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Weekend feedback from Capitol Punishment and Strikeforce



Capitol Punishment didn’t disappoint me. That’s because I went in with
low expectations. The two matches I thought would deliver did, but
neither set the world alight. The rest of the show I expected to vary
between average and rubbish.

I would recommend checking out Punk vs. Mysterio. From memory, I’m not
sure it was any better than their Extreme Rules and Over The Limit
matches in 2010, but easily the best match on this show. I marked big
time for Punk’s earthquake sit down splash. I’m hoping that Punk winning
means he has resigned. WWE has lost so much great talent recently in
guys like Jericho and Michaels that it needs a guy like Punk who can
work.

For me the second best match for me was Randy Orton vs. Christian. The
reason I rated Punk vs. Mysterio above it was simply I didn’t know who
was going to win that match. With Orton vs. Christian I never felt
Christian had a chance which took the match down a notch. I’m assuming
Christian having his foot under the rope during the finish will lead to
a rematch which feels like one match too many in the programme. Problem
is Smackdown has nothing else at the top of the card going for it. I
noticed the show only had two Smackdown matches on the show. That shows
a serious strength in depth problem.

Outside of those two matches I wasn’t impressed with anything else. I
hated the finish to Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio. Show hardly needs
protecting and I’d rather ref stoppages were kept to MMA. Involving Mark
Henry at least gets Del Rio away from Show, but I can’t image anything
good will come from a Big Show / Mark Henry feud.

Miz and Barrett both losing clean saddened me. Miz’s stock has fallen so
quickly. Gone from maineventing WrestleMania to second match against a
guy who should still be in FCW. Miz though can recover from his defeat,
Barrett, who looked a world champion in the making, is on a downward
spiral.

I haven’t much to say on the fake Obama stuff. I find segments like this
pathetic. Only thing that made me smile was the soldiers in the audience
standing and saluting him. They looked like total idiots.

As for the main event, I didn’t find the Little Jimmy screwing R-Truth
to be a clever finish; I found it to a spectacular pile of shit. R-Truth
needed to go over, or at least come out with some serious heat. He
didn’t, and the finish of a child throwing a Sprite into his face and
distracting him so Cena could take advantage just made him look stupid.

I’m sure tonights RAW will be more entertaining than this show.
 
James Sheringham / thePOWERBOMB.com

Strikeforce: Thumbs Up
Best Match: Masvidal vs. Noons
Worst Match: Griggs vs. Pussy Overeem
 
I really enjoyed the whole show, and really liked the whomping of
Rogers by Barnett and I predict Barnett to win the tournament.  I was
very disappointed in Werdum's lack of ability to work his stand up as
it looked like he was right there with Overeem and would've beat him
had he been confident in the exchanges, and just let it go to the
ground if it happened.  I was impressed by the stand up of Cormier,
and would've loved to see him go stronger for a finish.
 
Capitol Punishment: Thumbs Up
Best Match: Swagger vs. Bourne
Worst Match: Big Show vs. Del Rio
 
This was a good wrestling show, and a sleeper PPV that probably no one
bought, but it's worth purchasing the replay.  Other notable matches
were Punk vs. Rey, but it didn't feel like anything special, and
Christian vs. Orton but it felt like the same match from the last 3
months.  Cena vs. R-Truth was solid but didn't feel like a main event,
but R-Truth's character was very over with the people I was watching
with.  The little Jimmy thing is working, and I would've liked to see
Truth interrupt Obama instead of Booker T.
 
Peace

Dan Veltan

'

WWE Capital Punishment

Thumbs Up

Best Match: CM Punk v Rey Misterio

Worst Match: Ezekiel Jackson v Wade Barrett

WWE seems to be understanding finally that you don't need to change one or both "world" titles every other month. Even though both of the company's Supermen seem to be in control of their brands, strong heel contenders seem to be on the horizon with Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk. Oh wait - that's RAW. On the Smackdown side, Wade Barrett lost to a very green Zeke Jackson and Sheamus didn't even show his face.

