Top 10 wrestling matches in Backlash history

Before I publish my WWE Backlash 2007 review, I would like to take a look back at some of the best matches in Backlash history. And Backlash had a lot of them so it was hard to choose, but here is my list.




Honorable Mention: Dean Malenko vs. Scotty 2 Hotty (2000)
Scotty 2 Hotty? In a good match?!?! Yes folks, believe it. This was a match for the Light Heavyweight Championship held by Dean Malenko and believe it or not, at the time, Scotty was a credible (and popular) contender. This match featured Dean targeting Scotty's leg and working it over to perfection. To Scotty's credit, he fought back valiantly and it seemed that he might actually dethrone The Ladies Man, Dean Malenko (remember that gimmick? WTF?). Scotty was able to hit the Worm, but Dean-O was able to shake that off and hit a Tigerbomb which Scotty was surprisingly able to kick out of. Scotty then stopped Dean when he tried to go upstairs and attempted a superplex, but Dean reversed that in mid-air and PLANTED Scotty with a DDT. And when I say planted, I mean PLANTED, it looked like Scotty was dead. Great match with a great finish and a testimony to the awesomeness that is James Bon….I mean, Dean Malenko.

Honorable Mention: Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Jericho (2005)
This was technically a battle over the Intercontinental title, but this was really a matter of respect as Y2J wanted to prove to Shelton that he was the better man and even went so far as to make a song suggesting that Shelton Benjamin was a little bitch. I wonder why that song never cracked the Billboard 100? Anyhow, this match was pure excellence as both men showcased their technical brilliance and this was the first match where Shelton busted out the leaping-to-the-top-rope-superplex. I remember jumping out of my seat and screaming like a man bitch when I saw that. Unbelievable stuff. They continued trading some nice counter moves and getting numerous near falls until the final sequence where Shelton countered a Walls of Jericho attempt into a rollup, and Jericho countered that, and then Benjamin countered that into a jackknife rollup for the 3 count. This was a fantastic opening match and shows just how truly talented Benjamin is, which makes it all the more frustrating to see where his spot on the roster currently is.

10) Triple H vs. The Rock (2000)
This match featured Shane McMahon as the special guest referee and he seemed to be out to screw The Rock out of his chance of regaining the WWE Title. On top of Shane as ref, Rock also had to deal with both Stephanie and Vince McMahon being in HHH's corner. The match featured Rock fighting his best against the odds which included Shane fast counting and Vince & Stephanie creating distraction from the outside. This match also features one of the coolest spots ever as The Rock gave the Rock Bottom to both Shane and HHH simultaneously when Shane tried to stop Rocky from giving HHH a Rock Bottom through the announce table. The odds seemed to be too much for Rock after Vince clocked him in the head with a steel chair, but then the glass broke and Stone Cold Steve Austin came out and proceeded to beat the hell out of everybody in his way with a steel chair. Rock was able to use that to his advantage and give a spinebuster and then a People's Elbow to HHH to pick up the three count and his fourth WWE Championship. Great match with an insanely hot ending.

9) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock (1999)
This was a rematch to the main event of WM15, but this time Shane McMahon was assigned as a ref to try to screw Austin from retaining his title. This was a No-DQ match, so these two men brawled all around ringside. The Rock was able to gain the advantage after delivering a Rock Bottom through the announce table and it seemed like it was only a matter of time until the belt was back around the waist of The Great One. In a cool little moment from this match, Rock assumed the role of cameraman while Austin was out and he flipped off Austin and talked a bunch of smack while he filmed the crowd. Then suddenly when he turned back, Austin was back up and gave him the double bird before giving him a stunner. It was cool because you saw Rock getting the stunner from his point of view so it was like the viewer at home was receiving the stunner. Cool stuff. The finish started when Shane accidentally hit The Rock with a belt, but refused to count for Austin when he covered Rocky. This brought out Vince (who was in the midst of one of his yearly one month face turns) who clocked Shane with the title belt and sent in Earl Hebner to ref the rest of the match. Soon Austin was able to hit a Stunner and hit Rocky with a belt shot to retain his title. A fun match with some entertaining brawling makes this a must-see match.

8) Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho (2000)
This was a battle for the Intercontinental Championship as both men were trying to make a name for themselves early in their WWE careers. The match started off with an intense lockup and the intensity didn't cease as the rest of the match saw the two young Canadians wail on each other with some stiff shots. Some memorable spots in the match included Benoit dropkicking steel steps in Jericho's knee, Benoit suplexing Jericho over the rope and to the floor, and Benoit crashing on the floor after missing a suicide dive. The two men beat the hell out of each other until Benoit had enough and got the IC Title belt and cracked Jericho over the head with it. Jericho kicked out of that so Benoit suplexed Jericho on it and went up top to deliver a headbutt, but Y2J moved out the way which made Benoit smack his head on the IC Title. The ref happened to see that and called a DQ on Jericho, believing he was the one who had brought the title belt into the ring. Jericho snapped at that point and put the ref into the Walls Of Jericho to get some retribution for a horrible decision. Even though it had a screwy ending, this match was fantastic but when it comes to Jericho/Benoit, a great match is practically mandatory.

7) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam (2002)
This was Eddie's return to Pay-Per-View after his much documented battle with various addictions and he showed the world that he hadn't lost a step in this fantastic match. This feud started when Eddie made his surprising return by attacking RVD the night after RVD had won the IC Title at WM18 and soon challenged him for his newly won title. RVD started off the match strongly with a lot of vicious kicks which took Eddie off of his game. Eddie was able to gain control after delivering a Dragon Screw and looked to dissect RVD from that point on. RVD would make some valiant comebacks and get a few near falls, but the match was mainly dominated by Eddie who busted out the moveset including a SWEET rolling powerbomb off the top rope. The match ended when Eddie delivered a neckbreaker to RVD on top of the IC belt when the ref was down and then delivered a frog splash for the pin. CHEAT 2 WIN!!! A great re-debut for Eddie and it would only be a couple of years before he reached the pinnacle of the wrestling world as WWE Champion.

6) Edge vs. Chris Benoit (2005)
This was a Last Man Standing match as these two men had butted heads so many times over the previous months that this was the only way to resolve it. This match featured some insane spots like Benoit getting THWACKED in the head with a garbage can lid with attempting a suicide dive, Benoit getting superplexed onto a trashcan, and Benoit giving Edge a German Suplex from a ladder to the mat below. Edge tried numerous times to make Benoit stay down after delivering a Spear, but Benoit kept getting up. Edge eventually lost his cool and clobbered Benoit with a brick that he had hidden inside his Money In The Bank briefcase. That was enough to keep Benoit down for the ten count and it showed just how tough he was that Edge needed a BRICK to keep him down for 10. This was just a compelling and fun match that is definitely one of the best Last Man Standing matches I've ever seen.

5) Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (2001)
This was a rematch of their classic WM17 match, but this match wasn't fought under regular rules. It was a 30-minute ultimate submission match to determine which man truly was the better technical wrestler. They started off the match with some nice amateur stuff and Benoit seemed to have the early advantage after applying a Crippler Crossface on the floor and hurting Kurt's shoulder. Angle was able to quickly counter Benoit into a legbar once back inside the ring and that made Benoit tap around the 7 minute mark. Benoit was able to tie things up just a little over a minute later when he worked over Kurt's shoulder by applying an armbar which was enough to make Angle tap out. Benoit was relentless in attacking Kurt's shoulder at that point, but Kurt used his 3 I's to grab a steel chair and whack Benoit with it and then slap on an Anklelock for a submission to go up one on Benoit. Benoit was still out from the chairshot, so Kurt put Benoit in a Crossface for another submission to go up two points on Benoit. Angle didn't settle for that lead and tried furiously to get Benoit to tap again, but Benoit was able to counter Angle and set up a Sharpshooter, but Angle made it to the rope. So Benoit decided to up the violence by applying a Half Crab and putting his knee on Kurt's head to ensure Angle had no choice but to tap out. Benoit was only down 1 now with about 10 minutes left, so Kurt tried to buy as much time as possible to avoid getting the match tied up. That worked for about 10 minutes, until Benoit countered the Anklelock into one of his own and got Angle to tap out with 2 minutes left on the clock. Those two minutes featured both men trying their damndest to make the other tap out and Kurt finally hooked in the Anklelock as time was expiring, but Benoit didn't tap until after time had already expired. So it was decided that the match would go into sudden death and it was only 2 minutes into the overtime where Benoit locked in the Crossface to make Angle tap out and win the match. This is a great showcase of submission wrestling and anybody who likes seeing tapouts should definitely check out this one.

