Pro Wrestling Ponderings

Everyone needs to listen to tomorrow’s podcast. Why? Kevin Ford and I will have two, that’s right, TWO HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS.  We’ll also discuss some late-breaking news taking place in the world of professional wrestling as well tomorrow. So be sure to listen in sometime this weekend

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ECW July 28, 2009

Match #1.Tyler Reks vs. Paul Burchill (w/Katie Lee)

-As of late, I haven’t really been digging Reks. I don’t know why, but I just don’t like him. I figured he would of been future endeavored by now. Anyways, this was a decent opener. I was expecting ECW to start with a Christian in-ring promo, since he won the ECW Title at Night of Champions. Reks continues to not impress me honestly, but this was probably his best match in ECW so far. Tyler wins the match with a springboard missile dropkick.

Winner: Tyler Reks (via pin at 3:55) **

Match #2. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jobber #845 (Bill Baine)

-So Kozlov goes from main eventing Smackdown, to main eventing ECW, to now being a mid-carder on ECW. Some career for the Moscow Mauler. Kozlov throws around the jobber around the ring for a little bit before hitting The Iron Curtain for the 1..2..3. Typical squash match. Afterwards, Ezekiel Jackson comes out and has a stare down with Kozlov before hitting the jobber with his uranage-like finisher. So who would be the face in the Kozlov/Jackson feud

Winner: Vladimir Kozlov (via pin at 1:18) 1/2*

-Backstage, Tommy Dreamer is in ECW GM Tiffany’s office thanking her for something. After he leaves, Shelton Benjamin comes in and requests to be on the Abraham Washington show. Who would wanna be on that show? Tiffany states Benjamin isn’t entertaining enough. Hurricane Helms walks in needing to ask Tiffany a question, and Benjamin leaves saying maybe he has to dress as a superhero to be entertaining. Benjamin as a superhero huh? Nah can’t see it.

Match #3. Goldust vs. Sheamus

-This is a strange match, but I bet Sheamus is happy he’s not facing jobbers anymore. I actually forgot Goldust was on the ECW roster. I just don’t think he fits on ECW, he’s more of a Raw guy in my opinion. I’m just glad they didn’t put Goldust in the ECW title picture right away. Anyways, this was a good match. Some could say this was Sheamus’ breakout match on ECW, but I wouldn’t. I will say this was probably his best match on ECW so far. Sheamus wins after hitting a modified Urninagi into a backbreaker for the three count. Unlike most veterans, Goldust does the job to this youngster.

Winner: Sheamus (via pin at 5:05) **1/4

-After commercial, the new ECW Champion Christian comes out to a huge ovation. Christian poses for a bit and grabs the microphone. Christian states winning the ECW title the second time is better then winning it the first. During his promo, Tommy Dreamer comes out. Dreamer congratulates Christian on his win, and says next week he’ll get his rematch for the belt. But this time, it will be an extreme rules match. Wow, when was the last time there was an extreme rules match on ECW. I know, its shocking. Zack Ryder comes out and tells Christian to worry about this week rather than next week. WOO WOO WOO, YOU KNOW IT! We head to break before the start of the match

Match #4. Non-Title: Christian(c) vs. Zack Ryder

-This was an awesome match honestly. I know, it’s hard to believe that Zack “Woo Woo Woo” Ryder can have a great match, but he did right here. Now this is a breakout match for Ryder. Ryder proved here he can be a main event player….least on ECW. Some great spots in the match, including a superplex from Ryder on Christian, and Christian hitting a springboard dive to the outside on Ryder. Christian wins after nailing Ryder with his finisher The Killswitch Engage. This match was better than 7 of the 8 matches that took place at Night of Champions.

Winner: Christian (via pin at 14:00 shown) ***1/2

Overall Thoughts: Awesome main event with Ryder really proving himself. I could now see Ryder maybe holding the ECW title for a few months in the future. So if you haven’t seen this match yet, I suggest trying to find it online and watch it because its a great match and probably the best WWE tv match for the month of July. WOO WOO WOO, YOU KNOW IT! I’ll see you all for my Impact report.

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You might think lists are cliche and boring. I think they’re a way of doing an easy column when it’s the dog days of summer, and I want to not be inside writing this column. Hey, I love my readers and this side, but Chicago doesn’t get a great deal of nice days. I have to take advantage while I can. So alas, I’m providing my list of the top ten wrestlers entertaining me right now.

10. KENTA

If he was wrestling in the states, this individual might be number one. As it is, I’ve only seen a limited amount of matches from him. His match with Davey Richards is the best match ROH has produced this year. His match with Nigel McGuinness was very good given the context, and he was in a tremendous tag team match in NOAH shortly after the death of Misawa. KENTA’s entertainment value is all in his workrate, which makes him unique to this list.

9. The Colony

Even with the sad departure of Worker Ant, this group has been featured in two of the matches I’ve loved most in 2009. Soldier Ant and Fire Ant are the specific portion of the group I’m including on this list, but I can only imagine what Green and Carpenter Ant can add to one of the best babyface groups in CHIKARA and professional wrestling overall. They are one of the top contenders for the Campeonatos de Parejas, and I’ve enjoyed them so darn much since watching CHIKARA. These guys were actually one of the first groups I noticed back at King of Trios 2008. While the idea of a bunch of guys dressing up as ants might be absurd (Okay, it is.), it fits in perfectly with what CHIKARA is all about. No way would The Colony fit in with ROH or most of the other independent companies in the States, but instead of being generic pale white jobbers, the masks and names give them distinct characters.

8. Kenny Omega

His outings in Ring of Honor haven’t exactly been the best, but everything he touches in PWG  turns to gold. And not a golden shower either. His match with El Generico at Express Written was one of the best mid-card matches I’ve seen in quite some time. His duo with Chuck Taylor has been nothing short of brilliance. I think he’s much better off in PWG because wackiness is far more accepted there as opposed to whatever Ring of Honor is trying to be. If nothing else, Omega has found himself in the middle of the title picture and could possibly have a singles match with Austin Aries before the year is done. He’s basically a new face in major independent wrestling, and while his match quality had varied, he’s at least something very different compared to some of the other individuals you’ll see on an average DVD.

7. Bryan Danielson

If I had done this list in 2007 and 2008, I can almost assure you that American Dragon would have been in the top five. While he’s still one of the best wrestlers in the world, you just get the sense that Danielson is taking it easy and moreso having fun. I’m not accusing him of tanking it by any means or not giving people their money’s worth. It’s just this is a guy who’s seemingly done it all in indepdent wrestling. What else could he possibly have to do? The positive for us as fans is he’s still been in quite a few four star tag team matches. The six main event of Night 2 of King of Trios is just one example. His 45 minute draw with Black as his partner against the Wolves is another. His most unique match of the year candidate took place at DDT4 against The Young Bucks. It wasn’t an exchange of finishers but rather one of the all-time greatest beatdowns you’ll ever see. Even though the Bucks won, they most certainly earned it as Danielson and fellow Hybrid Dolphin Roderick Strong destroyed these young Christian boys.

