IMPACT Cross Roads Review

A big week for IMPACT this week as they presented a special edition of their TV show entitled Cross Roads. This show was main evented by a first-time ever match for the IMPACT World Champion as Austin Aries put his strap on the line against Johnny Impact. But how did it all go down in Orlando? Lets take a look.

IMPACT World Championship // Johnny Impact vs. Austin Aries (C) 

Before the match - Austin Aries pulled his suitcase up to the building - Johnny Impact did the same thing but for some reason was surrounded by four men carrying American flags, which was weird - Austin Aries showed off his various title belts, before saying Johnny Impact would have to get nasty to take the IMPACT World Championship from him - Johnny Impact took the piss out of Austin Aries for calling himself the Greatest Man That Ever Lived and carrying around four titles, claiming that the Champion was insecure.

Another successful title defence for Austin Aries and another high quality main event from the Greatest Man That Ever Lived, this time with Johnny Impact as the challenger. This match featured some brilliant action, as the two seemed to click early on with a could of back and forth sequences, quickly trading holds and strikes as each man came off on the better end of one string of action and then began to build from there. With two babyfaces involved, the match played with the idea that the two had very similar styles, with Impact perhaps having the speed advantage, whilst Aries controlled portions because of his more vicious streak when compared to the former WWE Intercontinental Champion. With the crowd split, the match included a number of impressive spots, such as Impact getting tripped on springboard attempt before bumping on the top turnbuckle and tumbling to the floor and a Death valley driver on the apron but the highlight was a beautiful sequence that concluded with a middle rope Spanish fly from Impact. Whilst the wrestling was always super crisp, I felt like the match could've done with a little extra drama, with Impact only really coming close with roll-ups, whilst Aries winning with his corner dropkick and brainbuster sequence made the win feel a little more straight-forward than I would've liked. I'd be more than happy to see these two back in their again sometime soon as I feel that this match only scratched the surface of what the creative duo could do together.

After the match - Alberto El Patron applauded both men from the apron and then weirdly undid his shirt to close the show.

IMPACT X Division Championship/IMPACT Grand Championship // 

Taiji Ishimori (XDC) vs. Matt Sydal (GC) 

Before the match - Whilst meditating on a production box, Matt Sydal said some things 
about his match and third eyes and stuff 

Matt Sydal retained the IMPACT Grand Champion and also became IMPACT X Division Champion, using a Shooting Star Press to pin Taiji Ishimori in a solid X-Division style tussle. This featured some lovely action at points, but also didn't quite hit the highs that I would've liked to have seen it hit. The finish in particular was really well done with a series of fast-paced aerial reversals and signature attempts, that concluded with Sydal getting his knees up on a 450 splash before answering with a Shooting Star Press to get the win, whilst Ishimori's offence on the outside with the Golden Moonsault and no-hand rana on the ramp always impressing. However, in the earlier part of the match, Sydal looked half-step off the pace and this hurt the opening as it lacked the speed that it needed to truly excite. There was also a lot of time spent with Sydal working over Ishimori's leg, that ended up coming to absolute nothing, as whilst the NOAH star sold well, the injury wasn't made use of in the matches narrative at all, making that lengthy sequence relatively obsolete. Overall, this featured some enjoyable high-flying action, but could have been a lot more with a bit of attention to detail.

IMPACT Knockout's Championship // 

Allie vs. Laurel Van Ness (C)

Before the match - Allie said she was ready to take on Laurel Van Ness, saying she'd dedicate the match to Gail Kim. 

In a scrappy match, Allie began her second run as Knockout's Champion, with a victory over Laurel Van Ness. This wasn't a classic match by any stretch of the imagination, with a good deal of moves either looking awkward or downright sloppy, but there was also a strong sense of the pairs dislike for each other and a solid structure, alongside a couple of big spots on the floor. The strongest action of the bout came from a nice little sequence where Van Ness missed a diving double stomp to Allie's back, then rolled through, only to be caught with a lungblower for a near fall, whilst on the other side of the coin you had a weird looking bulldog thing from Van Ness. A near fall that saw Allie take an Unprettier on the floor, three curb stomps into the bottom turnbuckle and another curb stomp in the ropes felt like complete overkill and took me completely out of the bout. I understand that Van Ness is leaving the company, but building Allie in this way feels a little forced and the fact that she quickly recovered to hit the Allie Valley Driver and Best Superkick Ever for the win wasn't how I would've liked to have seen her second run as champion begin. 

After the match - Gail Kim told Allie was proud of her once the new IMPACT Knockout's Champion got backstage.

