No Longer a Lord

What happened to the push of Tensai?

The former A-Train returned to the promotion to much fan interest after several years away from WWE wrestling in Japan. During this time he improved as a worker and became a genuinely big star for Pro Wrestling NOAH.

His return was not only heralded by a series of vignettes but also a new character that was different to everything else on the roster. With his height and bulk, not to mention his improvement in the ring, the feeling was that Matt Bloom would receive a big push under the new guise of Lord Tensai. There were rumours he would be associated with then on-screen boss John Laurinaitis and feud with John Cena. It looked as though Bloom was going straight to the top.

Anyone who has been watching WWE programming over the last six months will know that this hasn’t happened.

Things started off well enough. Lord Tensai won his first few matches via squash and the commentary team went out of their way to put him over as an experienced competitor, mentioning his time in Japan and the fact that he had had a less than stellar run in WWE a decade before. This is rare behaviour for Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. That they were putting Tensai over indicated that management had big plans for him.

It was only a few weeks after he’d returned to the promotion that Lord Tensai was permitted the ultimate honour: he defeated John Cena. He didn’t do it clean, David Otunga, John Laurinaitis and his personal manservant Sakamoto all involved themselves in the no disqualification bout and Tensai used the dreaded Green Mist™ finish, but it was still a promising sign. That he was booked to beat Cena, the company’s golden boy, in any fashion was big news.

 

Tensai has proven a textbook example of how to bury someone. Good work, John...

 

From there it all just… stopped. Tensai toppled Cena in a few more outings but it didn’t take ‘The CeNation Leader’ long to get his win back. There was no pay-per-view clash between the two and Tensai found himself without any actual storyline. He was simply hired muscle that happened to be doing a Japanese gimmick.

It wasn’t until July’s Money in the Bank, three months after he had returned to WWE, that Tensai wrestled on pay-per-view. He made up the numbers in the World Heavyweight championship MITB clash. By this point fans had accepted he wasn’t going to be used as a headliner: he had been booked to lose numerous times to wrestlers of varying status, from Cena to Tyson Kidd, and had numerous tweaks made to his character (such as the loss of his Lordship) that made him stand out less.

It’s a pity. Had WWE formulated a plan for using Tensai he could have been an interesting addition to the main event scene. His size allows him a surprising amount of versatility: he could be booked as a monster against the likes of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, muscle around giants like Kane and Big Show, or have an intense “slobberknocker” of a match with a guy like Sheamus.

Tensai is one of the few men on the roster who can get a bearable outing from John Cena. WWE can still book this match whenever they like but we’ve seen it several times over the last few months and it won’t feel particularly special anymore.

Had Tensai decisively beaten Cena at Over The Limit and No Way Out he could then have been used as a contender to World Heavyweight champion Sheamus at Money in the Bank. Had that happened then ‘The Celtic Warrior’s’ run with Alberto Del Rio wouldn’t have outstayed its welcome and there would have been a purpose to Tensai’s return to the company.

As things stand right now Tensai is lost in the mid-card and doesn’t look as though he’ll be doing anything meaningful any time soon. Another wasted chance by WWE’s creative team.

Sixty Days Without Orton

Last week WWE announced the suspension of Chris Jericho. This week they've announced the suspension of Randy Orton. While 'Y2J's' time off is linked to his behaviour at a house show 'The Viper' finds himself on the sidelines due to a violation of the company’s Wellness Policy.
 
This is Orton's third suspension during his WWE career but only the second that has been Wellness related. Previously he has served a thirty day suspension for smoking a banned substance backstage and a sixty day suspension due to incidents related to his anger management issues (which he has since overcome if you believe what he says in interviews). This now puts 'The Apex Predator' in the undesirable position of being one Wellness slip-up away from a future endeavour.
 
