Home Schooling No. 5

It's another week, and time again for another edition of Home schooling, my weekly RAW recap, along with a few other topics about wrestling that i've had on my mind during the week.

This week I'll talk about RAW, mention a little more about Vengeance, and maybe a couple of other things.

Firstly coming off of Vengeance, there were some questions that were definitely left unanswered. Like when is it going to be "revealed" that Laurinitis is behind Nash's attacks? Or is it Laurinitis... maybe there's a higher power. Let's hope not. I don't think that needs to be re-visited.

Why did Zack Ryder lose? I saw a few people upset about that. Well.. has everyone forgotten the way things used to, and should be done? Won't it mean more if Ryder has to fight through another month of adversity and THEN win the title? I see "oh they've stopped his push" or "he was never really getting pushed". Just because he loses doesn't mean he's done being pushed. People just want a quick fix nowadays. It means more if it's long term. Think about it.

Think about the guys who were pushed way too quickly. There's one name in particular that springs to mind. Brock Lesnar. He left after not even 2 years in the WWE. Bobby Lashley is another one.
Slower builds mean more. And they seem to provide longevity.

I'm not upset Ryder lost. No-one else should be, except as a work.

I'm still amazed at how good the main event was. Especially in a broken ring. It's lucky that it was a last man standing match. I really can't think of any other type of match, except for an I Quit match that would work in a broken ring. Maybe a hardcore match, or a street fight, but a last man standing match is really just an extension of a street fight. As is an I Quit match. But, having said that, hardcore matches, street fights, they have to have a pinfall or submission.

Ok so let's move onto Raw.

I loved the opening of the show. Triple H seems like he's "back" .. as a wrestler I mean. No suit this week.  That could be a telling factor.
Laurinitis is REALLY boring. But you already know that.
Triple H did deliver quite a good promo, talking about how he thought he and Nash were cool buds forever, and that the kliq sign meant something. The best promos, interviews, whatever you want to call them, they always have something "real" about them. I'll talk more about that in the post i'm writing about great promos.

But man, I honestly did not expect Nash to come out and hit Triple H with that sledgehammer. Very surprising, very brutal looking.
And then the second attack, while Triple H was strapped to that stretcher? Anyone remember the last time something like that happened? We had a stretcher match after that between Lesnar and Big Show. Man, I'll never forget that image of Rey Mysterio being slammed into the ring post.

I could write a whole post on why John Laurinitis is one of the worst talkers in the WWE right now. Hell, Mike Adamle might have been better. Laurinitis sounds like he's reading from a script, which is a problem for a lot of the WWE at the moment, but the thing is, he's the least believable guy. Everything is so stiff, so forced, there's no expression, no feeling behind what he's saying.

He needs to become more believable. Otherwise the only way they'll get out of this Interim GM storyline is if it's revealed that John Laurinitis is actually a robot, and someone has a remote control in the back somewhere.

Also he looks like a muppet when he talks. Kind of fitting if you think about it.

Ok I got off track there. Like I said, I coudl write a whole post on him.

Back to Nash and Triple H. Oh one thing though, Laurinitis isn't all bad. When he was checking on HHH, it felt a lot more real than anything else he'd done.

Nash's expressions after he'd hit HHH were brilliant. He looks like he's a lot more comfortable now. And my god he's in good shape.

Here's the thing though. They show Nash walking backstage, that was good. But what I found a little weird, he walks past at least 4 active WWE wrestlers. Now, as far as storyline goes, Nash doesn't work there. Why wouldn't the people with jobs stand up for their boss? Sure, Nash had a sledgehammer, but DiBiase standing there with a dumb look on his face didn't really do anything good for the angle. Made it look less real if anything.

So the second attack, like I said was amazing. That felt really different again to what has been happening in recent months with storylines. I hope it's heading for a stretcher match. You really don't see those all that often, and it would mean that they could rely less on "wrestling" and use objects and what not to make a great match. And Nash and HHH have had great gimmick matches before. Hell in a Cell from Bad Blood in 2003 springs to mind.

So I've called it. Stretcher match. I'll probably be wrong.


The idea of the supershow must be to get the smackdown guys used to working live every week. Right? Why else have them on the show? We can see them every week on Smackdown.

Looks like Cena's had enough of John Laurinitis as well. I really hope we do get to see someone, Punk, Triple H, Cena, all of the above, let's hope we get to see Laurinitis get the crap beaten out of him.

Dolph will be world champion before the end of next year. And not just for one night. He is arguably the best thing going today. He and Punk are neck and neck. Here's an idea. After Wrestlemania, have Punk as champion, and have he and Ziggler get into a feud. Ziggler doesn't need to turn face, he's too good of a heel.

Santino reminds me of early 90's WWE. And.. I'm not sure it's a good thing. The Cobra, the over the top sillyness.. It's a shame that he's stuck in that character, I remember when he started, he was a great heel. Now he's essentially a job guy this week.

Mason "batista with hair" Ryan.. I don't get it.

I tell you what was good this week. CM Punk got to speak. And it wasn't just a short little thing. We got some pipebombs. Finally. It's been about 3 weeks? The guy got over with his mic work, so he should be given time to use that which got him to this point every week.

As usual though, Punk was on fire. The best part is that Punk and Laurinitis having a conversation in the ring, just shows how bad Laurinitis is, and how good Punk is. The thing that makes Punk so good, is everything feels real. Whenever he's cutting someone down, like Laurinitis this week, it feels like a shoot. Sure, we know it's more like a worked shoot, but no-one else (maybe except Cena) is doing that.

Hey Wade Barrett! I forgot he had a job. Too bad they screwed up the finish.

Michael Cole's "JR" segment was disgusting. WWE don't seem to get the difference between a heel getting heat, and people wanting to see them get beaten up, as opposed to Cole's heat, where no one wants to see him at all.
I hope the idea is that JR is going to win this challenge thing, put Cole back on Smackdown. Or maybe he's going to take some much needed time off.
More than likely someone will interfere and JR will get screwed over again.

And the last thing I want to talk about is Cena announcing the Rock as his partner for Survivor Series. The idea of not having a traditional Survivor Series match is going to take so much steam away from this angle. Same as the decision to have the focus not be on CM Punk, who started everything. Hopefully, as the guys on Chair shot reality said, it'll become a 6-man tag at the very least.

Speaking of which, just quickly, everyone should check out Chair Shot Reality on Wrestlezone.com when you finish reading this. It's a great show, they're in the middle of their 100th episode at the moment. It's awesome.

I found it kind of funny that Cena was selling the beating Miz and Truth gave him until he "realised" he could choose The Rock.

Hopefully we get some more of the same kind of stuff next week on Raw. More CM Punk getting to talk. More good wrestling. And more Nash. But, one thing, Triple H should NOT be there. Maybe an interview "via satellite". Keep the angle going, but really sell the injury. It'll make Nash look even stronger than he already does, and it will help get across the fact that Nash, who (to the WWE audience) hasn't wrestled there for what.. 8 years? (and to the rest of us, like a year or so since he left TNA), but it will help get the fact that Nash would even be a decent opponent for Triple H over.

That's about it really, I'm working on this promos blog, hopefully have that done in the next week or so. It's gonna be a long one folks. But until then, you can follow me on twitter at @TheOZMouthpiece .. let me know what you think of the blog, read some of my other posts, even leave me a comment on here. But for now, that's it and that's all!.

best served cold

Welcome to this post-vengeance edition of The Aussie Mouthpiece blog. Let's get straight into it. It's vengeance time.

Decent video package to open up talking about chaos, which was really the theme througout the night, as we would soon find out.

