Current Watch List:

• Big Show vs. Roman Reigns (WWE)
• Cesaro vs. Jimmy Uso (WWE)
• Goldust & Stardust vs. The Ascension (WWE)
• Daniel Bryan vs. Kane in a casket match (WWE)

Matches Watched:

Big Show vs. Roman Reigns
United States
WWE

Roman had a good showing post-commercial break.  Then again, his in-ring ability is not really the main issue with him at the moment.  Big Show, on the other hand, was terrible here.  His bump out of the ring on the Reigns head scissors (which he should add to his offense on a regular basis) was laughably bad.  He looked more sluggish than usual.  Reigns’ signature offense – the jumping dropkick, spear, and superman punch – all came off well.  The problem was Show was really bad and this match did not need a commercial break and all of the time it got.  Bad match, but not because of Reigns.

Tyson Kidd vs. Jimmy Uso
United States
WWE

The leg work in such a short match was different in a good way as it stood out a bit more.  Jimmy’s selling was fun and I loved the bump he took on the dropkick to the knee.  The match was way rushed so the ending fell flat, but I liked what they were going for.

Goldust & Stardust vs. The Ascension (WWE)
United States
WWE

Not much a match.  Ascension are fine in the ring but not the point of deserving any sort of serious push.  Goldust and Stardust teased dissension, as they seem to annually around this time of the year.  I can’t see them having a spot on WrestleMania for a singles match, so maybe the miscommunication was just an excuse for them to lose.

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane
United States
WWE
Casket Match

The casket match is an almost possible gimmick to get a good match out of.  It is almost nearly as difficult these days to have even an interesting match with Kane.  So the fact that this wasn’t terrible and was not a total bore is a small victory.  I am not saying the match was good but it was a strong effort given the inherent handicaps Bryan was working with (the gimmick, Kane, and the fact they were given A LOT of time to fill).  Nothing wrong with saying a match wasn’t good, but still succeeded to some extent by not being the total failure it likely should have been.

The big problem with casket matches is the lack of near falls makes it difficult to build to any sort of exciting finish.  They teased some casket spots early in the match to predictably little reaction.  The fact that by the end they got some okay-ish near falls (“near casket”?) at the end was impressive.  They incorporated enough casket teases and a high enough variety of them that they created at least some doubt/interest in how the match would end.

Again, not a good match generally speaking,  but a strong effort from Bryan and some good ideas was about as much as could probably be asked for given the circumstances.