Pre-show Battle Royal to determine #1 contender for the US Championship
Participants: Brodus Clay, Tensai, Primo, Epico, Justin Gabriel, Michael McGuillicuty, Zack Ryder, Primetime Playas, Jinder Mahal, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Ted Dibiase Jr., Heath Slater, Santino
I won't get into much greater detail than this because this: It was a pretty standard battle royal. Not many faces people would know because they're never on TV, but nonetheless, it was an interesting battle royal. It came down to Tensai and Zack Ryder and Long Island's Finest came away with the win. So, therefore, we will have Zack Ryder vs Antonio Cesaro later on for the US Championship.
I'm sure you all heard what happened to Jerry "The King" Lawler on RAW. If not, then allow me to fill you in.
The King had a heart attack during a match on RAW last Monday. At one point, you could hear him snoring sort of, and then you just hear silence. WWE personnel rush over, and EMT's bring King to the back worked on him for 15 minutes to do CPR. King was treated in the hospital over night, and by Wednesday (?) He was up and feeling better. He posted a tout and all was right with the world. Thank god he's ok and back on his feet, and at home recovering.
While King is at home recovering, JBL came back tonight and took over color commentating duties for the show. Let's get to the event.
Fatal 4 Way Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (c) vs Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes vs Sin Cara
This was a good opening match to be honest. Solid action from all four men, we got to see Mysterio and Sin Cara put on a little show, and we had some great spots as well. An interesting ending here, when Miz was going to power bomb Sin Cara and got a mask put on him. With Miz being able to not see and all, he grabbed the first body and hit the skull crushing finale and got the win. Solid match, I would've expected a little more of a faster pace to the ending, but this works too.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Kofi & R-Truth (c) vs Kane & Daniel Bryan
First off, I gotta say that Daniel Bryan and Kane have become the entertaining portion of the show for the past two weeks, and these anger management segments have been funny. Getting to the match, it was solid, and told a good story. Kane and Bryan argued during portions of the match, even going so far as to hugging it out during the match when they got upset. They were so over that Kofi and Truth, who are also fan favorites, started to get booed at. But this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened.
The ending sees Kane on the top rope, still arguing with Daniel Bryan. Bryan shoves him off and he lands on Kofi and gets the win and we have NEW Tag Team Champions. And afterwards, they argue and Kane leaves.
This is a great move by WWE here. Kane and Bryan have gotten super over ever since these anger management segments and giving them the tag team titles is a good move. My only thing is, where do they go from here? Who are they gonna find to challenge Kane and Bryan? Unless they throw two other upper mid-carders together to face them. But I don't think the belts will come off these guys any time soon.
United States Championship Match
Antonio Cesaro (c) (w/Aksana) vs Zack Ryder
Solid match. I didn't expect much from the match anyway, but not bad. I said this in my Summerslam reaction blog, I like watching Cesaro wrestle. The man knows what he's doing in there. Also, there was one spot in the match where he sent Ryder in the air and on his way down, he hit him with an uppercut. He used this great move in ROH and other indies before coming up to WWE. It's pretty lethal.
Cesaro wins with the Gotch Neutralizer after Aksana distracts him. So, Cesaro hangs on to the US Title which is a good thing cause this might be what he needs to make him relevant. Cesaro is a great talent and with some work, he could be something big. Maybe WWE can start putting him on RAW too.....a show that people will watch. SmackDown isn't as watchable as it was in the past.
Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler
When you think of a match that could be the possible showstealer, this was it. I'm not surprised because these two always put on great matches. Both of these guys have so much chemistry in the ring and this match was amazing. It was slow, fluid, methodical, and fast pace at times, but it didn't really need it. It ended with Orton lifting Ziggler in the air and hit him with an RKO on his way down.
Match of the night so far. But where does Ziggler go from here. He's getting absolutely no steam and no momentum. I mean yea, he's Mr. Money in the Bank, but what does that mean if he keeps losing?
Then again, Daniel Bryan kept on losing matches when he was Mr. Money in the Bank and look where his career is at now. Nuff said. We're just going to have to wait and see when Ziggler will get his chance to shine.
Divas Championship Match
Layla (c) vs Eve
Well, with Kaitlyn out of the mix, Eve takes her spot and faces Layla for the Divas Championship. What happened to Kaitlyn you ask? If you care enough to read, I'll explain.
