Here are 10 thoughts on this show I want to share.
1. Punk and Orton were both better than average on the mic during the opening segment. I was really marking out for Punk when he started taking personal shots at Orton. Really, he could have kept that up the whole two hours. I want to see that match now, so hopefully they’ll remember the set up in three months.
2. Even if Stevie did the whole mimickry thing (mimic gimmick?) first and better, I really like that Haas has revived it. Bonus points for the crowd actually cheering for Cena and then turning on Haas once they got the joke. I mean, it’s sad that Haas is reduced to this when he’s a solid hand in the ring, but, well, at least he’s working and providing for Jackie and all.
3. The ECW battle royal was short and inoffensive. I’ll take its slot to say that I think Mark Henry’s doing a great job as ECW Champion. No, seriously. Sure, he’s not great in the ring, but he’s stepped up his game a lot, and certainly is good enough to hold the World Title with Training Wheels that the EC-Dub strap is now. So, good on him. Having torn sleeved Tony Atlas at ringside also helps, I have to say.
4. CANDICE IS BACK! Second of three mark out moments on this show. Was a little less excited when she actually got in the match, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that her sloppiness as just ring rust (she’s functionally been out since November) and not total backsliding to Ashley Massaro levels of crappiness in the ring, because she and Beth have a money revenge feud. I also think she could be a great heel, if need be; she could be like girl Rick Rude. Really, I just want her to gyrate.
5. Jamie Noble wins a match! And gets the girl, I think? Well, he did better on both accounts than usual. On the match front, his bout with Regal is fine, but if ever there was a match that I wish would be farmed out to ROH, it’s this one. Give these guys 30 minutes to stiff each other in a high school gym or something and you could have an easy MOTYC for the ROH-bots and something I’d wanna see to boot. Really, Regal in ROH would be a match made in heaven.
6. The Honk-A-Meter? Santino just finds new ways to endear himself to the internet (and me by extension), don’t he? Glad to see D’Lo appearing regularly, too, even as a JTTS.
7. So, it really looks like they’re prepping Orton and Priceless to be Evolution 2.0 just like the internet has been expecting since July. It was kind of cool to see the schmozz in place of match when Priceless got their belts back. Reminds me of the good old days of the Attitude Era. In moderation, that’s fun; if they did it every week, it would get old again real fast.
8. Rey’s comeback was a surprise. I thought they’d drag it out until the PPV. I guess they had to assure people he’d be there, especially with Cena out of the picture. Good to see him back and not hobbled, although I’m a bit biased. You’ll see why when the Top 100 Wrestlers feature comes back.
9. RINGPOST 619! Yes, that deserved its own thought, especially since I haven’t seen Rey do it since the glory days of the Smackdown Six.
10. Man, Jericho and Michaels’s blood feud makes even the hoariest of wrestling cliches, the contract signing, gripping. The only thing that harshed my boner for fun was Cade running in, solely because it reminded me that that’s Shawn’s next feud. Because really, I could watch Shawn vs. Jericho for months more after this. They’ve got to keep this going at least until Cyber Sunday so they can do a pick a gimmick match for them.
Also, stray last, numberless thought; how awesome is it that this awesome feud between Shawn and Jericho is part of a larger feud that started with Shawn and Flair (which Jericho slyly alluded to)? If you count the real beginning, Flair’s retirement angle, this has been going since December of last year, and should keep up through the end of the year if Shawn does start with Cade. To quote our greatest living actor; whoa.
Pretty damn good show overall, I’d say. Orton was cooler in one night than he was during his whole WWE Title reign last year, so let’s see if they do anything with that or if he just disappears for months. Makes me look forward to doing my Unsolicited Review on Monday (cheap plugs rule!).
