The Year in PPV- 2013, Part III

With 2013 being as good as it's been so far, surely the WWE will find a way to mess it up...


9. Battleground

Well here's a show that's considered an absolute disaster for the company. The brand new Battleground PPV was not well-received by many fans, with a lot of the undercard being underwhelming and some of the main events left fans begging for refunds. The biggest problems with the main events are that they failed to keep the audience engaged. Even if there was a lot of buildup for Ryback vs. CM Punk and the WWE Championship match (Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton....again), they both failed to deliver in one particularly important aspect: an ending that audiences actually care about.

There are only two matches on the show worth checking out. Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam open the show in a hardcore match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The match is alright and utilizes Van Dam's type of match to bring out the best in Del Rio. But the night will best be remembered as the greatest night in the history of the Rhodes family. With Dusty Rhodes in their corner, Cody Rhodes and Goldust fought Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to stand against the Authority and get their jobs back. Not only is it a phenomenal tag team match, but it's a feel good moment that received a huge response from the superstars in the back, the commentators, the fans in attendance, and the fans at home who had to suffer through this show of epic failure proportions.

Skip It


10. Hell in a Cell

First things first: Why is R-Truth on the poster? Was he really that relevant during this year to where he warranted an appearance on a PPV poster? I mean, he's on the pre-show panel, but that's it....at that rate, why don't we put Alex Riley on a poster since he's technically at every show as part of the pre-show panel? Anyways, the show does get kicked off in tremendous fashion with a triple threat tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Cody Rhodes and Goldust, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, and the Usos all showed the WWE Universe that there was still some life and excitement in the tag team divisions as they decisively stole the show and set a match standard that no other match could compare to, not even the Hell in a Cell matches.

In a match that brought closure to the CM Punk/Paul Heyman feud, Punk challenged Heyman and Ryback to a handicap Hell in a Cell match. The match is pretty good, but thanks to a loophole, Punk competes solely against Ryback during the match (I guess some redemption for their debacle the previous year), and the fans waited to see if he could get revenge on Heyman once going through Ryback. In another match that brought (temporary) closure to a storyline, Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton fought once again for the WWE Championship, but in the confines of the Hell in a Cell. To add to the drama, Shawn Michaels (YAY!) was placed in the match as guest referee. With his loyalties to both Bryan and Triple H, and his public (storyline) dislike for Orton, the obvious question was if he would be impartial. I actually think the Cell match is good even if Michaels wasn't present for it (shocker right?), and maybe this is an instance of too much going on in booking. Will the Hell in a Cell, maybe it's best to stick to the basics: end a match decisively to properly bring an intense rivalry to an end.

Skip It


11. Survivor Series

On this night, Survivor Series specialized on what made it an entertaining PPV in the first place: quality tag team matches (except the Diva's match....that was awful). The only 5-on-5 traditional elimination tag match on the card, the show opens with The Shield and The Real Americans facing Cody Rhodes, Goldust, the Usos, and Rey Mysterio. This match allowed a lot of young stars to shine, while also allowing veterans like Goldust and Mysterio to still hold the crowd's attention. On the Shield/Real Americans side, there was an obvious focus on Roman Reigns and preparing him to be a breakout star of the group. I also really like how much backing Cody Rhodes had at this time. He was able to entertain on the mic and deliver in the ring (PLEASE bring this Cody Rhodes back. Am I the only one wishing he wasn't Stardust anymore?), and he had a chance to step up as a team captain for this match. Another enjoyable match was the tag team match that brought the Best and the Beard together by having CM Punk and Daniel Bryan take on Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of the Wyatt Family. This match felt like a throwback to the great tag matches of the '80s that were given a great amount of time to tell a story through quality wrestling.

The main events, however, are another story. By this point, John Cena/Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship and Randy Orton/Big Show for the WWE Championship are the WRONG kinds of main events to follow great tag team matches on this show. Orton/Big Show could take home an award for "main event of the year that no one cared about," but thankfully the momentum is saved by what takes place after the match. As the Authority looked on in approval, the WWE and World Heavyweight Champions stared each other down in the center in the ring and the fans knew it was time for something historic.

Mild Recommendation


12. TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs

Did they forget to book the tables, ladders, and chairs matches for this show? The main event is the ONLY TLC match on the card and that just feels wrong. This once heavily gimmicked PPV has swapped out the need for a tables match, a ladder match, and a chairs match (not really complaining about that one), and replaced it with tag matches. TWO 3-on-1 handicap matches take place on this night. The first saw CM Punk open the show by taking on the Shield, and Daniel Bryan had his chance against the Wyatt Family later that night. Both are good and both sides come off looking strong by the end. Cody Rhodes and Goldust continue to show that they are fighting champions by defending their Tag Team titles against the Real Americans, RybAxel, and the team of Rey Mysterio and Big Show, in a Fatal 4-Way elimination match. While these tag matches were making the crowd happy, the show was focusing on the main event that was guaranteed to make history on this night.

In the night's only TLC, the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships were both on the line in an attempt to unify the titles and crown the "first" WWE World Heavyweight Champion (Chris Jericho and the Undisputed Championship should sue somebody). This match would be really exciting if not for two big problems. The first is that a lot of the TLC spots are underwhelming and don't add a lot to the moment. And the second issue: it's a John Cena/Randy Orton match which the fans were REALLY sick of seeing at this point. They could've easily built this up until WrestleMania, which would have created a bigger moment and would've removed an unnecessary gimmick like the TLC match to such a prestigious moment in company history. Here's a fantasy scenario for you: WrestleMania XXX, John Cena vs. CM Punk for the World Title (prompting Punk to NOT leave the company), Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Title  (decisively ending their feud) and the winners fight in the main event to unify the belts. The possibility for a Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk match to main event WrestleMania and crown the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion is truly best for business.

Mild Recommendation


Final Thoughts: For the last part of the year, something about 2013 seemed to fizzle in terms of quality. Sure, there's a strong focus on Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority, and the amount of tag teams and factions that were in high profile matches, but other than that, the midcard was lacking some serious spark during this time. Most of the non-main event PPV matches felt thrown together with a "just because" reason behind it, so the momentum of the shows were feeling very disjointed. With the crowning of the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, the door was left open for a different format to shake up the company as they were preparing for WrestleMania XXX. But that will be discussed at a later time.


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The Year in PPV- 2013, Part II

As 2013 continues, the WWE returned to Chicago to unveil a brand new PPV...


