WWE Tag Team Championship
Daniel Bryan & Kane def. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (c)
This was far from a technical masterpiece, and at points the gimmick actually got in the way of the wrestling match, but I had a lot of fun watching the whole thing. JBL’s incredulousness at the “hug it out” moment was priceless, and the post-match “Steiner-off” had me rolling in laughter. And at the end of the day, the WWE is all about entertainment, in any way they can effectively dish it out.
Daniel Bryan and Kane are over with the fans, there’s no denying it; this can only be good for the tag team division. I am sold for as long as they want to keep putting these two on my screen, so long as they keep being an intriguing duo. I’d love to see some sort of combined entrance, and I absolutely love the idea of them picking up “accidental” pinfalls as a result of their disagreements. Of course their situation has the potential to be explosive; that’s the point! We know one day they’ll have to implode, resulting in one final match between the two. But for now watching their slow, yet inevitable demise has made up a good chunk of my weekly highlights.
Rating: 3/5 – Match wasn’t that great; I wouldn’t even say it was good. But there were a few fun moments, and on the whole it was very entertaining. Match was a 2, but +1 for the predictable, yet excellent title change.
United States Championship
Antonio Cesaro def. Zack Ryder
Ryder actually worked a much better match than I had expected; the crowd still didn’t seem to care. It’s funny though, because in 2011, at this time, the roof would have been blown off the TD Garden simply by Ryder’s entrance theme queuing up. His star has indeed fallen at the hands of a forgettable angle with Eve and John Cena, and Cesaro gets little-to-no heel heat. The “Zack Pack” is still there, and the Ring of Honor guys that know who Claudio is are still rooting for him…but none of that was enough to get Boston behind them.
For the shortest match of the night, I didn’t actually mind it. Cesaro is brutal enough to beat an opponent down in a few minutes and make it seem realistic; Ryder’s only got two or three moves the fans connect with anyways. Better they keep it fun and short, than to reveal that neither of these guys have enough content at the moment to swing a 15-minute match.
Rating: 3/5 – Short, sweet and to the point. Quite enjoyable. JBL made it better by giving Cole a history lesson throughout.
Randy Orton def. Dolph Ziggler
Why did Ziggler pick the night WWE goes all-out for breast cancer awareness to NOT wear a pink shirt?
The first of three really solid matches of the night, Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler absolutely tore the house down. They actually managed to get the zombie-like TD Garden into the match at a few points; in Chicago, New York or London this could have been a Match of the Year candidate. Crowds are that damn important.
I stand by what I said in my preview: whoever wins or loses, it doesn’t matter. A good match is a good match; there are no losers in the eyes of management when two guys go out and steal the show. The question isn’t “why would WWE give Ziggler a loss right now”, but rather “where is he going to take that loss?” I want to know how losing to Orton is going to fuel Dolph going into Hell in a Cell; that’s where the real story is.
Rating: 4.5/5 – Great match, good commentary, solid ending. I can’t ask for anything more from a match like this.