So we start with the Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger vs AirBoom for the Tag Team Titles. I think this was the right way to start, but I didn't like the idea of Ziggler having to wrestle stwo matches in a row. Could have swapped Sheamus and Christian for Ziggler and Ryder.
Anyway, onto the match. I'm not going to go through everything, no play by play results here, just in case you were wondering.
Was a really good match, good to see a few double team moves by AirBoom. Kofi hit a huge monkey flip on Dolph, which, in all fairness was made so huge by the way Dolph made it look. He is so good. Seriously. World title for Dolph. It's going to happen soon.

Speaking of Dolph, he was wearing some new ring attire. Looked kind of like a singlet, similar to Swagger's gear, but he hadn't "put the straps on". He didn't pull it up for either match, which I found a bit odd. But it looked decent.

One of the weirder points in the match was Evan Bourne knocking Swagger down, going for a pin, and then when Swagger kicked out, he didn't get up. Instead he stayed laying on the ground and Bourne tried to hit the Airbourne. It makes sense I guess, it just seemed weird. If the guy was down on the ground, hit the finisher and then go for the pin instead of essentially giving him time to recover.

The crowd didn't seem to be into the match all that much either. A few cheers, but no huge pops or anything.
Another thing, you can really notice the difference between how good Dolph is, and how only ok Swagger is. There's just something that Ziggler has that Swagger doesn't.

I liked the finish, with Kofi and Evan both hitting their finishers, but Ziggler getting pinned doesn't make sense. It should have been Swagger.
So now, it makes Ryder look weaker if he wins, because he beat someone who had been hit with two finishers just minutes earlier, and if he doesn't win, it makes him look weaker because he can't even beat a guy who's had two other finishers hit on him, only minutes earlier. It's a no-win situation.

It helps make Dolph look good though if Dolph wins.

So let's get into the US Title match

Airboom and Swagger remain at ringside, but what was interesting is that it was AirBoom interfered, throwing Ziggler back into the ring, and therefore getting ejected from ringside by the referee. it was good to see it's not just the heels that get that treatment.

So like i said earlier, Ziggler didn't show off his new attire in either match. Kinda strange. And Ryder looked like he'd dyed his hair... red? orange?.. maybe some fake tan went into his hair.

I liked the finish with the super kick. Ziggler is money. Once again though, the problem is now Ryder is the guy who couldn't beat the guy who got pinned 10 mins earlier.

I am really sick of Michael Cole. It's the wrong kind of heat. The product would be better without his constant banter, his constant jokes at the expense of JR, and also, the fact that he spent a fair bit of time talking about what was trending on twitter, rather than talking about what happened in the ring.

I get that it's about telling stories for the WWE commentators, but surely you can spend two seconds and say "he's got him in a boston crab", rather than "so and so is trending worldwide on twitter"

Beth Phoenix vs Eve (Diva's title match)

What the hell kind of "music" is that? Here's the answer. Eve's new music is only a little worse than the skills of MOST of the divas.  So it was pretty bad.

Not really a lot to say about this match, I like the running story of Beth wanting Eve to cry. I liked Eve using a triangle choke, even though her legs weren't locked half the time. And I liked that Beth won. That's really about it.

Sheamus vs Christian

Once again the crowd didn't seem to care too much about this match. Quite frankly neither did I. I really like sheamus, but Christian is really boring to me. I wish he was better. I remember hearing when he won the Title in TNA. I was just like, Really? that guy??
I really hope that was the end of this little feud, Sheamus should be in the title picture. Henry vs Sheamus was a surprisingly good match at Summerslam, I'm sure they could do it again.


Punk/HHH vs Awesome truth.

First of all, that "promo" by Miz and Truth was awful. "You know who sucks?" YOU TWO DO! Childish humor. It would have been funnier if they were trying to be dirty with it. Who really believes that's how Miz and Truth would talk to each other backstage? And if you do, you may need to have your head examined.

Good slower pace to this match, Triple H looks in good shape, Punk looks like he's having fun.
Really good match, great old school vibe.
And then of course, the "complete shocker" of Kevin Nash returning. I mean, I guess it was a shock, but it was an expected shock I guess. But even though it was not shocking, he definitely made a big impact.

The Jacknife always looks great, but man, Triple H landed awkwardly. It looked brutal. I don't think Triple H was hurt, but he certainly sold it like he was. Really good finish though, and it was the right decision to have Truth and Miz win, and definitely the right decision to have them win the way they did.


Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton.
I really liked the promo package for this match. We even saw some blood.
The match was good, not great, but once again, the crowd wasn't interested for the most part.
Best part of the match was the TWO moonsaults by Cody Rhodes. The first one that missed looked absolutely flawless.
The match was for the most part, predictable though. Good ending, with the "baggers" getting involved, but once again.. predictable.

Big Show vs Mark Henry
Great promo package once again. These video packages make you excited for the matches. Hopefully the WWE keep it up.
The start of the match was pretty awesome, two spots in particular. Mark henry was thrown, almost hip tossed back into the ring, and also Big Show hit him with a superkick. I love seeing guys this size doing things that you wouldn't expect them to do.
The rest of the match up until the ending was decent, with one huge double clothesline to start heading towards the finish.
And then the ending. Sure, it's been done before, but that doesn't lessen the impact. Show climbed the ropes, and Henry superplex-ed him, and the ring broke.
The big difference between this and the last time it was done (in WWE at least), is that the Brock Lesnar/Big Show spot ended the show. There was still one more match to go at Vengeance.

The other thing that made this such a great finish, was Laurinitis and Teddy Long coming out, helped sell the idea that it wasn't supposed to happen, and also the way Mark Henry walked out, instead of being stretchered out. That was awesome, he is so improved this year.

John Laurinitis gets a microphone and tells us that the show will go on, but not before introducing himself to us. Why did he need to introduce himself? He didn't. We've seen him on TV. I mean we've fallen asleep after seeing him, but we've seen him. No personality at all.

John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio  - Last Man Standing (in a broken ring)

Straight away I want to watch this match, simply because the ring is broken. It means they have to do things differently,and any time things have to change, it always makes more interesting viewing. Think about it.  No irish whips, no coming off of the top rope, no shooting a guy into the turnbuckles. Even further than that, it made it harder to use the apron, the ring posts, and the ring itself.

Del rio's reaction to the broken ring was priceless. His face looked like he just smelled something really bad or something.
Cena has a new shirt, new shorts, new colour. He's wearing camo shorts, and his new shrit is black with the words "Rise above hate" on it. I guess because he's wearing black we're back to getting serious Cena. No more fruity pebbles?

The start of the match was decent, but I think the fact that it was unique was the main draw at the start. Having a broken ring adds so much to the match.

There was a really nice spot with Alberto Del Rio being thrown from the ring, through where the ropes would have been, into the guardrail. It looked like a really hard landing, fairly brutal.

Also, the whole nut shot on the ring post with Rodriguez and Del Rio was great. Yes a funny spot, but it was a nice little break from the seriousness of the match, and really of the whole night.

And the fight went backstage! I don't remember the last time I've seen that. Brings back memories of amazing matches, Kane and Shane from Survivor Series 2003.. many hardcore matches.. I always enjoyed the backstage stuff.

And this was no exception. Cena toppling over that huge equipment case, and it really looking (at least for a second) that it had landed on Del Rio. Then a slam on top of the tipped over case. And finally the interview area basically being dropped onto John Cena. To me that looked like it would be the finish.

Now some people I noticed on twitter were saying "oh Cena just keeps getting up". But, I mean it's a last man standing match, not just a regular match. It's kind of a given that people tend to take more punishment in these matches. It wasn't about Cena not selling, it was about Cena not giving up. That's kind of one of his mottos. Del Rio didn't sell things for ages either.

Like falling through a table. He got up at 8. That's 8 seconds and he's back on his feet. From falling through a table onto concrete. Any other match that's not selling. Last man Standing, it's having the guts to keep fighting.

That's what I really like about Last man Standing matches. There's a ton of "this has to be it" moments.

