Blowin’ Smoke with Kemper Jones
Bragging Rights 2010 Afterthoughts
Thanks go out to Danny for once again coming through with the PPV tape. It’s always nice to come home to a 3 hour PPV after a 12 hour shift, but it’s also a really long day.
I’m once again typing this on my phone. I actually realized that I like it better than with the laptop. I posted my column on all 3 sites with it last night. When I’m writing on my phone, I won’t be using any html.
I despise the Raw vs Smackdown set-up, but it’s a way for them to plug the new video game. Cole mentioned they were fighting for “year long bragging rights”. Funny, they only bragged for 3 weeks last year.
Woke up this morning to my phone’s keyboard not working. Had to take the phone in, but I’m happy to announce that it is back up and fuctioning normally.
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler
This was, without a doubt, the match of the night and a sure nominee for match of the year. The crowd was firmly behind Bryan and hung on every move. This was such a great match that I honestly felt bad for the rest of the card. Nothing lived up to it. Both men deserve all the credit in the world. I had high hopes. They did not disappoint. In fact, they surpassed my expectation.
Though I predicted Ziggler to pick up the win, I’m glad I was wrong. A Ziggler win surely would’ve tarnished this showcase of talents, because it wouldn’t have come cleanly. Bryan comes out of this continuing his momentum. Who’s next for Bryan? I guess we’ll find out tonight.
“Dashing” Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena and David Otunga
WWE Tag Team Championship
All I can say is, if this was the plan all along, why did they take the belts off The Hart Dynasty? Cena and Otunga defeating them would’ve garnered much more heat. Using Rhodes/McIntyre as transitional champions made no sense. Instead, we have THD in the middle of an ill-advised split. It would’ve been much better television
I have no guess as to how long Cena/Otunga will hold the belts. Part of me expects the Nexus to have the Freebird Rule enacted, allowing any duo from the group to defend them.
Cena disposed of Otunga after the match and walked away with bolth belts. I thought he wasn’t allowed to try and destroy Nexus from the inside.
Ted Dibiase vs. Goldust
I don’t remember this being announced. It was a welcome addition. In all actuality, this was my second favorite match of the night.
I not only liked this match because they worked well together. It’s because the feud makes sense and has an old school vibe to it. Goldust going after the Million $ belt fits in well with the character. For once, Godust has found relevance.
Goldust put on a great match with Jericho just before Mania this year that really surprised me. He’s in great shape and knows his stuff in the ring. Aksana being around only makes it better. The character has always been better with a female counterpart.
Dibiase won, but The Bizarre One still laid him out and left with the belt again. We haven’t seen a mixed tag match yet involving Maryse, Ted, Goldust, and Aksana, so there’s still more that can be done to extend this feud.
There was an SvR 2011commcercial. Toys R Us is offering a $15 gift card ans K-Mart is giving a $20 gaming coupon.
Layla vs. Natalya
Divas Championship
I wish they’d put Layla in more matches than McCool. She’s a much better worker. I wonder if that’s why Mrs. Taker keeps her by her side.
McCool interfered and cost Nattie the match. Stupid.
They aired a Survivor Series commercial featuring Wade Barrett. He says it will be a new chapter for Nexus and referenced his previous “It’s all part of a bigger picture.”, statment. Interesting, but I’ll wait and see what WWE comes up with.
Undertaker vs. Kane
Buried Alive Match
World Heavyweight Championship
Just like at the last PPV, these two put on a punch-a-thon. Sure, they went all over the arena, but most of that time was taker punching Kane. During this we had to hear Cole put over Taker as “the best pure striker in WWE”. No, its because he’s hurt again and that’s all he can do.
Kane had very little offense except when he hit taker with a chair and delivered two choke slams. He proceeded to carry Taker up the ramp. Later, he crawled over to the grave site. There was very little work done in this match.
I’d love to hear an explanation for the Nexus interference. It came out of nowhere and did nothing but leave me confused.
Taker appears to be taking time off. He will probably miss his 20 year anniversary at Survivor Series. After all, Lawler wants us to believe that was 2 or 3 tons of dirt dumped on him. He’s gonna need more than a month.
Orton is interviewed backstage. It’s kept really short. Essentially, all he said was, don’t get in my way, Cena.
Smackdown vs. Raw
7-on-7 Tag Team Elimination Match
14 entrances is a bit much to sit through. Tony Chimel’s voice cracks everytime he says, “Rated R Superstar”. Ezekial Jackson is overly smiling again. There are no shades of the pissed off bad ass he was portraying before his injury. I don’t think they wore red and blue shirts last year. Combined with the dual colored lighting and ring ropes, it felt like I was watching through a pai of those old plastic 3D glasses.
Most had a fair showing with the exception of Truth and Santino. I think Santino was in the ring longer. Show and Sheamus got double counted out. Punk and Del Rio worked a brief yet entertaining segment, though it paled in comparison to the Punk/Rey altercation.
Mysterio played the hero, winning the match along with Edge. Miz was the last member of Raw to be eliminated. I can’t find logic in this decision. The Miz was sorely in need of a win here to get him out of his current slump. If he’s going to cash in his MitB contract anytime soon, they need to book him better than this. If they don’t, he’s not gonna look like a viable championship contender.
Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett
WWE Championship
I can sum this up in two words, wasted opportunity. What has been a hot storyline involving Nexus and Cena had a ton of wind pulled out of its sails. The evening should have ended with Barrett walking out WWE champion with help from Cena.
Instead, Cena found a loophole in his agreement. While Barrett won the match, Orton retained the title. There’s no reason to wrap up Orton in their feud. Get the belt off him and let him do his own thing.
All Cena did was stand outside the ring with a poo-poo face the whole time. When the rest of Nexus attacked, he took them out under the guise of making sure Barrett didn’t get disqualified.
Such a weak ending for a PPV.
In Closing
With the exception of Ziggler/Bryan and Goldust/Dibiase, this was the worst PPV I’ve seen in a while, and I’ve seen every one since Mania 25.
It’s now 8:50 pm Monday night and I’m finally finishing this column. I worked on it a bit this morning and sporadically since getting my phone back. Pumpkins are carved and kids are in bed. Cleaning that stuff up while the woman finishes her pumpkin and then its time to watch Raw on the DVR. I’ll try and get a Raw column up within the next few days.
I’d be happy to hear any comments. Hit me up at [email protected] or search Facebook for my column to find discussion, random thoughts, and exclusive columns in the future.
