Thunder’s Weekly Rundown 07/14/12

TNA Destination X Final Thoughts: TNA delivered 95% on this ppv. The four way opening match was solid, and the four qualifying matches for the Ultimate X were solid. Joe and Angle put on a good match, and Daniels/Styles was as personal and physical as we expected it to be. The main event saw a new World Champion crowned in what will be one of the most underrated ppv main events this year. My only disappointment from the entire show would be the Ultimate X match. The match was a spotfest with some good moments, but the overall matchup turned out to be rather lackluster compared to past Ultimate X matches. Overall, this was a great wrestling show delivered by TNA Wrestling.

Raw 07/09/12 Final Thoughts: Raw was less than mediocre. For a go home Raw before MITB, it was downright awful. I don’t know why WWE thinks the entertainment aspect(which isn’t all that spectacular) should override the wrestling aspect of their programming in terms of time on matches. It’s just sad.

WWE NXT 07/11/12:

Camacho defeats Tyson Kidd using the DDT after a distraction from Michael McGillicutty.

A Bray Wyatt cult video package is shown.

Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater have a backstage altercation over their match next week.

Aiden English is defeated by Bray Wyatt in a short match.

A Seth Rollins video package is shown.

The Prime Time Players defeated the Usos in the main event. The Players use their finisher when the ref is distracted and Young gets the pinfall.

Thoughts: Camacho held his own well against Kidd; I was pretty impressed at his overall performance. Camacho is the son of former WWE/WCW star Haku/Meng, for those of you who don’t know. I liked the win for him, and it doesn’t hurt Kidd at all because it furthers his rivalry with Michael McGillicutty. Bray Wyatt’s cult and squash add to his future push; I’m concerned that vignettes for the duration of his new injury won’t be enough to keep him relevant. Two former Nexus guys in Slater and Gabriel having a one on one match next week? Heck yes. I was glad to see the Prime Time Players get a decent victory over the Usos, but I’m annoyed with not seeing the Players on Raw or on the MITB card this Sunday. Solid show from NXT, and I can’t wait for next week!

WWE Superstars 07/12/12:

Hunico defeats Justin Gabriel in a solid match that went about 12 minutes. Hunico got the pin by rolling Gabriel over out of a pin attempt.

Kaitlyn and Alicia Fox defeat Natalya and Beth Phoenix when Kaitlyn rolls Beth into a small package pinfall.

Jinder Mahal defeats Alex Riley using the camel clutch.

Thoughts: Hunico and Gabriel wrestled the best match on television this week, and very few people will have had the chance to see their match. Look! A divas match! I love the lack of concern and care for the females in WWE; it’s ridiculous that Superstars this week is the only place they get featured. Mahal and Riley wrestle again? Really? Ridiculous. Mahal is working hard to be a better performer because of Vince’s love for his look. I feel like WWE needs to stop worrying about look and base their pushes on pure talent. It’s a theory, but not Vince McMahon’s way of thinking by any stretch.

Impact Wrestling 07/12/12:

Impact opens with Bully Ray defeating Joseph Park in a match. Park black hole slams Ray after the match and shakes like Abyss.

RVD defeats Samoa Joe in a BFGS match with a small package rollup.

A lengthy in ring segment takes place with AJ Styles, Kazarian, Daniels and Claire. Claire confirms that AJ is the father of her unborn child, but Styles doesn’t seem to remember.

Zema Ion defends the X-Division Title against Dakota Darsow. Ion wins in a short match.

Austin Aries comes to the ring as the new World Champ and gets interrupted by an enraged Bobby Roode. Nothing is resolved but Aries taunts the fact that he won the title.

Miss Tessmacher defeats Gail Kim after using the flying elbow.

Kurt Angle defeats Ken Anderson in a BFGS match.

Hulk Hogan books Bobby Roode in a rematch with Aries for the title at Hardcore Justice. He also tells Roode to call out Aries next week on Open Fight Night.

Sting comes to the ring to address the Aces and Eights group. He calls for Hogan to come out. Hogan is shown being attacked backstage. Sting goes towards the back and gets jumped by the group from behind on the stage as the show ends.

