• Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. Mark Henry vs. The Big Show

This was fairly short for a World Heavyweight Championship match, due to Mark Henry being injured on the go-home edition of Smackdown, but this was a really fun way to start the show. The story of this match was that Show and Henry (individually) kept destroying Bryan with power moves, and Bryan, being the much smaller heel, kept trying to escape the cage as quickly as possible. They utilized the cage heavily, with Show repeatedly tossing Bryan into the walls. Show splashed Henry against the side of the cage twice early on. Bryan tried to escape by walking out the door but Henry pulled him back in and sling-shotted him against the cage with the ropes. Bryan hit a tornado DDT on Show out of the corner and used the LeBell Lock but Henry broke it up. Henry went for the World’s Strongest Slam on Bryan by Show hit the WMD punch on Henry for a near fall. The end of the match was Bryan climbing over the top of the cage and Show following in pursuit. Bryan got over the top and Show tried to pull him back in by Bryan’s arms with one hand, but eventually lost his grip and Bryan dropped to the floor for the win. Good, fast-paced opener with heavy use of the cage. Bryan didn’t get a tremendous amount of offense in but this was a good heel victory as his slow burn turn continues. Match Time: 9:07     Star Rating: ***

• Natalya, Beth Phoenix, and The Bella Twins vs. Kelly Kelly, Eve, Tamina, and Alicia Fox

This was unadvertised, but with only 4 matches being announced in advance, a filler Divas match was expected. Eve hit her usual spots and Beth got her knees up to block a senton. One of the Bellas put Alicia in a terrible-looking arm bar. Kelly hit a facebuster and a sloppy head scissors. All of the girls then started brawling on the outside and Kelly hit a plancha off the top onto the pile. Beth then hit the Glam Slam on Kelly in the ring for the pin. Typical crappy Divas match. All of the offense from everyone here except for Beth looked awful. They booked the right finish, at least. Match Time: 5:28     Star Rating: *

• John Cena vs. Kane

Things were looking bad before the bell even rang for this one given how horrible this storyline has been for the past month on Raw. Both guys unload with punches at the start before Kane takes the advantage. Kane works over Cena with a chin lock and hits a sidewalk slam followed by the clothesline off the top. Crowd wasn’t into either guy really, but they liked seeing Cena being on the receiving end of moves. Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle but Kane grabs him by the throat. Kane big boots Cena for 2 before they head up top. Cena knocks Kane to the mat and hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle off the top. Kane escapes the Attitude Adjustment and they brawl on the floor and up the entranceway. The referee counts out both guys, so the match ends in a double count-out. Wow, boring match with a crap finish like that? I know what you’re thinking, but it gets even better. Cena and Kane brawl to the backstage area. Kane eventually takes out Cena by hitting him repeatedly with a chair. He then barges into Zack Ryder’s dressing room. Ryder is in a wheelchair to sell the chokeslam through the stage on Raw. Kane then WHEELS Ryder from the backstage area to the ring. Kane throws Ryder into the ring. Eve then comes out begging Kane not to hurt Ryder. Fans couldn’t care less. Kane hits the Tombstone on Ryder. Cena, totally no selling the beating backstage, runs to the ring and gets chokeslammed by Kane. They did the stretcher job for Ryder. THIS STORYLINE SUCKS AND IT MUST CONTINUE. The match itself was pretty much what was expected from these guys until the double countout, with a few nice moments but mostly dull, plodding action. Terrible stuff overall. Match Time: 10:56     Star Rating: *1/4

• Drew McIntyre vs. Brodus Clay

Like the Divas match, this was also an unadvertised match to fill time. Brodus came out dancing with the girls. Drew is all over Brodus at the start with punches, but Brodus comes back with the exploder, corner splash, and flying cross body for the quick victory. He then does the whole dance routine afterwards. Fine squash match here, basically the exact same match Brodus has been having since he debuted the new gimmick. Match Time: 1:05     Star Rating: N/A

• WWE Championship match with John Laurinaitis as Special Guest Referee: CM Punk(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler

Before the match, Laurinaitis introduced a second referee to officiate the match while he stood on the outside. Thank God for this match after the show had been dragging so much after the opener. Both guys tease their finishers in the opening minutes before Punk hits a suicide dive. Punk is yanked off the top rope and takes a scary bump almost on his head. Ziggler hits the repeated elbow drops and goes for the sleeper hold. Punk tries for the Anaconda Vise, but Ziggler reverses into the sleeper. Ziggler goes for the famouser but Punk counters with an awesome Liger bomb. Ziggler counters the Go to Sleep and rolls through a cross body attempt for 2. Punk hits a roundhouse kick and the Savage elbow off the top for a pair of near falls. The ref is then bumped and Punk puts Ziggler in the Anaconda Vise. Ziggler taps but Laurinaitis is busy tending to the other referee. Punk then counters a roll-up with one of his own but there’s still no ref. Laurinaitis and the other ref get in the ring, and Punk lifts up Ziggler for the GTS, swings him into Laurinaitis, and hits the move. The other ref, however, is still down. Punk goes for another GTS but Ziggler counters with a famouser. The ref comes to this time, but Punk kicks out. Punk catapults Ziggler into the corner and hits another GTS for the win, with Laurinaitis counting the pin along with the other referee. Good storytelling with Laurinaitis and Punk, and also some really unique spots. Ziggler and Punk have great chemistry with each other and the Laurinaitis stuff didn’t intruded on the match too much. The last few minutes did make Ziggler look a little weak due to how much offense he took from Punk, but the match was very good and showed that Ziggler belongs in this type of high-profile PPV match. Match Time: 14:32     Star Rating: ***1/2

• 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

This was far from one of the best Rumbles, but it was fairly entertaining for the most part. Lack of star power was a glaring problem throughout. Basically until the very end the match was mostly played for comedy. Santino Marella and Mick Foley had a standoff with the whole Socko vs. Cobra thing. Cody Rhodes and The Miz lasted deep into the match until Big Show, who was the final entrant, eliminated both of them. They teased Alberto Del Rio making his return, but when his music hit it turned out to be Ricardo Rodriguez, who then did a comedy sequence with Santino. A highlight was Kofi Kingston almost being eliminated, but catching himself on the floor with his hands and doing a handstand back towards the apron to get back into the ring. Surprise entrants included Jerry Lawler, Booker T, The Great Khali, Michael Cole, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Road Dogg, and the returning Kharma. The comedy was entertaining for the first 20 minutes but once it became clear that comedy was the direction of the entire match, the concept wore out and the match lost a lot of its intrigue because most of the participants were guys with no credibility who were rarely seen on television, or they were surprise entrants who were just there for no reason. The main problem was that until the very end, there were almost no wrestlers in the ring who had any chance of being victorious. The final four was Big Show, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Sheamus. Orton eliminated Show after an RKO but Jericho immediately sent Orton over the top. Jericho and Sheamus then had a great sequence to close the match with a ton of back and forth action and near-elimination spots. Jericho ended up hanging on the ropes and Sheamus knocked him to the floor with a Brogue Kick to win the match. I think Jericho definitely should have gone over here, as Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan doesn’t sound like a great choice right now as a Wrestlemania title match. But there’s still 2 months to go so we’ll see what the match ends up being. Overall this Rumble had a great conclusion but everything else about it made it feel like a battle royal on WWE Superstars. Match Time: 54:56     Star Rating: ***1/2

Overall PPV Rating: 6.25/10

1.    John Morrison vs. The Miz

The show kicked off with these two former tag team partners going at it. This match started off slowly in the beginning with both men applying a variety of headlocks but it got better as it went along. Morrison hits a nice flapjack followed up by a standing shooting star press for a near fall. Miz later comes back by hitting a clothesline in the corner followed by a running knee lift. The two exchange punches and kicks before Morrison misses a shining wizard and Miz goes for a roll-up. Morrison afterward connects with a springboard enzuigiri, but Miz gets his foot on the ropes when Morrison tries for the pin. Morrison then goes for a superplex, but Miz knocks him off the top ropes and jumps off to hit him with a double ax handle. Eventually near the end Miz goes for the Skull-Crushing Finale, but Morrison counters with a side Russian leg sweep. He goes up top to hit Starship Pain, but Miz knocks him off the top ropes before pinning him to win the match. Raw is now up 1-0 in the best 2 out of 3 mini-tournament going on within the PPV during the interbrand matches. Overall this was a decent opener hurt by a very weak ending. Match Rating: 5.5/10

