The 2010 Over the Limit was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the inaugural Over the Limit and took place on May 23, 2010, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The name "Over the Limit" was a reference to its main event match being contested as an "I Quit" match.
Nine matches took place at the event, eight of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. In the main event, which was the main match from Raw, John Cena faced Batista for the WWE Championship in an "I Quit" match, while Big Show versus World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger was the main match from SmackDown. Matches on the undercard included Randy Orton against Edge, CM Punk facing Rey Mysterio, and Drew McIntyre defending SmackDown's Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston. Other championships defended at the event were Raw's Divas Championship and the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, which was available to both brands.
The event replaced Judgment Day as the annual May PPV. It drew 197,000 pay-per-view buys and was attended live by 11,000 people. Reviews for the event were generally negative, with reviewers criticizing the endings of the matches, stoppages for blood, and predictable match results. Five wrestlers sustained legitimate injuries during the course of the show, being Batista, John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, and Ted DiBiase. This was the only Over the Limit held before the original World Tag Team Championship was deactivated in August in favor of the WWE Tag Team Championship, which became available to both brands; since WrestleMania 25 in April 2009, both titles were held and defended together across all brands as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. It would also be the only Over the Limit held before the original WWE Women's Championship was deactivated in September in favor of the WWE Divas Championship, which also became available to both brands.
Production Background
From 2000 to 2009, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ran an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event every May titled Judgment Day. In 2010, WWE discontinued Judgment Day and replaced it with a new PPV event titled Over the Limit. The event was held on May 23, 2010, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. Tickets went on sale on March 20. The name "Over the Limit" was a reference to its main event match being contested as an "I Quit" match.
Storylines The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.
The main feud from the Raw brand heading into Over the Limit was between John Cena and Batista over the WWE Championship, and had been going on for several months. Cena retained the WWE Championship against Batista at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in a Last Man Standing match, by taping Batista's ankles to the ringpost to ensure he could not stand up by the count of ten. The next night on Raw, Batista defeated Randy Orton and Sheamus to become the number one contender to the championship and earn a rematch against Cena. On the May 3 episode of Raw, they competed in a Beat the Clock challenge to determine the stipulation for their match. Batista defeated Daniel Bryan in 5:06, but Cena defeated Wade Barrett in 4:32 to win the challenge and the right to name the stipulation. The following week, Cena announced that the match would be an "I Quit" match.
The predominant feud from the SmackDown brand was between Jack Swagger and The Big Show, over Swagger's World Heavyweight Championship. As part of the 2010 WWE Draft, Big Show was drafted to SmackDown, where he was named the number one contender upon his debut on April 30. Over the next several weeks, Big Show chokeslammed Swagger through the announce table, and interrupted a promo on the May 14 episode of SmackDown, in which Swagger was boasting about his accomplishments. As part of the segment, Big Show destroyed Swagger's trophies and memorabilia. The following week, Big Show mocked Swagger in promos throughout the show and distracted Swagger during Swagger's match with Kofi Kingston, allowing Kingston to win.
As part of the 2010 WWE Draft on April 26, Edge was drafted to the Raw brand. Later that night, Edge interfered in a match to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship, spearing Randy Orton and preventing Orton from receiving a WWE Championship match. The following week, Edge hosted an edition of his talk show, The Cutting Edge, with Orton as his special guest. During the show, Edge justified his actions by saying he was trying to make an impact, and attempted to convince Orton to reform Rated-RKO, their former tag team. Instead Orton attacked Edge. The following week, Orton defeated Edge and Ted DiBiase in a handicap match, which led to "Pick Your Poison" matches on the May 17 episode of Raw, where Edge and Orton picked each other's opponents for the night. Edge faced The Undertaker, and lost intentionally by countout, while Orton faced Jack Swagger, and lost by disqualification when Edge interfered.
The rivalry between Rey Mysterio and CM Punk was continued from several previous pay-per-views. After months of feuding, Mysterio challenged Punk to a Straight Edge Society Pledge vs. Hair match at Over the Limit. Had Punk won, Mysterio would have joined the Straight Edge Society, Punk's faction which promoted the straight edge lifestyle. Had Mysterio won however, Punk agreed to have his head shaved. On May 14, Mysterio and Punk faced each other in a singles match, but the Straight Edge Society (Luke Gallows, Serena, and a mystery masked man) interfered and attacked Mysterio. The following week, Mysterio interrupted an initiation ceremony, in which Punk was shaving the heads of three men to induct them into the Straight Edge Society, and mocked Punk, claiming everyone would be laughing at Punk when he was shaved bald at Over the Limit. Later that night, Mysterio teamed with Montel Vontavious Porter to defeat Punk and Gallows in a tag team match.
