Today on WWE Superstars, Alex Riley takes on JTG in the main event. Riley was once aligned with, then facing off against former WrestleMania main eventer and WWE Champion The Miz. JTG was a member of the incredibly fun and over Cryme Tyme. Now, both men are on a web show that not many pay attention to. Following wrestling can be frustrating sometimes... Tonight on Impact Wrestling, it's a battler of former WWE and TNA World Champions as Kurt Angle takes on Rob Van Dam. Round 2 of the Wild Card tag team tournament is under way with Samoa Joe/Magnus vs. Eric Young/ODB and Scott Steiner/Abyss vs. AJ Styles/Kazarian. Also, Gail Kim defends her Knockouts Championship against Mickie James. Read on for my thoughts on the shows as they happen.
Whatever happened to Yoshi's face paint?
You forgot Boxing Day, Matt!
I thought these two were done feuding?
Good chain wrestling.
None of that would surprise me about Striker.
Tyson's in a lot of matches these days. I guess that's a good sign that they like what he does. Reliable performer.
NICE back and forth here. A lot of straight up wrestling ability.
I hope both of these guys have good 2012s in the company.
Ahh, Trent Barreta. Another guy getting a good number of matches, but not much love from the company.
I like the personality from Young coming to the ring.
Not a bad start.
Wristlock. Nice.
Good kick by Trent.
What's the deal with bashing Trent on commentary?
Why didn't we get this match on NXT?
Nice cradle.
I like him going right back to the cover. If this was a "real" match, that would be advantageous.
Wow. Nice little match-up here. The future's looking good.
Whoever's responsible for us getting to see what Trent can do lately (instead of just being the guy losing a lot), hats off.
Ditto for letting Darren have ring time.
Is Trent going for a bulldog from the top rope!?
WOW. Very nice finisher. I'm kind of getting a thinking man's wrestler vibe from him here.
Oh, Scott Stanford.
Riley's got great fire. Got to be a future mid-level champion.
JTG's a better wrestler than he gets credit for sometimes.
At least the fans haven't forgotten about A-Ry, just Creative.
Very good by Riley. The man has potential.
I like the fan interaction, too.
Dear fans of tag team wrestling, this one's for you. If you're not watching, WWE's not listening!
Kofi's got "hops", that's for sure.
And Evan's not your stereotypical superstar. In a good way.
Good stuff.
You won't see that from Kevin Nash, that's for sure.
Nice interference spots by Reks and Kofi.
Titles are important. What a concept.
Nice cover by Reks.
And nice taunting by Hawkins.
Good commentary putting over what's going on in the ring, which is nice strategy by the heels.
Kofi's got great potential as a babyface singles star.
Air Boom seems pretty over. Glad to see it.
And that's a wrap. Good showing by everyone in this one.
Glad that they're showing replays of the finisher. It's a big move and should be sold as such.
And now, Impact Wrestling; where enthusiasm for wrestling occasionally goes to die.
I definitely didn't see them starting off with the Knockouts, but it's an interesting approach.
It's like she just has to yell.
Sting has a different look each week it seems.
See, Madison can be pretty good without screeching.
That was simultaneously crazy, annoying, and entertaining.
Good set-up for the Knockouts Title match. It was made to look like an important part of the show with Sting getting involved.
Very enlightening promo from Steiner.
Pretty cool camera angle for the Styles/Kazarian entrance. I like that they came out side by side, but Abyss and Steiner kept their distance. It's the little things sometimes.
The goal here should be that after this match, people aren't talking about the former WCW Champion, but the theoretical future of TNA.
Keep this up, and maybe I'll forget about how weakly TNA has booked Abyss in the past. The guy could be a killer if presented "correctly".
I'm liking this. The quick and agile former X-Division champions against the "immovable object", the monster Abyss.
Steiner selling that Abyss is a BIG deal. Very good.
Goal achieved. The younger, hungrier performer took out the old lion, and Styles and Kazarian will be in a match to determine the #1 Contenders to the tag team titles.
Abyss is being set up pretty big here. If he can beat credible veterans like Steiner and Bully Ray, a World Title shot can't be too far behind.
I'm really liking Sting and Angle in their current roles. Nice set-up for Angle/RVD.
I don't think anyone takes pole matches seriously anymore.
Great athleticism from these two. They're doing their damnedest to show they're worthy of this TV time.
I like Aries on commentary. Natural talker.
Ion seemed like the better choice to win as far as having more character and being more unique. I'm interested in what he'll do in 2012.
Good comment from Ion.
I like the look Williams has here.
I had actually forgotten the British Invasion were faces now.
Goals: get over Gunner without killing Williams; use Flair to enhance Gunner.
I guess that works. We could certainly have seen worse. I just wish they had focused more on the fact that Gunner could have just done some serious damage to Williams instead of cutting to Roode backstage. Can't win them all, I guess.
Bobby Roode opening the 2nd hour's cool. That's not something they do for just anyone, as that's when people are channel-surfing.
I like this idea.
Action soap opera!
It doesn't get much more evil and selfish than Bobby Roode's character.
Great way to get heat on Roode and cheers for Hardy. It was kind of "over the top" and soap opera-like but I enjoyed it.
Whoever takes out Young and ODB will become my new favorite wrestler I think.
Magnus is totally going to get his ass kicked for passing Joe like that.
I find it hilarious that people are this into Young and ODB. This is crazy.
I think this is the most character Magnus has had since he was in a gladiator costume.
That was actually not bad for goofy comedy.
And then Eric Young took his pants off.
Part of me wants Joe to choke everyone else in this match out. Maybe not Magnus.
Joe and Magnus aren't a bad duo.
ODB's not really going to chump out Joe is she?
Pheeeew. The shenanigans are over for now.
Magnus does look uncannily like Hugh Jackman.
The Knockouts Title match is going on after Angle/RVD!? That's pretty gutsy. Props to them if it works.
I love Angle trying to avoid kicks.
Hahaha I like Angle teasing the Superkick.
NICE set-up for the ankle lock.
Oh... that would be why they didn't end with Angle/RVD. Good storyline advancement for Storm/Angle. I like what they're doing with these two.
Lots of Knockouts ads tonight. I guess it sells TNA merch.
They've got an issue for their rematch. I like it. It definitely doesn't need RVD involved.
Pretty big endorsement for Gail and Mickie that they're headlining the show. I don't see WWE doing that with the Divas any time soon.
They're not wasting any time in this one.
Nice, natural way to go to break.
Nice brutality from Kim. WWE really dropped the ball with her.
Both ladies are bringing their all here. Heck, this is better than some males' matches.
I like the psychology here: Kim wants to do damage and get a submission, but the energetic Mickie stays in it.
The crowd is rightfully really into this one. These two know how to tell a story in there.
Well, that was... weird.
That's all for tonight's wrestling. I'll be back for Smackdown tomorrow, and a news post will be up later tonight. Thanks for reading!
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