Its seems like just the other day I was reviewing the last PPV effort from the WWE, Judgment Day. The sense of deja vu this time around wasn't helped by a card that featured so many rematches, but considering they weren't bad matches, I couldn't complain too much.
The opening contest was a four way match with new US champ Kofi Kingston defending his title against Hardy, Regal and MVP. Featuring some nice suplexes from Regal at the start, this was an perfectly okay match that did a good job in putting over the aerial abilities of Kingston, whose different style is a refreshing change from the usual WWE style.
Next up was a rematch for the Intercontinental Title which saw Chris Jericho once again challenge Rey Mysterio, this time under No Holds Barred Rules. This began with Jericho near the merch booth, walking through the crowd to the ring, cutting another awesome promo - the looks on some of the fans faces must have meant they has seen this and really belived Jericho was going to twat them.
The match was once again of a high standard and featured some excellent spots, notably a couple of counters where a frog splash was reversed into the codebreaker and Mysterio handspring vaulting over the steel steps before launching into Jericho. The former Y2J would go onto win by de masking Rey during an attemped 619, then picking up the pin. Hopefully WWE don't act like this means Mysterio is de masked forever because 1) that was pretty lame in WCW and 2) He has about 1000 other masks in his closet.
A Samoan Strap Match between CM Punk and Umaga was next on the card. Considering the limiting stipulations, this was a pretty good match. The strap itself was a bit rubbish, as it was too long and both guys were clearly trying to hide the fact you could easily have ran to all four corners and win the match in seconds. Secondly, the on screen graphic to explain the scores didn't really work as it was too small and too slow to update, rendering it useless. In the end the efforts of both wrestlers made it watchable, but it only served to prove wht strap matches aren't really a feature of WWE TV.
Up next was Christian vs Dreamer vs Swagger for the ECW title - Hardcore rules. Obviously this the WWE idea of a hardcore match, so that meant trash cans that look like they are made from foil. Like the gimmicks used, the match was mostly garbage, but the fact the this style of 'Hardcore' hasn't been since early 2000 meant that it was a fun match that got the crowd involved, which made the surprise winner by Dreamer all the more effective.
The Hogpen match between Vickie and Santina was 'improved' by the addition of Chavo but was still dire. Santina won. No one really cared.
Orton versus Batista inside a steel cage and fekt like their last match, but in fast forward. Surprisingly short, Orton's boring chinlock heavy offence was non-existent as instead Batista beat the crap out of him for 8 minutes and beat him for the title, Baffling.
Show versus Cena was a repeat of the snooze-fest last time out, except for the hilarious botched finish, After Cena had spent an eternity wrapping the Big Show's leg in the ropes for the STFU, his leg slipped out straight away leaving Michael Cole sticking right to the script screaming how Show was stuck in the ropes when he clearly wasn't. Classic Cole there.
The ladder match went on last to close the show. The build up painted this as being one of the classic matches for our time, it wasn't quite that good, but was stilla fine match. Best bump was Edge's fall off onto an inverted ladder that looked sick and the ending of a crucified Edge between a ladder, helpless to stop Hardy was a great visual.
Then, as Hardy celebrated and JR prepared for an interview in-ring, CM Punk arrived to cash in the Money In The Bank briefcase. He won, but not after a struggle from Hardy - Two GTS were needed, and the boos from the crowd hopefully mean a heel turn and more mike time for Punk in the future.
So once again the WWE delivered another good PPV this year, the only downside being this felt like just another PPV with a ladder match headlining, where previous Extreme Rules have felt like some special thanks to the gimmicks through the card. I personally would've like to have seen a falls count anyhwere match in the vein of Hardy/Umaga last year, or a table match between some tag teams, just to really set the card above the similar recent offerings.
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