Ratings:
Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs. Michael McGillicutty & Johnny Curtis: *3/4
Alex Riley vs. Drew McIntyre: *1/4
Damien Sandow vs. Justin Gabriel: **3/4
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Usos take on McGillicutty and Curtis to start the show. Figure this is a good way to keep MM and Curtis on TV in some capacity, since it's unlikely either will break through in singles action at this point. Heels doing decent as a tag team here, but Jey gets the hot tag and it's pretty much a done deal after that. Big top-rope splash gets three. Usos have done well to get over with the crowd.
McIntyre apparently has a broken left wrist (has a black cast), but was medically cleared to face A-Ry. A-Bomb is a flying top-rope clothesline. Final Score finisher changed from a TKO to a snap swinging neckbreaker of sorts. Wait, A-Ry WON?! That's what...two wins in 2012 now? He's on a roll!
Sandow makes Matt Striker feel like a mental midget. Now that's a visual. Anyway, Sandow and Gabriel main event Superstars this week. Gabriel has a more balanced in-ring style now, but still likes to fly around the ring. Gabriel still not using the 450 as often, though. Sandow with that nice Russian leg sweep and elbow signature moves. Very exciting match, back-and-forth action. Gabriel doing the springboard moonsault more often. Gabriel injected a lot of life into the match; otherwise, it was really not too far from slightly above-average. Sandow getting away from or countering Gabriel's finishers is just a play off his intellectual gimmick.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
8/16/12 Impact
Ratings:
Samoa Joe vs. Magnus: *1/2
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels: ***1/2
Miss Tessmacher vs. Madison Rayne (Knockouts Title): *1/4
Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy: **1/2
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Aries promo to start the show and he tells the doubters to go "fluk" themselves. Love it. Enter Jeff Hardy, who calls out Aces and Eights because Hardy feels they cost him 20 points. Bully Ray next to state his case for the title. Aces and Eights with the promo and the altered deepened voice. They'll be making their presence felt later in the show.
Magnus and Joe in a BFG Series match, former tag partners collide. Good mat wrestling here, hard-hitting and straightforward. Magnus got out of the choke, but Joe with a nice rollup for three. Seven more points for the pin, 61 overall for Joe. Magnus "snaps" and hits Joe's arm with the chair. Yeah, I'm not caring much about this. Magnus frankly has turned face and heel several times during his time with the company. He's good as a heel, but really needs a push to make it worth it.
Madison Rayne is the Knockouts champ again, and Tessmacher meets her in the ring. But first, Madison and Earl Hebner again! Brooke Hogan comes out, and what the hell kind of outfit is that? Short enough? No more Earl in Knockouts matches. Tessmacher gets her rematch. And a new female ref tonight.
Aces and Eights come for Brooke Hogan. TNA roster to the rescue, and Storm lags behind just to show his face. Sting promo afterward. Open Fight Night next week, and Sting's team calls out Aces and Eights at the top of the show. Good move, love that.
Now AJ, Daniels, and Kaz are all bad-mouthing the Claire Lynch character. Styles and Daniels in the ring tonight. If AJ wins, he gets a paternity test. If he loses, he accepts that he's the dad. WTF. Stipulation makes no sense. Really? Just accept you're the dad? That's just weak. Horrible storyline.
Kaz is banned from ringside for the match. Love it, gotta let AJ and Daniels go one-on-one. Nice kick from Daniels, wonder if he ever tried to be a kicker for the football team. This is wrestling here, fellas. Modified submission holds, nice innovative stuff -- and unlike WWE commentators, I don't use the word "innovative" very often. I'll never get tired of watching these two go at it. I just wish we had a better storyline. Anyway, Kaz tries to interfere, but Brian Hebner saw what happened. AJ wins with that Pele kick. Yay paternity test. But we all knew that was how this had to go down.
Storm will be out there when Hardy and Bully go at it, you know, just to make sure no Aces and Eights.
Roode promo. Gotta give it to him, he and Aries really put on a show at Hardcore Justice. But now, no more title shots if Aries is champ. Roode basically on a long-winded, rant-filled promo. Basically, now Roode has no idea what to do for goal aspirations. Tosses the mic down and leaves. He'll get a title shot again, but let Aries run with the belt. It's the normal cycling of main eventers.
Gut Check next week. Tragic background story involved, but would make for a great moment if he got a contract. At least the people TNA picks are good choices in that sense.
Knockouts title time. Brooke Hogan slips as she introduces Taryn Terrell. Yeah, you know, she was once with Drew McIntyre and had that "Tiffany" character in WWE. Love the female ref outfit. Taz needs more visuals because Velvet Sky is no longer there to let the pigeons loose. Madison now can't get away with anything, so Tessmacher got the win. Unfortunate. I actually wanted the Hebner deal to keep going so Madison can have a good reign. Otherwise, why even take the title off Tessmacher in the first place?
BFG Series standings top five: Storm with 66, Joe 61, RVD 55, Angle and Bully with 48. Top five move on, which is why you want to be there. Unfortunately, Pope has a broken collarbone, which is why TNA had Aces and Eights take him out.
Main event time with Bully and Hardy. Bully kicked out of the Swanton, wow. Hardy lands on Storm because Bully pulled Hardy in the way. Whisper in the Wind leads to double KO spot. Enter two of the Aces and Eights members. Aries, Styles, Sting, and Angle chase them away. Hardy with Twist of Fate and rollup for three. Bully no-sells it later and immediately decks Hardy.
Last Call superkick hits Hardy instead of Bully. Aces and Eights back in the ring -- four guys this time. Slow clap to Storm, then they take him out as we all figured they would. End show.
Samoa Joe vs. Magnus: *1/2
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels: ***1/2
Miss Tessmacher vs. Madison Rayne (Knockouts Title): *1/4
Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy: **1/2
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Aries promo to start the show and he tells the doubters to go "fluk" themselves. Love it. Enter Jeff Hardy, who calls out Aces and Eights because Hardy feels they cost him 20 points. Bully Ray next to state his case for the title. Aces and Eights with the promo and the altered deepened voice. They'll be making their presence felt later in the show.
Magnus and Joe in a BFG Series match, former tag partners collide. Good mat wrestling here, hard-hitting and straightforward. Magnus got out of the choke, but Joe with a nice rollup for three. Seven more points for the pin, 61 overall for Joe. Magnus "snaps" and hits Joe's arm with the chair. Yeah, I'm not caring much about this. Magnus frankly has turned face and heel several times during his time with the company. He's good as a heel, but really needs a push to make it worth it.
