Superstar Sleeze

WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs Dolph Ziggler - Summerslam 2009 Rey is so good at creating tension within moves. He is so small that you never know if he will land his move or it will be turn against him. There are a couple great cradles that Ziggler sat down on or Mysterio won control. This feeling of going either way really adds to the match. I thought this match was built around a succession of nearfalls throughout. Ziggler set the tone early with the powerslam, cover and then a cradle. Ziggler lost at the previous PPV and was here to win. Mysterio's moonsault at the beginning was breath-taking and I liked his rana from the apron. Ziggler hits a bucklebomb to take over. Ziggler is not very interesting on top. Chinlock city. Mysterio peppers in hope spots. Then the match is very similar to Savage/Steamboat from Mania III just a barrage of a pinning predicaments. Where the drama comes from the frequency of pinfall covers and they do it in such a way that is not from finishers but rather just interesting cradles and counters. The 619, missed splash, amateur cradle was a great nearfall for Ziggler. Ziggler looks for maybe a super gutbuster from the top but Rey hits a top rope frakensteiner to win. Just a really good match. Ziggler had/has a good look to him. There is a lot of nostalgia looking at Ziggler with the bleached hair and animal print. He didn't show me much here. I felt like Rey was holding his hand. I think Ziggler would grow into being a great bumper, which was NOT on display here, but really never was able to have a presence in the ring on offense. Rey did a great job building drama down the stretch with a barrage of nearfalls. ***1/2

World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho - RAW 4/20/09 These two just don't have chemistry. Their matches are just so normal. There is no spark when they get in ring together. I was hopeful at the outset because Jericho bumrushes Cena and it felt like it could be a hot sprint but then it just settled down. Jericho can be good on top but with Cena there just isn't much. Cena does his comeback sequence early but FU is reversed by a DDT. Best spot of the match is Jericho gets causght in Firemans Carry when he goes for vintage springboard dropkick but pushes Cena into steps. Basically it takes Cena five tries to hit the FU and that's after he gets hit with a Codebreaker. Jericho missed Lionsault and needed two attempts on Walls of Jericho. He got the Walls after Cena missed the legdrop which was his response to the FU not getting the pin. There was some electricity with the Walls and then STFU. After that they go for a superplex and Edge interferes and gives Cena a one man conchairto before their matc at Backlash. Good match nothing more nothing less. ***

John Morrison vs Evan Bourne - WWECW 4/14/09 Holy shit! What did I just watch? This was amazing! A WWE match with actual struggle! Wow! Morrison has way more of a vicious streak than I remembered. The way he jerked Bourne around in the Crossface Chickenwing was great. He used the ropes well, hanging Bourne up and then driving the knee in there. Strong strikes. That knee when Bourne was on the apron was great. Bourne is a great white meat babyface. He can sell his ass off, plenty of good hope spots and then what I was impressed with can bring the damn fire. Bourne hit a couple wicked left hands and then that clothesline. Little dude can pack a punch. They kept this exciting without losing babyface/heel dynamics and resorting to just a lot of spots. They really showed Morrison as the much larger aggressor beating the shit out of the little dude. Bourne having to make a comeback and did so by punching the bully in the mouth. The finish was great with Bourne getting to show off his aerial moves and Morrison taking them well. When Bourne went for the Shooting Star Press, Morrison met him up top and hit Moonlight Drive from the top for the win. It felt like a real struggle to win this match. Bourne was constantly fighting through offense and Morrison was brutal. He was reigning down elbows at one point. You can watch Bourne cover up and Morrison whacks him in the back of the head and Bourne yelps. WWE matches in this timeframe are good at escalation and they are very neat. They have figured out to blend in each other's moves. They know how to incorporate missing, blocking and finally hitting, which is much better than today's lets hit everything mantra. But what this match had that most of WWE matches have always missed throughout their history as a company is a real sense of struggle. Amazing hidden gem of a TV match! ****1/4

