Cody Rhodes (c) defeated Booker T to retain his Intercontinental Championship.The title bout was a solid and exciting encounter between the two, with some nice near falls towards the end. Definitely their strongest outing so far together in the ring. Rhodes, just like he did against Orton in the Street Fight towards the end of last year looked like he belonged with higher calibre talent here with the legend Booker T.
Backstage a brimming Cody once again had another encounter with his older brother Dustin Rhodes aka Goldust. He bragged about beating Booker, compared himself to their father Dusty (who he claimed he was well on his way to surpassing) and warned him that although he was a “joke” he wasn’t yet a “laughing stock. But that can change real quick.” I’m liking this storyline between the two, definitely got some interesting possibilities to it. I imagine if they do go all the way and face off at WrestleMania (which seems most likely) then it could well be Dustin’s final ever match at the Mania. What better way would there be for him to go out then to face his own brother at the biggest stage?
Hornswaggle defeated Heath Slater in an Over The Top Rope challenge comedy match, it was about as entertaining as you’d expect. Well It wasn’t like Slater’s career was exactly sky rocketing since his return anyway was it? Afterwards Slater booted Hornswaggle in the head, followed by Justin Gabriel coming to Hornswaggle’s rescue and applying the always awesome 450 Splash.
Hunico defeated Ted DiBiase in a fast paced match with some superb action. With Orton out of action for as long as he’s going to be I think this is an opportune time to start pushing DiBiase once again. Give him a proper feud with Hunico to work on.
Wade Barrett announced that Randy Orton’s wrestling career is now finished due to his fall down the flight of stairs on last weeks SmackDown. Since ‘The Viper’ was no longer a participant in the Royal Rumble, Barrett claimed that there were now no obstacles in his way to stop him from winning the match. Sheamus had something to say about that as he then joined Wade and warned him that “You are going to have some problems. And I’m going to be the biggest one.”
Jinder Mahal also made his way out and slapped ‘The Great White’ in the face. So naturally Sheamus didn’t take too kindly to that and began to beat on Mahal until Barrett also began attacking the Irishman. Sheamus managed to fight his way back until Barrett applied the Winds Of Change to halt him. Mahal decided to take advantage of the downed wrestler and latched in a Camel Clutch for good measure. I quite like Jinder Mahal myself, I think he looks solid enough in the ring and has shown some personality as of late. He just needs to maybe get a fluke win over Sheamus to get things going. At least he’s involved in a decent feud right now, that’s a start.
Santino Marella defeated Drew McIntyre in a quite forgettable and average bout. As per the stipulations Marella is now the assistant to GM Teddy Long on SmackDown. After the match Long warned McIntyre that this was “strike two” and if he looses next week he could very well be fired. I personally am not a fan of these loosing streak story lines, they do nothing at all for the person involved in them. I’m not McIntyre’s biggest supporter (find him rather boring and average in the ring, although he has improved) but with his return to the blue brand he could have instantly made an impact by destroying a big name and making himself relevant once again.
Epico and Primo defeated Air Boom in a fast paced and decent tag team bout. Although it wasn’t the strongest match between these teams it was still worth a watch for sure. I always enjoy it when these two teams are facing off, I’d like to see a title match between them at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view myself. They deserve a spot on a big card like that.
Backstage during an interview with Big Show, Daniel Bryan interrupted and berated him for not winning a World Title for nine years previous to his championship win at TLC. He also mentioned how he’d actually worked hard around the World to become a great wrestler, as apposed to Big Show being born a “genetic freak.” I’m liking this new cocky, heelish side to Bryan. He’s always had the technical ability and skill on the mic (as proven with his feud with Miz and Cole last year) but now he’s showing a lot more character. It should also be interesting to hear Michael Cole on his side on commentary when he fully turns.
Tamina defeated Natalya in a brief and rather average Divas match up. I’m still not totally convinced by Tamina, Natalya definitely deserves better treatment then this too.
Daniel Bryan won via DQ against the Big Show to retain his World Heavyweight Championship. The main event was a solid, back and fourth match up. The most exciting parts taking place when Bryan locked in a few submission holds on Show for a tense break out. The disqualification occurred when Bryan shouted abuse at Henry at ringside (Henry had been on commentary for the bout) causing Henry to push the World Champion in front of the referee. Afterwards Bryan elatedly celebrated with fans akin to how he’d done after his win at TLC for the World Title in another heel movement by the champ.
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