WHAT I LIKED:
Opening Segment: If anyone actually thought that Randy Orton wouldn't be WWE Champion after Survivor Series must have been watching a different program than everyone else. Big Show had no chance of winning that title. No chance in hell, one might say. Please, WWE Universe, please keep chanting "Daniel Bryan" and "Yes!" when The Authority are in the ring. Make them realize that blaming him for the lack of PPVs is asinine. I almost want to erase that last sentence since John Cena is agreeing with me. I don't agree with the match that was made during this segment. I think it's a mistake to unify the WWE and World Championships. There are a lot of mouths to feed in WWE and having two titles helps with that. Hell, even with two titles there is still obvious disparity. That's what causes them to shorten championship reigns. CM Punk's 434-day run not withstanding, I don't think there's been a WWE or World Title reign that's lasted longer than 10 months - and that was JBL's lone World Title run back in 2004. Having only one major champion would only exacerbate that growing problem. Of course, that may be me putting the cart before the horse. Both titles will be up for grabs (literally!) at TLC. There could still be two champions after the match. For all I know, this may just be an attempt to swap the titles.
Six-Man Tag: Roman Reigns' performance last night in the Traditional Survivor Series match was impressive. I won't dispute that. But it's obvious that WWE is really trying to push him over the other two members of The Shield, despite the fact that they re both better than him. This should come as no surprise to anyone that I'm much higher on Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. I practically had an aneurysm when they debuted and I had no idea who Reigns even was. That's because Ambrose and Rollins made a name for themselves in the independent circuit as Jon Moxley and Tyler Black, respectively. And it should no surprise to anyone else that WWE is higher on Reigns because he's bigger. That's it. Just because he's bigger. And WWE made sure everyone knew how big and powerful he was at Survivor Series and in tonight's six-man tag team match by having him spear everybody in sight. The Shield are a great team. Maybe one of the best in WWE history. But in all of their great matches, it's been Ambrose and Rollins doing all of the work. All Reigns contributes is a Superman Punch and a couple of spears. It's a pretty awesome spear, but it's still just a spear. He's going to have to contribute much more than that if he's going to be thrust into the spotlight.
MizTV: I admit that I chuckled a bit seeing Titus O'Neil coming down as Michael Strahan, complete with the faux-gap and the lisp. LOVE the crack that Miz made about the New York Giants. That was a pretty fun segment. Aside from the introduction of the main-event tag team match, he was pretty cool. This may have been the best MizTV of all-time, and that's saying something. I wouldn't mind it if Titus O'Neil became a regular on the microphone. He's got some mic skills. And he's a BIG MAN that I wouldn't mind WWE pushing.
3-on-2 Handicap Match: I kind of LIKE the name 'G.O.A.Ts' better than 'The Beard & The Best' as a tag team name for them. 'Greatest Of All Teams' encompasses both of their monikers in an intelligent way that WWE isn't known for. I wonder who thought of that. I guess this means that they will be a tag team for the forseeable future. It's sort of sad to see them being ousted from the main-event but WWE's Tag Team Division is so full of talent, that they would have much better competition and the ability to put on much better matches there. I salivate thinking about seeing them in a 20-minute PPV tag team match against The Real Americans. And if this partnership goes well up until say right before Wrestlemania XXX, where it starts to sour... that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. (Hint. Hint. Nudge. Nudge.) It's not a true rematch since Bray Wyatt is added to the fray, but great idea to have a rematch of the MOTN from the PPV. Based on the matches we've seen so far and the only pre-announced match to come, this is probable to win that distinction again. I was enjoying the match just as much as last night until the DQ ending. But then the aftermath made me forget all about that. The Wyatt Family abducting Daniel Bryan and The Shield demolishing CM Punk takes me out of whatever long-term plans are in store for them and wonder what the fuck is going on the short-term. One thing is for sure; they've got my attention.
Kingston vs Miz: Oh good. So this will be continuing. I know that sounds condescending, but it isn't. I just figured that after the kickoff match and Miz being involved in the MizTV segment, that this was over. I'm okay with it as both of these guys need something to do. I don't even mind having The Miz in multiple segments. He needs as much exposure as possible. The crowd wasn't into this match near as much as the one last night. And why should they be? It ended the exact same way - with a rollup victory for The Miz. Kofi Kingston should know not to face someone who currently has a movie that WWE is pimping. Then maybe he won't lose twice in a row. Ah, who am I kidding? Losing is what Kingston is best at.
WHAT I HATED:
Axel/Ryback vs Langston/Henry: Curtis Axel has got to feel like the odd man out here. Three BIG MEN in the match and him. It's weird that for as much as I HATE the BIG MAN initiative, I actually LIKE all three of the BIGS in this match. They all bring something more to the table aside from their size and one BIG move. The main thing I HATE about the bigger wrestlers is that the matches have to be shortened due their lack of stamina. This match was only about 3 minutes long and I know for a fact that Curtis Axel can compete in matches far longer than this. That's one thing that suffers with having more BIG MEN in the company. You sacrifice match quality. Once ina while, you may get the type of match that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan got out of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan last night, but you can't bet on that happening all the time. Plus, it's the 'little' guys that have to do all the work in those matches. But I will say that I do LIKE the combination of Big E Langston and Mark Henry.
