Wednesday, December 14, 2011

12/11/11 Final Resolution

Ratings:
Rob Van Dam vs. Christopher Daniels: *1/2

Robbie E vs. Eric Young (TV Title): *1/4

Matt Morgan & Crimson vs. Devon and D'Angelo Dinero (Tag Team Titles): *1/2

Austin Aries vs. Kid Kash (X-Division Title): ***1/4

Gail Kim vs. Mickie James (Knockouts Title): **1/4

James Storm vs. Kurt Angle: **3/4

Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy (Cage): **1/4

Bobby Roode vs. AJ Styles (30-Minute Ironman; World Title): ***
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Reviews/Thoughts:
RVD and Daniels was just OK to me. Crowd wasn't really very much into it, which hurt the rating. Weird ending where it looks like Daniels sorta tried to bridge out but the ref counted three anyway. Guess that's more fodder for Daniels to continue his heel rants.

Eric Young's character is just weird. The guy looks like a hobo (at least one that showers) and he strips down to trunks before his match (or heck, even during the match). No mistaking that the guy has talent in the ring, though. Rob Terry wearing some earpiece...maybe it's linked to the production truck so he knows when to interfere. Impressive attempt by EY to put both Robbies on his shoulders. Wait, Robbie E stole Jericho's codebreaker! Guarantee that Jericho doesn't care.

Couldn't really get much into the tag title match. It seemed too methodical for me and it really made the champs look pretty weak. Crimson and Morgan's music sounds like those Megaman video game tunes.

X-Division title match...now this is good. Both are technically heels, but it's still fun to watch Kash and Aries perform. You can tell they're veterans. Very physical and a consistent pace here. It had a good flow to it as well. Kash tried a powerbomb from the top, but Aries reversed into a hurricanrana...just plain awesome. Aries with some lie/cheat/steal qualities at the end to get the win.

Fourth consecutive match with a title on the line is the Knockouts match. Kim dressed in some red attire tonight, which kinda made her look more Chinese instead of Korean. Mickie was in a country-inspired outfit as usual. Some real impressive stuff in this one. These two are among the top female workers in TNA right now...easy. Gail really made a real good decision to go back to TNA.

Angle/Storm was good. Angle again in top shape -- even more so since he's training for the Olympics. Pace was up and down here. A few too many restholds for my liking in the middle, but I guess that set up a rapid sequence for the second half of the match. Wait, now Storm does BOTH a codebreaker and a backstabber combo? That Eye of the Storm was not really done well, likely due to fatigue. Angle even stumbled a bit when trying to quickly scale the ropes and throw Storm off. Hangman's DDT from Storm planted Angle's head on the apron...pretty sick spot. Yet, it just seemed like an off-night for both guys. Crowd wasn't very loud, either, which didn't help.

When Jarrett came down to the ring for the cage match -- Karen in tow -- the way Karen stood on the ramp (not her demeanor) reminded me of the McMahon-Helmsley era. Hardy comes out in some mask again. Karen was handcuffed to Sting. Vintage Hardy crash from the top of the cage, missing the Swanton. Karen escaped the cuffs and tried to get Jarrett the win, but Hardy kicked out. Even that apparent false finish didn't really excite the crowd. So Sting distracted Jarrett long enough (by detaining Karen) to help Hardy win. Welp, Hardy's roll continues!

Iron Man Match ended the show. Main event intros. Predictably, the first part of this one was slow with restholds. Good mat wrestling showcased. Roode finally went after AJ's "injured" left knee about 8 minutes in. Roode took the first fall about 10 minutes in. Roode continued to work on the knee, getting another submission a few minutes later with the Figure Four. Styles came back and went after Roode's arm. Crossface to Roode?! Styles pulls back within one! After more action, Styles got a rollup to tie it up. Styles with the Springboard 450 to take the lead! Styles continued to sell the knee after that. Roode grabbed the ropes to pin AJ on a sunset flip attempt to tie it at 3. Styles went for the clash with about 90 seconds left and his knee gave out. Roode had a bloody nose. AJ flew over the ropes to get Roode with under a minute left. Roode stalled to get the 3-3 draw and retain the gold. Good for a heel win, but a very flat finish (obviously).

I liked the X-Division match more than the World Title affair. The former just seemed to flow better for me. The crowd really killed this PPV, which goes to show how a mass of people can play such a big role for TV purposes. They need to benefit from a more boisterous crowd (think NY, Philly, Chicago, etc.). Oh well. Not impressed with this one. **1/4

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