In Your House

[Brian Fowler]

IIRC, there is no next match in the series, Batista "quit" the next night when Bret tried to make him wrestle.

[(BP)]

49 minutes ago, Brian Fowler said:

IIRC, there is no next match in the series, Batista "quit" the next night when Bret tried to make him wrestle.

I thought so too, but apparently they had an I Quit match the following month at Over the Limit that I have little to no recollection of. Then Batista came out in the wheelchair the following night and quit. 

[Brian Fowler]

Huh, I definitely don't recall that either. Oh well.

[DreamBroken]

13 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

Edge Vs Chris Jericho: Another terrible match. Man, Edge really looks shot now. I don't know if it's the Achilles injury that did him in, or if he's just that ineffective as a babyface. Edge has been in more 3 star or above matches then anyone else during this project, but I kinda feel like he won't be adding anymore to his tally. Not if this is any indication. Jericho didn't exactly cover himself with glory here either, and it seemed the two just didn't mesh well at all. I also hate big grudge matches where the heel has the chance to win clean, but decides to dish out more punishment instead. Jericho has Edge beaten, but stops before taking the final step to the floor, and goes back into the cage. I understand hubris, but this doesn't fit Jericho's character at all, and really this should be a babyface spot anyway. Edge wins with a garbage spear.

John Cena Vs Batista: Batista said Cena's WrestleMania win was a fluke, so now we get this Last Man Standing match. I was enjoying this quite a bit as Batista decimated Cena, but then Cena completely no sold all of Big Dave's legwork and I said fuck this match. I mean, one minute he couldn't stand, then as soon as he transitioned back to offence, the leg was 100% fine, and he didn't even play it off as a rush of adrenaline or something. Shit like this is why I can never get along with the idea of Cena as an all-time great wrestler. So, I said fuck this match, but then they totally got me back into it again, with some huge spots, Cena's excellent in-the-moment selling, Batista's great heel instincts (he knows when to be calculated, and when to be totally unhinged, and when it's the latter, he comes off as genuinely scary), and both guys just having the star power and charisma to sell the stakes of the match. I wasn't keen on the finish, which had Cena duct taping Batista's legs around the ringpost so he couldn't get up. I don't like ending such a violent match with almost a comedy spot, and really cheating the stipulation of the match. And that's a total heel move anyway. WWE had a strange fascination with duct tape around this time. However, my four year old thought the finish was hilarious. I'm looking forward to the next match in the series.

I'll have to rewatch Edge/Jericho as I remember really liking it and thinking it was an underrated grudge match with a solid triumphant babyface victory, which was of course rendered meaningless when Edge randomly turned heel the next night. Agreed on Cena/Batista, wasn't crazy about the finish but was loving the escalating violence feeling of "what is it going to take to keep him down"

[The Natural]

On 23 April 2017 at 2:08 PM, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

WWE Extreme Rules 2010.

Edge Vs Chris Jericho: Another terrible match. Man, Edge really looks shot now. I don't know if it's the Achilles injury that did him in, or if he's just that ineffective as a babyface. Edge has been in more 3 star or above matches then anyone else during this project, but I kinda feel like he won't be adding anymore to his tally. Not if this is any indication. Jericho didn't exactly cover himself with glory here either, and it seemed the two just didn't mesh well at all. I also hate big grudge matches where the heel has the chance to win clean, but decides to dish out more punishment instead. Jericho has Edge beaten, but stops before taking the final step to the floor, and goes back into the cage. I understand hubris, but this doesn't fit Jericho's character at all, and really this should be a babyface spot anyway. Edge wins with a garbage spear.

 

Edge's 2010 was his weakest year in years. Edge returned to form in January-April 2011, the last four months of his career against Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble, the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match at the same called PPV and Alberto Del Rio from WrestleMania XXVII, his final match.

[The Iron Yuppie]

Quote

John Cena Vs Sheamus: Tables match for the WWE title. Quite a boring match. 

