Unified Tag Team Championship: The Big Show Chris Jericho (c) def. MVP Mark Henry
Is it just me, or does anyone else really like the duo of Mark Henry and MVP, especially when they're given a really great set of matching attire to go along with it and make them seem like a legitimate tag team? I don't think we can look for MVP making any giant leaps and bounds into main event status, nor do I think they will ever give Mark Henry that spot outside of to job now and again, so I wouldn't mind if these two stayed together for a little while. The problem is, they've had enough encounters with Jericho and Big Show that really, who else is there for them to face? This match was a good opener, but I do have one bone to pick. I think they're running this "Big Show is on the outside and punches someone so Jericho can pin them" match ending on its last leg. They can do better than that after they've done it several times already.
United States Championship: Kofi Kingston (c) def. The Miz
Well this came out of the blue on the card. They really could be building this as a real good feud, but it seems like they refuse to put any effort into it. The Miz and Kofi are two people that the WWE will be banking on in the future, how often recently have they not even been on the Raw card, let along getting the proper time it requires to get the fans to care about the two of them facing each other? And the worst part of it is that they proved tonight that they can put on a match that would deliver if you'd give them a little bit of steam, but they're clearly going to waste. I definitely want to see more of this and less of, well, a lot of things on Raw.
Submissions Count Anywhere: Legacy def. DX
Sadly, I was disappointed. This match suffered greatly from how haphazard it was. Between the camera work, the poor lighting in some areas, all the crowds, and the fact that they couldn't follow the action for more than 2 seconds before cutting to someone else, I had no idea what was going on for 75% of the match. The parts of the brawling that I could actually see were ok, but the two highlights of this match for me were the very beginning with the joke about the Montreal Screwjob, as well as the very end. I was just recently talking about how I miss how Bret Hart used to do the figure four on the ring post and how the spike piledriver was one of my favorite moves that I regret that I can't see in the WWE anymore, so they brought the excitement level up. Having HBK submit with that figure four PLUS the Million Dollar Dream in no way hurts his credibility and it makes Legacy look very skilled.
Singapore Cane Match: Kane def. The Great Khali
A tedious Orton promo, a commercial plug, and then this match? Man is it obvious that they planned this as the bathroom break. There isn't much to say about a match like this that consists of a few strikes, some lumbering around, and then the finish. The only thing to really point out is that Kane pulled off a decent chokeslam and that I'm very glad he came out of it victorious, as Kane loses too much for his own good, and maybe this will be an upward climb towards trying to get Kane back into being worth it.
Jimmy Wang Yang vs. CM Punk
Ok not really, but hey, Jimmy Wang Yang is on the ppv! Poor guy. His ring attire might as well say "punching bag" on it, because any time he's on camera, you know he's getting whooped.
ECW Championship: Christian (c) def. William Regal
I'd say that this was their best match so far, but I'm still not a fan of this feud in the slightest bit. I severely wish a pink slip upon Kozlov, and I think Regal is one of the most overrated wrestlers out there and very sloppy. Still, it kept my attention, and I went into it not knowing who would win, so you can't discredit everything. Hopefully they don't simply have Christian move onto feuding with the two lackeys for the next 5 months, but I don't know where they're going after this.
Intercontinental Championship: John Morris...wait
So they felt the need to take away this match because supposedly, they couldn't think of a way to end it without making someone look bad. Have they forgotten about the possibility of letting them both get counted out while they brawl on the outside? Have they forgotten about double knockouts, quick pinfalls, DQs? Instead of a match between two talented superstars, we get Pat Patterson rambling until he's cut off by the Dolph Ziggler Comedy Hour. I'll admit, I laughed at some of the jokes, but did anyone else feel that it went on a bit too long? Morrison probably would've had a decent reaction if they'd have played his music and had him come out to cut a promo, instead of just sliding into the ring to do the stereotypical "are you ok, buddy" gesture to Patterson. I don't get a good match between these two because its replaced by what would be a poor segment even for Smackdown? Even Michael Cole said, literally, "let's get back to Breaking Point" as if this segment really was a part of something else. Highlight of this part was the chant going on in the background, which I won't repeat here because after all, WWE is PG right?
WWE Championship (I Quit Match): John Cena def. Randy Orton (c)
The first two minutes into this match, I began hating it. The energy was low and I was seeing nothing I hadn't seen before. Once the handcuffs came into place, however, things really picked up and became much more interesting. What I liked about this was how it was different. Sure, it wasn't even close to a technical wrestling masterpiece, but it was a good demonstration of what an I Quit would really be like. Why go through a bunch of arm drags and sunset flips when you can handcuff your opponent to the ring and beat the hell out of him with various objects? It made sense, it was something fresh, and some of those shots really seemed painful as you can tell from the welts on Cena's chest by the end. The safe bet wins, of course, with Cena not quitting, which isn't surprising in the least. What did surprise me was how they seemed to forget that that wasn't the last match on the card and let the victory celebration last for what, 20 minutes? That was annoying. I'm sure I wasn't as annoyed with that though as the anti-Cena crowd is going to be with him having a sixth title reign, though.
World Heavyweight Championship: Undertaker def. CM Punk (c)
Ok so I wouldn't go so far as to say it became the train wreck I said it could have been, but I really never got into this at all. Maybe it was the combination of a bunch of let downs during the night or maybe these two just don't have a whole lot of chemistry together, but I actually was bored watching this. The Undertaker is one of my favorites and I find CM Punk to be entertaining, but that just wasn't the case tonight. Also, what was up with the ending here? People were complaining about the Orton/Cena match at SummerSlam having the "worst ending ever" which I didn't agree with, but anyone who wants to tear into this one, feel free. Another screwjob? Come on. Save me the storyline promo on Friday night and just have Vince McMahon come out, tell the fans "I didn't think ahead of time when I booked this match and I couldn't think of a way to keep the belt on Punk, so I panicked, I'm sorry, here's a Hell in a Cell match for next month" because that's really all this seems to have been.
Remember how I said I was hesitant about these gimmick themed pay-per-views and how I think they'll cheapen the matches as well as prevent Creative from being able to book things logically? Yeah, this event didn't change my mind one bit. Very disappointing overall. I guess SummerSlam was a needle in a haystack.
