WHAT I LIKED:
The NEW WWE Champion!!!: Yes indeed!!! That may be the loudest and most sustained cheer I've ever heard for Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan has finally become WWE Champion, but not without controversy. I thought it was just me. I thought I was the only person who noticed that fast count. Turns out, it was planned. I'm very interested in how this will all turn out. I'm not sure I've ever heard the word cadence in WWE as much as in this opening segment. "It was a fast count. I don't know." "I made a mistake." Well, that justifies it. It would seem as if Scott Armstrong is a plant for Triple H and The Authority. I kind of LIKE it because it's novel. But it's also eerily similar to a certain 'text message that wasn't' to one Kevin Nash, which ruined CM Punk's push as WWE Champion. And look who was in the middle of both of those disasters... I'm just saying. Maybe Triple H doesn't know what's best for business after all. I'll hold judgement until we see where this is all going, but I'm not feeling optimistic.
Ambrose vs Ziggler: How is it that the rematch on RAW is better than the initial match at the PPV? I think it's just the audience inculsion that makes it seem exciting. The crowd was pretty dead last night and none of the matches except the main event was more than a two-star match, despite the efforts of the talent. Last night, Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose actually had a solid match but it was doused by the crowd not being into it. Also, there wasn't any big bumps for Dolph to take and those are essential in any Ziggler matchup. Lesson learned tonight as the rematch was better received by a rowdier crowd, who was pumped up after that emotional opening segment. I'm not sure if I should be happy for Ziggler winning or upset at yet another heel champion losing a non-title match. It's getting to be ridiculous how this happens for every single heel champion.
The American Dream: I LIKE this story between the Rhodes' and the McMahon's, but I wonder where it's going exactly. I know in the end it will lead to Cody Rhodes coming back and being more popular than ever, but I'm engrossed in what's going to happen in the interim. This storyline has my full interest piqued. I LIKE the passion displayed from Dusty Rhodes in the ring, but it was obvious that he and Stephanie were stepping on each other's feet. Stephanie played it cool though. Nice twist to make Dusty into the bad guy by having to betray one of his sons, but isn't it obvious that the job should go to Cody? Goldust was here last week to get Cody his job back, so obviously he thinks Cody deserves his job. I bet Dusty wishes he had that thought about that... then he wouldn't have had to be KNOCKEDTHEFUCKOUT! by the blubbering Big Show. Yeah, when Cody does come back, he's coming back with a vengeance and we should finally get that Cody Rhodes push that we've been begging for.
Orton vs Miz: WWE loves to embarrass their talent in their hometowns and The Miz is being served up on a silver platter to an angry Randy Orton. If I'm a WWE Superstar and I know we're coming to my hometown for the night, I'd seriously consider calling in sick. Kudos to The Miz for continuing this match because that bruise on his shoulder looked pretty severe. That had to be painful. I wonder if those were really Miz's parents because they seemed to have no passion at all for their child in distress. Even if it is staged, I know I'd still be a little concerned for my child. His mom started to show a little apprehension towards the end, but the father was listless the whole time. It was a good segment for the purpose of showing that the old heel Orton is back, but WWE has got to hire better actors.
Heyman/Ryback: Clean-shaven, well-rested Paul Heyman. Funny how the 'Walrus', 'Goldberg' & 'Boring' chants all sound the same. It was hard to decipher which one the audience was actually chanting. Albeit, all of them were appopriate. I was hoping they would go the route of having Ryback voluntarily assist Heyman against Punk's perceived bullying instead of him being infused into Heyman's stable. It would make for a better storyline if both sides had adequate motivations, instead of it being good guy vs bad guy like always. I did LIKE the kiss though. It was odd and awesome. I vociferated against Ryback in the KJR last night, but only because I with Ryback's size and talent, it hurts me to see WWE book him into a corner all the time. He could be a major heel if they'd stop putting him in matches against SUPERFACES - and yes, I'm including CM Punk in the SUPERFACE category now. When it becomes impossible for a babyface superstar to lose a match unless it's dirty, they join the SUPERFACE community.
Bryan vs Reigns: It was sweet to see them acknowledge Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella's real-life relationship. I said before that on Total Divas, the only thing that's genuine is their relationship. I'm sure that because of his size that WWE sees Roman Reigns as the strongest member of The Shield. But I think it's the opposite - I see him as the weakest member. Aside from the spear and the power portion of the Triple Powerbomb, he has almost nothing to offer. I hope he proves me wrong in this match. Having Randy Orton at ringside, where the other members of The Shield already resides, is overkill. Even if Daniel Bryan does win this match, it won't end well for him. The entire match just became a waiting game for who will interfere first. Orton wins the game and the predictable post-match beatdown begins again. Not predictable was the other superstars coming out to assist Daniel Bryan. It is about time for the natives to get restless and start to fight back. That was pretty cool to see. Well worth the wait, but I expect the punishments to begin soon and to be severe. This is where the fun part starts in this storyline.
