My WWE Over The Limit 2012 Recap

Before the show got going Christian won a Battle Royal to face either the United States or Intercontinental Champion that night on pay-per-view for the title. It was a decent enough match, with the highlights being the performances of Tyson Kidd and Christian and the many boos for William Regal being eliminated from the bout. Christian chose to face Santino Marella for the US Championship.

R-Truth and Kofi Kingston (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles. I was expecting a decent enough match here but it was actually a lot more enjoyable once it going than I was expecting. As usual Kingston and Dolph's work was solid. My only gripe I'd say is that I still don't buy Kofi and Truth as a team yet, Swagger and Ziggler I can accept as a unit and Kofi and Evan Bourne before. I just still see the current champs as a make shift team as opposed to a believable one, hopefully they'll turn me around.

Layla (c) defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the Divas Championship. It was a largely average contest, but I'll admit that the final third of it was actually a nicely executed sequence leading to a well applied neckbreaker by Layla for the one-two-three. The Divas Champion is still not being particularly well received by the fans, with scattered chants of "Tap!" when Phoenix had Layla in a Half Boston Crab. 

Sheamus (c) defeated Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Four Way. It was a thrilling title match, with the action coming thick and fast, plus plenty of edge-of-your-seat-near falls. All four men put in a great effort, I also credit everyone that was involved in the planning of how the match would play out because it was damn near perfect. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Backstage Cody Rhodes was bragging to Eve about how he would've easily defeated Christian if he'd chosen to face him for the Intercontinental Title, after just coming back from his injury. Of course 'Captain Charisma' overheard this and decided to instead face Cody for the IC Title, claiming Rhodes was "full of crap." So he's face once again? I'm all for that myself.

The Miz stated that the WWE fans had no idea about real dancing talent after cheering on Brodus Clay. So the awesome one decided to show off some dance moves, and some poor ones at that, before Clay interrupted him.

Brodus Clay defeated The Miz in an average and forgettable match up. Miz deserves a lot more than loosing to the limited Clay.

Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkings went through the crowd on Eve's behalf and removed any of the fans signs that were derogatory towards Laurinaitis.

Christian defeated Cody Rhodes (c) to win the Intercontinental Championship. It was an enjoyable title match, with both talented wrestlers putting in fair performances. This could be an interesting feud, and Christian is certainly a big step up from Big Show.

Before the WWE Championship match, CM Punk spoke about his and Daniel Bryan's rise from the indies to the top of the WWE, which was respectively received by the fans and rightfully so. AJ then once again, like on last Monday's Raw, wished Punk luck in his title defence. 

CM Punk (c) defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Championship in a superb bout that should have been the main event. It was a rare (in WWE) technical showcase as both wrestlers went back and fourth in a blistering contest. I'm honestly trying to think of a single fault with it but I'm really struggling. Along with Triple H vs 'Taker at WrestleMania I'd put this as one of WWE's best PPV  matches of the year so far.

The crowd were also electric during it as chants for both men rightfully erupted from the fans. Vince take note, the fans were chanting because this was real pro wrestling right here. Punk managed to grab the winning pin as he rolled over the Yes Lock to cover Bryan, just after the third count he tapped which I'm presuming and desperately hoping means we'll get a another rematch.

Ryback defeated Camacho in one of his usual squash matches. Nothing really to add here, you probably know the deal with him by now. I think the time for squash matches has passed, give him a real feud to get into.

John Laurinaitis defeated John Cena in a poor main event which I'd rather soon forget. For the first three quarters of the bout it was a comedy match, albeit without much comedy, with Cena mocking Big Johnny in various ways. But for the finish the previously fired Big Show dragged the attempting to flee Laurinaitis back to the ring, only to then turn on Cena and WMD him. Allowing the GM to gain the winning pin. So unfortunately we'll still have Laurinaitis in charge (although it was always pretty obvious he was going to somehow win) and the lump Big Show has already returned, I'm also dreading the likely Big Show Cena feud we'll have to endure once again. A pretty poor finish to an otherwise all right pay-per-view. 

My WWE SmackDown, May 18th 2012 Recap

John Laurinaitis complained about the WWE Board of Director's decision to have him face John Cena one on one this Sunday at Over The Limit. As he went on to ask the fans to say a prayer for him WWE Champion CM Punk joined the GM and stated that everyones prayers have already been answered in the form of Big Johnny most likely loosing to Cena and getting terminated. Punk also asked Laurinaitis what it felt like to be on the other side of the stick after unmercifully firing Big Show on Monday and making everyone's life in the company miserable. As a bit of revenge Big Johnny booked the champion into a match with Kane that night, after Punk left he also told the fans to "go to hell!" after their treatment of him.  

R-Truth and Kofi Kingston defeated Titus 'O Neil and Darren Young in a fair tag team bout. The champions looked solid here and should have a good match against Swagger and Ziggler at Over The Limit. This unfortunately won't help the recent bit of momentum that O' Neil and Young have gained since their move to the blue brand, I think they were pitted against the champs too soon.

Before his proposed match with Yoshi Tatsu, Damien Sandow once again refused to face an (according to him) inferior opponent. As he walked away Tatsu called him a "chicken" and began clucking in the ring until Sandow raced in and attacked him from behind, leaving him lying in the ring. I'm really liking this character of Sandow, from the way he holds the mic and presents his promos to his aggressiveness in the ring, although we obviously haven't seen much of that just yet. 

Daniel Bryan defeated Zach Ryder in an enjoyable contest after forcing him to tap to the Yes Lock. Just like Shawn Michaels used to, and Randy Orton most of the time, Bryan has a tendency to really bring out the best in his opponents in the ring. Bryan joined the commentary for the following match up.

