JM's World: WWE Extreme Rules Preview

Hello World,

Welcome to my Preview of the WWE extreme rules PPV this Sunday 1^st May. I will run through the matches and give my predictions on what I think may happen. As this is Extreme Rules, all matches will have no disqualifications. So far there are 6 matches announced plus another one rumoured (Sheamus Vs Kofi Kingston – US Title) however, I’ll just preview the confirmed matches. Let’s get straight to it.

Rey Mysterio Vs Cody Rhodes (Falls Count Anywhere Match)

I expect this match to open the show. These two have had some decent matches so far and like Wrestlemania, they have the potential to steal the show, I doubt they will get the time though. I think this feud ends tonight as Rey will now be on Raw and I think Cody is in line for a main event push, perhaps feuding with Randy Orton. I pick Cody to win here it makes more sense that way, he is on the way up and it doesn’t hurt Rey to lose this Feud. My Pick Cody Rhodes.

Michelle McTaker Vs Layla (No DQ, No Countout, Loser Leaves WWE Match)

Again it’s a Diva’s match not featuring any of the top talent the WWE have at their disposal, I’d love to see a Beth/Natalya feud, Wake up Writers! This feud has had quite a quick build and if rumours are true, Michelle McCool is leaving the WWE. Therefore I can only predict one winner here. Layla wins and the rest of the diva’s come out to wave off McTaker. Not sure what the future holds for Layla, she isn’t the best technically (getting better though), however is Smoking Hot (The best looking Diva in my opinion), she should be ok. My Pick Layla.

Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross Vs Michael Cole & Jack Swagger (Country Whippin Match)

I am very bored of this feud; I’m hoping it ends here. Vince probably believes this feud is gold. I’ll give Cole his due, he has garnered a lot of heat during this run. I predict that this will be a quick match (JR has in injured hand) with Swagger and Lawler doing most of the work. I think Swagger Turns face here (well that’s how Id book it). He turns on Cole, allowing Lawler and JR to put the beat down with the whips on Cole. I think Cole will stay as heel but will tone it down a few notches. It would also be nice if he stuck to Smackdown and they got JR back on Raw permanently (I can hope can’t I). My Pick Lawler & Ross.

Randy Orton Vs CM Punk (Last Man Standing Match)

This is another match that has show-stealing potential and is another one where the feud finishes tonight. I think Randy will go on to Feud with Cody Rhodes, where as Punk and the Nexus goes after The Miz and the Title. I imagine they will get decent time and lots of 8 & 9 counts. I actually think Punk wins here and the finish will have Punk keeping Orton down for the Ten by tying him down or something silly like that. I have enjoyed this feud, however I think it could have been better. My Pick CM Punk.

Christian Vs Alberto Del Rio (Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship)

I am looking forward to this match more than any other, it could be a classic. They are fighting over the title vacated after Edge retired. Christian is a veteran of the ladder match and I’m hoping for him to pull out all the stops. Del Rio is a good worker too but I’m going for a Christian win. It makes sense as Del Rio is now on Raw, that doesn’t stop the WWE finding some way to have both titles on one show for a while though. I think after many near attempts at grabbing the belt, he finally does it and maybe Edge comes out to raise his hand. Nobody deserves to be a world champ more than Christian in my opinion. I hate to say it but I see Christian/Mark Henry feud on the horizon however! My Pick Christian.

John Cena Vs John Morrison Vs The Miz (champ) (Triple Threat Steal Cage Match for the WWE Championship)

This has the potential to be a good match; I think it would be a better match if there was only one way to win. I’d have it that you had to escape the cage and not by using the door. I think Miz wins here by pinning John Morrison after R truth somehow gets his self involved and attacks Morrison. I imagine they will have him pin Morrison just as Cena is escaping the cage. Can’t have Cena lose clean (god forbid!). I think Cena will Feud with Alberto del Rio, Miz with Punk and Morrison continues with R Truth going forward. My Pick The Miz

I am looking forward to this PPV, mainly because I think we get to see Christian crowned World Champion. I think a lot of feuds end tonight either because they have dragged on too long or because of the draft. Well that’s at least what I’m hoping for! Also a Chris Jericho return would go down well, I’d be surprised if that happens so soon after DWTS though.

I’ll be back on Monday or Tuesday with my review of the PPV and Tuesday or Wednesday for Raw is Johnmeode. Enjoy your Weekend people.

