WWE Over The Limit 2010 5/23/2010

Written By: Alexander Settee

Over The Limit 2010, May 23, 2010, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
Announcers: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, & Matt Striker

Opening Match, Intercontinental Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston

A few weeks back on Smackdown, McIntyre was fired and stripped of the Title by Teddy Long for beating up Matt Hardy too badly. A tournament was held for the vacant Title with Kofi defeating Christian in the finals, but immediately following the match the Hand of Vince stepped in, not only reinstating McIntyre, but giving him back the belt. As a result we have this match here with Kofi getting the chance to win it for real. They start with a brawl, won by Kofi as he hits a dropkick and clothesline McIntyre to the floor. He follows with a suicide dive. Back in, he splashed McIntyre in the corner and hits another clothesline. McIntyre bails with Kofi dragging him back to the apron, but McIntyre then shoves him to the post. He works Kofi over and hits a gutbuster for 1. Kofi fires back, but his whip is reversed and he gets kicked trying to come over the top for 2. McIntyre goes to the 2nd rope, but Kofi gets the boots up. He gets the punches in the corner, with McIntyre then kicking him away and trying a stungun on the buckle, but Kofi (sort of, as usual for him) lands on the ropes and comes back off with a crossbody for 2. McIntyre gets him in a fireman’s carry and drops him into another gutbuster for 2. Kofi then reverses a whip and sends him to the post shoulder first. He follows with the Boom Drop as McIntyre lays in the ropes and that gets 2. Trouble In Paradise misses and Drew sets up the Future Shock, but Kofi counters to the SOS DDT like move and that gets the 3 count to win the Title at 6:25. Not a bad little opener here, although they didn’t get time to do much of anything. Kofi remains pretty popular too, in spite of his demotion to Smackdown. ** The post match sees McIntyre grab the mic and insist that the show will stop until Teddy Long comes out and reverses the decision. Instead, Matt Hardy comes out and lays him out with a Twist of Fate. I guess we’ll see if this all means McIntyre is out of the Good Books, or if it’s leading somewhere.

We go backstage to CM Punk with the SES. They stroke his ego for a bit and then he vows to bring Rey Mysterio into the fold later on for the greater good.

R-Truth vs. Ted Dibiase (w/Virgil)

Now that Dibiase has begun taking more after his father, he decided to recruit a lackey of his own, much like Dibiase Sr. had Virgil. He offered the job to Truth, who quickly turned it down leading to this match here. With apparently no one else available, Dibiase recruited as his Virgil, the original Virgil, who looks exactly the same as he did back in the day, but moves at about a quarter of the speed. They start out trading holds which goes on until Truth slaps Dibiase which looks to knock him loopy and apparently gave him a legit concussion, so that was a hell of a slap. Sadly it leads to the match falling apart a bit as they go on. Truth hits a heel kick and clotheslines Dibiase to the floor. Virgil tries to help with Truth going after him, but the distraction fails and Truth nails Dibiase when he tries to come from behind. In the ring, Virgil distracted Truth again, and this time it works as Dibiase nails a neckbreaker. He tosses Truth back to the floor and runs him to the barrier. In the ring again he hits a flapjack for 2. Clothesline gets another 2 as does a back suplex. He goes to the 2nd rope, but Truth nails him coming down. Truth then sets up a superplex, with Dibiase knocking him back, but Truth gets right back up and crotches Dibiase. He follows with a couple of clotheslines, a hiptoss, and a Flatliner for 2. Ax kick misses and leads to Dibiase hitting an electric chair drop for 2. Truth regains control and hits a move that starts out like a suplex, but he drops him behind himself and does a stunner. That gets 2 and then he just hits the Lie Detector and that gets the 3 count for the clean pin at 7:47. As I said, Dibiase seemed out of it at times, which is understandable, but it hurt a match that probably could have been much better. *

Drew McIntyre has made his way to Teddy Long’s office and he demands that the decision in his match be overturned, which Teddy refuses. Drew responds by destroying the office, but stops short of doing anything to the Martin Luther King picture, letting Teddy know he’s more like him than Teddy ever will be.