IMPACT World Tag Team Championship // 

Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley vs. Ortiz & Santana (C) (with Konnan)

LAX made their first defence during their second reign at IMPACT World Tag Team Champions in a good opening match with Cult of Lee duo Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley. There was a lot of fun action going on here, including a number of slick sequences involving Trevor Lee, whilst LAX continued to impress as babyfaces putting a great display of their tag team offence when called upon including a lionsault and leg drop combo and an assisted moonsault followed up by back to back tope conhilos. The team known elsewhere as EYFBO are an exciting duo to watch and it was on full display here and they ended up looking super impressive with this victory. I would have liked to have seen the match featured a few more near falls, with an extra five minutes to really take this to the next level, whilst I'm still not massively enamoured with Caleb Konley either and his hokey selling was one of the drawbacks of the contest. One things that's for sure is IMPACT need to bring some more teams into their division, because LAX need a good line of challengers to showcase themselves against having already gone over Cult of Lee and oVe. 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship // 

Monty Brown vs. Christian Cage (C) 

Taken from Destination X 2006, Christian Cage retained his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Monty Brown, putting the Alpha Male away with an Unprettier. I'm not sure why this match was chosen for re-air, because it was mostly dull action and there's three or four better matches on that show. It was a power vs. speed affair, joined in progress during a Brown beatdown, so maybe there was some more exciting stuff earlier in the match, but what was shown here was mostly Brown using strikes and awkward looking submissions. There's a couple of cool moves later in the bout, as Brown hits a lovely Alpha Bomb, amidst numerous Unprettier and Pounce attempts, before Cage wins clean with his finish. Brown was never known for his match quality, but if you're looking to watch some classic Cage in TNA, then I'd recommend his ladder match with Kaz from Genesis 2007, matches with Samoa Joe from Bound For Glory 2007 and Final Resolution 2008 and bout with Kurt Angle from Destination X 2007, as much better starting points than this. 

Jake Crist & Dave Crist (with Sami Callihan) vs. Bobby Lashley & Brian Cage 

Before the match - Lashley claimed he didn't care if he had to fight the whole state of Ohio, he was going to win his match tonight. 

What was promoted as a handicap match between Lashley & oVe, finished with Brian Cage getting the pin with the Drill Claw. As awesome a move as the vertical suplex piledriver is, there is no universe were having someone who wasn't in the match get the pin is a good move. If the match was advertised as a tag match and Lashley just didn't have a partner because of Eddie Edwards' injury last week, then I'm cool with it, but it wasn't. The rest of the match was nothing as well, mostly consisting of Lashley getting beaten down by Jake & Dave, whilst Sami Callihan would pop up every now and again with his baseball bat, as commentary continued to talk about the horrible incident from last week. Cage looked great when he came and lobbed oVe all over the shop and if it had just been Cage coming down for the save, I'd have been absolutely cool with anything that came after his entrance. It looks like they're setting up for a Cage vs. Lashley programme, but it seems weird to move so quickly past the rivalry with oVe after what happened to Edwards the week earlier. 

Also this week 

- It was announced that the Feast or Fired match will return next week.

ATPW Scale Rating // 4.88 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

Impact Wrestling Review // 15th February 2018

The new regime of Impact Wrestling continued to find its feet this week on their TV show. Austin Aries defended the Impact World Championship against Eli Drake in the main event and Tyrus returned to the company for his first match since August, tagging with old pal EC3 to take on Johnny Impact and Matt Sydal. But how did all go down in Orlando? Lets take a look.

Impact World Championship // "The Truth" Austin Aries (C) def. Eli Drake // Pinfall

Austin Aries picked up his first World Championship defence against the man he won the belt from two weeks ago, Eli Drake in a good main event, with a brainbuster. The match was pushed throughout the episode this week, with a few simple things making the match feel important for both men. Obviously, this included a hype package at the top of the show, with Aries taking part in a sit-down interview, that did well at getting over the storyline and why the viewer should stick around to see it at the end of the show. Both men would have promos later in the show, with Drake being interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell and claiming to still be the champion in an energetic segment, whilst Aries cut a to-camera promo, discussing winning championships all over the world and seemingly full of confidence ahead of the match. For me, this method of promoting was much better than having the two start the show trading promos in the ring and took up far less time. It covered all the ground it needed to, kept the show feeling punchy and allowed the rest of the show enough time to breath. 

The main event was another step in the right direction for the company, as the two put on a good slow-burner, with clearly defined roles and a thrilling intricate conclusion. Drake has grown into his role as main eventer at Impact, repaying the faith shown in him by the previous regime and whilst it took him some time to grow into the setting, he bought some solid intensity to proceedings later on, when in control of the match. I hope that he is rewarded by the new creative team for the hard work he has put in over the last six months. Whilst the majority of the match was passable and perhaps could've done with a few more moments of interest, it was the gear-change heading into the stretch that made this match. From Aries suicide dive that connected with Drake's second, Chris Adonis, onwards the match the wrestling was brilliant. The two traded a series of slick reversals and near falls, including Aries escaping a Gravy Train attempt into a Last Chancery, that was super crisp and felt like it could've been the finish. I'm looking forward to seeing where Aries' title run can take us, with a number of interesting options for challengers across the roster, including Johnny Impact, Matt Sydal and even perhaps someone like Sami Callihan.

