Dark Pegasus Video Review: Over the Limit 2012

Over the Limit 2012 by J.D. Dunn Twitter.com/jddunn411 Facebook.com/jddunn411 May 20, 2012 Live from Raleigh, N.C.. Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T. Opening Match, People Power Battle Royal: We’re JIP to mostly jobbers fighting it out. Christian is the only name of consequence, and that includes Miz and the Great Khali who is a former champion. Santino and Rhodes look on from the floor. Khali tosses heath Slater. Hey, Michael McGillicutty is still alive… not in the battle royal, though. Jinxed him. Sorry, McGillicutty fan(s). The Usos kick JTG out. Hey, JTG’s still around too! It’s like a legends Battle Royal or something. Drew McIntyre dumps Tatsu and injures him on the landing. Reks goes after Khali. BAD FUCKING MOVE, SKRILLEX! Khali dumps him and Hawkins. Titus O’Neill and Darren Young team up to dump Khali. Young clotheslines Jimmy Uso out. Christian tosses Regal, drawing huge heel heat from the crowd. That’s an odd elimination, given the eventual booking. Alex Riley Rock pummels Young and dropkicks him, but Young fails to fall out. Dude, all you have to do is let gravity do its work. Riley tosses him anyway. Miz catches Riley on the top and kneelifts him out. Tyson Kidd (who, I’m told, has gotten really good since falling out off TV level) kicks the crap out of Miz, but Otunga boots him out while trying to pull a headscissor elimination on Miz. Otunga and Miz agree to team up against Christian, turning Christian face in the process. Otunga tries to powerslam Christian, but Christian slips off his shoulder and tosses him. Miz jumps Christian from behind, but Christian lands on the apron. He tosses Miz through the ropes and then shoulderblocks him off the apron to pick up the win and a huge pop at 12:24. Good moment to open the show, and a surprising face turn for Christian. **1/4 Running plot thread du nuit: John Laurinaitus has to beat John Cena or he’ll be fired. As of this writing, Laurinaitus’s job has been on the line at least four times in six months. WWE Tag Team Titles: Kofi Kingston & R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero). Vickie announces that she’s on the short list to replace John Laurinaitus, should the unthinkable occur. It won’t. The champs dominate early. Lawler, of course, makes “Vickie is fat” jokes. Be a Star, Jerome. Vickie looks fine. Swagger throws Truth into the buckle to take over. Truth plays face-in-peril. They do the wheelbarrow/X-Factor combo for two. Lawler then complains about Cole noticing Swagger’s hair after five minutes joking about Vickie’s dress. Kofi gets the hot tag and drops the Boom on Ziggler. Trouble in Paradise misses, as does the S.O.S., but a springboard crossbody gets two. Swagger makes the save but gets knocked over the top. Ziggler hits the Zig-a-Zig Ha Legdrop DDT for two, but Truth saves. Ziggler walks into Trouble in Paradise at 12:17. Strictly tag team formula, but Ziggler has outgrown this role. **3/4 In the back, Eve confers with legal scholar and caffeine addict David Otunga before sending Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks into the crowd to collect all the anti-Laurinaitus signs. You know, to enforce People Power. Reks and Hawkins were last seen jobbing to two thirteen year olds. Diva’s Title: Layla vs. Beth Phoenix. Beth was supposed to meet Nikki Bella for the title, but she was injured. Layla swooped in and won the title, so we get this. If only the men were booked so sensibly. Beth goes after Layla’s previously injured knee. Cole asks Booker about knee injuries, giving Booker something to contribute outside of “Aww, Shucky Ducky! Quack quack!” I’d complain about that phrase being rather minstrelly for 2012, but last year presidential candidate Herman Cain used it in his candidacy announcement. And could you get a more respectable black male? Meanwhile, this match is not that bad. Layla counters a press slam to a DDT for two. The Glam Slam is countered to a rollup which is reversed for two. That sets up a neckbreaker for the upset win at 7:10. Seven minutes is quite a lot for women’s matches these days. The match was okay, thanks to Beth’s adherence to the psychology and only one noticeable botch. **1/4 Recap of Orton losing to Sheamus and then giving him the RKO. Chris Jericho interrupts an interview and warns Orton not to get in his way. World Heavyweight Title: Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez). It’s “everyone team up on Sheamus” night as Del Rio targets his injured shoulder. They all turn on each other trying to get the win, though. Jericho dropkicks Del Rio onto Roberto, but ADR returns and locks the cross armlock on Orton. Jericho makes the save, but Orton jumps him with the stretch backbreaker. Randy goes for the RKO on Sheamus, but Sheamus counters to a schoolboy rollup for a hot nearfall. Roberto interferes and co-eats a rope-assisted DDT from Orton. Jericho returns with the Codebreaker. ADR jumps Jericho with the cross armlock, but Jericho counters pretty quickly to the Walls of Jericho. He even ducks the Brogue Kick and hits the Codebreaker