TNA NO SURRENDER

Sunday, September 11th, 2011, from Orlando

JESSE SORENSEN vs. KID KASH: And you thought you already saw the worst ppv of the year (take your pick from any number of TNA shows)? This show had to be the worst of the year. It started with an un-announced X-Division #1 contender match. Sorensen beat Kid Kash, who I saw wrestle live at the ECW Arena in, like, 1999 or something. Not a good opener. *

BULLY RAY vs. JAMES STORM: Bully Ray is a good heel and funny on the mic, but he's not a good wrestler. So what does TNA do? They book him in two matches. Groan. 1/2*

WINTER vs. MICKIE JAMES: I actually like Winter but I'm not sure why. But remember Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim? TNA used to have entertaining women's matches. This was eh. *

MEXICAN AMERICA vs. DEVON & POPE: Hernandez did a leap off the top rope that was cool. Interviewing Rosita, who is a part of the Mexican America contingent, about her dead father (he died on 9/11) felt a little exploitative. *

MATT MORGAN vs. SOMOA JOE: Remember when Kurt Angle faced Joe for the first time and that ppv got record buy rates for TNA? Well apparently they don't remember it as Joe loses to Morgan here. Can we say 'waste of talent'? *

BOBBY ROODE vs. GUNNER: Pretty much unwatchable. -No Stars-

AUSTIN ARIES vs. BRIAN KENDRICK: The best match on the show and it was bad. Aries looks like he doesn't want to be in TNA. He botched one top rope flip to the ground and then jumped head first onto the guard rail. Kendrick is just a bore. *1/2

BOBBY ROODE vs. BULLY RAY: This was the final of the Bound for Glory series. Roode gets to face the champ next month. Not a good match at all. 1/2*

KURT ANGLE vs. STING vs. MR. ANDERSON: Hulk Hogan sprayed something into Sting's face and Angle slammed then pinned him. A very, very dull main event. 1/2*

WWE SUMMERSLAM

Sunday, August 13th, 2011 from Los Angeles

KOFI KINGSTON, REY MYSTERIO & JOHN MORISSON vs. THE MIZ, R-TRUTH & ALBERTO DEL RIO: So all these guys had no storylines or matches so they threw them together. Kind of lame, right? It was as good as a main event on RAW. **

MARK HENRY vs. SEAMUS: Henry did slam Seamus through the foam guard rail. That was about it for entertainment. *

KELLY KELLY vs. BETH PHOENIX: Not good, although, technically, have you ever seen a good WWE women's match? 1/2*

WADE BARRETT vs. DANIEL BRYAN: A strange match to be on such a big show, although Bryan could be WWE's best wrestler. It was a little too slow and plodding and the crowd was quiet. **

RANDY ORTON vs. CHRISTIAN: Phenomenal match. It was a no holds barred match. Orton RKO'd Christian through the announce table and onto the steel ring steps. Christian also went through a table. Really good, entertaining stuff. By far the feud of the year. ***

CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA/ ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. CM PUNK: This was good but a bit sloppy and a little too much in the shadow of last month's legendary match. Punk botched the GTS but still won. Kevin Nash came in, power bombed Punk and Alberto came in to cash in his MITB contract and he pinned Punk to win the title. I suppose the Nash stuff made it "special," but it the Alberto win was fairly un-surprising and not at all exciting. **1/2

TNA HARDCORE JUSTICE

Sunday, August 7th, 2011 from Orlando

BRIAN KENDRICK vs. AUSTIN ARIES vs. ALEX SHELLEY: Well, the card sucked and this show turned out awful. Even these three couldn't put on a good match. Kendrick is just an awful bore. There were a lot of mistakes here that just put a sour taste in my match for a long, dull show. *

TARA & MISS TESSMACHER vs. ROSITA & SARITA: Yes, TNA actually put on two women's matches on this show. Did I do something wrong? Because I feel like I'm being punished. 1/2*

THE POPE vs. DEVON: Pope is semi-interesting, but The Dudley's are a mess apart. 1/2*

MICKIE JAMES vs. WINTER: Red mist! Tajiri is smiling somewhere. *

RVD vs. CRIMSON: Not bad. Jerry Lynn tried to give RVD a chair and the ref DQ'd RVD. **

