-(PRE-SHOW) Antonio Cesaro d. Santino Marella with the Neutralizer to become the new United States Champion -Chris Jericho d. Dolph Ziggler with the Walls of Jericho -Daniel Bryan d. Kane with an inside cradle -The Miz d. Rey Mysterio with the Skull-Crushing Finale to retain the Intercontinental Championship -Sheamus d. Alberto Del Rio with the Irish Curse to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, while knocking Del Rio's foot off the rope -Air Truth d. The Primetime Playaz with the What's Up to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships -CM Punk d. John Cena & The Big Show to retain the WWE Championship after Cena AA's Big Show and Punk steals the pin. Match was restarted off a double submission. -Brock Lesnar d. Triple H with the Kimura
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Well, if a friend's buying the PPV and springing for wings and beer, sure, I'll give it a look. It's all based on memory, so don't expect too much in the way of detail.
Antonio Cesaro beats Santino Marella in one of the goofiest finishes I've seen in a long time. Cesaro tossed away the Cobra sock, so Santino whips out a second one. Aksana seduces the back-up Cobra (I can't believe I just typed that...), which provides enough distraction for Cesaro to hit the Neutralizer for the pin and the title. Both of these guys deserve so much better than this.
Chris Jericho beat Dolph Ziggler clean with the Walls of Jericho to "win the big one," I guess. The big WHAT, I have no idea. Since Dolph lost clean as a sheet, we were all assuming he'd be cashing in later in the night.
Daniel Bryan won off a fluke roll-up after Kane went for the Tombstone. Not much to say here, though Bryan was brilliant, as usual. Post-match, Kane throws a tantrum that includes chucking Josh Matthews around. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I would GLADLY throw down $50 to see that idiot Josh Matthews get tossed around like a ragdoll for three hours. Add in Cole and I'll make it $100.
The Miz beat Rey Mysterio clean with the Skull-Crushing Finale to retain the IC title. Rey was in Dark Knight attire tonight. This match was much better than it had any right to be, as these two clicked very well tonight. Rey bumped like an insane person and made Miz look like a million bucks. It's actually the exact opposite of what I predicted, as these two wound up making each other look BETTER, instead of the booking making them look worse!
Sheamus d. Alberto Del Rio with the Irish Curse. The finish saw Del Rio pull in Ricardo Rodriguez to get the ref distracted. Ricardo tossed his shoe at ADR, but his throw was too high, so Sheamus caught the shoe and waffled Del Rio with it. Who uses a shoe? Honestly? Sheamus then hits the Irish Curse and the ref counts 3 while missing Del Rio's foot on the ropes. Sheamus knocks the foot off to hide the evidence. Sheamus celebrates while Del Rio loses his shit. This feud MUST continue! Freakin' criminey, how many shots is Del Rio going to get??? He was a scratch in April, his match got turned into a four-way in May, he was a scratch in June, he had a shot in July and the match sucked, and he had a match here and it also sucked! You'd have to think the rematch is going to happen on SmackDown, because they wouldn't seriously book this match for yet another PPV, would they?
Also, no Dolph cash-in. Clearly Dolph jobbed clean in the opening match, because...............let's just move on...
Speaking of guys that have had multiple chances, here are the PTP's. And they lost. Again. Time to go back to the drawing board with the PTP's, because they've lost about a dozen times and nobody's taking them seriously anymore. And lord knows if they DO win, it's just going to make everyone look bad. There was a "Kobe Bryant" chant that broke out in the middle of the match, which brings up the fact that, again, there was no mention of AW. Not even so much as a token "The PTP's fired their agent after a series of losses." They're just acting like AW never existed. It takes a special kind of bridge-burning to get that kind of treatment.
Jesus, even with John Cena involved, CM Punk STILL doesn't get to close the show! But remember, when Punk rightfully points this out tomorrow, he's going to be labeled a whiner and end up the heel.
The first finish involves a double submission with Cena applying the shitty STF and Punk applying the Vise Koji Clutch, called the Vise by the crack announce team (and the crack recapper). AJ comes out and both men argue their case, so AJ restarts the match. Cena then hits the AA on Show, but Punk chucks Cena and steals the pin. Man, they had something potentially interesting with the restart before giving this the exact same Triple Threat ending they've been using for the last 10 years. Unbelievable. Crowd was solidly behind Punk, nearly booing Cena out of the building. But remember, Punk is going to come out of all of this the heel. Sigh...
