By Graham "GSM" Matthews WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton Addressed the WWE Universe I have lost track of how many championship celebrations we have seen in the last few months involving Orton, and they all seem to go the same way. Orton's mic work was good, but seeing John Cena stand up for Daniel Bryan was encouraging. I don't understand why The Authority is granting Bryan a title shot when they were the ones who cost him the strap in the first place, but I guess Stephanie McMahon justified it by saying he was the Superstar of the Year and they want to give the fans what they want. All in all, a solid segment to kick off the show. Big Show and Rey Mysterio def. WWE Tag Team Cody Rhodes and Goldust (Non-title) These two teams weren't able to create the same magic they did at TLC, but they still had a good tag match with the babyface vs. babyface dynamic working to their advantage. The crowd was into the action and the match was given a substantial amount of time. I am afraid that Show and Mysterio will be the tandem to take the titles off the Rhodes brothers, and I dislike that move for two reasons. Firstly, it is too early to end the title reign of the Rhodes brothers, who have been great champions thus far. Secondly, Show and Mysterio don't have much chemistry as a team and feel randomly paired together.
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews Fandango def. Dolph Ziggler (Kickoff Match) Both Ziggler and Fandango are very good workers, so I was a bit disappointed by this match. They weren't given much time and the match seemingly jumped from first gear to fourth gear almost instantly. The finish came out of nowhere and the live crowd was hardly receptive for it. The commentators mentioned how Fandango has had a new "edge" in recent weeks. Are they talking about his loss to Zack Ryder from a few weeks ago? Meanwhile, it is a shame is see Ziggler lose on the Kickoff one year removed from beating John Cena in the main event of the TLC pay-per-view. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Opened the Show These two have opened several pay-per-views in recent months, and I can't really fathom why. They hyped the unification match for later in the night, but we have heard it all before and they didn't reveal any new information. I honestly don't see why it is necessary to open every event with a promo from HHH and Stephanie. It makes the pay-per-views feel like an episode of Raw, and that isn't a good thing. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Magnus (Team UK) def. Mr. Anderson (Team Aces and Eights) For those wondering why Aces and Eights were competing in this tournament, this show was taped back in March. You know, when the group was still relevant. That being said, it was odd to see Anderson represent the faction he ended a month ago, but putting that aside this was a good match. The fans were into all of the action, but Magnus was over here and received a nice reaction upon winning. A solid start to the event. Kenny King (Team USA) def. Sonjay Dutt (Team International) These two worked a very fun, fast paced X-Division matchup, despite the fact there were several botches throughout the bout. It was good to see King in action since he has been off TNA television for so long (then again this was taped back in March when he was still X-Division Champion). As the commentators stated, Dutt is the best X-Division competitor to have never held that title, but I would that he wins it at some point in his career. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Daniel Bryan def. Erik Rowan by Disqualification Bryan and Rowan worked a good match while it lasted, but it was cut short before it could reach the next gear. Rowan continues to improve in the ring and once again held his own against Bryan in the brief bout. I was fine with the non-finish if only because Rowan shouldn't have taken another pinfall loss to Bryan. Bryan delivering a knee to Bray Wyatt on the outside was a very cool sight and was smart booking, as it gives Bryan momentum going into Sunday assuming he loses the Handicap match. The Real Americans def. WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust (Non-title) As expected, these two teams had another solid match that featured plenty of entertaining action. The Rhodes brothers have been on fire the last month and The Real Americans have been great as well. Normally I am down on the idea of champions constantly losing non-title matches, but this was an exception seeing how it earned The Real Americans a shot at the tag titles at TLC. |
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