I figured that’s a better title than PPV Predictions as I’ll have some general thoughts in this as well.

As I’ve made very clear, this is a show that doesn’t need to exist.  The HIAC show should be moved to this date, or in a perfect world HIAC wouldn’t exist as a PPV but we’re splitting hairs here.  This show seems like a cutting off point as just after Sunday we start the build for Survivor Series and ultimately, Wrestlemania.  It seems like they’re just in a holding pattern until then, which isn’t a good thing for the most part.

As for the matches, I’m going to take Henry, Alberto and HHH/Punk.  My guess would be Kane returns around the end of the year and fights Henry at the Rumble.  Cena doesn’t have anything to do if he wins the title again and if they’re smart, they’ll let the title and Cena be apart for awhile as you can have two draws for the Mania build period.  Cena vs. Rock is bigger than the title anyway.  You need to have a face win in there so there’s the tag match stuff.

Thoughts/predictions?

Smackdown
Date: October 21, 2011
Location: Mexican Sports Palace, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

It’s the final night of shows in Mexico and it’s also the final show before the PPV. I’m not really sure what else they’re going to add to the show as I think they have six or seven matches on the card so far. That being said, we could use some more build for most of the matches, primarily because there were only three weeks of build for this show. Let’s get to it.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is 3 PPVs in 6 Sundays for WWE alone.

Here’s Alberto to open the show. Naturally he’s a huge face here in Mexico. Ah there’s the commentary. Nothing had been said for over two minutes. I didn’t know Cole had it in him. Tonight Alberto was supposed to face Big Show but due to Cena’s attack on Monday, that can’t happen. I wonder if the fans chuckle at being told that dinner is attacking people. He wanted to perform for his Mexico but he can’t do that now. Alberto speaks some Spanish, talking about wanting to be the best Mexican ever and that’s about it.

As he’s leaving, here’s Teddy to interrupt him. Alberto has been checked out by WWE doctors and they say all is well. Teddy thinks that Alberto is trying to get out of the match, so tonight Alberto will indeed face Big Show. Alberto says he’ll make Show tap so Teddy asks the fans if they want to see the match. Uh…why?

As Teddy is leaving and Alberto is still in the ring, here’s Henry. We go to a graphic for the mask vs. mask match tonight and there’s no commentary still. I don’t know what’s going on with that. We get a clip of Henry hurting Morrison on Monday. The rest of the audio is fine so I don’t know where the commentary is. I heard them earlier.

John Morrison vs. Mark Henry

Decent pop for Johnny. Morrison is shoved to the floor quickly and then has his head shoved against the post like a vice. The commentators don’t seem to be doing anything. Back inside it’s time for a neck crank and we take a break. Back with Morrison in mid-flight on Starship Pain for two. He tries a baseball slide through Henry’s legs but gets stomped on. The Slam ends this at 2:05 shown of 5:15.

Rating: C-. Just a squash here for the most part but I’m digging this no commentary thing. I don’t know if it’s something with the version I’m watching or what but it’s kind of a nice change of pace. Morrison’s depush continues as it looks like he’s on his way out, especially given the way most others were treated similarly on their ways out. Nothing to see here.

Christian and Vickie are in the back and Vickie talks about being friends with Johnny Ace. Vickie wants Christian to join her team. Teddy comes in and makes Christian vs. Sheamus at the PPV. Christian leaves so Teddy makes Dolph vs. Ryder for the US Title. That means Dolph is wrestling twice, which they point out. Ryder comes in with a catchphrase, making Vickie scream.

The announcers talk about Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara. Ok so they can talk. I guess the first match was just an error? They talk about the mask vs. mask match tonight and how it’s a battle of the Sin Caras. We hear about how Black had his identity stolen by Blue and tonight it’s about who the real Sin Cara is. Having this in Mexico is brilliant.

(I flipped on the regular airing on TV and the commentary was there for the first match. I guess it was just the version I was watching not working.)

Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan

Commentary sounds fine now. We get a quick promo from Barrett, talking about how tonight will be the beginning of the Great Barrett Uprising and how he doesn’t need to have anyone by his side anymore. Bryan isn’t going to shave until Mania. That’s some high level reporting there guys. Wasteland is countered into a crucifix a few seconds in. LeBell Lock is countered and there’s a Boss Man Slam for two. NICE big boot puts Bryan on the floor.

Off to a chinlock for a few seconds but Bryan gets back into things with a missile dropkick for two. Another big boot by Barrett gets two and it’s off to a bow and arrow hold. A forearm puts Barrett down and Bryan does the, and I’m not making this up, Ultimate Warrior rope shake on his way up. Barrett takes him down again and hits the pumphandle slam for two. Bryan goes up but jumps into Wasteland for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: B-. Pretty fun stuff here, especially for only about five minutes. They hit a lot of stuff here and it was a pretty hard hitting match on top of that. These two have some solid chemistry together, but it’s been awhile since either guy has been on the show. I wonder why that is.

Sheamus/Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler/Christian

As always it’s cool to see the two feuds at once thing. Ryder vs. Ziggler to start but Christian comes in quickly. Ryder grabs a rollup for two and I’m already sick of him being called the Woo Woo Woo Kid. A dropkick gets two for Dolph. Off to Christian who gets a decent heel reaction. Cole is yelling at Booker about softballs or something. There’s a double tag to Sheamus and Ziggler. Josh actually talks about it as he has to shout over his partners. Irish Curse gets two on the champ. Christian runs and the Zig Zag fails, allowing the Brogue Kick to end Ziggler at 3:58.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match here but it was nice to see both feuds getting TV time at once. However, there wasn’t much here from both pairings directly against each other which hurt things a bit. Still though, this wasn’t too bad so I can’t really complain much. As crazy as it sounds, Ryder could become US Champion on Sunday. That’s hard to believe but it’s realistic.

During the break, Christian speared Sheamus on the stage.

Here’s Cody in the ring. We get a clip from a few weeks ago with Orton taking Cross Rhodes and being bagged. He talks about being infected by the Viper’s blood and now let’s talk about Dusty. Dusty told Cody that people are inherently evil and after years of Orton holding Rhodes down, he got his release a few weeks ago by bagging Randy. Rhodes says this time he’s the one with everything going for him while Randy is just the same old guy with the same old tricks.

He calls out Orton and wants an admission from Randy, saying he was wrong about Cody. That brings out the Viper (I really hope some new fan isn’t reading this stuff because all the names might get confusing) who says Cody has cost him the title twice. The injury from the ring bell will pale in comparison to what he has planned on Sunday. Randy wants a preview but the baggers distract Randy long enough for Cody to take over. Cody gets backdropped to the floor and a bagger gets the elevated DDT. Another bagger makes the save but gets his head stomped into the steps. The one that got the DDT takes an RKO as well.

Black Sin Cara has a Blue mask on and that’s next. Seriously, that isn’t the main event? From what I can find, it was taped last and aired at this time instead. That’s pretty logical.

Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara

This is a regular mask but the loser has to unmask. To avoid confusion, I’ll be calling them blue and black. Blue gets a BIG ovation and is clearly fired up to be here. There’s a big Mistico chant to start things off. Cole explains the story which makes sense, although I don’t think many people outside of America care. Black is sent to the floor and there’s a big dive off the top to the floor.

Another one in the ring gets two. Blue tries to speed things up but messes up a springboard move, getting caught in the ribs by a dropkick instead. Black is sent to the floor and we take a break. Back with a backbreake getting two on Blue. Black takes it to the mat and hooks the leg in a submission and then into a booed camel clutch. After some more time on the match, Blue fights back for just a few seconds before going back down again.

Black goes after the mask but Blue fights him off. Black hits a Jeff Hardy slingshot dropkick to Blue in the corner but a charge misses and both guys are down. Blue busts out some of his high flying stuff and I think we get an edit but I’m not sure. A pair of rollups get four which isn’t three. Black hits a Samoan Drop for two. They go up and Blue snaps off a rana from the top for no cover. Blue hits the Swanton for only two. They hit the ropes and Blue busts out his old finishing move, La Mistica, to end this at 10:34 shown of 14:04.

Rating: C+. This was WAY better than their PPV match which might have been due to it being their hometown crowd or something like that, but either way this was a far better match than the other one. Blue can now move onto something better, perhaps a shot at Ziggler or Rhodes or something (the face thing would fit pretty well) while Hunico will probably be gone.

Post match Black tries to leave but Blue beats him up and takes the mask to a big reaction.

Brodus Clay is still coming.

Beth and Natalya are in the ring and Beth talks about how much more dominant they are. We get some clips of the beatings on Kelly and that submission is called Pinup Strong. As for Eve…she’s going to cut off their music because that’s how it works in wrestling. She says the evil ones are ugly on the inside and she’s not a Barbie Doll. They can’t break her and they think Eve should cry. They shove each other a little and Beth might have fallen out of her top. This might be the weakest build I’ve ever seen.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show

I wonder if the car angle will be brought up. Del Rio can’t do anything to start as Show hammers away in the corner. Del Rio gets choked and sent to the floor but he clotheslines Show on the top rope…but then gets chopped down with ease as we take a break. Back with the champ kicking away at the leg but that fails too. Alberto manages to drive the steps into Show’s knees to take over for what must have been a good 4 seconds.

A clothesline puts Del Rio down as this has been one sided the entire time so far. Show hooks what looks like a cobra clutch before dropping a leg for two. Alberto FINALLY wakes up and fires off a ton of kicks to a huge face reaction. They combine to get him a count of one before Show catches a kick and gets fired up again. The champ escapes the chokeslam and hits a chopblock.

There’s the cross armbreaker but Show is facing the mat to take away a lot of the pressure. It’s more like a LeBell Lock minus the crossface at this point. Show does the British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels short arm scissors counter to break it and is promptly booed. Show sets for the chokeslam but Ricardo jumps on him for the DQ at 8:40 shown of 12:10.

