Pages

Showing posts with label Big Show. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Show. Show all posts

Monday, May 21, 2018

3 best cage match endings



@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Pro wrestling has a rich history of steel cage matches. The endings to these contests often stay etched in the memory of fans. There are many great ones, but I've narrowed it down to my three favorites. Yes, the headline says best. But it's really my favorite. (These are in no particular order.)



1. Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair, Christmas Day 1982. This match stands out to me for a couple of reasons. It features two of my all-time favorites. It's also the very first match I remember watching as a young fan. I was nine years old and the Modern Day Warrior quickly captured my attention. 

Michael Hayes was serving as special guest referee. Terry Gordy stood guard outside the ring. Back then the Freebirds and the Von Erich brothers were allies. That changed on this night as Kerry could have taken advantage of Flair's misfortune with Hayes, Von Erich refused. This enraged Hayes and Gordy slammed the cage door on Kerry's face. This set up Flair to get the win and started one of the greatest rivalries in pro wrestling history. 


Tie!
2. Hulk Hogan vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, January 1987. I was in eighth grade when this match happened on Saturday Night's Main Event. I was away for the weekend on a Boy Scout campout and could not wait to get home that Sunday afternoon to watch the show on VHS. 

I had been a Hulkamaniac since first seeing Hulk Hogan burst on the scene. However, in my rebellious teenage phase, I turned my back on the Hulkster and wanted "Mr. Wonderful" to win. And I thought he was going to. This is the cage match where both men dropped to the arena floor at the same time. Even in the instant replay, it was too close to call. I loved this ending but it didn't take long for the Hulkster to come back and retain the championship. 



3. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon, February 1999. One of the hottest feuds of all-time is the Austin-McMahon rivalry. The two hated each other with a passion and put their hatred to the test inside a cage for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre event. The ending of this match is iconic too (obviously or I wouldn't be writing this). 

The debuting Big Show (aka Paul Wight) burst through the ring from underneath. He assaulted Austin and chucked the former champion into a wall of the cage. It came off and Austin slid to the floor to victory. It was one of the coolest finishes I can recall and it set up Big Show to be the newest monster on the WWE roster.


Obvious honorable mentions include Jimmy Snuka vs. Bob Backlund when "Superfly" leaped off the top of the cage. Big Bossman vs. Hulk Hogan and the superplex Hogan delivered on SNME. And Ric Flair vs. Nikita Koloff when Dusty came in to help Flair and the Horsemen turned on him and broke his ankle. 

What are your favorite cage match endings? Share here and be sure to see more steel cage action this Saturday night (May 26) at Pinckneyville High School as Stride Goes Steel in the 'Ville.



Click the pic for this week's podcast

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Enzo's big task

Enzo vs. Big Cass
Courtesy: WWE
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

The last few months have been anything but good for Enzo Amore. The WWE Superstar was the victim of two separate attacks backstage before the world found out it was his best friend and tag team partner Big Cass. I'll admit the duo's act was starting to wear thin, but I would have rather seen them take a small break from TV than having them break up. Their split comes on the heels of DYI's implosion on NXT and now the dividing of American Alpha too. It's too many tag team breaking up for my liking.

However, it's happened and there's no sense looking back. When Big Cass laid out Enzo a few weeks ago on Raw it was apparent who was going to be the dominant one in this feud. The two had their first match at Great Balls of Fire, Cass destroyed his former partner. A rematch this past Monday on Raw and it was another ass kicking for Enzo. 


Big Cass wins
Courtesy: WWE
I feel bad for the guy. He's not the biggest dog in the fight and yeah, he's kind of annoying, but I never expected him to be crushed so convincingly. Enzo is clearly getting the Jannetty treatment here. It'll be interesting to see what's next for each man. Presumably, Cass will go on to SummerSlam in a few weeks and beat the Big Show as he continues to climb the ranks of the Raw roster. 


He's got personality
Courtesy: WWE
In my 1-2-3 cents, Enzo should be paired up with another big man, but to fill the role as a mouth piece. He's got the gift of gab and could recruit help in getting revenge against Cass. It just has to be someone other than the Big Show. Or better yet, he could continue his in ring career and head to 205 Live. The show could use a shot of personality and Enzo would no doubt provide that. Besides, Cruiserweight Champion Neville needs someone else to whip in the ring. 

