Quick reflection.
I missed both of Shelley vs. Young and Steiner vs. Williams - take that into account when I give the overall rating. It could be 1-2 scores higher if I had remembered to tune in.
Booker T def. Shane Sewell
The referee outfit designed for wrestling is lame x 10. The match wasn't a filler, because it wasn't a match. It was basically Booker T theatrics (which were great) and Sewell theatrics (the hulking up) + a Book End, Sharmell gets involved and axe kick for the trey.
Booker T honed in on a defeated Sewell to remind him of the loss, and AJ Styles appears. Nothing original in the booking, he just came out, minor scuffle, took the Legends belt and told the story of his life on the mic.
4/10.
Brutus Magnus def. Chris Sabin
Interesting swerve. I guess it's too soon to put someone large on Magnus' plate as he cannot carry out moves, or at least perform them well with a 300 lbs body, and we need to see more of this guy. His attire rocks, by the way.
I didn't feel these two connected well and quickly got bored. I will reiterate that the Guns are TNA's best export right now. Sabin has a Shawn Michaels "showstopper" feel to him that should be appreciated. I'm probably not giving Magnus enough credit but I'm very disappointed that he lowered the colours of Sabin in only his second match!
4/10.
Awesome Kong def. ODB
The Kongtourage comes out and before the match begins, Cornette pleads to them to leave as he had requested previously. If not, he would gift ODB the title. And right then I thought: "is Kong's injury so bad that she cannot even job to ODB and therefore begin rehab?"
They had their moments but this was effectively a squash in the other direction, and not a convincing one by all means. Is Kong fine after all?
4/10.
Abyss def. Matt Morgan
Three instances of this match teasing us for a weapons-charged No DQ dogfight: Abyss came to the ring with a bag (which was found out to be thumbtacks), and the referee ate an Abyss clothesline on the turnbuckle, followed soon after by a chair shot.
They took the match to the stands, which is lame because all that can happen is some soft jabs IMO. Matt Morgan was competing while heavily strapped, so leeway must be given. The match was lazy and lethargic but they could not go hell-for-leather.
5.5/10.
Beer Money, Inc. def. Lethal Consequences
Lunch break for me. Don't consider LC to be any sort of tag team threat for now, but what I saw was pretty good. LC are animated performers and Beer Money are seasoned and established. I was disappointed in myself for caring very little about this match.
This might be because I'm lost for ideas what the tag team division has for an immediate future. Morgan/Abyss are separate, LAX are a singles faction of sorts, 3D are involved elsewhere and LC have now been beaten cleanly in a PPV.
7/10.
Sting def. Kurt Angle, Brother Devon and Brother Ray.
After Kurt Angle had a pep talk to Sting in the MEM locker-room, he told Kevin Nash to "watch him". No sign of Nash at all. In fact, no sign of this match pushing the storyline any further - any storyline IMO.
Mick Foley was on commentary and would award the title to the winner. Would that lead to anything? Nah.
Match was fair to good. Team 3D worked extremely hard and should be lauded for their efforts. As the match progressed some spots told a story, albeit an expected one. Angle went after Sting for the belt in a more sinister fashion to Team 3D, who fought Sabin/Shelley style on a lower scale.
That was fine and dandy but the ending did NOTHING for me. Sting retained by landing the Deathdrop on Brother Ray after he clotheslined Angle out of the ring. It was a neutral result. Sting did not win like a heel nor a face, and the post-match events were minimal (Foley congratulates Sting, Angle emotionally crushed on the ramp).
I'm going to rate this on the basis of it being a supershow and not a PPV. It's unfair to rate this card as PPV worthy in the first place.
And quite frankly, you needed to lower standards because TNA are holding back for Lockdown methinks, and Destination X will be the prelude to that.
I'm out on a limb to say the X-Division is the strongest of all divisions across all wrestling companies right now. This was a reasonable show for what I expected.
5/10.