2.    Smackdown Divas (Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, and Natalya) vs. Raw Divas (Melina, Kelly Kelly, and Gail Kim)

This was a surprisingly very good for a WWE women’s match. Kim starts the match by doing some good back and forth work with all of team Smackdown including hitting a nice hurricanrana to McCool. After taking some big power moves from Natalya, Kim makes the tag to Kelly, who hits a big headscissors initially, but the heels quickly regain control and begin to work her over while making quick tags. Phoenix hits a snapmare and puts Kelly in a chin lock while McCool hit a nice powerslam and a knee lift. Eventually Kelly is able to fight back into it by hitting a hurricanrana to Phoenix before making the tag to Melina. Melina does some good back and forth work with Phoenix and hits a big dropkick before getting a near fall with a roll-up. Phoenix eventually overpowers her and gets the win after hitting the Glam Slam. Smackdown has now evened the score at 1-1. A good women’s match that was only hurt by the lack of time. Match Rating: 5.5/10 (Keep in mind this is very good for a women’s match)

3.    World Heavyweight Championship: Undertaker(c) vs. CM Punk vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio

Despite not really getting a ton of time, this world title match was pretty entertaining due to the non-stop action, big moves, and near falls. Right out of the gate Punk goes after Mysterio and Batista and Taker go at it. Mysterio hits a seated senton to Punk and Taker connects with Old School on Batista. Batista eventually rebounds by powerslamming Punk before getting hit with a big boot from Taker. Taker then goes for a Last Ride on Mysterio, but Batista hits him with a huge spear. Mysterio and Batista then hit a 619/spinebuster combo but Punk breaks up Batista’s attempt at a pin. Taker is able to fight back into it by putting Hell’s Gate on Batista, but Punk breaks up the hold just when it appeared Batista was going to tap. Taker and Punk then go at it once again, culminating in Taker hitting the Last Ride and having a pinfall attempt broken up by Batista, who then takes on the Deadman. Taker and Batista exchange punches before Taker hits a chokeslam. After tossing Punk to the outside, Taker is hit with a Batista Bomb, but the pinfall is broken up by Mysterio. Mysterio and Batista then argue, allowing Taker to recuperate and hit Batista with a second chokeslam. Eventually this match comes to an end when Batista throws Mysterio out of the ring onto Punk before turning around right into a Tombstone and Taker retains his title. After the match, Batista blames Mysterio for his loss and attacks him during an interview segment, thus turning heel for the first time in almost five years. This segment was done very well and this match, although brief (clocking in at just under 10 minutes) was enjoyable. Match Rating: 6.5/10

4.    Team Smackdown (Chris Jericho, Kane, The Hart Dynasty, Matt Hardy, Finlay, and R-Truth) vs. Team Raw (D-Generation X, The Big Show, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, and Mark Henry)

With the score now tied between Raw and Smackdown, this huge brand warfare tag team match would decide who would take the Bragging Rights trophy. The match started off with R-Truth facing Cody Rhodes, stemming from their earlier backstage confrontation. The two do some decent back and forth action before Kane and Big Show get tagged in and the big men go to work. Show this a big shoulder block and leg drop before tagging in Swagger. Swagger starts to work over Kane but Kane hits a big right hand before tagging in Hardy. Hardy starts to get the upper hand on Swagger and hits a nice second rope leg drop. Swagger is eventually able to get the tag on Henry, who beats down on Hardy for a bit before tagging in Shawn Michaels. HBK hits a few chops but Hardy retaliates with a side effect before making the tag to Finlay. Those two go back and forth for a bit, ending with HBK hitting Sweet Chin Music. Almost right after hitting his patented move, he is caught with a Hart Attack from the Hart Dynasty. David Hart Smith is legal and goes to work on Michaels. I definitely would like to see a future DX vs. Hart Dynasty match after what these two teams did in this match. Jericho is eventually tagged in, which brought back memories of his great feud with Michaels from last year. Smith is eventually tagged back in and hits a big suplex to Michaels before tagging in Tyson Kidd, who misses a springboard elbow, allowing Michaels to tag in Triple H, who then cleans house. He does some good back and forth work with Jericho and the Hart Dynasty before Jericho misses a Lionsault, allowing Kingston to get a tag and enter the match. After hitting the Trouble in Paradise, Kofi’s pin attempt is broken up by the Hart Dynasty and the match instantly turns into an all out brawl outside the ring. Kofi goes to the top rope, but Big Show turns on Team Raw by hitting Kofi with a chokeslam and then hitting Triple H with a Knockout Punch. Jericho then sneaks in and gets the pin on Kofi and Team Smackdown is victorious. It was great to see WWE recognize Smackdown as their superior brand by giving them the win here. This was a pretty entertaining tag match but nothing we haven’t seen before. Match Rating: 6.5/10

