CM Punk maintains possession of his sacred WWE Championship. Decent pre-show battle royal that saw Zack Ryder become the number one contender to the United States Championship. I was ecstatic to see Ted DiBiase finally return, but why waste it by having him get eliminated so early? Tensai was made to look strong here and came off as a complete beast before being ultimately eliminated. His tease with Brodus Clay was also a nice foreshadowing of a potential matchup between the two at some point. I would've liked to see Tyson Kidd pick up the victory here, but Ryder was the next best choice, and the crowd seemed to be satisfied with the result as well. Fun Fatal 4 Way with The Miz defeating Cody Rhodes, The Miz and Sin Cara to successfully retain the Intercontinental Championship. Everyone got their spots in and was made to look good. The clashing of Cara and Mysterio was cool, and I hope them to cross paths again at some point in the near future. Sure, Cara botched a few spots here and there, but the overall pace of the contest made up for it. The ending was unique with Miz pinning Rhodes despite being masked. The commentators made it seem as if it was a major happening, so I question whether they'll eventually turn either Rhodes or Miz face. Additionally, Miz picking up the victory in that fashion gives him yet another thing to brag about in coming weeks. Entertaining match with Daniel Bryan and Kane defeating Kofi Kingston and R-Truth to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. The contest itself was well-wrestled, but of course the majority of the focus was on the tension between Bryan and Kane, as it should've been. These guys have been the single most entertaining act in WWE of the entire year, so it's nice to see them rewarded with the tag titles. Since both are former World Champs, maybe they can help bring back legitimacy to the straps. Truth and Kingston were champs for far too long, so the title change was certainly neccessary. The post-match backstage segment also including Dr. Shelby and AJ was also hysterical. Good match between United States Champion Antonio Cesaro and Zack Ryder. The fans were behind Ryder and gave Cesaro some good heat as well. The match was everything it needed to be and got Cesaro over effectively. As much as I'd like to see Ryder as United States Champion again, it's too soon in Cesaro's reign for it to change hands. I'd like to see the feud between them continue, though, as it could be a nice story to tell over the title with Ryder in chase mode.
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World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus battles Daniel Bryan. Decent opening segment featuring Alberto Del Rio and company. He's opened the show countless times in recent weeks saying the same thing, so this felt extremely repetitive. I'm glad Christian appeared in some fashion in his home country of Canada, but his involvement felt strange since he's a face. The save grace of this promo was Daniel Bryan coming out, who has the tendency to make any horrendous segment ten times better just because of how entertaining he's become. Not only that, but it also helped hype the main event and give it significance as well. Nice match between Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Sin Cara. Of course, it had its share of botches, but the action was good for what it was worth. While I was a bit disappointed Miz lost yet another non-title match, it was logical in order to get Cara involved in the Intercontinental Championship match at Night of Champions. Brief match with Kane defeating WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston. The action was fine while it lasted, but it was enough to hype the WWE Tag Team Championship match for Sunday. Obviously, the best part about the entire ordeal was Kane hugging Kingston following the contest, which was almost as hilarious as the anger management segment from earlier in the night. Good match with Randy Orton defeating Tensai. It was certainly better than expected and made both participants look good. Tensai came off as a beast and Orton sold his offense very well. Granted, it was predictable victory for Orton, but still an enjoyable match nonetheless. The post-match angle with Orton preventing Ziggler from attacking him was something out the ordinary and a nice change of pace, while also building their feud going into Night of Champions in the process. WWE Champion CM Punk turns his back on Bret Hart. Great opening promo featuring the returning Bret Hart and WWE Champion CM Punk. This an encounter that I've been anticipating for weeks, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. Punk had some strong mic work here while Hart also played his role well. The "Best in the World" line was great, and the electric Montreal crowd was fun here, especially with their various chants. Decent tag team match with WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth defeating United States Champion Antonio Cesaro and Intercontinental Champion The Miz. It felt random other than the fact it slightly hyped the title theme of Night of Champions on Sunday, but the action was still good. I would've liked to see the heels go over here, but their loss wasn't all that damaging. Horrendous segment featuring David Otunga and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus in a legal setting. They were obviously trying to repeat the same success the anger management skits had, but they failed tremendously. Neither Otunga nor Sheamus are funny, so I'm not exactly sure what demographic they were attempting to appeal to. I appreciate the fact that they were trying to build upon the banning of the Brogue Kick story-line, but this did nothing for this viewer. Throwaway six-Diva tag team match with Eve, Kaitlyn and Divas Champion Layla defeating Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix and Natalya. The action was what you'd expect from the Divas, but nothing too bad. It was done to hype Sunday's Divas title match, but with Eve picking up the pin-fall for her team, don't be surprised to see her added into the match. Solid match with Randy Orton and Jerry Lawler defeating Dolph Ziggler and WWE Champion CM Punk. The singles match between Punk and Orton that preceded the tag bout was also very good, but it would've been nicer to see Punk pick up the victory, especially since he's heading into a major title match on Sunday. The subsequent tag match was logical, but the cut to commercial break seemed strange. As much as I dislike seeing Ziggler consistently taking pins while Mr. Money in the Bank, they made it work by having Paul Heyman come down and collaborate with Punk. Typical match between Ryback and Heath Slater. I'm glad to see them actually building a feud between Zack Ryder and Slater, and incorporating Ryback as well was a nice touch. Needless to say, Ryback scored the victory in the same fashion he always has, so there was nothing new here. Damien Sandow takes control of Randy Orton. Boring opening segment featuring Alberto Del Rio and company. While I have been enjoying Del Rio's recent re-build lately, his promos are still as boring as ever. I tuned out for a majority of what he said, and the same goes for David Otunga. I appreciate the fact they're trying to make this "banning of the Brogue Kick" into a story-line, but we've seen so much of this law involvement in wrestling as of late that it's grown tiresome with this viewer. Nonetheless, props to Ricardo Rodriguez for selling that injury like a beast. Great tag team match with Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara defeating Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Cody Rhodes. Although we saw this same exact matchup a few short weeks on SmackDown, I still throughly enjoyed the action, as the chemistry between all four guys is simply phenomenal. I've been loving this partnership between Mysterio and Cara in recent months and hope to see it lead to an eventual pairing or a run with the tag titles at some point. While I'm not high on the heels losing here, it gives Mysterio a reason to go back after the Intercontinental title at Night of Champions after pinning Miz here. Nice little match between Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder while it lasted. I definitely would've liked to see more from these two, but what we got was fun. Granted, it was more focused on Bryan's character rather than the actual match itself, and it succeeded in that aspect as well. Ryder was made to look like a complete doofus by accepting Bryan's phony hug, but thankfully was able to defeat the former World Heavyweight Champion by technicality since the referee reversed the decision in the end. Solid match between Randy Orton and Damien Sandow. Honestly, I found this contest much more enjoyable than Sandow's match with Sheamus from last week mostly since Sandow didn't run outside the ring as much here, but instead was able to score some offense in on Orton. I knew there was a very slim chance that Sandow would be upsetting the Viper, so I wasn't surprised when he eventually bolted and Orton picked up the count-out victory. It protects Sandow, while also allowing Ziggler and Orton to brawl afterwards. Speaking of Ziggler, he played his role well on commentary and definitely put over his on-going feud with Orton. |
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