I pride myself in knowing that THE RAGER is one of the most consistent columns here on Pulse Wrestling in the sense that you’re going to get one every week but everybody needs a break every now and then. Last week, I took a break for the holidays and I appreciate all of you affording me that luxury. But break time is over because it’s the start of the new year and we will celebrate by looking back through the pay per views of 2013.
Royal Rumble
It’s easy to hate on this pay per view just on sheer predictability added to exactly how CM Punk’s historic title reign came to an end. Of course the highlight was the Rumble match itself in spite of the lame outing by the final 2 participants, John Cena and Ryback. However, lame ending aside, the match started with a huge bang with the surprise return of Chris Jericho and leading into Jericho facing off with Dolph Ziggler for the opening portion of the match. Another great moment was Goldust’s entry into the match, the look on Cody’s face alone was a great moment. I strongly believe that the crowd’s reaction ontop of Goldust proving he can still do great work in the ring all led to WWE bringing him back to the roster later in the year.
Still, the championship match being restarted and Rock ultimately winning with an elbow is more than enough to leave a sour taste in the collective mouths of wrestling fans.
Rager Grade: C- (would’ve been much lower if it weren’t for the Rumble match)
Elimination Chamber
The sole chamber match was solid thanks to the likes of Chris Jericho and Ziggler and even Swagger looked decent as the winner and led some to a false hope that maybe he can salvage his career. We later learned that clearly wasn’t the case and Swagger is just as terrible as ever. I still would’ve liked Jericho to win and Ziggler to have cashed in on Del Rio to lead to Jericho vs Ziggler at Wrestlemania but that’s me. Also working in favor of this PPV is the fact that we finally got to see Shield in an actual tag team match and not only were they impressive, but they actually cleanly beat the team of John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus.
Rock vs Punk II was an improvement but still suffered from the bad taste that lingered from Rumble as well as Rock getting blown up pretty early in the match. Still would’ve liked to have the match inside the Elimination Chamber cage. It would’ve been different and would give the match a different and possibly bigger feel.
Rager Grade: C
Wrestlemania 29
What was good about it:
The show started off strong with Shield beating Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show.
The crowd during Team Friendship vs Team Ziggler as well as the “we want Ziggler” chants during the WHC match.
Finally, the biggest and brightest part of the night was all things CM Punk vs Undertaker. The story was great, the entrances were epic and the match was just great from start to finish.
What was terrible about it:
The overall show felt a tad unorganized and rushed, especially considering the final match just happened without any special entrance or package (although packages were shown throughout the night).
Chris Jericho vs Fandango was just disappointing for all parties involved. Ryback vs Mark Henry was basically a slap fight with their torsos. HHH/Lesnar II was slow and almost as unwatchable as the first match.
Twice in a Lifetime simply took place at the wrong time because the proverbial torch-passing really should’ve happened at 28 but wasn’t because I’m assuming WWE was spooked about Rock’s hometown. But then again, New Jersey didn’t quite seem like the right crowd for the torch-passing either as we all heard at the end of the match. This Wrestlemania wasn’t quite as terrible as 27 but that’s not necessarily high praise.
Rager Grade: D (as great as Punk/Taker was, a bad Wrestlemania stings worse than the usual PPV)
Extreme Rules
What was good about it:
Dean Ambrose won the US Championship away from permanent US Championship resident, Kofi Kingston.
What I was conflicted about:
On one hand, I was so glad for Shield to win the Tag belts but I was sad for Team Friendship to lose and would spell the beginning of the end for them.
What was terrible about it:
There was a strap match…need I say more?
There was no Dolph Ziggler and no CM Punk involved in this PPV.
All things related to Randy Orton vs Big Show in an extreme rules match.
There was a John Cena/Ryback match so that alone is terrible news for the audience on top of the Last Man Standing match ending in a draw. The lone entertaining point in this match was when John Cena was aiming the fire extinguisher as if he was hunting wabbits.
