3. Alex Riley (WWE Championship Match w/ The Miz Vs John Cena) - Over The Limit 2011
This entry may be perceived as bending the rules slightly, given that this match was technically a one on one 'I Quit' Match between John Cena and The Miz for the WWE Championship. However, given that there are no disqualifications in this type of match-up, it ended up playing out very much as a handicap match, with Miz teaming with his protege Alex Riley to brutalize Cena for virtually the entire affair. Therefore, Riley's appearance in the main event of a WWE PPV has to make the list. Those are the rules, people. As if it wasn't obvious from the description of how the match was formed, this ended up being a debacle, the absolute worst of The Miz's brief tenure as a main event talent. It essentially amounted to 20 minutes of Miz and Riley unleashing a savage beating on Cena with no comeback...before Cena became Superman, overpowering and defeating the two men in about 2 minutes at the end. Rest assured, this was not entertaining in any way, with the World Title match from the same PPV (Randy Orton vs Christian) being an infinitely greater contest. Riley went on to engage in a short feud with The Miz and even competed in a Money In The Bank ladder match in 2011, but fell out of favour with management at some point. Until very recently, he hadn't been seen in a WWE ring since 2013 and instead forged an identity as 'The Analyst', a mainstay of WWE Network's Raw and Smackdown pre-shows, adopting a persona similar to a sports agent or colour commentator. Thankfully for the man, his #FreeRiley campaign on Twitter must have worked, as he made his return to the ring on the February 12th NXT tapings.
