From The Shelf- WWE Over The Limit 2012

WWE Over the Limit 2012
Raleigh, NC
5/20/2012

Key Points:
-After firing Big Show and becoming drunk with power, John Laurinaitis is forced by the WWE board of directors to put his job on the line against John Cena, with no interference allowed by WWE superstars.
-Daniel Bryan looks to take the WWE Championship from CM Punk.
-Sheamus has his toughest test yet as World Champion, putting on the line in a fatal four way match.

Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Booker T.

People Power Battle Royal
The winner of this match gets to choose between challenging the Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes or US Champion Santino Marella. Heath Slater is dumped early by Great Khali and he chops Michael McGuillicutty off the top rope knocking him to the floor. Double superkick by the Usos knock JTG off the apron to eliminate him. Tyler Recks suplexes Yoshi Tatsu over the top rope to eliminate him. Ezekiel Jackson goes to press Curt Hawkins to the floor but Recks saves him and they both dump Jackson to eliminate him. Jay Uso tries to eliminate Darren Young but Titus O’Neil saves him and Young low bridges Jay to eliminate him. Recks dumps Drew McIntyre over the top rope to eliminate him. Khali shoves Hawkins and Recks over the top rope to eliminate them. He dumps Jindar Mahal over the top rope to eliminate him. The Primetime Players and Miz triple team Khali and dump him over the top rope to eliminate him. O’Neil charges at Jimmy Uso but misses and gets crotched, allowing Jimmy to superkick him, knocking him to the floor. Jimmy goes to superkick Young but misses and Young clotheslines him to the floor. Christian dumps Regal over the top rope to eliminate him and crowd doesn’t like that. Alex Riley dropkicks Young over the top rope to eliminate him. Spinebuster by Riley to Miz and he charges at him in the corner but gets backdropped to the apron. He goes up but Miz stops him and hits a kneelift knocking Riley to the floor. David Otunga sends Christian shoulder first into the post as Tyson Kidd catches Miz with a dropkick. Enzuigiri to Kidd and he hits a springboard double dropkick to Miz and Otunga. Miz dumps Kidd over the top rope but he skins the cat and tries to headscissors Miz to the floor but Otunga breaks it up knocking Kidd to the floor. Christian tries to fight them off but eats a double team from Otunga and Miz. Miz goes for the corner lariat but misses and Christian hits some rights to Otunga. He tries to dump Christian but he escapes and dumps Otunga to the floor to eliminate him. Christian fights off Miz and they both attempt their finishes but neither can hit it. Miz dumps Christian to the apron and tries to knock him off but Christian fights him off. He dumps Miz to the apron and hits a running shoulder to the gut knocking Miz off!!!
Winner- Christian **1/2 ( Fun opening battle royal with the last few minutes between Christian, Otunga, and Miz being very good. )

WWE Tag Team Championship- Kofi Kingston and R-Truth © vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger w/Vickie Guerrero
Swagger and Kingston start. Both men look for control to start and Kofi knocks him down with a back elbow for 2. Tag to R-Truth and the champs hit a double hiptoss. Legdrop by Truth gets 2 and he grabs a standing arm bar. Swagger backs Truth to his corner and tags Ziggler. Ziggler works the arm of Truth but Truth comes back with rights. Tag to Kofi and he hits a flying forearm off the second rope for 2. Judo suplex by Ziggler gets 2 and he tags Swagger. He chokes Kofi in the ropes and Ziggler gets a cheap shot in. Arm bar by Swagger but Kofi starts to fight out so Swagger hits a belly to belly suplex. He misses a legdrop and tags Truth who cleans house. Flying forearm by Truth and he hits a sit-out Gordbuster. He dropkicks Ziggler off the apron but Swagger sends him into the turnbuckle sternum first to come back. Vader Bomb by Swagger gets 2 and he tags Ziggler who stomps away. Elbow drop by Ziggler gets 2 and he tags Swagger. Forearms to the back by Swagger and he tags Ziggler. Neckbreaker by Ziggler gets 2 and he grabs a front facelock. He tries a neckbreaker but Truth counters into a backslide for 2. Dropkick by Ziggler and he tags Swagger. Surfboard by Swagger but Truth fights out. Swagger rakes the eye to stop the momentum and he and Ziggler hit an assisted X-Factor for 2. Chinlock by Ziggler but Truth fights out. Small package by Truth gets 2 and Ziggler prevents Truth from getting the tag. Tag to Swagger and he puts Truth on top. Truth catches him with a Tornado DDT and he tags Kofi who cleans house. Boom Drop by Kofi to Ziggler and he goes for Trouble in Paradise but misses. Ziggler blocks the SOS but eats a springboard crossbody for 2 as Swagger saves. Swagger goes to dump Kofi to the floor but Kofi holds on sending Swagger crashing to the floor. Fameasser by Ziggler gets 2 as Truth saves. Truth hits a slingshot pescado to the floor onto Swagger. Ziggler charges in the corner but eats the Trouble in Paradise from Kofi for 3!!!
Winners and Still WWE Tag Team Champions- Kofi Kingston and R-Truth *** ( This is a rock solid tag team match. They didn’t go crazy but everything was simple and well executed. )

