WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us

Columnist Corner

TNA One Night Only - Joker's Wild 3 Review

3/19/2015

Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The BroMans def. Mr. Anderson and Al Snow

Kicking off the show by pairing The BroMans back up when the tag partners are supposed to be "randomly" didn't exactly enforce the concept of this show too well. Worse yet, I have no desire to see Snow wrestling in 2015. He had has a fun gimmick and all that the people were kind of into, but it wasn't over enough to justify Snow being out there. Most of the match, as expected, was total comedy, but not the funny kind. If this was going to happen at all, it should have taken place later on in the show to serve as filler, not in the opener. Truth to be told, I would have rather seen Anderson and Snow advance to avoid having to endure seeing The BroMans in action twice in one night.


Rockstar Spud and Awesome Kong def. DJ Z and Sam Shaw

One may argue that the involvement of a Knockout would make unbelievable that her team would win, but I actually didn't mind it. If they're going to play up the theme that anyone is eligible for the drawing, people like Kong are the perfect candidates, not people like Snow. Besides, she's a monster of a woman, so DJ Z and Shaw were up against the odds here more than Spud and Kong. I could have done without them kissing afterward since both are better when they're serious, but it wasn't the worst. On a side note, this was the first time I've seen Spud bald since getting his head shaved last week and he doesn't look half-bad.

The Wolves def. Bobby Roode and Austin Aries

Are you kidding me? Another established team that just so happened to be put together? What's the point of the Joker's Wild aspect of it if you're going do this twice much else once? That aside, this was a great match. The live crowd wasn't red hot for it, but they were dead for most of the night anyway, so the blame shouldn't be put on the competitors. They put forth a strong effort and it was cool to see Roode and Aries reunite as they always had great chemistry together. It was also nice to see The Wolves pick up the win with the two former world champs putting the tandem over in a big way.


Ethan Carter III and Crazy Steve def. Tyrus and Knux

As much as I railed on The BroMans and The Wolves being paired together, it added to the speculation that EC3 and Tyrus would team up only for them to end up as opponents instead. I still loathe the Crazy Steve gimmick with a passion, but he was the perfect partner for EC3 because they're polar opposites. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. Steve breaking up EC3's pinfall attempt on Tyrus didn't make any sense, and if that wasn't stupid enough, Tyrus refused to lose to Steve even though he was EC3's corner. By the way, how sad is it that three of the four of these guys could have been something in WWE years ago only to be wasted and released?


Eric Young and Bram def. Magnus and Tommy Dreamer

This was probably the most logical match up to this point. It wasn't a tag team being "coincidentally" reunited, but the combatants involved all have history and that made the match more meaningful. Although I'm a Dreamer fan, I'd be hypocritical if I said I was fine with him taking part in the tournament but I wasn't with Al Snow, especially considering Dreamer is in worse shape. Dreamer going for the People's Elbow at one point was not only out of place, but it seemed like all of two people in the crowd cared. If nothing else, at least he took the pinfall loss for his team, protecting Magnus in defeat.


James Storm and Gunner def. Kenny King and Chris Melendez

Storm and Gunner being paired together was incredibly intriguing based on their history not only as rivals but as former tag team champions together as well. It's teams like that one that I was interested in seeing take part in this tournament. King and Melendez also had a mini feud going late last year before it was dropped out of nowhere, so there was that. It wasn't as much of a match as it was a way of building tension between Storm and Gunner which was well done with them being opponents in the Gauntlet Battle Royal. Melendez is still somewhat green in the ring, so it was wise to keep him limited up until the very end.


Sonjay Dutt and Gail Kim def. Tigre Uno and Manik

Both tandems were extremely random, but since that's the whole point of the Joker's Wild theme, it was felt refreshing. I've always enjoyed Dutt's work and it was cool to see him team up with a fellow great worker in Kim, making for a highly cohesive duo. Kim didn't feel out of place at all and definitely held her own against the male wrestlers. The four competitors worked a very well-wrestled match and I was glad to see the more recognizable team of Dutt and Kim advance.


Lashley and Khoya def. Abyss and Sanada

Again, I'm not a fan of regular tag teams being put together in this "randomized" tournament, but I didn't have as big of a problem with it since there are a handful of Revolution members and the odds of them getting put together a little higher. Furthermore, I liked the story told here that Lashley essentially had to work the entire match himself since his partner was a fellow Revolution member, and there's anyone to be put in that "against all odds" role, it's Lashley because of his sheer dominance. It was all going well until Khoya starting fighting back against his Revolution stablemates. I realize it's every man for himself when money is up for grabs, but they're supposed to be "brainwashed"; under no circumstance should they be going up against each other. Thankfully, Storm knocking some sense into Khoya saved it from being a total disaster, but it shouldn't have happened to begin with unless they were building to Khoya breaking away from the group in the near future which I doubt is the case.


Lashley Won a $100,000 Gauntlet Battle Royal

As always, the Gauntlet Battle Royal was ultimately uninspiring. Alliances were formed with the usual suspects, but other than that, there weren't many stories told. One aspect I did enjoy was how Ethan Carter III was trying to repeat his win from last year, so that made his presence in the match feel more important as a result. It also added to the final few minutes of the match when it came down to him, Eric Young and Lashley. I would've liked to see them go a little longer, but it was simple yet effective storytelling that made the conclusion of the contest worthwhile (through the rest of the bout was forgettable). Also, it was comical for them to say that $100,000 was on the line given the dire straits this company has been in financially in recent years.


Overall Show

I'll start off by highlighting the positives: the commentary provided by Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews was a significant upgrade over the usual duo of Mike Tenay and Taz who failed to take the show seriously. There were a few solid matchups on this show, but ultimately none of them (other than maybe the Wolves vs. Roode and Aries bout) were worth going out of your way to see. Unless you're a huge fanatic of tag team wrestling, there is no real need for you to purchase this pay-per-view as your money is better spent elsewhere.
Comments

    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2021 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us