It also leaves WWE with a big gap to fill at the top of their next pay-per-view. Orton and Jericho had both been a part of the excellent four-way World Heavyweight title bout at Over The Limit and work had already begun on the plan to segue them into a one-on-one feud for No Way Out on June 17th. When it was announced Jericho was being suspended the silver lining was that somebody would get promoted for a supershow showdown with Orton. With both men suspended WWE finds itself lacking two established stars that could work with an upper mid-card talent and give them the rub.

Randy Orton is going to have lots of time for sitting down over the next two months

 
It's not all bad though. While an Orton v Jericho match would have been a nice addition to the PPV it hadn't had that much time dedicated to it, meaning the amount of effort that has been wasted is minimal. Furthermore WWE can always book the feud later in the year and there's now free time at No Way Out to give to some of the roster's fresh prospects. Coincidentally this is exactly what I discussed in my previous article (which you can read here).

WWE's team of writers have until Monday to concoct some entertaining and engrossing mid-card storylines to fill the next fortnight of television with. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Santino and Zack Ryder are all deserving of increased exposure and would benefit greatly from working in a feature pay-per-view bout. The tag team of Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd looked promising before 'There Werewolf of Cape Town' got injured, a match between them and Truth in Paradise (or whatever they're being called this week) would serve as an ideal pay-per-view opener. Meanwhile Antonio Cesaro, Damien Sandow and Ryback are all making steady progress establishing themselves in WWE and would receive a boost by having a match announced for a supershow.
 
Now is the perfect time to reward these men by giving them time to shine on a big show. The key is to give every match a little history so shows don't feel rushed and cobbled together.
 
Randy Orton made a foolish mistake. He's fortunate that he's in the position he's in: being one of WWE's few bankable stars he can afford to do things like this and suffer only light repercussions. If he were further down the roster he would risk having his push curtailed and perhaps even getting fired. As it is he will return to the same spot he's had for many years once he’s served his sixty days because WWE finds it so difficult to create stars of his level.
 
It's not fair and it's not right but that's the WWE system for you. Nothing will protect ‘The Viper’ in the future though. His next violation will be his last. Let's just hope he learns his lesson before both he and the company he works for pay the price.

Limit Exceeded

This is not intended as a play-by-play recap of last Sunday's Over The Limit pay-per-view. There are plenty of those online already and I have no interest in transcribing matches. This is more about my reaction to the show.
 
WWE did a great job with their booking of Over The Limit. The undeniable highlight was the WWE title match between champion CM Punk and challenger Daniel Bryan. The two men were given the time to put together a Match of the Year contender worthy of their considerable reputations. The match was timed perfectly, featured plenty of memorable spots and was believable. That's a rare combination for wrestling matches these days (and not just in WWE).

CM Punk taunts Daniel Bryan before their excellent WWE title match

 
Towards the end of the match I found myself thinking that it would be a good choice of bout to show to non-fans as an example of how good wrestling can be. There aren't many higher accolades a match can get than that. Punk and Bryan deserve credit for producing such a compelling and memorable encounter and WWE deserve credit for giving them enough time to do so. It was by no means guaranteed that that would be the case.
 
The finish of the match saw 'The Straight Edge Superhero' reverse the Yes Lock into a pinning position, get the win, and then start tapping. It was slightly bizarre but it wasn't as bad as many people have made out. It was clearly done to setup a rematch. That's a good thing. Bryan and Punk will have plenty more encounters in the future which will have clean finishes. The finish does nothing to spoil the fine bout that preceded it.
 
On any other show the fatal four way match for the World Heavyweight championship would have stood out as the best thing on the card. It's the bad luck of combatants Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio that they found themselves competing with such a well-received Punk v Bryan match.
 
The four men constructed what was possibly the best four-way clash I've ever seen. Avoiding the regular WWE route of basic wrestling and brawling they constructed a match built around the well-timed execution of signature moves and finishers, giving us a match that rocketed along stuffed with near falls and false finishes. Something of a novelty by WWE standards, that formula worked so well because the men had so many moves at their disposal that fans have been conditioned to accept as match-finishers.
 
