Taker your pick in Belfast
By Phil Allely
The WWE steamrolled into Belfast this weekend (for their bi-annual show) once again and of course as always soldout the city's Odyssey venue. This was the last night of the Smackdown Undertaker's Rest In Peace tour and it certainly dellivered on all levels. If any grapplers were injured during previous nights they were not showing it at all.
The main event Casket Match for Undertaker's World Heavyweight Title was the match the 8000 plus crowd all wanted to see, however the rest of the card saw a fine mix of back and forth battles too.
Taker and his foe CM Punk had a lovely little bout featuring a combination of stalling and crowd baiting, that progressed into an all out brawl. Adding in the 'casket match' rules, ouside brawling, chairshots and some super-stiff blows all helped make the entire audience scream for more as the 'dead man' took to the ropes for an old school stroll, waved off a GTS or two and hit his inevitabblee and well received tombstone piledriver to leave Punk prone for a roll into the casket and net the champ a favourable wiin.
Match of the night honours though belonged to John Morrison and Rey Mysterio, the pair shook hands too start a superb technical and flashy bout, giving their all as they embarked on one set-piece and high-risk move after the other. Rey and John had a wonderfully spectacular bout that saw both trade near falls, finishers and quick-paced action throughout. Morrison may have retained his IC belt, but his attitude towards Mysterio and a friendly embrace post-match saw both combatants leave with their heads held high.
Local boy Finlay received a huge pop as he challenged young upstart Drew McIntyre, the anti-Irish Sciotsman was certainly the heel as he battered the hometown hero, it was a shame that Finlay 's big comeback and hard offence
was to no avail, McIntyre with stealing the win via rope-assisted pinfall.
The rest of the in-ring action saw a hugely popular Matt Hardy topple Eric Escobar after a nice twist of fate in a good oppener.
Dolph Ziggler made no new fans as he blasted the crowd, though his opponent R Truth had no such trouble, the all-singing and dancing entertainer had a blast and he beat Ziggler with relative ease too.
The divas may be a very popular attraction, but the quality of their matches can be poor at times, luckilly the foursome of Mickie James, Katie Lea, Beth Phoenix and Michelle McCool knew their pllace and did'nt overstay their welcome. The fiesty duo of Mickie and Katie nabbing the win after some decent exchanges all rouund.
The king of facial expressions that is William Regal had a good hard-hitting ECW title match with champ Christian, the veteran was in fine form throughout, but fell short of adding more gold to his collection.
Goldust and Shelton Benjamin had a reasonable and fun outing with Zeke Jackson and Zack Ryder to round off an enjoyable WWE night out, Goldust scoring the pin for his team.
As far as live shows go this was above average, no one seemed to be simply going through the motions, everyone left happy and if this is Undertakers last huurrah he certainly ensured his legacy remains intact and preserved by putting his body on the line in the top class main event, roll on next April's Raw tour, Belfast can't wait.
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