WWE Over the Limit 2010 Review

The inaugural Over the Limit PPV sees the final chapter to the John Cena and Batista rivalry as the two meet in an I Quit match for the WWE Championship. Also, Jack Swagger puts his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against The Big Show.

Match 1: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
Look how far we have come, Drew McIntyre defends his Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston in the opening contest. Also a little strange to think Kingston would become a WWE Champion before McIntyre. At this point, McIntyre was still fairly green and despite the praises from Vince McMahon himself, McIntyre just wasn't connecting very well with the audience. His offense here against Kingston certainly wasn't the flashiest thing ever and never once did I really feel like this dude was the hottest thing to come. Kingston is able to hit an S.O.S. on McIntyre to score the win and the Intercontinental Championship. Fairly basic opening match here between the two, always nice to see Kingston win some gold. Still so crazy to think he would finally break out as a WWE Champion nearly a decade later.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **1/2

Match 2: R-Truth vs. Ted DiBiase
Being accompanied by Virgil, Ted DiBiase still has his hands full with R-Truth after the two have been beefing for weeks on Raw. Definitely a filler of a match here and one the crowd just couldn't really get behind. Truth is able to hit his Lie Detector finisher to score the fairly quick win. Interesting to see DiBiase take the L here, such an odd career he had in the WWE and almost as if the steam behind him completely disappeared once he left Randy Orton's side.
Winner: R-Truth
Rating: *1/4

Match 3: CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
Interesting match here with CM Punk having to shave his head upon a Rey Mysterio victory. However, a CM Punk victory would result in Mysterio having to join the Straight Edge Society. As expected, great action here from the two that was slowed down a bit once Punk had a bloody cut that had to be taken of right when the two were getting out of the first gear. Regardless, they were still able to pick the action up afterwards and despite not breaking out all the stops, they still provided us with a great performance. Loved the ending with Mysterio hitting a 619 on Punk but being unable to pin Punk as Punk dodged the splash from Mysterio right after. However, a quick recovery from Mysterio allowed him to roll Punk up for the victory out of nowhere. Loved Punk's reaction after the match as he was in complete shambles from the finish. His partners come out to attack Mysterio until Kane arrived to the scene to save the day. Afterwards, Mysterio handcuffed Punk to the ropes and shaved his long hair. Great scene with Mysterio celebrating the biggest hit Punk's Straight Edge Society had taken.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: WWE Unified Tag Team Championship - The Hart Dynasty (c) vs. The Miz & Chris Jericho
How many tag partners have The Miz and Chris Jericho have had in their careers? Would certainly be an interesting stat. They take on David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd of The Hart Dynasty with Natalya leading their charge. Almost seems pretty odd to just pair up Miz and Jericho to pit them in a match against The Hart Dynasty. Regardless, decent tag match for what it was with the young Hart Dynasty team still trying to find their feet with the crowd as babyfaces. Hart Dynasty are able to tackle the tandem of Miz and Jericho with a Hart Attack on The Miz to score the win. Forgettable match for the night. The Miz definitely deserved better than this. For someone they were trying to hype to the moon, he was certainly booked like a chump.
Winners: The Hart Dynasty
Rating: **3/4

Match 5: Edge vs. Randy Orton
Edge's run as a babyface in the beginning of 2010 didn't last long when he was drafted to Monday Night Raw and delivered a Spear to Randy Orton that cost him the WWE Championship. With Orton fuming, it looked like he was ready to eviscerate Edge here. Dig the big word? Unfortunately, this match wasn't exactly as clean and thrilling as the bouts they've had against each other in years past. Edge was diligent in focusing on the midsection but eventually, Orton would lure Edge right where he wanted him for an RKO. Unfortunately for Orton, he appeared to inadvertently injure himself as he was taunting Edge before hitting the RKO by slamming his arms on the canvas. The action spilled to the outside where Edge missed a Spear and went right into the barricade outside. The referee then counted both of them out as Orton was taken to the back with some medical attention. Such a disappointing match with an odd finish. Almost sad to see a match with such great talent really fall flat on its face.
Winner: n/a (double countout)
Rating: **

Match 6: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Jack Swagger (c) vs. The Big Show
Jack Swagger gets another big test as the World Heavyweight Champion in a bout here against the newest member of SmackDown, The Big Show. Unfortunately, like the previous match, this one suffered with a finish that had me scratching my head. They wrestled for less than about five minutes and Swagger did a great job in making Show feel like the dominant giant that he is. However, Swagger decided to end the match early by hitting Show with the title belt for the disqualification finish. Afterwards, Big Show gives two Chokeslams to Swagger and followed it with a Knockout Punch for his troubles. What a disappointment, they couldn't at least have Swagger try to do all this behind the referee's back? Building up a big match for a PPV and having it finish like this almost felt like a slap to the face of the customer.
Winner: The Big Show (via disqualification)
Rating: *

Match 7: WWE Divas Championship - Eve Torres (c) vs. Maryse
Maryse gets a crack at the Divas Championship against Eve Torres in a match to bridge the gap between the main events. Per usual, short contest here but surprisingly pretty solid for what it was. Maryse actually works very well as a heel and loved her taunts throughout the match here. Unfortunately for her, Eve is able to lock her knees between the head of Maryse and drive her head straight into the canvas for the win.
Winner: Eve Torres
Rating: *1/4

Match 8: WWE Championship - I Quit - John Cena (c) vs. Batista (Taken from Batista - The Animal Unleashed DVD (Disc 3) Review)
This would later go on to be Batista's final match in the WWE before returning to the company four years later. Love how Batista starts the match on the mic as he gives John Cena a chance at quitting before the match even begins. Of course, Cena politely declines by slamming the mic to Batista's skull. Like Last Man Standing matches, I Quit matches can tend to drag with the referee constantly becoming a factor in stopping the pace of the match. That wasn't much of a problem here as the action flowed nicely and the two got a pretty equal amount of offense in with the high spots in Batista slamming Cena through the announce table and Cena tossing Batista off a ledge as he landed onto security. Ending saw Batista try to ram the car on the set into Cena who got out of the way and hit an Attitude Adjustment onto Batista atop the hood of the car. Batista then quit as Cena looked to give him another AA off the top of the car. However, Cena went ahead and gave him the AA as he drove Batista through the stage. Fun match and a decisive way for Cena to cap off his feud against The Animal. Interesting fact in Batista noting in interviews four years later that the finish ended up breaking his back. Fortunately for him, Batista would go on to take a long break from the company soon after.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Aside from the main event and maybe the CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio match, this was such a forgettable and bland PPV offering from the WWE. 2010 was certainly a weak year in terms of PPV quality for the WWE and this one is definitely a reminder of that fact.
Rating: 5.25/10