Elsewhere we had an entertaining tag title clash between champions R-Truth and Kofi Kingston and challengers Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. Over the last year 'The Show Off' and 'The All American American' have clashed with Kofi several times (alongside Truth as well as his Air Boom partner Evan Bourne). They never produce a bad match but the repetition does illustrate that WWE could do with investing in some duos. Titus O'Neil and Darren Young are not the shining stars the company’s tag ranks need.
 
On a side note WWE's website has recently been asking fans to vote for a team name for the tag champions (sadly Legion of Boom, one of the options for Kingston's team with Evan Bourne, didn't hasn’t been an option). Had WWE gotten their act together they could have been ready with a new team name for the pay-per-view. Isn't that exactly the sort of touch that PPV customers deserve? That's a minor quibble though: the tag match itself was excellent.
 
The show-opening battle royal was a forgettable affair, but then all such matches are. I was heartened when William Regal's elimination was met with boos from the audience: it's nice knowing that such a great wrestler is appreciated.
 
It was nice to finally see Christian back on WWE television too. The right decision has been made in turning him face as he has more opponents as a good guy and is one of WWE's most popular acts. Seeing him win his fourth Intercontinental title was nice for someone who's been a 'Captain Charisma' fan since the late nineties but I can't help thinking an opportunity was missed. Had an underutilised performer such as Tyson Kidd won the battle royal and been the man selected to topple Cody Rhodes later in the evening a new mid-card star would have been made in one night. 'The Instant Classic' was going to receive a warm welcome whenever he returned, he didn't need the IC title. A mid-carder would've benefited from the win far more.
 
Even the John Cena v John Laurinaitis match was booked well. The bout was sensibly played for laughs with Cena kicking Laurinaitis around ringside for the majority of the match. It wasn’t anything close to the best match on the show but it provided fans with a sight they’ve wanted to see for months: John Laurinaitis taking a beating.

The finish, which saw Big Show swerve turn on Cena, was utterly predictable but didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the evening. A surprise return in Show’s place would have been better but that was never going to be.

Why, Big Show? Why?

With Over The Limit WWE gave us their third consecutive pay-per-view worth watching. At a time when they are lambasted for having a shallow talent pool or not booking things properly (and I’m well aware I make those accusations on a regular basis myself) it’s pleasing to see that WWE can still turn out shows that, in and of themselves, are highly enjoyable. I want more of the same at No Way Out.

Over The Limit preview

WWE has been doing great work introducing new wrestlers to its TV product since WrestleMania. It's a shame the approach hasn't been extended to pay-per-views. Newcomers Damien Sandow, Ryback and Antonio Cesaro are all absent from this Sunday's supercard. Instead of an announced match featuring one of the newcomers WWE are (apparently) trying to establish as the stars of tomorrow we have a show with only five confirmed bouts, one of which features a clash between on-screen authority figure and failed wrestler John Laurinaitis and limited, overexposed muscleman John Cena. The supposed stars of tomorrow don't get a look-in.
 
When Cena v Laurinaitis was announced I assumed shortcuts would be added in the form of a relaxed rules gimmick match or guest referee (I was hoping David 'Botch Machine' Otunga). That would have allowed the combatants the luxury of having to worry about match quality even less than they will anyway. Surprisingly no shortcuts have been added. Instead WWE have stuck to this being a straight singles match, even going so far as to introduce a stipulation that anyone caught interfering would have their contract terminated.
 
Unfortunately that presents us with an all too predictable finishing sequence. Monday's RAW saw the storyline firing of Big Show because he failed to provide a satisfactory apology for making fun of John Laurinaitis's voice (yes, really) which the GM had made a sackable offence the previous week.
 
That development could be leading elsewhere but it seems to me a very simple way of having someone interfere in the match without terminating them. Big Show could help Laurinaitis to win, regaining his job and setting him up as the next opponent for Cena. The stipulation that Laurinaitis will be fired if he loses (an addition made by the Board of Directors) makes me inclined to believe that Cena is going to lose this one. There are no alternatives for the on-screen authority role (no, Triple H isn't an option: he's being used as a recurring character and is preparing for a feud with Brock Lesnar) so if Laurinaitis lost who would take over?
 
