Over the Limit
* Poll results: Best match at WWE's Over the Limit
* Poll results: Grade WWE's Over the Limit
WWE Over the Limit PPV
May 20, 2012
Raleigh, North Carolina (PNC Arena)
Report by: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
The PPV kicks off with a People Power Battle Royal in progress.
People Power Battle Royal
Winner earns a shot at the Intercontinental or United States Championship
Entrances for the battle royal took place during the YouTube pre-show. Santino and Cody Rhodes are sitting at ringside. Christian was the final entrant officially returning to action. Heath Slater was dumped out quickly. Michael McGillicutty was chopped out by The Great Khali. JTG was eliminated by The Usos. Yoshi Tatsu was suplexed out by Drew McIntyre. Tatsu took a nasty fall on his ankle. Ezekiel Jackson was thrown out by Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks. Jey Uso was tossed out. Drew McIntyre was tossed out. Khali tossed out Hawkins and Reks. Khali also tossed out Jinder Mahal. Khali is tossed out by Titus O'Neil and Darren Young. O'Neil is out courtesy of Jimmy Uso. Jimmy Uso is tossed out by Young. William Regal is tossed out by Christian. Darren Young is dropkicked out by Alex Riley. Riley is kicked out by The Miz. We are down to The Miz, David Otunga, Tyson Kidd and Christian. Kidd with a huge springboard dropkick to Miz and Otunga. Otunga kicks Kidd out to eliminate him. It is now Miz, Otunga and Christian. Miz and Otunga double team Christian. Christian tosses Otunga over. Miz tries throwing Christian over. Christian holds on, hits Miz with elbows, Miz counters a Killswitch, tosses Christian to the ring apron and Christian still hangs on. Christian then spears Miz off the ring apron. Christian wins the battle royal.
Winner: Christian
After the match, Christian points at Santino Marella indicating he will challenge for the WWE United States Championship.
A video package runs focusing on People Power. This transitions into John Cena questioning John Laurinaitis' authority.
A graphic opening hits welcoming us to Over the Limit. A huge display of pyro goes off inside the PNC Arena in Raleigh.
WWE Tag Team Championships
Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (c's) vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger w/ Vickie Guerrero
Match kicks off with Jack Swagger getting in a quick takedown on Kofi Kingston. Kingston with a big flying elbow that drops Swagger. Big double hip toss by Kingston and R-Truth who got the tag. Truth with a big leg drop over Swagger. Kingston with top rope forearm on Dolph Ziggler who got the tag. Quick tags between Ziggler and Swagger. Ziggler with a cheap shot when Swagger distracted the referee. Hot tag to Truth who drops Swagger with a series of clotheslines. Vickie distracts the referee, but Truth is able to drop Ziggler in the corner. This sets up Swagger dropping Truth and connecting with a corner body splash. Ziggler with a jumping elbow drop over Truth. Quick tags between Ziggler and Swagger working over Truth in the corner. Ziggler with a big dropkick on Truth. Swagger and Ziggler with a double team facebuster on Truth. Truth kicks out when Ziggler went for a cover. Swagger is shocked at ringside seeing Truth kick out. Truth with a tornado DDT on Swagger. Hot tag to Kingston. Kingston with a springboard forearm to Ziggler and ends with a high flying dropkick. Kingston with a Boom Drop on Ziggler. Kingston goes for the Trouble in Paradise, Ziggler dodges it, but Kingston connects with a springboard body splash from the top rope. Swagger breaks up the pinfall. Swagger goes over the top rope and Kingston hangs on. Ziggler with a fameasser on Kingston. Truth breaks up that pinfall and then takes out Swagger with a dive to the outside. Kingston with Trouble in Paradise on Ziggler and gets the pinfall.
Winners and still WWE Tag Team Champions: Kofi Kingston and R-Truth
After the match, we see a disappointed Vickie Guerrero at ringside. Highlights from the match is shown including the finish with Kingston pinning Ziggler. Back live, Kingston and Truth are celebrating with the WWE Tag Team Championships.
Backstage, Eve Torres has asked Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks to remove signs in the crowd that are anti-John Laurinaitis. Eve askes David Otunga if they have a legal problem doing this and Otunga confirms that WWE can legally remove any signs they want.
