CM Punk and Kane vs. John Morrison and the Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championships
We continue on through the spring of 2008 and it seems like Punk is just stuck in a rut despite being Mr. Money in the Bank, and the fact that he is now in this situation in a tag team with Kane against Morrison and Miz is just compounding the fact. Morrison and Miz have been really gelling well as a team and were also becoming too big for ECW as they were spending more time on Smackdown, and even though he was ECW Champion Kane also felt too big for ECW which maybe was just a microcosm of how poor ECW was looking at this point. The fact that Kane has no challenger for his title and is teaming with the man that could cash in on him though realistically that doesn’t seem likely, and you have a perfect storm of a brand that is severely weak and should at this point just be put out of its misery.
On the 5/6 ECW, Punk and Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely in a tag match with Morrison and Miz on commentary as this match was made on the 5/9 Smackdown, and on the 5/13 ECW Miz defeated Punk clean and then Morrison defeated Kane in a non-title match as the champions laid out Kane and Punk after the match. The buildup for this match was pretty simple and while you know the match we get was going to be solid, it does feel like a waste of these guys, particularly Punk and Kane considering where they were at this point.
We see footage from WWE.com earlier today of “The Dirt Sheet” where Morrison and Miz mocked Kane and Punk by dressing like them which was pretty funny, and Miz and Morrison had solid heat as heels while Punk and Kane get a big pop from the crowd. Punk starts off the match with Miz and they lock up with Punk hooking a headlock and he knocks Miz down, and Miz blocks a hiptoss and Punk ducks a shot as he gets a kick in and hits a snap suplex for a two count. He hooks at Miz and tags Kane as they stomp on Miz in the corner and Kane gets a kick in before hoisting Miz onto his back in a hangman’s choke, and he whips Miz into the corner only for Miz to catch him with a back elbow and he kicks at Kane before ramming him into the corner. Morrison tags in and pounds on Kane in the corner as Kane reverses a whip and he hits a slam on Morrison, and he hits a low dropkick on Morrison for a two count and tags Punk as they hit a double team on Morrison for a two count. Punk works the arm until Morrison reverses a whip into the corner only for Punk to catch Morrison in a submission in the ropes, and he slides under Morrison and hooks a sunset flip for a two count as he hooks another submission on until Morrison escapes with a pair of knees to the head. Miz tags in and they hit a double gutbuster on Punk for a two count as Miz hooks a submission on Punk, and Punk fights to his corner only for Miz to pound on him until Punk gets a kick in and Kane tags in. He knocks Miz down and whips him into the corner before splashing him and he hits a sidewalk slam, and he goes up top and hits a flying clothesline on Miz before hoisting him up only for Miz to slide off his shoulder and he tags Morrison. Miz ducks a shot and Kane grabs him by the throat only for Morrison to kick at his leg and he hits a neckbreaker on Kane before pounding on him on the mat, and he continues to pound on Kane in the corner and tags Miz who stomps on Kane and he splashes him in the corner. Morrison tags in and hits a running knee on Kane for a two count before tagging Miz as they stomp on Kane, and Miz hooks a submission on and pounds on him as he gets a knee in only for Kane to catch him with a big boot. Punk gets the hot tag and ducks a shot as he hits a flying clothesline and a dropkick on Morrison, and he hits a spin kick on Morrison and knocks Miz down before hitting a powerslam on Morrison for a two count. He gets a knee in and whips Morrison into the corner before hitting the running knee and bulldog while hitting a clothesline on Miz on the apron, He gets a two count on Morrison and hits a slingshot plancha onto Miz on the floor before hitting a springboard clothesline on Morrison for a two count, and he hoists Morrison onto his shoulders as Miz gets in the ring and Punk sends him to the outside before catching a kick attempt from Morrison. He hoists Morrison onto his shoulders only for Miz to grab at his foot and Punk kicks him away as Kane grabs Miz by the throat and hits a Chokeslam on the floor, and Morrison gets a kick in and hits the Moonlight Drive on Punk which gets the three and he retains the titles for himself and Miz.
The match itself was pretty good as both teams worked hard and put on a solid title match even though they could’ve used a few more minutes to really reach the next level. Since coming together last year, Morrison and Miz have gelled well as a team and were gaining confidence as well as growing in their characters, particularly Miz who feels much different than where he was a year ago. Despite mainly being singles stars, Kane and Punk also had some solid chemistry together and together with Morrison and Miz, they had good chemistry and worked well together. They were in a bit of a corner as you knew Morrison and Miz weren’t losing the titles while they wanted to keep Kane strong since he was ECW Champion, and that sadly left Punk as the man to take the pin and was also pinned clean by Morrison as he was not looking too strong as Mr. Money in the Bank. The crowd was into the match and Punk and Kane, but are not happy when Morrison and Miz retain. Morrison and Miz retain the titles over Kane and Punk as all four men move on.
Final Grade: **3/4