on Sheamus. It’s Finisherpalooza as everyone just starts hitting big moves. Sheamus finally just catches Jericho with White Noise (the Air Raid Crash) at 15:53. Crazy final stretch with tons of heat on each false finish. ***1/2 In the back, Cody Rhodes talks about how lucky Christian was that he decided to challenge Santino for the U.S. Title since Cody would have embarrassed him. Christian shows up and cements the face turn, telling Cody that he’s going to challenge him instead. Brodus Clay vs. The Miz. Miz is disgusted with our Funkasaurus love, so he’s going to show us how a real man dances. He actually does a reasonably competent Thriller dance, but it’s set to his own music, so it looks pretty stupid. No Hornswoggle for Brodus this month, so the entrance is improved one-thousand fold. The Brodus Curse continues as every opponent, no matter how skilled, turns into a clumsy oaf when wrestling him. Cole repeats his stegosaurus dig on Booker, prompting Lawler to bust on him for reusing material. Wow. At least Lawler acknowledges he does the same thing. Miz shoves Brodus into the post, getting about as much offense as anyone has. It forces Brodus to sell, though, and when he does that, he looks like he’s plotting to steal Christmas from Whoville. Brodus crotches him, though, and hits a fallaway slam off the top. The 747 finishes at 4:12. After the match, a bunch of kids (the Funkateers) dance along with Naomi and Cameron. Kid in the Punk shirt, you have no idea how lucky you are. * Intercontinental Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Christian. Cody tells the crowd he thanks his lucky stars Dusty didn’t bring him to North Carolina and let him be raised around these losers. My inferred word, not his. Cody shoves Christian into the steps and hits a superplex. He hurts himself more than Christian on that one. Christian rolls him up for two and catches him with a blow to the gut as Cody’s coming off the second rope. Cody hits a beautiful moonsault block for two. Christian tosses him into the buckle, though, and hits the Killswitch for the win at 7:25. Shocking result since Cody just got the title back. Hopefully, they’re looking to bump him up. Christian winning in the return was a nice feel-good moment. **3/4 CM Punk talks about wrestling Daniel Bryan back in the indies and how they’ve risen against each other. AJ Lee interrupts and wishes Punk luck. WWE Heavyweight Title: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan. Weird how the WWF adopted ECW’s style in the late 1990s, thus cementing ECW’s legacy, whereas they’ve just taken ROH’s wrestlers and made sure to rebrand them as their own wrestlers with a WWE style. Technical wrestling to start, which winds up favoring Punk, oddly enough. Punk works Bryan’s knee, almost with a heelish bent. Nice spot as he simple tosses Bryan kneefirst over the top to the apron. Punk also busts out the Curbstomp. Booker admits to having no idea what to call it. Well, it’s not the “Shucky Ducky” so I can’t blame you. Bryan pummels him and then locks in the Mexican Surfboard. I remember when luchadores used to work that in to zero reaction. Bryan makes a big deal out of it, though, so it becomes a big deal. It doesn’t hurt that he immediately turns it into a Dragon Sleeper combo. Punk slips out and elbows Bryan in the face. Bryan fights out and drops DRAMATIC KNEES to the kidneys. Punk finally just moves out of the way and gets two off a Perfectplex. Bryan suplexes him to cut the momentum and hits the swandive headbutt. They both go for crossbodies and collide for a double KO spot. Bryan charges and gets backdropped to the floor. Punk takes him out with the suicide dive. Punk’s springboard clothesline is met with a dropkick, though. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! The Yes Kicks are cut off with a Dragon Screw by Punk. That sets up the figure-four, and they slap each other in the hold. Bryan makes the ropes, and Punk busts out an easter eggish, “I have ’til five.” La Majestral cradle gets two. Punk tries again, but Bryan reverses. Punk slips out of that but gets kicked in the head for two. DOWN COMES THE SHINPAD! He knees Punk’s gut in the corner, despite admonition’s from referee Rick Santorum. Punk breaks up a superplex attempt and crotches Bryan on the top rope. That sets up a one-man springboard Doomsday Device. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Bryan rides Punk down into the Yes Lock but has to settle for a Buzzsaw Kick. Punk responds with a roundhouse. ONE, TWO, THRE-no? Oh, Bryan’s foot is on the ropes. The Macho Elbow lands, but Punk’s ribs are hurt. Bryan dives at them with a series of knees. The corner dropkick misses, though, and Bryan falls on his head. Punk tries a corner knee and bulldog, but Bryan rides him down into the Yes Lock. Bryan pulls him so hard that they roll over onto Bryan’s shoulders. The ref counts three, and Punk taps a split second later. (23:56). Simply awesome example of pro-wrestling. Bryan is on such a role right now, and it’s hard to figure out what to do with him. I don’t think they can justify making him champion on Raw, but he’s making everyone look so good that he should stay around the main event. I wouldn’t be against Punk and him teaming up and making the tag titles relevant again. Easy MOTYC. ****1/2 Ryback vs. Camacho (w/Hunico). Camacho is the closest thing to a name Ryback has faced. Camacho, if you didn’t know, is the son of former WWF star Haku (later Meng in WCW). Hunico kicks Ryback from the outside, and Camacho clotheslines him down. That’s the first time Ryback has been knocked down. Ryback kicks out at one and powerbombs Camacho for his insolence. The Muscle Buster finishes Hakito at 1:54. The fans are still chanting “Goldberg,” which means Ryback should start issuing challenges to Chris Jericho only to have Jericho say he’s not worthy of a match. 