I wasn't watching religiously in this era, especially not Raw. I did, however, see a lot of Superstars, since it was on WGN and so were Chicago Cubs games. Also, Superstars being all matches and none of the lame skits made it much more palatable. That's relevant because I remember seeing a Raw right before this PPV and I was SHOCKED that Sheamus had gone from wrestling Goldust routinely on Superstars (in very good matches, tbf) to a title match with John Cena. That made zero sense to me. 

That same Raw featured DX in an embarrassingly bad Christmas skit with Hornswoggle. God, I hated 2000s DX. 

[kafkonia]

On 2017-04-24 at 7:19 PM, The Iron Yuppie said:

I wasn't watching religiously in this era, especially not Raw. I did, however, see a lot of Superstars, since it was on WGN and so were Chicago Cubs games. Also, Superstars being all matches and none of the lame skits made it much more palatable. That's relevant because I remember seeing a Raw right before this PPV and I was SHOCKED that Sheamus had gone from wrestling Goldust routinely on Superstars (in very good matches, tbf) to a title match with John Cena. That made zero sense to me. 

 

Amen. It'd be like Jinder Mahal getting a... Wait a minute.

[The Iron Yuppie]

15 hours ago, kafkonia said:

Amen. It'd be like Jinder Mahal getting a... Wait a minute.

Well, I wrote Sheamus was having *very good* matches. Jinder; eh...

[S.K.o.S.]

If I'm remembering right, the angle was that Sheamus ended up with the title shot when Jesse Ventura hosted Raw and had some sort of #1 contenders' tournament or battle royale or something, but the hook was that the field was specifically made up only of guys who had never held a world title before.

[elizium]

On 4/26/2017 at 11:15 AM, S.K.o.S. said:

If I'm remembering right, the angle was that Sheamus ended up with the title shot when Jesse Ventura hosted Raw and had some sort of #1 contenders' tournament or battle royale or something, but the hook was that the field was specifically made up only of guys who had never held a world title before.

plus Randy Orton.

[PetrolCB]

On 4/26/2017 at 0:15 PM, S.K.o.S. said:

If I'm remembering right, the angle was that Sheamus ended up with the title shot when Jesse Ventura hosted Raw and had some sort of #1 contenders' tournament or battle royale or something, but the hook was that the field was specifically made up only of guys who had never held a world title before.

This match was awesome, only because it started with...

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Over the Limit 2010.

Drew McIntyre Vs Kofi Kingston: So Drew got stripped of the IC title and Kofi won a tournament to crown a new champ. But Mr McMahon reversed this and awarded the belt back to Drew. This was part of the Drew/Teddy Long feud. These two have a pretty good, but short match. Kofi wins with the SOS to become champ for real. It's amazing how long they kept Kofi at that same level for, always in that secondary title picture. I'm not a fan of beating Drew here.

Ted DiBiase Vs R-Truth: This is based on Ted trying to hire Truth as his 'Virgil'. Ted comes out with the real Virgil. Kinda boring match. Ted's solo run was doomed from the start really.

Rey Mysterio Vs CM Punk: This, I believe, is the culmination of their feud. If Punk wins, Rey joins the SES, and if Rey wins Punk gets a haircut. SES banned from ringside. Punk gets busted open early, which brings out the doc. Stopped the match for a minute but Punk was able to work it into the match, pushing the doc out the way and attacking Rey with real gusto. Great variation of the spot where Rey gets slid out of the ring on his stomach and splats on the floor on the outside, as this time he lawn darts straight into the barber's chair at ringside. Looked killer. Like the last match between the two, this was really good at building up to the big nearfalls and milking them for all they're worth. Rey ends up taking advantage of Punk's confidence and cradles him to win. The SES attack but Kane evens up the odds and Punk gets his head shaven. Really good match.