Rating: C. Not bad here but I’d question having the world champion get dominated like this. This match would have been a good place for someone like Christian. It’s a big enough match and I can understand why you don’t want to have Show lose before his title match, but you’re also making Del Rio look pretty weak going into his own title match. Show being a Giant makes that a bit less annoying though.

Mark Henry runs in post match and is DROPPED by the right hand from Big Show. He was on his feet in the ring for maybe a second and a half. Remember what I was saying about making your champion look weak?

Quick aside: if Show can knock someone out cold with a single punch, why would he do all that stuff like clubbing them in the back or trying to chokeslam them? Pop off one punch and win in like 12 seconds.

Overall Rating: B-. This was much better than last week but it still wasn’t all that great. One thing Smackdown has going for it right now and that it almost always has had is that it keeps things simple. It’s the best thing that they do as they don’t have anything complicated going on or anything that doesn’t make sense after you think about it for the span of 5 minutes. Also more than one ten minute match is a nice thing to see. As for Vengeance, not bad on the build but the show doesn’t need to exist and there’s no way around that.

Results
Mark Henry b. John Morrison – World’s Strongest Slam
Wade Barrett b. Daniel Bryan – Wasteland
Sheamus/Zack Ryder b. Christian/Dolph Ziggler – Brogue Kick to Ziggler
Sin Cara b. Sin Cara – La Mistica
Big Show b. Alberto Del Rio via disqualification when Ricardo Rodriguez interfered

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 20, 2011
Location: Impact Wrestling Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the show after Bound For Glory and a few things have changed. First and foremost, Hogan is a face now, having turned after a year of being the top heel in the company. Also we have the same world champion in the form of Angle who was hurt going into the match and for some reason they didn’t put the title on Roode….uh….because he wasn’t ready or something? Clearly that’s their new policy on new champions and won’t be changed at all tonight right? Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the last year leading up to Hogan’s face turn at BFG.

Here’s Sting to open the show as we hear about how much of a betrayal it was for Bischoff’s son to turn on him. Sting is sane again. He talks about how this was about getting Hogan back instead of staying with what we had for the last year. He calls out Hogan because the fans want to see him and here’s the old bald dude himself, now in yellow and red.

Hogan and Sting hug because 15 years of feuding can be solved by one match or something. Hogan admits he’s been wrong and thanks the fans. He’s had a few rough years and he became a follower instead of a leader. He’s been following Bischoff’s lead instead of leading things and now he realizes how wrong Eric was. Hulk takes the blame himself and says it wasn’t Eric’s fault. Heaven forbid we have a heel come off looking evil I guess.

He talks about how he saw Immortal as a pack of wolves and saw the light to make the save. So he had a soul changing moment all of a sudden? Well that’s an explanation at least. Hogan calls Sting the true icon and shakes his hand a bunch before leaving. Sting says Hogan still has it and then calls out Dixie Carter, who still has her own theme song on standby.

After a break Dixie is in the ring to thank Sting. Sting says it’s a day to remember and to celebrate. He also mentions that Dixie wouldn’t listen to him 18 months ago and she got burned because of it. However, it’s all cool because he loves it here and Dixie is going to look out for the fans and this is her second chance. Dixie apologizes to Sting about Hogan and Bischoff. She says she doesn’t belong in the ring and needs to be at headquarters. Because of that, she’s giving Sting the day-to-day authority in Impact Wrestling. So Sting is the new GM? That could work. Sting accepts.

They hug in the ring but a 20 minute segment isn’t long enough. Here’s Kurt who somehow still has the title. For the life of me I don’t get this company at times. After another break Angle calls them superheroes and blames Dixie for his own heel turn. Angle says he’s still champion but Sting is always talking about Bobby Roode. At BFG he made Roode look like a loser and he’s the better man.

That brings out Roode who yells at Angle because of the shaky finish to the title match. He blames Kurt for cheating at the PPV and saying it was bull. That was Roode’s night and he messed it up. If you believe the internet, it was Hogan that messed it up but who’s counting? The fans chant rematch and Sting likes that idea. Sting makes the rematch but Angle plays the Lee Corso card with a not so fast my friend.

The contract says Angle had to face Roode once and only once so there’s no rematch tonight. Angle wants to know what Roode’s partner’s catchphrase is and that brings out James Storm. After break #3, Storm is in the ring and wants a title shot as well. Angle screwed the company, the fans and Roode at the PPV. That means Angle screwed Storm as well and that doesn’t work. Sting however can fix that. Since the fans want a title match tonight, maybe Storm should get one. Angle cuts him off, saying there are ten guys in front of him. That’s very true. Sting makes the match anyway because logic means nothing in TNA.

Time of that very long segment: 40 minutes.

We jump to the back and Eric and Immortal come up to Hogan. Eric calls back the dogs and says they want something to go down in the ring tonight. Eric wants to meet Hogan in the ring tonight, one on one.

During the break, something occurs to me: didn’t Sting say that the REAL Hogan was the one that wanted to take over TNA last summer? Now the REAL Hogan is the good guy? I don’t think we’re supposed to remember that.

Knockout Tag Titles: Winter/Angelina Love vs. Tara/Brooke Tessmacher

Winter and Angelina break up Tessmacher’s shirt tear and the double team is on. We officially start with Angelina vs. Tessmacher. Tessmacher is messed up because of the beatdown and the challengers both beat her down. After a few minutes of beating, Angelina misses a middle rope crossbody and it’s a double tag to Winter and Tara. Spinning side slam gets two. Everything breaks down and Tessmacher gets the pin on Winter with a top rope crossbody at 3:40.

Rating: C. This was fine, mainly due to large implants flying around and them keeping things short. Tessmacher still can’t do much in the ring but she’s improved a lot. She’d still be better at just being a sex object but most of the girls would be other than like two of them. This was nothing to see but for a quick Knockout tag, this wasn’t too bad.

Here are the Jarretts and Jeff calls out Hardy. For the sake of sanity, Jeff Jarrett will be called Jeff and Jeff Hardy will be called Hardy. Jeff talks about how Hardy has screwed up before and he’ll do it again. He says Hardy can leave tonight or he has to face Jeff. I’ll give Jeff this: he’s always ready to fight. Hardy says the fans want him here and it eats Jeff up. He’ll never light up a crowd like Hardy can and that brings about the brawl. They do the pull apart stuff like they did at the PPV. Agents come out and D’Lo Brown and Al Snow get into an argument for no apparent reason. Jeff gets in a low blow and Hardy is left laying.

Angle says he’ll keep the title tonight because he’s Kurt Angle.

We get some stills of Bischoff beating up his son on Sunday.

Eric Young wants to do a calendar photo shoot but Robbie E and Rob Terry come up. Has this been mentioned in months? Eric makes fun of Big Rob, calling him Conan the Barbarian. He calls himself a fighting champion and I begin to laugh. Eric says Robbie E can have a title shot and we’re told that Ronnie from Jersey Shore will be coming here. Oh good grief.

Abyss vs. Gunner

Gunner says that Immortal needs to prove they’re still on top so he’s fighting Abyss for Immortal tonight. Brawl to start and Gunner tries to run. Out to the floor and Gunner goes into the steps. They go back in and Gunner runs away for a countout at 1:50.

Velvet is going to thank the fans next.

Gunner says Immortal needs Abyss back and sounds scared of Abyss. Eric and company say they’re not worried. They’ll take care of Hogan first though.

We get a video about Velvet overcoming the odds because she was bullied as a kid. I don’t know what high school you went to, but girls that looked like her who were jocks weren’t bullied.

Velvet is in the ring now and holds up the belt, saying how awesome it is to finally be champion. She talks about the bullying thing again but says it was all worth it in the end. This brings out Karen and Traci and Karen yells a lot. She says she’s the Knockouts Boss and it would be boring if she just fired them both. Karen calls out security to get rid of Traci and it’s just the two of them left. She gets in Velvet’s face and threatens to strip her of the title but Jeff told her that wouldn’t be very fun. Karen wants the putting in her place to be physical.

She says she knows the perfect person to do it and says Velvet needs eyes in the back of her head. Since Velvet is a face and therefore an idiot, Madison Rayne comes out to the stage and Velvet looks at her as Gail Kim returns through the crowd and beats up Velvet. They both beat Velvet down and stand tall.

More clips from BFG.

Here’s Immortal and Bischoff will be doing the talking. He says that he’ll deal with his son later and calls out Hogan. Hogan’s music is playing before Bischoff is done talking. Eric says he’s got a lot to say so hopefully Hogan packed a lunch. He wants to know how Hogan can dare turn on these guys after they protected him for 18 months. We’ll ignore the storyline issues with that for the sake of sanity. Eric talks about how he’s the man that made Hogan who he is today. Well that’s true. Hogan is a much weaker star today than he was in the 80s.

The real problem though is that Hogan got in Bischoff’s son’s ear and stopped Eric’s son from becoming like his father. Hogan says that he’s learned a lot in the past few days and part of that is that Bischoff’s son is more of a man than Bischoff. Immortal is at ringside and Bischoff tries to hit Hogan. That fails so Hogan points at him. Here’s Immortal but they don’t attatck him. Sting slides in with a pair of ball bats and Immortal (all three of them) run.

Bischoff backs up the ramp but his son is behind him. He says how dare you Hogan but backs into his son. Eric yells at him and the son calls him a disgrace. He rips his son’s shirt open and reveals a Bischoff tattoo on his chest. Eric says his son doesn’t deserve that name anymore and gets drilled for it. He gives Hulk and Sting a thumbs up. So…what’s the payoff to this? I mean, how can this go anywhere since he’s not a wrestler and neither is his dad?

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. James Storm

The bell is ringing at 10:55 so this is going to be short. Angle pounds him down in the corner but brags too much. He walks into a superkick and Storm is champion at 1:20. Well they can’t make it much more definitive than that.

Roode comes out to celebrate and is quickly followed by the rest of Fourtune. Storm goes into the crowd to celebrate.

