1.    TNA World Tag Team Championship match: The Motor City Machineguns(c) vs. Generation Me

The PPV opened with the best match of the night, a very fun and athletic match for the tag titles. The Guns and Generation Me really brought it and I thought this was a bit better than their match from No Surrender. Max Buck and Alex Shelley start the match, with Max driving Shelley into the corner and laying into him with punches and kicks. Shelley hits some chops, an arm drag, and a leg sweep before taking down Max again and tagging in Chris Sabin. The Guns knock Jeremy Buck off the apron and hit some double team moves on Max before Max is able to tag in his brother. Both brothers end up outside the ring where the Guns hit simultaneous suicide dives. Back in the ring, Shelley hits a diving cross body to Jeremy for a near fall. Jeremy fights off a sliced bread attempt and Gen. Me hit a double elevated DDT to Shelley. Jeremy and Shelley trade slaps before Jeremy hits an enzuigiri for a near fall. Max tags in after hitting a double team dropkick with his brother. Gen. Me hit some more double team moves until Jeremy applies a rear chin lock, only for Shelley to fight out. Shelley knocks Jeremy off the top turnbuckle and hits a diving double foot stomp, then tags to Sabin, who hits a ton of jumping elbows and forearms. Max gets hung up in the tree of woe and the Guns hit back to back baseball slides. After some more double teaming, Shelley tries an outside dive but crashes and burns. Max hits a wheelbarrow facebuster for a near fall and Gen. Me tries for a double DDT only for Shelley to break it up. The Guns try for a sliced bread/powerbomb combo but Sabin is sent to the outside and Max dives onto Shelley. Max holds Shelley over the ropes and Jeremy hits a 450 splash, but the pin attempt is broken up. Shelley misses a diving double stomp and eats a ton of double team moves from Gen. Me. Gen. Me try to go for More Bang for Your Buck but it’s broken up and Sabin hits a release German superplex, which is followed up by the Skull and Bones and the Guns retain the titles. Awesome, action packed opener that got the show off to a hot start. I would have liked to see it go on longer though. Match Time: 12:58     Star Rating: ***3/4

2.    4-Way match for the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship: Angelina Love(c) vs. Tara vs. Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky with Mickie James as Special Guest Referee

It appears this match will be fought under Four Corners rules. Love and Rayne look set to start the match but Rayne tags to Sky. Love and Sky do some chain wrestling early on before they both hit a shoulder block. Rayne gets a tag and Love hits a drop toehold, but Rayne charges her in the corner and slams her head into the mat. Rayne chokes Love in the corner while arguing with Mickie, before Love is able to score a near fall off a scoop slam and Tara breaks up the pin. Love tags out to Sky, who hits a head scissors. Sky puts Tara in an octopus stretch but Tara fights out and dropkicks her. Sky reverses a suplex and hits some flying forearms, a kick, and a bulldog. Everything breaks down with Love hitting a bicycle kick, Rayne hitting her weird neckbreaker, and Sky hitting a DDT to Rayne. Tara attacks Sky from behind and tries for the Widow’s Peak but Sky fights out. Tara gets the pin with the weakest looking roll up I have ever seen. Rayne’s pissed after the bell but Mickie lays her out. A very typical Knockouts match and Tara going over made no sense, but at least she can wrestle well. Match Time: 6:17     Star Rating: *1/2

3.    Ink Inc. vs. Eric Young and Orlando Jordan

Oh my God. Jordan and Jesse Neal start the match but Young pulls the ref out and starts to ref the match himself. Young argues with the ref as Jordan and Neal fight, with Neal hitting a diving cross body. Shannon Moore gets a tag and hits a dropkick before Jordan makes a comeback. Jordan tags to Young, who high fives everyone before catapulting Jordan over the top rope. Ink Inc. both splash Jordan, and Young and Jordan both wind up crotched on the top rope. Jordan hits Moore with a spinebuster for a near fall and tries to get Young to come in, but Young pulls out a rule book and won’t enter. Jordan and Moore double clothesline each other, and Jordan slaps the rule book out of Young’s hand. Jordan tries to get him to come in but Young runs to the other corner. Young gets a tag from Moore (?) and starts to attack Jordan, hitting some clotheslines and a back drop before Ink Inc. get the win with their finisher. This was unbelievably stupid and Young’s brain damaged character is completely distasteful in 2010. Waste of time. Match Time: 6:36     Star Rating: *

