If you were worried before the start of this pay per view, you had plenty of reason to be. Even though the card was pretty damn solid, Over the Limit didn’t have the huge push many other WWE pay per views usually have. As a matter of fact, with many of the same angles from Wrestlemania still guiding most of the action, this pay per view could have been a complete stinker.
However, the quality of the matches tonight ended up telling a story all of its own.
By the end of the night, Over the Limit was the type of pay per view that made you wonder why the WWE can’t have similar matches every once in a while on Monday and Friday nights.
Nevertheless, it proved that this company can still bring it when they have to and don’t need gimmicks or returning stars to do it.
With TNA’s format change and the sale of ROH, WWE proved tonight that they still know how to steal your attention.
Immediate Thoughts: Randy Orton and Christian ended up stealing the show with a fantastic back and forth match. While Orton got the win, these two must continue to work together. Right now, no one else in the WWE has the type of in-ring chemistry these guys have.
That’s not to say the other matched were horrible either. Every match, except the Ezekiel Jackson/Wade Barrett encounter, pushed a good pace and had everyone in the squared circle breaking a sweat. All in all, Over the Limit was entertaining in and out of the ring.
There were some problems with the pay per view however. The fact that the Jackson/Barrett match ended in a DQ was a disaster. DQs are fine on cable, but when fans fork over their hard-earned dough for a full match, that’s just a slap in their faces. Could the WWE have thought of a more creative way to keep the heat on this mediocre angle? Absolutely. The fact that they didn’t shows how important these two guys are to WWE creative right now.
The fact that Kharma wasn’t on the show as well, took away from what was an otherwise solid divas match.
These qualms couldn’t ruin an otherwise fun and engaging pay per view
Matches:
R-Truth vs. Rey Mysterio: High-energy match with plenty of bumps to the outside. These guys cut an excellent pace and attempted to set the tone for the rest of the pay per view. The match was full of good technique [Mysterio’s top-rope bulldog and R-Truth’s reverse falcon arrow were high points], as both competitors made each other look great. However, in the end, Truth got the clean win with his jumping complete shot/Knox-out type maneuver. At this point, it’s obvious now that Truth is the recipient of a real push for the first time in his WWE career.
Wade Barrett vs. Ezekiel Jackson for the Intercontinental Championship: Barrett was extremely slow off the ropes in this match and because of that, the match it was a bit sluggish. Overall, it wasn’t the right match to follow up the energetic opener. Things got better later though, after Barrett hit a pumphandle drop and Jackson got cooking. But before these two could capitalize on it, the rest of The Corre joined the party and took Jackson out, which ended the contest in a DQ. The fact that a pay per view match ended with a DQ is utter nonsense, but more importantly, it took the air out of the pay per view for a few minutes.
Sin Cara vs. Chavo Guerrero: Guerrero is a pro and he put Cara over big time tonight. This should have been Cara’s first match in the WWE, as it was tight and painted a much more accurate portrait of his ability than any of his other matches in the company up to this point. Guerrero painted the canvas with solid ground work and Cara put the finishing touches on the bout with plenty of high spots and a variety of kicks. Even with the lights out and a slightly sloppy super spinning head scissors move from Cara that earned him the win, this match was still one of the best of the night.
Big Show and Kane vs. CM Punk and Mason Ryan for the WWE Tag Team Titles: Show and Kane interrupted an Alberto Del Rio promo and soon took their frustrations out of Ryan and Punk. At this point, Ryan is being pushed as the enforcer with a ton of promise, while Punk as the leader in over his head. While they held their own, every time Punk and Ryan looked as if they were going to turn the tide, one of the big guys had an answer. After Kane and Show double choke slammed Ryan, the New Nexus didn’t have anything left.
Brie Bella w/ Nikki Bella vs. Kelly Kelly for the Diva’s Championship: The best wrestler in this match was the referee, Little Guido. However, this was a multi-faceted Divas match that had a nice combination of ground work, entertainment and of course, twin magic. After Kelly Kelly had the match in her favor, the Bella’s switched places and after Nikki delivered the X-factor, Brie left the pay per view with her title.
But no Kharma? WWE has some explaining to do.
Christian vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Title: These guys have excellent in-ring chemistry. So much offense without it being feeling like anything postured. This was a great wrestling match. Big kudos to both competitors for incorporating new moves [the crab-like maneuver Orton used was pretty awesome] into their repertoires and at the same time, selling just enough to make each other look fantastic. Someone eventually had to lose however and Orton ultimately ended the match with a solid counter to Christian’s finisher, hitting the RKO for the three count.
Jerry “The King†Lawler vs. Michael Cole in a “Kiss My Feet†match: Pure entertainment. Cole was due his just desserts for quite some time and it was great to see Eve Torrez, Jim Ross and Bret Hart play a part in it.
The Miz w/ Alex Riley vs. John Cena in an I-Quit match for the WWE Heavyweight Title: This was essentially a handicap match, with Riley helping The Miz every step of the way. Despite the fact that Cena is a routine worker and rarely throws anything new into his moveset, the ingenuity and pure evil of Miz and Riley, combined with Cena’s ability to get the crowd interested made this a solid main event. Plain and simple, Cena sold his ass off tonight. The beating he took was on the border of an old-ECW match and eerily reminiscent at times of “The Passion of the Christ.†At times, the action dragged and even got remotely uncomfortable, but a nice twist at the end saved the match and resulted in Cena keeping the title.
Because of that, this match worked and accomplished two things:
1-The Miz is now hated even more by Cena fans.
2- He’s loved even more by the people that live to see Cena get beat up.
Regardless it must be said that this match paled in comparison to the Christian/Orton epic.
In the end, you don’t have to take a crazy beating to wow the fans.
All you have to do is wrestle.
Are you serious, “Cena sold his ass off”?? Suddenly jumping up like nothing has happened after a 20 minute beating is not selling at all, it’s the complete opposite. The main event was an exact re-hash of the same Cena vs Orton gimmick match. It even had a cheap re-hash of The Rock vs Mankind thrown in. You missed out the other things that the match accomplished: It reinforced the majority view that the creative team are lazy and sloppy, and it will do nothing to help Cena’s image. Nobody is disrespecting Cena, taking a beating like that is impressive, they are sick of the booking process that has Cena basically look invincible every single time, being shoved down our throats. Somebody winning what is essentialy a handicap I Quit match is a low point in the industry.
Totally agreed with the Rock/Mankind angle, as well as your comments about the creative team. But who else is capable in that company to lead the charge? Who else is proven? Until they develop stars, this is what the WWE Universe will see over and over.
Tonight however, regardless of how similar it was to other angles and how it made Cena look invincible at times, it was entertaining.