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Post Andre the Giant battle royal success

The trophy
Courtesy: WWE
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Follow my blog with Bloglovin


WWE introduced fans to the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX and I was in the crowd watching live. I figured The Big Show or Sheamus would be the winner. I was pleasantly surprised when Cesaro tossed Show over the top rope to win the event and the enormous trophy with Andre the Giant perched on top.


Cesaro and the big trophy
Courtesy: WWE
In the weeks and months that followed the victory I expected big things for Cesaro. Sure he had already held the U.S. Championship, but I thought the win would line him up for a run with the Intercontinental Championship or in my fantasy land of booking, a series of matches against the newly crowned WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan. Instead it seemed winning the battle royal was a curse as Cesaro went on a pretty big losing streak, missing opportunities against the secondary champions and other Superstars on the card.
Finally in early 2015 Cesaro and Tyson Kidd formed a pretty awesome tag team and won the championships. They held the belts twice before Kidd ended up getting injured. Cesaro toiled on the mid-card with little success before getting hurt himself and spending some time of television. I popped like everyone else in the crowd at the Raw after WrestleMania 32 when The Swiss Superman returned. 
He had a promising run coming back, but was still unable to capture singles gold. Then Raw General Manger put he and rival Sheamus together and the duo pulled off a big win, ending the New Day's record breaking tag team title run. Their title reign was short lived though, but they remain in the hunt and go for the gold (or copper) this Sunday at WrestleMania 33. 
Baron Corbin in 2016
Courtesy: WWE
Another Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner, Baron Corbin gets a shot at gold in what will be his second WrestleMania match. Winning the trophy at 32 was a huge accomplishment for his debut. The followup hasn't been shabby for the former NXT star. He's getting a crack at Dean Ambrose's Intercontinental Championship. I'm still not sold on Corbin, but I do believe he will unseat Ambrose Sunday. It gives me anxiety to think he'll be 2 and 0 at WrestleMania and could be building a streak before you know it...


Big Show celebrating at Raw
Courtesy: WWE
The Big Show is the other Superstar to win the battle royal. He's actually competed in all three and is set to appear again in this year's. That's probably a big indication that WWE Creative has nothing much for Big Show who has become more of an attraction in the last few years anyway.
Braun will win this year
Courtesy: WWE
I never expected Show to go on to win gold again, but I figured since he won the Battle Royal in 2015 they'd at least do something to showcase him. WrestleMania 33 was supposed to feature the (not so) much anticipated battle with Shaq. Now it appears they're grooming him to pass the torch to Braun Strowman who I have no doubt will win Sunday's battle royal. With that win I predict an even bigger push than he's seen, simply because he's a "big bastard" and we know how Vince McMahon feels about those kinds of Superstars.
So while two past winners are going for championship gold at WrestleMania and one is looking to pass the torch, I still find the battle royal interesting. Yeah it's filler to get everyone on the show or at least almost everyone, but I don't really have a problem with that. It is the biggest night of the year and Superstars all deserve a moment to shine.


Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Sweet 16 awesomely bad WrestleMania matches

The Sweet 16 of Awesomely Bad WrestleManias
Photos by WWE
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Full disclosure, I know NOTHING about college basketball or most sports in general. But I do know that it's time for the NCAA Tournament and March Madness. I've always wanted to take advantage of the craze, so I'm going to attempt my own shot at the sweetness the tournament provides.

I've come up with 16 awesomely bad WrestleMania matches through the years. Later tonight I will seed these matches and do a tournament on the My 1-2-3 Cents Facebook page (cheap plug for you to go and like it). Each day your votes will decide who advances in the tournament. One match will occur each day. I don't know yet if awesomely bad means you liked the match or hated it, I'm leaning toward liked.

Here are the matches (in no particular order) that I'm proposing. I'm open to suggestions, but get your ideas to me by 6am CST March 16.