Madison Rayne is the Knockouts champ again, and Tessmacher meets her in the ring. But first, Madison and Earl Hebner again! Brooke Hogan comes out, and what the hell kind of outfit is that? Short enough? No more Earl in Knockouts matches. Tessmacher gets her rematch. And a new female ref tonight.
Aces and Eights come for Brooke Hogan. TNA roster to the rescue, and Storm lags behind just to show his face. Sting promo afterward. Open Fight Night next week, and Sting's team calls out Aces and Eights at the top of the show. Good move, love that.
Now AJ, Daniels, and Kaz are all bad-mouthing the Claire Lynch character. Styles and Daniels in the ring tonight. If AJ wins, he gets a paternity test. If he loses, he accepts that he's the dad. WTF. Stipulation makes no sense. Really? Just accept you're the dad? That's just weak. Horrible storyline.
Kaz is banned from ringside for the match. Love it, gotta let AJ and Daniels go one-on-one. Nice kick from Daniels, wonder if he ever tried to be a kicker for the football team. This is wrestling here, fellas. Modified submission holds, nice innovative stuff -- and unlike WWE commentators, I don't use the word "innovative" very often. I'll never get tired of watching these two go at it. I just wish we had a better storyline. Anyway, Kaz tries to interfere, but Brian Hebner saw what happened. AJ wins with that Pele kick. Yay paternity test. But we all knew that was how this had to go down.
Storm will be out there when Hardy and Bully go at it, you know, just to make sure no Aces and Eights.
Roode promo. Gotta give it to him, he and Aries really put on a show at Hardcore Justice. But now, no more title shots if Aries is champ. Roode basically on a long-winded, rant-filled promo. Basically, now Roode has no idea what to do for goal aspirations. Tosses the mic down and leaves. He'll get a title shot again, but let Aries run with the belt. It's the normal cycling of main eventers.
Gut Check next week. Tragic background story involved, but would make for a great moment if he got a contract. At least the people TNA picks are good choices in that sense.
Knockouts title time. Brooke Hogan slips as she introduces Taryn Terrell. Yeah, you know, she was once with Drew McIntyre and had that "Tiffany" character in WWE. Love the female ref outfit. Taz needs more visuals because Velvet Sky is no longer there to let the pigeons loose. Madison now can't get away with anything, so Tessmacher got the win. Unfortunate. I actually wanted the Hebner deal to keep going so Madison can have a good reign. Otherwise, why even take the title off Tessmacher in the first place?
BFG Series standings top five: Storm with 66, Joe 61, RVD 55, Angle and Bully with 48. Top five move on, which is why you want to be there. Unfortunately, Pope has a broken collarbone, which is why TNA had Aces and Eights take him out.
Main event time with Bully and Hardy. Bully kicked out of the Swanton, wow. Hardy lands on Storm because Bully pulled Hardy in the way. Whisper in the Wind leads to double KO spot. Enter two of the Aces and Eights members. Aries, Styles, Sting, and Angle chase them away. Hardy with Twist of Fate and rollup for three. Bully no-sells it later and immediately decks Hardy.
Last Call superkick hits Hardy instead of Bully. Aces and Eights back in the ring -- four guys this time. Slow clap to Storm, then they take him out as we all figured they would. End show.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
8/15/12 NXT
Ratings:
Jinder Mahal vs. Richie Steamboat: *1/2
Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Heath Slater: *1/4
Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs. Conor O'Brian & Kenneth Cameron: *1/2
Seth Rollins vs. Michael McGillicutty: **1/2
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Two semifinal Gold Rush Tournament matches on this week's episode, as we continue to see who will become the first NXT champ.
Jinder takes on Richie Steamboat to start the show. Very good chain wrestling in this one, but damn, the crowd largely doesn't care. Steamboat misses the missile dropkick and Jinder wins it with the camel clutch.
Heath Slater's on NXT now. Oh, so he's facing yet another WWE Legend. Scotty 2 Hotty returns for a night! Why not, they're in his hometown (Orlando). The guy's 42, according to Wikipedia, but still looks pretty damn good. S2H with the Worm for three.All we needed was one of those fancy hats and some facial hair to really bring back vintage S2H.
Ascension in action next against the Usos. Really like that "pack mentality" and team beatdowns in the Ascension corner Real good double-team moves. Jey Uso gets the hot tag. Ascension in trouble. Usos look to get the win, but O'Brian knocks Jey Uso off the top. WTF, THAT CAUSES A DQ?! Makes zero sense, since this was a tag match and such interference happens very often in front of the ref. Ascension beats down Jimmy Uso post-match.
Hunico explains he was sick when Dalton and Jordan beat him and Camacho.
Raquel Diaz talks in the mirror for her backstage segment. Nice horrible outfit and tattoo.
Rollins and McGillicutty in the second semifinal match. Another pretty short match here. Finally, a good back-and-forth encounter. Ropes looked a bit looser than normal here; MM almost slipped when doing one of the big corner spots with Rollins near the end. Nice finish. Rollins with the Buckle Bomb and Blackout stomp for three.
Mahal and Rollins meet at ringside to close the show. They'll be the two guys in the finals. Rollins gets the upper hand on the message-sending tonight.
Money should be on Seth Rollins to take the title. He's the up-and-coming star, and NXT needs to keep the focus on pushing the very new talent. Jinder's fine for what he brings to the table, but Rollins is the more exciting star that will give the title more appeal in the early going.
Meanwhile, HHH is still high on McGillicutty; apparently we'll see a repackaging in the future. Hopefully they'll give the Hennig name back. It's something they should have done from the start.
Jinder Mahal vs. Richie Steamboat: *1/2
Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Heath Slater: *1/4
Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs. Conor O'Brian & Kenneth Cameron: *1/2
Seth Rollins vs. Michael McGillicutty: **1/2
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Two semifinal Gold Rush Tournament matches on this week's episode, as we continue to see who will become the first NXT champ.
Jinder takes on Richie Steamboat to start the show. Very good chain wrestling in this one, but damn, the crowd largely doesn't care. Steamboat misses the missile dropkick and Jinder wins it with the camel clutch.
Heath Slater's on NXT now. Oh, so he's facing yet another WWE Legend. Scotty 2 Hotty returns for a night! Why not, they're in his hometown (Orlando). The guy's 42, according to Wikipedia, but still looks pretty damn good. S2H with the Worm for three.All we needed was one of those fancy hats and some facial hair to really bring back vintage S2H.