4) John Cena vs. Edge vs. Triple H (2006)
I've watched this match a couple more times since initially seeing it and it's one of those matches that get better with repeated viewing. Going into this match, many people expected a solid outing from these three, but they far surpassed that and gave us a fantastic match. The odds seemed to be against Cena again and many people thought there was no way that he was leaving champ, but once again he was able to pull it off with a counter rollup to the Pedigree. All three men took tons of punishment, especially The Game who bled gallons of blood. A fun match to watch that was wall to wall action from bell to bell.

3) Edge vs. Kurt Angle (2002)
This match came about after Edge beat Angle on an episode of Smackdown and began mocking him, which pissed off Angle and made him hot for revenge. Edge started off the match hot on offense and beat Kurt to the punch on everything. That all changed when Kurt hit a sweet German suplex and followed up with a suplex buffet to Edge. From there on, it was a back and forth match which both men constantly countering the others attempt at a finishing move. The final portions of the match were fast-paced and exciting as Angle countered an Edge-o-matic into an Angle Slam for a two count and then hooked in the Anklelock which Edge rolled into for a two count, and then Angle went for a steel chair but missed hitting Edge with it and instead bounced it off the ropes and into his own head which enabled Edge to hit an Edge-o-matic for a two count. The ending came when Edge went for a spear, but Angle kneed him in the face and then hit the Angle Slam for the three count. I love that finishing sequence, it's one of my favorites. These two always had great chemistry together and that statement was proven in this exemplary match.

2) Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley (2004)
This is a personal favorite of mine as I loved this feud and I felt that this was the perfect culmination for it. This match made Randy Orton a star and proved that Mick Foley is willing to put people over for the good of the business. After months of taunting and abusing Mick and even squeaking by with a win in a tag match at WM20, Randy now had to face off against Mick one-on-one. But this wasn't just any kind of match and Randy wasn't facing the lovable, friendly Foley. It was a hardcore match and Randy was now facing Cactus Jack! The match was a brutal affair that Randy was surprisingly able to hold his own in. Cactus started off the match by trying to maim Orton with a baseball bat covered in barbed wire, which Orton frantically used a garbage can to block. After a cameraman got knocked over, Orton used the distraction to drop toe hold Cactus and take temporary control of the match. Cactus was able to regain control match soon enough and busted Orton wide open with a shot to the head with the barbwire covered baseball bat. Cactus went so far as to try to try to light his barbwire bat on fire until Eric Bischoff came out and threatened to shut down the whole PPV if Cactus did that. Cactus then decided to up the violence by bringing out a board covered in barbwire, but Orton threw the Evil Baby Powder Of Cheatery to gain the advantage and slam Cactus onto the barbwire board. Ouchies! Orton then set the barbwire board up in the corner and whipped Cactus face first into it. Double Ouchies! Orton then tried to prove his hardcoreness by pulling out some thumbtacks and went to RKO Cactus onto the tacks, but Cactus countered by throwing Orton back first onto the tacks! That was the first time I ever saw somebody go into a pile of tacks with no shirt on and the sight of seeing hundreds of tacks stuck all around the body of Randy Orton was completely unbelievable. Say what you will about Orton, but that was a MAN-SIZED bump. With some extra nuts on the side. The men then brawled up the ramp and Cactus proceeded to hurl Orton off of the stage and threw some table below and followed up with a Cactus elbow from the top of the ramp. That sequence is even more impressive considering that Orton still had a ton of tacks stuck inside of him so you know it must of hurt like a bitch to land on them when he got thrown off the stage. Orton showed a whole ton of guts by kicking out of that elbow and after a couple more minutes of brawling, the match ended when Randy hit an RKO on Cactus on the barbwire bat. This was a bloody, intriguing epic that is just as fun to watch today as it was during its original showing.

1) Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (2004)
This match was a rematch to (in my opinion) the greatest Wrestlemania main event of all time, but this time Chris Benoit walked in as the Champion and the match was being held in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. These three men had some big shoes to fill as their WM match was an all-time classic and even though they weren't able to surpass that effort in this match, this match was still one of the greatest triple threat matches I've ever seen. There was a lot of heat on Shawn Michaels from the very beginning because those Canucks were booing the hell out of him since he was opposing one of their sons and we all know what happened in Montreal. To try and recap this match would take forever since it was nearly 30 minutes of pure action, but some of the high points of it included Shawn Michaels hooking in the Sharpshooter on Benoit when Earl "You Screwed Bret" Hebner ran down to ask Benoit if he wanted to give up since the original ref was knocked out. It was a moment that drew unbelievable heat from the fans in attendance because they feared that Vince would screw with them again and have Hebner ring the bell in favor for Michaels. Earl teased calling for the bell a couple times, but Benoit was able to fight out of the Sharpshooter and the match continued. The rest of the match was classic as Benoit fought off the best offense of both challengers and was able to slap on the Sharpshooter on HBK and Michaels tapped out, much to the delight of the Canadian fans. It was a measure of retribution for what happened in Montreal as the Canadian fans got to see one of their greatest homegrown talents take out Michaels. Classic stuff that should be viewed by anybody who's a fan of the WM20 Triple Threat Match (and really, who isn't?).

Okay, here it is, I hope you've enjoyed this year's Backlash, I'll watch it somewhere around Wednesday, so you can expect my review at the end of this week.

Thank you and see you!

Countdown to Backlash

Look at Backlash PPV

And here it is, after some time off, Mysterious A is going to write about the happenings on WWE television over the past two weeks. And I now it's slow comparing to the other sites, but I am just here to give my opinion.

Let's start with the show I have to write about the least - ECW.

As all the wrestling fans know, the main storyline in ECW (and probably the only storyline) is the New Breed vs Originals feud. And this feud received another dimension when the biggest fan favorite in ECW - CM Punk decided to join the heel New Breed faction. I didn't think of it as the greatest decision by the WWE creative team becuase in my opinion CM Punk should have a role of a 'lone wolf' in ECW - he should work there on his own.
But maybe that is just the thing that the creative team is thinking as well because it could turn out that Punk is there just to screw over New Breed. I started to suspect this on the 17th April show Punk 'accidentally' slid the chair right into RVD's hands. Of course, RVD capitalized on this chance and struck Elijah Burke with it to gain victory in their encounter.

And my suspicions were correct when 7 days later Punk got tired of listening to Elijah Burke's orders and screwed the New Breed in their 8-man tag team elimination match against the ECW Originals. And it's great to see Punk take orders from nobody. This guy deserves a huge push.
Also on, ECW this past Tuesday, the ECW World champion Bobby Lashley took on RAW's Umaga in a non-title match which was nothing more than a warm up for the 3 on 1 handicap match for the ECW title at Backlash PPV tonight. BTW, Lashley won by DQ after Umaga's manager Armando Alejandro Estrada interfered. Anyway, I'll be cheering for the McMahons and Umaga to win against Lashley because Bobby is simply being overpushed.
Don't get me wrong, Lashley is a fine athlete but I think nobody should win in a 2 on 1 tables match against guys like Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy.
And on a quick note, I think that this was the first wrestling appearance by Lashley on ECW since I don't know when. Could it be that Vince McMahon has gave up from his ECW project? If he is, I think it would be for the better. Three brands are just too much and CM Punk deserves to do more than wrestling on WWE's C show.


