Credit: Chris Gabbard & PWInsider.com
I attended the Over The Limit PPV at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit so I thought I would send in some show notes and observations. I am only going by what I saw live because I haven’t seen the PPV version.
I was able to get into the arena faster than others did but there were huge lines getting into the place because of the way the building lets people in.
I thought the set looked cool and was different and they went back to using the red ropes instead of white. There were two cars, one red and one black, on the stage and it seems like every time WWE comes to Detroit for PPVs they have to use a car theme for the set or using it as part of the show. They had spotlights where the Zamboni entrance is at Joe Louis Arena if they were having a hockey game and they synched up with the music to go along with the Titan tron. The set had an " Over The Limit" sign with a light on it so people could see it. It was not a digital sign. I thought the Titantron set up with the lights and everything was something different in a good way.
They opened with a cool Wrestlemania 26 video.
Bonus March: Chavo Guerrero vs. MVP – MVP won with his Play of the Day new finisher, which is similar to Shelton Benjamin’s Pay Dirt. The crowd was really behind MVP and Chavo received some good heat from the crowd doing the three amigos.
The announcers then came out, Michael Cole came out to the WWE Superstars Theme and people were booing him badly. Matt Striker came out next and it was much the same as Cole. Jerry “The King” Lawler came out to good reaction from the fans. Next came the Spanish announce team of Hugo Savinovich and Carlos Cabrera and they got some cheers from the crowd, but nothing like The King.
Before the PPV they showed the 2009 Iraq Tour highlight video, which got a good response from the crowd. A lot of people in the video are no longer with the company but it is a great video package by WWE. There was no National Anthem before the PPV.
Pyro goes off to start and it is a pretty cool display going from the meter thing to the floor near the cars. During the first match, due to the opening Pyro and Kofi Kingston’s fireworks, it got a little smoky. The opening match received a good response from the crowd, who were pretty vocal. Kofi Kingston got a good pop for winning the Intercontinental Championship. McIntrye got some good heat before and after, especially after losing when he demanded that Teddy Long give him back the title and the crowd got loud when Matt Hardy came down and gave McIntrye a Twist of Fate.
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The CM Punk backstage promo got tremendous heel heat.
R-Truth came out next and the crowd was really behind him as majority of the crowd did the " What’s Up" stuff. Ted DiBiase got an ok heel response but nothing great. I was pretty surprised that R-Truth got the win here. Nothing happened afterwards other that Virgil gave the Million Dollar belt back to DiBiase and checked on him after the match, then the ring lights went dark and the crew came down to work on something.
Fans booed McIntrye’s backstage tirade in Teddy Long’s office.
CM Punk received a ton of heat when he came down for the match . Rey Mysterio got his usual cheers that he always gets when he comes to Detroit. When Punk got busted open, the fans at first didn’t know what was happening. Then a “We Want Blood chant” started and because the match was delayed a bit, a “Boring chant” followed while the doctors attended to Punk. After that, Punk seemed very upset and really slammed Mysterio around on the outside. Crowd popped huge for Mysterio winning and Punk was in disbelief that he lost. Kane coming out with his pyro blasting was a surprise I didn’t see coming, and he brawled with Gallows to the back. Punk took a 619 while handcuffed to the ropes and it looked brutal because he was defenseless. After the shaving of the head, Serena and the masked guy came back and got a towel for Punk to cover his head and they walked to the back. I really enjoyed this match and was surprised at the result.
Ring crew changed the mat due to CM Punk’s blood from the cut he received in his match.
Chris Jericho/Big Show backstage bit got some laughs from the crowd. It seemed here the crowd was into Big Show as a face.
Hart Dynasty got a nice pop, Miz got booed and Jericho was booed and cheered- no pyro for Jericho. During the match there was a “Y2J” chant and some people chanted he sucked but they were more that were pro- Jericho, which they usually are in Detroit. Crowd was very into this match, with the near falls and the finish drew a good pop. Fans liked David Hart Smith’s delayed vertical suplex. The running power slam he did along with the Hart Attack finisher was over with the crowd.
Some popped for Edge and booed him when he came out. When Randy Orton came out, the place went nuts with a lot of RKO chants. The crowd was very into this match until the finish.. Orton and Edge did the yay/ boo punching spot where the fans were really behind Orton and Edge got the boos similar to what you would see in John Cena match. I was little confused as to the finish because I thought Edge was hurt when he went to the outside, but then I saw Orton carrying his shoulder weird so I figured he might be just doing a really good job selling it or he was really hurt. It turned out to be the latter. Fans didn’t really like the double count out because a lot of us didn’t know what was going on but after finding out about it when I got home, I understand why they ended the match. There were a lot of referees sprinting out there to check on Orton. I hope he isn’t out of action because the fans are really behind him right now.
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Jack Swagger got some good heat from the crowd. Big Show got cheered decently. I thought it was weird that they didn’t do the normal ring introductions like they usually do for a WWE or World Title match but they just announced the guys as they came to the ring.
Fans were really behind Big Show especially when Show had Swagger in the corner and he did the “shhhhhhhhhh” and everyone in the arena got quiet and then did the frying pan hand slap across the chest and you could hear how loud it was. Fans really didn’t care for the finish with Swagger using the belt to get DQ’d.. The chair shots echoed when Swagger hit show in the back and then when Big Show got the Chair you could really hear how loud it was when he hit Swagger across the back. Nice pop for the choke slam on the chair and then the knockout punch. Swagger was down for a while after the knockout punch and needed the help of the refs to get to the back.
Divas Title- lots of people headed to the concession stands or bathroom during this match. Crowd chanted Jerry Lawler’s favorite line “We want puppies” and really didn’t seem like they cared about the match. Eve really tried and Maryse got decent heat with her hair flip she does but that’s pretty much it.
I believe the ring crew changed the ring canvas again before the WWE Title match.
Batista got a lot of heel heat backstage and when he came out to the spotlight. When Cena came out, he got a thunderous reaction and usually it is mixed in Detroit, but more pro Cena early and then it turned into the “Let’s go Cena” “Cena Sucks” duel chants. I have to say live this match wasn’t that bad but at times hard to follow because they went into the stands and it made it hard to see if you weren’t watching the Titan tron or you weren’t near where they were brawling. People loved the powerslam spot Batista did to Cena on the announce table and it really quieted the Cena fans near me when he went through the table. Anytime Batista said no when asked if he quit people were laughing.
Another spot was when they brawled up the stands and Batista went over the rail onto security. Batista then slid down the railing a little bit and those rails are not the sturdiest of rails. Fans were really into this match especially the work on the stage where Cena did the attitude adjustment onto the car and the big spot where Cena did it again on top of car onto the stage got a huge pop as it looked where I was sitting that Batista took a bad spill to the stage. Fans erupted when Cena won and then Sheamus came out and did the pump kick and the air went out of the balloon in a hurry as a small “Sheamus sucks” chant started. Not sure where the PPV cut out but Cena got to his feet and the crowd mostly started leaving to beat traffic after Batista said "I Quit". Crowd cheered Cena as he went to the back. They had a stretcher for Batista but I never saw them wheel him out.