I expect the match will go on last and be an absolute abomination. Laurinaitis is a trained wrestler but he's not wrestled regularly for over a decade. By all accounts (including YouTube) he wasn't much good even in his "prime." There are men in WWE who may be capable of dragging a bearable match from him but John Cena certainly isn't one of them.
 
While Cena v Laurinaitis exemplifies the sports entertainment approach to wrestling WWE has popularised over the past three decades it could be considered that the WWE title match between champion CM Punk and challenger Daniel Bryan represents independent wrestling at its finest. Both men made names for themselves prior to signing with WWE, in particular Ring of Honor where they both enjoyed reigns with the promotion's prestigious world belt. They are not sports entertainment Superstars, they're wrestlers.
 
The expectations for Punk and Bryan to produce something memorable are understandably high. Both have received strong pushes over the last year and both have formidable reputations when it comes to quality wrestling bouts. This is undoubtedly the match that should go on last but I'm sure it's destined to play second fiddle to Johns Cena and Laurinaitis.
 
I expect this match to be the best of the night. I'm picking CM Punk to leave as the champion. I wouldn't be massively surprised if Daniel Bryan won because he's so talented and someone WWE management clearly see as a reliable headliner but such a switch would jar with recent booking. It's not impossible but it is unlikely.
 
Beth Phoenix v Layla should have been built up into something special but the creative team have let the Divas down. Again. WWE has the talent to create a decent Divas division (Layla, Phoenix, the waiting-in-the-wings Kharma, Natalya and the ever-improving Tamina) but continually fails to do so. Because of this approach very few people actually care about the Divas or their title. It's almost impossible not to regard women's matches on a WWE show with disinterest.
 
I imagine this will be standard Divas fare. That means it will be booked as filler. I will only be interested in it if Kharma returns, which isn't an impossibility. She could come back to attack the winner, establishing her as the next challenger. In an ideal world that would be Layla, which would allow Kharma to capture the pink belt in a squash and have Beth Phoenix chasing her.
 
A winner? I'll pick Layla. Why? I'm hopeful WWE are going to do the right thing.
 
If the Divas division is in a bad way the tag team scene can only be described as worse. The doubles gold is thrown on to any two convenient singles guys who aren't doing anything else and gets sporadically defended before a new duo gets slotted together at the last minute to take the gold, leaving the original duo to fade into obscurity and never regain their prize. It's a frustrating approach as there are so many men on the roster doing nothing of value that it would easy to create three or four new teams and start work on rebuilding the division. The company sees no value in tag teams though, so we're unlikely to see that cycle change any time soon.
 
The match in and of itself will be good. Ziggler is one of WWE's best talents while Kingston and Swagger could both be bigger stars than they are if given the chance. R-Truth is the odd one out in that he's never going to produce the best matches on a show but he does stand out thanks to his gimmick. It should be a fun diversion. Ideally it will open the show or be placed around the mid-way point to break things up a bit. If we get to see 'The Show Off' interact with Little Jimmy so much the better.
 
As good as Swagger and Ziggler are as a team and as much as they would be the ideal candidates to head the division I don't think we'll see a title change. The promotion seems intent on pushing Air Truth, or whatever name they're going by this week, for the foreseeable future.
 
Finally there's the four-way World Heavyweight championship match. Had WWE concocted a long-term booking plan they could have given us two singles matches at this show and held off the four-way for next month's No Way Out. A World title match between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio and a number one contendership match between Orton and Jericho (ending in some form of shenanigans to get them both into the title picture for June) would have been the better approach.
 
That would have allowed the four-way to come about naturally and given each man more room to breathe as a performer, rather than all cramming into one match slot. It would have bulked the card up to six matches too. That would have been a big positive: a five match pay-per-view seems a paltry offering for the biggest wrestling company in the world.

