Midweek wrestling

TNA XPlosion

Commentators:  Jeremy Borash & Pat Kenney.

Brutus Magnus vs. Tag Team Champion Christopher Daniels, Bound For Glory Series:  So who's the face in THIS matchup?  I guess it'd be Magnus by default...minor history as Daniels & Frankie Kazarian won the tag belts from Magnus & Samoa Joe a few months ago.  I could go on for a while about the people who did and didn't rate spots in the BFS Series...Daniels but not Kazarian?  Robbie Eckos?  "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero(who hadn't been around in months) but not Crimson(who was undefeated until fairly recently)?  Magnus catches an aerial move and spinebusters Daniels to the mat, then nicely transitions into a Texas Cloverleaf(submissions = more points!)...Daniels reaches the ropes to escape.  To his credit, Kenney does note Kazarian's absence from ringside(as well as his absence from the BFG Series).  Magnus blocks Angel's Wings and delivers a backdrop...time for the comeback!  Magnus hits his unique vertical suplex variation followed by the elbowdrop off the second rope...for two.  Magnus looks to finish but Daniels hangs onto the ref to escape the Mag Daddy Driver...then slides down the back to get the cheap pin with a rollup and handful of tights.  Seven points!

WWE NXT6

Commentators:  Byron Saxton, S. William Regal, & Jim Ross.  Ring announcer:  Chris Russo.

Tamina Snuka vs. Kaitlyn Bonin:  So who's the heel in this matchup?  Tamina seems more cheerful than Kaitlyn during her entrance...then Kaitlyn stalls a bit and tries to hide behind the ref after taking an early chop.  Kaitlyn takes a few shots at the leg to keep Tamina down, then chokes her on the bottom rope before applying a bodyscissors.  A faceslam duel leaves both ladies down...but it's Tamina who takes advantage and slams Kaitlyn to the mat.  Kaitlyn hangs onto the leg to prevent a climb up the ropes, then hits a Russian Legsweep before locking on a headscissors/armbar combo!  Tamina shows her power by standing up with Kaitlyn on her shoulders, breaking out of the hold with a Samoan Drop.  Now it's time to go to the third floor...the Superfly Splash hits and that's the ballgame.

Coming to NXT6:  Big E Langston.  He's...big.

Percy Watson vs. Jinder Mahal:  Percy looks good early, but Mahal kicks him in the leg and capitalizes with a CRAVATE~! and knees to the head.  Regal comments that John Cena has been a behind-the-scenes mentor to Watson in recent months...interesting.  Jinder targets the back and neck to wear Percy down for his finisher...but Watson cuts him off with a jawbreaker to cue the comeback.  OH YEAH~! Showtime Splash gets two, but Mahal ducks a blind cross-body off the second rope and Percy hits the canvas.  Mahal connects with the high knee and the camel clutch is academic at that point.  The tapout isn't enough for Jinder as he reapplies the hold after the match...finally releasing it before the referee remembers anything about decision reversals.

Richie Steamboat vs. Leo Kruger:  These two had a backstage altercation recently so now they fight...WOO~!  A lot of the new guys have fairly generic music, but I'm digging Leo's new regal-sounding theme.  Regal claims that Kruger's sash was bestowed upon him by Nelson Mandela...okay then.  Leo warns Russo that if something happens to his sash, something's going to happen to him...oh wait, wrong guy.  The opening chop duel goes in Steamboat's favor(shock!)...but Kruger uses a well-placed rollup to send Richie backwards into the lower turnbuckles.  Leo stays on the neck(sleeperhold?) but gets small-packaged...for two.  Kruger spends a lot of time posting and posturing...then pays for it as Richie nails the enzuigiri.  Chops remain on the menu but Leo rolls out of the ring to regroup.  Richie chases him back into the ring and hits a cross-bodyblock, but Leo rolls through the move and gets the cheap pin with feet on the ropes.

Paige Knight vs. Raquel Diaz:  Raquel seems to have invested in one of Abraham Washington's headset microphones.  Paige does get an entrance this week...this makes her second NXT appearance in a row as a face.  Paige hits a nice superkick for a quick two-count...but Diaz stalls in the ropes to slow the momentum.  A modified legsweep by Raquel sends Paige face-first to the mat...then KICK WHAM GORY BOMB ends it.

Aksana Raudoniene flirts with Alex Riley backstage...then immediately changes her tune when Antonio Cesaro enters the picture, saying Riley was making a pass at her.  Sounds like a match for next week.

Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater:  Former WWE Tag Team Champions now face each other one-on-one...of course, they've had very different career paths in recent months.  Jim Ross joins the broadcast team for the main event...WOO~!  Regal wonders if there was always an underlying rivalry between the two even in the Nexus days...in fact, they tangled a few times in FCW over the Heavyweight Title.  J.R. astutely notes that Heath is NOT related to Dirty Dick Slater.  Gabriel's aerial game finally backfires in a major way as Slater breaks up a springboard move, causing Gabriel to take a NASTY spill to the ring apron en route to the floor.