5. Payback

When I saw the lineup for Payback, I had my doubts it would be anything more than a filler PPV. However, when the show started and the Chicago crowd began showing their enthusiasm, it became one of the greatest shows I've ever seen since being a fan. From beginning to end, every match mattered and the fans made sure to be loud for all of them. The crowd made it clearly know who they wanted to win and in most cases, they went away happy, and if the person they wanted to win lost, their anger only made the moment more effective in giving a superstar heat. The opening bout was a triple threat for the Intercontinental Championship between Wade Barrett, The Miz, and the newly repackaged Curtis Axel (formerly Michael McGillicutty) who was replacing an injured Fandango. Then, Kaitlyn defended her Diva's Championship against AJ Lee in a personal rivalry that actually had the crowd invested in a women's match (which is rare nowadays). And The Shield certainly had the crowd behind them in their matches as Dean Ambrose defended his United States Championship against Kane, and Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns defended the WWE Tag Team Championships against Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. And that's just the undercard.

The main event for the WWE Championship was a Three Stages of Hell match. John Cena and Ryback wrestled a lumberjack match, a tables match, and an ambulance match and actually succeeded in having a match that the Chicago crowd didn't boo out of the building. But the night really comes down to two crucial moments. The most obvious was how hometown hero CM Punk made his return since WrestleMania to take on Chris Jericho. But my favorite is the World Heavyweight Championship between Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio. Focusing on Ziggler's recently healed concussion, Del Rio targets the injury by viciously kicking him in the head throughout, making the crowd despise him more and root for the now sympathetic Ziggler. Simply put: it's the best double turn match since Steve Austin and Bret Hart's match at WrestleMania 13 (which also took place in Chicago, go figure).

Highly Recommended


6. Money in the Bank

Admittedly, the rest of this show outside of the ladder match is mostly filler but there is one main event worth talking about. That would be the WWE Championship match between John Cena and Mark Henry. After announcing his plans to retire, Mark Henry punked out Cena (and majority of the fans) by attacking Cena and declaring it was all a hoax to get into the Champ's head and give him a title shot. What proceeded was a match that we all knew who was likely to win, but all held out that hope and wondered if they were going to give Mark Henry a chance to hold the WWE title as a reward for all his hard work. It's a match that blurs the line between television storyline and backstage politics and it works out surprisingly well in terms of in-ring storytelling. But now on to the matches everyone came to see: the Money in the Bank ladder matches.

The first Money in the Bank match (for the World Heavyweight Championship contract) featured all heels (odd) and even some tag teams that worked together for most of the match, assuming that their partners would have their backs no matter what (morons). It may have been the opening match, but Dean Ambrose, Fandango, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, and Wade Barrett showed that they could cut it in a big match situation. They would have almost stolen the show if not for the main event. In a Money in the Bank ladder match featuring 6 all-stars, Sheamus, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Christian, and the returning Rob Van Dam put on a great main event that the Philadelphia crowd ate up. It was obvious that they wanted an internet darling like Punk, Bryan, or RVD, but did the fans walk away happy?

Mild Recommendation


7. SummerSlam

This SummerSlam is a great show. I mean a REALLY great show. It's the best SummerSlam I've seen since 2002 and that's saying a lot. The show creates 2 amazing instant classics on this evening and that's where the show will leave its mark in history. The rest of the undercard is good and even has a gem or two in there (particularly the World Heavyweight Championship match between Alberto Del Rio and Christian), but on this night it was about four men and their desire to make history.

In the first main event, CM Punk fought Brock Lesnar in a No Disqualification match that was highlighted as The Best vs. The Beast. Lesnar's dominance was in full effect as he mercilessly beat Punk around the arena, and it was Punk's determination to never give up, throw everything he had at Lesnar, and desire to get revenge on Paul Heyman that rallied the fans behind him. It tells an excellent David and Goliath story (that they actually refer to many times throughout the night) and was so good it had Shawn Michaels (who was on the pre-show panel) say "Thank You," and I can only imagine how good it must feel to hear those words from the Showstopper. Then, the time had come to see if Daniel Bryan could be a main event player as he challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship with Triple H as the guest referee. The two superstars actually have a legitimate wrestling match for a while, which certainly felt like a jab at all the naysayers who say Cena can't wrestle. The two had an unforgettable match that I was on the edge of my seat for, and I would definitely love to see them have another PPV classic in the future. There is no controversy in who won or how they won, it was a clean victory and the better man truly won that evening. If only for a few minutes...

Highly Recommended


8. Night of Champions

After cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam, Randy Orton was declared the name and face of the WWE by Triple H (who helped Orton screw Bryan out of the title). What ensued was the beginning of what many considered the new Austin/McMahon feud of this generation: Daniel Bryan against The Authority. After having many matches against Orton on RAW earlier in the year, it's not possible for them to have a badly worked match, but they needed to add something new to their WWE Championship match on this night to spark some crowd interest and have the match stand out. CM Punk also has an opportunity to get revenge, with a no disqualification handicap elimination match against Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel. Once you add a stipulation like that, you can only figure that Axel gets eliminated. But once, Punk gets Heyman alone in the ring, does he finally get his revenge or does Heyman have a trick (or a new Paul Heyman guy) up his sleeve?

If anything, this show stands out for being such a transitional show that all of the challengers in the title matches seem like unique choices. Dolph Ziggler challenging Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship, Kofi Kingston challenging Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Championship, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins defending the Tag Team Championships against the Prime Time Players, AJ Lee defending the Diva's Championship against Natalya, Brie Bella, and Naomi, Rob Van Dam challenging Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship, they aren't bad, but they certainly lack any long-term direction. So does that mean this show features nothing but well-wrestled filler? And if so, does that make it ok?

Mild Recommendation


Thoughts: The main good things in this block of shows are obvious. The formation of the Authority, the development of Daniel Bryan as a legit main eventer, the domination of the Shield, the debut of the Wyatt Family, the return of Rob Van Dam, the feud between Punk and Heyman, and the entire Payback PPV. Giant long-term plans were certainly in development for the WWE, with a main event focus on either Daniel Bryan or the Authority, meaning there could be some creative leeway for the remainder of the PPV undercards. Would they all work out well or would there be a few misfires?

Concluded in Part III...


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The Year in PPV- 2013, Part I

It's very interesting to start reviewing 2013 as 2014 is coming to an end. A lot of the previous year's events have fully developed and you can clearly point out the historical significance now. I remember with a lot of the matches I saw during this year, I was able to relax and not take everything so seriously. Basically, this year made wrestling entertaining as a whole, in both storytelling and match quality. And there is a LOT going on within the 12 PPVs and I'm surprised that a lot of it went as well as it did.

