10/25/09 Bragging Rights

The Miz vs. John Morrison: ***

Michelle McCool, Natalya, & Beth Phoenix vs. Melina, Kelly Kelly, & Gail Kim: *3/4

The Undertaker vs. CM Punk vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio (World Heavyweight Title): ***1/4

Chris Jericho, Kane, R-Truth, Matt Hardy, Finlay, Tyson Kidd, & David Hart Smith vs. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Big Show, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, & Mark Henry: ***1/4

John Cena vs. Randy Orton (Iron Man; WWE Title): ****
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Match of the Night: John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Trash of the Night: None. To me, all five were pretty good for what they were.

Three Stars: Cena and Orton share the top spot, as their rivalry ends. Their match was one of the best WWE has offered this year. Also, kudos to Batista for turning heel.

Analysis: I liked that there are only five matches on the card. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the Iron Man Match and the 7-on-7, but still, it gives a lot of time for each match to fully develop.

Miz/Morrison was an entertaining match with some good stuff. Love that two Tough Enough guys have are really doing well in this business. Nothing real mind-blowing, but a nice way to open and it was extremely solid all around.

The Divas match was good for what it was. I'm just happy that they went through with my prediction: this match was merely to further the storyline between Beth and McCool for a future title match.

The World Title match was very good and filled with action, but felt too short. Taker basically limited the match (because he's so banged up), and while everyone had their time to shine, the match was over quicker than I wanted it to be. Everyone did hit their signature moves and there were a few false finishes, so it did its job. Again, it was nice to have Batista do a heel turn; his face run was just stale already.

The 7-on-7 was again fine for what it was, but it just seemed too rushed because it's hard to get 14 guys in the match legally. Everyone did hit their moves though, so that was nice. Swerve by Big Show at the end was predictable. And Jerishow will likely brag about it on RAW that this was the plan all along. Cue DX for a feud.

The Iron Man match was likely one of the better WWE Iron Man matches ever, but only because it was "Anything Goes." Regardless, it still did a great job of delivering on almost all levels. The pyro spot was original (to me) and I marked for that. Carnage all over the place (at least for a PG show) and a nice ending. Great storyline buildup as well. So why did it not get any higher?

First, there were (predictable) slow points midway through the match. Second, the movesets of both wrestlers were very limited and unimpressive. Cena basically used three different forms of the Attitude Adjustment (regular, off the ropes, and off the steps into the announce table), along with his usual moveset. Orton didn't fare that much better with his moves.

Very nice PPV. Worked for me with four of the five matches at three stars or above.

Overall Rating: ***3/4