Danielson did the job in that match just as he tapped out in the finals of King of Trios. He also put over Tyler Black in an excellent match that took place on ROH on HDNet. Danielson is still one of the best in the world and has shown himself to be willing to put younger stars over. He is the very definition of a PROFESSIONAL wrestler, and for that reason will always be one of the best wrestlers in the world.

6 F.I.S.T

Of course, the biggest reason these guys are on this list is because of their match against The Colony. But their work at King of Trios is also a huge reason they’re featured here. They are the best heel group in the business today because they don’t act like cool heels. They act like the biggest douches in the world. They bully people around. They scream with fans. Why? Because they don’t like anyone. They’re the guys in high school who would take your lunch money and stuff you in the locker. The best part is they’d do this with a smile in the face.

Akuma is now in one of the more intruging angles of the year as CHIKARA is about to enter a major feud with Dragon Gate. Akuma also had a great little match with Shadow Phoenix. Chuck Taylor was a part of the big mask vs. hair match, but he’s also on this list for his work in PWG. I guess if I were to rank the F.I.S.T guys, Taylor would be at the top since his PWG work is also included. He and Omega have formed what could quite possibly be the most awesome tag team in the history of wrestling, The Men of Low Moral Fiber. Taylor had a fantastic match with El Generico at “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies” in addition to being in two excellent DDT4 tournament matches. I have absolutely loved Taylor in particular, but Akuma and Icarus have also been excellent compliments in CHIKARA.

5. C.M. Punk

The heel turn that began at Extreme Rules only enhances his value to this list. Of course I have an intense bias toward C.M. Punk. It only makes sense that he’s on the list. Thanks to two months of great promos and really riding the fence between heel and face up until Night of Champions led him to this list. This is a guy who’s been a highly consistent performer on Smackdown since the draft. He’s had some awesome television matches with John Morrison while having two consecutive quality matches on Pay-Per-View with Jeff Hardy. Seeing as how he’s on the brand more suited to letting younger guys excel, Punk should continue to have a solid 2009. If only WWE would stop jobbing him out and just him have the world heavyweight championship for an extended period of time.

4. The Young Bucks

Of course the best tag team of 2009 finds their way on this list. Matt and Nick have brightened up more than one company. Their home company is PWG, where they have been the tag team champions since August of 2008. They’ve had a number of four star matches there with the Machine Guns, Hybrid Dolphins, and even The Men of Low Moral Fiber. In Ring of Honor, they’ve actually been shining lights on some bland HDnet television shows despite the fact they’ve wrestled in two squash matches. They also got to wrestle for CHIKARA and wowed the crowd in two different tag team matches. Nick Jackson was also in the best match of the weekend, but you might have forgotten all about him since it was basically the Generico vs. Kota show. Then there’s Dragon Gate USA.

In the most aniticipated show of the calender year, the Bucks scored a major upset over Dragon Gate icon CIMA and his partner, Yokusuka. They then got on the microphone and said they were the tag team of the present… not the future. They certainly are, and they might be the best tag team in professional wrestling very shortly, if they aren’t already.

3. Davey Richards

Richards is part of a tag team as well and has been one half of the ROH tag team title holders back since April. Eddie Edwards isn’t nearly good enough to be on this list, but Richards has been the MVP of 2009. Not only has been in multiple matches of the years, but his heel persona has only enhanced his value to any company he wrestles for. He’s primarily been in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerilla having these great matches. What has made Richards so special is his ability to have great one-on-one matches with guys like KENTA and Tyler Black while also having amazing tag team matches with Kevin Steen and El Generico. That series alone has been a shining light in a rather ho-hum year for Ring of Honor. As a side note, Richards has actually been the Full Impact Pro championship belt, but since their DVDs aren’t being released for whatever reason, this really is just a side note.

If Richards continues to improve and develop, there’s no reason he can’t be the Ring of Honor or PWG world champion in 2010. What there can be no doubt about is he’s going to be one of the biggest names in indepedent wrestling going into the next decade.

2. Austin Aries

There is a fine line between number one and two. So fine that either one of the top two could easily be at the top of the list. So I guess the only thing to is explain the difference. I was as cynical as anyone about Aries turning himself heel. I didn’t see any conceivable way for this to possibly work. Little did I know. Aries changed his gear, changed his hair, and sleazed himself up big time. He’s become Joey Ryan except much better. His in ring work has not been as good, but I attribute that to an overall style change within Ring of Honor. Aries has been an individual that’s become one of the best promos in the sport today. In what I consider to be a major historical note, Aries is also the first two time ROH World Heavyweight Champion in the company’s illustrious two year history. His promo after about his grandmother and tooting his own horn was nothing short of brilliant.

I’ve been a huge Austin Aries fan since even before  I started liking ROH. There was just something about this guy that I even enjoyed in TNA. His evolution as a character has been quite awesome, and I’m excited to see how his title reign goes and if he indeed loses to Tyler Black. Also, is Aries the answer to some of ROH’s financial issues?  If not for these questions, I’d have most certainly ranked him number one.

1. Chris Jericho

What made the Rey Mysterio/Chris Jericho just a little bit more special? Yes, all of the matches were very good or match of the year candidates, but what made the feud was the ability of Chris Jericho on the microphone. His promos are clearly on another planet from everyone else’s in the “WWE Universe.” They don’t sound canned. They don’t sound like a guy reciting lines. They sounds like the honest views of a man who feels he’s been wronged by the fans and WWE management. His ability to cut promos must be enhanced with the use of the thesaurus considering some of the words he’s brought out of mothballs. Or he’s been watching some Nick Bockwinkel tapes.

Jericho is the best part of WWE as evidenced by the fact that he’s holding the Unifed Tag Team titles and appearing on both RAW and Smackdown on a regular basis. I wondered aloud why he would even bother coming back to wrestling, but now I wonder why he isn’t a world champion. His comeback has been more than justified, and I firmly believe that for however long he remains in WWE, he’ll be the MVP.

So there’s my list. Agree? Disagree? Why not leave a comment? Or e-mail me at jcusson07@gmail.com. If I get enough e-mails, I’ll consider doing a mailbag.

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Kevin Ford and Jerome Cusson are back this week to discuss Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor weekend. We discuss why these shows weren’t all that great. We move on to some WWE discussion and why Night of Champions was also fairly mediocre. Kevin then talks about being at RAW and missing the infamous birthday cake fight. They end the show with a preview of both CHIKARA and PWG’s upcoming shows. Give the show a listen since all of your favorite companies are talked about (Well, not TNA but who could possibly have them as their favorite?)

