• United States Championship match: Dolph Ziggler(c) vs. Zack Ryder

This was a really solid way to start the show. Ziggler has been very impressive lately and this was another good performance from him. Ziggler sweeps the leg twice at the start before they lock up. Ryder hits an arm drag before Ziggler hits a shoulder block and they run the ropes. Ryder catapults Ziggler into the corner, clotheslines him to the floor, and hits a big tope flip dive over the ropes. Ziggler catches Ryder with a DDT on the ring apron and hits a neckbreaker back inside the ring followed by several consecutive elbow drops. Ziggler hits a clothesline and applies a chin lock. He breaks to do some sit ups, but then goes right back to the hold. Ziggler puts Ryder on the top rope, but Ryder kicks him away and hits a big missile dropkick for 2. Ryder hits a forearm, clothesline, and a Facejam followed by a corner clothesline and a running face wash for 2. Vickie is then ejected from ringside after she puts Ziggler’s foot on the ropes. Ryder and Ziggler both score near falls with roll-ups. Ziggler snaps Ryder’s head over the ropes, Ryder does a roll-up for 2, and Ziggler hits a Famouser for 2. Ziggler hits a dropkick and heads up top, but Ryder meets him up there and hits a top rope hurricanrana for 2. Ziggler launches Ryder into the corner and rolls him up for 2, but Ryder boots a charging Ziggler in the corner and hits the Rough Ryder for the win. Really nice pop for Ryder’s win. Overall this was a good, competitive opening match with some nice near falls and a hot crowd. Match Time: 10:25     Star Rating: ***1/4

• WWE Tag Team Championship match: Air Boom(c) vs. Primo and Epico

In an unadvertised match, Evan Bourne made his return from his suspension. This was an average filler match. Bourne starts with Epico, and both guys go for roll-ups early on. Bourne does a sunset flip, misses a hurricanrana, and hits a head scissors before tagging in Kofi Kingston. Kofi hits a dropkick for 2 followed by a double dropkick on both heels. Primo tries a monkey flip, but Kofi lands on his feet and hits one of his own. Bourne hits a head scissors and tries a springboard, but the heels catch him and toss him to the floor. The heels then stomp Bourne repeatedly before Primo applies a front chancery. Primo drives Bourne into the corner before tagging in Epico, who hits a dropkick followed by a backbreaker, 2 back suplexes, and a German suplex. Epico applies a Gory special, but Bourne is able to escape with a sunset flip. Bourne hits the double knees before both guys get tags. Kofi hits some clotheslines and a dropkick followed by the Boom Drop, but Primo gets a boot up in the corner. Kofi springs out of the corner with a cross body, Bourne takes out Epico with a plancha to the floor, and Kofi hits the Trouble in Paradise to Primo for the win. Total TV quality match here, but it was fairly solid. Air Boom is a fun tag team but they have no competition. Match Time: 7:32     Star Rating: **1/2

• Tables match: Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett

This was another good match. Orton and Barrett haven’t had many good matches in the past, but they had a decent brawl here and told a story. They trade punches and kicks at the start before Orton hits his signature backbreaker and gets a table from the floor. Barrett kicks the table into Orton’s face and hits some shots on the floor, but Orton kicks a table into Barrett’s gut and then launches it into his face. Orton sets up the table on the floor and brawls up the ramp with Barrett. Barrett knocks over some tables and teases a pumphandle slam, but Orton escapes and they head back toward the ring. Barrett slams Orton’s head on the ring post and sets up another table on the floor. Barrett slams Orton’s head on the table and lays Orton across it, but Orton gets up. Barrett drives Orton into the apron and rolls him into the ring, where he hits a second rope elbow drop. Barrett chokes Orton against the ropes and hits some knees to the face followed by a running big boot, but Orton avoids the table by landing on the apron. Barrett sets a table up in the corner, but Orton escapes a slam and hits some clotheslines followed by a snap powerslam. They do a good counter sequence near the apron before Orton hits the spike DDT. Orton avoids being sent into the table again, but Barrett hits a black hole slam and drops the table on Orton. Barrett sets the table up again and lays Orton across it before heading up top. Barrett leaps, but Orton catches him with a sudden mid air RKO through the table for the win. Good stuff with some nice psychology built around the tables and a great finish. Barrett got a pinfall victory at Survivor Series, so him losing a match without standard rules here doesn’t hurt him. No complaints here. Match Time: 10:17     Star Rating: ***

• Divas Championship match: Beth Phoenix(c) vs. Kelly Kelly

This was another unadvertised filler match. Kelly slaps Beth at the start, sends her to the floor, and hits a bulldog off the apron. Back in the ring, Kelly hits a head scissors into the corner, but Beth drops her on the ropes and beats on Kelly with punches. Beth pulls Kelly’s hair and stands on her back before applying a camel clutch. Kelly escapes and hits a bulldog before slamming Beth’s face in the mat repeatedly. Kelly leaps off the top, but Beth catches her and slams her down for 2. Beth misses a top rope leg drop and both girls counter each other’s finishers. Both attempt roll-ups before Beth hits a reverse powerbomb for the win. Standard short, crappy Divas match, move along nothing to see here. Match Time: 5:14     Star Rating: *1/2

Booker T then comes out for his match against Cody Rhodes, but Cody jumps him during his entrance. Cody also attacked Booker earlier backstage. Referees and other officials break it up and send both guys to the back, so no match here. I didn’t really see the point in putting this match off.

• Sledgehammer Ladder match: Kevin Nash vs. Triple H

Yes, it is the year 2011. These guys couldn’t even have good matches eight years ago, and this was very sluggish. The rules were that you had to climb a ladder to get the sledgehammer hanging above the ring, and then you could use it as a weapon and the match ends via pinfall. Both guys go back and forth with punches early on, and Nash looks very rough. Nash hits some knee lifts, but Triple H sends him to the floor and slams his head on the announce table. Triple H unloads with punches and clotheslines Nash into the crowd. Nash hits a back elbow and drops Triple H face first on the barricade, but Triple H sends him into the ring post. They then get a couple ladders and go back into the ring. Triple H hits Nash’s knee repeatedly with a ladder, puts his knee inside the ladder, and applies a modified figure four with the ladder. Triple H leans one of the ladders against the corner and drops the second one on Nash. Nash whips Triple H into the ladder in the corner, and then lays the ladder across the second rope. Nash body slams Triple H onto the other ladder in the ring and catapults him face first into the ladder in the ropes.

Nash takes apart the announce table on the outside and teases a Jackknife powerbomb, but Triple H backdrops him over the table (he had trouble getting him up and it looked like the table was supposed to break, but it didn’t). Triple H climbs a ladder in the ring, but Nash pulls him off and clotheslines him. Nash whips Triple H into a ladder and hits a chokeslam before getting a table from under the ring. Triple H drives Nash into the ladder in the corner and hits Nash’s knee with another ladder. Both guys climb a ladder and fight at the top, with Triple H hitting Nash with the end of the sledgehammer twice, causing Nash to fall off the ladder through the table. Triple H unhooks the sledgehammer and climbs down, hitting Nash’s knee with it repeatedly. Triple H then goes for the Pedigree but Nash botches it by bumping too early. Triple H then hits a second one but it also comes off sloppy. Nash then begs off with the Wolfpac sign, but Triple H hits him in the face with the sledgehammer for the win. Match reads much better than it was executed. Both of these guys, especially Nash, are just too old and slow now. It just dragged on forever and ever and a lot of the stuff they did looked very clunky. This probably sounded really good on paper, but in reality it was just way too long and the fans weren’t into it. Absolutely nobody cares about Kevin Nash anymore. Match Time: 18:13     Star Rating: *3/4

• Jack Swagger vs. Sheamus

This match was also unadvertised, having been added on in a backstage segment earlier in the show. Sheamus hits some clotheslines and a shoulder block at the start before blocking an abdominal stretch and hitting the clubbing blows to the chest in the ropes. Swagger is sent to the floor, where he drives Sheamus back first into the ring post and barricade. Swagger hits a Vader Bomb back into the ring for 1 before hitting some forearms to the back. Sheamus comes back with a clothesline and some double sledges before they go to the outside. Sheamus drives Swagger into the ring post, tosses him into the barricade, and hits a shoulder block off the top in the ring for 2. Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick and Swagger dives at his leg. Swagger hits a Vader Bomb elbow drop to the leg and goes for the ankle lock, but Sheamus is able to escape. Swagger dives at the leg again, but Sheamus avoids him and hits the Brogue Kick for the win. This was a very average, Smackdown quality filler match that didn’t get much reaction from the crowd. Match Time: 5:57     Star Rating: **

• Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry(c) vs. The Big Show

This was a bit interesting. Show bails to the floor at the start and starts throwing chairs into the ring. Henry decides he’s seen enough and tries to leave with the title, but Show goes to the outside and hits him with a chair repeatedly before laying into Henry with punches. Henry hits a head butt and a chair shot before slamming Show’s hand on the steel steps. Both guys go for a chair shot at the same time back in the ring before Henry hits Show repeatedly with a chair. Henry puts a chair around Show’s hand and stomps on it before hitting him in the ribs with a chair. Show hits the WMD punch with the injured hand and covers for the win out of nowhere. After the match Henry attacks Show with a chair and hits him with a DDT on 2 chairs. This was too short to be much of anything, and a really lackluster end to Henry’s world title reign. Just 5 minutes of chair shots and nothing else, which is not good for a PPV world title match. Match Time: 5:30     Star Rating: *

BUT WAIT!!!! Daniel Bryan’s music hits and Bryan comes down to the ring with his Money in the Bank briefcase! Bryan says he is cashing in, leading to…

• World Heavyweight Championship match: The Big Show(c) vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan rolls over Big Show and covers for the instant victory. Bryan then had a great, lengthy celebration afterwards, high fiving the fans and standing on top of the announce table. While this certainly isn’t the direction many people thought WWE would go with Bryan’s Money in the Bank briefcase, this was a really great feel good moment for a guy who deserves this championship more than anyone. Bryan has busted his ass wrestling all over the world for the last decade and finally won the big one in the WWE. Hopefully all goes well with his world title reign and I just couldn’t be happier for the guy. Match Time: 0:08     Star Rating: N/A

• Intercontinental Championship match: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. Booker T

So it turns out we are getting this match after all. Booker, totally not selling his injuries from before, immediately lays into Cody with punches, a back elbow, and back to back scoop slams followed by a sidekick. Booker tosses Cody to the floor where he hits some chops, but Cody comes back with some punches and tosses Booker into the barricade. Cody flips Booker by his arm in the ring and applies a submission, but Booker fights out. Booker hits a chop, but Cody kicks his leg and covers for 2. Cody applies a full nelson, but Booker gets out and they trade shots. Booker hits some clotheslines, a sidewalk slam, and a spinebuster but misses the scissors kick. Cody hits the beautiful disaster kick for 2, and then hits a second one for the victory. Short, but decent match here. Booker did fine and had a solid performance, plus Cody got a nice clean victory over an established legend. That’s pretty much all you can ask for with this type of match. Match Time: 7:15     Star Rating: **1/2

• Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship: CM Punk(c) vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. The Miz

Though far from the best TLC match, this was a really fun main event to close the show. The heels gang up on Punk at the start, and Punk hits a couple dropkicks, but Miz and Del Rio go back to stomping him and drop him face first on the top rope. Miz and Del Rio go to the outside and Del Rio gets a ladder, but Punk hits him with a suicide dive through the ropes. Punk gets a chair, but Miz stomps him and hits him with the chair before setting it up on its legs. Punk hits the high knee in the corner, but Miz blocks the bulldog and hits a back suplex to Punk on the chair. Del Rio blocks the Skull-Crushing Finale from Miz and backdrops Miz on a leaning ladder on the floor. Del Rio avoids a baseball slide from Punk, but Punk kicks a ladder into Del Rio’s face and tosses him into the barricade. Punk and Del Rio both try to suplex each other through a table before Punk hits a neckbreaker on the floor. Punk avoids a chair shot from Miz, hits him with the chair, and props him up on the barricade, where he hits a high knee strike off a chair to Miz into the crowd. Punk climbs a ladder in the ring, but Ricardo Rodriguez interferes and handcuffs Punk’s wrist to the ladder. Del Rio then attacks Punk before climbing the ladder, but Punk breaks free and tips it over before hitting a flapjack to Del Rio onto the ladder.

Miz hits Punk with another ladder and starts climbing it, but Punk pulls him down and goes for the Go to Sleep. Miz blocks it and they go up top, only for Del Rio to hit Punk with an enzuigiri, causing him to fall off the top through a table on the floor. Del Rio and Miz brawl up the entrance ramp, with Del Rio throwing a ladder at Miz and applying the cross armbreaker with the ladder around Miz’s arm. Del Rio then hits Punk with chair shots and applies the cross armbreaker with a chair around Punk’s arm. Del Rio climbs a ladder in the ring, but Punk and Miz tip it over, causing Del Rio to be crotched on the top rope. Punk and Miz then trade shots and knock each other down. Ricardo then climbs once again, but Punk and Miz tip the ladder over, causing Ricardo to fall off and through a table outside the ring. Punk and Miz both counter each other’s finishers before Miz handcuffs Punk to the corner. Miz taunts Punk, but Punk hits a sudden roundhouse kick. Del Rio and Miz then both climb ladders as Punk struggles to free himself. Punk is eventually able to take apart the second rope and free himself from the corner, and then ascends the two ladders. All 3 guys fight at the top, with Punk knocking Del Rio off of a ladder and then fighting with Miz on the mat. Punk hits Miz with the GTS, climbs the ladder, and grabs the title to win the match. This didn’t have nearly as many crazy spots as past TLC matches, but it was paced very well and had some innovative offense with the chairs. By the standards of this match, it wasn’t great, but it was very good and the best match on the show. Nice to see Punk get the win and hopefully his title reign lasts long enough to restore some credibility to the belt. Match Time: 18:26     Star Rating: ***1/2

Overall PPV Rating: 7/10

• Christian vs. Sheamus

After Christian’s entrance, The Miz and R-Truth are spotted in the crowd with tickets and are confronted by security and John Laurinaitis. This would start an angle with them throughout the PPV. Sheamus then came out and we had our opener, which was pretty solid. Sheamus controls Christian early with a headlock before Christian slaps him. Both guys try hip tosses and Sheamus hits a clothesline before chasing Christian on the floor. Christian drop toeholds Sheamus into the ropes and slingshots to the outside, but Sheamus blocks a slap and hits the clubbing blows to the chest in the ropes. Sheamus heads up top, but Christian shoves him off to the floor. Christian hits some punches back in the ring and chokes Sheamus against the top rope. Christian hits some more punches and a diving uppercut off the second rope. He tries a sleeper but Sheamus drives him into the mat. Sheamus hits a scoop slam but misses an elbow drop and Christian chokes him with his boot. Sheamus hits some shots but Christian hits a knee to the gut and a missile dropkick.

Sheamus hits some shots to the back, a knee drop, and some clotheslines followed by a scoop slam for 2. Christian escapes a slam, fails at a Killswitch attempt, and heads up top, but Sheamus catches him with an Irish curse backbreaker for 2. Both guys head up top, but Christian knocks Sheamus off and hits the rope-assisted Pele kick followed by a tornado DDT out of the corner for 2. Sheamus blocks the Killswitch and hits a corner clothesline followed by a knee to the head. Sheamus hits a big shoulder block off the top but Christian takes out his legs on the apron. Sheamus flings Christian out to the floor to block a baseball slide attempt, but Christian spears him on the floor and again in the ring for a near fall. Christian misses a top rope splash before both guys counter each other’s finishers. Christian backflips out of a back suplex attempt, but Sheamus avoids a charge from Christian in the corner. Sheamus then hits the Brogue kick for the win. Good match to open the show, felt a little stretched out though and Christian really needed the win. However, Sheamus winning wasn’t a surprise since normal-sized heels never win clean in WWE. Match Time: 13:41     Star Rating: ***

• Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara

For those who didn’t know, Mistico was the one in the blue attire and Hunico (Incognito) was the one in black. We’ll just call them Blue and Black for this recap. This was a good match but the crowd was completely unresponsive, likely due to unfamiliarity with lucha style matches. They lock up and Black goes for the leg early before attempting a surfboard-style submission, which Blue escapes. Black shoves Blue down, but Blue hits an arm drag. Black holds the wrists, but Blue does a backflip followed by a moonsault attempt from Black. Both men hit hurricanranas before Black hits a kick to the gut, only for Blue to hit a springboard head scissors. Blue arm drags Black to the floor before hitting a tope con hilo. Blue hits a kick from the apron but misses an asai moonsault. Black hits a springboard senton for 2 and applies a chin lock. Blue tries a handspring, but Black dropkicks him for 2, hits a chop, and sends Blue to the floor. Black does a huge plancha over the ropes to the floor and covers in the ring for 2. Black applies a chin lock before both men attempt cross bodies at the same time and collide. Blue hits some kicks, a handspring, and a headscissors followed by a big cross body off the top to the floor. Black hits a powerbomb for 2 back in the ring and heads up top, but Blue meets him there and hits an arm drag off the top. Blue hits an enzuigiri from the apron but misses a senton bomb off the top. Blue then hits a modified sunset flip bomb for the win. Though the crowd was totally dead, this was a really good lucha match. You can’t totally fault these guys for the pace they went at because this is the type of match they’ve been taught to have in Mexico. Had this taken place in AAA the crowd would have been going ballistic. Match Time: 9:47     Star Rating: ***

• WWE Tag Team Championship match: Air Boom(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

Another pretty decent match, though this felt like an extended Raw match at times. Kofi Kingston applies a headlock early on before Swagger hits a shoulder block, but Kofi hits a facebuster and holds up Swagger for Evan Bourne to hit a double stomp off the top. Ziggler and Kofi get tags, and Kofi leaps off Bourne’s back with a shot in the corner. Swagger hits Bourne with some shoulder strikes in the corner before Ziggler comes in with some stomps and an elbow drop for a near fall. Kofi gets a hot tag but Swagger cheap shots him on the floor and Ziggler slams his head on the apron before applying a chin lock. Ziggler hits some more stomps and a dropkick, and Swagger comes in and controls Kofi with a reverse headlock. Bourne gets knocked off the apron and Ziggler gets some shots in on Kofi while the referee holds back Bourne. Swagger hits a side suplex followed by a Ziggler elbow drop for 2. Kofi hits a DDT and both guys get tags. Bourne hits a hurricanrana followed by the diving double knees for 2, then blocks a Famouser attempt from Ziggler and hits a standing shooting star press. Swagger then puts Bourne in the ankle lock, but Kofi breaks it up with a big cross body off the top. Bourne gets a small package for 2, and Ziggler hits a clothesline before tagging in Swagger. Swagger tries a superbomb off the top, but Bourne counters with a Frankensteiner off the top for the win. Heat segment dragged on a little but the match really got going by the finish, which came off nice. Nothing too special but pretty good. Match Time: 11:13     Star Rating: **3/4

• Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry(c) vs. Randy Orton

Interesting seeing this go on fourth, as typically WWE really likes to space out the HIAC matches on this PPV. This was another pretty good match, and probably Mark Henry’s best match ever. Orton is all over Henry with punches at the start before they move to the outside, where Orton is able to send Henry into the cage. Orton stomps Henry in the ring and hits a knee drop, but Henry blocks the spike DDT and slams Orton’s head in the corner. Henry stretches Orton’s arm across the ring post, but Orton kicks Henry’s arm and leaps off the apron, only for Henry to catch him and drive him back first into the cage. Orton hits some shots, but Henry powerslams him in the ring for 2. They go back to the outside, where they trade shots before Henry hits a powerslam on the floor. Henry slams Orton’s head against the cage, picks up the steel steps, and hurls them at Orton, but Orton moves out of the way. Henry lawn darts Orton into the cage and presses his face against it.