The Hart Dynasty Vs Chris Jericho and The Miz: I don't remember Jericho and Miz teaming at all. First taste of heel Cole here, as he gets in a few shots about Bret Hart, saying he should just go away. I can't handle it. I can't go through this again. Decent enough match. Kidd, in particular, looks good. And the Dynasty win with the Hart Attack on Miz. 

Edge Vs Randy Orton: So, now Edge is a heel again. I have no recollection of this, as I thought he was babyface right through from his comeback to his retirement. This smacks of just wanting to get both these guys on the card but not knowing what to do with them. They wrestle like they're stuck in molasses. Only notable thing about the match is Orton getting injured by banging the mat in preparation for the RKO. What a fucking twat. And they continue to push this worthless cunt even to this day. And then the ref very blatantly tells the ring announcer and Edge that they're doing a double countout finish, which looks really awkward, and makes Edge look stupid. Fuck, Orton should have had to submit.

Jack Swagger Vs The Big Show: I don't know what's with all the short matches on this show, but you'd think with the last match getting cut short, presumably, they'd have more than 5 minutes for this world title match. Swagger gets dominated and then gets intentionally DQ'ed for hitting Show with the belt. And then gets dominated some more, chokeslammed on a chair and knocked out. 

Eve Torres Vs Maryse: This was pretty much what you'd expect it to be. Eve retains whichever version of the women's belt she has.

John Cena Vs Batista: I Quit match billed as the last match between the two. Like the last match between the two, some classic Cena no-selling on a transition marred the match slightly, but wasn't enough to bring it down. I also didn't like them blowing through Batista's new submission finisher pretty early on in the match, as you'd think they'd build to that as a potential finish (I mean, not that anyone would really think Cena would quit, but you know). But otherwise this was a fun match, though I preferred the LMS. Finishing has Batista quitting as Cena threatened to AA him off a car onto the stage, but of course, Cena did it anyway, and Batista went crashing through the stage. Meh. Then as Cena celebrated, Sheamus attacked with a Brogue Kick. 

MOTN: Definitely Punk and Rey. 3 and three quarter stars. 3 stars for the main event.

Show rating: Pretty nondescript all in all. 2.5 stars.

[cwoy2j]

On 4/28/2017 at 10:38 AM, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

WWE Over the Limit 2010.

Ted DiBiase Vs R-Truth: This is based on Ted trying to hire Truth as his 'Virgil'. Ted comes out with the real Virgil. Kinda boring match. Ted's solo run was doomed from the start really.

I can't believe you no sold R-Truth smacking the piss out of DiBiase to start the match. I don't know if it that was a stiff slap or if Ted just sold the fuck out of it but he looked like he was out on his feet for a few seconds.

[PetrolCB]

He was. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

On 5/2/2017 at 1:59 PM, cwoy2j said:

I can't believe you no sold R-Truth smacking the piss out of DiBiase to start the match. I don't know if it that was a stiff slap or if Ted just sold the fuck out of it but he looked like he was out on his feet for a few seconds.

 

I forget so many things I intended to mention in the sometimes day or 2 between watching these shows and posting about them that it's ridiculous.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Fatal 4-Way.

Can I just start by saying what a terrible name and theme for a pay-per-view this is. The trend of building pay-per-views around specific match types was always questionable for a number of reasons, but they were really scraping the barrel with this one. I feel like it probably came down to this and WWE On A Pole, and this won out. And people wanna bitch about Great Balls of Fire.

The show starts with Mr McMahon announcing that Bret Hart is out of action after an attack by the Nexus. More on the Nexus later.

Drew McIntyre Vs Kofi Kingston: This was fun as fuck, and a really good way to open the ppv. Drew had been suspended and reinstated as his feud with Teddy Long continues. Long is forced to sit at ringside for this one, as Drew looks to win back his IC title. These two got a good amount of time, and utilised it well, with Drew putting in a great dominating performance and Kofi working well from underneath. Drew already looks like the finished article by this point. The ref takes a bump and Drew forces Teddy to step in to officiate, but Teddy stops short of counting 3 after the Future Shock DDT, and then Matt Hardy runs in and hits a Twist of Fate on Drew, which is followed by Trouble in Paradise to give Kofi the win. Crowd was really into it. I really loved the way Drew had these three feuds going on at the same time, with Kofi, Matt and Teddy. They don't do enough of that.

