Ratings/Analysis:
James Storm & Alex Shelley vs. Douglas Williams & Magnus (Tag Team Titles): Crowd hot in the early going as Storm/Shelley go on the offensive. Heels take over, but eventually Storm gets the hot tag. Storm/Shelley takes part in Machine Gun and Beer Money tag team moves/signature taunts, which was cool to watch. Miscommunication from Storm/Shelley leads to a close near fall. Storm/Shelley get the win with Storm's Last Call and Shelley's Sliced Bread #2. Great stuff. ***
Scott Steiner vs. Matt Morgan: Two big men here, not sure if this will be good to watch. Typical slow-paced match at the start. Morgan controls first, then Steiner uses heel tactics to gain the upper hand. Morgan comeback looked pretty sloppy, then Steiner took over again. Morgan gets the win after what seems like an eternity. I didn't dig this one. *
Abyss vs. Kazarian vs. Brian Kendrick (X-Division Title): Kazarian and Kendrick try to get on Abyss early. Good action here, and basically Abyss escaped with the win. **1/2
Crimson vs. Samoa Joe: Again, pretty much the basic match to start. Nice moves from Joe. Crowd is chanting "Joe's gonna kill you" as usual. While there were some good spots in the match, overall, it was too slow for me. Not surprisingly, Crimson continues his much-hyped undefeated streak. It may have gone about 11 minutes, but it felt like an eternity -- in a bad way. Stamp of approval from Joe post-match. *3/4
Mickie James vs. Angelina Love (Knockouts Title): Mickie gets a good reaction from the crowd. Not too bad a match here (there were a few nice counters), but Winter interfered a ton, which just plain sucks, in my book. And to top it all off, Mickie's finisher was just plain botched...one of the worst-looking jumping DDTs ever. More Angelina's fault than Mickie's on that botch. Post-match, Winter beats down Mickie. *1/4
Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles (Last Man Standing): OK, finally we should get a good one here. Crowd is hot for this one. Bully gets the upper hand early on. Styles takes a beating on the outside. AJ begs Bully to hit him with that chop once more. Bully unleashes a HUGE chop...crowd groans and so do I. AJ's chest is all bruised. AJ starts the comeback. Pele from AJ while Bully was on the top rope, now that's impressive. Chain in play now. AJ nails Bully with the chain and Bully is busted open pretty badly. Both men get to the entrance ramp. AJ escapes the powerbomb attempt...Pele! AJ with the flying Superman punch from the stage to the floor on to Bully! Crowd chanting "This is awesome!" AJ going to the top of that structure...he's pulling a Jeff Hardy! He's pulling a Shane McMahon! He nails it! Both men down, ref counts. AJ gets kicked head-first into the stage. Bully Ray barely gets up before 10 and wins. Crowd wants to riot. I think if they went a little longer without this BS-looking finish, it would have cracked four stars. Both men need help getting to the back. ***3/4
Mr. Anderson vs. Sting (World Title): Ha, I loved the start. Sting with a raged-face-paint look this time -- almost like a Jeff Hardy look, quite honestly. Comes from behind on Anderson's intro and the fight is on. Mainly just brawling on the outside -- and in the stands -- for the first so many minutes. They finally get back in the ring for more punishment. A couple of good near falls. Bischoff down at ringside now. Scorpion Death Drop! Bischoff cleverly makes a random one-count while the ref counts, so Sting thinks he got the three when the ref only counted to two. Anderson with a low blow, the Mic Check, and the pin. Oh lovely, another match where I wished for more. It had promise at the beginning. anyway. **
Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett: Angle's gold medal is on the line here. Main event intros here. Good back-and-forth action here. They are brawling on the floor. Double KO spot on crossbodies early on was cool. A few counters early on. Angle counters a hurricanrana into a powerbomb...ankle lock attempt, Jarrett is out. Stroke countered into an Angle Slam for two...because it's just an Angle Slam. Moonsault already for Angle, but that missed. Again, great counters back into an ankle lock. Ref down already? Guitar shot! Earl Hebner now reffing. Only a two-count! Rolling German suplexes...man I love this stuff. Vintage Angle with the top rope overhead suplex for two. Jarrett counters again. Oh, Stroke from the middle rope! Only two! Jarrett putting Angle in the ankle lock! Angle pulled back to the center, Jarrett grapevines the leg. Crowd backing Angle big time. Angle gets out. Angle gets ankle lock on Jarrett! Grapevines the leg! Jarrett taps! Very nice here. ***3/4
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Final Thoughts:
I personally thought it was interesting that Angelina refused the "medicine" from Winter, explaining that they are on the same page now. I do wonder if this is the start of Angelina turning on Winter. It may be a few weeks to months down the road, but the seeds could be planted.
I'm not sure how long they will keep this Crimson undefeated streak dealie going. Crimson is not impressing me very much right now, and despite this streak, I'm losing interest fast.
AJ Styles never ceases to amaze. He's phenomenal, folks.
I liked the World Title change. Sting has had some horrible title matches lately -- although not all were his fault (i.e., Jeff Hardy).
Is the Angle/Jarrett feud over now? I'm liking this so much, I really don't want it to end just yet. It's really one of two storylines I care about right now on Impact wrestling (the other is between Angelina, Winter, and apparently Mickie James).
It was a pretty decent PPV. We had two or three real good matches (led by Bully Ray/Styles and Angle/Jarrett) and the other matches were either better than expected or not horrible. ***1/4
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