Rager Grade: D-
Payback
What was good:
Curtis Axel winning the IC belt while Miz was trying the Figure-4 on Wade Barrett was interesting. Wasn’t great, just decent.
AJ vs Kaitlyn was a pretty good Divas match with a rare moment where there was an actual Divas storyline. Could’ve done without the extended cry segment afterwards because nobody wants to sit and watch somebody cry. It’s uncomfortable for all parties.
I know it’s been said a lot throughout the year by many people about just how great Del Rio vs Ziggler was. Sure we were all bummed to see Ziggler lose the WHC but the story that was told was expertly done by both men.
There was a Punk/Jericho Match. Sure it wasn’t the best match those two have ever had but it was special given the location and we hadn’t seen Punk in a few months.
What was terrible:
3 Stages of Hell Match between Cena vs Ryback. You know what nobody wants? A match between Cena and Ryback. You know what people wanna see even less than that? A 2 out of 3 falls between Cena and Ryback. The only redeeming quality was during the Lumberjack match where Sin Cara waiting a good 3-4 seconds before finally falling over like the rest of the wrestlers did.
Rager Grade: B+
Money in the Bank
What was good:
Both MitB matches. Those matches are kinda hard to screw up. The first was a great vehicle for Cody that didn’t necessarily go anywhere after Summerslam. The second was just impressive by all members involved. It set up the Punk/Heyman feud and we saw the return of a energized RVD.
The deserving crowd reaction to Mark Henry based off of his promo performances a few weeks prior.
What was terrible:
The match itself during Cena and Henry. I mean, it wasn’t worse than we were expecting because I believe we were all expecting a bad match, the problem is that there was nothing done to dampen those bad expectations.
Summerslam
What was good:
This PPV featured the two best matches of the year. Everything about Brock and Punk was so crisp and purposeful that I, as a Punk fan, wasn’t even upset that Punk ended up losing. It was the perfect balance of physical superiority and intriguing storytelling.
The same can be said about Bryan vs Cena but is second on MotY by a very small margin. I believe the post-match hijinks is what makes this match fall a little. But still, it was astonishing to watch Daniel Bryan use a finisher that he’s never used before to put Cena away cleanly. Regardless of what happened afterward, that single moment was magical.
Damien Sandow vs Cody Rhodes. If those two had more matches like this, they’d had a lot more people pulling for them.
What was bad:
Ring of Fire. It should’ve been a bigger deal with Bray’s first match. However, it was slowly paced and all work with the turnbuckle and ropes was done gingerly due to the fire. Would’ve also been more impressive if Bray just took care of Kane by himself. I appreciate the effort but leave the flames for inferno matches.
Randy cashing in. Yeah, it makes sense with the storyline and everything…but c’mon.
Rager Grade: A
Night of Champions
I can’t remember exactly how I felt about NoC after watching it for the first time. However, now that I look back at it, I honestly can’t think of a single good thing to say about it. Something was weird about the Fatal 4-Way for the Divas Championship. Ryback inserted himself into the Punk/Heyman feud and that’s something nobody really wants to see. I know at the time, I was okay with Ryback in the story because he was suppose to be a poor man’s Brock Lesnar and would take him away from the weird food fetish pre-tapes. However, now that I know the full story, I can go ahead and label Ryback’s insertion as a misstep. I mean, I guess we got a Dolph/Ambrose match out of it and the WHC match between Del Rio and RVD was solid. And then, at the end of the day, Bryan did technically got the win but we all knew something was gonna happen to ruin it the next day (and we were right).
Rager Grade: F (By and large, a PPV is going to be doomed if it begins with a talking segment)
Battleground
What was good:
Del Rio vs RVD. Really good match that was a lot of fun to watch. However, compared to some of the matches RVD has had in the past, calling this match an “extreme rules match” is laughable.
CoDust vs Shield. Such a great moment and an even better match. It was in my top 5 for the year because it’s so difficult for so many people to be involved and every single person playing their part perfectly and that’s exactly what happened here.