Adrian Adonis vs. Uncle Elmer: WrestleMania 2

Undertaker vs. The Giant Gonzalez: WrestleMania 9

The Divas Battle Royal (Santina wins): WrestleMania 25

Sable vs. Tori: WrestleMania 15

Rocky Maivia vs. The Sultan: WrestleMania 13

Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon: WrestleMania 26

Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper (Boxing match): WrestleMania 2

Big Show vs. Akebono (Sumo match): WrestleMania 21

Undertaker vs. Big Bossman (Hell in a Cell): WrestleMania 15

Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Michael Cole: WrestleMania 27

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar: WrestleMania 20

Kane vs. The Great Khali: WrestleMania 23

Men on Mission vs. The Quebecers: WrestleMania 10

King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook vs. Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver & Haiti Kid: WrestleMania 3

Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley: WrestleMania 12

British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware vs. The Islanders & Bobby "The Brain" Heenan: WrestleMania 4


Sunday, January 22, 2017

Rumble Ramblings: #7 Daniel & the Giants

Daniel & the Giants
Courtesy: My 1-2-3 Cents

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Since the 2017 Royal Rumble is right around the corner, I've decided to countdown to this year's event with my 10 favorite non-Rumble Royal Rumble matches. 

In late 2011 Daniel Bryan took advantage of Mark Henry and the Big Show and cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, winning his first World Championship. The odds were stacked against Bryan a short time later at the 2012 Royal Rumble as he defended the gold against both giants inside a steel cage. 


My son & I were there!
Unlike the previous matches I've chosen for this series of blogs, this one did not really advance to much of anything else after it was over. But I picked it because I'm a Daniel Bryan fan AND I was live in the crowd for this event with my 10 year old son. It was his first pay per view event and the first Royal Rumble I'd ever attended. This Rumble also marked the 25th anniversary for the event and featured the return of the inaugural winner "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, but I digress. I should also note this was the best incarnation of the Mark Henry character through his career. I was big fan of his championship run leading to this match.


Caught!
Courtesy: My 1-2-3 Cents
My son wanted Big Show to win, I wanted Bryan to retain, which is what happened. Bryan was heelish in the match, and in the closing moments broke up Big Show's pin attempt on Henry. Then he scaled to the top of the cage only to be captured by Show. The champ struggled to escape and Big Show grabbed him again. Eventually Bryan dropped to the arena floor and gloated with the big gold belt in his hands. 


Winner!
Courtesy: WWE
That may had been his most impressive win up until that point and only to be reinforced after he dropped the belt to the Rumble winner Sheamus in 18 seconds at WrestleMania 28. Obviously things would change in the coming years and Bryan would grow to be one of the most beloved Superstars of this era of wrestling.


10 Favorite Non-Rumble Royal Rumble matches

10. Super Posedown


9. Harts Broken


8. All fired up

Saturday, November 12, 2016

SURVIVOR SERIES: Favorite team number 9: Team WWF (2001)


By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Listen to the podcast
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I'm counting down to the 30th annual Survivor Series by looking back at my ten favorite teams in the history of the event. Survivor Series ranks among my favorite events every year and if you've read this blog in the past you know I'm a fan of the traditional elimination matches. 


In 2001 Vince McMahon bought his competition, WCW. But in the process, we found out his son Shane had actually made the deal and he and sister Stephanie waged war with WCW and ECW stars against WWF's top Superstars. Several WWF guys jumped ship, including "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. 


Team WWF wants to tag The Undertaker
Courtesy: WWE
But at Survivor Series that year it was Team WWF that led the way to take on WCW's team, which really had a poor representation of that company, but I digress. The winning team of this event would go on to control the fate of the company. Team WWF was one of the strongest Survivor Series teams created in the history of the event. The Rock, The Big, The Undertaker, Kane and Chris Jericho would all go on to win multiple championships in the company. 


Rock Bottom for the win
Courtesy: WWE
The Rock ended up being the sole survivor in this match and really shined. He was still WCW World Champion during the match, but the next night the title became just the World Heavyweight Champion and eventually would merge with the WWF Championship. Months later Jericho would be the first Undisputed Champion.

Vince became a heel again after this match. Austin returned to being a face. And the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair made his WWF return after a nearly 10-year absence from the company. That's just some of the aftermath from this match. My armchair booking point on the Invasion angle (at least one point) is when Austin turned against the WWF, I would have liked to see him become "Stunning" Steve Austin again since he was representing WCW. Paul Heyman was a part of the Alliance so it could have worked (in my 1-2-3 cents).