As always I welcome your thoughts and Feedback, what are your predictions?

Contact me on

Email; johnmeode@live.co.uk

Twitter; @mrjohnmeode

Facebook.com/johnmeode

TTFN

JM

JM's World Opinion: The WWE Draft

Hello World,

The WWE held its supplemental draft yesterday and I will cover what happened and my take on how it will affect the brands going forward.

First who moved where?

To Raw; Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Alberto Del Rio (all drafted during Raw) Chris Masters, Curt Hawkins, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, JTG, Kofi Kingston, Tyler Reks, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly.

To Smackdown; Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Sin Cara (all drafted during Raw) Alex Riley, Daniel Bryan, Jimmy & Jey Uso, The Great Khali & Ranjin Singh, Sheamus, Ted DiBiase, Tyson Kidd, Yoshi Tatsu, William Regal, Alicia Fox, Natalya and Tamina.

So Smackdown got 17 new Superstars and Diva’s and Raw got 12. That’s probably about right as Raw was stacked where as Smackdown needed a few extra bodies as their roster was on the thin side. Now let’s weigh up who were the big winners here and what we can expect going forward.

Firstly on Raw, in my opinion the top 5 babyfaces now are; John Cena, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and Big Show. That is assuming that Triple H doesn’t come back regularly. The top 5 heels are; The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk, R Truth and Jack Swagger. There is not a good balance there, the Heels are loaded with top talent while other than Cena, the face side is weak. They need a top heel to turn face in my opinion, and I believe it needs to be Swagger or Miz. I think Swagger would make a good fit; he could turn on Cole to a huge pop helping a fellow Oklahoman in the process. I think a gimmick similar to Kurt Angle’s Face run would work. He could have good matches with the likes of Alberto Del Rio; perhaps a whole “America against Mexico” thing could work for them and would get Swagger over. Another guy who could move up the card as a face I believe is Zack Ryder, I’m not saying he will be a main event level talent yet but he is already over with Internet fans and there are more and more signs in the crowd relating to Ryder. Push him already Woo Woo Woo You Know It.

As for Smackdown, I believe the top 5 faces are; Randy Orton, Christian, Sin Cara, Kane and Daniel Bryan. Again assuming The Undertaker doesn’t wrestle regularly. The top 5 heels are; Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Mark Henry and Ezekiel Jackson. The heel side of Smackdown is very weak in my opinion, although there are a lot of guys with potential to be a top heel, like Cody, Barrett and Ted DiBiase. I think that Cody will be elevated to the main event pretty quickly and we know that Sheamus can headline PPV’s. There are a lot of potentially very good superstars on Smackdown and it will be interesting how they progress. I’m hoping for a Daniel Bryan push as well as a Justin Gabriel one, as I believe these two have masses of potential and could have some superb matches, maybe over the Intercontinental Title. Speaking of which, I’m interested in seeing how they go about having both the Intercontinental and US titles on the same show. I’m assuming that they either merge the two or find a way to get one back on Raw, as having them both on one show doesn’t make much sense.

As for the draft, I felt some of it made sense other parts didn’t. For example, moving Drew McIntyre to Raw is a mistake, he has the potential to be a main event heel and would have had more chance of that on Smackdown. Instead he is not even in the top 5 heels on Raw in my opinion. Moving Randy Orton to Smackdown made lots of sense, they were missing that top babyface since Edge retired and I believe that Orton is the right guy for the job.

All in all I don’t believe there is a big winner here, however Smackdown needed a new top face and got one. And Raw got stacked with top Heels. Over the next few weeks and months I am expecting pushes for some of the mid-card talent to try and get to the main event level. It could be exciting times in the WWE. Well let’s hope so at least.

I’ll be back later in the week with a preview to Extreme Rules.

As always I welcome all feedback on my writing whether positive or negative so get involved.

Follow me on;

Twitter @mrjohnmeode

Facebook.com/johnmeode

TTFN

JM

Raw Is JohnMeode 25/04/11

Hello World,

Welcome to Raw Is Johnmeode.

This week Raw is brought to you from Raleigh, North Carolina. The announcers are Josh Matthews, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. This week it is the annual WWE Draft, where we will have matches between Raw and Smackdown superstars, with the winners getting draft picks for their respective brands.