Back in the ring, Henry hits a corner clothesline and a splash for 2 followed by a backbreaker. Henry applies a bear hug, stands on Orton against the ropes, and puts him in the bear hug again. Orton fights out with punches but Henry tosses him to the floor. He teases the World’s Strongest Slam on the steps, but Orton grabs onto the cage and kicks Henry. Orton drives Henry into the steps and the ring post before hitting a Thesz press in the ring followed by a dropkick, the spike DDT, and an RKO for 2. Orton sets up for the punt, but Henry catches him as he charges and hits the WSS for the win. After the match, Henry wraps a chair around Orton’s leg and tries to hit a splash on hit, but Orton avoids it and attacks Henry with the chair in the ring and up the entrance ramp. Henry eventually low blows Orton and bails. The match was solid but the post match was irritating, as both guys are merely continuing the feud and the HIAC solved nothing. Not a great HIAC but they used the cage, told a story, and had some bright spots. Match Time: 15:59     Star Rating: **3/4

Cody Rhodes then comes out in a suit for a promo a in a filler segment to kill time. He heels on the crowd before unveiling the classic Intercontinental title belt, which apparently will be replacing the current one. John Laurinaitis comes out and says Triple H has ordered Rhodes to defend the Intercontinental title right now. John Morrison then comes out and we have our impromptu match.

• Intercontinental Championship match: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. John Morrison

Yep, Rhodes is still in the suit for those who were wondering. Morrison tries a quick roll up before applying a headlock. Rhodes misses a clothesline and a dropkick and Morrison goes back to the headlock. Rhodes goes outside to take off his shirt and tries to walk away shortly after, but Morrison brings him back toward the ring. Rhodes then tries to get counted out by staying on the floor, but Morrison kicks him in the back and brings him into the ring. Rhodes hits a front suplex and a knee to the gut before applying a submission. Rhodes kicks a rope hung Morrison in the gut, but Morrison counters an Alabama slam attempt with a roll up. Rhodes applies a Figure Four, but Morrison gets the ropes. Rhodes hits some punches, a knee drop, and a headlock with a quick punch to the head. Morrison drives Rhodes into the corner and hits some punches and a dropkick followed by a Flux Capacitor for 2. Morrison hits a Pele but misses the Flash Kick and Rhodes rolls him up for the win. Total Raw match hampered by the fact that Rhodes wrestled in suit pants and Gucci shoes. Due to the way it was set up, whoever lost this thing was going to come off looking bad. Nothing to see here. Match Time: 7:23     Star Rating: *3/4

• Divas Championship match: Kelly Kelly(c) vs. Beth Phoenix

For the third straight PPV Kelly and Beth squared off against each other. Eve and Natalya are once again at ringside. Kelly hits some punches at the start followed by a Thesz press and more punches. Kelly kicks Beth from the corner and hits a diving clothesline off the top, but Beth counters a head scissors attempt with a backbreaker and hits an elbow drop. Kelly is hung up in the tree of woe and Beth hits a baseball slide before applying a modified dragon sleeper. Beth throws Kelly down by her head and spanks her before hitting a backbreaker and stretching Kelly’s back over her knee. Kelly gets a quick cover for 2 but Beth hits a rope-assisted suplex. Beth chokes Kelly against the ropes, but Kelly hits a neckbreaker before both go for roll ups. Kelly flips out of a Glam Slam attempt, but Beth drives her into the corner. Beth charges in the corner but misses, and Kelly hits a handspring elbow and a bulldog off the top for a near fall. Eve and Natalya brawl on the floor and Beth puts Kelly in a unique double leg submission. Natalya taunts Kelly on the mic as she struggles. Kelly gets the ropes, and Natalya hits Kelly with the mic while the ref is busy holding Beth back. Beth then hits the Glam Slam for the win. Good to see Beth finally win the Divas title but the match really dragged and suffered from some sloppy spots and a lack of crowd heat. It was going along fine at first but they just went too long here. Match Time: 8:28     Star Rating: *1/2

• Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship: John Cena(c) vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk

This was easily the best match on the show, and was really good outside of the anticlimactic finish. The three men play a bit of cat and mouse early on, keeping their distance from each other and moving in and out of the ring until Cena and Punk both go after Del Rio and take turns wailing on him in the corner. Eventually Cena and Punk have a standoff and tease their finisher before Cena winds up on the outside. Del Rio ends up on Cena’s shoulders on the floor and Punk does a suicide dive that sends both men into the cage. Punk hits a neckbreaker to Del Rio back in the ring and grabs a chair, but Del Rio shoves Punk off the steel steps and into the side of the cage. Del Rio hits a backbreaker to Cena before getting another chair and wedging it in the corner. Cena hits his shoulder blocks and the side suplex followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Del Rio escapes the Attitude Adjustment, only for Punk to hit him with a roundhouse kick before hitting an STO to both men at the same time. Punk sets up a table on the outside and runs along the apron to hit the high knee to Cena but Cena blocks the bulldog attempt and shoves Punk off the apron into the cage wall. Del Rio hits Cena with a chair, sets it on its legs, and hits a backbreaker to Cena on the chair. Del Rio puts Cena in the tree of woe, but misses with a charge and hits the ring post. Cena then stands on the top rope, but Punk shakes it and Cena ends up crotched. Punk hits a Russian leg sweep to Del Rio for 2, but Del Rio comes back with a clothesline before catching Punk in a chin lock. Cena then breaks up the hold with a flying leg drop onto both men.

Punk hits a big kick to the Del Rio before him and Cena collide. Punk and Cena trade shots before Del Rio breaks up a Go to Sleep attempt from Punk and hits both men with a chair. Del Rio stacks both men on top of each other with the chair between them, and comes off the top rope with a diving senton onto the pile. Del Rio gets near falls on both men and tries for the cross armbreaker, but is sent to the floor. Cena hits a sudden AA to Punk, but Del Rio breaks up the cover and hits an enzuigiri to Cena. Del Rio tries for the cross armbreaker on Cena, but Punk breaks it up with a slingshot senton over the ropes. Punk hits Cena with the GTS, but Del Rio pulls him out of the ring and sends him into the cage, and then the ring steps before throwing a chair at him. Cena catches Del Rio with an inside cradle for 2, but Del Rio brings Cena to the outside and throws him into the cage before hitting him in the leg with a chair. Punk hits Del Rio with some clotheslines, a scoop slam, and the Savage elbow drop back in the ring. Cena hits Punk with the shoulder blocks and the side suplex, but Punk kicks Cena in the head when he goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Punk heads up top but Del Rio shoves him off and Punk falls through the table on the floor.

Cena puts Del Rio in the STF, but Ricardo Rodriguez knocks out a referee on the outside, gets the key, unlocks the door, and enters the Cell with a steel pipe. Cena then gives Ricardo an AA onto the floor outside the Cell, but Del Rio hits Cena with the pipe, knocks him outside the cage, gets the key, slams the door shut, and locks Cena out. Del Rio hits a German suplex to Punk for 2, but Punk blocks a second attempt with a roll up attempt. Punk heads up top, but Del Rio hits a big enzuigiri for 2. Punk blocks the cross armbreaker and hits some kicks, a dropkick, the high knee/bulldog combo, and a springboard flying forearm for 2. Cena tries to get in but can’t open the door. Del Rio hits Punk with the pipe and Punk goes for the GTS, but Del Rio hits a couple more shots with the pipe for the win. Frustrating finish for various reasons. They hot shotted the title once again, which proves that the company literally will do just ANYTHING to make sure that Cena never loses cleanly, even though it would have made far more sense to have Del Rio retain at Night of Champions and at this PPV rather than doing a title switch for the fourth PPV in a row. And since Del Rio was going over here, they just had to give Cena an “out” for losing and an excuse to rematch these guys at the next PPV, where Cena will probably win the title yet again. The finish just felt really flat after such a competitive and action packed match. This was really good stuff despite the fact that the cage was only used sparingly. It doesn’t hold up to the classic Hell in a Cells as it felt more like a traditional 3-way at times, but this was still a worthy main event. Match Time: 24:11     Star Rating: ***3/4

After the match, two men in black hoodies got in the cage and started attacking Cena. They quickly revealed themselves as Miz and R-Truth, and they were wreaking havoc in the Cell, attacking everyone including the referee and even some cameramen. Triple H, Laurinaitis, security, and the whole locker room poured out to try and get the cage open, and the idea was that Del Rio had the key and was still inside the cage, so they had no way in. JR was selling this beautifully on commentary. Eventually they got bolt cutters to break the chain and open the door, at which point police officers ran into the cage to arrest Miz and Truth. Once they got outside the cage, Triple H started beating up both of them as guys tried to hold him back, and Triple H decked Laurinaitis as he was being held back. Very good angle to close the show, this and the main event itself were the clear highlights of an otherwise dismal show.

Overall PPV Rating: 6.5/10

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 three years.

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• #1 Contender’s match: Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorensen

The winner of this match would be the #1 contender to the X Division Championship. This was a fairly decent opener, and it would be nice to see TNA start more of their PPVs with fun, X Division style matches, besides matches for the X Division title. They chain wrestle at the start, with Sorensen applying a waistlock and a hammerlock before both men hit arm drags. Kash hits a kick and some shots to the head, but Sorensen hits some punches and an arm drag followed by an arm bar. Kash fights up and takes some shots from Sorensen, but drop toeholds him into the corner. Kash hits a nasty looking release front brainbuster and a kick to the head followed by some slaps. Sorensen comes back with some chops, a leg lariat, and a dropkick for 2. Sorensen hits a neckbreaker and a top rope cross body for a pair of near falls, but Kash comes back with a scoop slam, a knee drop, and some knee strikes to the gut. He shoves the ref but the ref shoves back. Kash hits a release suplex and a slightly botched springboard moonsault off the top for 2, but Sorensen hits a lifting reverse suplex slam for the win. Had a couple rough moments, but this was a solid opener all around. Match Time: 7:56     Star Rating: **1/2

• Bound for Glory Series match: Bully Ray vs. James Storm

Going in, they went with the idea that whoever had the most points after both of the BFG Series matches tonight would be the winner of the series. This was very dull and Bully Ray once again showed that while his heel character is very good, his wrestling still leaves much to be desired. Ray stalls a lot early on, leaving the ring several times and yelling at/staring at the crowd. After a few minutes Ray starts things off with some shots in the corner, then whips Storm into another corner to kick and punch him. Storm avoids a charging Ray and hits an arm drag before cinching in a cross arm-breaker. They played it up like Storm had to win via submission in order to get enough points to win the series. Ray makes it to the ropes and they circle each other before locking up again. Storm hits an arm drag and applies the cross arm-breaker again. Ray escapes to the floor and Storm slams his arm on the steps, but Storm gets beer sprayed in his eyes. Ray hits some head butts in the corner back in the ring, but Storm counters the Bubba Bomb and again applies the cross arm-breaker. Ray gets the ropes, but Storm puts him in a sharpshooter, only for Ray to make it to the ropes again. Storm gets Ray on the mat again and applies a Fujiwara arm bar, only for Ray to counter with a roll-up for a near fall. Ray backdrops Storm over the ropes, but Storm lands on the apron and hits an enzuigiri. Storm accidentally spits beer in the ref’s face before cinching in the cross-armbreaker again. Ray taps out, but the ref rules Ray the winner by disqualification. Total BS finish for a crucial match in a tournament to decide the #1 contender for TNA’s biggest show of the year. The match itself was very one-dimensional and boring, with Storm going for submission after submission and Ray stalling a lot. Not good, and the finish only worsened things. Match Time: 11:50     Star Rating: *1/4

• TNA Women’s Knockout Championship match: Mickie James(c) vs. Winter

This was yet another terrible Knockouts match with a lot of unnecessary overbooking and interference. Mickie hits a missile dropkick right from the start and goes after Angelina Love on the floor before Winter follows. Mickie whips Winter into the steps and slams her head on the guardrail, but Winter hits some shots back in the ring. Mickei hits a headscissors out of the corner and kicks Love through the ropes, but Winter hits a suplex before applying a bow and arrow. Mickie flips Winter over, but Winter hits a clothesline and throws Mickie down by her head before choking her against the ropes, and Love chokes Mickie while Winter distracts the ref. Winter hits a backbreaker and stretches Mickie’s back over her knee, then hits a second backbreaker. Winter applies a chin lock, but Mickie gets the ropes and does a jackknife cover for 2 followed by a neckbreaker. They trade shots before Mickie hits some clotheslines, a flapjack, and a kick to the head. Winter gets her foot on the ropes during the cover and Mickie applies a single leg Boston crab. Winter gets the ropes and Love hands her the title. Winter misses a shot with the belt and has a tug of war with the ref over it. Mickie rolls up Winter for 2 and goes for a tornado DDT out of the corner, but Love pulls Winter out of the ring to the floor. Mickie hits a Thesz press to Winter off the apron and chases Love up the ramp. The ref counts and both girls make it back in, but Love comes back down and grabs Mickie. Winter accidentally spits blood in Love’s face and while the ref is checking on Love, Winter spits the blood in Mickie’s face and covers for the win. The last couple minutes featured a ludicrous amount of overbooking and the match literally followed the exact same formula of their Hardcore Justice match as well as having the EXACT same finish. This sucked and accomplished nothing. Match Time: 8:38     Star Rating: 1/2*

• TNA World Tag Team Championship match: Mexican America(c) vs. Devon and D’Angelo Dinero

Much like the previous match, this was hampered by too much interference. Devon and Anarquia start with a lock up, with Devon taking control. Devon and Pope tag in and out to work Anarquia’s arm before Anarquia hits an elbow and tags in Hernandez. Devon hits a clothesline and Pope hits an elbow strike off the middle rope. Pope hits a drop toehold followed by a diving headbutt from Devon, and Devon follows with a hip toss to Anarquia. Pope hits an atomic drop and holds up Anarquia for a shoulder block from Devon. Rosita distracts the ref, but Pope kisses her on the apron before dropping her to the ground. Pope hits a hip toss and teases the Wassup with Devon, but Anarquia hits a back elbow and whips Hernandez into Devon in the corner. Hernandez then launches Anarquia into Devon and Sarita hits a dropkick off Hernandez’s back while the ref is distracted. Hernandez applies a bear hug and hits a shoulder block when Devon fights out, but Devon hits a spear. Both guys make tags and Pope hits some clotheslines, dropkicks Hernandez, and then hits a shoulder block and a coronation to Anarquia. Pope hits a top rope cross body but Hernandez breaks up the cover. Anarquia hits a back suplex followed by a diving splash from Hernandez, but Devon and Pope whip the heels into each other before hitting a double shoulder block. Rosita and Sarita try to interfere but the faces give them spankings. Pope tries to suplex Anarquia from the apron, but Anarquia counters it into a cover, and he gets the pinfall as Rosita pulls Pope’s foot from the outside. Typical TNA style tag team match with way too much overbooking and interference to the point where it greatly took away from the wrestling. What could have been a solid tag team encounter was hampered by excessive nonsense, which is a shame because the wrestling itself wasn’t terrible. This has become per the norm for this company in 2011. Match Time: 9:43     Star Rating: **

• Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan

While not a particularly good match, this was acceptable and a bit better than expected. Morgan fires away at Joe at the start before Joe comes back with some chops in the corner. Morgan hits some chops and strikes of his own followed by the rapid fire elbows and a Samoan wrecking ball. Morgan chokes Joe against the ropes and hits a leaping body guillotine followed by a guillotine leg drop on the apron. Morgan hits some shots on the outside, but Joe rakes the eyes before hitting a suicide dive out of the ring to the floor. Joe takes Morgan back inside where he hits some punches in the corner, but Morgan slams Joe’s head on the top turnbuckle and hits a top rope cross body for 2. Joe snaps Morgan’s arm over the ropes, hits a running knee strike, and chokes Morgan against the ropes. Morgan hits some shots, but Joe hits a clothesline and an enzuigiri for 2. Joe leg drops Morgan’s arm and applies a modified Kimura. Joe hits a chop in the corner, but Morgan comes back with some strikes before Joe hits some punches, only for Morgan to hit some of his own and a discus clothesline. Morgan hits some more punches, a corner splash, and a side slam for 2 before going for a chokeslam, but Joe rakes the eyes and hits a belly to belly slam before going for the Coquina Clutch. Morgan drives Joe into the corner to break it, but Joe cinches it in with a body scissors. Morgan makes it to the ropes and Joe argues with the ref, and Morgan hits the Carbon Footprint out of the nowhere for the win. The ending totally came out of nowhere and the match slowed down considerably after a good start, but this was still a passable encounter with decent storytelling. Match Time: 11:37     Star Rating: **1/4

• Bound for Glory Series match: Gunner vs. Bobby Roode

Similar to the Storm/Ray match, this was a very dull match that failed to deliver PPV quality action. They lock up and chain wrestle at the start, with Roode targeting Gunner’s arm. They go to the floor, with Roode slamming Gunner’s arm on the apron and stretching it against the ring post. Gunner kicks Roode and drops him face first on the apron, but when he charges, Roode sidesteps him and he hits the post. Roode stomps the arm and applies an arm bar back in the ring, but Gunner hits a DDT and an elbow to the head. He shoves Roode into the corner, and Roode hits an elbow, but Gunner knocks him down and catapults him neck-first into the bottom rope. Gunner wrenches the head and applies a headscissors on the mat. Roode fights out and goes for a Fujiwara arm bar, but Gunner hits a clothesline and a neckbreaker before applying a full nelson. Roode breaks the hold with a charge into the corner and they trade shots. Roode applies a Fujiwara and Gunner counters, but Roode hits a spinebuster before going back to the Fujiwara, only for Gunner to get the ropes. Roode hits some stomps but Gunner kicks him off. Roode hits a kick but Gunner hits a running knee strike before attempting another full nelson. Roode breaks that hold and counters a fireman’s carry with another Fujiwara, which he transitions into a crossface for the submission win. Gunner sold the arm well and the match had solid storytelling, but the match was literally all Roode working the arm, making it very one dimensional and difficult to get into. Technically it was well worked but it was also really boring. Match Time: 11:59     Star Rating: **

After the match, Eric Bischoff comes out and books Robert Roode vs. Bully Ray for later on in the show to decide the winner of the Bound for Glory Series, since Roode and Ray had the same exact amount of points. They should have just made things easier by announcing in advance that the winners of the two BFG series matches on the PPV would meet in the finals later in the night.