Storm comes back for the celebration and says this is great. He hands Roode the belt because it belongs to him. Roode takes it and wraps it around Storm’s waist. Fourtune stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t into this show. There was way too much talking, but I can understand wanting to focus on storylines a lot. That’s fine, but with a huge twist at the end the show felt like one big angle instead of a TV show. I can live with that once in awhile, but if it becomes the norm this show is in trouble. Anyway, things have certainly changed, although I have a lot of questions about a lot of things, and that’s not really a good thing. As for the title change, as usual with TNA: I think I like the end results but I’m not wild about how they got there.

Results
Tara/Brooke Tessmacher b. Angelina Love/Winter – Top rope crossbody to Winter
Abyss b. Gunner via countout
James Storm b. Kurt Angle – Superkick

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Bound For Glory 2011
Date: October 16, 2011
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the major show of the year for TNA and I can’t say I’m as excited about it as I was for last year’s. It should be good though as we have two major main events. Now that’s part of the problem: one of them is Sting vs. Hogan. They couldn’t have a good match 14 years ago so what are you expecting from them here? Other than that the rest of the show looks pretty solid. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about exactly what you would expect: a highlight package with everything leading up to the double main event.

The dark match was the tag title match with Mexican America retaining. Well at least the title didn’t change hands on a dark match. To be fair it was streamed free on the website so anyone could see it.

X-Division Title: Brian Kendrick vs. Austin Aries

I’m not sure if I’d have gone with a rematch for Kendrick so soon after Aries too the title from him. They have the garage door style lifting wall for the guys to come through. The fans are way behind Aries here. The crowd looks good here. They fight over a wristlock to start as we get a good feel for the crowd here with the loud Austin Aries chant. Tazz talks about how this crowd isn’t like most and that’s an understatement.

Things speed up a bit as they hit the mat. Aries goes to the floor so Kendrick is like PORKCHOP and dives onto him in a huge spot. Back in Kendrick gets caught in an STO and Aries loads up the Pendulum Elbow which blows the roof off the place. Kendrick counters and hammers away but the fans are all over Brian since this is the ultimate smark town. This could become a problem tonight.

They try what looks to be a rollup but Kendrick falls to the floor. Aries hits a HUGE suicide dive to fire the crowd up even more if that’s possible. Back in Aries tries the brainbuster but Kendrick knees his way out of it. They go up on the ropes but Aries talks to the crowd too much and gets caught in a top rope Sliced Bread for two as Aries grabs the ropes. They head to the apron and Kendrick tries it out there again but gets dropped onto the apron and then the floor. That and the brainbuster in the ring gives Aries the clean pin at 10:27.

Rating: B-. Can’t complain much here band this was what I was expecting for the opener. You can’t ask for much more than a cruiserweight match to start things off, but I’m hoping the show stays hot throughout the rest of the match. The right idea is to have things like this for later on in the show when you need to fire the crowd back up, but in Philly I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Keep that in mind: all rules about crowds are thrown out the window tonight.

The Knockouts are with some kids in the back and Karen comes in and she’s not happy. Oh ok they’re Kurt’s kids. The kids leave and Karen freaks out as always. Karen is refereeing the Knockouts match tonight. That means Madison wins tonight. Traci has to stay in the ring unless Karen is in danger.

We recap RVD vs. Lynn which is over Jerry being jealous or something. It’s Full Metal Mayhem which means TLC with pins. Can’t argue with putting this match on in Philly.

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam

Technical stuff to start but they’ve probably got a lot of time. There are only 8 minutes on this card and I can’t imagine that Hogan vs. Sting will break ten minutes. Rob takes over early and tries Rolling Thunder but Lynn pops up with a kick to the face. Tornado DDT is countered but the suplex is as well. The psychology here is solid and we hit a stalemate. They try a cross body over the top and that doesn’t work right, drawing half boos/half silence from the crowd.

We’re on the floor now and Van Dam tries a moonsault off the apron but misses and might have hurt his knee. Lynn brings in a ladder but Rob sends him in and gets a chair. He takes too long though and Jerry hits a baseball slide to send it into the face of Van Dam. Van Dam gets a spinning cross body onto Lynn onto the chair for two. The surfboard dropkick with the chair in the corner gets no cover. Rob does however get a ladder so the crowd is pleased.

The fans chant ECW and the ladder is splashed with Lynn under it for two. The fans never stay silent for long in this city. It’s something I wish you could hear in more cities too. Rob does a springboard moonsault over Lynn which appeared to be intentional. No idea what the point of that was other than to have Lynn hit him with the chair to take over. Lynn misses a senton backsplash onto the ladder and Van Dam takes over again.

Van Daminator misses so Lynn pelts the chair at him. Lynn gets a German for tow and Lynn is down more from it than Rob is. Lynn gets suplexed onto a ladder which is a lot more effective, so I guess American > Germany. Lionsault onto the ladder gets two for Rob. Rob tries one of his rolling moves but Jerry jumps off the middle rope and they collide at the same time. Lynn goes to the floor to get another ladder and I have the same question as Tazz: how many ladders do you need?

The second ladder is put up against the railing and Lynn tries a sunset bomb, resulting in Rob’s head slamming into the railing. FREAKING OW MAN!!! Lynn has a big bump under his eye. Van Daminator gets two. Rob sets up the Van Terminator with a ladder over Lynn’s face and it’s enough for the pin at 13:16. So Lynn can get up from a Van Daminator after two seconds but he can’t move after about 30 seconds of sitting in the corner?

Rating: B. Good match but it’s going to be overrated because it’s Lynn vs. Van Dam. This was more about the weapons and the violence than the whole psychology which was the standard of their old matches. The fans were of course into it because these guys used to be huge in ECW like 10 years ago. It was entertaining though and that’s the point of these matches.

They hug afterwards, meaning I guess it’s cool to cost Van Dam a title shot. I guess he doesn’t seem to mind or whatever.

We recap the triple threat which is all about getting the world title shot or something. It’s the first I’ve heard of that but they’re talking about it which is the right idea. Joe went crazy and hurt Crimson once Joe was mathematically eliminated from the BFG Series so Morgan went after him for being a bully. Hence the triple threat.

Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan vs. Crimson

New music for Crimson. I’m not digging it. Joe tries to get both guys to fight each other but they beat him up instead. Joe is wearing red and blue tights while the others are both in white. Morgan’s continue to be way too small for him. Crimson hits the floor against his wishes and Joe takes down Morgan with ease. Crimson tries to steal a pin off a Morgan side slam but just gets one.

The non-Samoans are sent to the floor so Joe tries a huge suicide elbow. Morgan steps to the side so Crimson takes all of it. As Crimson gets up and brawls with Joe, Morgan goes up and dives onto Crimson from the top. Not a good few seconds for the red one there. Back in Crimson suplexes Joe and Morgan tries to steal the pin. We’re into the triple threat formula here and that’s all fine and good.

The non-Samoans slug it out and Morgan takes him down, only for Joe to trip him up and pull him to the floor. Crimson’s leg injury is fine by the way, despite him having it on Impact. Joe loads up the MuscleBuster on Crimson but Morgan comes in to break it up. I’ve never gotten that. Why wouldn’t he let Joe take Crimson out? Anyway Crimson sends Morgan to the floor and Crimson hits the spear on Joe for the pin at 7:15.

Rating: C. Not much here and this was something you could have seen on any Impact. To be fair though, there was no real heat on this match as it was all about pride or whatever. I mean, we have to have the TV Champion fighting Scott Baio in his underwear so we can’t have the TV out there. It’s TNA though so titles mean less and less all the time other than the world title. This was probably going to be the weakest match on the card and it was certainly watchable.

Ray says he needs no introduction and talks about himself anyway. He buries Philadelphia, talking about how he’s never liked it here and he’s used the idiot fans for years to get where he is. This was really needed because Ray would have been the crowd favorite otherwise.

Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

Anderson charges the ring and we start fast. Remember that this is a falls count anywhere match. Anderson tries to control early but Ray kicks his head off and puts Anderson down. Is there a reason why Anderson wears his shirt in his matches anymore? Ray chops him haRD in the corner (not good enough for all caps but decent) as Anderson’s hair is uh….weird. Anderson goes to the floor and takes a sign which has to be loaded. Yep there’s a metal sign in there and Ray goes down in a heap. Dead end sign and it goes over Ray’s head again.

They fight on the floor and a fan throws a beer on Ray. Anderson gets two on the floor and they go up the ramp. Anderson is infinately more entertaining when you let him stop wrestling. Ray reverses a suplex on the stage for two. Ray grabs the mic and talks about New York but Anderson beats him down and says this is Philadelphia. They head into the back and Ray hits a piledriver onto the concrete for two. Anderson gets choked with a red chair.

Back into the arena and they’re near the Spanish announce area. That has to be a copyrighted brawling area. Anderson takes part of the railing away and slides it into the ring but Ray beats him down and sets up a table. There’s another set up on the floor as well. Ray gets backdropped onto the railing and it’s bent.

Anderson goes up and misses the swanton onto the railing, allowing Ray to hit the Bubba Bomb (why is it not the Bully Bomb?) for two. I thought that was the ending. Anderson gets in a trashcan shot and loads Ray up onto the table on the floor. He goes up and channels his inner Jeff Hardy. There’s the huge Swanton BUT THE TABLE DIDN’T BREAK! FREAKING OW MAN!!! A Mic Check onto the table finally ends this at 14:28.

Rating: C+. This is one of those matches that was fun to watch. It wasn’t technically good or anything but if you’re expecting it to be you’re totally missing the point. This was a fun weapons match, although I kind of question having two of them on the same show like they did with Lynn and Van Dam. Decent match here and rather entertaining.

Bischoff is talking to a referee and says it’s a big night. It’s implied that the referee is in Immortal’s pocket. Eric says Hogan has to win and Sting has to be taken out for good. It’s revealed that Jackson James, the referee, is the son of Bischoff. This is treated as a shock by the announcers.

Knockouts Title: Winter vs. Velvet Sky vs. Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne

Karen is referee and Winter is champion. The crowd is WAY into Velvet. Winter is in a coat of some kind and Angelina is in a pink corset. Karen looks good in her referee stuff and Madison gives her the tiara. They have to tag here and it’s Winter vs. Mickie to start. Winter controls early but Mickie snaps off the slick rana in the corner and a neckbreaker puts Winter on the floor.