Brock Lesnar shut up all the naysayers by beating Triple H clean with the Kimura. Brock kicked out of the Pedigree. H kicked out of the F5. H looked to finish with another Pedigree, but got pulled into the Kimura for the clean tap-out. Really, we should all feel stupid for assuming this would be the end, because this is obviously leading to a gimmick match at the next PPV, most likely Hell in a Cell.
This PPV was fine. It wasn't actively terrible or offensive, but it feels forgettable. It didn't have the "Holy shit!" moment of Nash's walk-on from last year or the dynamite match the caliber of last year's Cena/Punk main event. Still, the fact that I'm not banging my head against my friend's glass coffee table should be considered a positive. There are much worse ways to spend three hours, especially when there are wings and beer involved. It's a thumbs in the middle from me.
Match of the Night honors go to Jericho/Ziggler, with Miz/Rey surprisingly close behind.
I have could have gone without the five minute HHH ego fest at the end and minus the shitty musical act, they could have added the US Titles. Since, it was the only title to change hands. Other than that, it was a solid PPV. Lesnar shocked me with no selling the pedigree to the submission move for the win. Punk being a heel is just not working, he got one of the biggest pops while Cena still gets the boos at this Big 4 events. Not really too much to complain about. I expect Ziggler losing will be made up on Raw or Smackdown after he takes out Jericho in some way. Loved Miz breaking Rey's back kept the whole Batman mantra going.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
I just want to take a quick moment to point out that Santino's back up Cobra was apparently up his ass, as not only did he have to dig around for it, but he made a point of smelling it and making a "PU" face.
The Prime Time Players should of gotten the win tonight. They're not doing shit with Kofi and Truth as champs, and there are so many new young tag teams available that can restart the afterthought tag division. Pushing a new team as champs tonight should of been the start.
Ugh... that live musical performance. Hey, we can't figure out any angles for any Divas with the exception of AJ, so do you gals mind just awkwardly dancing to a shitty pop song performance tonight? Shake that ass Tamina and make your father proud of training you. Don't forget to smile Natalya. Sure you'll get a a match on Raw next mumble mumble mumble...
The Triple Threat was better than expected. This is the first match I've seen since the Mankind vs. Big Show Boiler Room match where Show looked like a beast. Did Punk actually lift the Big Show on his shoulders? That was impressive even if he only did it for 2 seconds. The ending was hilarious too as John got outsmarted again. If Cena is Superman then Punk is surely Batman.
Disappointing matches (Jericho/Ziggler was about the only on up to my expectations, and the threeway especially should've been twice as good as it was) but all the right finishes.
Gotta give max credits to Triple H; the idea of him losing like that was (rightfully) so completely antithetical to people's view of him that no one really expected it even if it's the only finish that made sense for future business with Lesnar. I thought Brock was winning but I assumed HHH would have a lot of ego-saving spots and lose after he should've won. But nope, not at all. Wild. I guess he could come back for revenge 'round Mania time, though you'd think Undertaker will factor into this directly with the destruction of his EOAE brothers.
There were a shit load of people. It looked totally sold out. merchandise tables were raped. Ridiculous lines to buy stuff. Cobra arm sleeves were a big seller. Something I hadn't seen before was the selling of official WWE autographs. The only had two that I could see, Cena and Sheamus for $20 each. Yes and No shirts sold quickly. I was trying to get a Sheamus necklace, but they sold out quick, as well as his shirt. Good for him.
Fucking Staples Center. $10.50 for a beer? Really? Good thing I have money, and I hope that doesn't sound douchbaggy.
Pre-Show - Santino Marella (Champion) vs. Antonio Cesaro w/ Aksana for the United States Championship:
I had no idea who Antonio Cesaro was. Not a clue. The audience was very pro-Santino. The Cobra might be more popular that Socko. The people in my section got a Cobra chant going. Santino lost and Cesaro got a small pop for his win.
Michael Cole and Lawler come out. People love Lawler. There was not much of a reaction for Michael Cole. I was sad for this. Cole-Miners need to represent, damnit!
#1 - Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Vickie Guerrero:
Jericho is the fucking man. Ziggler is pretty fucking awesome as well. Jericho was not the heel in this match. The audience was almost completely pro-Jericho. I actually thought Vickie looked nice tonight. That might have been the beer buzz starting, though. That roll-up by Ziggler had me, I jumped up thinking he was gonna win, but I just looked like an idiot. Yeah. Good match.