• TNA X Division Championship match: Brian Kendrick(c) vs. Austin Aries

Though nothing great or must-see, this was by far the best match of the night. This was a nice improvement from the X Division title match at Hardcore Justice and these guys showed better chemistry with each other. Aries goes for a waistlock early on, but Kendrick twists the arm and goes for a Fujiwara, only for Aries to go for a headlock. Kendrick applies a headscissors on the mat, but Aries escapes with a headstand and hits a dropkick. Kendrick hits some arm drags and a drop toehold followed by a kick to the head, but Aries avoids the sliced bread and bails to the floor, where he avoids a baseball slide kick from Kendrick. Kendrick whips Aries into the guardrail, but Aries sends Kendrick into the ring post and hits a Russian leg sweep into the post. Aries covers Kendrick in the ring for 2 and chokes him against the ropes. Aries hits a slingshot double sledge over the ropes to the apron followed by some chops, a back elbow, and a jumping elbow drop. Aries applies a unique submission before transitioning into a headscissors and boxing the ears. Kendrick hits some forearms, but Aries hits an atomic drop/STO combo, only for him to miss the pendulum elbow drop.

Kendrick hits a jawbreaker, but Aries counters an enzuigiri and tosses Kendrick into the corner. Kendrick big boots a charging Aries and hits some dropkicks, sending Aries to the floor, where Kendrick hits a suicide dive. He hits a missile dropkick back in the ring for 2 and a tornado DDT, but Aries gets his foot on the ropes. Kendrick goes for the sliced bread, but Aries tosses him to the floor, where he misses a suicide dive and crashes into the guardrail. They trade shots back in the ring before Aries sends Kendrick back to the floor and hits a twisting slingshot dive to the outside. Kendrick goes for several roll-ups back in the ring, but Aries hits a forearm and a rope hung twisting neckbreaker for 2. Aries misses the 450 and Kendrick tosses him into the corner before hitting a dragon suplex for 2. Kendrick goes for sliced bread, but the ref gets in the way. Aries uses the distraction to hit a twisting brainbuster for the win. Good back and forth match between these guys with some really nice near falls, and it’s great to see Aries as the X Division Champion, as he seems like an ideal guy to build that division around. Not a blow away match but on this show it really stood out. Match Time: 13:24     Star Rating: ***1/4

• Bound for Glory Series Finals: Bully Ray vs. Bobby Roode

Since it was the BFG Series finals, they did formal introductions. Much like the other BFG Series matches, this really plodded along and was very bland. Ray again stalls at the start by jawing with the fans before they lock up. Ray hits a chop and they lock up again, breaking in the corner where Ray hits another chop. Roode hits some shots but Ray punches him, only for Roode to hit a clothesline that sends Ray bailing to the floor. Ray applies a headlock and hits a couple shoulder blocks. Roode takes Ray down and applies a crossface, but Ray counters out. Roode hits a chop and some shots in the corner, but Ray hotshots him on the ropes and hits a neckbreaker followed by a splash for 2. Ray tries to cover 2 more times but Roode kicks out. Ray hits some slaps and chops while yelling at Roode, but Roode won’t back down and fires back. Ray whips Roode into the corner, but Roode hits a diving neckbreaker off the second rope. Ray hits a uranage and the Bubba Bomb for 2, but he misses a diving senton, allowing Roode to hit a spinebuster for the win. Nice to see Roode get the win but the finish was very anticlimactic and the match was far too slow paced despite the solid storytelling and characters. Ray plays a great heel but he just doesn’t bring it in the ring, which is a problem when he’s this high up in the card. Match wasn’t bad, but not a very definitive conclusion to a tournament that lasted several months. Match Time: 12:28     Star Rating: **1/4

• 3 Way match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Kurt Angle(c) vs. Sting vs. Mr. Anderson

This wasn’t necessarily a bad main event, but the whole match was incredibly predictable and the crowd was completely dead. Angle bails at the start before coming back inside the ring, and Sting and Anderson start double teaming him with stomps and corner splashes. After taking out Angle, the faces lock up, with Sting hitting a hip toss and a headlock before they go to the corner. Anderson hits some shots before Angle pulls him to the floor and clotheslines him. Sting hits some shots to Angle in the ring and takes out his leg before hitting an atomic drop, a kick to the leg, and a suplex for 2. Anderson hits a clothesline and an elbow drop to Angle, chokes him with his boot, and hits a neckbreaker. Sting breaks up the cover and hits some shots to Anderson before choking him with his boot. Sting has Anderson in a waistlock, and Angle gets behind him to do a double German suplex spot with all 3 guys. Angle kicks Sting’s head and suplexes him for 2 before applying a chin lock with a body scissors. Sting fights up and hits some elbows and clotheslines followed by a corner splash. Sting hits a DDT for 2 but Anderson breaks up the cover and goes for the Mic Check on Angle. Angle blocks and hits the 3 Germans (separately) on both Sting and Anderson.

Angle and Anderson fight up top, with Angle being sent to the mat only to pop back up and hit a super belly to belly suplex for 2. Sting backdrops Angle to the floor and puts Anderson in the Scorpion Deathlock, but Angle eventually breaks it up and hits the Angle Slam to Sting for 2. Angle then hits an Angle Slam on Anderson for 2 before putting Sting in the Ankle Lock. Sting rolls out and Anderson hits the Mic Check on Angle, but Sting hits the Death Drop on Anderson. Angle pulls Sting out of the ring, and Hulk Hogan grabs Sting from the crowd to rub something in his eyes. A “blinded” Sting then tries to give the referee the Scorpion Death Drop, but Angle hits a low blow and the Angle Slam on Sting for the win. Another ridiculous finish with dumb shenanigans, and it looks like wrestling fans’ worst nightmare is coming true as Sting is apparently facing Hulk Hogan at Bound for Glory. This match here was okay, but everything went exactly as you’d expect it to aside from the goofy finish. Nothing terrible but a very flat way to close the show. Match Time: 15:33     Star Rating: **1/2

Overall PPV Rating: 5/10

1.    TNA World Tag Team Championship match: James Storm and Alex Shelley(c) vs. The British Invasion

Pretty solid choice to open the show, and also one of the better matches of the evening. Storm starts the match with Douglas Williams, working the arm before making a tag to Shelley. Williams takes out Shelley’s leg and hits a shoulder block followed by a big punch, but Storm tags back in. Storm and Shelley hit a double leg wrench, double clothesline, and a double dropkick. Shelley hits an atomic drop followed by a bulldog from Storm, and Storm pokes Williams in the eye as Shelley holds him up. Shelley hits some mounted punches in the corner, but gets his leg pulled by Magnus from the outside while running the ropes. Magnus hits a kick followed by Williams hitting a scoop slam and a knee drop. Williams works the arm and combines with Magnus to hit Shelley with a straightjacket takedown. Shelley hits some forearms, but eats a suplex from Magnus and a knee strike from Williams in the corner. Magnus hits a top rope diving elbow drop but Storm breaks up the pin. Shelley hits a kick before taking an exploder from Williams, but is able block the Chaos Theory and hit a downward spiral into the middle turnbuckle. Storm gets the hot tag and hits a bunch of clotheslines and a back body drop to Williams before scoring a near fall. Williams trips up Magnus’ leg and both members of British Invasion end up on the outside. Storm stands on the middle rope and Shelley hits a suicide dive through his legs to the floor. Storm hits a scoop slam on Williams and gives Magnus a double suplex with Shelley’s assistance. Magnus tosses Storm to the floor, but Storm quickly comes back inside. Williams blocks the Eye of the Storm but ends up sandwiched in the corner. Storm hits Magnus with a lungblower and Shelley hits a diving double stomp for 2. Shelley hits a thrust kick off the top but accidentally nails Storm with a superkick. British Invasion hit a diving uppercut/spinebuster combination for 2. Magnus misses with a kick and nails his partner, then falls victim to a superkick from Storm and a shiranui from Shelley for the pin. All around good opener with some crisp, fast paced action. Match Time: 10:57     Star Rating: ***

2.    Scott Steiner vs. Matt Morgan

After a good opener, the show hit a lull until the last man standing match. Following a lengthy staredown, Morgan catches Steiner in a headlock before he drops him with a sccop slam and a head butt. Morgan hangs Steiner up on the ropes and jumps onto him, then drives him into the apron on the outside. Steiner hits a low blow in the ring and hits an elbow drop to Morgan’s knee. Steiner stalls with taunts before hitting a belly to belly slam, clawing at Morgan’s face, and kicking him in the gut. He hits some chops and punches in the corner followed by a lazy snapmare and a kick to the chest. Steiner hits a chop and kicks Morgan in the gut again, but he eats a kick from Morgan when he charges in the corner. Morgan comes back with clotheslines, a corner splash, and a side slam for a near fall. Morgan hits a Michinoku Driver but Steiner comes back with a T-Bone suplex. Morgan hits a discus clothesline, but Steiner hits a downward spiral and puts Morgan in the Recliner. Morgan tries to break it with an electric chair type move, but Steiner counters with a victory roll for 2. Steiner comes off the middle rope and Morgan catches him with a chokeslam attempt, but Steiner escapes and tries for another belly to belly. Morgan boxes the ears and comes off the ropes with a Carbon Footprint for the win. Much of the match was sluggish and boring but it ended up not being that bad with the last couple minutes. Not a good match by any stretch of the imagination but certainly not as bad as it could have been with these two. Match Time: 9:20     Star Rating: *3/4

3.    3-Way match for the TNA X Division Championship: Abyss(c) vs. Kazarian vs. Brian Kendrick

Now this was utter crap. Abyss as X Division Champion is already ridiculous enough, but the entire layout of this was a disaster and left viewers very confused as to who was playing what role both in this match and in the grand scheme of things. The match begins with the two faces dodging Abyss, before Abyss is able to toss Kaz onto Kendrick on the outside. The faces attack Abyss in the corner before the fight spills back out to the floor. Abyss punches Kaz, but Kendrick hits a flying dropkick to the outside and is all over Abyss with punches. They go back in the ring, where Kaz and Kendrick hit consecutive flying forearms and kicks to Abyss in the corner. Abyss hits Kendrick with a Black Hole Slam out of nowhere and big boots Kaz. Abyss kicks Kendrick to the floor when he crawls to the apron from the outside. Abyss chokes Kaz, whips him into the corner, hits a corner splash, and wrenches his head for a while. Kaz attempts a comeback but Abyss hits the Shock Treatment. Abyss misses a Vader Bomb and Kendrick rejoins the fray, hitting a gazillion dropkicks and a tornado DDT. Abyss hits a clothesline but Kaz hits some shots in the corner and a diving hurricanrana. Kaz hits a springboard back elbow and hits a double dropkick with Kendrick. Kaz hits a twisting leg drop and Kendrick hits a diving splash, and both guys try a double pin (HUH?) for 2. Kaz counters an Abyss chokeslam with a victory roll and Abyss gets sent to the floor. Kaz and Kendrick go at it, with Kendrick hitting a kick and countering the Fade to Black before hitting a dropkick. Abyss then yanks Kendrick out of the ring and covers Kaz for the win. This was a catastrophe. The story of this was that Abyss, the big bad monster heel, is in essence fighting a handicap match against two faces and will have to heroically overcome the odds to win the match. Then the match ends with a super cheap pin that made this big bad monster heel look like a coward. The match either A. almost buried Abyss and/or B. almost turned him into a face. The whole 2 on 1 scenario also completely killed Kaz’s face heat, which tells you something about the match because the fans usually love the guy. I don’t know who planned this, but they should be fired. Match Time: 12:05     Star Rating: *1/4

4.    Samoa Joe vs. Crimson

This was a bit better than the previous two matches, but nothing exceptional. Crimson is very green and the fans know it. Crimson hits some shoulder thrusts in the corner early but Joe tosses him to the floor. Crimson hits a forearm to a charging Joe and hits a cravat neckbreaker back in the ring. Crimson hits some punches but Joe hits a dragon screw and slams Crimson’s head into the corner. Joe hits a slam and applies a leg bar, and Crimson gets to the ropes before Joe puts him in another leg hold, twisting his ankle. Crimson tries to counter with a triangle choke but that ends up broken up and Crimson hits what was supposed to be a T-Bone suplex.  Joe comes back with a German suplex, a clothesline, a big slap, and a diving leg lariat. Joe follows with a powerbomb, which he transitions into a single leg Boston crab. Crimson gets a rope break and hits a spear out of nowhere. Both guys are slow to get up and Crimson hits some punches, but Joe hits some slaps and sets up Crimson for the muscle buster, only for Crimson to escape. Joe applies a cobra clutch, but Crimson gets out of it and hits the sitout chokebomb for the win. Crowd was completely dead for this and the finish came out of nowhere. Wasn’t a god awful match but it felt very much like an exhibition for Joe with a fluke win for Crimson. Match Time: 10:33     Star Rating: **1/4

5.    TNA Women’s Knockout Championship match: Mickie James(c) vs. Angelina Love

Love comes out with Winter, who almost singlehandedly killed this match. They lock up hard before Love tosses Mickie to the mat twice. Love works the arm, hitting a leg drop to it and twisting it. Love hits a shoulder block and kicks Mickie in the corner. Mickie hits a hurricanrana but Love scores a near fall and stomps Mickie’s back. Mickie hits a snapmare but Winter hits a cheap shot. Love rakes Mickie’s eyes and tosses her to the floor. Mickie sends Love into the steps before they trade punches in the ring. Mickie hits a flying forearm, some clotheslines, and a flapjack, followed by a diving Thesz press. Mickie trips Love’s leg and goes for a pin, but Winter puts Love’s foot on the bottom rope. Love hits a bicycle kick and Mickie gets the rope to break the pin, but Winter tries to push her arm off the rope. The ref sees this and yells at Winter but doesn’t eject her. Wow. Love hits some punches and Mickie knocks Winter off the apron before countering a move from Love with a northern lights suplex. Love scores a near fall with leverage from Winter, but Mickie hits a horribly botched DDT for the win. For the most part, an average mainstream women’s match that was hampered by the excessive involvement from Winter as well as the botched ending. As two pros they should have known better than to end that way. Match Time: 8:01     Star Rating: *1/2

6.    Last Man Standing match: AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray

Most will probably argue that this was the match of the night. I disagree, but it was still better than anything on the show at this point and was better than I expected. After a long staredown, AJ unloads on Ray with a ton of punches, a knee strike, and more punches. AJ hits an enzuigiri but can’t clothesline Ray to the floor, allowing Ray to hit a clothesline. Ray hits some shots in the corner but AJ comes back with more punches, a head butt, and a leaping forearm. AJ whips Ray into the corner but Ray knocks him down and hits some punches. Ray hits a back body drop, a corner splash, and a knee to the gut. Ray twists AJ’s arm and tosses him to the outside, where Ray picks up the steel steps and sets them up on their side. Ray hits an elbow to the head and gives AJ snake eyes on the steps. Ray then puts the steps on AJ’s midsection and stands on them. AJ beats the count and they return to the ring. Ray gives AJ a series of hard chops, with AJ egging him on and begging for more after each one. AJ gets up at 6 after Ray pops him in the jaw. AJ hits some strikes, an enzuigiri, and a springboard flying forearm. Ray is up at 6, and AJ sets him up in the corner and hits a Pele. AJ sets up for a hurricanrana but Ray counters with a superbomb into the ring. Both guys wind up on the outside, with Ray missing when he swings a chain at AJ. AJ gets the chain, wraps it around his fist, and punches Ray in the face, busting Ray open.

