12/11/2013 TNA One Night Only: Tournament of Champions

Austin Aries def. Kurt Angle in 11:13

This match was taped for one of TNA’s One Night Only PPV series, which they didn’t put much effort into, but I had hopes given the participants. Aries tried mat wrestling Angle early, and Angle was literally LOL’ing at the thought of Aries mat wrestling one of the best amateur wrestlers in history. There was also a spot much later in the match where Aries acted like he was dropping the straps and put on the ankle lock, so they definitely crammed some comedy into this match. The work was solid, but they also worked like this: they were filling contractually obligated time for PPVs that very few would see. Angle set up for the Angle slam, and Aries rolled him up for the surprise win. This was fine at best. **1/2 

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