Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm

[5.0] "It's a fine opener with a very hot crowd. Too short to have anything of substance, but it's fine for what it is. Jericho is protected in a loss by cheating. Lance Storm came out of semi-retirement for the show."

[7.0] "In my opinion a vey solid match between two great and technical athlethes like Storm and Jericho a lot of technical moves. In the end I believe that maybe the end involving Justin Credible was nice but maybe they could have done something cleaner."

[7.0] "Great opening match with such a quick chaotic ending. A lot of nice technical trading in this match and a lot of action packed into a sub-10 minute match. ***3/4"

[5.0] "Good way to start off the evening. It was pretty solid for being under ten minutes. Storm looked to be in good shape despite not having a match in a while. Nice ode to history with the Impact Players reuniting for that bit. Jericho leaves to a "Lionheart" chant."

[7.0] "Great match and opener. Fast paced, did what it needed. Great and crispy smooth wrestling. Nothing much else to say. Show peaked here."

[7.0] "This match with a few more minutes would definitely have stolen the show, the math wrestling sequences here are sensational, by not getting the reference of the interferences it ended up costing me a bit of immersion in the great match that was being presented [***3/4]."

[7.0] "Really fun opener that the crowd was super into. Lance and Jericho are both pros, and the Impact Players reunion, as well as Jericho with the nod to his previous "Lionheart" gimmick was all fun."

[6.0] "Exceptional match, lackluster ending. For an opening match the audience was on their feet and ready for some proper wrasslin, and these two men were already legends for their technical ability so you're guaranteed great work. The enzugiri reversal of the spring board nothing had me pop, it just felt like the match needed another 5 minutes and one more big move before the credible interference."

[7.0] "This perfectly sets the tone for the iconic night ahead, playing the hits with energy and snap. The latter is what makes this particularly notable compared to much of the rest though, sporting razor sharp execution throughout. Storm's performance is particularly notable in that regard, still silky smooth after barely wrestling for the past year. ***1/4"

[8.0] "As far as PPV openers go, this one was everything it needed to be. Great technical wrestling, didn't go too long, and there weren't any show-stealing spots. This would probably be a 9 if not for the ending, which felt unnecessarily dirty. The match could've had a kendo stick spot between Storm and Jericho without tons of interference. The crowd was super into it, though, and everything but the last ten seconds was a great watch."

[8.0] "Great opener for the PPV. Storm and Jericho have great chemistry together with the action being very smooth. Justin Credible and Jason Knight come out and attack Jericho, giving Storm the win. This is the one condition I'm ok with interference in a match."

[6.0] "Pretty solid. For a match that was only 7 minutes long they managed to pack in some pretty solid sequences in here especially towards the end. Nothing too crazy but for what was essentially a 7 minute showcase match, this was relatively good. ***"

[6.0] "An incredibly well contested match between two guys that know each other so well. The start and end are so fast paced and back and forth, but the middle dips a good bit and get a little mundane. The only reason I can't rate this match higher is because, even typing this review immediately after watching it, it's hard to remember anything truly memorable about it other than the fact that it was very good. I appreciate Jericho going throwback here and even changing his style somewhat to remind you of the old days. In general, this was a very good match that just didn't quite reach a boiling point."

[7.0] "This was a great opener. Both guys went all out for the seven-ish minutes they had, with Lance Storm looking especially crisp here. The crowd was red hot for all of it, and they got their Impact Players pose at the end. ***1/2"

[9.0] "An amazing match with fast paced, smooth and technical action, helped by the insanely hot crowd and a really great way to open the show."

[7.0] "It was a fantastic decision to start the show with this. The atmosphere was phenomenal and with that it was much easier to have a great match, but they still delivered in the pure wrestling area. They were smooth, it was really fast-paced and the fans loved it, plus the finish was executed perfectly."

[7.0] "I could watch these two wrestle each other for the full 2 and a half hours, but they got very little to work with. Outside of a couple exchanges, it felt like they were building up to a longer match that didn't happen. I don't know if they got cut short 5-10 minutes or what, but what's here is very good still."

[6.0] "A good opener, a little short I would have taken it for another 5 minutes. From the start we know that we have found the hot audience of ECW who react like clockwork. (3*1/4)"

[8.0] "This was a really hot opener for the show and the atmosphere in the arena made it feel special. You can't really go wrong with Jericho and Storm wrestling a technical classic and the action was smooth all the way through, which is all the more impressive considering this was Lance Storm's last match with the WWE and his career was winding down. It really gets the action very quickly and there's no real dead spot to speak of. I thought the result was surprising given Jericho's star power, but Justin Credible interfering and hitting Jericho with the Singapore Cane and reuniting the Impact Players got a massive reaction from the crowd. You could tell this show was going to be something special right on the first match."

[8.0] "Too short to really reach all timer status but for the time they got they made the most of those 7 minutes. Jericho and storm wasted no time this match was already on a 2nd gear From the start. Really enjoyed this one their chemistry is so good and the finish with Justin credible hitting Jericho with the kendo stick helping storm win was a good touch 3.75/5 underrated match"

"Very good opener. Too short to be great but I really enjoyed the fast paced action. I didn't even mind the finish. Lance was still a great in ring worker here. I personally think this match showed he had more in the tank. Probably would have been **** if it went another 4 or 5 minutes but it is still great as it is. 3 3/4 *."

[9.0] "I was surprised by how good this was. A non-stop action technical match and certainly an underrated bout. Kudos to both men."

[8.0] "This was a really good match with some great wrestling and really fast pace the crowd was really into it and both men worked great together.****"

[8.0] "Really great for such a short amount of time. They just went out there and had a great, fast-paced wrestling match, greatly demonstrating their technical abilities, with some nice high flying stuff mixed in. That dropkick by Storm was also a thing of beauty. Jericho lost after being nailed by a kendo stick by Justin Credible, so kind of a screwy finish, but this was still a really good match. ***3/4"

[7.0] "Unsurprisingly this was a very enjoyable straight up wrestling match to kick of proceedings. Both lads put some effort in and it got the PPV off to a good start."

[7.0] "A very strong opener with a hot crowd to boot. Solid and clean wrestling with an iffy yet satisfying finish. Good stuff. [***1/2]"

[10.0] "Fantastic match, back and forth, non-stop action, hot crowd, surprise finish. Jericho as Lionheart in 2005!"

[8.0] "A very good opener to a very good show. Both wrestlers showed some nice technical wrestling and had some really cool spots. The ending worked very well for this match. The crowd was really hot for this one and made this match between former tag team partners almost perfect. Overall a very good match."

[8.0] "Technical match, really good for an opener. The crowd loved it and it was well executed from both sides. Jericho used a different style from his usual matches. Entertaining fight to begin the show. ***3/4"

[7.0] "Hot opener. Good action, excited crowd. The finish was great I loved it, what a way to kick off a ppv thumbs up from me. ***1/4"