Alright now here's my take on this.
Pre-show match: El Torito vs Hornswoggle.
Out of every match tonight, much to everyone else's chagrin, I enjoyed this match the most. Which quite frankly shouldn't happen, but you know what I genuinely found great entertainment value out of this. They utilized the whole mini and extreme theme to a tee, and it wasn't too overdone either. I thought both guys did a good job with what they were given, and it was a great way to kick off the show. Fun match, and I think that should be the end of the feud.
Match 1: Cesaro vs RVD vs Swagger.
Oh dear god, must I really review this match? After a great pre-show opening match, this match was slow paced and sloppy (mainly on RVD's part). There was nothing too special about it, and there was nothing exciting about it in terms of spots. Cesaro and Swagger meshed decently, but nothing was really done with that considering the whole focus was behind having Cesaro beat RVD, as RVD is a former main eventer. Cesaro and RVD failed to mesh at all throughout the match, hence why I continue to reiterate the point of sloppiness. The trash can spot didn't do much in terms of spots, and neither did the spinning heel kick from the ropes. The high risk spots were also not too great other than some nice splashes by RVD. Overall, not an enjoyable match my most means, and it should've just been Swagger vs Cesaro.
Match 2: Rusev vs Truth and Woods
I don't think any of us expected anything special going into this. I do like the fact that they had Rusev destroy the two outside the ring using the ring and the outside environment. It briefly helped showcase him as a dominant force, but again, having him face someone like R Truth and Xavier Woods does not give him credibility. Squash matches don't help build up his power, and imo, he should face another big guy or at least someone credible. Hell, there are even some reports coming in that Sheamus fell asleep during this match, that's downright embarrassing. It was just another squash match that we've seen on RAW, and it served no purpose on this PPV.
Match 3: Bad News Barrett vs Big E
This match was good. They had some nice spots, mainly with Barrett with the beautiful Winds of Change, and a nice Wasteland. Had decent back and forth action throughout the match, no one was too dominant in my opinion, and the pacing was fine. I'm glad to see Barrett win the title and hopefully bring some prestige back to it. As for Big E, it's sad to see how far he's dropped with that title. When he won it originally, he got a good pop and continued to get somewhat good pops, but with the lack of good booking and no real feuds or title defenses and no gimmick, it's easy to see why they gave it to Barrett, and they had every reason to. Good match, should see a rematch at Payback or something, which should be good.
Match 4: Shield vs Evolution
Okay, I know I'm going to get ragged on for this, but I didn't enjoy this match at all really. It was usually either dominant offense from one side or the other, never really back and forth. With that being said, most of the match was way too dependent on spots rather than actual wrestling. Literally, near the end, once all the spots and finishers came in in and outside of the ring, you knew it was almost over. Especially when Rollins, Ambrose, HHH, and Orton spilled outside of the arena, you knew that of course both meatheads would finish the match but with Reigns on top. As much as I hate Reigns though, I'll avoid the whole ending aspect considering it was extremely predictable. For what this match could've been, there could've at least been something extreme in it instead of the spots involving mainly moves, mainly to fit with the PPV gimmick, but sadly that didn't happen. Oh well, more wasted potential, and more wasted time.
Match 5: Bray Wyatt vs Cena
One of the if not the worst match of the night. The whole match was so amazingly predictable with boring "spots" and outside interference in what is supposed to be a STEEL CAGE match. I don't care if they're trying to have the Wyatts interfere or not, it's downright stupid and defeats the point of a steel cage match. It also makes Bray look completely weak, by having him appear as unable to win the match without the aid of the Wyatts. There was nothing to like about this match in my mind, and the whole chances where Cena could've easily escaped made the match look even more stupid. Now, the ending. Dear god, the ending. The ending to this match was the worst thing I've ever seen in wrestling in a long time. It was that bad. I don't care if it's trying to serve a psychological aspect or something along the lines of that, having some little kid come out and sing the stupid song in a distorted voice is the dumbest idea ever come up with. He could've easily escaped countless times throughout the match, and here, where escape is easy, he just doesn't? Especially because it's some kid? I'm not buying any of that crap. Oh, and Wyatt wins, as predicted. Stupid as hell match, god awful ending. I'm surprised I still watched after this.
Match 6: Paige vs Tamina
Obvious "cool down" match after the "exciting" match that Cena and Bray had. This match wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Their styles didn't mesh together too well, similar to the problems Cesaro and RVD had. Pacing wasn't too bad, and we had some decent action. There were several obvious botches, most notably the referee botched 3 count. Overall, nothing too special, just a quick filler before the main event.
Match 7: Bryan vs Kane
Again, for the PPV theme, I understand that this is supposed to go with the Extreme gimmick. Unlike the Shield vs Evolution match though, this one actually did some nice extreme things, mainly with the going backstage and all. Again, nothing too special in terms of wrestling, but the whole weapon usage was fine by me. Played off the whole Kane monster gimmick thing, which I had no problem with. The forklift spot was just plain weird though, as I would've imagine Kane would've been able to get up in all that time. As for the spot after that, it was a completely obvious ripoff of another spot seen at Wrestlemania 21 MITB match, with Benoit doing the diving headbutt to Kane. I didn't appreciate it for one thing, and it just served no purpose being there. It makes sense cause the DH is his signature, but still, something more creative could've been done. There were more spots and such after that, but then the ending. Now, when you see Kane pour gas on the table, there's an obvious middle spot open with no gas, and although I can understand why he did that, it looked a bit too obvious. Kane went through the table and all which was cool, but nothing really happened, and Kane had to be extinguished immediately, unlike the spot where it was taken from with Edge vs Foley from WM 22, in which Foley wasn't extinguished at all. Then Kane gets back in the ring and knee, 1 2 3. It's all over, but the feud isn't and I expect it to continue at Payback.
Overall, wasn't really that good of a payperview. I'll give it a 3.82 out of 10.
1: Just imagined this situation and had a good laugh.