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ROH on HD net 07/25/2009 review

Hey again folks another review of ROH on HD net.  As we heard on Monday, this show will end up on Monday either right before or right after Monday Night Raw.  Whether or not this affects the number of viewers, I can only predict and hope that ROH will do what many of us have clamored for and that is increase the work rate of these tv matches and start plugging their merchandise more as what good is a tv show if it doesn’t entice the viewers to buy merchandise.

So on to our first match.

Grizzly Redwood & Necro Butcher against Jimmy Rave & Ernie Osiris

Man what an underwhelming match.  The participants aren’t really all that great and really don’t provide any sizzle to make me want to even watch this match.  I can’t say that what it is about Rave or Butcher as they normally get me pretty excited but in this type of match with two guys who really don’t do anything for me, I have to say this is a lackluster opener.   Ernie Osiris is such a chickens hit and while I know this is the point of his character alone is just too ridiculous.    Rave back in the Embassy has really not evolved.  Yes he was gone for a time in TNA but I would have liked to see some evolution in his character.  All he looks like again is a glorified mid carder when back in the day we actually had a reason to care about him.  The “die Jimmy die” chants are almost akin to Xpac heat, and that isn’t good at all.  I will say in defense of the match, the psychology is basic and utilized at least but still no one cares about Necro vs.  Jimmy Rave and thus really doesn’t help this match in any what way.   Tornado DDT by Redwood on Ernie gives his team the win and honestly I can’t say that this match really did anything for me, on top of it getting the  “slap the porpoise” award makes this one of the most lack luster matches I’ve seen in a while.

Aries keeps getting better and better.  Great stuff really as he discusses Black/Danielson III as he tells Durden to step off.    We also get a plug for the Dark City Fight Club.  We go into a womens tag match which I actually assume will be better than the opener.

Shimmer Champion MsChif & Sara Del Rey vs.  Daisy Haze & Nevaeh

Thank god we don’t have to listen to Nevaeh speak but I won’t take away from any of their abilities as it would seem we are semi getting the code of honor upheld.  I would have to say that this is definitely better than the opening tag match as the women are definitely working their tail off.  It always intrigues me to see Bryce in ROH, but that notwithstanding.   We also see the mist again and I will say I enjoy seeing almost any usage of anything from Great Muta.  Sara Del Rey and MsChif get the win and honestly it should be no other way as we are starting to see Del Rey demand a title match for the belt that she carried with so much pride.

Nigel McGuinness is back with more to say.  Definitely still placing himself in the title picture and holding himself at a higher standard while I will say cutting some of the best promos for Danielson/Black matches than even the two participants.

Sweet another Art of Wrestling with Double C…no not Claudio..I’m talking Double C and Double B Boom Boom Colt Cabana.  Great stuff as we see some merchandise plugging and honestly this is what they need more of on their show.  Though  taking it a tad more seriously would be nice.  Ironically the other Double C alongside the Embassy comes to interrupt the show.  Brent in for the save but honestly as long as they don’t let Brent speak then we’re ok.  More seriously plugs for the ROH store would be nice.

Eddie Kingston back again to chase after Hero.  This is going to be great when they show this on TV.  We do see a backstage scuffle but this will be a damn good feud to showcase on tv.  Poor Sal Rinauro being a casualty of war though damn good try, twice.

Recap of the history of one of the better feuds between Black and Danielson.  These two stallions are definitely top contenders and honestly I would like to see Danielson a tad more serious about his ROH career.  I haven’t really seen a whole lot out of him lately that makes me want to take him seriously.  I don’t agree that he should just be in the title pictures because of his status.  ROH was, and should be, about wins and losses.  Danielson is getting the wins for sure, but his drive seems to have dropped a bit and I would like to see him take this a tad more serious.  Especially because of the history between him and Aries as they have a storied feud and Danielson being able to tie it up by becoming the second two-time ROH champion would be awesome.

Tyler Black on the other hand is still a helluva talent, but I am not so sure that with the way he’s been losing time after time for the belt that he’s really showing us everything he could be.  But here is the main event and it is going to be awesome for sure.

It was definitely the best part of the this show from my perspective as these two really had a great almost 30 minute classic again.   We had the  future desperately trying to secure a win over who came before him because in their last two encounters he was unable to get that final one two three.  Tyler Black has the skills and tonight I do believe that he showed them in full force.  After both men seemed like they could go no more Black hit the Gods last Gift aka Small Package Driver and finally beat American Dragon Bryan Danielson.

Overall this show was not good with two tag matches in the beginning that really did nothing.  But I would say that the main event was well worth seeing.  No to say that you have to put on spectacular matches all the time but ROH still needs to give out a product that people can sink their teeth into and tonight didn’t quite do that.  But the main event still drew me in and hopefully those who saw it stay long enough to see Tyler Black finally get over that hump and show that possibly he deserves another shot at the ROH world championship.

Also here is the latest ROH video wire… seriously this is one of the best

ROH 07/29/2009 video wire

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HHH

MVP

Jack Swagger

Mark Henry

John Cena

Why not put them in a 5-man Elimination match? To see which one of them deserves it most? Either way, Jericho is out, and good LORD is he short compared to Shaq. He gets off on the wrong foot with Shaq, bringing up Kobe Bryant, so Shaq kisses him and calls him Christina. PYSCHE OOOOOOOOUT! Then he ruffles his hair. This is just really entertaining. Shaq knows how to play a role, and Jericho is… well, Jericho. And Jericho doesn’t like this one bit, but he’s not going to leave. No, he’s going to bring out his Tag Team partner… THE BIG SHOW! Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes. This is going to be a damn great stand off. Show thinks Shaq has more chances of hitting two free throws in a row than intimidating him. Names start flying, and I’m waiting for the fists to start flying, damnit! Show isn’t going to fight him… and hey, neither is Jericho! Nobody asked him, though. Shaq doesn’t need to fight anybody, either, as he brought two people over to take Jericho and Big Show out… Cryme Tyme! This was a fantastic opening segment. Jericho and Shaq had great verbal sparring, Show and Shaq had the stand off and great verbal sparring, it set up a tag match people are obviously jacked for now. Just well done by everybody involved.

COMMERCIAL!

COMMERCIAL!

COMMERCIAL!