Earlier on in the night, Kaitlyn "injured" her ankle backstage and was in no condition to compete apparently. How convenient. They didn't build up Kaitlyn one bit, and now she's "injured." Why put her in the match if you were planning to take her out of it? Later on, Booker T. named Eve as the replacement to face Layla. Shocking stuff. Why didn't you just add her to the match in the first place?
I wasn't too sold into this match for obvious reasons. But unlike the crowd, I appreciate a Divas match when both of them can actually wrestle. Layla always had talent, and Eve got better and better in the ring with her move set. That being said, the match was solid and we crowned a NEW Divas Champion in Eve.
I'm not that annoyed with the decision, but let's look at this for a minute:
Kaitlyn was "taken out" earlier on in the night, Eve is her replacement, and then wins the Divas Championship. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Eve was behind everything and it worked out in the end as she wins the Divas Title. All this in order to get Eve over as a heel. Eve lost A LOT of steam since her heel turn on Ryder back in March (?) But Eve wins the title, and I'm pretty sure Layla and Kaitlyn will be back after her.
The only twist they can come up with here (which they'll probably do) is for Eve to have paid someone to take Kaitlyn out so that her hands are clean of the situation. That would at least make the Divas division a little more interesting.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (c) vs Alberto Del Rio
Before the match gets underway, Booker comes out and makes the Brogue Kick legal again taking away all the "suspense" in this match in whether or not Sheamus can win without The Brogue Kick.
So, now that we have that out of the way let's get to the match. It went on for a little while, but it had a slower pace than their match at Summerslam, but this match was still good and told a good story. Del Rio continuously worked on that arm and every time Sheamus would go for the Brogue Kick, he would miss. When Sheamus was locked in the cross armbreaker and looked like he was going to tap, he fought his way to the ropes, twice.
Eventually, Sheamus nails Del Rio with the Brogue Kick and this one is over. And there is no appearance from Ziggler. So, I really don't know where Sheamus will go from here. My guess would be a feud with Orton, or maybe Wade Barrett. But I know THIS should be the last time Del Rio competes for the World Title, at least for a while.
WWE Championship Match
CM Punk (c) vs John Cena
Before the match, Paul Heyman is in the ring and says he's going to be at ringside to watch this match and introduces CM Punk out and here he comes wearing a hoodie and sporting NY Yankee pinstripe trunks clearly since they're in Boston and all. Cena comes out wearing Pink and Black for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Both men get separate introductions and it seems like for once, Boston is actually cheering Cena.
This match had a big fight feel and it didn't disappoint. Then again, Punk and Cena never disappoint. I know I bash PG WWE A LOT, but one thing I'll say is that Cena and Punk know how to put on a damn good show and making every minute worth it. This was another classic match that saw Cena doing a ring dive, multiple kickouts from finishing moves, escapes from submissions, other nearfalls, and just excitement all around. It was simply amazing.
But here's where I scratch my head. Ok, so at the end, Cena does a German Suplex from the top rope and the ref counts and apparently Cena wins the WWE Title! But wait, once Cena is done celebrating, the ref takes the belt away from Cena and says both his and Punk's shoulders were down on the mat when he counted the fall. Mr. Referee ends this match on a draw. Therefore, Punk keeps the WWE Title. And afterwards, while Cena is complaining about the decision, he turns around and Punk drops him with the belt.
I had to let this sink in for a bit. They really couldn't have Cena lose in his Hometown? Really? I mean it's not like it hasn't happened before. Anyway, they didn't want Cena to lose in Boston, and they didn't want Punk to lose the title, so this draw scenario is actually kind of interesting. Not only does it leave the people of Boston extremely upset which gives Punk more heat, but it shows how even they are. They did everything to each other and nobody walked out with a clean win on one another. I just feel like they could've executed it better. I mean when they showed the replay, Cena's shoulders were barely on the mat. I commend the move, but it just seemed off.
We're going to see Punk/Cena again at Hell in a Cell, and do you have Punk win there? There have been talks of Punk holding onto the title up until The Royal Rumble, but this scenario seems too familiar. Cena doesn't win the first match, but almost always wins the rematch. There is a method to all this madness.
Overall, this show was pretty damn entertaining. Way better than Summerslam that's for damn sure.
As much as I hate to say it, Cena/Punk surpassed Orton/Ziggler for Match of the Night, and we crowned two new Champions. All this adds up to a must see RAW tomorrow night. Good show, great wrestling, but a sloppy ending. I'll give a 7/10. WWE still has a lot to do in the world of building up every match like they used to do before the PG Era started.
Feel free to Comment.
By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete
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