Against All Odds 2010
Date: February 14, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tazz, Mike Tenay

Well we’re a month and a half into the Hogan regime and things are looking better from a wrestling perspective but from a ratings perspective not so much. Anyway, tonight we have Joe vs. Styles and a one night tournament for the title shot at Lockdown, which isn’t for another two months but whatever. I fail to see where the card game aspect comes from also but whatever, The tournament is intriguing looking so let’s get to it.

Here are the brackets.

Pope
Desmond Wolfe

Hernandez
Matt Morgan

Kurt Angle
Mr. Anderson

Abyss
Mick Foley

We open with Flair storming in and he’s ticked because Bischoff is the referee. Ok then. Flair stumbles over his words a lot. Does anyone buy Flair as a 60 year old man being physically intimidating?

The opening video is about the tournament and how winning it is the ultimate prize. I thought that would be the world title but whatever. Oh and we hear about the world title match too. For the life of me, why are they making Styles into a Flair clone? He’s the best in the world, so let’s change it up right? That makes LOADS of sense.

The music sounds like bad lounge music.
–
8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Desmond Wolfe vs. D’Angelo Dinero

Sweet goodness Chelsea looks great. Good night though, shut up Tenay and West. Wlofe is a guy I like more and more every time I see him. Pope….I just don’t get it. He’s a wrestling Slick and somehow that’s a gimmick? Wait…Tenay just asked which young stud will break through. Angle, Abyss and Foley are all former world champions, Hernandez has been around forever and everyone knows Kennedy.

I get the idea of what he’s saying but it’s still kind of dumb. The people are behind Pope, but at the same time how serious can you take the Impact Zone fans? They’re starting out fast paced here which I like pretty well. Wolfe’s nipples are really close together. NICE DDT on Pope. Pope has a unique style of striking which is reminding me of Sting, which is a compliment.

A top rope cross body gets two. The big lariat misses and Pope gets a rollup for two. And then we get a very contrived ending on the levels of the 619 as Pope hits the dumbest finisher in the company at the moment with the double knee to the back of the conveniently placed opponent for the pin.

Rating: B. Not bad at all and a very solid opener. They went out there and had a fast paced match. I would have had Wolfe go further, but if they wanted Pope to go over strong, I can’t argue with how they did it as it was a completely clean win.

Flair yells at Bischoff again. He declares himself the wrestling god. Oh dang it they’re channeling JBL. That can’t be good. You can smell Flair vs. Hogan and Hogan going over from here.

JB is (back thank goodness. Not a huge fan of his but he’s not Bubba so he’s great by comparison) with Morgan and Hernandez who says they fight tonight but they’re still champions no matter what. Hernandez being that much shorter is funny for some reason.

8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan

Not wild in the slightest about them having these two go at it so soon but I get the point again. Something I need to make clear: any company is going to get a lot of points for just having a direction and an idea that is clear. I likely won’t agree with it, but if something has a point that makes something resembling sense a lot of the time I’ll just go with it. This is one of those times. Don’t agree with it, but it’s passable.

Tazz thinks both guys want to win. Oh year that’s such great analysis. Winner gets Pope. Hernandez goes for a cross body and they botch the living heck out of is as Morgan tries to catch him but it fails completely. They’re being really tentative here which makes sense from a storyline perspective but at the same time it makes for some boring wrestling. Taz and Tenay are REALLY annoying. They finally crank it up a bit but not that much really.

We do get a 25-30 second delayed vertical suplex. That’s rather impressive. Uh oh Hernandez might be hurt. So Morgan goes for the shoulder and uses the tights to get the win. TNA…why are you trying to mess with things that are like your mother: NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU SHOULD BE SCREWING WITH! Yep they’re teasing tension between the two.

Rating: C-. This was too slow for my taste. It wasn’t bad at all but just not that good. I HATED the ending as these two simply do not need tension yet. I don’t like them as a team but it’s still stupid nonetheless. Morgan should have won though.

We recap Angle recently which is kind of odd but whatever. Ok this has gone on for about three minutes now. Angle apologizes to Hogan for….no apparent reason. Oh ok it’s for helping him Thursday. He also calls out Anderson, who is his first round opponent.

8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle

He misses the mic. “That was intentional.” I chuckled. Kennedy is another guy that has found something that works and has RAN with it. Sometimes that’s the best thing to do and it worked here. For some reason his music starts up again after his promo and plays for like 3 seconds before Angle’s starts up. Whatever. Angle is another interesting case as he’s proof that a reputation can be a character.

The screen behind him says The Greatest Wrestler In The World. What more do you need to know about him? They start rather quickly which is a perk. Angle hits the post with his shoulder which I don’t think was his initial idea. Anderson gets the dog tag that Angle wears and cuts him open with it really bad. Oh man he’s bleeding nice and hard.

I love that release belly to belly that Angle uses. Take note Scott Steiner: there are other moves than that and a bad chinlock. There goes the buckle pad thanks to the heel here. Naturally the Angle Slam doesn’t work. Has that gotten anyone in forever? Angle GOES OLYMPIC but it doesn’t work. After being rammed into the buckle, Angle gets pinned by the Mic Check. Uh, yeah. Anderson spits on the dog tag afterwards.

Rating: C-. It’s certainly not bad, but this felt like it was just a total crash course of a match. They flew through it and it felt like it was about 3 minutes long when it was closer to ten or so. That’s not good, but like I said this certainly wasn’t bad at all.

Bischoff is with Foley and Abyss and if they don’t fight then the mask comes off. The fans are chanting Angle which is amusing for some reason. Also there’s no reason that Abyss should freak over the mask coming off when he took it off on his own months ago. It’s now a No DQ match. To clarify something FTS was wondering about, I’m ok with this as it makes sense from Bischoff’s perspective. It follows the story and I don’t need a scorecard to keep track of what’s going on. That makes up for the inconsistencies. I don’t like it, but it makes something close to sense so I’ll let it go.

8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Abyss vs. Mick Foley

Remember this is No DQ. Foley’s music isn’t bad and Abyss’ is at least easily recognizable. Eric made him get rid of the flannel. Naturally Tenay argues over what material it is. The fans of course want to see the bat used for no apparent reason. Foley slaps Abyss. Only Foley could slap a monster and get away with it. We hit the floor and I like the mats they have.

They’re really thick which I have no problem with. Foley busts out a chair and takes over. The fans aren’t sure what to do here as is often the case with two faces fighting. It’s thumbtacks time. Abyss keeps going against the hardcore stuff here as he chokeslams Foley but makes sure it’s not in the tacks. The fans still want the bat. And Abyss steals the sock from Foley’s pants, prompting a USE THE SOCK chant. Ok then.

Foley takes the referee down and gets his sock. Well that works I guess. The Claw goes onto Abyss but it only gets two. Foley comes at him with the bat and walks into the Black Hole Slam onto the tacks for the pin. He freaks because he hurt Foley.

Rating: B. This is a very different kind of match as it’s more about thinking and storytelling than action. Now the smart thing is that they took a guy like Foley who is as good at in ring psychology and character development as anyone in history and let him do this as it worked really well for me. This was a situation where it wasn’t about the wrestling but it really worked which is incredible rare.

Pope
Morgan

Anderson
Abyss

No reason for those names. Just a writing exercise I thought I’d try.

The Nasty Boys are with Christy and apparently Nastys vs. 3D is 15 years in the making. The Dudleys (the famous pairing that is) haven’t been around that long but whatever. The Nastys say they’re here to prove something or other. Whatever. Knobbs can’t say the name of their opponents. It’s a number and a letter. We recap the feud which was ok if nothing else. Again, yes they Nastys have feuded with a lot of great teams. How many have they actually beaten?

Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D

So now people are being asked to pay to see the Nasty Boys. Good to know. That lounge music is REALLY annoying. No one in TNA has ever taken it to Team 3D like the Nastys? REALLY? Sags looks slimmer and nearly in shape. Knobbs…not so much. 3D runs them off and I guess they’re the faces? It’s been 2 minutes so they might have turned since then.

We get to a regular tag match with Sags vs. Bubba. Both guys have pants with their team name on it. Is that in case they get lost? Sign in the front row: pipe down nerds. That’s rather funny. The fans want to sit down and eat. What else could they want tables for? This hasn’t been as bad as I expected, but it’s nothing compared to the Nasty Boys doing science experiments like they did in 1995.

You have to see that clip if you don’t know what I’m talking about. SuperBrawl 1995, opening of the tape. Go find it as it’s just bizarre. Oh look: Brooke Hogan is here. It has nothing to do with the show or the match, but it needs to be noted: Brooke Hogan is indeed HERE. The Nastys take over now.

Taz says lifting Knobbs is like lifting a small foreign car. That’s rather funny. Sags takes 3D and JIMMY FREAKING HART makes the save. Are you kidding me??? His helmet is slammed into Bubba for the pin. Love that voice.

Rating: C-. I’m very surprised as this wasn’t terrible by any means. It wasn’t particularly good but it was far from bad. I do not get the point in the Nasty Boys being on TV but having Hart there is never a bad thing.

Joe and Bischoff talk about the world title match.

8 Card Stud Semi-Finals: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan

Again I ask: what is a street pope? I don’t get it. Pope does the Bret Hart glasses thing which works. They’re going big man vs. little man here so that’s all well and good. We’re on the floor now and not a lot is going on. Oh I almost forgot: this is the feud that made me hate Burke. Back in OVW these two feuded FOREVER and it couldn’t have been more boring if their lives depended on it.

It was that feud that made me hate Burke and it’s why I have issues about him to this day. Expect a low grade here. Morgan is acting very heelish here and I’m not big on that at all. It’s bearhug time so they’re not doing themselves any favors at all. Morgan is dominating here and screw that as Pope is making his comeback.

Morgan BLUEPRINTS UP though and takes his head off with a clothesline. So one minute Pope is in survival mode and the next he’s hitting the knees to the back for the pin. Riiiight. Oh I especially love Morgan being on the corner and looking over his shoulder twice to see when he needs to be ready to sell.

Rating: D+. While I want to fail it because of the people in it, this didn’t do it for me. The story and psychology were pretty much non existent here and the ending was completely unbelievable as in yeah right that was stupid. Yes there’s likely some bias in there and it wasn’t jumping off the page bad or anything so don’t think that’s what I’m saying.

Anderson cuts a rather funny promo about how he beat Angle. It’s funnier than it sounds. He says his name once, leaves to the left and comes back from the right to say it again. The guy can talk no matter what you think of his in ring stuff.

8 Card Stud Semi-Finals: Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson

We start with a very long stalling session here which I guess is ok. The crowd is oddly quiet here. Why is Abyss being a former world champion NEVER mentioned? I know it’s a different world title but it’s just never talked about at all. They’ll talk about the WCW and WWE titles whenever it benefits them. Hey, we’re on the floor!

Always good to see TNA mixing things up. For some reason I always love dropkicks to the knee. There’s just something cool about that. Anderson works on the knee so at least that makes sense. He goes for the mask and when Abyss is trying to fix it, the Mic Check sends Anderson to the finals.

Rating: D. This was really weak to me. The knee stuff led nowhere and the ending did nothing for me. Abyss is in desperate need of credibility. This should have been Foley vs. Kennedy, period.

AJ cuts a very solid promo about being a great worker. Again I ask; WHAT POINT IS THERE TO FLAIR BEING THERE IF HE CAN TALK THIS WELL??? “But KB, he learned so much from talking to Flair.” And I have to see Flair on TV making AJ look like he needs a mentor WHY?

If you want to make him act like Flair then fine but we don’t need to see him there every five minutes. Sorry I just completely fail to see what Flair is there for. He’s the golden boy and the man in TNA and the best wrestler in the world so he needs a mentor all of a sudden? He’s the BEST. How much better can he get?

We recap Joe vs. AJ which needs no recapping but whatever.

Bischoff is coming to the ring. And Hogan is here too. Ok then.

TNA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Remember Bischoff is referee here. Why is he referee? No clue but it’s TNA so that comes with the territory. I love the total lack of tattoo on his face. AJ has a Flair robe. Shoot me now. Ok the hood on it makes it a lot better than I thought. Why in the world are they making AJ a heel here? Seriously, he’s so insanely over and they make a fortune off his merchandise so let’s just throw that away.

He has blonde highlights now too. That’s just great. Fans are WAY behind Joe. There is something awesome about the way JB says “From the Isle of Samoa.” No idea why but I’ve always loved that. As soon as the robe came off AJ got about 10x more awesome. AJ simply doesn’t need Flair to be a heel. The interesting thing here is that Flair and Eric have legit heat. Some of you might not know why though.

Back in 1998, Flair’s son Reid was wrestling in an amateur tournament in North Carolina and Flair was dead set on being there to watch him compete. He gave warning to Bischoff that he would be there and that’s all there was to it. The thing is there was a Thunder, not Nitro or a PPV but THUNDER, that night. Flair, having a thing called common sense, thought that since he was Ric Flair and this was WCW and he gave sufficient warning that he would be able to have a night off.

Bischoff thought otherwise and suspended him. This literally went on for months and the fans reverted back to 1991 and spent the whole show chanting WE WANT FLAIR. So this led to a famous as well as awesome moment where Arn Anderson reformed the Horsemen (adding in Dean Malenko for the first time) and completely unannounced brought out Flair for the first time in about four months in NORTH CAROLINA. What the heck do you think the reaction was?

Naturally Flair gets one of the biggest pops in WCW history and looks like a million bucks and the fans are FREAKING OUT. And of course they had Flair have a heart attack a few weeks later then had Bischoff beat him at Starrcade with a screwjob ending that the fans booed out of the freaking building. How did that company ever make a freaking dime?

The Horsemen were then, you guessed it, fed to the NWO and made to look like jokes while Hogan won the world title from Nash in the Fingerpoke of Doom, because of course having the guy the fans are cheering for like there’s no tomorrow being pushed as a serious character can’t work so let’s just stick with the same stuff that’s made us lose the biggest ratings lead in wrestling history while Austin and Vince are owning us in the ratings right?

ANYWAY, the point is that Bischoff more or less said that Flair was just one of the wrestlers and that carrying the company for as many years as he did was NOTHING in comparison to guys like Hogan and Savage who came in and tanked the company for two years before the one good idea that Bischoff had (read as stole from two Japanese companies that did the same thing years before the NWO was even heard of) made any money before he ran the company into the ground. Flair was disrespected and the fans chanted WE WANT FLAIR very loudly and Bischoff had to back down and let Flair come back before embarrassing him again.

Oh yeah there’s a PPV here. There is something just freaking awesome about the fans chanting JOE’S GONNA KILL YOU. How can that not get into your head? AJ works on the knee. Ok, that’s fine if he does it a bit but you have AJ Styles in there. Have him use his stuff, not Flair’s as his primary offense. We’re on the floor (I know I’m shocked too) and AJ is trying to suplex Joe which fails more than Flair’s hair.

I’m glad Joe is in the shorts again. They work better for him. Joe counters a top rope hurricanrana and goes aerial and hits kind of an enziguri to the front of the face. Flair goes after the leg. Never mind that it’s the WRONG ONE as AJ had worked on the right leg and Flair went after the left one but whatever. AJ uses an Indian Deathlock and bends back to more or less have his hands like you would for a reverse neckbreaker.

Benoit did that to Booker T once on Thunder and WCW went to a commercial just as he locked it in. Brilliance I tell you, brilliance. There’s the figure four that you knew was coming. Love that snap powerslam Joe does. I know I tend to skip around a lot on my reviewing but here’s my thought on why I don’t just list off play by play: if you wanted that, you could just go watch the match yourself.

Just thought I’d make that clear in case people think I fast forward and just watch pieces of the match. I write out what pops into my head and at times there isn’t much. Doesn’t mean the match is bad or anything but just nothing strikes me about it. And end of random tangent.

And Bischoff punches Flair. Ok then. Joe hits the Muscle Buster while this is happening and is ticked off that nothing can be done about it. Joe pulls Bischoff back in and walks into the Pele and the Clash for the pin. Flair demands that Bischoff raise AJ’s hand.

Rating: B+. Solid stuff here but it was missing a little something that I just can’t place. This is another match that you just can’t mess up and they didn’t here. Another solid showing here and it was certainly worthy of being the world title match.

We recap the tournament to this point which seems like a way to kill 3 minutes.

Anderson is with the red hot Christy who talks very well again. He’s wearing a different shirt here too. I have no idea what he’s saying here as Christy is just ridiculously good looking here. The gum is a great touch for Anderson.

Pope is with JB. Ah I get why I hate Pope again: he talks once in awhile. I was liking him a bit earlier and that’s all gone now. And it’s Hall and X-Pac. TNA security running in to stop them reminds me of a Keystone Cops segment as they’re constantly chasing these two around the building trying to stop them from getting into the building. They say something to Hogan and it’s whatever. Does anyone care about them at this point?

8 Card Stud Finals: Mr. Anderson vs. D’Angelo Dinero

Pope takes forever getting out there because he got beaten up. Ok then. The referee starts counting and you know he’ll be there in time so this is kind of pointless. Yep there he is. Anderson beats on him on the ramp. Even money says they’ll brawl on the floor too. Hey they’re fighting on the floor! They haven’t actually been in the ring yet. AJ and Flair are watching in the back.

