Some more points from last night. Thanks to the wondrous technology of the DVR, I went back to go over the highlights of the show, just to see if I missed anything. I sure did. A big one. I mentioned in my column last night, when Randy Orton was on top of the ladder, he must have taken about an hour to realize it was time for him to grab the briefcase to win. I mean, he was up there a while just looking around like a dog sniffing for food. Or feces. Either or. Once he got it, the crowd went dead. Not like actually dead but just dead silent like a 3MB or Great Khali match. You can see people not waiting around like the end of a movie to see if there are any bonus clips after the credits. People were running for the exits. I would. This says something. Not even the little pre-teens were cheering. WWE, I hope took notice, because right now it seems like no one cares Randy Orton is holding the WWE Championship briefcase. This would be a very good time to turn him heel. Although, another Cena/Orton feud as all the appeal of a TNA backstage segment. None.
WWE.com posted the injury report from Money in the Bank. Nice, but not nice. I hope posting the injuries sustained at big pay-per-views does not become a regular thing, because I really do not want to see these guys get injured, badly, and cut short their careers. Punk, Rhodes, and RVD needed staples and stitches after last night. Rhodes and Punk were bloody messes.
Cody Rhodes, like him or not, was the MVP of the PPV.
Damien Sandow, my pick to win his MITB match has a lot to gain here. To be honest, even if he fails to win a championship when cashing in, his win steps him up to potential main event level. Look what it did for Swagger, Edge, Daniel Bryan, and CM Punk. Sandow, The Modern-Day Genius (sorry Mr. Poffo), has the WWE in the palm of his hand. Last night, the best man won.
CM Punk. Paul Heyman. Curtis Axel. Brock Lesnar. This gets addressed tonight, and Punk is none too happy.
Is Brad Maddox going to be face or heel? Big question for a little guy. He makes everyone just hate him, yet he airs a video package of Vickie Guerrero embarrassing her in great length. Does she go face now? Too many questions for a so-far-yet-uninteresting angle. Speaking of Maddox, he leads off RAW, allowing John Cena to pick his SummerSlam opponent. WHY!?
Cena gets more boos than Maddox. Wow. Funny line from Cena to Maddox “This will be the only time in the Brad Maddox Era that the person beside you in the ring is hated more than you.”
Randy Orton comes in and tells Cena he may not make it to SummerSlam as champion. Forget the rest of the promo, Fandango comes in to a huge pop from the insane Brooklyn crowd. First Philadelphia, now Brooklyn. Something tells me the east coast is just flat out nuts. Remember East Rutherford, day after WrestleMania 29? NOTHING tops a Jersey Crowd!!
Randy Orton defeated Fandango
You would not believe me if I flipped the names around, so I have to tell the truth. Match was pretty average, but the Brooklyn crowd somehow made it entertaining. Fandango had good offense, but his dancing taunts are surpassing comedy-tolerable-level, now its just flat out overdone. Orton wins with an RKO, and the new Mr. Money in the Bank.
Dolph Ziggler breaks up with AJ Lee
Never saw THAT coming, right? Nothing much to say here, now AJ will probably reveal to being with former NXT Champion Big E. Langston are in a relationship or something, and AJ will send him after Ziggler for revenge. AJ being dumped is never over when you want it to be. I just hope it does not ruin his chances for a World Championship rematch at SummerSlam. Worse yet, Ziggler will now saddle up with Kaitlyn, so AJ continues to lose her marbles. Kaitlyn would use Ziggles for leverage to regain the Diva Title. It makes sense. AJ and Kaitlyn did have a great match at Money in the Bank, so the warring couples bit might not be so bad here.
Mark Henry gets beat up by The Shield
I am not sure whether to laugh or cry. For the past few years, big Henry has been portrayed as a beast. Now, he comes to the ring, and accepts his defeat at the hands of John CeeNuts. While we get another really well spoken promo, we get the interruption of The Shield. Not sure where this is going. Henry now goes face-turn? Is that it for Mark Henry and his quest for a WWE Championship? Lame. Lame-o.
Alberto del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler
Wow. Can these guys put on a show or what? However, not without disappointment. In a match worthy of highlighting a pay-per-view, it ended with interference from (predictably) AJ Lee and Big E. Langston. As Ziggler had the match in hand following a top-rope Famouser, AJ ran to the timekeeper, rang the bell, confusing Ziggles. With the distraction, Del Rio clocked him in the back of the head, and earned the pinfall. Post match beatdown by Langstong and AJ. We saw this coming, and we know where it leads. Hopefully, once Ziggler is done fighting off his ex and Langston, he can go back to chasing a major championship. It is still a shame his long-and-hard-fought second World Championship reign came to an abrupt end. All main eventers have their low-period of mid-carding, even Orton had it for a while, but Ziggler has been there for way too long, and to be put back there feels more like punishment than reward.
The Wyatts beat up R-Truth
R-Truth comes back with a new hair-do, but same crazy. Does not last long as The Wyatts head down to ringside and easily make short work of R-Truth. I am really happy we get more Wyatt Family, not so happy they go from Kane to R-Truth. A very backwards move. Take out Sheamus, Orton, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Jericho, RVD, Cody Rhodes, and I could give you a dozen better targets for the Wyatts to go after. You want the Wyatts to look impressive in action, not just in promos. This is not going to help. The cryptic message from Bray, does give some hope… “You are not the truth we seek… Kane… Follow the buzzards.” This would imply they are trying to recruit Kane into the fold. Wow, if Kane joined the Wyatt Family Cult… Wow.
