CM Punk kicked things off by explaining what the fourth of July meant to him personally, that being independence which was something he strongly lived by. He also added that his current two goals were to get his hands on Brock Lesnar after he F5'd him a few weeks back and to win the WWE Championship contract at Money in the Bank next week. World Champion Alberto Del Rio then joined him and claimed that Americans squandered their freedom by scanning the internet and sitting around watching TV.
After a few more heated words were exchanged (including Punk pointing out how daft it was that Del Rio was no suddenly berating Americans, although to be fair Del Rio explained that it was due to them turning on him in his bout against Ziggler on Raw a while back) Teddy Long predictably booked them in the main event against each other. Backstage Paul Heyman tried to convince Punk to get out of the match with MITB only next week, but he refused.
The Usos defeated Team Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes) in a fair tag bout with a nice finish where the Usos double body splashed Sandow from the top rope. The match was kept short but the action was decent enough, nothing outstanding. Afterwards The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) appeared on the big screen and warned the Usos that at Money in the Bank they'll need more than luck and momentum to take the tag titles from them. Ambrose also added that he's going to obtain the World Title MITB at the event too.
Alicia Fox pinned Kaitlyn in an average outing. During the contest AJ Lee skipped around the ring and distracted Kaitlyn, allowing Fox to catch her in a quick roll up for the one-two-three. Lee then hurried out of the arena, convincing Big E Langston to escort her away and abandon her boyfriend Ziggler.
Randy Orton bested Christian in a stellar back and fourth affair. The high standard of the bout was hardly a surprise considering how solid their feud was back in 2011, which was massively underrated in my opinion. I couldn't ever get tired of watching these two lock horns.
Before his following match up Dolph Ziggler spoke about the great feeling he had when he cashed in and obtained the World Title, and the gutting feeling when he lost it after suffering a concussion and Del Rio targeted his head. But he finally claimed that he will win back the strap next Sunday in his rematch. It was a fair promo, nothing tremendous.
Dolph Ziggler pinned Drew McIntyre in a passable encounter. Both men looked fine, but I just struggled to really find the interest, it felt like it was lacking something. Afterwards the 'Show Off' taunted 3MB (who attempted to beat hin down after he'd picked up the winning pin with a Zig Zag) by racing into the ring and out again, swerving the trio's attempts at catching him.
Fandango beat Justin Gabriel in a forgettable and brief contest. I can't say either wrestler looked bad, but they failed to leave a lasting impression here, maybe it was due more to their time allocated, but saying that it's hard to think of a time Fandango has ever actually really impressed in-between the ropes.
CM Punk versus Alberto Del Rio ended in a no contest after both men were counted out. The count out occurred after Del Rio punched Heyman at ringside (who'd provided guest commentary) so a furious Punk began pounding on his opponent and eventually GTS'd him in the ring after the bell had rung. The match itself had been a very enjoyable one, with solid displays from both men.
Overall it was an average show for the most part with a lot of run of the mill match ups that failed to grab my attention, with the exception of Christian versus Orton and Punk versus Del Rio which managed to salvage the show and make it worth watching.
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