Madison comes in sans tag and tries to slap Mickie or throw something in her face but it doesn’t work. They’re playing up the Karen factor a lot here as the fix is in or something like that. Mickie goes to the floor and Velvet comes in. I guess it’s lucha tag rules. Velvet hits a bulldog but Karen ties her shoes instead of counting. Velvet and Mickie have to fight but shake hands first.

Both get rollups but Karen won’t count for either of them. The fans are all over this in a hurry. They slug it out for a bit with no real purpose because Karen isn’t going to count. Winter and Madison pull them to the floor and that’s a tag in a way I guess. Madison is in there finally and make that all four are in now. The good girls take over and the fans aren’t going to stick with this much longer.

Mickie vs. Winter at the moment but Mickie won’t cover because there’s no point to it. She beats Winter down but argues with Karen, allowing Angelina to give Winter blood. It gets loaded up but Mickie ducks, sending the blood into Karen’s eyes. I typed that before it happened. There’s the jumping DDT and here’s Traci. Things totally break down and Velvet hits the double underhook X Factor to win the title at 8:45.

Rating: D+. They wanted Velvet winning to be a huge moment and it just wasn’t. There was so much going on here and most of it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before so this wasn’t much to see. Winter’s second reign was about as worthless as her first but at least there’s the title reign for Velvet which has taken forever to get to. Not the big moment they were looking for though.

Kaz doesn’t know who to cheer for in the I Quit match but he hopes Daniels sees the light after it’s over.

We recap Daniels vs. Styles #4895 which is about Daniels being way too excited about beating him on a fluke and turning heel on him, setting up an I Quit match.

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

It sounds like new music for both guys. AJ has another new remix. This is I Quit. There’s also no pyro for anyone tonight so far. The guys have the mic here and it’s a brawl to start. Daniels is asking if it’s over about 30 seconds in with a choke on AJ. AJ hooks a bridging Indian Deathlock and Daniels says no. We’re in that place in the match where they’re trying for fast submissions but no one believes it’s happening yet.

AJ hits his leapfrog/drop/dropkick spot and we head to the floor. AJ hits a flip dive and both guys are down. They find a tool box and Daniels tries to stab AJ with a screwdriver. The maiming attempt fails and they fight to the apron where they botch some kind of a suplex move. The screwdriver is stuck in the buckle. AJ has pink on his tights for breast cancer awareness month. Nothing wrong with that.

AJ still won’t quit so Daniels busts out the BME to AJ while he’s on his knees, making it more like Shadows Over Hell (Delirious move). Off to a half crab and of course AJ doesn’t quit. A spin kick is blocked and Daniels gets a backbreaker. There’s no eyeliner on Daniels either which is a weird look. He’s in tights instead of shorts too. It’s chair time and Chris sits down on it with the bar over AJ’s throat. Styles is bleeding over the top of the head, right around his hairline.

Daniels says everything AJ has in TNA will belong to him and he never wanted to hear AJ say I qu….”oh no I’m not saying it.” The fans chant for him to shut up and Daniels lets up for some reason. He looks into the camera and talks to Wendy (AJ’s wife) and says take the kids out of the room because they shouldn’t see their father murdered. Yeah this isn’t overkill at all.

AJ gets fired up and hits the backflip reverse DDT. Styles Clash fails and Daniels misses the BME. He shouts DIE AJ but runs into the Pele and the Clash. So….how does this make Daniels say he quits? AJ picks up the chair but grabs the screwdriver instead. And Daniels quits to avoid the pain ala JBL vs. Cena in 05. He quit at 13:52.

Rating: C. I’m not a fan of these matches because the ending is either the heel giving up after being hurt for a few seconds or giving up before something big happening. I wasn’t into this and the fans weren’t really either. I think they were going for a big ending and emotional moment but it never got to the level they were hoping for.

As AJ is leaving, Daniels jumps him and plants him with Angel’s Wings on the ramp, meaning this is going to continue.

We recap the final two matches on the card but here’s Jeff Jarrett.

He yells about Jeff Hardy and says no one here wants anything to do with Hardy. The fans chant for Hardy as Jarrett buries the city. He calls out Hardy and here he is with new music. They brawl with Hardy only saying a few words and it’s a brawl. This isn’t a match. Security comes out to break it up but Hardy gets free for a bit as happens in most brawls. That happens with both guys more than once. The agents come in and we get a D’lo chant. Hardy is left in the ring and poses to his music.

We recap Hogan vs. Sting. I’m shocked this isn’t the main event. The recap covers like a year and a half which is all about Hogan stealing the company from Dixie and Sting trying to get the control back for Dixie because it’s her’s.

Now the announcers talk about the match and how big it is.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting

This is a “fight” remember, so Hogan is in an Impact Wrestling shirt and black tights. Dixie Carter is in the audience. If Hogan loses, Sting and Dixie get control of the company. Sting is in his Hogan shirt again. Jackson James, Bischoff’s son, is the referee. Before anything of note happens, Hogan waves out someone and it’s Flair. Dixie isn’t happy. And they lock up. We get a headlock in this “fight”.

Hogan Hulks Up and there goes the bandana. Sting throws off the Hogan shirt too. The fans sound into it so points for that. Hogan puts on a neck crank and we look at Dixie again. It’s in a rest hold so no complaints there. Hogan keeps crotch chopping. All Hogan so far with him sending Sting to the floor so Flair can pound away a bit with chops and a low blow.

All Hulk still as he hammers away on Sting on the floor. There’s some kind of object given to Hogan by Flair and Hulk pounds away with it. Sting is busted and Hogan struts and WOOs. Sting fires back and Hogan is in trouble. He keeps going to the floor to chase Flair and this time gets the object from him. Flair tries to warn Hulk but he can’t get away in time. Hulk is busted.

There’s the splash and down goes Flair. Hogan takes another splash and Hogan is down in the middle of the ring. Here’s the Scorpion and Sting gets it on full. He sits down on it and Hogan taps out right in front of the referee…..and he rings the bell for the submission at 9:49. The fans are not happy….like at all.

Rating: D+. The ending hurt it a lot but the fans were WAY into this. Tis is a fine example of a match where the match wasn’t the important part. However, there was nothing important to see here and the ending didn’t work at all for the most part. Keeping it short was good but Eric’s son wound up meaning almost nothing at all.

Immortal runs out for the beatdown with the chairs and Abyss is watching from behind the stage. Eric sets for a chair shot but his son takes the chair away. Down goes the son and Hulk is getting up. For no apparent reason Hulk turns face and beats up Immortal. Hogan and Sting clean house and Flair takes the brunt of the beating. Bischoff is cowering in the corner.

Hogan and Sting go back to back and stare each other down. They don’t shake hands but Hogan beats up Bischoff. This makes absolutely NO SENSE but the fans are more into it than anything ever in TNA. Hogan says he’s back and kicks Bischoff out of the ring. Hogan and Sting stare it down again and Sting wants Hogan to pose. They play to the crowd and that’s about it.

We recap Roode vs. Angle and I think you know the drill here.

TNA World Title: Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

It’s 10:36 when the bell rings so they have about 20 minutes or so, barring them going right up to the hour. They head to the floor for a few seconds and Angle kicks him low on the way back in. Angle is coming in with a legit hamstring injury. They go to the mat and Angle works on a gutwrench. The fans are all behidn Roode. The American hits a German on the Canadian and make it three of them, getting a two count.

Kurt sets for the moonsault but Roode suplexes him off and Kurt lands on his head. The fans went SILENT after that. Kurt seems to be ok as they slug it out. Roode hits a forearm and some clotheslines to take over. Blockbuster hits for what looked to be three but they’ll call it two. Belly to belly gets two for the champ as does a DDT. Angle Slam is countered into the spinebuster (no pop at all for it) for two.

Angle does the run up the rope suplex for two. They’re really just using signature stuff here instead of a longer match. Roode grabs the Crossface out of nowhere and Kurt can’t reach a rope. Angle teases tapping but he grabs the ankle to escape the hold. Now Roode is in the submission and teases tapping but reverses right back into the Crossface in the middle of the ring. Angle reverses again and is put in the hold on the other arm this time. Kurt rolls through into the Slam for two.

Back to the ankle but Roode kicks him off and hits the spinebuster to still not much of a reaction. The crowd just does not care after the Hogan vs. Sting stuff. Fisherman’s suplex gets two. The dueling chants start up and Kurt hooks the ankle again. Angle Slam is countered into an armdrag as the fans are starting to get into this a bit. Angle gets the referee in between them and kicks Roode low. There’s another Slam and it only gets two again.

Time for more rolling Germans but Roode reverses into the Crossface again, this time on the left arm which is the one that I think it’s been on more often than the right one. Roode’s face is really bad when he’s got these holds on. Kurt’s arm is under the ropes so the hold is broken. Spear gets two for Angle. I’m so over the move I can’t stand it anymore. Angle goes up for something but jumps into the Crossface. Kurt escapes and tries the Slam but Roode tries the Fisherman’s into another Slam and Kurt grabs the rope….for the pin at 14:20. Oh….oh no they can’t be doing this. Roode’s arm was under the ropes too.

Rating: C. The ending cripples this. It wasn’t a classic before that but the ending hurt it more than I can comprehend. The match was so based on having finishers escaped and kicked out of and all that stuff which was the vast majority of the match. Not horrible but man, that ending is actually standing and it’s over. That CRIPPLED things.

Overall Rating: B+. The ending to this show brings it way down. I mean WAY down. There isn’t a truly bad match on the whole card but there isn’t a classic either. Still, it’s a very good show and worth checking out, but the ending to the main event hurt this like nothing else. There was zero point to having Angle go over there and he was helped out by the trainer post match so maybe he was legit hurt. I’m in awe over that ending. The rest of the show was solid though and Hogan’s illogical heel turn is fun stuff. Worth seeing, but prepared to roll your eyes at the main event.

