love offered Taylor $5,000 if she could win a third straight fall.

Powell's POV: Why pay her five grand when you could have just double dared her?

6. Taylor Wilde beat Velvet Sky (w/Angelina Love) by DQ to retain the TNA Knockouts Title in 6:15. Apparently, the gimmick was that Wilde had to pin Sky because Love ran in and broke up the pin attempt for the DQ. The heels beat up Wilde and gave her the brown bag treatment. The crowd chanted for ODB. They got ODB and Gail Kim. For some reason, ODB came out chewing on a turkey leg. No shit. Really...

7. Kurt Angle and Team 3D defeated A.J. Styles and Christian Cage and Rhino in a tables elimination match in 14:00. All six men were legal so they brawled in and out of the ring. Team 3D was about to put Styles through a table, but Rhino and Christian broke it up and put Devon through the table to eliminate him from the match. Rhino gored Brother Ray, but Angle snuck into the ring behind the heels and hit his three opponents with a chair.

During the break, Rhino tried to gore Angle, but Brother Ray pulled Kurt out of the way and Rhino charged through a table set up in the corner of the ring to eliminate himself. Dummy. Devon returned to the match and helped Ray hit 3D on Christian through a cage while Angle held the referee and prevented him from seeing the interference. The ref turned around, saw Christian lying on a broken table, and ruled that he was out of the match.

Johnny Devine ran out to help Brother Ray. He threw powder at Styles, but A.J. ducked and the powder blinded Ray. Brother Ray put Devine through a table because he was blinded and through he was putting Styles through a table. Moments later, Styles shot Angle into Ray, who fell off the ring apron and through a table at ringside for the elimination.

The match came down to Styles and Angle. A.J. placed Kurt on a table and then climbed to the top rope. Frank Trigg ran out and hit Styles with a kendo stick. Angle hit the Olympic Slam through a table to win the match...

Powell's POV: All that just for a repeat finish from the pay-per-view? Disappointing finish, but an entertaining garbage match. Not nearly as good as the pay-per-view match. Still a solid television match, though. Um, wasn't Sting supposed to be with the heels? Did I miss something or was that heel claim completely ignored once the match started?

Arcademan:
WWE Smackdown Results: 7-25-08

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

1- Shelton Benjamin vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

Shelton got on the microphone before the match to plug his title win this past Sunday. Shelton got a big boot for two once the match started. It was all Benjamin until Yang nailed him with an enziguiri. The two traded missed kicks but Shelton hit Paydirt for three.

WINNER: Benjamin, at 2:12. Good, convincing win for the new U.S. Champ.

2- CURT HAWKINS vs. FESTUS

Festus came out firing on all cylinders, as per his usual. Hawkins had some success going after Festus’ legs, but Festus shoulderblocked him out of the ring. Jesse cut off Ryder from attempting to get at the ring bell outside. Back inside, Festus hit his finisher for the win.

WINNER: Festus, at 1:49.

After the match, the champs took care of Jesse, then gave a double Implant-DDT to Festus. I’m wondering if this attacking after the bell thing is going anywhere.

3- STEVIE RICHARDS vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV

JR noted that Stevie made a challenge for this match, a re-match from a few weeks ago. Stevie hit a modified bulldog, but couldn’t even get a one count. Kozlov grabbed Stevie for an overhead suplex. Arm-bar by Kozlov, but Richards dodged a charge and Kozlov dove out of the ring. He was right back in, only to be dropkicked by Stevie for one. After a missed kick, Kozlov hit his headbutt to the chest out of nowhere to get the win.

WINNER: Kozlov, at 3:00. Another good showing for Stevie.

Kozlov went to the announce table and yelled at the announcers. JR said Kozlov wanted better competition.

4- THE BIGGEST BLOCKBUSTER OF THE SUMMER BATTLE ROYAL

Again, winner will face Triple H for the WWE Title at SummerSlam. Mr. Kennedy came out first, followed by Great Khali (with the returning Ranjin Singh), MVP, Umaga, Jeff Hardy, and Big Show.

Mr. Kennedy played the role of Matt, letting Jeff jump off his back and into Khali in the corner. Khali and Show met in the middle of the ring and exchanged headbutts. Umaga put them both down with a savate kick as the show went to break.

All six were still in as the show came back from break. Jeff eliminated MVP at just under the seven-minute mark. About 1:30 later, Show tossed Umaga. Show fought off Hardy and Kennedy, then grabbed KK by the throat and threw him out. Umaga came back in and hit Show with a Samoan Spike, then Jeff jumped off the top and into Show’s arms. He used Show’s leverage against him to eliminate the big man. It was down to Khali and Jeff Hardy. Jeff hit the Swanton on Khali, but all it took was a chop to the head from Khali and Jeff was dead weight enough to be eliminated.

WINNER: Khali, at 10:25. Below-average battle royal.

As Khali celebrated, Triple H came out. He entered the ring and stood toe-to-toe with the giant. Singh convinced Khali to back off and they left HHH to pose in the ring.

5- MICHELLE MCCOOL vs. MARYSE

Maryse got a take-down, then made the mistake of dancing. Dropkick to Maryse, who went to the apron. She pulled Michelle out of the ring and did some damage using the apron. Michelle landed on her feet on a second-rope moonsault, then locked in the heel hook for the submission.

WINNER: McCool, at 2:03.

6- BRIAN KENDRICK vs. SHANNON MOORE

JR said Kendrick reminded him of Brian Pillman. Yeah, but 75% less crazy. Kendrick got the mic(!) and told the fans they should feel privileged for witnessing the fastest, most intelligent (doesn’t HHH have that trademarked?) wrestler in WWE. He said if anyone was delusional enough to try to touch greatness (i.e. him), they’d have to deal with Ezekiel. Not a bad job for a guy who never got mic time.

Kendrick worked over Moore’s ribs with kicks and knees. Once Moore got the advantage, he got distracted by Ezekiel. Kendrick hit his finisher, re-named The Kendrick, for the win.

WINNER: Kendrick, at 1:45. I like this new Kendrick.

At the end of the show...

-Edge came out. He was not his usual cocky self. He said he wanted to apologize to his wife, in public and face-to-face. He asked Vickie to come out. She was wheeled out by Chavo, with Bam Neely at their side. Once in the ring, Vickie told Chavo and Bam that she could handle things herself, so they left.

Edge knelt down in front of Vickie, drawing lots of boos. He looked at the crowd with contempt. Awesome. Edge asked Vickie to hear him out. He said the video HHH showed didn’t show how many times he told Alicia now. He said she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Edge said he stayed to hammer out the details of their wedding, because he knew it meant so much to Vickie. He said he can’t live without her love.

Vickie said she understood, and they hugged. But Vickie turned away before they could make out. She said Edge needs to understand that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She said when she was mad, she did something Edge may not like. She said she re-instated Undertaker. Edge tried to control his shock, fear and anger. The crowd chanted for Taker. Edge finally said it was good business to bring him back and that while he and Vickie go on their honeymoon, HHH and Taker could destroy each other. Vickie said she’d already scheduled a SummerSlam opponent for Taker. Of course, it was Edge. Vickie cackled as she told him it would be Hell in a Cell. Edge sat in the ring looking up at Vickie in amazement as the show ended. Great segment that took the crowd on a roller-coaster ride. Edge was superb in his role, especially with his body language and facial expressions.

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