And now let's take a look at what happened on last to RAW episodes. The 16th April show which took place in Milan, Italy was quite shocking in its opening moments. When Vince McMahon open challenge to anyone in the locker room to face Umaga for the Intercontinental title received no answer, he turned his attention to the fans and then a volunteer from the audience answered the challenge. Then Mr. McMahon changed the match into a No Holds Barred match trying to destroy the young fan who said his name was Santino Marella. But in the end, the only thing destroyed was McMahon's ego when the ECW champion Bobby Lashley ran down the ramp and hit Umaga with the chair 3 times and then he put Santino's body over Umaga, The ref made the 3 count and Santino Marella became the new Intercontinental champion.




Now, for those of you who wonder wo this guy is - he is really an Italian, who has been wrestling for some time now in WWE's developmental territory OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) in the gimmick of a Russian called Boris Alexiyev. But it's a great thing that the WWE decided to have him debut as what he is - an Italian.

And some people may think that this isn't very good. I think that time will show, but from what I can read, this guy gets a lot of praises for his wrestling abilities.
So 'YES' is the answer to the question - 'Is Santino Marella good enough for the IC title?'
But 'NO' is the answer to the question - 'Is WWE doing a good thing with him right now?'
And I say 'NO' because WWE should've started to build Santino immediately as a good wrestler and deserving IC champion. But instead on the 23rd April show in London, England, Santino didn't make an appearance. Bad decision if you ask me. He could have easily defended his title against somebody like Nitro or Chris Masters - but instead they decided to waste 5 minutes of TV time for a useless squash match between Great Khali and Carlito. (Somebody might say that the match wasn't useless because it continued the 'boiling' feud between Carlito and Ric Flair. However, their match won't take place at Backlash so the Great Khali/Carlito match should've been postponed so that Santino could show his potential.
That's mistake #1 by WWE regarding this young Italian. I hope that I won't have to write about mistake #2.
Also on RAW on 16th of April the match between Melina and Mickie James for the Women's title at Backlash was announced. (Should be good - I always thought that this match should've happened at Wrestlemania 23). Lance Cade defeated the WWE World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy, and John Cena defeated Edge and Randy Orton in a handicap match with a little help from Shawn Michaels and his Sweet Chin Music. Whether he was aiming for Cena or not is left unclear.
But the RAW show form April 23rd definitely is a candidate for the show of the year in my view. And the answer lies in the main event match between Shawn Michaels and John Cena. A great bout that lasted almost an hour in which Cena proved to everyone that he has what it takes to be the champion. And HBK as usually proved why he is one of the best wrestlers in the history.
Cena hit an FU on Shawn Michaels but only got a 2 count. Shawn Michaels hit a Sweet Chin Music on Cena but it wasn't enough. Then Cena took control of the match trying to force Michaels to submit, but over and over, he managed to get to the ropes. In the end, HBK hit his second Sweet Chin Music of the night and gained a victory over Cena.
If I said that this is the show of the year candidate, then this is definitely a match of the year candidate. I would say that it was even better then their Wrestlemania 23 match. And this just makes me more interested in Backlash. Other than that, on this RAW Melina Perez defeated Maria in a non-title match, and Trevor Murdoch defeated the WWE Tag Team champion Matt Hardy. It should be mentioned however, that Murdoch botched the finish when he messed up the move that looked similar to Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer. Matt Hardy was taken out of the ring by EMTs but there wasn't any serious injury.
And for those wondering how come Edge and Orton didn't have their announced match on RAW, it's because Randy was taken off European tour for unproffesional conduct a few days before RAW aired. I just hope that he won't be removed from the main event at Backlash.