And we get the amazing finish of Del Rio being smashed through a table by Cena, and then Miz and Truth running in and destroying Cena. But that wasn't the finish. The Ref was distracted by Miz and Truth, and therefore not counting Del Rio. So Cena is up at the count of 9, and then Del Rio gets the title belt and blasts Cena in the head with it, and that is the finish.

Really great match, especially because they had a broken ring. To me it sets up the survivor series match really well. something like Triple H, CM Punk, Rock and Cena on one team, with Nash, Del Rio, Miz and Truth on the other.

Overall I think this was a really good Pay per view, all decent matches, and the two main events really lifted the quality.
I'll give it.... 8/10.

Ok that's about it, I'll be back with my weekly blog in a few days, but until then, tha'ts it, and that's all.

People complain about cena's work, but it was a lst man standing match. they have to build to those "he got up at 9" moments.

The Calm before the storm No. 3

Welcome to another edition of the Aussie Mouthpiece blog. This quick post is the 3rd post in my Calm before the Storm series, which I write the day before Pay per views. Or in this case, hours before Vengeance.

So I'll run down the card and give some thoughts.

I should point out this was a last minute decision to order Vengeance. I just have this feeling that something big is going to happen. And even so, seeing that Dolph Ziggler is wrestling twice, is a big enough deal for me to get it.

So the card.

Sheamus vs Christian.

I'm guessing either this or the Tag Team Titles match will open the show. I'd go with the Tag Team match, with the US title match later in the card, to give Dolph some time to catch his breath.
Anyway, Sheamus is really coming along well as a babyface, it still feels a little strange to me though.

I think that's just because I was watching when he first started, as a heel and working with Triple H. Then I stopped watching for a while, and when I start again, he's a babyface. Strange indeed.

But, Christian is obviously getting over as a heel, because he annoys the hell out of me. Should be a decent match. I'd like to see Sheamus in the title picture soon. Doesn't he have some unfinished business with Mark Henry?

I would like to see Sheamus win, but I won't mind either way.

Airboom vs Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

I don't have much to say about this match. I guess it's there to try to keep the tag belts relevant, but what's going to happen? Are the newly formed "tag team".. and I use that term loosely.. are they going to drop the titles? What happens to them if they do?

I'll add into this Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder (US Title match). The reason being that my predictions relate to both matches.

I like that Dolph is getting to defend his singles title. It's about time. Ryder getting a title shot is a really good thing too.
I just hope that it's not a once-off. Hopefully this all isn't a ploy by the WWE to get him to stop his youtube show.

I think we're going to see Ryder win the US title, while Ziggler and Swagger get the Tag Team Title belts. AirBoom can be built up more if they are chasing belts, rather than defending belts and barely scraping by.

Diva's title match.

At least it's not Kelly kelly. But.. did she get her re-match? Do diva's contracts not have that stipulation in them?
Ok not much to say. Beth will be great. Eve will look ok, and probably do a moonsault. But if Eve wins, it will kill the angle, kill all the momentum of Beth and Natalya, and basically cement the divas division as a joke.
Beth needs to keep the title, at least until survivor series, maybe even until Kong can return. Because really, there's no other Diva on the WWE roster, other than Natalya, that could give her a great match.

Beth has to win.

Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes

This could steal the show. Because of Cody, and also because of the history between the two guys. They know each other well, both in terms of storylines and I would assume in real life as well.

I see Cody going over in this one. Vengeance on a whole feels like it's supposed to be building everything up, rather than solving problems and finishing feuds. So it would make sense to have Rhodes win. Build him up, make that Intercontinental title mean something.

Mark Henry vs Big Show (WHC)

I haven't watched Smackdown for the past few weeks. It's good to see Big Show back, but, let's face it. Big man vs Big man matches are never "5 star classics", but the last time these two met it was a decent match. Hopefully the same will go for this match.

Henry will win, but maybe not cleanly. Big Show might snap and get a chair and try to get revenge, something like that. Maybe someone interferes and starts an issue with Show.

Del Rio vs Cena (WWE Title)

Last man standing. These matches seem like they must be a lot harder to work out finishes for than they would have been 5 years ago. No chair shots to the head, or much of anything to the head really. Problem there is.. how do you knock someone out if you can't hit them in the head?

But, Cena has been good in these matches in the past. I think this will be a fairly good match. Will be a good test for Del Rio, and will maybe show a slightly different side of his character. Expect some interference, especially for the finish.

I think Alberto Del Rio will win. I hope Del Rio will win. Cena winning makes no sense, that would make 3 title changes in a month. Ridiculous. What does a belt mean if it's so easy to get? Where's the struggle.. the obstacles to get past?.. Del Rio has to retain the title.

CM Punk & Triple H vs Awesome Truth

I agree with whoever said it or wrote it, this has to/will be the main event. I'm seeing a fairly standard kind of a match, but the finish will be something akin to Night of Champions, but hopefully will make more sense.
I see Nash returning to at least try to cost Punk and HHH the match. I see Laurinitis making his presence felt, hopefully by nothing more than appearing at the entrance. Not by talking, that would put everyone to sleep.

I think the right thing to do is have Awesome truth get the pin, but once again definitely not clean. I'd like to see Punk and HHH win, but I think it would build Survivor Series more if they lose.

So that's about it. Will someone else interfere? Will we see Shawn Michaels, or Sean Waltman? BG James maybe? Who knows. But I think if all goes well, Vengeance could be a really decent Pay Per View.

That's about all I have to say, I'll be tweeting tomorrow during Vengeance, so if you read this and aren't following me on Twitter you can do so @TheOZMouthpiece
That's it, and that's all!

Mr Future Endeavours

It's that time again. Time for another dose of mouthpiece-ing. With me, The Aussie Mouthpiece.
let's talk about the wwe this week. Specifically RAW. As Smackdown hasn't been on TV yet and I'm not the kind who spoils things.

So let's talk about RAW.

My first thoughts after my first viewing? Let down.
For the first week since "that" promo, this week hasn't quite lived up to the previous week's episodes.

CM Punk was still right on the ball, he was great. Triple H was still good. But the story wasn't as satisfying, at least to me.

Then I saw that little news item that was posted recently.. about Kevin Nash.. anyone else seen it? "Kevin Nash has been released".
That was when I got it. I understood.

I'll get to that later.

So Punk opens RAW, says some stuff about being different, and then we get Kevin Nash.
By the way Punk, I got the Super Shredder reference. Awesome. I like bearded giraffe too.

I mean, CM Punk never fails to deliver, he's constantly trying to better himself, and better the company. Plus, this whole thing is staying within that foggy area of "is it real".. The little jabs Punk takes, maybe they aren't planned (i don't think they are), because the other guys reactions are really "real". That word has a bit of a different meaning in wrestling. "real". \

Like when HHH's music hit, and Punk kept talking. saying "i'm not done..." That never used to happen. I don't remember anyone talking over someone else's entrance music.

So now the big mystery is solved. And wow.. that was a big let down. Like someone just let the air out of a big bearded balloon.
Why would Kevin Nash send a text to himself? Money? .. no.. he wanted to make the WWE cool? But.. this is Kevin Nash. He's the guy that openly says he's about money.. I suppose the only thing that is still unanswered is if somebody else tipped him off to send the text? But that's starting to sound a bit far-fetched to me.

Nash still doesn't sound completely comfortable on the microphone either. "I'm your FRIEND!"... I don't know what it is, but something's not quite right.
I just noticed something too, while Nash was getting in Triple H. Hopefully there's some kind of footage of that, because i bet it's gold.

So Nash is fired... what? Didn't make any sense.. they've built up a Nash/Punk match for 3 or 4 weeks now, and then they "fire" him? ... Punk's last little jab was awesome. "haa haaaa.. best of luck in your future endeavours". Also, that was another of those little things they keep putting in that don't seem important, but really is.
Then Laurinitis joins him in a limo? Why was there a limo for Nash if he was fired? ... think about it.

