Random Network Reviews: Judgment Day 2009

Judgment Day 2009
May 17th, 2009 | Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois | Attendance: 14,822

WWE Pay-Per-Views in the Allstate Arena tend to be interesting. They usually have one of the most vocal crowds on a yearly basis, so they tend to always get an event. I remember going to a Smackdown show a few weeks before this show, where they named the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Smackdown was a pretty special place at this time with talents like Edge, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and others. I fully expect their side of this show to be the better half. This would be the last ever Judgment Day Pay-Per-View.

Our opening video package focuses on the three big matches. It’s the two major title matches along with another in the long line of John Cena vs. Big Show matches. Yay. Commentary consists of Jim Ross and Todd Grisham.

CM Punk vs. Umaga
It’s his hometown and he’s popular, but CM Punk had not hit the level of godlike status in Chicago that he would around 2011. Punk wisely starts with kicks to the legs, but makes a mistake and is slammed viciously by the Samoan Bulldozer. I have always liked Umaga but he uses the trapezius hold, which is my least favorite move in wrestling. He focuses his attack on Punk’s shoulder. Punk tries a sunset flip but gets sat on and it looks much better than when, say, Yokozuna would do it. Umaga was damn good. They do a good job playing up how Punk can’t slam or pick up Umaga. Every single time Punk seems to turn things around, Umaga has an answer. Punk hits a pretty ugly dive outside and rallies inside. However, his knee strike/bulldog combo is thwarted. Umaga misses the ASS ATTACK and Punk hits a Rick Steiner bulldog. A springboard clothesline gets a very close near fall for Punk. Again, Punk’s lack of power comes into play as he can’t complete the GTS, so Umaga hits a Samoan drop for two. Punk fails at it again and eats the ASS ATTACK and Samoan Spike to end this.

Winner: Umaga in 11:52
I feel like this told a pretty good story. I’ve never been a fan of Mr. Money in the Bank losing big time matches, but I do believe Punk got the win back at the new big show. Solid story, good work from both guys and what you should want from an opener. ***

Vickie Guerrero talks backstage with Big Show and Chavo Guerrero about John Cena being in the building. I hated this feud then, but not as much as I did in 2012. Edge comes in to talk to Vickie but we don’t see any of that. The ECW commentary team of Matt Striker and Josh Matthews take over.

ECW Championship
Christian (c) vs. Jack Swagger
Man, this was around the time that I really started to love ECW. We see a game of wily veteran against upstart youngster, which is a smart way to book this. Christian frustrates Swagger by being a step ahead of him at every turn before diving out on top of him. Christian bumps hard on a shoulder block that knocks him off the apron. Swagger throws Christian into the post in a creative manner that hurts the ribs. The focus is on the ribs but Christian gets his knees up on the Swagger bomb. Swagger tries a running powerslam, but Christian counters. They continue to have each other well scouted with counters and dodges. Christian forces Swagger to run headfirst into the turnbuckle. Swagger leaps to the second rope with a belly to belly suplex for two. He gets a closer near fall on a sunset flip counter. We get an awkward spot where Swagger uses the tights, at an angle the referee can’t possibly see, but the ref still stops the count. Swagger slams Christian but the gutwrench powerbomb is reversed. Christian pulls Swagger’s straps down around his arms and rolls him up with a huge handful of tights to retain.

