Before the show had even got going we were shown footage from moments before with CM Punk and Jerry Lawler battling backstage, with Punk eventually gaining the upper hand. I would've thought they could have saved Lawler's return one more week to sell his attack from last week a bit more.
World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus began talking about how much he enjoyed Chicago before he was shortly interrupted by the hometown hero himself CM Punk, who received a terrific reception. Punk went over what happened last week and the accusations from Cena and Lawler of the WWE Champion turning his back on the fans. So he asked the fans in attendance if that was the case and they disagreed.
Sheamus decided he'd had enough and challenged Punk to join him in the ring after interrupting him. The WWE Champion claimed that in the pecking order as World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus was behind him and should therefore not interrupt him again. General Manager AJ then joined them and announced that the two World title holders will face each other later on, along with Del Rio versus Cena.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Randy Orton in a solid enough contest. While the action was decent as usual with these two working together, I'm just struggling to find the interest after seeing this match up what feels like a ton of times over the last year. It doesn't help that this feud hasn't really got any meat behind it. One big plus is Ziggler gaining the one-two-three (even with a sneaky roll up while holding onto the trunks) he needs it a lot more than Orton right now as the Money in the Bank holder.
Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio beat Lord Tensai and Cody Rhodes in a largely average tag match. The excitement and interest didn't really pick up until Mysterio entered the fray and gave an entertaining display. I still think Sin Cara is better suited to a team scenario, with little bursts of action.
In another couple of brilliant and genuinely funny segments we once again witnessed Daniel Bryan and Kane as they sat through another anger managent session. On the rare occasion that WWE actually do something funny that works, it really does work well. As it looked like the two were about to make up they began arguing over who was better instead.
Before their scheduled match, CM Punk explained to Sheamus that because the people of his hometown Chicago "Get me" then they'll understand that he deserves to be higher up on the card and that a match between them two was too good for a Raw so he decided to take a personal day and left the arena. A panicked AJ had to quickly find an opponent for 'The Great White' backstage.
Sheamus defeated Jack Swagger in a lackluster match up. It just never really got going. Afterwards Alberto Del Rio (who'd been at ringside) went to pounce on the Irishman, but it backfired as Sheamus turned it around and accidentally hit Ricardo Rodriguez with a Brogue Kick. Swagger also informed AJ backstage after that he would be taking some time off to get his act together after yet another loss. Swagger desperately needs an overhaul of some kind.
Eve beat Kaitlyn in a pedestrian outing. Nothing special to report here really, both women looked capable but didn't seem to want to impress anyone that much. It felt like the same thing we see almost every week from the Divas. The supposedly reformed Eve also shook hands with Divas Champion Layla (who'd provided guest commentary) after, it's only a matter of time before she turns again.
Ryback defeated Jinder Mahal in a passable, if fairly drab contest. Ryback dominated for the most part with his usual routine. The crowd were indifferent for the majority, until the final few minutes where they were firmly behind Ryback. I wouldn't mind seeing him go up against The Miz next for the Intercontinental title possibly.
After an online vote via Twitter revealed that Kane and Daniel Bryan must hug and make up we had a few awkward, albeit humorous minutes of the two attempting to hug, with the crowd even chanting "Hug it out!" When have you ever heard that from pro wrestling fans? Only from the typically awesome audience in Chicago. Eventually the two men hugged, but things turned ugly as they escalated into a brawl in and around the ring. As Kane attempted to attack Bryan with a chair Daniel turned it around and hurtled it at him instead before legging it.
Antonio Cesaro (c) beat Santino Marella to retain the United States Championship in another average bout for the night. Cesaro looked solid enough as usual, meanwhile Marella was performing a 'comedy' routine of desperately trying to reach for his cobra sock puppet. I'm confused as to why they had this match on television when Night of Champions is next week where every title is on the line? Bit strange that.
Zack Ryder defeated Heath Slater in a surprisingly decent contest. I really wasn't expecting much here, and maybe that's why I actually found it a lot of fun. Ryder as usual had the fans firmly behind him.
Vickie Guerrero reminded everyone about the attack from GM AJ last week and mickey took Clint Eastwood by pretending to have a conversation with an invisible AJ on an empty chair. The GM then joined Guerrero and revealed that she is now no longer allowed to put her hands on any talent ever again and was forced to apologise to Vickie via orders from the WWE Board of Directors. Since AJ couldn't touch her Vickie took advantage of this and slapped AJ twice in the face. I'm sorry but that's aggravated assault, AJ could've retaliated there.
Alberto Del Rio beat John Cena in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. It was an enjoyable main event, with both men taking full advantage of the stipulation and ending up backstage. The action started off fairly drab but soon picked up when Cena and Del Rio began travelling outside the ring, making use of the barricade, announcers desk, etc. Del Rio grabbed the win after CM Punk made his surprise return and clocked Cena with a kick to the head and dragged Alberto onto him. He also GTS'd his future opponent onto the bonnet of his car nearby. But the best was yet to come as Paul Heyman then popped his head out of said vehicle that Punk left in. I don't think I have to tell you how mind blowingly incredible a partnership between CM Punk and Heyman could be. Cannot wait to see where this now leads.
The main event, anger management segments, ending and opening helped salvage an otherwise lacklustre show, with pretty average matches filling up the broadcast. I didn't think I'd be saying this but Impact Wrestling is currently trumping any WWE televised show for substance in-between the ropes.
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