And then today, he's "released"? I guess they thought Nash needed yet another nickname. I'm fairly sure we'll see him back as some kind of pivotal element in a bigger power struggle. The really annoying thing is they keep making it almost impossible not to order Night of Champions.

Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne, are NOT going to revamp the tag team division. You put two singles wrestlers together, occasionally it works and they form a great team. Los guerreros, Big Show and Kane.. Undertaker and Kane.. But most of the time it just seems like two guys thrown together for some other reason. like to eventually turn one against the other.

If the WWE really wants to re-ignite the tag teams and make it a relevant part of their TV, they need actual teams. There is one actual tag team in the WWE right now. But they're not the ones having a match on RAW, Khali and his.. whatever Jinder Mahal is get the match. Why not showcase a Tag team instead of use the tag team champions to further a boring storyline for khali and mahal?

Speaking of Tag Team matches, Miz and Truth are going to be going for the tag team titles? ... If the tag titles meant anything now that would be great, it would keep Miz in the big spotlight, and help continue R-Truth's push.
But they don't mean much of anything.
It's a step back for Miz. Headlining wrestlemania, to a last minute match on Summerslam. Not good.

Divas. Who cares. Kelly Kelly is not good in the ring, i don't really want to hear what she has to say, I just want to see her without the belt. Also I want to see that belt go back to the Women's championship. Diva's title is a joke. Women's title means something.

Punk and Truth had a good match, Miz out there keeps him around, even though he should have a bigger role I think.
So Triple H comes out, tells Punk the match is now No DQ. Because HE changed it. Triple H used his power to make the match the way he wants. He's essentially a heel boss, but no one is booing him. It's interesting. And then he says "If i don't get it all out of my system, I might just fire you too".

Here's my take. The big payoff, the bigger picture, is HHH will be said to be "unfit to be the COO" by someone. Either Laurinitis, or Vince. Maybe we'll see Nash/HHH, with Nash being the guy wrestling on behalf of whoever the other guy is.
At Survivor series.
And, at Night of Champions, the Punk/HHH match won't end cleanly.


King and Zack Ryder? That's interesting.
And it seems that they're FINALLY giving Zack a little push, showing a promo package of his TLIS show, and in ring work.
Otunga is going to go nowhere, and if they don't give Hennig his actual name.. .. well they need to change his name.

I thought it was kind of interesting they put all the little jabs Ryder takes on his show into that promo package.. "i'm trying to get over/i can draw money/no-one pushes Zack Ryder" etc.

Why is Heath Slater on tv? Why not Randy vs Cody Rhodes/Dolph Ziggler/ANYONE ELSE!

Hey.. John Cena took a shot at The Rock. Bout damn time.

The main event was what it was. A way to show off a bunch of talent. And it's good that they do that.
Also I think i figured out the reason for the Raw Supershow concept. Smackdown is going to be live, and they're A: trying to promote Smackdown, and B: getting the Smackdown guys used to live tv.


So it wasn't a bad show by any stretch of the imagination. It just didn't have that same awesome feeling. Maybe it's because of the Supershow thing. Who knows.

Anyway, I'm about done for this installment. Remember, leave me a comment and tell me what you think, and follow me on twitter if you're not already @TheOZMouthpiece

That's it, and that's all.

Who's wearing the pants?

It's time for another installment from the aussie mouthpiece. It's another wednesday, and that means another RAW has come and gone, and I'm here to give my thoughts.

So let's get straight to it.

I like where it's going. I like that they aren't rushing this angle. Who sent the text message? We still don't know, but now, as CM Punk said, it looks like we have a little mystery on our hands. And it's just getting more and more complex as each episode plays out.

Last week Kevin Nash didn't seem right. It didn't feel comfortable. He didn't seem comfortable. Luckily this week, things changed. Maybe it was being in the ring with his good buddy Hunter, maybe it was just a case of nerves, being back on a big stage (let's face it, TNA isn't really big time these days) for the first time in a long time. But, as I said last week, I am a huge Kevin Nash fan, so I am really glad that he seemed more comfortable in the ring. And I hope we eventually see him wrestling.


I also really like the story that's developing with Dolph and Vickie. Dolph is a great performer, he's going to be a world champion soon. Vickie is doing really well as a manager, and she is really over as a heel. I really hope they decide to run with the idea of giving her a stable of guys (possibly girls too) to manage, and bring back this idea of managers. They add so much to someone's presence. Remember when Shawn Michaels split from Janetty? He gained Sherri's managerial services, and was suddenly a top singles guy. Anyone who was associated with Bobby Heenan was automatically a massive heel. As the brain once said, "you listen to me, you go to the top. You don't listen to me... you're never heard from again".

So let's get into the specifics.

Straight away, let me say I'm hoping that Kevin Nash get's "hired"... it seems weird that he has no entrance music. But, I like the way it's being done, as HHH said, "He doesn't work here". That gives this angle the potential to run for a long time.

Anyway, here's the part where i start talking about what I liked about the show.

Man, I tell you what, I loved the ending to last week's show. Oh no, I just said i loved something Cena did! Look out, all those Cena haters are going to jump all over me. Big deal. Keep an open mind.
John IS changing his character ever so slightly. But he's doing it because it's right for the business, not to appease the people who dislike him.
But he's angry. He's got attitude. He's got balls. And that can only be a good thing.

And he's fighting to keep the integrity of the WWE championship whole. This I can get behind.

Cena's mic work this week was excellent. "I am so sick of trying to make average seem awesome".. I'm starting to wonder if he's talking about Del Rio himself, or the barrage of sub-standard storylines we've been fed for the last few years.
And John is right. As of right now, out of all the talent in the WWE, there's only one guy on RAW that can go with him. and that is CM Punk. I'd put Randy Orton in that category, but other than that, everyone else is retired or not wrestling right now. Shawn, HHH, Edge and Undertaker.
I did always enjoy his matches with Big Show though.

Whenever CM Punk's music hits you know things are going to get good. And as usual we're not disappointed. Punk is the voice of the voiceless again, saying it's a "re-run" and John Cena wants yet another title shot.

One thing i did notice, is Del Rio fits into this opening segment really nicely. He doesn't seem intimidated by being in the ring with, let's face it, the top 2 guys in the WWE right now. This bodes well for the future.

Awesome Jack Tunney reference by Punk.

This all seems very reminiscent of something to me though, in a good way. I watched Wrestling with Shadows last night, for the first time. A big part of that talks about the change from the wholesome product, with Bret Hart as the good guy, to the "evil" Stone Cold Steve Austin becoming a fan favourite, even though he is a "typical heel" type character. That's what's happening with Punk right now. He, as he said, insulted Stephanie McMahon right to her face at Summerslam. But he got cheered for it. It's a good sign, that things are changing. And every rebel needs a "man" to rebel against.. I'm not saying they're trying to re-create McMahon/Austin, but Hunter/Punk looks like it could get to that level.


I'd figured this would all lead to a Triple threat for the WWE title at night of champions. I mean I guess we could still get there after the finish to the main event this week. And they do need to make sure that Punk is on the card for Night of Champions. Every match is supposed to be a title match right? Triple Threat seems to be the way to go. Punk shouldn't win though, it should be another screwjob finish. Punk doesn't need the belt for this angle to work.

I guess Morrison/Del Rio was a good match. If you don't count the mis-steps by morrison. Sure he's athletic and high flying, but it takes more than that to be a top guy. If he wants to be the next Shawn Michaels (never going to happen) he needs to develop more of a well rounded style. Also, since coming back, if i'm right, he's only won once in singles competition? Why are they having him lose so much?

Divas. Lets see.. Eve got her neck snapped on the ropes and held her stomach.That kinda sums up how the match went for me.

