So there’s a report that says Batista may be back at the Rumble.  Now those of you that read my thoughts on things like this know that I always go with the theory of “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  I’m not saying the report is valid or not because I have no idea if it is or not. What I’m asking is would you want Batista back in WWE?  Let’s think about this:Batista is in his mid 40s and didn’t seem to be thrilled with being in the WWE all the time.  He’s had some issues with people backstage and can be kind of a diva at times.

On the other hand, the guy is a legit main eventer and could be put in the world title hunt immediately with no questions asked.  He’s got a great look, is insanely over with the fans, and was on a roll when he left.

Overall, I’d be for it as he’s still got some years left in him and he could put some people over on his way out.  There’s nothing wrong with that at all, especially with how weak the main event pool is at this point.

Thoughts?

Well at least Main Event has a moment now.  Points for that I guess.  And no, it still doesn’t need to exist.

I’ve got the first ten done and I’m working on the Screwjob show.  I’m having a blast doing these again.

Monday Nitro #94
Date: June 30, 1997
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

This is probably a bigger show than the PPV from earlier in the month, or at least it’s being treated as such. There are two major debuts tonight and apparently Hogan is going to be here too. Other than that, the card is pretty much stacked with a lot of big names in action. This arena would host a bunch of PPVs so it has a big show feeling to it. Let’s get to it.

Tony does a quick intro and it’s off to Gene who brings out Naitch. Before Flair can talk we hear Piper’s music but instead it’s two women carrying a Piper mannequin. Flair starts to talk but the girls drop the mannequin. Apparently this is all that’s left of Piper after the girls had him all night long. One girl isn’t sure why Piper is called Hot Rod, because he isn’t hot. Oh these are Flair chicks for sure.

Flair says Piper crossed the line last week when Piper tried to tell Flair how to wrestle. That’s what he said? Thanks for clearing it up. Gene asks the girls if Flair is really the sixty minute man. Girl: “More like 30 seconds.” Flair immediately picks up the kilt and pretends he didn’t hear that line. He holds a funeral for Piper and the girls take Gene’s clothes off. He says his mother in law is watching so Flair struts a bit. This heel turn by Flair was way out there and it didn’t work on most levels.

The announcers tell us about Jericho winning the Cruiserweight Title two nights ago and then it’s right back to talking about Flair, who faces Piper at the PPV.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending his newly won title. That’s probably the biggest win WCW has had over the NWO to date. They trade wristlocks to start but no one can get control. Jericho hooks a bow and arrow hold on the mat followed by a headlock. Juvy tries a moonsault but misses Jericho, who hits a belly to back suplex for two. A regular suplex gets two as well and Guerrera is put in the Tree of Woe followed by a baseball slide.

Jericho walks into an elbow but Juvy misses a springboard dropkick to put him right back down. Jericho misses a charge and hits the floor, where Juvy hits a HUGE dive to take him out. A release German suplex by Jericho sets up a double powerbomb but it only gets two. Instead it’s the super Frankensteiner by Jericho into the Liontamer for the submission win to retain the title.

Rating: C. This was basically a squash with Juvy being a jobber out there. Jericho winning the title was a big shock but to their credit it felt like a big deal. Guerrera was good at what he did and would become one of the best in the division for years to come. I was kind of surprised by how one sided this was but it wasn’t bad at all.

Post match Gene comes in to talk to Jericho and Chris puts the title on Gene’s shoulder. There’s an image for you. Jericho says this is a WCW belt and it’s back where it belongs. Syxx comes out and says the NWO still recognizes him as champion. He says Jericho can have another match for the title right now, and a brawl breaks out. Post break security pulls them apart and Alex Wright is in the aisle. He’s tired of not getting interviews and not getting title shots. Wright says he has a better body than Luger and that’s it.

Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie jumps Dean as he’s coming through the entrance and rams him into the steps. They head into the ring as we hear about Los Gringos Locos, Eddie’s team with Art Barr in Mexico. Dean is in trouble as the bell rings and Eddie suplexes him down. A back elbow puts Dean down but the slingshot hilo misses and Eddie is sent to the apron. Guerrero goes up and gets crotched followed by having his tornado DDT countered.

Eddie gets launched face first into the buckle and a backbreaker gets two for Dean. A WICKED powerbomb puts Eddie down but Dean wants to beat on him more instead of pin him. Here’s Chavo to ringside and then to the apron as Malenko is loading up the Cloverleaf. Eddie shoves Dean into Chavo, followed by the brainbuster and Frog Splash for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was more about storytelling than the match, but the match wasn’t half bad. These two have been going after each other for weeks and it’s a good idea to have the first match end with some questionable means. It continues the story and was good at the same time. What more could you possibly want?

Mysterio is with Gene and says that he’s tired of being pushed around by Nash and the Wolfpac. It started when he was launched like a dart into a trailer and then powerbombed during his match with Syxx. Rey wants a match with Nash and the big man comes out to laugh and accept the challenge.

Here are Bischoff and Hogan with something to say. Eric is on a motorcycle because he enjoys being on them. Hogan talks about beating down all of their enemies and partying with Rodman (not here) later tonight. The party is the highlight of the interview. Pretty much Hogan had nothing to say here.

TV Title: Hector Garza vs. Steven Regal

Regal is defending, in case someone actually needs clarification. Regal, now in a singlet, tries to take Garza down with a Boston Crab to start. When that doesn’t work, Regal pounds away in the corner to take over. Garza comes back with a forearm but Regal takes him back down and struts a bit.

They head to the floor for a second which goes nowhere so Garza low bridges him back to the floor. Garza loads up the Corkscrew Plancha and we go wide to get a better look at it. This is a bad idea as Garza COMPLETELY misses Regal, barely grazing the champ’s shins. Back in and a moonsault hits Regal’s knees and the Regal Stretch retains the title.

Rating: C-. This was a fine enough way to kill off six minutes I guess but there’s nothing to it beyond that. Garza was about as much of a one move guy as you could possibly have and when that one move looked bad in a match, there wasn’t much else he could do. One thing you did get almost every week was a random pairing like this. There’s nothing wrong with that because you can throw something out there and see what works. If it doesn’t, you lose six minutes and that’s it. WWE seems to be trying this with Cesaro lately and it’s a good idea.

The Steiners want their match with the Outsiders accepted tonight. Didn’t they already win the #1 contendership? Why would they need a match to be accepted? This brings out the NWO en masse. Hall says he has a contract right now and the Steiners sign it without reading it. The contract says that the Steiners have to beat Chono and Muta before they get their shot. I’m sure THAT will be the last match before the title match right?

Super Calo vs. Psychosis

Calo knocks him to the floor and Psychosis stalls a bit. Sonny Onoo, Psychosis’ manager, distracts Calo and Psychosis takes over. Back in and Calo powerslams him down but gets enziguried to the floor. Psychosis goes up but missed a double ax handle, landing face first on the barricade. FREAKING OW MAN! Calo suplexes him back in as they try to do the Warrior/Rude finish from Mania 5, but Sonny misses the foot, making Calo look completely inept. Too short to rate but it was pretty pedestrian stuff.

Post match Calo beats down Psychosis but La Parka comes out and breaks a wooden chair over Calo’s back for the second time. Juventud Guerrera comes out for the save.

Hour #2 starts.

Steve McMichael/Ric Flair/Chris Benoit vs. Buff Bagwell/Masahiro Chono/Scott Norton

Bagwell and Flair start things off and we get a strutting competition. Buff pounds on Flair in the corner and it’s off to Mongo who has a dumb look on his face. Mongo gets caught in the wrong corner but he comes back with right hands to Chono. Back to Flair who pounds away for about five seconds before Benoit comes in to a nice reaction. Chono kicks him down but stops to argue with Flair, allowing Benoit to clothesline Chono down and hit the Swan Dive. Everything breaks down and Vincent comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here as the whole match wasn’t even four minutes long and had the NWO DQ as required by WCW law. Also I’m not sure what was accomplished here at all, but on a shot this big I can understand the matches being this short. It isn’t fun to sit through but it’s understandable.

