Unforgiven Pay Per View Review

It's that time of month again... another pay per view..

MATCH #1: ECW World Championship: CM Punk v. Elijah Burke

Here's another Punk ppv match that is mostly good throughout and suffers from a strange ending. There's not a lot here to talk about. It's basically Burke proving his worthiness by outclassing Punk through most of the match. Punk builds his comeback spots well enough but again, the ending kind of kills the build, as it comes out of nowhere. In fact, the Punk seemed a little weirded out by it. With Burke in control, Punk hits a roll up out of nowhere and, uh, that's it. Again, the slow build was good, but that doesn't work when you've only got like 10 minutes for a match. *3/4

MATCH #2: WWE Tag Team Championships: Matt Hardy & MVP v. Deuce & Domino

This is a solid, but unspectacular match. This is obviously all about Hardy and MVP's disfunctionality and they play to that quite obviously through the match. We get dueling "ballin" elbows, screaming axe handles, etc. MVP gets sour puss and feins leaving but of course comes back to attempt to steal the glory. Hardy catches him this time though, and ejects MVP from the ring and steals a victory for himself.

While I like this, it's a little too angle heavy to be a good match. Deuce and Domino are REALLY afterthoughts in this and while that's not entirely a bad thing as they suck big time, it monopolizes the entire match and thus it comes off more like an exhibition of Hardy and MVP's obvious dislike for eachother than anything else. *3/4

MATCH #3: No DQ for Carlito: Triple H v. Carlito

This was a good deal better than I thought it would be, but it still wasn't much. Carlito embrassing his inner stooge is a good thing, but it's done to a degree here where it becomes obvious that he's not even remotely a threat to Triple H.

He goes for mostly stoogie weapons spots with the garbage cans and otherwise laughable objects. While it plays to his character's strength well, it takes away from the credibility he has competition for Triple H and kills pretty much any chance one would have of taking the match seriously. Carlito's good here, but honestly his schtick doesn't fit what they might have been going for here.

Triple H is Triple H here, and mauls people. That is all. *3/4

MATCH #4: Women's Championship: Candice Michelle v. Beth Phoenix

This is way awesome ladies scuffling. This played out A TON like Umaga-Cena I from January where Beth basically murders Candice for 10 minutes and then gets caught on a flash pin.

What makes this match is Candice's top notch selling. She legitimately looked like she was being buried out there and Beth's 'it' factor of being 'the woman' helps make it look all the better. The military press, the one handed slam, all of it looks super devastating and the only saving grace for Candice is her willingness to not get murdered and survive the BIG shots.

Candice, despite improving tons, can still be wicked inconsistent, but they stuck with a good formula for this match and it worked well. Beth looked strong and it left the door open for a rematch. Can't ask for more than that. Solid women's stuff. **3/4

MATCH #5: World Heavyweight Championship: The Great Khali v. Batista v. Rey Mysterio

This was a lot of fun. Khali ain't much, but for whatever reason, the guy is one ofthe best in the WWE in triple threat matches. The build for the vice grip is played up well here and it plays a central role in the match throughout. Mysterio of course is a huge under dog, and struggles to gain any sense of control in the match, but that's not really bad, considering that's more or less where he should be in a match like this. Batista seems all about proving himself to be better than Khali.

Again, the Vice Grip being lights out being the central theme works well here. Khali is able to grab it twice. Had this been a one on one match, he'd have walked away from this relatively easily, but he struggles to manage the numbers, thus stressing the whole point of the champion being at a disadvantage in this kind of match. The finish is really excellent with Mysterio hitting his home run shot, but being unable to capitalize as Batista says 'fuck friends' and powerbombs his dwarfy ass onto Khali, double-fucking the champion and totally destroying teeny Rey.

A spine buster wouldn't work for most, but after eating three finishers, it comes off as believable and smart that Khali could be put down with that kind of firepower. It took three BIG finishers, but it does the job. Even better, no one comes off looking weak here. Well worked Triple Threat match. ***

MATCH #6: World Tag Team Championship: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch v. London & Kendrick

This was a good match that got dragged down by a dead crowd. And that's not dragged down because stupid people couldn't see goodness, but in the sense that London and Kendrick got too tied up in trying to drag them in with big spots that just didn't fit in the context of what they were trying to do.