AJ hits some more punches and puts Ray back in the ring, where he hits a springboard 450 splash. Ray is up at 8, and AJ throws him over the ropes and into the steel steps on the outside. AJ then vaults himself over the ropes onto Ray on the floor. AJ goes for the Styles Clash, but Ray drops him on the apron. Ray throws AJ up the ramp and onto the stage, and then teases a powerbomb off the stage. AJ counters and hits a Pele, then kicks Ray to the floor. AJ then does a running diving forearm off the stage to the floor. AJ then sets up a table, punches Ray, hits him with a steel chair, and puts him on the table. AJ then climbs a steel tower and leaps off with a crazy elbow drop through the table. Both guys are down, but as AJ tries to get up, Ray kicks him, which sends him crashing headfirst through the base of the stage. Ray then gets up at 10 for the win before falling immediately back down. The BS finish really irritated me, especially considering that AJ just jobbed to TOMMY DREAMER at the last PPV and now once again had to lay down for a veteran. The match had great storytelling, but this isn’t the type of match/opponent that I want to see AJ wrestle, since he became severely limited in his moveset and had to resort to punches for the bulk of his offense. The finish also hurt it, because given the way the match was laid out and executed it made no sense for Ray to get the win. Still a good match nonetheless and the crowd ate it up. Match Time: 20:18     Star Rating: ***1/4

7.    TNA World Heavyweight Championship match: Sting(c) vs. Mr. Anderson

Seeing as this is one of TNA’s premier events of the year, it was very interesting to not see the World Heavyweight Championship defended in the main event. Given the way this match turned out, I completely understand why. Sting attacks Anderson on the stage before the bell and punches him down the ramp and into the ring, where the bell rings. They quickly go outside, where Anderson this some punches only for Sting to slam his head into the guardrail and toss him into the crowd. Sting whips Anderson into a wall and they do the same lengthy stand up crowd brawl that tends to happen in every Sting title match. Eventually, Anderson is tossed over the guardrail and the action returns to the ringside area. Anderson slams Sting’s head onto the ring post, slams his arm onto the steps, and wrenches his arm around the post. Anderson applies an arm bar, hits a pair of elbow drops, and continues to slowly work the arm. Anderson hits a botched single arm DDT and a punch, but misses a corner splash. Anderson comes back with a front slam and wrenches the arm again. They trade punches and Sting hits a series of clotheslines, a back body drop, and a corner splash. He goes for the Scorpion Deathlock but is distracted when Eric Bischoff comes out. Anderson hits a Finlay roll for 2 and Sting hits a DDT, but Anderson gets his knees up to block a Vader Bomb. Sting blocks Anderson’s first attempt at the Mic Check but takes the move on the second try. Sting crotches Anderson in the corner, hits a corner splash, and nails the Scorpion Death Drop, but Bischoff messes up the count and Sting is confused. Anderson hits a low blow RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REF, who does nothing, and then hits a Mic Check for the win. No reaction whatsoever to the title change, which was fitting considering the crowd was dead for the rest of the match as well. It was just typical boring, sloppy Anderson and the very formulaic Sting. Put the two together and you have a sluggish, awful world title match that absolutely no one cared about. Thank God this didn’t main event. Match Time: 15:52     Star Rating: *1/2

8.    Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle

The stipulations were that the winner would be the #1 contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship as well as gain possession of Angle’s Olympic gold medals. This wasn’t the best Angle/Jarrett match ever but it was still really good and the best match on the show. Angle takes control early with a headlock and a snap suplex, but Jarrett launches him to the floor when he charges. Jarrett sends Angle headfirst into the guardrail and shoulder first into the steps. Jarrett stomps Angle in the ring, then slides out and hits him in the face. Both guys are down after Jarrett attempts a cross body and they collide. Angle hits some punches and gets caught in a sleeper, but Angle escapes, leaps over Jarrett in the corner, and hits a German suplex. Both guys are slow to get up but eventually trade shots, with Angle following with a belly to belly for 2 and a dropkick out of the corner. Angle catches a charging Jarrett with a powerbomb and transitions into the Ankle Lock, but Jarrett rolls out and hits a DDT for 2. Angle hits an Angle Slam for a near fall but misses a moonsault, and Jarrett hits the Stroke for 2. Both guys counter out of Tombstone attempts, and Angle again cinches in the Ankle Lock. Jarrett rolls out and this time there’s a ref bump, which allows Jarrett to grab a guitar and smash Angle over the head with it. A second ref, Earl Hebner, comes down to count the pin but Angle kicks out. Angle scores a near fall with a schoolboy and hits the 3 Germans for 2. Both guys go up top, with Jarrett kicking Angle off only for Angle to run back up with a super belly to belly suplex for 2. Jarrett hits a Stroke off the second rope for another near fall. Angle does a sunset flip but Jarrett applies the Ankle Lock himself. Angle struggles for a bit but eventually kicks Jarrett off and puts him in the Ankle Lock, forcing Jarrett to tap out. Very good, clean match with no shenanigans (except for the guitar, which was fine) to close the show and end the feud. Just really solid, well executed pro wrestling. Match Time: 17:42     Star Rating: ***3/4

Overall PPV Rating: 6/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit and I am from Orange, CT. I am a huge pro wrestling fan and follow all kinds of promotions such as WWE, TNA, ROH, PWG, CHIKARA, Dragon Gate USA, and anything else I might come across. I am a huge supporter of independent wrestling and I feel that it provides a true alternative to the mainstream promotions and also showcases a lot of innovation and hard work. Aside from wrestling I am also a really big fan of football, baseball, hockey, and MMA. I have also written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for over two years.

1.    R-Truth vs. Rey Mysterio

Solid choice for an opener. Truth cuts a promo heeling on the fans before the match about how he had to park with the fans and walk in the rain before the show. They lock up at the start and Truth backs Rey into the corner. Rey hits a kick but Truth responds with one of his own, only for Rey to hit a kick to the head and send Truth to the floor. Rey runs across the apron and jumps off with a hurricanrana to the floor. Rey heads up top, but Truth pulls him down into the tree of woe and stomps him. Truth hits some punches before Rey drop toeholds him into the corner, but Truth grabs Rey’s head and runs him across the apron to send him headfirst into the ring post. Truth covers for 2 and applies a reverse headlock. Rey fights to his feet, but Truth hits a kick to the gut and a reverse falcon arrow. Truth applies a brief modified camel clutch in the ropes before he stomps Rey and stretches his body across the post from the floor. Truth covers for 2 before hanging up Rey on the top rope. They fight in the corner, with Rey hitting some kicks before diving off with a second rope bulldog for 2. Rey hits a second rope springboard cross body, a kick to the head, and a top rope diving seated senton, but Truth comes back with the Lie Detector. Rey has Truth set up for the 619 but Truth bails to the floor. Rey kicks him through the ropes, but Truth crotches him on the apron. Once they get back in the ring, Truth hits the leaping downward spiral for the win. After the match he smashes a water bottle in Rey’s face. Short but well wrestled opener with an unfortunately dead crowd. Truth needed the win for sure. Match Time: 8:12     Star Rating: **3/4

2.    Intercontinental Championship match: Wade Barrett(c) vs. Ezekiel Jackson

This took things down a peg after a pretty good opener. Barrett is slow to make contact at the start but goes after Jackson with punches. Jackson launches Barrett in the air to fight out of a reverse headlock and stomps him. Barrett hits a punch and some kicks before Jackson overpowers him and sends him to the outside. Jackson blocks a kick and knocks him down in the ring before hitting some kicks in the corner. Jackson whips Barrett into the corner and hits a back elbow. Barrett says he hurt his neck but he was faking it and goes after Jackson with punches before sending him shoulder first into the ring post. Barrett hits some punches on the ground before hitting a diving elbow drop. Barrett applies a rear chin lock, but Jackson fights to his feet. Jackson escapes the Wasteland, but Barrett hits a kick and a pumphandle slam for 2. Jackson sends Barrett into the post and hip tosses him into the ring, where he hits some clotheslines, a corner splash, and five consecutive scoop slams. He has Barrett in the torture rack when the rest of the Corre runs down for a disqualification. Jackson fights back at first but they all beat him down. Aside from the stupid, terrible finish, the match was horrible. Just punches and kicks and lumbering around from two big guys who can’t work that well. DQ finishes to title matches on PPVs are also ridiculous. Match Time: 7:28     Star Rating: *

3.    Sin Cara vs. Chavo Guerrero

This match was a little bit disappointing, and it could have been a show stealer. They do some good mat wrestling early before Cara hits a headscissors and sends Chavo to the floor. Cara hits a huge spinning tope dive to the floor, and then hits a second headscissors that sends Chavo into the barricade. Chavo comes back with some shots in the corner in the ring, but Cara hits a top rope moonsault to a standing Chavo. Cara kicks Chavo in the gut, but Chavo is able to rebound with a jumping knee strike in the corner. Cara hits a dropkick and a springboard arm drag, but Chavo hits a kick to the gut and some punches. Chavo targets Cara’s leg, but when he heads up top, Cara kicks him to the floor. Cara then hits a diving cross body off the top to the floor. Cara hits a kick to the head and a springboard hurricanrana back in the ring. Cara hits some more kicks and a handspring back elbow. Cara hits an enzuigiri from the apron and a springboard cross body. Chavo attempts the Gory Special, but Cara fights out and hits a really sloppy tilt-a-whirl headscissors-type move for the win. I think it was supposed to be something similar to La Mistica but they messed up and Chavo just fell on his face. The match was too short to hit its potential and it felt too much like an exhibition for Cara due to Chavo getting such little offense. The botched finish hurt it as well. Match Time: 7:23     Star Rating **1/4

Alberto Del Rio then comes out for a brief promo, where he heels on the fans before Kane and Big Show come out to interrupt. Kane basically tells him to scram and the Nexus make their entrance for the tag title match.

4.    WWE Tag Team Championship match: Kane and The Big Show(c) vs. CM Punk and Mason Ryan

This was another forgettable, TV quality match. Ryan and Kane start the match with a lock up, but Ryan quickly sends Kane to the mat. Kane twists Ryan’s arm and Ryan hits a shoulder block before Kane comes back with some strikes. Ryan hits a scoop slam and tags Punk, but Kane throws Punk face first into the corner. Show gets a tag and hits a chop, steps across Punk’s back, and then hits two more chops to Punk’s chest and back. Punk avoids a charging Show in the corner and tags Ryan. Ryan hits a shoulder block and an elbow drop before tagging back to Punk. Show applies a bear hug before Kane gets a tag. Kane hits a boot to the face, some corner clotheslines, and a side slam. Kane hits a top rope diving clothesline, but Punk escapes the chokeslam and tags in Ryan. Punk kicks Kane on the floor and Ryan drives him into the apron. Punk beats on Kane in the corner and hits a high knee, but Kane throws him off when he attempts a bulldog. Punk dropkicks Kane in the leg and tags in Ryan, who drives Kane into the corner and powerslams him. Kane hits some shots and Ryan hits a kick, but Kane hits a kick and suplex and both men are down. Ryan tags Punk, who hits an elbow drop and some stomps but misses a diving elbow drop. Both guys get tags and Show hits some clotheslines, a corner back splash, and a shoulder block. He teases a double chokeslam on Punk and Ryan and they fight him off, only for Show to hit a double clothesline. Punk is sent to the floor, leaving Ryan to fall victim to a double chokeslam for the win from Kane and Show. Mostly dull, boring match that felt like a total waste of Punk. Match Time: 9:05     Star Rating: *1/2

5.    Divas Championship match: Brie Bella(c) vs. Kelly Kelly

Even for WWE Divas standards, this was bad. Kelly has Brie in a lame version of a tarantula through the ropes before she hits a top rope cross body. Kelly does a stinkface before Brie sends her to the floor, where Nikki attacks her. Brie snaps Kelly’s arm over the bottom rope, and then twists and kicks her arm. She then applies a really long arm bar. Kelly finally gets up and hits a Thesz press and some punches before slamming Brie’s head against the mat multiple times, totally forgetting about the arm. Kelly stomps Brie against the ropes, but the ref backs her up, allowing Brie to swap out with Nikki. Nikki hits a sloppy X Factor for the win. This was a waste of time, both of these girls are awful, and we didn’t even get a Kharma appearance. Match Time: 4:02     Star Rating: DUD

6.    World Heavyweight Championship match: Randy Orton(c) vs. Christian

At long last we finally got something worth paying for on this PPV. Orton and Christian clearly have some really strong chemistry and delivered another extremely good match. They go to lock up, but Christian goes for a quick roll up. Orton gets a near fall of his own and applies a headlock, but Christian gets up. They run the ropes, with Christian hitting a leap frog and a shoulder block. Christian hits a second rope missile dropkick before they run the ropes again, with Orton hitting a leap frog and back elbow. Christian sends Orton to the floor and hits a baseball slide dropkick. Back in the ring, Christian hits a scoop slam and applies a chin lock, but Orton is able to fight to his feet. Christian hits a dropkick and applies another submission, but Orton again gets out and hits a punch followed by a dropkick. Christian goes up top, but Orton hits several punches and a top rope superplex for 2. Christian gets a near fall of his own and Orton hits some clotheslines, only for Christian to come back with a spinebuster. They trade shots before Christian hits a double sledge and a reverse DDT. Orton blocks a dropkick and tries for a jackknife cover, which Christian counters with a roll up of his own. Christian counters the Angle Slam with an arm drag and snaps Orton’s neck across the top rope after a series of more counters. Christian hits a top rope diving head butt, but Orton comes back with his backbreaker, some stomps, and a knee drop. Both guys counter each other’s finishers and Orton catches Christian in a Billy Goat’s Curse. Christian gets to the ropes and hits a kick before heading to the corner. They tease the same spot that finished off Christian in the Smackdown match, but Christian thinks twice and scores a near fall with a sunset flip out of the corner. Orton blocks Christian’s flip up kick in the corner and hits a spike DDT. Christian fights off the RKO and sets up for a spear, but Orton catches him with a snap powerslam for 2. Orton sets up for the punt, but has second thoughts, allowing Christian to hit a spear for 2. Orton then counters the Killswitch, Christian counters the RKO, Orton counters the Killswitch again, Christian does a back flip, and Orton hits a sudden RKO for the win. Great match with some excellent storytelling elements and even some good psychology. This may have been even better than their Smackdown match. Match Time: 16:51     Star Rating: ****

7.    Kiss My Foot match: Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole

Cole gets on the mic and says that he can’t compete as he reads aloud a doctor’s note, which claims that Cole has athlete’s foot. The ref says the note is no good and calls for the bell. Lawler rips off Cole’s pants and stomps him several times before hitting a punch and a dropkick. Cole slams Lawler’s face against the steps on the outside and throws him into the barricade. Cole takes off his shoe and sock, revealing his very dirty foot underneath. Lawler punches Cole and sends him crashing through the Cole Mine cubicle. Lawler hits a diving fist drop back in the ring for the quick win. Eve comes out after the match and hits a standing moonsault on Cole to get back at him for dissing the Divas. Jim Ross then comes out and douses him with BBQ sauce. Cole tries to walk away and calls everyone a bunch of losers, but then Bret Hart comes out. Hart puts Cole in the Sharpshooter in the ring, and Lawler puts his foot in Cole’s mouth as he’s stuck in the hold. This was a good way to blow off the program and was executed exactly as it should have been at Wrestlemania in the first place. This was a fine segment and didn’t overstay its welcome. Match Time: 3:02     Star Rating: N/A

8.    I Quit match for the WWE Championship: John Cena(c) vs. The Miz

This was certainly not what people expected. Miz comes out with Alex Riley and gets on the mic to offer Cena the chance to quit right at the start. Cena declines and runs wild on both men, hitting a bulldog and an Attitude Adjustment to Miz before applying the STF, only for Riley to break it up and attack Cena. Riley is sent to the outside and Cena hits his shoulder blocks, the side suplex, and the Five Knuckle Shuffle to Miz. Miz counters the AA with a reverse DDT backbreaker/neckbreaker combination. Cena hits an AA but Riley hits him with the briefcase several times. Riley slams Cena, who refuses to quit as the mic is stuck in his face. Both heels throw Cena outside the ring and ram him into the barricade. They take apart the announce table and bash Cena with monitors. Cena comes back with punches but Miz sends him into the steel steps. Miz hits a DDT on the lower half of the steps and offers Cena the chance to quit as Riley holds the upper half of the steps. Cena says no and Riley slams the steps on his shoulder. Riley holds up Cena’s arms above his head as Miz gets a kendo stick and repeatedly hits Cena with it. Cena still won’t quit. Riley and Miz ram Cena into the barricade and throw him down onto the ramp. Miz hits a DDT on the stage and Cena still won’t quit. Miz kicks him in the head and Cena falls to the floor beside the stage.

Riley holds up Cena against the boom camera and Miz gets on the mic to tell Cena he’s going to whip him with a strap. Cena again doesn’t quit and Miz whips Cena several times. They head back towards the ring, and Cena fights back, throwing Riley into the ring post, only for Miz to hit him in the back with a chair. Miz misses a chair shot in the ring and Cena hits some punches before Riley comes inside. The ref is down after a collision with Riley as Miz hits a reverse DDT. Miz hits a Skull-Crushing Finale onto a chair set up between the middle and top ropes. Miz taunts the crowd and goes back and forth with some little kid in the front row. Cena ends up hung up through a dismantled barricade and still refuses to quit, just before Miz hits him with a chair. We then hear “I Quit”, but it sounds like a recording, and the bell is rung and Miz is announced as the winner. The ref then comes to and finds Riley’s cell phone on the ground, and that they just played a recording and Cena didn’t quit. The match is then restarted and Riley goes to hit Cena with the WWE title, but misses and hits Miz. Cena then gives Riley an AA through the announce table. Cena chases Miz around ringside and up the ramp, whipping him with his belt. Cena catches Miz in the STF on the stage and Miz quits. What a lame finish. Cena gets destroyed for almost 25 minutes only to get the win in a minute? The match reads better than it was executed. There was a lot of stalling, lengthy pauses, and too much of Miz getting on the mic throughout. Easily one of the most ridiculous PPV main events that I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t even much of a match, just an extremely long, one-sided beatdown with an unrealistic conclusion. It just seemed to never end and dragged on forever. Match Time: 24:52 (Total bell-to-bell time)     Star Rating: N/A (Asinine)

Overall PPV Rating: 5/10

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 three years.

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1.    #1 Contender’s Xscape match: Chris Sabin vs. Robbie E vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Amazing Red vs. Jay Lethal vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Suicide

Good choice for an opener. The rules are pinfall-or-submission elimination style until it gets to the final two, where the only way to win is to escape the cage. Suicide and Robbie start as everyone else waits on the outside, so tag rules are in play here as well (even though it’s in a CAGE). Suicide takes it to Robbie in the corner and hits a dropkick, and then hip tosses Max (who tagged himself in) before driving him into the corner. Max hits a dropkick to Suicide, but Jeremy tags himself in and gets in his brother’s face. Max backs into the corner and Lethal tags himself in. Jeremy hits a springboard arm drag and a head scissors, but Lethal is able to hit the Lethal Combination. Suicide and Max get tags, but Robbie blind tags himself in and eliminates Suicide after a Sole Food. Sabin comes in and sends Robbie into the cage with the help of Lethal. Sabin and Lethal have a nice back and forth sequence before Red tags in and hits a missile dropkick to Sabin. He goes for a spin kick and Lethal hits a chop, but Red blocks a handspring and hits the Code Red to eliminate Lethal. Red tries for a springboard move, but Sabin counters it and both guys try for suplexes. Sabin flips Red over into the Cradle Shock and hits a huge running lariat to eliminate him.

Max beats on Sabin, but Sabin hangs him up in the tree of woe and hits a dropkick. Sabin with a roll-up attempt for 2, but Max hits a top rope neckbreaker to eliminate him. Kendrick comes in with a roll-up attempt but Robbie takes him down. Max tries for a moonsault but Kendrick gets the knees up. Max and Jeremy go at it, with Max trying to climb the cage and Jeremy pulling him down. Jeremy sends Max into the cage twice and hits an enzuigiri before beating on him with fists. Max pins Jeremy out of nowhere with a small package. Robbie chokes Kendrick in the corner with his boot, but Kendrick is able to toss both him and Max into the cage. Kendrick takes it to both guys, hitting an enzuigiri to Robbie and a superkick to Max. Kendrick eliminates Robbie with a thrust kick, so it’s escape-the-cage rules now. Max beats on Kendrick before powerbombing him into the corner and sending him into the cage. Max climbs but Kendrick pulls his feet. Kendrick sends Max to the mat, but Max uses the ref to knock Kendrick down from the top before climbing out over the top for the win. Some decent wrestling here but it felt really flat due to the lack of crowd heat. Match didn’t have a lot of flow and felt very rushed. Some good sequences early on made it average, but not much beyond that. Match Time: 13:34     Star Rating: **

Eric Bischoff then comes out for a brief promo where he runs down himself and his own accomplishments before lauding Hulk Hogan and talking about how Immortal would take out Fortune later tonight. Felt like a time-killer.

