John Cena defeats Randy Orton for WWE title in I Quit match

John Cena defeated Randy Orton for the WWE championship at the promotion's Breaking Point PPV in an "I Quit" match. Much of the match featured Orton attempting to force the verbal submission of Cena by physically punishing Cena while Cena was handcuffed to the ring ropes. Cena eventually forced the submission by handcuffing himself to Orton and applying the STF. Cena's title win is the 6th WWE/World level win of his tenure in the promotion.

While the WWE title change was a highlight, the World title match that closed the show left fans in disbelief. WWE booking piled a Dusty finish on top of a Montreal screwjob. Undertaker's Hell's Gate submission win being ruled invalid by Smackdown general manager Theodore Long based on the maneuver being invalidated by Vickie Guerrero last year. The ref then called for the bell immediately after Punk applied his Anaconda Vice without 'Taker actually submitting.

CM Punk escaped with the title but not before completely defeating the submission
concept of Breaking Point in the first place. Let's hope for WWE's sake that fans have long memories of Orton/Cena and short memories of the Punk/Taker screw-job or the promotion could find the 2010 Breaking Point a very tough sell.

In other matches of note, ECW champion Christian defeated William Regal in the consensus match of the night while Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes scored a shocking upset of DX with both Legacy tag teamers forcing Shawn Michaels to submit. The U.S. and Unified tag champions both successfully defended their belts while Kane won a forgettable Singapore Cane contest.

WWE champion states Eugene released for weight issue

Nick 'Eugene' Dinsmore's WWE comeback was done in by a weight issue, according to none other than WWE champion Randy Orton, an apparent real life friend of Dinsmore. In an interview with the U.K.'s The Sun newspaper, Orton noted that Dinsmore came in overweight for his comeback television match against The Calgary Kid (aka The Miz) on "WWE Raw."

WWE management immediately noted the weight issue and released Dinsmore four days later. Orton stated that he found himself disappointed at Dinsmore for showing up that way. Dinsmore's comeback lasted all of two matches, the Raw TV match and a previous house show match win over Ricky Ortiz. Of course Ortiz also ended up being released soon thereafter for unrelated reasons.

While the weight issue was the obvious short-term reason for Dinsmore's termination, my own belief still holds that the Eugene gimmick didn't have a long-term shelf life anyway in today's more politically correct WWE. Either way, it remains heartening to see that persona gone if not the man who portrayed it.

Randy Orton regains WWE title in four-way match

Randy Orton regained the WWE championship on Raw, defeating Big Show, John Cena & Triple H in a four-way match to take the vacant title. Orton pinned Big Show for the win after an RKO. Triple H later won a battle royal on the same Raw telecast to become the #1 contender.

In storyline, Orton's plan to regain the WWE title from Batista worked if only a week late as his Legacy attack led to the vacating of the belt and ultimately its return to Orton. Of course in real life, Batista was already injured and would not have been able to wrestle title matches anyway which makes me wonder why the belt was ever placed on him in the first place.

What emerged from all this title circle jerking was that the same man that went into Extreme Rules with the belt emerged with it again. Only now, Orton has a significantly weakened heel character, having been taken down hard by Batista & Triple H and needing helping to stand up to a 60+ year old Ric Flair.

With the prospect of title matches both at next week's Raw and The Bash PPV, the WWE title change merry-go-round shows no signs of stopping. Its continuance demeans both the title and Randy Orton himself.

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Batista ends Randy Orton's WWE title reign in the cage

In the isolation of a steel cage, Batista ended Randy Orton's WWE title reign. Batista hit the Batista bomb then scored the pinfall in a match that lasted a stunningly short seven minutes.

Of all the title changes during WWE Extreme Rules, Batista's title win may be the most surprising and the most inexplicable. Batista's fan support has deteriorated over the last year out for action plus rumors of a new injury make placing the WWE championship on him seem even more inexplicable.

Dare I point out that killing Randy Orton's heel momentum over the course of an only seven minute match is patently self-destructive. There's no good upside to Batista as champion except for the hope that he'll soon be an ex-champion again.

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Randy Orton takes WWE title from Triple H in six-man

Randy Orton is the new WWE champion, taking the title from Triple H in a six man match. Orton pinned Triple H after a punt kick to the head to score the win for the Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase combo against Triple H, Batista & Shane McMahon.

Triple H was stretchered out after the match, signaling perhaps some time off for The Game. At the least, Orton will get the chance to fully establish himself again as the company's #1 heel. One just wishes that a) the title change had been back at WrestleMania and b) it had been a one-on-one singles match.

Whether or not Orton gets over as the top company heel, Triple H is clearly no longer over as the top company babyface. The "hey. hey, good-bye" chant for HHH during the stretcher job out should send that message loud and clear. If not for his family connections, he'd have been pushed down the card or switched back to heel already.

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