Eve Torres Vs Gail Kim Vs Maryse Vs Alicia Fox: Time for our first fatal 4-way of the evening! Eve is still the champ going into this, and this seems like a pretty weak division if these are your top 4 women. Gail is really the only one who seems competent in the ring, and the fans don't really care about her at all. Alicia ends up stealing the pinfall on Maryse to win the belt. I don't know who signed off on an Alicia title win, but it seemed really odd at the time.

Evan Bourne Vs Chris Jericho: This was during that month that they were pushing Evan Bourne. Remember the tag match on Raw when he pinned Sheamus? Good use of Jericho here as the vet going through a crisis of confidence and wondering if he can still compete with the young guys. Pretty good match too, with Bourne getting the win after hitting Air Bourne at the second attempt.

Jack Swagger Vs Rey Mysterio Vs CM Punk Vs The Big Show: The real story of this match is not Swagger defending his world title, but Kane trying to find out who attacked the Undertaker. Or should I say, who left the Undertaker in a vegetative state. I forgot about that ridiculous wording. Such a WWE phrase, that just sounds weird, and actually comical. So, they do about 10 mins (highlights being when Punk and Rey go at it) before Kane comes out and targets Punk. This opens the door for Rey to pin Swagger and win his second world championship.

The Miz Vs R-Truth: Miz won the US title back from Truth in a Fatal 4-Way on Raw, so now they go one-on-one. This wasn't too bad actually. You can see Miz is coming along in the ring, but I wish he wouldn't wrestle so strong. Needs more face-rakes and less Yakuza kicks. The Miz retains.

The Hart Dynasty and Natalya Vs The Usos and Tamina: Fun 6-person. The Usos look very raw in a lot of ways, but you can see the potential. Kidd plays fip and does it quite well. Nattie wins it with the discus clothesline.

John Cena Vs Sheamus Vs Randy Orton Vs Edge: They really tried to make this seem like a huge deal, spending something like 20 mins building up the match with video packages and introductions. Can I address one of biggest WWE announcing pet peeves? I hate how whenever there's a multi-person match, they try to make out that each competitor has an equal chance of winning. So, here they go on and on about how Cena only has a 25% chance of retaining his title. That would only be true if they were playing, like, snakes and ladders or something. I mean, if I play Roger Federer at tennis, do I have a 50% chance of victory? Of course not. 30% at best. Anyway, they get 10 seconds into the match before they get Sheamus and Edge out of there and tease the big Cena/Orton face-off we've been waiting for since they last faced off a few months back. "Goosebumps" - Michael Cole. The Hart Dynasty, Evan Bourne and R-Truth are watching awkwardly in the back, which is partly another attempt to add gravitas to the match, but partly to set up the attack by the Nexus, who jump them in the back and lay them out before heading to the ring. Since the match itself was pretty crap, I'll just talk about the Nexus instead. The debut of the Nexus is one of my all-time favourite wrestling angles, and I was so disappointed by how things turned out for them. My biggest thing is just that it was only a matter of weeks before they became just a regular wrestling faction, and not what I had thought they were supposed to be. Maybe I was reading to much into it, but I had the idea of the Nexus being these 8 guys who really wanted to be WWE Superstars, and would do anything to achieve that goal, but quickly realised that WWE was taking advantage of them, and mocking them, and setting them up to fail, all in the name of entertainment. So, they decided to take down the machine instead. And that was the point of that whole debut attack, how they attacked everyone in sight and ripped up the set. It really worked as well that they were a group of such different guys, who had been set up to compete with one another, but through this shared experience had come together and come to rely on one another. Like prisoners in a POW camp. You had these conflicting personalities, like goofy Heath and pretty boy Justin and vacuous D-lister David, but that was what made it work so well. Then Wade had that tweet about not wanting to end up in a cartoon graveyard, and it really seemed like that's where they were going with it. Like I said, maybe I read too much into it. So, the Nexus come out and wreak havoc, in much the same fashion as the debut, and I'm marking out just like I did back then. Gotta say a word for my man, Michael Tarver, who just had some of the weirdest charisma, but was really effective - key, I'd say - in getting the whole idea over. You really believed he'd die for the cause. Cena, Edge and Orton try to take the fight to them, but get beaten down, and Sheamus sneaks in and pins Cena to win the belt, before being chased off. The show ends with the three guys laying beaten down in and around the ring, with no commentary, since they'd all scarpered. Really effective finish that saved the match.

