1. I can say with total honesty that it never even entered my mind that the man to get Daniel Bryan over as a massive star would be Randy Orton. The man for so long to be rumored to have the “Triple H-syndrome” of wanting to protect his spot is putting over the small “internet darling” into a main event spot.
2. There were more mentions promoting a SmackDown match during that Sheamus/Christian vs Rhodes Scholars match than I think there’s been in the entire month of June.
3. It only took a couple of months off, playoff muttonchops, the trashing of the head shears and an affinity for “Beats by Dre” headphones for us to finally get the anti-authority CM Punk back on WWE TV. Hey, whatever it takes, it’s about damn time!
4. So are AJ Lee & Dolph Ziggler still together or is AJ strictly with Big E Langston? Because there was absolutely nothing babyface about the AJ/Kaitlyn/Big E segment and yet even the WWE is promoting Ziggler as a babyface against the notorious/heinous Alberto Del Rio. A split needs to happen between AJ & Ziggler quick.
5. I’m actually pretty surprised that Chris Jericho & Alberto Del Rio haven’t met in the ring before. With both of their extensive backgrounds in Mexico as well as wrestling the WWE’s main event-style, you would think their chemistry would blend beautifully in the ring. That was a great match tonight & one that probably would have headlined many PPVs a few years earlier when Jericho was in his prime & full-time.
6. Ziggler’s definitely getting the massive babyface pops, despite even attacking Jericho. It’s absolutely time to pull the trigger with him and I’m glad they’d held off so long with him. They were obviously right because he seems poised to be a huge star for a longtime.
7. The cover reveal of WWE 2K14 would have been more effective if the superstar on the cover was still on the roster. Hell, The Rock might never even wrestle again. At least he kind of has already suffered the “Madden Curse”.
8. It might not seem like a lot but having a triple threat tag match for just the #1 contendership spot is a good step in the right direction for the tag division. Don’t get me wrong, the tag team division is still a joke (hell, two of the three teams in the match are comedy teams) but at least they’re doing something besides just putting the belts on two singles wrestlers that have nothing else to do.
9. “I don’t care if he’s bigger than me. I don’t care if he’s stronger than me. Because he is not BETTER than me.” – CM Punk. In that one moment, CM Punk summed up the backwards booking that has plagued the WWE for years and they are JUST NOW starting to see the light. Guys like CM Punk & Daniel Bryan don’t need to be 6’4″ and 290 lbs because they have TALENT. And I don’t know if it’s just because he’s that good or because he’s that aware of how Kevin Dunn works & how much HD cameras can pick up but I think CM Punk might be the best at using subtle facial expressions and movements to convey a story in history. Like I said, a lot of that has to do with the extra benefit of HD cameras but damn does he know how to make them work for his character.
9a. CM Punk vs Darren Young? What the bloody hell is going on?! Not only is it Punk vs Young but Darren Young is getting a tremendous amount of offense! I’m all for putting over young talent but I never really considered putting the word “talent” in the same sentence as Darren Young. As for the finish, I mentioned it when Curtis Axel re-debuted that CM Punk was one of Hennig’s strongest supporters backstage. That being said, I’ve also heard that Heyman’s been lobbying for weeks to keep Axel away from any sort of CM Punk/Brock Lesnar feud fearing that Axel will just be used as the job fodder for each of them. Looks like Heyman was overruled and we’re going to get another IC Champion who loses every non-title match he has.
10. Before I get into Orton vs Bryan, the WWE Championship Money In The Bank ladder match featuring all former World Champions & all babyfaces to boot? The Money in the Bank PPV is shaping up to be a pretty big show again this year. Now… Did we just see a chairshot to the head?! First the WWE runs a concussion angle with Triple H, then has a legitimate concussion with Dolph Ziggler and they still allow Bryan to take a chair to the skull!??! The amount of selling Randy Orton is doing for Daniel Bryan is fantastic. It’s been a LONG time since we’ve seen Orton show as much vulnerability in a match as he has in his matches with Bryan. And then Daniel Bryan gets a clean, submission victory over Randy Orton on WWE’s flagship show. Honestly, in today’s WWE, this one-on-one victory could only be secondary to a clean win over CM Punk or John Cena on Raw (of course I would include The Undertaker but I’m just considering full-time guys). Tonight seemed like Bryan’s stamp of approval and I think it would be shocking if he DIDN’T win the Money In The Bank match in July.