And on Smackdown!, except for Finlay and Mr. Kennedy joining forces and trying to take out Batista and The Undertaker, as well as London/Kendrick losing their titles after holding onto them for almost a year (4th longest tag team title reign in history) to the team of Deuce and Domino, not much has happened. MVP and Benoit continued their feud over the US title and they will meet again at Backlash. (I expect MVP to win).
So here it is, Backlash is set to start and 6 matches are announced - all six title matches. It should be a good PPV and I would order it just for the RAW and SD! main events. Here is the full card:

Four Way For The WWE Championship:
John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Edge



Last Man Standing For The World Championship:
Undertaker vs. Batista




3-on-1 Handicap Match For The ECW Title:
Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga, Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon



World Tag Team Title Match:
The Hardyz vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch



WWE United States Champion:
Chris Benoit vs. MVP



WWE Women's Title:
Melina vs. Mickie James



And here it is, I'm done for today. The card looks promising but I'm saddened to see that there is no Mr. Kennedy, Finlay, CM Punk and Elijah Burke on the card. These guys are the future (OK, Finlay is 48, but he is just like fine wine - he gets better with age).
I hope you'll enjoy Backlash!

Thank you and see you.

About wrestling

After seeing all these other sites about the beautiful sport of professional wrestling, Mysterious A has decided to make a site and share his opinions about it.
Even though I started to watch wrestling in the late 2003, I guess I hold some qualifications because my collection of wrestling videos is getting bigger and bigger with every passing week. And maybe this isn't the best reason to call my self the expert but in almost every case passion for something surpasses the knowledge and this applies to wrestling also, in my opinion.


This site will be used by yours truly- Mysterious A to talk about current happenings in the WWE and TNA and big backstage news. And from time to time I will look back at the past with such topics as 'This Day in Wrestling History' or simply look back at some older shows in professional wrestling history.



So after this short introduction let me just say that I am a frequent watcher of WWE and TNA wrestling (started to watch TNA in September 0f 2006), and whenever I can I watch other smaller promotions such as ROH, AJPW etc.

So now my first post will be about the latest TNA PPV - Lockdown where all the matches were contested inside a steel cage. The show took place in St. Louis, MO and I must say that it was really good.





What is probably the most important thing on the show to keep the fans pumped is the opening match and let me just say that it was one hell of a match - an X-Division Championship Xscape match - Chris Sabin (c) vs Jay Lethal vs Alex Shelley vs Sonjay Dutt vs Shark Boy. It was non stop action from the start to finish. And the way Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley worked together was incredible. Also Jay Lethal under his new gimmick of 'Black Machismo' has been the crowd favorite from the beginning of this match.



Some of the highlights of the match included Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin simultaneously jumping of the top rope and splashing Shark Boy (thus making him the first wrestler eliminated).Another extremely impressive double team spot by Shelley and Sabin on Lethal with Shelley flipping over Lethal, holding his head back and allowing Sabin to hit a dropkick to the face. Dutt hit a beautiful springboard moonsault on Shelley from the top rope, but didn't get a three count and soon after, he fell victim to Chris Sabin's finisher Cradle Shot and was the second man eliminated. Jay Lethal eliminated Alex Shelley with a Flying elbow, and now with only Sabin and Lethal left, the only way to win was to escape the cage. Sabin then kicked Lethal's leg into an opening in the cage so that Lethal lost time pulling his leg out and Sabin jumped down to get the win and retain the X Division Title.

I give this match- ***3/4


Match #2: Robert Roode vs Petey Williams

Although I am not the biggest Robert Roode fan, he showed that he had some skills and this storyline between Roode/Williams/Eric Young is decent. Robert Roode dominated the most of the match even though Eric Young tried to help his friend Petey Williams by handing him the hockey stick. But before Petey could inflict some damage, the referee Earl Hebner took it away from him, and Robert Roode used to opening to hit Petey Williams with his finisher bridge suplex called Payoff.

Quality match - ***

Match #3 : Gail Kim vs Jackie Moore

For the first time ever two women wrestled inside a steel cage. Really good match that surprised me. Gail Kim has given everything she's got in this match and she picked up the victory after jumping off the top of the cage and taking Jackie out with a huge splash!

Average brawl saved by incredible Gail Kim's leap from the top-**1/4

Match #4: Senshi vs Austin Starr (sp. ref. Bob Backlund)

A good match, and I loved Backlund's reactions during the course of this match. Right before the end Austin Starr has hit a beautiful 450 splash but Senshi miraculously kicked out. Starr thought that Backlund made a slow count so while he was arguing with him, Senshi came back to his senses and rolled up Starr to get the victory.
After the match Starr was furious.

