411’s Instant Access 5.24.10: WWE Over the Limit 2010

Hey kids, I’m Mike, and this is 411’s Instant Access: WWE Over the Limit 2010. Slimmer needed a break from his strenuous one-column-a-month schedule, so I’ve graciously agreed to cover for him tonight. Instant Access is the companion piece to 411 Live Pay-Per-View Coverage and features immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus in Instant Access is on first thoughts and initial reactions instead of play-by-play with the goal of providing you with instant access to writers’ thoughts on the show. Here’s the team for Over the Limit:

• Mike Uphoff, author of the 411’s WWE Smackdown Report.

Okay kids, enough with the explanations. Let’s get to the wrestling.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Drew McIntyre (Champion) vs. Kofi Kingston
Match Result: Kofi Kingston wins Intercontinental Championship via SOS
Match Length: 7:50
Match Analysis: With how quickly this was thrown together, I wasn’t really expecting much out of the two. Sure, Kofi can wrestle, but Drew can’t wrestle a rock. All in all, this was a pretty decent match. Drew, while his offense was largely unimpressive, bumped well for Kofi, especially at the end with the SOS. Hardy’s return after the match was pretty cool. Given this booking, I can’t say I agree with it. Drew feuds with Hardy I guess, but who does Kofi feud with now? Ziggler?
Match Rating: **

R-Truth vs. Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil
Match Result: R-Truth wins via Lie Detector
Match Length: 7:40
Match Analysis: This feud was built on RAW when Truth refused to be DiBiase’s Virgil. I was interested and intrigued by this match, as it had a lot of potential to be a sleeper hit. Well, it was there. I don’t necessarily agree with the result, as I believe DiBiase needed the win more. The only thing I don’t understand is where does Ted go from here? Does he feud with R-Truth some more? It was an all right midcard match that could have been better and was slightly disappointing.
Match Rating: *1/2

Straight Edge Society Pledge vs. Hair Match
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk w/ Luke Gallows & Serena
Match Result: Rey Mysterio wins via crucifix pin and shaves CM Punk
Match Length: 14:20
Match Analysis: This was built very well in the weeks leading to this match. Aside from Orton-Edge, I don’t think there was a match on this card that I wanted to see more. Their two previous bouts, at Wrestlemania where Rey won and Extreme Rules where Punk won, were good, but never kicked into that higher gear because it felt like something was missing, and I attribute that to the lousy single stipulations for the two matches. This match was different. Each man had something to fight for, Rey his freedom and Punk his hair. This actually felt like a match. Sure, once you’ve seen a Rey Mysterio match, you’ve seen them all, but he stepped up the tempo tonight, along with Punk, provided some unique counters and rollups and nearfalls to keep the crowd on their toes, and that is what they were supposed to do. I don’t agree with the result, as I think Punk winning would have made for better booking in the near future. These two finally had the match they were capable of having with one another.
Match Rating: ****

Unified Tag Team Championship Match
The Hart Legacy (Champions) vs. Chris Jericho & The Miz
Match Result: The Hart Dynasty retains the WWE Unified Tag Titles
Match Length: 11:23
Match Analysis: This was a good tag match, and it was made better by the time it received. The Hart Dynasty truly looked like they belonged, and Jericho and the Miz worked well with them. We saw some unique offense and rollups on both sides, and the standing vertical suplex and running powerslam by DH Smith were impressive. I kinda wish Jericho and the Miz had gotten in more offense on the champs, but the counter to the Walls was NICE. The true star of this match was Tyson Kidd, who put on a great performance. Every man worked hard, and we got a good tag match out of it.
Match Rating: ***

Randy Orton vs. Edge
Match Result: Double countout
Match Length: 13:25
Match Analysis: I saw a great sign right before the match started. It was “Orton makes Edge Rated G.” Anyway, this started off real slow, but started to pick up a fair amount until Orton somehow injured himself. Seriously, dude? Wow. That aside, they audibled for a double countout (presumably to save the feud for some other time) and that makes it hard to rate the match. This could have been a great match, but we barely got anything due to the injury.
Match Rating: **

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Jack Swagger (Champion) vs. The Big Show
Match Result: The Big Show via DQ
Match Length: No match time for this sorry
Match Analysis: I loved Show mocking Swagger at the beginning with the wrestling takedown and the pushups. For what they had, it was all right. And really, who didn’t see the DQ ending coming when the match started? The after match stuff was cool with Swagger going after Show, then Show no-selling and beating the crap out of Swagger. This likely sets up Swagger/Show/Punk/Rey for Smackdown’s main event next month at Fatal Fourway.
Match Rating: *1/2

Divas Championship Match
Eve Torres (Champion) vs. Maryse
Match Result: Eve retains the Diva’s Championship
Match Length: No match time for this sorry
Match Analysis: Eve tried, and Maryse was there. They put on an okay Diva’s wrestling match, but at a PPV, more should be expected of them.
Match Rating: *

WWE Championship Match
John Cena (Champion) vs. Batista
Match Result: John Cena retains the WWE Championship
Match Length: 19:00
Match Analysis: Sue me, I liked this match. Was it better than Wrestlemania and Extreme Rules? Slightly yes. Was it a better I Quit match than Cena/JBL? No. Was it better than Cena/Orton I Quit? Yes. This match was well booked and well executed, and from the moment I saw the cars as Cena entered, I knew they would come into play, and I was interested in seeing what happened. The crowd brawling was okay. I’m not a big fan of it, as it can really hurt a match (see Black/Aries!), but it worked all right in this match. As I wanted, Batista went out on a good match, and him getting sent through the ramp with an Attitude Adjustment is worthy of a HOLY SHIT moment, as was the powerslam through the announce table, a la Undertaker at Wrestlemania 23. All that aside, it was a really good match. Could’ve been slightly better though.
Match Rating: ***3/4

Final Thoughts

Match of the Night: Punk/Rey

Trash of the Night: Diva’s Title Match

Final Analysis: This show started off strong, but fell into a quagmire (GIGGITY) starting with Orton/Edge, the Swagger/ Show match for the world Heavyweight Championship, and the Diva’s title match. It rose out of that with the very good I Quit match. This was a decent PPV that had a lot of potential, but didn’t quite live up to it, and it was really hurt by the non-finish in the Edge/Orton match. I would still recommend it for the Intercontinental Title match, Punk/Rey, the Unified Tag Titles match, and the I Quit match.

Verdict: ***