Reminiscence of 2011

2011, was my 2nd year of watching a full year of Wrestling. Though I wasn't able to appreciate 2010 as much because of my lack of wresting knowledge. However, with or without knowledge, 2011 was a great year, no doubt about it. Punk's infamous shoot, Rock's return, the walkout angle, Money in the Bank, Edge Retiring and so many other moments in 2011 made it entertaining. However, the most important thing to rate in any Wrestling promotion is the quality of the pay-per views. To me, it delivered some tremendous events and none of the 2011 pay-per views were actually below average. Out of 12 pay-per views, five stood out to be the best.


So here it goes, MY top five pay-per views of 2011:

Standing up at No. 5 is: 

To be honest, this come real close to be No.6. However, it was at the last moment, when I watched this event one more time, that I said: "Ok, it's in". The event itself was a success in Atlanta, however quality wise, it did OK. At least it did better than the last Wrestlemania in my opinion. 

- Undertaker v Triple H, the drama they had was fantastic, and overall it highlighted both of them to be great competitors, old but still great. I mean that time where HHH tomb stoned Undertaker, I jumped right out of my seat, it seemed real that the Undertaker was about to have his streak turn to dust, but no. This match made you feel that both sides could win, which is sometimes unlikely for a Undertaker WrestleMania match (except for Taker/HBK I and II). 

- Randy Orton v CM Punk, I thought these two hit it off, two great competitors that I think was really eager to steal the show. Before the event actually happened, this match was easily the one I was really into the most. It was good to see Orton win as it cemented him to a status slightly below John Cena, he was being the 2nd face of the WWE. Wrestling wise, great psychology, great moveset, but just a boring finish. Still this match was an A class match

- Jerry Lawler v Michael Cole, now bare with me before you even go on a rage here. This WASN'T a very good match, but actually the build-up was great. The build-up itself made it even more interesting than the Snooki/Morrison/Stratus v Ziggler/Lay-Cool match. They had Cole gaining the upper hand, and it suddenly just become a match where you wanted Lawler to kick Cole's ass and the best part it was that it was at Wrestlemania. On any aspect, I agree, it wasn't a good match, but however, the excitement before the event built towards this match.

Last but not least, is seeing Jim Ross commentating, that made it great, oh and also Edge's last match which was not his greatest but it was above average.

Overall Grade: 7.25/10

Moving on to No. 4:

The Summertime of 2011, good show, not great but I would say it's better than most Summerslam in the 20th Century and that includes 2010 but not 2002 or 2009. SummerSlam 2011 was again, the 2nd biggest show of the year and the card was unbelievably short, unlike most cards in WWE events it had only six matches if I could recall, and almost all of them showcased entertainment..

So let's get down to it. Yes, Summerslam was a great show but I wouldn't put in my Top Three, I'll get to that later, but first some of the highlights that made SummerSlam 2011 Top Five Worthy.

- CM Punk v John Cena: This feud just made my summer more interesting, really it was just such an awesome feud that unfortunately had to be cut short. The match had really interesting back and forth action, however they could not repeat their Money in the Bank performance, still the match was very entertaining and what I liked was actually the finish, this didn't make Punk look weak and neither did it make Cena look weak, so great job WWE. HHH as referee was ok, but not noteworthy.

- Randy Orton v Christian: Really appreciate their work, these guys just made Smackdown great for the year. Their match had an epic start and an epic finish with the return of Edge (well slightly) and their match had a very hardcore feeling to it, it's like they really hate each other in this match. Nuff said, point is they put out an amazing performance and made this match, THE MATCH OF THE NIGHT.

- Sheamus v Mark Henry, the finish was fantastic and like Punk and Cena match, it didn't make either of them look weak and made Henry a stronger monster which was good. 

The rest was ok, but I think they should have added Morrison v Truth in the card instead of having them in a 6-man tag with the others. As good as it was, the only thing I would mark out for was the Randy Orton v Christian match, the CM Punk v John Cena was above average but it was just good, it couldn't compete with the match that Orton and Christian had. Punk and Cena had the fans behind their back, and that made it greater, but entertainment wise, you've got to hand it to the World Heavyweight Championship match. And also, a lot of people saying Alberto Del Rio cashing in on Summerslam didn't end this show really well. I would agree, it wasn't the best end to an event and certainly not the best cash-in. 

Overall Grade: 8.0/10

Three, Three, Three

A lot of people don't remember this event, maybe cause it's really early on the year. But, despite the lack of popularity, Elimination Chamber showcased a great wrestling entertainment, even though the winners were predictable. You had two awesome Elimination Chamber match and well, an OK WWE Title Match. However, with the quality of both the elimination chamber match to be over the top, this made Elimination Chamber a strong top three holder.