This was the year of the "YES!" movement vs. The Authority, as well as the return of dominating trios in the form of The Shield and the Wyatt Family. This was the year that Ryback's push came to an abrupt stop, as well as a forced push for Curtis Axel that was lacking one thing (CHARISMA), and concussions halting the booking of stars like Dolph Ziggler and Fandango. This was also the year that, unfortunately, began winding down how much time we had left with CM Punk before he walked away from the company in early 2014. Surprisingly, this was the year of Alberto Del Rio, who found himself in 10 World Heavyweight Championship matches within the year. And the year ended with the unification of the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships. And I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I'm still missing, so let's not waste any time.

Let's start 2013 with the much anticipated return of The People's Champion...


1. Royal Rumble

With only 4 matches on the card, each match is (theoretically) able to tell a cohesive story with strong chemistry and create a substantially momentous PPV. And surprisingly, each match does this very well. We start off with a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship that saw Alberto Del Rio square off with Big Show. While the ending could induce eye rolling, it is surprising to see the amount of chemistry that Del Rio and Big Show have. Then, Team Rhodes Scholars challenges Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team Championships in a very fun match that brought some closure to their fantastic rivalry from 2012. But by the end of the night, the only match anyone could talk about was the WWE Championship match between CM Punk and The Rock. Debate about the ending all you want, but the main focus should be that this was the pay off to a feud that began the previous summer (which is REALLY difficult to pull off by modern wrestling standards). It's a truly iconic moment in sports entertainment history between two of wrestling's best trash talkers in a clash of which one could back up what they said and walk away as champion.

The Royal Rumble match actually took place before the main event but still had tons of excitement and surprises. Many superstars told great stories throughout the match, from Dolph Ziggler forced to enter at number one and scratching and clawing to survive, to Ryback destroying everyone in his path, to Bo Dallas from NXT holding his own against a number of WWE superstars. Even by the time there were SIX participants left (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Randy Orton, Ryback, and a surprise return I won't dare spoil), each could have easily main evented WrestleMania, but EVERYONE knew who was winning it and that might make it difficult for some to get into it, but I really enjoyed the match for the most part. Not the best Rumble match in history, but certainly entertaining, and it marks the first time that myself, my best friend, and my future wife were able to do a Fantasy Wrestling Draft with the Rumble participants (I think I might have to explain that one in a different post).

Highly Recommended


2. Elimination Chamber

A lot of the show is filler, but what does work in its favor is the importance of the main events. Alberto Del Rio and Big Show open another PPV for the World Heavyweight Championship and their chemistry hasn't changed. It's really surprising to see how quickly the crowd took to Del Rio's face change considering how long he had "go away" or "X-Pac" heat with them for many years. Speaking of Royal Rumble rematches, CM Punk looked to face The Rock and win back the WWE Championship he lost at the Rumble. In an added stipulation, CM Punk could win the title if Rock got disqualified or counted out, which added a lot more story in how low Punk would stoop and how patient and level headed Rock could be. I actually liked this match more than their Rumble match simply on match quality. They might have wrestled the better match here, but they had the bigger moment in their previous encounter. But my favorite match of the evening was the six-man tag match between The Shield and the all-star team of John Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus. This match gave me a lot of perspective on the three members of The Shield that I never noticed before. Dean Ambrose is a brawler and mouthpiece of the group, Roman Reigns the muscle, and Seth Rollins the high flying workhorse. With a combination like that, it doesn't matter how young they were, they were going to make a HUGE statement at the expense of three of the company's top babyfaces.

The Elimination Chamber match on the card actually takes place very early into the show. The match saw Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, Kane, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, and Randy Orton face each other inside the Chamber for a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania. This match is fine enough and the ending has a surprise factor, but what was the point of placing it so low on the card when it's the match the PPV is named after? Was The Rock supposed to defend the WWE Championship in the Chamber too and chickened out (That would at least explain the poster that NONE of the actual Chamber participants are on)? With how good most of the card was and how little emphasis was on the Chamber, I would just change it back to the No Way Out PPV.

Recommended


3. WrestleMania 29

I remember when I saw WrestleMania 29 live on PPV. I was so excited for the show because I was a big fan of the roster involved and it was that time of the year where excitement for the fans are at their absolute highest. By the time Mania was over, all I could say was "That show really SUCKED!" After giving it a year and seeing what plans were in motion throughout the rest of 2013 and early 2014, I thought the show was a bit better. It's a hit and miss show, where every good or underrated match has an equal and opposite disappointing and lackluster match. For starters, the show is an absolute visual marvel and spectacle in terms of setting and pyrotechnics, but there's a solid amount of time dedicated to a mini concert from Diddy (who I had no idea was still relevant in 2013).

The show's opening match is an underrated gem on the show in the form of a six-man tag between The Shield and the team of Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show. Each performer plays their role well and it really did feel like the right match to open the show and get the crowd energized for the rest of the show. Unfortunately, it was followed by Ryback vs. Mark Henry in a very sloppy and underwhelming matchYou can have an excellent, fast paced Tag Team Championship match between Team Hell No and the team of Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston, and then have a rookie like Fandango have his debut match against a legend like Chris Jericho. This match actually isn't bad, but to have the match end the way it did, you would hope the WWE would follow up with a solid push for Fandango, but thanks to a minor injury he received (but I'll get to that soon), the company was scared to put faith in him to hold a championship.

Even the main events seem disjointed in comparison. The World Heavyweight Championship was a somewhat short match between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger. It is heavily speculated (pretty much confirmed) that this was punishment for Swagger getting busted for Marijuana possession shortly after earning his title shot at Elimination Chamber (nice timing Jack). Then, CM Punk challenges The Undertaker's 20-0 undefeated streak in the obvious match of the night. To this day, I fully believe Punk should have been the "1" in 20-1 because he would've benefited so much from the victory. It would have tied into his Best in the World gimmick, being a despised heel, having Heyman as his manager, the uncomfortableness of using Paul Bearer's real life death in the storyline (sometimes it worked, but it was done in pretty poor taste throughout). To follow the match that left the crowd exhausted with excitement, Triple H and Brock Lesnar have a No Holds Barred match that nearly put the crowd to sleep. The match isn't really that bad, but the crowd was absolutely not into majority of it, nor did they actually believe Triple H's career could be over (he would be forced to retire if he lost to Lesnar). Finally, The Rock defends his WWE Championship against John Cena, who was looking to rewrite the ending to their "Once in a Lifetime" match from the previous Mania. I actually think their match at this WrestleMania features more cohesive ring-work and storytelling, but it lacks the epic moment of seeing them spar for the first time like it did at Mania XXVIII, so fans are pretty quick to dismiss it. But I think it's still worth a watch and is a good go-home match to a moderately ok Mania.