Already talked about Vickie/Dolph. All i'll say is Alex Riley is the one that feels like an after-thought right now. Sure, he won, but the big story was Dolph and Vickie. Swagger got outshined as well. Admittedly, that's quite easy to do.

Ok so the Nash/HHH/Punk segment. Definitely my favourite part of the episode. Also, I'm so glad JR is getting a more dominant role as commentator. Cole can be the main guy on Smackdown, but JR is the voice of RAW, and he always will be.

As I said, Kevin Nash seemed so much more relaxed and comfortable this week. I don't get why people are worried that the fans of today don't know who Kevin Nash is. I mean, the internet is only a click/swipe/touch away these days. And this angle isn't for the casual fans. Let's be honest, it's for the fans who were sick of the product, and I also think for fans who may have stopped watching, who they're trying to get back.

Nash was great. HHH was great. It still feels a little stilted though. The most interesting part, was HHH saying "If you want to beat up CM Punk, go ahead ..... i don't care". Really think about it. All the little things that HHH has said in the last month, the things that at first seem harmless, and of no importance.. those are the things that people need to pay the most attention to. Not just HHH, everyone involved. Really go back and watch.

CM Punk, I think, may be on the right track. But I think (i hope this doesn't happen) this is all going to end up with Vince trying to get his job back. Laurinitis is Vince's yes-man.. and after the events of this week's RAW, it's clear he's not on HHH's "side". There's something more going on. And it's awesome.

The best part was that we got another HHH/Punk confrontation. And it was just as good as the first one. Punk is pushing the right buttons to get this kind of reaction from HHH and the fans. And Nash was just sticking up for his buddy. Or... was he sticking up for someone else.. someone who sends texts from other people's phones maybe...

The extra little backstage segment with HHH and Nash was good too. Nothing much to talk about, except for Nash telling Hunter that he's changed... It's interesting. I get the feeling Nash is working for Laurinitis, maybe trying to get Hunter to attack someone physically, so Laurinitis can use it as ammo to get Vince's job back. Just a thought.


Pastel colours don't look good as wrestling tights! And once again, the new tag team champions are just two singles guys who have been put together. Why are they teaming together? Why did it start? Give us some back story if you want us to care about the tag team division..

King refereneced the Bushwackers. Awesome.

So new tag champs.. that leads to a rematch at Night of Champions. Maybe there's going to be a run in from one of these apparent new signings of tag teams. .. Do something to make the Tag Team Titles matter.

JR.. A shooting star press is not a 450 splash.

And all we hear is that they've been talking about teaming for a long time after the match.. that doesn't make it interesting.


Ok, the main event starts now. Johnny Ace tells HHH that Nash was in a car accident.. my first thought was just that he did it to get rid of HHH so he could affect the outcome of the main event.

Miz and Truth shouldn't be a team. Truth may benefit from it, but it sends Miz backwards. Miz is main event. That's all.

As soon as this match was announced at the start of the show, it seemed pretty clear to me that Cena was going over. It made sense. it wasn't for any titles, and it keeps putting over the fact that Cena and Punk are on the same level.

Cena gets into the ring in a really impressive way. Just saying.

Ok so the match is the match, we all know what these guys can do in the ring, especially when they're wrestling each other.

Onto the finish.

Nice and simple when you think about it. CM Punk gets distracted, Cena picks up the win. Punk gets screwed over.

But if you add in the fake hospital call that Laurinitis gave HHH, that's when it gets interesting.

Oh, and before i go any further, of course Del Rio was going to attack the winner. Why else would he be out there? He can scout by watching a tv screen in the back.

Ok back to Nash. What does this mean? Did Nash have anything to do with Laurinitis giving HHH false information? My gut says no. Unless the story goes that Nash is being paid lots of money by Laurinitis/whoever Laurinitis is working for. I mean really working for.

Is Del Rio in on it? as the "corporate" champion, if i can use that term?.. I don't think so.

I can't wait for next week. The Nash/HHH confrontation is going to be worth it by itself, even without CM Punk, Cena, and the rest of the good stuff.


So what happens now? Well Nash is clearly operating on someone else's agenda. But the big question is who? The obvious answer is Vince, and that Laurinitis is the go-between with Vince and Nash. But, as with everything that's happened in the last 2 months, there hasn't really been any obvious stuff done, with the exception of the champ vs champ match at summerslam. But that was obvious in a good way. I'm hoping we don't find out who's behind it all until at least around the time of Vengeance. I'm not a big fan of the night of champions PPV, it's limiting in terms of storyline advancement, especially when your main storyline isn't really involving the title right now. But I am fairly sure they'll find a way to keep things interesting.

That's it, i'm done, leave a comment or send me a tweet @TheOZMouthpiece and tell me what you think. And if you don't like it, go suck a lemon.

Never leave your phone lying around.

Another week, and another RAW.

Welcome back to the newly named Aussie Mouthpiece blog. I am the Aussie Mouthpiece (formerly known as the Armchair Mouthpiece), and I'm here to talk about what I liked about RAW.

If you haven't read one of my posts before, this isn't a minute by minute recap of what happened on the show. Basically, what I do is talk about what I feel are the highlights, and what could potentially be in the cards.


So onto the show.

Coming off of Summerslam, which left us with more questions than answers I feel, this show needed to be top notch. We needed to hear from HHH, Punk, Nash, and Cena.

We got that.

But what we didn't get was a great show I don't think.

It felt like they didn't know where they are going with this angle yet. HHH is still in this weird funk of not having his role made completely clear yet..we're being given this 'corporate' good for business version of HHH.. but hopefully this storyline will give us a clearer perspective on where the HHH character stands. I don't think the blend of heel/face works for everyone, and he is one of those guys that it doesn't work for. Edge, CM Punk, Cena it works for.

So HHH started the show, apologised, claimed no prior knowledge of his actions at Summerslam. If they are going down this road of it eventually being HHH, for whatever reason, it kinda feels like we've been down this road before.
When Shawn Michaels returned, in 2002 there was an angle where he was attacked from behind and his head was put through a car window.  HHH claimed no knowledge, said he'd find out who did it.. and eventually it turned out to be HHH who attacked Shawn.
It is slightly different, but it's still the bad guy feigning innocence. I for one hope they don't go with HHH as the "guy who sent the text".

Alberto Del Rio is champion huh? .. I've always really disliked the elitist champions/wrestlers. He's good, sure. He has entertaining matches, and I think having him cash in the MiTB helps move Punk into a different level of his feud, away from John Cena, which means Cena may get more focused towards The Rock (Survivor Series is coming up fairly soon remember), and Punk can start "fighting the power". So to speak.
So Alberto Del Rio is champion.. I say he has the belt for at most, a couple of months.

They gave him a lot of mic time though, was a decent promo. Especially.. "Alberto, what are you gonna do today? I feel like beating up Rey Mysterio!". I just don't see him as the face of the company. Which is kinda what the WWE champion is, even more than the World Heavyweight champion at the moment.

Now, you may wonder why I don't talk about the matches a lot during these RAW posts. I was wondering that myself for a while, but I realised something after watching Raven's latest blog. He talked about why he watches wrestling, and that there are 2 types of people who watch wrestling. Those who watch more for the actual wrestling, and those who watch for the episodic storytelling. You can't tell a good story without the matches, but the matches need to have some kind of story behind them to make them really interesting. And I fall into that category of watching for the episodic storytelling.
That's why.

So Morrison and R-Truth have a falls count anywhere match. And he cut a bad, terrible, boring promo before the match.. Morrison is fairly good in the ring, but he's not awesome. There are other people on the current WWE roster that can do what he does, and more.

Scott Armstrong counts a lot slower than other referees.

The match was decent, but I'm not a huge fan of Morrison, I get a bit bored watching him. R-Truth needs a more serious promo or something. He's great in the ring, but the spiders and the c.o.n... spiracy thing makes it seem like he's a comedic character, when he could easily be so much more. I do like the little jimmy thing though.