Trust me, I know I’m pathetic, I don’t care. I’m a Masterpiece mark. Ya see, this match is much more suited towards the BTC idea. MVP is going as fast as he can with roll ups and trying to catch Masters off guard. And Masters is basically on cloud 9 to just get a chance at the spotlight again. “Ya gotta beat that time, boy”. The repeated attempts at the Masterlock makes me smile, and MVP has an interesting counter every single time. He takes Masters’ head off with Lariat, but it only gets 2. We’ve got 4 minutes left for MVP to beat Mark Henry’s time. The crowd is chanting “You can’t wrestle” but it’s during the wrong match. They should yell it at Mark Henry. Both men are on the outside trading shots, and MVP is trying desperately to get back into the ring, but Masters won’t let him! He locks on the Masterlock! THE REF COUNTS TO TEN! Double Count Out! MVP is out of the running!

COMMERCIAL!

Didn’t Rhodes learn anything from HHH’s match with MVP a few weeks back? You go for HHH’s knee, and he punches you. A lot. You’d think HHH’s strategy is terrible, with the headlock and headlock takedowns on Rhodes, but he needs his knee to continue healing. This match is doing a lot for Rhodes. It gives him believable ways to take over on HHH, who is obviously better than him. Rhodes continues his smart strategy on HHH, slapping on the Stretch Muffler to give even more abuse to HHH’s knee. Think about this: If he continues to work on the knee, and HHH somehow pulls off the quick win and goes on to Orton, will he even have a chance? Orton is wily, he’s crafty. He’ll pick the knee apart until HHH can’t even stand anymore. Rhodes goes up to the second rope for a Double Axe Handle, but gets booted by HHH! PEDIGREE! No! Rhodes counters out and puts HHH in the FIGURE FOUR! WHOO! HHH rolls it over, though, and puts the pressure on Rhodes. Rhodes goes for it again, but he gets pushed off into the turnbuckles. He turns around and gets Lariated by HHH! Crowd is pumped right now. Spinebuster! But DiBiase is up on the apron now! He wants him to hit him! HHH won’t bite! He takes Rhodes and throws him into DiBiase! PEDIGREE! BUT THE TIME RAN OUT!

COMMERCIAL!

On a random note, I find it odd that Undertaker and Edge are on the Sumerslam cups, considering neither will even be on the show.

COMMERCIAL!

Another random note, this has been a quick-feeling show. I didn’t realize it’d already been an hour and a half until I glanced at the clock. Maybe light on major angles moving forward and such, but very high on entertainment.

They start it out with Bourne avoiding a few takedowns, and hitting a Hurricanrana. It doesn’t take long for Swagger to take over, though, nailing a slick Ocean Cyclone Suplex (Or a Wheelbarrow German Suplex, for those who don’t know). Effortless Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Followed by a Vertical Suplex for 2 again. He puts Bourne in a Body Scissors with the arms, and goes for the Dr. Bomb… but Bourne reverses it into a Small Package! ONE! TWO! THREE! Holy shit!

Sorry folks, but I need to take a poop. Anything I miss, I apologize. It cannot be helped.

I’m a little worried that we’ve still got the Tag Match, and there’s only 15 minutes left on Raw. Miz is on the outside, but doesn’t know what to do when he realizes that getting counted out means Cena wins and gets to face Orton at Summerslam. So he slides back in, and Cena promptly takes over. When Miz gets his opening, he really takes it to Cena, and ends up tossing Cena to the outside. The ref makes it to a VERY long 9 count, but that only keeps him from getting counted out. Miz is still being aggressive and ties him up in the ropes. Cena breaks free and when Miz charges at him, he gets a Drop Toe Hold into the STF for the tapout! Cena is going to Summerslam to fight Orton for the WWE Title!

Either I’m retarded and he’s had them for a while, or this is the first time, but Show’s Singlet is just weird after all these years of the solid black one. Apparently Shaq is in the top 50 celebrity hosts Raw has had so far. 50? Really? Ignoring the fact that there is no way they’ve had 50 celebrity hosts in their ENTIRE run of Raw, but is that supposed to be a compliment? Top 50? The match is pretty bland, action wise, but the crowd seems to like it. That was a pretty damn great counter, though. Shad went for an STO, but Jericho slickly reversed out into the Walls Of Jericho. Shad tosses him off, though, and him and JTG hit their variation on the Doomsday Deice. It’s not meant to be, however, as Big Show comes in and cleans house, getting Jericho and himself DQed.

Not heavy on a lot of quality wrestling, but it was entertaining just about the entire way through, and that’s all you can ask for. It’s all I can, anyways. Hopefully you’re not just reading this Report, and watched the show yourself. You definitely wouldn’t have regretted it.

That’s it for me, folks. Take it easy, and see you all here next week for the Raw Report!

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-Well, it’s time for another WWE Pay-Per-View. It’s the one night a year when all the championships are on the line. I’m not quite sure why a wrestling company would be proud of the fact that they have EIGHT title belts, but the WWE sure is. This card doesn’t look all that enticing but after Victory Road last week, I can almost guarantee this will be worlds better.

-Live from the same city Dragon Gate USA was taped the night before…

-Your hosts are Scooby-Doo, Fred, Welma, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scrappy

- Unified Tag Team Title Match: Chris Jericho and ???? © vs. Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes

Oooo, this isn’t good. This eliminates Dolph since he has to wrestle later on against Rey Rey. Jericho comes out to a rather large pop and it’s teased that he couldn’t find a partner. Oh God. Our first video package of the night as we see Edge’s injury. Do we really need to see that again? Even better is Jericho’s choice for a partner. The Big Show. What a fail to start this show.

- Unified Tag Team Title Match: Chris Jericho and The Big Show © vs. Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes

Show has a new singlet. Too bad he likely won’t have a new moveset. Show starts off against Rhodes and that goes as well as you might expect. Egads what a chop. Dibiase comes in and also doesn’t do very well. Jericho is tagged in and we see our first double team move. Crowd is absolutely silent for all of this. This is what happens when you have two heel tag teams starting the show off. Show almost kills Jericho by dropping him on DIbiase. Dibiase and Rhodes finally get the advantage when Dibiase pulls the top rope and Jericho flails over. They work him over a bit, but I think the problem is Legacy has been treated like such geeks that there is no credibility with the audience. Crowd appears to be behind Jericho and Show by default. Rhodes even breaks out a moonsault!!!! Wow, that was mildly interesting. The heat segment lasts seemingly forever although it’s the best Rhodes and Dibiase have looked in months. At least they managed to get some heat on their opponents. That lasts until Show gets tagged in. Spear gets a long two count. Rhodes is tossed but skins the cat. Dibiase dropkick but he suffers a Codebreaker. Show gets the Colossal Clutch for the submission.

-Time/Winner/Rating: 9:33/STILL Unified Tag Team Champions- Chris Jericho and The Big Show/**1/2

This was an alright match. Jericho really made this match as watchable as it was going to be. The pick of Show is a major disappointment. While he may at least wrestle mostly in tag matches, he also has the potential of wrestling on multiple brands. Very scary thought to be certain.