2.    Four Way match: Ink Inc. vs. The British Invasion vs. Eric Young and Orlando Jordan vs. Crimson and Scott Steiner

Two straight clustered matches with too many wrestlers involved? Yep. Young tries to climb, but you can’t win that way so everyone stares at him. Him and Jesse Neal before Shannon Moore tags in to work over Young. Douglas Williams tags in and squares off with Jordan. British Invasion double team Jordan, but Jordan rubs himself up against Magnus and clotheslines Williams. Jordan tags Neal, but Magnus hits a lariat to Neal. British Invasion hit a double necktie takedown to Neal. Williams hits a snapmare and Magnus hits an elbow drop for 2. Neal fights back and tags in Crimson. Crimson hits some knees to the face and a neckbreaker to Magnus, but both men are down after a double clothesline. Steiner gets in and hits an elbow drop to Magnus. Steiner then starts hitting belly-to-belly slams and suplexes to everyone. Moore taunts Steiner and beats on Williams in the corner. Young hits some shots on Moore but eats a diving uppercut from Williams. Moore flips out of the corner with a sloppy moonsault on Williams, and Neal hits a spear to Jordan. Crimson hits a modified Lethal Combination to Neal. Steiner hits a T-Bone suplex to Magnus but takes a missile dropkick from Young. Young then climbs out of the cage, and Moore flips out of the corner with a really sloppy neckbreaker on Williams for the win. Jordan and Young weren’t funny and were extremely distracting throughout, which severely hurt the match, as did some really clunky spots. You had enough talent in here for this to be pretty solid but the decision to spotlight the comedy jobbers killed any chances of that. Match Time: 8:51     Star Rating: *3/4

3.    Title vs. Hair match for the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship: Madison Rayne(c) vs. Mickie James

Mickie throws Rayne into the cage several times and instantly hits the jumping DDT for the win. Unexpected squash but best-case scenario considering Mickie had a separated shoulder. In hindsight this buries the Knockouts division because the girl who beat everyone for a whole year lost in less than a minute to an injured person. This is only going to serve as more ammo for people who say women have no purpose on mainstream PPVs. Match Time: 0:38     Star Rating: N/A

4.    D’Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe

After a bad first hour, we got our first solid match on the show. Pope tries to escape at first, but Joe pulls him down, only for Pope to hit some cheap shots and a body slam. Joe is back up and hits a clothesline and hits some shots in the corner. Joe hits an enzuigiri in the corner and some chops. Pope begs off, only to send Joe into the corner. Pope hits some shots in the corner before they fight up top, with Pope being crotched on the top rope. Joe hits a kick that knocks Pope to the mat and does a face wash in the corner. Pope takes advantage after a ref distraction, hitting some punches and kicks. Joe comes back with some of his own before Pope drops him with an uppercut. Pope applies a rear chin lock and Joe fights out, only for Pope to send him into the ropes and hit an STO. Pope charges but Joe hits a snap powerslam. They both trade slaps before Joe hits a kick and a running senton. Joe hits a second rope diving leg lariat and a Muscle Buster, but Pope gets his foot on the ropes (why would this break a pin in a CAGE match?). Pope tries to climb the cage but Joe grabs his trunks, exposing Pope’s ass. Pope sends Joe to the mat and dives off the top with an elbow drop. Pope tries for the DDE, but Joe catches him, sends him into the cage, and hits a Muscle Buster. Joe then locks in the Coquina Clutch and Pope taps out. Pretty good match between these guys, but I wish the feud hadn’t been built up so horribly beforehand. Could have been better with more time but this was enjoyable. Match Time: 10:27     Star Rating: **3/4

5.    Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan

The Mexican America stable accompanies Hernandez to the ring. Morgan takes it to Hernandez at the start, hitting the rapid fire elbows in the corner and a side slam for a near fall. Anarquia pulls Morgan’s foot via a hole in the cage and Hernandez hits a shoulder block. Hernandez uses the ropes for leverage as he rakes Morgan’s face against the cage after he slips at first. Hernandez applies a nerve hold, but Morgan fights out and hits a cross body. Hernandez retakes the advantage and tosses Morgan into the cage. Morgan hits some punches but runs into a shoulder block from Hernandez. Hernandez chokes Morgan with his towel, and then with his boot in the corner. Hernandez stalls with taunts as Morgan lies on the mat. Morgan hits a discuss clothesline and both guys are down. Morgan hits a head butt, some punches, and some clotheslines before tossing Hernandez into the cage several times. Morgan hits a backdrop but Hernandez hits a Pounce-type move that the announcers can’t identify. Anarquia climbs the side of the cage but Morgan knocks him down as Hernandez heads up top. Hernandez leaps but Morgan hits a mid-air Carbon Footprint for the win. Slow, sluggish match with a cool finish. I’m sick of seeing this feud because these guys always have horrible matches against each other. Just stop already. Match Time: 8:13     Star Rating: *1/4

Sarita comes into the cage with Rosita afterwards and cuts a promo about how Mexican America is superior to everyone and they keep getting screwed over. Velvet Sky then comes out and beats up both girls by herself. Welcome to Jobberville, Sarita and Rosita.

6.    Ultra Male Rules match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle

The rules are similar to the Three Degrees of Pain match that Angle had with Desmond Wolfe at Final Resolution 2009. It’s a 2 out of 3 falls match where the first fall can only be won via submission, the second by pinfall, and the third by escaping the cage. They lock up and do a bit of mat wrestling at the start before Jarrett applies a Figure Four leg lock. Angle turns over and Jarrett goes to the ropes to break it. Angle hits a T-Bone suplex and applies the Ankle Lock, but Jarrett escapes before applying a sleeper, which he transitions into a rear-naked choke as he takes Angle down to the mat. Angle escapes and applies the Ankle Lock, but Jarrett again gets out and sends Angle’s arm into the ring post. Jarrett then puts Angle in a cross-arm breaker. Angle is able counter into the Ankle Lock and Jarrett taps out, so Angle wins the first fall. Angle stalks Jarrett, who is selling the leg, but Jarrett sends Angle into the cage and hits the Stroke for a near fall. Jarrett hits a top rope cross body, but Angle sloppily rolls through for a near fall. Jarrett chokes Angle against the ropes but both guys are down after a double clothesline. They get up and trade punches before Angle hits some clotheslines and a belly to belly suplex. Jarrett hits a knee strike and sends Angle into the cage. Angle hits two consecutive German suplexes, but Jarrett hits a back kick low blow on the third attempt. Jarrett goes for the Stroke, but Angle sends him into the cage and hits the Angle Slam for a near fall. They fight up top and Jarrett knocks Angle down, but Angle runs back up (stumbling at first) and hits a super Northern Lights suplex for 2. Angle hits a clothesline and stalks Jarrett before hitting an RKO for a near fall. Angle tries for the Angle Slam but Jarrett counters with a roll-up and hooks the tights to win the second fall.

We’re tied at one fall apiece heading into the final fall. Jarrett throws Angle into the cage multiple times before catapulting him into it. Jarrett gets the door open and tries to leave, but Angle runs him into the cage wall and hits 5 consecutive Germans. Angle goes to walk out through the door, but comes back inside and locks the door. Angle throws Jarrett head first into the cage twice, busting him open. Angle then rakes Jarrett’s face against the cage before they fight up top. Jarrett hits a superbomb that results in a terrifying landing, with Angle seemingly landing right on his head.  Somehow, Angle is able to pop back up and hit Jarrett with a super Angle Slam off the top. Angle tries to climb over the top but Gunner runs down, threatening Angle with a steel chair. Angle is at the top of the cage and hits an insane moonsault, but completely misses Jarrett. Scott Steiner then runs down to chase off Gunner. Angle gets the key and unlocks the cage door, but Karen Jarrett runs down to spray some stuff in Angle’s eyes. Angle, blinded, accidentally clotheslines the referee. Jeff tries to crawl out the door, but Angle brings him back inside with the Ankle Lock. Karen slips Jeff a guitar, and Jeff smashes Angle over the head with it. Karen tries to help Jeff escape, but Angle grabs Jeff’s leg. Karen then slams the door into Angle’s face and Jeff falls to the ground, so he gets the win. This was a really good match but it was hampered by the interference, which has become routine for Jeff Jarrett matches over the years. Jarrett winning was also ridiculous, and the finish felt very flat. Still, the crowd helped this match feel like a big deal and it created much more excitement and emotion than anything else on the show so far. Match Time: 22:37     Star Rating: ***3/4

7.    Three Way match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Sting(c) vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson

Interesting to see this not going on last. Sting and Van Dam take turns beating on Anderson at the start, with Van Dam slamming Anderson’s head in the corner and Sting hitting a corner splash. Sting tries for the Scorpion Deathlock but Van Dam hits Sting with a spin kick. Van Dam punches Sting in the corner, sends him into the opposite one, and hits a running bulldog followed by a standing moonsault for a near fall. Van Dam goes to spring off the ropes but Anderson pulls the top rope and Van Dam hits his head on the cage. Sting counters the Mic Check and tries for the Scorpion, but he lets Anderson go as Van Dam approaches, only to put both men in a double Scorpion Deathlock. Both guys get to the ropes, which apparently causes a break in a THREE WAY CAGE MATCH. Anderson gets a near fall on Sting and hits some clotheslines and elbows on both men, and gets a near fall after a neckbreaker on Van Dam. Anderson hits a double Mic Check but only gets 2 on both men. Anderson charges in the corner but RVD gets a boot up and springs off the ropes with a kick. RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash but Sting breaks up the cover. Sting has RVD set up for the Scorpion Death Drop and hits the move just as he takes a running clothesline from Anderson. Hulk Hogan’s music suddenly hits and he comes down to ringside with a steel pipe. He gives the pipe to RVD, but RVD throws it away, only for Anderson to take it and hit RVD in the back with it. Sting then hits the Scorpion Death Drop on Anderson for the win. So the match with the most build up on Impact was about 8 minutes long and had a screwy finish. Wonderful. Hogan’s interference didn’t help either. This really just devalued the world title and did no one any favors. The fact that afterwards they alluded to a future Sting vs. Hogan match was sickening. Match Time: 7:55     Star Rating: *1/2

8.    Lethal Lockdown match: Immortal (Bully Ray, Matt Hardy, Abyss, and Ric Flair) vs. Fortune (Beer Money and Kazarian) and Christopher Daniels

The rules here were that 2 guys would start the match, and everyone else would enter at separate intervals. The first interval was 3 minutes and the rest were 2. Once the last guy was in, a roof with weapons would lower over the cage and the one-fall match begins. All members of both teams come out to ringside, much like at the least Lethal Lockdown at Bound for Glory. Kaz starts the match with Abyss. Kaz charges at Abyss and they go back and forth, with Kaz countering a chokeslam but falling victim to a big boot. Abyss chokes Kaz with his boot in the corner, but Kaz avoids a charging Abyss and hits a diving hurricanrana off the top. Kaz drives Abyss into the cage and hits a running kick to the back. The clock runs down and Hardy enters, but Kaz is able to hit a slam and a springboard twisting leg drop. Hardy counters the Fade to Black and Kaz runs into a right hand from Abyss, followed by Hardy applying his double underhook submission. Hardy hits a side effect and holds up Kaz so Abyss can lay into him with punches. Daniels is in next, and tosses Hardy into Abyss before hitting the Best Moonsault Ever to Abyss. Daniels holds Hardy’s hands and jumps off the top with a boot to the chest. Daniels and Kaz hit a back suplex/clothesline combination on Hardy and Daniels hits a sliding lariat to Abyss. Daniels hits a downward spiral on Hardy and applies the Koji Clutch just as Flair enters. Flair chops Daniels in the corner before doing the same to Kaz as Abyss hits some punches. Immortal lays the beat down on both men as the clock expires and James Storm enters.

Storm hits a lungblower to Abyss and a back stabber to Hardy. Storm flips off Flair and smashes a beer bottle over his head. Flair is busted open and Kaz throws him into the cage. Storm beats on Flair in one corner as Hardy and Abyss are stacked up in another corner. Daniels and Storm both hit splashes to Hardy and Abyss. Flair tries to climb out but Kaz pulls down his pants and spanks him. Ray enters and Immortal starts beating down the faces. Flair chops Storm in one corner and Abyss chokes Daniels in another. Immortal is in control as the clock runs down and Roode is the last man to enter the match. Roode takes it to Abyss and hits a diving Blockbuster. Flair chops Roode in the corner, but Roode hits some chops of his own and a back drop. Beer Money hit a double suplex to Ray and the weapons-filled roof lowers. The faces quickly grab the weapons and beat down Immortal. Daniels cracks Abyss with a trash can lid on the floor and chases Matt Hardy onto the roof of the cage. Daniels hits some shots and tries for the Angel’s Wings, but Hardy counters and flips Daniels over, resulting in Daniels nearly falling off the roof. Hardy hits a Twist of Hate on the roof as Fortune beats down Immortal in the cage with cookie sheets and trash cans. Ray gets a near fall, but Storm plants him with a twisting neckbreaker. Roode hits a spinebuster to Flair, and suddenly Daniels hits an insane cross body off the roof of the cage to Abyss and Hardy on the floor. Rodde puts Flair in the Figure Four, but Ray hits Roode with a trash can. Ray hits everyone with a kendo stick repeatedly, and Flair hits Kaz with one as well. Daniels is bleeding and Ray rubs his blood over himself. Ray is about to hit Daniels with the kendo stick when AJ Styles makes his return and charges into the cage to beat down Ray. Roode throws Flair into the cage, Storm hits a superkick, and Roode applies a Fujiwara armbar that forces Flair to tap out. Great way to close the show as the main event itself delivered and AJ’s return made it feel even more special. This was the best Lethal Lockdown match since 2007. Lots of blood, weapons, and chaos to send everyone home happy. Match Time: 22:55     Star Rating: ***3/4

Overall PPV Rating: 6.25/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit and I am from Orange, CT. I am a huge pro wrestling fan and follow all kinds of promotions such as WWE, TNA, ROH, PWG, CHIKARA, Dragon Gate USA, and anything else I might come across. I am a huge supporter of independent wrestling and I feel that it provides a true alternative to the mainstream promotions and also showcases a lot of innovation and hard work. Aside from wrestling I am also a really big fan of football, baseball, hockey, and MMA. I have also written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for over two years.

1.    Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston

Unlike the past two years, the PPV did not open up with an Elimination Chamber match. This was a good, fast-paced opener that the crowd was hot for. Del Rio takes control early thanks to a distraction by Ricardo Rodriguez, but they soon fight on the floor. Quick back and forth action in the ring until Del Rio applies a submission and works Kofi’s arm. Del Rio hits a backdrop and applies a body scissors. Kofi fights to his feet and hits a splash off the top. They trade shots as they fight to their feet. Kofi hits a big dropkick, shoots off the ropes at Del Rio, and hits the Boom Drop. Del Rio dodges the Trouble in Paradise, but Kofi kicks him in the head and heads up top. Del Rio dropkicks a flying Kofi in midair for a near fall. They fight up top, with Kofi knocking Del Rio to the matt and hitting a missile dropkick. Kofi and Del Rio each score quick near falls, and Rodriguez distracts the referee to prevent Kofi from getting a pin. Kofi yells at Rodriguez and Del Rio tries to capitalize with the cross-arm breaker, but Kofi reverses into the SOS for a near fall. Kofi leaps at Del Rio in the corner and catches himself on the ropes when Del Rio dodges. Del Rio hits a hangman’s neckbreaker from the top rope and takes Kofi down into the cross-arm breaker. Kofi tries to block it at first, but it gets locked in and Kofi taps out. They did a good job of making Kofi seem like a legit opponent and thus Del Rio’s win gave him some momentum heading into Wrestlemania. Very good way to start off the show as this match was a lot of fun. Match Time: 10:29     Star Rating: ***1/4

2.    Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge(c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Wade Barrett vs. Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. The Big Show

Due to Dolph Ziggler’s “firing” on Smackdown two days prior, The Big Show took his spot in the Chamber. This match was quite simply a miracle. On paper this looked potentially atrocious. Instead it turned out to be one of the best Elimination Chamber matches since its inception in 2002. I still don’t know how it happened, but this was fantastic. Edge and Rey start things off with some quick back and forth before Edge drops Rey on his face for a near fall. Rey applies a headlock and scores some shots, but Edge backdrops him over the ropes and onto the steel floor. Edge goes up top and Rey fights him off and hits a top rope Frankensteiner, but they fight on the steel again and Edge slams Rey into the chain wall repeatedly. Edge gets a near fall in the ring but Rey drop toeholds him into the corner as the timer runs down and Barrett enters the match. Barrett stomps Rey and charges at Edge, but Edge avoids him. Edge beats Barrett down in the corner and throws Rey into him. Edge then throws Rey under the bottom rope, so he slides all the way across the floor face first into the chain wall. Barrett hits a pumphandle slam on Edge for two. Barrett hits a big slam to Mysterio as he stays in control. Edge tosses Barrett onto the steel but Mysterio takes down Edge and heads up top. From the steel, Barrett pulls Mysterio off the top and has him set up for the Wasteland, but Mysterio grabs onto the wall. Barrett then has him in position for a powerbomb but Mysterio hits a headscissors that brings both men into the ring. Mysterio tries for the 619 but gets stopped by Edge. Edge stomps Barrett in the corner as Kane enters the match. Kane cleans house, hitting a ton of right hands and goes to work on Edge in the corner with knees. Edge boots Kane in the face and dives off the top, but Kane catches him in midair with a punch. Kane snapmares Barrett and hits a low dropkick. Kane works over Mysterio in the corner, and then stacks up Edge and Barrett in another corner to hit a double corner splash.

Kane hits a side slam to Barrett, but gets caught with kicks to the head by Edge and Rey. Edge and Barrett score near falls on Kane with kicks, and Edge and Rey try to double clothesline Barrett, resulting in all three men going down. Kane beats down Barrett on the steel and slams his head against the wall. Kane knocks Rey off the top with an uppercut, and Rey ends up hanging upside down. Edge hits a dropkick to the suspended Rey, but Kane stomps Edge down and throws Barrett back onto the steel. The timer runs down and McIntyre enters, charging at Rey before picking him up over his shoulder and throwing him HEAD FIRST into a glass pod. McIntyre and Barrett beat down Kane and slam him on the steel, but McIntyre turns on Barrett and kicks the ropes into his crotch. McIntyre then throws Barrett backwards through one of the pods, sending him crashing through the glass. McIntyre starts to work over Edge, hitting a snap suplex but getting his finisher countered. Lots of fast-paced action follows, and Kane ends up hung over the ropes. Rey goes for the 619, but Kane ducks and hits big boots on Edge and Rey. Kane then throws Rey head first through the ropes in the corner and into the corner of one of the pods. Rey is going to have a concussion afterwards if this keeps up. Drew tries for his finisher on Kane, but gets back dropped onto Barrett. Edge and Kane collide as the clock runs down and Big Show enters.

