Wednesday, May 18, 2011

5/15/11 Sacrifice

Ratings/Analysis:
Hernandez & Anarquia vs. Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal: It was your regular typical tag match, and then finally Shannon Moore got to his high-flying moves on Anarquia. I liked Sarita's and Rosita's involvement to build up the heel heat -- or well, at least they tried. Hernandez with the Dominator, huh? Cool. A pretty decent match here. **1/4

Brian Kendrick vs. Robbie E.: Kendrick kept wearing his robe throughout the match and played his weird gimmick pretty well. Match was going OK, and then Kendrick just hits what is basically a dropkick for the win? Well that was fun. *1/2

Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne (Knockouts Title): So if Mickie wins, Tara's contract to Madison is null and void. Ref took a couple of bumps here. Couple of spots in the match where it could have probably ended if it were a regular Knockouts match on Impact. Good job by Mickie, Madison, and Tara to build up the fan reaction for the end. *1/2

Kazarian vs. Max Buck (X-Division Title): Kazarian rockin' the pants instead of shorts in this one. Good chain wrestling in the beginning. Now this is a nice match. 450 splash for a near fall. Great chemistry between the two. I cringed on the powerbomb where Max's head basically bounced off the concrete...and I can't believe Max kicked out. Seriously, how is Max not dead? Nice "This is wrestling!" chants. Very nice here folks...lots of counters and the Shining Wizard for the win. ***1/4

Crimson vs. Abyss: I thought this would be some match to allow the crowd to recover from a great match prior, but it was actually not too bad. It was a pretty slow match, yes (given the size of the two guys), but it had more near falls than I thought. Pretty good for what it was, and I'm actually a bit shocked by that. *3/4

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Matt Hardy & Chris Harris (Tag Team Titles): I was interested to see how Chris Harris did in this one. Harris wearing the AMW tights...perhaps for mind games? Match was great, but Harris was rusty in this one. Loved the Death Sentence finish by Beer Money. **3/4

AJ Styles vs. Tommy Dreamer (No DQ): Yeah you knew this was going to the crowd. Styles bleeding from the temple just a little. I liked Styles using the table to send that message to Bully Ray. Crowd definitely into this one. Fork comes into play! Bully Ray interference was predictable. Nice finish with the piledriver on the table. ***

Kurt Angle & Chyna vs. Jeff Jarrett & Karen Jarrett: So the Jarretts try the ol' "I suffered an injury at the last minute deal," and of course that didn't work out too well. Leave it to Foley to attempt to bring wrestling to the forefront. Chyna with the red, white, and blue gear in this one, and she's looking good. Loved the "Chyna's gonna kill you!" chants. Chyna really is doing nothing as the match hits the midway point, and the crowd is popping big time for her. Angle and Jeff go at it more, then Chyna gets in and does a horrible bodyslam, follows it with a decent suplex. It's Karen's turn! Double ankle locks! Sweet. Obviously, Angle and Jeff did the grunt work, but it was fun to watch. **3/4

Sting vs. Rob Van Dam (World Title): Mr. Anderson on commentary here. Not too bad to start, and then it spills to the crowd. Was that a kid chanting "holy shit" in the crowd when Sting and RVD were nearby? The two just nuked each other in the crowd, and Anderson is loving it. The first Scorpion Death Drop attempt was botched, so they did it again. Match was not the best, but it was not horrible. **1/4
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Final Reviews/Thoughts:
This was not a horrible PPV, but unfortunately, no match really stood out as epic. I'm at least happy that the matches were fairly consistent in quality. The X-Division match was the best on the card, but again, I just feel like the PPV ended with a whimper. My friend was right, I may not have seen it Sunday evening, but I didn't miss a lot. **1/2

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