I like Green Day so Smackdown’s new opening makes me happy. We have an Undertaker stunt double standing on the outside of the Rose Garden in Portland. Smackdown has stolen RAW’s idea of having qualifiers for the Bragging Rights team and the first match is Rey Mysterio versus one half of the tag team champions, Cody Rhodes. You figure the tag champs will want to defend at Bragging Rights and Mysterio should go over anyway. It’s a better match than most of the qualifiers on RAW, despite the predictable ending.

Kaval talks his way into a match with Big Show where, if he lasts five minutes, he can earn a spot on the Bragging Rights team. Apparently we get yet another Kane/Undertake match at Bragging Rights, but they’re actually going to do a Buried Alive match in the PG era. Jack Swagger versus MVP for the third spot is at least hard to predict. More comic antics from the Soaring Eagle, but Swagger gets the anklelock on and MVP taps almost immediately.

Next Alberto Del Rio gets his shot and with Chris Masters as his opponent you know he’s going to qualify easily. It doesn’t help that the announce team, which has Cole again and Big Show sitting in as well, barely mention Masters. The match at Bragging Rights is not elimination, it’s one fall to the finish. Edge also gets a shot at the team and, again, you know he’s going to win even before Dolph Ziggler is announced as his opponent. Kaval actually does last five minutes against Big Show so the team is coming together as well as RAW.  Tyler Reks, a new guy I don’t even remember, comes to challenge Kaval for his spot. Kaval is game, but in rough shape after facing Show and Reks quickly beats him.

Drew McIntyre finally shows up for the last qualifying match and Kofi Kingston is his opponent. Smackdown has had to squeeze in all the same qualifiers RAW had to, but because it’s not padded out with Nexus storyline even this very short match seems better than RAW’s matches. Kingtson gets a clean win. It’s just a pity all these matches have gone the predictable way.

The blowoff of the show is more Kane versus Undertaker promos.  Kane is cutting some nice promos lately, but if you don’t look forward to the match they are going to have to blow it off, what does it matter? Taker doesn’t speak but comes out on top of the fisticuffs for a change then creates magic explosions and the urn gets dropped. There’s no rhyme nor reason to who comes out of these exchanges.

Okay, so over at TNA “They” turned out to be Bischoff, Hogan, and the Jeffs, Hardy and Jarrett. So Bischoff has already trotted out his second good idea ever, turning Hogan heel. I’m so glad I didn’t pay to see that.  Eric also swapped contracts last week and Dixie turned control of the company over to Hogan and Bischoff. They are out to yak at first. He’s Hollywood Hogan again, just in case you weren’t already blindly aware of the derivativeness. And, now that TNA is totally dominated by heels, it’s Fortune who interrupts them… But they end up hugging. The claim is being made Kurt Angle is gone from TNA. Sting and Kevin Nash turn face for a bit of balance, but here’s the problem, this is the culmination of months of story building. It should be a huge deal, but I’m already bored. It doesn’t help that we’re a third of the way into the show and we haven’t had a match!

The knockouts get the first action of the night as Madison Rain demands a rematch with new champion Tara. Madison expects Tara to just lay down and she does. So it wasn’t a match after all. This ticks off Mickie James. There’s someone from Jersey Shore here tonight, but that’s best ignored.

Kurt is supposed to retire, but he’s not sure he should after getting screwed. That draws Jeff Jarrett. Their back and forth is pretty good, but it’s still not a match. With security’s help Jarrett gets Kurt handcuffed then slams his head into the stage. This actually draws the ire of Tazz who backs them off. Kurt’s neck is supposed to have been injured yet again so they’re playing up how Kurt could be really hurt. Samoa Joe’s mad at Jarrett too. Now more than halfway through we get a real match as Abyss takes on Joe. Even this match is ridiculously short as Abyss hits Joe with the ring bell for a disqualification. RVD has to chase Abyss off after the match. RVD wants Jeff Hardy, but Bishoff decides he has to face Mr. Anderson tonight for the shot.

The Pope has to face Fortune since he’s been friendly with Nash and Sting. Another joke of a match which leaves the main event as the only real match of the night. Those of you with DVRs had better have learned by now you need to record Reaction to see the end of this show, but even this match ends in a Jeff Hardy run in and inconclusively. TNA is trying so hard to be something special and it’s not working.

