Ratings:
Justin Gabriel vs. Tyson Kidd: *1/2
Alicia Fox vs. Natalya: 1/2*
Santino Marella & Zack Ryder vs. David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty: *3/4
Evan Bourne vs. Primo: **
________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Gabriel/Kidd was good for what it was. Gabriel being pushed as a face, apparently?
Divas match basically stemming from the other week when Alicia's hair extensions were ripped out and Natalya's fake nails were pulled off. How mature, huh? So this week, Alicia puts her hair up. And Alicia's belt comes off...oops. I woulda wanted Nattie to at least struggle to get out of that inside cradle, but whatever.
Good tag match. Ryder and Santino are definitely both over with the crowd. Love it when the crowd is alive and kicking!
Good grief, I forgot Primo was even on the damn roster anymore. Anyway, this was the best match of the show. Nice athleticism here folks! Loved the camera angles on the Air Bourne finisher!
The Vince/Cena/HHH segment from RAW finished the show. Still a big moment in WWE history, as we may have finally seen the end of the Mr. McMahon character after numerous attempts to kill it off.
__________________
As a note, CM Punk vs. John Cena was given the FULL FIVE STARS from Dave Meltzer. This is the summary taken from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
6. C.M. Punk pinned John Cena to win the WWE title in 33:42. Punk was super over. Lawler said he’s never seen this much home town emotion in his career. Yes, Jerry Lawler, who got this kind of a reaction every time he challenged for the world title in Memphis over a dozen year or so period said this. Punk was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Best in the World,” which is kind of gimmick pilfering. The announcers were pushing this as one of the biggest matches in the history of the promotion, and at the end, you probably could make a great case for it. Fans started with a “You can’t wrestle” chant at Cena. Punk was great at working the crowd, making a facial like, “You’re chanting this at me,” sarcastically, and then pointing to Cena. Cena took Punk down and Punk put Cena in the guard. Cole then announced that Punk had Cena in the Anaconda vise. Yes, the freaking guard was called the Anaconda Vise. Made worse that at the finish, Punk actually used the Anaconda Vise and Cole had no clue what it was. Then Cole put over Chicago, saying it’s been one of the greatest WWE cities for the past 40 to 50 years. If that’s the case, where are Crusher and Bruiser’s Hall of Fame plaques. Punk used a hiptoss, dropkick and headlock takeover spot. The announcers then brought up the 1997 Survivor Series. They noted that happened because Bret Hart wanted to leave the company with the championship belt. You’d think when he came back and they settled everything, that they wouldn’t keep telling that story. Cena tried the Attitude Adjustment, Punk tried the GTS, and both escaped.
Punk threw some kicks and Cena clotheslined the hell out of him. Dueling chants. Even here, the women were cheering for Cena, even though this was as loud as any pro-Cena reaction ever (RVD at the Manhattan Center in 2006 was as loud, but there’s a difference between 2,500 people and nearly 15,000 people). Right after that chant, Lawler said he didn’t think there was one Cena fan in the building. Thank God the crowd was so great because this announcing was pure shit. Punk put Cena in a triangle (three announcers, not one had a clue what he was doing) and Cena stood up. Punk started throwing elbows before Cena could drop him, and then tossed Cena out of the ring. Punk went outside, and gave a high-five to Colt Cabana. This led to a “Colt Cabana” chant, which wasn’t acknowledged. Punk used a kneedrop off the middle rope onto Cena’s back while Cena was on the apron. Punk landed some knees, whipped Cena into the buckles and Punk missed a tackle and flew into the post. More dueling chants. Cole quoted Gorilla Monsoon, saying, “If you’re not in this business to be champion, you’re in the wrong business.” He may have said that as a worked quote, but the Monsoon quote he always said, because he hated people who were in wrestling to gratify their egos and not get business, was “If you’re not in this business to make money, you’re in the wrong business.” Punk came off the top rope with a crossbody block, but landed low, and instead of landing on Cena’s chest, landed on his knee. Cena appeared to injure his right knee. Cena tried to walk it off. It was apparently legit and not serious, because it didn’t play into the rest of the match. Cena then suplexed Punk from inside the ring to the floor. Cena, when taking the fall, twisted completely to land on his left side and protect his right knee. Cena with a fisherman suplex. Booker T talked about how Cena is turning the crowd toward him. He said the same thing about Orton, and it wasn’t true in either match. Cena got a near fall with a powerslam. Punk started throwing punches with the crowd popping for each punch. Cena used a form of abdominal stretch, but Punk eye raked and hip tossed out. They knocked each other down with simultaneous clotheslines. Punk got a near fall with a schoolboy, but then missed a knee into the corner. Cena slammed him and the crowd was booing like crazy. Cena went into his usual comeback phase. Punk crossed him up with a kick to the head. Crowd went nuts. Punk landed a flying knee that knocked Cena out of the ring. Punk followed with a tope. Punk went for a springboard move but Cena moved and Punk fell into the ring. Cena did the five knuckle shuffle, and went for the AA, but Punk landed on his feet, kicked Cena in the face and swept his leg for a near fall. Punk went for the GTS, but Cena reversed into a gut wrench for a near fall. Punk with two flying knees, the second of which looked like it landed right on the chin like an MMA blow. He followed with a bulldog and a springboard clothesline for a near fall. Punk threw some kicks to the chest, but Cena countered with the STF. Punk made the rope. Punk came back with a kick to the head and Cena kicked out. Punk used a crossbody and Cena rolled through and picked Punk up and put him on his shoulders for the AA again. Punk escaped, went for the GTS, but Cena reversed back into the STF in an awesome spot.Punk went to the ropes, but Cena pulled him into the center of the ring. Punk put his hand up to tap, and then got a look on his face as if he mentally said to himself, “I’m not tapping.” He then reversed out of the STF into the Anaconda vise.
Crowd was going crazy. Cena ended up breaking the hold, and landed the AA, but Punk kicked out. Place was electric at this point. Cena came off the top for his leg slice, but Punk side stepped and went for the pin, but Cena kicked out. Punk did the Frank Shamrock sleep deal (the one Mickey Rourke used in “The Wrestler”) and went for the GTS. Cena got out again, and snapped Punk’s neck on the top rope. Cena hit the leg slice for a near fall, hit the AA, and Cena kicked out a second time. Cena put Punk on his shoulders and climbed up to the middle rope for another AA, but Punk started throwing elbows to get out of it. Punk used a Frankensteiner off the top rope, then hit a flying knee and the GTS, but Cena flew out of the ring. Cena got back in the ring. Vince and Laurinatis came out. Cena got the STF on and Vince yelled to ring the bell and sent Laurinaitis to the ring to ring it. Cena broke the hold, cut off Laurinaitis and punched him. Punk used the GTS and got the pin. Vince started screaming to cut the music and that this isn’t going to end this way. He screamed for Del Rio to come out. Del Rio ran to the ring and got kicked in the head. Punk then ran into the crowd and the show went off the air. After the show ended and Laurinaitis got up, Vince decked Laurinatis again. This was more than just a great match, but a career making moment. *****
- Dave Meltzer
No comments:
Post a Comment