High Voltage vs. Mortis/Wrath

Wrath pounds on Kaos in the corner and things break down in about twenty seconds. A top rope clothesline puts Kaos down and the squash is on. Glacier and Miller come to ringside and the distraction draws Wrath to the floor, allowing Cat (Miller) to kick Mortis in the face and give High Voltage the big upset.

A limo is in the back. Presumably this is the impact player. The door opens, the camera zooms in on it, and the door closes.

Road Report.

Raven is in the front row and the announcers all know who he is. He’s mentioned as a champion from elsewhere but ECW isn’t mentioned by name of course. Tenay thinks he might be the Impact Player or Page’s mystery partner.

US Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Konnan

I think this is for the title but I’m not sure. Jeff pounds him down to start but misses an enziguri, allowing Konnan to hit a low dropkick to take over. Jarrett comes back with a DDT but Konnan takes it to the mat and hooks a kind of abdominal stretch on the mat. Konnan loads up a Figure Four but a rake to the eyes breaks it up. Here come the Horsemen who distract Konnan and allow Jeff to take the knee out and put on the Figure Four….which is almost immediately turned over. Jeff turns it back over and Flair helps Jeff with some extra leverage for the tap out.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here again with another match feeling like pure filler. I just hope this doesn’t lead to more problems for the Horsemen as that story has been going on for about a year now. Jarrett never clicked at all in WCW and he felt forced in there as a Horseman. How many US Title shots is Konnan going to get anyway?

Post match Jeff brags about everyone he’s beaten but Flair says Jarrett is off the team. Halle-freaking-lujah. Jarrett says you can’t do that. Flair is like dude, I’m Ric Flair. Debra runs her mouth for a bit and Jarrett says he’s going to put Flair out. Benoit talks about how Jarrett blew his chance. This didn’t make a ton of sense, but anything that gets Jarrett out of the Horsemen is cool with me.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Kevin Nash

Rey goes right at him and takes Nash down, but a sunset flip goes about as badly as you would expect it to for Mysterio. Nash LAUNCHES Mysterio across the ring and the Jackknife ends this quick. So Mysterio stands up to the NWO and is promptly destroyed. Thanks for wasting our time on that guys.

Nash drops Mysterio again and hits the referee too. Konnan comes out as Nash powerbombs Rey a third time. Nash leaves and Konnan puts on the Tequila Sunrise, apparently joining the NWO. Mysterio is taken out on a stretcher.

Tenay goes to talk to Raven but Raven won’t say anything.

Diamond Dallas Page/Lex Luger/The Giant vs. Randy Savage/Outsiders

Main event time. We take a break before the match starts and come back to see the NWO still not letting WCW in, just like what we saw before the break. Luger and Giant finally get in and the match gets going. Page goes right for Savage and WCW rules the ring to start. Hall gets in a shot on Luger, and according to wrestling law, the rest of the NWO takes over at the exact same time. All six guys are still in the ring and I don’t think we’ve had a bell yet.

Savage and Page fight to the floor before getting right back into the ring. We still haven’t had two people alone in the ring yet. Luger goes down so Giant headbutts both Outsiders down at the same time. Giant charges at them both but gets backdropped to the floor. Here comes Hogan and Page Diamond Cuts Savage. Hogan blasts Luger with the belt on the floor and apparently he took Giant out with it earlier. Page gets beaten down and I think the match is thrown out. It never started I don’t think so I won’t rate it, but it was just a big brawl anyway.

The NWO destroys Page as Hogan walks around on the floor. Savage hits a second elbow and Sting is in the crowd. Savage hits a third elbow and another Sting drops in from the rafters. Hogan bails and Sting clears the ring. Curt Hennig walks down the aisle and the show ends with him doing nothing at all. Raven jumps the guardrail, which is some of the only main event interaction I ever remember him having in WCW.

Overall Rating: C+. This is a back and forth show. It feels like a big show for sure, given all of the matches they had on here and some of the stuff they had going on, but nothing on here is anything more than ok from a quality standpoint. That being said, we had a lot of stuff on here and it certainly feels like a big show, which is what they were shooting for. The ending looks really interesting, but the important question is how will they follow up on it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Ryback vs. Punk in the Cell for the title is the main event of HIAC.  That opens a lot of doors.At the end of the day, I can’t imagine Punk not being champion at the Rumble to face Rock.  Now the question is will he be champion the entire way through the next few months?  This is where the Cell becomes an issue, because otherwise the answer would be Ryback destroys Punk but Punk walks out and leaves the arena to save the title in fear.  The Cell stops that from being an option, so the question is what do they do now?

The only thing I can see happening is Lesnar running in and attacking Ryback, setting up a match between them at TLC or the Rumble.  if Ryback is going to lose in there, he has to lose by an inch and due to every method of cheating, illegal tactics, interference, and whatever else you can think of.  Oh wait that can’t happen because it’s the Cell.  Gee, MAYBE IT’S A FREAKING BAD IDEA TO HAVE THE CELL GUARANTEED WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA IF THE MATCH YOU WANT CAN HAPPEN IN IT!  EVER THOUGHT OF THAT VINCE???

Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I think Ryback wins the title and then loses it in another gimmick match likely involving Punk and Cena at TLC.  I mean, they wouldn’t do Rock vs. Ryback………….would they?

There’s one thing I’m sure of: I honestly do not know what is going to happen at TLC and I can’t even lean one way or another.  That happens very rarely in WWE and I LOVE it.

Thoughts?

Monday Nitro #93
Date: June 23, 1997
Location: Macon Coliseum, Macon, Georgia
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

We’re getting closer to Bash at the Beach but more importantly we’re getting closer to next week which is being hyped as a major Nitro, with the debut of a major name. There would be another major name there actually but not as big as the other one. Tonight we’re likely going to build towards the PPV but I wouldn’t expect Hogan or Rodman to be here. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap from the end of last week’s show with Luger and Giant getting beaten down by the NWO.

Opening sequence.

By the way, before the show started, a local guy debuted (I believe) in a dark match. His name: Goldberg.

Here are Page and Kimberly (looking GOOD) to open the show. Page says he has a surprise partner for the PPV and tonight it’s Page vs. Hall, as set up by Kimberly somehow.

Public Enemy vs. La Parka/Damien

Grunge and Parka start things off as Tony talks about the rest of the show because this isn’t an important match. That’s not sarcasm. This match is about as pure filler as you can ask for. La Parka takes him into the corner but Grunge takes him down. Off to Damien as all four are in the ring already. Off to Rock vs. Damien with the luchadors taking over for a bit. Not hot tag brings in Grunge and it’s table time. Rock dives through Damien through the table which isn’t a DQ somehow. La Parka blasts Grunge with a chair and steals the pin. Short and nothing of note, but it’s nice to see a fresh team getting a win like this.

Here’s Eddie Guerrero who asks for Chavo to come out to clear the air over an issue they’re apparently having. Eddie claims Chavo offered to go to the ring last week to face Malenko. Chavo isn’t sure if that’s true but Eddie has talked to JJ and Chavo is getting Eddie’s shot at Syxx tonight. Chavo isn’t sure what’s going on but he says ok.

Alex Wright vs. Chris Jericho

This is a rematch from two weeks ago. Wright jumps Jericho as he gets in the ring and things start fast. Jericho comes back with a spinwheel kick to send Wright to the floor. Alex starts to take a walk but comes back to kick Jericho in the ribs a few times. Chris takes him to the mat to take over and works on an armbar. A springboard shoulder block puts Wright on the floor but Jericho dives into a dropkick to shift momentum again. Wright stops to dance but Jericho hits a Lionsault Press for two. Jericho catches him coming out of the corner and the Liontamer (called a Boston Crab here) gets the submission.