4.    TNA X Division Championship match: Jay Lethal(c) vs. Douglas Williams

The show entered a brief good stretch with this match. Williams tries for a series of takedowns and Lethal fights out, locking in an arm bar. Williams gets to his feet and kicks Lethal in the leg before hitting a clothesline. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination, then hits a slingshot cross body when Williams bails to the outside. Williams applies a side headlock back in the ring, then hits some knees to the head before hitting a big boot/clothesline combo. Williams wears Lethal down with a rear chin lock but Lethal is able to fight out and hit some punches and a flying clothesline. Lethal hits some flying kicks and connects with a springboard moonsault. Williams hits a suplex for a near fall, hits a high knee in the corner, and a snap suplex. Williams hits some uppercuts and an exploder for a near fall. Williams hits the Chaos Theory, but only gets two and argues with the ref. Williams hits a top rope hurricanrana but Lethal rolls through and gets the win with a roll up. He celebrates in the crowd afterwards. Match was a bit too short but pretty good. The chemistry is definitely there between these guys. Match Time: 8:18     Star Rating: ***

5.    Monster’s Ball match: Abyss vs. Rob Van Dam

I went into this one with very low expectations, so this match was a pleasant surprise. It wasn’t a great match but it was a fun little brawl. They trade blows at the start, with RVD hitting a bunch of kicks and dragging Abyss over to the apron where he hits a slingshot leg drop. RVD grabs a chair and comes back into the ring, hitting a single leg dropkick and a chair assisted dropkick in the corner. RVD dives on top of Abyss on the outside, then throws a barbed wire board into the ring. Van Dam hits a baseball slide but Abyss pops back up and hits a back elbow. Abyss hits some punches and teases a chokeslam onto the barbed wire, but Van Dam fights out and hits a bulldog to Abyss onto the barbed wire. Van Dam goes for rolling thunder but Abyss moves and Van Dam goes into the barbed wire. Abyss grabs a table from under the ring, and sets it up across the apron and the barricade, then does the same with another barbed wire board at another section of the ringside area. RVD and Abyss trade blows on the apron, with Abyss almost suplexing RVD through the table. RVD is able to hit some shots on Abyss, who falls back onto the table. RVD then hits rolling thunder over the top rope and onto Abyss, driving him through the table. Abyss tries to hit RVD with a chair in the ring but RVD kicks it into his face. Van Dam goes for a coast to coast with the chair but Abyss throws the chair into Van Dam’s face, causing him to fall off the top and through the barbed wire board. Abyss brings Van Dam back into the ring and sets up another barbed wire board in the corner. Van Dam sends Abyss into the barbed wire and coast to coast dropkicks the board into his face. RVD tries for the Five Star Frog Splash but misses. Abyss picks up Janice from the announce table and goes to hit RVD with it, but RVD moves and throws a chair in Abyss’s face. RVD then hits Abyss in the gut with Janice, causing Abyss to bleed from the mouth, before hitting the Five Star Frog Splash for the win. Not a crazy brutal Monster’s Ball but definitely a good, fun street fight style match. Better than the usual Abyss fare. Match Time: 13:00     Star Rating: ***

