Smark Out Moment

Looking at the card, I think it's kind of lite. Most of the matches seem a bit "meh" to me in terms of importance. Hopefully, that just means that they won't overbook the ppv and instead, they'll let the wrestling speak for itself in matches like Robbie E vs Kendrick. Still, it seems odd to me that they're missing some of their so-called bigger stars on the card in a wrestling capacity, like Bully Ray, Samoa Joe, Mr. Anderson, Daniels, and Matt Morgan.

PREDICTIONS: Sting retains the title against RVD, unless RVD turns heel for some reason. Kazarian retains the X-Division title. Abyss beats Crimson. Matt Hardy and Chris Harris win the tag titles. Mickie James retains. Kurt Angle and Chyna win. I have no clue about the Mexican America vs. Ink Inc match but I'm going to say Mexican America wins. Styles/Dreamer and Robbie/Kendrick are kind of toss-ups, so I'll just blindly go with Dreamer and Kendrick.

The video package starting the ppv off is all about how it takes a certain type of person to be the world champion.

Mexican America vs. Ink Inc.
It would appear that Jesse Neal is quite over with the crowd as they're chanting for him. Sarita and Rosita are getting involved a lot. There's a spot where Shannon Moore hits a springboard moonsault onto Hernandez on the outside, but it comes off incredibly choreographed since Hernandez has to stand there and watch him for about 10 seconds. Shannon then completely misses another moonsault, this time on Anarquia, who sells it anyway. Here we go with Rosita literally being in the ring to cause a distraction and the ref doesn't disqualify them, so it leads to Hernandez getting the pin over Jesse.

WINNERS: Mexican America via pinfall.
Not really interesting, with a typical TV ending that plays up the "stupid ref" idea.

Out comes Karen and Jeff Jarrett. Karen's sporting crutches and a boot on her foot. It takes about five minutes for her to come to the ring since they're milking this...because, you know, wrestling matters here. Jeff runs the whole injury thing down. The fans chant "bullshit" and Jeff asks them not to say such filthy language. Out comes Mick Foley (the man). He says that Karen's x-ray was a fake. Karen says she has nothing to wear. Foley says he has something for her.

Backstage with Brian Kendrick
Kendrick says that X-Division has been made filler and he's going to put it back on top.

Robbie E. vs. Brian Kendrick
Kendrick keeps getting the leg up on Robbie (literally) and then going back to the meditation pose. Cookie tries to distract him but he just tells her "God has a plan for you". Robbie gets in control and somehow, Kendrick's bleeding from the mouth now. Kendrick comes back from it and scores a pin, then goes back to meditating.

WINNER: Brian Kendrick via pinfall.
Ok match, but again, it felt a little more like a TV match instead.

Backstage with Tara
Tara says that she's torn between who she wants to win. Madison comes out and says she'd better make sure that she doesn't cost her the match.

Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Madison Rayne
I really hate this whole "hardcore country" stuff. How does singing country music mean you're tough? Back and forth, this and that, eventually Madison tries to use the weighted glove but Tara stops her. Mickie goes for a Lou Thesz press off the top rope but hits the ref instead (who, per normal wrestling rules, will be completely knocked out until there's a pinfall, of course). Tara comes in with the weighted glove and hits Madison, then does the magic ref-wake and Mickie gets the win.

WINNER: Mickie James via pinfall.
I don't understand why there was a whole "will or won't she" thing with this. If Tara was pissed at Madison and had nothing to lose and everything to gain by Mickie winning, why was there any issue?

Backstage with Fortune
Kazarian is going to beat Buck, Styles is going to beat Dreamer, Beer Money is going to beat Hardy and Harris, etc.

X-Division Championship: Kazarian (c) vs. Max Buck
I'm kind of digging Hemme as the announcer. She does a good job. The story of this match so far has been about reversals. Max is coming off quite on par with Kazarian. Kazarian hits a sunset flip power bomb to Max on the outside which results in Max's head smacking the ground. It also provokes a chant of "this is wrestling". Kazarian hits a shining wizard and wins.