-Josh Mathews is in the back and brings in C.M. Punk. Punk then cuts one of the biggest promos of his entire career as he runs down the fans for their support of Jeff Hardy. He absolutely owned that audience for this segment. The only critique I have is this should have been on Smackdown Friday instead of the Pay-Per-View. Still this was excellent and adds a lot of interest (at least for me) to the world heavyweight championship match.

- ECW Title Match: Tommy Dreamer © vs. Christian

Guess that interview was a little too exciting since it’s back down the ladder we go. Even in Philadelphia, Dreamer can’t get a decent crowd reaction. Also, despite Christian being on the ECW brand, he still gets a pretty big star reaction. Slaps to start followed by a little back and forth. Christian takes over briefly as a smattering of “ECW” chants break out. Christian misses a dive to the outside as Dreamer then cannonballs his opponent. After a two count, Dreamer hits a powerslam. Christian comes back and starts working on the neck. He goes for the KIllswitch. That’s reversed but Christian then applies a sleeper. Dreamer does the old Vader/Cactus Jack spot, but Christian tenaciously locks the sleeper on again. This time both men end up on the outside of the ring. Christian misses an axehandler and is facebustered. Dreamer sets Christian in the tree of woe and gets the dropkick. Reverse DDT and a missile dropkick by Christian. He missed whatever from the top and Dreamer applies a terrible-looking Cloeverleaf. Series of pinning reversals before another dropkick. Both then go for their finishers. Christian gets the Killswitch at least for the 1-2-3.

-Time/Winner/Rating: 9:31/NEW ECW Champion- Christian/**

-Nothing special her, but Dreamer was just an atrocious champion. I’m very glad Christian is the ECW champion. Unfortunately, he’s now got the unenviable task of wrestling Kozlov. If he carries that lump to a good match, he’s the wrestler of the year for 2009.

-Dreamer and Christian share a moment.

-Summerslam commercial as they show all the stars of the company. Interesting to note Jeff Hardy is one of those featured.

-Tool Grisham interviews the Unified Tag Team Champions. This relationship is all about business. Jericho mentions Edge’s name again. That feud will be epic when it happens next year. Jericho needs to keep mentioning Edge’s name and keep the heat alive.

- US Title Six Pack Challenge Match: Kofi Kingston © vs. The Big Show vs. MVP vs. The Miz vs. Carlito vs. Jack Swagger

Lillian Garcia doesn’t royally screw up the rules at least. I also like how Show completely buried all of his opponents and is now not even in the match. Way to completely bury the United States. title. Least the match will be better. I’m not even going to try and describe all the action as all six men are just going at it in the ring. Things do settle down a bit as Primo takes some amount of control. He actually looks quite good until a Gutwrench powerbomb b y Swagger. MVP and Swagger continue their ongoing rivalry with some brawling. Nice dive by Carlito onto MVP. Kofi gets Swagger one-on-one momentarily, but Miz  goes after both men. Four men then do the required suplex/powerbomb spot that comes off as being very contrived. More brawling between the six men. Finally, we get Carlito and Kofi in the ring. Then Primo interjects himself. These three have a hell of a sequence with some nearfalls. Carlito and Primo begin double-teaming, but Swagger clotheslines both men. MVP takes control. Miz stops that in short order. The Colon Brothers work… nope, Carlito turns on his brother. Kofi finally gets Trouble in Paradise for a 1-2-3.

-Time/Winner/Rating: 8:37/STILL United States champion- Kofi Kingston/**3/4

This was an okay match, but I would have preferred to see two of these guys get cut so it could just be four guys instead of six. There was almost too much action to keep track of, but at least the action was good. It’d also be nice to see these six guys get elevated since these six being paired off in television feuds could provide a great deal of freshness to RAW. It’s amazing how sucky RAW has been the last couple months, but the reality is these six guys and Evan Bourne can inject life to this very stale show. Enough Hunter, Orton, Cena, Hornswaggle, and even Santino every single week. More Kofi, Miz, Swagger, and Bourne.

-Josh Mathews interviews Randy Orton. He says stuff. I zone out.

-WWE Women’s Title Match: Michelle McCool © vs. Melina

I thought this show was going to come to a complete halt with this match. I was wrong. Michelle immediately hits a dropkick on Melina while she’s doing her splits thing. Well, that’s a star right there and this is right away better than Jenna and Sharmell. Melina gets a little too fancy with some attempted maneuvers, but both of these girls at least are working hard. Melina misses a move on the second rope and ends up on the floor. McCool takes advantage as Melina gets to do the one thing she excels at. Selling. McCool hooks a half crab. McCool and Melina somehow end up on the security wall. Nasty-looking DDT by McCool. Damn, Melina’s head bounced. Melina comes back with screams and uses her leg strength. This is followed by a dive. Drop toehold on the second rope followed by a two knees by Melina. These two girls are really beating the tar out of each other. McCool gets a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Spear into the corner but Melina heel chops, dives, but McCool reverse into a roll-up for the three.

-Time/Winner/Rating: 6:13/STILL Women’s Champion- Michelle McCool/**3/4

-That rating is not a typo. This was probably one of the most enjoyable women’s matches I’ve ever seen from the WWE. It was physical and these two girls tried to do some different things. It wasn’t exactly pretty all the time, but I’ll give them points for trying. Also, you got the sense that these two girls really hated each other, and there was an heir of intensity that 99% of these women’s matches don’t have. Big surprise here.

- WWE Title Match: Randy Orton © vs. HHH vs. John Cena

An epicly long video package sets this match up. Then we get the longest entrances in the history of match. There’s 15 minutes right there that could have been used to give more time to some of the earlier matches. The other galling part of this match is the build-up actually included mention of this match taking place at Wrestlemania 24. Two years ago is forever in this era of television. Yet here these three are wrestling again. Orton leaves the ring, but the faces go after him. Chase is on inside the ring as well.  Faces work well together early as Orton can’t get any sort of advantage.  Finally, Orton knocks Cena to the outside off the apron onto Triple H. Orton brings Cena into the ring and goes to work. Cena comes back but as he’s about to finish the match, Hunter send Cena out. Orton gains the advantage once again. The heat just immediately dies. I mean absolutely leaves the building. Orton and Triple H have their usual sequence, and you can just tell that people are burned out. Oh lovely.  A chinlock by Orton. That will help the match quality out. The two punch back and forth and Orton hits a scoop slam. As he’s ready to hit the RKO, Hunter send him into the corner before hitting the DDT. Both struggle to get up. Cena climbs to the top rope and legdrops both men… barely.

