By Will Pruett

- If you're wondering why The Miz is on the pre-show when a year ago he was in the main event as WWE Champion, look at the promo he cut on this show. It was basically exactly what he would have done a year ago. A character has to move forward or their usefulness eventually runs out. Miz has to advance to stay relevant.

- I always though the "Spin the wheel, make the deal" concept should have been saved for Halloween Havoc.

- The opening video package for Extreme Rules told the John Cena and Brock Lesnar story extremely well. John Cena is extremely and surprisingly effective in a sit-down interview environment and I would love to see more of him in that setting.

- Kane and Randy Orton had a lot to play with in their Falls Count Anywhere match. One could call them shortcuts, but they just used the formula well. It was more than I expected from them, but the story still doesn't hold up. I hope this was the end of Kane and Orton.

- Brawling through the crowd, when it is seldom used, is exciting. When the crowd is as hot as Chicago seemed to be, it is always a fun choice. There wasn't much wrestling in Kane and Orton, but there was a whole lot of standing, punching and kicking.

- Zack Ryder got involved by beating up Kane, but then seemingly just gave up on the effort. My call for the evolution of The Miz must be echoed when discussing Ryder. The time has passed for him to evolve and he needs to catch up.

- The tease for a Triple H return could have easily been lost on any that doesn't pay attention to backstage segments. It probably was on the crowd since those segments are difficult to hear in arenas. Triple H returning when Cena is planning to take time off is interesting. I don't see a natural place where Triple H fits into the top storylines, but I'm intrigued by it.

- Dolph Ziggler's new jacket looked good, but the pink t-shirt tucked into his tights still looks more Billy Gunn than credible wrestler.

- Brodus Clay had his best singles match to date by defeating Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler bumped like a champ for Clay and deserves a lot of credit for the match. I hate seeing Ziggler lose to an undercard babyface comedy act.

- While some may call the finish to Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show clever, I don't see the point of it. Cody gained nothing and Show was protected. Why protect Show at this point? Why allow Cody to be beaten again? It almost seemed like a double turn with Cody becoming a babyface in the post-match attack.

- Daniel Bryan delivered a great heel promo backstage, before re-igniting the crowd with his "Yes!" chants. I'm not quite sure what WWE is going for by doing that, but I'm guessing it would be the illusive combination of heat and merchandise sales.

- Daniel Bryan and Sheamus delivered a wrestling match on the caliber that we all expected from them at WrestleMania for the past two years. This was Sheamus' best match to date and Daniel Bryan's best in WWE.

- I was surprised to see WWE buck the standard two out of three falls formula by having Sheamus go up one to nothing in the first fall. I also enjoyed that aspect of this match. By having Sheamus win by disqualification he still looked to be hurting in a big way and sold the fall well.

- I didn't love Sheamus passing out in the Yes Lock. I know WWE is reluctant to have babyfaces tap out, but they need to break the stigma of it at some point. Sheamus easily could have tapped with the knowledge that he was up one fall and protecting himself.

- Finally, Bryan had me convinced that he was about to win on multiple occasions as the match ended. This was quite the feat given how quickly he went down to Sheamus at WrestleMania. Sheamus was a great babyface fighter in this environment. If he had won a match like this at WrestleMania, the backlash he has been experiencing would not exist.

- Ryback takes jobber's heads off and fans don't seem to care. He is interesting, but I'm not into the act yet. WWE is going through a phase of reconditioning people to accept squash matches and it is taking a lot of time. I appreciate the effort.

- C.M. Punk was decent in his backstage promo and absolutely phenomenal during his entrance. Chicago reacted in a big way to Punk and while it wasn't quite as electric at Money in the Bank last year, it was still exciting. Magic like last year cannot be duplicated.

- Seeing C.M. Punk and Chris Jericho follow an age-old street fight tradition of rocking jeans in a street fight was awesome. It made the match feel different than the others in the evening and made it stand out amongst any of the other Punk and Jericho matches.

- Why didn't Chris Jericho's jeans light up when he put Punk in the Walls of Jericho?

- Punk and Jericho rocked a slow burn match, much like they did at WrestleMania. The beginning was a lot of setup work, but the rapid-fire payoff in the middle and the end made it all worth it. They brought the crowd down nicely and worked them into a frenzy by the very end.

- Punk's sister was decent in her role in the crowd, but she wasn't exceptional. I understand why Punk's family was involved, but it didn't seem all the meaningful by the very end.

- Since Survivor Series C.M. Punk has held onto the WWE Championship in convincing fashion. He is the closest WWE has to a guy near John Cena's level and this extended title reign is enhancing his character in a big way.

- Much like everyone else, I was expecting Kharma to be the mystery diva. It makes sense and it definitely seemed like WWE was building to that. I was not, however, disappointed with the surprise return of Layla. She can be a really fun lead babyface in the division and she has double the charisma of Kelly Kelly.

- I still assume that Kharma returns on Raw and gets her vengeance on the Bella Twins before their exit.

- There was a shift in the pay-per-view from the beginning with Brock Lesnar and John Cena's entrances. They had a great atmosphere from the very beginning.