WWE Divas Championship
Layla (c) vs. Beth Phoenix
Beth takes Layla off her feet with a quick chop early on. Layla with a quick facebuster on Beth. Layla catches Beth with a quick cross-body and follows with a dropkick to the face off the ropes. Beth drops Layla's repaired knee over her shoulder and then tosses her knee into the steel ring post. A smiling Beth continues to work over Layla's knee. Layla with a quick rollup on Beth for a two count. Layla tosses Beth out of the ring to recover slapping her knee a bit. Layla with a few elbows, misses a big kick, Beth attempts to press slam Layla and Layla counters into a big DDT. Layla counters a Glam Slam into a close rollup. Layla with a neckbreaker on Beth and gets the pinfall.
Winner and still WWE Divas Champion: Layla
Backstage, Matt Striker is with Randy Orton. Footage is shown from Smackdown on Friday night when Sheamus def. Orton. Orton extended his hand, but then hit Sheamus with an RKO. Back live, Orton said Sheamus is a big boy and that his fluke victory over him is one thing, but beating him tonight is a different story. He said no one tonight likes each other. Chris Jericho walks up and says he will take advantage of Orton, Sheamus and Del Rio beating each other up the last few weeks.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Sheamus (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio w/ Ricardo Rodriguez
Lilian Garcia handled ring introductions for the challengers Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and champion Sheamus. Sheamus and Del Rio brawl, while Orton and Jericho brawl to kick things off. Sheamus and Orton dispose of Del Rio and Jericho and want to square off. Jericho pulls the top rope down to dump out Sheamus and then sends Sheamus into the guard railing barricade. Del Rio and Jericho hit a double team suplex on Orton. Del Rio with a shot to Sheamus' roughed up shoulder. Back in the ring, Orton drops Del Rio and Jericho with a dropkick and suplex. Del Rio with a pinfall attempt on Orton and Jericho breaks it up with a kick to the head. Sheamus prevents a Tower of Doom spot. Sheamus with a top rope shoulder block on Del Rio. Ricardo with a distraction to setup Del Rio with a big kick to the head on Sheamus for a close two count. Sheamus with a high knee and powerslam combo on Del Rio. Sheamus with big forearm blows to the chest of Del Rio that Jericho broke up with a big dropkick. In the ring, Orton drops Jericho with a series of clotheslines and a big powerslam. Orton with a powerslam on Sheamus. Orton with a DDT on Sheamus through the middle rope. Del Rio with the armbar on Orton. Jericho breaks it up. Del Rio gets his knees up during a Lionsault from Jericho. Orton drops Jericho over his back. Sheamus with an Irish Curse backbreaker on Del Rio. Orton sends Sheamus shoulder first into the steel ring post. Orton with a double DDT on Del Rio and Ricardo. Jericho with a Codebreaker on Orton. Del Rio with the armbar on Jericho. Jericho counters into a Walls of Jericho. Jericho with a Codebreaker on Sheamus after dodging a Brogue Kick. Walls of Jericho on Sheamus. RKO on Jericho. RKO on Del Rio. Brogue Kick on Orton. Jericho with a close rollup on Sheamus. Sheamus with White Noise on Jericho for the win.
Winner and still WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Sheamus
After the match, highlights are shown leading to the finish. Back live, a smiling Sheamus is holding up the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. We see a shot of an angry Randy Orton looking on.
A promo for the Wrestlemania 28 DVD and Blu-ray is shown.
Backstage, Cody Rhodes is with Eve Torres. Eve talks about John Laurinaitis being so brave tonight. Rhodes talks about Christian making the right choice of challenging Santino for the WWE United States Championship instead of him noting he would have embarrassed him. Christian walks up and says Rhodes is full of crap. He informs Rhodes he has changed his mind and will face Rhodes tonight for the Intercontinental Championship.
The Miz is on his way out. He has a mic and demands the crowd in Raleigh give him a better reaction for getting the chance to see him wrestle twice in one night. Miz pinpoints the problem with the WWE Universe: the fact that they cheer on a guy like Brodus Clay. He claims to be a better dancer than Clay and shows off some Michael Jackson moves. Brodus Clay's music cuts off Miz for his entrance.
