Main Plot Overview: Due to AJ slapping Paul Heyman the week before at his ludicrous marriage proposal, he brought up that she could be fired for that as she was explicitly warned weeks prior to never touch another wrestler or manager ever again. So, Heyman wished to insert himself into the GM picture. But soon after, Vickie Guerrero with Dolph Ziggler close behind, argued why she should be the new GM. Things went really crazy though when Kane and Daniel Bryan showed up, saying it was their faults to begin with for what they put AJ through and it wasn’t her fault.
Finally, AJ, now on probation as GM, would come to the ring and in order to settle it would put all four men in the ring in a tag team match. CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler vs Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan incase you missed that a couple weeks ago as well). Later on in the evening though, AJ would add the stipulation that she would be guest referee to make things extra spicy.
In the main even, Ziggler would leave Punk to fend for himself and Kane and Daniel Bryan would easily capitalize and send Punk reeling with a choke slam, further validating Team Hell No as a tag team and adding more fuel for whatever pipe bomb CM Punk will want to drop next week. On a side note, AJ looked phenomenal in her referee uniform, especially when she got down on the mat to count the 1, 2, 3. Just saying.
Match of the Night: In a match that was worthy of a PPV, Savior of the Masses Damien Sandow and Sheamus put together one of the best cable TV matches I’ve seen in a long time and serves as Sandow’s stand-out moment so far in WWE. Worthy of a title match, this non-title bout so the fight go all over as Sandow attempted to escape several times, but got pulled back in by Sheamus. But Sandow was merely catching his breath it seems as he did a masterful job of turning the tables on Sheamus again and again.
Even with his tag team partner Cody Rhodes at ringside, Sandow put on a legitimate show against the Great White with no interference from the Rhodes at all. Until the end at least, when Rhodes, who was only trying to help Sandow to his feet after a boot near the turnbuckle by Sheamus, received one half a Brogue Kick that knocked both men out and saw Sheamus victorious. Sandow and Sheamus is a bout that I would love to see again for a title shot down the line and hopefully WWE took notice of Sandow’s in-ring skill as both he and Rhodes should be pushed not only as a team, but individually as well.
Promo of the Night: With all the writers at WWE Headquarters going crazy waiting to see if John Cena will be able to wrestle at Hell in a Cell, new feuds need to be fueled and fast incase John can’t go and a new main eventer needs to be crowned. So, while celebrating ‘J.R. Appreciation Night’ in Oklahoma City, who is filling in of course for the still recovering Jerry Lawler, CM Punk decided to crash the show and put J.R. in his place. After belittling poor Jim Ross and making fun of Stone Cold Steve Austin for a little while, Jim finally had enough and began his exit up the ramp.
Then Ryback showed up. Much like last week when Mick Foley was helped by Ryback after Punk’s unwarranted assault, Ryback escorted J.R. back to the ring and stared down the WWE Champion until he left with Paul Heyman screaming ‘You get paid to fight!’ CM Punk of course carried this promo and made it worth while, but the possibility of putting Ryback over as a main eventer has much of the WWE Universe intrigued because many of us do not think Ryback is ready for such a major jump in air-time. But with him taking down more established competition like Tensai earlier in the evening, the WWE knows they may need to push him faster than they want to if Hell in the Cell is going to sell.
Shocker of the Night: One moment more so than any other in the evening had my jaw dropping. It was when Antonio Cesaro hit his Neutralizer onto Brodus Clay. Not only was it impressive that Cesaro basically dead-lifted the behemoth of a man that is the Funkasaurus, but that he held it there for several seconds before forcefully slamming him down to the mat for the win. It wasn’t the longest match of the night or the most impressive overall, but that one moment was stunning and I’m still shocked at Cesaro’s show of strength.
Cheap Pop of the Night: With it being ‘J.R. Appreciation Night’ in Oklahoma City, many would think that just having J.R. there doing commentary would be enough to mark it as our Cheap Pop of the Night. But because of CM Punk’s interruption, there was little Boomer Sooner magic going on. No, the Cheap Pop of the Night came during the ridiculous World Heavyweight Championship debate between Big Show and Sheamus where Sheamus hammed it up for crowd by noticably dropping the city’s name several times. Although the debate was really nothing but a time kill as Big Show left the ring instead of fighting the Great White in the end, Sheamus’s love of name-dropping earned him our Cheap Pop of the Night easily.