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The opening with the demolition derby clips were pretty cool. I thought the marketing of adding "& Stairs" to the logo and title of the show were a cool idea as well.
The Ladder Match for the Intercontinental championship was the right call to open the show. Ziggler was super over with the hometown fans, making a really electric opening for the show. With Luke Harper being such a monster, the physiciality was immediate and for a show advertised as WWE's version of a demolition derby, you needed that. Harper looked like a beast early on ripping apart Ziggler, who of course took great bumps. The ladders being brought into play immediately brought an element of immediate danger into the equation as well. The story of Harper's sheer power taking Ziggler out every time he started to mount some offense was well done. Harper doing a dive through the ropes AND the ladder was one of the most insane, foolhardy spots I've ever seen. I loved Harper's gusto for even doing it. The man is insane and so damn good. Pro wrestling doesn't have many monsters anymore but Harper does a great job filling that void. Ziggler as well was having an incredible performance and was giving everything of himself physically. The close-up shot of all those welts rising on his body was just ugly and great proof of what these guys were putting themselves through. I lost count of how many hellacious bumps Ziggler took over the course of this match - that's how great he was here. How awesome was that catapult with the ladder? How great was Harper channeling Terry Funk with the ladder airplane spin? All of those spots were awesome because not only did they showcase Harper but they made Ziggler a big-time underdog and when he made his comeback, it was a huge achievement for Dolph. The finish with Ziggler, one on ladder, superkicking Harper off the other, was so good I'm surprised Shawn Michaels never pulled that off (that I can recall). Ziggler getting the belt back was the right call. Just an amazing bout and Harper didn't lose anything here. I can see this ladder match being celebrated for many years to come. Kudos, gentlemen.
The WWE Tag Team championship bout was eh to me. It was the Mizdow show early on, which considering this was Miz's hometown, was damn funny. I missed the Kickoff show, so I'm glad WWE showed the clip of Miz with Naomi so they could keep us up to speed on the storyline elements leading into the match. As ridiculous as it looks for Mizdow to throw himself out of the ring after Miz was thrown out, it's still pretty damn funny. The work early was pretty solid as well. I really liked the addition of the Usos' submission holds to their armory as well. The finish, with Miz nailing Uso on the outside with a Slammy Award after he hit a dive on Mizdow, was pretty lame. Very odd nothing with Naomi.
Seth Rollins did his usual good promo backstage. Rollins dedicating the match to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon was a smart way to get heat. How Rollins was now blaming John Cena for coming up with the plan to rid WWE of the Authority is beyond me, however. Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble do a great job as the modern day Patterson and Brisco. Rollins' new mission being that he's not going to stop until John Cena brings the Authority back is a interesting wrinkle and I'm curious as to what he can actually put Super-Cena through to try and force John's hand. Maybe he has some Kryptonite in the briefcase?
Big pop for the Millenials sign in the crowd.
Time for the Stairs match. On paper, this isn't looking pretty but if they are motivated and have a good brawl, this could be interesting. I'm curious as to how they keep this from feeling monotonous. Let's find out. Erick Rowan's music just doesn't suit him. It sounds like something they would use for TAKA Michinoku in 1997. This is easily his biggest singles match to Date, so we'll see how he does. Rowan was real motivated early and the spinkick taking out Show looked good. Show easily slamming him on the outside was a great example of how big and powerful Show really is, even if he isn't often presented that way. They did some of the usual spots you'd expect with stairs but then started getting a little creative. Rowan building the wall in the aisle was an interesting twist and Show placing a set on top of the announcer's table was interesting. Show was working pretty hard and Rowan looked good. They were working a much faster pace than I expected going in. There were some pretty brutal spots here. Rowan coming off the ropes with the stairs catching Show in the side as Show wasn't quick enough to dart out of the way was rough. Show then spearing Rowan through the "wall" of steel steps was pretty cool as well. I give them credit - they are bringing the plunder. Once Show nailed the chokeslam on the stairs and hit the KO punch, you knew that was going to be it, but Show using the stairs for leverage was a nIce wrinkle as well. I liked this a lot more than I expected going in. Nice brawl and I thought Rowan did pretty well for his big test. I would have liked to have seen him win, but since Show is feuding, sort of, with Cena, that wasn't going to make sense.
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