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8/14 IMPACT REAX

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (6.0): Best: Angle vs. Styles (minus finish); Creed's Rough Cut Worst: Ridiculousness by proxy So which PPV is TNA building toward? Looks like they're building toward No Surrender and Bound For Glory just like they did last year: Bound For Glory is the big deal (which it is for TNA)... and oh, by the way, there is No Surrender, too. At least WWE doesn't treat No Way Out that way with Wrestlemania on the horizon. The matches were back to meaning very little since it's off PPV. Karen's Angle got off to a good start with Kaz,but since then it has disintegrated into a garbage interview that whines, rinses, and repeats. Does Matt Morgan have more moves in his repertoire? I'd like to see them as the squashes are getting repetitive. Sure, 3D and Abyss came in after and set up their feud, but I honestly think Morgan deserves better. Too bad they're both faces or I'd suggest a Morgan-Hernandez feud. Bashir (the former Daivari) seems nothing more than Muhammad Hassan. He makes strangely good points in his ranting promos, but there's still the stereotype that the crowd didn't buy all the way against. And all this business storyline wise with Val just makes me say, "Hey, Val, if you don't like the violence, then get away from wrestling!" Makes that whole storyline even more stupid. All the singles champs got chumped. Petey gets no air time at all, Samoa Joe is the first-hour main event (and a reversed decision via the announcer and not the actual downed referee), and Taylor gets a clean win and gets sideswiped for a Kim-Kong restart. Traci as a referee is okay, but to be really taken seriously she needs to tone down the up side, if you know what I mean. The Angle-Styles match was fine until the overwrought, overbooked finish. Despite the fact that Sting is all but not involved in his heel turn, him and/or his property appearing and disappearing fits with his enigmatic character. Jeff Jarrett does not qualify in character to do the same thing. The build looks like a Sting-Jarrett match in the future with possible retirement ramifications, but already I can't stand what TNA is doing to make this happen.

8/11 RAW REAX

Joe Smith of Corpus Christi, Tex. (5.0): Best Match Punk/JBL Worst Match: Anything that involves Cena. There are people complaining about CM Punk as being world champion as well as overrated, and if thats the case, whats John Cena? Do you actually think Cena draws ratings and would make a better world champion? If you do, you are a idiot. The Cena-Batista match should have been built up for Wrestlemaina 25 not Summerslam. JBL is a good heel, but I am not sold on him becoming world champion. Chris Jericho had some great momentum until this monday night. I was hoping he would challenge C.M. Punk instead of Fat Bradshaw Layfield.

8/8 SMACKDOWN REAX

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (8.0): Best: MVP interview; Hardy vs. Benjamin; end segment. Worst: divas match (but it wasn't that bad) Now this is more like it: a wrestling show with storylines that worked. The opening divas match was okay and fitting to the Olympics beginning today. I'm guessing that Maria's ski outfit was out of place on purpose as many other Olympic events (track and field, cycling, soccer, etc.) have gear that would clash most with Michelle's outfit. My favorite was Victoria as gynmast as she kept in character during the match with her "dismount" after the Widow's Peak, Natalya should have brought a riding crop (don't think I saw one), and yea, Tazz, equestrian show jumping is an Olympic sport. The fact that Yang-Moore haven't been built up in a while didn't help, but Hawkins/Ryder are simply a heat vacuum. Face or heel they can't get a crowd going for anything they do. Same goes for Brian Kendrick, poor guy. MVP was back to his usual good self on the mike tying his "better than you" catchphrase in a serious way to Jeff Hardy. The DQ finish is about as good as you can get considering Shelton is champion and not feuding with Hardy. I give a slight penalty for the fact that Shelton should have had joined in on the beatdown to at least retain some heel heat and maybe a potential alliance with MVP or a three-way for the US title down the road. Interesting bit of bait-and-switch with Jesse getting mauled by Kozlov. But something interesting to watch was Festus's worried facial expression to go with his manic pacing. With Kozlov not touching the docile Festus on his way out, Festus is in line sometime and this was the first good tease. Add to that while Kozlov is a heel demanding more competition, he clearly would want Festus in his balls-to-the-wall best. Triple H playing the face stall was odd, but fits his regular character. He took a lot longer to sell Khali's vice grip but his face turning all kinds of colors made up for what seemed like underselling. And Edge has completely derailed... and I love it! He has done an absolutely fabulous job playing the one-sided sell of a major match. It's clear he's getting his come SummerSlam but he's doing this sell with such sadistic super-heel goodness that when it does happen it will be most enjoyable. And it came with a swerve that TNA has no idea how to pull off effectively. Smackdown is definitely ready for SummerSlam.

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for a "ECW Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click here.

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