Ascension in action next against the Usos. Really like that "pack mentality" and team beatdowns in the Ascension corner Real good double-team moves. Jey Uso gets the hot tag. Ascension in trouble. Usos look to get the win, but O'Brian knocks Jey Uso off the top. WTF, THAT CAUSES A DQ?! Makes zero sense, since this was a tag match and such interference happens very often in front of the ref. Ascension beats down Jimmy Uso post-match.
Hunico explains he was sick when Dalton and Jordan beat him and Camacho.
Raquel Diaz talks in the mirror for her backstage segment. Nice horrible outfit and tattoo.
Rollins and McGillicutty in the second semifinal match. Another pretty short match here. Finally, a good back-and-forth encounter. Ropes looked a bit looser than normal here; MM almost slipped when doing one of the big corner spots with Rollins near the end. Nice finish. Rollins with the Buckle Bomb and Blackout stomp for three.
Mahal and Rollins meet at ringside to close the show. They'll be the two guys in the finals. Rollins gets the upper hand on the message-sending tonight.
Money should be on Seth Rollins to take the title. He's the up-and-coming star, and NXT needs to keep the focus on pushing the very new talent. Jinder's fine for what he brings to the table, but Rollins is the more exciting star that will give the title more appeal in the early going.
Meanwhile, HHH is still high on McGillicutty; apparently we'll see a repackaging in the future. Hopefully they'll give the Hennig name back. It's something they should have done from the start.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
8/13/12 RAW
Ratings:
CM Punk vs. Big Show: *1/4
Ryback vs. JTG: N/A (squash)
Sin Cara vs. Tensai: 1/4*
Dolph Ziggler vs. Miz vs. Chris Jericho: ***1/4
Layla & Kaitlyn vs. Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix: *
CM Punk & John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan & Big Show: **1/4
Damien Sandow vs. Christian: 1/4*
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
RAW in Dallas tonight!
Punk and Show start things off. Superstars just came back from Asia, so Cole and King mention the jet lag. Methodical beatdown from Show, as expected. Double KO spot. DB comes out so the crowd goes all nuts chanting "YES." DB causes the DQ. Cena comes out to take Show out. What does this mean? Tag match at the end of the night. Strange bedfellows type of match. How original!
JTG says "crazy" around AJ. Oh, is that all it took to get a match? Have him do that every week! Oh wait, Ryback's gonna get destroy him. Never mind. Still wondered if JTG was still employed. At least Kaitlyn won't have to worry about someone like Kharma to destroy her. Oh, and Ryback has new music that has lyrics. Fans still love to chant "Goldberg."
Mark Henry on Tout! He looks good and seems like he'll be returning as a face.
Pauly D is the social media ambassador tonight. Who? Something about Jersey Shore? Oh, then I don't care.
Booker hands down punishment to Alberto Del Rio for beating down Sheamus on Smackdown. No more title match. They'll be having a "discussion" on Smackdown. Money's on it getting physical.
Sin Cara faces Tensai tonight. Sin Cara still has those lights. Not caring anymore on that front. Very short match. Sin Cara with a tornado DDT for three. Tensai beats Sakamoto up afterward. Sounds normal here.
Piper's Pit time. Twitter poll on who should be the guest tonight. Jericho convincingly wins with 55% of the vote (Miz for 21% and Dolph got 24%). Jericho's out in his ring gear, so I guess he's having a match soon. Piper's Pit segment was not great, so Vickie comes out and generates heel heat. Vintage Y2J material. Jericho wants Ziggler at SummerSlam. Miz somehow wants in all this. Jericho takes Miz and Ziggler out.
AJ then says triple threat now: Jericho vs. Miz vs. Ziggler. Also, Miz vs. Mysterio at SummerSlam for the IC Title.
Match was typical on how it looks like a handicap match but then the heels get into that whole disagreement on who should win. Jericho can still launch himself over the top rope. Nice Tower of Doom spot. Great finishing sequence as Ziggler goes over Jericho. Crowd enjoyed that one.
HBK has his own WWE Hall of Fame shirt. Woohoo! Meanwhile, we get another Barrett return video.
Divas tag action, and Beth is finally back on TV. Actually, I'm just thinking Eve wins against Kaitlyn on Smackdown to become Booker's assistant, but she'll really get the role Teddy Long had under Laurinaitis. Tag match was not great. Just felt too much like random spots thrown together, not much flow to it. And poor Beth does jobbing duty again...to KAITLYN. Wow. Did Beth do anything wrong to be jobbing (or otherwise be off TV) like this? As a note, WWE had Eve's music and Titantron instead of Beth's on their intro.
Punk/Cena vs. Bryan/Show next. Cena and Punk tag themselves in early on. Same with DB and Show. Too slow when Show is in the match. Eventually Show takes a seat at ringside and DB gets beaten up. Funny to watch Punk and Cena do the other's signature moves. Cena wins with the AA because he's Cena.
Damien Sandow and Christian next. Video shown of Sandow taking out Brodus Clay last week. Sandow real physical on Christian. Brodus Clay comes down. Christian doesn't get Sandow on the rollup, and a Sandow neckbreaker ends it. Vintage staredown between Brodus and Sandow. At least these two now have a feud.
Contract signing between HHH and Lesnar next. Nice job by Heyman to tout Lesnar as one with ultimate (fighting) credentials. Heyman with another hold harmless agreement. Heyman badmouths Texas and HBK comes out. HHH then enters and signs the contract. Lesnar signs the contract and leaves. Yay...it's official.
So Heyman cuts HBK off as Shawn tries to drive away. Lesnar then apparently beats up and kidnaps HBK while the camera goes black (but audio still fine). Windshield of HBK's car all shattered. Well, it's pretty much what people expected, although the whole "kidnapping" thing is probably not gonna help Linda McMahon for her political campaign. I don't care if Vince wants WWE and the campaign separate...Linda McMahon will always be tied to WWE, mainly because of Vince.
Lesnar then takes HBK to the ring. Lesnar still has the awesome standing vertical leap from the floor to the ring apron. F-5 to HBK in the ring. Kimura on HBK. HHH comes out, but Heyman warns HHH to stay away or HBK's arm gets broken. Yeah, it got "broken" anyway. Good buildup for SummerSlam. Liked the ending. Otherwise, it was pretty mediocre aside from the triple threat Ziggler won.
