 1. Intriguing opening video package, but not sure if it sold me on the whole show.
2, Straight into the matches! That is what I like about TNA – they know PPVs are more than just extended versions of their weekly TV shows. I think.
3. RVD v Christopher Daniels was a good choice for opener. It went along well, nice back and forth, with a face victory so the audience could start the night happy (coz they certainly weren’t going to end that way!) and it was a decent little match. Second best match of the night.
4. Robbie E v Eric Young entertained a little, but it was not a great match. I’m not sure what people see in Robbie E to keep pushing him and keep him in the spotlight. He has not improved in the ring since starting. At least EY is entertaining in his own bizarre way. Tag title match was about the same – kinda entertaining for what it was, but certainly won’t be remembered two months from now.
5. While the match was a little disappointing (not horrible, not bad, just not what I was expecting), I reckon Aries may be the most entertaining sports entertainer in the TNA ring. Others may be better wrestlers, but Aries is an entertainer, as well as being a good wrestler.
6. The Knockouts title started oddly – even Taz & Tenay made mention of it – when they repeated the video package. Oooh, very professional, TNA! And the match lived up to it. These two should have been able to go out there and show just how well women can wrestle if allowed. Instead it was a dull match that even looked sloppy at times. While it certainly wasn’t the worst women’s match this year, it was nothing to write home about. Just like the tag title match.
7. I have come to appreciate James Storm more and more this year. He can wrestle singles, tag, hardcore, technical – the guy has potential to burn. And the match against Angle was the match of the night. Very good match. And the way Angle has put Storm over twice now has made Storm look like an absolute champion. No matter what, this is something TNA is doing right.
8. I like Sting in the role of insane authority figure. And that was about all I liked about the cage match. I didn’t like last month’s overbooked crap, and this month followed the same path, though not as bad. Like so many other matches tonight, watchable (just) but forgettable. These two have not a lot of chemistry together, but at least they’re messing with each other and not one of the others in the roster… oh, yeah. Hardy gets Roode next month. Poor Bobby.
9. The iron man match should have been the blow-away match to end TNA’s PPV year. Instead it was dull, plodding and really disappointing. It was not a bad match (again), but it should have been so much better. And the ending was screwy. What about sudden death overtime? Okay, sure, it was different, but different does not necessarily mean better.
10. This PPV was not terrible. No matches were truly horrible. And, in fact, looking at my ranking system, it comes out as TNA’s second best PPV of 2011 (though behind a heap of WWE ones as well). No matches were in the top 15 of the year, but none scored less than 50% to fall into the bottom category. So it was consistent and vaguely entertaining. But, and here’s the issue, it had the potential to be so much more than that. And there’s the problem with TNA in a nutshell – they have potential to burn, and yet they don’t do enough with it.
           This was an odd PPV. Is it enough for me to watch TNA PPVs again in 2012? Don’t know… I really don’t know…
