David Otunga was named the fifth member of Team Ziggler. Ziggler’s fellow heels did not like the pick.
3MB beat Team CoBro after McIntyre caught Ryder with his cast, allowing Mahal to pick up the win.
Brodus Clay, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio vs Tensai, Primo and Epico, Prime Time Players
A bonus match to start the show. Is seeing Tensai a bonus? Epico and Tyson Kidd started. They exchanged some offense until Epico pulled Kidd down onto the apron. Kidd was able to escape and tag in Gabriel. Gabriel tagged in Rey, but Epico caught him with a kick and tagged in Young. Rey tagged in Sin Cara, who hit his normal offense on Primo. Primo took out Sin Cara with a leg sweep and tagged in Tensai. He hit some bodyslams then tossed Cara into the corner where he tagged in O’Neil. The heels took turns working over Sin Cara. Tensai took out the faces until CLay punched Tensai and Cara tagged him in. All of the faces hit dives to the outside on the heels, leaving Tensai and Clay. Tensai took out Clay and hit his back dive, eliminating Clay. Gabriel moved out of the way of Tensai’s back dive and Gabriel rolled him up for a three count. The heels took turns working over Kidd this time. O’Neil missed a charge at Kidd and crotched himself. Kidd caught O’Neil with a kick and rolled him up for a three count. Kidd then caught Epico in a sharpshooter, eliminating him. Primo went to the top, but Kidd caught him mid air with a dropkick. Kidd tagged in Rey. Rey hit a seated senton from the top. Primo ducked a 619, but Rey rolled him up for a three count. Rey then hit a 619, then all the faces got some offense in on Young and picked up the win.
WINNERS: Clay, Gabriel, Kidd, Rey and Sin Cara
Match Analysis: **3/4: Decent opener. Weird to see the big guys eliminated first. Good solid action throughout. Faces win to get the crowd into it early.
A blond woman tried attacking Kaitlyn before her match. Kaitlyn got the upper hand and revealed it to be Aksana. Eve asked if she was okay.
Divas Championship: Eve (c) vs Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn dominated Eve early until Eve caught her with a kick to the gut. Eve slapped Kaitlyn across the face then applied a head scissors. Eve went to the top but Kaitlyn knocked her off then slapped her across the face. Kaitlyn dropped Eve with a knee to the gut but Eve kicked out. Eve escaped outside the ring and pulled the ring apron out, causing Kaitlyn to slip. Eve hit her neckbreaker for the win.
WINNER: Eve
Backstage, Team Foley tried getting hyped up for their match. Foley wanted to do a “Bang, Bang” on three. Orton told Foley he hated him for it.
United States Championship: Antonio Cesaro (c) vs R-Truth
After a couple of quick roll-ups Truth hit some punches in the corner until the ref broke it up. Cesaro connected with a headbutt and applied an armbar. Cesaro hit a bodyslam and stomp then went back to a ground submission. Truth fought out with some elbows but Cesaro caught him with a knee. Cesaro hit an upper cut and went back to a submission, but Truth fought out and got some offense in. Truth hit his bodyslam neckbreaker for two. Cesaro caught Truth with his upper cut then hit the Neutralizer for the win.
WINNER: Antonio Cesaro
Match Analysis: *3/4: Too short to amount to anything. Cesaro had a submission hold applied for about half the match. You knew Truth wasn’t winning going in and the WWE did nothing to make you think he was during the match.
A.J. came out. She said the only reason she thought Vickie was after her is because she was a vindictive witch. Or a word that rhymes with witch. A.J. said Vickie accused her because she has something of her own to cover up. Vickie asked AJ what she was thinking. A.J. then showed terrible photoshops of Vickie with Ricardo, Jim Ross and Brodus Clay. Vickie said this was ridiculous. A.J. said if Vickie were to hit her, she gets fired. Suddenly, Tamina came out and attacked A.J. That was bad.
Josh Matthews interviewed Paul Heyman. He asked what was left in Punk’s bag of tricks to keep his WWE Title. Heyman said that is just an example of the dis-respect Punk has been getting. He ran down Punk’s challengers and called Punk the Best in the World.
World Heavyweight Championship: Big Show (c) vs Sheamus
Show grabbed control early and hit his slaps. Show went off the ropes but Sheamus took him out with a shoulder to the leg. He knocked Show into the ropes where he got caught and Sheamus landed some punches. Show went to the outside but Sheamus hit him with a shoulder tackle off the apron. Back in the ring, Sheamus went to the top but Show hit a Spear on Sheamus. They went back outside where Show tossed Sheamus into the steps. Show started to slowly work over Sheamus. Sheamus was in the ropes but Sheamus dropped Show’s head on the ropes and hit a diving shoulder tackle. But Show came right back with a boot. Show went back to his slow methodical offensive attack on Sheamus. Sheamus applied a sleeper hold but Show tossed him off. Sheamus charged at Show but he moved and Sheamus went right into the ring post. Show went for the Vader Bomb, but Sheamus hit an electric chair for two. Impressive by Sheamus. The two exchanged punches but Sheamus gained control and he took down Show. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick but Show blocked it. Sheamus countered a chokeslam attempt into White Noise for two. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick but Show pulled the ref into the way and he took the brunt of it. As refs and Sheamus checked on the down ref. Big Show hit a KO Punch and picked up the win.
After the match, one ref reversed the decision of the other ref and said Show was disqualified. Show belittled the ref until Sheamus started attacking Big Show with a chair. Show begged Sheamus to stop. Sheamus threw the chair down but hit a Brogue Kick instead.
