By Graham "GSM" Matthews The Miz Hosted 'Miz TV' with Paul Heyman (Kickoff Show) It continues to boggle my mind as to why they advertise talking segments for their pay-per-view pre-shows. The purpose of the Kickoff Show is to convince fans to purchase the event/sign up for the WWE Network, and there was hardly anything noteworthy about it. The concept has been around for three years and I know they stopped caring about it long ago, but there was nothing to this segment at all, especially considering we heard Heyman say something similar two weeks ago on Raw. The interaction with Miz and Damien Mizdow was fun as always, but Heyman's promo, albeit good, was pointless. Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane def. Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan While it was a solid six-man tag team match, it suffered from the involvement of Show and Kane. They weren't terrible and I was thankful Rollins did most of the work for his team, but I just can't get excited about a match with them in it in 2015. Ziggler and Ryback are over enough on their own, so they made a portion of the crowd care toward the end. I figured The Authority would win to give Rollins a win on PPV before WrestleMania, but why did it have to be Kane of all people pinning Ziggler? Last and certainly not least, it was about damn time Randy Orton returned and the live crowd ate it up. Obviously, this sets up him vs. Rollins for The Show of Shows.
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews Matt Hardy and The Wolves def. The Revolution With Jeff Hardy off the United Kingdom tour, this was a great way to make use of Matt by having him team with The Wolves. It was a bit of a train wreck earlier on with so much going on and no real substance, but as the match progressed, they produced a fast-paced, fun matchup to kick off the show on a high note. The babyfaces were able to exact revenge, but the heels maintained their heat by attacking afterward. Abyss layout out Manik was interesting; I don't think he's out of The Revolution, but as the commentators mentioned, it might just be James Storm's way of showing "tough love." Mr. Anderson Shaved Tyrus' Head As much as I enjoy Anderson and his work, his involvement in this feud feels unnecessary. I was fine with the incorporation of Tyrus and even Mandrews coming in not too long ago, but Anderson joining the fray feels like it's random and too much. Everyone played their role well in this segment, but it didn't pack a punch because the Rockstar Spud/Ethan Carter III is starting to feel watered down, especially now that it's about hair and not personal hatred/revenge. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Fandango def. Adam Rose What is WWE obsession with putting these two up against each other? I've said it after each of their encounters and I'll say it again here: If they're trying to turn Fandango face, it's obviously not working. The crowds don't have any incentive to cheer for either one of these guys, so there's no real reason for me to care about the match. Worse yet, their Superstars match from two weeks ago was a vast improvement over this, making this a throwaway bout that accomplished nothing. Jack Swagger def. Curtis Axel Both of these guys are very skilled wrestlers, so it's a shame not more is being done with them. Unlike Axel, though, Swagger is actually over with the audience and could be a solid midcarder if WWE bothered to put him on Raw once in a while. To Axel's credit, he's got a fun little thing going with this "#AxelMania" silliness, so that's encouraging to see. Anyway, the match itself was pretty good and featured enjoyable action from beginning to end. There wasn't much suspense behind the finish, but it was a nice win for Swagger (even if it doesn't mean much). By Graham "GSM" Matthews The Assassins def. Rufus R. Jones and Bugsy McGraw What stood out to me more than anything else while watching this match was how far tag team wrestling has fallen in the last three decades. It wasn't a phenomenal match by any means, but it was short, sweet and simple; a basic tag team match that the fans in attendance cared about. The Assassins played the heel role well and their unhanded tactics to pick up the victory were well done as the crowd booed them heavily for it (not because it was a cheap finish but rather because they're great at being heels; what a concept!). I wasn't familiar with any of these individuals before this bout, but I still enjoyed it as an opener. Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin def. Scott McGhee and Johnny Weaver While it wasn't as quick paced as the previous tag team match, it was still solid and more methodical and calculating. Some may not be fans of that style of wrestling, but if you are, this was the match for you. The heels (Sullivan and Lewin), similar to The Assassins, were great in the heel role, and even afterward when they decimated their opponents and busted them open which definitely added to it. My complaint would be that it felt like the finish came out of nowhere without any real build-up. |
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