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WWE No Way Out PPV Reax #4: "For my money the best match of the night was Orton-Cena." Feb 18, 2008 - 2:33:58 PM
Zach Madel of Waseca, Minn. (7.5): Best Match: Raw Elimination Chamber. Worst Match: Randy Orton vs. John Cena. WWE hasn't excited me since John Cena returned, so any time he's included it lowers the score. The WWE Championship match with Randy Orton and John Cena ended by a blatant disqualification, which is just about the worst ending to a match you could ever imagine. The Smackdown Elimination Chamber was adequate at best. All it did was prove that some creative team member favored The Undertaker. And then the Raw Elimination Chamber just showed how much the McMahons love Triple H.
Shane McKinley of Danville, Calif. (8.5): Best Match: Orton vs. Cena Worst Match: Mysterio vs. Edge. A very suprising PPV, which I felt ranked higher than the Rumble. I was suprised by the clean Chavo win. C.M. Punk's "Three Amigos" move indeed made him look like a punk, and Chavo walked away from the match in better career shape than Punk. The Smackdown Chamber didn't pick up till Finlay was involved (meaning BDV and Khali were dead weight). Some will wonder if Smackdown needed a chamber match, but I think it works best for the aura of the Undertaker (since they well couldn't put him in a Hell in the Cell, Ladder Match, etc.), in his pursuit of gold. Flair vs. Kennedy turned into the Kennedy show. Never once was I convinced that Flair would lose, and that hurt it to some degree. The worst match was Mysterio vs. Edge, but that doesn't mean it was a bad match. The understandable Mysterio injury played in, and the Big Show-Mayweather bit was so gold (thus saving it), I didn't feel ripped off due to the fact that a championship match really only lasted five minutes. Those punches Big Show took looked so brutal! For my money the best match of the night was Orton-Cena. Not in quality of wrestling, but the crowd just responds well to both of them. I seriously thought that WWE was going to pull the lame "double countout" bit. I seriously thought Orton was going to tap to the STFU. Orton selling the knee, RKO Cena, Cena beats the ten count... all of these made the Orton DQ very logical. Usually I boo when the heel gets himself DQ intentionally, but this I actually applauded. It would be cheap if Cena would have won the title, and in a way, the match helped both men. The Raw Chamber was the Umaga show, with the double Samoan drop and the double submit. A exiciting match. Only problems is that the last four eliminations went by too quickly, and Triple H won. When Hardy kicked out of the Pedigree I was elated and so were the fans. For Triple H, winning the match felt unsatisifying due to the fact that they have been pushing Hardy. The safe option was Triple H, and Hardy fans will have to be patient again. Well worth the money.
John Hills of Monroe N.Y. (8.0): I really enjoyed this pay-per-view and was happy I ordered it as I am and I'm sure a lot of people these days limit the amount of pay-per-views we order with so many and the price. The two Chamber matches were very good, but I'm just not excited with the idea of Triple H against Orton. The crowd wanted Hardy and they got the same old news. I feel Cena should have won and faced Hardy at WrestleMania. Triple H isn't on a tear right now and you could tell the crowd was disapointed, but I guess WWE knows best as always. The Big Show segment was great as I'm happy to see him back. The Flair match was okay. I would have gone with him losing and advertising his final match at mania against Shawn Michaels, but WWE is letting that train go by also because I guess everyone will know he will lose at Mania and the surprise would have been more tonight and they could have promoted his final match if indeed it is his final match because you never know, If anyone read Steve Austin's comments this week about Flair; I completely agree with him. I'm happy Taker won even though it was scary when he fell threw the door and held his elbow, but I could go for the Taker-Edge match to be the final match if they are going with Hunter-Orton because it just feels more fresh. Not sure where they go with Cena at this point because I also wouldn't want to see a triple threat match because those are getting old also and if Cena somehow wins the title on Raw in the next few weeks, Cena-Hunter doesn't excite me, either. They headlined two years ago and it just isn't Austin-Rock where people care as much to see it headline again. Anyway, like I said it was a good pay-per-view, really enjoyed the matches, just didn't like the outcome of the final two, but do recommand the replay.
Did you think for a even a second that any part of the Big Show-Mayweather confrontation wasn't scripted? Join in in that discussion at our co-affiliate site, prowrestling.NET, as readers write about that aspect of last night's show, and also get the very latest news on discussions today on the Big Show-Mayweather angle involving all involved parties.
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