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Adam J. Grammas of Westchester, Ill. (2.0): Best: Not much. Worst: Main event. A night after that "wonderful" Raw, and things aren't much better. The opener was fine I guess, but wouldn't Thorn want to eliminate the more talented Burke (whom he butted heads with minutes before) rather than help him pin mid-carder Richards? I understand they don't want Burke eliminated first, but why show Thorn helping him? Isn't the Balls-Kelly thing just a wee bit hokey? "Will you go out with me?" Are we in 8th grade? Let's see, the champ doesn't wrestle on the show, but we get the honor of seeing Big Daddy V take on the Boogey Man, who between them have, um, no moves! Kudos to the guy in the audience who kept showing his sign promoting the next TNA PPV when the camera was on him.

Steve Feinberg of Cleveland, Ohio (8.5): Best: Four-way contenders' match. Worst: Balls vs. Knox. (Memo to Balls Mahoney: I don't think she likes you in that way bro'!) Well, well, well, what a concept; four guys working their tails off in pursuit of a championship belt. Lest anyone missed it, the crowd was popping for the match as well as the (promos) leading up to it. Elijah Burke carried the stick and the mat work. Don't know if the Blue Meanie and "last win in '97" lines were his own, but it doesn't really matter. A three-and-a-falf star effort all around. And was that actually Kevin Thorne speaking in front of an audience? A pleasant surprise, and about 10,000 percent more interesting than seeing some diminutive jabronie jamming Lucky Charms into his pie hole! Is it just me or is C.M. Punk morphing into a new age tweener? A babyface champ talking smack while the underutilized contender stews in frustration. Too bad we had to watch the obese assasin once again in the main event. Can't they get him to crash the part on "The Biggest Loser" or something?

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (8.0): Best: Elimination Chase four-way Worst: Big Daddy V vs. Boogeyman (but I expected as much). I like the idea of the Elimination Chase format; had there been a bigger roster (or allowed to include all the current roster in multiple matches per show), there could be something to this. They made it look like anyone could win or lose the match, though it will likely end with Burke-Punk at No Mercy. The match itself was a little wild and chaotic, but the story is that these guys were "unprepared" to be just thrown into a match, as opposed to having time to train and prepare (as Dreamer, Thorn, and Burke will be for next week now that they know what they're getting into). I expected Dreamer to be the first eliminated, but it was Richards instead. That may have been to keep the recent Thorn-Richards feud detached a bit, though now there is another reason to go back at it. And Burke's elbow drop now has a name, Outer Limits. I like it. What I like about the Miz-Balls feud is that each show takes another step. Balls finally got the nerve to ask Kelly out, something that would have made no sense a month ago. I'm waiting to see if they go beyond the mentioning that Knox was Kelly's boyfriend. And while the script isn't the greatest, Miz's heelness has evolved to be cocky and obnoxious but insecure, and is being pulled off well. Big Daddy V vs. Boogeyman could have been a lot worse, but those two seemed to do well enough knowing their place in the card and the crowd didn't give up totally on it.

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