WWE The Bash 2009

Well seeing as WWE's The Great American Bash had the reputation of being the worst of the WWE PPVs (Punjabi Prison Match? Concrete Crypt? Elevated Liver Enzymes?) it was decided that it's obviously the two middle words that are causing all this and not the horrible booking. WWE have now dubbed it The Bash. Snappier! Quicker! Takes less time to say. Perfect! We shall see…

ECW Championship
Scramble Match
Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer (c) vs. Jack Swagger vs.Finlay vs. Mark Henry

God I forgot how complicated this match was! It makes the King of the Mountain match seem simplistic! However a good match to showcase the ECW talent and actually made good use of Mark Henry (never thought I'd ever say that). I think the odd number of people worked against this match as it always seemed like there was someone not doing something… but then that seems to be the problem with most multiple man matches these days. A great start to the PPV though, with some great spots

Intercontinental Championship (Also Mask on the line)
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (c)

You know what I'm kinda getting bored of? Rey being thrown around like a ragdoll. I no longer believe that Rey can ever beat anyone. Him bouncing off the middle rope is laughable and it just looks bad. That being said, I did enjoy this match, for the storyline that went with it. Though the unmasking stipulation was a little pointless. WWE wouldn't take the mask off Rey, it's the biggest merchandise seller. They wouldn't be that stupid. Surely? The final few minutes was electrifying and the two mask thing worked perfectly.

No DQ
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Great Khali
Horrible! Just horrible! I have no words for how bad this match was. The only entertainment I had was listening to JR and Todd Grisham trying to cover all this!

WWE Unified Tag Team Championship
Carlito and Primo (c) vs. Priceless vs. Edge and Chris Jericho

I hate triple threat tag matches as I never understand how they would work without a member of every team being in the ring. Why would Primo/Cody tag in Edge or Christian or anyone tag anyone else? It makes no sense. Though I did love the idea of having Edge/Jericho waiting on the apron. This match will either be a great day in tag team wrestling (as we know both Edge/Jericho can wrestle a great tag match)or the ultimate burial of that division once again!

WWE Women's Championship
Melina(c) vs. Michelle McCool

Sadly, as with most 'Divas' matches they make the TNA Knockouts look like Hart Dungeon graduates. A mess. Total mess!

World Heavyweight Championship
CM Punk (c) vs. Jeff Hardy

If it's true that WWE are looking to hire Ring of Honor's former booker Gabe Sapolsky, this is the feud I would have put him with. Possibly the best WWE match I have watched in a long, long time. Perfectly set up, perfect ringwork and that tease of Jeff winning was just painful. The win by DQ was horrible and the crowd's reaction is my reaction. Total FN BULL! I can't believe that they are giving CM Punk Randy Orton's old 'get myself DQ'd gimmick'??? But at least Hardy got himself some! Not quite so bitter as it could have been.

 The Miz vs. John Cena

Man the Miz must really be thankful that he is in this feud, this may be as high up the card as he will ever get. I have to say this was a very enjoyable match. Rather than  being a complete squash, there was a lot of back and forth and it almost made a playa out of The Miz. After this I could see him as a US/IC champion into the midcard status. A good match and a great example of Cena giving back.

WWE Championship
Three Stages of Hell (Traditional/Falls Count Anywhere/Stretcher Match)
Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H

This match was sooooooo slow at the start. I loved the idea of getting yourself DQ'd… although the second pinfall should have been instant to make it even more effective. I don't like stretcher matches, I always prefer these type of matches to end in a cage to make it even more of a 'feud ender'. The whole stretcher part was handled better than most, but it felt a bit awkward at times. Of course everyone knew that Legacy would come out, but I gotta say that Sledgehammer spot was the most farcical ever! Like Triple H could have planted that and knew that he would land there and need it!

The only extra is a scene backstage between Tony Atlas and Mark Henry which is neither interesting nor funny. In fact I have no idea why they included it at all?

Overall? You know maybe getting rid of those two words in the title is exactly what this PPV needed, as I really enjoyed watching this. Sure the Divas and Khali/Ziggler match was horrible and the tag and IC match were a little lacklustre, but the three world champion matches were great and it's surprising when a match involving The Miz and John Cena is one of the more enjoyable matches on the card. All in all it was an entertaining few hours and not the horrific mess that the Bash has become famous for.