Mild Recommendation


4. Extreme Rules

It's pretty standard to find Mania rematches all over the card, but this show only has 3 direct "sequels." Chris Jericho had an opportunity to redeem himself against Fandango, Triple and Brock Lesnar had an aggressive steel cage match (the best match in their feud), and Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger had an "I Quit" match to win a future World Heavyweight Championship match against the newly crowned champion Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler had cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Del Rio the night after WrestleMania, and these three superstars were to have a triple threat ladder match, but Ziggler suffered a concussion leading up to the PPV, so plans had to be altered. A feud that started from Mania was the feud between Randy Orton and Big Show and they had a very by the books type of Extreme Rules match. Mark Henry started a feud with Sheamus that ended in a mediocre strap match (which basically describes most strap matches), and the most engaging bit of booking was the handling of Ryback's heel turn as he challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship in a Last Man Standing match.

In the context of history, this night belongs to The Shield. In a United States Championship match, Dean Ambrose won the title from Kofi Kingston. In a WWE Tag Team Championship match, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns won the belts from Team Hell No. The Hounds of Justice were already dominant, but it was on this night, when they each won a championship, that their status was cemented that they were gonna be a very crucial group to follow for the next year. Their fan following was constantly growing and I believe it was this night that the world could believe in The Shield.

Mild Recommendation


Initial Thoughts: A lot of what's going right for the early part of 2013 (apart from a lot of the match quality) is the focus on the younger talent. While part timers like The Rock, Lesnar, Triple H, and the Undertaker are present, the fans make sure to let their voices be heard and made talents like Ryback and The Shield stand out against them. Naturally, superstars like Punk, Ziggler, and Bryan are still getting the strong fan reactions they've earned and once you factor in a lot of the bitter resentment a lot of the internet fans have for the part timers it can lead to only one conclusion: that they are trying to build the future of the company. The fans will start building the future by starting a movement focused on one simple word.

Continued in Part II...


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The Year in PPV- 2012, Part III

With 2012 coming to an end, it's very apparent the WWE needed some direction in quality...


9. Night of Champions

As far as the championship matches go, a lot of them feel like filler because they aren't memorable and don't hold a spot in histories of the PPV or the championships that are being defended. The only championship match on the undercard with historical significance is the WWE Tag Team Championship match between Kofi Kingston and R-Truth against the newly formed Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane). There's also a singles match between Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler that is pretty solid and makes sense to be on the card since Ziggler is the Money in the Bank winner. Mercilessly, Sheamus ends his feud with Alberto Del Rio in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The match originally had a stipulation where Sheamus couldn't use the Brogue Kick and had they actually kept the stipulation, the match would've been much more interesting (like Orton's match with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 2007). But, like the feud, the match has a pretty "meh" feeling throughout.

On a night dedicated to champions, the match of the night (and one of the best matches in Night of Champions history) truly epitomizes what the night is about. A determined John Cena challenged the WWE Champion CM Punk for the company's top prize. This feud really heated up in the summer when The Rock announced at the 1000th episode of RAW that he would challenge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. This didn't make Punk very happy and he responded by attacking the Great One later that evening. While a lot of fans initially cheered him for his actions, Punk's evolution as a heel was quickly becoming more apparent afterwards, as he was more prone to cheating, bullied as many people as possible, insulted the fans he used to be the voice of, and aligned himself with Paul Heyman. These two went on to prove that it's very difficult for them to have a bad match, as this was one of their best encounters to date with an ending that serves as a throwback to the classic championship matches of the '70s and '80s.

Recommended


10. Hell in a Cell

I'll go on to say that one of the biggest bonehead moves of the year was not having Sheamus vs. Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Hell in a Cell match. You wouldn't think these two would actually have the chemistry they do and actually be able to put on an intense and entertaining clash for the title, but they do. Had that been in a Hell in a Cell match, with no disqualifications and having weapons at their full disposal, the match could've easily gone down as one of the greatest modern Cell matches in history.

Another bone head move on this show was the booking of the actual Hell in a Cell main event. Let me paint the scenario for you: you have a WWE Champion in CM Punk, who is being built as a cowardly heel champion who must win until the Royal Rumble so he can defend his title against The Rock (the catalyst of his heel turn). Then you have a monster babyface on the rise in the undefeated Ryback. The crowd is fully behind him, John Cena "passes the torch" in giving him the main event spot, and in terms of his character evolution it is absolutely crucial for him to win. So, we have a match where both men have to win, neither can afford to lose, and they STILL find a way to screw it up. The match itself is brief and ranges on average in terms of spots. The ending is where that match suffers the most, pissing off every fan watching not because of who won, but how they won in terms of being inside Hell in a Cell. There were tons of other endings we could've had and because this was the ONLY Cell match on the card, it's where a lot of the show's focus in history will stay.

Skip It


11. Survivor Series

By this point, I'm used to Survivor Series lacking in quality except in the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches. That seems to be the case, yet again, but with one major exception in an exciting main event, which I'll get to later. The fans are first treated to a bonus elimination match with Team Brodus (Brodus Clay, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Sin Cara, and Rey Mysterio) vs. Team Tensai (Tensai, the Prime Time Players, and Primo and Epico). The match is a fine opener and utilizes some of the many tag teams they had in the division at the time. Then things really pick up later that night in another traditional elimination match that saw Mick Foley lead a team (Randy Orton, Team Hell No, The Miz, and Kofi Kingston) against Dolph Ziggler's team (Ziggler, David Otunga, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow, and Alberto Del Rio). The match has some great star power and utilizes many interchanging feuds and storylines (with the most engaging being Miz's recent face turn and whether his teammates could trust him).

In a true booking highlight, we are given a Triple Threat for the WWE Championship that has been building since the end of the summer. With continuity towards Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell, CM Punk is forced to defend his WWE Championship against John Cena AND Ryback. Even more important, Punk must win on this night in order to be WWE Champion for an entire year. The match itself isn't bad, but most will remember it for the ending where the trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose (later known as The Shield) made their presence felt in impressive fashion.

Mild Recommendation


12. TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs

TLC is usually a pretty filler-heavy PPV to close out the year, but this show makes good use of the TLC gimmick. Dispersed amongst the filler matches (including a strange Miz TV segment with 3MB that signaled the beginning of Alberto Del Rio's face turn) are fairly entertaining matches, such as Team Rhodes Scholars against Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara in a tables match, Big Show vs. Sheamus in a Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship (with a VERY creative finish), and Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena in a Ladder match for Ziggler's Money in the Bank contract.

The most important match of the night was the six-man TLC match between The Shield (in their first PPV match) and the team of Ryback and Team Hell No. This was the first ever TLC match that could end in pinfall or submission, and played a HUGE role in establishing The Shield as legitimate performers. What also should be noted is that Ryback was originally supposed to challenge CM Punk for the WWE Championship in a TLC match, before Punk was taken off the show due to a minor injury. But don't worry, he was still able to give a fantastic promo to receive cheap heat from the crowd in Buffalo and prove that even when injured, he's still the Best in the World.

