WWE Over The Limit 2012 Recap (5/20/2012)

Over the Limit 2012 is the only WWE pay per view I’ve attended outside of WrestleMania 27. I remember getting the leaflet for the show when I attended Smackdown in December 2011, and I was super excited for it. Raleigh has only hosted three WWE pay per views and despite being in the heart of Flair country the city never hosted a big WCW pay per view or event. After only bringing in 8,000 fans for Over the Limit 2012, the WWE has not returned with a PPV and I have a feeling they won't anytime soon.

In 2012, I wasn't watching WWE on a weekly basis, but I kept up with the storylines via results each week. As the card slowly started forming into shape, I realized that this wasn't going to be a wonderful pay per view. Then again, a year earlier I had gone to possibly the worse WrestleMania of all-time, so I knew I couldn't be that disappointed in what was in store. At least this time I didn't have to drive eight hours to be disappointed.

One match really stood out on the card: Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk for the WWE Heavyweight Title. Both contestants said they would do things never before seen in the ring, and promised an old fashioned wrestling match minus all the gimmicks. This was nice because the main event was John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis. Don’t get me wrong, Johnny Ace can wrestle, but by this time, he was older and was featured as an annoying authority figure that no one wanted to see in the ring.

I remember the card wasn’t fully announced before the pay per view and like a lot of the non-major pay per views it featured a lot of throwaway matches. One of the most notable things about this pay per view is the fact that there was no fireworks, pryo, or any real explosion to start off the show. The show just began. Some fireworks were featured after the first match.

I was excited for the Battle Royal that opened the show, but a bit disappointed with the contestants. It reminded me of the Battle Royals at Wrestlemania, where they scrape the bottom to get people onto the show. The only notable entrant was the returning Christian and guess who won the royal for a shot at either the US or Intercontential Championship? That’s right, Christian.

The Raleigh crowd was actually pretty hot that night and stayed connected through a run of the mill tag team match between Kofi Kingston/R-Truth and Ziggler/Swagger. There was the typical bathroom break Divas match between Layla and Beth Phoenix, before finally getting to the World Title Match which was a four way between Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, and Alberto Del Rio. It was a very formulaic match, but a decent match nonetheless.

Following the World Title match we were forced to sit through The Miz vs. Brodus Clay. Need I say more?

Christian ended up facing Cody Rhodes for the IC Title. The two worked well together and I remember digging the match, but it was very short and Cody lost the belt. Christian got a huge pop for it, but I really wish they would have skipped the Miz vs. Clay match and give these guys more time to put something together.

Now, it was time for the big match: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan. The match lived up to the hype. The two put on a wrestling clinic and everyone in the crowd was thrilled with it. The WWE gave them plenty time and it was a great match. I remember the ending being a little screwy, but I wasn’t disappointed in that. It was just nice to see some good honest wrestling on a big stage.

The main event was well… not worthy of being a main event. It was more of a comedy skit that the Big Show interfered in. I think the only noteworthy thing that came out of this match was the WWE used footage of one guy in the crowd and the look of utter shock on his face when Cena lost. The WWE replayed this fan and his reaction for weeks on TV and they prior this match they didn't really search the crowds and their reactions. Nowadays this is pretty common, they find that one mega fan in the crowd, zoom in, and then use his/her exaggerated expressions to convey the sort of reaction they were hoping for (and usually don’t get). A lot like the main event at Wrestlemania XVII, the main event here spoiled the excitement for the show and left the fans unhappy. It was a bummer, but I can hardly remember it occurring. The Bryan/Punk match overshadowed it despite going on first.

It was a decent show and I’m glad that I get to say I saw Daniel Bryan and CM Punk in their prime go head-to-head. To be honest, that match was worth the price of admission alone. It’s always fun going out and watching wrestling and this night was no different.

Here are the results of the entire card:
Pre-Show: Kane defeated Zack Ryder (6:52)

Christian won a 20 Man "People Power" Battle Royal where the winner gets his choice of a United States or Intercontinental Championship match later in the show. (13:12)

The other participants were: David Otunga, Tyson Kidd, Alex Riley, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, William Regal, The Great Khali, Heath Slater, Titus O'Neil, Darren Young, Ezekiel Jackson, Jinder Mahal, Tyler Reks, Drew McIntyre, Curt Hawkins, Michael McGillicutty, JTG and Yoshi Tatsu.

Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship (12:12)

Layla (c) defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the WWE Divas Championship (7:08)

Sheamus (c) defeated Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho & Randy Orton in Fatal 4-Way Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (15:52)

Brodus Clay (w/ Cameron and Naomi) defeated The Miz (4:08)

Christian defeated Cody Rhodes (c) to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship (7:18)

CM Punk (c) defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Championship (24:04)

Ryback defeated Camacho (1:48)

John Laurinaitis defeated John Cena (17:04)
If John Cena wins, John Laurinaitis will be terminated. Any superstar who interferes will be terminated.