CM Punk vs. Big Show: *1/4
Ryback vs. JTG: N/A (squash)
Sin Cara vs. Tensai: 1/4*
Dolph Ziggler vs. Miz vs. Chris Jericho: ***1/4
Layla & Kaitlyn vs. Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix: *
CM Punk & John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan & Big Show: **1/4
Damien Sandow vs. Christian: 1/4*
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
RAW in Dallas tonight!
Punk and Show start things off. Superstars just came back from Asia, so Cole and King mention the jet lag. Methodical beatdown from Show, as expected. Double KO spot. DB comes out so the crowd goes all nuts chanting "YES." DB causes the DQ. Cena comes out to take Show out. What does this mean? Tag match at the end of the night. Strange bedfellows type of match. How original!
JTG says "crazy" around AJ. Oh, is that all it took to get a match? Have him do that every week! Oh wait, Ryback's gonna get destroy him. Never mind. Still wondered if JTG was still employed. At least Kaitlyn won't have to worry about someone like Kharma to destroy her. Oh, and Ryback has new music that has lyrics. Fans still love to chant "Goldberg."
Mark Henry on Tout! He looks good and seems like he'll be returning as a face.
Pauly D is the social media ambassador tonight. Who? Something about Jersey Shore? Oh, then I don't care.
Booker hands down punishment to Alberto Del Rio for beating down Sheamus on Smackdown. No more title match. They'll be having a "discussion" on Smackdown. Money's on it getting physical.
Sin Cara faces Tensai tonight. Sin Cara still has those lights. Not caring anymore on that front. Very short match. Sin Cara with a tornado DDT for three. Tensai beats Sakamoto up afterward. Sounds normal here.
Piper's Pit time. Twitter poll on who should be the guest tonight. Jericho convincingly wins with 55% of the vote (Miz for 21% and Dolph got 24%). Jericho's out in his ring gear, so I guess he's having a match soon. Piper's Pit segment was not great, so Vickie comes out and generates heel heat. Vintage Y2J material. Jericho wants Ziggler at SummerSlam. Miz somehow wants in all this. Jericho takes Miz and Ziggler out.
AJ then says triple threat now: Jericho vs. Miz vs. Ziggler. Also, Miz vs. Mysterio at SummerSlam for the IC Title.
Match was typical on how it looks like a handicap match but then the heels get into that whole disagreement on who should win. Jericho can still launch himself over the top rope. Nice Tower of Doom spot. Great finishing sequence as Ziggler goes over Jericho. Crowd enjoyed that one.
HBK has his own WWE Hall of Fame shirt. Woohoo! Meanwhile, we get another Barrett return video.
Divas tag action, and Beth is finally back on TV. Actually, I'm just thinking Eve wins against Kaitlyn on Smackdown to become Booker's assistant, but she'll really get the role Teddy Long had under Laurinaitis. Tag match was not great. Just felt too much like random spots thrown together, not much flow to it. And poor Beth does jobbing duty again...to KAITLYN. Wow. Did Beth do anything wrong to be jobbing (or otherwise be off TV) like this? As a note, WWE had Eve's music and Titantron instead of Beth's on their intro.
Punk/Cena vs. Bryan/Show next. Cena and Punk tag themselves in early on. Same with DB and Show. Too slow when Show is in the match. Eventually Show takes a seat at ringside and DB gets beaten up. Funny to watch Punk and Cena do the other's signature moves. Cena wins with the AA because he's Cena.
Damien Sandow and Christian next. Video shown of Sandow taking out Brodus Clay last week. Sandow real physical on Christian. Brodus Clay comes down. Christian doesn't get Sandow on the rollup, and a Sandow neckbreaker ends it. Vintage staredown between Brodus and Sandow. At least these two now have a feud.
Contract signing between HHH and Lesnar next. Nice job by Heyman to tout Lesnar as one with ultimate (fighting) credentials. Heyman with another hold harmless agreement. Heyman badmouths Texas and HBK comes out. HHH then enters and signs the contract. Lesnar signs the contract and leaves. Yay...it's official.
So Heyman cuts HBK off as Shawn tries to drive away. Lesnar then apparently beats up and kidnaps HBK while the camera goes black (but audio still fine). Windshield of HBK's car all shattered. Well, it's pretty much what people expected, although the whole "kidnapping" thing is probably not gonna help Linda McMahon for her political campaign. I don't care if Vince wants WWE and the campaign separate...Linda McMahon will always be tied to WWE, mainly because of Vince.
Lesnar then takes HBK to the ring. Lesnar still has the awesome standing vertical leap from the floor to the ring apron. F-5 to HBK in the ring. Kimura on HBK. HHH comes out, but Heyman warns HHH to stay away or HBK's arm gets broken. Yeah, it got "broken" anyway. Good buildup for SummerSlam. Liked the ending. Otherwise, it was pretty mediocre aside from the triple threat Ziggler won.
8/12/12 Hardcore Justice
Ratings:
Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero vs. Gunner & Kid Kash: **1/4
Rob Van Dam vs.D'Angelo Dinero vs. Magnus vs. Mr. Anderson (Falls Count Anywhere): **1/4
Kazarian vs. Devon (TV Title): **1/2
Madison Rayne vs. Miss Tessmacher (Knockouts Title): *1/2
Bully Ray vs. James Storm vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Robbie E (Tables): **3/4
Zema Ion vs. Kenny King (X-Division Title): ***3/4
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (Ladder): ***3/4
Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode (World Title): ****
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
This will be more of a shorter, to-the-point review, since I have been very busy otherwise.
Chavo curtain jerks the PPV. Opening tag match basically started with Hernandez welcoming Chavo into the company, but guys like Gunner and Kash not too thrilled with the Guerrero name. Crowd hot for Chavo throughout the match. Leave it to the ring vets in Kash and Chavo to control much of the match. Fairly methodical match, but crowd stayed into it. Hernandez with a drop-down version of a Dominator nearly put Kash on his head. Good opener with Chavo hitting the Frog Splash for three.
With that said, I feel for Anarquia, Sarita, and Rosita in all this. It's like Hernandez forgot Mexican America existed for storyline purposes. From a heel stable to a face tag team, just like that.