World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs Shawn Michaels - RAW 1/12/09 This is during that ridiculous "Shawn is poor" angle where JBL has control over Michaels because he is his "employer". Whatever. Shawn & Cena both had big MOTYCs this year (vs Taker, vs Orton, I Quit), but overall I would say these were subpar years from two of the all-time greats. Michaels was stuck paling around with HHH against Legacy and Cena had a long feud with Big Show. This match bolsters their resume of the year 2009 while not as good as their 2007 classics, this is a high quality TV match. Going into this match, what is interesting is neither of these men have impressive offensive arsenals. In fact if there is a common complaint about these, it is the very fact they are both limited offensively. Well they cant just lie on the mat and sell for twenty minutes, somebody has to hit a move. It was nice to see Cena in control for long, long stretches of time in this match. Cena usually has very short shines and long heat segments. Shawn forced him out of his comfort zone to work on top and it was a nice change of pace. I also thought Shawn wrestled very Ric Flair like in the early going, which means he tried many strategies early and as each one failed he would go to a new one. Early on, he tried to outwrestle Cena, but you can see from one big elbow from Cena that Cena's power game would negate any advantage Shawn would have on the mat. Then Shawn tried to crowd Cena in the corner with chops, but you cant get into a strike exchange with Cena and eats a BIG back body drop. Cena tries to go for a suplex and Shawn scoops him into a figure-4. This seemed to be Shawn's best strategy. Don't try to chain Cena but rather go for submissions that will win. Once Cena got out of this, Cena had another flurry before missing his top rope leg drop and then Shawn applied the Crippler Crossface, again Shawn looked poised to win before Cena got the ropes. It looked like Shawn had a winning strategy, but then Cena rolled off some power moves and a bearhug to cement his control. I thought this was a really damn good front half. The back half was them melding their comeback sequences really well. You can see a lot of mirroring. The Flying Burrito vs Shouldertackles, Flying Elbow Drop vs Legdrop from the top, FU vs Sweet Chin Music. The way they got extra mileage out of these moves where by blocking them, missing them and then finally hitting them. The finish stretch begins with Shawn finally hitting the top elbow after three tries. He tunes up the band but Cena slides around and then FU! 1-2-NO! Cena picks up Michaels and BANG! Sweet Chin Music! Shawn does the dramatic fall on top of him in a heap cover. Lets Go Cena chant with no Cena sucks, so weird. Cena goes for FU, but Michaels wriggles free, STFU right in front of JBL who pushes the ropes to Michaels. Michaels shoots him a glare. Cena is distracted by JBL and BANG! Sweet Chin Music 1-2-3! The beginning of this match was really interesting. The back half was good blend of their comebacks. I didn't like the FU->Sweet Chin Music->FU attempt and STFU. I think that hurt the finishes even moreso than the dramatic kickouts. I think they could have done a better job incorporating JBL throughout the match and Shawn getting pissed about it. Still a really good match. ***3/4

CM Punk vs John Morrison - Smackdown 8/14/09 This was built around the fact that Morrison has a two match win streak over CM Punk going into this match. I loved the first match, didn't know about the second. This match takes place two weeks before the Punk/Hardy Summerslam ladder match. Didn't think this was quite as good as their first match but still very enjoyable. Loved the chaining at the beginning and how they ended up in a knucklelock. Punk stomping the hands and the kick to the midsection was great. I totally marked out for Morrison dropdown trip on Punk. GREAT USE OF THE DROPDOWN! Morrison follows up with a springboard moonsault for two and a Tidal Wave for two. Great shine! Loved it! Punk kicks out Morrison's leg on the apron, nasty back bump. Punk hits a kneedrop from the top rope to Morrison prone on the apron that's how you transition into a heat segment. Great work after the break here. Liked Morrison reverse cross body hope spot. I dig Punk's figure-4 on the head reigning down elbows as a good control hold. Morrison again showed good strikes, kicks, elbows and even a hard hitting clothesline. If he was not atrocious promo he may have actually had a chance. Well, he needed the company behind him too. Standing Shooting Star Press and then top rope crossbody. I liked the combo of new school and old school. Shining Wizard nope Punk just kicks the leg. NICE! Love Punk's strike combo, those slaps are great. Punk goes for Go 2 Sleep and when Morrison struggles, Punk drives his head into the turnbuckle and lets him down to hit run up knee and bulldog. I like that. You know your opponent has some energy left take the time to do it right and wear him down more. Morrison needed a blood feud with a monster to really get him over because he is such a pretty boy. The crowd is chanting for Morrison. I think this is his peak. Shitty Tornado DDT, sad. Starship Pain?!? Nope. Oklahoma Roll by Morrison and JR marks out. Punk is like it was two and Morrison obliterates him with a knee to side of head. This was my biggest problem with the match. After that, Punk should have been KO'd, but as Morrison goes up for Starship Pain, Punk crotches him and then picks him up from the Tree of Woe into Go 2 Sleep to win. I just feel that Knee was a KO blow and that Punk being able to recover so quickly was to the detriment of the match. Overall, again another hotly contested match with lots of action. These two rock together! ***1/2