Proof, if proof were needed, that being on the poster of a WWE pay-per-view does not ensure the show will be built around you

 
The booking of Orton over the last few weeks could be the groundwork for a heel turn. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing: while he keeps getting good reactions as a blue eye he's not been part of a decent feud since the beginning of the year and there are several babyface stars 'The Viper' could elevate if he were to switch to the dark side. If that is the plan I don't expect him to turn at Over The Limit. While WWE generally rushes things these days they tend to book their bigger stars with care. It's something to bear in mind though.
 
I'd like this match to be great. It has the potential to be but something tells me it will fall short. Its quality will depend on Jericho not being sloppy and the crowd popping for face versus face action when 'The Apex Predator' and 'Great White' clash. Neither is assured.
 
Sheamus is my pick to win. WWE are said to want him to have a lengthy title run (which I agree he needs as it would help to establish him as a reliable good guy that fans can believe in) and I'm of the opinion that none of the other competitors have been adequately prepared to replace him at the top.
 
On the whole OTL looks like another lacklustre WWE B show. However I'm pretty sure that was the sentiment I expressed before Extreme Rules and that turned out to be very good. Laurinaitis v Cena aside (and even that has novelty value) every announced match could conceivably be worthwhile if given enough time and the right finish. Let's hope WWE pulls off another surprise performance.

Predictions summary:

John Laurinaitis to defeat John Cena
CM Punk to defeat Daniel Bryan
Sheamus to defeat Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton
R-Truth and Kofi Kingston to defeat Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger
Layla to defeat Beth Phoenix

The Many Opponents of John Cena

Are WWE trying to convince us of John Cena's versatility as a headline wrestler? I ask because I cannot remember the last time his pay-per-view schedule was as varied as it has been lately.
 
The Royal Rumble (WWE’s January PPV offering) saw Cena battle Kane in what was a fairly standard Cena outing. That was followed at February’s Elimination Chamber with an arena-touring Ambulance match brawl. At WrestleMania he had a mildly underwhelming but still very well received sports entertainment extravaganza with The Rock and Extreme Rules saw him tackle Brock Lesnar in a gripping pseudo-worked-shoot affair that was a far cry from anything WWE has done for a very long time and was an even further cry from Cena’s comfort zone.

Nobody else on the roster has had anywhere near as much variety throughout 2012 as Cena.
 
Last Monday night's RAW brought us the news that Cena will be facing John Laurinaitis at Over The Limit on May 20^th. While the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and permanent General Manager of RAW and SmackDown may be a former wrestler he is to all intents and purposes a non-worker. That means this match will likely have some sort of relaxed rules gimmick applied to it before the event rolls around. It’s highly likely Lord Tensai and his manservant will play a role in the match too, considering they joined the GM in a beatdown of the company’s top star on the April 30^th RAW. This means there are already plenty of shortcut options visible for this match.

This is what WWE thinks its audience wants to see...

Why WWE has made the Laurinaitis v Cena match remains unclear. It’s possible it will turn out to be a stepping stone to a Cena v Tensai feud. That’s been rumoured since before Matt ‘Tensai’ Bloom returned to the organisation. Their meeting on the April 16^th RAW was enjoyable by Cena standards, which makes me hopeful that that’s WWE’s long term plan.

If this isn’t their plan then it’s a very peculiar direction to go in. It’s well established that Cena is a limited worker so putting him in the ring with a man even more limited is not a smart way to get a good match. By extension that means the overall quality of the pay-per-view will be lowered. At a time when WWE is finding the numbers for its secondary shows falling quality is something they should have an eye on.

Hopefully Over The Limit will give us another chance to observe Laurinaitis's superb selling

Does anyone anywhere actually want to see a Laurinaitis v Cena match? I know I don’t. I’d much rather see Cena make an attempt at elevating some new talent. You also have to ask what ‘Big Johnny’s’ storyline logic for making this match will be (presumably that will be revealed on the May 7^th RAW). Why would he want to book himself in a match with someone who is tougher and (supposedly) better at wrestling? Why would he want to get rid of the promotion’s most successful draw? It just doesn’t make any sense.

