Ratings:
Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen: *1/4
Robbie E vs. Shannon Moore (TV Title): **1/2
Gail Kim vs. Tara (Knockouts Title): **1/4
Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Matt Morgan & Crimson (Tag Team Titles): **1/4
Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley (X-Division Title): ****
Kazarian vs. AJ Styles: ***1/2
Garett Bischoff vs. Gunner: *
Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm vs. Bully Ray (World Title): ***
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Interesting opening with Hardy merely smiling when asked about the title match. Taz wasn't at the PPV due to a death in the family. Condolences from me to Taz and his family. Borash is doing color tonight.
#1 contenders match is first. Zema Ion gets virtually no reaction coming out. Sorensen actually gets a few pops. What the heck is the deal with the football again? A bunch of these gimmicks are rather lame. Oh, Sorensen was a football QB. Thanks, Tenay. Yes, Texas is a big football state. Fast pace at the start. Jesse with the upper hand early so Ion sprays more hair spray into his hair. Bad for the environment and maybe your hair. Lovely. Good high-flying moves. Ion hits a moonsault on the outside. Ion's knee connected with Jesse's head. Sorensen is out. Refthrew up the "X" signal which is never good. Awkward finish, but Jesse was legit injured here. Hope it's not too bad.
Borash isn't comfortable announcing. It's obvious. Send him back to ring announcing, please.
Looks like TNA had to stall as trainers and EMTs tended to Sorensen. Good promo from Roode.
Well, Rob Terry -- or should I say, Robbie T -- has been this personal security guard to Robbie E for how long now? Lovely. Oh WTF. Robbie E Invitational? *facepalm* Shannon Moore accepts the challenge, which is good to me. He's back to singles action now with Jesse Neal gone.
Lots of counters and big moves in the TV Title match. Moonsault by Moore on Robbie E nailed the Jersey Shore wannabe in the head, much like how Sorensen got decked by Ion's moonsault. Robbie continued on, though. Where the heck is the crowd reaction? Robbie T with a big punch, into a Robbie T impaler DDT for three. Decent action. But damn man, the crowd was largely dead!
Knockouts title up now. Tara comes out from the ramp, not on the bike. Madison Rayne accompanies Gail to ringside, but they have communication issues on the way to the ring. Madison leaves ringside, could be big. Gail attacks the knee of Tara, smart move. Reference on Tara tearing the right ACL 10 years ago. Nice hurricanrana from Gail. WTF, this match has more crowd reaction than the first two. Nice moonsault from Tara but she's favoring that knee. Thought it was a flat finish from what had transpired just seconds before, but still solid overall.
Time for the tag match. Crimson gets beaten down for several minutes. Average at best right now. Morgan with the hot tag and looks good. Both teams' tag finishers countered. Crimson spears Morgan accidentally. Snap mare and flying elbow combo on Morgan, and we got new champs. Note again, Crimson doesn't get pinned.
X-Division title match time. Split chants for both guys, although again, it's like...maybe 15 people doing it? Geez. Aries being sneaky going under the ring. Suicide dive through the bottom and middle ropes. Love it. Crowd is probably the most vocal it's been all night. Last Chancery reference! Glad to see the name of the submission hasn't changed. Aries tried the same antics again but got caught. Suicide dive from Shelley this time! OW. Death Valley Driver on the ring apron. Shelley got nuked on that one. Aries 450 misses, Sliced Bread from Shelley! AA with the hands on the ropes! Real good stuff now. Crowd is standing. OW, kick to the jaw. Brainbuster! WHAT?! Only two?!?! Roll-through, two lights-out kicks from Shelley! Another two?! WTF. Where the hell did this come from? Knees from AA, Brainbuster! Last Chancery! Shelley taps. Wow.
Here we go with Kaz and Styles. Hard to follow that excellent X-Division match. Good storyline going so far. Good spots early on. Styles getting monkey flipped was awesome. Clash and Fade to Black finishers both countered. Kaz slingshots over the top and plants AJ's head on the ring apron. Another "ow" moment. More great counters as the match wore on. "Acts of desperation," according to Tenay. AJ able to bridge out of a pin that late in the match is amazing. Good flow. Loved AJ deciding to moonsault onto Daniels. What is with it and moonsaults tonight?! Kaz counters an AJ springboard into the Fade to Black and wins. Great stuff again.
I keep getting all messed up on Garett's first name. So it's one "R," right? I've seen one R, one T, two Rs, two Ts, etc. Ugh.
Anyway, Eric gets involved in the match a bit, which pisses Hogan off. Otherwise, the match was quite basic and boring. Garett gets whipped for a while. Eric with one more cheap shot and Hogan's had it. How the HELL does one punch elicit such a monstrous response? Because it's Hulk Hogan. Garett's neck has been worked on for quite some time. Hogan's got the towel. Garett says no. Gunner looked like he kicked GB dangerously low, plus a DDT for three.
Here we go with the World Title four-way. Sting's the special enforcer. Expect a ref bump somewhere. Storm is out next, then Hardy, then Roode. Christy Hemme does the main event intros tonight. Loved Bully introducing himself. Still tension between Roode and Bully. RR wants to team up with Bully, but no deal from Bully. Storm and Hardy team up on RR.
Tenay tells people Sorensen did sustain a neck injury. As of 2/13/12, Sorensen can move his arms, but cannot move his legs (only a tingly sensation in the lower extremities). Wishing him the best on his recovery. Will this put Ion in the doghouse?
Wow, I loved RR and Storm with a double-team move on Bully. Crowd really wanted them to do the "Beer! Money!" gesture one more time. Ha, fat chance, but great teaser moment. RR and Storm swing away. No real involvement from Sting for now. Storm and Roode fight on the outside, while Bully and Hardy are in the ring. Bully calls for a spike piledriver, but countered. Nice Tower of Doom with Bully on the bottom! Shows Bully's strength. Bully tries RR, then Hardy and Storm, but only two counts. Hardy Twist of Fate. And we finally get the ref bump; Bully does the squashing. Bubba Bomb, but ref's out. Sting tries to revive Brian Hebner. Yeah, way to go. Shouldn't the enforcer just come in immediately? Oh right, Sting doesn't want Bully to win, I guess.
Hardy Twist of Fate on Bully again. Hebner's still out. Roode spears Hardy. Storm with a Codebreaker-like move on RR. Last Call to RR! Ref's up, but Bully pulls the ref out. Bully uses Hebner as a shield. Storm flies over the top and Brian Hebner gets destroyed again. Damn.
Hardy Twist of Fate on RR. Swanton missed. RR on the outside all dazed. He's got the title. RR and Sting jawjack. RR spits in Sting's face. Sting swings with the title and decks Hardy by accident. RR demands Sting count with Hebner down. Now Sting's helpless? Seriously, just screw RR if you have to. Nonetheless, Sting makes the three-count.
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Actually a very good PPV. Gunner and Garett was not my cup o' tea, and Sorensen/Ion shoulda gone longer except for the unfortunate injury. More high points than I expected. Roode retaining was the proper call. Let him run with it as a heel using cheap, unclean ways to win. ***1/2
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