Jack Swagger defeated Matt Hardy to retain ECW title
Both wrestlers seemed a little lethargic to me, still an enjoyable match but probably not the kind of PPV quality I expect. There was a genuine lack of understanding and skill between the two workers. Not totally unenjoyable but still not great, and was shown up quite badly by the 'lesser' womens match that followed it. 6/10.
Melina defeats Beth Phoenix to win Divas title
An interesting match, still I wasnt able to avert my mind from thinking when will this end as I always seem to do in womens matchs on PPV. Still, it had its moments and as women's matchs go it was pretty good. Its a shame Santino wasnt used just a little bit more. Beth kicking Melina in the head with her own foot was worth the time taken to watch it. 8/10.
John Cena defeats JBL to retain World Heavyweight title
This match suffered from the overwhelming problem it pre supposed for itself. How does Shawn get involved when JBL isnt the defending champion, offcourse that was always going to mean the referee got knocked out. The second major problem was when will Shawn get involved, the match seemed intent on labouring our thoughts on that and it was to the detriment of the contest. I really wanted to see Cena and JBL go hard at it first, sadly that wasnt to be. I thought it was a really predictable match. JBL was a little disapointing, he is my favourite wrestler, but just didnt work the ring as well as he can tonight. Perhaps that was because of the overly scripted nature of the contest. Cena was as good as he ever is really, un spectacular, two dimensional on the mat. Both cena and JBL just seemed to be working towards the scripted closer without much more tension or effort expelled to take attention away from it. The commentary team went to the point of utter stupidty carrying on about shawn moving ropes etc or getting involved when he clearly didnt, standing there like a zombie for 98% of the match. Shawn's intervention seemed to be the entire point of the match, I know offcourse that it was, but the journey shouldnt always be about the destination. With such talent on offer, so much charisma at play the match really lacked heart, skill and some imagination to me. 5/10.
Edge defeats Jeff Hardy to win WWE title
Easily the best match of the evening, but again suffered from the seemingly ho hum journey toward the end scene. The enjoyment factor was there though, no surprise really with Edge, geurrero x 2 and Jeff/matt hardy all being involved at various points. I thought Jeff tried really hard and was entertaining, Edge was his usual interesting self and the Matt Hardy shock was a great ending to what was a fun match. The only match of the night that i thought was really up to PPV standards. The twists were great, the action entertaining. 8/10.
Randy Orton wins Royal Rumble
A huge let down for me. The match floated from mediocre to boring and in between we had some of the most highly scripted wrestling i have seen in years. I wasnt for one second concerned that any of the wrestlers were leaving the ring until offcourse it was there time to leave and that to me ruined the tension and excitement that is the hallmark of a good rumble match. At no point did I suspect anything other than the Legacy and HHH were going to be left to last. Kendrick and Santino leaving early were both telegraphed to the point of waiting for it to take place. The production was terrible, and for such a scripted contest you would think that the director could at least get a shot of a wrestler being taken out. Several wrestlers were taken out of the ring out of shot, which really capped of a pretty awful production of the main event. Kane's bitch slap on Big Show being one of the really enjoyable moments in the event, Kane in general was great, and showed just how well he works off the cuff. Hacksaw Jim and RVD couldnt save this one im affraid. It really needed a super surpirse at 30 ala last year to turn it around. All in all, way too heavily scripted, predictable, a little boring and poor production left me pretty cold. 5/10.