This has been ALL Anderson, making the ending a tad obvious. Pope of course is ok after that much of a beating. Most of the match is Anderson beating on Pope and there’s your comeback. The DDE gets two and Anderson is in control again. Pope uses an STO which is Kennedy’s finisher in reverse.

Kennedy cuts a promo mid match and stops to hit the Mic Check for two and a pop from the fans. That’s….a bit too much from Pope. Anderson misses a Swanton and Pope hits the double knees to the back. He REALLY needs a new finisher.

Rating: B. They kept it simple here and it worked. This was fun. That’s the best way to put it I think as it wasn’t particularly great or even very good but it was fun. That’s all you can ask for here I guess. Either way it worked fine though so all in all this was a good main event.

Overall Rating: B. This was a good show. It put me in mind of Survival of the Fittest that I did from ROH: nothing great but nothing resembling a bad match at all. This was solid and it worked rather well I thought. The whole show was based around the tournament and that’s all well and good. My main problem was how all of the tournament matches other than the final were so short.

They averaged about 8 minutes which just isn’t long enough for that many matches. That’s my only major criticism with the show. Other than that though, I liked this show and while it’s no classic or anything, it’s good. That’s how I would describe it: good. Check it out if you have some time to kill.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Against All Odds 2008
Date: February 10, 2008
Location: Bi-Lo Center, Greenville, South Carolina
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

 

I’ve actually done the show after this which is a rarity for me in these reviews since I more or less do random shows more often than not. Anyway this is one of the shows that wasn’t in the Impact Zone which is always kind of interesting to see. The main event is Angle vs. Christian with Angle defending the title and Joe as guest referee. Other than that the card looks as dull as ever. Let’s get to it.

 

We actually get the Star Spangled Banner with a big military thing. BG James and his dad Bob Armstrong (why do they have different last names?) are in the group of marines.

 

The opening video is about war or something like that. We see clips of presidents saying things that have nothing to do with war at times. Uh there’s something about barbed wire and the Hallelujah Chorus. This was in a word, odd.

 

Tag Titles: Bob Armstrong/BG James vs. AJ Styles/Tomko

 

James (Road Dogg) won the Feast or Fired tag title shot and picked his 67 year old dad instead of Kip James (Billy Gunn, you know, his partner in one of the most successful teams of all time) because TNA thinks we know who Bullet Bob Armstrong is or even stupider, that we care who he is. Members of the National Guard are at ringside. I’m trying to remember why there would be a very patriotic theme to this show and nothing is coming to me.

 

AJ is the Prince of Phenomenal and a clueless putz at this point. Aj wants an explanation from Tomko about why he hasn’t called AJ this week and has been hanging out with Christian so much. I’ll spare you all a lot of jokes here. Tomko says worry about the tag match, not anything. Armstrong looks like he’s waiting in line at a soup kitchen or something.

 

James vs. AJ to start. Very basic stuff to start as AJ acts like an idiot and James drills him. Oh dear it’s Armstrong time. Armstrong slaps AJ down and it’s off to Tomko. More slaps abound and we thankfully get someone in there that isn’t on Social Security. And yes I get that Armstrong probably used to be very good. That being said, he’s pushing 70 here. I get that he may want to do this and may be in great shape, but the problems here are numerous.

 

First off, he’s 67 years old. Do you think it’s safe for a man born in the 30s to be in there against men that are much stronger and faster and in better condition? I don’t care how well trained he is or how great shape he’s in. It’s too much of a safety risk for my taste.

 

Second, this is taking up ring time from ANYONE else that could use it. Having it be his dad is nice and sweet but no one knows who he is, this is a one off appearance, no one cares it’s just pointless all around.

 

Third, it makes AJ and Tomko look bad because every spot with Armstrong in there they have to sell like crazy for him. Also they have to slow things WAY down for him to keep up with them. Again, if you want him there as manager or support etc, fine but let someone that isn’t more trouble than they’re worth be out there. I’ve never been a fan of matches like these in the slightest. Point being here, where Tomko, the enforcer for the top heel in the company, is having to sell for a man that hasn’t been a regular competitor in years.

 

It takes AJ interfering to let Tomko take over. Kurt and Karen are watching. AJ gets two on Armstrong. Now we get to see the monster known as Tomko hammer on a man older than Pearl Harbor. Off to James and AJ now and there are the punches. AJ misses a springboard forearm and it hits Tomko. Pumphandle for two on AJ. Styles manages to get a dropkick to the knee though and the champions’ finisher, the Tornado Plex (Combination spinning neckbreaker/side suplex) ends James.

 

Rating: D. This is a glorified handicap match and a bad one at that. Road Dogg is a guy that I liked in the ring despite him not being focused on as far as his wrestling went. However he was in way over his head here as he had to carry his dad the entire time. I’m sorry but I do not see the point of this at all and I don’t know anyone that doesn’t work for TNA that does either.

 

Karen is panicking and she screeches a lot. She wants to know when’s the last time Kurt did something special for her. Kurt says whenever she’s in his presence it’s special. It’s so weird to think they would be divorced later in the year.

 

We run down the card.

 

We recap Traci Brooks vs. Payton Banks, both of whom worked for Robert Roode. Allegedly he hit Traci so she left him. This is the required grudge match.

 

Payton Banks vs. Traci Brooks

 

Banks is awful and Brooks is only good at coming out to a knockoff of Rag Doll by Aerosmith. Traci slaps her and takes her into the corner to start us off. Total brawl to start so far as it’s mainly just pounding and choking. We hit the floor for awhile which gives us more brawling. All Traci so far. How exactly do you hit someone with authority?

 

Payton takes over and we go back into the ring. Backcracker gets two. Crowd is totally behind Traci here. She gets a bad running kick to take over. Traci goes up but Banks knocks her off and continues her punching. Ah never mind as Traci grabs a quick schoolgirl for the pin after nothing of note at all.

 

Rating: D+. Well they were clearly trying. They had some aggression out there but at the same time the lack of skill kind of hurt them. Again, Traci is one of those chicks that needs to just stick to wearing tight or non-existent clothing. This wasn’t the worst match ever, but it’s nothing good at all.

 

We recap Steiner vs. Petey Williams. They both had Feast or Fired cases and Steiner elected to trade his out of fear. Naturally he had the world title shot and now wanted it back. Williams is Maple Leaf Muscle at this point. The winner gets both cases.

 

Scott Hudson of all people talks to both guys. Apparently the other case was the X-Division Title shot. Petey lists off why he’s awesome and Steiner says he’s had more matches defending his matches with his world title than Williams has had matches. And yes that’s how he said it.

 

Petey Williams vs. Scott Steiner

 

Petey likes to copy Scott which he was told not to do pre-match. They pose for a bit which is a bit more disturbing than it should be. Steiner easily overpowers him of course so Petey tries to speed things up a bit which doesn’t work either. Some strikes work a bit for Petey but it’s hard to fight against a big overhead belly to belly. Elbow and pushups follow.

 

Another belly to belly off the top gets two but Steiner pulls him up. Steiner gets an Angle Slam off the top but again pulls Williams up. He goes to the floor and gets the two cases, wedging them between the ropes as you often see done with chairs. The referee stops him but Williams manages to shove Steiner into the case. Rana takes Steiner down for two. Canadian Destroyer is countered into an Alabama Slam for a long two.

 

Steiner Recliner can’t get on though as Williams rolls him up instead for two. Williams hits a dropkick and a slingshot Codebreaker to set up a top rope crossbody for two. Williams puts on the Steiner Recliner which is as miserable of a chinlock as I’ve ever seen. Tornado DDT gets two for Williams. Steiner gets sent into the other case and a missile dropkick puts down Steiner. Rhaka Khan debuts and distracts Petey so that a Last Ride can end Petey.

 

Rating: C-. Better match than you would expect but Steiner was never in any real danger here. I never got the appeal of mini Steiner in the form of Williams. Steiner never really went anywhere until the Mafia came up. This was watchable but at the same time it wasn’t anything great at all.

 

Kurt is ticked about Karen leaving him earlier. Jeremy has a book coming out apparently and is going to give Kurt tips. JB plays Kurt and Kurt plays Karen. Is this supposed to be funny? Kurt slaps him and says he needs something bigger. Thursday is Valentine’s Day and JB suggests they renew their vows on Impact. This is getting downright creepy. Naturally AJ comes in and it’s not funny.

 

We get a video about the Drinking Championship and Eric “training” for it at bars. This is of course, stupid.

 

World Beer Drinking Championship: James Storm vs. Eric Young

 

One very awesome thing is that you can tell that Storm and Roode’s songs were merged together to make Beer Money’s music today. That’s very awesome. Yes this is an official championship match. The belt has a beer bottle attached to it. I hate to admit it but the pyro fear thing makes me smile. Storm jumps Young as he high fives fans and we need a bell. Hey there’s a bell!

 

Young gets a Thesz Press out of nowhere to get some punches in. A clotheslines sends Storm to the floor so Young can hit a top rope cross body to really take over. Jackie is out there too and being her usual irritating self. Back in and Storm is able to spit beer in his face thanks to Jackie’s interference.

 

Storm gets an enziguri to the head and it sends Eric to the floor. Hiptoss to Young on the exposed concrete gets two back in the ring. We head to the floor again and Young gets a suplex onto the concrete. Storm gets an Orton DDT back in the ring for two. Apparently the barbed wire massacre match is going to be in the Impact Zone due the athletic commission in this state, meaning it’ll be taped.

 

Storm in control here until he misses a charge in the corner and here comes Eric one more time. Belly to belly by Eric gets two. This is a better match than it probably should be. What it has to do with drinking is beyond me but whatever. A front flip from the top misses by Storm but Eric’s moonsault hits for two.

 

I hate when that happens: big spots like those should end matches. Jackie comes in, her head goes into Roode’s balls and a Death Valley Driver to both at once gets two. See what I mean? Jackie tries to interfere and Rhyno pops up, returning from his relapse with alcohol I believe, and Gores Storm so Young can get the pin to retain.

 

Rating: D+. This was good until the ending when it got stupid with the kicking out every five seconds. Rhyno returning set up more of him vs. Storm which is a stupid feud over a stupid concept. Either way this was just ok but the big spots being kicked out of every time got annoying.

 

Rhyno says he’ll explain things on Thursday.

 

A chick is with Jim Cornette at the Impact Zone. Apparently this was taped almost three weeks prior. He shows us how sharp the barbed wire is.

 

We recap ODB vs. Awesome Kong. Kong is the new champion and ODB is the one chick she hasn’t beaten. End of storylines.

 

Knockouts Title: ODB vs. Awesome Kong

 

They pull each others’ hair and ODB tries a slam which fails completely. ODB hits the floor and Raisha Saed, Kong’s mouthpiece, gets in her face. Back in and ODB is sent into the corner and a splash crushes her. Out to the floor again with Kong in control but her knee is hurting. ODB grabs her chest which is enough to wake her up somehow.

 

This is dull if you didn’t get that. Kong tries the powerbomb but ODB fights her off and sits on the top rope. Kong hits the spinning backfist to the head and we’re back on the mat again. Thesz Press is caught so ODB, who isn’t a small girl by any means, tries a dropkick. The Thesz Press from the middle rope gets her down though but she still can’t slam Kong. Implant Buster gets two.

 

ODB nips up to avoid a middle rope splash and slams Kong for two. Gee maybe if it was bigger than a slam it would have worked. She gets a shot from her flask to wake her up. ODB can’t put Kong down still though. She hits Saed though and there’s the spinning backfist and the Awesome Bomb from Kong to retain.

 

Rating: D-. This was sloppy, dull, not interesting and just weak overall. They tried but the similarity of styles hurt it too much. You need power vs. speed rather than power vs. power. It took the Beautiful People to stop Kong and they were a breath of air into the division. This was pretty weak though.

 

James Mitchell says he’s going to send Mesias in and Abyss is going to be in pain. This feud went on so far too long that it’s unreal. Mitchell could certainly talk though.

 

We recap this part of the feud. There was something about Abyss shooting his father who was James Mitchell and he and Mesias are brothers or something. It’s a huge mess if you didn’t get that part.

 

Judas Mesias vs. Abyss

 

This was taped three weeks ago and is in the Impact Zone down in Orlando. There aren’t any ropes but rather barbed wire. Abyss pushes over a cameraman on the way to the ring. For some reason that made me chuckle. The fans are behind Abyss here. Well that’s good since he’s the face. The lack of ropes makes things look really weird here.

 

Abyss does the arm pose and Mesias looks at him. It’s weird seeing the face tower over the heel like he does here. They fight to try to push the other into the wire but neither has any luck. Mesias hits a dropkick and Abyss hits wire, cutting his arm a bit. Mesias goes in also, but in his case it’s side first. Drop toehold sends Abyss into the wire. This is going to be one of those matches where all we’re doing is sending people into the wire isn’t it?

 

Abyss slides under the wire as the fans chant who’s your daddy. He finds a chair wrapped in barbed wire and the fans want blood apparently. Abyss puts the chair on the chest of Mesias but it goes into Abyss’ crotch. That has to hurt a bit no? Barbed wire chair to Abyss’ head. BIG cut over the eye of Abyss.

 

Mesias brings in a barbed wire board with a slight bit of help from Mitchell. They’re on the floor now with Mesias in control. Abyss finds another board and Mesias is bleeding from the side. The new board is set up between the railing and the table like a platform. Abyss tries to chokeslam Mitchell through it but gets blocked by Mesias and it’s back into the ring. Chokeslam onto the barbed wire is blocked but a gorilla press drop isn’t and Mesias is all cut up.

 

Abyss’ arms are a mess. There’s ANOTHER barbed wire board being brought in by Abyss. Mesias gets up on the apron so Abyss chokeslams him down onto the board that was set up like a platform. Time for Abyss to go after Mitchell now and it’s a Black Hole Slam for the manager. Mesias pops up somehow and it’s a Black Hole Slam for him too.

 

Abyss gets hit low to shift the momentum again. Mesias more or less tackles Abyss into the boards for Abyss’ first major bump of the match. They slug it out and Mesias thinks it’s smart to charge at a guy whose finisher is a swinging slam. It connects onto one of the boards and this is over.

 

Rating: C+. Well they got the violence stuff pretty well I guess. All things considered this was pretty good. Thankfully this feud was OVER after this as I couldn’t take much more from it. Tenay saying that Abyss could be added to the list of hardcore legends like Funk, Brody, Cactus Jack and the Sheik is a big nauseating but you get the idea. Better than you would expect but just what you would expect if that makes sense.

 

Robert Roode blames Booker for Sharmell’s injury. Also she looks like a horse. Not a bad promo as it was simple but effective.

 

We recap the feud which more or less is Roode accidentally hit Sharmell at the PPV last month. This feud went on forever and it never got particularly interesting, mainly due to the girls in it being non-wrestlers. Roode said it wasn’t his fault and he said that Booker should be thankful.

 

Booker says nothing of note.

 

Robert Roode vs. Booker T

 

Sharmell isn’t here due to the injuries. Booker goes straight for Roode as it’s a brawl to start. A brawl in TNA? NO WAY!!! Side slam by Booker is one of the first break in a lot of punches. Roode has had virtually no offense in nearly two minutes. He’s thrown to the floor where Payton Banks tries to tend to him. Back in the ring and Roode FINALLY gets some offense in.

 

Nothing special but at least it’s a change in the pace here. And never mind as Booker reverses and kicks his head off after being on defense for about 30 seconds. Banks gets in the ring for no apparent reason and Booker almost does what Roode did to Sharmell the previous month. The distraction lets Roode take over though and he has his first real advantage all match.

 

Knee to the ribs puts Booker down for two. A clothesline is almost countered into a Book End but Roode reverses. Dropkick gets two on Booker and we hit the chinlock. Booker fights up and gets a superkick and a spin kick to put Roode down again. Spinebuster sets up the Spinarooni. Dang he’s so angry he almost forgot to break dance.

 

Booker kicks Roode in the leg for no apparent reason and Roode rakes the eyes so they can slug it out for a few seconds. Scissors Kick misses but Roode is backdropped to the floor. The brawl is on the floor until Roode is thrown back in. And never mind as he goes through the other side and they head up the ramp. Yep it’s a double countout. Screw me running.

 

Rating: D. The match was just ok but the ending cripples this. It was nothing great anyway until then and all this means is it sets up a mixed tag later to end this feud that I think went on even longer afterwards. This was a feud I never got into and didn’t really care at all. Weak match, awful ending.

 

They fight more in the back as Roode tries to get away. Roode throws Banks out of the driver seat of a car and speeds away in it.

 

We get a video on the main event which is completely pointless.

 

Kurt tells AJ and Karen about the renewal of their vows. This would result in AJ accidentally marrying Karen. Just go with it. Karen leaves and Kurt talks to Christian and says this is his last shot and that once Kurt wins he’s in charge. Oh and Joe better stay out of Kurt’s way.

 

We recap Team 3D vs. the X-Division. Team 3D has Johnny Devine, the X-Division traitor and its champion with them. The deal is it’s a street fight and if Team 3D/Devine win then the X-Division is gone. If the X guys win then Team 3D can’t wrestle until they’re under 275lbs each. Oh and if an X guy gets the win they get the title. Not sure if they have to pin Devine or not.

 

Bubba says that Lethal has heart but the Guns don’t. This is supposed to be a very serious promo but it doesn’t come off as one for some reason.