1/2* John Cena vs. John Laurinaitus. Dunn’s Theory of Sports Entertainment Inertia: In any situation involving the WWE main event (which, apparently, only consists of John Cena and whoever he’s feuding with at the moment) the outcome that involves the least amount of change will occur. For example, given the stipulations – if Johnny Ace loses, he’s fired and if anyone interferes, they’re fired – we can safely assume that Big Johnny will win and, since that is physically incomprehensible given who he’s facing, he’ll be assisted by someone who cannot be fired. Granted, that theory has the benefit of hindsight in this case, but I think we all saw it coming. Big Johnny tries to escape early, but Cena catches him and clotheslines him. Cena substitutes an airplane spin for the Attitude Adjustment. Shouldn’t have gotten greedy, Cena. Johnny stumbles to the floor where Cena rings the bell in his ear. Cena stops to do commentary, prompting a hilarious non-sequitur from Laurinaitus as Cena casts him in the role of Booker T and Johnny busts out “Five time… five time.” Cena locks in him in the STF for ten seconds at a time, but Laurinaitus survives. Death by a thousand cuts, I guess. Cena decides Johnny’s thirsty and sprays him with the fire extinguisher. Johnny runs again and slams Cena’s arm on the barricade (It was injured by Brock Lesnar’s kimura at Extreme Rules). Johnny starts beating Cena with a chair, but Cena takes it away from him and does the “can’t see me” thing with the chair. Johnny delivers a low blow and then runs away. There’s no countout, though, so Cena watches powerlessly as the bottom of his shoes have been spotwelded to the canvas evidently. Big Show drags Laurinaitus back to the ring and tosses him to Cena. Then he knocks out Cena to the shock of only the slackjawed kid in the front row. Johnny rolls Cena over for the win at 17:04. Just as with Extreme Rules, this match ends on a booking down note with a “twist” that everyone saw coming the second Show got fired. Of course, the obvious thing to do since Triple H was questioning the validity of Brock Lesnar’s contract would be to reveal that Lesnar’s contract was, in fact, void so he could interfere here and since both John Cena and Triple H would want to get him in the ring Brock would be hired for real for the big future matches. Instead, we get a repeat of one of the worst feuds in the last five years. The tortured explanation for Show’s interference didn’t provide much of a balm for this open pustule of an angle. Yeah, I’ve been taking some night classes at the writing annex. What of it? **1/2 Okay, so I’m not the first one to point this out, and I’m sure I won’t be the last, but since Cena took TLC off, he’s been in the main event slot for every show since despite not fighting for the title. That’s problematic, considering it essentially turns the WWE Title into a midcard position and the World Title into an opening act. To make matters worse, Cena is starting to get “Demi Moore’d.” We all remember Demi Moore, ridiculously hot actress of the late 1980s; mature, respected actress in the early 1990s… and then she disappeared outside of cameos because she started choosing roles in horrible movies so often that the appearance of the name “Demi Moore” on the marquee became synonymous with “you can skip it.” So the WWE is faced with one of three options, A) pull John Cena for a while and let guys like Sheamus and Punk grow into draws while taking at least a temporary hit in the ratings/buyrates (Rock and HHH never would have become the stars they did if Austin hadn’t taken time off), B) evolve Cena’s character such that they can tell new stories with him, or C) slowly bleed the golden goose dry until there’s nothing left by rehashing the same old thing, a tactic that worked in Toronto with the Original Sheikh, in Texas with the Von Erichs, and in WCW with the nWo. Of course all those territories are dead now. Thank god for monopolies, I guess.

The 411: Lots of entertainment still to be had with a fun, chaotic brawl in the World Title match, a surprise angle with Christian, and an absolute classic in the WWE Title match. The main event was fun, but also an indicator of how creatively bankrupt they are when it comes to booking John Cena, the only guy they seem to want to push. Thumbs up.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]