Rating: C. Not bad here as Jericho continues to evolve into the modern day version of himself. Wright’s heel turn has more flounder in it than a river in Minnesota and it just isn’t working at all. Thankfully they made the right pick with who to push of these two as Jericho would become a legend and Wright would become a Nazi character.

The announcers talk about the PPV main event and the NWO interfering in the tag match at the previous PPV.

Steiner Brothers vs. Harlem Heat

ANOTHER #1 contender match because seventy four of them weren’t enough. Vincent interfered at the PPV so the Heat’s victory didn’t count. Booker and Scot get things going and we stall to start. Eventually Scott gets double teamed and kicked in the face to give the Heat control. Then again Scott Steiner isn’t one to sell so he gorilla presses Booker and launches him across the ring.

Off to Rick and the fans start barking. Stevie beats on him and kicks Rick in the head to take over. When all else fails, kick the guy in the head. Rick comes back with a belly to back and barks some more. Off to Scott vs. Booker again with the future Freakzilla taking over via a belly to belly. A double tag brings in Stevie and Rick with Stevie powerslamming Rick down for two.

Off to a chinlock for a bit followed by Booker missing an elbow but Spinarooning up. Rick powerslams him down and it’s off to Scott who cleans house. Stevie breaks up the top rope bulldog and Sherri is knocked into Booker on the floor. A BAD looking top rope bulldog (Stevie’s head hit Rick’s leg) gets the pin for Rick.

Rating: D-. This was a MESS. They were all over the place and weren’t even in the same library, let alone on the same page. The ending looked horrible and the whole thing just never clicked. It didn’t help that the Outsiders wouldn’t defend the belts again for months, making this match, say it with me, TOTALLY POINTLESS.

The NWO D team (Bagwell, Norton and Vincent) say the Steiners aren’t the #1 contenders. Buff says he has the real arms instead of Scott Steiner. Buff and Norton are now named Vicious and Delicious. The Steiners get in their faces and chase them off. The Steiners want the Outsiders.

Video on Ernest Miller. The guy still wouldn’t be interesting for about three years, and even then it was nothing special.

Hector Garza vs. Villano IV

Talk about your random matches. Villano takes over quickly with a Cutter that looks more like an RKO. He launches Garza to the floor and hits a suicide dive to take Garza down again. Garza comes back once they get inside and Tenay goes into one of his interesting stories about Garza’s father being a regional star in Mexico. How did he go from this to hitting on women thirty five years his junior in TNA? Villano hits a shoulder breaker but misses a moonsault. They head to the floor with Garza hitting a backbreaker followed by his trademark corkscrew plancha. Back inside and a standing moonsault pins Villano.

Rating: C-. There were some good dives here but the match had zero heat. There’s no reason to care about either of these guys and big flips and dives mean nothing when you can see Mysterio and Dragon do the same things. The match was a fine way to kill seven minutes, but the match didn’t mean anything at all.

Here are Luger and Giant for a chat. They don’t like Hogan and Rodman all that much apparently. They won’t quit and they’ll win at the PPV. This takes five minutes to get through.

Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Syxx

Hall is with the champ here. Chavo puts Syxx on the floor but misses a cross body off the top to give the champ control. The Bronco Buster hits and it’s off to a chinlock. Syxx hits a Michinoku Driver and some of those fast legdrops of his. A charge into the corner misses Chavo though and both guys are down. Chavo wins a quick slugout and gets a rollup for two. Eddie comes out to watch as Syxx is knocked to the floor. A BIG top rope dive takes Syxx out but Hall decks Chavo behind the referee’s back. The Outsider’s Edge sets up the Buzz Kill for the submission. Eddie has his arms folded on the stage.

Rating: C+. When you give Waltman a small guy like Chavo to fight, you get a much better match out of him. This wasn’t a masterpiece or anything but it was entertaining stuff. Syxx would actually lose the title before the next episode of Nitro at a house show (called Saturday Nitro) to a certain Lionheart.

Konnan vs. Steve McMichael

Jarrett is on official Horsemen probation apparently. Mongo shoves Konnan down to start so Konnan wants to get in a three point stance. One of these guys would wind up in the College Football Hall of Fame so guess how well this goes for Konnan. Back in after Mongo shoves him to the floor, Konnan pounds away in the corner. We hit a neck crank but Hugh Morrus comes out to distract Konnan, allowing Mongo to hit the Tombstone for the quick pin. Nothing to see here.

We get a video on Benoit’s path to get another match with Sullivan, because somehow Sullivan, who I don’t think beat Benoit once in their feud, has the pull to be able to not have a match he doesn’t want. Benoit had to beat both Faces of Fear and did just that, then he had to beat Meng again in the same kind of match. Now he gets a career match against Sullivan at the Bash which will FINALLY end this feud.

Here’s Piper for a chat. He rants about Batman and Mr. Freeze for some reason before saying he thinks Flair might have abandoned him last week. He talks about Flair dating two women so when he falls asleep they can talk to each other. Here’s Flair to try to say something that makes sense. When Ric Flair is the one who makes sense, you know you’re in trouble. Flair comes out and tells Piper to calm down and Piper references Dante’s Peak, a volcano movie. Mongo and Benoit come out with Debra, who runs her mouth and is immediately booed.

Mongo makes fun of the kilt and is the only person that makes any sense here. He says lay off Flair but Piper wants to fight. Benoit tells Piper he’s been around way too long and accuses him of having osteoporosis. Piper beats up the Horsemen. Mongo hits him with the briefcase and Benoit puts on the Crossface. We get a Horsemen stomp until security breaks it up. I have no idea who I’m supposed to cheer for or why they’re fighting in the first place.

Glacier/Ernest Miller vs. High Voltage

This is Miller’s debut. Rage and Kaos jump the karate guys from behind and are immediately kicked to the floor. Glacier and Kaos start things off but Rage comes in with a springboard bulldog. High Voltage hits a double gorilla press but Glacier comes back with strikes. Mortis, Wrath and Vandenberg are watching from the stage. Miller comes in and kicks a lot before hitting something like Trouble in Paradise from the top rope for the pin. Standard debut match.

Wrath and Mortis stare some more.

Hogan and Rodman talk some trash and it’s an NWO commercial.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Hall

Savage and Liz come out just after Hall. We actually hear about Page managing Hall back in the day. They don’t mention it being in WCW but they do at least mention it. Hall takes him down to start and works on the arm but Page comes back with his shoulders to the shoulder. Hall goes to Page’s bad ribs to take over again. Page hits an atomic drop but gets backdropped to the floor, which isn’t a DQ because of whatever reason they’re going with this week.

Savage sends Page into the barricade and Hall chops away. DDP gets sent into the steps as it’s all Hall at the moment. Page hits some right hands but gets slammed down into the mat to stop the comeback. Page’s discus lariat takes Hall down but DDP can’t follow up. He calls for the Cutter but here’s Savage for the DQ.

Rating: C-. Standard Nitro main event here as the match was mostly kicking and punching before they were setting up a finish and the DQ ending. The important thing here is that Page looked comfortable in there against a big name, instead of looking like he was in over his head. The Savage feud did an excellent job of elevating him to this level which you hardly ever see anymore.

