WWE Intercontinental Championship
Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler (c) w/ Vicki Guerrero
Build up: A passable storyline. Vicki Guerrero playing the dysfunctional general manager who abuses her power to help out her "boyfriends", wrestlers who are nearly half her age. Still, makes me laugh a bit, but the problem is we've seen it too many times. It's getting stale and predictable. They either need to find a new "gimmick" for Vicki or spice things up....a love triangle perhaps? A love square even? Wrestlers fighting for her affections, think Dirty Rotten Scoundrel..... but a PG pro wrestling version....
The Match: A fast paced 13 minute opener. Not bad. A pretty crisp and clean worked match, but not enough time for any solid psychology to develop. The Champion (Ziggler) trying to slow down the explosive high-flier (Kofi). Ziggler gets a cheap win from a distraction, and they tease a "Hey, I don't wanna cheat anymore, suddenly I only want to win honorably, by myself". I do like Ziggler's potential as a face, he's been getting good pops from the crowd the last couple months, especially for his ZigZag finisher. Good look, funny name, solid wrestler, comfortable on the mic, and now getting over with the WWE Universe? I wouldn't sleep on him.
Rating: **1/2 Stars
CM Punk vs The Big Show
Build Up: Big Show is responsible for unmasking CM Punk and dismantling the Straight Edge Society. Still, the weeks leading up to the PPV, the development of the storyline seemed rushed, generic, and most importantly not exciting or interesting. The unexpected firing of Serena was probably in some way responsible for this. Hopefully, CM Punk will get a change of direction and a main event level feud in the next couple months. Punk's hometown entrance in Chicago as well as his blatantly heelish promo helped to get the crowd heated up before the bell.
The Match: A few nice spots, which is surprising since the match only last 5 minutes, if that. Just a waste of time, especially with the crowd so ready to pop and be involved in what potentially could have been a decent match. Why squash Punk at his hometown like that? Is CM Punk about to hit rock-bottom? Punk does seem legit in the ring with bigger wrestlers like Undertaker or Big Show, problem is he can't hit the GTS on them. He needs another finisher. Why not? Jericho has like 3 finishers, it works.
Rating: *1/2 Stars
WWE United States Championship
Daniel Bryan vs The Miz (c) w/ Alex Riley
Build up: A great feud between these two and an interesting and well crafted storyline. The Miz is one of the best in the business at drawing heat which helps a lot, but Bryan has player his part and Michael Cole taking a vocal heel role adds another nice layer. The submission wrestler trying to tap out the fearful heel was played up successfully and helps to give the match a natural psychology.
The Match: A solid 16 minute match. Interesting how the in-ring psychology played out. The Miz injured Bryan's left arm early on and Bryan did a great job of selling the injury. A stiffly worked match, some solid spots, and they worked the match like Bryan was going to lose because of his "injury". The ending had a surprise feeling despite the fact that it was likely Bryan was going to take the title going in. The Miz doesn't need it and hasn't defended it in a while anyway, so why not let Bryan take the title and run with it? Have the US Championship could really get Bryan over with the crowd, he's already getting nice pops, just needs another good feud. Alex Riley seem to obvious?
Rating: ***1/2
WWE Women's/Divas Unification Championship - Lumber Jill Match
Michael McCool (Women's Champion) vs Melina (Diva's Champion)
Build up: Who cares? Sorry, it's the truth. The build up up boring and half-hearted, there's just nothing here to draw real interest, aside from all the beautiful women involved. Maybe I'm just greedy. Can't we have a good feud that people actually care about, dynamic, interesting characters, and some consistently good wrestling? It's not a good sign when I have trouble telling the difference between one blonde competitor from the next.
The Match: Not bad wrestling wise. A hard worked match by both women, some pretty stiff spots, and the Lumber Jills on the outside provided an interesting dynamic. Although at times it looked more like a group of Playboy playmates rather than wrestlers. Not the worst thing, I guess. McCool gets the win. I'm guess there's a feud on the horizon between Layla and McCool. LayCool finally breaks up? Who really cares. At least it was short.
