Last
night's PPV felt like the unofficial beginning of WWE's Summer in
many ways. While the road to SummerSlam is still very far away,
enough happened last night for us to look into the distance and see
just a little bit of what WWE might have in store for us.
Seeds
were planted for a possible heel turn for either Bryan or Orton (or
both), as well as a possible face turn for the returning CM Punk.
Meanwhile a straight switch occurred when Del Rio took on Dolph
Ziggler in the World Heavyweight championship bout. Returns were
announced, champions were crowned, and for the first time in a long
while WWE seem to have some kind of grasp as to what they want to do
this Summer, and not just for a select few people.
We
weren't given too much in regards to upcoming matches, but were at
least shown the groundwork for where some wrestlers might be heading
into SummerSlam.
Intercontinental
Championship
Wade
Barrett vs. Curtis Axel vs. The Miz
A
bittersweet ending for Curtis Axel as he was crowned Intercontinental
champion on Father's Day, but that wasn't the only good thing about
this opening match.
All
three men put in a good effort here and put on an exciting Triple
Threat match which saw fast paced action, some near falls and a very
smart ending as well. It was in no way perfect, and to be honest I'm
still not convinced by Miz and Barrett, but there was a lot of
surprisingly good stuff in this match.
The
Intercontinental title may not garner any more prestige now that it's
on the third generation superstar, but I still feel it was a smart
decision putting it one someone who is at least relevant on the
roster. 3/5
Divas
Championship
Kaityln
vs. AJ Lee
While
the night hosted a lot of surprises concerning turns and
match-quality, I think this match was the most surprising of all.
Like pretty much every Divas match I've watched, I had no
expectations going into this match, but it ended up being one of the
best Divas bouts I've seen in years.
What
made this a cut above the rest was the story involved in it. Seeing
AJ get in the head of former best friend Kaitlyn was actually very
good to watch, and actually served up a solid ending as well.
The
time given to both women also helped them a lot, as it enabled them
to slow the match down a bit and execute some decent moves
throughout. I wouldn't be surprised if this match became a hidden gem
in years to come. 3/5
United
States Championship
Dean
Ambrose vs. Kane
You
know a match isn't very good when, bar the very end, you can't
remember anything that happened. This was the case for this match
because 10 minutes nothing really happened.
It
was match where it seemed to end before it got started. The first
real thing to happen in this match was when Ambrose slapped Kane
across the face outside the, luring him in so he could eventually get
counted out. That was pretty much it though. Before that I honestly can't
remember what happened. 1.5/5
World
Heavyweight Championship
Dolph
Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio
Double turns can be extremely hard to
do in wrestling. Giving the crowd a reason to suddenly boo one guy
and then cheer the other by doing nothing but wrestling is something
that some have been able to do, and some unable. Bret Hart and Stone
Cold were able to do it at WrestleMania 13 perfectly, while the
Briscoe Brother's and Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team failed miserably
at Ring of Honor's Final Battle 2011.
Last night Ziggler and Del Rio were
successfully able to do that. Del Rio relentlessly focusing on the
head of Ziggler showed ruthlessness, aggression and desperation.
Ziggler selling the injury and being unable to fully get into the
match showed concern and sympathy. It was a match entirely focused on
the state of Ziggler and his head, and I felt they handled it
perfectly.
It's something that more than likely
wouldn't have happened if Ziggler hadn't actually suffered a
concussion weeks prior, but it was something that happened, and WWE
found last night a good opportunity to mix things up.
The ending was certainly a surprise,
and I know a lot of people weren't happy with it, but I think it
opens an avenue for Ziggler to come back as the fighting babyface
that everyone will get behind and eventually reclaim his World title
at the biggest show of the Summer. 3.5/5
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
While this match didn't serve up and
surprises or turns, we were at least treated to a very good
wrestling match, and that's more than good enough for me.
Just like their previous encounters
this year, both men's chemistry shone through. The pace of the match
was very good, the reversals and sequences came off smoothly, and
there were some good near falls near the end as well.
The crowd were also a good indicator
of where Punk's character might go from here. It's been rumoured for
a good while now, so wouldn't have come as a surprise to see Punk
embrace the cheers he was receiving, but last night showed the
babyface side of Punk very well, and I'm sure that's what WWE wanted.
The match itself did have some weak
points, and Punk seemed a big more gassed than he probably should
have been, but this was still a really good effort from both men.
Match of the night for me. 3.5/5
Tag Team Championship
Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns vs.
Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton
A really fun match here which really
didn't let the crowd to take a breather after the previous bout.
All four men played the hot-tag
situation very well, and the final few minutes of the match served up
some really good action as all four men delivered some cool spots.
The inexperience of Bryan and Orton as a team was always going to
show here, and in the end we saw both men serve distractions for each
other.
In the end it was a good case of the
tension between Bryan and Orton continuing to show, while The Shield
still looking strong in victory. Good stuff all round. 3/5
WWE Championship
John Cena vs. Ryback
My stream actually crashed last night before the main event so I had to leave this match until the morning after, but even
being able to watch this match more recharged wasn't able to get me any
more excited for this mess.
The first fall was tame enough, as
you'd expect. Both men took turns throwing each other out of the
ring, before delivering the big spot of the fall which saw Cena jump
off the top rope and onto the Lumberjacks. Having around 30 people
fall over because of one guy dropping on them is bad enough, but when
you hear Michael Cole call it “incredible” you can't help but
feel annoyed that they consider that to be a good moment.
The second fall was even worse, as
Ryback tried lifting Cena up to put him through a table, only to have
Cena do the exact same thing every time and roll off. The third
attempt left Ryback being put through a table instead, making it 1
fall each.
Not only was the ending to that fall
bad, but things got even worse when Ryback got straight back up after
being AA'd through a table, and proceeded to slam Cena through an
announce table... even though he was incapable of doing that a few
minutes earlier.
Ryback continued to take control of
the match as both men made their way to the ambulance, which I might
add, was probably the weakest ambulance ever assembled. The tore of
pieces of the vehicle , slammed each other through various parts,
before Cena AA'd Ryback through the roof of the ambulance. The ending
itself wasn't too bad, it was just everything beforehand that made
the entire fall look laughably bad.
In my head I had this match at a 2/5,
but after going through it bit by bit I realise that there's just so
match I didn't like about this match. They've had better bouts, and
both guys are capable of more, but it was the direction of this
stipulation (among other things) which proved to be the major
weakness in this match. 1.5/5
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