Randy Orton defeated Alberto Del Rio. This match was everything I wanted it to be and proved why both these men are top contenders for the World Heavyweight Championship. Not a four star match, but a solid three and a half.
The tag team champions retain the gold against Team Rhodes Scholars after Kane gets himself disqualified. This match was pretty good right up until the rip-off finish. I understand WWE not wanting to take the titles off Kane and Dbry, and I understand WWE not wanting to make Rhodes and Sandow look weak, but this is LAZY booking for a pay per view. When people pay good money to see a show, they deserve a real finish for every match. If WWE wasn’t ready for this match to happen with a decisive winner, then they shouldn’t have booked the match to begin with.
Kofi defeats the Miz to retain his title. This was a good match; it was very similar to the last three matches they wrestled against each other in the last three weeks. Now that this rivalry is over, it’s time for both of them to start something new. I’m curious to see if maybe one of the three man band will challenge Kofi for his title. Perhaps now Miz can rival with someone in the main event scene?
Antonio Cesaro defeats Justin Gabriel. The match was competitive, and the match was really good. I’m glad these two wrestled again, and I’m glad Cesaro retained the gold. I may not have liked the rivalry setup(one match), but I liked what we got from it. Hopefully Cesaro can start a legitimate rivalry now by some other means.
Mysterio and Sin Cara defeat the PTP. I’m glad this impromptu match happened; it really feels like WWE cares about their tag team wrestling now more than ever. I hope the PTP start getting titles shots and get a run with the gold in the near future. The match itself was solid tag team wrestling, but Sin Cara botched and looked like he messed up his neck/head pretty badly when he came down with O’Neil.
Big Show defeats Sheamus to become the WHC. Considering the participants involved in this match, I’m going to give this one the edge over the opener and call it match of the night. I was very impressed with the chemistry these two had together, and I was shocked by how well Sheamus worked the setup of this match from bell to bell. I was a bit surprised by Dolph Ziggler not cashing in on Show, but something tells me he is going to win the WWE Title instead in the very near future. Great match from Show and Sheamus! Stars of the night!
Eve defeated Kaitlyn and Layla to retain her title. It was your basic dull triple threat match from the divas. I wasn’t excited by it, nor was I surprised by the finish.
CM Punk defeated Ryback with help from referee and former FCW wrestler, Brad Maddox. Maddox low blowed Ryback and then did a fast count when Punk rolled him up. Ryback destroyed Maddox after the match and chased Punk to the top of the cell where he delivered shell shocked to close the show. This match was roughly eleven minutes long and had Punk getting the upper hand twice. Ryback did nothing special here, and the match was beyond boring. I had a bunch of theories running through my head about Cena being involved in this match, or even Dolph Ziggler cashing in his MITB on Punk after the match(per approval of Vickie Guerrero). But, none of those things happened and that’s perfectly fine. What isn’t perfectly fine is the fact that WWE went with a cheap way out, just as everyone suspected. I don’t like the finish whatsoever and anybody that paid for this show got ripped off. We could’ve seen an epic Hell in a Cell match where Punk went over clean after a grueling battle, but instead we get this garbage.
Overall, I liked Orton/Del Rio and I really enjoyed the Big Show/Sheamus match. I didn’t like the tag team title finish but enjoyed the two tag matches as a whole. I liked Kofi/Miz but would’ve liked it more if I hadn’t seen it three times already this month. Lastly, I liked the US Title match a great deal. The divas and the WWE Title match were the duds to end the show, and that really hurts the rating and stops it from being superior in my book. Call it seven stars out of ten for the quality big man match and the good wrestling we witnessed tonight.
The Raw Analysis will be up on Tuesday, and I’m working on something different for the November specialty column. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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