Hair vs. Joining the Straight Edge Society: CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

So after they’ve both beaten each other with only one of the stipulations on play, we have one more match with both things on the line now. The SS has been banned form ringside, forcing Punk to go it alone. He controls at first until after backdropping Rey to the floor he misses a pescado. Rey sends him to the barrier with a baseball slide headscissors. Back in Rey goes for the 619, but Punk blocks it and tosses Rey outside right into the barber’s chair which looked pretty cool. Punk is bleeding, apparently from the shot to the barrier, so as has become the trend we grind the match to a halt while the doctor comes in and patches him up, drawing boos and a boring chant. He doesn’t even do a good job either as the cut opens back up pretty quickly. You know, I can understand having a no blading policy, but if something happens hardway, provided of course that it’s nothing serious, is it really the end of the world if they just let it go? We finally get going again with Punk attacking, sending Rey to the barrier a couple of times and then hitting a suplex and slingshot senton for 2. He goes to a headscissors with Rey firing out into a sunset flip for 2. Rey then runs into a dropkick for a 2 count for Punk. Rey comes back again with another sunset flip for 2 and then a springboard crossbody for another 2. Springboard vertical press leads to a DDT for 2 again. 619 is countered again, to a double underhook backbreaker for 2. GTS is countered to a rana which is turn is countered to a powerbomb on the buckle. 2nd rope bulldog gets 2 as does a series of kicks. They trade finisher tries again and this time Rey hits the 619. He goes for the springboard splash, but Punk moves. He makes the mistake of getting cocky though and is crucified for the 3 count at 13:49. The Masked Man, Luke, and Serena immediately hit the ring for the beatdown to prevent any haircutting. They’re going to handcuff Rey to the ropes, but Kane makes the save for no apparent reason. He fights everyone off and then Rey cuffs Punk to the ropes and goes to town with the clippers. The fans chant “shave his chest”, but Rey won’t go that far. This was a pretty decent match, hurt a bit by the blood stoppage, but still the second best thing on the show. ***

Big Show is warming up backstage when, as we seem to get on every PPV, he’s confronted by a former tag team partner. In this case, Chris Jericho lets him know that both he and Miz have found better partners in each other. Miz appears as well, but when Show threatens to knock both of them out the back down. If Miz and Jericho fail to win the Titles, maybe they can break up and feud over who gets to beg Show to take them back.

Unified Tag Team Championship Match: The Hart Dynasty (w/Natalya) vs. The Miz & Chris Jericho

Miz, fresh off of losing the US Title to Bret Hart last Monday, starts with Kidd who beat him initially to set that match up. Miz works him over for a bit until Kidd escapes a slam and hits some kicks. There’s no heat for this match so far so the Harts aren’t really over without Bret. Smith gets the tag and hits a delayed suplex for 1. He kicks Miz to the floor and then Jericho charges but he gets backdropped out as well. Smith then presses Kidd onto both of them. Back in, Kidd covers Miz for 2. Miz backs him to the corner and tags Jericho who works Kidd over for a bit. Kidd then lands on his feet on a backdrop and hits a spinkick so he can tag Smith. The Harts use a drop toehold/legdrop combo for 2. Jericho gets the boot up on a corner whip and then nails a 2nd rope dropkick. A back suplex gets 2, but then he runs into a side slam. Tag to Miz who cuts Smith off from his tag. Boot to the face gets 2 and he hooks a rear chinlock, but Smith picks him up and drops him with an electric chair. Both guys tag now with Kidd beating up Jericho with ease using several dropkicks. He takes out Miz and then uses a modified sunset flip on Jericho for 2. Jericho catches him in the Wall out of nowhere, but Kidd makes the ropes. Kidd springs off the ropes, but falls right into a Codebreaker. Jericho delays in going for the cover, and Kidd kicks out at 2. Jericho argues the point, but that allows Kidd to get away and tag Smith who clotheslines both challengers. He hits a belly to belly suplex on Jericho and then a powerslam for 2. He comes off the ropes and is kinda tripped up by Miz leading to a Jericho small package for 2. Miz argues with the ref over this which allows Natalya to trip up Jericho setting up a running powerslam from Smith, but it only gets 2. Miz takes a blind tag on an Irish whip and comes in with a cool looking backbreaker/neckbreaker combo for 2. He goes for a Sharpshooter, but Smith gets him with an inside cradle for 2. Miz goes for the SCF, which is countered by sending Miz into Jericho and Smith getting a rollup for 1. Miz rolls through and gets a 2 count. He then charges at Smith in the corner, but gets caught. Tag to Kidd who comes in and they hit the Hart Attack for the 3 count to retain at 10:43. Not a bad match, but nothing spectacular either. **1/2