5.    1 Hour Anything Goes Iron Man match for the WWE Championship: Randy Orton(c) vs. John Cena

Our main event was the 60 minute Iron Man match between Cena and Orton for the WWE title. I was worried that these two wouldn’t be able to entertain me for the whole hour and that the match should have been a 30 minute Iron Man match. Well, I did not enjoy the first 10 minutes of the match, and there was a 20 minute gap in the middle of the match that I did not enjoy, so a 30 minute match would have been much better. Still, they did enough right in this match to make it very enjoyable and possibly the best match they have ever had together. The match starts off with a ton of headlocks before Cena gets a quick fall a few minutes in by making Orton tap out to the STF. Just minutes later, Orton hits the RKO to tie the score at 1-1. The two then brawl outside the ring, which is when the match started to get pretty good. Orton smashes Cena’s head on the steel steps before hitting him with a TV monitor and a mic, resulting in Cena getting busted open the hard way on the top of his forehead. Cena fights back into it and hits his combination of moves and goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but while taking the move Orton hits the RKO and both men are down. With both guys having an arm across the other, the ref counts a double pinfall and the score remains tied, but now at 2-2. They did 30 second clock stoppages in between falls, and the one following this fall allowed medics to enter and clean up Cena’s bloody head (stupid PG rating). Cena then scores another pinfall after a top rope Attitude Adjustment to go up 3-2. Legacy then runs down to the ring and attacks Cena, and DiBiase hits Dream Street before dragging Orton on top of Cena. Kofi Kingston chases Legacy to the back with a chair (stemming from a backstage brawl with Rhodes earlier), but the ref counts to three and we are now tied again at 3-3. Orton and Cena then brawl up the entrance ramp and up to the stage. Orton slams Cena onto a control panel, resulting in an explosion. Orton then whips Cena through part of the set, causing another explosion and followed up by another pinfall from Orton, who goes up 4-3. We then ahd an odd sequence where Orton started playing with the pyro controls and hit many buttons trying to set off explosions near Cena. The fight returns to the ring where Orton beats down Cena very slowly for many minutes, which is what hurt the match as a whole in my opinion. In the middle of this long beatdown, Cena gets a small package to tie the score at 4-4, but Orton goes back up 5-4 after hitting an elevated DDT to the floor. Orton continues to wear down Cena until Cena eventually starts to make his comeback. The two go back and forth up and down the entrance ramp before taking the fight into the crowd. Cena chases Orton up to the top of a section and hits him with a garbage can before slamming him into a wall. Cena hip tosses Orton over the guardrail to take the fight back to ringside before smashing him into the barricades and the ring steps. A great spot follows where Cena launches Orton through the barricade before Cena sets up the ring steps next to the announce table. He then picks up Orton’s lifeless body and hits an Attitude Adjustment off the steps through the announce table followed by a pinfall to tie the score at 5-5.  Cena then grabs a wooden table and puts Orton on it in the ring, but when he goes for a top rope leg drop Orton moves and Cena crashes through the table. The two men exchange punches before Orton hits an RKO for a near fall. With the clock ticking away, Orton goes for a punt but Cena gets out of the way and puts on an STF. Orton tries to hang on but taps out as time expires and Cena wins the match 6-5 as well as the WWE Championship and the right to remain on Raw. A very good title match, the best these two have had all year. Match Rating: 7.5/10

Overall PPV Rating: 6.75/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit. I am from Orange, CT and am a huge fan of pro wrestling. I mostly follow WWE and TNA but I also watch the smaller promotions such as ROH and DGUSA. I have been a lifelong WWE fan and have become a TNA fan over the past few years. Aside from wrestling, I also really love baseball and football and follow many other sports such as hockey and MMA. I have written forwww.sportsgrumblings.com for roughly a year now as well.