The Miz vs. Brodus Clay
Miz with a slap to Brodus Clay early on and follows with some left hands. Miz drops Clay off the top rope. Clay responds with a high knee and a quick throwing suplex. Miz with a sledgehammer to Clay, but Clay stays on his feet. Miz with his corner clothesline and then another sledgehammer that drops Clay to one knee. Miz with a big boot and Clay quickly kicks out. Clay with a series of clotheslines and then a big headbutt that launches Miz back. Miz catches Clay with a big boot. Clay recovers and launches Miz off the top rope with an overhead suplex and follows with a big body splash for the win.
Winner: Brodus Clay
After showing highlights, back live Brodus Clay is dancing with his ladies and some kids.
We then see a shot of Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks removing anti-John Laurinaitis signs in the crowd.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Christian
Cody Rhodes with some big right hands to Christian early on. Christian dumps Rhodes to the outside through the middle rope. Christian with a dropkick through the ropes launching Rhodes back. Rhodes then tosses Christian into the steel ring steps on the outside. Christian with a big right hand to Rhodes and then sends him over the top rope going over along with. Rhodes is up top yelling at Christian to get up. Christian catches Rhodes with a big right hand to the body and then catches Rhodes with a kick to the face in the corner. Christian with a drop toe hold on Rhodes into the ropes, jumps out and connects with a right. Rhodes counters a tornado DDT and connects with a big moonsault for a close two count. Christian with a Killswitch and gets the pinfall.
Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Christian
After the match, Christian holds up the title on the corner.
Michael Cole plugs that the next time WWE is on PPV is with No Way Out on Sunday, June 17.
Backstage, Josh Mathews is with WWE Champion CM Punk. Footage is shown from Smackdown on Friday night where Daniel Bryan attacked Kane setting up Kane giving Punk a chokeslam. Back live, Punk says he feels like crap, but is only smiling because he knows John Laurinaitis will be fired tonight. We see a shot of AJ staring down Punk.
WWE Championship
CM Punk (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Justin Roberts handles the ring introductions for the challenger Daniel Bryan and champion CM Punk. Lots of exchanges early on with Punk hitting a few kicks and Bryan executing a quick uppercut. Punk works over the knee of Bryan wrapped up in the middle rope. 50/50 crowd tonight in Raleigh. Punk works over the left knee of Bryan. Bryan with a flipping counter from the corner, but Punk throws a quick kick that drops Bryan. Bryan throws some sick looking elbows to the head of Punk when Punk grounded the action. Bryan sends Punk back first into the ring barricade. Bryan then drops Punk chest first over the barricade and follows with a kick to the head. Back in the ring, Bryan connects with a big missile dropkick on Punk. Bryan applies a seated abdominal stretch on Punk. Bryan catches Punk with a high knee and kick to the back. Bryan is back up top and connects with a flying headbutt. Bryan with a slight Camel Clutch applied to Punk wrenching back on the neck. Both Punk and Bryan collide after coming off the ropes. Punk with a heel kick and rolling neckbreaker on Bryan. Bryan catches Punk with a boot in the corner. Punk answers with a powerslam. Punk dumps Bryan over the top rope to the outside. Punk with a suicide dive through the ropes to take out Bryan. Bryan with big kicks to the chest of Punk. Punk with a Figure Four applied on Bryan. Punk and Bryan exchange slaps to the face with Punk keeping it locked in. Bryan catches Punk with a big kick to the head. Bryan is crotched on the top rope and Punk catches him with a clothesline. Kicks between both. Bryan counters a GTS into a close rollup. Punk with a kick to the head of Bryan. Bryan gets his foot on the bottom rope during the pinfall. Punk connects with a flying elbow from the top turnbuckle. Bryan with big knees to Punk. Bryan misses his corner charge, Punk witha high knee, Bryan counters a bulldog and applies the Yes Lock. Bryan pulls back hard as Punk screams out in pain. Punk forces himself back and Bryan is on his shoulders. The referee counts the pinfall. Punk taps out.
Winner and still WWE Champion: CM Punk
After the match, Daniel Bryan complains to the referee that CM Punk tapped out. We go to the replay and we see that Punk tapped out around a second after the pinfall was counted. Back live, Bryan is pointing to the screen screaming that Punk tapped. Punk is holding up the WWE Championship.