Results
Austin Aries b. Brian Kendrick – Brainbuster
Rob Van Dam b. Jerry Lynn – Van Terminator
Crimson b. Samoa Joe and Matt Morgan – Spear to Joe
Mr. Anderson b. Bully Ray – Mic Check through a table
Velvet Sky b. Winter, Mickie James and Madison Rayne – Sitout facebuster to Rayne
AJ Styles b. Christopher Daniels – Daniels said he quit
Sting b. Hulk Hogan – Scorpion Deathlock
Kurt Angle b. Bobby Roode – Angle Slam

It’s the biggest TNA show of the year so I probably should have a thread about it.

My thoughts: I’m cautiously optimistic about the double main event because it should lead to the downfall of Immortal which has been needed for the last few months.  However, this is TNA we’re talking about so do you really expect them to get something this simple right?  I’m hoping for Roode over Angle, but that really does nothing for me.  It’ll be a good match, but it’s not something that brings to mind a classic when I think of it.  Roode feels like a tag wrestler who is hot right now.  This feels like it should be at Against All Odds, not BFG.

As for Hogan vs. Sting…..I’m not getting any hopes up.  It feels like it will be a total disaster.  Hogan has said he’s not taking any bumps in this and in this situation I think he’s telling the truth.  Other than that, I don’t know what to hope for here other than hopefully it’s VERY short.  This is going to be in Philadelphia and the fans are either going to love this or it’ll be as popular as a “no beer” sign on a Saturday night in the south.

Oh and the “no interference” thing in both mains is laughable.

Your thoughts/predictions for any part of the card?

Ring of Honor
Date: October 15, 2011
Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

It’s week four of this show and I believe the final episode in this batch of TV tapings. After this the show will be out of the Davis Arena in Louisville for a few weeks which is the home arena of OVW. I’m curious to see how they change things at the next batch of tapings but we have to go through with the original here still. Let’s get to it.

We open with a highlight package of last week’s world title match.

Here’s another video because this is a highlight show right? It’s about the Briscoes and how awesome they are and how much better they are than the All Night Express.

The All Night Express talk about how they’ve fought the Briscoes time after time and get closer to beating them every time.

Briscoe Brothers vs. All Night Express

This is for the #1 contendership. I have no idea which Briscoe is which but it’s Jay according to the announcers. Kenny King and Rhett Titus are the Express. King is the guy from Tough Enough 2. Kenny is sent to the floor quickly and it’s double beatdown time until Titus runs over for the save. This is a big feud with a bunch of hard hitting matches in it. Off to Titus who is getting double teamed now.

We’re into the heat segment here I guess as Titus gets beaten down for awhile. The Tweet of the Week talks about how this is wrestling, not sports entertainment. They head up to the corner where Titus is set for a superplex. He manages to counter into a Snake Eyes onto the buckle and it’s double hot tag. King cleans house with some decent flipping style moves. The Express hits a double team plancha, sending Titus over the top to take out the Briscoes.

A spinebuster by King sets up a double kneedrop off the top for two. A Briscoe hits a falcon arrow on King and the other hits a frog elbow for two. Titus and Mark fight over the announce table as Kenny gets kicked low and a small package by Jay is enough for the pin at 8:07.

Rating: C+. Decent match here but with the weeks of buildup I was expecting a little more than an eight minute match. The match was decent and the Briscoes are flashy enough to have something good going on, but their promos and gimmick gets annoying fast. Not bad here and a pretty entertaining match, but it needed more drama.

Post match the referee asks if Jay kicked him low and he says no. Titus gets up and is beaten down again as we go to a break.

After a break we establish that yes indeed, the clear low blow earlier was in fact a low blow.

Here’s a package on Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team because why have them wrestle a match when you can talk about how great they are? Both of them list off their amateur accomplishments and it takes up WAY too much time.

After a break, Jim Cornette says neither team is the #1 contenders, making that match totally pointless.

Time for Inside ROH which is about the House of Truth and the possibility of Edwards vs. Richards II. The idea here is that Martini is a manipulator and everyone other than his boys think that. Michael Elgin, the power guy of Martini’s House of Truth Martini says Martini is awesome.

Richards and Edwards say they’re hunters and beating the other will be that next achievement.

Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards

They grapple for a bit and then it’s time to strike each other a lot and no sell all of it! Elgin gets knocked down and then gets a delayed vertical suplex for two. Kelly said it felt like an eternity. It was really more like about 9 seconds but that’s an eternity of selling in this company so I guess that’s acceptable. Edwards snaps off a rana and goes to a half crab which is an Achilles hold according to him.

Lionsault gets two. And there goes the selling as Elgin grabs a spinebuster out of the corner for two as we take a break. Back with, and brace yourself for this, Edwards hammering away with forearms which don’t work as Elgin gets a side slam for two. Edwards fires off two superkicks and a suplex kind of move to put both guys down. Missile dropkick gets two.

Edwards hits a dive on the floor into the barricade and Kelly is overselling this way too strong. They start slugging it out and Kelly starts talking about the website. They actually CUT AWAY TO A GRAPHIC OF A WEB BROWSER TYPING THE WEBSITE’S NAME. I mean, we missed part of the match so we could see how to spell ROHwrestling. WOW. Elgin takes over and they go to the apron. Edwards hits his fourth superkick out there and a double stomp to take over.

Edwards tries his leg trap suplex but gets caught in a buckle bomb. That doesn’t work so well though. Not because it’s not a devastating move, which it was. However, Edwards was up and fine a few seconds later and hitting superkick #5. That lets him hit the Diehard (leg trap suplex which would be a lot more effective if it made sense as Elgin had to work with him to make it work) for the pin at 14:04.

Rating: C-. Not the worst match they’ve ever had but Edwards is more or less a Davey Richards clone with all of the strikes and the no selling and stuff like that. I don’t want to imagine a match betwee them but I think it’s been booked for the main event of the Final Battle show. Not much to see here.

Post match Roderick Strong comes out and gets in Edwards’ face. McGuinness gets in to make the save from the non-attack.

Overall Rating: C. Well it was a little better but at the same time there was nothing interesting here for the most part. It’s nice to see them actually having some stories, but we don’t need to have the 15 minutes of videos to establish these feuds through talking. A third match per show would do wonders for these guys to put it mildly. Not a horrible show but it’s the same uninspired stuff they’ve done for a month now.

Results
Briscoe Brothers b. All Night Express – Small Package
Eddie Edwards b. Michael Elgin – Diehard

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Smackdown
Date: October 14, 2011
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews

We have our main event set for the PPV and in short, this has to be better than Raw. I mean, I don’t think it’s possible for it to actually be worse. Expect one of the final two remaining pushes to go to the PPV and probably more of Cody vs. Orton. Also with this show, allegedly this is the second longest running episodic television show in history or something, so I’ll set the over/under on mentions of that at 7,000. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the events with Show and Henry last week and Show beating up the champ. He has his title shot at Vengeance.

Do you know your enemy? Mine is being told I have to be somewhere at the very last second. Very annoying.

Here’s Teddy to open the show. Johnny Ace comes out too despite having no power on this show. Teddy says that to celebrate tonight, we’re having the largest battle royal in WWE history. The winner will get a title shot at any champion of his choosing tonight on Smackdown.

Battle Royal

There are 41 people in this and I’m not going to bother listing everyone off. Basically if they’re on the active roster, they’re in this. Cody Rhodes is the first person out. I’m really only going to list off people’s names as they’re out and I’ll only list big names. There’s almost no room to move in the ring so it’s almost impossible to see anything or call it. Striker is in there. We’re about two minutes in and only a handful of people are out.

O’Neil and Bateman are gone as is Striker. Booker: “I really thought Striker could do something special in this.” Cole: “Booker you’re an idiot.” Josh: “Everybody in the ring is in Booker’s Fave Five.” We take a break and the ring has cleared out a little bit. Josh says there are 32 people left in this so it’s still bigger than most Rumbles. Regal is gone. I don’t see Big Show out there but I don’t think he was there in the first place.

Morrison goes out with no theatrics and Ziggler is out immediately thereafter. The title match has to be against Henry or Del Rio. Some of the ring has cleared out a bit now and you can see some of the mat. Blue Cara wasn’t in this either for some reason. An Uso is out and we have 27 left. Orton and Punk fight which sounds like a very boring feud at this point. DiBiase and Kidd are out.

After a break we see Bryan tossed. You can see most of the people still in the match at this poitn. Mason Ryan puts out Hawkins and Reks at almost the same time. Miz and Truth have worked together almost the whole time. There go Drew and Gabriel as well as Ryan to get us down to 19. Of all people, Primo is still in there until Punk kicks his head off. We get some minor eliminations (Santino and Riley) before Swagger manages to dump Kofi. Rider is out too and we have about 13 or so.

Otunga is done and so is the other Uso. Sheamus puts out Jackson and is the only one standing. A big old Brogue Kick eliminates Slater to get us down to ten. Black Cara is powerbombed out as Sheamus has put out like 5 in a row. Christian tries a spear but gets caught in a high cross. That doesn’t work and there goes Captain Charisma. Punk puts out Truth but Miz puts out Punk but Sheamus Brogue Kicks Miz to the apron.

Ok so we’re down to Miz, Barrett, Orton, Christian, Swagger and Mahal. As I typed that Christian put Sheamus out. Punk and Truth are brawling on the floor and Orton puts out Barrett and Swagger. Mahal takes and RKO and is gone but Miz sneaks in and almost puts Orton out. They’re the final two. Orton starts up his finishing sequence but both finishers are countered. They go to the apron and slug it out and Orton is sent into the post. He manages to grab an RKO on the apron and wins at 15:50 shown of 19:20. Orton hit also but Miz clearly hit first.

Rating: C. This was a battle royal with a lot of people in it. I know a a lot of people don’t rate them and I find it very hard to do as well. There wasn’t really anything bad here and nothing was all that great either if that makes sense. It’s just a battle royal for the most part and there isn’t anything else to say.