Another feud was over the WWE Intercontinental Championship between the defending champion Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long stripped McIntyre of the championship and fired him for repeatedly attacking Matt Hardy. Long set up a tournament to determine the new champion, in which Christian and Kingston qualified for the final by defeating Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler. The following week, on the May 14 episode of SmackDown, Kingston defeated Christian to win the tournament and the championship. Immediately following the match, however, McIntyre presented Long with a letter from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, which stated that McIntyre had been reinstated to the roster and was still recognized as the Intercontinental Champion. As a result, WWE's official website announced that McIntyre would defend the championship against tournament winner Kingston.
The team of Chris Jericho and The Miz had begun feuding with The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) over the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz's feud with The Hart Dynasty had begun while The Miz was one-half of the Unified Tag Team Champions with The Big Show. During the Draft episode of Raw, The Hart Dynasty defeated ShoMiz to win the championship, which led to Big Show turning on The Miz. The following week, The Miz and Jericho, another former tag team partner of Big Show, teamed up to attack The Hart Dynasty. Jericho went on to defeat Smith to earn a championship match for himself and The Miz at Over the Limit.
After WrestleMania XXVI, Ted DiBiase had debuted a new gimmick of an arrogant millionaire, similar to his father (Ted DiBiase, Sr.)'s old gimmick. On the April 5 episode of Raw, DiBiase was given possession of the Million Dollar Championship and access to a trust fund by his father. DiBiase then began looking for a "Virgil", a manservant like his father used to have. He offered the position to R-Truth, who refused, leading to a feud between the two. After losing a match to John Morrison, DiBiase attacked him, prompting R-Truth to interfere and save Morrison. In retaliation, DiBiase paid The Colóns to attack R-Truth the following week.
In the only women's match scheduled on the card, Eve defended the WWE Divas Championship against the former champion, Maryse. Eve had won the championship on the April 12 episode of Raw, and in the weeks that followed she was attacked by Maryse, who was attempting to get revenge.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael Cole ()Jerry Lawler ()Matt Striker ()Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichRing announcersTony Chimel ()Justin Roberts ()Backstage interviewerJosh MathewsRefereesMike ChiodaCharles Robinson John ConeJack Doan
Prior to the pay-per-view, Montel Vontavious Porter defeated Chavo Guerrero in a dark match.
Preliminary matches The first match that was aired as part of the pay-per-view was Drew McIntyre defending his Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston. Kingston took the early advantage, by performing a suicide dive to the outside of the ring on McIntyre. McIntyre threw Kingston in the ringpost, and went on the offense. Kingston was able to counter McIntyre's "Future Shock" DDT, and perform his finishing move, the S.O.S, to pin McIntyre for the victory and the championship. Following the match, McIntyre demanded that Teddy Long go out to the ring and reverse the decision, but instead McIntyre was attacked by Matt Hardy, who McIntyre had attacked on several occasions in the prior weeks.
The next match was a singles match between Ted DiBiase, who was accompanied by Virgil, and R-Truth. In the early stages of the match, Virgil caused a distraction, allowing DiBiase to take the advantage by performing a reverse neckbreaker and throwing R-Truth into the barricade at ringside. R-Truth was able to counter a move from the top rope, and went on to win the match by utilising his "Lie Detector" finishing move (a corkscrew flying forearm smash).
The third match on the card was a Straight Edge Society pledge vs. hair match, between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio. For this match, the other Straight Edge Society members (Serena and Luke Gallows) were banned from ringside. Early on in the match, Punk threw Mysterio headfirst out of the ring into the barber chair at ringside. Punk had suffered a cut to the head prior to the exchange, and while Mysterio was on the floor, the match was halted so that the blood could be cleaned up. While Punk's wound was being attended, he dropkicked Mysterio, who was on the ring apron, and began attacking him on the floor to restart the match. After Mysterio missed a splash from the top rope, Punk went to pin him, but Mysterio was able to perform a crucifix cradle on Punk for the victory. The other Straight Edge Society members attacked Mysterio after the match, but he was saved by Kane, which allowed Mysterio to handcuff Punk to the ring ropes and shave his head.
A tag team match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship followed, between the champions The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith), who were accompanied by their manager Natalya, and the team of Chris Jericho and The Miz. The Hart Dynasty took the early advantage, but Jericho and The Miz were able to isolate both Smith and Kidd in the ring at different points in the match, wearing them down. Natalya interfered by tripping up Jericho while The Miz had the referee distracted. The Hart Dynasty were able to capitalise, and performed the Hart Attack on The Miz for the pinfall victory.