First off we jump straight in to a huge battle royal to determine the first draft pick, the superstars are all wearing T-shirts representing their brands colours. I’m not sure just how many superstars started the match but it is fast paced as usual in these battle royals.

Team Smackdown won with Big Show and Kofi Kingston last men standing. The final four guys were Big Show and Kofi from Smackdown and Mason Ryan and Evan Bourne from Raw. Some great athleticism from Kofi and Evan during this match, id say they were the stand out performers during the Battle royal. Big show Eliminated Mason Ryan last to win the match for Smackdown after 13 minutes. Match Rating 4/10

It was a decent TV Battle Royal, with mainly mid-carders appearing. And the first draft Pick is................. John Cena to Smackdown. Wow, I’m quite surprised by this, Raw is the number one brand and it doesn’t make much sense to have Cena on Smackdown. They showed the reaction from the locker room with the raw guys looking lost, which I found quite funny.

Next Cena was interviewed by Todd Grisham and claimed it was the biggest draft pick in WWE history, Miz showed up and said after Extreme Rules, his catchphrase was right as he wouldn’t see him.

Next they recapped R Truth’s Heel turn from last week and he was introduced to cut a promo from the stage. His promo basically blamed the WWE Universe for wanting him to accept JoMo’s challenge last week. He said from now on he is fighting for himself and after the beat down on Morrison the Truth has set him free. Morrison then came down and attacked Truth from behind until the referees broke it up. I am assuming that these two will feud and that Truth will cost Morrison in the title match at Extreme Rules.  I thought this was the best promo I have heard Truth cut. He drew heat and it felt more natural to what he did last week as a face. I am really looking to see how this develops.

After commercial they showed another Kong vignette, confirming her name as Kharma. We then had a diva’s match for one draft pick. It was Layla vs Eve, before the match they replayed the counselling session from Smackdown where Michelle McTaker attacked Layla.

Eve Torres Pinned Layla with a roll up after around a minute in what cannot really be described as a match. Layla was distracted by McTaker at ringside. Michael Cole interrupted during the match to talk about how he was going to the back to warm up and how he would beat JR in a match later. After the match Layla attacked Mctaker at ringside including throwing her over the announce table. Layla was crying during the beatdown. At the moment the diva division sucks soooo bad, they have some very talented diva‘s and they don’t utilise them. I don’t get it. Match Rating 0.5/10

The second Draft pick is....................... Rey Mysterio to Raw. I’m now assuming that Sin Cara gets drafted to Smackdown either tonight or during the supplemental draft as it doesn’t make much sense to have them both on the same show just yet. I also noticed that Cena’s face is shown as a possible mover to Raw. Hmmm

Cody Rhodes is interviewed next and cut a good promo about how he will give Mysterio a going away present from smackdown at ER, a new mask, as he will need surgery after their falls count anywhere match. I expect Cody to be moved up the card after Extreme Rules, a feud with Christian would be good.

Next up we have Kofi Vs. Sheamus for one draft pick, these two were both in the battle royal earlier.

Kofi Pinned Sheamus after hitting Trouble in Paradise after barely 3 minutes. Kofi has been booked strong tonight. This was on ok match, typical TV match if you like, but 3 minutes?? Come on. I don’t expect much quality or quantity in terms of actual wrestling tonight. Match rating 2.5/10

The third draft pick is..................... Randy Orton to Smackdown. This one makes sense way more than moving Cena. Randy is more than capable of being the top babyface on Smackdown. They showed the locker room reaction again and Santino’s face is brilliant, almost like he is going to break down at the news.

Next up is Michael Cole vs. Jim Ross. I am getting very bored of this feud. I’m praying it ends at extreme rules.

JR beat Michael Cole via disqualification. Again this wasn’t really a match, more just an angle that went on for about ten minutes. Around ten minutes too long. JR bloodied Cole’s lip and in the process cut his own hand (I believe he legit injured it). Swagger interfered and Cole started hitting JR with his belt until Jerry made the save, taking out Swagger and Cole. The ARGM (anonymous Raw General Manager) piped in to say this match will now be a tag team country whipping match at ER. Match Rating 1/10

Next up the Miz was interviewed saying nobody’s talking about him, they are talking about the draft and The Rock’s birthday bash on Raw next week. He said WWE and USA management better pray that he doesn’t get drafted tonight or within a month Raw will be cancelled.

After commercial we get Randy Orton (now representing Smackdown) vs. The new look Dolph Ziggler for two draft picks.

