Cody Rhodes & Goldust retain the Tag Team Championships:
WHAT I LIKED:
- I LIKE the effort WWE made by mixing Cody Rhodes & Goldust's music together. It's not esthetically pleasing right now, but it might grow on me. I'd much rather they choose new music for Cody altogether. I hope he's not married to that 'Smoke & Mirrors' theme for the rest of his career. It worked well for him in his 'Dashing' days, but he's moved on from that moniker and so should his theme music.
- That superplex off the top turnbuckle to the outside was very risky for everyone involved. But it paid off big time as no one appeared to be injured by it and the crowd ate it up. I even popped for it big time. That was pretty damn awesome.
WHAT I HATED:
- I don't like the 'you can tag in any member of any team' rule of these matches. I like it better when it's three men in the ring at all times. It makes it more of a triple threat match. When they limit the amount of superstars in the ring, it makes me think it's just because they can't script a match where all three superstars compete simultaneously. Also, it takes away from the 'triple threat' element of the match. If they are going to play it this way, I'd have rather the match be an elimination contest so that all three teams could compete equally.
- Sometimes JBL makes too much sense. He questioned why The Usos didn't come in and break up the pinfalls during the extended period of time that they were just standing on the apron. What would have happened if one of those near-falls was the final pinfall of the night? Then they'd have just stood there and watched their tag team championship opportunity dissipate. The fact that they weren't spurred to break up those pinfalls shows that the match was scripted. All matches are scripted, but make it so damn obvious.
REACTION:
I said in the preview that WWE has a great tag team division and that matches like this would have to happen more often if every tag team in that division is going to be able to get a fair shot at the Tag Team Championships. After watching this match, I'm more than willing to have multi-team tag team matches in every PPV. This was fun to watch and an excellent way to open the PPV. Keep this up WWE and we'll forget about the long stretch of years that your tag team division was nothing more than a joke.
Fandango & Summer Rae def. Khali & Natalya:
WHAT I LIKED:
- I don't LIKE that I was pleasantly surprised at Summer Rae's in-ring performance, but I was. It helps that I had low standards to begin with, but she looked better than most of the veteran divas in the ring. It could have just been the frills on her dress though. They were alluring.
WHAT I HATED:
- What's my rule about dancing again? Oh yeah, it automatically goes into the HATED category. As such this does. Even though the salsa dancing between Summer Rae and Fandango wasn't half-bad. I'm just not looking forward to what Khali and Natalya are going to do to match them. - Are we really still supposed to buy Natalya and Khali as a couple after we just watched Natalya get married to Tyson Kidd on Total Divas? Doesn't WWE keep up with it's own programming? If they are going to blur the line of kayfabe and reality for the relationships of the Bella Twins, then they should do the same for Natalya. Otherwise, Natalya just comes off as a world's worst adulterer, who both cheats with someone far worse looking than her husband and does it on television.
REACTION:
Not sure why this match had to happen. I don't even know how it came to be. Maybe there was some sort of connection on Smackdown this past Friday that I didn't watch much of. This was nothing but time filler, and I'm not going to waste any time reviewing it. But I'm glad that Fandango and Summer Rae won. It's not often that the heel wins the impromptu match that they can't possibly gain from.
Big E Langston def. Dean Ambrose via Count-Out:
WHAT I LIKED:
- I never thought I'd be happy to see an unintentional injury, but that headcrack that led to Big E Langston's eye being bloodied brought some life into this match. And then the tackle to the outside of the ring showed how agile he is for a BIG man and the crowd (and myself) LIKED that a lot.
WHAT I HATED:
- I don't like how this match came to be. It's one thing to challenege someone to a match, but not for a championship. Not when you've done nothing to earn that championship match. Technically, Langston hadn't even earned the Intercontinental Championship match that he was scheduled for, but at least there was a tepid rivalry between he and Curtis Axel and he did pin Axel in a tag team match on RAW. I guess he was part of the winning team that defeated The Shield & Randy Orton on Smackdown, but he didn't pin Dean Ambrose in that match.
- I feel bad for Dean Ambrose in this match. Big E Langston isn't enough of a babyface for the crowd to really care about, so they were quiet in this match. There were even some rumblings of 'boring' when the match really wasn't. Ambrose was on the attack pretty much all match long, and he's honestly facing someone beneath his talent level.
