From East Rutherford, New Jersey; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Joey Styles, and Tazz
Opening Match: Kane v Finlay: Kane blitzes him at the bell, but a trip to the top rope ends badly, and Finlay takes over by pounding Kane's taped up ribs. Senton splash gets two, and Finlay applies an elevated half-crab to wrench at the ribs. Kane escapes with a leg-feed enzuigiri, and he throws a big boot, followed by a pair of corner clotheslines. Sidewalk slam gets two, and a flying clothesline connects, but the ribs are slowing him down, and Kane misses a charge in the corner. That allows Finlay a seated senton splash for two, and he tries bringing Hornswoggle in, but Kane beats him up. Chokeslam for Finlay, but the bad ribs prevent Kane from executing it, and Finlay DDTs him for two. He decides to grab the whappin' stick to finish things off, but Kane kicks out of the resulting schoolboy at two. Frustrated, Finlay tries a charge, but Kane sidesteps, and powers through the chokeslam at 8:49. Really basic stuff, but Kane did a nice job of selling the ribs. * ¼
WWE Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match: Umaga v Carlito v Mr. Kennedy: First fall wins it. Umaga beats everybody up to start, so Carlito and Kennedy retreat to the outside to regroup, where they form an alliance. They try a flank maneuver on the way back in, but Umaga fights them both off. He goes for the Wrecking Ball on Carlito, but Kennedy hooks the champion's ankle from the outside to prevent it, and he hits a boot against the steps to knock Umaga out. Back in, Carlito sneaks up with a rollup for two, and a springboard backelbow is worth two. Backdrop, but Kennedy tosses him into the corner to block, and delivers a reverse Russian legsweep. Umaga is back, and he takes Kennedy out, then hits Carlito with a 2nd rope flying headbutt. I feel like if they really want to get Roman Reigns over as a top guy once and for all, they should bring the 'Samoan Bulldozer' nickname for him. Kennedy returns wielding a monitor to help turn the tide, but an attempt at a tandem vertical suplex on Umaga gets reversed. Umaga with a Samoan drop on Carlito, and a swinging scrapbuster on Kennedy gets two. Wrecking ball on Carlito hits, but a charge at Kennedy ends in Umaga taking a bump to the outside. That allows Kennedy to hit Carlito with a rolling fireman's carry slam, but Umaga breaks up the pin with the Samoan Spike to retain at 7:23. Watchable enough. **
Chavo Guerrero v Rey Mysterio: This is Rey's first TV match since October 2006, when Chavo beat him in a Loser Leaves Smackdown match to give Mysterio a storyline excuse so he could go have knee surgery. And he's spent the entirety of his recovery huffing paint, by the looks of him. They feel each other out to start, and it doesn't take Chavo long to start going after the knee. He misses a dropkick and goes flying out of the ring, so Rey follows with a somersault plancha, and he stomps the shit out of Guerrero on the way back in. Mysterio with a baseball slide, and a 2nd rope flying rana follows. Moonsault, but Chavo knocks him down into a tree of woe, and he pounds on the knee again for a while. He continues to work the leg with submission attempts, as the crowd grows restless. Rey manages to knock him into the ropes to set up the 619, but the bad leg prevents him from running, and Chavo sweeps him into a half-crab. Mysterio gets the ropes, so Guerrero tries a slam, but Rey topples him for two. He ties Chavo in a tree of woe, and things spill to the outside, where Rey hit a flying seated senton off of the apron. Back in with another one, and a roundhouse kick gets Mysterio two. Springboard moonsault press, but Chavo catches him, so Mysterio shifts to a tornado DDT for two! Flying bodypress, but Guerrero dodges, and the gory bomb gets two! Three alarm rolling vertical suplex, but Rey counters the third alarm into the 619, and a springboard splash finishes at 12:08. I get what they were going for... and I get why... and I appreciate the psychology... but this wasn't what the crowd wanted from them at all, and the match fell flat before they started flying around in the third act. **
#1 Contender's 12-Woman Battle Royal: We've got Beth Phoenix, Brooke, Layla, Maria,
ECW Title Match: John Morrison v CM Punk: They're no longer considering it a 'world' title, for those who keep track of that sort of thing. They trade off on the mat to start, with Punk dominating, and hitting a spinning bodyslam. He plants Morrison on the apron to set up a springboard dropkick, but John blocks a vertical suplex back into the ring, and drops Punk with a neckbreaker on the apron. That did not look pleasant. Inside, it gets two, and Morrison unloads with mounted punches. Pair of European uppercuts get two, and John works a chinlock, but a catapult into the corner backfires when Punk lands on the middle rope, and dives back at him with a flying bodypress for two. Bulldog, but John blocks, so Punk throws an enzuigiri instead for two. Powerslam gets two, but Morrison manages a backbreaker, followed by a neckbreaker for two. Punk fires back with a short-clothesline and a flying moonsault for two, and he crotches Morrison across the top rope, then knocks him to the mat with a 2nd rope flying clothesline. Small package gets two, and a roundhouse kick leads to a rana off the top, but Morrison holds onto the ropes to block - Punk crashing to the mat. John hops down and hooks him in a leveraged pin from there, and he retains at 8:09. Pretty much right on par with the rest of their series thus far. **
