Gold Rush Continues Throughout the Night
Mr. Anderson defeated Magnus
The New York City Gold Rush continues with two former world champions battling back and forth. Magnus comes out hot with a few clotheslines and Mr. Anderson follows up with a clothesline of his own. Magnus escapes to the outside and then he traps Anderson into the ring apron. He punches at his back and his neck, getting the upper hand. Both men hit a clothesline to take each other down in the middle of the ring.
Anderson hits more clothesline and a neckbreaker for a two count. Magnus reverses a plunge by heading up the top. Anderson punches him and then hits the plunge. He sets him up for a Mic Check, but Magnus uses an arm drag to reverse it. Reverse suplex and Anderson barely puts his foot on the rope. Mr. Anderson finally gets the Mic Check for the win.
Not a bad match between two former world champions who have plenty of talent in the ring, but no backstage pull. Both of these guys are legit main event guys and I have liked what they have done in the past, but the creativity for them in storylines have been lackluster over the past year. What have they done to put these guys into a successful situation over the course of the past 10 months? A feud with Sam Shaw? A world championship that had no clean wins for Magnus? They have just stalled hard on talent that could help elevate others.
Abyss defeated Samuel Shaw
Abyss gets sent to the outside and Shaw throws him into the steel steps. Shaw shows more aggression by ramming Abyss’s arm into the post. Abyss counters Shaw from the top rope. He hits a big chokeslam and Shaw rolls to the outside. Shaw hits him with a steel chair, but Abyss finishes him off with the Black Hole Slam.
This was definitely the worst of the matches from tonight. Abyss moves onto the final five and I wonder why TNA would put Tajiri in the match. I can see everyone else potentially winning and getting a title shot, but Tajiri is completely random. Abyss did not look good against Shaw. He looked slower and less aggressive. His gimmick is a maniac and one off night really hurts how he is perceived in my eyes. A new mask has not done a damn thing to make him more interesting to me.
Tajiri and Aries begin to kick away at one another to start things off. Anderson gets into the ring and hits a backbreaker onto Aries. Abyss gets into the ring and tries to chokeslam him. Aries kicks him in the legs and then hits a Discus Forearm. MVP gets tagged in, blindly, and Abyss hits a few clotheslines. Tajiri gets the tag and kicks Abyss in the legs. Anderson hits the Plunge from the top rope after he was locked into the Tarantula.
MVP hits a blind tag and hits Drive By. Austin Aries breaks up the two count and he exchanges blows with MVP. MVP hits a belly to belly suplex, but Aries tosses him to the outside. He hits a Suicide Dive onto Abyss and MVP. MVP kicks Aries while he was attempting the corner dropkick. Aries rolls MVP up and picks up the win.
It just seemed like these guys, and the crowd, were gassed by the end of the night. I appreciate the efforts, but the main event really lacked those big spots. They needed to have some sort of interest and intrigue and create a dramatic element to the match. It felt very planned and choppy. What the hell was the point of Anderson and MVP staring at each other, only for MVP to kick him? That looked bad. Either way, Aries was the best choice to win.
@JoshIsenberg4 on Twitter. Impact Wrestling Rating:
