PPV review

Just finished watching this PPV. This was a tough event for me to grade. I was conflicted on what kind of score to give so many of the matches. I'll explain as I run down the card.

Orlando Jordan lost the United States Championship in 25 seconds to Chris Benoit, tapping out to the Crippler Crossface. I didn't know how to grade this match because, it's too short to really be good or noteworthy, but at the same time, it accomplished perfectly what it needed to do. Orlando Jordan was as boring and undeserving as anybody whoever held the U.S. Title. Can anyone honestly remind me of anything noteworthy or significant about his 5-month reign? I have nothing good to say about Chris Benoit as a person, but as a wrestler, there's no denying his skill. Orlando Jordan had no business feuding with the former World Heavyweight Champion, let alone defeating him, so I think having him tap out almost as soon as the match started was the perfect call. And I enjoyed seeing it, along with the crowd exploding, in disbelief that the match had ended so quickly. Grade: B-

The grudge match between Matt Hardy and Edge is another difficult one to figure out. What was there was very intense and looked good, but it was kind of silly that, in a match where most people expected stiffness and blood, the ref stopped the match so quickly (not even 5 minutes into the match) after Matt was busted open. It really looks bad when you consider how much more Hogan was bleeding in the main event and that match wasn't stopped. I know that the quick finish here set the stage for a steel cage match and a street fight down the road, but I can only grade it on what happened here. The bump that made Hardy bleed looked good, as he was launched over the top turnbuckle and busted his face on the steel post before crashing to the arena floor. It's still a weird match. You would think they would have wanted Hardy to look strong in his return match, but he was left laying in a pool of his own blood, unable to walk under his own power while Edge and Lita celebrated. Grade: B-

Up next was the ladder match between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio for the custody of Dominick. The match itself was pretty good, as there were some nice high spots and some big bumps taken. The timing was off in a few spots, such as Eddie's somersault powerbomb off the top of the ladder, where he lost his grip on Rey on the way down and Rey basically just had to fall off the ladder on his own to make it look good. Another thing I didn't like was when Eddie tried to set up the ladder and go for the briefcase just 2 minutes into the match. That in and of itself is fine, but he set up the ladder extra slow and did the slow crawl up the ladder we are so used to seeing in ladder matches, giving Rey time to knock Eddie off the ladder. As I said, we're used to seeing guys struggle their way up the ladder. But two minutes into the match, when he hadn't take any damage really, it strained credibility to see him setting up and climbing the ladder like an old man trying to hang up a birdhouse. Another time, Eddie made it to the top of the ladder and was fumbling with the briefcase for over 10 seconds before Rey knocked him off. It's just completely unrealistic that a person would take that long to take a briefcase off the hook. So the match did have some timing issues that hurt it, as did the soap opera atmosphere surrounding this storyline. Dominick and Vickie Guerrero both got involved in the match and kept Eddie from winning the match. The post match celebration between the Mysterio family was good and looked heartfelt, but I can't help thinking how much better the match could have been without the interference of the family members. Grade: B+

Kurt Angle was able to reclaim his gold medals by defeating Eugene. The most match medal ceremony was pretty funny. I liked Angle like this, a no-nonsense heel who was very aggressive and violent. Eugene didn't look too good, with his punches looking especially laughable. Grade: B-

I love the chemistry between Randy Orton and The Undertaker. Orton brings out the best in Taker and this match was no exception. I put it slightly below their first encounter at WrestleMania 21, but not by much. This was the match of the night for me. Lots of reversals in this match, focusing on certain body parts, high impact offense - this match had something for everyone. The Cowboy Bob Orton interference at the end helped set the stage for the Orton-Taker feud which would take up much of the rest of 2005. Grade: A

John Cena beat Chris Jericho to retain his WWE Championship. This was Jericho's last PPV appearance before he left professional wrestling for over 2 years. The Washington, D.C. crowd response to this match was electric, with the fans divided pretty equally in their support for the two wrestlers. The first half of the match did not seem too special, but things picked up about halfway through. Grade: A-

The crowd lost a little steam during the World Heavyweight Championship match and so did the wrestling quality. Batista and JBL brawled outside the ring in a no holds barred contest that never really found any flow or rhythm. The best part was Batista spearing JBL through the barricade separating the fans from the ringside area. Both men took turns whipping each other with a belt which looked pretty painful. Otherwise, the match never really got going and ended before anything truly noteworthy could happen. Grade: C+

The main event was the Legend vs. Icon match, Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels. I was pretty entertained by this match, but at the same time I have a lot of issues with the match. HBK's bumping seemed a little bit over the top. He's always sold moves better than pretty much anybody else, but here he was bumping out of control for moves that had much lower impact than guys he's wrestled previously. It was amusing to watch, but a bit cartoonish at the same time. Next issue was with Hogan's limitations and the ending of the match. It's pretty obvious throughout that Hogan can't move very well anymore. He had a hip replacement, and while he was never exactly light on his feet, he's noticeably lost a step. I guess part of the reason that Michaels had to bump like crazy in this contest was that he was carrying the whole match, as Hogan seemed pretty limited in what he could do. Toward the end of the match, Hogan took a steel chair shot to the head, an elbow drop off the top rope and Sweet Chin Music. That would be enough for almost anyone else on the roster to get pinned, but Hogan kicked out and immediately pinned HBK after the big boot and the leg drop. It's not like I wasn't expecting any of this. In formula, this match was very similar to the same Hogan matches we've been seeing for 20 years now. But it didn't seem right for a man in his mid-50s who'd wrestled twice in the previous two years to so easily defeat one of the top WWE stars, a contender for the WWE title. I know, I know, we're talking about the immortal Hulk Hogan here, but the result lacked a little credibility. Hogan was going to leave Summerslam and fade back into retirement while HBK was going to still be headlining RAW's on a weekly basis. I'm not saying Hogan should not have been able to defeat Michaels, but I think the more sensible decision would have been for Shawn Michaels to win at Summerslam and let Hogan end the feud by winning a rematch at Unforgiven the next month. Hogan bled a lot in this match which was good. Grade: B+

That was a long review of a pretty decent PPV and I hoped people enjoyed reading it.

P.S. Check my profile for other PPV reviews I've done. Check them out and let me know what you think.