6.    Handicap match: D’Angelo Dinero, Kevin Nash, and Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe

The PPV went downhill with this match. Joe and Pope start the match with some chain wrestling until Pope hits a shoulder block. Joe comes back with some punches and a slam before beating on Pope in the corner. Pope comes back with punches of his own but Joe hits a high knee. Sting gets a tag and looks at Jarrett, but Joe hits some punches. Joe misses a splash in the corner and Sting hits one of his own, but gets put down with a uranage when he tries for a second. Joe launches Sting into the barricade on the outside but Nash catches him with a knee to the back. Sting sends Joe into the barricade before returning to the ring where he tags in Nash. Nash hits some knees and elbows to the head and tags in Pope. Pope botches an attempt at a corner elbow and hits it on the second try. Joe eats the 4Up but double clotheslines Pope and Sting. Nash comes in, moving extremely slow, and hits a really weak corner splash. Joe tries for a tag but Jarrett hops off the apron and retreats up the ramp, betraying Joe. Joe then attacks all 3 men but ends up getting beat down. Nash ends it with a Jackknife powerbomb for the win. I sure hope that the rumors of Nash’s retirement are true because he was awful here. Match was really bad and it was sad to say Joe and the Pope get wasted here. Match Time: 7:46     Star Rating: *1/2

Team 3D came out for an announcement after the last match. They recapped their careers and all of their successes worldwide and said they had nothing left to accomplish and were retiring. They requested one final match for the tag titles against the Motor City Machineguns so they could retire as champions, unless MCMG win and in that case they get to say they retired Team 3D. Glad to see Team 3D stepping down as their time has come and they are getting up there. Hopefully they pass the torch and the Guns go over in their last match.

7.    Lethal Lockdown match: EV 2.0 vs. Fortune

Very strange to see Lethal Lockdown occurring at a PPV other than Lockdown, as Lockdown is supposed to be the one time you get to see the match each year. They had both teams come out in their entirety at the start, accompanied by Mick Foley and Ric Flair respectively, waiting at ringside and coming in one by one at the appropriate time intervals. Stevie Richards and Kazarian start the match, with Kaz getting the upper hand with some forearms until Stevie hits a few neckbreakers. He then slams Kaz into the cage multiple times but misses a dropkick. Kaz comes back with a body slam and a springboard leg drop. Richards comes back with a chop and mocks Flair. Stevie hits a reverse STO before applying a modified Koji Clutch until AJ Styles enters the match. Styles hits a dropkick and double teams Stevie with Kaz. Styles applies the Figure Four with Kaz holding Stevie’s arms as the second interval expires and Tommy Dreamer enters, going right after AJ. Stevie tries to superplex  Kaz but AJ powerbombs him for the Tower of Doom spot. Robert Roode is in next and the heels take advantage, with AJ raking Dreamer’s bloody face against the cage. Roode and Styles hit some splashes before Sabu enters. Sabu is all over the place with splashes and clotheslines and hits Styles with a DDT. Sabu puts Styles in a camel clutch and Dreamer hits a powerslam. Dreamer puts Styles in a crossface, but Styles fights out as James Storm enters the match. Beer Money double suplex Sabu and Dreamer until Stevie superkicks Roode, but Storm superkicks Stevie back. It breaks down into a massive brawl until Raven enters the match.

Raven sends Roode into the cage and hits him with a handkerchief (?), leaving him busted open as Dreamer hangs AJ in the tree of woe. The brawl resumes as Matt Morgan enters the match. Morgan sloppily powerbombs Sabu into the side of the cage, this some elbows to Dreamer, and a big boot to Stevie. Fortune is beating down EV 2.0 until Rhyno comes in as the final entrant, and the roof lowers with the weapons as the lights go out. Flair and Foley are brawling on the outside but the lack of lighting makes it difficult to see. Everyone is grabbing weapons and hitting each other as this match devolves into a mess. Kaz gets launched out of the cage and climbs to the top, with Stevie following him. Kaz sets up a ladder atop the cage as Sabu does a suicide dive onto Morgan and Beer Money through the door. Stevie sets up a table on the roof but Kaz puts him on the table. Kaz climbs the ladder but Brian Kendrick comes out of nowhere and knocks him off, then backdrops him through the table. Back in the ring, Dreamer hits a super Dreamer Driver to Styles onto a chair for the win. Stupid, stupid booking decision having EV 2.0 go over here as a win for Fortune would have done a lot for them. The match wasn’t awful but it was pretty much just a mess with boring parts in the middle. It depended on the weapons and when it got there, they didn’t do too much aside from the usual brawling. Worst Lethal Lockdown ever. Match Time: 24:49     Star Rating: **1/2