Randy Orton Pinned Dolph Ziggler after hitting the RKO in around 4 minutes. Decent back and forth TV Match. What’s happened to Dolph, he seemed to be getting a decent push and it’s like he has just been forgotten. Match Rating 3/10

Before we get the next two draft picks, CM Punk comes out to cut a promo about how he will destroy Orton with a variety of weapons. Orton answers by saying that punk won’t be rambling on anymore after ER as he will be in a permanent unconscious sleep. Good promo by both guys as usual. I’m sure Randy will be the top guy on Smackdown, as they will find away to get Cena back on Raw. He will probably get drafted back at some point tonight or traded back in the next couple of weeks.

And the next draft picks are...................... Mark Henry to Smackdown and Sin Cara to Smackdown. Sin Cara makes sense as I mentioned earlier, and Henry, unless they are gonna push him again (which I doubt) will probably do the same job on smackdown as he does on raw; Jobs to top talent.

Next up another match worth two draft picks as Wade Barrett goes up against Rey Mysterio (now representing Raw).

Rey Pinned Barrett after hitting the 619 and splash after barely 3 minutes. Way to book the Intercontinental Champ! This was very predictable though as smackdown has already had 4 picks and Raw just the 1. I wish the matches would get more time, though I understand they are concentrating on the draft rather than quality matches. Match Rating 2/10

And the next draft picks are........................ Big Show to Raw and Alberto Del Rio to Raw. Again unless they push the Big show he will prob just be there to make the top guys look good. And Alberto is a good choice, though this makes me think Christian will win on Sunday. At the moment Raw has 3 top heels in Punk, Miz and Del Rio and no top babyfaces unless you count Morrison and Mysterio, which I don’t.

Next up they ran through the card for extreme rules, ill preview that later in the week. We then got Teddy Long who announced the Main Event as The Miz, CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian, Mark Henry and John Cena for the last draft pick of the night. There will be the supplemental draft on WWE.com tomorrow. Why is Mark Henry in the main event, he doesn’t fit, unless he is getting that push I just said he wouldn’t get.

The Miz, CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio beat Christian, Mark Henry and John Cena after The Miz pinned John Cena after hitting the Skull Crushing Finale. Mark Henry turned heel during the match, he clotheslined Cena allowing Miz to hit his finisher. He then took out Christian by throwing him into the steps. It was a decent tag match with Christian taking the beating from the heels until he got the hot tag to Cena, the match went around 12 minutes with a commercial included. Match Rating 4/10

And the last draft pick of the night is........................ John Cena back to Raw. Wow that wasn’t at all obvious! Super Cena then completely no sold his beating just a moment ago and attacked all 3 heels and stood tall in the ring wearing his red Raw T-shirt.

This was an ok Raw; there was not a lot of in ring action as they were concentrating on the draft. The whole Cena being drafted between shows was pointless and it made the ending obvious. They mentioned Extreme Rules more than last week but still not as much as usual. It seems that they aren’t hopeful for big numbers on this PPV.

I’ll be back later in the week with an Extreme Rules Preview and may put up a post on the Supplemental draft, so keep checking back to JM’s world

TTFN

JM

JM's World Update

Hello World,

Hey guys just wanted to say sorry for the lack of posts in the last few days. I had to go out of town due to a family emergency. I recorded Raw last night so I’m gonna get to that this afternoon and write “Raw Is Johnmeode” later today and get that posted either later this evening or tomorrow. I will also be previewing Extreme Rules this week, as well as my first soccer post so keep checking this site as posts will be coming thick and fast!

TTFN

JM

JM's World Opinion: Why I think the WWE should bring back the Cruiserweight Championship

Hello world,

Welcome to the first “JM’s World Opinion”. I will do these opinion pieces regularly, although not at set intervals. I might do a couple or three in a week or I may not do any for a couple of weeks, depends on what’s happening and how busy I am.

Let’s get to it, and as you can see from the above title this piece is on the Cruiserweight Championship. Now I know that the cruiserweight belt was originally on WCW, where as the WWE had the light Heavyweight Championship, however I am now classing these as the same title, the Cruiserweight Championship, after these were merged back in 2001.

It is my opinion that this title should be brought back and here is why, and how I would do it:

Why? This title is a great starting point for the “smaller” wrestler. The likes of Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Christian and Matt Hardy all held this belt early in their careers and it brought them on as wrestlers in leaps and bounds. I remember a period in 97/98 in WCW when there were some very good matches between Jericho, Eddie and Rey Mysterio, 3 future Heavyweight Champions.