Match of the night: Drew/Kofi was the highlight, at 3.5 stars. Jericho and Bourne get 3 stars. 

Show rating: Some high points, some low. Not a bad watch, though if you're being selective, just do the opening match and the last ten mins. 2.5 stars.

 

[DJ Hero Morganti]

Man Michel Tarver was such a presence.   I wish they had ran with him And Skip as a nue Road Warriors type team

[cwoy2j]

25 minutes ago, Morganti said:

Man Michel Tarver was such a presence.   I wish they had ran with him And Skip as a nue Road Warriors type team

I remember him for having a boxer gimmick yet throwing worked punches that would make Dean Ambrose wince.

[DreamBroken]

7 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

WWE Fatal 4-Way.

Drew McIntyre Vs Kofi Kingston: This was fun as fuck, and a really good way to open the ppv. Drew had been suspended and reinstated as his feud with Teddy Long continues. Long is forced to sit at ringside for this one, as Drew looks to win back his IC title. These two got a good amount of time, and utilised it well, with Drew putting in a great dominating performance and Kofi working well from underneath. Drew already looks like the finished article by this point. The ref takes a bump and Drew forces Teddy to step in to officiate, but Teddy stops short of counting 3 after the Future Shock DDT, and then Matt Hardy runs in and hits a Twist of Fate on Drew, which is followed by Trouble in Paradise to give Kofi the win. Crowd was really into it. I really loved the way Drew had these three feuds going on at the same time, with Kofi, Matt and Teddy. They don't do enough of that.

One of my favorite matches of 2010, loved this. After the disappointing short match the prior month, this one killed it. Perfect payoff to the build, I absolutely loved that period of Drew's multiple feuds at once. The Drew vs. Teddy SD segment in the build that had Kofi and Matt both making the save but Drew laying out everyone was so effective.

[twiztor]

i am LOLing at the idea of Miz winning a belt in a Fatal 4 Way match, leading to a singles match at an event named Fatal 4 Way.

also, i would tune in to a WWE "Pole Match" event. entirely for the laughs. also, i would hope they'd find unique variations of said match, although that is asking quite a bit

[AxB]

See how WCW once did a 'Judy Bagwell on a Pole' match? Well, the way you one-up that is to put Ivan Putski up there.

The 'Pole on a Pole' match.

[Spritenaut 32]

On 4/7/2017 at 1:23 PM, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

The Undertaker Vs Batista: Speaking of matches that don't tend to yield strong results, here's a chairs match for the World title. Striker tells us that Taker has been in cell matches, inferno matches and buried alive matches, but perhaps no match as brutal as a chairs match. Shut the fuck up. Striker really is the pits. He goes on to tell us that Batista has an advantage because he has denser bones than Taker, and thus the chair shots won't hurt him as much. Lawler and Cole openly laugh at this one. This is an okay match, but I think they could have done more with a less restrictive gimmick. Another shitty finish as Batista hits a low-blow and a chair shot to win the belt, but Teddy Long comes out and orders the match to continue as chairs are legal but low blows are not. Taker then hits a quick tombstone for the win. Batista's pouting after the match is good value.

