WWE PPV Reax

-- Joe Kratz of Harleysville, Pa.: Let me preface this by saying that I am a huge fan of both Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, and that I love ladder matches. However, this one was illogical from start to finish and too slow-paced for me. The methodical assault by Rollins on Ambrose's knee would be enough to shatter a man's kneecap, yet Dean seemed more impervious to pain than a young Mick Foley. Watching wrestling for over 20 years now, I can suspend my disbelief with the best of them, but the beat down Rollins gave Ambrose to conclude the match should have been enough to keep him down: TV monitor to the knee, Pedigree, two running powerbombs into the barricade, and one sit-down powerbomb onto the ladder and chairs should be more than enough to down a man after a 30-minute ladder match. But not after tonight. Rollins looked barbaric and Ambrose looked resilient enough without the dumb finish of Ambrose no-selling the beat down detailed above and scrambling to meet Rollins at the top of the ladder.

The fact that I devoted my Reax to this finish rather than highlighting the four-star Owens-Cena match says a lot about how much this bugs me. If Dean isn't on crutches Monday night on Raw and again on Smackdown to sell the match, I have no words.

-- VIP member Milan (5.0): My rating was mainly because WWE Network technical difficulties completely ruined my enjoyment of the show. I went into this event with high hopes, and I found the MITB match to be entertaining. However, while I did watch the entire show, I mentally tuned out at the start of the Divas match.

This was because the live stream froze/rewound/fast-forwarded every few minutes for the remainder of the show. I did the usual troubleshooting routines and couldn't resolve the issue. For me, the quality of the live stream has gone downhill significantly since April. I have a 100Mbps Time Warner Cable internet connection and watch the WWE Network using the Panasonic Smart TV app. This makes me wonder if there has been a recent surge in Network users with the free offers and not enough bandwidth to go around. I re-watched MITB while getting ready for work this morning and the VOD feed was flawless. Perhaps, I should avoid the live stream (only tune in for PPVs) and watch the monthly specials via VOD the next day?!

-- Darren in Jacksonville, Fla. (5.5) Best Match: Owens-Cena. Worst Match: MITB. The card is pretty easily summed up. The women's match was just what was expected, but if they're going for "Twin Magic," the LEAST they could have done was remove Brie's ponytail since Nikki did not have one; that's just lazy. Also, the Tag Title match was bland, but nothing terrible. Bad decision to move the titles; New Day has heat. Also, Ryback and Big Show are never going to set the world on fire.

Now the meat. I'll start with the obvious. I'm NOT a fan of John Cena's in-ring work. He tries hard, but he's just goofy footed and clumsy. Having said that I don't believe anyone on the roster tries harder than he does. He wants to have the best match every time he's out, so while I may not be a fan I respect him more than anyone that has been there for any real length of time. Kevin Owens and Cena have great chemistry. Owens proves that Cena can be carried up and it's obvious Owens is calling spots and pulling things out of Cena that most don't. It's a testament to the both of them that it wasn't even close to the same match they had just two weeks ago. I don't agree with the finish, as I think it should have ended when Owens reversed into that suplex move form the second rope. However, Owens got his heat back and this won't be the end. I'm actually looking forward to this playing out longer.

Ambrose and Rollins - both guys put in an impressive effort and technically there was nothing wrong with the ladder main event, except it was just too much.There were some great innovative spots, but I believe they would have a had a better match had it not been a ladder match. They can tell a compelling story without it. It was enjoyable, just over done.

Finally the MITB. I cannot for the life of me figure out how anyone could see this match as a positive. It becomes more apparent that writers are writing and no one is booking. It's sad. It is an underlined, italicized, and bold fact that you have to suspend your disbelief to watch wrestling and enjoy it. However more and more it is expected of us to believe that every move that happens in a match that involves more than two people impacts the athletes greater. It has become acceptable that only the two people in the ring battle while everyone else involved lies on the floor and sells moves for five minutes that would never even be considered detrimental in a regular one-on-one match. Guys climb the ladder so gingerly and get hit so lightly while doing so. I understand there is risk while on the ladder and precautions are taken, but the fix is simple. Don't do things that look weak. Find some other way to tell your story. The guys are selling as if they are dead only to run up the ladder three steps then reach up and everyone can see they needed to more steps. It's just lazy and it's snowballing and becoming the norm. When Bray pushed Reigns off, there was no reason for Reigns to go limp because his armpit landed across the top rope. It's ridiculous. It's pitiful that with the slightest thought guys could be otherwise engaged rather then lying around while a spotfest happens in the ring. If the trend continues these matches won't be watchable in another couple of years.

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