Orton of course picks Henry.

Del Rio and Rodriguez are leaving but Teddy pops up. They say they’re leaving because Henry is defending tonight. Teddy says not so fast because he has to face Sheamus. Non-title I’d assume.

Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly

Kelly goes nuts to start but gets caught in a backbreaker out of the screaming headscissors. They’re the Sisters of Salvation now. Tornado DDT gets two as Booker says Kelly makes few mistakes in the ring. No wonder Andy hasn’t done anything yet in WWE. Kelly misses a charge and the Glam Slam ends this clean at 1:51. Remember when no one could beat Kelly? I don’t either.

Sin Cara vs. Justin Gabriel

It’s the blue one but in the back the black one jumps him and takes the mask. The black one takes his mask off and puts the blue one on after saying it’s his. Cole explains the backstory of Cara vs. Cara and while it makes sense, I’m not sure how great of a storyline it’s going to be with blue not being able to speak English. Cara (black in blue’s mask) takes over and dropkicks a jumping Gabriel down for two. Justin goes up again but gets dropped one more time and the Swanton ends this at 1:34.

Air Boom is with Teddy and Evan can’t wrestle due to the powerbomb from Swagger. Vickie comes in and demands a tag title match tonight. Teddy says no and here’s Rider to a big pop. He volunteers to replace Bourne and Vickie calls him the Little Woo Woo Woo Boy. The match is made.

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio

Sheamus takes over early and hits the ten forearms to the chest. The fans are counting along with him now too. Alberto gets a shot in to the arm and let the psychology begin. The Codebreaker on the arm gets one. Sheamus fires back and I don’t think this is going to be very long. They’re moving way too fast for it to be a short one. There’s the Irish Curse backbreaker and that name is back on now. Sheamus goes up but Ricardo distracts the referee. Here’s Christian to shove Sheamus off the top and a kick to the head ends Sheamus at 3:55.

Rating: C. Not much here but while it lasted it was pretty good. They were in a rush and it hurt things but they were having a coherent match so it balances out pretty well. I think it’s better that they kept this short as these guys don’t seem like they would have had the best match in the world. This wasn’t bad but it was just kind of ok, which is primarily due to how fast they had to work.

Christian spears Sheamus post match. He gets up so Christian spears him again.

Vickie introduces her guys for the next match.

Kofi Kingston/Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger

Ryder’s music now starts with Woo Woo Woo You Know It. Ryder vs. Swagger to start us off. Off to Ziggler who has a bit more luck. So is it Ryan or Rider that is going to be the #1 contender for Ziggy? Kofi gets the hot tag very quickly and he hits a bunch of dropkicks to take over. He loads up Trouble in Paradise but Ziggler rolls to the floor. Why would you roll to the floor with a member of a team called Air Boom in the ring? Kofi hits a dive to both heels as we take a break.

Back with Kofi in trouble thanks to some commercial interference by Vickie. Kofi takes him down eventually and there’s the hot tag to Rider. They’re flying through this match. The Broski Boot gets two on Ziggler. Rider gets a knee to the face but can’t hit the Rough Rider. Off to the sleeper but Rider sends him into the post shoulder first. Swagger breaks up the tag but when the referee is getting him out, Kofi kicks Dolph’s head off and Rider gets another pin at 7:07 shown of 10:37.

Rating: C-. Where is this going? I mean, they’ve been going on with this thing for weeks now and we’re at the same place: the champs or some variation of them never lose to Swagger and Ziggler (fairly that is) and Rider keeps pinning Ziggler. When are we getting somewhere with this? The match wasn’t that great either.

Sheamus tells another Irish story about Christian and it’s something about a bull being bitten by a troll.

Video on Show vs. Henry.

Smackdown World title: Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton

Henry is in trouble early but just shoves Randy away. Orton gets sent into the railing and his shoulder goes into the post. Henry works on the neck and kind of the shoulder so I can’t complain about that. Orton fights back and Henry just runs him over. An elbow gets two and we take a break. Powerslam gets two when we’re back. A splash gets two. This is really boring so far. A Vader Bomb misses and Orton starts his comeback….and here’s Cody for the DQ at 7:05 shown of 10:35.

Rating: D. This felt like the main event of a weak house show. It just wasn’t interesting and it didn’t do anything at all. I really was bored by this and I didn’t see anything at all in it. Orton gets beaten up and then we have the required run in because that’s how house show matches end right? Bad main event.

Show comes out for the save and chokeslams Henry again to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This is by far the weakest Smackdown I’ve seen in months. I mean NOTHING interesting went down here. There’s a big battle royal and the top face wins it. Then the top face has a house show-style main event against a guy he was feuding with a few weeks ago. I have no idea what we gained on this show so just like with any other big milestone show, this was a disappointment.

Results
Randy Orton won a battle royal last eliminating The Miz
Beth Phoenix b. Kelly Kelly – Glam Slam
Sin Cara b. Justin Gabriel – Swanton Bomb
Alberto Del Rip b. Sheamus – Kick to the head
Kofi Kingston/Zack Rider b. Jack Swagger/Dolph Ziggler – Trouble in Paradise to Ziggler
Randy Orton b. Mark Henry via DQ when Cody Rhodes interfered

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 13, 2011
Location: Knoxville Civic Auditorium, Knoxville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the go home show for Bound For Glory and the card is mostly set I believe. The two big matches have been well built but I can’t say they have the same kind of pop as last year’s show did, at least not for me. I’d expect a final push to the show and a lot of work being done for the importance of how big this show is for TNA. Hogan vs. Sting should get roughly 7 segments. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video about the two main events as you would expect.

Hogan is here.

Angle opens the show and wants to talk to Roode one more time. He talks about how he had Roode fight Fourtune and Roode passed the test. Angle says he’s better than all of Fourtune and he’s the best ever, which he’s going to prove again at BFG. He offers a handshake but Roode grabs the mic again. Roode talks about having heart and says he wants a clean match. They shake hands and say no interference. The lack of hatred and everything being based on respect is really hurting this build for me.

Angle goes to leave but says that tonight it’s Roode vs. Gunner/Jarrett.

RVD, AJ, Daniels and Lynn are all brawling in the back.

The brawl is still going after a break and they’re out on the ramp now. There’s a bell. Ok so it’s a match.

AJ Styles/Rob Van Dam vs. Christopher Daniels/Jerry Lynn

It’s a big brawl to start as Rob is missing. Oh there he is. Things finally get down to Daniels vs. AJ but it’s off to Rob quickly. Rob gets beaten down by some double teaming. Daniels and Lynn have some decent chemistry for a random pairing. Hot tag brings in AJ and he cleans house. We go to the floor and it’s time to dive! AJ hits the springboard forearm back in and loads up the Clash but Daniels escapes. Lynn is back in and takes the Clash for the pin at 5:50.

Rating: C+. This was kind of a crazy match but I think that was the point with the way the match started. It’s a decent match and the dives were pretty good. I’m always a fan of combining two feuds like this as you can build them both fairly well at once and it saves some time for other stuff later. It’s an old booking idea but it works very well and it did so here.

Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan

Morgan is all fired up to start and hits a running knee to set up the corner elbows. Joe hammers away with his usual strikes but when he puts Morgan up top, Morgan jumps over him and rolls Joe up for the pin at 2:09. That came out of nowhere.

Post match Joe goes after Morgan’s leg and gets a hold on it until Crimson comes out with a chair to clear the ring. Joe yells about the two of them always ganging up on him. He suggests a three way at the PPV and the non Samoans say ok.

There’s a new Jeff Hardy DVD. I’ll keep quiet on that.

Here’s Mexican America who wants to have Ink Inc out here. The fans chant USA and the tattoo guys talk about the tattoo they gave Anarquia recently. Ink Inc tells them to get out and a brawl breaks out. Mexican America takes over so the tattoo chick from the tattoo parlor comes in for the save. The tag match is made post brawl.

Jesse Sorensen/Brian Kendrick vs. Austin Aries/Kid Kash

The good guys dive out onto the floor to get us going. Kash vs. Sorensen gets us going and Sorensen uses his speed stuff to get going. A McGillicutter gets two. The heels take over quickly and we’re waiting on the hot tag to Kendrick. Kash tries a springboard moonsault and is supposed to hit the knees but hits most of the move instead. There’s the hot tag to Kendrick who cleans a few rooms. He tries Sliced Bread on both heels at once which makes them fight. Sorensen goes into Kash and Aries gets the belt but Kendrick hits a superkick and Sliced Bread for the pin at 4:34.

Rating: C. Not a bad match but the opener did it better. The idea here was to set up the title match and give us a reason to think Kendrick can win. I don’t get the point in having Kash and Aries fight out there but they were trying something I guess. Not a horrible match but it was pretty generic.

Here are the four Knockouts in the title match on Sunday plus Angelina. Madison is brought out with Karen and Traci has to trail behind. Karen talks about how she got them the PPV match because no one else wanted them. She talks about how she’s better than they are and singles out Velvet. They yell a lot and then Traci helps shove Karen down. It’s brawl time and security pulls them apart.

Ray is the enforcer for Anderson vs. Steiner later and says don’t tick him off.

AJ rants about Daniels, saying he ruined the relationship their families have. AJ gets in his truck and says he’s ready for an I Quit match. He shuts the door to his truck and Daniels decks him, tying a cord around Styles’ throat. Daniels lets go saying he wants everyone to hear AJ quit on Sunday.

Scott Steiner vs. Mr. Anderson

Ray is the guest referee. Steiner goes straight at Anderson with the power and a belly to belly gets two. There are the elbows and it’s still all Steiner. Ray is talking trash since he’s very good at it. Anderson grabs a neckbreaker for two. Mic Check hits but he’s in the rope before the referee can raise his hand for one. Anderson takes out Ray but comes back in for a low blow with the referee looking at Steiner as if to say “oh come on” but it’s not a DQ. Here’s Abyss for no apparent reason with Ray’s chain. Steiner holds Anderson up and it hits Steiner but that’s not a DQ. It is however enough for a pin at 4:03.

