WWE Judgment Day: Verdict Is in, Champions Retain

CM Punk vs. Umaga

It did what a filler match is supposed to do.

With Punk starting the show, I thought he might have enough gas in the tank to cash in the Money in the Bank case later in the night. That would have required a win against Umaga without being devastated by the Samoan Bulldozer in the process. That would've made the home crowd happy.

Punk actually tried to lift Umaga for a GTS, which was funny. He didn’t try it just once, either. Does he never learn? Umaga’s too heavy for him. Who did he think he was? John friggin’ Cena?

Umaga won via Samoan Spike. I would give it a three out of five.

Vickie Guerrero, Big Show, and Edge

I don’t usually talk about backstage segments, especially when they involve this trio, but this was actually kind of interesting. 

Anyway, Show threatened to put Cena on the shelf but admitted it would be bad for business. It’s true, too, and I’m not big on Cena. By then, I was sure Cena was going to win no matter what.

Christian vs. Jack Swagger

Matt Striker said the championship atmosphere favored Christian, but Swagger was champion for 100 days or so and a couple of pay per views, so I didn’t think he would have a disadvantage. To prove my point, he showed focus.

The match had its good spots. Jack threw Christian rib-first against the post.

Commentator Josh Mathews put it well: This was a game of cat and mouse. I agree, complete with chase scenes.

Captain Charisma wins again by out-cheating Swagger. Four out of five.

Edge Owns Chavo

Here’s a pitch to Markus Griffith, who's writing the “You Got Owned” series.

Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison

AkD will be happy this wasn’t made into a dark match, as it wasn’t even announced.

I've got two sides to this: From a wrestling fan perspective, it was a fantastic match.  We got to see great spots, amazing counters, and near-falls. There was even a “holy shit” moment when JoMo dove out of the ring onto Shelton.

JoMo wins via his nameless corkscrew moonsault. I guess he’s officially a face now. I’m supposed to like heels, but I still like Morrison anyway.

From a girly perspective, John Morrison has got such nice hair. It's so soft and silky…wouldn't you agree, Andrea?

OK, enough of that. This match earns a five out of five.

Miz’s Segment

I’m not sure this was necessary.  Did he just call JoMo Marty Jannetty?  I think he’s more like HBK. He’s gotten that comparison a lot, right? 

So, Miz disses everyone—the audience, Cena, Alfonso Soriano of the Chicago Cubs—and then Santino comes out. To quote the great backstage interviewer Gregory Helms, “What’s up with that?”

It was funny, though. Apparently Santino thought Soriano was a fellow Italian. I’ve always maintained Santino is funny as himself, and not as Santina.

Then Chavo comes out and takes advantage of a fallen Santino to defend his family’s (namely Aunt Vickie’s) honor. Uh-huh.

Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio

Jericho promises there will be no 619 finisher, and he did a good job getting out of the way of the first three attempts. He looked like he had a game plan, and it was going smoothly.

However, it came time for a cover and his conspiracy theory is kind of obvious. The ref was counting a bit slower when it was him on top. Maybe that’s just me taking sides with the heels again.

Good spot on the leg drop by Rey, though, while Jericho was hanging on the rope. At one point, the fans started to chant "Y2J."  I liked when Jericho turned the third 619 attempt into the Walls of Jericho, but Rey rolled out.

The fourth 619 connected, and Rey retained the intercontinental title. Four-and-a-half out of five for this match.

Randy Orton vs. Batista

I was nervous for this. Really. Just this. Right from Orton’s music.

Batista comes out with stitches on his forehead.  I wonder where he got them, but the announcers answer it for me, saying he got into some kind of altercation.

So anyway, Batista overpowers Orton early, as he does regardless of whom he’s facing.  He targets the lower back. Orton gets the momentum back after hitting a standing drop kick while Batista was on the apron.

At one point, Randy did the arms-stretched pose and that made me smile. I was thinking maybe he was saying he’s in the “zone,” so I got excited.  He does the standing drop kick again (I really like it when he does that) and an elevated DDT. He went to the floor for the RKO, but tried for a punt instead. It didn’t connect, though, as Batista countered with a spear.

Orton, being the heel, gets out of the ring and asks to be counted out. He even holds on to the post. Batista gets him back in the ring, though, before he sneaks out again and starts walking out with the title. 

Batista takes him back and tries the Bomb, but can't pull it off. Randy tries the RKO but fails again. Then he slaps the ref and gets disqualified. He loses but retains the title.

Legacy comes out to beat up on Batista. I thought that was a cue for Triple H, but no, Ric Flair comes out! Again, “What’s up with that?” And really, Flair drops Cody with the chops?

Everybody wants to get involved with Randy Orton. I guess there’s not going to be a heel turn for Batista, either. If Triple H comes back, will there be a feud between Evolution and Legacy? Or is Flair simply making way for his son to join Legacy down the line? Kind of like how Cody started?

I can only give this match a four out of five.

John Cena vs. Big Show

It’s everything a Cena match is: a show of power from both parties. Show dominates early, as he should. He must’ve been watching Swagger and Christian’s match because he does the same thing Swagger did. Show slams Cena to the ring post rib-first.

Cena tries the STF submission a couple of times. Didn’t he try that before and it didn’t work because Show’s too big to get it locked? Why keep trying the STF? And then he gets splashed/squashed by Show and still kicks out. He is Super-friggin-Man!

Cena wins by a miracle Attitude Adjustment. I’ll be fair and give it a four out of five too.

Edge vs. Jeff Hardy

It was very fast-paced, as expected from these two superstars. Lots of high risk maneuvers that kept failing for Jeff in the first half of the match. Then he pulls the sharp-shooter but Edge gets the bottom rope.

Jeff goes to expose the security wall and slams Edge on it, but as he attempts to do another stunt, Edge spears him to the floor and runs back to the ring, leaving Jeff out for the count out. Jeff gets back at the count of nine. It looked as if Extreme Rules came early for these two.

They both go over the security wall after Jeff jumps on Edge from the stairs. Then Matt Hardy comes out of the crowd and hits Jeff on the head with his “broken arm.” Jeff struggles to get to the top rope and he pays for it. Edge wins and retains his WHC title.

Extreme Rules should be exciting if they book these two in a match again. I’ll give it four-and-a-half out of five.