1) Kurt Angle vs. Rockstar Spud - TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
As if Dixie spoiling it on Twitter by promoting two Kurt Angle title defenses tonight wasn't enough to squash the interest I had in this match, IT OPENS THE SHOW. I mean, c'mon, atleast have it come on at the half way mark. Any way, this was solid despite me not being able to get into it at all due to the predictability. Angle grounds Spud early only to get rocked by some quick offense soon after. Spud sends Angle out of the ring with a hurricanrana and goes for a crossbody, BUT HE'S CAUGHT! BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR! Angle gets back in control from this moment forward. They end up countering and trading finishers. One or two close falls that I wasn't sold on at all. This wasn't bad. In fact, I was entertained by it. I just couldn't get invested due to the booking. I feel like this wasn't worth taking the title off Spud for, but I'm guessing they "had" to due to not having any other ideas for what to do for this X Divsion themed show. Bring back the X Cup, PLEASE? It's a stretch, but -- you know what, we're way off topic, that's for another time.
Match rating - **1/2
2) Low Ki vs. Manik vs. Crazy Steve - X Division Qualifier
This is the first of three qualifying matches with the winner advancing to the X Divison Title Match next week. These guys did stuff however it didn't really click. Steve was left out for the first part of it and we got a few nice exchanges between Ki & Manik albeit nothing spectacular. Steve gets in and does a bit of his thing then Ki ends up hittng Warrior's Way for the win.
Match rating - **1/4
3) Tigre Uno vs. Zema Ion vs. Mark Andrews - X Divison Qualifier
It's been awhile since I've reviewed TNA, but for anyone who's new to reading, I refuse to call Zema "DJ Z" and Mark Andrews "Mandrews", talk about corny nicknames. Enough negativity though because this ruled. Super crisp exchange between Tigre & Zema in the early going that set the tone for the rest of the match between those two. Andrews has been really showing out since debuting in TNA, whether it's his shooting star press or whatever, he always impresses and this was no different for him. These three all meshed well together and the result was a match you should check out if you missed. Fun stuff.
Match rating - **3/4
Taryn Terrell calls out Awesome Kong
Taryn is trying to get Awesome Kong to come out in lingerie and if she does, she'll take off her gown and give her a title match. Kong comes out dressed in regular attire and takes out Jade & Marti then.. leaves? I guess? Brooke Tessmacher comes out which was a joy to watch from a male's perspective. She ends up pulling a WWF 2000 and stripping the gown off Taryn after a short verbal exchange.
4) Grado vs. Kenny King vs. Cruz - X Division Qualifier
Grado has been running around like an idiot backstage all night trying to "make weight for the X Division" which made no sense unless TNA has all of a sudden dropped the "no limits" moniker for the division. Therefore, I was pretty annoyed by all these segments. If TNA wanted a comedy wrestler to compete in this X Division thing, they should've booked Chuck Taylor, he's legitamately funny without being cheesy and is a great wrestler. PLUS they wouldn't have had to pay for a flight across the seas for him to get there. None the less, I digress. This was another enjoyable fast paced match. Cruz impressed me the most here while Kenny King also did his job extremely well. Then you had Grado doing his thing that I personally don't care for so I got nothing out of that. He wins and almost all my excitement for the finals has gone, damn.
Match rating - **
5) Bram vs. Crimson
The crowd was completely dead for this so I guess I wasn't the only one who could care less. I like Bram and Crimson has never been horrible, it just felt like this meant nothing. Bram picks up the win after a few minutes.
Match rating - **
6) Kurt Angle (c) vs. Austin Aries - TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
Prior to the bout, Angle cuts another good promo and says that he guarantees this will be a MOTY candidate. I'm pretty hyped. Angle & Aries have only clashed a few times so the match up is still pretty fresh. After some feeling out, Aries takes control of the bout by targeting the head that according to Josh & The Pope, was hindered in the Spud match during a highflying move that he hit. For once, I'm digging the commentary here. Aries works over Angle with headlocks which eventually preps for the last chancery which he locks in to no avail. You could tell both guys were working hard here as Angle went for a moonsault and MISSES. This allows Aries to go up top and he hits a 450 SPLASH! It's rare that you see him do that so it really made this feel like a big match. Angle kicks out somehow - what a close nearfall! These two busted out the goods for the final stretch of this match from the time Aries hit the 450. The counters got even more extensive as the bout went on as we saw several reversals early on and it would prove to only be a teaser. Aries went for the running drop kick in the corner here and Angle caught him in the ankle lock. Aries somehow makes it to the ropes. Mindgames also played a part in this bout as we would see Aries lock in the ankle lock ON KURT ANGLE! Angle gets out of it and locks Aries in the hold! Aries kicks Angle off and to the outside. The counters continue with Aries going for a dive and Angle moving which resulted in Aries eating the guardrail. Angle rolls Aries back in the ring and goes for an angle slam, ARIES ROLLS THROUGH FOR A NEARFALL! Angle is back up and synches in the ankle lock and sits down on it which leaves Aries no choice but to tap out. This was a great match. Both men stuck to their gameplans and as a result, told a awesome story by delivering multiple callbacks to previous happenings in the match. Simply put, this was the top notch performance you'd expect from both men. The desperation from Aries as the challenger shined through while the determination of Angle would earn him the victory. One of the better TNA World Title matches this year.
Match rating - ***3/4
Overall thoughts: Pretty mixed bag here although I enjoyed it for the most part. I expected more from the X Division matches however they were still fun. The segments were all decent with nothing getting on my nerves aside from Grado. The main event was pretty awesome and reason enough to check out this week's episode.
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