WWE PPV HITS

Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston (Intercontinental Title): This was a decent way to kick off Over the Limit. It wasn't a great match by any means, but by having Kofi's energy and surprising win start off the show, it gets a hit. The post-match with Drew McIntyre (both in the ring and later in the back) was great to get him some heat, but I think it's starting to get old. Asking Teddy Long to reverse the decision and threaten him is something that we've seen too many times now. I'm assuming this will be continued on Smackdown. If Vince McMahon decides to overturn another McIntyre loss, it will upset a lot of people. But, I don't mean that in a good way that will generate crowd heat. I really think WWE right now is toeing the line between getting McIntyre good crowd heat and the dreaded "go home" heat at this point and another reversal could put it over the top.

Rey Mysterio vs. C.M. Punk (SES Membership vs. Hair): The PPV really peaked with the third and fourth matches on the card. This match, coupled with the tag titles match, gave me some big time hope for the overall grade of this PPV. I didn't think the stoppage for blood (or was it a stoppage for Rey to get his wits about him, as he didn't look too hot after jamming his head into the barbers chair that really didn't have much give?) hurt this match. Actually, immediately following the stoppage, it intensified it! The back and forth action was great and the nearfalls were very believable. I was actually expecting a lot more interference in this match, but was pleasantly surprised that the Straight Edge Society didn't intervene until after the finish. The quick roll-up was also a great way for this match to end given its fast pace. It all went together so well that I can forgive and almost did forget that Kane (who had no part in this feud...ever) was out to help Rey fight off the SES before the head-shaving. If this feud isn't at its end now, it is probably nearing it, which is a shame because it's been put together really well. Either way, though, it was fun seeing Punk getting his head shaved and should make for great TV going forward.

The Hart Dynasty vs. Chris Jericho/The Miz (WWE Unified Tag Titles): Unfortunately, this is where the PPV, as a whole, peaked. It was another good match with back and forth action. Again, there were a nice number of nearfalls that were believable and kept me guessing until the very end on who would walk out with the titles. After the great action, I would have been happy with either team winning. Part of me wanted to see The Hart Dynasty take the loss and start a program where they'd chase Jericho and Miz for the titles. However, I think that can still happen and that this feud does not appear to be over.

Eve Torres vs. Maryse (WWE Divas Title): Yes, I'm giving this match a hit, so spare me the e-mails! Compared to most women's matches in the WWE, this was a pretty good one...especially for two women that came out of the WWE Diva Search contest years ago. The program between Eve and Maryse has been solid and it probably will continue for another month or so. Hopefully, WWE will slowly continue to put some effort into its two Women's divisions. If this match is an indication, the two divisions are still on life support.

John Cena vs. Batista (WWE Title): Other than the very beginning where Cena teased that he might quit before a punch was thrown or a hold was applied, I thought this was an entertaining match. Each one of their matches in this feud did outdo the last and I commend both guys for working so hard to do so. You don't expect five-star classics from them (and rest assured, they weren't), but all of their bouts were good enough to look back and say that this was a very good feud. Again, the stoppage for blood didn't seem to affect this match in the long run. However, to hear the announcers at any point (which did happen at least once) say something along the lines of "this is going too far" is ridiculous. In an "I Quit" match, there are no rules, therefore nothing should be seen as going too far to make your opponent say "I quit." Going into this match, I almost certainly figured that Cena would win because his character preaches not quitting. So, I figured that we'd see a screwball finish along the lines of the Mick Foley vs. The Rock's "I Quit" match or that I'd be bored with a Cena win. However, neither was the case and I liked how the PPV ended with Sheamus taking out Cena just before the show went off the air.

WWE PPV MISSES

Ted DiBiase vs. R-Truth: This match just didn't do it for me and I was pretty surprised to see Truth go over in this one. The build-up was there to help get DiBiase over as a singles star since The Legacy trio has dissolved, so I'm guessing this feud might continue. I have to say that, other than DiBiase's recent addition of Virgil, I have been underwhelmed by what has been done to DiBiase's singles push in recent weeks.