Winner and Still ECW Champion: Christian in 9:33
Christian pretty much never had a bad match during his ECW run. This was really good with tons of reversals and near falls. It was fast paced and they the dynamic of brash youngster getting outwitted by the savvy veteran was great. ***½

John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin w/ Charlie Haas
It warms my heart to see Charlie Haas accompany Shelton Benjamin to the ring. I like that the story behind this was as simple as Benjamin, widely considered the best athlete in the company, isn’t pleased that Morrison is now getting that claim. Shelton holds an advantage with the early wrestling, but Morrison busts out the athleticism with a springboard 450 splash TO THE OUTSIDE! It is nuts. A distraction from Haas allows Shelton to kick Morrison from the top. Realizing that he may not be able to compete with Morrison in the sky, Shelton resorts to wearing him down. The psychology behind it is good. Ross makes a comment about Morrison needing to get his mojo rising, which just makes me think of Austin Powers. He begins to rally with athletic and innovative moves. Shelton counters Moonlight Drive with a sweet backbreaker for two. They kind of mess up a spot where Shelton reverses a springboard kick into a buckle bomb. Could have been really nice. Shelton lands on his feet to counter a monkey flip but is hit with a springboard kick. Morrison hits the terrible Starship Pain to win.

Winner: John Morrison in 10:10
So this show is three for three in good matches. I enjoyed the story of how it started as who is more athletic but Shelton resorted to mat wrestling. They countered each other and looked very even throughout. ***½

The Miz makes his way to the ring. He doesn’t have his awesome theme music or even the trunks attire yet. He looks like a guy who was going nowhere fast. Since being drafted to Raw, he has been issuing challenges to an injured John Cena. Obviously, Cena can’t answer so Miz is 3-0 against him. He points out Alfonso Soriano, a Chicago Cub at the time, who is in the front row and disses the Cubs. Soriano has like, no facial expressions. Miz asks Soriano to face him in the ring, but Soriano’s lack of response makes his painfully awkward. Miz counts this as a forfeit win over Cena until Santino Marella interrupts. Why is this even on Pay-Per-View? Santino is upset that that Miz is trash talking a fellow Italian, though Soriano is Dominican. This is basic Santino comedy that ends with a brawl. Could they not have booked another match? After Miz leaves, Chavo Guerrero appears to hit a Frog Splash.

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Chris Jericho
Jim Ross informs us that Rey Mysterio is 3-0 at Judgment Day. Not quite the Undertaker at Mania but still cool. Chris Jericho was annoyed by the 619, so Rey goes for it quick. Jericho avoids it and we get a “Y2J” chant. Jericho sends Rey outside, but he rolls through it and comes back with a baseball slide and dive. Rey hits a leg drop for two but takes a nasty spill as Jericho crotches him atop. Jericho wisely grounds Rey as commentary does a good job putting over how this is the building where Jericho debuted but now he hates the fans. In a pre-match promo, Jericho said we won’t see the 619 tonight and he avoids it for a second time. He counters a head scissors with a cool backbreaker for two. As they go up top, Jericho goes for the mask and we see about half of Rey’s face. Rey fights off, hitting some high flying moves for a near fall. They move to a series of counters that is very fast, ending with a backbreaker from Jericho for two. Rey counters a move and tries the 619 but Jericho moves. He then catches Rey’s hurricanrana attempt and tries the Walls of Jericho but Rey reverses, sending Jericho back into 619 position. Jericho AGAIN blocks, grabbing Rey’s legs and putting on the Walls. Rey gets out and survives a powerbomb. The crowd is behind Jericho because Chicago loves them a good heel. In an interesting twist, Jericho is sent into the second turnbuckle and Rey hits the 619 from there. A springboard splash gets him the three to retain.

Winner and Still WWE Intercontinental Champion: Rey Mysterio in 12:37
Here goes this show delivering again. This isn’t their best match together but it is indeed up there. Good storytelling of Jericho promising no 619 and their fast paced series of counters was great. Jericho also gets other props for his great heel work throughout. ****