Recommended


Final Thoughts:What in the world happened to the year 2012? Sure, stars like Ryback, Punk, Bryan, and Sheamus were able to stand out, but that was about it in terms of consistency. They started out somewhat strong during the Road to WrestleMania, then had a mediocre middle of the year, and closed the year with a mixed amount of PPVs. The year does end on a hopeful note with even more young superstars coming up the ranks. But if this year shows us anything, more part timers will show up to continuously take their spots when they need a WrestleMania pay check.


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The Year in PPV- 2012, Part II

The 2012 continues with some pretty disappointing results...


5. Over the Limit

Over the Limit is definitely a show that has been forgotten in recent memory, but should be remembered for a handful of gems scattered on the card, including matches for the WWE Tag Team Championship match (Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger) and the Intercontinental Championship (Cody Rhodes vs. Christian). The Fatal 4-Way for the World Heavyweight Championship (Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton) should also be remembered on this show thanks to its non-stop action and suspense in the near falls.

In many ways, one match was on its way to saving Over the Limit from being an average show: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. I remember this match having very little build up, but I didn't think it needed a convoluted storyline. All it needed to be is two great independent wrestlers getting an opportunity to put on a fantastic wrestling match on a mainstream PPV for a prestigious world title, and that's EXACTLY what it was. But, just like how the booking would be, they ruin the moment by having John Cena main event the show against John Laurinaitis. The match is complete garbage with a ridiculous No Disqualification gimmick that really leaves that lasting impression on an overall solid show that should have closed with Punk/Bryan.

Mild Recommendation


6. No Way Out

If there was ever a PPV in 2012 worth skipping over, it's No Way Out. A non-existent PPV since 2009, No Way Out returned with much anticipation for fans of the PPVs from the 2000s like Backlash, Judgment Day, Unforgiven, and many more. Most of this show is filler of the crappiest quality, especially the tuxedo match between Santino Marella and Ricardo Rodriguez. There is a pretty solid gem though in the triple threat for the WWE Championship. CM Punk defended against Daniel Bryan and Kane and they actually had an ok triple threat. Is it the greatest triple threat ever? No, but it is fueled by the storyline of AJ Lee's involvement.

Unfortunately, the show peaks with the opening match of Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship. Originally, the plan was for Alberto Del Rio to face Sheamus, but thanks to an injury, Del Rio was replaced by Ziggler at the last minute. Ziggler and Sheamus have great chemistry and I wish they would have developed an actual feud (instead of the one we got with Sheamus and Del Rio). The main event saw John Cena face Big Show in a steel cage match. Mr. McMahon returned to be in Cena's corner, while John Laurinaitis was in Show's corner. And as an added stipulation, Cena would be fired if he lost and Laurinaitis would be fired if Show lost. This isn't a bad match and the stipulation works, but I think they could have had this feud go on a bit longer before it had to conclude at this show.

Skip It


7. Money in the Bank

In the context of this year's Money in the Bank PPV, for every good main event, there is another that feels lackluster. Let's start with the letdowns by discussing the first of 3 World Heavyweight Championship matches in the 4 month long feud between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. Admittedly, this match is probably their best encounter, but that's only because the fans weren't sick of it yet. The Money in the Bank ladder match that disappoints on the WWE Championship side of things with a match that only former WWE Champions could enter. Not only does that completely kill any excitement that the match SHOULD have in establishing a future main eventer, but the participants were Chris Jericho, Big Show, Kane, The Miz, and John Cena. All respect towards Jericho (who I desperately wanted to win this match) but really, guess who wins the match. Just take a guess.

There is a ladder match that exceeds expectations however for a contract match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Christian, Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara, Tensai, Dolph Ziggler, Tyson Kidd, Damien Sandow, and Santino Marella all battled for the contract in an exciting match where many superstars deserved to win. The crowd was really behind Rhodes and Ziggler, since the Championship picture was in need of a young heel on the rise. Also, the MVP of the match was Tyson Kidd, who felt like an underdog choice to win but dazzled the crowd with his athleticism. But the match everyone remembers is the No Disqualification match for the WWE Championship. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan's competitive feud continued and brought AJ Lee into the mix to create a very confusing love triangle. What makes the match more interesting was that AJ was named guest referee and that Punk and Bryan are able to have both a hardcore match and a wrestling match.

Mild Recommendation


8. SummerSlam

The 2012 edition of the Biggest Party of the Summer felt like one of the best SummerSlams in a very long time. Not since 2002 had there been a SummerSlam with as much attention focused on the overall wrestling product. But now that I have had 2 years to re-watch and think about it, it's still a fine show but maybe there are some things about it that weren't the greatest. The show kicks off with a modern dream match between Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho. Then, Daniel Bryan and Kane had a match that might have at the time looked like filler but it actually laid the ground work toward the formation of one of the strangest tag teams in WWE history. Not to mention there are some well-done championship matches for the Intercontinental (The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio) and WWE Tag Team (Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. The Prime Time Players

One of the weaker points in the show is the World Heavyweight Championship match between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio that was doing fine until the ending that the fans were clearly not in favor of. Next, we had the WWE Championship on the line in a Triple Threat between CM Punk, John Cena, and Big Show. This match works well enough thanks to each superstar having a different wrestling style that allows for a unique dynamic in their ring work. But the night was all about the very intense and personal feud between Triple H and Brock Lesnar. In a No Disqualification match, Brock and Triple H tried to tell a good story by brawling, but I could have done with a nice mixture of technical wrestling and hardcore wrestling. Here it felt way too much like Lesnar was emphasizing his UFC style and I personally prefer the Lesnar that was a monster who could also wrestle a great match like he could back in 2003. Still, it's a dream match fans wanted to see during the Ruthless Aggression Era, so it's worth a look to see if you can find the chemistry between these two combustible elements.

Recommended


Thoughts: This segment of PPVs is full of hit and misses. Many of the misses come from the direction of booking and pushes including the relevance of Santino's character and having way too many squash matches on the shows. But there are just as many goods to counteract the bad, such as the Punk/Bryan feud, the booking of Sheamus as the World Heavyweight Champion, seeing Ziggler get the rub in world title matches and in matches against legends like Jericho, and also a pair of really great Intercontinental Championship matches with Cody Rhodes and Christian. But as the year is coming to an end, would they be able to ride a stronger momentum of quality?

Concluded in Part III...