This is that classic brawlers v. high flyers stuff and that works well through the body of the match. London and Kendrick try to make the pace hectic, Cade & Murdoch try to keep it plodding and more based in ground n pound. What bothered me though was the constant death spots from the babyfaces in every transition of the match. That made things flow weird and while the spots popped the crowd, they lacked the proper placement and they weren't able to follow up on them to the degree that the crowd STAYED with what they were doing.

Again this is a fun match, but the green-ness of these guys showed through too much to make it LEGITMATELY good. **1/4

MATCH #7: WWE Championship: John Cena v. Randy Orton

This match played out like a Dusty Rhodes match circa the late 80s where there was a lot of build for something that was really a glorified angle. Cena brings a lot of fun hate here, and Orton's sneaky and coniving, but the placement on the card gave away what was going to be a screwey finish and Cena's father being there cemented it and killed it before the bell rang.

Now the execution of the angle was near perfect. Cena gets revenge and it's entirely necessary in the context of things if they're goingto have a big gimmick match blow off to this. Orton afterall, should have some sort of reason for wanting a blood bath match. So the Kick heard round the world part II worked from a storyline perspective, but as a pay per view main event, it was a huge let down.

It's short, tight, and well executed, but they just didn't give it enough time to go anywhere as a match, but it's obvious they weren't looking for that. **1/2

MATCH #8: The Undertaker v. Mark Henry

I'll probably have to give this another look, but the crowd was so gassed from the title change and the Cena-Orton match that they just didn't have anything left over for this. A slow, plodding big man match isn't a bad thing, but being placed on the card where it was, hurt it.

The themes are played out well enough though and make this watchable and even good. Taker is relentless in his pursuit of revenge while Henry is a one man wrecking crew bent on taking Taker out. Henry isn't sublte here and he just goes with the bombs away approach, knowing that it's the only way he's going to win. The repeated splashes, bear huge and stiff lariats work well for him here. Taker, however, is totally willing to oblige in a bomb fest, but finds out that it's going to take more than normal to put Henry down, who kicks out of a choke slam, but is finally put down with a monsterous power bomb out of the corner.

This is a good big man match. These sorts of matches shouldn't be about building anything, it should be bombs galore, and both provide plenty of dynamite here. This is a good big man match that suffered because of where it fell on the card. **1/2


OVERALL: This show was booked really poorly. Booking the hottest angle in years and a world title change before a return match we've seen 6 million times ain't smart and it killed the crowd dead. Had it been me, i'd have probably done the triple threat last. Everyone on the card seemed to struggle with the crowd except the two world title matches and did so to a degree that it made it obvious that match placement was the issue. This isn't awful or anything, but it's pretty obvious this is a transitional set up pay per view for what's looking like a big No Mercy pay per view. However, that being said, it doesn't stack up to other shows that have monopolized a pretty great year for the WWE. C-

Shawn Michaels v. John Cena, Raw 4/23

Hey all, just figured i'd schtick this on here for your viewing pleasure. For a lot of folks this is a MOTY candidate, your truly included. It's the first broadway we've had in the WWE in nearly four years.

WWE: The Goodies

WWE Championship-- Last Man Standing
John Cena v. Umaga
Royal Rumble 2007

This isn’t just the best match I’ve seen this year, it’s one of the best matches I’ve seen the WWE produce this decade and easily the best Last Man Standing match ever. Cena’s selling takes this match to another level. The theme is a gradual escalation of violence and all the spots stay consistent with the overall theme of the match.

Cena survives and escapes every hair raising scenario he’s in until Umaga basically snaps and the match goes from violent, to utterly out of control. Umaga rips off the corner piece looking for a samoan spike. Cena counteres and instead of the FU, uses the ring ropes to choke the monster unconscious. Just a sensational, sensational match, and my runaway pick for match of the year.

Funny enough, I thought i'd have a lot more to say about this, but I feel the action speaks for itself and there are really no flaws here, save for the fact that I don't think anyone thought Cena was losing this heading in. Still though, this match rules at a ridiculous level. ****1/2

Shawn Michaels-John Cena
Raw, 4/23

This built absolutely superbly off of their Wrestlemania encounter and in all honesty, this was an entirely better match. Cena starts off as the cocky champion this time. I like that version of Cena. The underdog thing, while Cena does it well, has become a little stale and it's nice to see Cena playing up the fact that he's really the man. It's a welcome change of pace.