3MB are shmucks. Get rid of them already.
The Usos beat Colter’s Patriots (Swagger & Cesaro)
Colter is great on the mic, but sadly this “I’m a better patriot than you” angle is losing steam. Something big needs to happen to maintain any momentum. Both Swagger and Cesaro are super-talented, but they went up against the uber-talented tag team of The Usos, and lost. The Usos are the hottest team WWE has right now, I would like to see them go for, and win the tag belts. I like Rollins and Reigns as champs, but as long as they have the belts, no one else has a shot. If the Usos had the belts, then teams like Swagger and Cesaro or The Colons or Prime Time Players ( I HATE Darren Young) have a believable chance of winning.
Christian defeated Damien Sandow
This has WTF written all over it. Sandow outshined and outclassed Christian, yet a quick counter ends the match? Well, maybe it is just a setback. Ziggler was on a losing streak for months before he finally cashed in. Perhaps WWE Creative is taking the same route, leading us all to believe Mr. Sandow is down-and-out while he secretly waits, plotting, scheming… Until Cody Rhodes rushes out and beats him up! The Mustached Master bolts down to the ring and unleashed fury on his former friend. Crowd loves it. Rhodes just became uber-face numero uno. Rhodes and Sandow were a great team, but they can be better opponents. I look forward to this feud developing towards SummerSlam.
1-800-Fella. I don’t get it.
Naomi defeated a Bella Twin
Eh, almost decent match. More hype for Total Divas on E! At least Naomi can wrestle. Lawler needs to shut up. Not allowed to talk during matches involving women. Nothing good comes from him.
Paul Heyman and CM Punk confront each other
Wow. These guys gave such as great promo. Wow. They were great as “friends”, and now even better as enemies. Heyman delivers a scathing, evil, sinister promo. Heyman says without him, Punk is nothing. CM Punk does not exist. Heyman says he turned his back on a loser, because Punk cannot beat a real fighter… Punk counters with a promo which is a work of art. Punk and Heyman trade verbal barbs, until Punk threatens Heyman. In response, Heyman gets down on a knee, circles the floor with his finger, checks his watch, yelling “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” Hit the music and Brock Lesnar comes stomping to ringside. Punk and Lesnar fight, but Lesnar no-sells everything Punk throws at him. One F-5 into the announcing table and the brawl ends. I told you we will see Punk vs. Brock at SummerSlam. I have heard doubts whether Punk and Brock can have a decent match, only because Brock is a no-seller and will have trouble keeping pace. I have faith they will pull it off. I believe in CM Punk.
Stephanie and Brad Maddox have an awkward segment, interrupted by Triple H. They run him down, make fun of him, make him awkward. Nervous. Funny stuff. They warn Mr. Maddox, apparently Vince does not like it when the superstars get to make the matches. Triple H and Steph think, if Cena picks who they think he will pick, Vince will not be happy. I enjoyed watching them make Maddox squirm. He is annoying, and when he tries to act all tough and in-charge, they take him down a peg.
The Great Khali asks John Cena for a title match at SummerSlam. In his native tongue. If this segment could not get worse, Cena answered him in the very same language.
Rob Van Dam defeated Chris Jericho
The rowdy Brooklyn crowd contributes with “E-C-Dub” and “You Still Got It” chants. The crowd enjoying both Y2J and RVD, but solid behind the former ECW champ. The crowd erupts with applause following each exchange. Great match. They easily gave RVD the chance to show off and work off the ring rust, as he controlled most of the match, but what made the match really good, neither man dominated for too long, Jericho would fight back and hit some big moves of his own. Standing powerbomb by Jericho was very impressive. While RVD was the clear favorite, the crowd chants of “This is Awesome” proved quite true as both Jericho and Van Dam put on one hell of a show. From moonsaults off the ropes, dives, jumping leg lariats, DDTs and constant chain wrestling, Jericho and Van Dam proved why they should be the main event. RVD nearly put Jericho away with a rolling dive off the top rope. Incredible. Jericho countered a hurricanrana attempt into the Walls. The staples in RVD opened up, and out spilleth the blood. RVD wins the match with the 5-Star, but this match was a 5-Star contest. I even stood up to applaud. Rob Van Dam certainly still has it.
John Cena picks…
So all the wrestlers were standing there while Cena made his pick. Bet they all thought this was either an easy paycheck or amazement at Cena acting like he owns the company. He does the noble thing and says he cannot be the one to decide, but the WWE Universe needs to pick his opponent. Sigh. So now, the wrestlers who the crowd does not cheer for, probably feel like crap. Not like Heath Slater or Darren Young had a chance. This segment is terrible. Cena points at someone, crowd boos, at least RVD got some big cheers. While Cena wastes valuable time, the crowd interrupts with Daniel Bryan chants. We know Vince “does not like him” which Triple H and Steph alluded to earlier on in the show… after much stalling Cena does indeed choose Daniel Bryan. Crowd erupts with the loudest YES chants I have ever heard.
So we get Cena defending against Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam. Need I say more?!
NO NO…
Uh, I mean, YES YES YES!!!!!!
They will not have the advantage of a certainly hot crowd like at Chicago that helped make the match big. They will have to work with Los Angeles, which I have learned has had a history of being a very dead crowd at times.