An odd week. Lots of matches, but only a few of them are actually good. RAW has the more compelling storylines, but worse wrestling, while Smackdown has action but the Kane/Taker feud is interminable.  NXT is just annoying and TNA can’t do anything right. There never seems to be a week where everybody is firing on all cylinders. It would be nice if it ever happened.

My apologies for the slow down of articles, but I just got my hands on Dead Rising 2 and I can’t put it down. They took the awesome original game and added to it, making it even more awesome. This isn’t the only cool game coming out soon, we have these new and classic gems that are coming out…

X-Men: The Arcade Game
One of the best arcades ever is finally coming to a home via the X-Box Marketplace and PS3s. The game allows for 6 player co-op online or a 4 player local co-op. The game is unchanged from the classic version, it allows you to play as Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Dazzler, Colossus or Nightcrawler as you battle the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and Magneto across levels. Included in the Brotherhood are Pyro, the Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, the White Queen, Juggernaut and Mystique. One thing that is really cool is that the game allows for Online Drop-in when multiplayer is activated. This allows your friends to jump in on the battle at any time while playing. The game will be available for download at the end of the year.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
You don’t have to be a fan of Star Wars to enjoy the Force Unleashed, it is for everyone that likes epic sci-fi or action stories. Once again you take on the role of Starkiller, Darth Vader’s once apprentice, as you hunt down his long lost love and avoid Vader. You’ll have to harness the full powers of the Force and wield dual lightsabers as you battle through worlds from all of the Star Wars movies. The game comes out later this month on October 26th, 2010.

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011
The latest edition of the wrestling franchise promises an ever changing gameplay based on players decisions, which can lead to “spontaneous WWE action in and out of the ring”.  They are trying hard to make each match unique to keep gameplay fresh and unpredictable.  The game features 70 superstars including the ones you’d expect like John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Kane and the Undertaker, but in addition to them are legends including Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, and Bret “The Hitman” Hart to name a few. Something to really look forward to? An online Royal Rumble, hell yeah. You can get your hands on this also on October 26th, 2010.

What video games are you looking forward to?

Smackdown is still on Syfy. Tonight Rey Mysterio Jr returns to the ring for revenge against Albert Del Rio. Edge is already in the new opening. I didn’t see CM Punk though so maybe he was the one traded to RAW. Teddy Long is here to officially introduce Edge. Edge is friendly with Long so I guess the face turn is in full effect. Oh lord, Michael Cole is here. Cue Jack Swagger to interrupt, accompanied by the Swagger Soaring Eagle! Funny bit. We go straight into a match. The eagle gets Speared off the apron which is always entertaining. This is a good match with Edge picking up the win in a solid piece of booking.

Cody Rhodes is teaching us to brush our teeth now? Yep, this is making me hate him. Layla wrestles Kelly Kelly. Natalya is with Kelly at ringside. Whatever happened to Tiffany? Oh… wait… I don’t care. Layla needs help to win which is a problem since she’s never going to get over on her own until this group splits up. And it’s still too soon for that.

The Big Show just jogged to the ring. His conditioning sure has improved. I wonder if he quit smoking. Show has a movie to plug. Show is team captain for Smackdown at Bragging Rights. And he names Hornswoggle as team mascot. Glee. And, because this is going so well, here come the Dudebusters to audition. Show, like the WWE Universe, doesn’t know who they are. It sucks. Show Chokeslams both of them.

Can’t we have the tag champs enter together? And why are the champs coming out first again? Do I harp on that too much? Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes face Kaval and Kofi Kingston. On a bad day I outweigh Kaval. The champs get the win, which make sense, but leaves Kaval still without a win since debuting on Smackdown.

Paul Bearer is as good on the microphone as he has always been. Pity Kane and Taker aren’t as good in the ring as they always were. Kane cuts another serviceable promo, but what’s with the weird organ music stings? I am not pleased we have to endure more Kane/Undertaker matches. Especially since this will probably go all the way to Survivor Series.

