WWE Over the Limit 2012 Review: Grading Every Superstar's Performance

WWE's Over the Limit was semi-eventful with some clear hits and misses like most pay-per-view shows. I think most WWE fans would agree the main event was a miss in just about every way.

Then again, I knew it would be. Some of the surprises that could have made the John Cena vs, John Laurinaitis matchup a little better didn't happen. Instead we were given the most predictable of all scenarios to help Big Johnny keep his job.

All in all it was still entertaining, and that was because of the stand-out performances from some of the superstars. Here is a complete report card for each superstar that walked that aisle, in order of appearance:

Zack Ryder - C+

Ryder had a decent showing in a match everyone knew he'd lose vs. Kane. His offense lasted a little longer than I expected, but ultimately he got his Woo Woo Woo kicked.

Kane - B-

The consummate professional is always filling in where needed. At Over the Limit his mission was to destroy Zack Ryder on Youtube: mission accomplished.

Santino - C+

He didn't actually wrestle, but at least he made me laugh asking Cody "not to make a pee-pee in his pants."

Cody Rhodes - C-

Cody is pretty good in the ring, but he needs a new gimmick quick. He is out-shined in every promo he appears, and the nerdy-maniacal thing isn't working. All that and he lost the Intercontinental Championship to a dude that had already worked a battle royal.

Here is my twitter hash-tag for him: #badnight

Heath Slater - D

Those annoying test of the Emergency Broadcast System stay on screen longer than Slater did, I should have tweeted and hash-tagged: #whyevenshowup 

The Rest of Battle Royal Jobbers - The Usos, William Regal, Drew McIntyre, Titus O'Neill, Great Khali, Alex Riley, Great Khali, Darren Young, JTG, Jinder Mahal, David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, Curt Hawkins, Tyler Reks, Yoshi Tatsu - C-

These guys appeared in the battle royal, and in Otunga's case, backstage. But they didn't make any significant impact to the show.

The Miz - C

He continues his descent down the WWE ranks. He made a decent showing in the battle royal, but made a fool of himself in a dance-off with Brodus Clay before jobbing to him.

My, how the mighty have fallen.

Tyson Kidd - C+

The over-tanned man was shown some love in the battle royal. He was one of the last four, and he pulled off some impressive moves. Is he about to receive a push?

It's not a bad idea, he and Sin Cara would be a cool matchup to see.

Christian - A

Not only did he win a battle royal, but he came back later to win the Intercontinental Championship. He showed great stamina in working two matches, and received a nice push.

Kofi Kingston - A+

Kofi is one of the top three in-ring performers in the WWE, in my opinion, and he showed that at Over the Limit. He had two wow moments during he and R-Truth's successful title defense.

The way he jumped into the ring from the top rope was amazing. He flew almost from one side of the ring to the other; then the Trouble in Paradise on Dolph Ziggler to win it was epic.

R-Truth - B-

Truth had a couple good moments, but mostly he took a beating from Jack Swagger and Ziggler to set-up Kingston's entrance.

Jack Swagger - C+

He didn't do anything too amazing, but he was solid as usual. He needs a singles push to be at his best.

Dolph Ziggler - B+

Ziggler was dynamic in defeat. He nearly matched Kofi's amazing athleticism in selling the impact of several maneuvers. He was very good at Over the Limit.

Beth Phoenix - C

Phoenix was her normal solid self, but there was a botch or two. One was definitely Layla's fault, but she won the match and—hey it's Layla, so I forgive her.

Layla - B-

Layla is so damn fine she got a C just for walking to the ring. In the ring she did a good job making it look like she could actually defeat Beth Phoenix, who just two months ago was made to look unbeatable.

I guess Kharma isn't coming back anytime soon.

Alberto Del Rio - C+

He was the least impressive of the four guys in the Fatal Four Way, but he didn't stink up the joint either. He looked a step slower than his opponents.

Chris Jericho - B-

Jericho put over another champion by taking Sheamus' White Noise and getting covered for the pin. He also did a nice promo with Randy Orton before the match. In the match, his countered Lionsault was the highlight of his evening.

Randy Orton - B

The Viper was pretty good, and he got a nasty cut on his forehead for his efforts. He had a few "vintage Orton" moments, and honestly I thought he was going to win the title. Instead he and Jericho seem to be headed for a feud.

Sheamus - B+

He retained his title, did a decent job with his stamina, and kept up with the action better than the smaller Del Rio. 

Brodus Clay - C

Clay didn't look great in destroying the Miz. I'm getting tired of "somebody call my momma." 

If I were tweeting about Clay I would have hash-tagged: #timetotakethenextstep

CM Punk - A

Punk was awesome in the match of the night in my opinion. He sold Bryan's moves well, did his own thing, and worked in a tribute to Randy "Macho Man" Savage. All this and he retained his title in a controversial ending.

He gets the opposite of Rhodes' twitter hash tag: #goodnight

Daniel Bryan - A+

Bryan was the star of the night for me. He was flawless in his execution, if he made an error I didn't catch it. The array of submission moves was awesome, and he and Punk did a great job kicking their feud into high gear.

Camacho and Hunico - D

They came, they saw, they got conquered—next.

Ryback - B

The WWE's newest monster is still working squash matches. This time Camacho was his victim, but Ryback looked especially nasty. We'll see where this leads him.

John  Cena - C+

Did Cena actually do any wrestling maneuvers? The whole humiliation bit went on too long and got boring. His mic work was decent during the segment, but it was still one of the worst main events in recent memory.

John Laurinaitis - C+

I wasn't expecting hurricanranas from Big Johnny, but not even a body slam? He did have good facial expressions during the bullying.

Big Show - B-

The big man came out (to no one's surprise) in a big yellow shirt and even bigger trousers, and double-crossed Cena. The Weapon of Mass Destruction he landed wasn't his most well-executed, but it got the point across.

He did have solid facial expressions, but the next time you appear in the ring with street clothes on Show, please wear longer socks.

I'm not supposed to see your bare ankles when you have on full-length pants.

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