For those who didn't see this before, I give a diatribe about my highlight and lowlight of the show. I also do an 'Ugly' section, which describes a part of the show that was unexpected, be it in a positive or negative way. It makes more sense when you see it.
Let's start with Raw!
The Good: The Shield retains World Tag Titles on Hell No - This was a great follow-up to a really funny promo between Kane, Daniel Bryan and Bret Hart. The downside to the promo was that it was a little too loving toward Bret, but this was in Calgary so what can you do? Bryan served more time in the match than anyone and it is clear that he has become a solid fan favorite who totally deserves a big singles push after this tag team breaks up. (And it is happening. Let's not kid ourselves.) The Shield have proven capable of having good matches any time they get on the air and the fact that they're allowed to win clean really adds to their credibility. I will say that WWE isn't executing this 'Daniel Bryan is the weak link' thing very well, especially when you consider that this loss is mostly due to Kane getting distracted by Bryan doing the same outside-the-ring interference he always does, (actually, Kane might have messed Bryan up,) but this was nonetheless a good use of nearly 20 minutes. The promo beforehand got a 7.2/10 and this match itself got 3.5 stars and 8.5/10.
Good-in-Brief
Dean Ambrose retains over Kofi Kingston - Match felt short, but fun while it lasted. 7/10
Sheamus/Randy Orton d. Rhodes Scholars - A tag team that isn't really a tag team beat a tag team who broke up months ago (kind of). All went hard and new tag challengers are being bred. 6.75/10
Curtis Axel d. John Cena by DQ - This match was really awesome but gets penalized for two bad calls: Cena kicks out of Axel's finisher on its first use ever, making it look like a setup move at best; and Ryback not actually running in, taking Cena outside the ring and making the match look like an afterthought. 3 stars 7.5/10 with no penalties, but 6.5/10 when penalized.
The Bad: Tons of Funk d. 3MB - Why did this have a segment? The match was bad and short, and then we were subjected to Great Khali's incomprehensible singing for Natalya's birthday. This could have been done backstage with other people, but instead we all had to watch awkwardly as we stumbled through some terrible TV. Not much else to say. It was just bad. 1 star for the match and 2/10 for the segment.
Bad-in-Brief
Cena's opening promo - There was a lot to like, specifically the elevation in stipulation so that the ambulance match isn't carrying a show. But Cena's tone was grating and I was far more interested in the crowd asking for Bret than listening to the same copy-and-paste promo Cena usually puts out to start the show. 4/10.
Alberto Del Rio d. Big E Langston - I like the booking, and it gets credit for teasing Big E-AJ dissension, but this match was too short to be interesting. You should know there's a problem when your stupid WWE App may actually have better content than what's on the TV, and Ziggler's few seconds of app promo time was better than this match. 1.5 stars for match, 4.75/10 after credit given for booking.
Triple H summary - I am irritated still by the Axel booking in that match and I'm offended at a concussion angle when you actually have people with concussions on the injured list. I just realized these bad briefs were almost to long to count as briefs when compared to the main Bad entry. 3.5/10
The Ugly: The Divas actually get some time... and USE IT! - I was so happy to see a Divas match that I didn't hate on Monday! Yes, Natalya will be back to comedy crap by next week, but they used all four of their minutes fairly competently. The Bellas, for all their many limitations, know how to tell a story with their match and are really good as a tag team. Natalya and Kaitlyn came across as really good technical and power wrestlers, respectively, and Natalya SOLD Kaitlyn's spear in a way that it needed to be sold. No nonsense, no annoying Diva crap (besides King's perverted commentary, which I swear is Vince's attempt to marginalize women's wrestling for good), just a decent match. Yeah, I'm only giving it 2 stars, but you have to start somewhere. 5.5/10 for the segment (including a half-point for giving a crap).