First of the four-way BFG Series matches, with 20 points to the winner of each. Falls Count Anywhere time. Aces and Eights got to Pope, so apparently he's out of this match. Pope, to his credit, sold the attack well and clutched his left shoulder. Funny how Magnus and Anderson came out next unscathed. Match starts as a three-way dance. Didn't take long for the match to spill to the outside. Again, good crowd reaction. RVD with the chair throwing (literally) and legdropping. Tower of Doom looked botched, so they nixed it. magnus awkward moment with a fan trying to get a chair? Van Daminator from RVD to Magnus on the stage gets the Whole F'n Show 20 points. Good three-way match, but seen better.
Madison Rayne interview. Going into the PPV, she's a three-time Knockouts champ and two-time Knockouts Tag champ. Is it sad that I know that?
But first, TV Title match between Devon and Kazarian. Loaded water bottle shot from Devon not a DQ? Gotta love ref discretion. Crowd still very interested in the match, but slightly less than the first two matches. Methodical heel beatdown, then Devon with the comeback. Nice crucifix counter from Kaz when Devon tried one of those Rock Bottom-like moves. Fade to Black countered and Devon spinebuster gets three. Solid finish.
Knockouts title match next, and of course, Earl Hebner is the ref. I still hate Earl Hebner because he gets to work one of those relationship storylines with Madison Rayne. It's a decent storyline because Earl isn't blatantly biased in Madison's favor. He calls the match down the middle, with the finish being the only controversy. Oh, and the whole Madison Rayne scissors stomp should only be done by a woman, thanks.
Anyway, finish controversial as expected. Madison's foot was on the ropes, so Earl right to stop the count. However, he "didn't see" Madison using the ropes to pin Tessmacher. Good for the storyline, but it comes at the expense of Tessmacher's title reign, which I had hoped would be longer to show she'd be a serious contender in the division.
Tables match next. Bully Ray apparently got an ace and 8 of spades. Bully continues to pin Aces and Eights blame on Storm. Poor Robbie is only in there to get mauled. Love how Bully just manipulates Robbie to get him a table anyway. And Robbie totally BOTCHES the spot where he was supposed to completely get the table out of the way -- Bully went through the corner of the table and the refs had to awkwardly say that didn't count. Would think Storm and Hardy coulda just gotten 10 points each, but nope. Crowd really shat over that one. Only means someone like Bully Ray was supposed to win, and that's exactly what happened. 20 points there. No Joseph Park, eh? In the process, Bully shows Robbie how you really move the table out of the way. WHY THE HELL did Hardy fly OVER the table to Rob Terry when he coulda won the match? Weird logic.
Nice job with the Aces and Eights spots to seemingly help and align themselves with James Storm. I've never seen Bully jump that high over the ropes or scamper away so quickly.
X-Division Title time. Crowd solidly behind Kenny King, although it remains to be seen whether his defection to TNA will really help him in the long run. At least he's gotten good exposure for now. Solid mat wrestling from King on top of his high-flying stuff; KK seems to have the entire package. Easily the best match on the PPV of the matches watched so far. Ion and King work well together. Great finish with the Gory Special. King is something special; I'm confident he'll get his time soon.
BFG Series Standings: Storm still in front with 66 points, RVD now into second with 55 after winning earlier. Joe now third with 54. Angle and Bully Ray now tied for fourth with 48 after Bully won earlier.
BFG Series Ladder match now. Can't go wrong with these four guys. Such a fun match, and the crowd loved it. Daniels nuked early. Leave it to Joe to bring the intensity all match long. Nice "USA!" chants for Angle. Action all over the place, never a dull moment. Kept laughing seeing Angle and Joe nuke Daniels like that. Styles springs out of nowhere to grab the clipboard and win the match. Outstanding. Styles still in 7th place after all that (36 points), but at least he's closer to that cutoff point now (top five).
World Title match closes the show. No rematch clause for either guy. Borash with the main event intros. Aries with the upper hand early with offense and mind games. Roode got several near falls on offense, but couldn't keep A-double down. Aries even got Roode in the crossface, which Roode has used to win matches. Nice ref bump from Brian Hebner. Then second official nuked. Brainbuster, agonizingly slow Hebner count gets two. Great stuff there.
We get the double pin spot with two refs counting at the same time. Somehow, it takes a few minutes -- and the presence of Earl Hebner -- to figure out to restart the match. "Bullshit" not censored from Roode because we're live. Aries with the "miracle" rollup for three.
Another solid PPV, consistently good from top to bottom. Best matches saved for last, in my opinion. ***1/2
Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero vs. Gunner & Kid Kash: **1/4
Rob Van Dam vs.
Kazarian vs. Devon (TV Title): **1/2
Madison Rayne vs. Miss Tessmacher (Knockouts Title): *1/2
Bully Ray vs. James Storm vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Robbie E (Tables): **3/4
Zema Ion vs. Kenny King (X-Division Title): ***3/4
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (Ladder): ***3/4
Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode (World Title): ****
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
This will be more of a shorter, to-the-point review, since I have been very busy otherwise.
Chavo curtain jerks the PPV. Opening tag match basically started with Hernandez welcoming Chavo into the company, but guys like Gunner and Kash not too thrilled with the Guerrero name. Crowd hot for Chavo throughout the match. Leave it to the ring vets in Kash and Chavo to control much of the match. Fairly methodical match, but crowd stayed into it. Hernandez with a drop-down version of a Dominator nearly put Kash on his head. Good opener with Chavo hitting the Frog Splash for three.
With that said, I feel for Anarquia, Sarita, and Rosita in all this. It's like Hernandez forgot Mexican America existed for storyline purposes. From a heel stable to a face tag team, just like that.
First of the four-way BFG Series matches, with 20 points to the winner of each. Falls Count Anywhere time. Aces and Eights got to Pope, so apparently he's out of this match. Pope, to his credit, sold the attack well and clutched his left shoulder. Funny how Magnus and Anderson came out next unscathed. Match starts as a three-way dance. Didn't take long for the match to spill to the outside. Again, good crowd reaction. RVD with the chair throwing (literally) and legdropping. Tower of Doom looked botched, so they nixed it. magnus awkward moment with a fan trying to get a chair? Van Daminator from RVD to Magnus on the stage gets the Whole F'n Show 20 points. Good three-way match, but seen better.
Madison Rayne interview. Going into the PPV, she's a three-time Knockouts champ and two-time Knockouts Tag champ. Is it sad that I know that?