I can see a four-way with Truth v Cena v Del Rio v Show ending in Del Rio winning the title by stealing the pinfall. It keeps Cena "clean" for his WM encounter with The Rock, but also puts him back in the challenger position for SummerSlam, where he can win it back and hold it for the rest of the WWE calendar year (which runs through WM next year).

Smackdown is a puzzlement. Sheamus took a big boot. Now unless he comes back and lays out Orton, he's persona non grata for a title shot. And Barrett is another retread if they put him in against Orton. Cearly, Smackdown is the brand that needs to build some heels to fight Orton. The clock is ticking.

Jeff Cohen
Flushing, NY

Good evening to Dave, Bryan and those at the Wrestling Observer,
 
 
 
Thumbs Up
 
Best Match: Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk
 
Worst Match: Big Show vs Alberto Del Rio (Although not awul.)
 
 
 
I missed the opener between Kofi and Dolph but I thought this was a well-wrestled Pay Per View.  Most of the timing was on cue and the spots were well choreographed. It just seemed everything clicked tonight to prove if the WWE keeps things simple in the future the product improves.
 
 
 
I was actually interested in seeing two matches: Miz vs Riley and Cena vs Truth to see how they would go and to see if they would continue those fueds or stop them in their tracks.
 
 
 
I didn't think tonight's finishes were awful and even though I'd like to see Truth with the belt, this was well done to add another possible month to the fued.  Truth took his eye off the main prize and lost the match. Also, Riley vs Miz impressed me and I think Riley held his own.  Good for him. The WWE took a shot and he delivered.
 
 
 
However, the best part of the show was not being able to hear the commentary due to the raucous BWW crowd.  I could hear Booker T say "Here We Go" four or five times and Cole heeling during matches but the rest blended in with the background.
 
 
 
Also, can we please give Wade Barrett credit again?  This guy carried someone with no charisma, in-ring ability or showmanship to a decent match. Awesome.
 
 
 
Thanks for taking my email and I appreciate the good work the Observer does.
 
 
 
Erik "T-Bo" Thibault

Thumbs in the Middle
 
Best: Orton vs Christian
Worst: Cena vs Truth
 
Just another show you could skip and miss nothing. Decent work
underneath but no one elevated. Don't buy Riley getting over past the
Miz program...
 Jonathan Renfro

Dave,
 
I attended Capitol Punishment tonight at the Verizon Center and came out of there happy that I had done so.  I had a feeling going in that it would end up being one of those shows that has a bunch of good wrestling, and I guess you guys did too as reflected in the site's update today.  There wasn't a single match on the show that stunk up the joint, the crowd was pretty hot the whole night, and the skits were even entertaining.  They made it worth my while and money tonight.
 
Best Match- CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio, slightly above Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Zigler
Worst Match- Wade Barrett vs Ezekiel Jackson- not bad, but not as good as the rest of the card.
Thumbs up for the show.
 
Matt Wright

Best Match: Punk vs Rey Worst Match: Alberto vs Big Show. Thumbs way down for one of the worst shows I've seen in a while. Burying Truth while he was on the berge of being one of the biggest heels in the company was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen. Burying Christian might be number 2. This entire show felt like a painful 3 hour Raw, with the same boring matches and bad finishes. The person who decided an Obama impersonator was a thing this show needed should be fired immediately. Punk vs Rey was the one highlight of an otherwise terrible show.
Geoff Gillott