EC3 & Tyrus def. Johnny Impact & Matt Sydal // Pinfall 

Tyrus is back! Yes, the man formerly known as Brodus Clay returned to our screens this week, being revealed as EC3's mystery partner in a victory over Johnny Impact and Matt Sydal, with EC3 getting the pin over Impact with his feet on the ropes. I'm going to be honest and say I'm not a fan of Tyrus as a wrestler, I saw him live a few years ago, in a dreadful match with Michael Elgin at PCW, however he was used well in this match. The story played out that EC3 was out matched by both Impact and Sydal in the ring, with the pairing often getting the upper-hand when Ohioan was in the ring, whilst Tyrus would be able to match their speed with his power. This was seen clearly in the finish when Tyrus caught a Sydal suicide dive and sent him into apron, before tripping Impact on a Flying Chuck attempt and allowing EC3 to get the pin. It would be a stretch to call this a "good" match, but it was inoffensive, had a solid story and built to what should be a top drawer match between Impact and EC3 on next week's episode with the Number One Contendership on the line.

"Walking Armageddon" Bobby Lashley def. Sami Callihan // Disqualification 

After oVe broke up the pin cover resulting from a massive spear from Lashley, Sami Callihan suffered a disqualification loss in his first singles match in Impact, this week, in what was a physical opening match. Whilst it was slightly confusing to have oVe bundle Lashley into the boot of a car on week and then have Lashley face Callihan the week after, that didn't really stop the match from being a heated, hard-hitting slugfest. The pair spent the majority of the match on the outside, so it was a shame that the camera work out there couldn't equal the quality of the scrap and I have to say that that ended up damaging the viewing experience on a number of those spots. The Crists on the outside allowed Callihan to control large portions of the contest, also giving Lashley some lads to lob into things when necessary, whilst Callihan's wild brawling style complemented Lashley's power game nicely. The guillotine out of the spear spot still doesn't work, but Callihan doing his signature run around the ring, only to be met with a thunderous spear from Lashley definitely did. Eddie Edwards came out to save last after the match, with it later being announced that Lashley & Edwards would tag up next week against the Crist Brothers.  

Impact X Division Championship // Taiji Ishimori (C) def. El Hijo Del Fantasma // Pinfall

Taiji Ishimori racked up his fourth X Division title defence this week with a victory over AAA star El Hijo Del Fantasma with a 450° splash, in a fun junior heavyweight jaunt. This was easy to watch, but didn't quite live up to my own high expectations. This is mostly down to how brief the contest was, because almost all of the action was very good, with lots of aerial offence and a back and forth style that suited the two competitors, alongside an appreciative Orlando audience. There just wasn't enough of it, it almost ended up feeling like a taster, probably not helped by its slot just before the main event, when it could have been more effective at the top of the hour with an extra five minutes at least. The stuff on the outside was particularly strong with lots of sweet dives, including Ishimori's Golden Moonsault and a great sequence that saw the champ miss a moonsault off the apron and then leg it up and back down the ramp hitting a running step up hurricanrana on the way. Like most of the show, the X-Division has really began to heat up lately, hopefully it's just given a little more time to breath, with the talent allowed to reach their full potential in the coming months.

Rosemary def. Hania the Huntress // Pinfall 

Just one Women's match this week as Rosemary defeated her rival Hania the Huntress at the first time of asking, with the classic high crossbody counter in a match that never really got going. Everything looked alright, but for a match between two rivals there was distinct lack of intensity and I got the feeling the pair went through the motions for most of the match, although this wasn't helped by the distracting commentary talking about every other storyline, expect for the one going on in front of them. This included for the finish, where neither Josh Mathews or Sonjay Dutt seemed to have noticed Huntress had gone to the top rope until Rosemary had her pinned. I've enjoyed the Mathews & Dutt partnership for the most part over the last two weeks, but they both let the competitors down here. After the match, Huntress attacking Rosemary, before both managed to escape finisher attempts on the steel steps, so it appears this feud isn't over just yet. For me, Huntress really could've done with the win here, seeing as she only had her first match on the main TV product last week, it seems daft to have her take the fall in only her second match.

Also This Week

- NOAH's "The Machine" Brian Cage def. John Cruz in a quick squash, winning with a delayed Steiner Screwdriver.

- The GWN Flashback of the week was Braxton Sutter and Laurel Van Ness's wedding from last year, in a segment that also included Allie, Sienna, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Mike Bennett, Rockstar Spud, Aaron Rex , Brooke Tessmacher and Robbie E. 

- LAX had a segment, but I'm not sure what was actually happening, but Konnan certainly said some things, before later on The Cult of Lee attempted to find LAX, attacking a pair of blocks dressed as The Mumbai Cats, who turned out to be neither Latin American or from Mumbai. 

- Jimmy Jacobs ordered Kongo Kong to destroy Joseph Park's office, which included smashing a photo of an elderly woman. 

- Allie's secret admirer was revealed as Impact Knockout's Champion Laurel Van Ness, but Allie hit her with a box of chocolates and threw her into a production box whilst shouting "Get back in the box.

- Alberto El Patron attacked Moose during an interview with McKenzie Mitchell, so it looks like those two are feuding now.

ATPW Scale Rating // 5.29 out of 10

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

Impact Wrestling Review // 8th February 2018

This week's Impact Wrestling was main event by a Four-Way bout to earn a shot at the Impact World Championship, as Johnny Impact, Alberto El Patron, EC3 and Moose collided in the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida, whilst following Austin Aries' World title victory over Eli Drake last week Impact aired a replay of Aries winning the TNA World Heavyweight title from Bobby Roode at Destination X 2012. But how did it all go down? Lets take a look! 