But first, TV Title match between Devon and Kazarian. Loaded water bottle shot from Devon not a DQ? Gotta love ref discretion. Crowd still very interested in the match, but slightly less than the first two matches. Methodical heel beatdown, then Devon with the comeback. Nice crucifix counter from Kaz when Devon tried one of those Rock Bottom-like moves. Fade to Black countered and Devon spinebuster gets three. Solid finish.
Knockouts title match next, and of course, Earl Hebner is the ref. I still hate Earl Hebner because he gets to work one of those relationship storylines with Madison Rayne. It's a decent storyline because Earl isn't blatantly biased in Madison's favor. He calls the match down the middle, with the finish being the only controversy. Oh, and the whole Madison Rayne scissors stomp should only be done by a woman, thanks.
Anyway, finish controversial as expected. Madison's foot was on the ropes, so Earl right to stop the count. However, he "didn't see" Madison using the ropes to pin Tessmacher. Good for the storyline, but it comes at the expense of Tessmacher's title reign, which I had hoped would be longer to show she'd be a serious contender in the division.
Tables match next. Bully Ray apparently got an ace and 8 of spades. Bully continues to pin Aces and Eights blame on Storm. Poor Robbie is only in there to get mauled. Love how Bully just manipulates Robbie to get him a table anyway. And Robbie totally BOTCHES the spot where he was supposed to completely get the table out of the way -- Bully went through the corner of the table and the refs had to awkwardly say that didn't count. Would think Storm and Hardy coulda just gotten 10 points each, but nope. Crowd really shat over that one. Only means someone like Bully Ray was supposed to win, and that's exactly what happened. 20 points there. No Joseph Park, eh? In the process, Bully shows Robbie how you really move the table out of the way. WHY THE HELL did Hardy fly OVER the table to Rob Terry when he coulda won the match? Weird logic.
Nice job with the Aces and Eights spots to seemingly help and align themselves with James Storm. I've never seen Bully jump that high over the ropes or scamper away so quickly.
X-Division Title time. Crowd solidly behind Kenny King, although it remains to be seen whether his defection to TNA will really help him in the long run. At least he's gotten good exposure for now. Solid mat wrestling from King on top of his high-flying stuff; KK seems to have the entire package. Easily the best match on the PPV of the matches watched so far. Ion and King work well together. Great finish with the Gory Special. King is something special; I'm confident he'll get his time soon.
BFG Series Standings: Storm still in front with 66 points, RVD now into second with 55 after winning earlier. Joe now third with 54. Angle and Bully Ray now tied for fourth with 48 after Bully won earlier.
BFG Series Ladder match now. Can't go wrong with these four guys. Such a fun match, and the crowd loved it. Daniels nuked early. Leave it to Joe to bring the intensity all match long. Nice "USA!" chants for Angle. Action all over the place, never a dull moment. Kept laughing seeing Angle and Joe nuke Daniels like that. Styles springs out of nowhere to grab the clipboard and win the match. Outstanding. Styles still in 7th place after all that (36 points), but at least he's closer to that cutoff point now (top five).
World Title match closes the show. No rematch clause for either guy. Borash with the main event intros. Aries with the upper hand early with offense and mind games. Roode got several near falls on offense, but couldn't keep A-double down. Aries even got Roode in the crossface, which Roode has used to win matches. Nice ref bump from Brian Hebner. Then second official nuked. Brainbuster, agonizingly slow Hebner count gets two. Great stuff there.
We get the double pin spot with two refs counting at the same time. Somehow, it takes a few minutes -- and the presence of Earl Hebner -- to figure out to restart the match. "Bullshit" not censored from Roode because we're live. Aries with the "miracle" rollup for three.
Another solid PPV, consistently good from top to bottom. Best matches saved for last, in my opinion. ***1/2
Saturday, August 11, 2012
8/10/12 Smackdown
Ratings:
Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes: *3/4
Jinder Mahal vs. two unnamed jobbers: N/A (squash)
Titus O'Neil & Darren Young vs. Primo & Epico: N/A
Christian vs. Antonio Cesaro: **1/4
Rey Mysterio vs. Miz: **
Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Title): N/A (no match)
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
We're in Houston tonight, and Smackdown GM Booker T starts the show in his hometown. Would have hoped for a bigger pop for Booker. The GM's in a tux tonight. Spinaroonie for the fans!
Booker lays down the law and tells Sheamus to apologize to Alberto for what happened on RAW. Sheamus does just that, but Alberto isn't satisfied. It leads to a world title match tonight! Hey, I like that start.
Sin Cara in a match next against Cody Rhodes. I still don't get why they have to keep the Sin Cara lights on for the match. Cody references his whole disfigured mask gimmick thing that started a nice push to his career. Cody went after the mask a few times in the match, and it ended up costing him a win. Not bad here.
Another video promoting Wade Barrett's return. I'm intrigued how big a push he'll get on his return.
Gotta hand it to WWE for capitalizing on this whole "YES" deal. Much larger reaction than Booker T. DB and Kane look like they're gonna fight, but AJ shows up on Smackdown. Power suit! AJ wants the two to shake hands. Yeah, that wasn't happening.
Jinder Mahal faces two scrawny unknown jobbers, to play off what Ryback did. Mahal takes one guy and defeats him with the camel clutch while mocking Ryback. Then a cool double camel clutch. Enter the real Ryback. Jinder bails. Cole tries to justify Jinder's actions. Ryback sends a messageback to Jinder. Sounds about right.
Jericho's Highlight Reel is next. Special guests are Ziggler and Vickie. Vickie says no Ziggler, so Jericho makes fun of Vickie instead. Footage of RAW where Ziggler lost to A-Ry and Jericho on commentary. Y2J gimmick is back. Ziggler attacks Jericho from behind and gets the upper hand tonight. Even a briefcase shot for good measure. Vickie's laugh into the mic reminds me of Kharma's entrance theme. Good storyline progression.
Again, Truth and Kofi on commentary. They haven't wrestled much lately. Primetime Players and Primo/Epico fight again in a #1 contender's match. Match largely irrelevant. AW throws water onto the champs, and that somehow causes a DQ win even though AW isn't a legal participant in the match. Ref probably will cite he lost control of the match or something. Still a clever heelish way to get AW's clients the title shot.
Turns out this was AW's last TV appearance. WWE released AW on Friday, August 10. Likely stemmed from the Kobe Bryant remarks he made on RAW the other week.
Antonio Cesaro again shows his fluency in five languages. Great match against Christian. Cesaro impressive with a fallaway slam into a bridge. Christian really flew when Cesaro gave him that European uppercut. Christian also may have covered up a botch at the end with that reverse DDT. Spear barely got Christian the win. Cesaro attacks Christian post-match and gets the last laugh.