But that’s WWE storylines for you, they rarely worry about logic.

Can WWE convince us that Cena is a varied worker with their recent booking of him? In fairness I can’t be sure that that’s their goal but it certainly seems like it is. Personally it’s going to take more than a bearable match with ‘Mr Excitement’ to convince me Cena has suddenly turned into an amazing worker but it could be a nice diversion on a B Level pay-per-view, if it’s given a logical reason for happening. The show is still a few weeks away so there's enough time for that to occur.

I will say this though: if Laurinaitis hits an Ace Crusher on John Cena the bout will be closer to success than failure.

Over the Limit preview

Just three weeks ago WWE gave us Extreme Rules. While it wasn’t the greatest WWE event ever it surprised a lot of people by being an above average show. Unfortunately the latest pay-per-view offering, Over the Limit, doesn’t look likely to replicate the that success. The trouble is that three weeks just isn’t a long enough amount of time to justify another pay-per-view. Making matters worse is the fact that nowhere near enough time is being spent penning feuds that people will want to spend money to see. Miz versus Cena has been rumbling on since February, and this will mark their third pay-per-view main event in a row. Meanwhile Ezekiel Jackson and Wade Barrett have had a falling out in the three weeks since the last supershow. One feud has dragged on too long, the other has been rushed. Is it too much to ask for something in the middle?

It’s not all bad though. There are some feuds on the show that have, so far, gotten everything right. Randy Orton and Christian look as though they’re heading towards something pretty big, and R-Truth v Rey Mysterio, whilst thrown together fairly quickly because of a sudden injury to Truth’s planned opponent John Morrison, should be a solid mid-card match. Truth’s new heel character has not been universally accepted but I like it. Truth has excelled as a whiney heel that refuses to accept responsibility for his own shortcomings. He’s blamed everyone but himself for his problems, as all heels should, and sounded convincing doing it. He’s not my favourite wrestler on the roster but he’s reliable, and being in the ring with Rey will raise his profile and should provide an enjoyable contest.

What interests me is the long term plans for Truth. He was originally going to face Morrison at Over the Limit (and presumably Capitol Punishment as well) and then go on to face Rey at SummerSlam. Looking at recent booking I would guess that Mysterio’s original opponent for OtL was Alberto Del Rio. That match getting bumped is unfortunate for ADR, but I would imagine he’ll still make an appearance. WWE have spent too much time building him up to not use him on the show. The most likely scenario would be ADR costing Mysterio the match. Hopefully that would lead to Morrison and Mysterio v Del Rio and R-Truth at Capitol Punishment.

Whatever the result I’m pleased to see evidence of the company attempting to elevate some of its underutilised talent. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for the women’s division. Kelly Kelly has recently been featured in Maxim so I can understand why she’s appearing, but Brie Bella is a different story. The fact that she hasn’t dropped the Divas’ championship to Gail Kim, Melina, Beth Phoenix, Layla or Natalya can only be taken as yet another sign that WWE has no interest in promoting a serious and competitive women’s division.

This match exists only to capitalise on Kelly’s current popularity and as an excuse to have Kharma (formerly Awesome Kong) do another run-in. The story is that Kharma has attacked every diva she’s encountered except for Kelly. We’re supposed to wonder why this is, but I find it hard to care. The match will probably end with Kharma helping Kelly win the title and then doing some creepy staring at her.

Another match done a disservice by the writing team is Chavo Guerrero v Sin Cara. This bout has apparently been planned for a while but has been given very little in terms of television build. On the plus side it should be another example of just how good Sin Cara is and be a standout match for the event. There’s no way Chavo will win but it should be fun to watch.