8.    3-Way match for the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle

Stipulation is that Angle said he’ll retire if he loses. This was a really good to great main event ruined by an awful ending. Hardy and Angle beat on Anderson in the corner but Angle ends up missing a splash. Hardy hits a forearm but Anderson hits a neckbreaker for a near fall. Anderson hits a big boot to Angle but Angle hits a belly to belly suplex. Hardy beats on Angle in the corner but is hit with a double sledge from Anderson. They do a double German spot with all 3 guys which looked pretty cool. Angle hits Hardy with an uppercut before back dropping him to the floor. Angle and Anderson trade blows on the outside but Hardy takes them both out with a suicide dive. Angle hits Hardy with a snap suplex in the ring and applies a rear chin lock but Hardy fights out, only to take a super belly to belly suplex from Angle. Anderson hits a standing Green Bay Plunge before taking a mule kick from Hardy, but Hardy misses the Swanton. Angle hits the three Germans to Anderson and then to Hardy before putting both men in a weird double Ankle Lock. They both fend him off and Anderson hits a Green Bay Plunge to angle off the top. Hardy does a Swanton onto both of them to break up the pin and gets a near fall of his own. Hardy knocks Anderson off the apron but Angle hits him with an Angle Slam. Angle hits Anderson with an Angle Slam off the top but Hardy hits the Whisper in the Wind  to Angle and a Twist of Fate on Anderson. Hardy tries to cover Anderson but Angle pulls him off with an Ankle Lock. Hardy fights out of the Ankle Lock and launches Angle into the Mic Check. The cover is broken up and Angle hits a moonsault to Hardy. Angle and Anderson trade blows with Angle clotheslining the ref. Angle hits a German but Anderson hits the Mic Check.

Eric Bischoff then comes down to the ring with a chair. Hulk Hogan’s music then hits and he comes to the ring on crutches. They yell back and forth with Bischoff grabbing a crutch. Hardy rolls back into the ring and Hogan hands him the other crutch. Hardy then breaks the crutch over Angle’s back and Bischoff hands him the other crutch. Hardy hits Anderson with it and then connects with the Twist of Fate. Bischoff pulls the ref back in and makes him count the pin, and Jeff Hardy is the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Abyss then comes to the ring and hugs Hogan, followed by Jeff Jarrett who does the same. It appears that this whole faction is “They”. Rob Van Dam comes out to talk to Jeff, but Jeff blasts him with his title belt. So in the same building where the original nWo formed back in 1996 we now have the same thing in 2010 with Jeff Hardy, Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Hulk Hogan, and Eric Bischoff.  I despise this company. They ruined a terrific main event with this ass-backwards booking. How can they actually expect fans to boo Jeff Hardy who has never been a heel his entire career? He’s not even developed well enough as a character to pull this off. The announcers also never acknowledged during any of this that this may have been the end of Kurt Angle’s career due to the pre-match stipulations. This was a complete failure. Match was going along great before this. TNA gives me headaches. Match Time: 17:40     Star Rating: ***1/4

Overall PPV Rating: 6/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit. I am from Orange, CT and am a huge fan of pro wrestling. I mostly follow WWE and TNA but I also watch the smaller promotions such as ROH and DGUSA. I have been a lifelong WWE fan and have become a TNA fan over the past few years. Aside from wrestling, I also really love baseball and football and follow many other sports such as hockey and MMA. I have written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for over two years.