Cena's already defeated HBK once before and figures this’ll be a walk in the park. NOTHING Michaels can do seems to work against Cena this time around, as Cena's bursting with confidence. This worked almost like an extended version of HBK-Angle from WM 21 a few years previous except all the segments are more developed and drawn out. Michaels is finally able to grab a headlock and maintain control, but that’s about it. You always have this feeling that Michaels knows if he loses the headlock, he's going to get owned.

Before long Cena gains the edge again. Gradually HBK just has to get a little wreckless and does. The whole show stopper thing comes out when Michaels stops caring and opens a match up. He can't wrestle conservatively if he wants to beat Cena. He pays for the risks a few times but is slowly able to sucker Cena into playing his game.

Again though, that was a three part play, with three separate acts (matches):

Act I-- Cena makes HBK his bitch. Again.

Act II-- Whatever you can do, I can do better.

Act III-- Just when you think you've got Michaels......

Cena looked more like 'Champion' in that match then he ever has. He was billed as dominant in the early going and completely out wrestled, out brawled and basically dominated the entire first 20 minutes. Even when HBK would catch a break, he couldn't keep his momentum up long enough to mount any respectable momentum. I loved the whole Cena 'imposes his will' on HBK. After a while though, Cena had to start going for big moves. So HBK countered back with big moves of his own. It was the only way he could stick around in the match. With every big move he escaped from, he frustrated Cena more. With every big move he hit, he bought himself time.... an opportunity... to strike. HBK finally hits SCM, but he hasn't gotten enough offense, especially on a guy of John Cena's calibur, to put him down. And then we get the home stretch, the last ten minutes where both guys split a crash and burn and moments of exhaution and bewilderment. Finally, HBK gets the narrowest of openings.. the smallest possible opening, an completely cold cocks John Cena with a second sweet chin music. Lighting had to strike twice, but HBK survived and perservered.

Honestly, this was spaced out almost as well as the Flair-Steamboat II and Joe-Punk matches... it was sensationally called and any schmoe could pick up on the story, which made it even more enjoyable. ****1/4


WWE Championship
John Cena-Bobby Lashley
Great American Bash 2007

Great match. Honestly. They did an excellent job of establishing Lashley as a legitimate threat early on. He out powers Cena. Two minutes later he wins a mat grappling exchange. Then, shockingly enough, he wins a striking exchange. He seemingly does everything a little bit better on a physical level at least.

Then Cena does his Cena thing, which is get resourceful and figure out a way to win the match. One thing I LOVE about Cena is how well he conveys how important it is to his character to win through a sense of urgency. Cena didn't do the little Cena comeback thing here, he just realizes he's getting beaten up pretty badly and needs to lay in the big bombs to put Lashley down or he's not gonna last long.

Lashley's hungry, but a little TOO hungry and gets himself into some precarious positions and counters throughout the match. Finally, he gets really young and stupid and follows Cena to the top rope and Cena kills him with a top rope FU and that's it. Cena looks resourceful while Lashley looks like he's physically there, but just needs work on the mental game. Given the build they went with, the finisher whoring didn't bother me all that much towards the end and the crowd was absolutely eating every minute of it up. It's EASILY the best Bobby Lashley match i've ever seen and one of Cena's stronger performances this year, which really is saying somethign considering the year he's had. Good match with high intensity that everyone looked like they benefitted from. ***3/4

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Umaga-Jeff Hardy
Great American Bash 2007

Excellent match. Until the main event this was a walkaway for match of the night on the bash card. I TOTALLY bought Umaga as a monster while for a brief period, bought Jeff Hardy beating him. I'm not huge on Hardy as I think he's pretty one dimensional, but the one thing he does well (punching bag), he does really well. Pair that off with Umaga's incredible ability to whoop massive ammounts of ., you've got a great match up. I loved the sense of urgency on Umaga's part at the end to stop screwing around and just end the match. Great stuff ***1/2

World Heavyweight Championship
Batista v. The Undertaker
Wrestlemania 23

Fun ’big guns’ type of match up. The story of this one is basically two of the most physically imposing guys on Smackdown throwing bombs at each other until one can keep the other down long enough to beat him. Neither guy maintains control very long and like the Cena-Umaga match from a few months prior, the violence and big bombs escalate. In the end, Taker’s able to absorb more punishment to eek out the win and the title.