REACTION:
I HATE that they stuck with the count-out ending that was most likely scripted to be the ending for Langston vs Curtis Axel. After the bloodied eye and the tackle out of the ring, the crowd started to get into the match. But the count-out happened shortly thereafter and took away whatever steam was building up. The match was better than I thought it'd be, especially since this was technically an impromptu match. I'm sure Big E appreciated the bump from kickoff to mid-card, and even though I didn't LIKE how it began, I do LIKE how it all played out. But I didn't LIKE the ending. The crowd wanted more and considering that Big E is trying to gain momentum as a babyface, they should have gave them more. It could have gone a long way.
CM Punk def. Ryback & Paul Heyman:
WHAT I LIKED:
- Even though it was a little slow to start, I LIKE the act of having Paul Heyman on the top of the cell during the match. He'd have just been running circles around the ring inside of the cell anyway to get away from Punk. He might as well be away from the action. Plus, this suggests that at some point CM Punk might climb the cell to get to Heyman and we haven't seen a Hell in a Cell match go up top for quite some time. Memories of Mick Foley and Rikishi are floating through my head right now.
WHAT I HATED:
- It's hard for me to HATE any match with CM Punk in it, but I think I HATED the entire match. Hearkening back to last year, when the roles were reversed in the same match I don't think anyone enjoyed that match either. I think the most interesting part was that Ryback was still undefeated at that time and we wanted to see if Punk could hand him his first loss, which he did. But that match sucked and so did this one. Punk and Ryback are not good opponents for each other.
REACTION: Yeah, so that was pretty boring. Punk pretty much defeated Ryback with ease. I was hoping for a little more of a fight and for Heyman to do something to make the match more interesting. The only part the crowd popped for during the match was when the table was used. The post-match antics of Punk climbing the cell and taking out Paul Heyman was the best part. And even though that was satisfying, it's a failure when the post-match is more exciting than the match itself. Plus, there's a joke somewhere about Punk putting the stick in his ass.
Los Matadores def. The Real Americans:
WHAT I LIKED:
- The only good thing about this match was the Big Swing from Antonio Cesaro. Personally, I think that move is dated, but the audiences eat it up for some odd reason. If WWE allows him to continue doing that move, along with the other moves he does that shows off his impressive strength, he might win the audience over and they'll have no choice but to make him a babyface. Now, that I would LOVE.
REACTION:
There's no point of me saying what I HATED about this match because it was everything. There was no question that Los Matadores would win because it was their first PPV match. Now that they've had their fun, let's get to further strengthening the already strong tag team division by abstaining from burying such a talented team like The Real Americans.
John Cena def. Alberto Del Rio, winning the World Heavyweight Championship:
WHAT I LIKED:
- I LIKE that Alberto Del Rio immediately targeted Cena's injured arm and that they made it seem like Cena had some ring rust. It fits the story that they need to tell in this match.
WHAT I HATED:
- The few minutes during John Cena's entrance were agonzing. JBL and Micheal Cole stepped all over each other on commentary trying to be first to say 'he's back.' Then they commenced on languishing over how strong Cena is and how impressive it was that he returned from injury so quickly. Jerry Lawler went as far as actually calling him a 'superman'. I know that's an integral storyline to this match and it is true that Cena seemingly has a Wolverine-like healing ability, but it's still annoying.
- One thing that is completely obvious in this match is that Cena does not know how to sell an injury. There were plenty of times during this match where Cena used his injured arm to hit DDTs, shoulder-blocks, push-off pin attempts and even fell on the arm a couple times, yet he never acted like it hurt him to do so. When the arm was attacked he sold it well enough, but never when he used to arm himself. A better worker would know how to sell even then.
REACTION:
Bullshit.
AJ Lee def. Brie Bella, retaining the Divas Championship:
WHAT I LIKED:
- I needed something as visually pleasing to me as AJ Lee to get my mind off of the championship match that just happened. AJ is even inspiring other chicks in the audience to rock the pigtails too. I say we make this a thing. All women should start wearing their hair in pigtails. It's so sexy. While they're at it, start wearing short shorts and crop-tops too. I think that should be the new style.
REACTION:
I've never been so happy to be so wrong. I thought for certain that they'd have Brie Bella win this match so that she and Daniel Bryan could both be champions, but I did not want that to happen. AJ Lee is the best wrestling diva in the company and deserves to hold that title until Wrestlemania and possibly beyond.