AJ vs Brie. Another pretty good Divas match. Wasn’t perfect but it exemplified just how far Brie has come as a wrestler.
Bray Wyatt vs Kofi Kingston. The first match we’ve really be able to see Bray Wyatt alone since Summerslam and the second half of that match was incredibly impressive. Bray showed how he’s able to continue to play his character while still being an effect wrestler in the ring at the same time.
What was terrible:
Big Show getting involved at the end of the WWE Championship giving us another month to deal with the reign of the Almighty Vacant. The bell never rang so technically the match is still going on.
Rager Grade: B
Hell in a Cell
What was good:
CoDust defending their titles against Shield and the Usos. This just continued the trend of CoDust turning all things into gold when they’re involved.
Big E Langston vs Dean Ambrose. With Axel out with an injury, Big E got the upgrade from a kickoff match to a US Championship match in the actual show. Aside from heads colliding, Big E was almost flawless in this match. We see why he’s getting a push now.
The end of Punk/Heyman. Unfortunately, Heyman’s epic pre-match promo had to follow technical difficulties with the lift he was in but at least the feud got put to rest. It really was a shame that this feud fizzled like it did but it’s hard to continue without somebody like Brock. There’s not many substitutes in a situation like that.
What was terrible:
John Cena came back way too early and got our hopes up that he’ll stick to the mid-card.
The ending of Hell in a Cell really should have led to another match between Orton and Bryan instead of it being left where it was and had Bryan move on. However, if this does lead to HBK coming out of retirement at any point for a match against Bryan, I will totally reevaluate this match.
Rager Grade: C+
Survivor Series
What was good:
Roman Reigns’ performance in the elimination tag match. One of the most convincing and dominating outings I’ve seen in a while. Expect a huge 2014 for this guy.
Big E taking the IC belt off Curtis Axel. It was beyond time.
Punk and Bryan teaming up against the Wyatts. Sure, it would’ve been better if Bray had been involved but there’s very little to complain about when Punk and Bryan are in the same corner.
What was terrible:
Mark Henry and Ryback, because we really didn’t need a rematch of their torso slapfight from Wrestlemania.
John Cena and Del Rio. It felt like this feud had been going on for a year instead of a couple months.
Big Show being in the main event. Do I even need to explain this?
Rager Grade: C-
TLC
What was good:
Punk finding a way to defeat all 3 members of Shield. It may just be a way to keep Punk occupied but it’s hard to look away when these 4 men are in a match together.
AJ vs Natalya. It felt like such a long time since we’ve seen Natalya in a one-on-one match, let alone for the Divas Championship. I feel like this match is probably as good as it’s gonna get with today’s Divas division.
Once again, CoDust turned a 4-way elimination tag match into some entertaining television.
Wyatt Family vs Daniel Bryan. I really assumed Bryan would’ve come out on top here but he didn’t. However, this was still a fun match to watch, mostly to DB’s credit, of course.
What was terrible:
The 1 billionth Miz and Kofi match. Did we really need a no DQ match with these two?
R-Truth vs Brodus Clay. WWE is challenging themselves to try to build Xavier Woods to the top without putting him in a match.
The title unification match. I still think the final spot of the night was suppose to be something different and it ended the night feeling odd and awkward. Randy ends the year as the WWE World Champion of the World Hyperbole Awesomist and we’re still scratching our heads.
Rager Grade: C-
So it wasn’t exactly a banner year for WWE pay per views but here’s to hoping WWE improves in 2014. At least get Wrestlemania 30 right and I might be a happy camper. I hope this double helping of RAGER makes up for my absence last week.
Finally, I wanted to say thank you on behalf of Joel Leonard and myself for all of you that have listened to Classy Ring Attire at some point over the past 100 episodes. We hope you’ve enjoyed them and can’t wait to share with you what we have in story in the future.
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do twice,
Chris
The Answer: My highlight of the year was the time Nikki and Brie’s twitter handle had a stroke during Money in the Bank.
