Randy
Posts : 48
Join date : 2012-07-16
Age : 33
Location : Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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tf: sm klr
 | | Subject: Money in the Bank 2010 Sun Oct 14, 2012 5:43 pm | |
| Opening Match, Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kane vs. Christian vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Matt Hardy vs. the Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre.
Everyone goes after Show and Kane, but the big guys clean house and go after each other. Show wins that, but the ladder won't support his weight. Good stuff. Everyone teams up on Show, and Drew McIntyre comes out of it with a ladder. Cool springboard high kick by Rhodes there. Matt stops him and battles with Christian to pay off their interview segment from Smackdown. More scrummage, and Hardy and Christian team up against Kane. Christian goes up but gets dumped onto the Big Show. Great moment as Cody and Kofi both hit Kane with kicks, staggering him enough for the Twist of Fate. Kane rips apart the Spanish announce table, perhaps searching for the assailant who left his brother in a vegetative state. Drew winds up pummeled on the table, so Kofi goes up the ladder and Boom Drops him through the table. Ziggy goes up and gets a hand on the briefcase, but Show pushes the ladder out from under him and catches him in a chokeslam on the way down. FUCK. YOU. ZIGGLER. Damn, that was cool. Kane and Show have their annual chokeslam battle, which Show wins. Christian and Matt try to use the ladder as a clothesline tool, but Show blocks it. To the floor, Show grabs a super-reinforced ladder just for him. Haha. It's like the Escalade of ladders. Cody goes after Show's leg, though, so he can't even go up with his awesome P. Diddy ladder. Instead, he's forced to play defense as Kofi springboards onto the ladder. Okay, I'm not complaining because that was really cool and looked awesome and all, but it probably would have been faster for him just to step through the ropes and crawl. Kofi DDTs Show but gets dropkicked off the ladder by Rhodes. Show finally goes up slowly after everyone else takes each other out, but Kane recovers and dumps him all the way to the floor. Everyone BURIES Show under ladders. Kane goes up, but Dolph scurries over him. SLEEPER! Oh, but Kane smashes Dolph's head into the ladder and chokeslams him onto the pile of ladders. Kane drags Cody all the way to the entrance and javelins him into the ambulance. Matt and Christian team up against him again and powerbomb Kane. Christian and Matt brawl at the top of the ladder, and both men go flying. That allows Drew to go up, but Kane recovers, chokeslams him off, and retrieves the case at 26:15. Normally, we think of the spotty, springboardy guys as the stars of ladder matches, but I loved the psychology around the Big Show and Kane with the other guys wondering how in the hell they were going to deal with them and Big Show wondering how in the hell he was going to get up there. The ladder match was played out nearly a decade ago, but there were some nice wrinkles in there that breathed new life into the gimmick. ****1/4
Sheamus says he's sick of the Nexus, and he didn't want John Cena to have any excuses.
Divas Title: Alicia Fox vs. Eve Torres.
I don't know either of these ladies. No, wait. I know what you're saying. They've been around for years, and I've reviewed at least two dozen of their matches each. Still, I don't *know* either of them. They're like interchangeable parts of Defensor or something. All I know is that Eve is from Denver and Alicia is a slightly less malevolent Tyra Banks. Compare their personalities to Trish Stratus or Lita. Hell, even Victoria. Not a bad match, btw. Eve hits a nice high kick, but Fox blocks a flipping senton. That leads to the Scissors Kick (Fox Trot) at 5:52. Not horrible from a wrestling standpoint. Give them some personalities outside of "the Latina" and "the Black chick," and I might care. **
In the back, Jack Swagger refuses to apologize to his mom for not saving his father from a Kane chokeslam.
WWE Tag Team Titles: The Hart Dynasty (w/Natalya) vs. The Usos (w/Tamina).