1.    Ultimate X match for the TNA X Division Championship: Amazing Red(c) vs. Suicide vs. Homicide vs. Daniels vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin

Wow. Talk about a way to kick off a PPV. What an amazing match for TNA to have as the opener to this show. Yes it was a spotfest but it was a very fun and jaw-dropping spotfest. The Guns replace D’Angelo Dinero because he had to leave due to a family emergency. Only a couple minutes in Red hits an amazing (no pun intended) hurricanrana to Daniels off the top turnbuckle which sends Daniels onto everyone else outside the ring. Homicide is one of the first to go for the title but Suicide springboards off the ropes to pull him down. The Guns do many of their double team moves throughout, including a nice doomsday device missile dropkick and a spot where Sabin did the giant swing to Suicide followed by a dropkick from Shelley. One of the most memorable spots for me was when Red was dangling from the X and Suicide did a springboard dropkick to him, resulting in Red falling a long distance to the ring. There was also a unique tower of doom spot where Red hits a powerbomb to Sabin while Sabin hits a release suplex to Suicide, who is able to dropkick Daniels while falling to the mat. The men also are able to connect with their finishers, which includes Red hitting a corkscrew leg drop, Daniels hitting the BME, and Suicide hitting the Suicide Solution. Eventually, Daniels, Suicide, and Red climb to the top of the structure: the X scaffold holding the red ropes in place. All 3 men brawl atop the structure and both Daniels and suicide tease suplexes to each other. Daniels climbs down through the scaffold and onto the ropes, then hits an absolutely stunning and dangerous looking release suplex to Suicide off the structure, resulting in both men crashing to the ring. The Guns then try to climb across the ropes to get to the title, but Red crawls through the scaffold and knocks off Shelley before grabbing the title to win the match. I have to catch my breath now. Match Rating: 8.5/10

2.    TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship: Sarita and Taylor Wilde(c) vs. The Beautiful People

Lacey Von Erich’s attempts at seducing the referees fail as she is ejected from ringside before the start of the match. This was for the most part the same fun match these two teams had at the last PPV but it was even shorter than that match. Both teams work each other over with hot tags and double team moves for a couple minutes before Sarita takes out Velvet Sky with a missile dropkick. With Wilde locking her hands around Madison Rayne’s waist, Sarita hits a dropkick to Rayne immediately followed by a German suplex into a bridge pin from Wilde, and the faces retain their titles. I feel that these belts should be on The Beautiful People and that this match shouldn’t have been on the card, but we can’t always get what we want. Match Rating: 3/10

3.    TNA Legends Championship: Kevin Nash(c) vs. Eric Young vs. Hernandez

This match really surprised me and ended up being probably Nash’s best match of the year and a pretty fun match in its own right. They told a good story with Hernandez looking like the big power guy who could take on anyone and Nash and Young staying allied to wear down the (face) big man. They use a lot of punches and kicks to keep Super Mex down while Hernandez went after the heels with his power moves. Young counters a suplex from Hernandez into one of his own, which is impressive considering the size difference between the two. Hernandez also impressed for a guy his size with some high flying moves such as a diving double clothesline, a suicide dive over the ropes onto Young, and a big missile dropkick to Nash. Late in the match, Nash big boots Super Mex and goes for the Jackknife Powerbomb, but Young throws Hernandez headfirst into Nash’s balls before pinning Nash to become the Legends Champion. I really liked the ending and thought it came off very well and this was a decent match. Match Rating: 5.5/10

4.    Full Metal Mayhem for the TNA and IWGP World Tag Team Championship: Booker T and Scott Steiner(TNA champions) vs. The British Invasion(IWGP champions) vs. Team 3D vs. Beer Money Inc.