Tyler Recks and Curt Hawkins promise Eve that they will confiscate any signs in the crowd that disrespects John Laurinaitis.

Diva’s Championship- Layla © vs. Beth Phoenix
Back elbow by Phoenix to start and she stomps away. Layla arm drags out of a tilt-a-whirl attempt and connects with a faceplant. Springboard crossbody by Layla gets 2 and she hits a basement dropkick for 2. Phoenix charges in the corner but eats elbow and comes back by driving the leg of Layla into her shoulder. Phoenix slams Layla’s leg off the ring post and back in, she connects with a chop block. She slams Layla’s leg off the mat for 2 and Phoenix drives the knee off the mat for 2. Half crab by Phoenix but Layla kicks her away to break. Inside cradle by Layla gets 2 and Phoenix wraps the leg of Layla around the ropes. Layla with a dropkick to the leg of Phoenix, knocking her off the apron. Back in, Layla with forearms but misses a spinning front kick. Phoenix looks to hit a press slam but Layla counters into a DDT for 2. Fireman’s carry roll-up by Layla gets 2 and Phoenix drives her into the corner. She puts Layla on top but Layla catches her. She tries a blockbuster stunner but Phoenix blocks. She tries the Glam Slam but Layla counters into a wheelbarrow roll-up for 1 as Phoenix rolls through for 2. Sitting neckbreaker by Layla gets 3.
Winner and Still Diva’s Champion- Layla ** ( It’s matches like these that show how underappreciated Beth was. Layla was botching moves and her offense was not believable at all but damn did Beth bump like hell to help cover up Layla’s flaws. The leg work and performance by Beth makes this better than most current day Diva’s matches but that’s not saying much. )

Randy Orton says that his RKO on Sheamus on Smackdown was to send a message that tonight is going to be a much different result. Chris Jericho appears and tells Orton he enjoyed watching Sheamus and Orton beat the hell out of each other two days ago while he did nothing. Jericho says he’s going to become World Heavyweight Champion for the seventh time. Orton tells Jericho the only think he’ll be the best in the world at is getting RKO’ed.

