Opening DX Segment
At first, I thought something was wrong. They got me. Pretty funny little opener, especially since it was something different. Good start to the ppv.
Intercontinental Championship: Rey Mysterio (c) def. Dolph Ziggler
I really liked this match. Nice spots all over. Rey's moonsault at the beginning, the rough looking hurricanrana, Ziggler's dropkick response to Rey's crossbody attempt, etc. The fans were definitely into this match too, as they should have been, which is yet another positive, as we all know a good crowd can boost the energy of the match itself. Nearly every one of the near-falls felt like they could be the end of the match, and MAN was I fooled when Mysterio missed the 619. I thought Ziggler had it right there. Very exciting from start to finish. I'd have preferred Ziggler winning the title, but the quality of this match more than makes up for it. Very, very good, opening match.
Interview: Jack Swagger & MVP
I have to say, the promo didn't keep my attention too much as I was distracted by Josh's shirt. But from what I heard, it was decent, though a bit forced. They must have realized that this feud doesn't have much steam going into the match.
MVP def. Jack Swagger
Meh, this was just ok. It didn't feel as though it had that "big ppv feud match" quality to it to me, but rather, just a long Raw contest placed on a pay-per-view.
Unified Tag Team Championship: Chris Jericho & Big Show (c) def. Cryme Tyme
New theme music, eh? It sounds a lot better than just randomly cutting their two songs together, I'll have to say that. Generic, blah, etc.
Interview: CM Punk
The "dork vampire" line made me laugh almost as much as Josh's shirt.
Kane def. The Great Khali
Hey, Khali learned how to do an elbow drop. I knew if we waited another 4 months, he'd figure out one more move. I suppose this could have been worse, but at least it succeeded in giving Kane a little bit of a purpose.
DX def. Legacy
Now that's how you make an entrance on one of the "big four" ppvs. Very cool. I can't really think of anything to pinpoint in this match. It was solid from top to bottom, Trips even allowed himself to take some of the brunt of the attack for once, and most importantly, Legacy came out of it looking very strong rather than being squashed. I can't see how anyone could complain about it. Thumbs up, indeed.
ECW Championship: Christian (c) def. William Regal
Wait...what? That quickly? 10 seconds or so, and that's it? Well, there goes their idea of Regal being the credible heel on ECW. I'm curious as to how they think they'll save this angle after making the heel lose that quickly. Hopefully it doesn't lead to Kozlov holding the title.
WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) def. John Cena
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Not only was this match extremely entertaining, but everything surrounding the match was, too! The crowd was electric and split down the middle and the work inside the ring was great to back that up. When Orton got disqualified, I felt a bit let down, but when Lillian (eventually) figured out her dialogue and restarted the match, I thought for sure that Cena would win. The count out afterwards could've been foreseen, but I mean come on, when you restart a match twice, you pretty much assume that there will be a new champ. Then on top of that, we have either a legit fan from the crowd or maybe a WWE plant screw the match for Cena. If that was a plant, kudos to Creative for throwing a curveball that was pulled off very well. If it was a real audience member, that's a bit sad on his part for taking it that hard. Orton retaining via pinfall was a HUGE shock to me after all these restarts. Much applause if that went off the way they wanted it to, cause that was fantastic.
World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk def. Jeff Hardy (c)
Good lord these two took some hell in this match. Is either guy related to Foley? This was brutal, and not in the "smack myself in the head because Hornswoggle is on screen" type of bad brutality. Say what you will about the PG era but this here shows that they still do things as hardcore as ever when it comes to their no-DQ situations. I don't even know what spots to talk about in this match. I lost count, there were so many. Jeff could have easily phoned it in and kept it simple and straight, but he really gave it his all in this explosive match. The cherry on top of course was the Undertaker's return, which allows the fans to go home happy, as if that match wasn't good enough on its own.
That was by far the best ppv of the year so far. There were some little hiccups, but who pays attention to them when you were given a large percentage of highspots to push them into the shadows? Oftentimes, pay-per-views can feel like a waste of time, but I'd be completely dumbfounded if people felt that way after watching this. Fun night, as it should have been.
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