Shhh. Look, son. Tag teams. Aren't they majestic? According to the placard outside their cage, these are the only two left in North America. The Usos isolate David and hit the Irish Whip/Buttalanche. A replay shows that was pretty brutal. I like it. Kidd tags in and hits a flying dropkick that sends Jey bouncing across the ring. Great bumping there. He slingshots into a rolling leg clutch, but the Usos get the blind tag and hit the 3-Minute Warning for two. David gets the hot tag as Natalya takes out Tamina on the floor. Sharpshooter on Jimmy, and the Harts retain at 5:52. Again, this was a really nice match undone by the lack of face time these teams get (outside of hanging around Bret). **1/2
World Heavyweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger.
They make a big deal about Rey's injured ankle (at the hands of Swagger's Anglelock). Rey avoids a charge and flies out on Swagger, but Swagger runs up the ropes and belly-to-bellies Rey off. Jeez, let Swagger retain some semblance of himself. It's like he's Kim Novak and Vince is Jimmy Stewart. Swagger spectacularly fucks up what I think was supposed to be a powerslam. Either that, or Rey was supposed to counter to his spinning DDT and just didn't. Rey dropkicks him in the face and hits the tilt-o-whirl headscissors. Ah, maybe it was supposed to be the DDT because that's essentially the same thing. The split-legged moonsault gets two. Swagger catches him with a Doctorbomb, but Rey is in the ropes. Rey ranas Swagger into the post. Swagger catches him and sets up for a super powerslam, but Rey counters to a DDT. Springboard, but Swagger blocks and turns it into the anklelock. Rey's boot slips off, though, shocking Swagger enough for Rey to roll him up for the win at 10:42. Nice little tribute to Eddy Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle there, and why not? Rey, of all people, would know Eddy's tricks. Recasting Swagger as Kurt Angle 2.0 is probably a little unfair to him, since Kurt had a different persona. His moveset matches, though. ***
After the match, Swagger locks in the anklelock, but Kane makes the save, presumably not believing his alibi for the Undertaker's attack. He chases Swagger to the back.
HAHA. PSYCH!
Kane returns, in a completely different emotional state, holding his Money in the Bank briefcase.
World Heavyweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Kane.
Chokeslam. Tombstone. New champ at 0:54. Nice to see the Tombstone make a return for Kane. 1/4*
Edge and Chris Jericho argue over who will walk out with the Money in the Bank shot.
WWE Women's Title: Layla (w/Michelle McCool) vs. Kelly Kelly (w/Tiffany).
EXTREME EXPOSE EXPLODES! Kelly's looking disappointingly skanky with her tan and makeup. She used to be the cute "girl next door" with a freakishly white smile. Now, she's Ke$ha. Same with Tiffany. I really liked her as ECW executive because it was a distinctive and decisive character. Here, I had to list her as "?" until Michael Cole mentioned who she was. No wonder she got released. Anyway, compare this to the earlier women's match and see the difference in execution. This is about as sloppy and loose as you can get. Nice moment, though, as Layla traps Kelly's leg in the tarp and beats on it. Kelly pushes a gloating Michelle into the audience. That's the extent of the fun, though. Layla blocks a rollup and covers for the relatively clean win at 3:57. 1/4*
Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match: The Miz vs. Ted Dibiase (w/Maryse) vs. Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton vs. John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge vs. Evan Bourne.