Show cleans house, taking down everyone and hitting a Knockout Punch on Drew. Barrett tries to run away and ends up on the steel, but Show grabs him by the throat and shoves him backwards, sending him crashing through another pod. Show hits Barrett with some chops, slams him on the steel, and hits a Knockout Punch in the ring to eliminate him. Rey ends up on top of one of the pods as Kane hits a clothesline off the top on Show. Drew hits the Future Shock DDT on Show for a near fall, and Rey then dives off the top of the pod with a seated senton to Show for a near fall of his own. Show is hung over the ropes, and takes a 619 from Rey and a spear from Edge right after. Kane takes out Edge and Rey before chokeslamming Show to eliminate him. Kane immediately chokeslams Drew to eliminate him as well. That whole sequence was extremely well done. Kane hits a double chokeslam on Edge and Rey, and Edge gets dropped onto the steel. Rey hits a DDT to Kane and hits a dive for a pair of near falls. Mysterio springs off the ropes and gets caught by the throat, but Mysterio is able to send Kane into the ropes and hits him with the 619. Mysterio goes for the top rope splash, but Kane catches him. As Kane stands there holding Mysterio, Edge hits a huge spear that takes out both men. Edge covers Kane for an elimination, but Kane doesn’t leave quietly. Kane big boots Edge and chokeslams both him and Mysterio before he leaves the Chamber.

Edge and Mysterio are slow to get up, but Mysterio avoids a spear and rolls up Edge for a near fall. Mysterio springs off the ropes with a cross body, but Edge rolls through and gets a near fall. Mysterio hits a bulldog for two before both guys fight up top. Mysterio knocks down Edge and goes for a diving seated senton, but Edge counters with a sitout powerbomb for a near fall. Mysterio sends Edge into the ropes, but Edge counters the 619 and applies a modified Sharpshooter. Mysterio rolls out and gets a cover for two, but Edge is able to plant him and set up for a spear. Mysterio dodges the spear, but Edge springs off another one of the ropes and hits it for a near fall. Rey sends Edge into the ropes and hits the 619 and the springboard splash, but Edge kicks out. Rey is able to counter Edge and hit yet another 619, but when he goes up top for the splash, Edge catches him with a spear in midair and picks up the win. After the match, Alberto Del Rio comes out to beat down Edge, but Christian makes his return by attacking Del Rio and hitting the Killswitch. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a 3 way between Edge, Del Rio, and Christian at Wrestlemania. Words can’t describe how awesome this ended up being. Everyone got to shine, they hit some great spots with the Chamber and heavily utilized it throughout, and the stuff between Edge and Rey was awesome. Between the opening minutes and the final sequence they probably got about 10-15 minutes all to themselves. McIntyre had his best performance ever, Barrett took a ton of punishment, Kane was Kane, and Show’s elimination was very realistic. Excellent match, and set the bar shockingly high for the Raw Chamber later on. Match Time: 31:29     Star Rating: ****1/2

Booker T comes out to the ring and introduces the returning Trish Stratus as a trainer for Tough Enough. Trish briefly runs down Tough Enough before using variations of The Rock’s catchphrases, which came off really corny and didn’t go over well with the crowd. Booker plugs the Tough Enough season premiere and Trish states that she’s here tonight to watch Jerry Lawler win the WWE title as the segment comes to a close. It was nice to see Trish again but her promo felt forced and cheesy and the crowd didn’t care for her quoting The Rock.

3.    WWE Tag Team Championship match: Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov(c) vs. Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel

While technically this was the “worst match of the night”, it wasn’t that bad and filled its spot on the card well. Kozlov starts off by working over Slater before tagging in Santino, but Slater retakes the advantage and tags in Gabriel, who delivers several shots in the corner. Gabriel takes down Santino and drops an elbow, but Santino takes Gabriel down and tags in Kozlov. Kozlov hits some knees and tosses Gabriel across the ring and into the corner. Kozlov drives his shoulder into Gabriel, but Gabriel kicks Kozlov and briefly retakes the advantage with a headlock. Gabriel charges but Kozlov knocks him down with a battering ram. Gabriel hits a kick to the head and tags in Slater, and the heels make quick tags as they work over Kozlov. Kozlov eventually is able to make a tag to Santino, who does a split and hip tosses Slater. Santino hits a diving head butt and takes out Gabriel as well, hitting him with the Cobra. Kozlov gets a tag and hits a big boot and a head butt to Gabriel, but he can’t pin him because Slater is the legal man. Ezekiel Jackson, who was at ringside, pulls Gabriel out of the ring, and Slater hits a neckbreaker on Kozlov before dropkicking Santino off the apron. Gabriel gets a tag and hits the 450 splash for the win, and Corre are the new tag team champions. Pretty much a Raw match, but decent. Match Time: 5:12     Star Rating: **

We then got another segment. Vickie Guerrero comes out, trying to rationalize Dolph Ziggler’s attack on Teddy Long and begging for Dolph to be rehired. She went on and on until Teddy came out and teased rehiring Dolph, but then revealed that he had rehired Kelly Kelly instead. Kelly came out, chased Vickie into the ring, and started to beat her up. LayCool then came out to beat down Kelly 2 on 1, but Trish Stratus made the save, in 12 inch heels. Trish had trouble moving due to the heels, but was able to land a roundhouse kick before botching the handstand hurricanrana out of the corner, which Layla sold anyway. Trish completely lost the crowd after that. She hit the bulldog on both heels to end it. This so did not go over the way they wanted it to.

4.    WWE Championship match: The Miz(c) vs. Jerry Lawler

The show got back on track here, as Miz and Lawler had a surprisingly good old-school style match together. They lock up at the start, with Miz working over Lawler and Lawler getting some roll-ups for near falls. Miz applies a headlock, but Lawler fights out and hits a clothesline. Lawler hits a shoulder block and a cross body for near falls before hitting some mounted punches in the corner. Alex Riley distracts Lawler on the outside, allowing Miz to ram him into the ring post. Miz sets up Lawler on the apron and hits a running knee for a near fall. Both guys fight up top, with Lawler hitting a terrifying superplex during which he nearly blew out his knee. Miz is able to retake control, but Lawler comes back with some dropkicks, a back drop, and a fist drop for a near fall. Riley trips Lawler’s feet while the ref isn’t looking, but the ref sees Lawler down and sends Riley to the back. Lawler avoids a charging Miz, and Miz goes into the ring post. Miz counters a piledriver attempt from Lawler and hits a big boot. Lawler scores a near fall before sending Miz to the outside, where he throws Miz over the announce table onto Michael Cole. Lawler throws Miz into the ring, heads up top, and hits a diving fist drop for a near fall. Lawler counters the Skull-Crushing Finale and eats a reverse DDT before coming back with a DDT of his own. Lawler goes up top, drops the straps, and hits another fist drop, but Miz gets his foot on the ropes. Miz counters a piledriver with a pin attempt, but Lawler reverses. Miz hits a kick to the face and the SCF to pick up the win. Lawler got a standing ovation after the match. This was a good, fun title match that had excellent crowd heat, and Lawler had a very solid performance for his age. And yes, I enjoyed this match more than either of Miz’s PPV matches with Randy Orton. Match Time: 12:09      Star Rating: ***

5.    Elimination Chamber match (Winner faces the WWE Champion at Wrestlemania XXVII): John Morrison vs. King Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. R-Truth

The show ended on a high note with another excellent, high-energy Elimination Chamber match. Morrison starts things off with Sheamus, with both guys doing some quick grappling before Morrison is able to land some mounted punches. Sheamus ends up on the steel floor, and Morrison dives over the ropes and onto him. They go back and forth a little on the steel before Morrison tries a springboard kick. Sheamus moves, but Morrison catches himself on the chain wall and springs off with a flash kick. The action returns to the ring, where Sheamus works over Morrison in the corner and hits a clothesline. Morrison hits a kick to the face and tries for Starship Pain, but Sheamus pushes him off the top into a pod. Sheamus rubs Morrison’s face against Punk’s pod as the timer winds down and Orton enters the match. Orton hits clotheslines and scoop slams on both Morrison and Sheamus. Orton takes both guys out onto the steel and throws Morrison through the only empty pod. Orton clotheslines Sheamus into the ring, and hits him with the spike DDT from the second rope to the steel floor. Orton hits a superplex on Sheamus into the ring for a near fall. The clock runs down and Punk is the next man in, but they’re having trouble unlocking his pod as Orton stands in front of him, awaiting his entrance. Punk is stuck with half his body out as Orton beats him down. Punk eventually gets fully out, but Orton continues the beat down, throws him in the ring, and hits an RKO to eliminate him. Shortly following this, we get an email from the Raw GM. Michael Cole reads the email and says that Punk didn’t have a fair chance due to a malfunctioning pod, and thus Punk is reinstated into the match. Punk reenters his pod and Orton works over Sheamus. Sheamus hits the Irish Curse backbreaker on Orton and goes for the High Cross, but Orton counters. Sheamus misses the bicycle kick, and Morrison comes off the top with a big kick to the head on Orton. Sheamus takes Morrison onto the steel and rubs his face against the chain wall. The timer runs out and Cena is in now.

Sheamus immediately attacks Cena, rams him into the steel, and tosses him into the ring. Cena ends up fighting with Morrison on the steel, but Sheamus slingshots himself over the topes and takes out both men. Orton beats down Sheamus and gets a near fall before the clock expires and R-Truth enters. Sheamus tries to attack, but R-Truth is able to land some shots and hip toss him on the steel. R-Truth hits a reverse Falcon Arrow on Orton in the ring but turns around into a bicycle kick from Sheamus. Sheamus gets a cover and eliminates R-Truth. Morrison lands some punches on Sheamus while Cena and Orton fight with each other. Orton ends up throwing Morrison through the glass of another pod. Orton has the advantage on Cena and stomps on him as the clock expires and Punk reenters the match. Orton drops Cena on the steel, but Sheamus lays out Orton. Punk hits a kick to Sheamus and taunts Orton before dropping him with the Go to Sleep. Punk then pins Orton to eliminate him. Punk hits a running knee on Sheamus on the steel and tries for a bulldog, but Sheamus throws him into a pod and clotheslines him. Morrison climbs to the top of a pod and Sheamus follows him up. Morrison knocks Sheamus down to the mat and proceeds to latch on to the ceiling of the Chamber. Morrison crawls all the way to the center before dropping down with a cross body on Sheamus to eliminate him. That was insane. Cena hits Punk with his shoulder blocks and side slam, but Punk rolls out. Cena follows and sets up Punk for the Attitude Adjustment, but Morrison dives off the top turnbuckle, taking both men out.

Punk gets a near fall on the steel, and Morrison tries for a running kick on Cena, but Cena moves and Morrison crashes knee first into a pod. Punk works over Cena back in the ring, grapevining his neck. Cena fights to his feet with Punk on his shoulders, but Morrison hits a diving clothesline for a near fall on both men. Morrison sells his leg, and Cena is able to hit an AA, only for Morrison to roll outside. Punk kicks Cena in the head, and Cena rolls out to the steel, where Punk springs off the top rope with a diving forearm on Cena. Punk then catapults Cena face first into a pod. He tries to do the same thing to Morrison, but Morrison grabs onto the pod, jumps across to the wall, and springs off with a flash kick that sends Punk into the ring. Morrison, still selling the leg, tries for Starship Pain, but Punk avoids it and hits the GTS to eliminate Morrison. Immediately after this, Cena scoops up Punk and launches him with an AA over the top rope and onto the steel. Cena covers to eliminate Punk and win the match. They were running really low on time and had to rush the finish a bit. Awesome, fast-paced, action-packed Elimination Chamber match, but the storytelling wasn’t quite as good as the Smackdown Chamber. The only thing that hurt it was that the Smackdown Chamber had so many spots that it made some of the stuff here feel like overkill, though I thought it still worked regardless. It’s an Elimination Chamber, you expect to see guys get flung into the chain, sent through the glass pods, and slammed on the steel. Morrison had the performance of a lifetime and looked like a legit main event star. Cena’s win sets up a match between him and Miz at Wrestlemania, which I’m sure most fans aren’t thrilled with, myself included. Nonetheless, a great main event to close out an outstanding PPV from WWE. Match Time: 33:08     Star Rating: ****1/4

Overall PPV Rating: 8.5/10

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.    TNA X Division Championship match: Jay Lethal(c) vs. Kazarian

The show actually started off on a good note, as Lethal and Kazarian put on one of only two good matches throughout the night. Lethal chases Kaz around ringside and into the ring, where he hits a hurricanrana and some punches. Kaz takes a hip toss and rolls out, only for Lethal to hit a suicide dive. Kaz tries to send Lethal into the apron, but Lethal ends up catching himself and hitting a moonsault off the apron. Lethal gets a near fall back in the ring and hits a hip toss and a dropkick. Lethal hits some chops but Kaz sends him shoulder first into a turnbuckle. They trade punches, but Lethal retakes the advantage and scores a near fall after a big dropkick. Lethal hits a back suplex but Kaz comes back with a back elbow and a spinebuster. Kaz rains down with punches, hits a gutwrench suplex, and chokes Lethal with his knee and the ropes. Kaz hits a nice springboard twisting leg drop and hits some forearms, but Lethal hits a handspring back elbow and both guys are down. They trade some shots but Lethal is able to hit a chop and snap Kaz’s leg over the ropes. Kaz slingshots over the ropes with a cutter for a near fall. They fight on the top rope, with Lethal hitting a sunset flip powerbomb for another near fall. Lethal hits an enzuigiri and the Lethal Combination but gets two. Kaz fights out of a pile driver, and hits a slingshot DDT from the apron. Kaz slaps Lethal, but Lethal comes back with chops. He hits a suplex and climbs up top, but takes an enzuigiri from Kaz. Kaz tries for the reverse tombstone off the top, but Lethal fights out and pushes Kaz into the ref. Kaz crotches Lethal on the ropes and hits the reverse tombstone piledriver for the win. This was a really good match to start off the show and Kaz winning went along with the idea of Immortal taking all the belts. Best Jay Lethal match in forever. Match Time: 11:36     Star Rating: ***1/2

2.    TNA Women’s Knockout Championship match: Madison Rayne(c) vs. Mickie James

There’s only one word that could best sum up this match: DULL. Mickie tries for some quick pin attempts early, locks in a headlock, and hits a shoulder block. Rayne fights out of a headlock but takes a dropkick, sending her to the apron. Mickie throws Rayne back into the ring and locks in a wrist lock. Rayne makes it to the ropes, yells at Mickie, and pulls her down by her hair. Mickie hits a Thesz press but Rayne rolls outside, before returning to the ring as soon as Mickie leaves. Rayne chokes Mickie against the ropes and tries for a kick, but Mickie hits a snapmare and a low dropkick. Rayne chokes Mickie again but Mickie hits a headscissors. Rayne pulls Mickie off the top by her hair and locks in a body scissors. Rayne then applies a seemingly never ending cravat, which she transitions into a rear chin lock. Mickie fights out eventually but Rayne hits a knee and a kick. Mickie hits a wheelbarrow slam and some forearms, beginning a comeback. Mickie spanks Rayne in the corner but Rayne rakes the eyes behind the ref’s back. Mickie hits a neckbreaker, a top rope Thesz press, and calls for the DDT, but Tara comes out. I thought this feud was over. The ref tries separating both men and Rayne puts on a glove and plays dead in the ring. When Mickie returns to the ring, Rayne hits a big punch (the glove was apparently loaded) and gets the win. So all this buildup for Mickie, and the outcome is that she loses to Rayne and a feud that supposedly ended a month ago is still going on? Really, what more can you do with Mickie and Tara? This match also dragged on forever and got incredibly boring. Terrible booking and a long length produced an awful match. The Knockouts must never get 10+ minutes again. Match Time: 10:27     Star Rating: *

3.    TNA World Tag Team Championship match: The Motor City Machineguns(c) vs. Beer Money

Although this match took place a little bit earlier than I would have preferred, both of these teams delivered outstanding performances and produced the match of the night. After a staredown and some circling, Alex Shelley and Robert Roode lock up. Roode knocks Shelley down and wrenches at his leg, then applies a headlock. Shelley fights out and takes a shoulder block, but hits a back heel kick. Roode tags out to James Storm, but the Machineguns hit a hip toss, some double team moves, and stereo round kicks, with Chris Sabin tagging in. The Guns tag in and out to work over Storm’s arm before Shelley hits an assisted dropkick on Storm. The Guns then hit simultaneous suicide dives outside of the ring. Shelley tries for a top rope double stomp, but Storm avoids it, only to eat a back crescent kick. A sliced bread attempt from Shelley fails, and he eats a Northern lariat from Roode. Beer Money hits a double team shoulder block and Roode gets a near fall off a knee drop. Storm beats on Shelley in the corner and snaps over him with a neckbreaker before tagging to Roode, who applies a rear chin lock. Roode stomps Shelley and spits at Sabin, and Beer Money hit some double team moves due to the ref having to restrain Sabin. Roode reapplies the chin lock on Shelley and tags in Storm, and Beer Money wrench Shelley’s leg before Storm apparently tries for a last chancery, but it looks horrible.