The fifteen minutes or so wasn’t long enough for some, but honestly, this is how all Batista matches should go. He kept great pace and the big spots all served as small bookmarks as the match went on. While Cena-HBK later that night was more of a marathon, this was more of a sprint. It’s an excellent big man match well worth going out of your way to check out. It's not a particularly complicated match and it shouldn't be. They whored the finishers out a bit towards the end, but I don't think it was particularly an issue given the thrust they were going for. This is a great match worth checking out. ***3/4

WWE Championship
John Cena v. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania 23

I've watched this match probably close to seven million times and I don't know what it is, but these two really failed to give this match that 'it' factor, or make Cena's win seem like a BIG deal and ultimately, it suffered from the same thing Cena's match with Triple H at Wrestlemania 22 did.

There's really nothing bad here but the more I watch of both the WM 22 match and now this one, the more I see the blatant lack of creativity between the two. Both HBK and HHH dominate Cena early on in the match and in this match, BOTH guys get way too comfotable working a lax match against Cena. Cena's will to win and sense of urgency is what leads him to victory. Really, they're very similar matches, with this one being a little bit better and a little more complicated.

Now all that being said, this isn't a bad match at all. Quite the contrary acutally, it's VERY good, but it still lacks that 'it'-ness about it to make it TRULY memorable. In fact, I thought the match they had on Raw a few weeks later was head and shoulders better than this. This is required viewing for your WWE watching this year, but it loses it's luster for me everytime through I suppose whereas others, like the Lashely-Cena match and the Cena-Umaga match get better.

I dunno, this is really good, but again, it's not quite in the league of the other matches. I'd even go as far as to say it's not the best match on the card. ***1/2

WWE Catch Up

I started this sucker just a week or so ago, so I apologize for the initial helter skelter of it all. I've got a lot of stuff from 07 that I want to get on here, and will be playing catch up with. Forgive the disorganization. That being said, here's some WWE stuff I've been meaning to put up here.

WWE Championship
John Cena v. The Great Khali
Judgement Day

This was shockingly good considering Khali was in this. There's not a whole heck of a lot to this, as it's just mostly Khali killing Cena with big man stuff and Cena selling his backside off for the big man. Somehow, despite being exceptionally basic, is a really good match.

Cena goes right at the challenger, seemingly unintimidated, but nonetheless a stupid move. Khali cuts him off in short order and sends most of the match tossing Cena all over the ring. Everytime Cena mounts a bit of a comeback, Khali cuts it off with something special looking. On the outside, he tosses Cena into the steps in a cool looking spot and cuts the second Cena comeback off with a nasty looking wheel kick.

The end is done really well though, seemingly playing off immediate pain rather than long, sustained selling. Khali tries to pick up the ring steps and Cena drop kicks the steps, sending them crashing into Khali's legs. Khali is gingerly climbing into the ring when Cena flies up to the top rope and comes sailing off with the leg drop. Leg and head hurt, STFU takes care of it. Very good, almost lucky ending for John Cena.

Cena's selling in this of course is top notch, but Khali deserves a tip of the cap too, holding the let on the outside and giving a great 'oh shit' face when he gets tangled in the ropes. This isn't Misawa-Kawada, but it's a fun main event made better by some great selling on the part of John Cena. ***

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge v. Batista
Judgement Day 2007

I don't know how I feel about this to be honest. All three or four of their matches never really got taken up a notch and everything seemed to be about building to a big blow off that never really happened. Even more than the MVP-Benoit matches, these all seemed to be lacking something. This one is okay for what it's worth, as they're just trying to cement Edge as a legitimate Champion. This match is coming directly off the heels of his second cashing in of the money in the bank contract so it'd seem fit that they do something to legitimize him.

Everything Edge does is as a result of a finger poke or some other fun heelish activity. Batista just swings for the fences as per the usual. Really though, this doesn't go anywhere and while nothing they do is remotely offensive or anything, none of it is really all that great either. Very average match that just seemed to lack 'it'. **

MNM v. The Hardy Boys
Royal Rumble 2007

This match had an interesting build to it, as it was a tag team match between teams of former partners who're all in singles feuds with... each other. Far more complicated than most stuff. Basically all you need to know is that both teams are very good and there's lots of hate to go around for everyone.

