Okay, I finally got to see last sunday’s PPV and I though a short review was in order, seeing that my next poll should be wrestling-themed. (Your choice dear readers.)
Technically this PVV was a bit shorter than usual, but as I tend to fast forward through much of the filler, I can assure you that it was mainly just a higher ratio of action compared to backstage stuff.
Fatal 4way - Second new PPV WWE has launched this year.
On to the matches:
First match: Drew McIntyre v. Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship.
I am getting tired of McIntyre, even though he is improving in the ring. The managed to bake in the feud with GM Teddy Long, as he was forced by McIntyre to take over for the ref when ref got knocked midway. Naturally he returned the favour on Drew after the humiliation on last Smackdown. Matt Hardy interfered and Kofi retained the championship. Decent match, but they better start thinking up a better angle to sell McIntyre as a heel. He’s pulling fake heat at the moment. Also noticeably the game with most botches, from Kofi mostly.
Alicia Fox in a match last year v. Mickie James
Second match: Fatal 4way – Maryse v. Gail Kim v. Alicia Fox v. Eve Torres
Decent Diva-match, all four are among the better talents in WWEs female ranks. And with TNA putting every capable Knockout on ice, it seems WWE is cornering the market on high visibility female wrestling. Anyway, the winner was Alicia Fox, which surprised me. But she has been getting a push lately, and have improved in the ring. Still mediocre on the mic though, and she is to skinny to pull of power maneuvers. I doubt she will retain it for a longer period.
Third match: Chris Jericho v. Evan Bourne
More high flying action, Bourne is really getting a push. No surprise that he pulled through, but man it looks painful when he does the shooting star press, also looks like he caught a real hit on the jaw. Jericho is on a loosing streak, and it might be because he is said to be stalling a renewal of his contract. He is said to be looking to do more general work as a TV presenter, being the host of the show «Downfall» on ABC this autumn, and might be heading for retirement as a wrestling pro.
Fourth match: Fatal 4way – Rey Mysterio v. CM Punk v. The Big Show v. Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Great match, with plenty of overturns and good maneuvers, and Big Show was not as overpowering as I had feared, so good work. One nice spot was Swagger doing a belly-to-back suplex on CM Punk while Punk had Mysterio set up for a belly-to-back suplex, in effect throwing both. Then Kane showed up and tried to force Punk into a coffin. The Straight Edge Saviour was saved by his trusty disciples. But whether the SES is really responsible for the attack on Undertaker is yet to be confirmed. Mysterio then hit Swagger with a 619 and that was all she wrote. I can see why they want the belt on the little guy, but really, a «heavyweight» champion which is less than 80 kg is a joke. 😛 And Swaggers reign has not been too impressive, hopefully he will stay in the picture.
Fifth match: The Miz v. R-Truth for the US Championship.
R-Truth lost his belt on RAW in a Fatal 4way and invoked the rematch clause. Great match, both wrestlers are technically adept, and R-Truth sold a injury to his ribs masterfully. The MIz retained the belt, which was a pleasant surprise. Especially as it was a clean win. Not sure why the push on R-Truth was so short, maybe creative just wanted to get him in the picture and se how the crowd reacted to him with a championship. But The Miz have been a hard worker lately, and sold a lot of talent, so it is nice to see him rewarded.
Sixth match: 6-man Tag-team mixed – Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith and Natalya) v. The Usos and Tamina
Again a good game, the Samoans may such on the mic, but they know their way around a ring. And remember what I said about female wrestlers earlier. In Natalya and Tamina, WWE has to powerful and technically brilliant girls who should be used in the Diva-divisions when the stable-feud is over. I think some of the other girls now are good enough to go matches with the two second-generation wrestlers. (Natalya is the daughter of Jim «The Anvil» Neidhart, while Tamina is the daughter of «Superfly» Jimmy Snuka.)
Sheamus and Cena have met before, here from a match in the O2-arena on the European tour
Main Event: Fatal 4way – John Cena v. Edge v. Rady Orton v. Sheamus for the WWE Championship.
A smashing fight, Sheamus proved he belongs in this company, and the match was well paced and had some memorable moments. Orton’s shoulder seemed to hold up well, and in this format, there is easy to take a minute breather outside the ring, so the action in the ring is free of rest-holds. It was perhaps no surrise the NXT-invasion angle continued, and I feared we would see a no-contest cop-out with Cena retaining. But no, after the NXT-7 had given Cena a beat down they attacked Edge outside the ring, Sheamus, who had been trown into the commentators earlier in the match sneaked into the ring, pinned Cena and got the 3 count, and thus won the championship. Fatal 4way is no-DQ, so the interfering rookies did not stop the match! Great writing, and I like the belt on Sheamus. I suspect he will retain it until Triple-H returns…
All in all a great PPV, with some surprised, no real duds, and all-in-all good bookings. Looking forward to see where the Invasion-angle is going, some of the NXT-7 needs to be dropped in the long run, but 3 or 4 of them are future main-eventers.
Now for the poll. As 50% wanted a poll about wrestling, I decided to make one about turns. Which turn, heel-face or face-heel, do you think is the best this past few months!
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