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The Year in PPV- 2012, Part I

Here we get to the one year in the PG Era that I truly think showed many of the positive qualities of the family friendly programming: 2012. While the heavy blood, swearing, and sexual content were gone, we still had many great characters that came out and put on spectacular PPV matches. In the context of current wrestling, 2012 is important in establishing the status quo we have today. We are now in a stage where legends can come and go whenever they please and have their spot given to them (including our current WWE World Heavyweight Champion in 2014), while also having a talented young roster of superstars coming up through the ranks, and our established current main eventers still relevant and holding their own against the part timers and the up and comers. So there's a lot about 2012 that celebrates the past, present, and future of the company.

Just to get some insight on all that happened in this year, let's look at what happened in 2012: we witnessed the rise of Ryback, the debut of The Shield, the returns of Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar, the End of an Era, the phenomenon that was AJ Lee's many romances, a Money in the Bank winner fans demanded to see happen, a match that was dubbed Once in a Lifetime, the strangest Tag Team Champions since Booker T and Goldust, the short lived legacy of People Power, and a WWE Champion that held the belt for the ENTIRE year.

So let's start 2012 by embarking on the Road to WrestleMania...


1. Royal Rumble

The year gets underway with some spectacular action at the Royal Rumble. You know a show is bound to be exciting when the first match of the night is a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Daniel Bryan really had the deck stacked against him by competing against Big Show and Mark Henry and while the ending might seem abrupt, it really helps escalate the progression and gimmick of Bryan's title reign. However, any momentum this title match produced was quickly halted with a filler Diva's tag match and a disappointing match between John Cena and Kane. The building was then brought back to life following the PPV debut of The Funkasaurus, Brodus Clay (still surprised that got over with the fans), and a very solid WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler. Aside from two of my favorites going at it for the belt, there was an added bit of story in Punk's feud with authority figure John Laurinaitis as a special guest referee that echoed the famous Austin/McMahon feud of the Attitude Era.

But the night's biggest highlights is one of the best Royal Rumble matches I've ever seen, and the reason I say that is because it does all of the things a Rumble match should do. It has all kinds of surprises in the forms of returning legends and notable superstar performances. The best stories told throughout the match include the rise of young, future main event heels in The Miz and Cody Rhodes, the feud between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett, Mick Foley, Santino Marella, and Ricardo Rodriguez offering some early match comedy, all THREE commentators get a chance to enter the match, and the match concludes with one of the best ending battles in Rumble history. Many fans thought they knew how the match was going to end, but by the end of the match the crowed was surprised to find a future main event star was on his way to WrestleMania.

Highly Recommended


2. Elimination Chamber

The main selling point should be the Elimination Chamber matches. So why are neither of them the main event? The actual main event of the show is an ambulance match between John Cena and Kane. Fans did not care about this match, they certainly felt it wasn't the proper feud for Cena to be having before facing The Rock at WrestleMania, and the inclusion of Zack Ryder and Eve makes this all the makings of an extremely crappy soap opera. Add on some filler championship matches and a mediocre segment involving John Laurianitis and THREE returning superstars, and the rest of the show becomes fully dependent on the two Chamber matches.

The first Chamber match saw CM Punk defend his WWE Championship against Kofi Kingston, The Miz, R-Truth, Chris Jericho, and Dolph Ziggler. While there's one teeny tiny aspect of the match that's a letdown (the elimination of a certain "Y2J"), there is a ton of high quality action. The second Chamber match saw Daniel Bryan fight Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Big Show, the Great Khali, and Santino Marella (I'm serious) for the World Heavyweight Championship. Considering that Khali and Santino replaced Mark Henry and Randy Orton, this match would at first feel like a letdown but the crowd fully buys into rooting for Santino. I have a tough time saying which one's better because they both have their pros and cons, so that might be a positive on the show's part that there isn't a definitive Chamber match from the night, but rather two very good matches.

Skip It


3. WrestleMania XXVIII

Every generation has that one defining WrestleMania and for the longest time I thought it was WrestleMania XXVIII. Normally, that would be my undisputed pick for the PG-Era, but with how WrestleMania XXX turned out, I might have to do a post comparing the two. Nevertheless, let's get back to WrestleMania XXVIII. There's so much going well for this show, that even the midcard is able to fully entertain the fans. While it could have used a few more minutes, the Intercontinental Championship was defended in entertaining fashion by Cody Rhodes against Big Show, in a feud that pointed out all of Big Show's WrestleMania failures (gotta love a guy like Show who can poke fun at himself like that). And surprisingly enough, the diva's tag team match (which doubles as a celebrity match) of Beth Phoenix and Eve against Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos is one of the most well-done women's matches I've seen at a WrestleMania in quite some time.

The card can also boast a strong gem of a match between Kane and Randy Orton, that I'm sure NO fan was expecting to be as good as it was, since the feud came out of nowhere (insert RKO joke) and both men have the reputation of not being able to carry matches. So how did they pull out a good match at a Mania? Anyways, we also have a fun 12-man tag team match to determine the General Manager for both RAW and SmackDown. On RAW, we had John Laurinaitis and his team of David Otunga, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, and Mark Henry. For SmackDown, Teddy Long comprised a team of Santino Marella, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, and Booker T. Add some shenanigans from the Bella Twins, Hornswoggle, Aksana, and Vickie Guerrero and we have a complete clusterfest that still feels entertaining thanks to the stipulation of the match's outcome. If there's one thing to complain about, it's the World Heavyweight Championship match that opened the show. It's Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus in a match that only lasted for 18 seconds. The match itself led to what we now know as the YES! Movement, so that's a pretty good aftereffect to come out of that 18 second debacle.

But this Mania leaves its legacy in the form of THREE instant classic main events. There are two obvious one's that don't even need further explanation. The first is Triple H vs. the Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as guest referee (NEED I EVEN SAY MORE!!??!?), and the second main event (and the match to close the show) is the match everyone waited a year to see: John Cena vs. The Rock. Even if the tagline for the match proved to be a waste a year later when they had a rematch, the match is still fun to see these two iconic figures clash and to hear the Miami crowd fully behind The People's Champ. The one that's gaining a lot more popularity in recent years though is the WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Chris Jericho. It's time to look at a formula folks: you take two of my all-time favorite performers (second and third to Shawn Michaels), have them both claim to be the Best in the World, have them battle for the company's richest prize, and you have that match on the grandest stage of them all. Sounds like a winner to me. The best way I can summarize WrestleMania XXVIII as an event is that it had the End of an Era, a Once in a Lifetime match, and the Battle of the Best in the World.