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs John Morrison - Smackdown 6/26/09 Wow! I was very impressed by this. Morrison must be bumming. They were giving out world championships like candy between 2009-2011 and like everyone of his cohorts got a crack at it but him. I think it was because he was positioned as a face. He would have gotten a reign if he was a heel. I remember him being very Kofi-esque, wicked light without much to hook your attention. He was hard hitting here and had some really nice spots. Punk is a great pro wrestler. I don't say that enough. He is truly good and he works really damn hard. The opening chaining here is some of the best chaining I have seen in the WWE from this time period. Great waistlock takedown from Punk and then a nice double leg from Morrison. Punk goes for a roundhouse and Morrison ducks but connects with a full extension back heel kick to the head. It was really something to behold. Punk hits this awesome, awesome snap powerslam. Great torque. I don't think I have ever seen him hit that. Good work on the back and really nice German suplex too with a nice bridge. Again something you don't see too often from Punk. They really pulled out all the stops in this match. Punk goes for the sunset flip powerbomb off the apron so Morrison drops to his knees. OW! Wicked! Asai Moonsault to Punk. I thought Morrison hit a damn good clothesline at one point and started reigning down the elbows. Muthafucka came to play. Great spot was Morrison goes for a Shining Wizard and Punk catches the knee and seamlessly rolls into a single leg crab. Mark out city. Damn Punk is good. Good struggle over the G2S leads to Morrison getting Low-Ki's Tidal Wave for two. Good nearfall. Starship Pain, no Punk crotches him and hits a Super Reverse Suplex!!! WOW! I wont spoil the finish. Reminded me a lot of those 90s workrate matches from Nitro. I mean that as a compliment. The match is exciting because of a lot of unique and interesting spots, but what makes it all worthwhile is that they are well-timed and well-placed within the structure of the match. They aren't throwing things out there. Also look what I am popping for, powerslams, German suplexes...it is not modified this and let me sit around for an hour waiting for you to get into position. This is the type of workrate I enjoy and really goes to show you that both of these dudes were damn good. Punk really looked like a leader and a star here. ****

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy - Night of Champions 2009 You can tell a lot about match from the beginning. This was started as a clunker and ended as a clunker. Really weird beginning. Jeff Hardy looked like he was in a daze and just didn't have a fucking clue what to do. CM Punk also in a weird mood wrestling circles around Jeff literally and then asking him what he was going to do to him. Very odd. They do the finisher teases again. Then they do some nice bumps to the outside. Punk misses a suicide dive. Then Jeff Hardy takes the Pillman bump from the top rope to the barricade. I thought they would settle into some sort of groove, but not really. Punk had some nice kicks, but they do a clunky front suplex from the buckles. If there is one limitation, Hardy has it is his inability to hit good strikes. This match called on that too much. He runs through his comeback sequence. Then they do the miss your spot, hit my spot, miss my spot, hit your spot. Which is admittedly better than hit my spot, hit your spot because at least there is a semblance of transition, but I didn't feel like Punk/Hardy really built a lot of drama in this match. I did think Punk had some really good offense here, I like his kicks/slap sequence, busting out Low-Ki's Dragon Sleeper/Camel Clutch combo. There was just something about this match where it didn't feel like it built to a fever pitch. Whereas in the previous match, there was a great sense of escalation, here it just kinda was stuck. They did a good job with the Swanton Bomb, first it was missed and then Hardy ate knees. There did feel like there was an overreliance on Twists of Fate. Punk hits Go 2 Sleep to get two. He is in shock. Good pop for the kickout. Punk goes for the cover two times more. Then leaves with the title. Hardy brings him back in and hits the Swanton for the win. I am a big Jeff Hardy fan, but this just didn't feel climatic. There was some good stuff, but never really clicked for me. I remember loving the ladder match from Summerslam, so we shall see. ***