I could ramble on and on about the reasons, but I would put it on one sentence. The two elimination chamber put on a better show than Over the Limit 2011, period. That's how good it was. Oh and it was also nice to see Drew Mcintryre in the event, who by the way is one of my favorite superstars right now.. 

Overall Grade: 9/10

Next, 2

AWESOME, AWESOME card.. Really this event had an awesome card which wasn't disappointing at all. In fact it was so awesome, that I'll get right on to it 

Cody Rhodes v Rey Mysterio: Man, the level they competed for a Falls Count Anywhere match was terrific, I would say that this was the match that stapled Rhodes push in 2011, not the Wrestlemania match but it was this match, Rhodes showcased how tough he was and Mysterio showcased how quick he was. As crazy as it sounds, I would say this was the 2nd Match of the Night, beating Miz v Morrsion v Cena.

Christian v Alberto Del Rio: I marked out like a crazy person when Christian won and Edge came along to celebrate it. WWE was smart to put that moment in there, cause it's just moments like that where it doesn't happen a lot. Match wise, you got the man with million techniques for a ladder, Christian, you'll be settled for a good match and yes it was, with Brodus coming out and Ricardo and everything, it become more entertaining and made it the match of the night.

CM Punk v Randy Orton: An extenstion to their feud at Wrestlemania, and again this put Orton as the Man of the WWE for the time being and this again didn't make Punk look like a jobber, he made his moments in that Last Man Standing match, the finish was great, it was a little bit different other than a jumping RKO.

Here's something different, I had a ranking system for every match on the card and here's what I got.

1st: Del Rio/Christian,  2nd: Rhodes/Mysterio,  3rd: Orton/Punk,  4th: Morrsion/Miz/Cena,  5th: Layla/McCool,  6th: Sheamus/Kingston,  7th:  Ross/Lawler v Cole/Swagger,  8th: Show/Kane v Corre

Oh and by the way, one other thing made Extreme Rules great, the debut of KHARMA.. It was an awesome debut, but too bad her reign was cut short.. Oh well, we'll see her this year. 

Overall Grade: 9.5/10

THE WINNER OF THIS BOUT:

I guarantee you, ask anybody which Pay Per View was the best one of 2011 and they'll say Money in the Bank will always be the winner. Infact from the year of 2009-2011, I could say that Money in the Bank 2011 would outshine most of them. From top to bottom, the card was filled with exhilarating action and pure entertainment. I wouldn't state matches that are good, cause I felt that all matches were above average in this pay-per view, and that includes the Kelly v Bella match and Show v Henry. The show started off with the Smackdown match and in this match, there were so many moments I could recall where it was awesome. Gabriel doing a 450 splash on Kane from a ladder on top of a turnbuckle, Bryan kicking Barrett in the head multiple times, then Bryan doing a flip that was out of nowhere. Really, for the wresting side, Smackdown had in all in their hands. Christian vs Orton match, was another one great match, everyone seemed to criticize the finish but actually I think it built up to Christian's character which was great to watch. THE MAIN EVENT, Punk v Cena, again from start to finish was just so great. The wrestling side of this match didn't fail and in my book received a 8.5/10, the crowd made this match 10/10 (Chicago is awesome). Another match that stood out was actually Show v Henry. The finish was just brutal but fantastic, it made Henry build up his character so muchhh more.. Dave Meltzer even gave the Punk v Cena match a 5 Star Match, which was unlikely since the last WWE match he gave a 5 star to was in 1997.. This pay-per view is one I could watch almost any time when I'm bored, cause it's just filled with so much entertainment.

"The word amazing doesn't do this event justice, if you want to say something good about this event, just open your mouth wide open"

Overall Grade: 10/10

So that's my favorite events for 2011, a great year nonetheless. Please note that this is only my opinion and not the WWE's public opinion or what not. I look forward to hearing what your favorite events of 2011 are. Leave a comment here or just mention me on Twitter and let me know..

Peace Out

Introduction to my Blog

Alright, before I post anything wrestling related or what not, I'm going to introduce myself. My name is Chirag Samtani, and yes I'm still a student and I have Twitter. As part of the new year change, my resolution was to infuse myself with more and more pure entertainment, Wrestling. This sport has been good to me, and I hope by making reviews and commenting on more Wrestling stuff and show my response to it, I hope that I'll be able to commit myself as a part of something big that is the WWE. To go more into the technical aspect, I'll only be reviewing WWE and hopefully by the end of 2012, I'll be able to review more Indy-shows as I expand more and more to promotions outside WWE. I'll also be review popular upcoming games, movies and if any of have questions on Twitter or email, I'll answer it altogether here.