On the Raw brand, Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro have been feuding for forever and a day over the IC Championship. They put on a fun ladder match and a decent, but not overly violent cage match a few weeks prior this this match. Matt Hardy and Joey Mercury have been feuding over on the Smackdown brand in the meantime, as Mercury is still trying to get revenge on Matt for the infamous see-saw ladder shot to the face last month. Leading up to this match, he and Nitro tweaked Hardy's jaw to give it a body part for body part type lead in.

Basically the match progresses along the lines of Joey Mercury wanting to hurt a Hardy. He and Nitro target Matt Hardy and that jaw early on with some fun double team work. The hot tag finally comes and even Jeff Hardy gets cut off. Mercury holds this match together for me though, as he really looks like a spiteful guy and really does a good job of letting everyone know how badly he wants to hurt both brothers. I especially love the part where he decks Matt in the injured jaw only to pull back and show the crowd himself rubbing his fist because he hit Matt so hard.

Mercury's Hardy-hate actually ends up costing his team the match though, as the shoulder tackle to the floor on Matt allows Jeff to get the hidden tag, hit the swanton and win the match. This is definately good stuff. ***

World Heavyweight Championship, Last Man Standing Match
The Undertaker v. Batista
Backlash 2007

Very excited about this given that the Wrestlemania 23 match was so good.

This is built entirely around the whole 'who can keep the other guy down for 10 seconds' thing which I like better than the brutal "I hate your guts" kind of stuff they've done in the past. Thus i'm a little remice when JBL starts talking about how brutal the match is immediately after the video package is done. It's not exactly the end of the world or anything, but still.

Honestly, I didn't really feel as if this was a step up from WM. Basically it's a bomb-fest, but this time it's got some weapons. I like some of the learned spots in this, like Taker cutting off Batista on the top rope and returning the favor for the table shot last month. Batista certainly seems to be the desperate one here and looks better than Taker in this match, IMO. He looks SO rattled by losing his title and it plays out well throughout the match as he doesn't seem to really care how he wins, as long as it happens.

All that aside though, it's really not a major step forward, just a really good last man standing match, which really is ok with me. There's some great selling on the part of Batista, as the leg injury never becomes a focal point of the match, but always a way to gain control for Taker. The spots are good too, especially the steps-shot and the table breakage. The ending is a LITTLE overdone, but keeps the door open for that third match we unfortuantely never got to see.

While this isn't quite up to part with the big five this year, i'd say it's easily towards the top of the next tier of matches and most certainly in the top 10 WWE matches this year. By all means, check it out. ***1/4

Ouch!

Summerslam 2007 Review

Well, I think after this one it's going to take awhile for fans to get the sour taste of John Cena retaining the belt out of their mouth enough to really enjoy this show for what it was, which was pretty good. Here's the reviews.

WWE Championship
John Cena v. Randy Orton

This is an utterly fantastic match. This played off a lot of the Cena defenses we've seen thus far with yet another new spin from a challenger. Orton, like he has for most of the feud (and the entire summer for that matter) seemed to be one step ahead of the champ for most of the early going. He's working smart here, sticking to the neck and head to do his major damage, but never getting carried away at any one point.

The staple of John Cena's work is his Jerry Lawler like comebacks and Orton sees them coming almost before John Cena does. He easily neutralizes them in the early going, but as the match continues along, he begins to gradually lose control of Cena and Cena gets in more and more offense. Orton seems resigned to the fact that a Cena is going to make a comeback at some point, and thus keeps the work targeted so that when and if it happends, he can pull off an RKO and win the match, so he's trying to make sure that if the worst case scenario occurs, he'll be able to bail himself out and the work will pay off.

Orton does a brilliant job for most of the match, but the past mistakes of challengers catches up with him as well. Like Umaga at the Royal Rumble and Michaels at Wrestlemania 23, Orton controls most of the match but Cena is always able to avoid the home run shot. When Orton finally DOES connect with an RKO, he's too worn from all his prior activity to follow up and get the pin fall.

The end comes when Orton falls into the same pit everyone else does, and lets things open up, which was exactly what he wanted to avoid. It's Cena, ironically, whose three seconds away from winning a match at anytime and like any clutch hitter, connects with a big FU at the right time for the pin fall.

