Attended this show live and thought it was mostly good, aside from the Rock stuff, which simply wasn't pro wrestling. Del Rio/Edge was a fine title match and better than most Edge stuff from the last couple years, but still nowhere near the Del Rio/Christian stuff, which I might talk about soon. Taker/Hunter was very good for what it was, but it wasn't something that appealed to me in any major way. If I feel like watching it again, I might write about it. Two great matches, though.
ADDED:
#10 - Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio - WMXXVII 4/3/11
Dead crowd, but they worked a smart & fun match. In an earlier match, Cody exposed Rey's knee brace only to eat a 619, which broke his face. He blamed Rey for ruining his good looks and underwent a major character transformation. Now he wears a plastic mask and uses it as a weapon, and he has darker music. Goofy but fun gimmick, and he works it really well. He attacks Rey early, but Rey is ready and fights him off. Cody protects the face. That's a significant part of his character and a good spot. Throughout the match, we see a prepared Cody with an arsenal of counters to stop all of Rey's stuff. He also uses the mask as a weapon both to deliver punishment and to cut Rey off. His control segment isn't perfectly focused, but it works because Rey squirms and counters enough to keep Cody on his toes, and they bust out a bunch of cool spots. Awesome delayed superplex. The finishing stretch totally rules. Cody takes off Rey's knee to try to maim him, but Rey defends himself and fights Cody off. Then, Rey takes off Cody's mask and wears it to deliver a string of awesome diving headbutt revenge spots. Cody's face gets thrashed. Side note, Rey's strikes are really awesome here. He has great kicks. Anyway, Cody goes to the outside and catches Rey in the face with Rey's knee brace. Looked really incredible. Awesome finish, great match.
ADDED:
#7 - CM Punk vs. Randy Orton - WMXXVII 4/3/11
Punk obliterated Orton's knee with a monkey wrench during the build. They hate each other. They work a pretty basic match: Punk goes for Orton's knee right at the bell and doesn't let up until he starts to try to put Orton away down the stretch; Orton tries to punish Punk early until Punk weakens the knee, and then he sells and looks for desperation RKOs. Punk's knee work is engaging and varied, and his facial expressions are really awesome. He mocks Orton, and Punk mocking dudes rules. His responses to dodging RKOs are priceless. Punk busts out a figure-four around the ring post, and then there's a great Indian Deathlock spot. Punk wails on Orton's knee while Orton tries to claw at Punk's face only to get an elbow to the ribs. Then Punk nearly falls asleep and lets his shoulders touch the mat for 2. Then Punk wails on the knee some more and Orton claws some more until he finally gets into position to headbutt his way out. Tons of activity on a simple hold. Again, a great finish. Punk goes away from the knee to try to finish Orton off when he realizes that Orton won't tap, but the Anaconda Vice doesn't work either. Orton goes on adrenaline and hits Punk hard while still selling the knee. Orton's mannerisms are goofy and his Thesz press is worse than Kelly Kelly's, but none of that hurt the match much. Orton goes for a punt but collapses, and Punk's response is brilliant, as is the teased RKO, as is the mid-air RKO, which was perfectly-timed and not contrived.
Best of WWE 2011 - THE LIST
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