Roode tags in and hits a short arm clothesline and a neckbreaker, and Beer Money tag in and out repeatedly to wear down Shelley. Shelley finally gets a hot tag and Sabin hits a big dropkick and a kick to Roode’s chest. Sabin hangs up Roode in the tree of woe and hits a dropkick, and then suplexes Storm on top of Roode. Sabin hits a hurricanrana off the middle rope before hitting a double team DDT with Shelley. Roode puts Shelley on the top rope but Shelley fights him off and hits a diving double stomp after Sabin clotheslines Roode. Storm hits a backstabber on Shelley and Sabin gets beer spat in his face, followed by Roode hitting a spinebuster for a near fall. Shelley hits a baseball slide and a plancha to the outside to Storm. The Guns hit some double kicks on Roode but Storm pulls the ref out. Shelley leaps off the top rope to Storm on the outside, but Roode hits a Northern Lights suplex in the ring for a near fall. Beer Money hits the DWI on Sabin for another near fall. Shelley holds Roode in the corner and Sabin tries for a yakuza kick, but Roode moves and Sabin hits Shelley. Roode then rolls up Sabin for the win. Last 5-10 minutes of this thing were great even though the finish wasn’t the best. Not at the level of some of the matches from their feud last year, but still a very strong tag team match that got enough time to tell a story and deliver PPV quality stuff. Match Time: 17:59     Star Rating: ***3/4

4.    Bully Ray vs. Brother Devon

The PPV pretty much went downhill from here, even though this match surprisingly wasn’t completely atrocious. Devon beats on Ray outside the ring at the start, pummeling him with everything in sight. They go into the ring, where Ray tries to beg off, but Devon blocks a low blow and hits some punches. Devon hits a clothesline, a Thesz press, and more punches. They fight outside the ring, with Devon slamming Ray into the barricade. Ray bails through the crowd, but Devon follows, sending him into the arena walls. They brawl in the crowd for a while, with Devon hitting Ray with a fan’s shoe. Ray eventually crawls back into the ring and hits a double sledge to Devon when he tries to follow. Ray hits a slap, some punches, and an eye poke. Ray whips Devon into the corners and Devon hits a back elbow, but gets caught with a cutter from Ray. Devon avoids an elbow drop and slams Ray to the mat to block the Bubba Bomb. Ray crotches Devon up top, chops him, and hits a superplex. Ray takes out a chain, but Devon avoids getting hit with it, hitting some punches and a back body drop. Devon then whips Ray with the chain, getting himself disqualified. The brawl continues after the match, with everyone coming out from the back to break it up. It was an okay brawl but with the non finish it didn’t belong on PPV, even though the crowd was hot for it. I don’t want to see this feud continue. Match Time: 8:51     Star Rating: **

5.    TNA Television Championship match: Douglas Williams(c) vs. Abyss

AJ Styles was legitimately injured prior to the show, so they wrote him out of his scheduled match with Williams with a backstage segment earlier in the night. This match was just as bad as any other Abyss match over the past couple of years. Williams rolls out early on, but hits a shoulder block to a charging Abyss and tries for a sunset flip. Williams avoids being sat on and sells a hand injury throughout the match. Abyss launches Williams into the ring post and slams his hand against it. Williams hits some punches on the outside but Abyss slams the injured hand into the steps. Williams jumps off the middle rope back in the ring and Abyss tries to catch him with a chokeslam, but Williams fights out and takes a big boot. Abyss again beats on Williams on the outside, slamming his hand into the barricade. Abyss tries to use the TV title but Williams avoids it, only for Abyss to work over the arm back in the ring. Abyss hits some right hands but Williams comes off the second rope with a European uppercut. Williams makes a comeback and hits a big back suplex. Williams hits a diving knee drop off the top, but when he charges at Abyss he gets hit with a chokeslam. Abyss gets a two count and goes outside to grab the nail-covered board. While the ref is busy with Abyss, AJ Styles comes out and clocks Williams with the TV title. Styles leaves and Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam to win the title. Very bad match with a terrible finish that made no sense. They spent weeks teasing an AJ face turn and then he costs Williams the title? Not to mention Williams had the belt for only a month. Just terrible. Match Time: 9:50     Star Rating: *1/2

6.    Rob Van Dam vs. Matt Hardy

Van Dam was to face a mystery opponent selected by Immortal, and if he won, he would get a shot at Jeff Hardy and the world title. To the surprise of no one, it was Matt Hardy, who came out looking like a cross between Tyler Reks, the lead singer from Korn, and Umaga. He had braided hair and was fatter than ever. He was ENORMOUS. Hardy hits Van Dam in the face to start and quickly takes him down, but Van Dam boots him in the face. Van Dam hits a springboard back kick and some other quick kicks and forearms. Van Dam backdrops a charging Hardy to the apron and hits a kick that sends him to the guard rail. Van Dam hits a springboard moonsault to the outside and hits a cross body back in the ring for a near fall. RVD counters the Twist of Hate, but Hardy suplexes him into the bottom turnbuckle. Hardy hits a clothesline, a bulldog, and applies a seated full nelson. Hardy hits some back elbows and a neckbreaker and climbs to the middle rope. He slips at first, probably because he’s so FAT, and jumps off only to be met with a superkick. They trade blows, with Hardy hitting a swinging neckbreaker and choking RVD against the ropes. Hardy hits a leg drop and puts on a rear chin lock. RVD fights out with a kick to the face and a roll up attempt before they trade shots again. RVD hits a back heel kick and kicks out of a small package, then hits an atomic drop and a single leg dropkick. RVD hits Rolling Thunder and the Five Star Frog Splash, but during the pin attempt, the ref claims Hardy’s hand was under the ropes. Hardy hits the Twist of Hate and RVD’s leg is under the ropes, but the ref counts the pin and Hardy wins. Ending sets up a future referee Jackson James heel turn. Match wasn’t good at all and it was a really embarrassing debut for Hardy, who should lay off the fast food. Match Time: 11:53     Star Rating: **1/4

7.    MMA Exhibition: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle

The rules were that there would be three rounds, each lasting 2 minutes each. This was the worst Kurt Angle match I can remember. Nothing happens in the first round except Angle laying down to mock Jarrett, a corner break (which is funny because THAT DOESN’T OCCUR IN AN MMA FIGHT), and Angle locking in a rear naked choke as time expires. Round 2 starts, with Angle going for a Kimura but breaking quickly, and then applying a choke hold. Jarrett gets a rope break but Angle hits a suplex and applies an arm bar, which he transitions to an Ankle Lock as time expires. Jarrett’s crew put something on Jarrett’s gloves and rub something in Angle’s face as Round 3 starts. Jarrett rubs his forearm in Angle’s face, and Angle falls to the mat to blade RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA. Angle is bleeding all over the place and the ref disqualifies Jarrett about 30 seconds into the third round. Jarrett beats down Angle after the bell. This whole thing was incredibly stupid and made TNA look like a joke. MMA fights are ridiculous to stage in pro wrestling, especially when they try to add in pro wrestling elements like they did here. Just an awful waste of time and it made Angle looks like a complete tool. Match Time: 4:30 (bell to bell time for all 3 rounds)     Star Rating: DUD

8.    #1 Contender’s match: Matt Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson

Our advertised main event was an awesome battle, as I struggled mightily to stay awake no matter how hard Anderson and Morgan tried to bore me (and everyone else watching) to death. Morgan applies a brief side headlock and hits a shoulder block before they lock up a second time. Anderson applies a headlock but Morgan shrugs off a shoulder block attempt. Anderson fights out of a headlock by Morgan but takes a shoulder block. Morgan hits a hip toss but misses a leg drop. Morgan charges Anderson in the corner but Anderson kicks him in the thigh. Morgan lays the beat down in the corner before hitting a head butt. Morgan hits a corner splash and a side slam, but Anderson ducks a Carbon Footprint attempt, sending Morgan to the outside. Anderson slams Morgan head first into the barricade but gets driven back first into the post. Morgan slams Anderson into the apron and chokes him with his boot, then hits the rapid fire elbows in the corner. Anderson comes back with a chop block and wrenches at Morgan’s knee. Anderson applies a half crab but Morgan gets a rope break. Morgan hits some punches but eats a knee to the gut. Anderson kicks a charging Morgan in the head and leaps off the second rope, but gets caught with a chokeslam. Morgan hits some short arm clotheslines, but Anderson ducks a discus clothesline and hits the Mic Check for a near fall. Both guys trade blows until Morgan hits the Carbon Footprint for a near fall. Anderson ducks another Carbon Footprint attempt and hits a second Mic Check for two. Morgan counters another Mic Check attempts but Anderson gets the win with a small package out of nowhere. Incredibly dull match with a really anticlimactic finish. It just never got off the ground and was sleep-inducing. Match Time: 15:28     Star Rating: *3/4

After the match, Eric Bischoff comes out and says that he’s impressed and is going to give Anderson his world title shot tonight. The match is going to happen right now. Bischoff wishes Anderson good luck as Jeff Hardy comes out in street clothes with a cigarette in his mouth.

9.    TNA World Heavyweight Championship match: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. Mr. Anderson

Hardy kicks and stomps at Anderson at the start, but Anderson throws him to the outside, where Matt Morgan hits a discus clothesline to Hardy. Morgan rolls him in the ring where Anderson gets a near fall. They trade shots, with Anderson getting the advantage until Hardy kicks him in the gut. Anderson hits a clothesline, an elbow, and a neckbreaker for a near fall. He rakes Hardy’s eyes and sends him into the corner, but Hardy hits the Whisper in the Wind. Both guys go outside and Hardy grabs a chair, but Mick Foley comes out to take it away, leading Ric Flair to come down the ramp. Security is there to separate Foley and Flair as Hardy and Anderson fight on the top rope in the ring. Hardy shoves down Anderson and hits the Swanton, but Anderson kicks out. Anderson is bleeding a bit and hits a standing Green Bay Plunge, but Jeff hits a running lariat as Matt Hardy runs down the ramp. Just as Matt gets on the apron, Rob Van Dam comes down to brawl with him, and they fight to the back. Eric Bischoff then comes out with a chair, but Anderson hits him with a Mic Check. Jeff tries for the Twist of Hate, but Anderson counters and hits the Mic Check for the win just as members of Fortune start coming down the ramp. Good move by TNA to get the title off of Jeff Hardy, seeing as he is due in court for opium trafficking, and Anderson will make a fine champion. I can’t really give the match a rating, because with all the run ins and craziness, it felt more like an angle to get the belt off of Hardy than an actual match. I’ll just label it a good segment and a good conclusion to a really bad PPV. Match Time: 9:10     Star Rating: N/A

Overall PPV Rating: 5.25/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit and I am from Orange, CT. I am a huge pro wrestling fan and follow all kinds of promotions such as WWE, TNA, ROH, PWG, CHIKARA, Dragon Gate USA, and anything else I might come across. I am a huge supporter of independent wrestling and I feel that it provides a true alternative to the mainstream promotions and also showcases a lot of innovation and hard work. Aside from wrestling I am also a really big fan of football, baseball, hockey, and MMA. I have also written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for over two years.

1.    Intercontinental Championship match: Dolph Ziggler(c) vs. Kofi Kingston

The stipulation was that Ziggler would lose the title if he got counted out or disqualified. This was a good way to start the PPV off and was much better than their match from SummerSlam. Match starts with some chain wrestling, with both guys doing headlock takeovers. Kofi goes for the Trouble in Paradise early but Ziggler kicks him a few times and tries to send him to the outside, only for Kofi to catch himself on the ropes and clothesline Ziggler to the floor. Kaitlyn (Vickie Guerrero’s rookie from NXT season 3) checks on Ziggler but Vickie sends her to the back. Ziggler comes back into the ring but Kingston hits him with some strikes and a dropkick. Ziggler hangs Kingston up on the top turnbuckle, hits a neckbreaker and a dropkick, and then puts on a long rear chin lock. Kofi eventually fights out but Ziggler hits a big boot for a near fall. Ziggler hits an elbow drop and then puts on a sleeper with a body scissors. Kofi fights out but Ziggler puts him down and hits a front flip neck snap to a seated Kofi. Kingston hits some strikes but Ziggler hits a rocker dropper. Ziggler puts on another rear chin lock and hits some elbows to the back of Kingston’s neck. Kingston fights out of the hold again and they two men trade punches. Kofi beats on Ziggler in the corner until the ref pulls him away, but Kofi hits a big kick and a diving cross body from the top rope for a near fall. Kofi hits some more strikes and a Thesz press before connecting with the Boom Drop. Kingston tries for the Trouble in Paradise but Ziggler avoids it and tries for a sleeper, only for Kingston to counter and get a near fall. Kofi sends Ziggler to the outside and slams him on the floor before rolling him back into the ring for another near fall. Ziggler counters a suplex attempt and puts on the sleeper, and Kofi dives into the ropes for a break after struggling for some time. Vickie is about to slap Kofi but Ziggler tells her not to interfere and they argue. Kingston tries for the Trouble in Paradise but misses and ends up in the ropes. Ziggler hits the Zig Zag for the win and retains his title. Good opener, nothing great but a fun match. Too bad no one really wanted to see this match on the PPV after they fought so many times on Smackdown. Match Time: 12:47     Star Rating: ***

2.    CM Punk vs. Big Show

Punk cuts an amazing heel promo before this match, ripping into the inhabitants of his hometown of Chicago. By the way, why is a match not for a title taking place on a PPV where the gimmick is EVERY MATCH IS A CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH? Punk opens the match with some quick kicks but Show puts him down with a head butt and a clubbing blow across the back. Show chokes Punk with his boot before chopping him against the ropes, sending him out of the ring. Punk hits a big boot to Show on the apron and lands some more kicks, sending Show to the floor before Punk hits a crazy diving senton onto Show. Show barely beats the count coming back into the ring but eats more kicks from Punk. Punk survives another clubbing blow and hits a flying forearm off the second rope. Punk continues to kick and punch away at Show but can’t keep him down. Punk goes for a springboard flying forearm but Show hits a massive mid air spear. Show hits the Knockout Punch and gets the victory. This match infuriated me. Why does WWE INSIST on having Punk job all the time? It baffles me that this company thinks it is a better idea to put over an aging 7 foot tall lumbering oaf than a guy in the prime of his career who has everything you could want in a wrestler. This was a complete burial and a waste of time. Match Time: 4:46     Star Rating: *3/4

3.    United States Championship match: The Miz(c) vs. Daniel Bryan

The match that had been anticipated ever since Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson of ROH fame) made his debut on the premiere of season 1 of NXT finally arrived at Night of Champions. This was a great match that really put Bryan over strong. Miz kicks Bryan in the gut and puts on a side headlock before putting him down with a shoulder block. Bryan tries for a hip toss, has it countered, and then tries for the LeBell Lock, but Miz avoids it and bails to the outside. Miz comes back into the ring only to take an arm drag and a big kick. Bryan tries to work the arm but Miz puts on a hammerlock, rams Bryan into the corner, and then puts him down for a near fall. Miz works over Bryan’s shoulder with a bow and arrow, but Bryan fights out and gets a near fall with a backslide. Miz goes back to the shoulder and sends Bryan into the ropes, then distracts the ref so that Alex Riley can wrench Bryan’s arm from the outside. Miz continues to work the arm until Bryan back flips out of a hammerlock, but Miz hits a huge shoulderbreaker. Miz keeps working the shoulder, but Bryan fights out of an armbar and sends Miz to the outside. Bryan then hits a big suicide dive through the ropes, crashing back first into the side of the announce table. Back in the ring, Bryan hits a missile dropkick for a near fall and a stiff kick to the head.

Bryan goes for a leg hold but Miz fights out, only for Bryan to hit a high knee attack. Bryan is still selling the arm beautifully, by the way. They both trade blows before Bryan beats on him in the corner, culminating with an IED. Danielson hits a big kick to the head and takes him up to the top rope, but Miz crotches him on the top rope and then hits a NIGEL MCGUINNESS LARIAT to Bryan, taking him off the ropes to the mat. Miz works the arm again but Bryan gets to the ropes to break a hold. Miz tries for the Skull Crushing Finale but Bryan counters with a roll-up for a near fall. He goes for the LeBell Lock but Riley gets up on the apron to argue with Bryan. Miz accidentally runs into Riley and Bryan gets another near fall with a roll-up. Bryan goes after Riley on the outside, sending him into the ring post, but Miz catches him with a small package when he returns to the ring for another close near fall. Miz beats on Bryan until the ref pulls him back, only for Bryan to lock in the LeBell Lock. Miz struggles for quite some time before finally tapping out and Daniel Bryan is the NEW United States Champion! As a big ROH fan this was a proud moment for me and I couldn’t be happier for Bryan. This was an excellent match, the storytelling by Miz was great and Bryan made it that much better with his incredible selling. The near falls were done extremely well and this was by far the best match The Miz has ever had. A star-making victory for Bryan. Match Time: 12:33     Star Rating: ****

4.    Lumberjill match to Unify the Women’s and Divas Championship: Women’s Champion Michelle McCool vs. Divas Champion Melina

After that great US title match, we got the bathroom break of the evening. This was actually not that bad for a WWE women’s match but the Lumberjills were awful. These two start off brawling outside the ring before coming into the ring, only to wind up outside quickly. They both return to the ring, after Michelle slaps Eve in the face. Melina hits a headscissors into a kick to the face, before both girls hit kicks at the same time. Michelle sends Melina off the top to the outside but the Lumberjills don’t touch her. Michelle catches Melina with a flipping neckbreaker as Melina comes back into the ring. McCool kicks at Melina and grinds her forearm against the face, then scissors her head while grabbing the ropes for leverage. McCool goes for the Faith Breaker but Melina fights out and hits a facebuster. Melina hits some strikes but McCool hits a belly to belly suplex. Natalya distracts the ref while Melina tries for a roll-up, then Michelle rolls to the outside only to be attacked by the lumberjills. Melina hits a double knee strike and avoids a kick, but Michelle pulls her down to the mat. Both girls fall to the floor but the lumberjills just stand there until Melina goes back into the ring, then they beat up Michelle. The ref is distracted breaking up the brawl as Layla goes into the ring to attack Melina. Michelle comes back in and big boots Melina for the win and becomes Unified Women’s Champion. Psychology was completely ass backwards here with all the lumberjills beating up the heel Michelle, and then she WINS. Some people are going to hate this thing with a passion but the wrestling was alright for a Diva match. Match Time: 6:32     Star Rating: **

5.    No Holds Barred match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Kane(c) vs. Undertaker

It was strange seeing these two having a gimmick in the first match of their feud. I wasn’t too excited for this match because I haven’t enjoyed most of their past matches but this ended up okay. Undertaker sprints up the ramp to attack Kane during his entrance, which was alright since it’s No Holds Barred. They fight at the stage, with Taker throwing Kane off the stage into a pillar on the floor near the side of the stage. Kane hits a kick and pounds on Taker near the ramp but Taker comes back with a big punch. Taker punches Kane on the ramp but Kane rakes the eyes and hits a big boot. Taker sends Kane into the barricade and hits some head butts before burying his knee into Kane’s midsection. Taker tries to whip Kane into the steps but Kane reverses and Taker hits them shoulder first. Kane tosses Taker into the announce table, then takes off the cover and throws it at Taker. They then repeat the steps reversal spot, this time with Kane taking the bump. Taker rolls Kane into the ring and hangs his head over the apron, then kicks him in the head and hits the guillotine leg drop. Kane gets up and rolls to the outside, but Taker clotheslines him over the barricade into the timekeeper’s area. Taker then hits a dive over the barricade into the timekepper’s area. Kane gets a steel chair and hits Taker in the gut with it before the two fight into the crowd. They go back and forth with EVEN MORE PUNCHES before Kane clotheslines Taker over the barricade back to ringside. Kane then dives off the barricade with a diving clothesline. Kane continues this endless beatdown with more punches and kicks. Kane with a ton of strikes before Taker starts to come back and then trade blows, with Taker hitting a jumping clothesline. Taker hits snake eyes, a big boot, a leg drop, and a chokeslam. He tries for the Tombstone but Kane reverses into one of his own for the win. Wrestling wise, this was incredibly boring in parts. Storyline wise, this was very good.  Problem is, the crowd did not care at all about this match or the angle so this match didn’t get over well. Live this was probably really bad, but on PPV this was alright. Not sure how this will lead to a Hell in a Cell match in 2 weeks. Match Time: 18:32     Star Rating: **3/4

