1. Well I guess Wade Barrett looks A LITTLE bit older than he did Friday since he had a chance to grow out a 5 o’clock shadow, even though it took a week. Big announcement of Brad Maddox as the special referee for Daniel Bryan’s match but yet no mention of the fact that Maddox debuted on the main roster as a crooked referee? I know it might have been a giveaway to the finish but I really hate it when the WWE just completely ignores history, especially recent history.
2. A good match between Money In The Bank holders but nothing too special. I’ve said it in the past that I hated the storyline of Cody Rhodes stealing Sandow’s briefcase because it didn’t make any sense!!! There’s no one that would believe that by stealing the briefcase that Sandow would lose his World Championship contract. Although the story sucked, it lead to the particularly awesome new leather Sandow-esque briefcase.
3. Love the fact that there’s a battle royal tonight (I’m a sucker for them). Hate the fact that a member of The Shield is regulated to the kickoff show again & the Tag Team Champions aren’t even on the show!
4. I sure hope this addition of Triple H to the WWE Championship main event at SummerSlam isn’t the set up for an alignment between Vince McMahon & HHH. Why ruin what should be a very good match into a farce?
5. JoJo has just vanished every since that MizTV segment a few weeks ago. Has she been quietly released but it hasn’t been announced because of Total Divas?
6. I’ve now seen 3 Kofi Kingston matches in one week and the only thing that was different was his pants.
7. The “Swiss Superman” is now wearing a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag as a cape. Fantastic. Another good match between The Usos and The Real Americans. The WWE actually does have a lot of talent in the tag team division if it was utilized properly. That last part is key though.
8. That was easily the best promo of Daniel Bryan’s WWE career and one of the best of John Cena’s. Sure it said a ton of the typical things that Cena says when he enters his “serious” mode but it was the way it was delivered & who he delivered it to. The entire segment was pretty damn good overall – from the intensity, the respect/”wrestler vs entertainer” talk, Bryan bringing up his history in Japan and Cena taking the first shot with the slap. The addition of the Randy Orton tease was just the icing on the cake. In my opinion, that segment sold a good amount of pay-per-views to a lot of people who were either on the fringe of buying it or if the event didn’t seem important enough. Oh & I’m surprised (and thrilled) that the WWE showed restraint by not trying to incorporate Total Divas into this feud. It would have been a very easy way to go but would have taken away a lot of the intensity Bryan & Cena have been able to generate.
9. Hmm, who is the only man in this battle royal that has been feuding The Shield for the last month? I wonder how many battle royals Mark Henry has won in his career. Oh and I wrote the previous two sentences before the introductions… And I was wrong! Rob Van Dam versus Dean Ambrose could be interesting considering their contrasting styles. The only thing I worry about is that they’ll hot-shot the belt onto the returning RVD instead of keeping on one of the guys that is the future of the company. I’m curious to see if they book a Shield vs Mark Henry/Big Show match for the Tag Team Championships now. I think Henry may be the one “big man” The Big Show HASN’T won the tag titles with.
10. I will admit, I’m a little surprised that this segment is going on last. WE all know that this match should be considered a main event but I wasn’t really certain that the WWE felt the same way. They’ve built this match fantastically though & it was a challenge with the men involved. I’m not talking about the minds of Paul Heyman and CM Punk – their track records speak for themselves. I talking about the sheer visual of CM Punk standing up to Brock Lesnar. 5-10 years ago, a match like this would be laughable. CM Punk would be billed as the complete underdog with absolutely no chance in hell in pulling off a victory. Instead we’ve getting the overconfident beast facing a very confident technician. It’s similar to when Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels were facing the likes of Diesel, Yokozuna, Vader or Sycho Sid but on a different level. This isn’t the cartoon world of the WWF anymore and CM Punk isn’t the hero the kids are looking at to slay the evil monster. No, Brock Lesnar is a legitimate athlete that has held grappling titles around the world & CM Punk is the brash kid who is going to spit in the face of any one who dares to say shit about it. It’s a tough match to sell because all logical indications should be that while Punk might start off the match strong, Lesnar will eventually get his hands on him and all but kill him before the match is over. But they were able to make us believe. Make us believe that CM Punk not only has a chance but that he can take down the beast & beat him straight up in the ring. I applaud them for being able to pull that off & am curious to see how it is executed this Sunday.