#2 - Kane vs. Daniel Bryan:
People just didn't seem to know who to root for here, so they were equally cheering both guys. There were many Yes chants throughout the whole match. When Bryan came back in the ring and bitch slapped Kane, this kid behind yelled "Kane's gonna kill a bitch." and I couldn't stop laughing. I thought they had a really good match.
Up on the ramp, after Kane goes up and to the back, they were inflating The Miz's Awesome balloons. I could see two dudes dressed from head to two in all white, it even covered their heads. When The Miz came out, they stand behind the balloons and open it up for him. I found this fascinating to watch.
#3 - The Miz (Champion) vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship:
The Miz did not get as awesome a reception from his hometown as I think he deserves. Rey's reception wasn't as loud as he usually gets either. His Batman costume looked kinda stupid. That spot where The Miz counters Rey's hurricanrana into a powerbomb was fucking excellent. When The Miz won, the kid behind me booed him but his mom (I'm guessing) was cheering. Rey needed help to the back after the match. He was holding the back of his head. He might have gotten hurt again.
#4 - Sheamus (Champion) vs. Alberto Del Rio w/ Ricardo Rodriguez for the World Heavyweight Championship:
Del Rio comes out to a decent reaction from the audience. I think Ricardo would have gotten a good pop as well, but he snuck in without much notice. Sheamus gets the biggest pop so far. He is totally over with this crowd. That ending was not good at all. Sheamus cheating to win seems very out of place with his character. I hope they're not turning him, cause that's a terrible idea.
#5 - Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (Champions) vs. The Prime Time Players for the WWE Tag Team Championship:
Kofi's pop might have beaten Sheamus's, it's a close call. After that, the crowd died. No one seemed to care about this match at all. They finally woke up for the ending. I felt bad for the guys being out there and this becoming the 'Diva's match/Bathroom break'. Kofi is totally over, almost as much as Sheamus. They need to give the guy a push with a belt or something. If I were to judge Tag Team wrestling on this match and the crowd reaction... I'd say it's lower than a Diva's match. Really sad.
#6 - CM Punk (Champion) vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show for the WWE Championship:
Cena is very over. His pop was bigger than Kofi but, I think, less than Sheamus. Big Show got a decent reaction and CM Punk was about even with Kofi. I don't know how this match looked on TV, but from our seats, this match looked great. Big Show had his workboots on tonight. The false finish was kinda goofy, but other than that, this was pretty good. AJ skipping out made the kid behind say "She's hot!" Cute kid... and I agreed with him. I admit that I'm glad Punk won, he deserved it.
Who was the dumbass performing that song. I never want to hear that shit again. Crowd was totally dead for this shit. On the screens, they were showing Youtube videos of people singing along to it. I forgot to mention that before the show, they also did a, kinda cute, music video for it with WWE Superstars singing along to it. That video was pretty funny actually.
#7 - Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman:
Lesnar owned Triple H's ass here. This also wins match of the night cause this match was fucking awesome. The bit with Lesnar coming back in the ring and staring at Triple H and taking the gloves off was fucking great. Triple H took his beating like a man though. We were shocked at Brock winning.
That ending. What the fuck? Triple H booked himself to lose, yet also set himself up for the crowd's approval. He did not get it. The "You tapped out!" chants did not seem to be what he was looking for from us. It looked like he wanted to laugh while he was saying "Sorry." We were expecting someone to come out and do something, but then the show just ended with him going into the back.
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Over all, It was a good show. Not great or anything, but enjoyable. Actually, it felt like a really great episode of Raw and not like a PPV, which isn't really all that great thinking about it that way. Whatever, we had fun. They announced a RAW coming in January and the presale code was LARAW if you want to buy tickets now before they go on sale to the public. Yes, I'm going.
Total money spent on this show - about $350. How do families handle shit like this? There was a family of 5 behind us and they all had shirts and food and big foam Cena hands and shit. They probably spent a good $800+. Shit!
Thinking about it, my opinion might be influenced by the finishes pleasing me, but I felt the mat work was perfectly fine to very good, if not 'holy-shit'.
It was always hard to take this Jericho storyline seriously.. because the man who beat The Rock and Stone Cold on the same night can't win the big one? Face Y2J was fun while it lasted, at least. I guess they're saving Ziggler's cash-in for Raw. Hey, maybe Vince figured that since the "MitB guy losing streak" angle worked so well with Bryan, he can get Ziggles over the same way.(/sarcasm) Bonus ups to Ziggler for taking the Liontamer proper.