AJ STYLES & KAZARIAN & CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. ABYSS & SCOTT STEINER & GUNNER: AJ Styles was on fire (why isn't he the champ, like, forever?) and Daniels went through a table. **

BULLY RAY vs. MR. ANDERSON: Anderson did a Swanton Dive from the top rope. That was about it for entertainment. 1/2*

BEER MONEY vs. MEXICAN AMERICA: Why does the crowd love Beer Money? I guess they're drunk. *

STING vs. KURT ANGLE: Angle is a great wrestler. He also looks sickly thin. I guess he's off steroids. Sting is old. This was basic really, but Angle did use a chair and won the title. If it can't be AJ as champ than Angle's the next best option. **

WWE MONEY IN THE BANK

Sunday, July 17th, 2011 from Chicago, Illinois

DANIEL BRYAN vs. KANE vs. SHEAMUS vs. SIN CARA vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL vs. HEATH SLATER vs. CODY RHODES vs. WADE BARRETT "M.I.T.B. Ladder Match": Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer said that this was "one of the best PPVs the company has ever done." He was right. This opener was great, perhaps the night's best match. A lot of big spots as usual. Sin Cara was power-bombed from the edge of the ring through a ringside ladder by Sheamus (the injury forced Sin Cara to exit the match early...apparently this was because he tested positive for steroids last month). Daniel Bryan actually won the thing, which was awesome. A great opener. ***1/2 (out of ****)

KELLY KELLY vs. BRIE BELLA: Yeah...even with one of the greatest shows the WWE has ever put on, this still happened. -No Stars-

BIG SHOW vs. MARK HENRY: Slow. Bad. 1/2*

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. REY MYSTERIO vs. THE MIZ vs. ALEX RILEY vs. KOFI KINGSTON vs. EVAN BOURNE vs. R. TRUTH vs. JACK SWAGGER "M.I.T.B. Ladder Match": A good match, though they botched the ending and a few other spots came off as sloppy. Bourne did a shooting star press off the top of the ladder which was great. Del Rio ripped off Mysterio's mask and then both fell off the ladder but Del Rio climbed back up and grabbed the briefcase. ***

RANDY ORTON vs. CHRISTIAN: A terrific match. These two, for whatever reason, really mesh well. There only less-than-great match happened last month at Capitol Punishment, and that was mainly due to Orton's concussion. Christian won the title because Orton kicked him in the balls, thus DQ'ing himself. Orton then gave Christian two RKO's on the Spanish announce table (it didn't break). Not the best finish, but a very engrossing match with a ton of near-falls. ***

CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA: Certainly the actual match wasn't spectacular. Cena did maybe two or three moves (it went long, around thirty minutes). The crowd, though, and the energy and suspense made this epic and legendary. The crowd booed every good guy and cheered every bad guy all night long. CM Punk was on fire. He dove through the ropes and onto Cena on the floor. Punk also took a suplex over the top rope and down to the floor. They both kicked out of everything. Cena seemed to hurt his knee but eventually got back into it. Punk won with the GTS. Vince tried to ring the bell but Cena stopped him and Cena took out John Laurenitis, who is one of the WWE's higher ups. Del Rio ran out post-match to cash in his title shot but Punk knocked him down and ran off through the crowd. The intensity was so high in this match. It reminded me of Cena vs. RVD at that ECW show years ago. A good main event and a crowd for the ages. ***1/2

TNA DESTINATION X

Sunday, July 10th, 2011 from Orlando, Florida

KAZARIAN vs. SOMOA JOE: Good opener. The crowd was fucking nuts early on. Did a bus full of drunk frat boys break down out front of the arena or something? Somoa Joe dominated and lost. Go figure. **1/2

DOUGLAS WILLIAMS vs. MARK HASKINS: Who are these two again? Not bad, but...really? On a show without the TNA champ, Kurt Angle, Hogan, or Flair...and they have the debut of some nobody from England who botches his final move? *1/2

MAX & JEREMY BUCK vs. SHARK BOY & ERIC YOUNG: Short and semi-entertaining. When Eric Young was asking luchadores to be his partner pre-match I laughed. **

AMAZING RED vs. ROBBIE E. vs. SHANNON MOORE vs. ALEX SHELLEY "ULTIMATE X-MATCH": Ah...the worst Ultimate-X match ever. That's not good, especially when the show is called "Destination X." There weren't any big moves. All of the guys fell from the hanging ropes, but that was it. Not boring, but it just wasn't as good as a typical UX match. *1/2