It gets these young guys with big potential to start realising that potential, it lets them work on their in ring skills, mic skills and gives them good airtime to try and get them over with the fans as performers. It also gives them the opportunity to really find their character, what works and what doesn’t work.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that if this title was brought back, some of the younger guys would immediately get over and go on to become legends. What I am saying is that it gives them an opportunity, an opportunity that I don’t believe they have at the moment.

I,  like most fans at the moment, don’t believe that they are utilising the US or Intercontinental titles at all well. These belts should also be used to get talent over, ready for a main event push. Personally I would merge the two belts and try and get a little bit of prestige back in to them. One idea would be to get a someone like a Chris Jericho go after the title, cutting promos on how prestigious the title is and how he has held the title more times than anyone. We all know he can have great matches with most guys and he could really put over some of the talent and the belt at the same time.

Back to the cruiserweight championship, here is how I would go about it bringing it back:

Originally the weight limit for this title has hovered between 215 and 220 pounds. I would set this at 225, which is just over 100 KG. On the current roster there are 14 Superstars that are 225lbs and under, these are; Chavo Guerrero, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne, Hornswoggle, John Morrison, Justin Gabriel, Kofi Kingston, Primo, Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Tyson Kidd, Yoshi Tatsu and Zack Ryder. I would also bring in to the mix Santino Marella and Trent Barretta, these guys are slightly over the weight limit, but hey it’s the WWE, they can mysteriously lose a few pounds.

That would make it 16 superstars; I think it is a great mix, some good young guys, some good mid carders, some comedic characters and some excellent veterans. Looking at these sixteen guys, there are some potentially superb matches here.

I would announce a 16 man tournament bringing back the Cruiserweight title, with the final to be held at the Over the Limit PPV at the end of May. The WWE could produce one of their excellent video packages highlighting all the great previous champions and how much the title means. I would have some of the more over guys, like Rey and Morrison cut promos about how bad they want to win the tournament. We could then start the tournament on Raw and Smackdown and give most of them 10 minute matches at least.

Now before I get ribbed, I said most of the matches to get time, I have no interest in watching Hornswoggle compete in a ten minute match, nor do I think do his own mum and dad for that matter, however for storylines sake let him compete in it, seeing how he was the last holder of the title (hurts my head just thinking about it). I would put him out in the first round to get a heel over, someone like Tyson Kidd.

I would book the winner to be someone like Justin Gabriel or Zack Ryder and have them beat Rey Mysterio clean in the final. That would add credibility to the belt and get the winner over as a genuine contender for bigger and better things. They could then defend the title against any of the 16 guys on a regular basis putting on some great matches is in the process. It would get a lot of these younger guys some good airtime, and the chance to perform on PPV’s. This can only help with talent development.

A lot of people complain now that the younger up and coming guys are not getting to that main event level and it’s the same guys at the top year after year. In my eyes there are two main reasons for this. Firstly, wrestlers used to have a lot more experience before they arrived in the WWE, they had perhaps been wrestling in local promotions and territories for a few years to hone their skills and personas. This meant that when they arrived on the big stage they were ready and in some cases were already known by the audience. These promotions and territories don’t exist as much as they used too, so unless they are a natural they find it hard to jump straight in to the big time. Secondly, the WWE builds stars up to fast at present. They see a talented guy and try to elevate him quickly and most of the time it doesn’t work. It would work better in my opinion if they had a slow build, use the Cruiserweight title, use the Intercontinental title, and use the Tag titles.

I’ll try and give you an example of what I’m talking about. Edge, whom is now regarded as a certain Hall of Famer (and rightly so) started his career in the WWE in 1998, he won his first WWE Heavyweight Championship in 2006. It took him 8 years to get there, I’m not saying that it should take all the superstars that long to reach the top, but when he got there he was more than ready. Sheamus on the over hand, debuted on ECW in June of 2009 and he won the WWE Heavyweight Championship in December of the same year. He had got to the same point that edge had got to in just 7 months. It was too fast and although he held the title again in 2010, his career has since gone backwards in the WWE. They are now trying to build him up again however.

