By Graham "GSM" Matthews TNA World Heavyweight Champion Magnus Interrupted MVP This was a logical followup to last week's train wreck of a main event match, but it was mostly a formulaic segment. Everyone played their roles well, but it's hard to get excited about the announcement a TNA title match next week that will more than likely end in a screwy finish as always. The brawl that broke out was predictable and it was odd how it randomly cut to commercial. Despite clearly knowing Magnus cheated to retain last week, MVP took no action despite making him defend his title in a match where he'll be able to cheat. The continuation of the segment after the break wasn't much better, though this was the best promo Eric Young has cut to date and I liked how he referenced everything he's had to endure in the last ten years. As much as I like MVP, nothing has changed since he took over wrestling operations. The Wolves def. TNA World Heavyweight Champion Magnus and Abyss Surprisingly enough, I found this to be the best match The Wolves have contested in since their arrival in TNA. It started out slow, but the action heated up down the stretch. The live crowd was into the final few minutes of the match (as was I), but the finish seem to come out of complete nowhere. I realize the commentators made the case that he tapped out to save his health for next week, but the live crowd doesn't know that. Plus, how big of a win is it for Eddie Edwards if Magnus has zero credibility?
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews Dolph Ziggler def. Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus in a Triple Threat No. 1 Contender's Match of the Intercontinental Championship First off, it's a shame that Christian had to pull out of the title match. The commentators cited a concussion sustained on Raw as the reason, though I've also heard a torn pectoral muscle, but as of this writing, his injury has yet to be confirmed. Either way, I'm pretty disappointed he likely won't be a part of WrestleMania (again). As for the match, it was very well wrestled and just as entertaining as the Fatal 4-Way from Monday night. Everyone put forth a strong effort and they built greatly to the finish. Ziggler was once again very over here and the crowd was happy to see him win. His post-match promo with Big E was a nice touch and I'm glad they acknowledged their history together. Tamina Snuka, Summer Rae, Alicia Fox, Aksana and Layla def. The Funkadactyls, Emma, Natalya, Eva Marie It was your basic multi-Diva tag team match. It was nothing good, nor was it anything bad, but it was a train wreck of a match with so many Divas involved and not many of them being great in the ring. It served its purpose of hying the Divas Invitational for WrestleMania and didn't last longer that it needed to, so there's that. I was surprised to see Naomi take the pinfall loss for her team here considering she just returned a week ago, but Tamina going over leads me to believe that we'll be seeing more tension teased between her and Divas Champion AJ Lee in coming weeks. By Graham "GSM" Matthews WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton and Batista Interrupted Stephanie McMahon The sight of any member of The Authority kicking off Raw nowadays makes my eyes roll, but this segment wasn't half-bad. Stephanie thankfully didn't pander to the crowd, but she wasn't as aggressive or as vicious as she was during that awesome ending angle last week. Orton and Batista also played their roles well here and had a few clever one-liners, but their performances weren't anything memorable. I guess this was one way of hyping up the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania without having Daniel Bryan in attendance. Christian def. Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus in a No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way for the Intercontinental Championship Given who was involved, you had to know this was going to a barn-burner of a match. Everyone worked hard, the match was given very good time and featured extremely entertaining action with very few dull moments. The finishing sequence was fantastic and it was great to see Christian win a match clean for once. It was nice to see the Intercontinental Championship shown some love for a change and I look forward to Christian vs. Big E on WWE Main Event. Speaking of whom, it was probably best for Big E to stay off commentary since he doesn't usually flourish behind the booth. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Kane Addressed the "YES!" Movement Opening a show with a Raw recap is risky, especially when it runs as long as this one did, but the conclusion of this week's Raw was so great that it was a rare exception. It also pertained to Kane's promo, where he declared the "death" of the "YES!" Movement. I found it odd that he didn't at all address his attack at the hands of The Shield from Monday night, and I was surprised The Shield didn't hit the ring. That being said, this segment was mostly useless and didn't need to open the show. Fernando def. Fandango Not only was this match completely random, but it was strange for it to be the opening match on the show. The only way this match could make sense is if Fernando is announced as a participant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but even then I still wouldn't care. The match was fine for what it was, but a win over Fandango is hardly an upset at this point. It was sad of the commentators to mention his win over Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 29 given where he is today. |
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