Rating: D. Am I watching ECW or something? The referee wasn’t bumped or anything. He watched all that happen and was totally cool with all of it. I get that it’s to build to the Abyss face turn eventually but it still was pretty stupid overall. Was there any reason to not have this be a DQ win for Anderson? I mean it’s not like it changes the ending or anything.

Post match Ray yells at Abyss as Immortal runs out. Abyss gets tired of being yelled at so he grabs Ray by the throat. It’s time for the Immortal beatdown and Ray brings in a table. Anderson finally runs out for the save but Ray runs over him and the Bubba Bomb puts Anderson through the table.

Angle comes up to Storm and tries to bring him to the dark side. Storm says he’s talking to Bobby and that’s about it.

Jarrett and Gunner say nothing of note about Bobby.

We run down the BFG card, which looks pretty stacked.

Video on Bobby Roode who is on a roll. Angle talks about how he has the experience and no pressure on him.

Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Jarrett/Gunner

Roode grabs a chair but it gets taken away from him. He fights them off for a bit but the numbers catch up with him pretty quickly. Roode sets for the Blockbuster on Gunner but Jarrett makes the save and the beating continues. After a double suplex Jarrett and Gunner do the Beer Money taunt which ticks Roode off. There’s the Blockbuster to Jeff and Gunner is sent to the floor. Stroke is countered into the spinebuster and the crossface goes on both guys but gets the tap from Gunner at 3:58.

Rating: C. It’s juts a handicap match here and a way for Roode to look good. That’s fine but the whole respect thing isn’t doing much for me as far as the build for the match goes. Not a bad match but it doesn’t really tell us anything that we don’t already know. Not bad but it wasn’t too bad overally.

Immortal comes out for the beatdown and Storm’s save attempt fails. Angle comes out to beat on Roode too but before he can get a hand on him Jeff Hardy runs out for the save. Storm doesn’t like it and Roode isn’t sure if he should shake Jeff’s hand. Eventually he shakes it. Hardy goes to leave but Storm stops him. Storm raises Hardy’s arm and shakes his hand.

Jeff says he’s back. That’s Hardy by the way. Jarrett comes up and yells at Hardy over a lot of things. He says they’ve been friends for a long time and that Jeff is out of chances. Hardy says he’ll be at BFG.

With about 5 minutes left in the show, it’s time for the Hogan/Sting contract signing. Both are in Hogan shirts and Hulk doesn’t want to sign. Sting signs but Hogan isn’t on yet. Ok so he signs it. Hogan stands up and turns over the table. Sting’s yellow shoes are great. Hogan says he’s been watching Sting avoid Hogan for over thirty years. He talks about how Sting could have fought Hogan any time ever and finally gets him here. This is Hogan’s last match but it’s going to be a fight. You need a contract for a fight? Hogan swears no interference and keeps saying gut instead of got.

And here’s Bischoff with a rebuttal. He’s mad about Sting hurting him a few weeks ago and threatens Sting. Sting turns his back and Hogan pops him with a chair and hammers away in the corner. Sting is being choked out as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: B. This was an excellent go home show. Yeah I said it. I’ve made no secret about the fact that I’m less than thrilled with the choices for the double main event and think that Hogan and Sting need to go away instead of taking the main event picture up, but this show built up that and Kurt vs. Roode very well. The whole card got something and having the segments for the main events not really take up all of the show was a hue plus. The pacing was good here too and it made for a great build for BFG, which should be a good show. I’m stunned but this was the best TNA show I’ve seen in longer than I can remember.

Results
AJ Styles/Rob Van Dam b. Christopher Daniels/Jerry Lynn
Matt Morgan b. Samoa Joe – Rollup
Jesse Sorensen/Brian Kendrick b. Austin Aries/Kid Kash – Sliced Bread to Kendrick
Mr. Anderson b. Scott Steiner – Pin after Abyss hit Anderson with a chain
Bobby Roode b. Gunner/Jeff Jarrett – Crossface

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NXT
Date: October 12, 2011
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Jack Korpela, William Regal

It’s the second week of NXT on Wednesdays and I’m not exactly thrilled after last week’s boring show. It should be interesting to see how things go with no Darren Young for the next month or so due to him being wellnessed. Hopefully with the departure of all of the Pros that could mean we’re actually getting closer to the end of this show. Let’s get to it.

So if one of the rookies is Young, which one is wild?

Here are Bateman and Maxine to open the show. He sucks up to Vince and Johnny Ace for clearing up the catastrophe that was coming down to NXT. Bateman says that the opinions of himself and Maxine are the only ones that matter and makes fun of the hometown Cowboys. As a Cowboys fan……I don’t really care enough about Bateman to be upset about it.

Maxine talks a bit but is cut off by Titus and Percy. Percy talks about there being two rookies left so I guess Young is just being dropped? Bateman and Maxine run their mouths and kiss a bit which makes Percy freak out. O’Neil actually mentions the competition and says he should be on Raw or Smackdown. He’s right you know. Maxine implies she wants a match but here’s Striker who says he has match making abilities. It’s Watson vs. Bateman later and right now it’s AJ vs. Maxine.

AJ vs. Maxine

I think these are the only two girls on this show. This is joined in progress after a commercial with Maxine taking over with a choke for two. The fact of the week about Maxine: her cousin is a champion hula hooper from Bangkok and also grows prize turnips and also is an amateur credit mangler (not sure if that last part is right or not).

Maxine is totally dominant and goes from a dragon sleeper to a freaky looking chinlock. Literally all Maxine so far as the fans are into this. Either that or they’ve gotten really good at piping in noise on NXT. AJ finally gets in a shot and goes up for a cross body for one. After a bit more scrapping, a Shining Wizard beats Maxine at 5:00.

Rating: D. How could a match with women as attractive as AJ and Maxine that involves bending and twisting be so boring? There was nothing to see here which is at least partially because we’ve seen it so many times now. The girls are trying but there’s nothing to see here, especially with all of the stories they had going being forgotten now and things boiling down to they don’t like each other.

We talk about the tag match last week with Hawkins/Reks vs. the Usos.

Hawkins and Reks talk about how great they are and how they don’t need a family to get them here like the Usos do.

Long recap of Raw and all the stuff that went down on the night of a thousand stories.

Usos vs. Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks

Hawkins starts with let’s call him Jey. The crowd is a lot quieter for this than for the girls. The twins control early and drop double headbutts on Hawkins for no cover as it’s off to Reks. Remember when Reks actually was on a Survivor Series team and a Bragging Rights team? That feels like it was so long ago. Back to Hawkins who gets beaten on even more, this time taking a two count off a Demolition Decapitator move. Hawkins is sent to the floor and Jey dives over the top to crush him. Jimmy does the same as we take a break.

Back with heel double teaming taking Jimmy down and it’s off to Reks. We hear about the tag division coming back up and that’s true for once. Know how they did it? They made teams. Why is that such a hard concept? You have a huge roster so why not throw some teams together? The double teaming goes on for a very long time as the match has totally changed after the break.

Regal goes on a small rant about Hawkins and Reks not being underutilized because it’s their job to get noticed, not someone else to give it to them. I like that idea that you have to have your own initiative to get into the thick of things like that. Reks puts on something like a Tazmission as Regal talks about how the mice are all throwing themselves onto mousetraps because his mother in law is coming.

Jimmy manages to send both of them to the floor and the fans wake up to an extent. There’s your hot tag to Jey and we get a Rikishi reference which might be the making a difference line. Jey hits the running hip strike to the head of Hawkins which is an Umaga move but they keep calling it a Rikishi one. Jey comes off the top rope but is caught in a powerslam for two. I thought that was it. Reks and Jey exchange missed finishers and a double superkick sets up a double Superfly splash for the pin on Reks at 12:20.

Rating: C. This had its moments but the heel beatdown segment was pretty long and dull. I wasn’t totally bored and the ending was a much better segment than the rest of it. I like that double splash and it’s cool to see the faces get some redemption (Oh I get it now) here. Good little match but if they cut out about two minutes it would have been much better.

Percy Watson vs. Derrick Bateman

Regal thinks Maxine is looking at him. Watson is so much better as a serious guy than the goofy one he was in Season 2. He takes over with his speed and power stuff but goes up to the middle rope and gets dropkicked in the back for two. Regal isn’t happy with the weak cover by Bateman. Now why can’t more commentators channel their inner Monsoon like that?

A whip into the corner gets two and it’s off to a body vice. We get the dreaded Jacob Novak reference and this show automatically drops a few notches. Watson fights back and a cross body gets two. Bateman takes over again and Regal is going into his third sage advice talk of the night. Abdominal stretch goes on by Bateman and we hear about Bateman getting his hands on a copy of John Cena’s workout strategy. Ok then.

Watson escapes and Regal praises Cena for a bit. Elbow misses for Derrick and we’re running very low on time so this is going to have to end soon. Watson hammers away and hits one of those dropkicks that is just a bit off for some reason. It always is. The spinning splash gets two. Bateman grabs a release gordbuster for two (with Regal talking about Arn a bit) but the falling bulldog is countered, allowing Watson to hit a fireman’s carry into a pancake for the pin at 7:00.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but it kind of came and went. Watson is so much better now that it’s not even funny. He needed to play things straight and that’s what he’s doing here. It works so much better for him this way and I could see him being a lower midcard guy on the main rosters. As for Bateman….just let us look at Maxine.

Overall Rating: C-. Pretty boring show tonight although the wrestling wasn’t bad. As is the custom around here, when they talk about the competition and have the rookies out there, the show goes downhill in a hurry. With Young gone though, at least we’re getting closer to having the end of the season. I guess the Redemption Points aren’t going to mean anything at all for the whole 30+ weeks this has been on are they? Weak show tonight but not horrible.

