Kurt Angle v. Garrett Bischoff/Wes Briscoe (win via pinfall) - A surprisingly good match that had a logical conclusion and set up the theme of 'Aces & Eights beats people up' for the night. Bischoff and Briscoe actually looked competent in there and that's really all you can ask for with these new guys. I'd say the match is 2.5 stars and the segment gets 6.5/10.
X Division Title Match: Kenny King (c) retains over Petey Williams and Zema Ion - The division that was once about No Limits is now about 230-pound weight limits and only wrestling three-way matches, and while that is an oddly specific division, I liked this match. Kenny King is an awesome competitor and I love me some Canadian Destroyers. My only complaints are that I still don't give a crap about Zema Ion and that this division appears to be moving in the direction of 'just line up challengers and have them wrestle the champ because they won a match. That said, this was a fun watch. 2.75 stars for the match and 7/10 for the segment.
Brooke Hogan force feeds us a website and Devon does NOT wrestle for his title! - Brooke Hogan and Christy Hemme engage in the worst product placement ever just as Devon is supposed to defend his TV title against Magnus. This leads to Magnus getting beaten down. Incredibly, that's a logical move on Aces & Eights' part. I like it. But the stupidity of the website thing hurts it. I'll go 6/10.
Knockouts No. 1 contender's bout: Mickie James defeats Miss Tessmacher - I gave this match 1.75 stars, but it REALLY should have gone higher. What killed it was the momentum of the match constantly being killed by ODB trying to referee the match. Refs should NOT take up this much attention. If you must do this angle, use a rookie from the indies who can build to this in a few months, not competitors who distract the viewer. Points for giving women time to go, though. 5/10 for the segment.
Joseph Park takes a beating and tag title intrigue? - I love when the tag titles are given prominence. Roode and Aries, as well as Bad Influence, bounce off each other in an entertaining manner until the face champions come in and kick some ass. THAT is how you do it. Sadly, this section loses points for Joseph Park trying to add real-world logic to a wrestling show. I don't mind his character, but trying to annul the marriage through the courts? Come on, now! I hate when shows acknowledge they're in the real world because it makes me wonder what the hell is written on their contracts to begin with that insane sh** like this can happen. Where was I? Oh yeah, 6.2/10 to average out the 8/10 and 4.4/10 the two sections got.
TV Title match (for real): Devon (c) pins Samoa Joe - This was a decent match for the time it had, but it was so short and the beatdown came so quickly that I wound up feeling disappointed. This should have been better than what it was given how much it was hyped during the show. 2 stars and 5/10.
Main Event: AJ Styles (win by submission) v. James Storm - AJ Styles not wanting to put any effort out at the start was a nice call to his newfound (lack of) spirit, and his more grounded style was ideal for his mood. I think adding a new submission hold is also a nice piece of storytelling for AJ. The best thing, though, is that he still doesn't commit one way or the other, but he makes himself look enough like a heel that Aces & Eights is satisfied. Everything about this was executed well and I'm looking forward to this storyline's continuation. 3 stars for the match and 8/10 for the segment.
Overall: I think this episode was an improvement. There was some spectacular and nothing was too offensively bad. The show could be better, but it was solid for what it was. I average it out to a 6.2/10.
Follow me at twitter.com/seantherebel and like my page at www.facebook.com/SeanNetworkBlogs.
X Division Title Match: Kenny King (c) retains over Petey Williams and Zema Ion - The division that was once about No Limits is now about 230-pound weight limits and only wrestling three-way matches, and while that is an oddly specific division, I liked this match. Kenny King is an awesome competitor and I love me some Canadian Destroyers. My only complaints are that I still don't give a crap about Zema Ion and that this division appears to be moving in the direction of 'just line up challengers and have them wrestle the champ because they won a match. That said, this was a fun watch. 2.75 stars for the match and 7/10 for the segment.
Brooke Hogan force feeds us a website and Devon does NOT wrestle for his title! - Brooke Hogan and Christy Hemme engage in the worst product placement ever just as Devon is supposed to defend his TV title against Magnus. This leads to Magnus getting beaten down. Incredibly, that's a logical move on Aces & Eights' part. I like it. But the stupidity of the website thing hurts it. I'll go 6/10.
Knockouts No. 1 contender's bout: Mickie James defeats Miss Tessmacher - I gave this match 1.75 stars, but it REALLY should have gone higher. What killed it was the momentum of the match constantly being killed by ODB trying to referee the match. Refs should NOT take up this much attention. If you must do this angle, use a rookie from the indies who can build to this in a few months, not competitors who distract the viewer. Points for giving women time to go, though. 5/10 for the segment.
Joseph Park takes a beating and tag title intrigue? - I love when the tag titles are given prominence. Roode and Aries, as well as Bad Influence, bounce off each other in an entertaining manner until the face champions come in and kick some ass. THAT is how you do it. Sadly, this section loses points for Joseph Park trying to add real-world logic to a wrestling show. I don't mind his character, but trying to annul the marriage through the courts? Come on, now! I hate when shows acknowledge they're in the real world because it makes me wonder what the hell is written on their contracts to begin with that insane sh** like this can happen. Where was I? Oh yeah, 6.2/10 to average out the 8/10 and 4.4/10 the two sections got.
TV Title match (for real): Devon (c) pins Samoa Joe - This was a decent match for the time it had, but it was so short and the beatdown came so quickly that I wound up feeling disappointed. This should have been better than what it was given how much it was hyped during the show. 2 stars and 5/10.
Main Event: AJ Styles (win by submission) v. James Storm - AJ Styles not wanting to put any effort out at the start was a nice call to his newfound (lack of) spirit, and his more grounded style was ideal for his mood. I think adding a new submission hold is also a nice piece of storytelling for AJ. The best thing, though, is that he still doesn't commit one way or the other, but he makes himself look enough like a heel that Aces & Eights is satisfied. Everything about this was executed well and I'm looking forward to this storyline's continuation. 3 stars for the match and 8/10 for the segment.
Overall: I think this episode was an improvement. There was some spectacular and nothing was too offensively bad. The show could be better, but it was solid for what it was. I average it out to a 6.2/10.
Follow me at twitter.com/seantherebel and like my page at www.facebook.com/SeanNetworkBlogs.
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