Time for Dolph Ziggler versus MVP for the Intercontinental Championship. WWE brass seem to take this show a lot more seriously now that it is on SyFy compared to when it was on MyNetwork TV. Or are we just in the honeymoon phase? There seems to be trouble between Vickie Guererro and Dolph over NXT storylines. Vickie walks away so we actually see if Dolph can win on his own. Except Katlyn from NXT shows up and interferes to give Dolph the win. Ziggle is getting better, except the Zig Zag seems to look worse every time he hits it. Maybe it needs to be replaced.

The three men announce team of Striker, Grisham and Cole is actually less annoying than Striker, Cole and Lawler. And Josh Matthews is here too, interviewing Alberto Del Rio. The Essence of Excellence is not a bad moniker. Mysterio dominates early on. It’s actually a bit much. Rey may be passed his prime, but the pair put on a fine match here. When Del Rio’s ring announcer tries to interfere he and Del Rio collide which sets up the 619, then a Flying Splash for the victory. I’m a little surprised he got the win here, but it wasn’t entirely conclusive so the feud will probably continue.

TNA was live this week. Abyss abducts Dixie Carter and only Eric Bischoff comes to her aid. This actually looks like it’s enough to get Abyss fired. It certainly seems like Abyss was trying to get fired. Like, Office Space trying. RVD threatens to walk if he doesn’t get his match to settle things with Abyss. So win, lose or draw Abyss is fired on the 11th.

The Hogan bad idea has been abandoned. He is not going to be able to wrestle at Bound for Glory. Oh look, Mickie James is here. She’ll be guest referee for the fourway at Bound for Glory. Oh crap, Team 3D is coming back.

Ric Flair faces Mick Foley in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Less than a minute in and Foley is opened up. About another minute and there goes Flair. TNA wrestling with blood because we’re not aiming for 12 year olds. That said they are blanking out the profanity from the crowd. Flair can still deliver a garbage match and these two give it their all so I’m quite pleased with the results. In the end they both go through a table but Foley pulls himself up with the ropes while Flair almost gets up, then does a patented Flair Flop into thumbtacks. That means Flair has to kiss Foley’s ass. We get a Fortune attack to prevent that. I think I’m glad. EV 2.0 make the save and we see no brawl. Smart to tease a bit rather than give too much away before Sunday.

We finish with what essentially amounts to a Royal Rumble with forty-five second entrance intervals. We’re up to 19 guys in before there is an elimination, but #19 is Abyss. He throws about seven guys out before everyone piles on him. They break his momentum, but for no good reason, don’t eliminate him and go back to fighting amongst themselves. It comes down to Abyss, Anderson and Angle until, long after the last competitor entered, RVD decides to show up. RVD takes out Abyss and himself at the same time. That leaves Angle to eliminate Anderson and win $100,000. So is Angle winning the championship Sunday or is he going to surprise us all and return to WWE? I won’t be watching to find out.

A good week in wrestling, as far as I’m concerned, with Smackdown having the best in-ring action. I hope those of you buying Bound for Glory enjoy it. I look forward to reading someone else’s recap. Happy Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving to those in North America. It’s my birthday as I type this so I’m off to visit family. But I should be caught up by NXT next week and you’ll see the next column as usual.

Click here to check out part 1 of the Hell in a Cell 2010 recap!

David Otunga thinks he has a way they can help Wade without getting disqualified. David Otunga has a plan? Unless it involves marrying up I trust it about as much as Acme merchandise. That match is now? Isn’t there a Divas match still to come? They are putting that on after this? Did you know Nexus have beat up a lot of people? They tend to highlight the old guys they’ve beat down. Will John Cena join Nexus? Or is Nexus done forever?

Matt Striker has decided he approves of Nexus now. The other two, rightly, point out Nexus beat the crap out of him. I guess it’s Stockholm Syndrome. Nexus shows up early and Barrett is not happy about it. Nexus can’t so much as touch Cena so I see no point to them coming out. In the end it doesn’t matter as Big Show leads about a dozen superstars from both brands, mostly faces but Dolph Ziggler is there, and Nexus is sent packing. Barrett is still pretty limited but at least he has a moveset of power moves instead of pure brawling. Striker claims kids and girls are cheering for Cena while the guys are cheering for Barrett. I doubt it’s that simple but there are certainly people so anti-Cena they are cheering Nexus.