Ugly-in-Brief
Jericho and Heyman - This promo felt disjointed and I was really disappointed. This should have hit on all cylinders, but I couldn't get into this and while it's still good, it's definitely not where I thought it should have been. 6/10
Summer Rae scores more pins on Fandango than the IC champion - As if Wade Barrett wasn't buried enough, Miz is named special referee by the WWE App (which is a freaking waste of an app) and with his power, he embarrasses Fandango (right after beating Barrett in under 2 minutes) by knocking him out and counting a pin for Summer Rae. (who is being wasted in this role. She needs to do the wrestling she's good at soon.) The lesson: Don't let WWE even TRY to give you the IC belt if you want to win. 2.5/10
Overall: Another decent for Raw! I'm thrilled. They seem to be getting into a groove, and hopefully they can step up past this level following the Payback card. I'm not optimistic, but I am at least hopeful again. There's stuff in place that I can get interested in, and hopefully they follow through. 5.3 + .5 for WHC, Tag and Women's division setup with some actual potential = 5.8/10
Onward to Impact Wrestling!
The Good: Sting and Joseph Park beat Team 3D - Aces and Eights were on the ball all night, at least the Dudleys were. They had two promos, each of which hit their mark. The opener for the show set up the match listed here, the main event and the PPV card, all while maintaining a mixture of anger and arrogance. The other promo was a rallying cry that led to a moment of tension between the Dudleys, but nothing that should be seen as an issue. It really felt like the team was in a tenuous position and that they were rallying because their viability hangs in the balance. As for the match, it was the class of the three. Both the World and TV champion came across as threatening and their in-ring chemistry hasn't diminished at all in the time they've been in the singles ranks. Sting still proves serviceable, especially when not in singles matches, and Joseph Park's arc that he really is Abyss was worked in brilliantly here. I loved how he got excited that his brother was there and that he really doesn't know who he really is. It's just entertaining and somewhat humorous to see. The promos got 7.5 and 7.2, respectively, and the match got 3.25 stars, or 8/10 as a segment.
Good-in-Brief
8-Man Tag match: Face team beats Heel team - I'm surprised that the faces won, given that I had James Storm and Gunner pegged to win at Slammiversary, but in any case, this had a chaotic feel to it that worked. It got across the gist of each tag team well and I can honestly say I want to see more of each team after this match. The match itself drew 2.75 stars and the segment was 7/10.
Mickie James' Celebration - I would like to take this moment to bring up that if you count all the major women's World titles in history (WWF/E, TNA, NWA, AWA, WCW), Mickie James just surpassed Fabulous Moolah for most reigns ever with her current, ninth title reign (5 WWE Women's, 1 WWE Divas, 3 TNA Knockouts). Congrats go out to Mickie on this achievement. Anyway, this teased Mickie's heel turn in a seriously gradual manner, and I'm surprised they didn't do it outright, but it teased Taryn and Gail's match while setting up the Velvet-Mickie rematch. Good stuff. 7/10
Sabin and Taryn d. Kenny King and Gail Kim - King and Sabin have an excellent feud going that is somewhat marred by the return of Suicide, but hey, he's holding his own and is interesting, even if his presence is shoehorned. Both feuds are made apparent here and I'm looking forward to each payoff. 6/10
AJ Styles d. Mr. Anderson by DQ - Good match. It set up the Angle-AJ match and was a good way to end the show. There was more of TNA's show-bookending brawl fetish on display, but still good stuff to sell the Slammiversary card. 2.75 for the match, 7.25 for the segment with small bonus for selling the card.
The Bad: Hogan-Hogan drama - It's not terrible, but it is the worst thing on the show. I still have no idea how marriage is supposed to work here and I feel like TNA is telegraphing their plans too much here. Hulk and Brooke actually can act by wrestling standards, so it's not bad to watch, but it's just so out of place in this show. That's all I've got really. 4/10
The Ugly: Samoa Joe saves Dixie, and then becomes GM, I guess - These two segments were equally bizarre. Dixie Carter comes out to say that there will be a Hall of Fame announcement at the PPV, which accomplishes nothing. The Aces & Eights come out to... I guess beat her up? And then Samoa Joe and Magnus run in. The next segment is a match between Samoa Joe and Garrett Bischoff, which has no real finish, and then Joe decides the three A&8s members will tag against him, Magnus and Jeff Hardy. Everyone sold it well and it felt badass, but I don't know what to say about either of these segments besides recounting their insertion. I guess I'll give the promo a 4.75/10 and the matchmaking segment a 5/10.
Overall: A pretty strong episode that sold the Slammiversary PPV well. I am genuinely interested in how this card turns out and I'm optimistic for the Bound For Glory build that will be coming next week. 6.4/10
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