Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez defeated Gunner and Kid Kash. Filler
material. TNA wants to push Chavo as a legend, but aside from competing
all over the world, the man has never really accomplished anything
spectacular or stood out in any capacity. Let's be honest, Eddie carried
him when they were Los Guerreros. Using a family name to keep
popularity is sad; at least Vickie has become a unique character over
time. Rob Van Dam defeated Mr. Anderson and Magnus in a falls count anywhere match. The
Pope was attacked by Aces and Eights before the match. Good for him;
it's probably the most exciting thing to happen to his character since
his near induction into the wolf pac. This was a short match, and it
wasn't really anything significant, but RVD goes over and jumps up the
ladder in the BFGS. Devon defeated Kazarian in a short match to retain the TV Title. Well,
the TV Title was defended, but not on regular TV! This was nothing
special, and I was a little surprised that Kazarian didn't get the win
given that he's not even in the BFGS. I wonder if he's in the doghouse
with management for some, despite being a tag team champion. Devon is
rumored to be leaving soon, but there's no guarantee on rumors. Madison
Rayne defeated Miss Tessmacher to become the new Knockout's Champion.
Rayne held the ropes while Earl Hebner counted the pin. Earl
didn't technically screw this one up, but TNA loves to give us boring
and controversial finishes. Tessmacher shouldn't have lost the title so
quick; the prestige of the title was built up well by Gail Kim for her
lengthy reign, and this title loss for Tessmacher seems very premature
to me, clean or not. Bully Ray defeated Jeff Hardy, James
Storm, and Robbie E in a tables match. Ray power-bombed Hardy through a
table after Aces and Eights distracted Hardy from defeating James Storm.
Aces and Eights also stopped Ray from beating Storm earlier in the match
and gave Storm a thumbs up symbol. Aces and Eights is
obviously "setting up" Storm to look like their leader, but the
storyline could go one of two ways. First, Storm could actually be in
cahoots with Roode and be in charge of the group, or Storm is simply
being setup to look like the leader until someone else is revealed to be
in charge(Sting, Ray, Roode...ect). This match wasn't anything special,
but the enhancement of the Aces and Eights storyline is SOMEWHAT
intriguing. They need to do something different soon though or I'm going
to lose interest. Maybe unmask one of the members? Zema Ion defeated Kenny King to retain the X-Division Title. This
was a good match, and I'd even go as far as to call it almost great.
However, Zema Ion looked extremely sloppy and nothing like a champion. I
wasn't impressed by Ion, but I think TNA has plans for this rivalry to
carry out, and so Kenny King will have to make the best of it until TNA
booking is smart enough to put the strap on him. Solid performance from
King as I expected. AJ Styles defeated Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels in a ladder match. This
match was the most overall exciting of the night, and it was a classic
spotfest ladder match. Joe, Daniels, and Styles have combined to put on
incredible matches in the past, and the trio plus Kurt Angle made for
one helluva ladder match. It's times like these where I get to eat my
own words for knocking TNA's continued pairing of Styles and Daniels in
a rivalry. Excellent match. Austin Aries and Bobby Roode
wrestled to a double pin with two referees. The match was restarted and
Aries was able to schoolboy roll-up Roode for the three count to retain
the World Heavyweight Title. This match went from
brawling to wrestling to a false finish to a restart to a rollup "fluke"
win after failed cheating. It was a great story, but the false double
pin finish and restart really slowed things down and didn't impress me.
Much like the Ironman match at WrestleMania 12, I HATE restarts to
matches that should've been properly booked. Restarts do not build
momentum; they take away from the flow of the contest. As a fan, I
personally don't like it. What I do like is the fact that Austin Aries
held onto the World Title, and I also like the potential for him to face
other opponents outside of Bobby Roode now. Final
Thoughts: With the exception of the main event and the four way ladder
match, this card was very average and I felt like I was watching an
episode of Impact. The main event was great, and the ladder match was
highly exciting and fun to watch. The X-Division Title match was solid,
but it could've been the main event of Impact. Remember watching WCW
Main Event on TBS on the same night of a ppv? Whether you do or not,
that's what this felt like. It's somewhat of a common theme across the
board with pay per views in general, but doesn't it feel like you should
be getting more for what you pay for? Overall, I'd give the show a
thumbs up, but this definitely was not as good of a ppv as some of the
others that TNA has put on in the last few months. If I do
a rundown this week, it will probably be without FCW(no uploads) and
ROH(can't watch on time) again. The rundown may be nixed this weekend
anyway because of Summerslam predictions from the Smarks and the tribute
column for our first inductee into Thunder and Lightning's Pure
Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame! Until next time, you've been ThunderStruck!