By Graham "GSM" Matthews Ethan Carter III Named TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle's Opponent for the Night It struck me during this segment: why not hold the TNA title match between Angle and EC3 on this "live" show? Obviously, it should have happened at Slammiversary, but if they're desperate for ratings, they might as well have held it on this show instead of waiting until next week because of the live element. Nevertheless, we heard enough talk from these two last week during the contract signing, so I'm glad they kept it short and sweet here. EC3 naming Matt Hardy as Angle's opponent for the night was a surprise since Hardy's a babyface, but the commentators did an effective job of building interest in the main event by saying it'd be the first time they'd ever go one-on-one. Tigre Uno def. Low Ki and Grado in an Elimination Triple Threat Match to Win the Vacant X-Division Championship The crowd wasn't behind Grado during his goofy entrance, but he won them over with his in-ring ability during the match. His early elimination was disappointing because I was hoping he would last longer, but the match definitely picked up the pace down the stretch and Tigre Uno and Low Ki delivered fun match in the final few minutes. In fact, I'd go so far to say that this was the best X-Division match I've seen in months, though I realize that's not saying much since the division's been depleted for quite a while. It's great to see TNA finally put a belt on Tigure Uno who I've felt has been underutilized since the day he arrived in the organization early next year. I doubt it will lead to TNA taking the division more seriously going forward, but the title win made for a cool moment, regardless.
0 Comments
By Graham "GSM" Matthews Super Fly def. Sexy Star Is it just me or does Super Fly look like a a long-lost overweight Uso brother? It's not necessarily a bad thing and I appreciate the effort he put into shaking up his image to look more badass, but it comes across as too similar to The Usos. Anyway, this was a different match than we're used to seeing in Lucha Underground and I would've appreciated the story they were trying to tell a bit more had the match not been as sloppy as it was. Not once but twice did Star not get all of her aerial maneuvers and it didn't seem like she was selling a storyline injury. The crowd wasn't all that hot for the match, either, so perhaps it happened late in the tapings. I was surprised to see Super Fly go over clean if only because Pentagon Jr. failed to beat her on his own. Pentagon Jr. Confronted Vampiro Pentagon Jr. is by far my favorite luchador in the promotion at the moment and there's just something about his entrance theme that I love. He's such an intimidating character that the crowd adores but he still manages to elicit heat by bulling Melissa Santos. His face-to-face confrontation with Vampiro was logical (then again, what isn't logical in Lucha Underground?) after he prevented him from breaking the arm of Sexy Star a few weeks ago and it definitely peaked my interest. If I had to take a guess, they're building to a match between the two at Ultimo Lucha and I don't know if I want to see Vampiro come out of retirement, but they've captured my attention for right now. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Neville def. Heath Slater This wasn't much more than a showcase for Neville, though I was slightly surprised Slater scored as much offense as he did. It would have been more effective to have Neville control most of the match, but it was still a nice win for him, regardless. My fear continues to be that WWE hasn't nothing for him at the moment, which would be a shame given how talented he is. While I'm glad he isn't being utilized as an enhancement talent like some others (i.e. King Barrett), they could be involved in a meaningful program right now. Why not Neville vs. Sheamus? I'd certainly take that over Sheamus vs. Randy Orton for the millionth time any day of the week. The Ascension def. The Mega Powers The 2015 version of the Mega Powers was fun at first with Curtis Axel and Macho Mandow, but it's grown to be a tired gimmick because they continue to lose. The crowds get a kick out of it, but it's a glorified house show gimmick and a waste of Sandow's talents. And how does The Ascension benefit from the victory? It's not like they're going to be entering WWE Tag Team Championship contention any time soon, so I didn't see the harm in allowing the babyfaces to go over here. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Brock Lesnar "Apologized" to JBL and Michael Cole Well, this sure beat the hell out of a promo from The Authority or Seth Rollins to kick off the show! Paul Heyman, per usual, did a superb job of building anticipation for the match between Lesnar and Rollins at Battleground and all but confirmed that Rollins will be in for one brutal beating when he comes one-on-one with The Beast. The "apologies" from Lesnar to the commentators was well done in that him shaking the hand of JBL only to horse around with Cole was in line with what his character would do in that sort of situation. It was wise of WWE to open Raw with arguably their hottest act at the moment and although we're still a little less than a month away until the pay-per-view, I'm already excited for the pending title match. Kane def. Dean Ambrose We've already seen this match a million times before, but Ambrose is exciting enough of a character that I didn't zone out for a majority of the match. Honestly, it wasn't half-bad and they put together a pretty decent, but I was confused by Seth Rollins' interference. Wouldn't he be more concerned with Lesnar right now? Thankfully, the commentators made it clear that he wanted to get on Kane's good side so he can help him in his feud with The Beast Incarnate, so that much made sense. Hopefully WWE has a plan for Ambrose now that he's not in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture anymore. |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|