One thing i don't like about this falls count anywhere match, is that they spent too much time out of the ring. John Morrison is supposed to be a high flyer right? Truth has a lot of moves that he hits after coming off of the ropes right? How do you do that, if you're out of the ring 80 percent of the time? Think about it.


Miz is great. I like Subway. Sure, that was basically just a big Ad for subway, but it was entertaining.

All i'm going to say about the divas match, is why the hell aren't Kelly and Eve in a match with the people they're feuding with? Bellas are not entertaining. That match, was not entertaining.

Oh hey look Kelly kelly ... who's leg was worked on for the whole match.. is walking with no trouble at all. ........

So this is the part of RAW that i'll be talking the most about. Kevin Nash, and CM Punk.

I am a huge Kevin Nash fan. When i started watching wrestling in 1996/97 he was the guy that became my favourite. So I was really excited about him being back on RAW.

What the hell happened?

He doesn't sound like Kevin Nash.. there was nothing goin on.. he sounds like he's on something. I like the explanation, "just business". Nash has been known for doing "business", so it makes sense.
Like I said, i'm a huge Nash fan, so it was disappointing that he wasn't, at least to me, at his best.

Punk on the other hand, was at his best.

I keep getting worried that the whole "what will he say" thing is going to become a bit stale, like, it'll just become a little boring, a little less shock value, but he keeps pulling out these brilliant lines.

"If Triple H told you to jump off a bridge would you? Because I think that would be good for business".

CM Punk is so good on the mic right now. Scratch that, he's been great on the mic for years, but now we're really getting to see how good he is, because he's been given a bit of freedom. He, and I'm sure not in a malicious way, ran rings around Nash mic wise.

I read that a lot of the little jabs etc. in this promo weren't talked about before hand. You could kind of see Kevin Nash getting pissed off at a few of the things Punk said, but for some reason, it didn't really come across that way in his voice. I just feel like Nash wasn't all there or something, he could be so much better.
He wasn't terrible by any stretch, don't get me wrong. Nash is awesome. He will always be awesome to me.

Punk is on a different level though.

I really hope the text message he read out was real. That was brilliant. Line of the night.

So really, to sum up, Punk was amazing, Nash seemed unsure of what he was saying, but he's still Big Daddy Cool when it all boils down to it, and that means I want to see more.
Also, Nash's goatee is awesome, even if it's a little reminiscent of Undertaker when he was in the ministry.

My only concern is that this is all going to end up a lot like the "Higher Power" story line. What i mean by that is all that's going to happen, the big payoff is that everyone is doing Vince McMahon's bidding. That would be boring.

I like that all the suspects are being shown, and the little backstage segment with Laurinitis and Nash was a great example of that. Now we're thinking.. Laurinitis is Vince's yes-man.. maybe it's Vince! Then later on Stephanie is in Triple H's office.. maybe it's Stephanie!
Regardless, it's interesting, and that's what's important. I'm almost at that point where i'm confident that this change to really entertaining wrestling and storylines is permanent, and they're not going to drop the ball. Almost.

One little thing, Jerry Lawler needs to stop calling Vickie Guererro fat. Hey king, go get some more plastic surgery!

The commentary on the Riley/Swagger match was way more entertaining than the match. And what the hell happened with that finish?

They're trying to rebuild the tag team division and make it relevant again. So instead of just putting two singles wrestlers together, aka evan bourne and kofi.. with no reason as to why they'd team up (unless i'm mistaken).. give us a reason for them teaming up, make them a tag team.. a proper tag team!


So much for giving Rey big plans for this summerslam/raw weekend. I guess maybe it was because of his knee injury, but, I never really believed they were going to have him win the championship.

So I have to talk about John Cena's promo too, because it was very, very good.
He's talking about integrity, bringing as much integrity to the WWE title as possible. I like it.
Cena showing some more attitude.
I love it. Not trying to be funny, no little jokes, just attitude and passion. That's what i want to see. And that's what Cena is giving us.

So what happens now?

Well, I think next week's RAW won't answer everything, I think we'll find out if CM Punk gets to fight Nash, but i'm guessing that wouldn't be at Night of Champions right.. because that's the Pay per view where it's all championship matches. So Vengeance? that's about 2 months away though. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Clearly it looks to be Del Rio vs Cena coming up at some point. Maybe the night of champions match will be a Triple Threat. Punk vs Cena vs Del Rio. that makes sense.

I think Miz needs to be in there too though, they can't leave him off of two pay per views (I know he was at summerslam, but it was a last minute match)

Should be an interesting few weeks. Can't wait to see more CM Punk, more Nash, more Cena (wow, i just said that). Who knows, maybe more of the kliq will show up.. X-Pac works for WWE right?...

That's it, i'm done, if you don't like it, go suck a lemon.

Who's your (big) Daddy?

Well... time for a Summerslam roundup, review, and general recapping. Let me say this now. If you haven't watched Summerslam, maybe don't read this, because SPOILERS abound.

First general thoughts.. there were way too many ads in the first half of the pay per view.

6-man tag was a good way to get a lot of faces on the show, but didn't really serve any real purpose other than that.

Morrison didn't botch!

The musical guests bored me.

Ok onto the matches.

We open with an unscheduled 6-man tag match.

Miz cuts a promo and gets interrupted by R-Truth who cuts a promo and gets interrupted. This all feels really thrown together at the last minute. It's a shame that they couldn't have done a little more than this.
R-Truth's vest is now "Little Jimmy Proof".

I understand why they did the match, it gets these guys on the pay per view, even if there's nothing really going on with any of them at the moment. Maybe a better idea would have been take out 2 of them, take your pick really.. and add in Dolph, and Riley, and change it to a battle royal for the US title. Just for fun.

The match was pretty good however, and I definitely think the guys made the best of what they got. I'm pretty sure Rey's knee was troubling him though, he didn't get involved until the end of the match really.
Kofi Kingston is really talented, but it feels like he's stuck in this spot at the moment.. he needs to make something happen if he wants to rise up the ranks, so to speak. His crazy high clothesline/cross body thing at the end of the match was amazing though.

R-Truth is less of a joke tonight. Good to see.

Morrison is not as good as Morrison thinks he is.

I gotta stop talking about the match for a second though. The commentary from Booker T (and Cole at points) is awful. I can't believe that they went with Booker over Jim Ross. JR explained on twitter that Booker helps represent smackdown, but, I don't know, it feels like if you're going to bring him back, you'd want him commentating on your big events.

Ok back to the rest of the match.

Miz did something i've never seen before. It looks like a version of a Cutter, except that Miz dropped to his knees not his back. Kind of like a Cutter, mixed with a Stunner.. A... Stutter?

Not much else to say, the finish was fairly obvious, especially after 10 minutes and Rey Mysterio not being in the ring.. But what I did like is that having Del Rio in the opening match maybe took away a bit of the idea that he would cash in his money in the bank..... little did we know...

Was a good finish, and man... Rey kicked Truth in the head so hard! Morrison hit a great spinning plancha, and Kofi hit that huge clothesline. Rey with the 619 and splash for the win.

Solid opening match, especially given no prior notice for us. I give it... 6.5/10

Laurnintis is a tool. CM Punk needs to kick him in the head again.

Was really surprised to see Stephanie, but it definitely makes sense, seeing that CM Punk has brought her up in recent weeks. And it highlights the importance of the main event, that she would show up as a corprorate figure.

I love the crowd reaction to seeing Stephanie. Wooooaaaahhhhhh instead of the usual cheer.

One of the best lines of the night at the end of this segment. "I would, but uh.. i know where that hand's been". Hahaha. Punk delivers again. Damn he is on fire at the moment.

So Sheamus and Mark Henry is up next.

I gotta be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this match. I haven't watched a lot of Smackdown lately, and I'm not a believer that Mark Henry is talented enough to go higher than mid-card. I figured that out when he wrestled Undertaker at WM 22.
Sheamus, I hadn't really seen as a babyface yet, still wasn't sure how that would go.