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy - The Bash 2009 So watching the video package, CM Punk has not gone full Straight Edge preacher mode heel yet. Basically, we are in the "Yeah what I did was scummy, but all is fair in love & war" portion of the heel turn. I loved CM Punk's line of "Nowhere in the contract did it say, you cant cash it in on Jeff Hardy." He is a really good wise ass. Terrific match as Jeff Hardy now has someone who can wrestle with him. I thought this came off great. The match is all built around finishers which I love. I thought the escalation and pacing of the match was pitch perfect. Good, basic chaining to start. Punk goes for G2S, but Hardy counters into a crucifix, nice. Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate, but Punk shoves off. Hardy sends him to the outside on the charge. Hardy gets in his early big spot flying over the ropes onto Punk. He crashes and burns hard on Poetry In Motion into the barricade great spot to set up the Punk heat segment. The Punk heat segment is simple, but effective which is how I describe Punk a lot. One of the big differences between Punk and Edge is that Punk actually feeds his babyfaces. Edge lets them starve. Punk misses an elbow and then a charge. This sets up Whisper In The Wind and the first cover for Jeff Hardy. Hardy runs through his comeback sequence and has Punk in position for the Swanton. Punk rolls out, but Hardy is a Punk-seeking missile and hits him with a clothesline off the apron. The finisher teases have been really well done in this match. Not to be outdone, when Hardy goes for his vintage dropkick in the corner Punk pops up and catches him on his shoulder in position for the Go 2 Sleep, but Hardy wriggles free. Punk kicks Hardy's arm hard, run up knee and Bulldog. This is a great way for Punk to insert what was previously his bayface comeback sequence as a heel. Hardy was a roll, he tries for the him run when he does not get it, he still capitalizes enough to regain control. Punk unloads with some really damn good strikes but misses the backfist and TWIST OF FATE! We have our first finish hit! Hardy misses the Swanton Bomb. 1-2-NO! GO 2 SLEEP?!?! HARDY INSIDE CRADLE!!! 1-2-NO! Punk blasts him with a nice roundhouse kick to the head. Go 2 Sleep...TWIST OF FATE! SWANTON BOMB! 1-2-3!!! I knew Hardy wins the title back so I actually popped for this and totally bought into it. Turns out Punk's foot is under the ropes. They restart the match. Punk's eye gets poked when Hardy elbows out of the G2S and then Punk kicks the ref in the back to trigger DQ. I guess Hardy wins at the next PPV whatever that is called. Thank God for Wikipedia. Was Dusty booking in 2009??? Lots of Dusty Finishes, jeez. Like I said just great traditional pro wrestling escalation. They pepper in big spots through out the match. Built their match around each other's finishers, first it was avoiding them and then Hardy started to land them. Notice Punk never hit Go 2 Sleep. Hardy always managed to escape. Whereas once Hardy hit Punk with the Swanton he did get the 1-2-3. I think this was a perfect match #1 in thee series that they can really build off of. ****

World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs Jeff Hardy - Extreme Rules 2009 Ladder Match The swan song for the Edge character he is most known for. After this, he would be injured within and then brought back as a babyface to finish out his career, which was an odd fit for him. It is fitting his last major match as a heel is against Jeff Hardy in a ladder match. Unfortunately, it is a very boring ladder match. The three spots that stood out were Twist of Fate in mid-air (didn't look that great), both falling off a ladder and breaking ladder, and then Hardy front suplexing Edge on the hinges of the ladder, which looked wicked painful and wins spot of the match. The finish was creative with Jeff pulling Edge through rungs of the ladder so he was trapped and forced to watch his archrival ascend the ladder and capture his World Championship. Very pedestrian. The CM Punk cash-in was great and I loved the CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy feud. Loved so much we bought Summerslam that year and I look forward to rewatching that match and the matches that lead up to the Summerslam match. Avoid this match and watch the Judgment Day one.

World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs Jeff Hardy - Judgment Day 2009 Amazing Jeff Hardy babyface performance here. I have said in the past that the Hardyz were just a updated version of the Rock N Roll Express. I think here Jeff Hardy shows what a white meat babyface in 2009 could do. He does not look like a Steamboat or Morton but sure can wrestle like one. I loved the early armdrags keeping Edge off balance. Nice climax on his shine with the dive over the top. He goes for too much too soon with the Whisper In The Wind as he crashes and burns. Edge shouldertackles him in the back off the apron. I don't say this a lot, but Jeff Hardy carried Edge's boring ass to a damn great match. Edge's version of a heat segment is doing Metal Horns, breathing heavy and stomping the back. Hardy was putting on a selling clinic, good hope spots like a crossbody or inside cradle, but also missing moves like the crossbody from the top or dropkick to cut himself off. Jeff Hardy was pretty much wrestling himself. Jeff Hardy busts out the Sharpshooter of all things. Jeff looked really technically sound in this. Some of the armbars got a little loose early on because he was playing to the crowd, but I mean this ain't RINGS. Armdrags were deep and his babyface offense looks good. He works this into a Twist of Fate for two. Good use of your secondary finish in the middle. They work through some great sequences here: Hardy goes for his dropkick in the corner, gets up looks for powerbomb, but Hardy gets a sunset flip for two. Then does a sunset flip powerbomb for two. Jeff Hardy is rocking. Hardy escalates the violence. Barricade tight rope run into eating spear. Hardy is feeding for Edge like a champ. Then they work a great apron sequence where Hardy jumps out of the way of a spear to hit a legdrop on Edge who is in the ropes, Twist of Fate on the ropes, springboard legdrop for two. Really fucking nice. He gets Whisper in the Wind and then Poetry in Motion on the outside. Matt Hardy blasts him with a cast. Edge rolls him in but only gets two. Hardy avoids the spear so Edge hits the buckles. Hardy goes for the Swanton, but has been knocked loopy by the cast shot and the delay is long enough for Edge to hit his DDT off the top rope. Amazing Jeff Hardy performance, awesome babyface offense and selling early. Then he bumps huge late and escalates his offense so well. Very well paced. Everything ran through him. He was the one generating the energy not through just offense but also feeding for Edge. Just a terrific performance from him. I thought the finish was great. Matt Hardy thing wasn't necessary but as a Jeff Hardy fan I do like he was protected. I am actually pretty excited for the ladder match rematch. This may be my favorite straight Edge match ever and he didn't even really do anything in it. If you are a Jeff Hardy fan watch this, if you are not check this out and see what Jeff Hardy can do when he brings his A game. ****

