By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Randy Orton and Roman Reigns Interrupted WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins

Is it bad that Rollins' gloating promos are a primary reason to look forward to Raw? He was glorious once again here as he bragged about Kane doing next to nothing during the match, further teasing tension between the two. Orton obviously has unfinished business with Rollins, so I wasn't surprised to see him come out. Reigns was welcome as it makes sense for him to get back into the title picture after being screwed out of his one-on-one match at WrestleMania. Kane saying that he'd have the fans decide who Rollins' opponent would be for Payback was a nice hook for the remainder of the show.


Bad News Barrett def. Dolph Ziggler in a King of the Ring Quarterfinals Match

As I've said time and time again, despite how badly booked Barrett has been these last few months, take nothing away from his incredible in-ring ability. He can have a good match with just about anybody, and Ziggler is always excellent. They worked a nice match and Sheamus' interruption, albeit predictable, was a wise way of protecting Ziggler in defeat. A solid way of kicking off the tournament.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Neville def. Bad News Barrett (Kickoff Match)

I wasn't surprised to hear Daniel Bryan was pulled from the event because there have been too many rumors recently that have indicated he is not in good health, but I hope he's healed up quickly and is back at 100%. That said, Neville was the perfect person to replace him as he didn't already have a match on the pay-per-view and Neville pinned Barrett this past week on SmackDown. As I knew figured they would, Neville and Barrett contested a very fun match and it was great to see them get as much as they did instead of it running short so they could fit another match on the Kickoff Show. This was further proof that Barrett is a great worker with heavily damaged credibility, though I'd love to see these guys work together again in the near future.


Dean Ambrose def. Luke Harper in a Chicago Street Fight

This was an ideal way of opening the event and Ambrose and Harper took full advantage of the opportunity by having an enjoyable street fight. The incorporation of weapons was well done and it was cool to see them live up to the stipulation by actually taking their brawl to the streets of Chicago. I appreciated it was something different when they left the building only to return and resume the match an hour later, but I was hoping we'd get footage of them fighting around Chicago as we saw with Roddy Piper and Goldust at WrestleMania 12. Still, it was a fun match and Ambrose was long overdue for a win on pay-per-view.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Austin Aries Interrupted TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle and Eric Young

This was more of the same from what we heard last week from these two with Angle basically asking if we were going to see the babyface Young or the heel Young in the title match. The tease was well done, but I don't understand the timing of it. It was a nice wrinkle to the main event, sure, but Young didn't turn all that long ago, so for them to even slightly hint at him turning again so soon is worrisome. Other than that, Aries played his role well per usual and did an effective job of adding interest to the title match.


Brooke def. Gail Kim, Angelina Love and Madison Rayne in a No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way for the Knockouts Championship

I feared the match would end up being up a train wreck with so many women involved, but even Brooke, the least experienced of the four, was carried to a good match by three other very talented ladies. Everyone took turns getting their spots in and the match flowed fairly nicely. The spot with all four ladies locking in submissions on each other was innovative, bu there weren't any other moments that stood out as being special. Brooke was the last person I expected to win, bu that isn't necessarily a bad thing. She's a fresh face in the title picture, but she needs to build credibility before she goes after the gold because she's been utilized as an enhancement talent for so long.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bad News Barrett def. Jack Swagger

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe we have ever seen Swagger and Barrett go one-on-one before now, which is surreal when you think about how long both guys have been with the company. Not only that, but they worked a pretty good match, especially by Superstars standards. Pitting two Superstars of similar big build rarely makes for a match that's anything of decency, but this was the rare exception. While it would have benefited from a few extra minutes, the bout had a nice pace and both guys had very nice showings with some solid back-and-forth exchanges throughout. It was also effective in helping Barrett build momentum toward his (possible) Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules. It was a cool little treat for Superstars, but the win is basically irrelevant because it didn't happen on Raw and Barrett is still known as the guy who never wins matches.


WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd def. Los Matadores (Non-title)

These two teams have produced quality contests in the past and they worked well again together here. It was the barn burner of a bout that it could have been considering the level of talent in the ring (stupid gimmicks aside for the Matadores), but it was a fun showcase for the tag champs before their title defense at Extreme Rules against The New Day. On a side note, was it really necessary for them to cheat to win? It's not exactly like Los Matadores at the toughest team to beat. It put heel heat on them, sure, but they'll be working as babyfaces on Sunday, so it was a weird decision to make.