World Heavyweight Championship- Sheamus © vs. Alberto Del Rio w/Ricardo Rodriguez vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton
Everyone brawls to start and Orton and Sheamus clear the ring. They toss Del Rio and Jericho around ringside and back in, they slug it out. Knee to the gut by Sheamus breaks that up and he hits a kneedrop for 2. More kneedrops by Sheamus and he goes to the ropes but Jericho low bridges him sending him crashing to the floor. Del Rio and Jericho stomp away on Orton and they choke Orton with their boots. Double suplex to Orton and Jericho slingshots Orton in the ropes. They double team Sheamus on the floor and they drive him shoulder first into the announce table. Back in, Del Rio charges in the corner but misses and Orton cleans house. Suplex to Jericho and he hits a kneedrop for 2 as Del Rio breaks. Powerslam to Orton by Del Rio gets 2 as Jericho breaks. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Del Rio to Jericho but Orton lands an uppercut. He clotheslines Del Rio to the floor and Jericho catches him with an enzuigiri for 2. He baseball slides Sheamus and hammers away on Orton on the mat. Chinlock by Jericho but Orton fights out. Orton charges in the corner but eats boot and Jericho goes up. Orton stops him and follows up. He goes for a superplex but Del Rio stops him. He looks for a powerbomb but Orton fights him off and Sheamus knocks Orton and Jericho to the floor. Sheamus goes up and hits the battery ram off the top for 2. Sheamus stomps away on Del Rio in the corner and he charges in the corner but eats boot. Rolling fireman’s carry by Sheamus but he walks into a corner enzuigiri by Del Rio for 2. Del Rio hammers away on the mat and grabs a Key Lock. He backs Del Rio to the corner and takes him over with an arm drag. Sledgehammers by Sheamus and he hits a kneelift. Tilt-a-whirl powerslam by Sheamus gets 2. Kick to the leg by Del Rio and he hits a basement dropkick for 2. Del Rio goes for a dropkick but misses and falls to the apron. Sheamus hammers the chest of Del Rio but gets caught with a springboard dropkick to the back by Jericho. Orton cleans house and hits a powerslam to Jericho and then Sheamus. Hanging DDT by Orton but Del Rio catches him with the Cross Armbreaker. Orton makes the ropes to break!!! Back elbow by Jericho and he goes for the Lionsault but eats knees. Orton backbreaker to Jericho gets 2 as Del Rio breaks. Irish Curse to Del Rio and he trades counters with Orton leading to a roll-up for 2!!! Orton sends Sheamus shoulder first into the post and he hits both Del Rio and Rodriguez with the double hanging DDT!!! Orton covers Del Rio for 2!!! He goes for the RKO but Jericho blocks and hits the Codebreaker. Del Rio catches Jericho in the Cross Armbreaker but Jericho counters into the Walls of Jericho!!!! Jericho ducks the Brogue Kick and hits the Codebreaker on Sheamus for 2!!! Jericho rolls through the fireman’s carry attempt and grabs the Walls of Jericho on Sheamus. Orton breaks it up with the RKO for 2 as Del Rio tries a double stomp. He misses and lands on Jericho allowing Orton to hit the RKO. Brogue Kick by Sheamus to Orton but Jericho rolls him up for 2!!! White Noise to Jericho gets 3!!!
Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion- Sheamus ***3/4 ( Took some time to get going but once it became a finisher extravaganza it was fantastic. Lots of hot near falls and Sheamus went over strong with a good clean win. Great stuff. )

Cody Rhodes brags to Eve that had Christian gotten in the ring with him he would have embarrassed him. Christian shows up and Rhodes tells him he will make an outstanding US Champion. Christian tells Rhodes he is full of crap and he wants Rhodes instead of Marella tonight.

The Miz vs. Brodus Clay w/The Funkadactyls
Before the match, Miz claims to be a better dancer than Brodus Clay and then performs a dance to his theme song. Clay overpowers Miz to start and he bails to the floor. Back in, Miz hammers away in the corner but Clay rams his head off the turnbuckle a few times to come back. Miz snaps Clay’s neck off the ropes but Clay comes back with a kneelift. Headbutts to the back by Clay and he hits a suplex for 2. Clay knocks Miz off the apron and he goes to battery ram Miz into the post but he escapes and pushes Clay into the post. Back in, Miz goes up and hits a double axe handle off the top. Corner lariat by Miz and he goes up. Another double axe handle off the top by Miz and he hits a boot to the head for 2. Chinlock by Miz but Clay powers out. He cleans house and charges in the corner but eats boot. Miz goes up but Clay crotches him and follows up. T-Bone suplex off the top by Clay and he hits a big splash for 3.
Winner- Brodus Clay * ( One year ago Miz was main eventing this PPV. This time, he was getting squashed and performing a stupid dance. How the mighty have fallen. This was a boring squash, moving on. )

Recks and Hawkins begin taking signs away in the crowd.

