The Undercard
The Miz defeated Fandango in a pretty decent match. I really am beginning to like The Miz getting better and better at being a face. I still prefer him a heel because that is what is most natural. Fandango, on the other hand, continues to get cheered because of his music. He is a very good athlete and showed it with an excellent leg lariat jumping over the ropes. Miz gets the better of Fandango and makes him tap out to the Figure Four. I may not love this feud because it is completely backwards, but the match itself was solid. They mixed a nice flow of athleticism and submission moves to tell their story.
Grade: C+
Ryback defeated Dolph Ziggler. The match showcased all of the negatives that Ryback has. He is slow, very mechanical, and cannot keep pace with a much faster Ziggler. The match began with Dean Ambrose attacking Dolph Ziggler from behind. This gave Ryback an advantage and would ultimately pick up the victory. All this tells me is that WWE wants Ziggler vs. Ambrose for the United States Championship at Night of Champions. The match will be fantastic, there is no doubt about it. I want to know why Ziggler has been bumped back down to mid card championships. Well, the World Heavyweight Championship is a mid card title also.
Grade: C+
Prime Time Players defeated 3MB in a shockingly good tag team bout. Young and O'Neil continue to be the faces of the division. One man's weakness is the other's strength. Young is very smooth and calculating in the ring. I especially love his finisher because there is no way around it coming off poor. Titus shows his strength with a little Razor Ramon fallaway slam. The finish came when Titus hit his finisher and picked up the victory. My biggest "like" in this match was the fact that they did not give them 2-3 minutes just to squash their opponents. This makes for better competition and more drama in a match. Even if we know 3MB will not win, we at least get a solid tag team contest.
Grade: B-
Rob Van Dam defeated Damien Sandow in a rematch from Smackdown. RVD continues to get the puzzling support of Ricardo Rodriguez. With RVD having Ricardo at his side, he continues to win and push towards his World title shot against Del Rio. Does anybody really care about the feud between Ricardo and Alberto? Where is the payoff? Why do they continue to HAVE to put Ricardo on television? This question cannot get out of my mind. Anyways, RVD picks up the victory on Sandow as he picks up another loss. I liked the aggression we saw from Sandow. There is something so simple yet so fun to watch when a basic kick to the stomach looks that more intense. Sandow makes the little moves look a little better. This match, on Smackdown last week, needed to be longer. It was tonight and we were treated with a solid match between two different styles and techniques. It came off well.
Grade: B-
