By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

-That was one of the longer show opening recap video packages clocking in at nearly five minutes.

-It’s too rare that a wrestler goes from face to heel (or vice-versa) and actually “turns.” It’s even more rare when they actually explain their change. I liked the detail that the reason he doesn’t paste on a fake smile for the fans anymore is he has an iron-clad contract.

-Quotebook - The Big Show: “I have an iron clad contract with a big fat bonus which means I’m set for life which means I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, to whoever I want, and I don’t have to be concerned with putting smiles on you people’s faces.”

-That’s a great quote because people can relate to someone who has so much money they just don’t even try to be decent anymore.

-Quotebook - Big Show: “I am not an entertainer, I am a giant.”

-Something we pointed out as seeming tone deaf or at least jarring is now being used by Show to justify his decision to turn heel, as Show pointed out how he was offended that Brodus Clay came out and danced before the tears in his eyes were even dry after he begged for his job. He said he thought R-Truth and Kofi Kingston were his friends, yet they “yucked it up and had a good ol’ time” minutes after he was fired. He said the fans were no different, able to just “move on” and forget about him.

-Even better, he pointed what we also pointed out, which is that John Cena didn’t seem fazed. He said he thought Cena would organize a locker room mutiny, but instead he did the whole “loser” comedy bit. Show threw to video clips. Show is making such a good case at this point in his promo, it’s practically a babyface turn, although the fans are booing him at this point.

-Quotebook - Big Show: “Cena was making jokes. I suppose that’s what I am to all of you - one big joke.”

-Some may think it stretches credibility when Show says he will deliver a worse beating against him than Lesnar, Rock, and Laurinaitis combined, but it’s what a confident monster heel should say headed into a PPV main event. It was perhaps Show’s best promo to date because everything he said totally fit the circumstances and he was intimidating and believable. He wasn’t trying to “entertain,” he was trying to sell tickets. Let’s just hope they don’t show a video later of Show hanging with kids acting jolly and friendly toward them at a charity event.

-I’m happy that WWE spelled the shorthand version of microphone “mic” and not “mike.” The “mike” version never made any sense to me. I’m also thrilled they called it “Master of the Mic” instead of “Best Promos.”

-What does it say about the prestige of the U.S. Championship - and any future opponents of Santino who can’t easily beat him - that he lost so quickly to Del Rio. That said, at least Del Rio got a clean quick win to build him up for Sheamus. Why not, though, just use a jobber instead of Santino in that instance? It’s not as if anyone would tune out if some hilariously wimpy jobber were used instead of Santino for the 90 seconds that segment took, and then Santino could have spared and protected.

-If Kofi & Truth can beat Ziggler & Swagger clean in under ten minutes, who’s their top threat? At least the loss led somewhere - which is Ziggler saying he’s better than this, showing disgust with Swagger losing. We’ve been waiting a while for Ziggler to break away from what is perceived as a mid-card act with Vickie and Swagger. It might finally have happened.

-Quotebook - Big Show to Brodus Clay: “Forget about dancing because after tonight you won’t be walking.”

-Good to see Brodus show a serious side. He was pretty good, actually, showing a more serious side as he told Show to pick him as his opponent.

-Has C.M. Punk gotten as tired of his “Cult of Personality” theme song as people who work at Disney come to hate “It’s a Small World After All?"

-Quotebook - John Laurinaitis on the XBox video game he’s on the cover of: “The kids are gonna love it. It’ll be bigger than Pac-Man.”

-Quotebook - C.M. Punk: “I’ve never been able to tell you this face-to-face. but mine is a hell of a lot bigger than yours.” (Video game poster reference.)

-Quotebook - Cody Rhodes: “I was 13-years-old when Christian debuted in the WWE. He on the fence between classic and contemporary.”

-Quotebook - Cody Rhodes: “I spent nine months making that title remarkable and mean something and in one night [Christian] threw that away.”

-Quotebook - John Laurinaitis to Eve and David Otunga: “I mean, I’m not gonna be doing this job forever. 10 or 20 years from now, I may want to retire and I need people in place I can count on.”

-Randy Orton is becoming the WWE mascot, just like 911 in Paul Heyman’s original ECW. Nice transition from Orton celebrating his RKO of Miz to Ziggler watching on a monitor backstage saying he wants to be a singles wrestler like Orton is.

-Image of the night was the nine (give or take) year old kid in the crowd who had his hair (including fake sideburns and beard) made up just like Sheamus.

-I’m curious how the new ECW Unreleased Vol. 1 DVD does. Years into a PG era, will today’s audience crave a look into this non-corporate unrestrained underground version of pro wrestling? The commercial did a compelling job conveying how truly different ECW was. It’s smart to use the old raw footage from ECW events to make some revenue and give the sacrifices of those wrestlers (many of whom are dead, some as a result of what they did on and off camera during those ECW years) a chance to be seen (and “appreciated”) by a new generation.

-Quotebook - Big Show to Brodus Clay: “The difference between you and Doink is Doink actually had talent.”

-The look on the faces of Clay’s dancers as Big Show destroyed him at ringside enhanced the story being told, conveying that Cena fans should be worried also.

-Quotebook - Michael Cole on Big Show: “He’s not an entertainer. He’s a human wrecking machine.”

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