What Wasn't Televised Live
- The merch stand didn't have a Daniel Bryan t-shirt. FASCISTS. I ended up getting my fallback option, the CM Punk Best in the World tee, which I wore. Awesome.
- My seat was the first row after the camera track. They were awesome seats.
- Ted DiBiase defeated Dean Ambrose in a paint-by-numbers pre-show dark match with Dream Street. Before the match, Ambrose got on the mic and told everyone they'd remember where they were the first time they saw him. It got a good reaction; I think Ambrose will do just fine when he gets the call-up.
- Superstars tapings began with a match between Alex Riley and Michael McGillicutty. Yeah, the less said about this the better, although for whatever reason, Riley got a good reaction. WHAT? Anyhoo, Riley won with the TKO.
- Pretty neat tag match was the ostensible Superstars main event for the week. I think it was non-title, featuring the Ghan-Am Connection against Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins, who call themselves the Midcard Mafia. They actually had a sign in the crowd. Weird. Anyway, this was a pretty competent match. It's amazing how much tag team chemistry Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne have developed over their tenure as a team. Weird, it's almost as if tag team wrestling gets better on a show when they feature tag teams. Anyway, standard Ghan-Am finish, with a Trouble in Paradise into a shooting star press. It bears noting that Kingston's offense looks a lot better live than he does on TV.
- Both Superstars matches elicited "WE WANT RYDER!" chants. I think fans want to see him, don't you?
- Cole got booed so hard when he came out before the show. So. Hard.
- They had a commercial break segment where Justin Roberts had the cameras spotlighting signs. Someone brought a "FIRE ANDY" sign, which if anyone who follows the NFL knows, refers to Eagles head coach Andy Reid. It elicited some audible "Fire Andy" chants.
- Dark match main event featured John Cena against Kane in what was long for a match of its type. I think they may have been running through potential spots and tropes for a future PPV match. Cena sold previous injuries from the show (more on that later) on AA attempts as well. Kane got frustrated and planted a chair in Cena's gut for the DQ loss. He laid out Cena with a chokeslam, went up the ramp, then came down to tease a tombstone before Cena reversed it into an AA. Afterwards, Cena got on the mic, thanked the crowd and wished us all a happy holiday.
Observations and Thoughts on What Was Televised
- The opening segment was AMAZING. I hope it played out as well on television as it did live. Just amazing energy for all three guys, Punk especially.
- It almost felt like Wade Barrett was proactively selling the stitches on his head on Randy Orton's 10-punch spot in the corner. I liked that bit.
- Since when does a thumb to the eye warrant a disqualification, by the way?
- One guy to the left of where I was sitting definitely tried to start a "WE WANT KANA" chant before the Divas atrocity. He was my hero.
- Beth Phoenix totally gave herself that inverted DDT. Alicia Fox is a war criminal. When she got on the stick after her win, the crowd absolutely shit on her. I have never been prouder of my city than I was at that monent.
- Jinder Mahal came out for his match against Sheamus, and the arena almost literally died. Like, people reacted for Sheamus' theme song at open and close of the match and that was it. Holy shit, when will those fucknozzles learn that in 2011, it's going to take more than a guy looking different to garner heel heat?
- Mark Henry coming out to respond to Cena before Kane was pretty surprising. He got a pretty loud "SEXUAL CHOCOLATE" chant, which was the second best chant of the night, after "FIRE ANDY"
- ETA: Forgot to add that the spot where Kane choked Cena out with his glove was LEGITIMATELY creepy. Future impetus for a coal miner's glove match? *shudder*
- I felt bad for the tag match, because no one reacted to anything.
- Santino interrupting Cody Rhodes was probably the biggest laugh for the crowd. As far as comedic segments went, that one was one of the better ones they've done lately.
- I don't know if this was noticed at home, but when Cody Rhodes' theme was playing, they kept rolling Santino's Titantron.
- First and only backstage segment aired at 10:36 PM. That is the sign of a good show.
- Vickie Guerrero is WAY hotter in person. Like, it can definitely be noticed how good she looks. Kudos to her, because she doesn't need a lot of airbrushing at all.
- All three faces for the main event came through the crowd, which was a great touch.
- One thing I noticed throughout the match was Ziggler holding onto the tag ropes. Such a great touch, Ziggler is the consummate pro. I really want nothing for him except the best.
- On the other side of the ring, Punk pantomiming Ryder's fist pump before the Broski boot was just as awesome. When the top guys get behind the less established talent like Punk and Cena do, I think it really makes for a better show.
- I dare anyone to find a person who marked out harder when Alberto del Rio tapped out to the LeBell Lock. The pop Bryan got there was the loudest of the evening. Bar none. It was the absolute right call for that match, and the perfect cap to a damn good telecast.
- People were tending to del Rio after the match, but I didn't really think it to be anything but selling. I guess we'll find out more tomorrow.
Final thoughts... holy shit, what a show. This was the perfect birthday present to me from WWE. I loved nearly every moment of it, and I'm so glad my wife decided to get me these tickets for my birthday. Woo woo woo, you know it!
