The Undercard
Mickie James and Velvet Sky defeated Tara and Gail Kim in Knockouts Tag Team action. The pacing of the match benefitted James. It was much more of a technical and safe match to work. I like how they are building up separate Knockouts with their own personality. Not all of them are clean faces, while some are more controversial. I enjoy the idea of tag team for Knockouts, but it seems like they are forgetting that their champion needs an opponent to focus on, not three.
Grade: C
Magnus defeated DOC in a match that surprised me. Magnus, whom I never have been a huge fan of, really showed me something tonight. DOC is a very large and powerful opponent, but Magnus held his own and looked just as strong. His biggest problem is that Magnus does not have one characteristic that stands out. When he finds it, watch out. D'Lo messes up and accidentally grabs DOC's foot, which allows Magnus to roll him up for the win. The finish was dirty and just simplistic. I was not a fan of how they book weaker members of Aces and Eights. One week they are dominant and the next are a joke.
Grade: C+
Austin Aries/Bobby Roode vs. Bad Influence vs. Chavo and Hernandez ends in a No Contest. The wild card of the match was James Storm. He was the special referee and was trying to be bribed into joining Daniels and Kazarian. First off, the action was fantastic. I loved Aries in this match for the sole purpose that he was able to quicken and slow down the pace at the snap of a finger. Bad Influence are a really solid unit as well, using teaming suplexes and old school fashioned team work. This brings back memories of a time when tag team wrestling mattered. Storm does not count the pinfalls because everyone is trying to cheat. He ends up hitting Last Call on Daniels and Aries. That ends the match.
-What is the reasoning behind Storm in a tag team division feud when he has no partner? Is this the beginning of the Beer Money reunion? I do not know if I will go that far, but he deserves to be in a feud where he can thrive and evolve. He is stuck working with people who are already embedded into a feud. This is not benefitting a great superstar in Storm.
Grade: B