Kaitlyn vs. Eve next week to be Booker's assistant. Well, at least the divas will have wrestling time on the show.
Miz and Mysterio next. Usual good match involving Mysterio. One thing about those kicks to the head: remember when Tajiri was doing those in WWE and it really was a devastating thing to see? Now it's still effective, just more commonplace. Miz goes for SCF but Rey turns it into a victory pin for three -- barely.
World Heavyweight Title match last. Actually not a match. Six cops come down that turn out to be hired guns for ADR. Just about sending a message and weakening Sheamus for the PPV. Title match never meant to take place.
Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes: *3/4
Jinder Mahal vs. two unnamed jobbers: N/A (squash)
Titus O'Neil & Darren Young vs. Primo & Epico: N/A
Christian vs. Antonio Cesaro: **1/4
Rey Mysterio vs. Miz: **
Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Title): N/A (no match)
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
We're in Houston tonight, and Smackdown GM Booker T starts the show in his hometown. Would have hoped for a bigger pop for Booker. The GM's in a tux tonight. Spinaroonie for the fans!
Booker lays down the law and tells Sheamus to apologize to Alberto for what happened on RAW. Sheamus does just that, but Alberto isn't satisfied. It leads to a world title match tonight! Hey, I like that start.
Sin Cara in a match next against Cody Rhodes. I still don't get why they have to keep the Sin Cara lights on for the match. Cody references his whole disfigured mask gimmick thing that started a nice push to his career. Cody went after the mask a few times in the match, and it ended up costing him a win. Not bad here.
Another video promoting Wade Barrett's return. I'm intrigued how big a push he'll get on his return.
Gotta hand it to WWE for capitalizing on this whole "YES" deal. Much larger reaction than Booker T. DB and Kane look like they're gonna fight, but AJ shows up on Smackdown. Power suit! AJ wants the two to shake hands. Yeah, that wasn't happening.
Jinder Mahal faces two scrawny unknown jobbers, to play off what Ryback did. Mahal takes one guy and defeats him with the camel clutch while mocking Ryback. Then a cool double camel clutch. Enter the real Ryback. Jinder bails. Cole tries to justify Jinder's actions. Ryback sends a messageback to Jinder. Sounds about right.
Jericho's Highlight Reel is next. Special guests are Ziggler and Vickie. Vickie says no Ziggler, so Jericho makes fun of Vickie instead. Footage of RAW where Ziggler lost to A-Ry and Jericho on commentary. Y2J gimmick is back. Ziggler attacks Jericho from behind and gets the upper hand tonight. Even a briefcase shot for good measure. Vickie's laugh into the mic reminds me of Kharma's entrance theme. Good storyline progression.
Again, Truth and Kofi on commentary. They haven't wrestled much lately. Primetime Players and Primo/Epico fight again in a #1 contender's match. Match largely irrelevant. AW throws water onto the champs, and that somehow causes a DQ win even though AW isn't a legal participant in the match. Ref probably will cite he lost control of the match or something. Still a clever heelish way to get AW's clients the title shot.
Turns out this was AW's last TV appearance. WWE released AW on Friday, August 10. Likely stemmed from the Kobe Bryant remarks he made on RAW the other week.
Antonio Cesaro again shows his fluency in five languages. Great match against Christian. Cesaro impressive with a fallaway slam into a bridge. Christian really flew when Cesaro gave him that European uppercut. Christian also may have covered up a botch at the end with that reverse DDT. Spear barely got Christian the win. Cesaro attacks Christian post-match and gets the last laugh.
Kaitlyn vs. Eve next week to be Booker's assistant. Well, at least the divas will have wrestling time on the show.
Miz and Mysterio next. Usual good match involving Mysterio. One thing about those kicks to the head: remember when Tajiri was doing those in WWE and it really was a devastating thing to see? Now it's still effective, just more commonplace. Miz goes for SCF but Rey turns it into a victory pin for three -- barely.
World Heavyweight Title match last. Actually not a match. Six cops come down that turn out to be hired guns for ADR. Just about sending a message and weakening Sheamus for the PPV. Title match never meant to take place.
Friday, August 10, 2012
8/9/12 Impact
Ratings:
Rob Van Dam vs. Magnus: **
Christopher Daniels & Kazarian vs. Devon & Garett Bischoff (Tag Team Titles): *3/4
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles: ****
Miss Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim: *
Bully Ray vs. James Storm: **1/4
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Basically, the whole Aces and Eights angle and the Claire Lynch storyline are the two biggest storylines right now. The Bully Ray/Joseph Park deal is still on, but moved more to the backburner.
Bully Ray is a Twitter machine as he tweets to the ring again. Bully Ray is now the leader of the Bully Nation. Bully's contract is also expiring, and hopefully TNA re-signs him. Bully with a promo on Joseph Park and James Storm. Storm out again to prove he's not behind Aces and Eights. We see a video with one guy speaking in a deep voice, probably digitally slowed down. Bully points the finger that the person talking is Storm. Sting invited Aces and Eights, but the group will be there on their time and terms.
The four-way BFG Series matches at Hardcore Justice are 20 points each.
Updated BFG Series standings: Storm in first with 66 points, Samoa Joe with 53, Angle with 41, and Anderson with 40. Disagree with Pope...winning 20 points won't get you back in anything. He'd still only have 27 points and still be in the bottom half of the standings.
BFG Series match between RVD and Magnus. Anderson on commentary. Magnus' career has stalled again since his tag title run with Joe ended. Magnus is still a powerful guy, and showed a couple of impressive moves against RVD. RVD gets the win with the five-star frog splash and 7 points; he's now at 35 overall.
Roode mentions lawyers and contract language he's not happy with. Vintage heel.
Tag title match. Garett and Devon now united as a tag team. Why not still defend that TV Title dammit? Yup, the world tag champions of the world! Redundant! Kaz and Daniels with good tag team moves. Devon with the hot tag, but distractions allow Kaz to nail Devon with the tag title belt and steal the win. Not bad.
Robbie E promo. Who really believes Robbie's winning that tables match? No sense to have him win any more matches. He cuts a promo on Jeff Hardy. Hardy comes out to get some. Vintage slap to Robbie E. Rob Terry to the rescue, putting Jeff through a table.