I was pleasantly surprised on both fronts.

Mark Henry is doing really well with this push he's being given. It's believable. Just as Sheamus is, with the Irish warrior thing he's got going on.

From thinking about how this could go, it didn't make sense to have Sheamus win. If Sheamus beats Henry, Henry loses all momentum.
But if Sheamus loses, it doesn't do anything for Sheamus.
Absolute best line of the night was "Oh man... he just left a skidmark on that boy". Thankyou Booker T. Thankyou so much.

Sheamus is excellent as a babyface. The crowd seemed really into him every time he tried to make a comeback. And when he tied Henry up in the ropes and started pounding his chest, man.. Henry looked like he couldn't take it. Those shots sounded brutal.

The finish was great, and worked so well to keep both guys going. It put Henry over as a monster who can dominate anyone, and with Sheamus not being pinned, it didn't make him look weak either. If you get to watch a replay, check out the guy directly to the right of the impact in the front row, his reaction is priceless.

All in all, a much better match than I originally thought, Sheamus is going to go a long way. 7/10 (just for the finish!)

Cee Lo did some singing. I was hoping Mo and Mabel would come out and join him, we could have had a men on a mission reunion.
Divas joined him for whatever the second song was... and even that didn't make it more interesting for me.
Nuff said.

So the Diva's title match is up next.
This was a match I was looking forward to, not because it was going to be a classic or anything, mainly because I, like a lot of people, wanted to see Beth Phoenix knock the crap out of Kelly Kelly.
I don't buy Kelly as a tough wrestling type girl. Not in the slightest.
So there's not a lot to say about this match either, Beth had new ring gear.. I'm not sure about it, kinda liked the old stuff, but it's not bad by any stretch.
I didn't like the ending at first, with Kelly getting the quick pin, but thinking about it, it does make more sense to keep her (kelly) the champion, maybe next month's pay per view will be the changing of the times. Let them build Beth and Natalya up a bit more, have them destroy the Bellas (please) or something.

One other thing, Kelly Kelly needs to learn how to hit the ropes. It annoys me every single time i see it. The point of hitting the ropes is to get extra speed right? She turns, stops, and just touches them. It's ridiculous.

Anyway, Beth was great, Kelly wasn't. I hope we have a new Women's champion soon. 5/10

Stephanie on camera again, coming out of Cena's dressing room. I love what they're doing with this angle.

Great to see Jimmy Hart too. Although you could see the Little Jimmy coming miles away.

Wade Barrett vs Daniel Bryan.
I was looking forward to this one. Bryan is great, and i'm really starting to love what Barrett is doing. He comes across legitametly tough, reminds me of William Regal.
What i was NOT looking forward to was Michael Cole talking. Enough with the nerd crap Cole, you were a damn cheerleader!
Anyway, as I said I was really looking forward to this match. And i wasn't disappointed.
Lots of great back and forth action, Bryan showing a lot of submissions and locks and stuff you don't usually see in WWE matches.
Oh and his kicks look amazingly brutal.
Barrett hit some awesome moves too. that swinging sidewalk slam, and springboard backbreaker were two highlights for me.
Other highlights, Daniel Bryan's knee into Barrett's head. Owch.
The clothesline when Bryan was straddling the top rope.
Anyway, Barrett is awesome, Bryan is awesome. Let's hope we see more of these two in matches. 8/10

Orton and Christian ... I was hoping this would be good, but i wasn't expecting it to be.
Man was I wrong.

I think like everyone, knowing that this was going to be the 4th time in a row it would be Orton vs Christian for the WHC, I was kind of at that point of "again?..."

Again was worth it.

And we got the added surprise of Edge.
Now that was good, I got a little excited when he came out. But then I started thinking, Edge retired as a face, and the crowd are cheering him now... why would he side with the heel in this match?
So I was glad when he called Christian a bitch and left.

And the match was amazing. Orton was bleeding from 3 or 4 different places at the end of it, you could tell it was really brutal.
I loved the use of the table, leaving it flat on the ring mat instead of setting it up and then hitting the superplex on it. That was really different, and great. I guess it helped make it easier to put christian through it when Orton powerslammed him through it.
Orton still looks like Giant Gonzales to me, but with a lot more talent.
I was thinking for a while we'd see Edge again towards the end of this match, especially when Christian began to set up the Con-chair-to. The setup reminded me of the spot at the Royal Rumble a couple of years ago when Matt turned on Jeff Hardy. Sort of, I don't know, I just remembered that when he went for the chair. But I think it was right that we didn't see Edge, it was more like he said his piece and that was enough.
Also this is just a personal thing, but spitting on someone else is disgusting. I'm glad Orton beat the snot out of Christian after that.

So many brutal spots in this match, though the two that stand out for me were the RKO through the announce table, and the DDT onto the trash can.
Randy seemed like the obvious choice to have win this match, hopefully this is the finish of this feud, and we can move on to something new going forward.
Overall .. easily the 2nd best match of the night. 8.5/10.

One other thing, it's amazing how much of a reaction Orton could get, just by putting Christian's head on those steps and then placing his foot on top.. really, watch that part back again if you can. Sometimes it's what you don't do that leaves more of an impression. Sometimes you leave someone's face impression on a garbage can too.

And now we have the main event.
I love CM Punk's thing of sitting cross legged in the ring. just sayin.
I'm trying to understand the relevance of Cena saying to the camera "This is where i started. I used to walk the concourse of this place.. in gimmick".. I guess he just wanted to say it. Weird.

This match had so much hype to live up to, not just from Money in The Bank, but all of the promos on RAW. CM Punk was going to have to back up what he said, and Cena was going to have to prove he is who he said he was.
And HHH added into the mix just added to the expectations.

There were so many ideas floating around for the finish. HHH screws Punk, ADR cashes in his money in the bank.
HHH screws Cena.
Cena turns heel. (not going to happen)
I don't think most people were expecting that kind of finish though. I mean, apart from the foot on the rope, it was basically a clean finish. As i said in my previous blog what I thought might've happened is HHH ended up screwing Cena.. So i guess in a way I was right. But it was "accidental".

Oh yeah.. Why the hell is Michael Cole telling us which wrestler is which? First of all, even if someone hadn't watched before tonight, they've just seen a promo package of the events leading up to this match, they've both made their entrances with their names on the tron, and they've just been introduced by the ring announcer. WE KNOW WHO THEY ARE! Where's JR... seriously!

Ok onto the actual match.

Cena pulled out a lot of different moves in this match, I was really impressed with him. More so than usual. Because he's always consistent, he's always good at what he does, but there was a lot of new stuff. Maybe he's trying to show he can be more than the 5 moves of doom, not for the people who hate him, but for himself. I believe that's the only reason he'd change. Cena is not going to bow to pressure just to get people to like him. Best example, he hit a rolling sideslam/rock bottom looking thing.

Having said that, I loved the "Fruity Pebbles" chants.

Another thing i loved about this match was they went out there trying to do something different than Money in the Bank. There was a deliberate pace, lots of headlocks, lots of submission type moves, they didn't just go out there and try to recreate what they did a month ago. Punk even pulled out the Koji-Clutch.
So like i said, lots of different moves, lots of originality. Also, the way that Punk and Cena broke up each other's standard "routines" was great. Makes it feel different.

And man, Punk hit his head hard on that dive through the ropes onto Cena/the barricade. Sure, it's padded.. but so are boxing gloves. But it did lead to that awesome little spot of Triple H throwing them both back into the ring to stop the double count-out.

Favourite part of the match was CM Punk hitting the Macho Man elbow and the crowd going nuts chanting "Randy Savage".