Kane won via disqualification versus CM Punk after Daniel Bryan smacked Kane with a steel chair, leading the 'Big Red Monster' to believe that it was actually the WWE Champion and legging it. Kane went on to then attack Punk with the same chair and choke slam him in the ring. The actual match had been solid and surprisingly entertaining. Bryan also did a good job on commentary I thought, finally mentioning him and Punk's similar paths into WWE. I've been waiting to hear either of them speak of their past time on the indies and ROH together leading into their World title match, hopefully this feud will continue after Sunday and we'll be given what could be some superb promos between the two (I know I already mentioned this after Raw, but still).

Santino Marella defeated Cody Rhodes in a brief and average bout. Marella caught Rhodes with a surprise Cobra for the victory. Marella has been made to look much more competitive over the course of the year so far, I'm just not sure how much higher WWE could really push him?

Sheamus defeated Randy Orton in a match with a rather flat first half and nice second. As I said it was a bit bit disappointing to start with, with an indifferent crowd watching on with a dull routine between the two, not bad just dull. Fortunately both men upped the pace and quality and had a finish worthwhile of a main event, with the World Champion grabbing a quick roll up pin for the victory. Afterwards in a rather heelish fashion Orton RKO'd Sheamus after shaking hands, with the look on 'The Viper's' face I wouldn't rule out a possible heel turn in the near future. I reckon this would be a wise move, freshen his character up again. 

My WWE Raw, May 14th 2012 Recap

John Laurinaitis stopped Triple H backstage and claimed that he was just as surprised as everyone else that Brock Lesnar attacked him a few weeks back, the COO just wished Johnny luck with his match with Cena on Sunday.

Triple H came to the ring and said that he was offended by Lesnar's claim that he was going to bring legitimacy back to the company, I don't blame him. While I understand why Lesnar said it, it was basically a stab at every wrestler who has performed for the WWE. 'The Game' went on to state that every time anything gets tough for Lesnar, from his time in the UFC to his latest run in WWE, he gives up and quits.

Paul Heyman then joined the COO and handed him a lawsuit straight from Brock himself, asking for the millions he's supposedly owed. After some berating from Heyman Triple H had enough and grabbed him with his one good arm, telling him "You tell Brock Lesnar, he's going to get everything he deserves." But before leaving Heyman then warned that he was now also going to sue for assault. It was a nice start to the show, with an as always strong showing from Heyman on the mic and an interesting way forward into the Triple H Lesnar feud.

CM Punk and Santino Marella defeated Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan in a fair tag team match that only really got going once Punk was tagged in. It achieved its goal of promoting the Punk and Bryan match at Over The Limit anyway, although I would personally still like to see a promo between the two, could be brilliant.  

Beth Phoenix defeated Alicia Fox in a short and passable bout. As Beth grabbed Fox afterwards the Divas Champion Layla came to her aid and chased Phoenix away. I'm expecting an okay match between Layla and Phoenix on Sunday for the title, nothing spectacular. 

Kane defeated Big Show in a slow paced and largely drab contest. For the finish Kane managed to choke slam Show as Laurinaitis (who'd been observing from ringside) demanded an apology from him during the bout. Afterwards the GM again demanded an apology, Big Show spoke about his time in the company and asked Laurinaitis not to fire him and take away something that he loves for the sake of something petty (that benig Show making fun of Laurinaitis' voice last week).

Big Show then apologised, but that wasn't good enough for Johnny as he demanded Show beg for his job on his knees. An emotional Big Show begged for his job, but didn't get on his knees. Laurinaitis was about to fire him, but Show did as he said and went down on his knees. Unfortunately this wasn't good enough for Laurinaitis, who fired him anyway. It was a surprisingly great segment, with Show showing real emotion that you could genuinely buy into. I'd have to say it was one of the best firings I've ever seen in WWE.  

Brodus Clay, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth defeated The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger in a bit of a messy and just slightly too busy six man tag match up. Not only were there three other people outside the ring, but we were also shown AW and his newest clients Epico, Primo and Mason Ryan in a box in the arena. The action was never really given a chance to flow, if it'd been allocated a bit more time then it probably would've been quite entertaining. As it was I just couldn't get into it.   

Chris Jericho won via disqualification versus Randy Orton in a bout that was enjoyable enough, if a little brief. Sheamus attacked Jericho for the DQ after Y2J had thrown Orton into the World Champion, who was doing some guest commentating. A frustrated Orton then confronted 'The Great White' after as they squared off in the ring, only to be separated by officials from the back. Eve tweeted (WWE and Twitter? Couldn't imagine that) that on SmackDown the two will face each other one on one.        

John Laurinaitis called all Cena's fans "loosers," claiming that Cena was a looser himself, just before John Cena himself interrupted him. Cena childishly mocked the GM, also calling him a "looser" after failing in most of his endeavors. It was silly, but a little amusing, even Johnny was trying not to laugh at some points. He went on to claim that Laurinaitis has no concept of reality, that his 'People Power' slogan should be "person power" instead.

After some more exchanged words, Eve made her way out and passed Big Johnny a letter from the WWE Board of Directors which Cena snatched and revealed read that their match will be a one on one match, have no special guest referees, no one at ringside and if anyone interferes then they will be fired. It also revealed that if Laurinaitis looses then he will be "officially terminated." Much to the delight of the fans in attendance. Just before the GM left, he slapped Cena in the face, switching the jokey Cena's expression to a stern one instead. I can just imagine Laurinaitis is going to somehow manage a win on Sunday, should be interesting anyway.