The Undercard
Tara defeated Velvet Sky to retain the Knockouts Championship to kick off the in ring action on Impact Wrestling. Sky took advantage of Tara's inability to focus early in the match, pounded away at her, and looked really physical and timed right. Sky does not have great strengths, but she does not possess many weaknesses in the ring. She was able to connect with a Crossbody, thanks to a nice catch by Tara, and that is where the match began to pick up. I was not expecting a clean finish, and I was more than right. Sky tries to roll up Tara to win but she escapes and then uses the ropes to her advantage and Tara walks out with the gold. Throughout the match, you had good pacing with both women. That is something so crucial in a women's match and needed to be kept in check. Tara and Sky will be able to continue this feud for a while, but with the next PPV a few months away, this could either help or harm Velvet's progression. Grade: B-
Kenny King and Zema Ion defeated Rob Van Dam and Christian York. This was a very entertaining tag team match to watch, with all four guys athletic and intelligent enough to carry a match without flaws. King and Ion worked great together, as both tried to one up his partner. King and Ion were able to overcome some nice dropkicks from York, RVD's creative attacks to the legs, and be able to pick up the victory. King hit his finisher, but was unaware that Ion tagged himself in. Ion got the cover and the victory, to the demise of the King. The heels feud with one another, and I think that is great. Ion is too good of a talent to be wasted and jumped over by many X-Division guys, while King is fantastic in all aspects but still needs to get more experience in the "bigger" matches. Grade: B+
Bobby Roode defeated Hernandez. Although this was an interesting pairing, it went over pretty well for me. Roode and Aries argued backstage about who will face the big Mexican, and Aries pawns it off on Roode. Their chemistry together is fun, fresh, and really simple. I am enjoying seeing how they interact with one another and how they can feed off of what the other person says so quickly. The match with Hernandez was good, as Hernandez showed his strength with a stalling vertical suplex that shook the ring. He would continue to pound away at Roode until Aries moved Roode out of the way from a top rope maneuver. Hernandez is distracted, which gives Bobby the opportunity to capitalize and finish off Hernandez. It does not make Hernandez look weak, it continues the tag team feud between champions and contenders, and makes Aries and Roode look cowardly and funny at the same time. It is hard to hate Bobby Roode and Austin Aries. Grade: B