Team 10: New Day, King Barrett & Sheamus 

Thursday, August 20, 2015

SummerSlam A to Z: X-Pac

X-Pac vs. Tajiri
Courtesy: WWE
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Listen to the podcast


Coming up with an X for the A to Z idea was a no brainer.  Other than X-Pac, I don't know who or what I could have written about.  So thanks Sean Waltman for the name change in 1998.  Speaking of, I'd say was his biggest or at least most memorable SummerSlam match for me.

Hair today...
Courtesy: WWE
It was 1998 when he'd returned to the WWF and joined D-Generation X.  The group had recently turned good and leader Triple H was busy with the Rock and X-Pac had his hands full with "Double J" Jeff Jarrett.  The match was hair vs. hair and I'm glad X-Pac won because it finally meant an end to Jarrett's mullet.  The match was good and proved to me that the former 1-2-3 Kid was going to be a star.  

1-2-3 Kid vs. Hakushi
Courtesy: WWE
I personally liked the Kid character especially in the early days before signing with WWF.  Kid wasn't nearly as successful as he was after changing his name, look and attitude, but he had an excellent match against Hakushi in 1995.  

Unified champ
Courtesy: WWE
The other big win for him at SummerSlam was against Tajiri in 2002 when he unified the WWF and WCW light heavyweight championships.  But until I started doing my research, I'd forgotten this match existed.  I've mentioned before there's a big blur in my wrestling memory bank from 2000 until about 2007.  Coincidentally I became a father for the first time in 2000...

He lost the tag team titles with Kane as the duo faced the Big Show and Undertaker in 1999 and then beat former DX buddy Road Dogg at the event in 2000.  Love him or hate him, X-Pac or the 1-2-3 Kid is a part of SummerSlam history, giving fans some great matches through the years.  

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Will Extreme Rules Rule?



By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Because I'm an idiot, I had forgotten Extreme Rules is this weekend.  I would have included my predictions in this week's podcast (my interview with "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton).  

I'll preface this post with a reminder that I am not a fan of gimmicky pay per views.  TLC immediately comes to mind and Extreme Rules is a close second.  There are a few Wrestlemania rematches (in one form or another) and I get that the WWE wants to spice things up.  But I don't see the need to have silly stipulations added.  I'm looking at the "Kiss My Arse" match as I say this.  

These are the matches and My 1-2-3 Cents on them as of Thursday, April 23.



Tag team title match:
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (c) vs. The New Day.  Once again the tag team titles are being defended on the "pre-show", but I've said it before.  I don't think the "pre-show" or kick-off matter as much now that the WWE Network is in place.  I like Kidd and  Cesaro.  I WANT to like The New Day.  Kofi to me is one of the most under utilized guys on the roster.  The same could be said for Kidd and Cesaro too. This should be a good match, but I think the champs will (and should) retain.


Chicago Street Fight:
Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper.  I don't mind the gimmick being involved in this match.  The build up to it has been good.  These two have beaten the hell out of each other in the weeks leading up to Extreme Rules.  While I'm more for guys being kept apart physically prior to a pay per view, I think it's becoming more rare.  This match will be like watching a car wreck.  I'm picking Ambose to win.  I like both competitors, but I think Harper and Erick Rowan should still be a tag team to help boost that division.



Diva's title match:
Nikki Bella (c) vs. Naomi.  I'm going to put this out there, I am not a fan of the Bella Twins.  Yes, they're beautiful women.  Yes, they've improved greatly in the ring.  But their characters annoy me.  I know that's probably the point, but it's to the point that I'd rather see any other diva on the roster with the gold than Nikki.  Naomi is very athletic and has come a long way in a short time too.  I don't know though that's she's going to be the one to unseat Nikki.  I like Paige and I love Charlotte on NXT.  Would love to see her in the mix on the main roster soon.  That being said, I guess I'll go with Nikki to retain.


Last Man Standing:
Roman Reigns vs. The Big Show.  I think the crowd will be on both men during this match.  I'm going to just restate for the record, I like Roman Reigns.  I think he's still rough around the edges, but he will eventually get to the top of the mountain.  The producers or agents for this match will need to come up with something creative and cool to give Reigns a big win in this match and a better ranking with fans.