Cena actually climbs the top turnbuckle looking for his Flying Legdrop but he and Barrett wind up in a contest of strength on the corner ropes. Cena comes out ahead with a Headbutt and hits the Legdrop after all. Only a two-count results. Cena sets up for the Attitude Adjustment only to be countered into Wasteland. It looks over but, somehow, Cena kicks out. Next comes an AA but now Barrett kicks out. This is dramatic at least. Cena tries the STF as Cole screams “Tap out!” over and over again. A mystery man in street clothes runs in, but gets stopped by security and the ref, only to have another mystery man attack Cena with a foreign object. Barrett capitalizes for the pin. So there you have it, John Cena must join Nexus and at least two other people have arrived with a stake in the outcome. Once again, a long enough match that was just fine, especially considering the people involved. A lot of time gets wasted as a forlorn Cena leaves the ring slower than the Big Show.

Josh Matthews interviews Paul Bearer. He’s been waiting six years and he’s developed a master plan in that time. And that plan involves reuniting with a man who tried to drown him in concrete?

The Divas match between Michelle McCool and Natalya Neidhart is the worst match on the card so far but it’s still not bad. Natalya gets a Sharpshooter locked on but Layla throws a shoe (nice Austin Powers reference by Striker) at her to draw a DQ. Michelle taps seconds later but the title doesn’t change hands on a DQ. Short but not too short.

And now the main event. This match has tons of history, since we’ve already seen it several times before depending how long and when exactly we were watching. The video, however, only talks about the first feud and the recent one. The return of Paul Bearer and the urn evokes supernatural elements of this feud that are out of place in modern wrestling, especially when neutered to PG level.

Paul Bearer stays outside the cage, but Kane attacks before the bell and they brawl on the outside at first. The cell and a chair are brought into play before the bell even rings. Trivia buffs, the cage weighs five tons. Ring steps again? Kane hurts his brother’s ankle early on so Taker hardly seems superhuman again. The ankle messes up Taker’s first attempt at Old School. Kane does get a small cut on the top of his head so we see a bit of color after all. Kane barely escapes Hell’s Gate. There is no dissention in the crowd; they are firmly behind the Undertaker.

They do a double Zombie up and each competitor gets in a Chokeslam. But it’s not enough to end it. A Last Ride isn’t even enough to stop Kane. Kane lands a Tombstone Piledriver and steals his brother’s rest in peace pose, but Taker kicks out. A frustrated Kane punches out the referee. The cell is opened to allow a new ref in and the old one out. That lets Paul Bearer slip inside the cell. Kane goes after Paul Bearer in a chase that makes OJ’s Bronco look speedy. All this does is give Undertaker time to recover. A Chokeslam follows and Taker gets theatrical. He culminates in the cut throat gesture and the lightning starts up.

Okay, this is real. When the lights go low for the lightning Paul Bearer opens the urn and bright light shines out blinds Taker. Then Paul Bearer hands the urn over to Kane. Kane clobbers his brother with it. One more Chokeslam and Kane retains the championship in what I have to call a surprise.

So how did the show fare overall? There were no bad matches, most of them were pretty good. With a two hour and forty-three minute runtime it was of sufficient length. But the two Hell in a Cell matches did not live up to the hype. They are never going to give us the spectacular bloody scenes we remember from the past. Also, Hell in a Cell is better when it’s a surprise, not a regular occurrence. I sincerely hope we don’t repeat this PPV next year. This may be the last PPV I can afford for a while. Having seen this one I might have been better off waiting and buying Bragging Rights or Survivor Series.

