WWE Over the Limit (May 2012)

 

Original Airdate: May 20, 2012

From Raleigh, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler

Opening 20-Man Battle Royal: The winner gets a shot at either the WWE Intercontinental or United States title, their choice. We've got: Heath Slater, Michael McGillicutty, JTG, Yoshi Tatsu, Ezekiel Jackson, Miz, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Christian, Drew McIntyre, Curt Hawkins, Tyler Reks, Jinder Mahal, Great Khali, Titus O'Neil, William Regal, Darren Young, Alex Riley, Tyson Kidd, and David Otunga. In an odd moment, the match is already going the moment the show comes on the air. Like, no logo, no video package, no entrances, no shots of the crowd: as soon as we fade in, it’s the match. I think that may be the only time that’s ever happened. We get down to Miz, Christian, Kidd, and Otunga, and Tyson is the first to go. Miz and Otunga gang up on Christian, but a miscommunication ends in David getting dumped. That leaves Miz and Christian to fight over finishers, and Christian nearly gets dumped, but manages to hang on. Both guys go over the top to the apron, and Christian throws a spear to knock Miz to the ground at 12:08 - winning, in his first TV match since November 2011. Not my brand of Vodka. ¼*

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Kofi Kingston and R-Truth v Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler: Kofi and Jack start, and they trade wristlocks to start. Kofi nails him with a jumping backelbow for two, and he tags Truth for a tandem hiptoss, setting up a legdrop from Truth for two. Truth sure went from top level heel to comedy babyface in record time, didn’t he? Jack gets Truth into the heel corner for a tag to Ziggler, but Dolph quickly loses control, and Kofi dives in with a flying clothesline for two. Kofi tries to keep it going, but gets clobbered, and the heels take control of the match, working Kingston over. Dolph checking his pulse while on the apron at one point is odd, was he having an issue? Truth gets a tag, and runs wild, but only briefly, as Swagger hits him with a pump-splash for two, and the heels take control again. They cut the ring in half on their new victim, and Ziggler lands one of the best dropkicks I’ve ever seen in here. The timing, execution, and Truth’s selling were all top notch there. Kofi gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door. Kofi catches Ziggler with Trouble in Paradise, and that’s enough to retain at 12:11. This wasn’t very good, but it was solid, and had a good sense of urgency. *

WWE Divas Title Match: Layla v Beth Phoenix: Layla grabs a standing headlock to start, but Beth easily escapes, and starts knocking her around. Layla gets fired up with a facebuster, and a 2nd rope bodypress gets her two. Layla with a seated dropkick for two, and a corner whip follows, but Beth throws her around again. Beth cranks on Layla’s bad knee, and she’s off to the races with that. Layla looks to make a plucky comeback, so Beth trues cutting her off with a press-slam, but Layla escapes with a DDT for two. She looks to follow up, but gets railroaded into the corner, and Beth looks for the Glam Slam, but Layla counters with a cradle for two - reversed by Beth for two. Beth clips the bad leg, but Layla still manages a neckbreaker to retain at 7:06. This was fine. * ¼ 

World Heavyweight Title Fatal Four-Way Match: Sheamus v Chris Jericho v Alberto Del Rio v Randy Orton: First fall wins it. Sheamus and Orton clear the ring, but the other two rush back in before they can engage. Everyone spills to the outside, where Jericho and Del Rio team up to hurt Sheamus’ shoulder, and they chuck him into the announce table. They go after Orton next, but Randy is rowdy, and he takes the fight to them. Jericho and Del Rio start beefing, and everyone ends up fighting on the ropes, with Sheamus knocking Jericho and Orton to the floor. That allows Sheamus to hit Alberto with a flying clothesline for two, and he hammers him with forearms, but Jericho saves with a dropkick. Orton snap powerslams Chris, however, and he gives Sheamus one for good measure. Randy hits Sheamus with a rope-hung DDT, and he sets up for the RKO, but Del Rio puts him in a cross-armbreaker before he can deliver. Jericho breaks it up, and tags Del Rio with a backelbow, but hits knees on a Lionsault. That allows Orton to hit Jericho with an inverted headlock backbreaker for two, as Sheamus gives Del Rio a scrap backbreaker. Sheamus schoolboys Orton for two, but gets dumped out of the ring before he can do more damage, and Randy hits Jericho and Del Rio with a double rope-hung DDT. Del Rio is giving off some real Rick Martel vibes tonight. Everyone trades signature moves, ending in Sheamus besting Jericho at 15:57. I don’t like four-ways. *

Miz v Brodus Clay: Clay knocks him around to start, so Miz slaps him in the face, but that backfires. Clay backdrops him over the top, but Miz lands on the apron, and snaps his throat across the rope. Miz looks to capitalize, but Clay blocks the attack, and gets him in a standing bow-and-arrow. Clay with a sloppy suplex for two, so Miz bails to the apron, but gets knocked into the barricade for his trouble. Clay follows for a ram into the post, but Miz reverses, and adds a flying axehandle as he takes control. Miz with a big boot for one, so he ground Brodus in a chinlock, but Clay escapes, and makes a comeback. Clay uses a superplex to set up a splash at 4:10. Gosh, I’ve seen Superstars jobbers get more in than Miz did here. ½*