 

Jay Lethal/Motor City Machineguns vs. Team 3D/Johnny Devine

 

This is a hardcore street fight and Lethal had been rapidly rising through the ranks recently. I’d expect a showcase match for him here. It seems that any X guy can pin any evildoer to win the title because that’s how wrestling titles are supposed to be right? As expected it starts in the aisle. It’s Lethal vs. Ray on the table. Now those two are in the ring. The other four are off fighting…somewhere.

 

Lethal in control as the Guns are in the ring now. There’s a sign that says USE MY SIGN. Lethal takes it and it’s a Dead End street sign underneath the paper. Triple plancha by the X guys to take out the heels on the floor in a cool spot. Everyone in the ring now as the X guys have controlled the whole time. Triple Tornado DDT get 2’s all around. Someone brings in the weapons including an inflatable woman. Oh dear.

 

The kitchen sink is brought in of course because that’s been funny the last 19 times it’s been done right? Another triple cover gets two. The Dudleys get a double suplex on Lethal. The heels take over and the fans want tables. The X Guys take over again for a bit. This is one of those messes of a match which has no flow at all and is just a big fight that goes back and forth.

 

3D to Sabin and one for Shelley as well. Lethal takes D-Von down but Ray kills him with a clothesline. The fans still want tables. So Cal Val is crying over Lethal. This is before she turned on him I guess. Lethal flips off Ray as Val tries to intervene. Ray grabs her by the hair and whips out a cheese grater. He licks her face for no apparent reason until Lethal can make the save.

 

Big chair shot to the head of Ray by Lethal but D-Von pulls the referee out just in time. Remember what I said about Lethal doing this on his own? It’s literally 3-1 at this point and Lethal is getting near falls out there. Lethal Combination gets two on Devine and then he gets two on D-Von. He walks into a Bubba Bomb though which somehow only gets two. Dude the Guns have been down what, five minutes now on those 3Ds?

 

D-Von sets up the tables and the Dudleys are suddenly faces. Lethal fights off the Dudleys again but here’s Devine with that street sign. Jay gets it and pops Devine over the head with it, sending him to the table. Top rope elbow through the table and through Devine saves the X-Division. This match ran twelve and a half minutes and I kid you not it was 3-1 for at least four of those.

 

Rating: C+. Lethal dominance aside this was ok. The ending is completely absurd and Lethal looks way too good here, but the main issue is that this went on too long. The match was too wild and the first half is very hard to follow. Still though, not bad although I wasn’t bored at all with it. Exciting but not good for the most part, but I think that was the point so I’ll let it slide.

 

Sonjay Dutt comes out to celebrate with Lethal.

 

We get the same main event recap from earlier.

 

Christian says he knows more than everyone else. Oh and no one knows who Hudson is still which is kind of funny. Christian says Joe deserves a title shot but not tonight because this is Christian’s night.

 

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Christian Cage

 

Samoa Joe is the Special Enforcer which he’ll get a title shot in exchange for being. After the Big Match Intros it’s time to go. Karen is at ringside as is Joe. They slap it out a bit in the ring and it’s a long feeling out process. Kurt controls with a headlock on the mat as we’re waiting on something to actually happen. Angle takes Christian down with a shoulder and it’s back to the headlock, but time by Christian though.

 

Belly to back gets two but Christian moves out of it and back to the headlock. Joe is on the floor and looks rather bored. Somebody get that boy a Twinkie before he passes out. On another note, more headlock. Kurt is sent into the post and Christian dives off the top to crush Kurt on the floor. Back in the ring now with Christian taking too much time and getting dropped on his shoulder from the middle rope.

 

Joe gets out of his chair and gets on the apron a bit which disrupts Kurt’s mojo a bit and it’s back to Christian. And never mind as he gets suplexed up and over the top rope. Kurt tries to get a weapon but Joe knocks it out of his hand and shoves Kurt down. Christian takes over again but Kurt grabs an Angle Slam out of nowhere and drops him on the apron with it. Sick bump there.

 

Back in and Angle gets a buckle bomb for two. Off to a body scissors by Kurt now as we need a breather I guess. I can live with that as they’ve been going for about ten minutes now. Rolling Germans by Kurt has Christian reeling. He manages to reverse the third one though and Kurt is flipped over his head and lands on his face in a nice bump. They hit the ropes a lot and Kurt runs into a flapjack. Edge-o-Matic gets two.

 

The Canadian goes up top and Christian tries the running the corner suplex but Christian bites the head and hits a frog splash for two. Angle Slam is reversed into an arm drag and we hit the floor. Kurt tries to German him off the apron but Christian holds the ropes for dear life. Back in the ring there’s the ankle lock and Christian is in trouble. There’s a rope though and we’re back to Kurt being in control.

 

Straps go down but the Angle Slam is reversed into a sunset flip for two. Angle rakes the eyes and this time gets the Slam for two. Well of course it was only for two. Moonsault misses and Christian goes up. Running suplex misses but the second time he manages to get a Samoan Drop from the top for two. Angle gets in his face but Christian is able to grab an Unprettier out of nowhere for a long two.

 

The referee takes a clothesline and Christian grabs the ankle lock. Joe comes in as the replacement referee and checks for the tap. Karen tries to help but gets pulled in as well. Christian lets go of the hold and gets slapped by the chick. Kurt saves his wife and Christian gets a rollup on Kurt for two. Karen gets knocked down and a double clothesline takes down both guys.

 

Joe puts Karen in a chair at ringside and here’s AJ for the interference. Joe grabs AJ off the apron and they fight into the crowd. Kurt grabs a chair while those two fight in the audience (read as Joe massacres him). Christian gets the chair but also takes a low blow. Tomko runs in to save Christian from the chair shot and then turns on Christian, hitting a spinning neckbreaker. Angle wakes up the referee and gets the pin to retain.

 

Rating: B-. Well it was good but at the same time it was overbooked beyond belief. It was way too overdone with there being Karen, Joe, AJ and Tomko all getting involved as I guess a 20 minute match between Angle and Christian wasn’t good enough. This was pretty good but the angles in the main event at this time were pretty bad as everyone and their mother knew it was just wasting time until we got to Joe vs. Angle with Joe taking the title. Good wrestling, bad booking.

 

Ad for TNA I guess ends the show.

 

Overall Rating: D. I watched this on Wednesday and Thursday and now it’s about 11:40 on Thursday night and I don’t remember half of the card. This was not only forgettable but once I did remember it, it was bad. This didn’t work for the most part as everything was either bad or forgettable. The best match is the main event and that’s just slightly ahead of ok. It’s not much of a show but this wasn’t the best era for TNA at all. Everything was a mess and nothing was incredibly easy to care about. Anyway, there’s another TNA PPV for you all.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my ebook of 1998 Monday Night Raw Reviews on Amazon at:

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Date: February 12, 2006
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 775
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

Christian arrived earlier.

Austin Aries/Roderick Strong vs. The Naturals

Aries and Strong hit a clothesline/German combo for two on Douglas. A dropkick from Aries gets the same as everything breaks down. The Naturals load up the Natural Disaster but Strong makes the save. Aries tries the rollup with the rope grab that won them the first match but the referee breaks it up. Natural Disaster (elevated Stunner) gets the pin on Aries.

We run down the rest of the card as is the custom for TNA.

Larry insists that the best man will win the main event tonight.

Alex Shelley vs. Matt Bentley vs. Jay Lethal vs. Petey Williams

Petey hits a dropkick to the back and slams Jay down. Off to a camel clutch but Shelley comes in to argue about Williams getting the win. That allows Jay to tag in Bentley as this is coming off more like a tag match than a fourway. Bentley cleans house but gets crotched by Petey. A Tower of Doom is broken up and Lethal grabs a bridging German for two on Shelley, but Bentley drops a top rope elbow to break it up. Williams counters a suplex and hits a rolling neckbreaker for two on Bentley.

James Gang vs. LAX

This is Homicide and Machete, a mostly indy wrestler who is most famous for being on this team and wrestling in Puerto Rico. Konnan says he beat up Bob Armstrong because BG did something wrong. The James Gang is of course the New Age Outlaws. LAX including Konnan jumps the James Gang before Kip can do his thing. BG and Kip (seriously, WHO PICKED THE NAME KIP?) send them to the floor and LAX caucuses.

LAX beats up the James Gang until 66 year old Bob Armstrong comes in for the save.

Slick Johnson goes to see Larry (who has Dave Hebner with him). They argue about who should be referee.

Sabin and Dutt won some tournament to win this shot. Sabin might have an ankle injury coming into this. Dutt and Storm start and the fans want the Cowboy killed. Dutt starts with his usual flipping offense and a cross body for two. Sabin comes in with some of the same double team offense that he and Shelley would use as the Guns. Sabin gets in a kick to the ribs of Storm but Harris trips him up and wraps the bad ankle/leg around the post.

Sabin misses an enziguri and kicks Storm off so he can make the hot tag. Off to Sonjay who speeds things way up. A rana and low dropkick get two on Storm. A springboard double dropkick puts the champs down as does a springboard moonsault press for no cover. Sabin saves Sonjay from a Hart Attack and Dutt counters the Catatonic into a sloppy rollup for two. The champs bring in a chair and Sabin hits a tornado DDT on Harris onto said chair. A springboard splash by Dutt gets two on Harris but Storm puts the knee into the barricade. Hindu Press misses and the Last Call sets up the Death Sentence to retain.

Post match AMW cuffs Dutt to the ropes but Sabin makes the save with a chair.

Jarrett says the pressure is on Christian, not him. Monty Brown comes up and gets cut off by the champ. Jarrett demands respect because Brown is going to say the same thing he always says. They shake hands and say they have a deal.

Rhyno vs. Abyss

They head to the floor and Abyss counters a suplex into one of his own on the ramp. Abyss sets up some tables next to the stage so you can guess what the finish to this is going to be. Abyss pokes him with a pipe or something to keep Rhyno down and sets up the third of four tables. He loads up a powerbomb but Rhyno escapes. Rhyno sets for the Gore but Abyss big boots him to the floor.

Rhyno tries the Gore but charges into a chokeslam through the table for two. Mitchell hands in a bag of tacks but Rhyno gores him into the corner for another two count. With no more weapons to use in the ring they head up into the audience again and get to the end of the bleachers. Abyss throws Rhyno through the wall and kicks his way through the rest of it. Rhyno goes low to break up a chokeslam off the bleachers and hits the Gore through the previously set up stack of tables. Abyss is left somewhere in the carnage and Rhyno gets the academic pin.

Rhyno and Abyss are helped up.

X-Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels comes back in and monkey flips AJ into a rana position on Joe, but Joe counters into a Boston Crab. AJ and Joe go to the floor but Joe slaps a charging Daniels to break up his dive. AJ sends Joe into the barricade and hooks the bridging Indian Deathlock on Daniels back inside. Joe finally breaks it up and hooks the STF on Styles. Daniels grabs a Koji Clutch on Joe at the same time but everyone breaks it a few seconds later.

Team 3D vs. Team Canada

Eric hooks a camel clutch, followed by a top rope knee from Roode, followed by a top rope elbow from Young, all for two. Back to the camel clutch, this time from Roode and now from Young. The Canadians are tagging in and out very fast. We get the Arn Anderson drop down onto the knees to give D-Von a breather and the hot tag to Ray.

AMW comes in to beat down the Dudleys and they almost put Ray through a table, but Ron Killings comes in for the save and puts Young through the table instead.

NWA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Christian Cage

A sunset flip out of the corner gets two for Christian so Jeff heads to the apron. They both wind up out there and Christian hits a reverse DDT onto the apron to take over. Christian tries a big dive but lands on the barricade. Jeff slams him into the barricade and Christian is in big trouble. They head over to the announce table and the beating continues, followed by a slingshot into the table. This has all of the old TNA brawling favorites in it.

Christian comes back with a powerbomb out of nowhere and hooks a figure four. Jarrett makes the rope so Christian yells at Hebner some more, allowing Jarrett to hit an enziguri. Jeff hooks a Sharpshooter and my head begins to hurt. Christian breaks the awful looking Sharpshooter and puts on one of his own (again with the freaking Montreal stuff!) but Jeff breaks it pretty quickly. Christian gets sent into the corner on the counter and both guys are down.

Rating: C. You know usually I would list off the things that we had to sit through to get to the title change, but SWEET GOODNESS MAN there were too many things to remember here. This was a total mess which somehow had plot holes in it. On top of everything, WHERE WAS LARRY? He was there to open the show but he was gone for this. That makes no sense. Anyway, WAY overbooked and not even that good in the first place.

Fans fill the ring to end the show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Against All Odds 2005
Date: February 13, 2005
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 775
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

We jump ahead a few months here as I did Final Resolution a long time ago. Tonight we have AJ vs. Daniels (See, I wasn’t kidding when I said they had been feuding for years) in an Iron Man match for the X Title. Also it’s Jarrett vs. Nash for the world title which I’m sure will be as good as the cage match two months ago right? Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about seizing the now or some philosophical jazz like that. It goes on for like three minutes though and my mind wanders.

If Jarrett uses the guitar in the main event he loses the title.

Shane Douglas goes looking for Jarrett and finds his dressing room. Larry Zbyszko walks out of it and there’s some legal battle between Dusty and someone else.

Scott Hudson is outside his locker room and says this is about the Kings of Wrestling. Seriously, that stable was around for like a month and two months later we’re still fighting over it? Hudson talks about Nash’s Longest Yard movie and there’s nothing here.

Petey Williams vs. Elix Skipper

Gymnastics routine to start with Skipper missing a spin kick but hitting a dropkick to send Williams to the outside. Williams takes over with nefarious means and sends Skipper to the floor. D’Amore hits Elix and hurts his own hand in the process. Williams hits his slingshot rana to the floor. There’s O Canada on the crotch and Petey hits his suplex sequence (vertical into a belly to back) for two.

Skipper uses a Matrix move to avoid a middle rope clothesline. Petey goes up but is supleed off the top and both guys are down. It was butterfly style if you’re curious. Skipper drapes him across the top and hits a top rope legdrop to the back of the head for two. Petey spins into his Russian legsweep for two. A rana is countered and Petey hits a tornado DDT. He loads up the Destroyer but Skipper backdrops out of it. Pinfall reversal sequence goes nowhere so Petey goes up. He tries to jump into the Destroyer but gets caught in Emerald Flosion for the pin.

Rating: D+. They were totally off in this and it wasn’t that great of a match. I don’t know if the chemistry was just off or what but it didn’t click at all here. I think Skipper works better as a heel than as a face and also a lot better when he doesn’t have to be the guy carrying the match. It wasn’t awful but it’s got nothing on the X matches from Turning Point.

Shazarian (yes that’s their name. Matt Bentley changed his name to Michael Shane in the last two months) watched a 3 Live Kru workout with a racecar driver named Jeff Hammond to set up this match.

Kazarian/Michael Shane vs. BG James/Jeff Hammond

Yeah, the old racer is wrestling here. He’d be about 49 or 50 here. BG makes some bad racing jokes before the match. Wait…according to what I can find, Hammond is a CREW CHIEF. He isn’t even a driver! Anyway, BG and Shane start us off. No wait Hammond wants to fight. Hammond grabs a wristlock and thankfully tags off to a wrestler. The non-X Division guys work over Shane and BG does most of the work.

BG takes Shane down and drops a knee on him for two. Kaz knocks him to the floor and hits a huge dive to take over. He hits a slingshot dropkick in the corner ala Hardy and Shazarian double teams BG. Neckbreaker gets two. Hammond comes in and can’t do anything BECAUSE HE ISN’T A WRESTLER. BG is knocked to the floor and Shane superkicks Kaz by mistake. Hammond drops an elbow for the pin. Screw this.

Rating: F. The match sucked, the guy isn’t even a driver, but his name is on TV so five people might know who he is. Twelve days later Kaz left TNA and signed a developmental deal with WWE. GEE, I WONDER WHY HE WOULD WANT TO DO THAT??? When the best thing you can say about a match is that it was short, that’s a bad sign.

Dusty, the Director of Authority, talks to Traci and Trinity about some lawsuit. A lawyer comes up with Larry Z and they say they have a paper Dusty can sign to get rid of the guitar means Jarrett loses the title. If Dusty doesn’t sign it, he’ll be evicted.

We recap Raven vs. Dustin Rhodes. Raven broke the fingers of some jobber he beat up until Dustin made the save. Raven went after him as a result. Dustin says Shucky Ducky Quack Quack in the video package.

Raven vs. Dustin Rhodes

It’s Cowboy Dustin here so he’s pretty boring. They slug it out like two old guys on a show in a promotion that isn’t being watched by many people while being there for a paycheck. Raven hits a discus clothesline and works on Dustin’s leg. Now it’s an ankle lock but Dustin comes up and fights back. He hits an atomic drop and punches in the corner but the bulldog is broken up. Dustin goes up but Raven superkicks him in the testicles.

Dustin punches him off the top and tries an elbow. At least he had one up as he did the jump into the boot spot. DDT is countered and Dustin uses a superkick (HUH?) for two. Raven grabs the ankle lock again but Dustin rolls through. It’s presumed Raven went outside but but we just see Dustin rolling around on the mat. Back to the ankle but Dustin grabs one of his own. Raven rolls through and cradles Dustin with a foot on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: F. Oh just……..NO. This was horrible in about 19 different kinds of ways. First and foremost, Dustin Rhodes used a superkick and an ankle lock. Think about that for a few minutes. Second, NO ONE cared in this at all. The match was awful and one of the worst I’ve seen in a very long time.