Savage and Hall beat down Page. Savage goes up for the elbow but Sting is in the crowd with the bat. He stares down Savage who is on the top rope, but thankfully Savage drops the elbow on Page anyway. It took a minute for him to do it but thankfully the NWO didn’t make Savage that stupid. Sting chases Hall and Savage off to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The problem with WCW at this point is really becoming clear now: other than the main event and one or two other things, there aren’t any stories going on here. The main feud is a tag match which we don’t know the fourth participant of until we got to the PPV. The second biggest feud I guess is Piper vs. Flair which makes no sense at all. After that…..the tag title #1 contender feud which is going on and on and would result in another #1 contenders match at the PPV with another team replacing the Heat?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 15, 2012
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole

The main story tonight is Punk having to decide who he faces inside the Cell in about two weeks. He either has to face Ryback or Cena and if he doesn’t pick, it’s going to be decided by Vince himself. I’m assuming Vince will be here live tonight which is a good thing given how awesome he was last week. Other than that the PPV is mostly set. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the ending segment from last week with Punk running away from Vince.

Here’s Big Show with something to say. He talks about how he overpowered Sheamus last week and Sheamus was in awe. Then on Smackdown they tested which finisher was stronger through a machine and the punch won by a landslide. Show gets mad about the 45 second reign and demands a match with Bryan (the guy that beat him for the 45 second reign) RIGHT NOW. Some guys including Bryan are watching in the back. Bryan says no, but AJ comes up and says yes. Kane laughs and Bryan gets in a yes/no battle with about half the roster.

Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan

Show charges right at Bryan but Daniel starts moving as fast as he can. Show shoves him to the floor and we take a break after about 45 seconds. I hate when they do that. Back with Show bearhugging Bryan but Bryan comes back with the rapid fire kicks. He fires off even more but as he goes up top, Bryan jumps into a chokeslam for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: C+. This was a lot better than I was expecting. Bryan going down is the right move here as it’s hard to buy that Bryan can go toe to toe with Show and win in a fair fight. Bryan was a total face in this and the rapid fire kicks looked great. Bryan has been turned by the force of the crowd which always makes for a great push.

Kane comes out for the save.

Here’s Heyman standing in front of something with a cloth over it. He brings out Punk to announce who he wants to face at the PPV. Punk talks about disrespect and how everyone wants to make it about themselves instead of him. Last week that was Vince and then Punk had to beat Vince up to prove his point. Then it took Ryback and Cena to run Punk off. We look at the HIAC poster on the screen which is Punk as the devil in the Cell.

Punk talks about how he’s got two devils to pick from: the one he knows in Cena or the one he doesn’t know in Ryback. Both names get reactions but Cena’s is clearly bigger, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Punk asks for some decorum while he unveils his opponent. He grabs the sheet over what appears to be a poster on a stand, but Punk says he’s going to think a bit longer because the fans won’t stop disrespecting him.

Cue Vince to make up Punk’s mind for him. Vince says he respected Punk last week, but now Punk has lost that respect. Tonight it’s a contract signing and Vince is going to announce the opponent. Vince: RESPECT THAT!

Brodus Clay vs. Alberto Del Rio

I wonder if we’ll hear about their history together. Brodus takes him into the corner to start and rams Del Rio to the floor. Alberto drapes the arm over the ropes and goes after it. Brodus misses a charge in the corner, gets caught in the armbreaker, and taps at 2:20. Brodus, welcome to Jobberville.

Punk rants to Heyman in the back and wants to fight Vince tonight. Punk yells at Heyman here and looks flustered.

Prime Time Players vs. Zack Ryder/Santino Marella

This is joined in progress with Young tagging in Titus to keep up a beating on Santino. Off to Ryder who pounds away on Titus and hits a middle rope missile dropkick to set up the Broski Boot for two. Everything breaks down and it’s the gutbuster to Santino, the Rough Ryder to Young, and the Clash of the Titus to Santino for the pin at 1:26 shown. Ok then.

Post match here’s the Band, now in jeans and leather jackets, to beat on Ryder. Now they’re called the 3MB apparently.

Here are Vickie and Ziggler to talk about how Ryback doesn’t deserve a title match in the Cell. It should be Dolph who gets the shot, and he should cash in the case that night and win both titles. This brings out…..David Otunga? He thinks HE should get the shot. Cue AJ who makes a handicap match.

David Otunga/Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback

A LOUD Feed Me More chant starts up and a Vickie distraction lets Dolph hit a dropkick. The clothesline kills Ziggler and the annoying fans chant Goldberg. Off to Otunga who gets caught in the over the shoulder Stunner (called an atomic drop by JR) as Ziggler leaves. Otunga gets Shell Shocked for the pin at 1:48.

Heyman comes in to see Vince and offers another match with Vince where if Punk wins, he gets to pick the stipulation. Vince says ok, but it’s against Heyman instead of Punk.

AJ is in the back when Striker asks him about getting beaten up by HELL NO. He implies he wants an apology and AJ is psycho this week so it’s Striker vs. Kane tonight. Striker: “But….no…..”

Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel

Non-title. Gabriel escapes a German suplex to start but gets hit in the ribs to take him down. A HARD double stomp keeps Gabriel down and since we’ve got a Swiss guy vs. a South African, the Tennessee fans chant USA. Cesaro stays on the ribs with a gutbuster and a body vice. They slug it out and Gabriel uses AJ Styles’ moonsault into the reverse DDT to set up the 450, but the injured ribs slow down the cover and Cesaro gets the rope. Gabriel tries a springboard but he jumps into the uppercut to kill him dead. Neutralizer gets the academic pin at 3:51.

Rating: B-. This was a very solid match for less than four minutes. Gabriel can go and it’s always good to see that he has more than 450. They did the same thing with Kidd last week and we got a good match there too. This is what I mean by using the roster to your advantage: WWE has all these people working for them, and for once they’re USING THEM instead of giving us five Santino vs. Cesaro matches in a row.

Matt Striker vs. Kane

Striker has a mic to start and begs for mercy. He says he’d be fine with just an apology. Striker appeals to Kane’s therapy which Kane accepts, giving Striker a hug. Kane won’t let go of the hug and then the chokeslam ends this at 2:02, about 90 seconds of which were talking.

Kane interviews Striker who is out cold post match.

Time for MizTV. Miz insults the crowd a bit and brings out Kofi to hype up their title match on Main Event. Miz offers to carry Kofi like everyone else has. He talks about how Kofi has never done anything of note and how Kofi will always be the B guy that just makes people happy. Kofi says maybe Miz is right and Kofi needs to add some more moments to his career, like winning the IC Title on Wednesday. Kofi offers to have a match tonight, and Miz says ok. Miz says Kofi will always be the guy that says Boom Boom Boom and it’s on, with Miz getting knocked to the floor. More Kofi being serious is a good thing.

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett

Non-title here. They work on each others’ arms to start and Sheamus clotheslines him down and out to the apron. The ten forearms are escapes and Barrett comes back with a shot to the head. A pumphandle slam gets two for Barrett and it’s off to the chinlock. Sheamus fights up and knocks Barrett to the floor. A shoulder block off the apron puts Barrett down and here’s Show with a chair as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus in control as Show sits on the stage and cheers for Barrett. They head to the floor and Barrett tries to kick the steps into Sheamus like he did last week but Sheamus is ready for it this week. As they get back in Barrett fires off a kick to the ribs to take over. A kick to Sheamus’ face has the champion in trouble and they head to the floor again.

They head back inside with Sheamus put in a chinlock, but he gets the crazy eyes and fights up. Irish Curse puts Barrett down but Sheamus can’t follow up. The champ comes back with a knee lift and powerslam for two. Show is getting nervous. Barrett rolls to the apron and you just shouldn’t do that against Sheamus. After the ten forearms and a suplex for two, Sheamus starts smiling. Sheamus gets sent into the buckle and a middle rope elbow gets two for Wade.

Wasteland is countered but the Brogue Kick misses as well. Winds of Change (Boss Man Slam) gets two and Wade is frustrated. Sheamus goes up but has to roll through the shoulder block. The cloverleaf is put on but here’s Big Show. He distracts Sheamus but the champ loads up White Noise. Sheamus gets thrown at Show who low bridges him for the DQ at 15:26.