WWE Champion Randy Orton vs Batista - Extreme Rules 2009 Steel Cage Match I actually liked this a good bit! I feel like Orton vs Batista was actually an underutilized feud even though it was an obvious one given their Evolution past. I am not the authority on this time period so maybe they did run a program before this. I am surprised Batista won and later found out he had to vacate due to injury. Im really hazy on the details. When did the injury happen? What was the plan for a Batista title reign? A HHH program? A Cena program? Orton was the top heel on RAW, Smackdown had Punk, Jericho and Edge, but RAW was very thin. Was Orton going to regain anywhere and feud with Cena? Orton vs Cena seemed like the natural progression. As for the match, I thought the best part of this was that it was short clocking in at 7-8 minutes and how committed Orton was to being a chickenshit and escaping the cage. As soon as the bell rung, try to escape. As soon as he got any sort of separation, try to escape. He came up with some good ways to create opportunities. I liked the leapfrog and Batista runs into the cage. The smash Batista into the cage, hit his backbreaker and try to escape. I loved his standing dropkick. This was a damn good Orton performance. Batista was good as the power wrestler throwing Orton around. I wish he was a little more violent, but still lots of good slams. The best part is Orton really has Batista down and he goes to escape the cage, BUT he gets greedy and deviates from the strategy. He instead goes for the punt, but WHIFFS! He done gone fucked up. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb and after some wriggling hits it. I love it. Orton is so committed to escape to win, but when he has that golden opportunity he wastes it on trying to end Batista's career instead of winning the match and that costs him the match. Good story, lots of energy, great Orton performance. ***3/4

CM Punk vs Umaga - Extreme Rules 2009 Samoan Strap Match Great David vs Goliath Match here. Umaga is such a great monster and CM Punk does make for a great plucky underdog babyface. Umaga hits a massive reverse elbow to gain command. Good back n forth with missed moves. Punk hits the run up knee to stop Umaga on 3rd corner, but Umaga sends him flying on the bulldog. Umaga misses the headbutt. I like how they each missed something there. Umaga hits a big Samoan Drop to go into the heat segment and then beats him down with the leather strap. Umaga hits his headbutt and is in total control. Umaga pulls Punk's arm up against the post and then slams into the steps. Unfortunately, this doesn't go anywhere because it was the start of something that looked like it could be cool. Umaga hangs him out to dry. Nice superkick by Umaga. Umaga is such a complete monster. Great offense, but also can bump and show vulnerability. He is excellent in this role as a gatekeeper so that CM Punk could his earn his stripes before his big push the next month. Punk being on the outside impedes Umaga's progress. Punk hits a springboard clothesline for a hope spot because when he goes for a Go 2 Sleep, he eats a heel kick. Umaga misses the splash in the corner and Punk pulls the strap so that Umaga ballshotted himself. CM Punk chants start up. He was definitely over. Run up knee and bulldog. Punk gets three and then Umaga DESTROYS Punk with the spin out slam. GREAT CUTOFF! Best spot of the match! Umaga gets three corners, but Punk wraps himself in the ropes and Umaga charges but goes over the ropes. Punk gets three corners, but Umaga is on the outside and yanks him and breaks Punk's momentum. Punk uses the strap to make Umaga take the Vader bump. Punk gets three, Umaga charges, GO 2 SLEEP! Excellent strap match. No downtime. Umaga was convincing on top, but also fed Punk good spots. Punk was great in his resiliency and persistence. Punk feels like a star. ****