WHAT I HATED:
Fandango vs R-Truth: Do I even have to say why this is in the HATED category? Well, if you insist. Any match that comes about after a dance contest is going to wind up here. At least Summer Rae provided a visual distraction from a match that I nor anyone really cared about.
Six-Diva Tag: I can't understand why anyone in WWE would think it wise to have the best two wrestling divas on commentary while the other, lesser divas 'wrestle' in the ring. Okay, I can understand why they'd want Naomi in the ring. I want her in the ring too. She's voluptuous and athletic, which is a very, very good combination. Just curves bouncing all over the place. Somebody flubbed up big time with the headsets or maybe somebody did us a favor. I love Nattie for her wrestling ability, but she's not exactly the best talker. Leave that to AJ Lee. I'm glad that it at least seems like they are focusing the rivalry between AJ & Natalya and the other Total Divas can feud with the other non-Total Divas.
Sandow vs RVD: I'm still questioning why Damien Sandow still handcuffs the MITB briefcase to the ringpost. Cody Rhodes isn't there to still it. Dustin Rhodes isn't there and Dusty Rhodes just got carted off. There are no Rhodes' in the facility to steal it. Plus, I think they have bigger fish to fry. There is no reason for them to replay the video of Sandow winning the MITB because it's clear to everyone now that he's not going to win the World Heavyweight Championship when he does cash that contract in. He lost to Santino Marella. And the Cobra. Clean. Enough said. Plus, he had the best opportunity he's ever going to have last night when Alberto Del Rio was laid out with the Van Terminator. Nothing happened because nothing will. And this was another loss for him from the start. I'm getting tired of fighting this battle.
Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination: Ummm, where's the Primetime Players? They get one shot at tag team gold then it's over and done for them? How is that fair? I'm not really appalled by that. It's not like the tag team title shot the winning team receives here will be honored with any expediency. This is just WWE banking a tag team title match in case they need to add an impromptu match to the next PPV. All that aside, I would LOVE it if WWE allowed the Real Americans to be a force in the Tag Team division. They are the best team in the company and that team is comprised of two of the best wrestlers in the company. As long as The Shield are champions and the Real Americans are heels, I don't see that happening but I really wish it would. It would be so easy to turn the Real Americans babyface. Especially after the events that occurred in D.C. earlier today. The crowd already wows at all the impactful moves that Antonio Cesaro is capable of doing. And they chant along with them when they quote 'We The People". If you turn their patriotism legitimate, they could be the most over tag team in the company. Instead, it was The Usos who earned the opportunity to lose to The Shield again.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:
"Stephanie, you drag them long legs out here and get with it." - Dusty Rhodes
If Triple H hasn't used this line to get Stephanie into bed, I have a feeling he's going to be using it soon. Due to Dusty's profound lisp, I thought he called her Stephanie the Bitch, but he really said Stephanie Levesque, which is her real last name after marrying Paul Levesque, a.k.a Triple H. But Stephanie the Bitch would also be applicable.
MATCH OF THE NIGHT:
I hoped that the latter half of the Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns would show something tonight and he did. He at least showed that he's not as easily fatigued as I thought he was. He didn't necessarily do anything spectacular to earn my consideration, but he stayed around long enough for Daniel Bryan to crank a good match out of him.
BEST IN SHOW:
Due to being the most featured superstar of the night and for finally returning to the form I appreciate the most, I am awarding this to the old Randy Orton for coming out of the depths that SUPERFACE Orton pushed him into.
REACTION: Some people may call me a hypocrite since I wasn't upset that Daniel Bryan lost the WWE Championship after defeating John Cena at Summerslam, but I am after he defeated Randy Orton last night. Some people might say I was just happy to see Cena lose. They wouldn't be wrong. To me, the match between John Cena and Daniel Bryan was a match to show who is the better wrestler, which Daniel Bryan is. The better wrestler actually won. I didn't care about the WWE Championship then. But the match between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan was for the WWE Championship and not about who was better. Plus, the MITB briefcase is a staple of WWE. As WWE/World Champion, you have to be weary of that and the best part about the MITB is that you never know when it's going to be cashed in. It really was best for business to have Orton cash in an defeat Daniel Bryan. But I have reservations about the 'fast-count' and Bryan being stripped of the WWE Championship because it's too analogous to the incident that stalled CM Punk's push as WWE Champion. Like I said earlier, I'm not jumping to conclusions before all of the facts are lest I get caught with my foot in my mouth akin to the Orton/Christian debacle. That incident led to one of the best series of matches that I've been privy to. This might as well. Time will tell. But my skepticism is valid.
It wasn't just the Dolph Ziggler vs Dean Ambrose match that was better than last night, it was the entire goddamn show. The audience was livelier, the matches were more competitive and exciting. I wish the PPV was this much fun.
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