WINNER: Kazarian via pinfall.
Match of the night so far. Very entertaining.

Backstage with Abyss
Abyss talks about how he can take a lot of pain and so forth.

Abyss vs. Crimson
They must be really high on Crimson to have him basically booked as being an equal to Abyss. It's a back-and-forth match the entire time. Nothing particularly noteworthy happens but in the end, Crimson gets the win.

WINNER: Crimson via pinfall.
Crimson seems to have replaced Matt Morgan as the big guy they want to push. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The match was ok.

Tag Team Championship: Beer Money (c) vs. Matt Hardy & Chris Harris
Anyone else hoping a "Braden Walker" chant breaks out? There we go. Harris looks terrible - not that I'm surprised. The other three aren't doing too bad in the match, but Harris just seems...well, for lack of a better word, bad. The parts that are Hardy against Storm or Roode are ok and thankfully, that's most of the match. Storm and Roode hit Harris with the old AMW finisher and end the match.

WINNERS: Beer Money via pinfall.
I don't see a point in hiring Harris when he's in the condition he looks like.

Backstage with Bully Ray
Ray says he intimidates people because he can. Borash asks why Dreamer is doing what he's doing. Ray says Borash doesn't need to know. He says a real wrestler drinks, chases women, and listens to rock and roll, but AJ plays video games and uses Twitter and so forth. Any time in the future he gets a chance to take him out, he will.

AJ Styles vs. Tommy Dreamer
Dreamer tries to get AJ off of him but is reminded that it is no disqualification. Styles yells that if Dreamer made this match famous, he should get up and wrestle. "I think the EV2 ship has sailed", says Taz. I could not agree more. If I'm hearing them correctly, the fans seem to be chanting that they want fire. There's a nice spot where AJ runs up a half-setup table and splashes Dreamer in the corner. Dreamer gets the fork out but doesn't do anything with it as AJ stops him. AJ's just dominating him this whole match. Out comes Bully Ray who hits AJ with a chain and then is chased out by Daniels. Dreamer piledrives AJ into the table and wins.

WINNER: Tommy Dreamer via pinfall.
One of the more entertaining matches of the night - all AJ's responsibility.

Karen & Jeff Jarrett vs. Chyna & Kurt Angle
Well Karen comes out wearing some normal looking clothes. That whole setup of the attire was absolutely pointless. "Chyna's gonna kill you" chant breaks out. Chyna is tagged and Karen doesn't come in. They try to abuse the idea that Jeff hasn't tagged Karen in yet so he's still legal. Chyna tags Kurt back in. Kurt picks Karen up to take her over to Chyna but Jeff takes out his legs (causing Karen to fall, but they kind of ignore that). Chyna gets tagged in and she bodyslams Jeff, then follows it with a vertical suplex. Chyna goes to the outside to get Karen, who climbs into the ring and bumps into Kurt. Chyna then goes on the attack. Chyna gives Karen a pedigree. She puts her in the ankle lock. Jeff comes in the ring and Kurt puts Jeff in an ankle lock of his own. Karen submits.

WINNERS: Kurt Angle and Chyna via submission.
Kurt and Jeff work well together in the ring. The Chyna and Karen stuff...well, what were you expecting? Chyna did a better pedigree than HHH has done for a while, though.

TNA Championship: Sting (c) vs. RVD
Anderson comes out to do commentary. They're fighting predominantly on the outside doing a spot, then taking a rest, then another spot, etc. I sincerely hope they go back to the ring very soon as there's some really annoying woman who just keeps screeching at the top of her lungs, annoying the hell out of me. There's a REALLY bad Scorpion Death Drop botch that Sting and RVD just redo right afterward....and apparently, it's the end of the match.

WINNER: Sting via pinfall.
It didn't really feel like a main event match, to me - nor did it feel like it really hit its stride. The ending came kind of out of left field in my head and I don't know if I'm the only one to feel that, but it didn't seem like the crowd was ready for it to end either.

RVD lifts Sting's hand in victory. RVD leaves. Anderson comes down to the ring. All they do is stare at each other.