Triple H v Booker T: This is Triple H's return after over seven months on the shelf with an injury. Booker goes right after him at the bell, but HHH dominates a slugfest, and clotheslines Booker over the top. It's funny, because it took me so long to get used to HHH with his current short buzzed haircut, but now I'm so used to it that seeing him with the long hair again looks weird to me. HHH clotheslines him over the top a second time, and this time follows Booker for a beating on the outside. Back in, HHH delivers a kneeling facebuster for two, so Sharmell distracts him, and Booker goes after the bad leg. HHH kinda ignores it, and clips Booker's leg to set up a figure four, but Sharmell rakes his eyes to save, and Booker delivers a savate kick for two. HHH shrugs that off as well, and tosses Booker over the top for a whip into the steps. Back in, Hunter hits a corner clothesline, and he plants Booker with a rotating spinebuster, but the Pedigree gets blocked. Booker tries the axekick, but HHH dodges, so he uses the Book End instead, getting two. Sidewalk slam sets up the Harlem Hangover, but HHH dodges, and the Pedigree finishes at 7:57. Man, how hard would it have been to build a match around Booker working the injured leg? Instead, Triple H sold nothing, and pretty much treated him like a jobber here, ahead of getting a standing ovation from everyone - including the announcers! It didn't feel like a pay per view worthy match, but at least it didn't have all sorts of racial undertones this time. ¾*
World Heavyweight Title Match: Great Khali v Batista: Khali pounds him down in the corner to start, shrugging off anything Batista throws at him. Short-clothesline connects, and a boot sends Batista to the outside. Batista manages to snap Khali's throat across the top rope on the way back in, but quickly gets smacked back down for two. Khali tosses him into the corner a couple of times, and a nervehold follows. He deserves a break from the blistering pace here. That eats up the bulk of the match, actually, until Batista manages to escape with a spinebuster. He goes up, but Khali blocks a dive, and chokeslams his challenger. It only gets two, so Khali randomly grabs a chair, and whacks Batista with it for a DQ at 6:55. Ugh. How many more pay per views 'til this Great Khali experiment is over? –½*
Main Event: WWE Title Match: John Cena v Randy Orton: Feeling out process to start, and Cena goes for the STFU early, but Orton is in the ropes before he can get it applied. The crowd is much rowdier than this match deserves at this point, which is strange, since they've been kinda laid back the rest of the show. Cena hits a bulldog for two, but telegraphs a backdrop, and takes a forearm to the back of the head for two. John tries firing back with a jumping shoulderblock, but Orton has it well scouted and ducks, then sends Cena to the outside with a shoulderblock of his own. Back in, Randy works a chinlock, but John manages a side suplex to escape. Charge misses, however, and Orton hooks the leg for two. Orton puts the boots to him for a while, and a powerslam gets two. Back to the chinlock, but Cena fights free again, so Randy throws a dropkick for two. Sleeper, but Cena is quickly countering, so Randy shifts down into a mat-based side-headlock instead. Once he wears John down enough, he shifts back to the sleeper, but Cena manages to power to a vertical base, and drop into the corner to escape. John starts mounting a comeback, but Orton blocks the FU, and drops the champ with an inverted headlock backbreaker. I'm surprised no one else really uses that move besides Randy. Orton with a rope-hung DDT for two, but John blocks the RKO - only to miss a charge, and take a spill over the top. Randy hops out to whip the champion into the steps out there, but it proves to be problematic, as now he has to expend all sorts of energy dead lifting him back inside to avoid a countout. Once he does, Cena manages to capitalize with a neckbreaker, and the flying rocker dropper follows. FU, but Orton holds the ropes to block, and he snaps John's throat across them to buy time. He decides to finish him off with the punt, but Cena counters with the STFU - Randy making the ropes. That frustrates John, which Randy capitalizes on with the RKO, but it only gets two! Good nearfall there. Back to another RKO, but this time Cena counters with the FU to retain at 21:20. I found this to be really slow and dull for the most part, though they did a decent job of building the drama for the finish. **
BUExperience: Certainly not the most exciting or memorable of shows, and definitely not anything I would consider required viewing.
DUD
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