Rating: B. As usual these two have great chemistry together. I’d love to see them have some kind of a world title match on PPV where they can have a clean finish, as it could be one of the better brawls of the year. They’re both hard hitting guys and when you get two guys who are good at that, it’s going to be a good match. Solid stuff here, albeit with a weak ending.

Sheamus immediately Brogue Kicks Barrett and clotheslines Show to the floor.

Vince is in his office when Cena comes in. Cena says he’s no doctor but Vince doesn’t listen to doctors anyway so it doesn’t matter. John belongs out there and if Vince picks him, he’ll do what he does. Vince says he’ll take that under consideration.

Divas Title: Eve Torres vs. Layla

This is Layla’s rematch from whatever show she lost the title at. They fight over a tieup to start and Eve takes over. She sends Layla to the floor and hurts Layla’s ribs. Back in and Eve works on the shoulder. Well of course she does. Eve puts on a Figure Four headlock but Layla makes a rope after a minute or so. Layla comes back with a kick to the chest for two and screams a lot. The bouncing cross body gets two but Layla gets kicked off the middle rope and is pinned (with her foot on the ropes) at 4:38.

Rating: D+. These matches just aren’t interesting. Layla isn’t interesting at all without McCool there, nor is she interesting as a face. This went nowhere at all and just ate up time on this way too long show. Are there any other women left on the roster at all, or is this just setting up for the epic, yes EPIC I SAY, Kaitlyn vs. Eve feud?

WWE has a new charity thing, this one having to do with malaria nets.

Kane and Bryan have another arugment in the back and Bryan isn’t happy with Kane for laughing at him earlier. “Yes it was funny.” “NO IT WASN’T!” Bryan finally shouts and says next week it should be Kane vs. Big Show. Oh please…..no. ANYTHING but that.

Ryback is in Vince’s office and Vince thanks him for the save last week. The fans are saying Ryback is heartless, merciless, cold-blooded and would run through a brick wall to get what he wants. Ryback looks straight ahead the whole time until Vince asks what Ryback thinks. Ryback says Feed Me Punk. Vince will consider that too.

Mysterio isn’t here tonight, so the finals are next week.

3MB goes to a bar and takes over the stage. Secuirty throws them out.

Rhodes Scholars vs. Epico/Primo

The cousins jump the Scholars before the bell and the Scholars hide on the floor. We start with Primo vs. Cody. Off to Epico who has some good luck with Rhodes but has to chase off Sandow (Damien: “DON’T TOUCH ME!”). Cody takes over and it’s off to Sandow for the windup elbow for two. Back to Cody and there’s nothing to talk about in this match. Cody beats on Primo, Sandow beats on Primo, no one cares, the beating continues. The hot tag brings in Epico for some suplexes but everything breaks down. Epico misses a cross body and the double arm neckbreaker (called the Terminus apparently) gets the pin at 6:53.

Rating: D. Considering one of these teams is likely going to win the tag tournament but couldn’t tonight because one of the people in the tournament final was sick, it’s kind of hard to buy Epico and Primo as a legitimate threat. That neckbreaker getting a name is probably the highlight of this match.

The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

Miz charges at him but misses his shot. This is a big brawl very quickly and Miz rolls to the floor. Kofi kills him with a clothesline but back inside Miz takes over again and hits a running corner clothesline. Top rope ax handle gets two for the champ and we hit the chinlock. Kofi comes back with a suplex and a clothesline. The Finale is countered, as is the SOS and another Finale attempt. The Trouble in Paradise gets the pin on Miz at 5:25. That kick looked NASTY, as I don’t think Miz knew it was coming.

Rating: D+. Another dull match here where the ending was obvious. The only thing they could do here is have Kofi get the pin to set up the match he’ll likely lose on Wednesday. Not terrible here but they’re on at the end of a long show which is taking forever to get through. This was all they could do though.

Miz is looked at post match. He was totally blindsided by that kick.

Here’s Vince to announce the main event for the PPV. He brings out Punk, Ryback and Cena as we’re already past 11pm. I love Heyman holding up the title when the other guys come in. Punk cuts Vince off before his speech really gets going. I guess the scene with Vince and Heyman earlier canceled the proposed match? Punk signs without knowing his opponent.

Cena talks about Punk being champion for 330 days but says Punk needs to shut up. Vince tries to make his announcement but Cena cuts him off. Cena would love to fight Punk but he thinks Ryback just wants to beat someone up. That might be what Punk needs and Cena starts a FEED ME MORE chant. Ryback signs….and that’s the match. Ryback Shell Shocks Punk to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As is almost always the case with this show anymore, it was going really well for the first hour and a half and then it got tiring in a hurry. Three hours can be made to work well, but at some point it’s just too much for one night. That’s what happened here, as the show started dragging badly at about 9:45. There’s good stuff in here, but if you cut out some of the less important stuff (Kane vs. Striker, 3MB, Alberto) this is a very good show. As is, it’s just ok. It’s nice to have a main event for the PPV though.

Results

Big Show b. Daniel Bryan – Chokeslam

Alberto Del Rio b. Brodus Clay – Cross Armbreaker

Prime Time Players b. Santino Marella/Zack Ryder – Clash of the Titus to Ryder

Ryback b. Dolph Ziggler and David Otunga – Shell Shock to Otunga

Antonio Cesaro b. Justin Gabriel – Neutralizer

Kane b. Matt Striker – Chokeslam

Sheamus b. Wade Barrett via DQ when Big Show interfered

Eve Torres b. Layla – Pin after Layla was kicked off the middle rope

Rhodes Scholars b. Epico/Primo – Terminus to Epico

Kofi Kingston b. The Miz – Trouble in Paradise

It’s the night of Bound For Glory 2012 and Jeff Hardy won the world title from Austin Aries. That’s not really news, nor is it really surprising based on the way the show has been built. However, in a comment about the show, someone said that Aries should have been able to continue with his reign and been given that defining win that his reign needed. This got me to thinking about another growing trend in wrestling which is going on a lot more in the WWE at this point, and it’s not really work. Let’s get to it.

At the moment, the top story in WWE is CM Punk vs. John Cena over the WWE Title. Going into Night of Champions, Cena said Punk needed to defend the title against him in Cena’s hometown of Boston to define his legacy and cement himself as the top guy. The match wound up in a draw, and now the line is that Punk needs to beat Cena in the Cell to define his legacy and cement himself as the top guy.

Now that story makes sense: Punk didn’t beat Cena (that time at least) and now he needs to do something else to end the feud with Cena. That’s basic storytelling and makes perfect sense. HIAC is in I think two weeks and there’s a good chance Punk is going to walk out of the Cell having pinned Cena (again). Let’s say that happens and Punk wins as clean as you can in the WWE: so what?

That doesn’t define Punk’s reign. Punk’s reign isn’t over yet and we have no idea when it’s going to end. It doesn’t cement Punk as the top guy. Cena has lost to Punk already at three different PPVs in the last year and a half and Punk has never been the top guy over Cena. Punk can beat the entire roster in a single match while wearing roller skates and writing the great American novel, but it’s not going to define his legacy.

Let’s take a look back at history. The most famous reign of the last thirty years is Hogan’s four year reign from 84 to 88. What is the defining moment of that reign? If there is one, it would be beating Andre, but there’s a catch to that: Hogan already was the top guy and had been for years. However, we didn’t know that was what was going to define it because no one knew what Hogan’s reign was going to end.

At the end of the day, what defines Hogan’s reign is what happened during his reign, which would be the rise of wrestling to the mainstream and the wrestling boom of the 80s. Those things happened when Hogan was on top of the company and was unquestionably the top star in the world. Let’s look at the progression of Hogan’s title reign with regards to major shows.