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Following his being drafted to Raw, Edge decided to make an impact by attacking Orton and costing him a shot at the WWE Title, so here we go. Edge gains control following the feeling out process, but his corner whip is reversed and he takes a clothesline. Orton then does the Garvin Stomp and drops a knee. There seems to be no heat for this match either so I’ll take back my saying that the Harts weren’t over in the previous match and chalk it up to more of a crowd thing. Orton kicks him to the floor, but Edge lures him out and then sends him to the barrier. He drops Orton gut first on it and then rolls him in for 2. Edge then goes to a bodyscissors to continue working over the midsection. Orton elbows out, but still ends up getting dropped on the top rope. He goes up, but Orton catches him and tries a superplex. Edge shoves him off, but Orton crotches him and this time does get the superplex. They do the yay/boo punches with Orton winning and then nailing a couple of clotheslines, followed by a powerslam for 2. Whip is reversed and Edge boots him to the apron. Edge then charges but gets hooked and dropped with the hanging DDT for 2. Edge goes to the floor and pulls Orton down on the ropes to regain control. He sets up the spear, but Orton blocks it with a kick. Orton sets up the RKO now, but hurts his shoulder legit pounding on the mat. I understand he aggravated an existing injury, but still, what a dumb way to get hurt. So with that they improvise a finish where Edge goes to the floor with Orton following. Edge misses a spear and crashes into the barrier and they’re both counted out at 12:51. This is a match where it makes no difference who wins, so what the point of that? Obviously they lost the climax of the match due to the injury, but the stuff building up to it didn’t suggest that this missed out on being a classic because of it. *1/2

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jack Swagger vs. The Big Show

Show was named number one contender upon being drafted to Smackdown showing how thin that side really is. Swagger starts out trying a single leg takedown which fails. He tries it again with the same result. Next he tries a go behind, which Show reverses, and Show then takes him down for 1. Swagger bails and then comes in to a boot. Show literally walks over him for a bit and then sets up the chokeslam, but Swagger escapes. Show tries to pull him back in, Swagger drops him on the ropes. He comes in with a spear and a shoulder tackle for 2. Two pump splashes also get 2 with the kickout sending Swagger to the floor. Swagger goes to a front facelock but gets tossed off. Show hits an elbow and shoulderblock to set up the chokeslam, but Swagger holds on until he gets tossed to the floor instead. While he’s there he grabs his belt, and then comes in and nails Show for the DQ at 5:04. This was like an All American Wrestling feature match from the early 90’s or something with the short match and the pathetic ending, except this is supposed to be a featured match on a 2010 PPV. Swagger beats him down after the match, but Show makes the comeback, including hitting the chokeslam and the Big Right Hand. Now, if this built logically to a match with no DQ’s or a Title changes hands on a DQ stip, then that would be fine, but the theme for the next PPV prevents them from doing that since it must be a four way match on that show. And can they make a decision on whether Swagger is The Guy or not? Either go all the way with him or don’t bother because the half assed booking just hurts everyone involved. DUD

We go backstage to Josh Matthews with Dave Batista who says that Cena quit on Monday after the show went off the air so no one saw it. He promises that tonight everyone will see it.