Bringing back the Cruiserweight Belt would help slow build these guys, but not just the Cruiserweight title, the Intercontinental title and Tag Team Titles should be used better. I believe the point of these titles is to try and get talent over to the fans, at present they are just not doing that. The WWE like to freshen things up so are often bringing in new characters and getting rid of some, so I understand that what I am proposing is not going to work for everyone. However the WWE could let some future Gems go just because they don’t get the opportunity, bringing back the cruiserweight title is just one of these opportunities.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject or any other subject I write about and I welcome all feedback, whether positive or negative.

Contact me:

Mail: johnmeode@live.co.uk

Twitter: @mrjohnmeode

Facebook.com/johnmeode

Keep checking out JM’s world for more interesting pieces on the WWE and much more.

Thanks for reading

TTFN

JM

Welcome to Raw is Johnmeode! 18/04/2011

Hello World,

Welcome to the first “Raw is JohnMeode”!

This is how it’s gonna work; I will review the whole show, it will not be a play by play review just the key points. I will rate each match out of 10 and let you know my thoughts and takes on the major storylines and angles. You ready? Good

Welcome to Raw Is Johnmeode!

This week Raw is brought to you from London, England. The announcers are Michael Cole, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. No Josh Mathews, whom by the way I think is excellent, and no explanation as to why? Mind you, I’m not gonna complain that JR will be calling the action!

This week started out how last week’s show ended with R Truth’s music. If somebody told me that would happen a couple of weeks ago id have laughed in your face. He got an ok reception, basically it was John Cena’s kids shouting “What’s Up” that was making the noise. He cut an ok promo about how he had been through a whole lot to get this opportunity, and that when he won the title he would take on all comers. This brought out John Morrison, who called Truth “lucky”. Truth claimed he came through three opponents, he was in great shape and he earned it. JoMo then showed footage of Truth lolling on the ropes, drinking water and gasping for air in between bouts last week. JoMo said that as Truth would take on all comers, he should put his title shot on the line against him right now.

John Morrison Pinned R Truth in about 7/8 minutes to claim his spot at Extreme Rules. It was an ok match, I think these two could have a decent match as they are both good workers. However this was a typical TV match. Morrison won with Starship Pain. Match rating 3.5/10

After the match JoMo tried to console Truth, but truth attacked Morrison first in the ring then on the outside, I thought Truth’s facial expressions were great here. He ended it by hitting JoMo with a water bottle and found a cigarette from somewhere which he lit up (he had claimed earlier in the promo that he smoked and was trying to quit!). He blew smoke in to JoMo’s face before leaving.

This was a long opening segment. These guys are not great talkers and I think it showed, it seemed very scripted at times. I’m not sure if the long term plan was for Truth to turn heel here or not but he did a good job in my opinion, especially his facial expressions. This has made me think about R Truth much more than I have before so it is probably a good move. I think he may get drafted next week though. I’d be interested in a new start for R Truth as a heel on smackdown, he could have some good matches and is good at putting people over.

I’m pleased that JoMo is now in the main event at Extreme Rules, I think he deserves it from a worker point of view. I have no idea if all the rumours of him being such a douche backstage are true or not, but his in ring work is still very good.

There was an announcement that the draft lottery will take place on next week’s Raw. According to rumours this was supposed to be in June, so I think that Edge’s sudden retirement has brought this forward. Smackdown is in major need of a top babyface. In my opinion, Randy Orton gets drafted to fill that spot.

Next up we get Evan Bourne waiting in the ring for his opponent Dolph Ziggler who is supporting a new generic look and as always is being accompanied by Vickie Guerrero. She as always draws masses of heel heat from the crowd.

Dolph Ziggler pinned Evan Bourne in a match that hardly got 2 minutes. Again I think these two could have a very good match given enough time, however this is Raw and as usual it’s an angle fest. Ziggler won with the ZigZag following a failed Air Bourne attempt. Match Rating 2/10

I’m not sure why they would have Ziggler change his look, I don’t think he needed it, he was doing just fine before, strange. Evan again gets squashed quickly, I hope he also gets drafted to smackdown and gets the push he deserves.

After the break we get to see Edge’s farewell video package again, which was exceptionally done as always. I will miss Edge, although his career is getting a lot of attention at the moment, I still believe he was underrated by the fans. He always had good matches, was a great talker and had a fantastic ring psychology. Alberto Del Rio is throwing a retirement party for Edge on Smackdown this week. Edge is on the European tour, so I expect him to be on smackdown.