Cena fires away but falls to a neckbreaker. Back to the outside goes Cena. Triple H tries a pedigree, but he’s also deposited to the outside as well. Cena climbs in and gets kicked in the chest. As Orton is about to DDT both men, he’s sent to the outside. Cena and Hunter glare at each other. They clash like two titans. We even get the whole “yay” “boo” thing. They counter through their usual including their finishers. Hunter takes definitive control with a spinbuster. Pedigree finally gets hit, but Orton pulls Triple H out of the ring. After being sent into the stairs, Orton gets the Smackdown announce table ready for usage. All three end up around the table. Orton is sent flying into the crowd. Cena hooks the STF ON THE TABLE (cause it’s more painful there). Orton punches Cena and throws him back inside.. More punching. RKO attempt is denied as Cena tosses Orton. Both end up at the top, but Hunter runs in. Hunter is sent into the top rope crotching Orton. STF finally locked in by Cena, but Superman powers out. Cena re-applies the hold. Orton misses the punt, but not before giving one of the oddest expressions I’ve ever seen in the history of wrestling. I wish you could all see what he did. Oy vey. It looked like he wanted to rape Cena. Roll-up (way he defeated Orton Monday) only gets two. Orton clotheline and beats up both heroes.

After the most boring beatdown ever, Cena chopblocks the left knee. Triple H also goes to work on the knee. Cena charges at Hunter, but the top rope is pulled down. Triple H applies the SHARPSHOOTER. Oh my God.  It’s fairly awful too. Cena finds his way back into the ring and applies the STF. Orton taps. Instead of ringing the bell, holding the belt up, and creating some drama for RAW, the referee stands there like a jackass. Legacy runs in. Orton hits an RKO  as Cena is about to give Cody an Attitude Adjustment for the three count.

-Time/Winner/Rating: 22:22/STILL WWE Champion- Randy Orton/***

-Nothing terribly wrong with the match but itself as all three guys know how to save a sound match. The ending was a little too cute for my liking since it essentially sets up yet another match between these three men again for Summerslam. I can’t see much more heat being built up between these three since everyone is so tired of these guys wrestling each other in various combinations. I know that I want to see them separated for a long long time and see someone… ANYONE… get elevated.

-Funny backstage skit with Maryse and Miz.  These two are such douches that they need to be put together. Miz calls Maryse a tease and rips on her. Awesome.

- Divas Title Match: Maryse © vs. Mickie James

I had high hopes for this match since Mickie is one of the better female talents in WWE and Maryse is one of the more charismatic Divas in the company. The problem is Maryse cannot wrestle at all. The crowd, which actually showed some enthusiasm in the last match, took this opportunity to cool down big time. Faint “We want puppies” chant. Other than that, no dice. Crowd doesn’t care. I don’t care, Maryse applies a resthold. Still, it’s better than Jenna and Sharmell. This match is getting an awful lot of time. Maryse gets the hairspray, but James counters. Referee takes the can away. Mickie beats on Maryse outside the ring. Back inside and Maryse does more restholds. Oh boy. Mickie is pissed. She stiffs her with a punch and clothesline. Maryse just won’t die. Ugh. FINALLY a leaping DDT gets three.

-Time/Winner/Rating: 8:38/NEW Divas Champion-Mickie James/*

-This match was absolutely abysmal. Maryse is horrible, and she really needs to be used as a manager or a non-wrestler. Even using her in tag team situations is preferable to this. Also, whoever gave this eight minutes was a complete fool. Five of these minutes should have been given to one of the next two matches since it appears they’re once again going to get shorted. You’d think a company that’s been doing three hour Pay-Per-Views for 25 years would have this figured out by now.

-Interview with the Legacy geeks. Apparently, it’s just swell they didn’t win the tag team titles because Orton retained his belt. Dibiase even buries the tag belts in the middle of all of this.

- WWE IC Title Match: Rey Mysterio © vs. Dolph Ziggler

No idea what they went ahead and aired the stupid video package for this match. Jesus. Maria accompanies Dolph. I can’t believe they’re actually going to go with that pairing. Maria is a pretty girl, but does she actually have any discernible talent other than being hot?

Dropkick by Dolph starts things off. He basically uses aggressiveness and some power moves early on. Rey comes back with an f’ed up headscissors before Ziggler reverses things with a powerbomb into the turnbuckle. Headlock by Dolph and this crowd is either burned out or they’re not buying a title switch. My hunch is this is a combination of both. Another headscissors sends Ziggler into the corner. Legdrop and crossbody gets two for Rey Rey. . Powerslam by Dolph gets a two. Attempted suplex gets reversed and Ziggler is sent outside. Rey Rey leaps on him. Dolph kicks Rey in the face but a Tiger Bomb fails. 619 countered and now Rey Rey gets tossed outside the ring. Punches lead into a chinlock. Another powerslam only gets two. Leaping elbow drop also gets two. Really nothing technically wrong with the match, but no one is buying a title switch.  Full nelson. Ziggler tries more power moves but cannot get the three. Even the beginnings of a Mysterio comeback doesn’t get much of a pop. HUGE  dropkick by Ziggler as Mysterio jumps off the top rope. Only a two count again. Ziggler misses a charge, but manages to hit a top rope gutbuster. 619 and splash come out of nowhere and get three

-Time/Winner/Rating: 14:23/STILL IC champion- Rey Mysterio/***

If the crowd gave a lick about this match or there was the sense that the championship could possibly change hands, I would give this ***1/2 without feeling much guilt about it. As it is, it was just a good match and not much more.

- World Title Match: CM Punk © vs. Jeff Hardy

Pretty incredible that these two guys are closing the show. Good for both involved, especially Punk since this is his first main event on a Pay-Per-View. Crowd chants for Hardy pretty emphatically. Punk is just absolutely playing the smarmy heel at this point and doing a lot of trash-talking early on in the match. Good fast-paced start before Punk applies a chinlock. Missed dive by Punk of all people and Hardy capitalizes with a neckbreaker. He goes for the swanton, but Punk rolls outside. Hardy misses a dive of his own. Punk wants the referee to count Hardy out.  Hardy comes in at eight, and Punk works him over some more. Three people in the front row take Jeff Hardy very seriously as they stomp their feet and pound the security wall with a fiery passion. If only the rest of the crowd was this passionate about anything that’s happened tonight. Hardy with a second rope implant DDT and the crowd goes… apathetic. Ugh. I hate Philadelphia. Both guys are on their feet and they exchange rights. Hardy tries the swanton again and Punk knocks him down. Running knee but the bulldog fails. Whisper in the wind only gets two. By the way, the look of feigned shock on Punk’s face when he hit the knee was brilliant. Swanton misses again. Welcome to Chicago leads to a modified dragon sleeper. Hardy gets to the ropes Punk is ready with more kicks and strikes. Hardy gets a Twist of Fate. He takes his shirt off and the swanton fails again. This time, Punk gets the knees up. Punk goes to the top now. Series of reversals leads to a Go 2 Sleep. ONLY TWO. Another try and again only two. Third time once again gets only two.  Punk grabs his title belt and heads to the back. Ross accidentally says the word belt, and Grisham quickly mentions Punk taking his title back. Hardy send Punk back into the ring and finally hits the swanton. 1-2-3. New champion.