Smackdown arrives on SyFy with a brand new opening theme and sequence. It’s actually a big improvement. The big show kicks off with Dolph Ziggler defending his title against MVP. Not exactly big name superstars to open with. Let’s hope the match is solid… It’s not. It is all a set-up for Nexus, minus Wade Barrett, to attack. Ziggler takes the initial attack leaving MVP alone in the ring. They do the surround and attack move, then beat MVP down for Gabriel’s 450 Splash. Big Show finally shows up. I know he was slow, but he was no help to MVP. And even a giant falls to a four on one assault. You know what that means, it’s time for John Cena. Maybe if people stopped coming out one at a time they’d have a better chance. Nexus is busy beating down Cena when Big Show returns with a steel chair and drives them off. Barrett is on TitanTron. He’s just here to recap the stipulations of the match on Sunday. Apparently, he’s a friend of the network head so he gets to pick matches. Nexus vs. Big Show five-on-one and John Cena versus Kane. And here I thought they might be putting the early focus on actual wrestling.

Oh great, Michael Cole is here. We have an Undertaker/CM Punk match tonight. We get an 8-Diva tag match. There’s a few decent moves, but Hornswoggle shows up to mess with LayCool so it’s hard to take the match seriously. WWE is actually plugging Mick Foley’s new book despite Foley being with TNA now. We’re in Oklahoma so Jack Swagger gets to celebrate homecoming. He’s got a guy in an Eagle mascot costume with him. I wonder if that is an enemy in disguise. He’s upset he didn’t get a parade. So, he’s moved to Texas. Instead of the eagle betraying Swagger, Edge shows up. Edge is on a campaign against stupidity in wrestling. He’s Don Quixote now? Edge decks the eagle and Swagger runs off. That leaves Edge to Spear the eagle. Is he supposed to be a face here or what?

Sick of Nexus? Tough. They are lumberjacks for Cena’s match later tonight. Their match with Show is quick. Since four of them beat down Show earlier why would he have a chance against five? As is, once they get Show off his feet, each Nexus member locks a hold on one limb, except Barrett who puts a choke hold on Show’s neck. Show passes out quickly and gets two post match 450 splashes.

Undertaker is looking more Old School in costuming as Paul Bearer and the urn join him for his match with CM Punk. It’s the best match of the night so far, but that’s not saying much. Undertaker wins, of course, with a Tombstone Piledriver. Next up is Alberto Del Rio, still as awesome as ever. He promises Rey Mysterio and his personal ring announcer brings out a Chihuahua in a mask. Cute dog. It even has a brace on one paw. Then it’s time for the real Rey to return. Rey tries to 619 Del Rio, but the ring announcer gets involved again. That let’s Del Rio escape. Rey takes his frustrations out on poor Ricardo. That’s twice now that non-wrestlers have taken beatings. Remember, don’t try this at home.

Randy Orton is here tonight too. He faces his old pupil, Cody Rhodes. The match has barely started when Orton lands his RKO finisher, only to be attacked by Sheamus. The beating lasts longer than the match and we have yet to have one good match all night. Even the main event isn’t given much time and it also ends inconclusively when the lumberjacks attack and Undertaker appears to attack Kane. The final focus is on the brawl through the stands between the two “brothers”. Taker comes out on top, with the urn motivating him. Will that give him the title Sunday? I think so.

TNA again has a problem with split focus. Sure, they’re pushing Bound for Glory, but now they have a big live show three days before it and they’re trying to push that just as hard. So, at that show, we’re going to see Ric Flair versus Mick Foley in a Last Man Standing Match. It’s WCW all over again. Giving away money matches for free. Their promo is awesome, but it’s nothing new. These two already had their long running feud out in WWE. Just like ECW had a revival already in WWE. TNA always striving for new things to copy.

Tonight Kurt Angle faces Abyss in a Steel Cage. The Pope, Kevin Nash and Sting continue to complain about WCW. So, at Bound for Glory, Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe and Hulk Hogan will face Sting, Nash and Dinero. Hulk Hogan, who is recovering from back surgery, which they have admitted on camera, is supposed to step in the ring in ten days?! Do they really think anyone is going to pay to see that? Tommy Dreamer actually scores a pinfall as he and Rhino beat Beer Money. Jay Lethal and Amazing Red traded the X Division title back and forth at some house shows; but other than mentioning it and a few still shots neither one is actually on the show. Has the X title been reduced to Xplosion fodder?