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Cody Rhodes v Christian: Cody hammers his challenger at the bell, and delivers a quick gourdbuster, but gets dumped to the outside while looking for a follow up. Christian adds a baseball slide, but a plancha misses, and Cody sends him into the steps. Inside, that gets Rhodes two, and a Russian legsweep gets another two. Cody goes to a modified headvice, but Christian escapes, so Rhodes dropkicks him for two. Rhodes puts the boots to him, and he takes Christian upstairs for a vertical superplex, but it batters him as well, and Christian flashes a small package for two. Both men go tumbling over the top on a clothesline, but Rhodes gets the better of it, and hooks the leg for two on the way back in. Cody tries a dive off the middle, but Christian blocks, and hits a 2nd rope dropkick for two. Killswitch, but Rhodes blocks, so Christian uses a drop-toehold to ropechoke him. Upstairs for a flying bodypress, but Cody dodges, and hooks an Oklahoma roll for two. Cody looks for another superplex, but Christian blocks. He tries a tornado DDT, but Rhodes blocks, and lands a flying moonsault press for two. Charge, but Christian sidesteps, and catches him with the Killswitch at 7:21. Christian really became a top level worker by this point. He wasn’t getting main events, but he was consistently great in whatever role he was put in. ** ¾ 

WWE Title Match: CM Punk v Daniel Bryan: Did Punk ever go on last during this reign? No wonder he became so bitter. They feel each other out to start, and Punk takes control, targeting the leg. Punk dumps him to the outside, but Bryan blocks a tope, and rams Punk into the rail, then drops him front-first across it. Inside, Bryan lands a flying dropkick for two, and a snapmare allows him a mat-based abdominal stretch. Daniel with a kick to the shoulderblades for two, and he gets Punk in a surfboard. A charge misses, however, allowing Punk a suplex for two. Punk swipes at the leg before throwing some chops, but Daniel cuts him off with a snap suplex (nicely executed). Bryan goes up with a flying headbutt drop for two, and he gets Punk in a crossface, but the champ escapes. He manages a neckbreaker, followed by a powerslam for two. To the outside, he lands the tope, but a dive on the way back in is blocked with a dropkick from the challenger. That allows Bryan to unload the Yes kicks, but Punk counters one into a corkscrew legwhip. That allows Punk a figure four, but Bryan won’t quit. Punk with a cradle for two, but a reversal sequence ends in Daniel landing a roundhouse kick for two. Bryan unloads in the corner, and takes him up for superplex, but Punk crotches him on the top to block. That allows Punk a springboard flying clothesline for two, and he tries the GTS, but Bryan counters with a crucifix for two. Punk tries a schoolboy for two, but Daniel counters to the LeBell lock, only for Punk to block. Punk uses a catapult over the top, but Bryan skins the cat, so Punk welcomes him back with a kick to the head for two. Punk uses a bodyslam to set up a flying elbowdrop for two, but Bryan gets fired up, and unloads knee strikes. Running corner dropkick, but Punk dodges, and lands a knee strike of his own. Bulldog, but Bryan counters to the LeBell lock. He wrenches it on, but Punk uses the momentum to roll it back into a cradle for the pin at 23:54. This was good, in a technical sense, but I didn’t feel myself getting into it, or getting lost in the story. ** ½ 

Ryback v Camacho: Cole is very excited to note that Ryback practices yoga. Really getting him over as a monster. I’m pretty sure they used to talk about Goldberg doing pilates on Nitro, too. Ryback knocks him around, but Camacho manages to get him on the ropes, and Hunico adds a cheap shot. That allows Camacho a one count, but Ryback quickly shrugs him off, and delivers a spinebuster, then a powerbomb. Ryback with a Samoan drop from there at 1:52. DUD

Main Event: No Disqualification Match: John Cena v John Laurinaitis: If Cena wins, Laurinaitis is fired, and anyone who interfered on his behalf would also be fired. Laurinaitis takes off running at the bell, but Cena catches up with him before he can dive into the crowd. Inside, Cena chops him, and poor Laurinaitis, he’s a victim here. Cena uses an airplane spin to mess with him, and Laurinaitis falls out of the ring as Cena smirks. Cena continues to mess with him by grabbing the ring bell and sounding it right in his ear, and he smashes his face into the announce table a few times from there. Cena continues to toy with him, before telling him he’s going to put him in the STF, but if he can last ten seconds, Cena will let off. The fans count it down, but Laurinaitis doesn’t submit, so Cena puts it back on for another ten count. Cena dumps a bottle of water on Laurinaitis’ head, then blasts him with a fire extinguisher, as this is starting to reach Bret Hart/Vince McMahon at WrestleMania levels of one-sidedness. To the outside, Cena dumps a trash can over his head, so Laurinaitis bails into the crowd. Cena chases, but Laurinaitis manages to hurt Cena’s arm in the process, and he sends him into the steps. After ten minutes of nonstop abuse, good to see Laurinaitis finally get something in. Into the ring, Laurinaitis whacks him with a chair for two, and then goes low. That allows Laurinaitis to take off into the crowd again, but Big Show appears, dragging him back to ringside for a recovering Cena to finish off. Cena sets up the Attitude Adjustment, when Show suddenly knocks Cena silly, allowing Laurinaitis the pin at 17:02. This was entertaining for what it was, but really didn’t feel like a main event, and probably should have switched places with the WWE Title match. ¾*

BUExperience: We certainly didn’t go over the limit of great matches.

DUD