Raven beats him up even more post match and ties him in a straightjacket. For the love of bad rematches….please….no. Raven beats on him for awhile until Cassidy Riley, the guy that Raven hurt, makes the save. And that fails too as he gets DDTed. Security finally makes the save.

There go the lights and we get a voiceover talking about a lost soul. Oh it’s Trytan. He wound up being an alien or something like that. He had a ship. Trytan debuts on Impact this week.

We recap the tag title match. AMW is facing Kid Kash and Lance Hoyt. Kid Kash is here because he has to annoy me once a year.

Tag Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Kid Kash/Lance Hoyt

Storm and Kash start things off. They trade hammerlocks to start and fast twos and we get a standoff. Off to Hoyt and Harris who immediately start brawling. Everything breaks down and AMW picks up Kash and throws him at Hoyt. That doesn’t work so in a funny bit they pick up Hoyt and throw him at Kash to send him to the floor. Cute spot. Back in Hoyt slams Kash onto Storm for two.

Hoyt comes in and hits a huge chokebomb for two on Storm. James is playing Ricky Morton here if that wasn’t clear. Off to Kash who launches a frog splash but it eats knees. Both he and Storm try cross bodies and they’re down. Harris comes in and destroys Hoyt. It’s so strange to see Harris in great shape. Kash hits a sweet rana after running the corner. Storm is back up and hits the Eye of the Storm on Kash. He tries a reverse tornado DDT out of the corner on Hoyt but Lance counters.

In a move I’ve never seen before, Hoyt hits a side slam off the top for two. That looked awesome actually. That’s a great lesson: when all else fails, make the move from the top and it looks better. Storm takes Hoyt down and Harris hits a top rope elbow for two. Kash brings in a title belt but as the referee takes it out, Kash hits Harris with the other belt for two. Now Kash brings in handcuffs but Harris cuffs him up. Death Sentence to Hoyt keeps the titles on AMW.

Rating: C+. This started slow but got better at the end. When you take guys like Hoyt and Kash and get an entertaining match out of them, that’s a sign of a good team. Then again AMW is probably the best team ever in TNA, and yes I’m including them over Beer Money. This was better than I expected.

A limo gets here but security won’t let Shane see who’s in it.

We recap Hardy vs. Abyss. Uh….they fight a lot and use weapons all the time so let’s make it Full Metal Mayhem, meaning everything made of metal is legal.

Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy

Winner is #1 contender. This is a ladder match, but since it’s TNA, THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM!!! There are two envelopes above the ring. One has nothing and one has the world title contract. My goodness, if you want to have a ladder match or a TLC match then have a TLC match. Do you really have to have something like this where one is fake? Is that REALLY needed?

Jeff slugs away to start and hits a dropkick. Hardy hits the legdrop between the legs and goes out to grab some chairs. Abyss goes to the floor so Hardy slides in and hits Poetry in Motion over the top. Hardy charges at Abyss and gets caught in a slam. Hardy escapes though and cracks Abyss in the head with a chair. Jeff gets a running start and uses a chair as a springboard. Abyss cracks him over the head with the chair to bring him out of the air. And people wonder why he’s a drug addict.

Abyss goes outside and grabs a table. He puts that one on top of the two outside so it’s like a pyramid. Jeff slides in a ladder while Abyss gets a fourth table. The match has just stopped dead to set this stuff up. Abyss didn’t hit Hardy between setting up the tables so I think Hardy just laid down and took a nap. Jeff gets up and slips going for Whisper in the Wind, regroups, and then misses Abyss.

They get into a tug of war over the ladder and Jeff dropkicks a chair into the “face”. Jeff sets up a teetertotter thing and slams it into Abyss’ “face”. Abyss backdrops Jeff over the top “through” a table. In other words Jeff’s feet went through it and his back hit the concrete clean. GEE, I WONDER WHY HE’S A DRUG ADDICT! Jeff pops up and they fight up the ramp and Abyss pulls out another table.

He puts it up at the stage but Hardy hits a Twist to slow Abyss down. Jeff climbs the set above the entrance and dives off with a Swanton. Back to the ring and Jeff pulls out the huge ladder. Jeff climbs up but grabs the wrong one. Abyss pulls Hardy down and throws him at the pile of tables. Not through them mind you, but at them. Hardy is up a few seconds later but Abyss wins the contract and the title shot.

Rating: D. See, this is why you have multiple people in your TLC matches. While two people are fighting, the third can set up tables and such. Here though there were LONG stretches where they were setting things up and then those things didn’t work for the most part. This didn’t work for the most part at all.

We recap Monty Brown/DDP vs. Team Canada. For some reason, Hall jumped Brown along with the Canadians until Page made the save. Hall is nowhere to be seen in the match.

Diamond Dallas Page/Monty Brown vs. Team Canada

Young and Roode here. Brown and Young start with the power game dominating. Roode makes the save to avoid the Pounce and the Canadians try a huddle. Brown pulls Young back in by one arm and it’s off to Page. Off to Roode who thinks the USA sucks. After some arm work it’s back to Brown as the dominance continues. Page hits a swinging neckbreaker for two.

Roode finally hits a clothesline to take over. Page fights out of the corner but can’t make the tag. He makes it about a minute later and Brown cleans house. This has been one sided so far for the most part. Young grabs a front facelock on Brown which doesn’t do much to him at all. Off to Page again with a lukewarm tag and house is cleaned again. Everything breaks down and the Pounce kills Roode. Diamond Cutter ends Young for the pin.

Rating: C. Pretty much a squash here but the fans were WAY into it so I can live with this. There’s something cool about seeing foreigners that are evil being beaten from one corner to another. Not a good match or anything but the crowd loved it and that’s what counts. This would be better suited at a TV show though.

Traci and Trinity tell the lawyer Dusty won’t sign.

We recap AJ vs. Daniels. Basically Daniels says he’s better than AJ even though AJ has the best resume ever in TNA. The result is an iron man match for AJ’s title.

X-Division Title: Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles

Thirty minute Iron Man match and Daniels is challenging. Daniels takes him to the mat in the opening minute and then they take the clock off. AJ dropkicks him to the floor and hits a rana over the top to take Daniels down. The match is just kind of going along for the opening parts, but that’s due to them pacing themselves for the half hour which makes perfect sense.

The clock comes back and we’re about six minutes in. AJ keeps up the arm work he’s been doing and Daniels heads to the floor. AJ hits a sliding dropkick and a big dive to take Daniels down. Daniels gets in some knees back in to take over. Ten minutes in now as you would think they’ll start speeding things up now.

AJ ribs are in trouble now. Daniels tries a backdrop but AJ kicks him in the face and hits a neckbreaker. There are no falls yet. A hard belly to back gets no cover for AJ at 17 minutes to go. AJ sets for a springboard something but Daniels blocks it. Daniels is knocked down and Styles tries a 450 but it eats knees. Angel’s Wings makes it 1-0 Fallen Angel. We hit fifteen minutes to go and Daniels hits a Codebreaker with 14 to go. It only gets two.

AJ tries a hip toss and Daniels counters into an abdominal stretch. Psychology at its most basic people and that’s all it needs to be. Twelve and a half to go as AJ hiptosses out of the stretch. He dives at Daniels but gets draped across the top rope. Styles busts out a Tajiri elbow to take Daniels down but Christopher gets up first. AJ hits the Death Valley Driver that lands on his own knee move that he does, getting two.

Springboard Forearm gets two with ten minutes left. Daniels hits AJ’s moonsault into the reverse DDT for two. Blue Thunder Bomb gets two. AJ tries a suplex but has to settle for the Pele. Both guys are down with eight minutes to go. AJ fires off forearms but walks into a Samoan Drop. BME misses and AJ hits the Angel’s Wings on Daniels with seven minutes left. The Clash is broken up and Daniels tries a suplex. AJ grabs a side roll and ties it up with six minutes.

Daniels is MAD and knocks AJ to the outside. AJ gets his head rammed into the post HARD. Oh yeah he’s busted and he better be after that shot. AJ is gone with four minutes left. Daniels kicks him in the head in the corner because he’s an evil man. Two and a half to go. STO gets two. Running knee gets two and we’re under 90 seconds. AJ is dead so Daniels can’t hit the Wings again. One minute to go. AJ gets a rush from somewhere but walks into a Downward Spiral and there’s a Koji Clutch at 40 seconds to go. AJ somehow hangs on and it’s a draw.

Rating: B. Like most Iron Man matches this took awhile to get going but it was still entertaining to put it mildly. As overdone as this is, the matches are usually pretty good. I don’t need to see it again, but at this point the match was still pretty fresh so I can live with this one more than I can their modern ones.

Daniels wants sudden death and the fat man says let’s do it.

A DDT kind of move puts AJ down for two and they go to the corner. Daniels tries a super rana but AJ shoves him off. AJ dives into one of his own but Daniels rolls through. AJ rolls through that and hits the Clash for the pin to retain. Overtime didn’t add anything to this.

Jarrett says by any means necessary tonight.

We recap the world title match. Nash and Jarrett were in the Kings of Wrestling and Nash said he wanted the title. Jarrett accused Nash of screwing WCW ten years ago. So Nash screwed WCW while he was WWF Champion? Jarrett says the title is his life, Nash says it means more money.

NWA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash

If Jeff uses the guitar, he loses the title. So a cello is ok but a guitar isn’t? The annoying chant of the match: Super Shredder. Nash controls with the power to start and throws Jeff pretty high across the ring. There are some knee lifts in the corner as well as the elbow smashes. Jeff goes for the knees but misses a charge in the corner. Nash clotheslines him out and mixes up his offense. I mean now he’s punching him on the floor.

Jeff hits some punches and back into the ring we go. Nash throws him right back over the top because he’s a better brawler than wrestler. There wasn’t any sarcasm in that statement. They go into the crowd and Jeff is in trouble. The food on the catering table is destroyed so Nash picks up the table and rams it into Jeff. Why don’t more people do that? They fins a chair and trade some shots with Nash in control.

Jarrett is busted open and they head back to ringside. Nash pulls back the mats at ringside but a Jackknife attempt is countered by a low blow. Jeff goes under the ring and pulls out a case. AND IT’S A CELLO! I WAS KIDDING!!!! I’ve never seen this match before and they actually did that. I’ve been watching too much TNA. Jeff slams the case on the knee of Nash and it’s time to go in for the kill.

After some cannonballs onto the knee here’s a not great Figure Four. Nash finally gets to the ropes but Jeff is right back onto the leg. Nash comes back up and uses his usual power arsenal. Jarrett escapes Snake Eyes and clips Nash. As he brings back in part of the cello he walks into a ball shot. Nash powerbombs him onto the cello but there’s no referee due to a bump.

Cue the man “formerly known as Billy Gunn in the WWE” to knock out Nash with a Fameasser. That only gets two. His shirt says “No introduction needed. You already know my name.” That translates to “We can’t come up with anything that won’t get us sued.” He comes back for more but the referee stops him, allowing Sean Waltman to hit a spinwheel kick, a Bronco Buster and an X Factor to Jeff for two. Billy comes back in with the belt but Road Dogg comes in to stop him. Nash takes Gunn out but walks into a belt shot…for two. Stroke gets two. A second Stroke finally gets the pin.

Rating: C-. Well other than the Cello, the three run-ins, the 6 low blows, the two ref bumps, the belt shot and the kicking out of finishers, this wasn’t too terrible! For the life of me though, Billy Gunn and X-Pac? Those are supposed to make me want to see the show again? There’s a reason they’re out of WWE you know. Anyway, this wasn’t horrible but it didn’t need to be 20 minutes, period.

Destination X ad ends the show.

Overall Rating: C. There’s some good stuff here but it’s a FAR cry from the Turning Point style stuff. This was focused on bigger names rather than the new guys. Now that’s ok on occasion, but it would become the norm for TNA over the years which isn’t a good thing. Nash would feud with Gunn for awhile while Jarrett moved onto Nash and then AJ, both in very short feuds. Not a terrible show but nothing worth watching for the most part.

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Against All Odds 2012
Date: February 12, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash

We’re back stateside again and I’m genuinely excited for the main event. With Russo officially out of creative now, things are looking up in TNA and it only took them ten years to get this far. The main event is Roode defending against Ray, Hardy and Storm in a four way which could actually go to any of them. That’s not something I’m used to in multi-man matches as you can almost always write off someone. Let’s get to it.

Hardy arrives to open the show.

We get a video of Hogan talking about how awesome TNA is. It’s followed by a video about the fourway.

Borash is in Tazz’s place. I can’t complain there.

Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen

This is a #1 contenders match for the X-Title. Tazz has had a death in his family apparently. I’m sorry to hear that. Ion walks into a northern lights suplex and gets clotheslined outside. Sorensen ranas him to the floor to start and Ion steals the football that Jesse gave a fan. What a villain! Sorensen misses a baseball slide and Ion puts the football by the steps. Back in and a missile dropkick puts Jesse down.

Ion fires off a moonsault to the floor and his knees hit Sorensen right in the head. That gets a nine count but Ion breaks up the count for no apparent reason. The referee throws up an X and the match is over at 3:36. I’m not going to rate it because they only just got going when the injury occurred and I don’t think it’s fair to grade part of the opening to a match. It was ok though.

There’s a different ring announcer here also.

Christy is in the back with Roode who says that he always get things done and is still the champion. Hardy has had a bunch of chances but has always failed. Roode has beaten Storm time after time. He doesn’t get what Ray’s problem is. Roode can’t wait to laugh at Sting after he wins.

Here’s Robbie E who issued an open challenge earlier today. He has Big Rob with him and talks about the challenge. Anyone that wants a shot (not mentioned if the title is on the line or not) can come get it.

TV Title: Robbie E vs. Shannon Moore

…..REALLY? They have all these people on their roster that can’t get on TV at all and they pick Shannon Moore? Well at least it’s not Eric Young. Shannon armdrags Robbie around and Rob tries to take a walk. Robbie uses his usual basic offense as Moore tries to speed things up. JB talks about going clubbing with Robbie in Topeka, Kansas. Robbie knocks him through the ropes and into the barricade to take over. Back inside we hit the chinlock which is quickly broken.

Shannon keeps trying to go up but Robbie stays on him. Moore makes his comeback and a bulldog gets two. Out to the floor and an Asai Moonsault puts the champion down. Back in and I think Moore spits at Big Rob. Moonsault press misses and a clothesline gets two for the champ. Robbie goes up but gets crotched and a top rope rana gets a near fall. O’Connor Roll gets two but Robbie kicks out, sending Shannon into a right hand from Big Rob. An inverted DDT keeps the title on Robbie at 9:25.

Rating: C. This got a lot better as things sped up, but I could pop in a Best of Robbie E DVD if I ever need help sleeping. He’s so boring on offense and I have no idea why this was given ten minutes. I’d assume it has something to do with the time being short, but if not then they need help. This did improve as it went along though.

We recap the Knockouts Title feud. Tara won a triple threat and that’s about it.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Tara

Tara takes over quickly to start with some snapmares by the hair. Gail gets sent to the apron but she pulls Tara down by the hair to take over. Big boot gets two. Gail hits a missile dropkick and Madison walks out on her. They’ve been having problems lately. Kim works on the knee which has been bothering Tara lately according to JB. There’s an Octopus Hold by Gail but Tara stumbles into the ropes.

Top rope rana puts Tara down but Gail doesn’t cover. That allows Tara to snap off a powerslam and both girls are down. Gail gets up first and tries another top rope rana but Tara backdrops her off and a moonsault off the top hits Gail. The landing hurt Tara’s knee again though. She loads up Widow’s Peak anyway but the knee gives out and Gail hits a knee crusher and Eat Defeat for the pin at approximately 7:00.

Rating: C. This was a decent match with a story being told in the knee injury of Tara. That’s far better than what I’m used to in women’s wrestling anymore so I’ll give this the benefit of the doubt. Also it had an Octopus Hold in it and that makes any match instantly better.

James Storm says he’s ready for Roode and it’ll be a big party when he wins the title.

Recap of the tag title match. Crimson/Morgan beat Magnus/Joe after the latter won the Wild Card tournament. The challengers won a kind of handicap match in England and then got beaten up in England, meaning the only time they’ve had success against the champions is in a two on one situation.

Tag Titles: Magnus/Samoa Joe vs. Crimson/Matt Morgan

Morgan and Joe start things off. Morgan shrugs off some shoulders to start and hits a shoulder of his own for two. Off to Crimson and Magnus with the power guy taking over. Back to Morgan and the champs double team a bit. Suplex gets two for Morgan and it’s Red Boy again. Magnus hits a clothesline to bring Joe back in as the challengers take over. A big boot to the shoulder by Magnus sets up a Joe backsplash for two.

There’s a chinlock by Magnus to Crimson as things slow down and we enter into a traditional formula. Crimson misses a right hand and Magnus suplexes him for two. Back to Joe who peppers Crimson in the corner with right hands. A big boot out of desperation put Joe down and there’s the double tag to give us Morgan vs. Magnus. The big man cleans house with knee lifts and a double clothesline.

He charges into a Magnus boot though, but it doesn’t seem to matter as a spinning slam into a Rock Bottom (I think Chris Harris called it the Catatonic) gets two. Magnus and Joe can’t hit their double team finisher but Crimson accidentally spears Morgan. Crimson is sent to the outside and the snapmare and elbow combination gives us new champions at 10:00.