Divas Championship Match: Eve Torres vs. Maryse

Eve won the belt from Maryse a few weeks back so Maryse gets her rematch on this show. They do some trash talking before Maryse kicks her and sends her shoulder first to the post. Maryse controls for a bit and then knees her to the floor where she misses a kick and hits the post. Back in Eve gets a clothesline and a couple of dropkicks. A standing moonsault gets 2 and then a sunset flap gets 1. Maryse kicks her for 2 and then they brawl for a bit. Eve gets an inverted Russian legsweep for 2, but then her sommersault splash hits knees. Maryse sets up the French Kiss, but Eve counters to what I guess you could call an inverted Pedigree for the 3 count at 5:07, which is 0:03 longer than the World Title match on before this. The difference is that for a Divas Title match, this is to be expected. DUD

Main Event, WWE Championship I Quit Match: John Cena vs. Dave Batista

This is being promoted as the final Title match between them, and if Batista does end up leaving it may end up being just that. It comes off of the Last Man Standing match they had last month where Cena duct taped Batista’s feet together so that he couldn’t stand up. Batista protested that this was against the spirit of the rules, and so given the chance to choose the stipulation for this match, Cena chose I Quit, so that there would be no doubt about who was better after this one was over. Batista grabs the mic right off the bat and gives Cena a chance to avoid the beating he’s gonna get, but Cena hits him with the mic instead. Cena goes right for a chair, but misses and runs into a clothesline. Batista beats him down but Cena won’t quit, so he beats him some more. Cena fires back, but gets cut off and sent to the post. Again he won’t quit so Batista knees him to the floor. Back in he nails a suplex, but misses a charge to the corner. Cena nails the two shoulderblocks and the Protobomb followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but Batista hooks the ropes. Batista then comes off and hits a spear, and then hooks his new submission hold that Cena supposedly gave up to on Monday. Cena doesn’t give up here though and breaks it by hoisting Batista on his back and slamming him down. Cena then hooks the STF but Batista won’t give up. Batista makes the ropes, but there’s no rope breaks here so Cena keeps it on. Batista eventually passes out, but he can’t quit like that so Cena pours water on him to revive him. He won’t quit and instead gets Cena with a spear and then the Batista Bomb. Cena still won’t quit so Batista preps the announce tables. They get on them and trade counters ending with Batista powerslamming Cena through the table. Cena is busted open, so you know what that means. Although Batista does get in a great line as he tells the doctor to come back later because Cena’s gonna need him again. Next they brawl into the crowd and all the way up the steps until they get to the area that leads to the upper section. Batista tells him to quit or he’s going over to the floor, but Cena won’t and then counters the move to send Batista over the rail onto a bunch of security. Batista won’t quit, so it’s back down the steps and over to the ramp. Batista finds a chair and nails Cena several times, but Cena still won’t give up. He hits him a couple more times and then gets another idea. He gets into one of the cars that has been sitting on the stage as part of the set, and with they keys conveniently left in them, he starts it up and apparently backs over Cena. Batista sits there a moment, seemingly contemplating what he’s done, but then Cena comes right back at him, having moved out of the way I guess (it was shot in way that you couldn’t see Cena get hit or not) and drags him out of the car. He hits an AA onto the car, but Batista doesn’t quit. So Cena then picks Batista up and threatens another one off the car to the stage. Batista isn’t cool with this, so now he quits to end it at 20:32. Cena does the move anyways and Batista goes right through a gimmicked part of the stage in a cool looking spot. So Cena retains in a good match, and if it is the end for Batista, it’s not that bad of a way to go out. ***1/2

Well, the main event saved this show from being a total bomb, but even then it wasn’t that great of a match. Our other two top matches were Swagger/Show and Orton/Edge and they delivered pretty much nothing between them. Punk/Rey and the Tag Title match were pretty decent to good, but overall the show just felt flat and there’s not really any future direction coming off of it to get excited about. Thumbs Down for Over the Limit.