Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

Despite me ripping into the recent TV shows, the PPV was not that bad.  The matches weren't beyond expectations, but the wrestling mostly was decent to good.  The crap was mostly minimized and the action was consistently good.  You could tell that the wrestlers were motivated since were in a larger arena and in a different location.  I liked how the initial match kicked off with the Ultimate X tag team match.  Having a fast, action packed match start off was a smart move and is what TNA needs to do consistently for their TV programming as well.

I really don't care for their gauntlet matches.  There are too many that belittle the individual wrestlers in lieu of attempting to showcase everyone.  I know the purpose behind the match, but they should be rare.  The tag team title match ended a disaster.  Heck, they couldn't even get Pacman Jones to wrestle once, which is sad.  Good thing they put it on AJ and Tomko.  I like the idea of that team and the double team move at the end was a nice finish to start a new title reign.  I'm going to look forward to AJ/Tomko vs LAX.  That ought to be a NICE feud.  At least three future PPVs should consist of them in a feud, including one Ultimate X match.  AJ (along with Christopher Daniels) had great chemistry with LAX, so I'd like to see this new tag team match up (Size/Power + Speed vs Size/Power + Speed).

Christopher Daniels vs Jay Lethal was good.  I really liked the last few minutes.  The finish was the exclaimation mark that Jay Lethal needed to proclaim he's the real deal.  The top rope Lethal Combination was a good move and I'm glad he busted it out on a big PPV.

Steiners vs Team  3D served it s purpose.  Neither team are at their peak any longer, but they (actually Scott Steiner) can still put out a few nice surprises.  One more PPV match between both teams would keep Team 3D occupied while LAX contends with AJ/Tomko.

Although I don't like gauntlets, the women's gauntlet had more of a purpose than most of TNA's gauntlets in the past year or so.  It quickly introduced most of the women and established Kong as a major player while giving Gail Kim much deserved recognition via the title.  Good for Gail. The other thing that I liked about this match was that it introduced new faces.  The rest of the scene has been boring with the same people over and over.  They've established a few women, but I hope that the newer ones have some real ability.  Kong looked excellent out there.  Hopefully, they'll let Gail Kim keep the title a little while (6 months at least) before the real feud breaks out.

Christian Cage vs Samoa Joe.  This was very good.  Definitely, these two have good chemistry and it made you wanting a little more.

Overall, not a bad PPV.  I really wish they'd eliminate a match here or there and give another match an extra 5 minutes.  I would've liked removing the Monsters Ball match and giving 5 more minutes to Jay Lethal vs Christophere Daniels and Samoa Joe vs Christian Cage.  I want more memorable long matches.  They really haven't had any so TNA won't qualify for true match of the year awards.  The work might be good, but they're never memorable outside of a spot or two.  But I'd prefer the match to make a statement at the end of the day.  This is something the WWE has an edge over TNA, even if WWE's shows have less moves per match.  I think that says a lot about the wrestling philosophies of both companies.