YES! YES! YES!
Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena in a near-30 minute match to become WWE Champion. Only to have Triple H pull the heel-turn, which allowed for Randy Orton to cash in and take the title away just minutes later.
Yes, a travesty.
One I saw coming weeks ago, and quite frankly should have been very obvious once Orton won Money in the Bank. The HHH-McMahon feud was all part of the setup. Was Cena in on it? One has to wonder where Cena now stands as Orton is the current reigning champion, with Triple H seemingly by his side.
I am very glad Bryan got his time in the spotlight, but very disappointed it could not have lasted any longer. Bryan now reaches uber-face status while Orton and Triple H become the top heels of the company, leaving fans to wonder if Bryan will ever hold the WWE Championship Title again and if the Triple H/Vince McMahon feud is truly at an end?
Alberto del Rio defeated Christian in an absolutely incredible match. A near 25-minute contest saw Del Rio get his face beaten and Christian pull every move out of the handbook. Christian gets a lot of credit, and had a good run, but I think it might be time to move on. If Christian is not World Title material, I think it might be a good time to consider retirement. A smart move on the part of Edge who retired after suffering one-too-many injuries.
The Miz was constantly interrupted by Fandango and Summer Rae. Very funny.
Natalya defeated Brie Bella in a snoozefest, the crowd cheering more for JBL. Ziggles and Kaitlyn defeated Langston and AJ in a decent but ultimately boring match. Surprisingly, Kane losing to Bray Wyatt while not a bad match, was not great either. Harper and Rowan eventually found their way into the ring, helping Bray conquer and in a bizarre conclusion, kidnap Kane.
Ambrose retained the United States Championship after RVD won by DQ. RVD had the match won, but Rollins and Reigns saw to it their leader held his gold, while Big Show and Mark Henry, at ringside in support of RVD remained to fat and slow to actually do anything.
Big surprise in my opinion, Brock Lesnar defeated CM Punk, with a lot of help from Paul Heyman. Who would have thought an overweight former head honcho of ECW could help Brock overcome the WWE-version of the Energizer Bunny? Punk/Brock was a great fight, had a few suplexes thrown in, but ultimately Brock F-5’d Punk onto a chair leading his way to victory.
A match which I thought would steal the show, Rhodes vs. Sandow. In a shock, Rhodes shaved off the mustache, so there goes the reason we liked him. Just kidding, Rhodes, once again stepped up at bat and delivered a great contest with Sandow who is an endless supply of innovate in-ring performance skill. The guy has “Future World Champion” written all over him. As long as Rhodes stays off the mic, he can remain in good standing as a consistent main eventer.
Cena/Bryan was a great match. A scary moment where Cena nearly broke the neck of Bryan only added to the amazement of the match. Bryan out-performed Cena, and even out-performed himself from his previous main event matches. Bryan proved without a doubt why he is among the future of WWE. Sadly, we got robbed of our happy ending thanks to Triple H hitting the Pedigree on Bryan, revealing the conspiracy involving Randy Orton.
Quick Recap:
Rob Van Dam defeated Dean Ambrose by DQ, Ambrose retains the U.S. Title
Bray Wyatt defeated Kane, then kidnapped him
Cody Rhodes defeated Damien Sandow
Alberto del Rio retained the World Championship against Christian
Brock Lesnar defeated CM Punk
Natalya defeated Brie Bella
Dolph Ziggler & Kaitlyn defeated AJ Lee and Big E. Langston
Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship
Randy Orton defeated Daniel Bryan when cashing in the MITB Contract