-Time/Winner/Rating: 14:58/NEW World Heavyweight Champion- Jeff Hardy/***1/2

I love how they have a brand new heel who they gave a ton of promo time to earlier in the show… and have him job. They had him lose two non-title matches to John Morrison. Now this. What the hell is WWE thinking about? Do they even care about giving their heels heat? I guess not since he got jobbed out here. The match itself was really quite good, but why should I want to see yet another match between these two when it’s obvious to a lot of people Hardy is leaving but Punk has basically been treated like a loser the last month.

Final Thoughts: The crowd hurt this show a lot as many of the matches had zero heat. Nothing was overtly bad except the Divas title match, and even in that case the right woman won. I guess the problem with WWE right now is I have a complete dispassionate response to much of what they do. Instead of letting a young guy team with Jericho, they put the very stale Big Show in the slot. The same three guys were the RAW main event that have been in the main event the last three years.

My thumb is firmly in the middle for Night of Champions. Nothing really spectacular but not anything offensive . Only real pleasant surprise turned out to be the women’s title match. And again, I’m not kidding about that.

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Jason Sterlacci joins Kevin Ford and Jerome Cusson this week. Jason attended the Dragon Gate USA show this past Saturday. He provides a thorough analysis and uses the word phenomenal a lot. A fun show (albeit a little rough since I really wanted to get the show up and didn’t edit very much) so give it a listen

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Welcome ladies and gentlemen to another edition of the Impact Report here on Pro Wrestling Ponderings. I’m Zack Danielson, and as most of you know by now, I was on vacation last weekend in Orlando, FL. While I was there having fun at Universal Studios, I decided to check out some TNA events. More specifically, Victory Road and two Impact tapings the following Monday and Tuesday. All in all, I would say I had a great time at all of the TNA events. Now instead of just writing a live event report here, I decided I will still recap all of the Impacts within the next 4 weeks, but I will also give my live perspective of matches and segments I saw live. So let me get started with this week’s Impact:

TNA Impact: 7/23/09

-After the pyro goes of, Taz comes out to cut his first promo in TNA. He talks about how he called great matches in WWE, but then one day when he saw TNA on TV, he saw Samoa Joe. He goes on to say how he thought Joe was just like Taz during his ECW days, except that Joe showed remorse on his opponents, unlike Taz did. He knew he had to teach Joe that t’s not about doing what makes people happy or getting over with the boys, it is about what wins titles and making money. He became the teacher, Joe became the student. He says he and Joe are indebted to Kurt Angle and the prestigious MEM, and tonight, Joe will win the X-Division title. Live, the fans were treating Taz and Joe like faces. I think Taz could of done more to make both himself and Joe look more heelish.

Match #1. X-Division Title Match: Homicide(c) vs. Samoa Joe (w/Taz)

-I thought this was a good opening match for Impact. I’ve been waiting for these two to have a match again ever since Joe’s last match in ROH against Homicide in England. From my perspective, Homicide was definitely over with the crowd. Nobody in the crowd liked the ending, as Joe had Homicide locked in the chokehold, and as the ref signaled to ring the bell, some people in the crowd Joe had won the belt actually. But when announcer Dave Penzer announced that Homicide had won by DQ, some people in the crowd was pleased that Homicide didn’t lose the belt, but others didn’t like the finish. As Joe was beating down Homicide afterwards, SUPERMEX HERNANDEZ comes out and has a stands off with Joe. Joe looked like he wanted to fight, but Taz calls off Joe. The crowd was hot for this, as almost no one really saw Hernandez coming back so soon. It definitely looks like Hernandez is getting a big push, and that became further proven at the following Impact taping (You’ll see what I mean later on)

Winner: Homicide (via DQ at 5:00) **

-JB is with Mick Foley backstage in Foley’s office. Foley explains he’s still hurt from his match with Angle at Victory Road, and that Angle is now the golden boy of TNA. By the way, TNA didn’t show any of the backstage segments at any of the tapings I attended.

-The Main Event Mafia comes out for a promo. Angle’s mic wasn’t working to well live, so the crowd really couldn’t hear too much of his promo, but they stilled mostly booed him. Angle talks about how much TNA needs MEM. Tonight for the fans, Angle has a present for them all. Nash, Booker and Steiner are all going to put their titles on the line for their entertainment. Oh joy! Angle then goes on to call out Mick Foley. The promo went on for another few minutes, with Foley saying Styles, Beer Money, and himself dropped the ball last Sunday. Angle then went on to challenge Foley to a match later, where the winner would get the keys to Foley’s office and his position in TNA. Oh I almost forgot, the keys will be ON A POLE!!! I’m not gonna lie, I kinda marked on when I found out I was gonna be able to see a Russo Pole match live. Never thought I would have the opportunity to see one.

-Backstage, Brutus Magnus says that The British Invasion, Kiyoshi, and Bashir have reached an accord with Kurt Angle. The Invasion, Kiyoshi and Bashir will try to take out the TNA Originals tonight in a 10-man tag, in exchange, The British Invasion will get a IWGP Tag Team Title shot next week against Team 3D in a tables match. When the 10-man tag was announced live, most of the crowd was confused as to why the match was gonna take place, but the segment explained why.

Match #2. TNA Legends Title: Kevin Nash(c) (w/Jenna Morseca) vs. Amazing Red

-I guess the story of the night was that MEM are trying to look for easy opponents to defend their belts against. Red got some offense, but nothing to speak about, which is sad. Nash won in a squash match after he hit a Jackknife Powerbomb. Kinda funny moment, as the crowd was chanting “one more time”, Nash picks up Red teasing he’s gonna hit the powerbomb one more time, but Nash tosses Red down to cover him to the displeasure of the fans.

Winner: Kevin Nash (via pin at 2:02) 1/2*

-Backstage, Lauren tries to interview Hernandez. Midway through, Homicide comes in and seems pissed that Hernandez saved him and he thinks he could of handled it. I’m fine with LAX splitting up, butFOR THE LOVE OF GOD I don’t wanna see those two feud off.

-Backstage, Foley explains to JB that he will NOT put up his Tweak & Tweet Connection on the line in his match tonight. That is a great picture. Big Rocco and Sally Boy, a.k.a. the worst backup since Bam Neely, comes in and say they have Foley’s back tonight. Foley is still mad that they still have their MEM shirts on. Foley gives then black tape to cover the MEM symbol up. Booker T and Scott Steiner are watching this backstage and say they found their opponents tonight. Oh god.