- Cena vs. Lesnar was a battle for short superiority as jean shorts used their mighty 1990's powers to attempt to overcome the dominant MMA shorts.

- I am trying to remember a match that began with the excitement and electricity of Lesnar vs. Cena. The MMA takedown at the beginning, followed by Cena getting opened up by Lesnar via a few big elbows instantly ignited the crowd and made this fight feel different. Lesnar and Cena told a story that began right out of the gate and was simply stunning.

- Lesnar had to be pulled off of Cena so medics could tend to him twice. This is the beginning of my argument supporting the finish of this match. Lesnar can easily say, on Raw in front of a larger audience than those that saw the pay-per-view, that had he been able to continue beating Cena he would have won the match in three minutes.

- Kudos to the fan with the Bork Laser sign. That was the subject of much conversation at my pay-per-view viewing get-together.

- Brock's (or Bork's) first German Suplex looked a little sloppy, but the second one was perfect. Throughout this match, when asked to do some WWE style wrestling, it seemed that Brock was rusty. He was, however, able to convey physicality and intensity as well as ever. Brock's wrestling improve throughout the encounter and I believe it will improve drastically in his next match. When he is called upon to wrestle and not brawl, he'll deliver.

- Charles Robinson bumped like a champ in this match for Lesnar and Cena. His role should not be underplayed, as it was vital to the match. The environment was like nothing the WWE usually delivers.

- Once again, Brock Lesnar had a visual pin on Cena early in the match after the F5. He also seemed to have Cena beat down through a few other referee bumps. He looked dominant through the entire match and that matters when discussing the finish.

- The spot where Cena got tangled up on the turnbuckle by the chain, hanging by his feet was enough to make my MMA fan buddy who usually comes to my wrestling functions for the nachos and companionship believe that it was unintentional. Cena gave Lesnar an amazing match and comeback with the level of selling he did for him.

- By the way, that same buddy left actually curious about and mildly excited about wrestling after this match. He was into it like I've never seen him get into a match before.

- Brock Lesnar's decision making involving the ring steps was questionable at best. He was never the kind of guy to run and jump for leverage, so I didn't get why he was doing so in this match. I'm all about setting things up that play into the finish, but they should be things that wrestlers do on a regular basis.

- If there was ever a match that justified the return of blood to WWE, it was Brock Lesnar's return match. It added a level of intensity and emotion that cannot be unplaced. On top of that, the camera work in this match was masterful. The expressiveness of Cena and Lesnar combined with the perfect cuts and shots all enhanced this one. Kevin Dunn takes a lot of flack, but put together an amazing package here.

- When John Cena made his final babyface comeback against Lesnar, he heard something he has never heard in Chicago, the fans popping for and supporting him. That arena erupted with cheers for Cena as he took down the unbeatable beast. After all of the punishment he took in the match, Cena won over the most Cena-hating town. This was a major achievement in this match and another one of the reasons I don't mind the finish of the match.

- When looking at the decision to have John Cena go over, one has to look at he larger story being told. John Cena is, presumably, taking some time off after this match. The man has earned it after years up years of dedication and full time work. In that time, Lesnar will probably continue to be dominant. He lost this match, but he hurt Cena far worse than Cena hurt him. With a beat down on Raw he can easily gain back his heat. After that, he will be able to come back and end Lesnar's reign of terror with full fan support. He will be established as the only man who can stop Lesnar. There is money in that comeback and there is money in a Brock reign of terror. I don't see how WWE lost any money with this finish that they do not more than make back with that story.

- Lesnar is still a beast and I believe that will be the theme of the next few months of TV. One loss does not ruin a career. One loss does not suddenly kill a character. Dominating Cena the way he did was all that Brock needed.

- Let's not forget that Brock Lesnar also had John Cena beat at least three times. If this match would have been allowed to continue or correctly officiated, Lesnar would have won it five times over before Cena won it once.

- I understand why people get frustrated with John Cena overcoming the odds, but it feels like a crutch of an argument now. This was a compelling story from start to finish and Cena delivered in a big way. He is one of the best performers of a generation and the most unique top guy WWE has ever anointed. Allow the story to play out before jumping of the bandwagon of Cena-hate.

- Finally, the closing promo from Cena definitely surprised me. It was a nice farewell to the fans for a little while, but I do wonder what the overall purpose of it will be. I trust that we will find out on Raw and when we do, it will deliver.

This was a great card. The top three matches were all very different and were all very good to great to era defining. John Cena and Brock Lesnar stole the show and a unique effort at a hybrid-MMA style match that topped Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle from 2008. Punk and Jericho gave us a wild brawl with just enough technical wrestling to excite and delight fans. Finally, Sheamus and Bryan told a new story in their two out of three falls match and it delivered excitement as well.

This show is a must-see. Order a replay if you have to or, if you can wait, but the DVD. This is a show fans will be talking about for a long time, solely because of the Lesnar vs. Cena match. Go out of your way to catch that one match and do so soon.

Overall, I'll give this show an A. I appreciated the work in the main events and everything in them felt important. It wasn't spectacularly built, but it was executed to near-perfection.

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this show! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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