ROH Final Battle great at first, then fizzles
Friday's Ring of Honor Final Battle event marks its tenth anniversary; having been the last ROH show of each year since the promotion’s inception in 2002. In that time, Final Battle has evolved into one of the biggest shows of the year, where feuds climax, new angles...
TLC: The trouble with tables
Seven championship matches: three new champions. While the odds aren’t that good for the challengers, the winners might surprise you. WWE PPVs come to an end for 2011 with some very satisfying matches, setting the scene for the road to you-know-where in the new year....
No resolution found at Final Resolution
TNA's final pay-per-view offering of 2012 was a bit ironic. Titled "Final Resolution," the show, in fact, had no resolution. In the main event, a 30-minute iron man match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Bobby Roode and AJ Styles reached no resolution after...
No swerves but plenty of Rock and Punk at Survivor Series
Anyone following WWE programming for the last few months already knew the hook for the 2012 edition of Survivor Series well before the pay-per-view broadcast kicked off Sunday night from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Rock was back, returning to an...
Roode retains title at highly forgettable Turning Point
Coming off its biggest pay-per-view of the year, it was clear Turning Point wasn't exactly a high priority for TNA, especially considering the main event wasn't signed until the final 10 seconds of the last Impact before the show. The lack of build showed, as a mostly...
Henry and Del Rio retain at solid Vengeance show
Despite the name of Sunday’s WWE pay-per-view event, neither the Big Show nor John Cena were able to deliver Vengeance to their respective opponents, World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry and WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio. Instead, after a night of solid in-ring action...
Bound For Glory: Awful finish undermines outstanding show
Sometimes, it's like TNA just can't help itself. In its biggest show of the year, the company delivered one of its best pay-per-views in recent memory, only to have what was otherwise a pretty great show marred by a horrendous finish in the main event. Other than...
Hell in a Cell … and outside as well
"If you wanna go to Hell you should take a trip to the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Mississip." Yes, it’s true: when The Simpsons poked fun at New Orleans with that line, as Marge played Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, the writers were clearly looking to the future...
Triple H, Henry, Cena victorious at Night of Champions
The stakes were high at WWE Night of Champions. Mark Henry was gunning for his first World Heavyweight Championship, Alberto Del Rio looked to make his first successful pay-per-view title defense, and most importantly, Triple H looked to remain WWE COO in his match...
Gimmick matches highlight ROH Death Before Dishonor IX
With Ring of Honor World Champion Davey Richards over in Japan, Death Before Dishonor IX, was the perfect opportunity for other members of the ROH roster to showcase their talents and bask in the spotlight. Boasting an interesting line-up, DBD IX was a real mixed bag...
Angle, Roode prevail at No Surrender
After several months of action, the Bound For Glory series finally concludes tonight at No Surrender as Bully Ray, James Storm, Bobby Roode and Gunner compete to see who will become the No. 1 contender the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, facing the winner of the...
Punk-Cena feud comes to a head, but not without some wrinkles at SummerSlam
For a show considered to be the second most important event on the WWE calendar, the 2011 edition of SummerSlam appeared to be placing almost all of its proverbial apples in the basket of the CM Punk-John Cena feud. It didn’t turn out to quite be a one-match show...
Hardcore Justice: Angle wins, TNA viewers don’t
At last year’s Hardcore Justice, TNA Wrestling took a chance by inviting numerous ECW alumni to present a nostalgia show. The result was one of the company's most unique shows ever. This Sunday's event saw none of that, unfortunately. Though there were a couple of...
Money in the Bank: The WWE gets Punk’d
Tonight features exactly what a main event is supposed to be. A match that overshadows every other bout on the card, that has you, no matter how good each other contest is, looking forward to an ending just to be one step closer to the final contest. So it is that the...
Destination X proves that wrestling matters
In the early days of TNA, matches featuring the X-Division stars would invariably be the highlight of any show. In recent years, however, the X-Division has seemed to shift its focus towards storylines featuring more veteran stars, sometimes at the expense of in-ring...
Destination X highlights the good, bad of TNA
TNA’s Destination X pay-per-view could be viewed as symbolic of the new road the company has been paving for itself since the beginning of the year. As indicated by the show’s name, there was quite a bit of focus on the X-Division. Where that was the case on this...
