MATCH #2: Kane vs. Randy Orton

The build-up for this seemed like a last-minute, thrown together feud from the get-go, as they hastily used something from last summer to give Orton and Kane something to fight over. You see, before Kane put on his new mask and got his Psychology degree (seriously those promos in his feud with Cena earlier in the year sounded like a demonic Frasier Crane or something), he shook the hand of Randy Orton after he was beaten by him on Smackdown last July. Now he’s all pissed off that he showed such weakness (i.e. good sportsmanship) and wants to punish the Viper in order to reconcile his ‘identity crisis’ or something.

So yeah, not a lot of gold in the preamble to this one, but was the match at least decent? In short, yes it wasn’t bad, but not Wrestlemania quality. It seemed more like a good Smackdown main event than a pay-per-view grudge match. Also, the crowd in attendance seemed to still be reeling from the shock of seeing Bryan beaten in such haste, and continued to chant his name throughout this match, barely reacting to anything the Big Red Machine or Apex Predator did in the ring during most of the match. All in all, better than expected, but the dead crowd and lack of satisfactory backstory kinda killed all the heat in this one. The top-rope Chokeslam finish was indeed the high point of this forgettable feud.