TV REPORTS WWE SUPERSTARS ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 7/16: Caldwell, Donofrio, Parks rate and review
Jul 17, 2009 - 12:50:21 PM
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James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (6.5)
Fine show. The star power hasn't been there in the ring the past two weeks, but WWE tried to make up for it with the announcement of an IC Title match featuring one of the company's top stars, Rey Mysterio. Rey was solid on the mic playing to the crowd and Dolph Ziggler showed tremendous presence as a budding future top heel. I'll be interested to see how they fare in the ring together at the PPV. I doubt they'll reach Rey-Jericho level, but could be a solid three-star match if given enough time on the PPV.
Main event of Big Show vs. Kofi Kingston was above my expectations going in. I expected a little more "Show does a move, walks around, does a move, walks around," but the action moved at a crisp rate and built to a good finish. Of course, it continued the program of making Show look strong at the expense of smaller Kofi and Bourne, but the U.S. Title match (whatever it is) at the PPV will most-likely reverse the focus on making the up-and-coming stars look stronger coming out of the program.
Hart Dynasty vs. Cryme Tyme was a nice little tag match. Shad Gaspar looked good delivering early offense, including a Monty Brown-quality Pounce. ... Bellas over Katie Lea was simple reinforcement after last week's ECW TV switcheroo.
Tony Donofrio, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)
Here's a show where I found the in-ring work to be decent but found myself scratching my head about who went over in a few of the matches (hence the slightly lower rating than I would have given it otherwise). I can understand Big Show winning as it will set up a future US Title match with him and Kofi Kingston. But, the jobbing of The Hart Dynaty and Katie Lea Burchill doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
First off, The Hart Dynasty was booked perfectly in ECW. They came out looking strong and seemingly ready to compete for the Tag Titles. Now they are mired in a feud with Cryme Tyme; a team that has barely received a push in both their first and second run in WWE. Maybe I'm just too biased towards The Hart Dynasty but I think they deserve better and I think they still will get better. But, so far, this feud has swung too far in the favor of Cryme Tyme, considering that they haven't yet bet in a feud that made them look this good. Why now? Why against this hot up and coming team?
Katie Lea Burchill has never been booked properly, in my opinion, so this one didn't irk me as much as the last topic. She is one of the top female wrestlers that WWE has though and isn't utilized properly. They probably won't realize that till she is gone (see Victoria aka Tara aka Lisa Marie Varon). I still do enjoy how the Bella's get over in their matches at times, but why sacrifice a strong worker like Katie Lea?
Is it just me, or is Big Show's character stale right now? To me, he lost all credibility when he couldn't defeat a "near crippled" John Cena months back just a few weeks after putting him through that spotlight. I understand they're trying to find something for him right now, but here's hoping that after this month, they concentrate more on Kofi and Evan Bourne for the US Title.
Rey Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler were a pleasant surprise. It was nice to see Ziggler get some serious mic time and not just get to go through his regular "I'm Dolph Zigger" act. Dolph has earned this push and here's hoping that he makes the best of it as I think these two can have some pretty strong matches.
Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)
The opening tag match was OK, and the feud doesn't seem to be over, which is good. It keeps the Hart Dynasty on TV, but I'm not sure where they go after Cryme Tyme thanks to WWE's attitude toward tag teams. I also wouldn't mind if it meant more ring time for Natalya (even though it would likely be against Eve Torres).
Rey Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler's segment was very good. It seems that Ziggler has found his footing as a character and he has performed well beyond my expectations when the gimmick first started on Raw. He was high on my list of those that Jericho would pick to be his new tag partner, but apparently that's not going to be the case.
Katie Lea Burchill vs. Brie Bella was what it was- just a match to get the Bellas over. At least they had a different switcheroo ending, with the ref having to choose who stays and who goes. The less said about the Big Show vs. Kofi the better. It was a fine match and all, but I'm really getting tired of Show, especially when he's squashing guys he shouldn't even be in there with.
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