WWE Capitol Punishment 2011 Review

WWE Capitol Punishment 2011
June 19, 2011
Washington, D.C.

The first and only Capitol Punishment event ever sees R-Truth challenge John Cena in the main event for the WWE Championship! Also, the war between Randy Orton and Christian continues as they go at it again for the World Heavyweight Championship!

Match 1: WWE United States Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Fast forward to 2019 and nearly to the date, these two are scheduled against each other for the WWE Championship in Saudi Arabia. Time is a crazy freaking thing. However, Kofi Kingston's  steam was seemingly slowing down at this point while Dolph Ziggler looked to be on the rise, almost complete polar opposites of 2019. Solid opening match here as you would imagine from the two here despite the match really just feeling like it was Ziggler's to lose even though Kofi was the champ. And what do ya know... Ziggler puts a sleeper hold on Kofi to put him to sleep as he captures the gold. Dug the finish of the match but the commentators being so confused didn't make any sense to me. Nice way to start the show.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Rating: ***

Match 2: The Miz vs. Alex Riley
I'm gonna say it, Alex Riley had a bangin' entrance theme song. If you forgot about it, look it up on YouTube! Anyway, the two finally meet after The Miz had Riley in his corner for months, he was even there when Miz won the WWE Championship. Miz dominated much of the match and almost made the thing look wrapped up before Riley finally decided to get some offense in. Hilarious moment with Michael Cole yelling at Riley ringside before Riley decided to put his hands on him. However, in the ring, Miz tries to hit Riley with the briefcase before getting it taken away from him and getting a DDT for his troubles. Riley pins Miz and wins. I question having Riley go over The Miz here but also wonder how big the WWE really was on Riley at the time. Soon after, The Miz's role as a main event player would become largely diminished.
Winner: Alex Riley
Rating: **1/2

Match 3: Alberto Del Rio vs. The Big Show
Prior to the match, The Big Show attacks Alberto Del Rio from behind as he finally gets his chance to put his hands on Mexico's greatest export. However, Mark Henry comes out of nowhere to beat down Show and land a World's Strongest Slam through one of the announcers tables before injuring Show's left knee. Despite fighting on one knee, Big Show gave Del Rio a run for his money before finally, the referee declared Show unable to continue and rewards Del Rio with the win after Del Rio had Show locked in a knee lock. Decent for what it was and served its purpose.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: *1/2

Match 4: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Wade Barrett (c) vs. Ezekiel Jackson
We all know the incredible feud between Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson as The Corre disbanded in June of 2011... right? Right? Never mind. The former leader in Barrett defends his gold against Jackson here in the third contest of the night. Disagree with me all you want but I always liked Jackson and for all the flack he got, he really wasn't that bad in the ring. Barrett nearly scores the win here in a pretty quick contest after hitting his Wasteland until Jackson is able to get him in a Torture Rack to submit Barrett and score the win. Totally forgot Jackson was using that as a finisher, it looked great for someone of his size.
Winner: Ezekiel Jackson
Rating: **

Match 5: Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Completely forgot these two had a match here, they've had several bouts in the WWE but for whatever reason, they all ended up becoming fairly forgettable. With CM Punk still aligning himself with The Nexus as their leader, Rey Mysterio looks to tackle down their leader. If you've seen any of their bouts against each other, then you really know what to expect here. Solid action from beginning to the end with the two putting in an equal amount of offense against each other. While Mysterio was able to execute a 619 onto Punk, it was one that had Punk on the ring apron before he fell off. Going for another 619 later on, Mysterio would get caught and hung left to dry with a GTS from Punk to seal the match. Probably one of their better matches in the WWE and certainly one not to overlook.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ***3/4

Match 6: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian
Interesting to see Christian make the transition back as a heel around this time and his matches against Randy Orton were absolutely stellar. This one was certainly no different. Love watching Christian work the match as a heel and in some ways, this almost reinvigorated Orton in the ring with the incredible chemistry these two had. Like the last match, there's really not much to say because you already know what you're getting from the two. Hard-hitting match here with Christian doing everything in his power to regain the title that took him forever to win. That meant breaking out all the moves including the Spear he took from Edge. Christian finally looked to have the advantage in the match until one wrong turn saw him fall right into an RKO from Orton. However, the referee makes the count for the finish and doesn't notice that Christian had one of his legs under the rope. Solid finish to a solid match, nicely sets up a rematch with Christian having a legitimate reason to complain. Afterwards, Orton bashes Christian in the face with the championship belt. Good stuff.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ****

Match 7: Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne
Bonus match of the night sees Jack Swagger try to take down Evan Bourne as Keith Stone and The Bellas watch at ringside. Yes, you read that right. Pretty good match for what it was, almost something you could just copy and paste from an episode of Monday Night Raw. Bourne is able to get a pretty quick win after rolling up Swagger before missing his Shooting Star Press. Interesting finish but for a PPV, there's really no need for Bourne to not be able to land his finisher.
Winner: Evan Bourne
Rating: **

Match 8: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. R-Truth
As much as I'm not a fan of R-Truth as a heel, it was really cool to finally see him get a shot at main eventing a PPV. Just the thought of that in 2019 just seems so farfetched. Regardless, Truth was going super crazy around this time with his whole Little Jimmy gimmick kicking into gear and as evident with him main eventing the show, it was certainly getting over. Truth more than held his own throughout the buildup to this match and him taking the WWE Championship away from Cena on an episode of Raw was a nice way to score some cheap heat. The match itself here was nothing too special, Truth got in a good amount of offense in against Cena. Truth decided to walk near ringside to a young fan and grab a sip out of their drink before getting it tossed in his face. Cena is able to toss Truth back into the ring and hit an Attitude Adjustment to score the win and get back his belt to close out the night. Really, this was just Truth dominating the whole match before the finish ensued of the kid assisting Cena with the win. Fun to watch but nothing that will blow you away.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: **

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
A pretty bland PPV offering from the WWE with the main stinker here being a man pretending to be Barack Obama in what was possibly one of the worst segments in WWE history. While there were a couple solid matches on the card, there's really nothing too noteworthy for me to suggest someone go back and give this one a viewing.
Rating: 5.5/10