| Falls
Count Anywhere
7/18/2011
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| OG -- Original Gargantua. |
Welcome to Falls Count Anywhere! My name is Chris and Booyah!
Well, they did it. The WWE finally put on a PPV that got folks talking. The world of wrestling had been buzzing about CM Punk for three weeks and the PPV comes and no one is sure what’s going to happen and the WWE blows the roof off with an amazing show and an amazing main event that leaves the door open for so much.
I realize I haven’t written about the CM Punk series of events, so here it is, all in one tidy package.
CM Punk delivered a promo at the end of RAW on June 26th that basically said “Vince McMahon and I don’t see eye to eye and I’m sick of it!” Punk talked about how he liked John Cena (and how most of the locker room doesn’t, which is something of an understatement) and how he was the best wrestler in the world.
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| The best wrestler in the world! |
He didn’t use the term Sports Entertainer. He said Wrestler. He talked about how he hadn’t signed a new contract, about how he was tired, about wanting to win the title and then go to Ring of Honor and defend against Colt Cabana, which I popped for. He talked about the issues he had with the product and that things might get better if Vince dies and leaves the company to his stupid daughter and doofus son-in-law. They then cut his mic.
This was the one that got every smartmark in the world talking. It was a huge deal and there were folks who thought it was a shoot, but really, it was the kind of thing that Brian Pillman would have done back in his Crazy Horsemen days.
The next week, Vince came out and said Punk was suspended and Cena came out and did everything he could to get Punk brought back and for him to have a match with him at Money in the Bank. Cena finally got it, but Vince said that if Punk walks out of Chicago with the belt, then Cena would be fired. That set things up.
You see, smart fans know that wording is important and that all they had to do was have the Money in the Bank Ladder match winner challenge Punk right after the match and pin him to keep the title off of Punk, who could then go off and take time off, field some other options and heal up.
Because he really hadn’t signed a new deal. Or maybe he had and it included a break for him to get better. He’s hurting but not too seriously, but he’s been going for 5 years as one of the most frequent wrestlers in the WWE and doing a tough style. He needs a break.
So, the match was set, and then at the RAW before the PPV, he delivered a great promo with Cena in the ring and then did a great contract negotiation segment with Vince. That was brilliant as he said that he demanded they bring back the WWF Ice Cream bars and put his face on one. That made me laugh a lot! He ended up not signing and they went off the air with Punk just sitting at the top of the ramp.
The Money in the Bank PPV was one of the all-time great pay-per-views. It was as good as the famous Canadian Stampede show from 1997. The SmackDown! Money in the Bank Ladder match was different than a lot of the others as they told more of a story about The Corre with Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett.
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| Sheamus takes down Sin Cara! |
Sheamus, by the way, is a guy who needs to be the focus of SmackDown! again because he’s a star who can pull it off. He gave Sin Cara a great powerbomb off the apron and through the ladder. They carted Cara off which was a nice touch. Daniel Bryan ended up winning, which was something of a surprise and I hope it leads to Bryan getting a run with a belt.
There was a women’s match (it wasn’t good), and a match between Mark Henry and The Big Show (better than it had to be) and then the Raw Money in the Bank match. It was more of a spotfest than the SD! edition, but it was a lot of fun.
They had The Miz take a bump and act like he had blown out his knee. This was a replay of the Sin Cara spot, I thought, and they carted him out. Since Sin Cara didn’t come back, we all figured The Miz was gone too, but he limped back in and almost won before Rey knocked him off the ladder. There was a great spot where all the guys were on the top of various ladders and that was a scene for a DVD cover.
Eventually, it ended up being Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio on the top of the ladder and Alberto pulled off Rey’s mask. That was supposed to lead to the finish, but the ladders all tumbled over and Alberto had to reset and then got the win. There was a scary moment where Kofi came down on Jack Swagger’s chest. Apparently Alberto was shaken up after the match. I also have a lot of respect for The Miz as he sold that knee almost as well as Jimmy Garvin in his famous match with Ric Flair.
Orton and Christian had a match where Orton could lose the title via DQ. He got DQed after Christian spit in his face and he just beat the crap out of him. Orton followed by destroying him for about 5 minutes after the match. It did what it had to.
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| Men fear him, women love him. He is Cena. |
The Punk vs. Cena match had more heat, tension and drama than any American match I’ve seen since Austin vs. Bret at WrestleMania 13. The crowd LOVED Punk and they HATED Cena. There was one dueling chant, with all the guys chanting for Punk, all the women for Cena. It was brief, but it was awesome.
Cena worked hard and set-up every transition well, which is important in a match like this. Punk? Well, he’s always great, but it’s good to see that Cena can hang with the top guys and not let himself be carried.
What’s impressive here is that you could see the star of Punk rising to the point where I would say he’s the next Shawn Michaels. He’ll come back like Shawn did in 2002 and be a big star, the top star, and ride it out for the rest of his career.
Punk was obviously hurting some, but he pulled through and delivered an amazing match. The finish saw Vince and Johnny Ace come out. Cena got Punk in the STF and Vince called for the bell, but it didn’t ring. He sent Johnny out to get them to ring the bell, but Cena headed him off and punched Johnny Ace! That was awesome! Punk then caught him when Cena came back in and gave him the GTS to get the pin.
That was an amazing pop, but then Vince grabbed the mic and told Alberto to come down and cash in the briefcase. He came out, but Punk kicked him and left through the crowd without a match taking place. Great ending.
This was a magical moment and who knows how they’ll follow it up, but for one night, WWE managed to capture lightning in a bottle.
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