Fatal 4-Way: Intercontinental Champion The Miz Vs. Cesaro Vs. Kevin Owens Vs. Sami Zayn: Here was the surprise of the evening, as a match that looked like a good one on paper turned out to be pretty damn great. The tone was set right at the start when Zayn nailed Owens with Helluva kick to start. Cesaro promptly slugged Miz with European uppercut. Zayn and Cesaro nodded to the other with respect before locking up, chain wrestling with skill and flair. The way the Intercontinental Championship had been booked as of late and judging from how every early match this evening was being rushed through, I was expecting an 8 minute rush job. What we got was a 20 minute thriller that never let up, especially towards the final five minutes with one insane near fall after another. This was easily Miz’ best match in many years, although it certainly didn’t hurt to have five high caliber opponents. They teased a repeat of the previous PPV’s IC title finish when Cesaro made Miz tap out to the Sharpshooter, but the ref was distracted by Owens and Zayn’s brawling. However, a nice surprise came when Cesaro kicked out of Miz’ roll-up and tights-holding. Several more near falls, including a pop up powerbomb for Owens and the Skull Crushing Finale for Miz occurred. Finish finally came when it appeared that Sami Zayn was going to win the title after finishing off Cesaro with the Tornado DDT. However, after he made the cover, Kevin Owens yanked him out of the ring for a brawl. Miz opportunistically covered Cesaro for the pin. So the IC title remains on a guy that no one cares about, thanks to two years plus of being jobbed out to the point that no one buys him as a major threat. Maybe this IC title run will go a ways towards rehabbing The Miz. Then again, maybe not. Michael Cole kept mentioning that this was a Match of the Year candidate. He was actually right. I imagine Vince McMahon’s head exploded backstage since he has specifically banned the phrase Match of the Year from any commentary. Why? Because he personally hates the term and he’s an idiot. ******++++
Asylum Cage Match: Chris Jericho Vs. Dean Ambrose: After the highs of the previous match, the show proceeded to sink beneath the depths and never recover. Perhaps it was not a wise move to watch a DVD-R copy of The Best of Sabu Vol 9, as it featured a cage match strewn with weapons featuring Sabu and Cactus Jack. That match was a textbook example of how to successfully pull off a weapons cage match. Alas, Jericho/Ambrose was a textbook example of how NOT to stage such a match. This was the most boring and murderously slow steel cage match I’ve ever seen. Jericho stalled so much that Larry Zybszko could sue for gimmick infringement and win. Hell, why not? Zybszko has sued Jericho in the past for using the phrase ‘Living Legend’, even going as far as to enter Bill Apter magazines as evidence. A Weapons Cage match should be fast paced and exciting. This match was about as exciting as watching Congress “work” each day. Then there was the blood factor. Considering that this match featured an ECW Original and a veteran of the hardcore Combat Zone promotion, it was simply foolish to even consider doing this match if no blading or blood was going to be allowed. Especially when a barbed wire baseball bat was one of the weapons involved. This match dragged on to an interminable 27 minutes that felt more like 27 hours. Some of the weapons, such as a plastic kiddie beach bucket and a lightweight plastic mop were laughable, which sucked the life out of this being a grudge match. When Ambrose pulled out the black sack of thumbtacks, the announcers played dumb and wondered what they could be. As if 20+ years of this prop didn’t provide an instant clue! They took forever teasing the spot of who would become the world’s largest pincushion before Jericho landed arm first in the stuff. A mere trickle of blood from the arm was the extent of the bloodshed. Ambrose eventually scored the pin with the Dirty Deeds DDT into the thumbtacks. DUD Submission Match: Women’s Champion Charlotte Vs. Natalya: The five-month streak of the women putting on the best match of a WWE PPV came to an end last night. Oh, it wasn’t the fault of either Charlotte or Natalya, who were putting on their usual strong effort in the ring. We can thank the idiotic booking mindset of Vincent Kennedy McMahon and his minions in WWE Creative, who seem as unwilling as ever to book a heel to win cleanly these days. Until the beyond bad finish, both women were having a very solid match built around various submission holds. There was great storytelling here and each submission was sold as match-threatening, which made for a very involving match, good enough to be the second-best match of the show. Then came the lame ass finish. Just as Natalya had the match won, out came someone dressed as Charlotte’s father, the legendary Nature Boy Ric Flair. But it wasn’t Naitch, but recent NXT call-up Dana Brooke in disguise. She distracted Natalya, allowing Charlotte to clip Nattie in the knee and lock on the Figure Eight for the tap out. So Charlotte yet again wins by cheating. It’s quite a contrast from her NXT days, where HHH booked her to win clean, yet remain a heel. I understand that her father’s reputation was being the dirtiest player in the game, but why does HER legacy have to be the same? Charlotte is a great all-around talent. Let her be her own woman and establish her own legacy away from her father’s. Finishes like this do her no favors, nor do they help anyone else involved. **** Extreme Rules Match: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns Vs. AJ Styles: Reigns was booed out of the building yet again as the fans have actively rejected him and will cheer anyone who faces him. Rather than do the logical thing, Vince McMahon stubbornly insists upon Reigns remaining the top babyface rather than turn him heel. This match was better than the trainwreck from Payback, but it was still far below par from what these two are capable of in the ring. Reigns was still heavily favoring his leg, often limping. This gives me the impression that he’s working through injuries. It certainly would explain his lackluster title defenses since winning the WWE World title at Wrestlemania 32 last month. AJ Styles is also working through back and ankle injuries, so he wasn’t in his top form either. Both men did enough to get by and bravely took some insane bumps and spots to help make the match watchable enough, but considering what both are capable of, it was still a letdown. The usual spots were all present, including the breaking of the ringside barrier, brawling all over the place, destroying tables and interference from each side’s buddies. Oh wait- they did all this LAST TIME, too! So what’s the difference? No DQs or countouts. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson hit the ring to interfere on behalf of their buddy AJ. Apparently, no mention was made of AJ not wanting their inference, so perhaps AJ turned heel. Or perhaps not. Who can tell with Vince McMahon’s topsy-turvy rollercoaster booking? The Usos hit the ring to even the odds and because they were associated with Reigns, their real life cousin, they were booed out of the building. Each side attempted to help the other win the battle but it didn’t work. Styles seemingly had the match won when he finished off Reigns with the Styles Clash but Reigns kicked out. Styles then nailed Reigns and the Usos with what seemed like 20+ chair shots to the back and gut each. Styles went to finish off his quarry with his specialty springboard plancha elbow, but Reigns no-sold the chair shots and Speared AJ for the pin. The live crowd in New Jersey was not happy over this. Neither was anyone watching at home. The commentary kept plugging the McMahon-mandated line of how Reigns can be loved or hated but that the fans are passionate either way. Talk about your rose colored glasses! Just as Reigns started to celebrate, along came the surprise return of Seth Rollins, who was feuding with Reigns when he suffered a major knee injury last November. Rollins promptly destroyed Reigns with the Pedigree and several shots to the body before grabbing the WWE World title and hoisting it up in the air. The cheers were deafening when this happened. If Vince thinks Reigns is going to be embraced as a babyface against the returning Rollins when they face off next month at Money in the Bank, he is truly clueless about reality. ***1/4
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