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WWE SMACKDOWN ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 3/27: Mezzera, Parks, Stevens rate and review

Mar 30, 2009 - 12:13:55 PM
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Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

This was a slightly above average show which did a better job hyping WrestleMania than WWE has done so far. That doesn't mean that it was great hype considering how poor it's been, but it was good hype starting with the eight-man tag featuring the men who will compete in Money in the Bank. I understand being tired of seeing tag matches between these wrestlers, but it was still fun. Afterward, they had a nice tease for what is in store at the PPV with a ladder spot as Finlay dumped Christian off the ladder, out of the ring, onto the wrestlers on the ground. John Cena gave a good promo building up WreslteMania as a huge event and and doing his best to make his triple threat World Title match sound important. I'm still not looking forward to it, but if WWE had done this well building it all along, it would be looking better. The best hype on the show was the great segment featuring Shawn Michaels mocking Undertaker while dressed in white. The dark/light contrast worked well and he delivered a great promo about the similarities and differences between him and the Dead Man. Undertaker's surprise appearance worked well too.

The bad part of the hype was the two promos from the Hardys. Matt Hardy's was well delivered but the dog was very distracting. I'm not thrilled with using the real life death of Jeff Hardy's dog to get heat on Matt. It seems unnecessary. Jeff's response later in the show was too short. It didn't feel like he properly built up to finally saying that he and Matt are no longer brothers. His delivery wasn't particularly good either.

The other positive on the show was the good 5 minute match, Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio. The other negative was the Divas Title match, because of they way it was thrown out there with no hype and the totally anticlimactic debut of Gail Kim after insufficient hype.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

The highlights for me were the mic work by John Cena and the angle involving Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Cena gave a nice hard-sell promo for those on the fence about Wrestlemania; he's very good at this type of mic work. Integrating Big Show into things worked this week, especially Cena trying to embarrass Show. I really liked the main event angle, though it did walk a fine line between effective and corny. Michaels played his part perfectly and it's just so different than anything we've seen before on the show. The mind games continue between the two legends.

The matches on the show were fine. The eight-man tags seem to be giving a different wrestler a win each match to make it seem like everyone has a chance. Mysterio vs. Chavo was a solid five-minute contest, though I was surprised Chavo got so much offense. The six-person tag was too short to amount to much and unfortunately, Gail Kim's return has suffered from bad timing, as I'm afraid it'll get lost in the shuffle with the Wrestlemania hype.

Lee Stevens, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.0)

This was one of the first weeks that I really felt WrestleMania fatigue. Almost everything felt like a reminder to take out the trash. Yes, I heard you the first three times you told me. I enjoyed the spectacle of Shawn Michaels and his backup Druids, but the material itself didn't really explore new ground. The one new twist was The Undertaker actually getting his hands on Michaels, at least briefly. MITB naturally rotated the same six athletes, but they did gave us a glimpse at the aerial dangers with Christian going airborne.

Matt and Jeff did their parts, but I don't feel that I'm any more emotionally charged by seeing Matt with a mutt. We already saw the dog collar and that was more gripping for me. I would have loved to have seen Gail Kim get a ringside interview after her attack. For fans in the know, they probably enjoyed seeing her get involved. For others, they were left with questions like "who was that?" "is the match over?" "does she need a dog?"

Perhaps this is simply a case of "are we there yet"? The Road to WrestleMania is a long one. I see the lights of the town up ahead, but after so much time in the car, I want to get out. Plus, the backseat is starting to smell.


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