Intercontinental Championship- Cody Rhodes © vs. Christian
Rhodes hammers away to start and he hits a Gordbuster. Christian comes back with a back elbow and he dumps Rhodes to the floor. Baseball slide by Christian and he follows out. Rhodes shoves Christian into the steps and back in, Rhodes gets 1. Knees to the gut by Rhodes and he hits a side Russian leg sweep for 2. Half nelson by Rhodes and he hits a dropkick to the back as Christian fights out for 2. Rhodes stomps away and he slugs it out with Christian. They go up and Rhodes hits a superplex to Christian. Small package by Christian gets 2 and he clotheslines Rhodes and himself to the floor. Rhodes hits a springboard dropkick using the steps and back in, he gets 2. Rhodes goes up and leaps off the second rope but Christian nails him on the way down. Slingshot kick by Christian and he hits a second rope dropkick for 2. He goes for the Killswitch but Rhodes elbows out. He charges but Christian drop toe holds him into the ropes. Uppercut by Christian and he goes up for a crossbody but misses. Inside cradle by Rhodes gets 2 and he puts Christian on top again. Tornado DDT blocked by Rhodes and he goes up. Moonsault press off the top by Rhodes gets 2. Christian sends Rhodes into the turnbuckle and hits the Killswitch for 3!!!
Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champion- Christian **3/4 ( Christian working his second match hindered this a little bit, with more time and preparation these two could have a crazy good match. This is a solid match however and a good way for Christian to cap off his return. )

CM Punk says he feels like crap but feels much better knowing John Laurinaitis is going to be fired. He says Vince McMahon would have never seen Punk and Bryan main-eventing one of his PPVs and it should be a celebration of their hard work but it’s not because Daniel Bryan has changed. AJ appears and says the match will be fun to watch. She wishes Punk luck.

WWE Championship- CM Punk © vs. Daniel Bryan
Feeling out process to start and Punk hits a hiptoss. Punk stomps Bryan’s leg in the ropes in the corner and he goes to the side headlock. Bryan escapes so Punk hits a kick to the leg. Punk works over the leg but Bryan comes back with uppercuts. Kicks to the chest in the corner by Bryan but Punk comes back with another kick to the leg for 1. Indian Deathlock by Punk but Bryan escapes and hammers Punk with forearms on the mat. Bryan misses a dropkick and Punk hits the Curb Stomp for 2. Kneebreaker by Punk and he dumps Bryan to the floor. Punk misses the baseball slide and Bryan rams Punk into the barricade. Gordbuster onto the barricade by Bryan and he hits a dropkick. Back in, Bryan goes up and hits a missile dropkick for 2. Kicks to the chest by Bryan and he snapmares Punk into a rear abdominal stretch. Punk starts to fight out so Bryan releases and hits a kneedrop for 1. Punk takes Bryan down and goes for the Figure-4 but Bryan catches him with a small package for 2. Knee to the gut by Bryan and he hits a kick to the back for 2. Bryan rakes the face of Punk and he grabs the Rowboat. He converts it to a Dragon Sleeper but Punk elbows out. Forearms on the mat by Punk gets 1. Kneedrops by Bryan but he misses a third and Punk hits a Fisherman’s suplex for 2. Snap butterfly suplex by Bryan and he goes up. Diving headbutt off the top by Bryan gets 2. Chinlock by Bryan but Punk fights out and they collide mid-ring on a double crossbody attempt. Forearms by Punk and he hits a leg lariat. Swinging neckbreaker by Punk and he charges in the corner but eats boot. Punk comes back with a powerslam for 2. Bryan escapes a suplex attempt and charges but Punk backdrops him to the floor. Suicide dive by Punk and both men are down on the floor. Back in, Punk goes for a springboard clothesline but Bryan dropkicks him on the way down for 2. Kicks to the chest by Bryan but Punk catches him with a Dragon Screw leg sweep to come back. Figure-4 by Punk and they trade slaps while Punk has the hold!!! Bryan makes the ropes to break. Punk goes for the kneebreaker but Bryan catches him with a sunset flip for 2. Drop toe hold by Punk and he gets the inside cradle for 2. He tries it again but Bryan blocks and hits a kick to the head for 2!!! Knees to the gut in the corner by Bryan and he puts Punk on top. Bryan follows up but Punk shoves him off, causing him to get crotched in the ropes. Punk hits a springboard clothesline to knock him off for 2!!! They trade headbutts, forearms, and kicks and Punk goes for the GTS but Bryan counters to the crucifix for 2. Roll-up by Punk gets 2 and Bryan goes for the Yes! Lock but Punk blocks. He tries to catapult Bryan to the floor but he skins the cat and walks into a kick to the head from Punk for 2 as Bryan gets his foot on the ropes!!! Slam by Punk and he goes up. Flying elbow drop off the top by Punk gets 2. Knees to the ribs by Bryan and he goes for a corner dropkick but misses. Corner knee by Punk and he goes for the bulldog but Bryan blocks and gets the Yes! Lock!!! Punk counters to a roll-up for 3!!!
Winner and Still WWE Champion- CM Punk ****1/4 ( This was as great as everyone expected this to be. Great match that had some awesome striking, great exchanges and good counter wrestling. The thing that hurt the match was the crowd not buying Bryan winning at any point, as they were hot for him in general but the near falls never had the kind of pop or excitement that they probably should have. Other than that, this is one hell of a match. )

