Thumbs up. WAY UP.
Hot crowd tonight at Ye Locale WWE Bar. I got there a half hour before the show started, the normal room they open for shows was completely full, and they were hopelessly shortstaffed due to the overflow crowd (which they ultimately had to open a second room for). These were the hardcore passionate fans - they either loved John Cena or they loved CM Punk and it was a lot closer to 50/50 than the crowd was in Chicago. Had an amazing conversation with the youngster next to me who thought SOME of it was fake, but he believed the main event was totally real and that these two guys both wanted to be the best and whoever had the title was the best. YES, A TITLE MATTERED. Punk and Cena certainly wrestled that match like it did, so even if the rest of the show had been a dud the ****+ main event would have sent me home happy. Other than Kelly Kelly vs. The Bella (don't know which one and don't care) nothing was bad. I thought Daniel Bryan winning was a nice surprise, and the better match of the two MITB (second best match overall behind Punk and Cena) but it was good to see Del Rio win and know they haven't given up on his push just yet. When you have a hot crowd full of enthusiastic fans even a mediocre show can seem good, but I think if I had ordered this one at home I would have been just as happy. Kudos to WWE for putting Mark Henry over strong too since Big Show is popular enough to give him the rub and not be hurt by it, especially since they seem to be giving Henry the serious monster heel push they do now and then (but this one seems much better and more relevant than when he was ECW Champion). So in short, best match Punk vs. Cena, second best the MITB which Daniel Bryan won, and the obvious worst match was for the WWE Butterfly Belt. They need to change that belt more than Cena's.
- Steve Juon (Stevie J)
Thumbs Way Up
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Thumbs Up
Best Match: Punk/Cena
Worst Match: Kelly vs. Bella
This was my first WWE pay per view in 4 years and it was worth every penny.
Smackdown MITB was the 2nd best match on the show behind the main event. Very exciting and enjoyed watching Daniel Bryan win it. 3 3/4 stars
Kelly vs. Brie. Nothing to say. Bad match 1/2 star
Big Show vs. Mark Henry was fine. Just two big guys hitting each other. Post match was better than the actual match. 2 1/4 stars
Raw MITB was fun. Scared that Miz hurt himself badly only to get a babyface pop when he limped out. Del Rio seemed like the obvious choice. 3 1/2 stars
Christian and Orton was very disappointing. Seemed like a tv match with a stupid stipulation. 2 stars
Cena vs. Punk. The ovation for Punk was amazing. Couldn't hear this music the crowd was so loud. They had a great match with a great finish. 4 1/2 stars
Josh Hayes
Two thumbs up.
Y'know ... feedback like this is what you get when you decide to target 28-year-olds instead of 8-year-olds, but don't worry, Vince -- we'll buy plenty of ice cream bars.
Hoping they don't screw this up tomorrow night. (But then again, who am I kidding?)
And was it just me, or did Miz's knee look pretty gnarly?
Chris Strub
Binghamton, NY
Thumbs way up. Best match: Cena vs Punk Worst match: Divas title (by default) What an amazing PPV, the best I've seen from WWE for a long time. This really showed the disillusioned fans why they've stuck with WWE for so long and this has finally made me proud to say that I'm a wrestling fan again. Really had a sense of excitement that has been missing for so long, and the crowd was jacked the entire night. Just shows what proper build can do for a PPV and CM Punk was booked perfectly for his hometown return and it showed with crowd reactions throughout the night. The two ladder matches were both great with the Smackdown one being my personal favourite although Bourne's shooting star press was jaw dropping. Was great (and unexpected) to see Bryan win. The Divas title match and Show/Henry were fine and Christian/Orton was a good match but I was tuning in for the main event and it didn't dissapoint. The crowd was off the charts and the match, although it had a couple of blown spots at times, is probably WWE match of the year. The emotion was incredible and it threw every curve ball going. Really thought they were going with the Survivor Series 97 ending and when they swerved it again it just made it even better. Hopefully Punk is staying around for a while because it looks like WWE have finally found the best anti-hero champion since Stone Cold (I truly believe that). Just a fantastic night to be a wrestling fan. Tony Fleming Dave/Bryan, I wasn’t planning on buying this PPV, but your ongoing report was so positive that I felt compelled to purchase the replay. I’m glad I did. A MASSIVE THUMBS UP for the ending of the main event alone! This is exactly how I wanted the show to end – with Punk’s hand raised and having outwitted Vince. Great booking (let’s see how they screw it up on RAW, though). As for the rest of the card, everyone I wanted to win, won. I’m a happy camper tonight. Best match: Punk vs Cena Worst match: women’s match Let’s hope WWE don’t botch up this angle from here. Cheers, Dann Lennard Sydney, Australia Thumbs way up.
Best Match: C.M. Punk vs John Cena Worst Match: Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella First bought PPV since Royal Rumble ( I was at WM) and the best 'B' PPV show since One Night Stand ! Loved the ending of the show and will be fascinating to see where WWE goes from here.
Money in the Bank
Thumbs Up Best Match: Punk v Cena Worst Match: Divas Now that WWE is intent on building SummerSlam into a BIG event, that means they need a strong set-up show that puts everything in motion. For that reason, more thought went into MITB than any regular B show. And the show delivered big. If you can forget that they are building MARK HENRY again, for a main event run. And Kelly Kelly is the pointless Divas champion in a division running in place. Based on some of the things set in motion, Daniel Bryan is scheduled to become the first person to cash in and lose his MITB opportunity. And Alberto Del Rio builds steam as the man for whom the big title is just out of his grasp. CM Punk was over huge. Now they just need to capitalize while - and if - he is away. It's hard to have two Superman like Orton and Cena and keep them protected on the same show. But they found two ways to do it and stay fresh. Jeff Cohen Flushing, NY Thumbs UP
Best Match: Cena vs. Punk
Worst Match: Kelly Kelly vs. Brie Bella
Total thumbs up show last night.
Both of the Money in the Bank matches were great, the Orton and Christian match was also good and the Mark Henry match served its purpose of getting Henry over as a top heel.
The main event was phenomenal. Goes to show what a hot crowd can do for a match.
Patrick McHugh
Ireland
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