The psychology is really done well here as Cena just looks lucky to be alive after the match. Like the Yankees though, the first eight innings don't mean anything unless you can get the hits when they count and Cena got that big hit. This is a great story and a great match was made super great by a super hot crowd. Best match of the card and best match for Cena since Raw. It was Orton's best performance ever. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Championship
The Great Khali v. Batista

Batista steals a page from John Cena's book and basically tries to sell Khali's stuff like it's death. Problem is, Batista ain't John Cena. Khali works fairly well here, keeping Batista on the mat and using his leverage to his advantage. Batista tries to work in spurts but continuously gets put on his rump by the bigger, stronger champ. He's one guy Bats can't toss bombs with.

The commentating on the part of Michaels Cole and JBL is outstanding here and made what looks like a mediocre, plodding match, pretty decent actually. Especially getting over Khali's rest holds as being truly painful. Just as this match was getting somewhere though, they seemingly cut it off with a really weird DQ finish that caught Cole and JBL off guard. They tried to cover it with the old chicken shit thing, but Khali doesn't look nor act like a chicken, so I don't get it. Moderately decent stuff that got cut before it went anywhere with a bad finish. **1/4

ECW World Championship
John Morrison v. CM Punk

This was ok for the first five minutes or so, but as the match progressed, it fell apart. I don't know if Punk and Morrison were trying too hard to get a totally dead crowd into it or not, but it suffered from all the same lapses their Bash match did with yet another super akward finish. Nice back and forth with another akward conclusion. **1/4

Triple H v. King Booker

This wasn't sensational or anything, but I wasn't really expecting much more than this. Triple H looks slimmed down after being out for so long and he definately looked like he had a lot of adjusting to do throughout the match. This was kept pretty tight, around ten minutes or so, but that works well considering the fact that the Game is coming off a big injury and they didn't do that last time he had his big comeback and it left him kind of exposed.

Booker worked ok in this match, but it wasn't really about anything more than the jerk-face heel finally getting his. I'd have liked to have seen them toss Sharmell's involvement in things into the match a bit more. Nothing spectacular here, but served it's purpose of bringing the Game back and blowing off a nice 'heel will get his ' sort of feud. **1/2

Rey Mysterio v. Chavo Guererro

Very good stuff here. These two are always good for a little something fun and this wasn't much different. In fact I found this to be QUITE good.

Rey looks like a super hero which is good for the kiddies, but brings a lot of intensity to the match, which is something he sorely lacked during his world title run. Chavo is a total asshole here, going right after the injured leg and being entirely unafraid of the man he conquered last fall. The near falls were worked really well and this was well grounded, not featuring too much of the Rey flippy stuff. It's a fairly compact match at slightly over ten minutes. Certainly worth a good look see and a sleeper pay per view match. ***

WWE Intercontinental Championship--Triple Threat Match
Umaga v. Mr. Kennedy v. Carlito

This wasn't bad, but a little anti-climatic. The heels basically decide to gang up on Umaga, but can't ever get on the same page long enough to really get anywhere. The one downfall of these matches in the WWE is the tendancy for guys to get stuck in the whole 'guy gets chucked and two guys go at it' formula but these guys did a good job of avoiding that for the most part. nice action here with Umaga getting his, Kennedy and Carlito squabbling, then Umaga pwns them. Nice match, but nothing long enough to warrant more than **1/2

Diva Battle Royal for the #1 Contendership to the Women's Championship

This was pretty forgettable, although not entirely bad. Basically it comes down to Beth Phoenix taking on the Smackdown duo of Michelle McCool and Torrie Wilson, who quickly get overhwhelmed and dumped by Phoenix. I would've liked to have seen them stick with this for longer than they did as nothing really played out except for the fact that Beth Phoenix is a tank. *1/4

Kane v. Finlay (w/ Hornswaggle)

Another match that was fine for what it was. Finlay is best when he's got a body part to tear apart and he does that here, working over Kane's ribs with pretty good effect. Kane sells as good as he has in the past year or two and it makes Finlay's offense believable. The ending is a bit rushed, but it is fun with Hornswaggle and Finlay freezing in fear of the Kane pop up. Nice little match and good opener to get the crowd going, but nothing more, nothing less. *1/2


Overall Thoughts: This is going to be a show that might not get rave reviews now, but will be looked upon fondly over time. The main event is truly sensational and is supplimented with a decent mid card with some fun stuff, mainly Chavo-Rey. The lackluster stuff suffers from weak endings but everything seemed to do what it was intended to do. For the second biggest show of the year, it was dissapointing to not see any title changes, but that shouldn't get in the way of calling this like it was, a solid WWE pay per view. Grade: B