Hello Dave, 
I know this is the part of the evening in which people send feedback about the PPV. I thought I might send a little feedback as to why I did not order the show. I am a life long WWE fan and I used to order every PPV. These days, with so many PPV's, I pick and choose which ones to order. I usually order the big ones such as Rumble, Mania, Summerslam etc. When friends do not come over and pitch in, 50 bucks is quite a bit to spend on a PPV that I am not interested in. When I took a look at this card, I felt that I had seen most of these matches several times for free. I could not justify paying for them AGAIN.
US Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler-  Brian stated in his report that these men have wrestled 16 times since 2009. Enough said on that. 
Intercontinental Title: Wade Barrett vs. Ezekiel Jackson- do not know if they had an official match, but it feels like they have been feuding forever. 
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk- saw this match live at last years mania, and they have wrestled two straight weeks on RAW. Could not justify paying to see it again. 
World Title: Randy Orton vs. Christian- they have had some great matches, but again, I just saw this match on the last PPV and before that, on Smackdown for free. 
Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne- 2 straight weeks on RAW
WWE Title: John Cena vs. R. Truth- they may have not had a substantial match on RAW, but this main event did not interest me enough to pay money for it. 
When the only match on the card that seemed fresh is Miz vs Alex Riley, I am probably not going to pay for the PPV
I just read the results and it seems as if some of these matches were really good. I will  watch them on WWE 24/7, but I just thought I would give some thoughts on why I did not purchase the show going into it.  You and Bryan had a great interview with Batista the other day and his story about HHH pushing to keep them apart until MANIA was very interesting. I wish WWE would take note and do that a little more often. It might make fans like me want to purchase more PPV's. 
Tony Vicencio

Overall: Thumbs WAY down
Best Match: Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Worst Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show

Initial Thoughts: What an absolute debacle. If I had attended this show live, I probably would have walked out half way through. Horrible booking on top of lackluster matches (with one or two exceptions). WWE is in a bad place right now.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston: Disappointing. I expected this match to be the best on the show, but it under delivered. Perhaps I went in expecting too much. What was with the ending? Everyone seemed confused from the announce team to Ziggler himself. The ref needed to convey the spot of Kofi passing out more clearly. Do the hand raise five times or something, and then call the match over when he doesn't respond. No idea what they were thinking there.

Alex Riley vs. The Miz: Not terrible for what it was, but the crowd was completely dead and there wasn't a single stitch of heat for anything. Maybe it should have gone on later in the show. Work was fine I suppose, but there was nothing that separated it from what we would see on Raw, but I suppose I shouldn't expect anything more from these two. Match as a whole would have been better if the crowd was into it, but they couldn't have helped that. Second dusty finish a row, but it actually fit here. Wasn't needed in the opening bout.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show: Opening angle was interesting, though I don't know if I can stand to sit through a Big Show vs. Mark Henry feud. The slam through the table was impressive. The match itself though was poor. Show didn't seem to be selling the knee enough off the bat which distracted me throughout the contest. Stupid finish again. Big Show "being unable to continue" didn't fly with me. THIRD match in a row that involved some sort of interference/dusty finish.

Ezekiel Jackson vs. Wade Barrett: Jackson can't work, and Barrett isn't talented enough yet to carry someone like him in a PPV caliber match. They didn't do anything to differentiate this match from one you would see in the opening hour of SmackDown. They tried to get over the win with the help of Lawler, but failed miserably. Not a single care was given from anyone in the crowd and I could hardly blame them.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio: Only bright spot on the card. Excellent, excellent match, probably the best one they have ever worked together. Great amount of near falls and interesting offense sequences. Punk's impending "announcement" is the only thing WWE is doing to keep my interest.

Randy Orton vs. Christian: Good match marred by a mind boggling finish. Action was solid. Not the best match these two have had, but Christian still keeps cementing his rightful place as one of the top workers in the company. The finish of the match was idiotic. I might have believed it more if Chioda (who also called this match) didn't reverse the decision in the Miz vs. Cena bout with the belt shot finish just a few weeks prior. I'm expected to believe that Chioda was able to deduce that Miz cheated in that match (which in itself was completely unbelievable), yet he missed Christian's legitimate gripe that his foot was under the rope? And even worse, he refused to look at the replay like he did in the infamous Raw debacle? Come on WWE. I didn't expect Christian to go over here, but you have to give us a finish better than this. And to top it off with an Orton belt shot? Why exactly is Christian the heel in this feud?

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger: I wonder if these guys were thrown out there when WWE realized they had time to kill, or if it was planned. Nothing great, nothing bad here. Typical Raw match.

Fake Obama segment: Oh my God. Why? Whoever is green lighting this garbage needs to be fired. The backstage skits were bad enough, but my jaw about hit the floor when this guy came out. Unfunny, not witty in the least, and the crowd hated it. Who could blame them? Why WWE feels the need to do this on a show people are paying $50-$60 to watch is unbelievable.

