By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bobby Roode, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Lashley, Austin Aries and MVP Kicked Off the Show

This was your basic, formulaic segment with everyone making a claim for why they should be champion (or in Lashley's case, putting the title on the line). All that was missing was an authority figure making the match official for the main event. Speaking of such, who is the new authority figure now that Kurt Angle has stepped down? Anyway, with the exception of Lashley, everyone's mic work here was solid but nothing noteworthy. Lashley has been ruining any momentum he had going as a heel with his recent promos and putting his title on the line in a Fatal 4-Way made him look stupid. All babyface champions do it and it makes them look dumb more than it does courageous.


Knockouts Champion Taryn Terrell def. Gail Kim and Madison Rayne in a Triple Threat Match

From a storyline standpoint, it made zero sense for Kim and Rayne to be getting a title shot, but that aside, this was a great match from the ladies. The Knockouts title has been overshadowed in all the craziness with Awesome Kong and Havok, so I was glad to see it spotlighted here. The crowd was into everything the ladies did, but everything they chanted, was "Better than the Divas" really necessary? Yes, the Knockouts' matches are better than the Divas' more often than not, but it's not because of in-ring talent; it's because of the brief time they're allotted. Nevertheless, this was probably one of the best matches on the entire show and Terrell got a good win out of it.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The New Day def. The Miz and Damien Mizdow

Most of this match consisted of comedy with a lot of the focus being on Mizdow, but everything else about it was inconsequential. The New Day shtick just isn't clicking and fans, while they get a kick out of Mizdow's entertaining antics, are waiting for Miz and Mizdow to finally split. It wasn't a bad match per se, but it dragged on a lot longer than it needed to. I was really hoping we'd see the split at Royal Rumble, but is it possible they're waiting until Fast Lane instead?


Erick Rowan def. Curtis Axel

I really liked how they actually acknowledged the angle from the Royal Rumble match where Rowan took out Axel to replace him in the Rumble. Usually, something like that would've been forgotten, but it served as a nice back story to this otherwise mediocre. Unfortunately, the live crowd didn't really seem to care. They gave Rowan a generous reaction, but they know he won't amount to anything, whereas Axel is already damaged goods, so incentive was there to care about it? Again, it was another case of the match not being bad but the lack of reaction from the crowd spoke volumes.

By Guest Contributor

Is there anyone out there who remembers Bully Ray? Strike that. In the words of Bully himself, “Do you know who he is?” Of course I am talking about the innovator of the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, the 25-time World Tag-Team Champion, and the first ballot hall of famer, Bubba Ray Dudley. Whether you recognize him as the viciously, vitriolic villain Bully Ray, or as Bubba Ray Dudley, one half of, arguably, the greatest tag-team of all time, you definitely noticed him when he blew the roof off of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia this past Sunday at the Royal Rumble. Bubba Ray was the number three entrant in the 2015 Royal Rumble matchup, and he shocked the entire world as he appeared on WWE programming for the first time in nearly a decade. If you have seen his latest interviews or follow him on twitter, you should know that he is elated to be back with the company and even referred to the WWE as his “home.” As farfetched as that comment may be, the WWE Universe is certainly delighted to have Bubba back in our midst. But will this one off appearance lead to a full or part-time run with World Wrestling Entertainment? 

Unfortunately, I would imagine that the suits of WWE’s upper management are not aware of Bubba’s work in TNA as Bully Ray and will likely reunite him with his half brother Devon Dudley somewhere down the line. Don’t get me wrong. I, like many members of the WWE Universe, would love to see a Team 3D reunion. But at a time when there is such a glaring lack of heels in World Wrestling Entertainment, who better to take the reigns than Bubba “Bully” Ray Dudley?

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Roman Reigns Interrupted Triple H

Triple H must have thought it was Monday night when he did his usual lengthy, drawn-out promo. It doesn't matter if it's Raw or SmackDown, no show is safe from The Authority opening segment! I found it interesting they addressed the controversy from Royal Rumble, but there was no way they couldn't given how loud the boos were at the end of the event. I wish we could have seen more from Triple H and Reigns given their history, but at least it didn't require Reigns to take for a long period of time. I don't think Triple H's "huge" announcement will affect the WrestleMania 31 card too greatly, but I must say I am a bit intrigued to hear what it is.


Roman Reigns def. Big Show

Why does WWE think that pairing Reigns with Show in a feud would do him any good? It wasn't exactly getting the crowd behind him when it first started, long before the backlash he received at Royal Rumble. The match suffered as a result, but it still a half-decent match that the crowd surprisingly didn't crap all over. Reigns' clean victory gives my hope that this the end of the line for the rivalry, but something tells me we'll see them clash at some point against soon (maybe at Fast Lane?). The victory would have meant more for Reigns if Show wasn't so devalued at this point in his career.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Fenix def. Mil Muertes

I was worried early on that Fenix was going to be squashed since he was contending for the Lucha Underground Championship in the main event only two weeks ago. That said, his upset victory over Muertes was a pleasant surprise given that it was Muertes' first defeat in singles competition. Muertes didn't lose anything from the loss since he dominated most of the match and I assume this was only the first in a series of matches between the two.


Mr. Cisco, Cortez Castro and Bael def. Argenis, Super Fly and AeroStar

Cisco, Castro and Bael have been positioned as lackeys to Cueto thus far and they haven't done anything to stand out to me. This match completely changed that. This was easily the best match we've seen from them yet as it was a show-stealing performance for the trio. I don't how smart it was to make it as competitive of a match as it was since their opponents were no-namers, but I won't complain about getting a great match. At least now they'll look like legitimate threats to Big Ryck when/if their feud starts.