ROB VAN DAM vs. JERRY LYNN: Yes, they're older, slower, but this turned out to be an exciting match. Perhaps the most entertaining match RVD has been in since showing up in TNA. **1/2

AUSTIN ARIES vs. JACK EVANS vs. ZEMA ION vs. LOW KI: Well, the fans orgasmed over this match. I thought it was good, not great. The winner gets a TNA contract. Um...shouldn't the loser get a TNA contract? **1/2

ABYSS vs. BRIAN KENDRICK: Kendrick, the shy, little boy won the X-Division title from the monster Abyss. The problem? Nobody likes Kendrick and Abyss is boring. This was a God-awful match. 1/2*

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. A.J. STYLES: I admit: I said that this would be one of the year's best. It wasn't. It didn't work. First off, it went too long at thirty minutes. Second, there weren't any big show-stopping moves. It was a classic, slow, plodding, back-and-forth snooze fest. Shocking, really, since these two are great wrestlers. The other surprise: the TNA champ didn't even defend the title. What company puts on a $35 ppv and doesn't even have a main title match? *

WWE CAPITOL PUNISHMENT

Sunday, June 19th, 2011 from Washington, D.C.

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. KOFI KINGSTON: Good opener. Someone backstage, probably a young writer, was like: "How come the sleeper hold never fucking works?" It worked and Kofi went to sleep and lost. **1/2 (out of ****)

THE MIZ vs. ALEX RILEY: I suppose this is the summer of the big Alex Riley push. And wasn't he busted for a D.U.I. this year in Florida? I guess Michael Vick got a second chance, why not Alex Riley? This match was not entertaining. The only amusing part was when Riley pulled Cole by the tie and threw him to the floor. I have yet to see a good Miz match. *1/2

THE BIG SHOW vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO: Mark Henry put The Big Show through the announce table. That was a good spot. After that, Show was hobbling around and eventually the ref just rang the bell and said he couldn't continue. *1/2

EZEKIEL JACKSON vs. WADE BARRETT: Barrett was funny on the mic making fun of the U.S. pre-match. Jackson won the IC title here. Meh. Who cares? 1/2*

CM PUNK vs. REY MYSTERIO, JR.: Great last few minutes of this match. Quick, fun, slick, surprising. **1/2

RANDY ORTON vs. CHRISTIAN: Orton got a concussion in Spain a week ago. Why was he wrestling? An okay match, but not up to their last two. **

JACK SWAGGER vs. EVAN BOURNE: Filler, but better than the usual filler. *1/2

R. TRUTH vs. JOHN CENA: Really awful. Surprising? No. Little Jimmy: help. 1/2*

TNA SLAMMIVERSARY

Sunday, June 12th, 2011 from Orlando

JAMES STORM & ALEX SHELLEY vs. DOUG WILLIAMS & MAGNUS: One half of Beer Money is hurt so Alex Shelley took his place. It didn't exactly work. *1/2 (out of ****)

SCOTT STEINER vs. MATT MORGAN: Surprised that Steiner lost considering he probably thinks he's God. 1/2*

ABYSS vs. KAZARIAN vs. BRIAN KENDRICK: Abyss is the X-Division champ, aka the cruiserweight champ. No, it doesn't make sense nor is it an intriguing storyline. Because Kendrick and Kazarian were stuck with a plodding fat guy this match was a mess. 1/2*

SOMOA JOE vs. CRIMSON: Somoa Joe lost to the undefeated TNA version of Seamus? Lame. 1/2*

MICKIE JAMES vs. ANGELINA LOVE: Remember when TNA had good women's matches? Those were the days. 1/2*

A.J. STYLES vs. BULLY RAY "Last Man Standing Match": Great finish to a match that was all fake punching for the first five minutes. Bully Ray bled and Styles jumped off the light pole on the set and down onto Bully on a table. It was a crazy leap and the highlight of the show. ***

STING vs. MR. ANDERSON: So Mr. Anderson is the new champ. When your title match isn't the main event something is probably wrong with your company. 1/2*

JEFF JARRETT vs. KURT ANGLE: A good match but not nearly as good as some of their epic matches like April's cage match. It seemed a little off and didn't go as long as I'd hoped to build momentum. Kind of disappointing since it was their apparent last match. **1/2