Sticking with the theme of people the writing team is not using to their full potential let’s look at CM Punk. It’s true that not everyone can be in the main event all the time, but it’s been far too long since Punk was given a run as a credible singles performer with no baggage at ringside. I enjoyed the Straight Edge Society but it never really amounted to anything. It’s the same with the Nexus: the initial shock of seeing him put on the group’s armband was great, but since then he’s basically been commanding a team of green jobbers. He needs to sever ties with the Nexus and be given a singles feud with someone with whom he can produce top matches. Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger or John Morrison would be the people I’d consider for the role, before having Punk turn face and work as the first title challenger for Del Rio after SummerSlam.

CM Punk and Mason Ryan v Big Show and Kane could be decent if it doesn’t overstay its welcome and Ryan’s involvement is kept to a minimum. Show and Kane are best used as a team at this point in time, and if anyone can give them a good tag match it’s Punk. I think the original plan was probably to have Punk and Ryan win the belts, but with the amount of fluffs the Welshman has made in the past couple of weeks I now think the champions will retain.

The match that most intrigues me is Ezekiel Jackson v Wade Barrett. I don’t think it will be especially entertaining or memorable, but I want to see how Jackson is booked. If he makes short work of his former teammate and wins the match decisively it would help to reinvigorate him as a babyface. He was working out quite nicely in the role last year on RAW and I’d like to see that push resumed. SmackDown could do with another popular face and there are worse people than Big ‘Zeke for the role.

At the very bottom of the “things I’m looking forward to about Over the Limit” list is Jerry Lawler v Michael Cole. There’s just no appeal left. The feud should have ended at WrestleMania with Lawler decisively winning their match by knocking Cole out cold. Instead of that they subjected viewers to fifteen minutes of wrestling so bad it is best described as “punishment for the eye”. Not only that but they topped it off with the obnoxious heel winning. Over the Limit will, ridiculously, be their third pay-per-view clash in a row. The fact that this is currently the promotion’s longest running feud tells you one thing: it needs to stop. I hope the match is quick and that Cole finally loses. With all the whacky stipulations involved in the match I think that’s unlikely.

Appropriately, it’s the two world title matches that are going to carry the show. Miz has managed to drag bearable matches out of Cena several times now (most notably their 2^nd May bout on RAW) which bodes well for Over the Limit. I expect Cena to retain so he has the title for the rumoured SummerSlam feud with Alberto Del Rio, but I don’t know how he’ll do it. Over the years Cena has been booked to win gimmick matches in a variety of weird and wonderful ways, from threatening JBL with an exhaust pipe at Judgment Day 2005 to (ludicrously) taping Batista down at last year’s Extreme Rules in their Last Man Standing match. He will win, but it’s impossible to predict how.

While Cena v Miz is expected to go on last it’s Christian v Orton that will almost certainly be the better match. Christian’s world title win was greeted warmly three weeks ago, fans were pleased that he had finally achieved the big win after such a long time with the company. His loss of the championship two nights later originally seemed like a mistake, but hopefully it was the beginning of the best feud SmackDown’s roster has to offer. I predict Christian will lose again at Over the Limit and then either refuse to shake Orton’s hand or jump him from behind, the result of frustration at not being able to win the title back. Christian would blame the fans for his bad luck against Orton as they were the ones who selected Orton to challenge him for the belt in the first place. I had hoped Orton would be the one to turn heel and Christian would remain as a face, but it looks as if the reverse will be true. They’ll have great matches no matter who the heel is. Hopefully Over the Limit will be the first of a few PPV matches for them.

The omission of Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio and Cody Rhodes is frustrating as they’re the men that should be getting built up for the future. Del Rio and Cody in particular had a lot of momentum until a few weeks ago, and missing a pay-per-view is a setback neither man needs. Let’s hope WWE has plans for both at Capitol Punishment.

On paper it’s a show that doesn’t look amazing. Only Christian v Orton and Mysterio v Truth are going to definitely get the time they need to impress. The rest of the card will either be short changed on time or is a poor match to begin with. WWE could surprise us as they did with Extreme Rules, but I won’t hold my breath. This is one show that I can’t see exceeding WWE’s limits.