Hogan won the title in January of 1984. A little over a year later, there was The War To Settle The Score, which was a huge house show that celebrities attended and had a huge main event of Hogan vs. Piper. It was a HUGE show and one of the biggest moments in WWF history. Then about six weeks later, there was another show called Wrestlemania. This was even bigger and had even more celebrities and a bigger audience. Then two years after that, there was Wrestlemania III, which had over four times the audience of Wrestlemania I.

I could go on and on with countless examples of the same thing happening, but you get the point. Even after Wrestlemania III, there was no way to tell what else was coming for Hogan during his reign. The match against Andre wound up being the biggest single moment of his first title reign, but there was no way to know that until after he lost the belt. There’s no way you can define a reign while it’s still going on, as the stuff that happens one day might mean far less by comparison. At the end of the day, the War To Settle The Score was huge at the time, but the stuff it set up blow it away by comparison.

Going back to Punk and his reign now, there’s another issue with his reign: no matter how many times he beats Cena, or how many times he beats anyone else, Punk simply is not a bigger star than John Cena. Cena has been the main star in the company for at least six years now (and again, the wins over HHH and Shawn at Wrestlemania didn’t define a single thing about him or his reign. They were big wins over big opponents and that’s it) and has been pushed like a major star.

On the other hand, Punk has been pushed as a big deal for roughly sixteen months with the majority of his push being based around the idea of him saying that he’s better than Cena. Simply saying that he’s better than Cena and giving him the title doesn’t make him better. Punk’s latest thing is talking about how many days he’s been champion, but not only has Cena had more reigns, he held the title longer over a single reign. At the end of the day, Cena is a bigger deal that CM Punk.

Again let’s look back at Hogan in the 80s. This is basically a carbon copy of the Mega Powers from the late 80s, with Cena and Punk originally being friends (by WWE’s standards) in the early days of Punk being champion. Then Punk kept winning and holding onto the title, but no matter what he did or who he beat, he simply wasn’t overtaking Cena in the eyes of the fans. Back in the 80s, Hogan was always a bigger star than Savage, Savage eventually went insane, and eventually Hogan and Savage had to have a match over it.

Did Savage’s match with Hogan define his reign? Of course not. It ended the reign and Hogan was champion again for another year. Savage’s reign is now defined as being important because it happened during Hulkamania. That’s another quick thing: not every title reign has a defining moment. Often times the definition of the reign is determined as a whole instead of a single moment or match.

In short, this concept of saying a moment defines someone or a title reign or anything like that is nonsense. Simply saying that a match or a moment defines the champion’s reign doesn’t make it so. We have no idea of when the reign is going to end and it could be years to figure out what the reign means. We probably won’t know what defines Punk’s reign until after Punk’s career is over, because we don’t know how this reign will stack up to future reigns. He might have another reign that blows this out of the water in terms of length or quality, which is why you can’t say that it defines anything about him.

The other thing to remember is that Punk flat out is not a bigger star than Cena and a single win over Cena isn’t going to make him a bigger star. Like I said earlier, even if Punk wins over Cena, so what? He’s done it before and it didn’t make him a bigger star, so why would this make him a bigger star now? I get that it’s storytelling, but it’s a stupid thing to say because it doesn’t make sense when you think about it. Punk isn’t going to be the biggest star on the show, at least not while Cena is around, and that’s all there is to it.

Bound For Glory 2012
Date: October 14, 2012
Location: Grand Canyon University Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the biggest show of the year for TNA and honestly I’m not all that excited about it. The main event tonight is Aries vs. Hardy for the title, but the REAL main event is Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray. The question is much more about who is going to be the leader of the gang, or if that’s even going to be revealed. I’d look for a fun quality show tonight but nothing that jumps off the page. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about what you would expect: it talks about the history of the company and how big the show is. Most of this has been shown on Impact in the Memories Are Waiting promos.

There’s a ramp to get to the ring which is always cool.

X-Division Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion

Ion is defending. Rob came out on Impact when Ion was running his mouth and Van Dam said Hogan said he could have any match he wanted at this show. Zema has been injuring a lot of people lately. Rob takes over to start and knocks Ion to the floor but Ion moves before Rob can dive. Back in and Ion takes out Rob’s leg followed by a corkscrew kick out of the corner for two.

The champ goes up again and gets crotched, followed by a kick to take him down again. Out of nowhere Ion hits a jumping tornado DDT for two and then two more. Rob goes up but gets shoved into the barricade like he’s had done to him a few dozen times over the years. Ion hits a flip dive to keep Van Dam down while also barely avoiding breaking a rib on the barricade.

Back in and a missile dropkick gets two for Ion. As usual with Ion, his in ring stuff isn’t bad but the promos and persona getting there don’t do him much good. Off to an abdominal stretch which is pretty quickly broken. Van Dam makes a very fast comeback, takes Ion down, hits Rolling Thunder and the Five Star and wins the title at 8:00.

Rating: C. I can’t complain about Van Dam winning the title at all as this gives the title some credibility that it hasn’t had in a new champion in awhile. Also this gives the fans something to pop for early on which is the right idea. The match itself was nothing you wouldn’t see on Impact, but the right ending helps.

Magnuis says it’s his time to shine and therefore take the title.

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Magnus

They used to be partners and then split. Feeling out process to start with Joe taking him into the corner for the enziguri to take over. The champ pounds away and Magnus has to hide for mercy. Magnus comes back with punches of his own as we have a strike heavy match so far. A big old clothesline takes Joe down and Magnus takes over for the first time so far. Magnus takes him down with a knee and stomps away, followed by a jumping elbow for two. This is pretty decent stuff so far.

Joe fires back with some right hands but charges into something like a Michinoku Driver (sitout slam) for two. Magnus runs into an atomic drop and Joe starts speeding things up, firing up the fans in the process. They’re in Phoenix so you wouldn’t think that would be too hard. The backsplash and snap powerslam get two for Joe. Joe gets all crafty now and counters a leapfrog into a powerbomb to kill Magnus.

In a sequence that is always cool, Joe hooks an STF but once Magnus is getting too close to the ropes, he shifts it into Rings of Saturn. After Magnus gets a foot on the ropes, Joe loads up the MuscleBuster but Magnus goes to the eyes. A kick to the face takes Joe down and Magnus hits a top rope elbow for two and Joe is all fired up. He throws on the choke but Magnus escapes by climbing the corner. A jawbreaker escapes the hold again and Magnus goes for the knee. You don’t try holds on Joe though, and the choke retains the title for Joe at 8:57.

Rating: C+. They’re going with the fast matches tonight and that’s probably a good idea with these less interesting matches. This was a better match than the first one but when you have two talented guys in there instead of one, you’re often going to have a better match. There was no reason for Joe to lose the title yet anyway so no complaints there.

Roode says it ends tonight with Storm.

Video on Roode vs. Storm. Last year Roode lost in the main event of BFG, then Storm won the world title the next week on Impact. Roode used a beer bottle to beat Storm for the title and turn heel, which led to Storm wanting both revenge and the title back. Roode lucked out at Lockdown and then cost Storm the BFG Series, leading to a street fight tonight.

James Storm vs. Bobby Roode

MMA fighter King Mo is guest outside referee for no apparent reason. Storm takes over to start and hits a fast backdrop. We head to the floor with Storm in control. He hits Roode in the back with a chair but Roode sends him into the barricade to counter. Storm leg sweeps him into the barricade as well and Roode is in trouble early. Bobby comes back and sends Storm into the post, busting him open. Well at least they’re not waiting on bringing the violence here.

We get the weapons thrown into the ring and the fans want tables, because what would a street fight be without tables? Oh man Storm’s cut is a gusher. Roode puts a chair between the top and middle ropes, allowing James to come back with some kendo stick shots to the ribs. Storm hits a trashcan into Bobby’s balls using a kendo stick like a golf club to make Roode vibrate on the mat.

