Dark Pegasus Video Review: Fatal 4-Way 2010

WWE Fatal 4-Way 2010 by J.D. Dunn Twitter.com/jddunn411 Facebook.com/jddunn411 Re: The DVD Cover Dude… spoiler! June 20, 2010 Live from Uniondale, N.Y.. Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker. Vince McMahon comes out to announce that Bret Hart will not be joining us for the rest of his life thanks to the Nexus. Opening Match, Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre. Kofi is fired up because Drew spent weeks abusing Teddy Long. Spiffy suicida early on, but Drew cuts his legs out from under him. To the post goes Kofi, and Drew targets that injured shoulder. I’m already bored. What else is on? Cole says Kofi will have to use that CONTROLLED FRENZY to come back. Indeed, Kofi counters a clothesline with a backflip into a DDT. Well, that’s taking the long way around. A few rollups later and Kofi has the momentum. Boom drop sets up Trouble in Paradise, but Drew backdrops him to the apron. Kofi reverses a backdrop for two, but Drew boots him right in the puss… by which I mean the face. Kofi mounts him in the corner, but Drew powerbombs him for two. Kofi hits the S.O.S. out of nowhere for two. The ref gets bumped, allowing McIntyre to hit the Future Shock DDT. No ref, though. Duh. Drew DEMANDS Teddy Long get in and count the pinfall. Teddy takes forever to put on the striped shirt because presumably the State Athletic Commission might think this result is not on the up-and-up otherwise. ONE, TWO, TH-NAH, NOT DOIN’ THAT. Teddy refuses to count until Drew intimidates him. By then, it’s too late because Matt Hardy runs in and hits the Twist of Fate. Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise for the win at 16:28. With as much angle as they piled onto it, it probably should have been bumped farther up the card. Nothing wrong with it, but the early armwork was just a wankfest. **1/4 The Hart Dynasty tells… Savannah? There’s a Savannah now? Uh, anyway, they say they’re not going to be distracted by Bret Hart’s health woes because they have the Usos. Divas Title, Fatal 4-Way: Eve Torres vs. Maryse vs. Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox. Matches like this seem to exist just to show how far Gail Kim has fallen. Lots of rollups early then the babyfaces target Maryse’s arm. Gail does some decent stuff, but she gets tossed. Torres hits a neckbreaker and a moonsault on Maryse, but Alicia tosses her aside and gets the pin and the title at 5:42. Not a bad step for Edge’s wedding planner. Way to go, Sam Cassell. The match was, as usual for the Divas, horrible. 1/2* Rey Mysterio receives words of discouragement from the Big Show. Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne. Jericho lets us know that he realizes that he is no longer the hot, young stud. Now he is the one who is being targeted. Bourne frustrated Jericho on Raw by kicking out of the Codebreaker and hitting him with the Shooting Star Press. The fans are firmly behind Jericho, or “split” as Michael Cole calls it. Bourne hits a flying huracanrana and flies out on Jericho. Jericho comes back with the springboard dropkick. Bourne hits a gunpacket dropkick and shows some hops with a huracanrana off the top… from a standing position in the ring. Jericho catches him in the Walls of Jericho, but Bourne makes the ropes. Jericho goes for the Lionsault, but Bourne dodges and hits a flying kick to the temple. Jericho avoids the SSP and hits the Codebreaker. ONE, TWO, THR-foot on the ropes. Jericho hauls him up, but Bourne counters to a Tornado DDT. Bourne goes up again, but Jericho crotches him. Bourne blocks the superplex and hits the SSP to Jericho’s back. ONE, TWO, THREE! Bourne picks up the upset win to a polite reaction from the fans. (11:18). If only Bourne could have kept the momentum from this. They played it perfectly, with Jericho staying one step ahead mentally, but he just couldn’t keep up with Bourne physically. ***3/4 Recap of Kane explaining that the Undertaker was found in a vegetative state. Idaho? Kane vows to prosecute anyone who had anything to do with the Undertaker’s bi-annual disappearance. Say, didn’t HHH go on a high-profile search for who injured Shawn Michaels only to have it revealed that he was the culprit? They wouldn’t… World Heavyweight Title, Fatal 4-Way: Jack Swagger vs. The Big Show vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk (w/Serena & Luke Gallows). Rey and Show clear the heels out. Show palms him by the melon and tosses him into Swagger. Show gets de facto eliminated, allowing the other three to have a proper match. Rey goes for a 619 on Punk, but Show pops up and catches him. Cole explains the irony of Punk criticizing Rey for wearing a mask and now he’s wearing one. I totally never thought of