We then get The Miz and Alex Riley heading to the ring. Miz complains that because of R Truth’s idiotic mistake earlier in putting his spot in the title match on the line, he has wasted a week of preparation for the match at Extreme Rules. He also announces that the match will be inside a steel cage and pinfall, submissions and cage escape are the ways to win. He complains that he does not need to be involved in the decision and could lose his title. He claims it isn’t fair and stages a sit in protest until the anonymous general manager changes the match. After commercial Sin Cara’s music hits and he is out to a decent reception from the crowd and he nailed his trampoline entrance spot. I believe he was supposed to have a singles match against Alex Riley, but out came Cena to his usual mixed reaction. The raw GM piped in and made this a tag match.

Sin Cara & John Cena beat The Miz and Alex Riley by pinfall after Sin Cara pinned Alex Riley. This was a decent match that the crowd was quite into. It went around 9 or so minutes with a commercial thrown in. Sin Cara got the pin after hitting a springboard moonsault following Cena’s Attitude Adjustment. He barely made contact with riley, but it was a good spot. Match Rating 4/10  

Now I know a lot of people are ragging on Sin Cara for not hitting his spots correctly. I think he is doing a decent job so far and it’s obvious that the WWE are behind him by putting him in a tag with Cena. I think his missed spots are more to do with who he is facing rather than him making big errors. For example Riley was in the wrong place for the finish in this match, however it makes Sin Cara look like he missed the spot. I think he has been booked pretty well so far.

In regards to the WWE title match being in a steel cage, I’m fine with it. It had to be a gimmick match as per the PPV, I was expecting it to be a tables match though. It would be better if there wasn’t so many different ways to win though, Escape or Pin or submission, not all three would work better in my opinion.

Next we get Nikki Bella vs. Eve Torres. I’m not even gonna rate this match, it was pretty bad and the crowd was silent. They have some very talented Diva’s on the roster that could have much better matches than this. Book the diva division better please!!! I’m hoping for Kong (or Kharma as I believe she will be known as in WWE) to come in and be a dominant force, pretty much how Brock Lesnar was originally booked, and destroy the likes of Eve and the Bella’s.

After the break we got Michael Cole in the ring claiming that he would tonight be knighted and we could call him Sir Michael Cole. Jack Swagger came out and it seems all is forgiven after last week’s slap. Well Cole did take a 619 for his BFF on Smackdown. Cole brought out the “Queen of England” who knighted him, he then demanded JR and King get in the ring and kiss his foot. He took off his sock and his foot was covered in a scab or something. Swagger took out Lawler and then proceeded to make JR kiss Cole’s rank foot after he put him in the ankle lock. I was kind of hoping during this segment that William Regal would come down and make the save, he would have got a huge pop and it would probably be the last time he would be in the ring in the UK.

This feud has gone on too far now in my opinion, it should have ended at Mania with King going over. Let’s hope it ends at Extreme Rules. I don’t know if it’s just me but every time JR gets in the ring I worry, the guy has had serious health problems. I know that he has obviously agreed to do these things but I think at this stage of JR’s life and after everything he has been through he doesn’t need to be in the ring. I’m also hoping that they put a stipulation into the match that if Cole/Swagger loses, Cole can no longer announce on Raw. Put him on Smackdown with Booker and Matt Striker and have JR, Lawler and Josh Matthews on Raw.

Our next match is Santino taking on Sheamus. Santino got a nice pop from the crowd on his way out. Sheamus had a mic in hand on his entrance and announced that he wanted to take out Santino because of the way he made fun of Sheamus last time they were in the UK. In case you didn’t know Santino and Kozlov threw a tea party for Sheamus, where they embarrassed him. It was an awesome segment. Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-lR1XddAzI

Sheamus pinned Santino in around 3 minutes after hitting the Brogue Kick. This wasn’t a hard match to predict. They announced during commentary that Sheamus was getting his revenge on superstars that embarrassed him. Match Rating 2.5/10

Sheamus is another contender for a move to smackdown next week, to be honest there are so many Raw Superstars that need a fresh break, guys like Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder. Although I think a fresh round of “future endeavours” are on there way, I just hope that they don’t get rid of talented guys that haven’t been given enough ring time.

Main event time and it was a Wrestlemania rematch between CM Punk and Randy Orton, with the Nexus banned from ringside.