WWE Championship
Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista
This was around the time that Randy Orton took out pretty much every McMahon family member including Triple H. Since Batista is such an animal, pun intended, Orton avoids him by taking breathers outside. He gets the first big offensive move with a backdrop onto the guardrail. He should bring that back and do it more often. We get the methodical Orton that drops a bunch of knees and works slowly, not because he’s tired, but because it’s part of the character. Some of the old, pre-Viper, Orton appears with a picture perfect dropkick. Signature Orton DDT from the ropes gets two. He backs up for the punt, which is how he took out the McMahons, but Batista meets him with a spear. With Batista beginning to rally, Orton rolls outside and demands to be counted out. Even as Batista goes to get him, he hugs the ring post which was a nice added touch. Orton goes for a chair to get DQed, but Batista stops him and actually hits a flying shoulder block. Orton tries to use the title but again is thwarted by a spinebuster. Both the Batista Bomb and RKO are blocked. His next RKO attempt is also blocked and he runs into the official. Out of desperation, Orton straight up slaps the official, who calls for the bell.

Winner via disqualification: Batista in 14:44
For knowing each other well, they should have better chemistry. They told a good story of Randy Orton doing everything to get away with the belt, but why not have Legacy come out and get yourself DQed? Regardless, I enjoyed this more than I expected to, but it wasn’t incredible. **¾

Legacy appears now to attack Batista, until the appearance of Ric Flair turns the tide. Flair and Batista do a number on Legacy and send them packing.

Big Show vs. John Cena
I cannot recall a match between these two that was good so I don’t expect much here. Big Show plays angry giant who dominates the early goings. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The whole match is pretty paint-by-numbers stuff. Show is strong so he overwhelms Cena, who tries to rally, but keeps getting stopped. Show goes to big man hold #1 as he applies a bearhug. Cena makes the comeback and struggles to apply the STF, so Show hits a Vader Bomb type move. Cena dodges a second one but still can’t apply the STF. Show sets up for the WMD but misses and Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment to win.

Winner: John Cena in 14:57
I understood the story they were going for, but we’ve seen it way too many times to be interesting. John Cena overcomes the odds against a buy that he only has boring matches against. Yawn. *

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
It’s pretty cool to see two guys that you really enjoyed during their tag days go at it in a World Title match. Around this time, there was nobody more popular in the company than Jeff Hardy. He busts out some Ricky Steamboat like arm drags. Todd Grisham mentions that these two know each other well, so that may be why Jeff has started in a less extreme style than normal. That’s fine until Jeff is like, “screw that” and hits a somersault to the outside. In retaliation, Edge spears Jeff’s back while he’s on the apron. Edge now focuses on Jeff’s back, which is perfect considering what has happened so far. Jeff starts to build momentum but as he climbs to the top, he crashes and burns. Commentary is doing a good selling how Jeff lives and dies by the high risk move. Jeff gets back on, quickening the pace with some signature offense. Surprisingly, he busts out a Sharpshooter but Edge makes the ropes. He tries the Hardyac Arrest corner dropkick, but Edge has it scouted and tries to counter with a powerbomb, only for Jeff to counter him for two. He gets the same result on a top rope sunset flip. The fight goes outside, where Edge is placed on the announce table. Jeff runs the guardrail to attack him but is met with a midair spear! We get a countout finish tease and Edge senses the end is near. His next spear is reversed with a leg drop and Jeff hits a Twist of Fate onto the very top rope. Edge gets his foot on the ropes though. Outside, Jeff hits Poetry in Motion, using the steps as a replacement for his brother. Matt Hardy appears to level Jeff with his cast but it still isn’t enough. Jeff goes up for the Swanton Bomb, but struggles to climb. Edge is up and his a top rope Edgecution to retain.

Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: Edge in 19:53
These are two guys that simply cannot have a bad match together. They did a fair amount of big spots like the midair spear. Jeff looked great in defeat as he survived a ton of stuff, and the false finishes were all very well done. ***½

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Another in a string of shows I’ve watched that were surprisingly good. While this isn’t a show that is particularly memorable, nearly everything on it is good. The only match that sucked was Big Show vs. John Cena. Every other contest clocks in at least just a shade under three stars. It is fun, nothing is overly long so it moves along nicely and the action and storytelling is all really good.