Impact World Championship #1 Contendership // Johnny Impact def. Alberto El Patron and EC3 and Moose // Pinfall

Johnny Impact earned himself another shot at the Impact World Championship, pinning EC3 after escaping the One Percenter and using a Bridging O'Connor roll to get the three count, at the conclusion of a sprawling Four way match also involving Alberto El Patron and Moose. This was an exciting and varied main event, featuring four of the companies top heavyweights, featuring some good storytelling, fun brawling in the crowd and an exciting stretch of action that saw all four guys working hard. The story of El Patron and EC3 teaming up and doing anything they could to get an upperhand, using the steels and ringpost to keep Impact and Moose down was the driving force throughout the first ten minutes or so, with the action spilling into the crowd and culminating with Moose appearing to suffer a knee injury after being rammed into a wall. The scrap in the audience also featured some fun spots involving a wheelie bin and Impact wailing away on El Patron with a pair of crutches. 

Of course, the second act of the match included Moose coming back into the match to even the odds for the good guys, aiding Impact in hitting a pair of powerbombs to El Patron & EC3. Moose sold spectacularly here, limping for the rest of the match and varying his offence because of the injury, whilst Josh Mathews and Sonjay Dutt on commentary did a good job of pointing out the differences in Moose's movements and attacks. It would be the knee that would eventually take Moose out of the match after the OMG missed a baseball slide and El Patron kicked the injured leg from underneath him, before nailing a superkick to his kneeling opponent. The finishing stretch was full of big moves and near falls, making the most of the bodies to keep the momentum swinging as Impact came close with a Moonlight Drive and Moose made the save for EC3, nailing a senton on El Patron to break up a Cross Armbreaker. This was a great way to close the show, whilst also setting up a potential showdown between Impact and Austin Aries, which has the potential to be a real barn-burner in the right setting.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship // Austin Aries def. Bobby Roode (C) // Pinfall [TNA Destination X 2012]

I'm usually not a fan of Impact airing old matches on their first-run programming, because it seems like a cheap way to fill time without the effort of having to advance stories and to be quite honest, the match choices can often be baffling. However, I'm not going to complain about the company pulling out one its best matches of the last decade, especially when it actually served a purpose. After Aries had won the Impact World Championship last week, this week we were treated to Aries winning the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Bobby Roode back at Destination X in 2012. Oh man, if you've never seen this match its well worth seeking out, because it features one of the most electric TNA audiences in history, desperate for the valiant babyface challenger to take the companies top prize for the over-bearing champion. The in-ring action matches the crowd's enthusiasm, with tonnes of twists and turns, near falls and dramatic devices to create a compelling main event and one of the best TNA title matches in history. Back in 2018, we saw Aries fielding a press conference which included the revelation that he isn't signed with Impact and will be continuing in his attempt to win championships all over the World. Aries defends the Impact World Championship against Eli Drake next week. 

Taiji Ishimori & Matt Sydal def. El Hijo del Fantasma & Rojit Raju // Pinfall

This week's X-Division action kicked off the show, with Impact Grand Champion Matt Sydal pinning Rohit Raju (the repackaged Hakim Zane) after a Shooting Star Press, giving Sydal and X-Division Champion Taiji Ishimori the victory over El Hijo del Fantasma & Raju. Just like the main event was a great showcase for the heavyweights in Impact at the moment, this was the same for the X-Division as the foursome put on a fast-paced tag jaunt, full of exciting back and forth sequences, flips and just generally good wrestling stuff. Raju impressed with a couple of lovely sequences with Sydal, where the two traded a series of near misses, whilst also combining well with Fantasma for an impressive near fall off a double team GTS situation. However, it was Fantasma who ended up really shining in this one, with a lovely opening exchange with Ishimori, as well as a fiery hot tag after a period of dominance from Sydal & Ishimori. Oooh, Ishimori hit a delicious Superstar Quebrada as well. More shows should open like this.

Impact Knockout's Championship // Laurel Van Ness (C) def. Kiera Hogan // Pinfall 

After picking up a surprise victory over Knockout's Champion Laurel Van Ness last week, Kiera Hogan received her shot at the belt this week, coming up short as Van Ness got the win with a sloppy looking Unprettier to make it two defences of the title. Beyond the sloppiness of the Unprettier, the match was alright for the most, highlighted by some strong character work by Van Ness and a call back to the finish of last week's match. Van Ness seems to have put some real work in when creating this crazed version of the character and I enjoyed the different in-ring style that she employs as shes varies her offence to suit the character, whilst some of her facial expressions when unable to get the pin were brilliant here. I would've liked to have seen more from Hogan as the match felt more one-sided than it perhaps needed to be and a little more fire from the newcomer would've lifted the contest to the next level. After the match, Allie made the save for Hogan, sending Van Ness packing after she attempted to attack Hogan further. We also found out earlier on the episode that Allie has a secret admirer and we'd be meeting them next week.

Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley def. Monroe & Read // Pinfall

One area of Impact that's needed improvement for a while is the tag team division and therefore it's pleasing to see The Cult of Lee, consisting of Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley getting put into the ranks and entering a feud with Impact Tag Team Champions Santana & Ortiz, LAX. This week we saw Lee & Konley in a surprisingly competitive match with the debuting Monroe (FEST Wrestling) & Read (REAL Pro Wrestling), known collectively as TECH, before Lee pinned Read after a Spike Piledriver. I wasn't massively into the gimmick that Lee & Konley had stolen LAX's bandannas and therefore now say stereotypical Mexican things, but the wrestling in the tag match was solid, with both of TECH impressing with some nice strikes as they bumped well for the Cult of Lee. The highlight came from a cute double team Gutwrench Powerbomb from Lee and Konley, that involved Konley hitting a running punt to the head just as Lee brought the opponent up into the air for the powerbomb. After the match, LAX's Homicide, Konnan, Ortiz & Santana appeared on the screen, with Konnan cutting one his trademark energetic promos threatening the Cult of Lee that they would not tolerate the impersonation. A Tag title match with Ortiz & Santana against Lee & Konley could be wonderful if given the right time. 

Hania the Huntress def. Amber Nova // Pinfall 

Hania the Huntress made her Impact debut this week, picking up a victory over Amber Nova with a weak reverse DDT. It was a shame that the finish ended up looking so lame, because the rest of the match had been a fun extended squash, that saw Nova get a good opportunity to show off some of her pacier offence, whilst Huntress was able to showcase some of her power game. Whilst Nova's headscissors into the top turnbuckle looked cool, it was Nova leaping up for a rana only to be caught by a get-the-fuck-down powerbomb from Huntress that stands out as the strongest part of the match and worked as a microcosm of the match as a whole. Following the match, Rosemary attacked Huntress, attempting to get some revenge for an attack last week, but Huntress was able to escape before Rosemary could hit Red Wedding. 

Also this week

- In a weird hand-held video, it appeared that oVe's Sami Callihan, Jake Crist & Dave Crist had kidnapped Lashley.

- Dark promo from Jimmy Jacobs alongside Kongo Kong, threatening to bring the monster out of Joseph Park.

- Pluto TV rewind of the week was Chris Harris diving off a steel cage to nail Death Sentence with America's Most Wanted partner James Storm on Elix Skipper (teaming with Christopher Daniels as Triple X) from NWA Total Nonstop Action from June 2003.

- Pro Wrestling NOAH star Brian Cage returns to Impact next week, after last being seen in July 2014.

ATPW Scale Rating // 6.00/10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Review (4th June 2017)

On 4th June, WWE aired Extreme Rules 2017, as a RAW exclusive PPV on the WWE Network from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The show featured Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe in an Extreme Rules Fatal Five-Way match for a shot at Brock Lesnar's WWE Universal Championship, Dean Ambrose defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against The Miz in a match where if Ambrose was Disqualified he'd lose the title and Austin Aries challenging for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Neville in a Submissions match, as well as appearances from RAW Tag Team Champion The Hardy Boyz, Sheamus & Cesaro, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Alicia Fox. But was it any good? Let's take a look.

• VT - The opening focused on the "Extreme" nature of a number of the stipulations for tonight's matches as well as looking at the competitors in the Fatal Five-Way #1 Contender's match. 

• VT - A look at Dean Ambrose and The Miz's feud over the Intercontinental Championship, as well as the specific rule regarding Ambrose losing the title if he gets disqualified.

Miz def. Ambrose to win the Intercontinental Championship

 

Whilst the gimmick of Dean Ambrose being able to lose the Intercontinental Championship by disqualification was probably the least extreme stipulation there has ever been, Ambrose and The Miz managed to work with the stip to make their seventh match in twelve months engaging throughout. The majority of the contest was focused on Miz trying to get Ambrose DQ'd through a number of different methods, including repeatedly slapping the champion as well as introducing a steel chair and getting Maryse to slap him, whilst referee John Cone reminded the Lunatic Fringe what would happen if he was DQ'd. Mixed into that story, you had Ambrose injuring his leg whilst jumping off the top rope and The A-Lister taking full advantage, targeting the knee in the corner, before locking in a figure four leglock after sliding through a sunset flip from Ambrose. The champion is a great seller and kept going to the injury at any relevant moment, whilst the sequence building to Ambrose locking in a Figure Four of his own got a strong reaction, after a number of slick reversals. 

The finish of the match had a good narrative that flowed well from moment to moment as after being unable to put a Busaiku knee and Ambrose escaping a number of Skull Crushing Finale attempts, Miz went all out trying to provoke the Lunatic Fringe into getting disqualified, getting more and more desperate after each attempt. The conclusion saw Maryse being kicked out of the arena and with the referee distracted Miz shoved Ambrose into the ref, knocking him out of the ring. With the champion pleading with the referee on the outside not to DQ him, Miz snuck up behind and finally landed the Skull Crushing Finale to gain the pinfall and the Intercontinental Championship. It was cool to see the DQ stip used to progress the story of the match, without having it used to swap the championship, as it created some interesting scenarios throughout the contest, but wouldn't have done much for anyone if the title had changed hands that way. Miz can now boast about pinning Ambrose, whilst there's the idea that he wouldn't have been able to do so with the unique stipulation, which should be perfect for his arrogant heel character. 