Surprisingly, though it had its spotty moments, this match was not a complete nonsensical spotfest. The way they set this match up was that one of each title was hung on the steel X scaffold from the Ultimate X match. The match starts out with the Mafia and Beer Money accepting British Invasion’s earlier backstage proposal and ganging up on Team 3D. Eventually this breaks apart with 3D fighting the Mafia and Beer Money fighting the Brits. Steiner uses a ladder to work over Devon’s shoulder while Beer Money sends Doug Williams into a chair set up in a corner of the ring. Steiner chokes out Devon while Beer Money hit the DWI to Booker T, who is later seen outside the ring and is carted off on a stretcher. Meanwhile, Steiner chokes out Devon with an extension cord before going in the ring to clean house by belly to belly suplexing everyone. He then hits a very impressive Frankensteiner to Williams. I must say, Steiner really worked hard in this match and turned in a great performance. 3D eventually works their way back into by hitting chair shots to everyone, which leads to Ray giving Zakk Wylde a chair at ringside and letting him hit Magnus. Williams gets chokeslammed through a table before 3D gives simultaneous chokeslams through separate tables to each of Beer Money. Steiner scales a ladder to go for the TNA titles but 3D hits a dual powerbomb to him off the ladder through a table. Ray and Devon then climb the ladder to get the IWGP belt but Rhino charges the ring and hits both men with chair shots. Devon is able to hang onto the title as he falls off the ladder so Team 3D are the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. This was likely done because NJPW is very upset with TNA’s treatment of the belts and many in Japan already considered 3D to still be the champions. Anyway, the match continues with Beer Money hitting a nasty looking suplex off two side-by-side ladders to Williams before being met with chair shots from Magnus. Storm hits a sunset-flip powerbomb to Magnus off a ladder but takes a chair shot from Williams. Roode and Williams fight atop the ladder, with Roode getting the upper hand, but Rob Terry enters the ring and picks up Roode before press slamming him over the top rope through a table outside the ring. He then gives Williams a boost up to allow The British Invasion to become the TNA World Tag Team Champions to end the match. I was pleased with the outcome and the match was just awesome. Match Rating: 7/10

5.    TNA Women’s Knockout Championship: ODB(c) vs. Tara vs. Awesome Kong

This match was a mild disappointment after starting off so promisingly. Great action between all three ladies that included Kong hitting a double splash to ODB and Tara, Tara putting a tarantula submission hold on ODB around the ropes, and Tara hitting a moonsault to ODB for a near-fall. They did the short-lived alliances between ODB and Tara, Kong looking like the dominant heel, and all that good stuff and this looked to be one of the best women’s matches in a very long time. Unfortunately, it got hurt by a spot in the middle where Tara, while outside the ring, brawled with a “fan” revealed after the show to be Kim Couture, and she had to go to the back. This left the crowd silent as ODB basically had a one on one match with Kong. They did some okay back and forth but not nearly as good as what was going on with Tara in the ring. ODB hits a nice samoan drop for a near fall before Tara comes back to the ring. Kong tosses her out and hits a top rope splash to ODB, but Tara breaks the pin up. Kong again gets rid of Tara before hitting ODB with an Implant Buster for a near fall. Raisha Saeed then comes to ringside to give Kong a chair, but Kong doesn’t want it and keeps kicking it away. Kong goes for a second Implant Buster but ODB counters into a bulldog on the chair before covering Kong to retain her title. A decent women’s match but it could have been better. Match Rating: 5.5/10

6.    Submission match: Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Lashley

This match greatly underdelivered and ended up being very disappointing. It started off very good with a lot of back and forth action from Joe and Lashley that included many power moves. Lashley hits a nice spinebuster to Joe and also at one point in the match counters an abdominal stretch with a solid hip toss. Joe did some cool things such as a powerslam and a suicide dive early on. Unfortunately, much of this match consisted of Joe and Lashley putting on various armbars and leglocks and the whole thing felt rushed as well. Just after hitting the 8 minute mark, Joe apparently passes out while Lashley has Joe in some kind of armbar/neck hold combination, resulting in Lashley winning the match. The finish was poor and Joe ends up getting really hurt by this match. Disappointing. Match Rating: 4/10