Rating: C+. Pretty good tag match here and I’ll overlook the questionable booking for the sake of giving me something to like on this show. Nothing has been bad but this first hour has come and gone with nothing significantly above average at all. Joe getting a title is a nice sight though.

Bully Ray tells the feeble woman called Christy to go home. He has the number of all three guys and is in the best shape of his career.

X-Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley

Feeling out process to start as things begin quickly. Shelley pounds away with chops and strikes. The fans are split here as Shelley’s Sliced Bread attempt is countered with a shove. A clothesline puts Aries outside and he hides under the ring. He comes out from the other side and shoves Alex to the floor so he can hit the suicide dive. Back in now and the champ is in control.

Aries works on the shoulder of Alex. A kick to the shoulder gets two and we go to a neck crank. Pendulum Elbow misses and Shelley comes back with a clothesline. Sliced Bread is blocked again but Aries is rammed head first into the buckle. Aries heads to the floor to hide under the ring again but as he comes out, Shelley is waiting on him with a suicide dive. Back in Finlay’s Celtic Cross hits for two for the challenger.

Aries takes out the knee and hits the Pendulum Elbow. Not playing to the crowd and wasting time makes your offense more efficient. Who knew? He loads up the Brainbuster but Alex knees his way out of it. They fight to the apron and a Death Valley Driver to the apron nearly kills Shelley. That and a double ax from the apron gets two. 450 misses and Shelley hits Sliced Bread #2 for a VERY close two.

Aries fires off a bunch of knees to the face and hits the Brainbuster for another close two. Shelley fires off some kicks but can’t hit Sliced Bread again. The fans think this is awesome and I can’t really argue with them. Aries counters and hits another Brainbuster which sets up the Last Chancery to finally gets him the win via tap out at 15:11.

Rating: B. This is what the opener should have been a shorter version of. Having this match in the middle of the card is a good idea because the crowd was getting bored and needed something to fire them up. When all else fails, have two small guys go out there and fly everywhere with near falls. It’s tried and true and almost always works.

Hardy says his back is still hurt but he’ll be fine. Creatures, mount up.

We recap AJ vs. Kaz and the Daniels factor in a video that I think was used on Impact.

AJ Styles vs. Kazarian

Kaz is in a shirt which he tries to remove but Daniels says no. AJ controls with a headlock and rips the shirt off himself. They fight over the arm as the fans are all over Daniels. Kaz gets sent to the floor and AJ is in control. Backbreaker puts Kaz down as Styles is working on the back. A flying forearm puts Kaz on the floor for a minute but AJ gets it back inside to avoid Daniels.

A bridging Indian Deathlock with a facelock cranks on Kaz’s back even more. Kaz comes back and slams AJ down so that the spinning springboard legdrop (Wave of the Future maybe?) can get two. Spinwheel kick gets two. Now Kaz works on AJ’s back with a hard whip in and a jumping Russian Legsweep for two. Leg lariat gets the same. Kazarian hooks a double chicken wing on the mat but AJ fights up to his feet.

They slug it out and AJ takes over with a pair of clotheslines and an enziguri. Styles sets for an atomic drop but slams Kaz face first instead, getting two. Styles Clash and Fade to Black are both countered and Kaz hits a dropkick to regain control. AJ grabs a jawbreaker but can’t hit the Clash. Kaz kicks him to the apron and hits a slingshot DDT onto said apron as we hit the floor. Slingshot cutter gets two back in. This is getting good.

AJ is sat up on the top and Kaz hits a running superkick to almost send him to the floor. Kaz goes up for the Flux Capacitor (C4) but AJ knocks him down with a headbutt. Moonsault into the reverse DDT gets a very close two. AJ tries a suplex into a neckbreaker but Kaz reverses into a hard Downward Spiral to put everyone down. They go into a pinfall reversal sequence which gets two for both guys and ends with a Pele to put Kaz down. AJ is sent to the apron and loads up a springboard forearm but instead hits a gorgeous Asai Moonsault to take out Daniels. He tries to springboard at Kaz but jumps into Fade To Black for the pin at 18:37.

Rating: B. Can’t argue with this one either. AJ is always awesome to see when he has time and the ability to be himself. Kaz can do great stuff too, but I could do without Daniels ever being near AJ Styles again. At the end of the day, AJ is going to win the feud with him again, just as he has every time they’ve feuded.

Gunner and Bischoff are in the back and they have a towel for Hogan to throw in to save Garrett.

We recap Garrett vs. Gunner. Gunner was a killer for awhile until Garrett Bischoff beat him with the Nepotism Driver. Garrett got DDTed on the floor but came back with a new trainer: Hulk Hogan. Tonight it’s basically Hogan vs. Eric with Gunner and Garrett as their surrogates.

Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff

Garrett comes out to Hulk’s music. Garrett controls to start with his usual stuff. He’s in the workout pants still. Gunner takes over for a few moments until Garrett hooks a backslide and front facelock. At this point he has less of a moveset than Andy from Tough Enough. Gunner pulls him into the middle buckle and takes over again.

The beating goes on for several minutes and there’s nothing to say. It’s a guy with experience and some ring skills beating on a guy who knows a total of about 5 moves. This is getting ten minutes on PPV in the second to last match on the card, making it longer than the tag team title match. Gunner works over the neck for the most part.

Eric gets in Garrett’s face so Hogan decks him. Gunner hits probably his fourth neckbreaker but on the next attempt Garrett grabs the rope. Hogan picks up the towel but Garrett says no. And then Gunner DDTs him for the pin at 11:57. Yes, it actually got that much time. Why does this surprise me?

Rating: F. There is no justification for this match to get this much time on a PPV. None. I can’t stand this story because it’s not about Garrett or Gunner. It’s about Hogan, just like it always is. Hogan isn’t putting anyone over, because that would make him look weak and Impact Wrestling is all about him and Bischoff. I know I sound like some whiny fan boy here but this has been old since it started and it’s just going to keep going. How many people can’t get time on a PPV so that Eric’s son can be out there and bore everyone to death?

Sting, in blue and white facepaint, says he’s the enforcer so that everyone is on their best behavior. It’s SHOWTIME!

Video on the main event. The idea is that Roode will do whatever it takes to keep the title and tonight he’s up against huge odds. Everyone talks about how much winning means to them.

TNA World Title: Bobby Roode vs. James Storm vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray

Sting is the guest enforcer. This is the match I’ve really wanted to see and I don’t think there’s a wrong answer for a winner here. The match will be judged on how well it goes to get to the ending, which is a very rare situation. There’s a ton of time here too. Even after spending ten minutes on the intros, we have almost half an hour if needed. Ray cuts off Christy and does his own intro. Somehow he’s lost an inch from when he talked about himself earlier in the night. Hardy gets a CRAZY pop. I’m pretty sure this is one fall to a finish.

Roode wants to work with Ray but Ray just glares at him. Yeah it’s one fall. Roode keeps pitching his tag team idea but Ray walks to the floor and folds his arms. Hardy and Storm team up and play ping pong with Roode’s jaw. Sitout front suplex by Hardy sets up a neckbreaker by Storm for no cover. They invite Ray into the ring but he’s cool to chill on the floor. We get word that Sorensen has a neck injury and will undergo further tests.

Storm tries to steal a pin on Hardy but only gets two. Beer Money reunites for a bit for a double suplex on Hardy but there’s no union there. Ray comes in and beats on Hardy as Roode and Storm are on the floor. The fans chant D-Von’s Better at Ray. Superplex gets two on Hardy. Storm rams Roode into the steps but Ray kicks James through the ropes. Ray talks to Roode, saying he wants a spike piledriver. Hardy counters though and Storm is back in.

Hardy and Storm try a double superplex but Ray comes back and adds a powerbomb to make it a Tower of Doom with Roode taking the brunt of it. Ray tries to pin everyone and gets a bunch of twos. Bubba Bomb to Hardy is countered into the Twist to send Ray to the outside. Roode plants Hardy but Ray breaks up a spear attempt for some reason. Ray fires off a corner splash at Jeff but takes the referee out instead.

Bubba Bomb hits Hardy but there’s no referee. Sting tries to wake up Hebner as Ray FREAKS. Ray walks into the Twist but there’s still no referee. Roode spears Hardy down because main event guys have to use a minimum of two spears a year. The referee is back and the Last Call (perfect one) kills Roode. Ray makes the save by pulling the referee out. Storm dives to the floor and hits the poor referee again. Hardy hits the Twist on Roode in the ring and loads up the Swanton but Roode rolls away.

Roode brings the belt in but Sting pulls it away. They get in each others’ faces and Roode shoves him. Roode says hit me but Sting won’t do it. He spits at the Stinger and Sting accidentally hits Hardy with the belt. It’s Summerslam 97 all over again! Roode insists that Sting count but Sting takes forever…and he counts three for the pin at 15:14.

Rating: B-. Good match but it came off as a little underwhelming. The Against All Odds theme was a good idea, but Storm and Ray stayed down forever off moves that weren’t really anything of note. This also illustrates the main problem in the main event: it’s been focused on Sting vs. Roode rather than Roode vs. anyone else. That’s ok at times, but it’s going to have to end in a match between them and hopefully not in another Sting title reign.

Roode laughs a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There was more good than bad here, but the bad parts were pretty bad. The second half minus Garrett vs. Gunner is a very solid effort and a good sign of what this company is capable of. The first hour looks like a total mess but I have to wonder how much their timing was thrown off by the injury. It’s a good show, but with some pretty decent sized adjustments it could have been very good.

Results
Zema Ion b. Jesse Sorensen via countout
Robbie E b. Shannon Moore – Inverted DDT
Gail Kim b. Tara – Eat Defeat
Samoa Joe/Magnus b. Matt Morgan/Crimson – Middle Rope Elbow To Morgan
Austin Aries b. Alex Shelley – Last Chancery
Kazarian b. AJ Styles – Fade To Black
Gunner b. Garrett Bischoff – DDT
Bobby Roode b. Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy and James Storm – Roode pinned Hardy after a belt shot from Sting

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It’s that time again.This is an interesting show on paper.  I’m genuinely stumped as to who is winning the world title, but I think I’ll take Roode to retain.  I know the fun pick is Bully Ray, but even with his awesome heel run, it’s a dagger to the common fans.  Storm I just don’t see getting it back yet and I think they’ll save Hardy to win it at Lockdown.

 

Give me AJ over Kaz but not without shenanigans.

 

New tag/X Champs.

 

Gunner vs. Garrett…..someone check on me during that one to make sure I didn’t hang myself.

 

Picks/thoughts?

Against All Odds 2007
Date: February 11, 2007
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

Another TNA show here with a very basic main event of Angle vs. Cage for the title that Christian won last month. Other than that we have Abyss vs. Sting in a Prison Yard match. Oh this is going to hurt isn’t it? It always does. 2007 was such a bad year for TNA but to their credit they bounced back the next year. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about how Christian is great (“The best thing since sliced bread. Who are we kidding? I’m better than sliced bread.”) and how Angle is still pretty new around here and is looking for his first TNA (officially NWA) world title.

Team 3D is in the ring to open the show as they want to start the Little Italy street fight right now.

Team 3D vs. LAX

LAX has the titles but this is non-title. There are tables in the ring like at a stereotypical Italian restaurant. LAX comes from under the ring while Konnan is being wheeled out and jumps 3D to open things up. All LAX to start with Hernandez cracking D-Von with a chair and both of them hitting dives. Scratch that as Hernandez gets popped with a chair on the landing to give 3D the advantage.

For some reason there are cage kind of things with dancing girls in them at ringside. Ok then. Ray catches a diving Homicide and hits a fallaway slam onto the ramp. And now Ray gets the girls from the cages put onto his lap. Ok then. All LAX here as D-Von gets double teamed. Homicide brings in a trashcan complete with trash. He finds a pizza cutter and D-Von gets carved up.

Ray counters with a cheese grater which cuts up Homicide so Ray can lick the blood. The “Latino Nation” (read as guys in white undershirts and bandanas) come in for a beatdown but 3D fights them off. What’s Up to Homicide. It’s table time but they load up What’s Up on Hernandez, only to have D-Von dive on the Latino Nation guys instead. Hernandez fights back and hits a spinebuster to Bubba through the table. A top rope elbow from Homicide gets two. Saving Grace gets two for D-Von (the reverse inverted DDT) and his face is covered in blood. The Latino Nation blocks a superplex and the Border Toss pins D-Von.

Rating: C-. Just a standard hardcore brawl with a lot of blood. I don’t get the appeal of these but I’m sure they have an audience. Nothing happened as far as the titles until Lockdown where 3D got them off of LAX. LAX was supposed to be this huge deal but I never really got what was all that great about them. They were certainly good but I didn’t get the mass appeal.

Austin Starr talks about how he’ll get to shine tonight and makes various movie references. Bob Backlund strolls through the shot and Starr threatens him with violence. Starr leaves and Backlund says a lot of long words and implies he’ll fight back.

Austin Starr vs. Senshi

Starr was in the finals of something called the Paparazzi Production Series and felt he got cheated (he did) so he wants a chance to get noticed tonight. There are a bunch of people in the front row who look like a softball team. Senshi starts off fast and pounds away with his strikes. Starr sends him to the floor and hits the suicide dive. Slingshot hilo and an elbow drop get two.

A back rake gets two so Starr pulls on his ears. HARD chop by Starr. Pendulum elbow misses and Senshi fires off some kicks. Gutwrench powerbomb gets two for Starr. Senshi comes back with more kicks and chops. A springboard enziguri gets two. They both try suplexes but Senshi hits a Liger Kick. That doesn’t get sold as Sensehi misses a splash. Starr hooks a quick crossface chickenwing but it’s released quickly. Warrior’s Way misses and it’s back to the chickenwing. Starr tries an O’Connor Roll but Senshi rolls through and it gets a messy and mostly unclear three for the pin.

Rating: C-. Again the match was ok but I don’t care for these two. Their styles don’t do anything for me and therefore the matches come off as pretty uninteresting. I’m not a fan of all the strikes and the like which makes these indy guy matches dull. Not terrible, but it came and went and it’s over.

Post match Starr is ticked off and throws a bunch of chairs into the ring. He demands a mic and says he demands the match get restarted. He’ll throw every chair into the ring until someone restarts it. Backlund comes out and Starr backs away from the old man. He slaps Backlund and gets locked in the chickenwing. I know he’s nuts but I love Backlund.

Tomko and Christian get in an argument about I believe Steiner. Steiner comes in and yells because Tomko won’t shine his shoes or clean his glasses. Steiner yells about Tomko but Christian turns this around onto Angle somehow. Scott says he’s about to want to beat up Christian instead of Angle. Christian tells Tomko to go fix this.

We run down the rest of the card.

Recap of Christy Hemme vs. most males in TNA. She says she wouldn’t sleep her way to the top but the James Gang (Kip in particular) said she should do that and this started on a long feud that not many people cared about. Cornette says he’ll have an opponent for her.

Christy Hemme vs. ???

It’s a tuxedo match. And the opponent is…..Big Fat Oily Guy. Literally that’s his name and it’s a parody of Big Dick Johnson from WWE. Oh joy. Christy doesn’t look bad in a tux. Then again there’s very little she wouldn’t look good in. Oily guy is billed as being from Stanford, Connecticut. I’m not going to bother talking about this. Both of them lose their jackets and Oily Guy loses his shirt. This is booed out of the building. Christy wins in about two and a half minutes. Just awful.

Kip James comes out and strips her post match.

We get the latest Paparazzi Production Video and it’s implied that it’s a sex tape with Traci and Eric. It’s of Traci in a hotel room on the phone. There’s a Roode contract there and she glares at the cameraman, whoever that is. She’s off the phone and someone knocks. The cameraman gets into the closet and it’s to be continued.

We recap the Basebrawl which is a couple of baseball players and a wrestler each. Lance Hoyt says that Dale Torborg and AJ Pierzynski don’t get what he has to do. He’ll have David Eckstein with him. Johnny Damon was involved in this somehow too.

Dale Torborg vs. Lance Hoyt

Torborg is more famous as The Demon in WCW. Oh ok the softball team from earlier is Team Eckstein. Torborg was the strength coach for the White Sox so he really is a baseball guy. The fans chant baseball sucks. They go to the floor and this is a big mess. AJ whips Hoyt into the railing. The fans do not care. I mean AT ALL. I love baseball but I have no idea why this is here. Well I know why it’s here because it’s good to have your name associated with Major League Baseball but don’t expect the live fans to care.

Torborg hasn’t been a regular wrestler in about six years at this point and Hoyt is a pretty generic big guy so there isn’t even a decent match to see here. Hoyt tries a run up the corner spinning cross body and slips, hitting most of one of Torborg’s legs. Hoyt makes a comeback and goes up but Pierzynski hits him with a chair so Torborg can get the pin.

Rating: D-. The match was horrible but like I said, I get the point in them doing it. That being said, Torborg isn’t a wrestler anymore and could only do basic stuff, making the match a total joke. To be fair though, they kept it short (five minutes) and the baseball guys are professional athletes so them getting physical is a lot more believable.

Eckstein gets in and says what happened with the chair while his brother pops Torborg with a chair. The match is restarted and a layout F5 ends Torborg.