Richards new champ at ROH Best in the World
With three Championships on the line, a no holds barred street fight and a shocking return to the company, Ring of Honor's Best in the World 2011 was a decent show overall to kick start what could be perceived to be a new era for the promotion. Just this past week,...
Cena, Orton retain titles at Capitol Punishment
Like Barack Obama’s presidential run so far, WWE’s Capitol Punishment pay-per-view on Sunday night had some really good moments and a few really bad moments. In the end, the show’s approval ratings should be quite high, since overall the card was pretty good. As far...
Slammiversary delivers TNA’s best PPV effort of year
Pay-per-view has not been TNA's strong suit this year. Most the shows have been poorly built and the in-ring action has left a lot to be desired. That changed Sunday as Slammiversary was the best TNA pay-per-view of the year, featuring three superb matches and one of...
Over the Limit: Unpredictability makes for a good show
Before anything else, the night is respectfully dedicated to Randy Savage, and it seems that the spirit of the Macho Man is emboldening everyone to give a little extra as the WWE delivers an exciting and thoroughly satisfying show. Five championships are on the line,...
Sacrifice: Chyna the star of lacklustre Sacrifice PPV
Is it a sign of the state of a company when someone who hasn't competed in 10 years is the star of the show? That was the case Sunday at TNA Sacrifice, when Chyna, who hasn't been active in a major American promotion since 2001, easily outshone every other worker on...
Extreme Rules: Championship make-over edition
One championship belt hangs above the ring, reachable only by ladder. Another belt will be awarded to the survivor of a Triple-Threat Cage Match. Some title changes, some surprise matches, and a newcomer to the WWE locker room round out the show from Tampa, FL. The...
TNA delivers another dud with Lockdown
Lockdown is supposed to be TNA's second biggest show of the year. Instead, in front of a mostly dead crowd in Cincinnati, TNA delivered a complete dud. The show featured as many instances of bare rear-ends as it did tolerable matches (two) and continued a streak of...
No Surrender a bore
The chant “this is b.s.” should never, ever be heard during an A.J. Styles match, the man is far too talented to ever have fans react in such a manner. However, that is exactly what the crowd at GM Place in Oshawa, Ontario, chanted during his “MMA” bout with Frank...
The Rock costs Cena as The Miz retains at WrestleMania XXVII
After falling victim to John Cena's Attitude Adjustment last Monday on Raw, The Rock had revenge on his mind Sunday at WrestleMania XXVII. After the main event match between Cena and WWE Champion The Miz ended in a double countout draw, The Rock restarted the match...
WrestleMania 27: The Live Report
By COLIN HUNTER AND MARSHALL WARD Welcome to WrestleMania 27: The Live Report! As the Showcase of the Immortals unfolds, SLAM! Wrestling writers (and mere mortals) Colin Hunter and Marshall Ward will provide insights, analysis and wisecracking match-by-match. Refresh...
TNA screws fans: Victory Road full of potholes
Even the most ardent apologists (which this reviewer has occasionally been called) would be hard-pressed to defend TNA's 2011 edition of Victory Road. After a night full of screwjob finishes, TNA ended the night off on two really low notes, in the form of a number one...
Elimination Chamber mostly eliminates dramatic intrigue
Bret Hart. Doink. Tazz. Jerry “The King” Lawler’s time in the WWE has been marked with a legendary knack for being a pain in the neck for wrestlers such as those above, but never for being a credible in-ring threat against them. Will tonight be any different? Will...
Hardy regains title at so-so Against All Odds
Over the years, many of Jeff Hardy's career highlights have been in ladder matches. The one he had at TNA Wrestling's Against All Odds pay-per-view on Sunday was no exception, as his win over Mr. Anderson earned him the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. His victory...
Super-size Royal Rumble saves biggest surprise for last
When it was first announced that the field for the 2011 Royal Rumble was going to be expanded from 30 to 40 participants, reactions from fans were mixed. Some welcomed the change and the possibilities it brought, while others snickered and wondered if there were even...
Genesis: Hardy arrives, Hardy falls
The first pay-per-view of 2011, Genesis, delivered a new TNA World champion, reunited a famed brother tag team combination with a debuting ex-WWE star, and the TV and tag titles changed hands. In all, it had the typical highs and lows of a TNA PPV. But the highs --...