Highly Recommended 


4. Extreme Rules

The post-WrestleMania season gets underway with a PPV in one of the best wrestling towns around: Chicago. Sure, there are a handful of squash matches and surprises (and not all of them have an extreme stipulation) but there are once again two VERY good world championship matches. Redeeming their 18 second letdown at WrestleMania, Sheamus defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Daniel Bryan in a 2 out of 3 falls match. These guys show that they have great chemistry and I wish they would've had that opportunity to shine at Mania. And in a match that saw the hometown hero return, CM Punk defended his WWE Championship in a Street Fight against Chris Jericho. At this point, these two can't have a bad match together and the Chicago crowd is fully behind Punk to beat the snot out of Jericho after he targeted Punk's family and straight-edge beliefs. But at the end of the night, it all came down to the buildup of the main event.

After being away from the WWE for 8 years, Brock Lesnar finally made his return and set his sights on one man: John Cena. The two engaged in a very personal, physical, and bloody extreme rules match. You could really feel during this match that these two legitimately hated each other and the Chicago crowd loved seeing Cena get bloodied up and mauled by Lesnar. Then, in a very interesting turn of events, many of the fans actually were swayed over to actually rooting for Cena. Go figure, it's a match like this that actually gets a Chicago crowd to appreciate traditional storytelling in a wrestling match. Fans can debate the match result as long as they want, but this match really felt like a scenario where both men had to win and is an entertaining clash of titans to see on PPV.

Highly Recommended


Initial Thoughts: Some of the quality is really lacking on building the entire PPV card at this point, but a lot of the shows are salvaged thanks to the qualities of the main event and upper mid card feuds. The part timers create a sense of nostalgia at WrestleMania, and the current superstars still have opportunities to shine at the other shows. Already there's a lot of focus on Punk, Sheamus, and Bryan as the newest main eventers, while Orton and Cena still have their main event credibility. Add Lesnar, Jericho, Triple H, Undertaker, and The Rock into the mix, and you have a lot of talent going on in your roster. But for the next few months, the part timers would be less frequent and it would be up to the current superstars to see if they could still perform well on PPV.

Continued in Part II...


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The Year in PPV- 1987

Towards the end of the '80s, pro wrestling had become a mainstay in pop culture, but Vince McMahon wanted to take it to the next level. What was his plan? To host the BIGGEST WrestleMania they had had to date by giving the fans the main event match they had wanted to see for a while: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. To make matters even greater, Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat used this opportunity on the grandest stage of them all to change how the overall structure of a wrestling match would forever be told.

With WrestleMania an obvious success, Vince once again took it to the next level by beginning to feature more PPVs on the calendar year. That November, the Survivor Series debuted and instantly gave the NWA a bit of competition by going against their November PPV Starrcade, which was their version of WrestleMania. The formula proved to be a success, since we continue to have WrestleMania and Survivor Series every year and have not had a new Starrcade since WCW went under as a company.

So let's begin 1987 with a look at the definitive WrestleMania of the early years of PPV... 


1. WrestleMania III

What is there that even needs to be said about WrestleMania III? 93,173 fans packed the Silverdome to see an amazing supercard of 12 matches and the WWF did not disappoint. From the celebrity involvement (including Mary Hart, Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper, and Bob Uecker), to Roddy Piper's "last" match, to King Kong Bundy bodyslamming a midget, this show offers so much quality for the fans to enjoy. The match that stole the show and paved the way for the superstars of today was Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat for the Intercontinental Championship. Wrestling had never been as fast paced and have as many near falls before this match, which is why many wrestling historians cite it as one of wrestling's most important matches and one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history.

But the Macho Man and the Dragon only got the crowd pumped for the main event of the evening: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant for the WWF Championship. Just the idea of Hogan and Andre colliding at Mania are the things that legends are made of. It's that first real iconic WrestleMania moment that wrestling fans of all ages know about. Sure the match is a technical disaster, but this match is all about the moment of seeing over 93,000 Hulkamaniacs cheer Hogan on to defeat Andre, who had been undefeated for 15 years. Both Savage/Steamboat and Hogan/Andre are must watch matches for every wrestling fan.

Highly Recommended


2. Survivor Series

Here we have the second longest running PPV in WWE history: Survivor Series. Would you believe that the inaugural edition of this show only featured 4 matches? That's because each match was given a lengthy amount of time to get the crowd invested in the now traditional elimination tag team matches. From the opening contest of Team Savage (Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Jim Duggan, Brutus Beefcake, and Jake Roberts) against Team Honky Tonk Man (Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass, Danny Davis, Harley Race, and Hercules), to the women's elimination match (Fabulous Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin Robin, and the Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Sensational Sherri, Donna Christanello, Dawn Marie, and the Glamour Girls), to a 20-man match consisting of 10 tag teams (Strike Force, the Killer Bees, the Fabulous Rougeaus, the Young Stallions, and the British Bulldogs vs. the Hart Foundation, the Bolsheviks, the Dream Team, the Islanders, and Demolition), each match offers something different in terms of wrestling quality while all introducing the guidelines of this new match gimmick.

But all of this was also building up to the main event of Team Hogan (Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Ken Patera, Don Muraco, and Bam Bam Bigelow) vs. Team Andre (Andre the Giant, Butch Reed, Rick Rude, One Man Gang, and King Kong Bundy). With the amount of giant superstars that are in this main event like Hogan, Andre, and Bundy, this match has a much different tone than the opening match of mid-card talent like Savage, Steamboat, and Roberts. Not to mention, this match also breaks conventions of what many of fans were expecting. Rather than have it come down to Hogan and Andre so the feud can end, Vince knew there was more they could do with the feud and found a way to throw everyone off and make sure Hogan and Andre would continue their legendary feud following the events of the Survivor Series.

Recommended


Thoughts: 1987 was a turning point for the company as it produced one of the most celebrated shows in PPV history and introduced us to the expansion of PPVs in the WWE. Looking at these two shows it's easy to see where a lot of company focus was: the Hogan/Andre feud, an amazingly diverse tag team division, the ascension of the "Macho Man" to the main event level, and the collection of cartoony but iconic characters (Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake, The Honky Tonk Man, and many more). There are only 2 entries for this year, so I definitely think these are worth a watch for a lesson in history, as well as quality of shows instead of quantity.


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The Year in PPV- 2008, Part III

As the year 2008 comes to an end, we are introduced to a brand new match type...


10. Unforgiven

Unforgiven introduced the concept of the short-lived Championship Scramble match. The first Scramble match was for the ECW Championship (Mark Henry, The Miz, Chavo Guerrero, Matt Hardy, and Finlay), the second for the WWE Championship (Triple H, MVP, Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, and The Brian Kendrick), and the third and final was for the World Heavyweight Championship (CM Punk, JBL, Batista, Rey Mysterio, and Kane). The ECW Scramble produces the best fan reaction for the result, the WWE Scramble is the best of the three and tells the competitive story between Jeff Hardy and Triple H, and the World Heavyweight Scramble is full of controversy since CM Punk was punted in the head by Randy Orton and taken out of the match at the last minute with a mystery participant taking his spot.