6.    Tag Team Turmoil match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: The Hart Dynasty(c) vs. The Usos vs. Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Mark Henry and Evan Bourne vs. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre

So for a PPV hyped as featuring all championship matches, a non title match was pre-announced but not a tag team title match. This was announced literally 1 minute before it happened. It’s basically a 5 team gauntlet. Hart Dynasty start with the Usos. One of the Usos pounds away at Tyson Kidd but Kidd comes back with a roll-up and a kick to the gut. Smith gets a tag and comes in with a shoulder block and a clothesline. Uso lands a kick but Smith hits a big suplex. Kidd gets a tag and hits a crazy springboard dive before rolling the legal Uso (these guys are IMPOSSIBLE to tell apart) into the ring. He tries for the sharpshooter but eats a kick to the head and the Harts are eliminated. So the Harts job in 2 minutes and drop their titles in an unannounced match. Wonderful. Next team out is Santino and Kozlov. Santino gets a near fall and teases the Cobra but takes a flapjack and is quickly eliminated. Next out is Henry and Bourne. Bourne hits some kicks and a hurricanrana but is hit with a back elbow. Henry gets a tag and hits some clotheslines and a head butt. Henry tosses out one Uso and hits the other one with a World’s Strongest Slam. Bourne hits the Shooting Star Press to eliminate the Usos. Final team is Rhodes and McIntyre. McIntyre stomps on Bourne before tagging in Rhodes, who hits a suplex before tagging back out to McIntyre. Drew works Bourne’s shoulder and tags to Rhodes, who hits a knee drop. McIntyre brings Bourne down across his knee before applying a rear chin lock. McIntyre sends Bourne to the outside with a shoulder block. Drew puts on yet another rear chin lock but Bourne starts to fight out eventually. Drew tries for a suplex but Bourne counters and hits a knee to the face. Both guys make tags, with Henry steamrolling Rhodes and hit a gorilla press slam. Bourne tries to dive off Henry’s shoulders but McIntyre breaks it up. Bourne kicks Drew in the head but Rhodes hits Cross Rhodes for the win. A thrown together tag team wins the belts in a thrown together match that no one cared about. This match was boring and no better than Raw quality, plus it made the Harts look like complete jobbers. Match Time: 11:47     Star Rating: *1/2

7.    Six Pack Elimination Challenge for the WWE Championship: Sheamus(c) vs. John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge vs. Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton

This was a pretty good main event, and it saved the show from being a pretty weak overall PPV. Match breaks down into a wild brawl right at the bell. Jericho and Orton trade punches before Cena gets involved, hitting a bulldog to Jericho. Orton then suddenly strikes with an RKO to quickly eliminate Jericho. Not surprising considering Jericho is reportedly on his way out of WWE, but they sold it pretty well with the other 5 guys in shock and staring down Jericho as he walked up the ramp. Everyone then swarms Barrett, beating on him until Sheamus and Edge clothesline him to the outside. Cena and Orton are left alone for a second before Barrett comes back in, only to eat a double shoulder block from Sheamus and Edge. Another Cena/Orton standoff, with Orton trying for the RKO and Cena trying for the STF, but to no avail. Orton tries for the spike DDT and Cena tries for the Attitude Adjustment but both guys counter. Orton and Edge try to double suplex Cena but are pulled to the outside by Barrett. Sheamus tosses Orton into the barricade before beating on Cena in the ring. Sheamus tries to pull Cena off the top rope for the High Cross but Cena fights out. Sheamus goes for a super belly to back suplex but Cena fights him off. Cena tries for the diving Famouser but Edge pulls him down. Edge and Sheamus then hit a double superplex to Cena. Edge tries for a cover but Sheamus accidentally breaks it up. Sheamus and Edge send Barrett into a barricade on the outside before going to work on Orton. They pound away on Orton for a bit, with Sheamus getting a couple near falls.

Orton eventually makes a comeback but Sheamus hits him with a big clothesline. Barrett gets knocked off the apron with a shoulder block and is sent into the announce table. Edge and Sheamus stare each other down, with Edge trying for a spear but Sheamus hitting the uranage backbreaker. Sheamus tries for the bicycle kick but Edge ducks and hits a spear. Cena tries to hit the AA to Orton but Orton fights out and gets speared by Edge. Cena hits the AA to Edge to eliminate him. Cena and Barrett go at it, with both men countering each other’s finishers. Cena hits his series of moves with the crowd booing every second of it. He hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle and tries for the AA but Sheamus breaks it up. Cena puts the STF on Sheamus but Sheamus makes it to the ropes after a struggle. Nexus swarm the ringside area, distracting Cena and allowing Barrett to eliminate him after the Wasteland. Barrett stares down Orton as Nexus come up the apron. Cena whacks 2 of them with a chair and Orton hits the other 2 with RKOs. Orton hits Barrett with his signature backbreaker and eliminates him with an RKO. Sheamus hits the bicycle kick on Orton but Orton kicks out of the cover. Sheamus tries for the High Cross but Orton fights out and hits the RKO for the sudden victory. The crowd went nuts and the announcers played it up like this HUGE MOMENT but it really didn’t feel all that special. It would have been better booking wise to have Orton go over at the Hell in a Cell PPV because him winning here really messes up the build for that show on the Raw side. This main event lagged in the middle and wasn’t the greatest but it had enough fun elements to it to be at least a satisfying match. It was a good title match to end an okay to decent show. Match Time: 20:50     Star Rating: ***1/4

Overall PPV Rating: 6.75/10

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 for two years.

1.    Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler(c) vs. Kofi Kingston

The show kicked off with Ziggler and Kingston squaring off for the IC title. Kofi is all over Dolph at the start with punches and kicks, then clotheslines him over the top rope. He tries for a suicide dive but crashes into the barricade. Ziggler hits a neckbreaker back in the ring and puts on a sleeper hold. Kofi gets up but Ziggler puts him down and chokes him against the bottom rope. Kingston lands a few kicks but Ziggler sends him into the middle turnbuckle and puts on a rear chin lock. Kingston gets to his feet eventually and fights out of the hold, hitting a bunch of strikes and a dropkick. Kofi hits a Thesz press, some punches, and then the Boom Drop. Ziggler hits a Famouser for a near fall and Kofi hits a diving double sledge off the second turnbuckle. Kofi tries for the Trouble in Paradise but Ziggler avoids it and puts on the sleeper. The Nexus then comes out and attack both men and it’s a no contest. This was a really stupid way to book this match, which was finally picking up steam. The opening match of SummerSlam ends in a no contest just to put over Nexus, who had already performed an insurmountable amount of beat downs prior. Just an okay match with a terrible finish. Match Time: 7:03     Star Rating: **

2.    Divas Championship: Alicia Fox(c) vs. Melina

Things didn’t get much better with the next match. The girls lock up, back up into the corner, then lock up again. Alicia takes Melina down with a headlock takeover and holds on, but Melina gets up to break the hold. Melina hangs Alicia up in the ropes and hits a double knee drop. Melina drives Fox face first into the mat and acts like she injured her knee, but stops selling and hits a big kick to the face. Fox works the arm with an arm bar but Melina fights out and makes a comeback. She hits some strikes and a double knees to the back before getting the win out of nowhere with a facebuster that looked like The Stroke. After the match LayCool come out to cut a promo no one cared about and proceeded to taunt Melina. Eventually they beat up Melina and Alicia. Typical Diva fare, very boring and the crowd couldn’t care less. Match Time: 5:25     Star Rating: *1/2

3.    Handicap match: The Straight Edge Society vs. The Big Show

Lackluster continued to be the name of the game as SummerSlam chugged along with the next match. This is a match that would have been better suited for an episode of Smackdown. Big Show gets his cast taken off to show that his hand is healed. Show swats away Joey Mercury and Luke Gallows at the start, tossing Mercury over the top rope onto Gallows. Show hits CM Punk with a chop before the action moves to the outside. The SES swarm Big Show and start pounding away at him. Gallows splashes Show back in the ring before him and Mercury hit some elbow drops, followed by a Punk leg drop. Show makes a comeback after some triple teaming, but Punk kicks Show in the face and hits 3 high knees in the corner. Punk and Mercury try for a double bulldog but completely botch it. Show kicks out of the cover and dumps Punk over the top rope. Punk bails up the ramp, and Show gets the win by chokeslamming Mercury onto Gallows. Just a TV quality match, but some nice spots. Best match so far. Match Time: 6:51     Star Rating: **1/4

Before the next match, The Miz came out to cut a very good, but long, heel promo about how everyone wants him to be the 7^th man for Team WWE in the match against Nexus, and how he was the key to victory. Miz ends the promo by saying that he will join Team WWE and lead them to victory. Not bad considering they had a lot of time to kill with the way the undercard was so rushed.

4.    WWE Championship: Sheamus(c) vs. Randy Orton

After a truly unspectacular undercard, the main event matches began with the first of those being the WWE title match. This was a very long match but I thought it was definitely one of Sheamus’s better matches in his short WWE tenure. Sheamus backs Orton into the corner on each of the first two lock ups, and then poses, allowing Orton to kick him in the stomach and work over his midsection with more kicks. Orton hits a few clotheslines, the last of which sends Sheamus to the outside. Orton slams Sheamus’ head into the announce table before clotheslining Sheamus into the crowd. Orton beats on him for a bit before they reenter the ring to beat the count. Orton stomps away at Sheamus and hits a knee drop, followed up by more stomps. He slingshots Sheamus into the bottom rope, but Sheamus rolls to the outside and slams Orton into the barricade. Orton sends Sheamus into the barricade, but when he tries to send Sheamus into the steps, Sheamus reverses and Orton goes into them. Sheamus stomps away at Orton back in the ring, hits a short arm clothesline, and a knee drop for a near fall. Sheamus puts on a rear chin lock, but Orton fights out and then reverses a suplex attempt by Sheamus. Orton tries for the spike DDT but Sheamus fights out and tosses Orton to the outside, where he slams him into the barricade repeatedly. He rolls Orton into the ring and tries for a pin but only gets two. Sheamus hits a running forearm before applying a modified rear chin lock with an arm bar.

Orton fights out but gets sent into the middle turnbuckle with a drop toe hold. Sheamus hits a reverse DDT into a backbreaker and an Irish hammer, but only gets a two count. Sheamus puts on another rear chin lock but Orton gets up and hits a back body drop. Orton connects with his signature backbreaker and gets a near fall. They engage in a slugfest, with Orton getting the advantage and hitting some clotheslines and a powerslam. Sheamus charges Orton in the corner but goes shoulder first into the ring post, which is followed by Orton putting him up top and hitting a superplex. Sheamus hits the uranage backbreaker (which he stole from Roderick Strong and called the Irish Curse) for another near fall, but ends up going to the outside when he tries for the bicycle kick. Orton hits the spike DDT and gets set for the RKO, but Sheamus pushes him off and tries for the Irish Curse. Orton fights out of that and tries for the RKO, but Sheamus shoves him off and hits the bicycle kick. Orton kicks out of the cover at two and Sheamus gets pissed. Sheamus grabs a chair from the outside and struggles with the ref over it in the ring, leading to a disqualification. What a bad way to end a match that was going along really well. Sheamus tries for a chair shot after the bell, but Orton avoids it and low blows him. He beats up Sheamus and takes him to the outside, where he RKOs him on the announce table. Good match but had a crap finish that left a bad taste in the mouth. Still the best thing on the show at this point but the DQ finish was definitely a really bad way to cap it off. Looks like these two are headed for a lengthy feud. Match Time: 19:01     Star Rating: ***

5.    World Heavyweight Championship: Kane(c) vs. Rey Mysterio

Instead of just a crappy ending to this world title match, we got a crappy match altogether (for the most part). YAY. Kane and Mysterio never had any chemistry together and this match showed why. Kane goes after Rey right at the start and pounds at him in the corner, but misses a splash. Kane hits a slam but misses a leg drop, and Mysterio tries to come back. Kane lands some punches but Mysterio hits a dropkick and goes for the 619. Kane avoids it and tosses Rey to the outside, but Rey does a roll and lands on his feet. Kane follows to the outside, then Rey runs off the ring apron with a seated senton to Kane. Kane catches Rey off the top rope back in the ring and puts him down before hitting a low dropkick. Kane slams Rey into the ring post on the outside and rolls him back in the ring to go for a cover, but Mysterio kicks out. Kane sends Rey into the corner and picks him up for a lengthy bear hug. Mysterio fights out but Kane picks him up for another bear hug. Rey fights out again and hits a dropkick and a hurricanrana, but Kane hits a clothesline when Rey tries for the 619. Kane tosses Mysterio out of the ring and big boots him off the apron when he tries to come back in. Mysterio sends Kane into the barricade and hits a diving headbutt back in the ring, but Kane hits a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Kane hits a backbreaker and stretches Rey out over his knee, and then hits a big sidewalk slam. Both guys end up on the top rope where Rey tries a super hurricanrana, but Kane holds on and Rey crashes to the mat. Kane tries for a diving clothesline but Mysterio avoids it. Mysterio hits a tilt a whirl DDT, a springboard leg drop, then a big kick to the head for a near fall. Kane opens up the casket he brought to ringside and tosses Rey in when he tries for the 619. Mysterio hits a springboard dropkick, setting up Kane for the 619 on the other side of the ring, but Kane counters. Rey finally hits the 619 and tries for a roll up, but Kane gets up and hits the chokeslam for the win. After the match Undertaker returns by popping out of the casket. He acts like he’s going to attack Rey but comes after Kane. Both try to chokeslam each other and Kane ends up hitting the Tombstone. Not a good world title match at all, but the ending sequence was pretty good. The first 11 minutes however, were really boring and better suited for TV. Match Time: 13:37     Star Rating: **1/4

6.    Elimination match: The Nexus vs. Team WWE

An amazing development occurs before the start of the main event. The Miz comes out last for Team WWE, but John Cena announces that he took too long to make his decision and that they found someone else to be the 7^th member who hates Nexus as much as they do. DANIEL BRYAN. YES, DANIEL BRYAN HAS RETURNED TO THE WWE. At this point I am freaking out and marking out like crazy. I think I had the chills the entire first 10 minutes of this match. This was a good main event that saved the show from being completely atrocious. Daniel Bryan starts the match with Darren Young of Nexus. Bryan takes Young down with a kitchen sink and some kicks to the back, then puts on a guillotine which he transitions into a crippler crossface to force the quick submission and first elimination of the match. Bryan kicks Justin Gabriel in the chest before tagging in Chris Jericho. Jericho hits a big suplex before tagging in R-Truth, who hits Gabriel with some right hands before hitting the suplex lift into a stunner. Gabriel tags in Michael Tarver, who pounds away at R-Truth. John Morrison gets a tag from Truth, and hits a ton of kicks to Tarver. Morrison hits the Starship Pain and Tarver is eliminated. Morrison squares off with Skip Sheffield, who tosses Morrison across the ring. Morrison hits some punches but Sheffield slams him down. Sheffield hits Morrison in the back before sending him into the corner. Sheffield hits several suplexes in a row, then eliminates Morrison after a huge lariat that came after Gabriel landed a kick to Morrison’s head. Sheffield instantly hits another lariat to R-Truth for another elimination. Sheffield hits a gorilla press slam to Jericho before tagging in Wade Barrett, who stomps at Jericho along with David Otunga as they tag in and out. Barrett puts a submission on Jericho, but Jericho fights out and hits a dropkick. Both men make tags to Bret Hart and Heath Slater respectively. Hart pounds away at Slater, landing an elbow drop and hitting a bunch of punches. Hart puts Slater in the Sharpshooter, but Sheffield made a tag. Hart uses a chair on Sheffield and gets disqualified, so he’s eliminated. Jericho comes in with a Codebreaker to Sheffield, then makes the tag to Edge who eliminates Sheffield after a spear. Gabriel is in and Edge hits him with a big boot and a spear. Edge gets a near fall before Gabriel gets one of his own after a big kick. Slater gets the tag and stomps at Edge before tagging in Barrett.

Barrett chokes Edge against the bottom rope, slams him face first into the turnbuckle, hits a backbreaker, and puts on a rear chin lock. Edge fights out of the hold but Barrett hits a neckbreaker and tags in Otunga. Otunga tries for the chokelift spinebuster, but Edge hits the Impaler DDT. Edge tags in Jericho, who hits some shoulder blocks, a running bulldog, and a Lionsault. He almost botches the Walls of Jericho but locks it in, forcing Otunga to tap out. After Otunga is eliminated, Jericho beats on Slater outside the ring, slamming him into the announce table before hitting a flying elbow off the top rope back in the ring. Jericho accidentally runs into Cena, allowing Slater to capitalize and hit a jumping neckbreaker to eliminate Jericho. Edge and Cena argue in the corner of the ring, leading to Slater rolling up Edge for another elimination. Edge and Jericho then beat up Cena on the outside, allowing Barrett to beat on him in the ring once they leave. Barrett hits a sidewalk slam but eats a suplex from Cena. Slater gets the tag and takes down Cena before sending him into the corner. Cena eventually makes the tag to Bryan, who hits a series of kicks to Slater. Bryan sends Slater to the outside where he hits a suicide dive. Bryan hits a missile dropkick and forces Slater to tap out to the crippler crossface for another elimination and it’s 2 on 2. The Miz then runs into the ring and nails Bryan with his briefcase while the ref wasn’t looking. Barrett covers and Bryan is eliminated. Barrett tags in Gabriel, and Cena hits his signature moveset, ending with the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena tries for the Attitude Adjustment but Barrett gets a tag and breaks it up. Barrett and Gabriel stomp at Cena before sending him to the floor, where they expose the concrete. Barrett DDTs Cena onto the concrete and rolls him into the ring before tagging in Gabriel. Gabriel tries for the 450 splash but misses and Cena covers him for the elimination. Barrett is then instantly caught in the STF and taps out after hanging on for a few seconds, so Cena wins. Very good main event that put Daniel Bryan over strong but ended with another Super Cena victory. This should make for some interesting Raws in the future, however. Match Time: 35:16     Star Rating: ***3/4

Overall PPV Rating: 5.25/10

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 for two years.