More of the Paparazzi video including a few jokes from Nash in the first place. In the film, Eric arrives with chocolates and flowers. He ate some of the chocolates and the flowers are plastic. She rips his shirt off and allegedly it’s both of their first times. Eric’s unknown friend told him that was a bad idea but as he’s about to sign, it’s to be continued again.

We recap AJ vs. Rhyno. AJ had been running so they’re having a chain match. That makes sense right? WELL OF COURSE THAT’S NOT ALL THEN!!! There are going to be poles or something and the key is on one of them and there’s a weapon on another one.

AJ Styles vs. Rhyno

The weapon of choice is a nightstick. AJ runs a lot and Rhyno chases after him instead of just standing still and letting AJ run out of room on the chain. AJ gets back in first and hits a baseball slide to take over. They get into a tug of war and Rhyno takes over with pure power. The chain is wrapped around the post here. Back inside now and Rhyno takes over and hits a belly to belly.

Gore is countered by a dropkick and AJ chokes him with the chain. AJ goes for the key but Rhyno makes the stop. You don’t win if you get to the key or anything. AJ just gets loose and makes the whole gimmick totally pointless. Springboard forearm takes Rhyno down for a delayed two. Rhyno takes over and hits a spinebuster for two. He gets the nightstick but AJ hits him low to switch the momentum back.

AJ gets in some stick shots which should probably knock someone into a coma but it doesn’t even knock Rhyno down here. Styles gets the key and unhooks himself to totally negate the point of this match. AJ cuffs the chain to the ropes, tying Rhyno to it. Rhyno can get over halfway across the ring though so it’s not that horrible. Pele puts Rhyno down but he walks into a Gore but Rhyno can’t reach the key. Hebner casually kicks the key over to Rhyno in what is supposed to be a big deal I guess.

Ok now no one is chained up. In a chain match you know. Spinebuster puts Styles down and Rhyno goes for a table. Rhyno tries the running spinebuster kind of thing but AJ escapes. Another belly to belly looks to set up the Gore through the table but AJ moves and pins the not very down Rhyno off the crash.

Rating: D. It was an ok match but the gimmick part of it made my head hurt. This is Russo 101. If you want to have a gimmick attached that’s fine, but don’t overdo it like this. What did the poles and the key add to this? Either have the gimmick or don’t have it. It turned this into a game show instead of a match, which is what gets old with Russo.

Here’s part 3 of the Paparazzi thing. Eric doesn’t want to sign so Traci takes her jacket off to leave. He signs on her chest and the cameraman moves. She makes Eric close his eyes and Traci runs off, giving the contract to a waiting Roode. And they leave. That’s the end of the film. Backlund runs in and FREAKS, yelling about adult films.

We recap Sabin vs. Lynn. It’s old vs. new. Again.

X-Division Title: Jerry Lynn vs. Chris Sabin

The old X Title looks like a toy. They go to the mat to start and Sabin is sent to the floor. The idea is that Sabin underestimates Lynn because Lynn is 43. Sabin stalls more and we get some technical stuff with Sabin not being able to do anything to counter Lynn. And Sabin stalls AGAIN. The fans think this is boring as Lynn avoids a dive by Sabin. Sabin finally does something by kicking the ropes as Lynn gets back in.

Chris stomps away and works on the back. Backbreaker gets two and it’s off to a bow and arrow. Dropkick to the back gets two. Lynn tries to get something going but Sabin drops him face first onto the buckle. Another backbreaker gets two. Sabin gets in his face and pops him in the face a few times. Jumping back elbow in the corner has Lynn in trouble. Lynn kind of Hulks Up and fires off some dropkicks. Into the corner and Lynn spits onto his hands and rubs it in Sabin’s face, which Sabin did earlier.

Lynn gets a bit too cocky though and walks into a kick. Neckbreaker gets two for the challenger. Sabin is sent to the apron and manages a Stunner onto the ropes to take over again. Helicopter Powerbomb gets two for the champ. Cradle Shock is countered into a sunset flip for two. TKO gets two. Lynn tries the Cradle (theme in this match) Piledriver but his back goes out and Sabin backdrops him, grabs the rope and gets the pin.

Rating: C+. This was fine. What more can you ask for than a decent match with an injury worked in and then that injury playing into the ending? That’s what you call psychology people and while this was very basic levels of it, that’s all you need at times, especially in a match like this. Fun stuff and the best match of the show so far.

Samoa Joe, the unofficial enforcer for the main event, leaves Angle’s dressing room.

Here’s Roode for an interview. He and Traci are very happy about the contract that they have Young’s signature on. Roode talks about how Traci finally did something right and calls out Eric Young. Young is all depressed and Roode says he doesn’t get what the fans love about him. He’s figured it out now though: the fans see themselves in Young. Like Young, the fans are worthless. Just like Young, the people will never know what it’s like to be successful.

They’ll never know what it’s like to sleep with a beautiful woman either. That gets Young’s dander up and he wants to hit Roode but he can’t bring himself to do it because it means he’s fired, which is Eric’s greatest fear. This would be the scene for about the next three months between these two.

Christian says everything is cool but Tomko walks away when asked if things are cool with Tomko and Steiner. As for Angle, Christian knows that Angle won a gold medal. Well the NWA World Title is the gold medal of TNA, so at the end of the night, Christian will be standing on top of the medal stand. Cornette pops up and reminds Christian that in TNA, if a champion is disqualified the title changes hands, so his goons better not get involved.

We recap the mixed tag. Gail Kim had been turned on by Storm so she wanted to beat him up but Jackie Moore returned for the save. Petey Williams is with Gail for some reason so let’s have a mixed tag!

Gail Kim/Petey Williams vs. James Storm/Jackie Moore

The guys start us off and it’s Petey in early control. Jackie wants in there because she hasn’t annoyed us yet. Off to Gail who is looking good in those white shorts. The heels cheat so the fans chant brokeback cowboy. Storm hooks on a bad chinlock. Petey tries to come back but gets kicked in the face for two. The fans now want to kill the cowboy. Not nice people there in Orlando.

Eye of the Storm puts Petey down again. This has basically been one sided so far. Off to Jackie for more of her great additions to this one. Petey finally starts moving and hits a slingshot Codebreaker to Storm. The problem is Petey can’t tag because his partner has breasts. Here comes the Destroyer but Jackie continues to mess up our good time. The girls go at it which is a lot less exciting than it sounds. Top rope dropkick puts Jackie down for two. Gail rolls her up but is kicked off, right into Storm. The collision is enough for Jackie to pin her.

Rating: D. Whatever man. I don’t really see why this feud was supposed to be interesting but the idea here was to have Storm be out there for the post match thing which we’ll get to in a minute. As for Jackie, she continues to hold the title of most worthless female in the history of wrestling.

Post match Storm goes for a bottle shot but Williams saves it, only to get kicked in the face. The referee takes a DDT from Jackie and they load up the Death Sentence on Williams. And here’s Chris Harris for the big return, looking to kill Storm. This would set up one of the worst TNA matches I’ve ever seen and then the rematch which was one of the best.

We recap Sting vs. Abyss. Oh boy it’s Sting vs. Abyss. Ok so Abyss was basically subservient to James Mitchell and Sting wanted him to be his own man. Mitchell said it’ll never work and this spiraled into a huge and overly complicated backstory of Abyss being in prison for shooting his father in the head three times and Mitchell getting him bailed out. I’m not sure if it’s been revealed at this point but Mitchell is Abyss’ father. The world title was involved earlier. This results in a prison yard match, whatever that is. Mitchell burned Sting’s face too. Eventually it would be revealed that Abyss’ mom shot him. Got all that?

Sting, in an Abyss mask, says he’ll take care of Mitchell after he takes care of Abyss.

Abyss vs. Sting

The arena has been made to look like a prison yard and there’s a solitary confinement box. You put the other guy in it and lock it to win. Whatever. Abyss comes out to the ring, then walks outside where the match starts. Sting goes into the arena also and plays to the crowd a bit. He’s in the singlet and t-shirt ensemble this time. Outside he goes and the match is finally ready to get going.

They’re outside to start and they fight near a big dumpster, as in one of the kind that’s like 15 feet long. Sting gets launched into it and Abyss loads up a table. Sting pops out of the dumpster and hits Abyss with something that he found in there. For no adequately explored reason, Abyss rolls himself onto the table and Sting splashes him through it. They go into the arena now and Sting finds a barbed wire ball bat which goes into the ribs and back and arm of Abyss.

Sting calls for the cage to be lowered but Abyss avoids going into it. Sting beats up Mitchell and steals his belt, popping Mitchell with it for fun. I must have missed Abyss getting knocked down. Sting whips Mitchell for awhile and Mitchell is busted. Abyss finally comes back and the brawl continues. He pulls one of the lights off the posts and shatters it over Sting’s head. That looked great.

Abyss still can’t quite put him in the cage though so here’s a table. And here’s a barbed wire board. You know, because every wrestling ring has one underneath it. Black Hole Slam puts Sting down and Abyss rips the mask off Sting. He still can’t shut the cage though and Sting hits a pair of Splashes and the Death Drop. Sting puts Abyss in the cage but doesn’t shut up because Mitchell runs in.

Sting, Rhodes Scholar that he is, puts Mitchell in the Deathlock and Abyss runs him over. Abyss puts him on the table For absolutely no apparent reason, Abyss tries to climb up the cage. Sting gets up and since Abyss is slower than molasses at Christmas delivered by a snail with a limp, Sting loads up the barbed wire board onto the table, pops Abyss with the bat and powerbombs him through the board/table. That’s good for the win.

Rating: C+. How exactly do you call something like this? It isn’t exactly a match that has a precedent for it but the match was entertaining enough. The whole idea was for Sting to get to be able to be alone with Mitchell and that’s what happened. It was fun enough so I can’t really complain.

Sting destroys Mitchell post match until security makes the save. Mitchell would be gone for six months.

Angle talks about how when he got here, Samoa Joe looked like the best in the company. They beat each other up but it was worth it to get here.

We recap the world title match. Angle won the shot in an iron man match last month. Tomko was brought in to help out Christian and Steiner came in too. Joe was teased as the helper but Joe keeps saying he’ll be impartial.

NWA World Title: Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle

Christian is undefeated in TNA at this point. Tomko gets thrown out before the bell. Joe isn’t here yet either despite being the unofficial enforcer. Angle easily takes him to the mat to start. About a minute and a half in, here’s Joe with a chair. After the match basically stops for a minute, let’s continue. Angle pounds him down and grabs a quick ankle lock but the champ gets to the floor.

More bald man dominance out there as Angle picks him up in the Slam position and rams him back first into the post. The fans are into this and split probably 70/30 to Angle. Kurt misses a charge and his shoulder goes into the post. Joe yells at Angle because he wants the next shot to be at Angle. Oh yeah I forgot: Joe gets the winner at Destination X. Off to a chinlock back in the ring.

Back to the floor and nothing happens so let’s go back inside. They slug it out from their knees and Kurt takes over. Kurt hits some suplexes but both finishers are countered, resulting in the ankle lock but Christian quickly gets a rope. Low blow sets up the Unprettier for two. Slingshot by Kurt sends Christian into the corner. For some reason the champ tries to climb the ropes so Kurt runs them and throws him down.

The American hits the Germans on the Canadian, getting all the way to seven but that only gets two somehow. AJ runs in out of nowhere and gets on the top but Angle says jump. Joe chases AJ to the back and Christian pops Angle with a chair during the distraction. A Frog Splash gets two. Unprettier gets two. Kurt grabs an ankle lock but Cage counters, sending Kurt into the referee.

Angle Slam gets a very delayed two. The ref goes down again and here’s Tomko to take out Joe, only to walk into rolling Germans. Here’s Steiner with a pipe and Joe gets back up. Angle thinks Joe jumped him I think but Joe takes out the muscle guys. Joe beats them to the back and Angle throws on the ankle lock and Christian taps. No referee though so Christian pops Angle with the pipe and Unprettier #3 keeps the title on him.

Rating: B-. Fun main event here and a solid match for a B-ish level PPV. This set up Christian vs. Joe where Christian cheated again to keep the title. Good enough match as Christian did a lot of growing up in TNA, as he was just a midcard guy before this in WWE. Granted having matches with Angle and Joe is going to help anyone.

Overall Rating: C. Very much just an average show. It’s not bad but it pretty much just came and went. Some of it was good and some of it was bad, but for the most part here there was nothing on this card that I’m going to remember. I wouldn’t have been terribly disappointed had I watched it live though, which is usually a good sign. This was good enough. That’s about as good of a description as I can give it.

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Against All Odds 2011
Date: February 13, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

Well we’ve arrived at this show.  It doesn’t look terrible but at the same time it looks completely lackluster.  It’s more or less a rehash of Genesis that had a single night to prep for it due to the huge hype surrounding 2/3.  Either way this isn’t a show I’m particularly looking forward to.  That being said it’s still a PPV with a world title match.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about how awesome Immortal is and how much trouble Anderson is in tonight.  Basic but pretty well done.

The announcers remind us of the card that we’ve ordered already.

Robbie E comes out and says that tonight he’s not wrestling due to Gen Me not being here due to reasons of being scared of him.  He makes the referee count and he’s officially the #1 contender.  There’s a title match later tonight apparently.  Kaz stops them as they leave (they being Robbie and Cookie) and hits them with basic insults.  The match is RIGHT NOW!

X-Division Title: Robbie E vs. Kazarian

 

Kaz starts off hot and stomps on the hand of Cookie while she complains.  Robbie is knocked to the floor and Kaz gets set on the top rope.  In our first hokey smoke bump of the night, Robbie trips him up and he slams his face into the steps.  FREAKING OW MAN!!!  Robbie gets a boot up into the face of a charging Kaz to take over.  Falling fist gets two.

We actually get a let’s go Kaz chant.  Ah there’s a Robbie Sucks chant.  That helps a bit.  Not quite Rocky Sucks but it’s not bad.  Robbie wastes time though and gets caught by a springboard dropkick to put him down.  More dropkicks by Kaz as he takes over almost completely.  Spinning springboard legdrop gets two.

Kaz tries the reverse Piledriver but gets it reversed.  Robbie’s neckbreaker is reversed as well.  O’Connor Roll is blocked and Cookie gets a purse (I think) to the head of Kaz for a VERY close two.  Robbie tries to vault over Kaz in the corner but gets caught in the reverse tombstone (FINALLY gets a name with Fade to Black) for the pin to retain.

Rating: C+. This was fine but it’s the same X match we’ve seen a dozen times and it’ll be forgotten in about 40 minutes.  The division is completely nondescript at the moment with nothing standing out at all.  Still though, this wasn’t terrible and was even kind of fun at times.  Decent opener but it’s kind of sad that X Title has fallen so far.

Steiner and Beer Money talk about their match.  Steiner is his usual insane self and is completely hilarious with his stuttering.  Now he’s walking around like a Frankenstein Monster.  Storm starts a You Suck chant.

AJ comes out for commentary.

Gunner/Murphy/Rob Terry vs. Beer Money/Scott Steiner

 

This should be good.  We have Rob Terry vs. Scott Steiner.  That alone should sell the PPV.  Steiner’s muscles are scary.  Flair is going to be on Impact Thursday.  The fans chant Scotty.  He and Gunner start us off.  I can’t remember which is Gunner and which is Murphy so having Tazz tell us helps.  Murphy tries a leapfrog but gets caught in a belly to belly.

And now it’s Freak vs. Freak.  This should be awesome in various ways.  Steiner says pose, Beer Money distracts, Steiner hits a low blow which shouldn’t hurt due to the size of Terry’s testicles.  There are the pushups.  Off to Gunner vs. Storm now with the weather related guy doing better in this encounter.  He skins the cat and hits some clotheslines followed by a backdrop.

All Fourtune/Steroid dealer job insurance at the moment.  Terry interferes and here comes Goon #1.  We get an inset shot of AJ because I guess the wrestling isn’t important enough to look at?  Terry throws Storm around for a bit and a slam gets two.  Backstabber out of nowhere and it’s off to no one as Terry blocks the tag.  And so much for that as it’s off to Roode.

Roode misses a jumping forearm or there was miscommunication or something.  Gunner and Roode are the only ones off the floor.  Neckbreaker gets two for Roode.  Spinning Rock Bottom gets two as Murphy saves.  Beer Money both in now and they clean house.  We get the signature taunt and Terry thankfully takes out Storm who didn’t look at his opponents for about 40 seconds.  Roode hits spinebusters all around and it’s off to Steiner.  With Gunner on the top, Steiner busts out the Frankensteiner to end this.

Rating: C. This was your typical six man match.  Steiner was the star of it which is fine I guess as none of the heels mean anything and Beer Money is already well established.  Either way this was ok but really nothing special as we’ve seen it all a bunch of times before.  That’s the problem so far: nothing is unique or even special.  Granted we’re 35 minutes into the show so there’s more than enough time.

D-Von says that his sons aren’t in the match tonight.  That’s probably the best thing that they could do.  Yes, somehow Bubba vs. D-Von is the better option.

We recap Pope vs. Joe which is a storyline I’ve been rather interested in.  They’re trying something new here, but I would have liked Pope to be face more than a month.  Pope was collecting money but apparently was spending it on himself.  Then he said Joe was fat.

Samoa Joe vs. D’Angelo Dinero

 

Joe’s cameraman’s name is now Okato.  I give up.  That Joe’s Gonna Kill You chant never gets old.  Pope’s tights say Pope’s Gonna Kill You.  We enter a stall here as I guess we’re channeling our inner Memphis.  We get a few shots and then hey it’s more stalling!  Maybe we’re in Pittsburgh.  Pope tries to walk and Okato stops him.  Pope: “This is ridiculous!”