-Lauren is backstage with the returning Traci Brooks. There will be a knockouts battle royal later on with the winner getting $50000 and a spot in Main Event Mafia. Traci explains she is back as the Knockout Law and will be the special referee in the battle royal. I’m for one glad to see Traci back in TNA.

Match #3. TNA World Tag Team Title Match: Scott Steiner and Booker T(c) (w/Sharmell) vs. Big Rocco and Sally Boy

-I, along with almost everyone else in the crowd that night, was heavily disappointed when they announced the useless security were gonna be Steiner and Bookers’ opponents. I thought this was gonna be as bad as the Jenna/Sharmell match at Victory Road, but to the surprise of everyone, this was actually a fun match. Best moment of the match was when Rocco did a BIG SPLASH from the top rope onto Steiner, and the crowd absolutely loved it. Some of them actually thought that the security team was gonna win, but of course they didn’t. When Rocco went for the pin, Sharmell pulled the ref out, and Booker hit the Book End on Rocco, followed by a Flatliner by Steiner for the pin. This match was actually fun, thanks mostly to the crowd.

Winners: Steiner and Booker (via pin at 4:58) *1/2

-Back in Foley’s office, Eric Young comes in and says he wants to be on the TNA Originals’ team in the 10-man tag later on. Young admits that he’s been a douche bag lately, but wants to do this for TNA. Foley lets him in the match.

-Tara is backstage and says she wants to win the battle royal for the money, so she can donate it to charity. Ohhhhh how sweet. She also states She will keep an eye on Slick Johnson during the match, as he’s one of the outside refs in the match.

Match #4. Knockouts Battle Royal (Winner gets $50000 and a spot in MEM)

-Participants in the match are Tara, Awesome Kong, all 3 members of The Beautiful People, Sarita, ODB, Sojo Bolt, Daffney, Taylor Wilde and Alissa Flash. Man I was glad that Rhaka Khan was not in this match. Crowd was hot for pretty much the whole man. A few people around me thought that Angelina Love was gonna win the match. I personally thought Flash could of win, as her nickname is the future legend, so why not put her in a stable full of legends. Midway through the match, Nash came out with the $50000 check and joined Tenay and West on commentary. Yes, the return of Chet Lemon. Ending came when the final two women were Kong and Tara. Tara and Kong were hanging by the ropes, but then Traci Brooks snuck up and tossed both women out to win the match. Nash yells on commentary “Home of the D-Cups wins”. Pretty funny. Nash comes in to announced that Brooks had won the match, and Traci jumps into his arms to celebrate. Tara and Kong were still brawling at ringside. Tara comes back in and is pissed, but instead takes out her frustrations out on Slick Johnson with a lowblow. This was a fun battle royal.

Winner: Traci Brooks (at 5:15 shown) **

-After break, they air this stupid backstage segment where The Beautiful People are mad they lost the battle royal. Cody Deaner comes in all piseed cause of all their bad talk about ODB. Velvet and Angelina pretend to hit on Deaner, and then Velvet low blows Deaner and they start to bear up Deaner until ODB runs them off. So I guess TNA is trying to make Deaner their version on Santino, but it’s not working for me.

-It’s announced the main event of Hard Justice will be Kurt Angle defending the World Title in a 3-way, against Sting and the winner of a best of 3 series between Matt Morgen and AJ Styles. This could be interesting.

- -Lauren is with AJ and the originals. He says it has been 7-years, and they dropped the ball at Victory Road. But tonight, they are on the same page, and tonight, they take back TNA.

Match #5. TNA Originals (Beer Money, Daniels, Eric Young and AJ Styles) vs. The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus, Rob Terry, and Doug Williams), Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi

I wasn’t expecting to see this kinda of match live, so when they announced this match to the audience that night, I was pretty excited about it. I was also intrigued as this is Rob Terry’s debut match in TNA. I personally thought he was impressive, but I really wanna see how he handles himself in a singles match down the line. This was probably my favorite match of the first tapings, but with an extra 2-3 minutes, this could of been awesome. Ending came when Eric Young turned his back on his team and did a sick piledriver on Styles, and Magnus rolls over and gets the pin. I would say everyone in the crowd that night saw the swerve coming. So I guess Young joins the evil foreigners as he’s Canadian.

Winners: The Evil Foreigners (via pin at 5:10) **1/2

-In the back, Mick Foley looks mad at Young’s actions.

-EY and the evil foreigners celebrate and then says that the TNA fans and wrestlers are all gullible. EY says he is Elite, they are the World Elite, and everything in TNA will change forever. Foley comes in and had to be held back by security as he wants to beat Young’s ass.

Match #6. Foley’s Office Keys on a Pole Match: Mick Foley vs. Kurt Angle

-When they announced this as the main event, I didn’t quite know how I felt. I mean, I never thought I would have the chance to see a Vince Russo Pole match live. So I guess in 20 years, I can tell my kids that I was one of the elite fans who had a chance to see a Vince Russo Pole Match live and in person. Match itself, wasn’t as bad as it could of been. I mean, least it was kept short. Ending comes when Foley looks like he’s about to grab the keys, but all the MEM members comes out and start beating the hell out of him and the ref calls a no contest. It’s a Vince Russo special, as we also needed a run-in for a pole match.

Winner: No Contest (via run-ins at 5:00 shown) *1/2

-Afterwards, Angle grabs the mic and says this tonight and Victory Road wasn’t enough for Foley. Angle looks like he’s gonna end Foley, but wait…..

MUSIC HITS AND BOBBY F”N LASHLEY COMES OUT TO A HUGE OVATION (Trust me, It was a damn loud ovation live as well)

Lashley comes in the ring and hugs Angle. Looks like MEM has a new member…or does it? As Lashley looks like he’s about to strike Foley, he turns around and strikes Angle! Lashley runs wild and takes out each member of Main Event Mafia. Lashley and Foley stand tall in the ring as this week’s Impact ends. This was a damn fine ending live, and the crowd was very hot for Lashley’s return. I even found myself going nuts for this segment.

Winners: In my opinion, this was a great event live. I also thought this came out pretty strong on TV. From Hernandez and Lashley returning, to the 10-man tag, to the knockouts battle royal, this was a great Impact. Can’t wait to see how the next 3 weeks of Impact turn out on TV.

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Kevin and Jerome discuss a huge weekend in the world of professional wrestling. Hear why Death Before Dishonor doesn’t seem to have the same zest as Dragon Gate USA, why Night of Champions probably won’t be that exciting of a show, and the ponderings of Jerome Cusson on why the world champions in all the companies seem to have power. The podcast is concluded with more discussion of the little engine that couldn’t in the form of TNA.

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