Bryan comes out, and a good 3/4ths of the arena is jumping up and down, making with the "YES! YES! YES!". And Vince probably asks DB to say thanks for the 18 seconds thing every week when they pass in the hallway. Not a surprise, but that's about as good a match as you can get out of Kane without a stipulation. Did we fool ourselves into thinking there was going to be Charlie Sheen involved with this match, or was that just Cole and King trying to stir something up?
Miz and Rey was a good pairing, I'd like to see this one continue.
Ricardo was the best thing of the WHC match, the shoe toss was threaded as well anything Tom Brady could do. Didn't Sheamus have his arm wrapped on SmackDown, and get another beatdown? And "two nights later" he's suddenly fine?? I like Del Rio's look/charisma, and he seems plenty athletic - I think it's his limited moveset that holds him back. He's not a legend like Flair where he can get away with having the same match every single damn time he steps in the ring.
Tag match was my 'grab something to eat' break. Since they are always promising to push a tag division, but never do - I'd keep Kofi and Truth as champs just for house show purposes if nothing else.
In the triple threat, I knew enough to know it wasn't the Vise, but if I was on commentary I'd have been right there with Michael Cole Schiavone calling it WHATTAMANEUVER! It was different making Show that dominant through most of the match. Good that they had Punk get his submission on first, not so good that you'd think the proper thing to do was eliminate Show for tapping, and re-start with just Punk vs Cena. Obviously they didn't want to go there, and it's good with that finish Punk will get more heat (at least from the announcers) for no good reason. It works for the full-blown heel turn we figure is coming, or just as well if the idea is tweener.
The thing with Punk - and I'm speaking as a member of the demo that was cheering Rock like crazy over Cena last year - I'm thinking that as much as Vince miscalculated that Cena/Rock would be naturally 50/50 cheering... they may well be just as surprised if the hardcores cheer Punk over Rock. And if they let Punk follow up on Cena's "once again the Rock brings it VIA SATELLITE" promos?
Lesnar's crazy. Bouncing around the ring and over the ropes in his two matches back. I make him even money to survive the three matches on his contract (Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, WM?) without putting himself on the shelf. Even though the finish makes good business sense to maintain Brock's credibility - if HHH thought he was setting an example by doing the job here, what good is it to put over Undertaker and Brock Lesnar? There's guys on the full-time roster he could make a star out of if he wants to do a job.
I laughed out loud when the obvious, oh-so-obvious play for sympathy was met with a pretty loud "YOU TAPPED OUT" chant. He looked like a TV weatherman doing dinner theatre, trying to fake a curtain call out there. And really, am I supposed to think for a second that HHH is done, from the same company that is planning to give us a "Once in a Lifetime" rematch this coming WrestleMania?
I kinda love how Punk is sabotaging his own heel turn. He's delivering the heel-ish scripted promos, yet even there allows room for his fans as he says he is disrespected by most of the WWE universe. He enters as a face, wrestles as a face and celebrates post-match as a face. The outcome of the match was completely fair & standard three-way fare. There is no room for any E propaganda about Punk unjustly winning that. On the flip side of that, Sheamus, the car thief & cheat-to-win'er looks set to remain a face. Randomly face Kane loses fair and square and throws a hissy-fit. I have no idea what is going on here and I doubt the E does either.
The treatment of the Jericho-Ziggler feud was just insulting. The big one? Lawler said this was Jericho's biggest match in years? So those title matches against Punk were what exactly? Intentionally or not, the WWE is disrespecting Punk and the title on a regular basis. Even in a programme with Cena, he STILL can't land a main event slot. That is enough to make me happy the live crowd shat all over the HHH drawn out exit.
I really do wish Punk & Bryan weren't so awesome, so I could happily not care about any of it.
Ricardo was the best thing of the WHC match, the shoe toss was threaded as well anything Tom Brady could do.
It was so perfect. On the replay it looked like Ricardo was actually trying to get the shoe to Del Rio but overthrew him and it was even tipped. Sheamus still caught it - so awesome.
Ricardo was the best thing of the WHC match, the shoe toss was threaded as well anything Tom Brady could do.
It was so perfect. On the replay it looked like Ricardo was actually trying to get the shoe to Del Rio but overthrew him and it was even tipped. Sheamus still caught it - so awesome.
Agreed. All me and my buddy kept saying was how awful would it have been if Sheamus had missed it and it fell out of the ring?? All bad.