Joe is like screw it and hits a suicide elbow to crush Pope and we’re finally going at it.  Pope tries a suplex but the power of fat stops him.  Here comes Joe with right jabs and a modified Pele.  Tazz is talking like Fonzie for some reason.  And I mean the one from Happy Days.  Face Wash time including a running one has Pope in big trouble.

The referee stops Joe and Pope gets a thumb to the eye.  A running knee to Joe’s back sends Joe to the floor.  Pope in control now as things slow way down.  There are a lot of punches and forearms here.  Tazz talks about Okato and can’t be serious with it.  Nice to see your commentators earning their pay there.  Swinging neckbreaker by Pope gets two.

Pope tries a middle rope fist but jumps into an atomic drop.  Running boot and backsplash get two as does a powerslam.  Out of nowhere Pope gets a modified GTS without Joe leaving his feet.  Cool move there.  Pope rips a turnbuckle pad off and the referee is fine with it somehow.  Joe blocks the ramming and Pope tries an O’Connor Roll.  It’s reversed into the Clutch though and I think Pope was tapping before the hold was on.

Rating: C. I think they’re going somewhere with the tapping thing but this wasn’t much of a match anyway.  It’s ok but this could have been on any TV show.  I was expecting something good here but Pope as a heel is just dull in the ring.  It’s ok but at the same time a big disappointment.  I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this show.

Post match Pope offers a handshake and kicks Joe low.  Okada (forget that other name) is put down also and Joe’s face goes into the exposed buckle.  The double knees to the back into the buckle can’t feel good.  Naturally Joe is busted.

Mickie says she’s better than Madison and that she’ll win.  I love how easy these promos are to summarize.

We recap the Knockouts’ Title feud which more or less is Mickie saying I want to win and Madison saying you want to win.  Oh and Madison has a loaded glove and it’s a Last Man Standing match.

Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James

 

Madison’s song is irritating as hell.  Mickie is dressed like Pocahontas for some reason.  She’s sent into the steps and the count is on.  Remember that you have to answer a ten count or you lose.  They fight up the ramp a bit with Madison in control.  Mickie gets in a shot to send Madison into the post for about five.  Taz tries to take a shot at the Divas and it doesn’t work that well.

Mickie gets a kick in and clotheslines Madison using the rope to send her to the floor for seven.  Cross body off the apron by Mickie puts both girls down.  She tries to get the loaded glove off but can’t quite get there.  And now we have a shot of the empty ring as the girls are under the ring.  Madison comes out as you can hear the crowd talking.  Ah there’s Mickie.

She morphs into karate action Mickie to put Madison down with a series of kicks.  And then with Madison down Mickie picks her up like a moron.  Back in the ring Mickie goes up and gets shoved off to the floor.  That gets a long nine which probably should have been ten.  Madison loads up the glove but Mickie gets a shot to the arm.

Thesz Press off the top puts Madison down for two.  Spinning kick puts the champion down again and Mickie steals the glove.  At about 8 Tara (called Victoria by Tazz) comes out to break it up.  Madison pulls brass knucks out of her boot and drills Mickie to keep the freaking title.  Oh dang it just give Mickie her title already!

Rating: C+. Decent match here but the ending was just so stupid.  There is ZERO justification to keep the title on Madison here and yet they’re just going to keep on doing it.  Well sure why not.  It’s not like no one cares about her or she’s nothing special in the ring or her gimmick is boring.  Good match, bad decision at the end.

Jeff Hardy says he’ll win.

Here’s Matt Morgan who calls out Hernandez.  Morgan says explain why you cost me my title shot.  Hernandez plays the freaking race card, wondering where his title shot was.  He went to Mexico to be with his people where he was treated great.  Naturally we get a Hernandez chant.  He’s tired of white America and today the minority is the majority.  This is Mexican country apparently and Morgan needs to get out.  Low blow by Hernandez sets up an FU which I guess is his new finisher.

Matt Hardy says he’s awesome but being nice never got him anywhere.  He’s Cold Blooded now.  He talks about being punished for Jeff leaving (talking about WWE because it’s been five minutes since we referenced them).  RVD is a stepping stoned apparently.  I thought he was stepping stoned but you get the idea.

Matt Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam

 

At least Matt got rid of the braids.  RVD starts with kicks but tries to roll around too much and is dropped on the top buckle.  Matt hammers away in the corner and doesn’t do much beside punches.  Van Dam tries to speed things up but can’t hit his apron moonsault as Matt trips him and his face hits the apron.  Is that our theme for this?  RVD’s face is dropped onto stuff?

On the floor now and Matt can’t suplex him onto the railing.  He gets draped over it though and there’s the spinning legdrop to the back of Hardy.  Van Dam fires some kicks but gets caught in an Orton DDT as he comes back in.  Back to the floor and RVD’s face goes into the railing.  Matt grabs a double underhook and rolls through into a body scissors and facelock.  That’s a new one.

Full nelson goes on as Matt is in control here.  There are the dueling chants because what would a match be without them?  Hardy with a Cravate to take RVD down one more time.  Back up and Matt dodges a kick to get a guillotine drop over the ropes.  Matt tries to come off the ropes but RVD gets a kick in to get us back to even.

Van Dam gets some clotheslines and a kick to set up Rolling Thunder.  Matt moves so Van Dam backflips into a moonsault for two.  Starship Pain minus the twisting gets two.  Matt gets a Side Effect out of nowhere for two.  Spin kick puts Matt down but RVD can’t get the Five Star.  Matt goes up but gets knocked down while attempting a superplex.  Instead we get a backdrop off the top.  Never seen that I don’t think.

Matt tries a moonsault which misses of course, starting a small earthquake in Florida.  Ok to be fair he’s looking a lot slimmer.  Van Dam takes the advantage and the Five Star ends it.  This was just ok but somehow might have been the match of the night so far.  What does that say about this show?

Rating: C. Another so-so match with WAY too many rest holds.  It’s just another stop on the road to RVD vs. Jeff Hardy which is just an ok sounding match.  Either way this wasn’t much with Matt not being interesting at all and not being a threat to RVD on a level playing field.  We’re 92 minutes into this show now and we haven’t gotten a good match yet.  We’ve had some ok ones, but nothing I’ll remember in 3 days.  That’s really bad.

Christy tries to get a reaction from Bully Ray.  Instead he yells at her and makes her cry then….licks her ear?  Anyway he says that he wants to make men out of D-Von’s boys.  There has to be a Disney song in there somewhere.  Ray makes more weird lines about D-Von and the kids.  He wants to beat the kids.

We recap the Dudleys exploding.  Basically Ray is a bully and attacked D-Von’s kids to set this up.

Bully Ray vs. D-Von

 

This is a street fight and D-Von’s kids will NOT be involved.  I’ll believe that when I don’t see it I guess.  Bubba hides before D-Von comes out so he can jump him.  Ray has the chain but D-Von turns around and the fight is on.  All D-Von to start but Bubba gets some punches in.  D-Von hits him in the head with a beverage to break the momentum though and we continue the brawl.

We get the kendo stick as it’s all D-Von now.  Ray tries to beg and slaps D-Von.  This isn’t interesting in the slightest mind you but it’s not horrible.  With D-Von completely in control his kids come out.  He tells them to go and gets drilled by a chair.  Bubba spits on them and sets up for the Pillmanizing of the neck again.  The kids get in the ring to stop it as Bubba threatens them with the chain.

D-Von makes the save and beats up Ray.  He goes to backdrop the fat white guy and Bubba shouts OH CRAP!  The kids beat up Bubba a bit and help D-Von out with What’s Up.  DAD!  GET THE TABLES!  I kid you not, that just actually happened.  Here’s the table but Bubba gets a low blow in.  And now we enter the bondage segment of the show with D-Von being handcuffed to the corner.

Bubba enters his bullying mode while the kids come in to try to help.  One of them gets taken down while the other fights back.  Bubba kicks him in the face and pins him to win the match.  Oh sweet goodness are you kidding me?  I had to close my eyes for a second there due to how stupid that was.  Why is it stupid?  They weren’t in the match but it counts anyway.  Well sure why not.

Rating: D. This was your standard brawl with a bad ending.  This feud isn’t interesting, it doesn’t elevate anyone and the ending was stupid as hell.  Naturally this is leading to a tables match and it’s all about the anti-bullying movement that is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER!  I’m so over this bullying kick the country is on and I can’t stand it in wrestling.  All heels are bullies but only Bubba is an official one.

Bubba keeps yelling post match and threatens to hit the kids with a chair.  Is there no like, SECURITY or something?  Ah good at least D-Von yelled for them.  Yep there’s a powerbomb through the table and bad acting from D-Von.  Naturally the fans chant for another one.  Hey, IT’S A GUY TO GET D-VON OUT!  Good thing he wasn’t here EARLIER!  They do a stretcher ride to fill in more time.  Somehow the post match stuff was the best part of the show by far.  In a funny bit the kid that got kicked in the head is completely forgotten about until D-Von throws him over his shoulder like a bag of manure.

The Jarretts say this match is personal and about their kids.

Serious Kurt says he’s tired of Jeff messing with his kids and using them as pawns.  This is coming from the man using them as a stipulation to make a paycheck.

We recap Kurt vs. the Jarretts part 93, this time about Kurt’s kids.  They’ve been feuding for like 19 years so I don’t need to recap this.

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett

 

Ok.  There are two matches left and it’s 10pm.  This has been one of the least interesting shows I have ever seen but up to this point it hasn’t been atrocious.  These two matches can bring this to a passable grade.  Don’t let me down TNA.  Crowd is totally behind Angle.  Shame he has no chance at all.  The fans chant sloppy seconds because this is a serious match.

They trade headlocks to start and Kurt gives Jarrett head.  His head I mean.  Dang I need to remember those possessive pronouns.  He lets Jeff grab his head.  In a headlock I mean.  Kurt lets Jeff grab a headlock.  Ok there I think that works.  Angle grabs the arm and bends Jeff over in front of him with it.  Would these two like some alone time?

Slow build so far with Jarrett only being able to get little shots in here and there while Kurt keeps control with relative ease.  Jeff is sent to the floor where Kurt hammers away.  Karen slaps him.  I’d love if the referee called it a DQ immediately.  Kurt fires shoulders in the corner but misses a charging one to send his shoulder into the post.  Top rope cross body by Jeff is rolled through for two.

Taz: “Kurt was that close to gaining custody of his children.”  I hate wrestling sometimes.  Kurt’s arm seems to be ok as he runs into a boot in the corner.  Back and forth a bit and Kurt can’t get the ankle lock.  Rolling Germans instead gets two.  There’s the ankle lock but Jarrett rolls through.  Angle Slam hits but Karen has the referee.  It’s not like it would have mattered as that hasn’t won a big match in years.

Jeff gets a low blow during that though and there’s the Stroke for two.  Down goes the ref (surprised?) and we hit the floor where Karen rakes Kurt’s back.  Kurt is sent into the steps a few times and we go back into the ring.  Jeff brings in a chair but Kurt gets it.  The referee stops Kurt from swinging it and Jeff gets a rollup for two.  Thank goodness on that as I would have cried it that had been the ending.  Ok not really.

Kurt goes up and Karen distracts him so that Jeff can hit something resembling the Stroke from the middle rope for two.  Well of course.  It’s an amplified finisher so why would you I expect it to get a win?  Angle grabs a quick German and there go the straps.  Ankle lock goes on, Karen distracts the referee, Jeff taps, ref is with Karen, Jeff gets a chair shot for two as these kickouts are getting absurd.  Angle gets a sunset flip but Jeff drops down onto him for the pin.  Yes, that’s the ending.

Rating: B. This was a good match but Karen held it back way too much.  Also constantly hearing about the kids was just freaking stupid.  The match was good and a clean ending was a breath of fresh air, but dang man this means we have to go through early March with this stupid feud.  By far the best match of the night and they’ve had far better ones in the past so this isn’t much.

Kurt leaves his boots in the ring which is a sign of retirement.  Oh not this again.

Anderson says that the odds are against him and goes a great imitation of Jesse Ventura.  Stop making me think of stuff I’d rather be watching.  There’s a Justin Bieber reference and I quit paying attention.

Long recap video on Hardy vs. Anderson which is supposed to be the epic feud in TNA but it’s just not there.  They talk about the pre-THEY stuff, 10/10/10, the concussion, the title change and Anderson thinking the belt looks stupid.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson

 

They make a point to say there are two referees at ringside.  I don’t like where this is going.  Hardy spits at him and they slug it out after the big match intros.  There are multi-colored ladders at ringside including one with Christmas colors.  Anderson is still in his shirt which likely means nothing.  The first ladder is brought in and Anderson is rammed into it by Hardy to put both guys down.

Basic ladder spots to start which are good.  Hardy dropkicks it into Anderson’s balls and Ken is in trouble.  Anderson gets a Russian Leg Sweep to Hardy onto the ladder in the corner.  Ladder #2 is brought in and Anderson goes up.  He gets brought down with a sunset bomb to half kill Anderson.  Hardy sets Anderson up in front of the ladder in front of the corner.  He misses the leapfrog legdrop though and Anderson gets back up.

Anderson charges at Hardy but gets backdropped and bounces on the ladder.  FREAKING OW MAN!  Hardy opens a ladder and stands it upside down. Anderson fights back and goes after the legs which makes sense.  Shame it doesn’t get him anywhere as he’s sent to the floor.  Jeff wants the Christmas ladder and throws it at Anderson who catches it and throws it back.

Hardy sends him into the railing and Ken may have a bad wrist.  Poetry in Motion against the railing puts them both in the crowd.  Back in now and Jeff tries the release Gordbuster onto the upside down ladder.  Instead he gets suplexed onto it with the main landing being on his leg.  Anderson does the required slow climb and gets pulled down.  Diamond Cutter is called a Twist of Hate.

Jackson James, the possibly Immortal referee, hands Jeff a ladder as per his request.  It’s the colored one as Jeff didn’t want the black one.  Anderson counters and hits the rolling fireman’s carry slam (might be called the Green Bay Plunge) onto the ladder.  Anderson goes up and tries the Kenton Bomb but misses and hits the top of his head on the ladder.  Oh dear.

Jeff climbs again but can’t get there this time either as Anderson makes the save.  They’re both on a ladder up there and the slugout is on.  Anderson is almost down but manages to make the save.  He shoves the title away and it’s swinging back and forth.  And there go the ladders so everyone is more or less dead.  It was a Mic Check and I think Hardy was supposed to pull the belt down with him but to the shock of no one, they botched it.  Hardy throws him to the floor and goes up to get the title and wins it just like that.

Rating: B. Well the majority of the match was good but the ending was so abrupt that it was ridiculous.  Also I HATE the choice here as Hardy is such a boring champion but hey we have to push this Immortal thing right?  This was good but it wasn’t enough to save the show for sure.  I’m really bummed by this ending, but at the same time at least it was a good match.  Also, is there a reason Anderson had such a short reign?

Long celebration takes us out.

Overall Rating: D. This was bad but the Angle/Jarrett and ladder matches keep it from being a failure.  Now before you jump down my throat about the match grades being ok but the overall rating being bad, think about it.  There were about two worthless hours of ok at best matches that aren’t going to mean a thing.  Nothing was any good at all until the last hour which doesn’t make a show good.  When you have two hours of dull as hell the good matches are weighed down.  Bad show that we knew would be bad and it doesn’t look like anything is going to improve soon.  Weak PPV and one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time.

Results

Kazarian b. Robbie E – Fade to Black

Scott Steiner/Beer Money b. Gunner/Murphy/Rob Terry – Frankensteiner to Gunner

Samoa Joe b. D’Angelo Dinero – Coquina Clutch

Madison Rayne b. Mickie James – James couldn’t answer the ten count after a shot from brass knuckles

Rob Van Dam b. Matt Hardy – Five Star Frog Splash

Bully Ray b. D-Von – Ray pinned one of D-Von’s sons after a big boot

Jeff Jarrett b. Kurt Angle – Jarrett reversed a sunset flip into a cradle

Jeff Hardy b. Mr. Anderson – Hardy Grabbed the Belt

Against All Odds 2010
Date: February 14, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tazz, Mike Tenay

Well we’re a month and a half into the Hogan regime and things are looking better from a wrestling perspective but from a ratings perspective not so much. Anyway, tonight we have Joe vs. Styles and a one night tournament for the title shot at Lockdown, which isn’t for another two months but whatever. I fail to see where the card game aspect comes from also but whatever, The tournament is intriguing looking so let’s get to it.

Here are the brackets.

Pope
Desmond Wolfe

Hernandez
Matt Morgan

Kurt Angle
Mr. Anderson

Abyss
Mick Foley

We open with Flair storming in and he’s ticked because Bischoff is the referee. Ok then. Flair stumbles over his words a lot. Does anyone buy Flair as a 60 year old man being physically intimidating?

The opening video is about the tournament and how winning it is the ultimate prize. I thought that would be the world title but whatever. Oh and we hear about the world title match too. For the life of me, why are they making Styles into a Flair clone? He’s the best in the world, so let’s change it up right? That makes LOADS of sense.

The music sounds like bad lounge music.