Rating: *
WWE World Heavyweight Title
The Undertaker vs Kane (c)
Build up: Awesome build up, great feud. One of the greatest feuds in wrestling history - revised, renewed, and developed over months to successful results. Kane trying to destroy his older brother, steal his power, and finally get his long awaited revenge. And the fact that Undertaker is so close to the end of his career makes everything feel all the more special. Could this be the final chapter?
The Match: The crowd was hot and into the match from the beginning. Not a great match, but not too bad either. Good work rate all things considering, and both wrestlers sold the match well. Would have liked to see some more drama and close falls near the end, still, it's good to see Kane win and get put over by the Undertaker. I mean, it's about time. However, I'm sure this feud isn't finished yet, I could see this carrying on to Wrestlemania. If it's done well then I wouldn't mind. I already like the direction they're taking it - are the Undertaker's powers finally gone?
Rating: ***1/2
WWE Tag Team Championship - Tag Turmoil Match (Gauntlet Match)
The Hart Dynasty (c) vs The Usos vs Kozlov & Santino vs Evan Bourne & Mark Henry vs Drew McIntyre & Dashing Cody Rhodes
Build up: Basically, none. They just announced the match, no storyline, and virtually no hype at all. The announcers tried to hype up tag team wrestling and it's strategy and need for cooperation and teamwork to win, blah, blah, and blah. If they want to make their Tag Team division matter then the WWE needs to put some real effort and time into creating good teams, not just mid-card wrestlers that are thrown together for a few months.
The Match: A fun gimmick match. Would have liked to see it given more time, some of the teams were eliminated to quickly, and why have Henry & Bourne and McIntyre & Rhodes be the final two teams, putting them over the only two legitimate tag teams you have in the Hart Dynasty and the Usos. Once it got down to the final 2 teams, it was also painfully obvious that Rhodes and McIntrye were going to win.
Rating: *** Stars
WWE Championship - 6 Pack Elimination Challenge
Chris Jericho vs Edge vs John Cena vs Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett vs Sheamus (c)
Build up: Not bad hype and storyline for this match. But really I'm not of a fan of 6-pack challenge matches, too many wrestlers involved, things get cluttered, and unfocused. That goes for the storyline and the in-ring match as well. The fact, that it's an elimination match and not first pinfall wins helps a lot though. A lot feuds and side plots interweaving here, just adding to the unpredictability, which is a good thing I suppose. Who's going to win? No one can say for sure who's leaving with the belt.
The Match: Jericho eliminated first and fast. Disappointing, but great to hear those Y2J chants. Hope he gets a final face run with the title before he hangs it up. The tension between Cena and Orton on the staredowns was well booked and you could feel the electricity. It'll be epic when they meet at Wrestlemania this year. Some solid wrestling, and a few fun spots, the crowd was really into this one. By far the loudest pops of the night. Edge eliminated 2nd. Nexus comes down and wreaks havoc. Chaos ensues and makes the match worse in my opinion. They just create an excuse for the match to breakdown into a jumbled, rushed mess, instead of a well thought out, hard fought, epic battle that it could have been. Was a shocking moment when Cena got eliminated though, but adds more fuel to the fire with his feud with Nexus. Orton wins the title and it wouldn't surprise me if he kept it for a while. He's perhaps the biggest face in the WWE now and it creates a new wrinkle in the rivalry between him and Cena.
Rating: ***1/2
Overall: Not too bad of a show. Would have liked to see more focus and time devoted to the in-ring product, but that's a common complaint with the WWE. Plenty of entertaining moments, Daniel Bryan winning the US title was great, Undertaker vs Kane was okay, and the main event delivered for most part. The PPV managed a few surprises and left a lot of interesting question marks with storylines. What now for the Miz? Is the Straight Edge Society finished? Has Kane finally destroyed his brother? And will Chris Jericho leave the business?
Rating: *** Stars
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