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CALDWELL: Summary of 5/17 Judgment Day PPV - Rey vs. Jericho, Miz's promo, Flair's return, PPV Context, HIGH/LOW Points May 18, 2009 - 1:33:43 AM
-- High Point: Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho. About ten minutes and 15 counters into the match, I had one of those thoughts where you just don't want the match to end. You're hoping a WWE producer gets in the ref's earpiece and tells him to tell the wrestlers to stretch it another five minutes. Try that Walls of Jericho one more time. Or, counter the 619 again. Really build up the story, fellas. What a great match-up between Rey and Jericho that was like a 2009 main-event-style version of the amazing athleticism and wrestling skill on display in the WCW Cruiserweight division back in the day. Great match.
-- Low Point: Lack of memorable moments or matches. I don't believe this was a stand-out PPV that contained memorable moments that people will be talking about or remember from their $40 investment. WWE is going to jump right into promoting the Extreme Rules PPV on Monday night, which means this PPV will be even more quickly forgotten. Rey vs. Jericho stood out. Ric Flair returning stood out. Perhaps The Miz's promo on Alfonso Soriano and Santino stood out. But, the whole picture was just a bridge to the next PPV. This was an instance where the sum of the parts was less than the individual parts.
-- Context: J-Day was in the middle of an every-three-week stretch of "off-brand" PPV starting with Backlash three weeks earlier, continuing to the Extreme Rules PPV in three weeks, and then another PPV in three weeks. WWE was also three weeks into the official Draft season with the Raw, Smackdown, and ECW brand splits more pronounced. Smackdown featured four matches on the PPV, Raw had two, and ECW had one, which was indicative of Smackdown having the best start to the Draft season after three weeks.
-- No titles changed hands on the PPV.
-- Ric Flair made a surprise return after the Randy Orton vs. Batista match for the WWE Title to help Batista fight off Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase.
-- PPV RESULTS: (1) Umaga beat C.M. Punk. ... (2) ECW champion Christian beat Jack Swagger to retain the ECW Title. ... (3) John Morrison beat Shelton Benjamin. ... The Miz cut a promo on Alfonso Soriano and was interrupted by Santino. ... (4) IC champion Rey Mysterio beat Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Title. ... (5) Batista beat WWE champion Randy Orton via DQ, Orton retains the title. ... (6) John Cena beat Big Show. ... (7) WWE champion Edge beat Jeff Hardy.
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