• Backstage - Charly Caruso interview Bayley, with the Hugger explaining that she's been watching Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and Steve Blackman to prepare for the Kendo Stick on a Pole match and she's willing to do anything to retain the RAW Women's Championship.

Banks & Swann def. Fox & Dar

Well, this certainly was a match that happened on the show. The hometown crowd for Rich Swann gave the bout a little something extra, but the match itself wasn't anything to write home about. Noam Dar and Alicia Fox hugged a lot, Swann had a wicked hot tag and Sasha Banks hit a meteora onto Dar on the outside. Beyond that it was a mostly fun of the mill, mixed tag match with the girls doing a lot of hair-pull brawling and the guys portion was mostly Dar taking a flurry of moves from Swann (still love that front-flip fameasser). I like the act that Dar is doing at the moment, but I'm sure if WWE quite gets what to do with it and whilst there was nothing wrong with this match, it didn't warrant a place on the PPV, especially when Akira Tozawa and The Brian Kendrick had a superb Street Fight on 205 Live recently that would've been more suited to the event. 

• Advert - KFC promised to launch their Zinger sandwich into space, which was nice of them.

• In the Arena - Elias Samson did a little song on his guitar and got some decent heat for it, whilst the crowd went nuts with the lights on their phones. The song was mostly cheap heat about Baltimore being a shithole, but also some intriguing content about the main event and Brock Lesnar.

• VT - Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss, focusing in on the idea of whether Bayley was capable of "going extreme". This went quite long and actually followed the story week to week, concluding with the dire This is Your Life segment.

Bliss def. Bayley in a Kendo Stick on a Pole Match to retain RAW Women's Championship

Man, I feel for Bayley, she's been booked horribly for months, going back to the handling of her winning the title, through the This Is Your Life and segment and now being made to look like a complete dweeb in this match with Alexa Bliss. The whole story heading into the bout was about whether Bayley had it in her to "go extreme" and using a kendo stick, which is lame enough in itself, but surely we'd get the pay off here and finally see Bayley get the upperhand on Alexa. Nope, because that would make too much sense. What we actually got was both girls reaching awkwardly for the stick for two minutes, before Bayley spent a minute or so looking at the kendo stick as if it were a loaded gun and then a few more minutes of Bliss going nuts with the stick before pinning Bayley with a DDT in just over six minutes. The gimmick sucked, the story telling was piss poor and the only proper spot of the match looked clumsy. This feud should have been hot, but whilst it's had the odd moment of brilliance, those have almost always been overshadowed by terrible writing.

Sheamus & Cesaro def. Hardy Boyz in a Steel Cage Match to win RAW Tag Team Championship

Let's start of by saying that the escape the cage stipulation is a pile of shit. Always has been and always will be. A steel cage match is supposed to happen at the peak of a feud, when nothing else can contain the anger two (or more) men have for each other, to suggest that one would even want to win without pinning their opponent or making them tap out is weak and dissatisfying to watch. Having escaping the cage as the only way a match can end is even worse. Even more so when both members of tag team have to escape and their feet be on the floor at the same time. Not only is that pretty confusing and overly complicated, but it's not conducive to producing an entertaining wrestling product. Yes, you have to get creative in a tag steel cage to work out pinfalls and such, but the two teams had to get even more creative just to breath a little bit of life into this. Having Jeff escape on his own and then get back in when he realised his brother couldn't fight two men that are bigger than him, made the Charismatic Enigma look like a fool, before the finish of Matt pulling his brother out moments after Sheamus and Cesaro jumped down on the other side made the contest feel like bargain basement obstacle course. 

Bless these four lads for working so hard and managing to produce some creative spots against the tide of the gimmick. We had a pair of Poetry in Motions with the heels sandwiched in between the ropes and the cage, Cesaro holding onto Jeff as he dangled outside of the cage leading to Jeff's initial escape, a double-team Pale Justice to Matt and a top rope assisted White Noise to the no longer Broken one (the fixed one?). All good spots, but of course it wouldn't be a Hardy Boyz cage match if Jeff didn't do something stupid off the top of the cage and boy, did that lad jump off a high thing again. With Jeff realising that his brother was getting battered, he decided to climb back in the cage and do a Whisper in the Wind off of it and knacker himself as well in the process, because jumping off high thing is painful. Similar to the Bliss v Bayley feud, we've seen flashes of greatness between these two teams and there was plenty on display in this match, but the way they are being booked is making me lose interest.

• Ad - The WWE Network is thing, if you weren't sure what you were watching the show on.

• VT - Austin Aries v Neville is up next and there's a lot of Geordie words in this.