Backstage, Eve and David Otunga pass by a smiling Teddy Long. Long said he is looking forward to the main event tonight. Otunga said Long better not get his hopes up tonight.
Ryback vs. Camacho w/ Hunico
Loud “GOLDBERG” chants in North Carolina. Camacho goes for a suplex, but Ryback blocks it and drops Camacho on his face. Ryback with a big boot to the chest. Camacho with some forearms to the head. Hunico catches Ryback with a kick to the back with the referee distracted. Ryback with shoulder charges to Camacho in the corner and then drops Hunico on the ring apron. Ryback with a spinebuster and then lifts Camacho up from the ring and back down with a huge powerbomb. Ryback connects with his modified Samoan Drop finisher to get the pinfall.
Winner: Ryback
A promo for the Best of WCW Clash of the Champions DVD is shown.
A video package runs hyping John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis.
* If any WWE star interferes they will be fired
* If John Laurinaitis loses, he is fired
John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis
Laurinaitis tried to bail when the bell rang and Cena tossed him back in. Cena with a big clothesline to Laurinaitis. Jerry Lawler is laughing on commentary. Cena puts Laurinaitis' shirt over his face and then gives him a big chop to the chest. Cena lifts up Laurinaitis' shirt and chops him over the back. Cena has Laurinaitis up, does an airplane spin and then drops Laurinaitis down who is all dizzy. Laurinaitis flops to the outside through the ropes. Cena grabs the ring bell and cracks it near the ears of Laurinaitis. Cena does this a few more times and then drops Laurinaitis' face off the announce table. Cena does this a second time over the announce table. Cena goes, “This will look really good in HD.” Cena then tosses Laurinaitis' face off the Spanish announce table. Cena puts Laurinaitis down in one of the Spanish announce table seats. Cena puts one of the headsets on Laurinaitis and he puts on the other. Cena starts calling commentary as Cole and Booker T. Laurinaitis is out of it. Cena then tosses him back in the ring. Laurinaitis wants to shake hands. Cena slaps Laurinaitis, drops an elbow, leaves the ring, grabs a mic and says, “I've just come up with an idea. Here is what we are going to do Johnny if you can hear me. I'm about to put you in the STF. This is where it gets good – if you tap out, you are fired. I'll let go of the hold if you can last 10 seconds. And in the good name of People Power, maybe the people can count along.”
Cena drops the mic and applies the STF. The crowd counts along with and Laurinaitis lasts 10 seconds. Cena is impressed. He says the good news is that Laurinaitis made it, but the bad news is that he is going to do it again. Cena applies the STF one more time and Laurinaitis once again lasts 10 seconds. Cole is screaming, “What a man!” Cena grabs a water and says Big Johnny looks thirsty as well. Cena dumps water over Laurinaitis. Cena then pours water down the pants of Laurinaitis. Cena grabs a fire extinguisher, points it at Laurinaitis and Laurinaitis puts his hands up to block it. Laurinaitis is begging Cena not to do it. Cena lights him up. Cena grabs a trash can and dumps it over Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis bails and Cena catches up with him. Laurinaitis works over Cena's bad arm and Cena falls back. Laurinaitis drops Cena's arm over the Spanish announce table and then over the steel ring steps. Laurinaitis grabs a steel chair and hits Cena over the back with it. Laurinaitis with another shot, cover and Cena kicks out. Cena blocks another chair shot and hits Laurinaitis in the knee with it dropping him. Cena with a Five Knuckle Shuffle using the steel chair over the face of Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis with a low blow to Cena. Cole screams out how that is legal. Laurinaitis bails to the crowd. We see a shot of him crawling away and then heading to the back through the curtain. We then see Big Show dragging Laurinaitis from the back and to the ringside area.
Big Show drags Laurinaitis up to the ring apron and throws him back inside. Laurinaitis tries to crawl away and Big Show steps on his hand. Big Show chokes Laurinaitis, throws him at Cena, Cena gets Laurinaitis up for an FU and Big Show drops Cena with his knockout punch. Laurinaitis covers Cena and gets the win.
Winner: John Laurinaitis
After the match, Big Show helps John Laurinaitis to his feet, raises his arm and walks off. We see a highlight of the finish. Back live, Laurinaitis is limping to the back with a smile on his face.
