Some thoughts from Sunday’s Great American Bash show from Long Island, NY:
WWE Title Match: Triple H defeats Edge to keep the title – Well, called this one during the pre-match show that Vickie would get involved, and sure enough she and the “wedding planner” came down and got their hands dirty. Pretty standard match, with HHH getting the win as Edge speared Vickie by accident and then got pedgreed by Triple H for the win. We’ll see a lot more of these two, and here was just the beginning. Overall, pretty good PPV with some interesting title changes and okay matches up and down the card setting up SummerSlam.
NYC Parking Lot Brawl: JBL defeats John Cena – I called for a lot of bumps here, and got it with a match with some rather cool visuals and effects with the fire, the cars, and the forklift. The ending was good, and a bit of a surprise with Cena getting thrown into the window and taking the loss. I have to wonder now, and hate this thought, that we’re due one more stip match between these two at SummerSlam. Here’s hoping that they won’t, but I don’t doubt they do another round of these two.
World Heavyweight Title Match: C.M. Punk and Batista battle to a Double DQ – I enjoyed this match,and hope to see more of these two. I asked if Punk could step it up in a PPV title match on one of the major two brands, and I think he proved he could. Of course the outside interference from Kane sets up a Triple-Threat between these three for SummerSlam. I have no doubts that Kane is refering to his old masked self when it comes to “is he dead or alive.” Again, Punk and Batista stepped it up, and I hope that we see more of them in the future.
Divas Championship Match: Michelle McCool defats Natalya by submission to win the belt – I thought this would be a good women’s match, and overall it did its job. McCool is a worthy champion, as would Neidhart would have been as well. Pretty good back and forth with each lady getting their submission holds on before finally in the end McCool made Natalya submit. Look for plenty of rematches and I wouldn’t be shocked at a few title changes between these two.
Chris Jericho defeats Shawn Michaels as refs stop match after Michaels can’t continue – Basically nothing more than an ending to continue the feud next month or maybe in September with a big stip match at another PPV. The storyline is that Michaels career is over after he suffered a “detached retina.” Was a pretty good match and a great visual till the hookey ending. Expect some sort of “funeral” for Michaels by Y2J as he buries him for weeks till HBK returns to challenge Jericho to a big match at a PPV.
ECW Title Match: Mark Henry defeats Tommy Dreamer to retain title – Bit of a surprise ending with Colin Delany turning on Dreamer, but you saw it coming when he jumped on the apron with Dreamer as he was going to jump on Henry. Never a doubt in my mind that Henry was going to win here, but the bigger story was Delany with the turn, and where they go with it from here and if he can do anything with it.
US Title Match: Shelton Benjamin defeats Matt Hardy for the title – Little bit of a shock here, but overall I like the move, as it gives SmackDown another title and puts it on a great worker like Benjamin. Match made Hardy look a little weak, which as now he’s the main guy other than Mark Henry on ECW makes the brand look even weaker. Overall a good ending and I can live with Benjamin as the new title holder.
Fatal Four Way for the WWE Tag Titles: Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder defeat Miz and Morrison, Jesse and Festus, and Hornswoggle and Finaly – Not a bad first match, and having Hawking and Ryder win the belts was not a bad decision. It was time for the belts to be moved, and giving them to a team like Hawkins and Ryder will for sure give them a big boost. Kept it a pretty straight-forward match with not a bunch of stupid comedy spots like could have been expected. We’ll see now that Hawkins and Ryder have the ball if they can run with it.
Labels: 2008 great american bash, chris jericho, colin delaney, curt hawkins, edge, jbl, john cena, mark henry, shawn michaels, tommy dreamer, triple h