8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Desmond Wolfe vs. D’Angelo Dinero

Sweet goodness Chelsea looks great. Good night though, shut up Tenay and West. Wlofe is a guy I like more and more every time I see him. Pope….I just don’t get it. He’s a wrestling Slick and somehow that’s a gimmick? Wait…Tenay just asked which young stud will break through. Angle, Abyss and Foley are all former world champions, Hernandez has been around forever and everyone knows Kennedy.

I get the idea of what he’s saying but it’s still kind of dumb. The people are behind Pope, but at the same time how serious can you take the Impact Zone fans? They’re starting out fast paced here which I like pretty well. Wolfe’s nipples are really close together. NICE DDT on Pope. Pope has a unique style of striking which is reminding me of Sting, which is a compliment.

A top rope cross body gets two. The big lariat misses and Pope gets a rollup for two. And then we get a very contrived ending on the levels of the 619 as Pope hits the dumbest finisher in the company at the moment with the double knee to the back of the conveniently placed opponent for the pin.

Rating: B. Not bad at all and a very solid opener. They went out there and had a fast paced match. I would have had Wolfe go further, but if they wanted Pope to go over strong, I can’t argue with how they did it as it was a completely clean win.

Flair yells at Bischoff again. He declares himself the wrestling god. Oh dang it they’re channeling JBL. That can’t be good. You can smell Flair vs. Hogan and Hogan going over from here.

JB is (back thank goodness. Not a huge fan of his but he’s not Bubba so he’s great by comparison) with Morgan and Hernandez who says they fight tonight but they’re still champions no matter what. Hernandez being that much shorter is funny for some reason.

8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan

Not wild in the slightest about them having these two go at it so soon but I get the point again. Something I need to make clear: any company is going to get a lot of points for just having a direction and an idea that is clear. I likely won’t agree with it, but if something has a point that makes something resembling sense a lot of the time I’ll just go with it. This is one of those times. Don’t agree with it, but it’s passable.

Tazz thinks both guys want to win. Oh year that’s such great analysis. Winner gets Pope. Hernandez goes for a cross body and they botch the living heck out of is as Morgan tries to catch him but it fails completely. They’re being really tentative here which makes sense from a storyline perspective but at the same time it makes for some boring wrestling. Taz and Tenay are REALLY annoying. They finally crank it up a bit but not that much really.

We do get a 25-30 second delayed vertical suplex. That’s rather impressive. Uh oh Hernandez might be hurt. So Morgan goes for the shoulder and uses the tights to get the win. TNA…why are you trying to mess with things that are like your mother: NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU SHOULD BE MESSINGWITH! Yep they’re teasing tension between the two.

Rating: C-. This was too slow for my taste. It wasn’t bad at all but just not that good. I HATED the ending as these two simply do not need tension yet. I don’t like them as a team but it’s still stupid nonetheless. Morgan should have won though.

We recap Angle recently which is kind of odd but whatever. Ok this has gone on for about three minutes now. Angle apologizes to Hogan for….no apparent reason. Oh ok it’s for helping him Thursday. He also calls out Anderson, who is his first round opponent.

8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle

He misses the mic. “That was intentional.” I chuckled. Kennedy is another guy that has found something that works and has RAN with it. Sometimes that’s the best thing to do and it worked here. For some reason his music starts up again after his promo and plays for like 3 seconds before Angle’s starts up. Whatever. Angle is another interesting case as he’s proof that a reputation can be a character.

The screen behind him says The Greatest Wrestler In The World. What more do you need to know about him? They start rather quickly which is a perk. Angle hits the post with his shoulder which I don’t think was his initial idea. Anderson gets the dog tag that Angle wears and cuts him open with it really bad. Oh man he’s bleeding nice and hard.

I love that release belly to belly that Angle uses. Take note Scott Steiner: there are other moves than that and a bad chinlock. There goes the buckle pad thanks to the heel here. Naturally the Angle Slam doesn’t work. Has that gotten anyone in forever? Angle GOES OLYMPIC but it doesn’t work. After being rammed into the buckle, Angle gets pinned by the Mic Check. Uh, yeah. Anderson spits on the dog tag afterwards.

Rating: C-. It’s certainly not bad, but this felt like it was just a total crash course of a match. They flew through it and it felt like it was about 3 minutes long when it was closer to ten or so. That’s not good, but like I said this certainly wasn’t bad at all.

Bischoff is with Foley and Abyss and if they don’t fight then the mask comes off. The fans are chanting Angle which is amusing for some reason. Also there’s no reason that Abyss should freak over the mask coming off when he took it off on his own months ago. It’s now a No DQ match. To clarify something FTS was wondering about, I’m ok with this as it makes sense from Bischoff’s perspective. It follows the story and I don’t need a scorecard to keep track of what’s going on. That makes up for the inconsistencies. I don’t like it, but it makes something close to sense so I’ll let it go.

8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Abyss vs. Mick Foley

Remember this is No DQ. Foley’s music isn’t bad and Abyss’ is at least easily recognizable. Eric made him get rid of the flannel. Naturally Tenay argues over what material it is. The fans of course want to see the bat used for no apparent reason. Foley slaps Abyss. Only Foley could slap a monster and get away with it. We hit the floor and I like the mats they have.

They’re really thick which I have no problem with. Foley busts out a chair and takes over. The fans aren’t sure what to do here as is often the case with two faces fighting. It’s thumbtacks time. Abyss keeps going against the hardcore stuff here as he chokeslams Foley but makes sure it’s not in the tacks. The fans still want the bat. And Abyss steals the sock from Foley’s pants, prompting a USE THE SOCK chant. Ok then.

Foley takes the referee down and gets his sock. Well that works I guess. The Claw goes onto Abyss but it only gets two. Foley comes at him with the bat and walks into the Black Hole Slam onto the tacks for the pin. He freaks because he hurt Foley.

Rating: B. This is a very different kind of match as it’s more about thinking and storytelling than action. Now the smart thing is that they took a guy like Foley who is as good at in ring psychology and character development as anyone in history and let him do this as it worked really well for me. This was a situation where it wasn’t about the wrestling but it really worked which is incredible rare.

Pope
Morgan

Anderson
Abyss

No reason for those names. Just a writing exercise I thought I’d try.

The Nasty Boys are with Christy and apparently Nastys vs. 3D is 15 years in the making. The Dudleys (the famous pairing that is) haven’t been around that long but whatever. The Nastys say they’re here to prove something or other. Whatever. Knobbs can’t say the name of their opponents. It’s a number and a letter. We recap the feud which was ok if nothing else. Again, yes they Nastys have feuded with a lot of great teams. How many have they actually beaten?

Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D

So now people are being asked to pay to see the Nasty Boys. Good to know. That lounge music is REALLY annoying. No one in TNA has ever taken it to Team 3D like the Nastys? REALLY? Sags looks slimmer and nearly in shape. Knobbs…not so much. 3D runs them off and I guess they’re the faces? It’s been 2 minutes so they might have turned since then.

We get to a regular tag match with Sags vs. Bubba. Both guys have pants with their team name on it. Is that in case they get lost? Sign in the front row: pipe down nerds. That’s rather funny. The fans want to sit down and eat. What else could they want tables for? This hasn’t been as bad as I expected, but it’s nothing compared to the Nasty Boys doing science experiments like they did in 1995.

You have to see that clip if you don’t know what I’m talking about. SuperBrawl 1995, opening of the tape. Go find it as it’s just bizarre. Oh look: Brooke Hogan is here. It has nothing to do with the show or the match, but it needs to be noted: Brooke Hogan is indeed HERE. The Nastys take over now.

Taz says lifting Knobbs is like lifting a small foreign car. That’s rather funny. Sags takes 3D and JIMMY FREAKING HART makes the save. Are you kidding me??? His helmet is slammed into Bubba for the pin. Love that voice.

Rating: C-. I’m very surprised as this wasn’t terrible by any means. It wasn’t particularly good but it was far from bad. I do not get the point in the Nasty Boys being on TV but having Hart there is never a bad thing.

Joe and Bischoff talk about the world title match.

8 Card Stud Semi-Finals: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan

Again I ask: what is a street pope? I don’t get it. Pope does the Bret Hart glasses thing which works. They’re going big man vs. little man here so that’s all well and good. We’re on the floor now and not a lot is going on. Oh I almost forgot: this is the feud that made me hate Burke. Back in OVW these two feuded FOREVER and it couldn’t have been more boring if their lives depended on it.

It was that feud that made me hate Burke and it’s why I have issues about him to this day. Expect a low grade here. Morgan is acting very heelish here and I’m not big on that at all. It’s bearhug time so they’re not doing themselves any favors at all. Morgan is dominating here and screw that as Pope is making his comeback.

Morgan BLUEPRINTS UP though and takes his head off with a clothesline. So one minute Pope is in survival mode and the next he’s hitting the knees to the back for the pin. Riiiight. Oh I especially love Morgan being on the corner and looking over his shoulder twice to see when he needs to be ready to sell.

Rating: D+. While I want to fail it because of the people in it, this didn’t do it for me. The story and psychology were pretty much non existent here and the ending was completely unbelievable as in yeah right that was stupid. Yes there’s likely some bias in there and it wasn’t jumping off the page bad or anything so don’t think that’s what I’m saying.

Anderson cuts a rather funny promo about how he beat Angle. It’s funnier than it sounds. He says his name once, leaves to the left and comes back from the right to say it again. The guy can talk no matter what you think of his in ring stuff.

8 Card Stud Semi-Finals: Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson

We start with a very long stalling session here which I guess is ok. The crowd is oddly quiet here. Why is Abyss being a former world champion NEVER mentioned? I know it’s a different world title but it’s just never talked about at all. They’ll talk about the WCW and WWE titles whenever it benefits them. Hey, we’re on the floor!

Always good to see TNA mixing things up. For some reason I always love dropkicks to the knee. There’s just something cool about that. Anderson works on the knee so at least that makes sense. He goes for the mask and when Abyss is trying to fix it, the Mic Check sends Anderson to the finals.

Rating: D. This was really weak to me. The knee stuff led nowhere and the ending did nothing for me. Abyss is in desperate need of credibility. This should have been Foley vs. Kennedy, period.

AJ cuts a very solid promo about being a great worker. Again I ask; WHAT POINT IS THERE TO FLAIR BEING THERE IF HE CAN TALK THIS WELL??? “But KB, he learned so much from talking to Flair.” And I have to see Flair on TV making AJ look like he needs a mentor WHY?

If you want to make him act like Flair then fine but we don’t need to see him there every five minutes. Sorry I just completely fail to see what Flair is there for. He’s the golden boy and the man in TNA and the best wrestler in the world so he needs a mentor all of a sudden? He’s the BEST. How much better can he get?

We recap Joe vs. AJ which needs no recapping but whatever.

Bischoff is coming to the ring. And Hogan is here too. Ok then.

TNA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Remember Bischoff is referee here. Why is he referee? No clue but it’s TNA so that comes with the territory. I love the total lack of tattoo on his face. AJ has a Flair robe. Shoot me now. Ok the hood on it makes it a lot better than I thought. Why in the world are they making AJ a heel here? Seriously, he’s so insanely over and they make a fortune off his merchandise so let’s just throw that away.

He has blonde highlights now too. That’s just great. Fans are WAY behind Joe. There is something awesome about the way JB says “From the Isle of Samoa.” No idea why but I’ve always loved that. As soon as the robe came off AJ got about 10x more awesome. AJ simply doesn’t need Flair to be a heel. The interesting thing here is that Flair and Eric have legit heat. Some of you might not know why though.

Back in 1998, Flair’s son Reid was wrestling in an amateur tournament in North Carolina and Flair was dead set on being there to watch him compete. He gave warning to Bischoff that he would be there and that’s all there was to it. The thing is there was a Thunder, not Nitro or a PPV but THUNDER, that night. Flair, having a thing called common sense, thought that since he was Ric Flair and this was WCW and he gave sufficient warning that he would be able to have a night off.

Bischoff thought otherwise and suspended him. This literally went on for months and the fans reverted back to 1991 and spent the whole show chanting WE WANT FLAIR. So this led to a famous as well as awesome moment where Arn Anderson reformed the Horsemen (adding in Dean Malenko for the first time) and completely unannounced brought out Flair for the first time in about four months in NORTH CAROLINA. What do you think the reaction was?

Naturally Flair gets one of the biggest pops in WCW history and looks like a million bucks and the fans are FREAKING OUT. And of course they had Flair have a heart attack a few weeks later then had Bischoff beat him at Starrcade with a screwjob ending that the fans booed out of the freaking building. How did that company ever make a freaking dime?

The Horsemen were then, you guessed it, fed to the NWO and made to look like jokes while Hogan won the world title from Nash in the Fingerpoke of Doom, because of course having the guy the fans are cheering for like there’s no tomorrow being pushed as a serious character can’t work so let’s just stick with the same stuff that’s made us lose the biggest ratings lead in wrestling history while Austin and Vince are destroying us in the ratings right?

ANYWAY, the point is that Bischoff more or less said that Flair was just one of the wrestlers and that carrying the company for as many years as he did was NOTHING in comparison to guys like Hogan and Savage who came in and tanked the company for two years before the one good idea that Bischoff had (read as stole from two Japanese companies that did the same thing years before the NWO was even heard of) made any money before he ran the company into the freaking ground. Flair was disrespected and the fans chanted WE WANT FLAIR very loudly and Bischoff had to back down and let Flair come back before embarrassing him again.

Oh yeah there’s a PPV here. There is something just freaking awesome about the fans chanting JOE’S GONNA KILL YOU. How can that not get into your head? AJ works on the knee. Ok, that’s fine if he does it a bit but you have AJ Styles in there. Have him use his stuff, not Flair’s as his primary offense. We’re on the floor (I know I’m shocked too) and AJ is trying to suplex Joe which fails more than Flair’s hair.

I’m glad Joe is in the shorts again. They work better for him. Joe counters a top rope hurricanrana and goes aerial and hits kind of an enziguri to the front of the face. Flair goes after the leg. Never mind that it’s the WRONG ONE as AJ had worked on the right leg and Flair went after the left one but whatever. AJ uses an Indian Deathlock and bends back to more or less have his hands like you would for a reverse neckbreaker.

Benoit did that to Booker T once on Thunder and WCW went to a commercial just as he locked it in. Brilliance I tell you, brilliance. There’s the figure four that you knew was coming. Love that snap powerslam Joe does. I know I tend to skip around a lot on my reviewing but here’s my thought on why I don’t just list off play by play: if you wanted that, you could just go watch the match yourself.

Just thought I’d make that clear in case people think I fast forward and just watch pieces of the match. I write out what pops into my head and at times there isn’t much. Doesn’t mean the match is bad or anything but just nothing strikes me about it. And end of random tangent.

And Bischoff punches Flair. Ok then. Joe hits the Muscle Buster while this is happening and is ticked off that nothing can be done about it. Joe pulls Bischoff back in and walks into the Pele and the Clash for the pin. Flair demands that Bischoff raise AJ’s hand.

Rating: B+. Solid stuff here but it was missing a little something that I just can’t place. This is another match that you just can’t mess up and they didn’t here. Another solid showing here and it was certainly worthy of being the world title match.

We recap the tournament to this point which seems like a way to kill 3 minutes.

Anderson is with the red hot Christy who talks very well again. He’s wearing a different shirt here too. I have no idea what he’s saying here as Christy is just ridiculously good looking here. The gum is a great touch for Anderson.

Pope is with JB. Ah I get why I hate Pope again: he talks once in awhile. I was liking him a bit earlier and that’s all gone now. And it’s Hall and X-Pac. TNA security running in to stop them reminds me of a Keystone Cops segment as they’re constantly chasing these two around the building trying to stop them from getting into the building. They say something to Hogan and it’s whatever. Does anyone care about them at this point?

8 Card Stud Finals: Mr. Anderson vs. D’Angelo Dinero

Pope takes forever getting out there because he got beaten up. Ok then. The referee starts counting and you know he’ll be there in time so this is kind of pointless. Yep there he is. Anderson beats on him on the ramp. Even money says they’ll brawl on the floor too. Hey they’re fighting on the floor! They haven’t actually been in the ring yet. AJ and Flair are watching in the back.

This has been ALL Anderson, making the ending a tad obvious. Pope of course is ok after that much of a beating. Most of the match is Anderson beating on Pope and there’s your comeback. The DDE gets two and Anderson is in control again. Pope uses an STO which is Kennedy’s finisher in reverse.

Kennedy cuts a promo mid match and stops to hit the Mic Check for two and a pop from the fans. That’s….a bit too much from Pope. Anderson misses a Swanton and Pope hits the double knees to the back. He REALLY needs a new finisher.

Rating: B. They kept it simple here and it worked. This was fun. That’s the best way to put it I think as it wasn’t particularly great or even very good but it was fun. That’s all you can ask for here I guess. Either way it worked fine though so all in all this was a good main event.

Overall Rating: B. This was a good show. It put me in mind of Survival of the Fittest that I did from ROH: nothing great but nothing resembling a bad match at all. This was solid and it worked rather well I thought. The whole show was based around the tournament and that’s all well and good. My main problem was how all of the tournament matches other than the final were so short.

They averaged about 8 minutes which just isn’t long enough for that many matches. That’s my only major criticism with the show. Other than that though, I liked this show and while it’s no classic or anything, it’s good. That’s how I would describe it: good. Check it out if you have some time to kill.