They head to the ramp with Storm hitting a DDT on the I guess wood. Storm jabs Roode in the ribs with a fan’s crutch and DESTROYS him with a trashcan. Mo hasn’t been a factor yet. Roode snaps off a spinebuster onto the ramp out of nowhere to give himself a breather. Storm grabs a fan’s beer for a quick refreshment. They head to the announce table and Roode kind of spears Storm through the other table to take over. There is blood EVERYWHERE. That gets two back in the ring and Roode yells at Hebner, which gets him in trouble with Mo.

The distraction lets Storm hit the Codebreaker and Last Call….for two. I’m glad that was only two as it would have been a pretty weak ending. Another superkick is caught and Storm is sent face first into the chair Roode set up in the corner a long time ago. That gets two so Roode puts Storm on the top rope. He gets a chair for a hard shot to the head and busts out the bag of thumbtacks. See, now that it’s been awhile since we’ve done this, it means something again. Roode tries a superplex onto the tacks but gets shoved down into them in a painful looking spot.

Storm drops a top rope elbow for two but Roode hits him low to stop Storm’s comeback. Roode goes to the floor and gets a beer bottle which is what started this whole thing. Storm hits Bobby low, takes a drink of the beer, and cracks the bottle over Roode’s head. Storm stands him up, and with Roode out on his feet, a second Last Call sends Roode into the tacks for the pin at 17:27. King Mo was barely a factor here and didn’t need to be around at all.

Rating: B+. In short, the cage match was better. That’s all this boils down to: the match at Lockdown was one of the best built up matches I can remember in a long time but they extended the feud because that’s what seemed like the right idea. Now don’t get me wrong: this was a great brawl and a good bloodbath and it had the perfect ending to the feud, but the feud didn’t need to be here, or at least not with Storm losing the second match. This is like Rock beating Austin at Wrestlemania 19 with nothing on the line. It’s a very good match, but it doesn’t mean as much.

Joey Ryan talks about says he should be on the roster already. He and Snow are polar opposites and tonight, they’re on the west coast where he has the advantage. He’s bringing sleazy back tonight.

We recap Ryan vs. Snow. Ryan was on Gut Check and got a big percentage of the votes, but the judges said no. Ryan terrorized Gut Check, becoming the only interesting thing about the segment for months, and tonight he faces Snow for a contract.

Al Snow vs. Joey Ryan

Ryan hides in the corner to start and the fans want Head. Snow is in workout clothes instead of wrestling gear. Snow gets down on all fours and lets Ryan get in a free chance to start. That goes about as well as you would expect for Ryan and he hides in the corner again. This is a good choice for putting on after the big street fight that just happened. It’s a way for the fans to calm down a bit.

Ryan keeps trying basic offense and Snow stops him at every turn. A delayed slam puts Joey down and Snow takes him to the mat with a headlock. Ryan gets in a shot to the ribs and a suplex for two. Snow comes back with the trapping headbutts and grabs Joey’s chest hair. Snow takes him down again for two and the fans want Head. And that’s what they get from under the ring. Ryan shoves the referee down and steals the Head for a makeout scene. Snow ties Joey up in the ring skirt….and here’s Matt Morgaon to Carbon Footprint Snow into next week. Ryan gets the easy pin at 8:28.

Rating: D+. This was about what you would expect from Al Snow in 2012. The Morgan twist was fine and a pairing between him and Ryan could be interesting, as if nothing else Ryan could use a bodyguard. This was the ending they had to go with and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially with faces being undefeated in the first hour.

Ryan and Morgan shake hands.

Kaz and Daniels don’t care about Twitter questions and brag about how awesome they are. These two feel totally greasy and evil and they’re GREAT at it.

We recap the tag title match. Basically both challenging teams should be able to maul the champions but they can’t quite get there. AJ and Angle keep arguing and Hernandez and Chavo don’t have the experience yet.

Tag Titles: Kazarian/Christopher Daniels vs. Hernandez/Chavo Guerrero Jr vs. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle

Angle and AJ come out separately. Wes Brisco is in the front row and I’d bet we’ll see him later. Daniels and Kaz are in orange and black to start jokes from Taz. Chavo and AJ start things off and in a strange visual, Angle and Hernandez are standing on the same side of the apron. Daniels and Kaz are chilling on the floor. This starts with the usual technical goodness you would expect from these two.

Off to Angle who stomps Chavo down in the corner and Chavo has some tape on his shoulder. Angle slams Chavo down on said shoulder and Daniels blind tags Kurt to come in and….scratch that as Angle stays in. Off to AJ vs. Hernandez with the big guy throwing AJ around and getting two off a splash. Kaz tags himself in to stomp on AJ but there’s the drop down/kick and it’s back to Kurt.

Chavo comes in to face Kaz and some good basic wrestling takes Kazarian down. Hernandez drops Kaz with a backbreaker and it’s back to Chavo to dropkick the freshly tagged in Daniels. AJ comes back in because we can’t have a PPV without Daniels vs. AJ right? A clothesline puts AJ down and it’s time for some pelvic thrusting. The champs hit a double team move with Daniels hiptossing Kaz into AJ for two.

Kaz puts on a full nelson of all things on Styles but a quick Pele takes Kaz right back down. There’s the hot tag to Kurt who beats up everyone in sight. He snaps off some suplexes and counters a sunset flip into an ankle lock on Daniels. There go the straps but Angle misses a charge in the corner and hits the post. Angle shrugs that off and suplexes Kaz onto Daniels for two.

Kaz comes back in with the slingshot DDT on Angle but Hernandez comes back in and takes out Kaz. Daniels smacks AJ in the face and there’s no one in the ring. Daniels dives onto Angle from the apron and there’s the REAL big dive from Hernandez to take everyone out. Kaz tries a rana off the top to Hernandez off the apron but Hernandez goes the wrong way and Kaz basically crashes on his shoulder in a SICK looking landing.

AJ gets the attention off Kazarian by hitting a BIG dive on the champs and Hernandez. Kaz is at least sitting up now. Chavo suplexes Angle over the top and back in as he rolls some suplexes. Angle Slam out of nowhere puts Chavo down and a double suplex takes SuperMex down as well. Kaz is back in with a clothesline to take Daniels down and the BME gets a VERY close two on AJ.

Chavo sends Kaz to the floor and hits another big dive to take him out. Angel’s Wings are broken up by Styles and the moonsault into the reverse DDT takes Daniels down. Hernandez actually tags in and hits a slingshot shoulder block followed by the Border Toss. Chavo hits a Frog Splash to give Hernandez (the legal man) the pin on Daniels and the titles.

Rating: B. This was a good match from these six as you would expect, but it didn’t really get close to the other matches that the teams have had before. That has to be expected though and this was certainly entertaining. All the dives were great, but man alive someone is going to get hurt badly from one of them one day. Daniels and Kaz losing makes sense as they’ve done almost all they can with the belts at this point.

Chavo says that was for the fans and for Eddie.

We recap Tessmacher vs. Tara. Tara is the teacher, Tessmacher is the student, Tara snapped, you fill in the rest. Oh and Tara has some Hollywood boyfriend who is likely some reality TV schmuck.

Knockouts Title: Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara

Tess is defending. Tessmacher’s robe/jacket is on the ropes as we start. A quick crucifix gets no count for the champ. Teryn Terrell is referee again because…because…I have no idea why she’s still around actually. Tara gets sent to the floor and we get a chase scene. Tara hides behind the referee and we head right back to the floor where Tess gets dropped on the apron to give Tara the advantage.

Back in and the champ gets one on a sunset flip and it’s off to a chinlock by Tara. Tara whips her into the corner but charges into a boot followed by a DDT from Tessmacher to put both girls down. Tessmacher takes Tara down and nips right back up, followed by a top rope rana (decent one too) but Tara blocks the Tesshocker. Widow’s Peak and Tara gets the completely clean pin at 6:18.

