Exposer

I actually think the SD! 6 era was the beginning of Angle turning into garbage. The Benoit match at the Rumble is a bad match in my opinion. Submission countering is prevalent today but in that match it was ridiculous. Plus, the German suplex was overdone by that point and they traded them. I hated it. However, Angle-Rey at Summerlsam is a great sub ten minute match and Angle is great in it as the over confident bully.

I watched a lot of the SD! 6 matches a few years ago and Rey was noticeably better than everyone else except maybe Eddie. Angle was terrible at times and Edge was average at best most of the time. I do think a few of those matches hold up pretty well though like Edge-Eddie No DQ.

Dylan, why was the match good? I didn't think it was awful, I just found it largely boring. The pacing was far too slow, most of the spots felt like filler to me, and there's wasn't much energy at all. I'm just interested in why you liked it so much.

Cena vs. Orton (TLC Unified Title) - This was boring as fuck. I liked the first climb tease and Cena loosening the turnbuckle was neat but this was a snoozefest and felt like a time killer. It was totally bizarre. The finish was just as strange. Although, Cena's bump was insane.

Bryan vs. Wyatts - This was good but not as good as the other handicap match. Bray did his spider walk again which worked better this time around. Bryan had a nice comeback and Harper and Rowan bumped big for him. The finish was definitive with Bray getting the pin. I didn't expect Bryan to win this though.

Miz vs. Kofi (No DQ) - This was perfectly fine. Yeah, the crowd hated it but no one gives a shit about this match. It was fine though. Both guys took a couple of nutty bumps, there was some good, stiff offense, and I liked some of the ways Miz worked on Kofi's leg. It was amusing that they ended it pretty quickly after the boring chants started though.

R-Truth vs. Brodus Clay This was random but was done well to end the Fat Guys team. I don't know about this being on PPV though.

4-Way Elimination Tag (Tag Title) - Great match. Goldust was outstanding. This was his performance of the year. His in-peril segment with the Real Americans was excellent and we got him doing all of his awesome hope spots including the spring board back elbow, the spring board cross body, the power slam, the DDT, the second rope rana, AND the code red. God, he was great in this. Big Show looked real good too and so did Rey. Cesaro was great as always. The finishing stretch with Rey-Cody was great. Awesome match.

Big E. vs. Sandow (IC Title) This was good. I like aggressive Sandow and he brought out a lot of nastiness here. Big E's offense is great and really impactful. It was short but enjoyable.

AJ vs. Nattie (Diva's Title) - This was pretty good. AJ took a few good bumps, Nattie didn't look as bad here, and the finish made sense.

Punk vs. Shield - This was very well booked which led to a good match. I liked Punk out wrestling Ambrose and Rollins to start then big, bad Reigns changing things up into a more aggressive style. I loved Reigns nutty bump and Punk working on the eye. The near falls and close calls were great afterwards and the finish was well done. Good stuff.

Dolph vs. Fandango - This was alright. They just went back and forth with stuff to try and get the crowd going. Fandango has a great top rope leg drop.

The best version of a hilarious, bizarre, bad WWE finish would be if Orton grabbed the WHC and Cena grabbed the WWE title effectively having them switch championships. I think there's somewhat of a chance of that happening.

I don't always agree with Johnny but there's clear evidence of slow building character development/dissension between Reigns and Ambrose. It's directly in front of the audience on the screen in plain sight. The examples aren't hard to find.

Mistico was pretty shitty the last year or so of his run, so I don't doubt this for a second. Fair enough. I still wonder if he ever would have grasped something like selling a little better or I don't know working safe. His offense would still be terrible I suppose.

Good question. Tyler Black was terrible in the independents and then he became Seth Rollins and now will most likely land in my top 25-30 in the world this year. Claudio was pretty good in the independents and then became Antonio Cesaro and is the best wrestler in the world. It's amazing to think that the WWE style is making wrestlers better rather than worse. I wonder if say, Sin Cara, had gone through developmental he might be better as well?

Bix, I read a little bit of your article on College Football and wrestling today. I go to UTC and see Gunner Miller around school all the time and have been for the last three years. I had no clue he was such a big wrestling fan though. It'll be interesting to see if he makes it or not.

The Boston Crab or half-crab are always holds that look painful if done right. I'm also a fan of the Fujiwara arm bar too. It seems like an immediate arm breaker if done properly for real.

Orton vs. Big Show Terrible match. Terrible finish. Terrible ending.

Bryan/Punk vs. Wyatts This was really bad at it's worst and really fun at it's best. Harper was good in this and worked his ass off. The top rope sit-down powerbomb, Punk getting tossed to the floor by Rowan, the splash to the floor by Punk, and Bryan's face shine were all fun. The finish was really bad. Punk and Bryan should not have won but then again it wouldn't have meant much if the Wyatt's had won either. Overall, this was okay I guess.

Cena vs. Del Rio (WHC) This was a helluva match. Both guys looked great in this particularly Cena taking Del Rio's offense. Del Rio did a nasty Fuerza bump. Cena did a great Dustin bump. The build to the armbreaker was well done. I loved Del Rio reaching the ropes with a fingertip during the STF. The finish is not my favorite Cena finish at all but I thought this match built better toward it than other matches.

Ryback vs. Mark Henry Mark's crawling headbutt and cross body were fucking great. Everything else was lousy to be truthful. Ryback was bad here. Mark is not as good in the ring anymore either but I won't complain about Mark Henry any longer.

YES

Wrestling Divas vs. Total Divas The JoJo and Summer stuff was fun. I'm not sure Nikki was ever eliminated. Naomi had a few good spots. Everything else was what it was.

Big E. vs. Axel (IC Title) Big E. looked good. His offense is really impactful despite his shitty finisher. The fans were being dicks and chanting for Ziggler who is just as boring as Axel is at this point. Whatever Boston.