Eve and David Otunga tell Teddy Long that if John Laurinaitis loses tonight, he won’t get his GM job back. Teddy tells them if Laurinaitis loses, Eve and Otunga might lose their jobs as well. He leaves to help Laurinaitis prepare.

Camacho w/Hunico vs. Ryback
Lillian botches the intros saying Hunico is competing. Camacho goes for a suplex but Ryback blocks and hits a Gordbuster. Big boot by Ryback but Camacho comes back with a dropkick to the leg. He chokes Ryback in the ropes and Hunico hits an enzuigiri to the back allowing Camacho to hit a clothesline for 1. Ryback rams him in the corner and hits some shoulders to the gut. He clotheslines Hunico on the apron and hits a spinebuster on Camacho. He dead lifts him into a powerbomb and he hits Shell Shocked for 3.
Winner- Ryback ¼* ( Just a squash to kill time and at least this time Ryback went over an actual name rather than jobbers. )

Video package for Cena/Laurinaitis airs.

No DQ Match-John Laurinaitis vs. John Cena
No roster member can interfere on Laurinaitis’ behalf and if he loses he’s fired. Laurinaitis tries to bail through the crowd but Cena stops him and brings him back in. Clothesline by Cena and he chops away. Airplane spin by Cena and Laurinaitis is so dizzy he falls to the floor. Cena follows out and grabs the ring bell. He rings the bell in the ear of Laurinaitis a few times and he slams Laurinaitis’ face off the announce table a few times. Cena puts Laurinaitis on commentary and he makes fun of Booker and Cole. They head back into the ring and Laurinaitis wants a handshake. Cena slaps him instead and hits a slam followed by an elbow drop. Cena grabs the microphone and tells Laurinaitis he’s going to put him in the STF but will release if he lasts ten seconds. STF by Cena and Laurinaitis holds on for the ten seconds. Cena says he’s going to do it again and goes back to the STF. Laurinaitis holds on again so Cena grabs some water. He pours it on Laurinaitis and even goes as far as to pour some down Laurinaitis’ pants. Cena pulls out a fire extinguisher and he sprays Laurinaitis in the corner. Laurinaitis bails to the floor and Cena follows. He dumps trash on top of Laurinaitis and Laurinaitis tries to run again. Cena grabs him so Laurinaitis snaps his arm off the barricade. He sends Cena shoulder first into the steps and he grabs a chair. Back in, he hits Cena a few times in the back with a chair for 2. He goes to nail Cena again but Cena blocks and sweeps the leg of Laurinaitis using the chair. Elbow drop using the chair by Cena but Laurinaitis goes low to come back. Laurinaitis bails through the crowd but is dragged back by Big Show!!!!! He drags Laurinaitis into the ring and he tries to crawl out of the ring but Show steps on his hand. Show grabs him by the neck but releases and Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment but SHOW HITS HIM WITH THE KO PUNCH!!!! Laurinaitis covers for 3!!!
Winner- John Laurinaitis DUD ( John Cena embarrassing Laurinaitis was entertaining for a little bit, but it kept going on and on and on. This dragged for almost twenty minutes and Cena looks like the dumbest person in the world for not finishing off Laurinaitis quickly when he had the chance. Just a horribly booked and executed main event, this was a joke. Oh, and a Cena/Show program. Again. Oh, Joy. )

The 411: This is such a weird show. You had some great matches, particularly the two world title matches and some solid wrestling that should make this show an easy thumbs up. However, we also had one of the worst main events on a WWE PPV in a long time combined with worthless squashes and a lack of build for this PPV that resulted in less heat for some of the better matches. It's absolutely worth a watch especially for the title matches but I'd recommend stopping right after Punk/Bryan, it'll make for a much better viewing experience.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]