I thought the Bash was a good show with some fantastic storytelling in the form of HBK-Jericho, some exciting title changes with the SD tag straps and U.S. title going to guys who've never held those belts before, and some wonky booking (like the world title match ending via a screwjob finish, which works at giving Kane a shot in a 3-way at Summerslam, but hurt Punk quite a bit since a win here would show that he deserves the belt.
I'm guessing that they'll have him win at Summerslam to tell that part of the story, but it would've been nice to see it done here, as Kane could've still found a way into the world title picture at Summerslam without doing this finish.
Okay, time to get back on track - Shelton vs. Matt was a fine, if forgettable match. I loved Mick stating once again that Shelton is Dewey's favorite, and then adding tonight the emphasis on Dewey seeing all the biggest names in WWE and still feeling that Shelton is the belt because he does things that no one else can do - it fits into WWE stating that about him and adds a layer of credibility to that by having Mick deliver the statement and relating it to his family.
The match itself had a slow start, but picked up fairly quickly. I loved the finish with Shelton jamming his knee into the part of the body affected by Paydirt - the face, although I think having him follow up the turnbuckle powerbomb with the Paydirt would've worked as a better highlight reel-style ending, this one worked fine as well. Plus, the turnbuckle powerbomb happened too early in the match for that to really work as the finish without upsetting the crowd.
HBK-Jericho was fantastic, with easily the best storytelling of the night. It was all about survival for HBK while Jericho was out to dominate - HBK's desperation began with the ribs tonight, leading to an early execution of the HBK leglock in an effort to end the match as quickly as possible to preserve his health, and then continued into him trying to protect his sight after the snap elbow split it open. Normally, HBK going for the leglock too early would've bugged me, but it worked for this match as it furthered the story along.
The ECW Title match wasn't horrid, but it wasn't good, and aside from Delaney getting some scattered boos recently, and perhaps to further the idea that Mark Henry's getting a bandwagon behind him (with a has-been and a jobber in it - what a cool group that is), I can't imagine what real purpose this serves other than either that or just giving Delaney something new to do besides get killed on TV.
The tag title match was okay - nothing memorable or special in it, although I liked the ending with...one of the Edge dudes pulling Jesse off the top, leading to a massive, spectacular-looking bump en route to the title change. Miz and Morrison are above the belts, and they didn't lose the fall, so I don't mind them dropping the gold here, and this gives Hawkins and Ryder something to do once their role in the Edge-Vickie storyline runs its course.
The eye work tonight was great, with Cade's cheap shot to the face looking fantastic (especially on the replay, as the first angle made it seem like he's missed by a mile), and I especially loved the part where the ref asked Shawn if he wanted to give up, Jericho said "He said no, didn't he?" and he just walloped Shawn right in the face with a kick - fantastic. I absolutely loved this spot, and it was my favorite part of the match from a character standpoint. HBK's desperation continued after this as he used the crossface, failed to win, and ended up getting his arms locked up by Jericho and punched in the face repeatedly. Not only did I love this because it was a unique spot, but it also looked vicious thanks to all the blood and intense punching by Jericho and made for a satisfying conclusion to the match.
The post-match stuff with HBK needing to be helped out by multiple men couldn't have gone better, as they cut to a few crowd shots of women looking concerned for his safety, and it was followed up (after the divas title match) with Jericho coming out and stating that the fans should preserve their ticket stubs for posterity because they have seen the final match of HBK, proving that good can sometimes triumph over evil and lead to the wicked being punished. Excellent, excellent stuff in every regard by Jericho, as it made the made seem important and even managed to get over ticket stubs as a significant object on a wrestling show for the first time in forever.
The divas title match itself was okay, like the U.S. title match, it was mostly forgettable, but not as good a match as that one. I did like the Mexican surfboard/surfboard variant spot by Natalya, but didn't like Michelle lasting so long in the sharpshooter, or Natalyla lasting so long in the heel hook - the latter at least fit the story Mick told of that move finishing off everyone else quickly, with the implication being that Natalyla is much, much tougher than everyone else to have lasted that long in the hold.
Punk-Batista was a good match that worked at establishing that Punk could both avoid and counter Batista's biggest attacks, and allowed him to break out stuff that isn't normally seen (like the over-the-rope armbar). It was easily the best Punk title defense yet, but I thought it was hurt by the finish, which worked at advancing the storyline of Punk being a fluke champion, and further worked to rebuild Kane as a credible threat to the World title, but the match was just starting to click when the finish happened, and I would've preferred a clean win here to further cement Punk as a credible champion.
I can see why folks wouldn't mind this finish, as it did advance some storylines and gave them more things to do with the world title feud(s), but it left me wanting to see another Batista-Punk match for the wrong reason - a decisive finish that could've been delivered here. I hope it's just part of the company's longer-term plan with these storylines, because right now, it felt like a bit of a copout - if they do things correctly after this, I'll cut them some slack on it.
The parking lot brawl between Cena and JBL was certainly a spectacle. It was a bit too theatrical at times (the fire spot was particularly needless, as it led to Cena just coughing due to the fire extinguishers - something that could've been done without the fire), and I question of the wisdom of having a guy with a horrible back take bumps on both steel cars and the rampway (and for that matter, having a guy with a previously torn pec muscle lift up a giant steel drum). The basic brawling stuff in this match was just fine, aside from Cena's poor-looking punches, as his kicks looked okay, and JBL's punches were fantastic.
The lifting of the car to the ringside area was a bit too contrived (especially with Cena making sure to grimace numerous times in a wacky manner instead of, you know, just DESTROYING THE MAN WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM six days before), but was a smart move overall because it allowed the crowd to not feel completely cheated by watching the match on-screen. They at least got to see the conclusion, which wasn't particularly memorable aside from the final bump from Cena off the stage into the windshield. It was a great bump, and the most visually-impressive one of the match.
To me, the theatrical parts of this came off as a way to give Yuke's new ideas for SvR '09's parking lot brawl mode, and took away from the match at times, but it at least served the purpose of FINALLY giving JBL a win over Cena, and did so in a satisfying manner. This wasn't as good as the Regal-Finlay parking lot brawl on Nitro, or even as good as Cena-Eddie from SD, but it also wasn't the worst example of this match type, although it was the most unrealistic one that I can recall.
The main event had the potential to be a classic given the men involved, but ended up being like the other title matches on this show - a perfectly fine match that didn't have much wrong with it, but also wasn't particularly memorable (although this one at least had a memorable ending). Given how insignificant this match felt before this Friday's SD, I wasn't expecting a title change, but I was expecting a better match. The ending at least opened up a rematch thanks to Edge being distracted, but it took away from the wrestling-heavy match we'd seen.
I've seen people state that the ending, with Edge seemingly intending to spear Alicia Fox makes no sense, but to me, it does make sense, as he seemingly wants to make things up to Vickie (who has all the power on SD), and spearing Fox would at least give him something to cite as proof that he loves Vickie and not Alicia. The ending kind of overshadowed the match itself, which is in keeping with the build-up to it, which really didn't involve HHH in a major role until two days ago.
I'd say this was a show worth watching just for the fantastic HBK-Jericho match, with the rest of the card (aside from the ECW Title match) being full of stuff that was good-ish, but not great, and it was a show that advanced some key storylines in a significant way. I think it's worth watching once, but I don't think anything other than HBK-Jericho would hold up well upon future viewing.