Randy Orton pinned CM Punk after around 16 minutes. This was the best match of the night in my opinion although it was slow at times, but hey it’s a Randy Orton match, he is the Viper, he is slow. The crowd was hot for this match. Orton won with a roll up which was a surprise. Match Rating 5/10

After the match the Nexus (Mason Ryan, McGillicutty and Otunga) came down and attacked Orton. Batista’s cross eyed younger brother, um I mean Mason Ryan hit his modified rock bottom and then lined up Orton for the punt. I think Ryan (and the rest of nexus actually) need to be booked stronger if we are to believe they are a powerful stable. Punk stopped Ryan from punting Orton as he was the one who wanted to do it, however Orton caught him with the RKO on the way in and then slithered (see what I did there) out of the ring and up the ramp. The show ended with Punk going apeshit in the ring while Orton backpedalled up the ramp.

This was not a good Raw in my opinion, I hardly remember them mentioning Extreme Rules, and it seems they are not promoting it at all. They aired the Truth Heel turn many times during the broadcast so I assume they will make a big deal of that and I’m pleased that JoMo has been added to the PPV title match. However the way the booking seems to be going lately, he will probably end up losing that spot next week to Dolph Ziggler. I am looking forward to the draft next week, it is normally a good show.

I’ll be back later in the week with a column regarding the now defunct Cruiserweight Championship.

Thanks for reading

TTFN

JM

Who am I? What to Expect?

Hello world,

I wanted to tell you a little more about me and why I choose to write what I do. I love Soccer; I watch it every week, often live. My favourite team Is Leicester City, my local team, who play in the English Championship (the 2^nd tier of English football). I also have a soft spot for Manchester United, and have followed them since I was a child (before all the glory hunter remarks start!) I also love pro wrestling (yes I am still calling it that!). I have watched WWF/WWE since I was a kid, the first match I watched was Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage at Wrestlemania V, and I have been a fan ever since. Although I don’t think the current WWE product is as good as its prime (1997-2002 in my opinion) I still watch and although it frustrates me at times I don’t think I will ever stop being a fan. I will write about crime stories as it is something I am fascinated by, the whole Law and Order thing. I also enjoy American Sports, mainly US Football and Baseball and I follow the Chiefs and the Royals (don’t ask) and I will occasionally write about them.

I also thought I would let you know a little more about what to expect from this blog. I will review Monday Night Raw every week; this will more than likely be posted on a Tuesday/Wednesday depending on how busy I am at work. I will preview and review every WWE Pay Per View on this site. I will occasionally review Smackdown also; however this will not be a weekly thing at the moment as I simply don’t have the time. There will also be lots of other columns, lists and reviews of the WWE, so check them out too. Now I know there are other websites that do this sort of thing, such as the Thejohnreport.net, and I am in no way trying to steal anybody’s thunder. I am doing this because I enjoy it. By the way do check out thejohnreport.net, it is a fantastic website.

I will do a weekly soccer review (more than likely on a Sunday night this will be posted), where I will review all the weeks news and highlights. I will also preview big matches and events. I will write about famous and some not so famous crime stories also from time to time.

I hope that this is something that will interest you readers as much as I enjoy writing it. Look out for these posts, they will be coming thick and fast.

TTFN

JM

Welcome to JM's world

Hello World.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog.

Firstly let me tell you a little something about me:

I am a 31 year old guy who lives in Leicester, UK. I enjoy socialising with my friends (a bit too much according to my girlfriend), all sports (Mainly football)and WWE. I love writing. I write about things that I enjoy and am passionate about.

So what am I gonna be blogging about? Mainly Football (or soccer to my overseas friends!) and wwe (world wrestling entertainment, well I think it still stands for that!). I will also write about crime stories and whatever else I feel I wanna blog about.

I will write columns, lists, my take on current events and historical stuff.

I will try and write as regularly as I can (this is part time for me, its a hobby, I have a day job!) but the site will be updated regularly.

I will also post links to other websites that I deem appropriate to the subject matter that I am blogging about.

Why have i created a blog? Because I enjoy writing and I hope you will enjoy reading.

Check me out on Facebook.com/johnmeode
and on Twitter @mrjohnmeode

Again thanks for the taking the time to read this intro, the blogs will be coming thick and fast so keep checking back to this page.

I would love to receive any feedback/comments on my writing so please get involved.

TTFN (ta ta for now)

JM