Sunday 27 November 2011

PPV Review - Survivor Series 2011

Survivor Series 2011 PPV Review


By Phil Allely

This year’s Survivor Series was built up on the fact that not only would The Rock be returning to the ring, but he would also be teaming up with the man he will face at next year’s Wrestlemania John Cena.

Things opened up reasonably well with John Morrison tackling United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a high spirited encounter. Ziggler retained, getting a beat down by the ever popular Zack Ryder for his trouble.

Next up the Divas roster got a payday as they manned the ringside area in the Lumberjill match between champ Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres. With a few pieces of outside interference form the Lumberjills this was a nice match –up, Phoenix nailed a top rope Glam Slam to retain her gold.

The ever popular Rock took to the mic and whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Hyping up his match and his hatred for John Cena.

In the only traditional Survivor Series match of the night Team Barrett (Wade Barrett, Junico, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes) faced Team Orton (Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan). Starting off as a two team brawl this developed nicely into an old school Survivor Series scrap. The teams traded the advantage with eliminations and we even saw a swift change in direction s Cara went down to a legitimate injury (his partners and opponents quickly working around this situation to maintain momentum). The finish proved enjoyable as Orton fell to Barrett’s Wasteland move to allow Rhodes and Barrett the well-deserved win.

After the impact of their previous PPV scrap (where the ring collapsed) the World Heavyweight Title rematch between Big Show and Mark Henry failed to live up to its previous heights. This was unfortunately a more plodding affair and as such the crowd were not in the zone for much of it. Show did make one high impact elbow move off the ropes and he did elicit a Randy Savage chant by doing so. The end came when Henry struck Show below the belt to gain a DQ finish and keep his belt.

CM Punk saw his star rise once again in his WWE Title battle with champ Alberto Del Rio. Punk and Del Rio work very well together and this match showcased that fully. The pair traded near falls trademark moves and high spots before Punk locked in an Anaconda Vice to grab himself the prestigious title.

Rock/Cena versus R-Truth/Miz had its moment. Rock was a man on fire (rolling back the years with ease), with no obvious signs of ring rust he stole the show. Truth and Miz worked hard in their roles, but this was Rock moment and he ran with it. Cena played his part too, working the match in his usual style, but maintaining a level of disregard for Rock and keeping their Mania prospects high in peoples minds. It was Rock who rounded things off here, hitting a perfectly times ‘Peoples Elbow’ on Miz to win.

Survivor Series was a reasonable effort, it would be nice to see more of the traditional SS matches (which offered up some unique teams/combos). CM Punk snared himself the gold once again and will now be the man to beat. Henry/Show looks like it will continue for now. The Cena/Rock story is still a work in progress and has many months left until we see it reach its conclusion. The WWE still need to build new stars and refresh its title scene however.

Thursday 17 November 2011

Turning Point

Turning Point 2011

By Phil Allely

Amidst some confusing finishes TNA’s Turning Point PPV still had a lot going for it, high points were new World Champ Robert Roode retaining his gold, Robbie E raising the TV strap and the returning Gail Kim getting her hands back on her cherished Knockouts Championship.

Roode’s ascent to the top of the pile has been one worth watching. Having lost to Kurt angle after being tipped to topple him, Bobby then saw his tag partner James Storm beat Angle in an Impact Wrestling bout to win the belt. Roode subsequently turned heel on his former Beer Money mate to lift the title. For his first PPV title defence it was former TNA Grand Slam champ AJ Styles who faced the new company figurehead.

Styles and Roode’s main event raised the PPV to above average status the pair gelled nicely. With only one minor ref bump this was one of the best matches of the night. Roode won with the help of a handful of Styles tights.

The show kicked off with a reasonable match for the TV belt. This saw Eric Young play the comedy card and Robbie E win the title, with some help from his associate Rob Terry.

Mexican America & Sarita (with Rosita) retained their tag team gold next. Their back and forth match with Ink Inc. and Toxxine ended with Rosita interfering to aid her teammates win.

Cranking things back up pace wise X Division champion Austin Aries had a successful title defence against fellow highflyers Jesse Sorensen and Kid Kash.

In a hard-hitting No DQ scrap Rob Van Dam and Daniels succeeded in punishing each other in and around the ring in increasingly imaginative ways. A steel chair once again proved to be RVD’s best ally as a prelude to a nice Frog Splash for the pin.

Next up big men Matt Morgan and Crimson battled to a double disqualification. The pair continued to beat each other down until security finally put a halt to them.

Immortal’s Scott Steiner and Bully Ray versus Mr Anderson and Abyss had its moment, especially the always fun to see Frankensteiner. After nailing a Black Hole Slam on Steiner for the pin he no-sold a beat down and slam through a table, to put the frighteners on Ray.

Gail Kim continued her winning ways as she took velvet Sky to a very good Knockouts match-up. With some help from Karen Jarrett Kim now holds the Knockouts Title and co-hold the Knockouts Tag Titles (with Madison Rayne).

The penultimate scrap with Jeff Hardy taking on Jeff Jarrett was an interesting affair, firstly Hardy pinned Jarrett with a quick 3 count, we then saw a restart and a longer brawl ensue. Hardy once again picked up the pin with a neat roll-up. Post-match Jarrett used a chair to prompt a third encounter and once again he fell to Hardy.

Turning Point was an ok night for TNA, there were no signs of Hulk Hogan and the veterans, this was all about the younger talent and core TNA roster. Unfortunately many of the matches ended due to interference. We did however see a few new champs and Roode began his ascent to the heights of top company heel. With yet another shuffle in the booking/writing dept, it will be interesting to see how TNA fare with a new champ and so many new feuds in the works.