Rating: D. The rana looked good and the girls looked good in their outfits, but thank goodness Tara won here. Tessmacher is just worthless as champion and hasn’t changed a bit since she won the belt the first time. Tara has had the belt before but at least she’s better than Tess, but most people would be.

Tara introduces the boyfriend: Jesse Godderz from Big Brother. To the shock of no one, there is zero reaction. He’s been training in OVW for like a year and has won five tag titles there. Tara and Jesse make out in the ring. Crowd: “WHO ARE YOU?”

We get a video from the Hall of Fame ceremony last night. Lex Luger inducted him, which is way better than Christian. Hogan dressed up in a t-shirt while everyone else was in suits. Sting talked about owning a gym in California and having Hulk Hogan working out there.

Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Ray is No DQ.

We recap said tag match. Aces and 8’s is a motorcycle gang who has been terrorizing TNA for about four months now and tonight, there’s a match between Sting/Ray vs. two members of the team. If the masked men win, they get full access to the Impact Zone. If they lose, the whole group leaves forever. The whole mystery here is about who their leader is, but in theory we’re going to find out tonight. Anderson was going to be the partner of Sting but Aces and 8’s beat him up, resulting in Ray getting the spot instead.

Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray

Sting and Ray both have facepaint. Aces and 8’s have theme music now. They bring out Joseph Park who looks a bit near death. There are two members here, one in a plaid t-shirt and another in a black one. We’ll call plaid shirt #1 and black shirt #2. This is No DQ and a brawl starts on the floor. Sting fights #1 and Ray has some issues with #2. #2 seems to be the taller of the two.

Sting gets sent into the announce table as the fans chant for Bully. Sting and Ray double team #1 and the fans want tables. The Stinger Splash hits the barricade as it has all but one time that I can ever remember. #2 and Sting start in the ring with Sting in trouble. Off to #1 who hits a clothesline for two. Park is chained to the barricade at ringside. #2 hits another clothesline for another two on Sting.

A bit boot gets another two and Ray is starting to play cheerleader. Sting makes a fast comeback and tries the Scorpion but #1 breaks it up. A suplex is countered by Sting into the Death Drop but Sting doesn’t cover for some reason. Double tag brings in #2 and Ray with Ray cleaning house. A middle rope shoulder takes #2 down and the fans are way behind Ray. Ray double clotheslines them down and a splash gets two on #1.

#1 brings in a chair but Ray hits a big boot to stop the shot. A third Aces and 8’s guy, pretty clearly Wes Brisco, comes in and hits Ray low. Park gets spat on and breaks the chain off the barricade. He comes in and destroys the third guy before beating him up the ramp. The match breaks down and #2 gets caught in a Doomsday Device. Double splashes crush #2 in the corner again and it’s Table Time with Sting playing Bubba’s role. Ray gets the table but #1 pulls Sting to the floor. Another member of Aces and 8’s comes in and spinebusts Ray through the table to give #2 the pin at 10:51.

Rating: C. Not much of a match here but the point is that Aces and 8’s won. How this makes anything any different is beyond me but this story hasn’t made much sense in the entire time it’s been running. Hopefully we’ll get some more to this tonight because if this is it, then it’s going to feel flat. The match was pretty much fine.

The rest of the group comes in and beats down Sting/Ray until Hogan comes in for the save and marches through them all until only the guy that jumped Ray is left. Hogan cleans house and Sting is back up. They go for the mask….and it’s D-Von. Yes, D-VON. Fans: “This is awkward!”

Aries says Hardy needs to win this to complete his comeback. Tonight, Aries is coming in angry and that’s not good for Jeff.

We recap the world title match. Aries is jealous of Hardy, Hardy wants the title to complete his redemption.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries

The fans are pretty much split which isn’t what they were hoping for I don’t think. We start with a long feeling out process and we have roughly half an hour for this. They head to the mat and Hardy actually keeps up with the champ (Aries is defending if I didn’t mention that) until they head to the corner for the slingshot dropkick. Aries comes back and puts Hardy on the apron for a slingshot ax handle. He takes a victory lap and then one in reverse.

Back in and Hardy gets two off a suplex. They’re still in first gear here and that’s fine. Jeff knocks Aries to the floor and mocks Aries. The fans don’t seem pleased with Jeff so he jumps off the apron with an ax handle of his own. Jeff charges at Aries but Hardy crashes into the barricade and hits Aries at the same time. Back in and Aries gets two off a top rope splash. Aries charges into a boot in the corner and the crowd is probably 80% pro Aries.

A backbreaker gets two for the champ and it’s off to an abdominal stretch on the mat. Aries takes him down again and hits a corkscrew plancha for two. Hardy blocks the Last Chancery and hits something Big Show used to call the Alley Oop. He sets for a powerbomb but throws Aries backwards instead of forwards. Show’s was a bit slower but it’s the same move. Hardy makes his comeback and hits the low dropkick for two.

Whisper in the Wind gets two and the fans have quieted down a bit. Twist of Fate is countered and Aries is knocked to the floor. Hardy misses a slingshot and there’s the suicide dive to drive Jeff into the barricade. Another dive takes Hardy out again with this one getting two in the ring. Aries is busted but nowhere near what Storm was earlier. There’s the Last Chancery but Jeff escapes quickly.

They head to the ramp and Jeff can’t hit the Twist, but rather gets clotheslined into the ropes. Aries drops him on his head, sending the back of Jeff’s head into the edge of the ramp. And people wonder why he’s a drug addict. A missile dropkick sends Jeff into the corner but he comes out with the Twist for two. Jeff loads up the Swanton but gets crotched and super ranaed down from a double standing position. That looked awesome. Corner dropkick sets up the Brainbuster for two and Aries is STUNNED. Aries puts Jeff on top but gets knocked off and the Swanton gives Jeff the title at 23:04.

Rating: B+. This was a good main event but after the Aces and 8’s stuff, this came off a bit flat. Also, TNA REALLY needs to mix up their main event styles. The kicking out of finishers and then the pin soon thereafter can only take you so far and they’ve done it for years now. Watch a few TNA PPV main events and the formulas are almost always the same. Hardy winning is the right choice but it doesn’t feel like a huge moment at all for the most part. Still though, a quite good match.

Hardy celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Was this a great show? No. Was it their best show of the year? No. Was it good enough to be their biggest show of the year? Not really. What it was however was a quite enjoyable show, other than the big surprise which my jaw is still having issues closing over. The ending was the right call as Hardy had to win the title to send the fans home happy. There are a lot of ways they can go now, but unfortunately Impact is going to be ALL about D-Von and that pretty much freaking sucks.

I can’t get over that and if they thought the angle was going nowhere already, they’re in for a big surprise now. I don’t think he’s the leader, but man alive this is BOUND FOR GLORY, not Impact. It’s a good show overall though and it sets up a bunch of stuff for the future, but man alive I don’t know who went with D-Von as the surprise. Even as a regular member, which is what he likely is, who thought that was a good idea for BFG?

Results

Rob Van Dam b. Zema Ion – Frog Splash

Samoa Joe b. Magnus – Koquina Clutch

James Storm b. Bobby Roode – Last Call

Joey Ryan b. Al Snow – Pin after a Carbon Footprint from Matt Morgan

Hernandez/Chavo Guerrero Jr. b. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle and Christopher Daniels/Kazarian – Hernandez pinned Daniels after a Frog Splash from Guerrero

Tara b. Miss Tessmacher – Widow’s Peak

Aces and 8’s b. Sting/Bully Ray – Ray was pinned after a spinebuster through a table

Jeff Hardy b. Austin Aries – Swanton Bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

I’m dead serious.  That just happened.