RANDY ORTON vs. SHEAMUS vs. KANE vs. ROMAN REIGNS vs. KOFI KINGSTON vs. NEVILLE vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER "MITB LADDER MATCH": Safety first. No one jumped off the top of the ladder. And, really, the only sick move was when Reigns power-bombed Kofi onto a ladder that was resting atop the second rope in the corner. Kofi hit the edge of the ladder and it looked disturbingly painful. Reigns did jump over the top rope and down onto all the men and Reigns power-bombed Kofi over the top rope and down onto all the men...but there weren't any insane ladder jumps or craziness. It was entertaining but not as wild as some previous MITB matches. Reigns was about to win when the lights went out and Bray Wyatt appeared when the lights came back on. Bray tipped the ladder and Reigns fell off. This meant that Reigns lost and Sheamus ended up winning. Neville, the high-flier, did do his big top-rope Red Arrow spin/flip finisher...but I really expected him to do something off the ladder. A bit disappointing but the match was entertaining. **1/2 (out of ****)
NIKKI BELLA vs. PAIGE: Not terrible but the finish was mind-bogglingly stupid. The Bella's switched (Brie was under the ring). Paige pinned Brie. Brie told the ref that she wasn't Nikki (she did this by pulling tissue paper out of her bra and showing the ref her matching hip-bone gun tattoos). So then Nikki pinned Paige (I guess the match was re-started?). Are they even trying anymore with this mess of a division? *1/2
THE BIG SHOW vs. RYBACK: The Miz ran in to cause a No Contest finish. Yeah. 1/2*
KEVIN OWENS vs. JOHN CENA: Great match. Perhaps better than their match two week's ago. They did pretty much the same as they did at The Elimination Chamber show. They kicked out of a ton of big moves. They both delivered everything but the kitchen sink. Cena ended up winning with the AA but post-match Owens beat up Cena and power-bombed him on the side of the ring apron. Definitely the match of the night. ***1/2
THE NEW DAY vs. THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS: Yawn. For some reason I hate The Prime Time Players. They're just a sloppy, uneven bore. It's probably because they're rarely pushed or on TV except for when they're in bad comedy sketches backstage. They won the tag titles. And the division was so good this past year. Oh, well. *
SETH ROLLINS vs. DEAN AMBROSE "LADDER MATCH": The match started at 10:18 and went until just before 11:00 PM. Meaning they killed time...lots of time. They wrestled in the ring for ten minutes before the ladder's were even introduced. They also ran around the building for no reason. There were some brutal spots but no Jeff Hardy-type spots that we've kind of gotten used to from these two (their best match will probably always be last August's "cinderblock" match on RAW). Ambrose flipped Rollins over the top rope and Rollins landed on a ladder bridge and the ladder cracked. Rollins power-bombed Ambrose onto a ladder and chairs laying on the floor ringside. Those were the two "big" spots. The match was over thirty-five minutes and thus way too slow. The crowd was mostly silent. They chanted, "We want tables!" for a good portion of it (they never got them). Surprisingly, their match two week's ago at The Elimination Chamber was a better, more dramatic match and that was gimmick-less. I suppose we all figured these two would be leaping off ladder's left and right and going nuts. That didn't happen. The finish was ultra-lame. Both guys grabbed the belt at the top of the ladder and pulled it off and fell to the mat. As they landed, Rollins pulled the title free and thus sort of won. It was good in spots. **