Decent match, but a bit of a step back from their previous encounter at Destination X PPV- **3/4


Match #5: Chris Harris vs James Storm (blindfold match)

What a bad match and what a huge contrast to the previous matches. No action at all. And it's not the wrestlers' fault. Who ever decided to put these two into a blindfold match must have been out of his mind. For those who don't know Harris/Storm were a part of America's Most Wanted - the most decorated tag team in TNA history. And they broke up in December after Storm hit Harris in the eye with a beer bottle. And since that day I was saying to myself (not many wrestling fans where I live) that this feud need to be big. And what do the writers do - they put them in a comedy match - because that's what a blindfold match is. Of course the crowd was sick of it, too. Loud chants of 'Boring', 'We want action' and 'Fire Russo' chants erupted. I couldn't agree more with the incredible St. Louis crowd.

This match gets a negative **** from me.


Match #6: Jerry Lynn vs Christopher Daniels

After what happened previously this match looked like the match of the year candidate. In reality it's wasn't that great, but it certainly wasn't bad. It got really exciting at the end with a series of near falls, and especially when Daniels tried to (unsuccessfully) hit his Wings of Angle finisher, as well as Lynn trying to (also unsuccessfully) hit his Cradle Piledriver - both from the top rope. In the end Daniels hits the Last Rites and pins Lynn.

Decent match- ***


Match #7 : LAX (c) vs Team 3D for the Tag Team championship in an Electric Cage match.





This match was really hardcore. When Konnan on the outside tried to help Homicide and Hernandez Hector Guerrero came down to the ring leaving his Spanish announce table and stopped Konnan's intentions instead helping out Team 3D by handing the table to Brother Ray. Homicide and Hernandez started to take control soon after and they put Team 3D on the table and Hernandez climbed on top of the cage and tried to splash Team3D but they moved away, so Hernandez crashed through the table himself. Team 3D takes control. They ram Homicide into the cage and he gets electricuted. They set him up for their 3D finisher but the move gets botched, so they re-do it - this time sending Homicide into the ropes and hit the 3D to pick up the win. Team 3D are the new tag team champions!!!

Match rating: **1/2 - too slow for this type of a match and a lot of botched moves


Match #8: Team Cage (Christian Cage, AJ Styles, Scott Steiner, Tomko, Abyss) vs Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Sting, Samoa Joe, Rhino, Jeff Jarrett)





This match is similar to the War Games match in the good ol' WCW. Except when all team mebers enter the cage, the roof is lowered so that it looks more like a Hell in a Cell match. A lot of good moments in this match such as the big Tower of Doom spot involving Rhino, Tomko, Styles, Sting and Abyss. In case some of you don't know what that means let's just say that the wrestlers climbed on top of eachother and then they fell down like a chopped tree.
The other good moment happened when AJ Styles and Kurt Angle climbed on top of the cage and Angle threw Styles off the top. Styles fell on the wrestlers who were battling on the outside.
It was also great to see Scott Steiner perform his Frankensteiner move - I haven't seen it in years.
In the end Jeff Jarrett whacked Abyss with his guitar filled with Thumbthacks and he let Sting cover him to become the new #1 contender for Christian Cage's contract at next TNA PPV Sacrifice.

Match rating - ****1/4

A 30 minute match that really kept me interested from the start. A great choice to start the match with AJ Styles and Kurt Angle. Styles plays a brilliant heel role - the only better heel then him is the TNA World champion himself - Christian Cage. It was great to see Jarrett in the face role and shaking hands with Joe, Sting and Rhino in the end. Angle seemed very mad - probably for not taking the winning pin. I presume Angle will turn heel now.

In conclusion - it was a good PPV and it made me interested to see what's gonna happen next. I loved the crowd in St. Louis, MO - they were great from start to finish and made this show even better.

In my next post I will talk about the latest happennings on WWE RAW, ECW, Smackdown! and TNA iMPACT!

Thank you and see you!