By Graham "GSM" Matthews Austin Aries Interrupted TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle and Eric Young This was more of the same from what we heard last week from these two with Angle basically asking if we were going to see the babyface Young or the heel Young in the title match. The tease was well done, but I don't understand the timing of it. It was a nice wrinkle to the main event, sure, but Young didn't turn all that long ago, so for them to even slightly hint at him turning again so soon is worrisome. Other than that, Aries played his role well per usual and did an effective job of adding interest to the title match. Brooke def. Gail Kim, Angelina Love and Madison Rayne in a No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way for the Knockouts Championship I feared the match would end up being up a train wreck with so many women involved, but even Brooke, the least experienced of the four, was carried to a good match by three other very talented ladies. Everyone took turns getting their spots in and the match flowed fairly nicely. The spot with all four ladies locking in submissions on each other was innovative, bu there weren't any other moments that stood out as being special. Brooke was the last person I expected to win, bu that isn't necessarily a bad thing. She's a fresh face in the title picture, but she needs to build credibility before she goes after the gold because she's been utilized as an enhancement talent for so long.
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews Bad News Barrett def. Jack Swagger Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe we have ever seen Swagger and Barrett go one-on-one before now, which is surreal when you think about how long both guys have been with the company. Not only that, but they worked a pretty good match, especially by Superstars standards. Pitting two Superstars of similar big build rarely makes for a match that's anything of decency, but this was the rare exception. While it would have benefited from a few extra minutes, the bout had a nice pace and both guys had very nice showings with some solid back-and-forth exchanges throughout. It was also effective in helping Barrett build momentum toward his (possible) Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules. It was a cool little treat for Superstars, but the win is basically irrelevant because it didn't happen on Raw and Barrett is still known as the guy who never wins matches. WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd def. Los Matadores (Non-title) These two teams have produced quality contests in the past and they worked well again together here. It was the barn burner of a bout that it could have been considering the level of talent in the ring (stupid gimmicks aside for the Matadores), but it was a fun showcase for the tag champs before their title defense at Extreme Rules against The New Day. On a side note, was it really necessary for them to cheat to win? It's not exactly like Los Matadores at the toughest team to beat. It put heel heat on them, sure, but they'll be working as babyfaces on Sunday, so it was a weird decision to make. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Kane Interrupted WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins Kane continues to impress me with how relevant he's become within the mere matter of weeks. My only fear is that he becomes the focus of the Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules as the "guardian of the gate," or worse yet, all of this turns out to be a red herring and he remains with The Authority. He's been showing great fire these last few weeks and his interaction with Seth Rollins was well done. Normally I'm not a fan of long talking segments opening shows, but I didn't mind this one too much. Plus, it also set up the tag team main event for the night. Dolph Ziggler and Neville def. Sheamus and Bad News Barrett It's a shame that Daniel Bryan vs. Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules has hardly gotten any hype, but Bryan's current condition might prevent it from happening, anyway. Nevertheless, this was a good match that featured entertaining action and helped further the feud between Ziggler and Sheamus. It was nice to see Neville mix it up with some established names and actually score a pinfall win for once. A Neville vs. Barrett feud down the line (barring Barrett still means something) could be something special. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Sexy Star def. Pentagon Jr. Normally, I don't have an issue with the inter-gender matches because I feel it's part of what makes Lucha Underground unique from other promotions, but it felt unrealistic in this instance. Sexy Star is one of the best talents on the entire roster, but Pentagon has been running rampant on every one of his opponents so far, so this should have been more one-sided than it was. Worse yet, Star winning was an anticlimactic way of ending Pentagon's long standing undefeated streak. Again, she's great, but having her win clean was unbelievable (and not in a good way). Pentagon didn't do anything to get his heat back afterward, either, so I question the booking here. Angelico, Son of Havoc & Ivelisse def. Big Ryck, The Mack & Killshot and Cage, King Cuerno & Texano in a Three Way Elimination Tag Team Match Did you honestly expect anything less than an amazing match? All three teams went out and put it all on the line, keeping the audience's interest the entire time. Daivari attacking Texano was a nice out for Texano's team to lose, though I'm curious as to what that will end up leading to. When it came down to the last two trios, chaos ensued and the action was non-stop insanity. Ivelisse, despite being the only woman in the match, didn't seem out of place and everyone else had their shining moment. I absolutely loved the enthusiasm Vampiro and Matt Striker showed on commentary when Angelico hit his finisher for the win. We need to see more of that elsewhere. |
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