Thoughts: I love the conflicting indentity crisis for Abyss’ character. I can’t wait for the superman phone booth transformation of Park into Abyss! I don’t like RVD getting the quick win over Joe after his big over Angle Sunday. Are you trying to make Joe look strong or weak, because right now I’m confused? The Claire storyline is just as annoying as before, but I’m guessing Daniels is actually the father of the child and Claire was brought in to set up AJ. Gotta love soap operas. Zema Ion cuts solid interviews, and I like him as the X-Division Champion. I’m glad Aries and Roode are being setup right away for their rematch; I hate when a champion starts defending his title against random opponents without giving the former champion a rematch first(Shawn Michaels 1996, anybody?). Tessmacher should be sent to developmental to get better, because she doesn’t look that good in the ring against Gail. Angle and Anderson wrestled the best match of the show without question, and I like both their odds to move up the ladder in the BFGS. The idea of Hogan getting back in the ring is horrendous, but I like the idea of the invading group as long as it doesn’t turn into another nWo storyline. Good show overall from Impact, but I’d like a little bit more focus on the X-Division after watching such a great wrestling ppv on Sunday.

Smackdown 07/13/12:

The GM of Smackdown this week, Zack Ryder, comes to the ring and welcomes us to Zackdown. He is quickly interrupted by Alberto Del Rio. Ryder books ADR in a match with Sin Cara. Del Rio defeats Sin Cara in a decent length match.

Big Show confronts Zack Ryder about him being GM tonight. Ryder introduces Show to his opponent tonight, Khali.

Darren Young goes one on one with Primo. Primo gets the win with a small package rollup on Young.

Backstage, Zack Ryder books Chris Jericho in a match with Sheamus.

Christian and Santino Marella team up to take on Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes. Ziggler wins the match using zigzag on Santino.

Big Show defeats Khali in a short match.

Ryback defeats Tyler Reks in a short match. Reks gets in about thirty seconds of offense, and then Ryback destroys him.

Damien Sandow defeats Justin Gabriel in a short match using the neckbreaker.

Sheamus defeats Jericho with the brogue kick in the main event. Del Rio attacks Sheamus after the match and does the cross armbreaker on the stage to close the show.

Thoughts: I liked watching Del Rio and Sin Cara have an actual match; why can’t these two have a longterm rivalry and keep Del Rio out of the main event scene? Young and Primo wrestled a good match; I like the continuation of tag team rivalries through one on one matches. It’s good to see Dolph Ziggler get some momentum heading towards Money In The Bank, and I liked seeing these four participate in a solid wrestling match. Big Show and Khali was boring, but it was kept short and to the point. Big Show is a monster right now, but soon he’ll just be back to boring Show. I like the storyline for Reks and Hawkins as they try to take down Ryback, but I’m concerned with the fact that neither of them will beat him and then they’ll just be tossed into irrelevance once again. I like seeing Damien Sandow get pushed; I’d really like to see him in a rivalry with Christian over the IC Title. Working with Christian could do a lot to boost Sandow’s stock quickly on the main roster. Sheamus and Jericho worked a fantastic main event, and the chemistry between those two is just awesome. I love watching Jericho bring out the best in Sheamus, mostly because there are only a few select individuals who can do that(Triple H and DBry, for example). Good Smackdown overall!

News Items:

Goldust/Rhodes: Goldust and Cody Rhodes as a match did not happen because of Vince McMahon not giving it the green light. Heaven forbid Vince make a smart decision on something that people want to see.

Kharma/WWE: Kharma is apparently no longer with WWE. It’s too bad that things turned out how they did, but WWE seems to be moving away from the divas division and focusing on other things. That said, Kharma is probably in the best position to not be brought in and have her time wasted doing nothing.

Brooklyn Brawler: Steve Lombardi is being rumored as a 2013 Hall of Fame inductee. I like the decision; I think more often than not certain hard working talent in WWE are overlooked, and the Brooklyn Brawler is one of those company guys that deserves some serious recognition. Congrats to the Brawler if the rumors are true!

NXT Championship: The NXT Championship has been created, and a tournament has been set in motion at the tv tapings. I love the idea of giving the performers on the show a goal to shoot for. What better way to make storylines interesting on the developmental show than to create something for performers to feud over? This is a huge step in the advancement of WWE developmental.

It was a great week in wrestling(with the exception of Raw). I apologize for the lack of FCW and Ring of Honor here, but it’s out of my control in regards to FCW(ROH wasn’t available to me again this week). There probably won’t be a rundown next week, but Lightning and I are working on something big and the announcement will be coming soon. I’ve also got a typical Summerslam write up in the works. Until next time, you’ve been Thunderstruck!