June 2009

Talk about it here.

CM Punk vs Umaga - Extreme Rules 2009 Samoan Strap Match Great David vs Goliath Match here. Umaga is such a great monster and CM Punk does make for a great plucky underdog babyface. Umaga hits a massive reverse elbow to gain command. Good back n forth with missed moves. Punk hits the run up knee to stop Umaga on 3rd corner, but Umaga sends him flying on the bulldog. Umaga misses the headbutt. I like how they each missed something there. Umaga hits a big Samoan Drop to go into the heat segment and then beats him down with the leather strap. Umaga hits his headbutt and is in total control. Umaga pulls Punk's arm up against the post and then slams into the steps. Unfortu…

World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs Jeff Hardy - Extreme Rules 2009 Ladder Match The swan song for the Edge character he is most known for. After this, he would be injured within and then brought back as a babyface to finish out his career, which was an odd fit for him. It is fitting his last major match as a heel is against Jeff Hardy in a ladder match. Unfortunately, it is a very boring ladder match. The three spots that stood out were Twist of Fate in mid-air (didn't look that great), both falling off a ladder and breaking ladder, and then Hardy front suplexing Edge on the hinges of the ladder, which looked wicked painful and wins spot of the match. The finish was c…

WWE Champion Randy Orton vs Batista - Extreme Rules 2009 Steel Cage Match I actually liked this a good bit! I feel like Orton vs Batista was actually an underutilized feud even though it was an obvious one given their Evolution past. I am not the authority on this time period so maybe they did run a program before this. I am surprised Batista won and later found out he had to vacate due to injury. Im really hazy on the details. When did the injury happen? What was the plan for a Batista title reign? A HHH program? A Cena program? Orton was the top heel on RAW, Smackdown had Punk, Jericho and Edge, but RAW was very thin. Was Orton going to regain anywhere and feud with…

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUsXajXOYZI

Talk about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIwC8b6PAfY

Raven & Daffney vs Abyss & Taylor Wilde - TNA Slammiversary 2009 Monster's Ball This was the most surprising match in my opinion to make Jerome/El-P's list and I promised him I would watch it. I liked it! I really liked it! This was during the Dr. Stevie angle that I vaguely remember where he was trying to "treat" Abyss, but was really evil. Raven and Daffney were doing the usual Raven gimmick. Taylor Wilde feels like a weird choice for this but she works her ass off and she is the MVP of the match for me. She diving off top rope on all the heels and then diving off some really high structure through a table on Daffney. Even in between those spots, she …

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Review courtesy of Makai Club #1. (No idea why the original review didn't take, when I clicked on it to approve got a Bad request - invalid URL message)

Talk about it here.

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy - The Bash 2009 So watching the video package, CM Punk has not gone full Straight Edge preacher mode heel yet. Basically, we are in the "Yeah what I did was scummy, but all is fair in love & war" portion of the heel turn. I loved CM Punk's line of "Nowhere in the contract did it say, you cant cash it in on Jeff Hardy." He is a really good wise ass. Terrific match as Jeff Hardy now has someone who can wrestle with him. I thought this came off great. The match is all built around finishers which I love. I thought the escalation and pacing of the match was pitch perfect. Good, basic chaining to start. Punk goes for…