that! Mostly, I appreciate how Cole brought the point up so conversationally so I don’t feel stupid or talked down to. Anyway, Punk GTSes Swagger, but Kane wheels out a coffin and attacks Punk. Luke Gallows saves, but the straight-edgers run off. That allows Rey to dial up 619 and hit the springboard splash on Swagger at 10:17. Seemed really short, and most of it was just biding time until the Kane run-in. **1/2 John Cena thinks the WWE will stand by him if Nexus attacks. U.S. Title: The Miz vs. R-Truth. Miz whiteboy raps his way down to the ring doing a pretty good impression of R-Truth’s gruff voice, but it’s his Rock-esque “I’m awesome!” that is really over. Lawler inadvertently points out how creatively bankrupt the WWE finishes are as Alicia Fox and Miz both won their titles in the same finish in the span of a week. Miz goes after Truth’s midsection after catching him trying to slip over the shoulder. Pretty sizable “Miz is awful” chant. No wonder he got a title run. He tries to take a countout victory, but Truth sneaks back in. Things slow down a bit as Miz works him over. Truth comes back with a missile dropkick and a Flatliner. Awesome suplex/stunner, which should be a finisher, turns the tide. Truth misses a crossbody, but he plays possum and suckers Miz in for a small package. That gets two. Truth tries a rolling leg clutch, but Miz squats down on him and gets the pin at 13:15. The psychology around the ribs kicked in too early without hooking the crowd. It just never seemed to get going. **1/4 Edge explains why he is the favorite to win the title tonight. Mixed Tag: The Hart Dynasty & Natalya vs. The Usos & Tamina. The Harts outwrestle their counterparts early. No surprise there. Nice high kick from Kidd as he blocks a suicida from… I’ll say Jimmy. Better counter as Jey catches Kidd with a Samoan Drop into the crowd barrier. Cole confirms my Jimmy/Jey guess. Jey is wearing the short tights. That allows the Usos to take over. Jey hits the Rikishi buttalanche. A second one misses, allowing Natalya to get the hot tag. Michinoku Driver on Tamina for two. Kidd & Smith… oh, Kidd! I just now got that. Kidd and Smith take out the Usos on the outside. Tamina misses the Superfly Splash (nice form, btw), and Natalya is able to finish with the Discus Lariat at 9:26. I came into this thinking the Usos were useless (admittedly, without seeing them wrestle) and came out of it liking them. When they’re eventually released, I think they’ll be an asset to TNA. **1/2 WWE Heavyweight Title, Fatal 4-Way: John Cena vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus. Cena and Orton toss the other two so we can get the epic staredown. Cena blocks an FU as the heels hop in to break up the fun. Edge and Sheamus team up on Cena. Cole: “Would you trust Edge?” Lawler: “Ask Matt. That’s his best friend.” Crazy double-meanings. Sure enough, Edge turns on Sheamus, but Orton hops in and assumes his role. Orton fares better, clearing the heels out of the ring. He suplexes Cena back in, triggering the dueling chants. Sheamus returns and hits the Billy Robinson backbreaker on Cena. If Sheamus had a back submission move, that’d be a fine setup. Edge breaks up the Irish Carbomb, but Orton tosses him and hits the double-rope-assisted DDT. APEX PREDATOR! That gets two. Edge boots him in the head and sets up for the spear. Cena avoids. VINTAGE CENA! But Orton returns and hits the stretch backbreaker. The mother side of Randy’s personality takes over, and he’s about to RKO Edge, but Sheamus breaks it up. STF on Edge. Sheamus breaks that up to and gets two on Edge. Edge shoves Cena into an RKO, but Sheamus shoves the ref. Cole: “The referee cannot throw the match out!” You mean to tell me that there’s *no* mechanism in place for the ref to end a match if he’s being assaulted? That seems Draconian. In the back, the Hart Dynasty and Evan Bourne are watching on a monitor, and the Nexus attack. Cena is alone in the ring, and here comes the Nexus. They overwhelm him and leave him laying, so Sheamus scurries over and covers for the win and the title at 17:30. Nexus hits the Fireman’s Carry Slam into the 450-splash and chases Sheamus off. I should point out that Cole had mysteriously disappeared… just as he had when Nexus first formed on Raw. Lots of action, but not much of a storyline. Just a bunch of guys turning on each other. Orton looked mightily over, though, and that was a good sign. ***1/4

The 411: Jericho versus Bourne was pretty sweet, but Bourne's WWE career has been plagued by ill-timed setbacks, so the momentum from that win hasn't really amounted to anything. Everything else was average or "kinda good." Can't really recommend it on that basis. Mild thumbs down.
Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]