Generation Me beat Ink Inc, but the Tag champs get Chris Sabin’s stolen title back from the #1 contenders. We tease more troubles in the top ranks, as an off-screen, unheard phone call from Hogan shows he’s behind Angle while Eric Bischoff likes Ken Anderson. Where the heck is Jeff Hardy tonight? Is he selling the Abyss beating? Kurt bleeds a bucket in the main event and carries Abyss to a decent match for a change. We carry on to Reaction yet again as Kurt teases a Moonsault off the top of the cage, but doesn’t deliver. That’s probably for the best. Abyss takes Angle out but the ref goes down in the process. Ken Anderson comes to Kurt’s rescue. Abyss takes him down too, rips the cage door clean off and goes for Janice. Kurt recovers and manages to take it (her?) from him. The ref never recovers, we don’t get a winner and we just go off the air with Kurt standing there holding Janice. Lousy ending people. You have to watch a lot of Reaction to see that Kurt refuses to shake Ken Anderson’s hand after the show.

Also on for next week is a Battle Royal including every man on the Bound For Glory card. That’s twenty-five men. And the prize? $100,000. Nice to see inflation hasn’t driven wrestling prizes up too high in the face of the global economic downturn. By now, next week’s show looks almost as interesting as the PPV and I don’t have to pay for it. So what inspires me to spend money on the second show when I’ve already had my weekly fill with the free one?

So what’s the verdict for the week? Nothing terrible happened, but I feel like nothing great happened either. TNA had the better wrestling while WWE did a better job building to their PPV. So a mixed bag of a week. Will Hell in a Cell be worth paying for? I haven’t decided yet.

Kane actually beat The Undertaker at Night of Champions. He opens Smackdown facing Chris Masters. Even the announcers don’t give Masters much of a chance, but Masters gets to use the once unbreakable Master Lock only to have Kane escape. Masters gets a lot of offense, maybe too much. Kane used Taker’s cutting the throat pose and finishes with the Tombstone, which apparently is Undertaker’s move despite Kane using it throughout his career. Aren’t half of Kane’s moves copies of the Undertaker already? Kane cuts a promo in the expensive seats enjoying the fear he is causing. He has a proposal he won’t let his brother refuse.

The new tag champs have to defend their titles. The challengers are supposed to be a surprise which barely excuses the champions entering first… And it’s just the Hart Dynasty anyway. It’s a decent enough match and the champions need an exposed turnbuckle to win so the Harts aren’t totally buried.

Oh no, Taker is wracked with self-doubt. He’s brooding. Come and see the brooding inherent in the system.

Alberto Del Rio attacked Christian, off camera. Alberto Del Rio lets us know Rey Mysterio will be back next week and they have a match. Christian tries to get revenge but Del Rio savages his arm just like he did to Mysterio. The Straight Edge Society is done but when CM Punk tries to rub it in to Luke Gallows’ face the big man finally turns on him. Punk dominates which does nothing for either man. Kaval gets a second match, this one against Chavo Guererro. Chavo wins. Chavo never wins. So where is the faith in NXT season 2 winner Kaval? Nowhere to be found.

Big Show faces the often forgotten tag team of Vance Archer and Curt Hawkins. When you have the man advantage and you still lose your career is not where it should be. There’s a Dolph Ziggler / MVP match where far too much attention is on Vickie and her NXT rookie. Ziggler again takes a count out to retain his championship (a tactic that gets old fast).

Kane is out to, predictably, challenge Taker to Hell in a Cell, but the rarely seen druids make a return with a coffin. When Kane opens the coffin it reveals Paul Bearer! Taker’s old manager is back, along with the urn, and then so is Taker. It’s like the old days except everyone involved has aged severely. Taker’s newfound strength lets him drive off Kane, then Undertaker and Bearer do their old school pose. It was a nice bit of fan service and it allows Undertaker a storyline reason to suddenly return to full strength. Let’s hope the feud ends at Hell in a Cell.

American viewers, Smackdown moves to SyFy next week. They sure remind you enough. It will actually be a live show, rare for Smackdown. That means next week they should pull out all the stops as the network debut and the go home show for the PPV. We’ll see if they blow it.