Neville def. Aries in a Submission Match to retain WWE Cruiserweight Championship

I feel like I write this a lot when discussing WWE's Cruiserweight division, but this was a really good match, let down by the crowd who seemed to have decided they weren't interested in purple ropes. Neville managed to get a decent reaction at points, but mostly the crowd were silent, which I think is more to do with WWE's presentation of the Cruiserweights rather than the in-ring action. I think the biggest compliment I can give the match is that it felt a lot shorter than it actually was, mostly because the two kept shifting narratives and worked in a couple of different stories to follow. Neville went after Aries' knee after a dive to the outside and then his arm (great commentary from Corey Graves here), with some lovely selling from the challenger, we'd then see those injuries play into the submission attempts as Aries' unable to keep hold of Neville in a Figure Four, whilst Neville later went for his Rings of Saturn on the injured arm. Some storytelling motifs didn't work for me, specifically Austin pleading with the ref not to DQ Neville after the Geordie grabbed the ref whilst in the Rings, as whilst I enjoyed the nod to the finish of their Payback match, I'm pretty sure there are no DQs in a submission match. Inside the story the two had a number of super crisp sequences (as well as big strikes for Aries), with the highlight being Aries hit a sunset flip powerbomb then transition straight into the Last Chancery, keeping hold of the move when Neville rolled to the outside and actually getting a submission from the champ (which obviously didn't count because it was outside the ring). 

Neville winning after dodging a lope suicida, hitting a Red Arrow to the back before concluding with Rings of Saturn, left the storyline without a satisfying conclusion and with the feud already feeling tired three matches in, I can't see that we're going to get one. After we'd seen Aries get thumbed in the eye at WrestleMania Kick-Off and then Neville get himself disqualified at Payback, it would have made total sense to have Aries manage to overcome Neville here in a match where the rules (should have) been in his favour. I'm not quite sure where this leaves Austin on a show like 205 Live and how WWE will go about placing him on that show, whilst also keeping him away from the title picture. Perhaps a trip to NXT for matches with the likes of Kassius Ohno, Hideo Itami, Johnny Gargano and others would benefit him, before moving over to SmackDown. As for Neville I'm intrigued to see who he's placed with next after months with Aries, a feud with Akira Tozawa, Gran Metalik or Cedric Alexander would be fresh, but revisiting issues with Jack Gallagher or Rich Swann could be effective also.

• VT - The Fatal Five-Way Number One contenders match is up next, the package highlights each competitor, pretty basic stuff.

Joe def. Wyatt, Rollins, Balor and Reigns in an Extreme Rules Fatal Five-Way Match to become #1 Contender to the Universal Championship 

There really should have been no doubt in anyone's mind that this was going to be fantastic main event. Five of WWE's top tier talent going at it for almost half an hour should have been incredible and the match didn't disappoint. All five lads put a shift in, as everyone got a time to shine and all looked like stars as the Baltimore crowd lapped it up. Finn Balor in particular came out of the match in a much better position than how he entered it.. In his first PPV match since getting injured at last year's SummerSlam, Finn was superb in this match. He sold a beating from Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe like a trooper, gasping for air after taking a pair of running sentons with a steel chair on his chest, before he later made a roaring comeback getting revenge on Joe and Wyatt with the chair and flying round the ringside area like a madman. He may have ended up taking the fall after being choke out in the Coquina Clutch by Joe, but he'd just downed Roman Reigns with a Coup de Grace, after dodging a spear moments earlier, so even that won't hurt the Irishman. 

I mentioned Wyatt and Joe working together above and that partnership really was the driving force behind the bout, providing a robust backbone for which the rest of the match could build on. After Wyatt had saved the Samoan Submission Machine from a Reigns' drive-by kick, the two dominated the competition, grabbing hold of the steel steps and cleaning house. Seriously the two big blokes wandering around ringside with the steps and just clattering into whoever they came up again was much more fun than it perhaps should have been. Their dominance continued for some time, but there was always something being introduced to keep things interesting, if two big lads battering people wasn't enough. Wyatt added some nice little touches like randomly standing on Rollins, whilst potential comebacks from Rollins and Reigns were quickly thwarted as Seth took a DDT onto the steps and Reigns took a uranage onto the announce table (both from Wyatt). The build towards the inevitable falling out between the two was well handle, with Wyatt initially turning a turn earlier in the match, before Joe would end up getting pushed in front of suicide dive from Rollins. The straw that broke the camel's back however was Joe breaking up a pinfall moments after Wyatt hit Sister Abigail on Rollins, with the two taking big ass shots at each other, which was much more exciting than it would've been without the build. 

Around the Joe and Wyatt spine you had plenty more high octane action that just seemed to keep on coming and coming. The highspots were placed well through the contest, with each weapon shot feeling like it meant something as part of the wider whole. The biggest and best spots were saved for towards the end, as Reigns speared Joe and Balor into the timekeepers area, whilst moments later Rollins came flying off the top rope and through the announce table with a Frog Splash to Wyatt. The set-up for both spots was wonderfully handled, with Balor's comeback on the outside being cut short by Coquina clutch from Joe, heading into the spear. The moment directly after the big spots was also a really well put together piece of work as Reigns and Rollins dragged themselves from the wreckage, with both selling terrifically, before engaging in some of the best one on one action of the entire match. The two had a cracker on the go-home episode of RAW and went back at it with a series of back and forth sequences.