I went and got my dinner during the musical "performance" and my buddy went home to switch his laundry so we both missed most of it. I came back at the very end and saw all the Divas "dancing". Terrible.
I'm still not sure I understand the HHH/Brock ending. I'm glad Brock won, but what was HHH apologizing for again? And during his little pre-match chat with the referee, he kept talking about "This is for all of us, your dad, your brothers, the WWE universe, all of us". Umm, what the heck was supposed to be on the line again? Was his loss supposed to mean that some other entity (other than Brock/Heyman) won or gained something? I didnt get that.
And shout-out to HHH for losing a match fair and square (by tapping out!!) and still finding a way to make it all about him. Ugh. I hate that dude. Not just because it's always all about him but because he's so damn boring. I get that Brock was the heel, but why was I supposed to root for HHH again? Just because it's HHH? Puts me right to sleep every time. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz..............
Ricardo was the best thing of the WHC match, the shoe toss was threaded as well anything Tom Brady could do.
It was so perfect. On the replay it looked like Ricardo was actually trying to get the shoe to Del Rio but overthrew him and it was even tipped. Sheamus still caught it - so awesome.
That throw and catch was definitely the one highlight I meant to highlight. Incredible. That and the front man for the WWE's Favorite Band taking PG and sticking it up your yeah.
Originally posted by DJ FrostyFreezeI'm still not sure I understand the HHH/Brock ending. I'm glad Brock won, but what was HHH apologizing for again? And during his little pre-match chat with the referee, he kept talking about "This is for all of us, your dad, your brothers, the WWE universe, all of us". Umm, what the heck was supposed to be on the line again? Was his loss supposed to mean that some other entity (other than Brock/Heyman) won or gained something? I didnt get that.
Trips was supposed to be 'defending the honor' of the WWE against the guy who turned his back on the company. This kinda comes out of nowhere, since they hadn't really tapped into the 'you abandoned us for UFC!' aspect at any point previously in the HHH/Bork program, but then again, Summerslam was the first time I heard the match referred to as 'The Perfect Storm', sooo... yeah.
But to their credit, they did play up to Trips defending the company's honor throughout the match with him clotheslining Lesnar out and barking "THIS IS MY HOUSE!", then Lesnar dumping Trips outside and going "NO, THIS IS MY RING!". And Paul E. contributed with some of his comments to Brock throughout the match. (His manager's banter is nothing short of legendary -- can we please get another Dangerous Alliance?)
Originally posted by Super 7-UpAnd Paul E. contributed with some of his comments to Brock throughout the match. (His manager's banter is nothing short of legendary -- can we please get another Dangerous Alliance?)
Seriously! Paul needs to start bringing a circa 1992 shoebox sized cellphone like he had back in the day. That would make my life.
Liked the show. Was stunned Jericho won. Really great match and loved seeing the old school Liontamer.
D-Bry got a pretty good match out of Kane, and the finish was Bret Hart like, which is never a bad thing. Miz continues to suck and be on my TV. The general apathy with which he is now treated warms my heart. More than anyone else in WWE right now, he seems like a guy playing a professional wrestler as apposed to just being a professional wrestler. Rey, even at this point, can have a great match with anyone. Seamus/ADR was better than I was expecting. I like Del Rio, I enjoy almost all of his matches, and he manages to remain a threat despite never winning any major matches. Seamus is kind of meh. I just don't feel he's gotten over at the level he should have for the push he's received.
Tag match was there. I am all for keeping it on Air Truth. Let's go back to when tag-teams had to get over before they won the belts, instead of being given the belts as a way to get over.
Triple Threat was good, would have been better without that goofy sports-entertainment in the middle. Punk is not getting booed at any of the major traditional shows; too many hardcores. Nor does he deserve to be booed. We don't need another heel like Edge, saying exactly what every adult male is thinking about Cena and then losing to him repeatedly. Also, the dominance of Show made me think of what his career would have been like if he'd been booked like that all along.
Main event was alright. I wasn't terribly enamored with it. Whatever good will Trips built up jobbing clean is out the window if he's getting his win back at Survivor Series, which I believe is the plan. You could say he did a Hogan-esque WM 6 job of making him losing all about him, but at least Hogan left the fucking ring.
It's possibly Tiger Mask (the original, Satoru Sayama), since he was the Junior Heavyweight Champion in Japan for awhile. He jumped to the UWF in 1984 and stopped being called Tiger Mask.