CM Punk vs Umaga - Judgment Day 2009 Great choice for an opener because we are in Chicago. So even during restholds, the crowd is still wicked hot for CM Punk. CM Punk is a great traditional pro wrestler. He does a great job telling a simple, but effective story. I have been signing the praises of Umaga since rewatching him. That dude knew what it meant to be a monster. What we get here is a solid David vs Goliath match. It is not going to change your world, but it is entertaining. It is elegant pro wrestling. CM Punk uses speed early to evade the Samoan Bulldozer who headbutts the canvas. Eventually, Umaga swallows his prey and sends him flying with his crazy slam. Lots of holds from Umaga early but the crowd loves Punk so it is ok. Umaga gets some great heavyweight offense. That sitdown splash on Punk during a sunset flip attempt was excellent. Punk going for the bodyslam and then Umaga crashing down with his weight was great. What I love about Umaga is that he is the king of the missed move. By missing moves, he gives his opponents opening to make comebacks. Umaga misses a headbutt, goes flying over the top rope and also hits his head on post. This allows Punk to hit his big kicks, which looked great how he was able to get his leg up so high. I liked Umaga throwing Punk off the bulldog so Punk goes to the second rope to hit the bulldog and finally get the big man off his feet. Punk should have really hit a bodyslam then to really pop the crowd. Nice springboard clothesline. Again Punk has to go aerial to get him off his feet. Really sound psychology throughout. Punk is committed to the Go 2 Sleep, but Umaga is jus too big. Samoan Drop, WICKED SUPERKICK, Ass Splash and Samoan Spike is all she wrote for the Chicago Made Punk. Perfect midcard wrestling. ***3/4

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Undertaker - Hell In A Cell 2009 Hell In A Cell After another iteration of the Montreal Screwjob in Montreal, they reprise Undertaker hijacking a limo but instead of Stephanie in the back, it is Teddy Long, "Buckle Up, Teddy". The whole Teddy Long screwing the Undertaker made no sense, but that was a good angle. Then Undertaker delivered Teddy in a casket to CM Punk to let him know that he would be defending his championship against the Undertaker in Hell In A Cell. Damn good build. These two have great chemistry together. I shouldn't be surprised I was live for their awesome WrestleMania match. I thought this was a better version of the Breaking Point match because it had a much better finish. I loved Taker inviting CM Punk to punch him and just no selling it. CM Punk's face turns from determined to frightened. CM Punk bails, but eventually the Deadman catches his prey and drives him into the unforgiving steel. Taker is the king of stalking his prey. Punk dropkicks the steps into Taker's knees. Taker does a great job selling and this really gives Punk an opening. Punk takes an awesome bump off the apron into cage when he goes for the bulldog. For a not bloody cage match, Punk is making up for it by at least taking some nutty bumps into the cage. Great suicide dive by Punk into Taker driving him into the cage. Dean Ambrose take notes. They hit the finish stretch. I liked Punk clipping the leg to set up Go 2 Sleep, but doesn't hit it. Punk's big nearfall is off a charishot. I was not too enamored with Punk hitting his knee in the corner and then eating the Last Ride. A Block and Last Ride would have been much better. The Last Ride out of the corner looked great, didn't love the setup. Punk actually gets another nearfall off knocking him off Old School before Chokeslam and Tombstone Piledriver. Very enjoyable match. A little too short to be considered great, but a solid contest. ***1/2

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Undertaker - Breaking Point 2009 CM Punk had some serious heel heat up in Montreal. This main evented over Cena/Orton. Punk was the first superstar to break into the main event scene since Edge in 2006. His 2009-2010 run as the Straight Edge Savior was his best work in WWE. He is more famous for the Pipebomb stuff and all that, but this stuff was just heel gold. I like most of the Internet thought CM Punk was a deadman walking into this match. Instead they went the Montreal Screwjob route. Teddy tells Taker after Punk tapped to Hells Gate that Hells Gate was still banned and restarts the match. Punk grabs the Anaconda Vice before even has it all the way locked into Scott Armstrong calls for the bell because we are in Montreal after all. The body of the match was really strong. I thought Punk stooged and bumped for Taker great. Stooging is not a word I get to use a lot in modern reviews so it was nice to see Punk with traditional heel stooging here. I thought Punk was a great heel throughout the match. Punk strategy was consistent relentlessly attack the head. What I loved was Undertaker's response which was to fight through this offense and kick Punk's ass. This was an amazing ass whupping by Undertaker. Really enjoyable. Taker fed Punk some spots so that Punk could get his licks in like crotching himself on the barricade. Punk using his knees, elbows and a chairs to attack the head of Taker. Taker was wicked motivated and looked great. The strike exchange came off awesome because both were wicked over and over as a face and a true heel. I really dug the body of the match even if the finish left a sour taste in my mouth. ***