The highlight of the show isn't one of the Championship Scrambles though. Shawn Michaels's feud with Chris Jericho had gotten so personal, that they fought in an unsanctioned Street Fight. This is one of the best hardcore brawls to take place during this era because you can feel Shawn's emotion in everything he throws at Jericho. And to see Jericho get beat down for all the things he has done to Shawn and his family is VERY satisfying. However, Jericho's night wouldn't be over as he was named Punk's replacement in the World Heavyweight Championship Scramble match...

Mild Recommendation


11. No Mercy

One of the coolest factors of 2008 that I noticed during No Mercy is just how big the star power is. Big Show fought the Undertaker, Rey Mysterio fought Kane, Batista fought JBL to determine the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, Matt Hardy defended his ECW Championship against Mark Henry, and Beth Phoenix defends the Women's Championship against Candice Michelle. There's also a fun in-ring segment featuring Randy Orton, MVP, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu (one of the forgotten short-lived members of Priceless/Legacy). As you can see, a lot of these will not go down as all-time classics, but they do feature many of the top superstars in WWE history all on one show, so that's pretty important for a PPV.

Surprisingly, what should be a "filler" No Mercy PPV actually has two of the best championship matches of the year. The first is in the form of Triple H and Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship. The two have great chemistry in their competitive nature and their contrast in styles (Hardy's high flying and Triple H's technical). But once again, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels own the show with another incredible match. This time, it is for Jericho's World Heavyweight Championship and it's in a match both men are familiar with: a ladder match. That's all you really need to sell the match to the viewer: Michaels. Jericho. Ladder match. Nothing else is needed.

Recommended


12. Cyber Sunday

The goal of Cyber Sunday should be to give the fans what they want right? It should go without saying that not every fan will be happy with the results, but the point is to make the general public happy. There's obvious givens, like choosing the guest referee (Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, or Stone Cold Steve Austin) in the World Heavyweight Championship match between Chris Jericho and Batista, and some of the hardcore match selections for Kane and Rey Mysterio (Falls Count Anywhere, No Holds Barred, and Two Out of Three Falls) and Big Show and Undertaker (Knockout, "I Quit", and Last Man Standing) don't make too much of a difference on the events of the evening. Some of the match selections that have multiple desired results can be entertaining, like choosing who Matt Hardy will defend the ECW Championship against (Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, and Finlay), or who will face Santino Marella for the Intercontinental Championship (Goldust, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and the Honky Tonk Man).

However, there were three voting results I disagreed with. The first is pretty minor, but it's how the Diva's costume contest winner was decided. Without any statistical proof that she was the fans' number one vote, she's handed the victory. The second was choosing which tag team match we'd see (Cryme Tyme vs. The Miz and John Morrison, Mickie James and Jamie Noble vs. Layla and William Regal, and Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase vs. CM Punk and Kofi Kingston for the World Tag Team Championships). Not that I hated the actual match that we got, I just thought it's a weird decision to leave the POSTER CHILD for the PPV off the show, not to mention the fact that this was his THIRD consecutive PPV without a match (he probably wanted to drop a huge pipe bomb by this point). The biggest thing I disagreed with was the WWE Championship match. Don't get me wrong, the match was great, but when choosing who Triple H will defend the title against (Jeff Hardy, Vladimir Kozlov, or Hardy AND Kozlov in a Triple Threat), I would think the fans would want the result that produces the most excitement and Triple Threat screams "excitement" to me more than a traditional one-on-one match.

Mild Recommendation


13. Survivor Series

Boy, this show's kind of a disaster. What really didn't work for this year's Survivor Series was that a lot of the main events lacked excitement with the crowd (ironic, since I was just talking about excitement). The Undertaker took on Big Show in a casket match that put a lot of people to sleep, John Cena returned from injury to pretty big fanfare and had a match with Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship that had a warm to mild reception with Cena's hometown of Boston. The biggest stinker of the night was the planned Triple Threat for the WWE Championship. Jeff Hardy, who had been built up as the competitor to watch in this match, was "found unconscious" in his hotel the day of the event. I remember seeing this covered on actual news websites, the whole thing felt in bad taste. Without Hardy, Triple H and Kozlov completely stunk up the joint until the twist ending, where Vickie Guerrero proclaimed "He's here" and a third competitor came to the ring.

The ONLY saving grace of this show is in the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches. The event opened with Team HBK (Shawn Michaels, Cryme Tyme, Rey Mysterio, and the Great Khali) against Team JBL (JBL, Kane, MVP, The Miz, and John Morrison), then was followed by the Diva's elimination match of Team RAW (Beth Phoenix, Candice Michelle, Jillian Hall, Kelly Kelly, and Mickie James) against Team SmackDown (Michelle McCool, Maryse, Natalya, Victoria, and Maria), and the final elimination match saw Team Batista (Batista, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, and Matt Hardy) face Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, William Regal, Mark Henry, and Shelton Benjamin). Of the three, all of them are entertaining (yes, even the Diva's match for sheer cattiness) but for star power I'm partial to the Batista/Orton match.

Skip It


14. Armageddon

End of the year filler never looked so good. Armageddon features a better paced World Heavyweight Championship match between John Cena and Chris Jericho, an epic clash between Randy Orton and Batista, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio in a phenomenal match to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, a shocking in-ring segment featuring JBL and Shawn Michaels (think "Lost my Smile" Shawn Michaels, but about the economic recession), and much more. The best part about this is that the show is actually pretty good, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. This show was all about closing the year by celebrating the career of one man: Jeff Hardy.

In one of the biggest feel good moments you'll ever see as a wrestling fan, Jeff Hardy won the WWE Champion in a Triple Threat against Edge and Triple H. From the Royal Rumble against Orton, to his rivalry with Triple H, to his new, darker look with the face paint, to being taken out at Survivor Series, plus all of Jeff's personal tragedies outside the ring, the fans really wanted to see him hold the belt and as a Christmas gift to the fans, the unimaginable became a reality. The Triple Threat is very good given the talent of all three competitors, but you aren't watching it for the match. You're in it for the moment of seeing the culmination of Jeff Hardy's career.

Recommended


Final Thoughts: Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho really were the stars of the year, with their characters a lot different from when the year began. There were quite a number of setbacks toward the end of the year, but overall, 2008 had a great roster and a lot of great moments and matches. Some older fans think this year was the beginning of the end, but there's still so much quality that took place that it's useless to ignore it.


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