Kiss My Arse match: 
Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus.  I like the heel Sheamus much more than his persona as a face.  He's embraced the bully gimmick with his look and his actions in the ring.  This match has the potential to steal the show in my opinion, but I hate the stipulation that's been added.  I would be more willing to get behind it (no pun intended) if this was to wrap up their feud. I think this rivalry could carry on for a couple of months.  If things are going to continue, I'd pick Ziggler to win to shut up the overbearing bully.  But because Sheamus just returned, I think having him lose a high profile match this soon would hurt his mojo, so for that reason, I pick Sheamus and his lily white arse to win.


Intercontinental title match:
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Bad News Barrett.  As I write this, the match is still scheduled to happen.  I know Bryan got hurt on the recent European tour and there has been a lot of online speculation as to whether he's going to be able to wrestle Sunday.  Even more are questioning if the man behind the Yes Movement will be able to continue his career.  I certainly hope he's healing and not putting his health or life in jeopardy by continuing in the business.  Because of all that uncertainty I think the WWE will take the belt of Bryan to avoid having to hold a tournament or battle royal to determine a new champ.  But if Bryan really is okay, he needs to win this and continue to build some stability and prestige for the IC title.


Russian Chain match for the U.S. title:
John Cena (c) vs. Rusev.  WWE claims this is the first ever televised Russian chain match.  I don't have the time or the energy to find footage to dispute that claim, but if you know different, please tell me.  Even though I think Rusev beating Cena at Wrestlemania would have helped his career and add value to the U.S. championship, it's hard to claim that putting it on someone with Cena's star power was a bad decision.  There are plenty of pros and cons as to whether Cena should retain, but with it being a gimmicked match somehow losses seem to matter less.  I think Cena will keep the gold, the story will focus to the impending split between Lana and Rusev and Cena will continue his open challenge.


Steel Cage match for the WWE World title:
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Randy Orton.  Orton got an impressive win over Rollins at Wrestlmania.  But he used the RKO to do it.  That move has now been banned.  Kane, who is an alleged ally of Rollins, will be keeper of the gate.  Seeds of doubt are planted as to whether Kane will turn on Rollins.  Can the cage keep out J&J Security?  I think Rollins needs a win over a top guy like Orton in his first pay per view title defense.  But as I write this I wouldn't be surprised if Orton walks out champ.  I won't boycott WWE if that happens, but I will be extremely (this time the pun is intended) disappointed.  

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

There's No Crying in Wrestling

Photo taken by @chrisolds2009


By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

A lot of people on social media are talking about an incident that happened at Raw this week, in which Triple H apparently brought a young fan tears.  It happened during the main event when John Cena was battling Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane.  The young fan, clearly a Cena fan, started crying after Triple H said something to the boy.  I haven't read what caused the tears, but I am going to assume Triple H was playing his heel character role and said something negative about Cena.

I think it's what happened after the comments and the tears that have so many fans talking.  As you can see in the pictures, Triple H breaks character and consoles the boy.  After the show the little guy received several gifts from the company.

Photo taken by @chrisolds2009
Like I mentioned, I don't know what Triple H said to the kid, but I'm sure it was nothing personal about the young fan.  Maybe it was, and if that's the case then I'd be more critical of Hunter. We've gotta remember, he's a heel.  Upsetting the fans is what he and all bad guys are supposed to do.  But I know there are boundaries, especially in the new anti-bully, Be a Star era.  I just can't imagine someone in Trips' position would cross that line.

None-the-less, the move to console the boy in front of the crowd is commendable.  I'm not bothered that he "broke character" to do it.  He did what he felt was right and at the end of the day it was best for business.  It puts him in a good light as the heir apparent to the WWE Kingdom and gets the WWE a ton of PR in a week that the company has been slammed over a concussion controversy on Good Morning America.