Randy Orton def. Daniel Bryan, winning the WWE Championship:
WHAT I LIKED:
- I LIKE that Triple H came down to the ring with the WWE Championship before the match begun. I know what I said about Triple H in the preview and I stand by it, but him coming down to the ring adds an extra element to this match. It enforces Daniel Bryan even more as the underdog and increases the confidence that Randy Orton has. I LIKE that Daniel Bryan refused to shake Triple H's hand too. He's going to be defiant to the very bitter end.
- It was a good move to have Daniel Bryan remind the Miami fans that they were the ones who started the 'Yes!' chants and began a revolution in WWE. They were hype for this match the entire time. They most likely would have been anyway, but it didn't hurt to have him butter them up.
WHAT I HATED:
- Now that I think more about it, I HATE the Special Guest Referee rule even more because it's not even necessary. There literally nothing for the referee to do in a Hell in a Cell match but stand around awkwardly until a pinfall or submission attempt occurs. They're paying Shawn Michaels what I sure is a six figure deal to do something that they already have people on the payroll to do. He adds nothing to the match, except the one thing he's already promised he wouldn't do, which is to influence the eventual outcome.
- How does no one ever get the memo that when you introduce a weapon into a match like this (and especially when you introduce multiple weapons) that they are just going to be used against you? It happened here with Daniel Bryan being on the receiving end of the stack of chairs he tossed into the ring. And it happened earlier when CM Punk's family jewels caught the edge of the table he brought into the match. They'd be much better off without the weapons.
REACTION:
As soon as Triple H made his way back down to ringside, I knew the finish to this match was about to be wonky. And this might be the most convoluted of them all. The timing was completely off. Triple H climbed on the cell to distract HBK too early and had to do it again. And don't get me started on the ref bump. Apparently even when superstars put on the referee shirt, they become highly susceptible to even smallest of bumps. After Daniel Bryan hit Triple H with the Running Knee, HBK had to stutter twice before dropping Bryan with the Sweet Chin Music because Bryan didn't turn around when he thought he would. It was all out of sorts. They should have done something better than this to end the match. I don't even care that Randy Orton won.
QUOTES OF THE NIGHT:
"What he just said is 'My bull outfit is in the locker room'." - JBL (referring to Rey Mysterio)
It's not often that the Quote of the Night comes from the kickoff show, but this was too funny to overlook. JBL is very quick-witted and pulled that joke out of nowhere. The best part about it is that Rey Mysterio, who was seated not far from JBL at the Spanish announce table, couldn't even reply because he didn't hear it. I assume someone will tell him what was said and he'll have a hearty laugh about it too.
"Maybe he doesn't like MizTV either." - JBL (after Kane chokeslammed The Miz)
I don't know if that means that Kane has indeed joined the Wyatts like I thought he's do, but if so I think it's cool. If not, I think it's cool. I'm just happy to have Kane back. And I'm happy that The Miz has something to do again.
MATCH OF THE NIGHT: For the second PPV in a row, the only good match on the card is the Tag Team Championship match and it just so happened to be the first of the night. It was literally all downhill from there.
OVERALL REACTION:
I'm sure the official word from WWE and HBK will be that Michaels was only defending his friend when he superkicked Daniel Bryan. Of course, Bryan will retort with the fact that Triple H tossed him across the ring first, plus he was in a match that he had no business being involved in. But Triple H will say that he was trying to check on HBK, who apparently can take a Tombstone from Undertaker but not collision in the back with Randy Orton. At least there is a WWE Champion now. I guess we should just be thankful for that.
There's also a new World Heavyweight Champion in John Cena. I didn't bother writing too much to recap that match because what I wrote pretty much sums up my reaction to it. Alberto Del Rio was on offense that entire match. John Cena hits one Attitude Adjustment and he wins? That's bullshit. But that's WWE for you.
I sincerely hope that nobody in WWE scores this PPV as a success. They made this a huge PPV and stacked the lineup and even got me excited for it, only to piss it all away with that ending. Both Hell in a Cell matches were pisspoor. Both Championship matches ended with the wrong winner. I know it's not my place to say what WWE should or shouldn't do, but I think they jumped the gun on making John Cena the World Champion and they're continually ignoring what the fans want by not making Daniel Bryan the WWE Champion.
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