By Graham "GSM" Matthews Ethan Carter III def. Tommy Dreamer in a Tables Match Carter's pre-match promo was effective in getting heat on him and making the crowd get behind Dreamer that much more. EC3's television matches as of late have been too short to really give fans a glimpse of what he is actually capable of in the ring, but this match was given good time and was by far EC3's best bout to date. It started out slow, but all the tables spots were well done and EC3 went over strong with a clean win for a change. Kudos to Dreamer for putting the kid over, but more should have been done to hype his upcoming match against Bully Ray at the next One Night Only event. Austin Aries def. Chris Sabin in an X-Division Xscape Match I said back in July that a feud between these two had the potential to be great, and while that has yet to transcend on television, they definitely proved that here. The biggest problem with their latest series of TV matches has been that they haven't been given enough time to shine. They righted that wrong here and put on an excellent matchup that told a solid story. Sabin was clever in tying Aries to the bottom rope and resorting to dirty tactics, in what the commentators fittingly called "desperate measures". Isn't it funny that the best match between these two to date wasn't even for the X-Division Championship?
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews Adrian Neville def. Wesley Blake Blake wasn't your typical enhancement talent, as he appeared to have a cowboy gimmick. He was pretty generic aside from that, but at least he held his own against Neville. It was a basic showcase for Neville, who was extremely over with the Full Sail University crowd. His brief feud with Tyler Breeze already appears to be over and he now looks to reset his sights on the NXT Championship. Alexander Rusev def. Xavier Woods This was better than their first encounter from a few weeks ago (which was no more than a minute long), but not by much. Woods was able to score some offense on Rusev this time around, but the ending result was still never in doubt. It is such a shame that Woods is being saddled with Brodus Clay's old gimmick. Why not have him establish his own identity? Sin Cara received a mild reaction upon making the save for Woods, and I don't blame the live crowd at all. Fans have been given very little reason to care about Sin Cara as of late, but at least he can take a loss by Rusev and not be hurt by it (what damage is there left to be done?). What happened to Rusev's apparent feud with Kingston? By Graham "GSM" Matthews R-Truth def. Damien Sandow While it was a decent match that was given good time, we have seen it so many times in the past that the action failed to excite me. The final few minutes were well done and it is cool to see Sandow's submission maneuver finally named (the Royal Arch), but Truth's victory ruined it for me. How does he have more to offer than Sandow, who took Cena to his limit just last week on Raw? At least Xavier Woods hyped the Royal Rumble match and his participation in it on commentary. The Bella Twins def. Aksana and Alicia Fox The pre-match backstage segment was pretty weak, but I applaud their effort to at least give the match some meaning. It would have been nice of the commentators to mention Aksana's two wins over The Bella Twins from a few weeks ago, but no such luck. It was your typical Divas match that was only mere minutes long, which was probably for the better. The Bella Twins picked up the win, but what could they possibly gain from beating Fox and Aksana? By Graham "GSM" Matthews WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton Interrupted The Authority; Batista Returned It has been three weeks since we last saw The Authority on Raw, so I didn't mind seeing them in the opening segment. Orton's interruption made sense given his recent issues with them as of late, but it is probably all a ploy to get viewers to think that they are at odds with each other. Batista's return was nicely timed and it was very cool to see three members of the original Evolution in the same ring together. Batista's promo was short and sweet, making it abundantly clear that he is back in WWE to be an undisputed champion. I hope he doesn't end up facing Randy Orton for the millionth time at WrestleMania, but this was at least a nice teaser for it if it does come to fruition. I didn't mind Batista's apparel as much as some other people did, but I do agree that the skinny jeans have to go. The Shield def. Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston and WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust On paper, this match didn't make much sense. Sure, Langston and the Rhodes brothers have history with The Shield, but it isn't like they have been involved in a heated rivalry with them in recent weeks. If nothing else, I suspect it was to hype the Royal Rumble match since all six competitors will be participating. Regardless, it was a very good six-man tag team match with an enjoyable final few minutes. I was surprised to see Langston take the pinfall at the hands of Seth Rollins of all people, but it could very well be building to something between them down the line. |
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