My bottom line with this is I don't have a problem either way with what Triple H said/did.  The comments were likely character driven, so he was doing his job.  His actions later were corporate and went a long way to make this young boy and his family feel better about their WWE experience.  I'm sure they'll be repeat customers as a result.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Barely Surviving

Sting has arrived
Courtesy: WWE
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
Given what I’ve read on Twitter, Facebook and various message boards, what I’m about to write once again seems to fly in the face of popular opinion. Survivor Series 2014 was a mediocre show at best and TNA-esque nonsensical mess at worst. Now, maybe it was because I watched the show from 11pm-2am after a long day of walking around Universal Orlando and so I didn’t pay as close attention to the show as I would have normally. 
The one positive I’ll give the show is it did do a good job of playing with the audience’s emotions during the end of the main event. Eliminating John Cena early in the match gave the match an air of unpredictability. Unfortunately, that’s the only positive I took away from the match. I’ll touch on the match a little later. 
Thankfully, due to having some network issues early on, I missed 98% of the opening promo. Unfortunately, because I missed the promo, I didn’t hear what Vince McMahon said and during the course of the show the Three Stooges at the announce table never recapped the John Cena stipulation in a sensible cohesive manner. In fact, the announcing was downright horrible. At least the parts I didn’t tune out were horrible.  At one point Michael Cole brought up Jerry Lawler’s past Survivor Series teams and Lawler seemed to not even remember he competed at any Survivor Series. It’s been said before but more times than not lately, WWE announcers ruin the show more than they help. 
While I like the idea of Mizdow being the tag team champions, I wonder how long it will be before Miz finally snaps and attacks Damien Mizdow. I’m tired of tag team partners not getting along, especially teams that have been around for only a few months. Not to mention that there are only four active tag teams in WWE which means we’ll get weeks of Mizdow versus the same opponents over and over. 
I was falling asleep during the divas match so I can’t really comment on it. I did enjoy Tyson Kidd’s celebration after the match but really, where is that going to go. Are WWE going to allow Nattie and Tyson to have a match against each other? 
Has Dean Ambrose had a PPV match this year that actually had an ending? Dean’s match with Bray Wyatt was nothing but a teaser for next month’s TLC show. We get three more weeks of what we’ve seen for the past three weeks. Yay! 
Speaking of tag teams not getting along, how long will we be subjected to Adam Rose being upset at being upstaged by the bunny? Will anyone from NXT get called up with any type of long term plans in place? 
If rumors are true that AJ Lee is leaving WWE (after being back for what, 4 months?) then I guess giving her the Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania 28 treatment was a decent callback. Otherwise, I’ll try and be patient to see where they go with the Nikki/Brie story because right now it makes little sense. 
This brings us to the main event of the night.  Everything up to Big Show’s quest to have more career turns than Lex Lugar was pretty meaningless. I’ve read comments that Big Show turning on Cena made sense because WWE has established Big Show can’t afford to be out of work. If that’s the case, why didn’t Big Show make sure the Authority actually won the match? Or after Cena was eliminated and Big Show walked out, why didn’t Noble and Mercury and Triple H keep Ziggler on the outside so he’d get counted out? As I stated earlier, the back and forth between Ziggler and Rollins was exciting and did make the outcome of the match in doubt which is something rarely said about WWE matches these days. Then the wheels came off. 
Ziggler lays out Rollins with the Zigzag and Triple H gives Ziggler a pedigree. Then out of nowhere and with no logical reasoning, 13-years after he should have, Sting makes his WWE debut.  Sting has no history with anyone in the match unless there’s some WCW Worldwide match between he and Terra Ryzing out there that I’ve not seen. Corrupt power authorities have run WWE for years so why did Sting choose now to show up? 
My biggest complaint with the ending is how Rollins and Ziggler were on the mat for what seemed at least 10 minutes waiting for Sting to get in the ring and have his standoff with Triple H. The focus was taken off of two guys who should have a good ten years to offer the company and put onto a part time wrestler and a guy who will probably only have a handful of matches over the next year at most. Once again WWE would rather live in the past than prepare for the future. I’m sure others will disagree with me and that’s fine.  
Now, I could be wrong and WWE actually has something big planned to get us to Wrestlemania. I’m not going to hold my breath in anticipation. Unless Stephanie really is pregnant and thus needs to be off TV, I expect Triple H and Stephanie to be back on TV by Royal Rumble. I expect Dolph Ziggler to be back in mid-card purgatory in four weeks. I hope I’m wrong. History, though, as me anticipating the worst when it comes to WWE having any long-term plans.