World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker vs Batista - TLC 2009 Chairs Match Wow! Was Matt Striker always this insufferable on commentary? Batista's protein intake is clearly more than the Undertaker's thus he is less vulnerable to chair shots. Are you shitting me, bro? In some ways, I like the booking capitalizing on Batista's heat from turning on Rey and then putting him out of action. I think Batista should have won here to keep the momentum rolling. Doing the whole Dusty finish with Batista using the low blow (not legal) and the chair (legal) to win the match, but Teddy restarting the match due to the low blow. Taker immediately getting a chair shot and then Tombstone to win. I see what they were doing trying to protect Batista but I don't think it helped much. These have had some stellar matches together and some duds. I would say this was in between. They cut a good pace throughout the match. I wanted to see more heelishness from Batista. I felt they worked this much like they did when it was face vs face. That was disappointing. Nothing too memorable. They did a good job avoiding chair shots early. The first chair shot Batista to the back of Taker didn't come off great due to awkward positioning. After that it was run through their stock spots, but there was no resting and they kept it coming. I thought the best spot was Snake Eyes->run ropes->SPEAR! Great spear! Batista got some good spots in before Taker rammed his head into a chair that Batista set up. Taker got the chokeslam for two. Goes for Tombstone but shoved off into the ref, then low blow. Good match. Nothing that will blow you away, but nothing bad either. *** P.S. There was a guy with a sigh that said "My wife is in labor and I came to TLC instead". Having seen the big three main events of this PPV, I bet he got divorced.

Batista vs Rey Mysterio - Survivor Series 2009 Batista turned heel on his BFF Rey Rey over the World Heavyweight Championship. A pretty shocking heel turn at the time. Batista had been positioned as 1A to John Cena and Rey Mysterio is the bastion of babyface. It was definitely an effective storyline. It all makes given Dave's departure after the Cena's series in mid-2010. Watching the video package the build to this was great. It really felt like a Smackdown explodes match because these were the number 1 & 2 babyfaces of the mid-00s of my teen years. Sometimes, I wont give a way a finish in my reviews because I think not knowing the finish is part of the charm of a match. I am going to do the reverse here. Batista wins via knockout at about 6 and half minutes with the three Batistabombs. Batista, a big main event babyface, turns heels against Rey and is going to be positioned to face Cena at Mania. We all knew Batista would win and would win decisively. How they get to the finish is special. It is completely unexpected. Watch the match. It showcases both of these men at their best. ****

Unified World Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show vs D-X - TLC 2009 TLC Match Turgid. Long, plodding, no energy, congested. I actually like all four guys individually yes even HHH, but this was boring as hell. Lots of random brawling. Jericho/Shawn really didn't have anything special. I thought Big Show was the best part of the match about halfway through he just lit up with tons of punches. The one spot where he punches the chair out of HHH's hand was nuts. My mom & I popped for that. The heat segment on HHH was decent. The finish was pretty tame and lame. Avoid.

Unified World Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & The Big Show vs Rey Mysterio & Batista - Hell in A Cell 2009 It is amazing three quarters of this match in 2009 got their major US start in WCW. I was a WCW fan through and through in the 90s and honestly seeing Benoit, Eddy, Jericho in the WWF made it easier to switch. Even after all these years, I don't like to consider the WWE my home promotion. It is the truth that it clearly is. I literally watched zero wrestling outside of WWE in 2017 and I went to six WWE events this year in the New England. There is just something about WWE. I like WWE, but I will always love WCW. There was something special for me watching this yesterday on Christmas morning and see Jericho, The Giant and Rey Misterio Jr all in the same ring together. Just a lot of childhood nostalgia. Trying to divorce the childhood nostalgia and be objective, I still thought this was a great match and maybe the best tag team match in WWE between lets say 2008-2011. The booking of Jericho after finishing up with Rey was genius by putting him down into the tag team division first with Edge and then with Big Show because it didn't make him feel less than but made the tag division feel more important. The 2008-2010 run is definitely Jericho's best in terms of booking, main event credibility and work. I will always be partial to his WCW Conspiracy Victim character for sheer entertainment value. Very solid babyface shine with Rey flying around and Jericho eating his offense. Rey/Batista show good continuity and Batista manhandles Jericho. I would liked a little more energy but still good. Great climax to the shine with Rey leaping off of Batista's shoulders onto Jericho for a nearfall. Jericho freaks out and tags in Big Show. Big Show vs Rey Rey is always fun. He smacks him off the top rope. Then palms his head and plucks him from the floor back into the ring. Always impressive! Big Show gets his big spots in and then tags out for Jericho. Now Jericho can exact revenge. Great strategy here. Jericho is nasty on offense here with the fishhook and going after the match. Love that series they had earlier in the year. Batista tags in and cleans house. He definitely could make a comeback now and be the hot tag of a tag team no problem. Batista loses control when he gets hit with the Codebreaker for two and then kicks out of a chokeslam for two. Drama is building. Lionsault misses and then hot tag to Rey Rey. Amazing finish stretch. Rey Rey proves he can get offense in on Big Show even a nearfall off a tornado DDT. Then Rey kicks some Jericho ass. 619 to Big Show even though Big Show was intended target. Jericho ends up in the Big Show's arms and Batista spears him. AWESOME SEQUENCE! Rey looks to dive onto Big Show but he swats him out of the air with his "carcinogenic" right hand. Does Rey need chemo? Surgery? Four professionals just going out there and having a kickass tag team match with all the fixins. The finish stretch was ultra-hot. ****

WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho - Smackdown 7/10/09 I was going to make the case this was the perfect use of a TV match to blowoff a great three PPV match series by being a Greatest Hits Match. The nice shine early, the use of the Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker, signature Mysterio bumps and the Jericho spinning Argentine Backbreaker (JR namedrops Atlantis!) all showcase what has made this series great. That is a commitment of Jericho to play a heavyweight heel against Mysterio and Mysterio's ability to bump 'n' run. It felt old school like back in the old days when Hogan would have a house show loop against a heel and then once they got all the money out of the program they throw it on SNME and do a greatest hits match. I thought this was a great idea for Jericho vs Mysterio, which is probably the feud of 2009. Then Jericho holds the ropes open for Mysterio on 619 attempt and Mysterio takes a crazy bump to the floor. Then they go out and just have a crazy gangbusters finish run that is totally novel. This ended up being their second best together and something that should be more heralded. I loved the pop-up powerbomb from Jericho and then the spinning Musclebuster was sick. Mysterio had great selling of the ribs. I liked Mysterio peppering in more kicks than in previous matches. Mysterio busted out new aerial offense for this match. The splash into the Codebreaker is a great spot. You know what Jericho is really damn good and doesn't get enough credit for is showing frustration over not getting a three count. So many people look fake as fuck doing that spot, but Jericho is perfect at looking like a whiner and frustrated. He is the king of the temper tantrum and loved his punts to Mysterio. Really good way to take out his frustration. I thought Mysterio's rana and then dropkick combo was a good way to set up into 619. Great TV match. Liked I said all the trimmings of a great Jericho vs Mysterio match but throwing in some really cool novels spots in this match make it fresh and a match worth watching. ****

Rewatched this match because I forgot everything about it. The Codebreaker spot got me again (lol!). I love when I forget a spot and get to mark out all over again. I agree with myself that is the best split-legged moonsault I have ever seen and I still hate the split-legged moonsault. Things I noticed this time around was that the Rey senton splash to the outside was awesome and a great transition to the mini-Rey comeback. I don't think this was as Rey driven as I said in my previous review. I think Jericho continued to use his weight late into the match. Great catch and powerslam late into the match. I loved the counter to the spinning Argentine Backbreaker which was a great payoff to the previous match. All the Boston Crab counters were money and the crowd was super into them. I loved the powerbomb from the top by Jericho and following up with the feet on the ropes. Really terrific finish stretch. Still a classic. ****1/2

I have totally fallen off in my watching. A real shame. Work & real life getting in the way. I hope the fire burns anew so that I can cram some more in before the end of the year. I will definitely be down to the wire. My last day of work is tomorrow, which will help.

TESTIFY MY BRUTHA!!!

I agree Jinder worked really hard and stuck to the script with laser focus. Someone on twitter said AJ could have had that match with Shelton Benjamin totally disagree I don't think Benjamin would have been that focused.

I will say I went to this show with three cousins, my brother, my mom and my Dad, and none of them liked this match as much as me. There were a good amount of AJ Styles chants, but I agree overall there was not much heat on this match. It is twofold: 1. Jinder is not over in the slightest and 2. traditional wrestling is only over if both men are wicked over. However, the structure of this match was beautiful for a traditional pro wrestling fan. I was very happy throughout this match.