Jack Swagger vs. The Big Show (World Heavyweight Title): This was probably the lowlight of the night. Swagger received plenty of TV time in recent weeks and it seemed like WWE was trying to push him as a strong, credible heel champion. He finally started to remind me of Kurt Angle, a direction that I had hoped WWE would go with Swagger for the past year now. That all came crashing down with this "match," if you want to call it that. They were given just about six minutes and it didn't go well. I wasn't even too upset with Swagger getting himself DQ'd on purpose to be honest with you. But, couple that with the short amount of time they were given and the fact that Swagger took the worst of the post-match beat down, that makes this a major miss. Had they chosen to give these guys 10-13 minutes and build a story where we could have seen Swagger continually getting frustrated before DQing himself, that would have worked much better for me. Plus, let him get the better of Show in the beat down. It seems this feud will continue and much work will need to be done to repair it.

Blood Stoppages: I know these aren't going away any time soon since WWE is a PG product and it's to protect the health of wrestlers. However, I'm not happy with them so they will also continue to show up as a "miss" in my column. I understand that WWE doesn't plan for a blood stoppage when putting together the matches, but if I'm watching football or hockey on TV, we don't get a stoppage in play because blood was drawn. If WWE wants to cut down and/or eliminate blood in WWE, that's fine, and I understand that. But, when it happens as a mistake, ride it out!

ANALYSIS/OVERALL GRADE

I only reviewed seven of the eight matches on the PPV since Edge vs. Randy Orton ended abruptly because Orton dislocated his shoulder. In the words of Chris Jericho, I am a fair and decent man and I won't pass judgment on a match that ended prematurely due to injury. This is especially true since the match, up to that point, was neither a hit nor miss and was just about to kick into high gear.

As for the rest of Over the Limit, based on the Hits being five and the Misses being three (and one of those misses only being minor since it involved blood stoppage), you'd think that I thought WWE knocked this one out of the park. Not necessarily. It was definitely an above-average show but it wasn't as great as the five to three ratio. The Edge and Orton match was almost the turning point for the PPV. Had this match not been cut short, the grading of the PPV could have been higher (or lower if you look at it that way).

I don't think the crowd did the show any favors. Detroit is usually known as a hot wrestling crowd. It didn't seem that way on this night. I was very surprised at their seeming lack of interest in the tag title match, in particular. I know it followed a really hot C.M. Punk-Rey Mysterio match, but it was still disappointing to see little reaction to four guys putting on a pretty good match. I suppose I am also putting a lot of weight on the World Heavyweight Title match pulling down the show. However, I believe that is only fair as it was one of the co-main events. As I said before, it was still an above average show. For me, it grades out at a B-minus.

Moving forward, we now look ahead to the Fatal Four-Way PPV. On Raw, I'm assuming WWE will go with Cena, Sheamus, Edge, and Orton. If Orton is unable to go, then we could possibly see someone like John Morrison plugged in. On Smackdown, I'm assuming WWE will go with Swagger, Show, C.M. Punk, and Rey Mysterio. I'd like to see Christian and/or Dolph Ziggler in the mix to shake things up, but I think that the original four that I'm assuming can put on a solid four-way match.

Also piquing my interest is the future of the U.S. Title. I'm assuming Bret drops it and we will get a tournament. I'd love to see more than just a four-man tourney, though. I'd like to see an eight-person tourney. I'm also hoping to see the tag title feud continue, as well as the IC Title feud continue with Kofi and McIntyre - and maybe even Matt Hardy sprinkled in. It looks like we're also going to get a feud between Christian and Ziggler. That could be fun as well. As I stated earlier, the Show-Swagger feud needs some repair work done to it since the ball was seemingly dropped at Over the Limit. All in all, there is potential in the coming weeks for some good television. Here's hoping that potential doesn't dry up.

Tony Donofrio is a Specialist for the Torch covering WWE PPVs monthly and contributes to the Torch Roundtable Reviews on a weekly basis. You can contact Tony at PWTorchTD@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TonyDonofrio..

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