The closing sequence saw Wyatt and Rollins falling by the wayside, Balor countering a Reigns spear into a slingblade, nailing a Coup de Grace, only for Joe to catch him in the Coquina Clutch and get the victory. These last few minutes were a thrilling watch with the momentum switching back and forth between all five of the participants as the match headed towards it's conclusion. Using a similar finish to what we saw on RAW in the three way with Balor, Joe and Wyatt was a neat touch, with the match having a lot of similarities to that triple threat, but this time around we had Joe looking much stronger as he took the initiative and forced Balor to pass out. The fact that we'll be getting Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar on WWE show this year is marvellous. Imagine someone suggesting this match in the early 2000s, when Lesnar was killing it in WWE with The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and Joe was rocking it in ROH with CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries and Low Ki, or later when Lesnar shifted MMA and dominated the likes of Randy Couture, Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, whilst Joe was climbing the ranks in TNA with Angle, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Christian Cage. It's gonna happen and it's gonna be good.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.28/10

Before the main event, this was probably an average wrestling show, with the fights ranging from good to poor. The Cruiserweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship coming at the right end of the scale for me, whilst the Women's title and mixed tag towards the other end. The main event however pushed the event much higher, as it was just that damn good. It was thirty minutes of pure wrestling entertainment that carried the rest of the show across the finish line. 

It wasn't particularly extreme and a number of the gimmicks held back the competitors, however as an entire package this was a mostly fun and creative event. 

WWE 205 Live #27 Review (30th May 2017)

On 30th May, WWE aired the 27th episode of 205 Live from Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia live on the WWE Network. The show featured Noam Dar facing Rich Swann, as well as appearances from Austin Aries, Cruiserweight Champion Neville, TJP, Drew Gulak and Mustafa Ali. But was it any good? Let's take a look.

• ICYMI - Cruiserweight Champion Neville and Austin Aries' split screen interview from #26, with clips of their feud and Aries' tapping out Neville on RAW #1253.  

• Commentary team Corey Graves and Tom Phillips ran down the evening's card, focusing on Drew Gulak taking on Mustafa Ali and Austin Aries talking about getting Neville to submit on RAW.

Dar def. Swann

After the match on this week's RAW set up the idea of Sasha Banks being able to counter Alicia Fox at ringside, this bout a day after wasn't particularly needed. The bout was given more time, but ultimately was just an elongated version of the match from the previous night, with Dar controlling the arm, before a high tempo comeback from Swann and some interference from Fox being countered by Banks at ringside. Obviously we had a reverse of the result with Dar ducking a clothesline in the corner and hitting a running enziguiri for the victory, but there was nothing new that warranted a rematch. The promos before hand were okay, with Dar seemingly enjoying himself as he called Fox his "fluffy button" and described Swann and Banks as "friends with no benefits", but the women arguing about hair (followed by their cat fight at ringside heading into the finish) wasn't my cup of tea. 

• Cedric Alexander defeated Corey Hollis after the Lumbar Check in a short bout. Alexander continues to grow after returning from injury last week, hopefully we'll see him move into another storyline soon. 

• A video package looking at Akira Tozawa, after his Street Fight victory over The Brian Kendrick last week. 

Gulak def. Ali 

This match started hot with Mustafa Ali hitting a tope conhilo as Drew Gulak was delivering his "No Fly Zone" schtick walking to the ring. The spot was well timed and well directed with Ali coming flying through the right hand side of the screen with Gulak in the center. The match had it's moments but never felt like it completely hit it's stride. Gulak dominated after pushing Mustafa off the top rope and to the floor, with Ali beginning to sell his knee straight after. Ali sells well and Gulak's bruising style when in control is nice, but there seemed to be a little something missing from this portion of the match, perhaps having Gulak focus in on the injury would've given it a bit more impact. Ali's comeback is one of my favourite things about 205 Live, so I was disappointed to only see the rolling neckbreaker, before Gulak reversed a crossbody and got the pin. The dive to start things and Ali's bump off the top were the highlights, but as an overall package I'm not sure this bout came together quite as well as it should have. 

Neville Put an End to Aries' Gloating

In the final push for their Extreme Rules submission match, Austin Aries and Neville got the best reactions of the episode and concluded with an intense angle. The segment was driven by an Aries promo talking about Neville tapping out on RAW #1253, in which The Greatest Man That Ever Lived showed the footage on the screen a total of three times. Whilst Aries promo verged into heel territory at times as he kept repeating the same rhetoric, the response when Neville came out showed that the monologue had worked as the crowd quickly showered the Cruiserweight Champion with "You tapped out" chants. The segment concluding with TJP jumping Aries and eventually allowing Neville to lock in the Rings of Saturn and not let go raised the stakes of the feud and felt like the logical progression after Aries' got a little carried away in his rejoicing. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.19/10 

Not a great outing for the purple ropes boys in their go-home for Extreme Rules. The Austin Aries/Neville/TJP angle that closed the show was the strongest element of the episode, however, the wrestling action didn't match it as the two longer matches (Rich Swann v Noam Dar, Drew Gulak v Mustafa Ali) both didn't seem to fully hit their stride. There was nothing technically wrong with either, but there also wasn't anything that grabbed me beyond Ali's tope at the start of his match.