WINNER: Sheamus via DQ
Match Analysis: **1/2: I had a feeling going in that this match would have a fishy ending, and of course it did. But why didn’t the second ref immediately DQ Show when he came down. Show won fairly if you go by that logic. Did the ref just change his mind? Not on par with what they did last month. Looks like we are getting a Chairs match at TLC next month. Poorly booked match.
Team Foley vs Team Ziggler
Kofi and Otunga started. Otunga ducked a Trouble in Paradise but hit a dive to the outside instead. Bryan and Sandow came in and Sandow hit the Elbow of Disdain. Bryan hit a dropkick in the corner and then a handful of kicks. Sandow tried leaving but Kane brought him back. Kane hit a chokeslam in the ring and pinned Sandow, eliminating him. Kane and Bryan argued and Kane shoved Bryan to the outside. Ziggler snuck in and hit a ZigZag on Kane, eliminating him. Bryan and Barrett went at it. Barrett ducked a Bryan dropkick in the corner and worked over Bryan. Otunga came in and took his time with Bryan, allowing Bryan to apply the No Lock. Otunga tapped. Kofi an Del Rio came in. Kofi hit a high crossbody for two. Barrett came in and hit a tilt-a-whirl slam. Barrett hit the Bull Hammer on Kofi, eliminating him.
Orton worked over Barrett. Orton went for a tag but Miz refused to tag in, so Bryan did. Barrett escaped Bryan and tagged in Del Rio. Del Rio escaped the No Lock and applied the cross armbreaker. Bryan tapped. The heels took turns working over Orton. Orton made the hot tag to Miz who took out all the heels. Barrett caught Miz and went for Wasteland, but Miz countered into a Skull Crushing Finale, eliminating Barrett. Miz charged at Del Rio in the corner but missed. Del Rio took out Miz with a kick to the head and eliminated him. Del Rio went to the top but Orton took him out with a dropkick. Orton hit his usual offense but Ricardo distracted him, allowing Del Rio to get a two count. Foley pulled Ricardo off the apron and used Mr. Socko. Orton went for the RKO, but moved out of the way and Ziggler accidentally drop kicked Del Rio. Orton threw Ziggler into the ring post. Del Rio hit a kick and went for the cross armbreaker but Orton countered into an RKO and eliminated Del Rio. Orton went for the RKO but hung on to the ropes and then hit a ZigZag for two. Orton came back and hit the middle rope DDT. Orton hesitated and went for the punt, but Ziggler caught him with a superkick for the win.
WINNER: Team Ziggler- Dolph Sole Survivor
Match Analysis: **1/2: Match really didn’t pick up until the final few minutes. The right man went over though. I don’t get the point of turning Miz face and then having him not put on a better performance. If the match had more of a backstory to it, it might have been better. But the lack of that took away from the match for me. Would have liked to see Barrett last longer than Del Rio.
WWE Championship: C.M. Punk (c) vs John Cena vs Ryback
The faces each chased Punk around the ring and then took turns beating on him. Cena hit a running bulldog on Punk then Ryback clotheslined him over the ropes. Cena and Ryback were left in the ring. The crowd probably didn’t react the way Vince wanted them too. Ryback gained the upper hand with some kicks in the corner. Punk came back in but ate a Ryback powerslam. Cena hit a belly to belly on Ryback. Cena applied a headlock but Punk came off the top with an axe handle. Punk went to the top again but Ryback caught him and took him into the corner. Punk came back with a kick. Cena snuck in a roll up for two. Punk applied a submission but Ryback picked him up and hit a running power slam. Cena hit a side slam on Ryback but Ryback popped right back up. Punk grabbed Cena and dragged him to the outside and threw him into the steps.
Punk hit a springboard clothesline on Ryback and applied a headlock. Ryback fought out and hit his clothesline. Ryback went for Shell Shocked but Cena grabbed him and applied the STF. Punk went to the top rope and delivered an elbow, breaking up the hold. Punk went for a GTS but Cena countered. The two exchanged punches before Ryback took them out with a clothesline. He tossed both men to the outside. Cena and Punk started beating on Ryback then suplexed him through the Spanish announce table. Back in the ring, Cena went into CENA MODE. Punk popped right back up and hit the GTS for two. Cena came back with an AA for two. Punk hit some kicks. Cena went for the STF. Punk hit a high knee but Cena countered the bulldog and applied the STF.
Ryback came back in and hit a clothesline on both men. Ryback connected on Shell Shocked on Punk but Cena broke up the pin. Ryback then hit Shell Shocked on Cena, but three men dressed in security attacked Ryback. It was Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrosse from NXT. They beat down Ryback and put him through the announce table. This allowed Punk to crawl in and pin Cena for the win.
WINNER: C.M. Punk
Match Analysis: ***: Just an okay match. Not the greatest of triple threats. You knew at some point Cena and Punk would take out Ryback. Both table spots were good. I’m assuming the NXT guys story will be similar to what went on with Brad Maddox. They’re frustrated Ryback gets the glory while they don’t. The match had its typical big spots with each man hitting their respective finisher. Punk’s reign officially becomes a year long.
OVERALL
Not a big fan of this PPV. The opener was good with some quality action. I wasn’t a fan of the Cesaro match. While I like the character and wrestler Cesaro, the match was just too slow moving for my liking. The A.J./Vickie stuff was completely time wasting and was just their to kill time. Show/Sheamus did not meet last month’s match, and the finish was stupid. They could have booked a DQ finish a dozen different ways. Team Foley/Team Ziggler would have been better had there been some backstory between Team Captains. The action didn’t pick up until the final five minutes. But the right man went over. The triple threat was average at best. I get the need to “protect” Ryback, but it was evident during the match that the fans don’t care about him. I’m giving the show a 3.
I’m back for RAW tomorrow night.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