7-on-7 Divas Elimination: I have a small retraction to make after last night's KJR. I rewatched the Divas Elimination Tag match from Survivor Series again earlier today and realized that there wasn't a mistake made by Nikki Bella or whomever scripted the match. The error was made by the commentators and ring announcer when they proclaimed Natalya as the sole survivor. I apologize for the error on my part. Had I been watching more intently, I would have seen that Nikki was still a part of the match. It's difficult to type the KJR and watch the action at the same time, so I have the depend on what I hear at the times that I'm looking at the computer screen. I don't know why they decide to make this the rematch from last night. Why rematch the worst match of the night? I think they just wanted to make it up to Nikki Bella. They wouldn't do that if she was 'twerking' for John Cena. That's for damn sure.
Hamptons Hardcore Match: I'm with JBL here. What a stupid thing to call a match. There's nothing Hardcore about The Hamptons. Given, my only knowledge of The Hamptons is from what I watch on Royal Pains and Revenge, but fiction imitates life. Apparently, they have big red balls in The Hamptons. What were those? Buoys? I suppose I should be okay with this match. No matter what qualifier they put on it, it is a Hardcore match, which I do LIKE. I LIKE Damien Sandow. And I really LIKE Dolph Ziggler. What's to HATE about this match? Of course, it is a little irritating that WWE doesn't think the fans realize that there are no real differences between a Hardcore match or a Street Fight. And I HATE that Dolph Ziggler has been denigrated to competing in prop matches like this every week. At least he's still competing every week.
Woods vs Slater: I'm excited to see this match. I want to see what Xavier Woods is all about. I've seen a little bit of him in NXT, and he's been impressive. I also saw a limited amount of his talent in TNA, but not enough to be of any consequence. See what I did there? He's obviously got some talent, but I don't agree with how WWE is introducing him. Alongside R-Truth and with The Funkadactlys, it's all very ethnic. Nothing wrong with that in general, it's just that I don't like seeing the stereotypes of my ethnicity be exploited. And it's not just black stereotypes WWE exploited in this segment. They did the same with Jewish stereotypes. The Kosher Butcher? Come on. Albeit, I will admit that the 'Circumcision' would be the best name for a finisher ever.
Orton/Del Rio vs Cena/Big Show: Off of the heels of the huge matchup made at Tables, Ladders & Chairs, does WWE really think anyone is buying that either John Cena or Randy Orton will be losing this match tonight? Much less doing too much wrestling in it? Oh no, they are going to be in protection mode for their two golden boys until that match occurs. And after trying to sell us on the fact that just last night Cena's arm was vulnerable, there was no mention of his injury tonight. It's like it magically disappeared overnight. Cena can't sell for shit. And do you really mean to tell me that after all the KO Punches Big Show has delivered, no one has acted like it still affected them for more than one day and Big Show's fist is massive. One punt from Randy Orton and Big Show is loopy. At least the big man can sell. And unfortunately, it's Alberto Del Rio that has to take the loss here because he hasn't lost enough in the past few months. I'm sorry. This upcoming unification match is making me more and more upset the more I think about it. I really don't like the idea. I don't even think it's going to happen, but I really don't like it.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:
"Miz is a bad guy. Miz is a bad guy." - The Miz
I wish WWE would make up their minds about rather or not Miz is a bad guy. I think he's at his best as a heel and obviously, I'd like to see him at his best. He played off his current 'tweener' role to perfection tonight, but it won't always go over so well.
MATCH OF THE NIGHT:
For the match itself and for what happened afterwards, Punk & Bryan vs The Wyatt Family win this hands down. I don't remember being this enthused about a storyline that didn't include one of the major championships in a long time.
BEST IN SHOW:
You know what, I'm actually going to award this to The Miz. I haven't been able to do that in a good, good while. He deserves it tonight. He actually had an interesting MizTV for once, where he represented for my Cowboys and my QB. He had a decent enough showing in his match against Kofi Kingston. He took advantage of WWE placing him in the spotlight due to his movie that's premiering tomorrow, in case you hadn't heard. I won't be watching it, but good for him. His co-star is pretty damn hot, too.
REACTION:
Am I the only one who thinks Stephanie McMahon should lose the pantsuits? She was wearing a dress last night and looked gorgeous. Not that I think all women need to wear dresses or anything misogynistic like that, but pantsuits are just so masculine that it takes away from the sexiness of a lady. Stephanie has a very fit body and the dress she was wearing last night really accentuated her figure. I know she's an authority figure and needs to exude power, but that can done just as well in a beautiful dress as in a power suit.
Michael Strahan was a great Guest Host. His in-ring segment with Titus O'Neil and The Miz was awesome. And he played off the superstars well in the backstage promos he was a part of. I didn't mind him as much as I thought I would. If they downplay the Guest Hosts' importance and write for them as well as they did tonight, I wouldn't give them so much grief about having them.
I am hooked with whatever is going on between Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, The Wyatt Family and The Shield. That entire post-match segment had my eyes glued to the screen. It's multi-layered and I can't figure for the life of me what's going to happen. I LIKE not knowing or thinking that I know. I LIKE being surprised ever so often.
I'm not so hooked on the Unification WWE/World Title match at Tables, Ladders and Chairs. For one, this is a HUGE match. It shouldn't be happening at a gimmick PPV like TLC. Considering that it'll most likely still end with two champions, they should have held this match until Royal Rumble, since title matches there aren't exactly important. Secondly, it's been done before and it's not as historic as they're trying to make it. (Hello, Chris Jericho!) Kudos to John Cena for sort of alluding to Jericho's unification of the titles when he said 'this is 11 years in the making.' Even Triple H held both titles at once before they were blended together to make the Undisputed Championship. And was him who brought the World Title back into play after the brand extension. Like I said, I'm not liking the idea for this match. Maybe they can win me over in the next month. But I strongly doubt it.
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