Edge immediately ducks to the floor, watching Mark Henry take everyone else out. Edge waits for everyone else to clear out and then goes after the case. Orton stops him and takes him to the floor. Morrison ducks a ladder shot from Dibiase and hits a back kick. Cole points out that these two have an issue. They did? Don't even remember that. Henry kicks some ass before getting smacked in the face by Jericho's ladder. Orton DDTs Bourne using the ladder, but I think the crowd was expecting something on the level of the SSP into an RKO. Edge, Morrison, Jericho and Orton all go up. Henry shoves them all over only to have Bourne ride the ladder into a high knee. Everyone's down, so Maryse grabs the ladder and goes up. Striker and Lawler ponder the legality of that as if it's a serious issue. Well, gee, if Rex Ryan stopped sniffing his wife's sneakers and ran out on the field to catch a pass could he just hand it off to Santonio Holmes for a touchdown? At least pay lip service to reality. That being said, Maryse's legs look really good going up the ladder, so I'll allow it. Morrison recovers and has the best view in the house. He pulls her down, gentlemanly, so Dibiase scurries up behind his back. Morrison stops him, and we hit a lull. Henry press slams Miz onto a ladder that's laying on Jericho. Evan Bourne rides Henry up to the top. Rated RKO hauls him off and tosses him into the World's Strongest Slam. Orton, Edge, Jericho, Miz and Morrison all go up. Dibiase sets up a ladder bridge from the ropes and joins them. Yeah, you don't want to just walk across the canvas. The canvas is hot lava. They fight him off, and the bridge goes ass over tea kettle, sending Dibiase to the floor. Morrison fights off Jericho but eats an RKO. Oh, but Bourne hits the SSP on Orton as he lands. REVENGE, BEEYATCH! Jericho knocks Bourne off, but now Edge has recovered. Orton takes out Jericho with the RKO and shoves Edge into an adjacent ladder. Orton goes up to a big pop, but Miz tips him over, goes up, and gets the unlikeliest of wins at 20:26. A little bit more spotty and without as much story as the earlier match, but damn, that's two great ladder matches on this show. ***3/4
Recap of Sheamus getting a talking-to from Uncle Arn, who tells him that "with great power must come great responsibility." Knowing that, Sheamus saves Cena from the Nexus, lest Skip Sheffield kill Arn during a botched robbery.
WWE Heavyweight Title, Cage Match: Sheamus vs. John Cena.
Striker says that two men have won the WWE Title in Kansas City "most memorably the Undertaker in 1999." Yeah, who doesn't look back at Over the Edge '99 and think, "Man, I'll never forget where I was when the Undertaker won the title. I sure am glad nothing significant happened earlier in the night to overshadow it." The other, by the way, was Hulk Hogan defeating Triple H. Speaking of Hunter, I understand why he's in love with Sheamus. His sluggish power-style is just like post-injury Triple H. If Hunter got a haircut and a dyejob and fell into a bucket of white paint á la the female cat in Pepe LePew cartoons, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Look, there's the MAIN EVENT SLEEPER (tm Scott Keith)! Cena fights him off the top rope but misses the flying fistdrop. Haven't seen that since Rick Rude. The announcers wonder what a broken hand might prevent Cena from doing, which I appreciate, and would appreciate more if I thought Cena would actually sell it. Sheamus ties him up in the ropes and goes up, but Cena escapes and punches him (see?) to stagger him enough for the bulldog. The Billy Robinson backbreaker puts Cena down. The Brogue Kick gets two. He hauls Cena up, but Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment out of nowhere. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Cue the Nexus! The ref steals Tarver's bolt-cutters, so Barrett threatens the outside ref. The ref defiantly throws the key into the crowd so no one can get it. Nexus suddenly look perplexed. Man, they are a shitty faction. He's defying you! Make an example of him, you fuckers! The inside ref gets bumped and doesn't see Sheamus tapping out. Cena and Sheamus scale opposite sides of the cage, and most of the Nexus goes to Cena's side to stop him from coming down. Sheamus just has to take out Rusty Griswold and fall to the floor for the win and the title at 23:00. Sheamus scurries off and so does most of the Nexus, but Cena takes out Michael "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" Tarver and Darren Young to vent. Oh sure, they leave the black guys behind. The match is about what you'd expect from HHH and Cena in 2006 on an average episode of Raw – okay quality, but really just waiting for the angle advancement. **1/2
A dropoff at the main event level can't ruin this show, which boasts a pair of excellent matches and a great angle with Kane going full heel out of nowhere and winning his first *real* title in a long time. I don't like the concept, but the execution was great.
Thumbs up.
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