Austin Aries vs. Kenny King
Aries wastes little time, dropkicking King in the face early. He tries for the Brainbuster, but King rolls out of the ring and the two brawl to thef loor. King throws Aries into the apron, off the steps, into the barricade, etc. He gets in Taz’ face and tells him to inform the world that he’s going to win. They fight back into the ring and Aries claps his opponents ears, sends him to the outside, and suicide dives throught he ropes to take him out. He hits a neckbreaker and comes off the top rope with a missile dropkick, picking up a close two-count. Aries with knife-edge chops, but he rings into a huge boot that turns him inside-out, followed by a nice kick and a spinebuster from King, who gets caught using the ropes for leverage. King gets in Brian Hebner’s face, but turns around into a forearm shot and roll-up, which Aries transitions into the Last Chancery. King breaks the hold and springboards off the ropes with a neckbreaker for two. Kenny gets pissed off and drags his opponent to the top rope, but Aries reverses into a super Brainbuster! 1…2…3.
Winner: Austin Aries
KILLAM: A pretty unintersting first act, with a much better second act that picked up the pace and had a lot of nearfalls. If given 15 or 20 minutes, I think these two could bring down the house. Aries and Lashley will both move up to tonight’s main event to fight for the world title.