I was really surprised at the finish, it seemed to happen very quickly, at a different pace to the rest of the match. Maybe they were running low on time or something. Not anything hugely different or anything, just we had Cena looking like he was making a comeback, but then within 10 seconds Punk hit his finisher and Cena's foot was on the rope.

Now, after thinking about this for a few hours.. I love this ending. Neither guy looks bad, because of the shady finish.
I was almost sure HHH was going to pedigree CM Punk when he raised his hand as the winner.. But as i've said before, it's all the little things that they're doing that make this feud, this storyline so great. Punk didn't take his eyes off of HHH so that there would be no way he could surprise him.
And then Holy SHIT... it's Kevin Nash! (with a sweet goatee by the way) That was the best moment of the whole show. Sure, he left Punk laying on the mat, but it's Kevin Nash!

And then... Alberto cashes his money in the bank. I've seen a few people talking about how in the past there's been rules like "the champ must be able to defend himself" but I think that goes against the whole idea of the briefcase. Remember the first time it was cashed in.. Edge on John Cena? Cena was bloodied, and had just gone through an elimination chamber match. That's what the briefcase is for.. for a guy to take advantage of a situation. I have no problem with that part of it.

Here's why Kevin Nash being the guy to attack Punk is brilliant. Kevin Nash, is Triple H's friend. We know this. Kevin Nash talked about coming back on the road full time, mentioning Cm Punk on twitter. Kevin Nash has been a bodyguard before. So the question now is why? Why did he do it?
CM Punk is going to think it was HHH's plan all along. Cena is going to be pissed with HHH for missing the foot on the rope. See where it's headed? It elevates this story even further.

So why did Nash do it? Well.. I have a feeling we didn't see Stephanie McMahon for no reason. Nash has said for years, that he's about money. Hopefully we get some answers on RAW this week. And Rey gets his championship match this week too, against Del Rio. That should be interesting.. But what will be even more interesting is how HHH sorts all of this out. The way he played the end of Summerslam was great, looking confused, and worried, and like he knew this was all going to come back to him because he was the special guest ref.

So for the last match, overall.. I think it lived up to the hype, it was easily as good as money in the bank, wrestling wise. 9/10

So overall, I really enjoyed Summerslam, and still i'm really excited for RAW this week. I can't wait to see where this is heading.. will Nash be back for a while, was it a one time deal with someone? How will Triple H try to solve all the problems that were caused?.. Who gets a rematch for the title?

What do you all think? Leave me a comment, or follow me on twitter at @TheACMouthpiece and tell me.

And if you don't like what i've said, go suck a lemon.

Let me tell ya something...

It's me again, the armchair mouthpiece, back to sling you some more written truthfacts from the couch of creativeness.

Ok so I did say my next post would not be about the whole CM Punk/Cena/McMahon situation, and I meant it. So what I thought i'd do is give you a little history lesson, namely how I became a fan, and why I feel like I can actually write this blog, and not come off like some huckster, who doesn't know what he's talking about.

I also thought I might start doing some random top 10 lists, a few ideas I have include the obvious top 10 wrestlers and top 10 matches.. but I thought some things like top 10 sick bumps, top 10 fails, maybe top 10 one liners could be interesting as well. So if anyone wants to comment on wether or not that would be good, or not, please feel free.

So, as far as my history goes, I mentioned this in my first post, so forgive me for repeating myself. I started watching wrestling right around 1997-98. I can't remember exactly when, could have been slightly earlier in fact. One of the first matches I can remember seeing involved Sting, but it was before the "Crow" transformation, he still had his blonde hair and coloured face-paint, however it could have been a highlight package or something. I used to visit my father every couple of months or so, and at the time he had Optus Cable TV, which carried TNT, and therefore WCW Monday Nitro. So originally, as a teenager, I was a WCW guy. I saw a little WWF stuff late at night on tv, I even remember thinking "this is stupid, why is he bleeding?"... Oh to be young again..

Anyway the first main story I remember, as many who watched WCW around that time was the NWO, and in turn the NWO wolfpack. I became a big fan of Kevin Nash, Sting, Juventud Guerrera, Raven, and I remember the commentary of Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan especially. I remember watching Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Alex Wright, Glacier(!), Ric Flair.. Also i remember disliking Eric Bischoff right from the get go. Not much has changed in 13 years. But, I was still under the impression this was all completely "real", and was just a fan of the matches, i suppose not really a "smark" or whatever we're supposed to be called.

I got a bit older, my father moved to a different place and didn't have cable, so from 1999 or so onwards, no more wrestling for me. That is until 2003. I don't remember exactly why I did this, but I was in a local video rental store, and they had a bunch of WWE and WWF videos. not dvds, videos. The first ones I hired were Wrestlemania XII, and Judgement Day 2003. So it must have been around July/August 2003. I watched Wrestlemania XII, and immediately I was hooked again. Undertaker vs. Diesel, Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart, even Ultimate Warrior vs HHH (clearly i still wasn't that knowledgable)... Instantly I was a Shawn Michaels fan. I liked Undertaker, but didn't know a lot about him. That would change very quickly.

Then I popped in Judgement Day 2003, I can remember watching that video so vividly.. The banter between Austin and Bischoff (who i recognised of course) was amazing. I think what drew me to hiring that particular video was the 2 main event matches, HHH vs Kevin Nash, and Big Show (or, as i knew him.. The Giant) vs Brock Lesnar in a stretcher match. Nash powerbombing HHH through the announcer's table is still one of my favourite memories.

So that was where my current love of wrestling began. I hired just about every single video they had there, they had some pay per views from 1998, Unforgiven i think was one, with the Inferno Match between Undertaker and Kane.. seeing that side of Undertaker was what got me really interested in him, and it was around the same time that he'd been buried alive at the survivor series of 2003, and there were all those signs of his return as the Deadman.

So that was 2003/2004. I started buying dvds, reading histories, learning as much as I could about everything to do with wrestling, the backstage stuff (as much as you can really), watching Shawn Michaels interviews helped, all the interviews I've seen him give on dvd's and such, he speaks truthfully, talking about "we talked about what we could do with the cell".. basically no kayfabe with him.

I got cable tv in 2005, in october.. about a month before Eddie died. I feel really lucky that I got it when I did, because I was able to see Eddie's last televised match.. and the tribute RAW.

So since then, i've wathced a lot of ECW, and then a couple of years ago when Foxtel started broadcasting Impact, started watching TNA. And that in turn led to buying a whole bunch of TNA dvds from overseas, namely the older ones not available here in australia. Watching AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Low Ki, Sabin, Shelley, Petey Williams.. That was a whole extra level of amazing ability that i'd not seen before. And it was something different, and especially in the early days, i think something better than "the norm".

And that's about it as far as watching history.. as far as why I feel like I have valid opinions, why my opinions should be read by others.. well, whenever i get passionate about something, I learn as much about it as I can.. a "student of the game" without being in the game, if you will. A few years ago i bought the Anthologies that the WWE released, the wrestlmanias, the summerslams, the Royal Rumbles (my favourite event by the way).. and watching all of those, which I have done.. in order even, has really helped me see the change in style from the mid 80s to today, from the new generation, the attitude era.. and things like being able to see legends like Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker arrive, and mature and mould and shape their characters, and constantly change.. it's all education. I'm not saying i'm an expert, I like to think I know a bit about what makes a match good, who's good, who's overrated.. and most importantly, I have an opinion that is my own, I don't just jump on someone else's bandwagon.. like the "cena sucks" bandwagon, Cena does not suck. You watch his early matches, before he became the Rapper. Watch his work from MITB (i know, i'm talking about it again).. Watch Wrestlemania 22 and 23.

So that's about it. Nothing much else to say, i kinda like this catchphrase I used last time, I think i'll stick with it, as it's kind of appropriate for my life. I hope this wasn't too boring or anything.. in the meantime, I can't wait for RAW tomorrow. Expect postings.

What's it like to be me? You will never, ever know!