 

Striker was ahead of his time.  If he'd used that line (about Batista's denser bones) during a UT match in 2016 or 2017, we all would have found that perfectly believable.

Of course, for Striker to use that line in 2017 during an Undertaker match, he'd have to be still employed by the WWE.  Thank you, but no.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Money in the Bank 2010.

Kane Vs The Big Show Vs Matt Hardy Vs Christian Vs Drew McIntyre Vs Kofi Kingston Vs Cody Rhodes Vs Dolph Ziggler: The Smackdown MITB match. Man, that seemed to go on forever. An inordinate amount of one or two guys climbing the ladder while everyone else lays around outside the ring. The highlight of the match was Big Show's giant ladder, and Show Vs said ladder was definitely the most compelling pairing of the match. Kofi boom dropping Drew through the announce table was the one big wow spot, and everyone throwing ladders on Show at the end was a fun visual too. I don't have a problem with Kane winning, as it was to service his storyline. I just wish this had been about 10 minutes shorter.

Alicia Fox Vs Eve Torres: Foxy is defending the divas title. The fans really didn't care about this one. The girls tried hard, but really shouldn't be wrestling on ppv. Fox wins with her ugly ax kick to continue probably the weakest divas title reign ever.

The Hart Dynasty Vs The Usos: Fun little 6 minute match in which the Harts retain the tag titles. Ends very abruptly with DH Smith tapping one of the Usos out with the sharpshooter. I wonder if they got cut down because of the long opener.

Rey Mysterio Vs Jack Swagger: Here's Rey defending the world title, basically on one leg after Swagger destroyed his ankle in the lead up to the match. I don't really buy the attempt to make Swagger look like a dangerous challenger at this point. Rey puts in a great selling performance, and the two have a pretty good match, with Rey earning an "against the odds" victory. Swagger attacks after the bell, but Kane comes out to make the save and chases Swagger into the back. Nice little bit of sleight of hand there, as then Kane's music hits and he comes back out to cash in his briefcase.

Rey Mysterio Vs Kane: Rey's selling of the moment is, of course, perfect, and Kane wins a quick match to earn his second world title.

Layla Vs Kelly Kelly: Lay-Cool are doing the co-champs thing at this point, and McCool is at ringside. We're in the midst of the Smelly Kelly angle here. Striker is at his most pathetic as a Lay-Cool cheerleader. Another very short match with Layla retaining. 

The Miz Vs Edge Vs Randy Orton Vs Mark Henry Vs Chris Jericho Vs Evan Bourne Vs Ted DiBiase Vs John Morrison: It's Raw MITB time, and this match, despite falling into all the usual ladder match trappings, is way better than the SD version. Mostly because this one has way more memorable spots, my favourite being Mark Henry standing between two ladders, each with two guys climbing it, and pushing them over at the same time. Also worth a mention are Maryse trying to climb the ladder on behalf of DiBiase, Morrison parkouring his way from the outside of the ring to the top of a ladder in the ring, the train of finishers it took to keep Henry down (including Henry's kingsized bump for the spear), and Edge and Miz teaming up to do a number on Morrison only for Edge to casually turn on Miz by popping him in the face with a ladder. Fun galore, and a winner who truly felt on the ascent at that point in time. The match does also feature one of the most nonsensical ladder set-ups ever though, as DiBiase sets up a ladder upside down in the ring, obviously for no reason other than for a later spot.

John Cena Vs Sheamus: Cage match for Sheamus' WWE title. Kinda weird having a cage match be the main event of a ladder-themed show, but whatever. Really underwhelmed as a cage match, and as a supposed feud blow-off, but was good enough as a WWE main event match. Really went light on the violence, but I found it well-paced and it just about came off as the big match they were trying so hard to make it. I don't know if it was hot in the arena or something, but Sheamus in particular was drenched in sweat pretty early on in the bout. Striker's ridiculous call of the night was saying, upon Sheamus taking off his wrist band, that he could now do more damage if he reapplied a sleeper hold, by grinding his wrist into Cena. The Nexus came out, seemingly to stop either man leaving the cage, but they put too much focus on Cena, and Sheamus escaped with the title. Cena destroys Darren Young and Michael Tarver after the match, and Gabriel takes a silly bump off the top of the cage. I think Tarver was injured, and this was writing him off for a bit.

