Thumbs up for me.
I really liked HBK/Angle. The story of the match for me was that Angle was focused with an actual gameplan and was going to bust out everything in his arsenal to beat HBK if need be. Angle became frustrated when his initial gameplan didn't work and he had to alter it mid match. I thought it was a nice touch for Kurt to bust out the Anglesault, showing he needed to dig deep in his bag of weapons to find a move that might beat Shawn. Simple, yet effective storytelling. Kurt played his role to perfection, screaming and swearing in HBK's face after he wouldn't tap out, really getting over the intensity of the match. IMO, Kurt outworked Shawn and showed he might be a better storyteller in the ring. Shawn's low blow didn't fit the role he was playing, and him playing subtle heel messed with the overall story of the match. Shawn's best moments were his selling of the ankle lock in the closing minutes, very dramatic and believable. There was more depth to the story of this match that I thought there would be. The only negative was Shawn for some reason playing a subtle heel when he should have been playing the heroic face. Great peformance by Angle, and hopefully he plays this "badass" heel in the ring more often.
Rey/Eddy was disappointing. Eddy looked depressed for some reason and seemed to be moving very slow. It looks as if Rey is in line for a big push. Eddy was not as over as I thought he would be, especially in a West Coast market. Seemed like more of an exhibition than an actaully wrestling match, both guys were just getting their spots in. No one playing a heel in the match really hurt the storytelling IMO. Solid match that lacked a real story
Bradshaw is an underrated worker. He carried Cena in their match. JBL might not do much in terms of moveset, but the moves he does look believable and are done very crisply. I also think his selling has improved dramatically in the past year. Cena needs to work like he did in his feuds with Undertaker and Benoit, where he sold like crazy and timed his comebacks perfectly. His comebacks in this match seem forced and were not believable. JBL was the star of this match.
I really liked the six way ladder match. Benoit was just awesome here, with the most realistic selling I've ever seen in a spotfest ladder match. Benjamin showed tremendous athleticism and got more over in the match even though he didn't win. Christian was in the match to do what he does best,take bumps, and he did that quite effectively. Kane didn't do much, but didn't squash the little guys like I thought he would. Edge didn't do anything out of the ordinary and it was obvious that they were protecting him from taking any real big bumps. It did fit his character to sort of swarm in at the last second and steal the victory. Jericho was solid, but should have played more of a dominating role, since the match was his idea in storyline. No outrageous bumps, but the ones they did looked devastating in their own right.
HHH/Batista was better than I thought it would be. H got too much offense, but Batista's comeback was great stuff. It's no coicidence that the crowd was silent while batista was selling and on fire while he was on offense. Good bladejob by H and he did show ass towards the end of the match, but should have been from the start of the match. Liked this match mainly for Batista's awesome comeback, where he played the monster role to perfection.
Undertaker/Orton continued Taker's streak while still getting Orton over. This match did more to get Orton over than any one thing in the HHH feud. Both worked hard and Undertaker still can lead people in the ring when need be. The spot of the night was the RKO out of the chokeslam. Plus I marked for Ace's cast shot! Good match.
2 great matches, a solid opener, one solid World Title match and great peformances by JBL and Undertaker make this a thumbs up for me, although I wouldn't say it was worth 50 DAMN dollars. Good show.
