WWE Over The Limit Results: Barrett's Defense, What We Learned and What It Means

At Sunday's Over The Limit pay-per-view, former member of The Corre, Ezekiel Jackson, defeated Intercontinental Champion and former ally, Wade Barrett.  Unfortunately for Jackson, he won via disqualification after the other members of The Corre interfered, which allowed Barrett to retain the Intercontinental Title.

Sunday was the first meeting between these two superstars, as it had only been 16 days since Jackson was kicked out of The Corre.  Though the storyline that has taken off is relatively new, we learned several things from their matchup.

Here is a list of five things we learned from the match and what it means going forward.

The Crowd Was Not Excited at the Start of the Match

When the crowd gives a lukewarm reaction at the start, it is never a good sign, especially for a pay-per-view match.  But that's what happened when Big Zeke and Wade Barrett made their way to the ring on Sunday.

It's kind of hard to blame the fans.  Since their debut in January, The Corre has been anything but exciting.  They have had no big storylines or feuds to create a response from the fans, and most of their members have flown way below the radar since their respective arrivals in WWE.  Wade Barrett had success while feuding with John Cena on Raw, but Ezekiel Jackson's biggest moment as ECW Champion only lasted approximately three minutes.

What the crowd's reaction tells us is that both Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson need to build this feud up for a longer period of time.  They also need to define both Jackson and Barrett at a face and heel, respectively.  Jackson was kicked out of The Corre, but has yet to get the crowd behind him.  Meanwhile, Barrett and the rest of The Corre are the bad guys, but they haven't done anything drastic enough to get the fans to truly hate them yet.

Hopefully we see the growth of both superstars as this feud progresses.

The Crowd Did Get into the Match

Shortly before the end of the match, Ezekiel Jackson repeatedly slammed Wade Barrett to the mat.  This caused the fans to awaken and cheer.

This means that the WWE fans do, in fact, care about the superstars involved in this match.  When the crowd cheered for Big Zeke as he looked to finish off Wade Barrett, he instantly went from a minor superstar, to someone who could potentially carry a good feud for several weeks or months.

No matter how hard you are pushed, if the crowd won't get behind you (or hate you), you won't succeed.  We've already seen that Barrett can sustain a feud, at Over The Limit we discovered that Ezekiel Jackson just might fit the bill for his opponent.

Big Zeke Is Dominant

Just by looking and Ezekiel Jackson you can tell that he is probably one of the biggest and strongest superstars on the WWE roster.  He proved it at Over The Limit.

When the match started Jackson took control early, manhandling and completely controlling the moves and actions of Wade Barrett.  Zeke prevented and countered Barrett's moves, he pulled Barrett back into the ring as he tried to exit and he stood still and refused to be Irish whipped into the corner.

At the end of the match, Big Zeke delivered five consecutive body slams to Barrett, only to then be ambushed by Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater.

This display of power showed the WWE fans that Zeke is a competitor, not just a bodyguard or enforcer.  He took a former No. 1 contender and completely tossed him around the ring.  If Jackson keeps this up, he should have championship gold around his waist in no time.

Gabriel and Slater Still Have Barrett's Back

Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater prevented Wade Barrett from losing the Intercontinental Championship by intentionally interfering and getting Barrett disqualified after attacking Ezekiel Jackson.

There has been speculation for months about how The Corre will finally tear apart.  I personally thought that Slater and Gabriel would break apart before Jackson, but they are still standing behind their former Nexus leader.

Though the two have no real role in the group, they do serve as sort of an equalizer for Wade Barrett.  Barrett probably wouldn't be able to take on Jackson on his own, this we learned during their Over The Limit match, so just the fact that the former Tag Team Champions are there keeps Barrett from getting kicked around.

This also sets up the door for Jackson's eventual success and Barrett's demise.  When Slater and Gabriel decide to step away from Wade Barrett, Big Zeke will finally be able to defeat Barrett.  Until then, Barrett will remain Intercontinental Champion.

Wade Barrett Is Still the Intercontinental Champion

Any fan of WWE could tell you that losing a match by disqualification means that you keep your title. 

Wade Barrettt took the easy way out and had the other members of The Corre attack his opponent so that he would leave Seattle with the Intercontinental Title.  Though it also keeps him in the spotlight as a WWE champion, it also puts more heel heat on him for cheating in order to retain his belt.

But what does this mean for Ezekiel Jackson and the Intercontinental Championship itself?

Fans of WWE have long criticized how the Intercontinental Title has lost much of its prestige, especially since it has changed hands just as many times on SmackDown as it has at pay-per-views in the past two years.  This move makes the Intercontinental Championship seem desireable, especially if Barrett is willing to cheat in order to hold onto it.

The way that the match ended also means that Big Zeke isn't going anywhere.  Since he won the match, he will likely get anoher shot at the Intercontinental Championship, and I think he will eventually win the title from Barrett.  Let's just hope that it isn't this Friday.