Patience is a virtue if you watch the WWE every week. At first glance, a non-title match between CM Punk and Big Show seems like a waste, especially with a big title match less than a week away at Summerslam. Everything ended up falling into place this week though, as a nice combination of matches and storyline fueled a show that teased Summerslam beautifully.
Between the Piper’s Pit segment and the contract signing between Brock Lesnar and Triple H, this show had good pacing. Vikki Guerrero, Roddy Piper, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz in the ring at the same time was great. At times it felt as if Piper was out of place, but the segment itself was solid. Even with the loss later in the night, Jericho has some momentum going into a match that Ziggler needs to win badly.
To “hear” Â and then see the decimation of HBK last night too sets the scene for what looks to be a great pay per view this Sunday.
While the promo for Summerslam was a bit too much and the repeated highlights from last week a bit bogged down, the show was still enjoyable.
Matches:
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Big Show: Interesting non-title encounter. Punk, even as a heel, got the fans’ support as he sold for most of the match. Punk made Show look extra strong as he made it appear he couldn’t get him off his feet. Show hit a Spear towards the end of the match and that’s when Daniel Bryan made his way to the ring. Punk kicked out of a sideslam while Bryan ranted to Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler that he deserved a title shot. Once Punk finally took Show off his feet with a top rope clothesline, Bryan jumped in the match and latched on the No Lock and got the match thrown out. Soon Enough, John Cena joined the party, leaving him and Punk in the ring. This set up the show’s main event.
JTG vs. Ryback: JTG said he wanted a match, well he got one. A Belly-to-Belly overhead suplex, a Powerbomb, his patented clothesline and his Marching Torture Rack/Samoan Drop finisher was all it took for a Ryback win.
WWE Tag Team Champion R-Truth vs. Heath Slater: The One-Man Band had some decent spots here, but R-Truth won with his Complete Shot finisher. After the match, Truth was beaten down by the Primetime Players.
Sin Cara vs. Tensai w/ Sakamoto: A very quick match that saw Tensai get owned by Sin Cara. Countering nearly every move, Cara won with the Tornado DDT. After the match, Tensai beat up Sakamoto.
Triple Threat Match: Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Vikki Guerrero vs. The Miz: Ziggler and Miz worked over Jericho through most of the match. But as predicted, they couldn’t work together for long and that’s when Jericho made his move. Using his ring positioning well, he was always a stop ahead of the two youngsters. Ziggler got back into the contest eventually and after a Rocker Dropper it appeared he had the upper-hand. Soon enough, Miz hit the Skull-Crushing Finale on Ziggler and Jericho nailed Miz with the Code Breaker. Just when you thought the match was over as Jericho had Miz in the Walls of Jericho, Ziggler caught Jericho with the Zig-Zag for the win.
Kaitlyn and Divas Champion Layla vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve Torrez: Aside from the solid work of Phoenix, this match was a bore. Kaitlyn won with the roll up on Phoenix.
Daniel Bryan and Big Show vs. John Cena and WWE Champion CM Punk: Seeing Cena and Punk tagging themselves in and impersonating each other the way they were was entertaining. Bryan’s ability to work the crowd when he isn’t outperforming everyone is equally impressive. Cena won with the Attitude Adjustment. After the match, Punk took out Big Show with the belt.
Damien Sandow vs. Christian: Good, fast-paced and quick match. Sandow was great in his first real match on RAW. He nearly lost after Brodus Clay came out, but hit his neckbreaker on Christian for the win.
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