AJ Styles says he's jetlagged from his long plane ride from Australia, but I couldn't really tell in that match against Angle. Claire Lynch still in the crowd, but you'd think Daniels and Kaz would at least also get her a backstage pass. Claire reminds me a bit of Daffney, but without all that paint and tattoos and stuff. Nice, fluid match here. It's really what people come to expect from these two. Back and forth, kicking out of signature moves. I was convinced AJ had it after hitting the Styles Clash. Huge moves missed, Angle takes advantage with the Angle Slam for three. Outstanding. Yes, more of this. One of the best free TV matches you'll see this year. AJ goes to the back, and Claire has some weird perplexed faces.
Aces and Eights have another target tonight.
Tessmacher and Gail Kim next. Kim interrupts the champ's entrance. Gail in control for much of the match. Tessmacher with a new way to show her finisher, gets three. Finisher is called Tess-Shocker. Still thinking Madison Rayne gets a controversial win at Hardcore Justice. Keep the momentum of the whole Earl Hebner thing going. Madison comes out post-match and plants one on Hebner. Message sent to Tessmacher.
Oh, and by the way, "Wedding: Impossible" will air on Food Network on August 18. Will detail the wedding of Gail Kim and Robert Irvine.
Contract signing with Roode and Aries. Sting oversees everything. Roode has a problem that he doesn't get another shot at Aries as champ if Roode loses. Aries with his own proposal: if he loses the title, no rematch clause for him, either. They shake hands. Roode with the water to Aries' face and runs like a girl. Aries retains somehow on Sunday. Need to keep the Aries momentum going, and hell, TNA just signed Aries to a long-term deal. They're real invested in this guy.
X-Division takes a backseat this week, but Kenny King faces Zema Ion for the title at Hardcore Justice.
Bully Ray and James Storm in the main event. Bully seems off his game, worried more about Aces and Eights. Bully showing more submission moves with a legbar. Good match here. Bubba hits a cutter for three and the win on the BFG Series leader. 7 more points for Bully (now 28). Bully grabs the chain.
Nice cryptic video from Aces and Eights at the end. They will be seeing more of Bully at the PPV. Interfering in the tables match, I guess? A good way to get people to buy the show.
Rob Van Dam vs. Magnus: **
Christopher Daniels & Kazarian vs. Devon & Garett Bischoff (Tag Team Titles): *3/4
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles: ****
Miss Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim: *
Bully Ray vs. James Storm: **1/4
_________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Basically, the whole Aces and Eights angle and the Claire Lynch storyline are the two biggest storylines right now. The Bully Ray/Joseph Park deal is still on, but moved more to the backburner.
Bully Ray is a Twitter machine as he tweets to the ring again. Bully Ray is now the leader of the Bully Nation. Bully's contract is also expiring, and hopefully TNA re-signs him. Bully with a promo on Joseph Park and James Storm. Storm out again to prove he's not behind Aces and Eights. We see a video with one guy speaking in a deep voice, probably digitally slowed down. Bully points the finger that the person talking is Storm. Sting invited Aces and Eights, but the group will be there on their time and terms.
The four-way BFG Series matches at Hardcore Justice are 20 points each.
Updated BFG Series standings: Storm in first with 66 points, Samoa Joe with 53, Angle with 41, and Anderson with 40. Disagree with Pope...winning 20 points won't get you back in anything. He'd still only have 27 points and still be in the bottom half of the standings.
BFG Series match between RVD and Magnus. Anderson on commentary. Magnus' career has stalled again since his tag title run with Joe ended. Magnus is still a powerful guy, and showed a couple of impressive moves against RVD. RVD gets the win with the five-star frog splash and 7 points; he's now at 35 overall.
Roode mentions lawyers and contract language he's not happy with. Vintage heel.
Tag title match. Garett and Devon now united as a tag team. Why not still defend that TV Title dammit? Yup, the world tag champions of the world! Redundant! Kaz and Daniels with good tag team moves. Devon with the hot tag, but distractions allow Kaz to nail Devon with the tag title belt and steal the win. Not bad.
Robbie E promo. Who really believes Robbie's winning that tables match? No sense to have him win any more matches. He cuts a promo on Jeff Hardy. Hardy comes out to get some. Vintage slap to Robbie E. Rob Terry to the rescue, putting Jeff through a table.
AJ Styles says he's jetlagged from his long plane ride from Australia, but I couldn't really tell in that match against Angle. Claire Lynch still in the crowd, but you'd think Daniels and Kaz would at least also get her a backstage pass. Claire reminds me a bit of Daffney, but without all that paint and tattoos and stuff. Nice, fluid match here. It's really what people come to expect from these two. Back and forth, kicking out of signature moves. I was convinced AJ had it after hitting the Styles Clash. Huge moves missed, Angle takes advantage with the Angle Slam for three. Outstanding. Yes, more of this. One of the best free TV matches you'll see this year. AJ goes to the back, and Claire has some weird perplexed faces.
Aces and Eights have another target tonight.
Tessmacher and Gail Kim next. Kim interrupts the champ's entrance. Gail in control for much of the match. Tessmacher with a new way to show her finisher, gets three. Finisher is called Tess-Shocker. Still thinking Madison Rayne gets a controversial win at Hardcore Justice. Keep the momentum of the whole Earl Hebner thing going. Madison comes out post-match and plants one on Hebner. Message sent to Tessmacher.
Oh, and by the way, "Wedding: Impossible" will air on Food Network on August 18. Will detail the wedding of Gail Kim and Robert Irvine.
Contract signing with Roode and Aries. Sting oversees everything. Roode has a problem that he doesn't get another shot at Aries as champ if Roode loses. Aries with his own proposal: if he loses the title, no rematch clause for him, either. They shake hands. Roode with the water to Aries' face and runs like a girl. Aries retains somehow on Sunday. Need to keep the Aries momentum going, and hell, TNA just signed Aries to a long-term deal. They're real invested in this guy.
X-Division takes a backseat this week, but Kenny King faces Zema Ion for the title at Hardcore Justice.
Bully Ray and James Storm in the main event. Bully seems off his game, worried more about Aces and Eights. Bully showing more submission moves with a legbar. Good match here. Bubba hits a cutter for three and the win on the BFG Series leader. 7 more points for Bully (now 28). Bully grabs the chain.
Nice cryptic video from Aces and Eights at the end. They will be seeing more of Bully at the PPV. Interfering in the tables match, I guess? A good way to get people to buy the show.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)