Over at TNA Rob Van Dam is back! The Pope is turning heel. Generation Me just do not have the look to be great heels no matter who they beat up. The Knockout Tag Team titles may be the most useless titles in a major wrestling company anywhere in the world. Lacey Von Erich has had plenty of chances. She’s not good. It’s nice to see Sabu can still do the things that made him famous but ladder matches need to focus on the competitors not a host of outside interferers. I’ve soured on Abyss for a while now. He doesn’t quite have the build to get by on it and his performance skills aren’t quite good enough either. He doesn’t cut it as a main eventer, even in TNA.

So Bound for Glory is already going to feature Lethal Lockdown with EV 2.0 vs. Fortune, the Triple Threat for the title and Rob Van Dam versus Abyss. Since bound for Glory is TNA’s version of Wrestlemania it’s not surprising they’re building a decent card. What is surprising is the shows are watchable lately. They aren’t perfect, or even outstanding but the show has positive momentum for a change. I’m not sure who is currently in charge, but they seem to have half a brain in their head. I’d rather watch TNA than NXT season 3.

Smackdown is the go home show before Night of Champions. Will it convince anyone to buy the show? We open with the Peep Show, one of at least two talk show segments on Smackdown. The guest is Albert Del Rio who arrives in an expensive car, introduced by his personal ring announcer. This guy’s mannerisms are brilliant. It’s hard to believe he spent most of his career as a babyface and wearing a mask. Christian thinks Del Rio is a flash in the pan. Christian challenges Del Rios to a match or a fight or anything else at Night of Champions. Del Rio will think about it. So Christian slaps him. That changes his answer to no.

The Hart Dynasty face Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. Tyson Kidd is looking like a million bucks lately. The heels get an upset win that’s basically clean. We learn that the tag belts will be defended at Night of Champions, we just don’t know against who. There’s a really good (and long for TV) Jack Swagger versus Kofi Kingston match. It’s nice to see Swagger looking strong, but Kingston picks up the win via Trouble in Paradise as he’s the one with a match this Sunday.

Rosa Mendes and Kelly Kelly lose to LaCool. Then there’s a funny segment with them and Kaval. Michelle pulls the old pull names out of a hat bit so she can face Melina. Of course, all the names are Michelle. Kaval is so amusing with these two.

Christian faces CM Punk in the main event match and Del Rio joins commentary. Christian is game and puts up a long fight. Del Rios distracts Christian by claiming he’s reconsidering allowing Punk to hit Go To Sleep. Then Del Rio says his answer is still no. Big Show hits the ring and Punk tries to hold him off, but falls to the knock out punch. CM Punk will win Sunday.

Kane and Taker talk for the go home. It seems redundant to say Kane is over the top, but he’s really going all out tonight. Taker tries to appear when the lights go down, but Kane ends up behind him with the title belt. A beatdown ensues. I do sincerely hope these guys put on a great show Sunday, but I’m not optimistic and I’m not going to see it. I have something more important to do at 8:00 Sunday night than watch Night of Champions. If I were motivated to watch the show I could stay up late and watch the 11:30 pm replay, but I’d prefer a good night’s sleep. This simply isn’t a PPV worth losing sleep over. Kane even steals Taker’s moves to beat him down with.

This week’s TNA was actually pretty decent. At the PPV, Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle drew while Ken Anderson beat The Pope. So Eric Bischoff announces a Three-way Dance at Bound For Glory. Dixie Carter overrules him and books a Hardy/Angel rematch with no time limit tonight. It was one hell of a match, but it ended in a double pin. So Bischoff went back to a three-way. Hey, I’m glad I saw that match, but it’s booking in circles again.

Tommy Dreamer tried to call a truce with Fortune, singing the praises of each and every one of them, often with shoot comments, but they beat him down. The other EV 2.0 guys were gone, but Brian Kendrick tried to make the save. Emphasize tried. After Fortune gets tired of the beat down Brian Kendrick issues an open challenge to any member of Fortune. Matt Morgan accepted, in street clothes. He dominates the match, but actually gets rolled up at the end. So Kendrick is getting a push.

Also getting a push: Jay Lethal, who won the X Division Championship. It’s not much of a title anymore, but it’s something at least. That’s the highpoints. Maybe extra time off helped them deliver a better show, I don’t know. I do know this is one of their best shows in a long time. All done with no Hogan. Coincidence?