Cena vs. R-Truth: I am so sick of Cena. Not even his character as much as his work. It's always the same, it's not interesting and never has been, and it main events every show. I'm just burned out on it. Boring match. Stupid finish. Nothing more to say.

Final thoughts: WWE's talent dearth is painfully obvious as we stand here in June 2011 and the way that they book, it doesn't look like it's going to improve. This show has lowered my faith in the product in an era when I doubted it could get much worse. Perhaps I'm simply upset they refuse to push the guys I want to see most, or maybe I just need to step away from WWE and take a break for a while to get out of this rut. Regardless, at least we have ROH's "Best In The World" to look forward to.

-Ryan Niepagen
Bloomington, IL

WWE Capitol Punishment: Thumbs Up
Best Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston
Worst Match: John Cena vs. R Truth
 
I thought the opener was the best of the night as Kofi and Ziggler put on a great show.  Not sure about he finish of the match though.  Miz vs. Riley was fine.  Didn't like the reverse chinlock spot just cause it looked exactly like the sleeper spot in the previous match.  Big Show vs. Del Rio was decent.  How do you count someone out before the bell ever sounds?  Ezeekial vs. Wade Barrett again was fine for what it was as Jackson isn't a great worker.  Barrett's stock has sure fallen though.  He should be a main event player right now and he's sinking fast.  All of the "Obama" segments were really lame and what a waste of time.  Mysterio vs. Punk was very good.  Kind of surprised that Punk won.  What is this big announcement he is going to make?  Usually they amount to nothing.  Orton vs. Christian was real good.  I figured Christian wasn't getting the title or if he'll ever get it again, but these two work well together.  Swagger vs. Bourne was actually pretty good.  I wish both of these guys would get a chance to move up.  With the roster so thin these days, you would think someone could move up.  Cena vs. Truth was maybe the dullest main event in a long time.  Nothing really happened in the match.  Seemed like slow motion for the most part.  Cena must be looking to take it easy.  I'm glad Truth got a chance to move up, but to me this isn't working.  I'm sure he will get another shot since they have another ppv before Summer Slam.  Overall it was a thumbs up show based on the U.S. Title, World Tilte, and Rey vs. Punk.  The rest will be quickly forgotten.
 
Robb Block

WWE Capitol Punishment Feedback
 
Best Match: CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
Worst Match: John Cena vs. R-Truth
 
Thumbs UP! for the PPV.
 
First wrestling PPV I've ordered since February 2007. I enjoyed it. THUMBS UP SHOW. The first two hours of the show was great. Then, I felt like it just fell off a cliff for the last hour. The opener was really good, except for the botched/whacky finish. I'm not sure what they were going for there. I liked what they did with the del Rio/Big Show match, and in a weird way, I'm looking forward to Big Show vs. Mark Henry, if its just two large men throwing haymakers at one another. I thought Punk vs. Mysterio was the best match on the show. I loved Punk's promo before the match was great. Christian vs. Orton was once again good, but maybe a notch below their other matches. I didn't like the finish...thought it felt flat. We're at the point where I don't know if I want to see another Christian vs. Randy Orton match, but they really don't have anything else to work with on Smackdown.
 
The show could've ended there, and I'd been perfectly happy. But the last hour of this show sucked. Somewhere some people spent hours discussing the fake Obama press conference and these geeks probably thought it was hilarious. Horrible. Jack Swagger and Evan Bourne tried, but nobody cared about what they were doing. Then, this main event: I love Truth's new character. He's one of the main reasons I bought this show, but I'm afraid after this main event, they'll give up on him. The match was bad. The crowd hated Cena more than they hated Truth. So, you'd get the annoying LET'S GO CENA, CENA SUCKS chants. No pop for a Cena win, and I really hated the finish. They've got to do something about John Cena. He's supposed to be this Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin type figure, but half their viewing audience hates the man. He needs to take some time off or something. 

Charles Humphreys

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