The flying neckbreaker only gets a two-count because Gabriel's no clown, or something.  Heath works on the neck and Gabriel tries to return fire from the apron, only to take a swinging neckbreaker through the ropes...for two.  Gabriel finally gets an opening after a missed Stinger Splash...cue the educated feet!  Blue Thunder Bomb...gets two.  Heath counters into a spinebuster...for two.  A reversal sequence ends in an inverted suplex by Slater...for two.  Gabriel goes to the ropes again and gets caught again...hanging neckbreaker!  That somehow only gets 2 1/2.  Heath sets Gabriel back up on the turnbuckles but Justin elbows him to the mat, then kicks him away before Asai-moonsaulting into an inverted DDT!  That's enough for Gabriel to get the hard-fought victory...nicely done.

WWE Superstars.com

Commentators:  Josh Mathews, Scott Stanford, & Matt Striker.

U.S. Champion Santino Marella vs. Jinder Mahal, non-title:  Don't see Jinder's NXT success carrying over to this matchup.  Santino actually shows his technical skill for a little while...keep forgetting about that.  Fairly competitive matchup while it lasts...Santino gets the win with the Cobra.

Alex Riley vs. Cody Rhodes:  Riley throws Cody over the top rope and Cody "skins the cat" back into the ring...only for Riley to clothesline him right back to the floor.  A suplex battle on the apron leads to Cody kicking out Riley's knee, causing Riley to fall rather painfully to the floor.  It's all Rhodes for the next few minutes...he actually tries a full nelson but Riley fights out of the hold.  El Big Comeback ensues...then Riley goes to the top rope but gets dropkicked in mid-move.  Both men are slow to rise but Riley gets a surprise rollup for two.  Riley catches him on his shoulders for an attempted Final Score(TKO) but Cody slides down the back right into position for the Crossrhodes...bam, that'll do it.

Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. Johnny Curtis & Derrick Bateman:  Guess Bateman has nothing better to do than team with his recent rival.  Curtis & Bateman don't get an entrance...bad sign.  They replay the Usos' dance with their father Rikishi Phatu on Raw...yes, but can either of them do the Worm?  An early attempt at teamwork from Curtis & Bateman backfires in comical fashion, but Curtis still throws Jey out of the ring...and Bateman adds a dropkick off the apron for good measure.  These guys do have some experience as a team...they even held the FCW Tag Titles.  Bateman misses an elbowdrop off the second rope, then Curtis misses a guillotine legdrop for good measure...so Jimmy gets the hot tag!  Curtis gets hit with the Umaga Smash but Bateman breaks up the cover.  Jey low-bridges Bateman out, then Jimmy takes out Curtis with the Samoan Drop before finishing him off with the splash off the top.

Sin Cara vs. Drew McIntyre:  Cara takes to the air right away, but an attempted rana off the apron is blocked and McIntyre swings him into the ringside barricade(GCW~!).  Drew slows the pace, giving Striker time to plug his new Twitter account.  Sin Cara FLIPPIES~! his way into a comeback and stuns Drew with a kick from the apron, then hits a slingshot corkscrew splash...for two.  He goes aerial once too often and gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker...for two.  McIntyre decides to try out the turnbuckles for size...then finds out why he shouldn't do that as Cara cuts him off.  Drew whiffs on the clothesline off the middle rope and Sin Cara tilt-a-whirls into a mid-air DDT to score the victory!

TNA Impact

Commentators:  Mike Tenay & Taz.

James Storm called out Kurt Angle, but Kurt was attacked backstage by the masked "Aces & Eights" group that laid out Hulk Hogan and Sting last week.

Bound For Glory Series:  Samoa Joe d. "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero with a juji gatame armbar(thanks Taz) out of nowhere.

Bound For Glory Series:  Robbie Eckos(w/ Robbie Terry) d. Jeff Hardy by countout.  Terry interfered repeatedly until Hardy finally snapped and attacked him outside the ring...leading to Robbie E getting the cheap victory after Jeff didn't beat the ten-count.

Bound For Glory Series:  Ken Anderson d. A.J. Styles with a pinning combination out of a reversal sequence.

Bound For Glory Series:  Christopher Daniels d. Rob Van Dam after RVD missed Rolling Thunder and Daniels pinned him with feet on the ropes.

Bound For Glory Series:  Bully Ray d. Brutus Magnus with the Bully Cutter.

Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries d. Bobby Roode(non-title) by DQ when the Aces & Eights attacked Aries.  The commentators had been speculating that Roode was behind the group...but they attacked HIM too.