Match of the night: I'll take Rey/Swagger over the Raw ladder match, both at 3 and a quarter stars. 3 stars for Cena/Sheamus.

Show rating: I think distribution of time was a problem here, especially in regards to that opening match, but there's enough here to enjoy over all. 3 stars.

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Night of Champions 2010.

Dolph Ziggler Vs Kofi Kingston: Dolph defending the IC title. One of about a million matches these two had. Were they all this boring? Dolph is accompanied by Vickie and Kaitlyn. I forgot about Kaitlyn. How could I forget about Kaitlyn? Cole and Striker are fawning over Vickie. Cole isn't a full heel yet, but is starting to outwardly cheer for/support some of the heels. Ziggler retains.

CM Punk Vs The Big Show: Punk is back! This is in Chicago, so he has to cut a promo heeling on the crowd beforehand to get heat. It doesn't really work. He also has to do the job. This is quick but pretty effective.

Daniel Bryan Vs The Miz: Well, looky what we have here. This kid with the generic look and generic music sure can wrestle. This is a really good match, surely Miz's best by far at this point in his career. And Miz is no mere passenger either. He actually brings a lot to this match, namely some really strong limbwork. Cole isn't totally overbearing yet, which is good. Bryan makes Miz tap to the LeBell lock to win the US title.

Michelle McCool Vs Melina: I didn't know Melina was still around. This is to unify the 2 women's belts, and is a lumberjill (ugh) match. The girls standing around the ring look as though they don't know what they're supposed to be doing. The story of this is that Layla is apparently pissed at Michelle for somehow robbing her of the opportunity to be in this match, but of course it's a ruse and Layla ends up helping McCool win. 

Kane Vs The Undertaker: No holds barred for the world title. Is this the best match these two ever had against each other? I enjoyed this quite a bit. Just two big dudes hammering the shit out of each other, with the clear story that Taker isn't 100% yet after being turned into a vegetable by Kane. It's like Taker at less than 100% would probably still be good enough to beat most guys, but it isn't good enough to beat Kane, and they get that across very well. 

Tag team turmoil match: The Hart Dynasty are defending their tag titles, and start out against the Usos, who eliminate them fairly quickly and with little fanfare. Great end to that reign. The Usos then beat Santino and Vladimir Kozlov, before being eliminated by the odd team of Evan Bourne and Mark Henry. The last team was Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, who won the match and titles. Very rushed match, with only the last pairing getting to make any real impact.

Sheamus Vs John Cena Vs Randy Orton Vs Edge Vs Chris Jericho Vs Wade Barrett: 6-pack challenge for Sheamus's WWE title. Jericho is sent packing right off the bat, which I believe is the end of this run for him, as he said beforehand that he would quit if he didn't win this match. Then a lot of boring stuff happened, including Edge being eliminated, before the Nexus came out, which led to Barrett pinning Cena with Wasteland. Cena fought off the Nexus with a chair which allowed Orton to pin Barrett, and then Orton survived a Brogue Kick to beat Sheamus and become an, I believe they said, 7-time champion. Really boring match for the most part.

Match of the night: The Miz/Bryan match (3.5 stars) just sees off the Kane/Taker brawl (3.25 stars). 

Show rating: The above-mentioned 2 matches are very much worth seeing. Otherwise this ppv is a whole lot of nothing. 2.5 stars.

[Brian Fowler]

I'm partial to the very first Kane/Taker match at Mania, but I haven't watched 2010 one in a really long time