Results
AJ b. Maxine – Shining Wizard
Usos b. Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks – Double Superfly Splash to Reks
Percy Watson b. Derrick Bateman – Fireman’s carry into a pancake

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 10, 2011
Location: Chesapeake Energy Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

This should be an interesting show as it’s after the walk out and we may only have about six guys (conveniently enough the top faces on the roster) and HHH to run things. There’s talk of something called a solidarity rally which I guess is their take on the Wall Street protests, which I’m sure will be laughed at because people complaining about business is bad right Vinny Mac? Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the walk out last week and I think it was the same one on Smackdown.

And we have no commentators. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

I guess he got the cameramen to agree with him as we go to the back and no one is there. HHH comes out of his office and looks around. He comes to the ring (with music) and talks about how everyone walked out last week. They walked out on the fans, not him. There’s a solidarity rally going on out back and they’re all in gear. HHH makes a good point by making fun of them for saying the show is too tough. They really do sound whiny out there with this argument.

He asks the fans if he should step down and he says no. HHH talks about how he’s never been a quitter and goes on a short rant about how he’ll never quit. He says he’ll wrestle a broomstick for two hours (Flair reference) and says it might give him a better match than some of those guys. There will be a show tonight, somehow.

Cue Cena who didn’t walk out last week. He’s very serious tonight and says there’s a reason he wasn’t walking out last week. Every person that walked out has personally asked him to join in the walk out. HHH never asked him to stay. HHH is the first boss for a lot of those guys so Cena runs down his bosses: Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, Vickie Guerrero, 56 guest hosts, a talking computer and Mike Adamle (“Now that was a real unsafe working environment.”) HHH is his boss and he’s staying.

Cena is staying because he loves the insanity. His loyalty is to the fans and when he wears the word loyalty on his shirt he means it. No matter what, he’s staying on Monday Night Raw. Cue Sheamus who talks about beating HHH up a year or so ago. He was young and trying to make a name for himself. Sheamus says that after that he got the worst beating of his life from HHH and he respects HHH for it. As corny as it sounds, that fits for Sheamus.

As for the big white dude, he’s not going anywhere because he didn’t come thousands of miles to be in a parking lot. Cue Punk with a mic. He says he can’t help but feel sorry….oh screw it yes he did start the whole thing. He made walking out look cool but now it looks stupid. Punk did it to prove a point and he had a great reason to do that. He talks about how someone doesn’t want him to be WWE Champion. Punk talks about how this is the place where differences between men are settled in a ring. This is professional wrestling, not ballet.

He talks about how he’ll deal with people personally (Calling Sheamus Shame-O and Cena the big boyscout). Punk asks the million dollar question: what do we do now? HHH says we do what we do on Raw: we shut up and fight. Tonight it’s Sheamus vs. John Cena. Since HHH is in something resembling stripes he’ll referee. Punk will be on commentary on his own and he can even wear HHH’s blazer. The look on Punk’s face cracked me up. Punk also has to ring the bell and wants double pay.

John Cena vs. Sheamus

They start with some basic back and forth stuff and we go to a fast commercial. Back with Sheamus countering the AA into a suplex for two……AND VINCE IS BACK! We saw all of 45 seconds of the match.

Vince asks the guys to leave so he can talk to HHH on his own. The fans chant you got fired. The guys not named HHH go to the back and Vince talks about how they’re all standing up for what they believe in. He mentions the Wall Street protests and actually doesn’t make fun of them. He’s on HHH’s side in this. Vince talks about how there are people that sympathize on both sides and some of the people that are on the walkers side is the board of directors.

The board isn’t sure what’s coming from this and it could mean anything up to the cancellation of anything from house shows to Raw to Wrestlemania. HHH is relieved of his duties. Neither him nor Vince nor any McMahon will be running Raw. The board is looking for a GM who is ethical. There will however be an interim GM and that’s Johnny Ace. Oh dear.

After a break, Ace brings in the guys again. Morrison of all people talks to him and tells Morrison he absolutely sucks. Morrison has to have a match right now against an unspecified opponent. Christian sucks up to Ace and for some reason is put into the match with Morrison. Ok then.

JR and the King come out for commentary. And so does Cole.

John Morrison vs. Christian

Christian has Ziggler, Rhodes and Swagger with them. Both guys are in street clothes. This is a nothing match for the most part as they hit each other a lot and then Ziggler distracts Morrison so that a spear can end this at 1:12.

All three other heels hit their finishers on Morrison post match. Swagger’s music plays them out. Odd choice.

Alberto vs. Punk (non-title) tonight.

Henry vs. Orton, also non-title later.

Wait. The five guys from the last segment were in street clothes. Didn’t HHH say everyone was in their gear? Consistency people.

Post break Ace is on the phone with his wife and HHH comes in. HHH stares him down and Ace tries to talk his way out of trouble. He talks about how he’s a company guy and was appointed just like HHH was. HHH threatens him and leaves.

Henry is in the ring and talks about Big Show. We get a video of Show vs. Henry including Henry getting beaten up on Friday. Show vs. Henry is official for Vengeance. Henry says Vengeance will be his. Orton’s voice comes over the speakers and says Vengeance will be his.

Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton

This is joined in progress after a break. Henry is overpowering Orton and JR calls him the Calculating Colossus. Oh dude….just no. A powerslam gets two but Henry misses an Earthquake drop and Orton takes over. A clothesline takes Henry down clean. Now that’s a high powered clothesline. Elevated DDT hits and here’s Cody Rhodes. He gets sent to the floor and Orton walks into the Slam. Orton escapes and hits the RKO but Cody runs in again for the DQ at 3:24 shown.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what you want me to say here as there wasn’t anything to this. Rhodes vs. Orton is a feud that hasn’t happened in full yet and now Rhodes is ready enough for it. Also getting Orton out of the title picture is probably a very good thing. Also it means the Cell ended a feud which is a good thing. Nothing to complain about here.

Post match Orton tries an RKO on Rhodes but gets shoved into the Slam. Henry leaves and Rhodes gives Orton CrossRhodes and bags him. Rhodes talks about cutting the head off the viper and asks if Randy wants a receipt with his paper bag and then laughs maniacally. Best laugh since DiBiase?

Rosa Mendes/Tamina vs. Eve Torres/Kelly Kelly

Kelly is all intense to start and she and Rosa botch the handspring elbow almost immediately with Rosa walking into the ring for the collision for some reason. Off to Tamina who gets beaten down by the weakest punches ever. Off to Eve and the fans go silent. Everything breaks down and Eve hits the moonsault for the pin at 2:14. This was one of the worst matches I’ve ever seen. I mean it was BAD.

Johnny Ace comes out during Eve and Kelly’s celebration and they leave. He talks about doing the ethical thing and asks JR to come into the ring. Ace fires him for being a hick ingrate. JR tips his hat and leaves immediately. Cole is elated.

Mason Ryan/Air Boom vs. Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger/David Otunga

Bourne vs. Ziggler to start but Kofi is drawn in by the magnetic power of Dolph. Dolph is sent to the floor so Ryan throws him back in only for Kofi to clothesline him back out. A dive by Bourne takes him down also and we go to a break with a standoff. Bad match so far for the US Champ. Back with Kofi reversing Swagger and bringing in Ryan. Ryan uses his assortment of forearms and it’s back to Kofi.

Otunga comes in and slams Kofi a few times so it’s back to Dolph for a SWEET dropkick. Everything breaks down and Bourne gets caught in a HUGE powerbomb by Swags. Ryan picks up Ziggler and does the way too complex and long spinning release Rock Bottom for the pin at 8:30.

Rating: C-. I just couldn’t get into this at all. I really hope they don’t just bypass Ryder as the #1 contender for the US title because he’s big and muscled. Anyway, this was a match that was just ok but Ryan and Otunga added nothing to it at all. Pretty boring overall and I didn’t get into it.

Brodus Clay is still coming.

Time to waste some time on the trailer for John Cena’s newest movie which has a limited engagement next weekend. It’s an action comedy where Cena is a private investigator to get an inheritance.

Del Rio vs. Cena for the title at Vengeance.

Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk

This is non-title. They start off with a feeling out process until Punk pounds Del Rio down onto the floor. Del Rio takes over for a bit and they do a bunch of nothing for awhile. After about four minutes, here’s Johnny Ace to stop the match. It’s now a tag match with these two vs. Awesome Truth who are reinstated.

Awesome Truth vs. Alberto Del Rio/The Miz

Miz and Truth do another remix onto the ring. This is in progress after a break. Del Rio fights off both of the other two heels and it’s off to Punk. This is one of those boring matches where they mess around a bit as we’re waiting for the ending to get here already. Alberto fights them both off again and tags in Punk before limping up the crowd with the help of Ricardo.

Ok so now it’s a handicap match. Miz and Truth are really boring when they’re in control. Punk fights them off for awhile and even manages to hit the Macho elbow on Miz. He calls for the GTS on Miz…and then it’s a double beatdown leading to a double DQ at 8:00. The fans audibly and correctly groaned at that ending.

Rating: D. Whatever here man. This was nothing and I could barely pay attention to it at the end. The ending was the worst thing they could have done to it and they did it anyway. Bad match and I have no idea where this is going, although in this case I don’t particluarly care, which isn’t good.

HHH comes out for the save and they beat on Awesome Truth until they run.

Ace makes Punk/Truth vs. Awesome Truth for Vengeance.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not sure what I thought of this show. You certainly can’t say nothing happened though. It had some twists and turns and not a lot of wrestling. Ace as the GM is probably the most logical thing at the moment…..somehow…..but that doesn’t make him any more interesting. I guess we put the Big Bad reveal on hold a little while longer as I’m starting to agree that this has no idea where it’s going. It’s like they tried to reset the whole thing tonight and while I think I can see the ending to this coming, it’s not getting here any faster and that’s not good.

Results
John Cena vs. Sheamus went to a no contest
Christian b. John Morrison – Spear
Randy Orton b. Mark Henry via DQ when Cody Rhodes interfered
Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres b. Rosa Mendes/Tamina – Moonsault to Mendes
Air Boom/Mason Ryan b. Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger/David Otunga – Spinning release Rock Bottom to Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk went to a no contest
CM Punk/Alberto Del Rio b. Awesome Truth via DQ when Awesome Truth double teamed Punk