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PPV Reports
RADICAN'S WWE THE BASH PPV BLOG 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Hunter PPV Jun 28, 2009 - 9:50:51 PM
Torch columnist Sean Radican is Tweeting on tonight's WWE PPV. We'll post his "blog" throughout the night with ongoing thoughts on the PPV.
(1) ECW Championship Scramble match
-- Good action early on. Swagger is impressive. ... A nice tower of doom spot with Henry taking out everyone pops the crowd. ... I like the scramble concept and if we don't see this for a while I'm fine with it as an occasional gimmick match. Mark Henry is the champ.
-- Why can't a big man fly? First Khali is cut off and now Henry. Swagger is champ after cutting Henry off. ... Dreamer wins in the end and dodges some pin attempts as the time limit expires. (***)
(2) Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho
-- They are front loading the card with good matches tonight. I hope all of the less desirable matches on the card aren't bunched together! ... Mysterio making an incredible comeback, including a double springboard moonsault for a nearfall. ... Walls of Jericho and the hard camera is shaking with fans behind Rey! ... Jericho hit superbomb and covers Rey with feet on ropes, but Rey kicks out. That was sweet!
-- Jericho counters a springboard splash into the codebreaker, but is slow to cover and Rey kicks out. Ross is going nuts! ... Holy s---! Jericho took off Rey's mask, but Rey had a backup mask and finished him off with the 619 and springboard splash. ... That was an awesome match with main event heat. (****1/4)
(3) Dolph Ziggler vs. Great Khali
-- I think Khali's entrance should be a re-creation of the end of Slumdog Millionaire. ... Dolph doing a good job of creating movement around Khali. Wow this is No DQ.
-- I'm impressed with Ziggler so far, he's got potential. And here's Kane! ... Kane chases away Ziggler and attacks Khali with a variety of chairshots. Why Kane, why! Ross going nuts! ... Ziggler picks up the scraps and covers Khali. This was better than I expected. (*3/4)
(4) Colons vs. Legacy vs. Jericho & Edge
-- Teddy Long comes out and makes the match a triple threat, as he inserts Edge and Jericho. Announcers wonder if Teddy caved to pressure. ... They are playing a storyline where Edge and Jericho are being kept out of the mix. Edge gets in, but is tagged out right away by Ted. ... Edge and Jericho are getting cheered, as the fans want them to get in. No wait, they're chanting Edge and Christian.
-- Legacy beats on Primo forever, but he makes hot tag to Carlito to no reaction. ... Carlito hit backstabber on Cody, but Edge is legal and nails Carlito with the spear for the pin. Fair match with an interesting story. ... This could be a nice boost to the tag division if some other main eventers got into the mix, but these things usually don't pan out. (**)
-- This is a strong show so far with some nice twist and turns and a really good Rey vs. Jericho match. ... Randy is backstage with Legacy. He tells them their tag title loss isn't impressive. Ted stands up to Randy. Ted walks away. ... I think Ted has big potential.
(5) Melina vs. McCool
-- McCool has an Undertaker-esque symbol on her top. ... McCool going to town on Melina's leg early on. ... The crowd is sleeping. It's nap time folks. ... McCool hits the Styles Clash for the pin. Ugh. ... McCool wearing a see-through top though, so she gets points for that. (*)
(6) Punk vs. Hardy
-- No facepaint for Hardy tonight. Interesting. ... Punk is booed during the formal intros. Fans are behind Hardy. ... Hardy almost gets counted out after missing a leg lariat off the stairs on the outside early on. ... Punk misses a top rope legdrop and the crowd cheers. Punk misses a splash in the corner and Hardy gets a 2 with Whisper in the wind.
-- Ross is putting this over as a physical match, but Hardy picks up the pace. ... Punk counters kick in the corner with Go 2 sleep attempt. Hardy slips out and takes a kick to the head and a bulldog for a 2 count. ... Jeff hits TOF out of nowhere, but Punk sits up out of swanton and Hardy crashes and burns.
-- Hardy hits another TOF and the swanton for the pin, but wait Punk's foot was under the ropes and the ref sees it. Restart! ... Ref had a good angle to see ref's foot. Punk looks like he caught an elbow and is slumped in the corner after Jeff slipped out of G2S. ... Punk kicks the ref and gets DQ'd. Lame. They're selling he couldn't see and the crowd hates it. ... That was really a lame finish to a match that was really average until the end. Jeff yells at Punk and tosses him back into the ring.
-- Hardy goes after Punk's eye until several ref's break it up. Hardy escapes and gets Punk again. This helps the fans forget the suck finish. ... Punk can see well enough to pick his title up as he is helped to the back. That was funny.
-- Long is backstage with the Colons. Long tells them he had to shake things up. He tells them to take a hike. ... Orton is backstage on his cell before his big match. He asks Cody to call him back. ... They had a party earlier today with a band playing Orton's theme live. That sounds like a blast!
(7) The Miz vs. John Cena
-- I wonder how long they will get with the Three Stages of Hell coming up. ... Cena is getting the better of Miz early on like he's suddenly a ring general. ... Miz fires back and methodically begins to attack Cena, but Cena makes a comeback and hits his signature moves. Cena then hits the AA. ... Cena applies the STFU and Miz taps. Thanks for playing Miz. (**)
(8) Randy Orton vs. Triple H
-- It's going to be short for this kind of match. ... Triple H's entrance takes up 4 minutes of PPV time. Great pacing WWE! ... They're playing up a DQ as a finish in the first stage of hell, which would be a smart way to give these guys enough time to logically do. ... I knew it Triple H nails Orton with a chairshot for the DQ. Triple H is now pummeling Orton with chairshots in the Falls Count Anywhere portion of the main event. Triple H hits a pedigree on the floor to even the match at 1-1. We're at the Stretcher match in no time folks! ...
-- Triple H nearly pushes the stretcher across the finish line, but Orton recovers and goes on the attack. ... Trips and Orton brawl through the crowd. The fans are behind Hunter. ... The crowd is sort of into the match at times, but the match just isn't all that exciting. ... Orton tosses the steel steps into the ring, but Triple H trips him head-first into them. Orton then takes a shot from the steps to the head. ... The action is still solid, but no heat. Triple H tries to get Orton across the line on the stretcher again.
-- Holy crap. Both goes slide down the ramp on the stretcher and go flying into the barricade. Ouch! ... Orton misses the punt and hits the stretcher instead. Triple H goes for the pedigree, but gets backdropped onto the stretcher. ... Triple H pedigrees Orton at the top of the entrance ramp. The stretcher is right there. Oh, the drama. ... Triple H is going to win, but Cody stops him at the last second. Triple H nearly does it again, but Ted makes the save. ... Triple H has the sledge hammer and fights off the Legacy, but Orton punts him in the nuts and gets the win a short time later. (***1/4)
-- This was a solid main event. It got really good at the end and they told a good story. ... Triple H nails Orton with the sledgehammer after the match to get his heat back. Crowd boos this. A solid show folks. See Rey-Jericho. ... Orton is still WWE champion, but gets laid out with the sledgehammer.
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