Smark Out Moment

Does anyone else get the feeling that this ppv is made up of filler matches? I can't say that anything seems particularly interesting to me, but as always, I'm still willing to give it a shot. I'm expecting the best match of the night to be the tag title match or Angle vs Jarrett. Oh, and I'm expecting them to say that wrestling matters about 150 times.

PREDICTIONS: Crimson beats Samoa Joe. Mickie James retains against Angelina Love. Matt Morgan beats Scott Steiner. AJ Styles beats Bully Ray. Abyss wins his match. Storm and Shelley win. Angle beats Jarrett. I guess Sting retains.   

Anybody know why they have the Impact Wrestling drape on the ring instead of something about TNA or Slammiversary? Maybe they really are going to change the whole company to just Impact Wrestling.

Tag Team Championship: Alex Shelley & James Storm (c) vs. The British Invasion
With a story like Roode being injured and the rumors that he'll be pushed while Storm will tag back up with Chris Harris, I'm expecting them to drop the titles to Mexican America (since they're a much more prominent tag team than the British Invasion) and then Storm to turn heel against Roode, pissed that he isn't carrying his weight. Because of that, I can't see TBI winning this match. They're making it seem like an even match, though, which is good. TBI starts to dominate the match until Shelley hot-tags Storm, who comes in and starts cleaning house. Storm accidentally spits the beer in the face of Shelley, who then accidentally kicks Storm. Storm kicks out of a double-team, however. They regain control and retain the titles.

WINNERS: Alex Shelley and James Storm via pinfall.
Not a bad match. Good enough for an opener as they have room to build but they didn't start off flat. I'll allow it.

Backstage with Steiner
You know Steiner. I couldn't translate what he's saying if I tried. I think he implied that he's going to rape someone....but he could have just as easily been paying someone a compliment. I love Steiner promos.

Scott Steiner vs. Matt Morgan
Taz cracks a joke about the height advantage in pro-wrestling being overrated. 10 pts Taz, I actually chuckled at that one. Steiner low-blows Morgan while the ref can't see. Clotheslines and punches later, Morgan's back on top. Back and forth, eventually Morgan hits the Carbon Footprint and gets the win.

WINNER: Matt Morgan via pinfall.
No 5-star match, but considering the participants, it wasn't that bad.

Backstage with Jeff Jarrett
He's gonna win, etc. You know how these promos go.

X-Division Championship: Abyss (c) vs. Kazarian vs. Brian Kendrick
The crowd seems to favor Kendrick. The story of the match is that these two together are still having problems dealing with Abyss. There's a spot where both of them pin Abyss but he kicks out anyway. That would have been an interesting way to end the match and then have Kendrick vs Kazarian to determine the champion. Once Abyss is taken out, Kazarian and Kendrick start breaking down and attacking each other. Abyss takes advantage of this and pins Kazarian to retain the title.

WINNER: Abyss via pinfall.
If their goal for this match was to make Abyss look dominant, they did a good job.

Samoa Joe vs. Crimson
Joe essentially works on Crimson's legs for potential submissions. Basically this whole match is just Joe trying submissions and Crimson taking the punishment. Out of nowhere, Crimson hits a sitout bomb and wins.

WINNER: Crimson via pinfall.
Sorry, but I found this boring.

After the match, Joe offers his hand, then says "we will do this again".

Backstage with Angelina Love and Winter
Love says it took her a while but they're on the same page.

Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Angelina Love
Early on, Winter already interferes and sends Mickie to the floor on the outside. Since I've guessed all the other matches correctly so far, I'd expect to be wrong on this one and now I'm thinking Angelina will win the title. Angelina goes for a cover and Mickie grabs the ropes, but Winter takes her hand off. Earl Hebner realizes this, though, and threatens to eject Winter. He doesn't, for some reason, not even after she blatantly interferes once more and causes a distraction by jumping up onto the apron. Winter then also tries to help Angelina pin Mickie, but again, Hebner does nothing. Mickie and Angelina botch Mickie's DDT (can't tell whose fault it is) but they count the 3 anyway. Guessing streak continues.

WINNER: Mickie James via pinfall.
They've had much better Knockouts matches on ppvs. Much better.

Backstage with Bully Ray
Ray says Borash and Styles know nothing about being a man. Ray's a real man in a man's business but Styles is a boy that he'll take out easily. He apologizes to himself for not getting rid of him a long time ago. Criticize Ray all you want, the guy can cut a promo.

Last Man Standing: Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles
Power versus speed type of match, as expected. Nothing of note in particular happens until Ray hits a good Power Bomb off the second rope. AJ hits Ray with the chain that he brought to the ring. Ray blades. Ray goes to the stage to Power Bomb AJ off of it like he did on Impact but AJ escapes it. AJ jumps off and splashes on Ray. AJ sets up a table and puts Ray on top. He then climbs high and lands an elbow on Bully Ray (naturally crashing through the table). While AJ is getting up, Ray kicks him into the stage (aka into the cheap cardboard looking area). Ray gets up just in time to beat the 10-count while AJ is out.

WINNER: Bully Ray via a kick in the butt, literally.
Not bad. The highlight of the match was AJ's jump of course. The end of the match was kind of lackluster and quick but in a way, I don't really hate that, though I could see if people complain about it.

Backstage with Mr. Anderson
Anderson says Borash needs to open his eyes and ears and shut his mouth. Actions speak louder than words.

TNA Championship: Sting (c) vs. Mr. Anderson
While Anderson's finishing up his mic talk, Sting attacks him from behind. We're now on the obligatory "brawl on the outside before the match has officially started and spend most of the time throwing each other into an Impact Wrestling sign" segment of the match. Nothing really of interest. Sting goes for the Scorpion Death Lock and Bischoff comes out. Anderson hits a Mic Check but Sting kicks out. Stinger Splash on the corner, followed up by a Death Drop and the ref counts 3 but for some reason says 2 due to Bischoff coming into the ring and counting again. Anderson hits another Mic Check and gets the win.

WINNER (and new champion): Mr. Anderson via pinfall.
Lost my interest.

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett
I really hope they don't do a ref bump in this match. So far, it's been boring me and I haven't enjoyed it, and nothing important has happened (hence why this isn't being updated). Even the crowd isn't particularly going nuts for the so-called big moves like Angle missing a moonsault or when he hit the Angle Slam and Jarrett kicked out. Nor does the crowd pop when Angle kicks out of the Stroke. And of course, the ref gets knocked out. Jeff hits Angle with the guitar and since this only happens when it comes to heels, a new ref comes out in time to count the pin. If it were a face in this position, it naturally wouldn't result in a new ref that fast. And Angle kicks out and is suddenly on top and destroying Jarrett. I hate it when they get so predictable like that. Angle runs up the ropes and suplexes Jeff...two-count. Jeff hits a Stroke off the ropes. Two-count. Jarrett puts Kurt in the ankle lock. Angle kicks out of it but Jeff puts another on that Angle reverses into an ankle lock of his own. Jeff taps out.

WINNER (and #1 contender): Kurt Angle via submission.
Definitely not their best match. I didn't particularly like it, and I was expecting it to be so much better.