7.    Monster’s Ball: Mick Foley vs. Abyss w/ Special Guest Referee Dr. Stevie

Considered by some to be a dream match come true, this hardcore match was not quite as good as it could have been but it was still fairly enjoyable. Only a couple minutes in, Foley and Abyss brawl on the side of a steel structure on the entrance stage, which ends with Foley knocking Abyss off, sending him through part of the stage. This looks cool until we are shown that he landed on cardboard. Foley then dives onto Abyss with the barbed wire bat before walking back to the ring. Abyss then returns to the ring where he and Foley brawl with trash cans and a ton of barbed wire. Abyss drags the guardrail closer to the ring and lines up a barbed wire board across the rail and the ring apron. Abyss irish whips Foley into a barbed wire board in the corner, but goes into the barbed wire himself when Foley moves out of the way as Abyss charges at him. Abyss then gets sandwiched in between two barbed wire boards and is shown bleeding from the arm and the face. Foley then dumps tacks out in the ring and Abyss goes to chokeslam him on them, but Stevie tells him that if he does, he will be disqualified (a stipulation was that Abyss couldn’t use thumbtacks). Abyss hits a Torture rack backbreaker to Stevie before Daffney comes down to the ring and hands Foley a…….taser. Ugh. This time, there is an explosion when the taser is used on Abyss. Another ref comes down to the ring, botches the attempted pinfall, and Abyss kicks out. An insane spot then occurs when Abyss chokeslams Daffney through that barbed wire board set up earlier. He then gives Stevie a black hole slam on the tacks before chokeslamming Foley on another barbed wire board. Abyss then drags Stevie over to Foley and uses Stevie’s hand to count the pinfall. Good hardcore match but not quite as brutal as what people expected. Match Rating: 6.5/10

8.    Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan

This match was actually a very pleasant surprise. It started off somewhat slow and had me questioning how exactly they were going to book this thing, but it ended up being a very entertaining “what do I gotta do to beat this guy” match. Morgan hits many rapid fire elbows to Angle early on before the two brawl outside the ring. Morgan misses a Carbon Footprint and gets caught in a Figure Four from Angle. Morgan eventually turns over on his back and the hold is broken when Angle reaches the ropes. He later hits a big fall away slam and chokeslam to Angle for near falls, but Angle retaliates with three big German suplexes. He goes for the Angle Slam, but Morgan counters and hits the Carbon Footprint for a near fall. Morgan then misses a splash in the corner and gets caught with an Angle Slam, but kicks out. Angle then applies the Ankle Lock again but Morgan powers out. Morgan then hits a Hellevator for another near fall, then goes for a Tombstone Piledriver, but Angle rolls through and applies a third Ankle Lock. Morgan powers out yet again but is caught with a second Angle Slam. Rather than going for the pin, Angle hits a tope rope splash, but Morgan again kicks out. Morgan then has Angle on his shoulders, but Angle gets out of hit and gets the win with a victory roll roll-up. I didn’t mind the finish and the match told a great story and was highly enjoyable. Match Rating: 7/10

9.    TNA World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles(c) vs. Sting

After doing so much right on this PPV, TNA ends the night on a sour note. The big confrontation between Styles and Sting was totally lackluster and disappointed greatly. For much of the first 5-10 minutes of the match, all the two did was brief headlocks and lockups before pausing to mug for the camera. The match finally starts to heat up when Styles dropkicks Sting, sending him out of the ring before Styles dives off the apron and crashes into the guardrail. The two then brawl briefly outside the ring before heading back into the ring, where Sting counters a Tombstone attempt from Styles with one of his own for a near fall. Styles hits a nice springboard elbow before a series of counters ends with Sting hitting the Scorpion Death Drop. Sting then splashes AJ in the corner before connecting again with the SDD for a near fall. After again briefly fighting in the ringside area, Styles hits a Pele kick to Sting on the ring apron before hitting a springboard splash for the 1-2-3 to retain his title. Really? That’s it? An anticlimactic finish out of no where? Anyway, Sting makes a speech after the match, where he basically answers those inquiring about the continuation of his career with, “I don’t know”. This lackluster match was the main event to TNA’s biggest show of the year. The company still hasn’t figured out a way to end a PPV well.  Match Rating: 5/10

Overall PPV Rating: 8.25/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit. I am from Orange, CT and am a huge fan of pro wrestling. I mostly follow WWE and TNA but I also watch the smaller promotions such as ROH and DGUSA. I have been a lifelong WWE fan and have become a TNA fan over the past few years. Aside from wrestling, I also really love baseball and football and follow many other sports such as hockey and MMA. I have written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for roughly a year now as well.