So we jump ahead a little bit from Road Wild 1997 and into the era where Raw has finally taken the lead. They’ve won two weeks in a row, so obviously in WCW’s mind, it means it’s time to shake things up. Sting is champion here and is defending against Savage in the main event. Hogan is in a tag match with a bat on a pole. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about the problems that the NWO has been having lately. This would result in the split of the NWO and the birth of NWO Wolfpack.

We open with breaking news: Savage’s arm is ok and won’t be in a cast. Oh and the main event is No DQ. So the NWO is in disarray and cheating is legal? I wonder where that might go.

Goldberg vs. Saturn

Goldberg is 73-0 at this point and has a US Title match the next night. It’s weird seeing Saturn with hair. Goldberg throws him around to start with some I think suplexes and beats up Kidman too. Back in Saturn kicks him in the back and trips him to the mat. A middle rope elbow gets two. A series of kicks in the corner looks to set up a suplex but Goldberg counters into one of his own.

Goldie takes over again and hits the gorilla press into the powerslam to crush Saturn. Saturn tries to get him to follow onto the floor and clotheslines him on the top rope. Superkick won’t put Goldberg down. Out to the floor they go and Saturn hits a rana on Goldberg. This is probably the most damage he’s ever taken up to this point. See, that’s how you build up monsters: slowly bring them along and then get to whatever match you want. WWE doesn’t quite get that today. Armbar is easily countered with raw power and a superkick puts Saturn down.

It’s clear Goldberg is almost spent at this point and we’re maybe six minutes in. Spear looks to set up the Jackhammer but Saturn hits him low. Sometimes it’s the easiest things that are the solutions. Saturn tries a superplex but Goldberg gorilla presses him off the middle rope. After destroying the Flock, Saturn hooks the Rings of Saturn. Like that’s going to work. He gets to his feet, throws Saturn into a fireman’s carry and then up onto his shoulders for what’s called a Jackhammer but is more like a powerslam. Either way it makes him 74-0.

Rating: D+. Not bad here and it went on too long for a Goldberg match. He would do the Flock match MUCH better the next night and it became much more entertaining. This was more or less the last match he would have that didn’t have a title on the line until the end of the year other than a stupid battle royal. This would have been better had he not been blown up halfway through.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragon

This should be good. Eddie is with Chavo and gets the majority of the heat from the crowd. Chavo wraps him up on the mat to start and sends Dragon into the corner, resulting in the handstand. Dragon takes over and throws on a stump puller which is countered into the bridging Indian Deathlock. That gets boring so Chavo comes back with a bunch of dropkicks and a chinlock. So much for the exciting part.

Elbow drop gets two and it’s back to the chinlock by Chavo. Oh wait now it’s a headscissors. Dragon reverses into a camel clutch and then a surfboard. At least they’re not staying in one hold for a long time. Chavo catches the handspring elbow and they fight over a German Suplex. That results in an O’Connor Roll and La Majistral by Dragon but Chavo comes back and rolls him up for two. Cool sequence.

More rollups both get two counts and Chavo goes up. Dragon crotches him with a kick and looks for the super rana but Chavo elbows his way out of it. Dragon suplexes him to the floor from the apron and hits the Asai Moonsault. Eddie yells at Chavo and threatens him if he loses. I think Eddie is like a coach or something here. Chavo goes back in and hits a huge flip dive (called a suicide dive) and might have hurt Dragon’s shoulder in the process. Back in the ring and a double clothesline puts both guys down.

Chavo hits what might have been a low blow by mistake off a leapfrog but Chavo won’t go for the kill like that. Eddie FREAKS on him, slapping Chavo in the face. Chavo loads up a brainbuster but Dragon escapes with a rollup. A second attempt works but the tornado DDT is countered into the Dragon Sleeper for the tap out.

Rating: B-. This started slow but it got going pretty well. Dragon was a guy that got pushed better than most did and it was cool to see someone outside of the main stars get pushed like he did. Eddie and Chavo would feud for a little while longer, resulting in Chavo going insane. Good match here and it probably would have been a better choice for an opener.

Eddie rips into Chavo post match.

TV Title: Booker T vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit is challenging and there is no time limit due to some draws they’ve had. Feeling out process to start until Benoit gets sent to the floor. I think they’re both faces here. Back in and Benoit goes for the knee as is his custom. Booker kicks him back to the floor before it can do enough damage though. That’s a good enough counter I guess. Booker clotheslines him to the mat and hooks an armbar.

Benoit is like screw that and comes up swinging, pounding Booker into the corner and adding some stomps for good effect. Back to another armbar by Booker but it’s the same result, as Benoit comes back with a chop. A belly to back suplex gets two. Benoit dropkicks him down and hits the Swan Dive for a very delayed two. Snap suplex by the Canadian is countered into one by Booker but he can’t follow up.

Back elbow gets two for Benoit. The real snap suplex gets two. Something I forgot I that this is in Denver, so the altitude is going to become an issue with the breathing. Benoit hits rolling Germans followed by a wicked belly to back superplex which gets a very close two. The champ hits a sidewalk slam out of nowhere but he can’t follow up. Forearm puts Benoit down and a flapjack sets up the Spinarooni. Ax kick hits the referee by mistake and there’s the Crossface, but there’s no referee for the tap out. Benoit goes to get the referee and gets caught by the side kick for the pin and Booker retains.

Rating: C+. Pretty good match here with Benoit doing a lot of high impact stuff as you would expect. Again here the booking is for TV instead of PPV, as Benoit would get the title less than two weeks later on Thunder. These two would go on to have a best of seven series which was totally awesome. There was always good chemistry between them.

Replay shows that Benoit pulled the referee into the ax kick.

Curt Hennig vs. British Bulldog

Rude and Jim Neidhart are the seconds here and will be handcuffed together. A cop does the handcuffing. I would say note that for later, but since it’s Curt Hennig vs. British Bulldog, it’s really not worth doing. They stall FOREVER before the cuffs finally go on. Why these two are fighting isn’t worth explaining apparently.

Bulldog jumps Hennig as we look at the handcuffs being fastened. Smith works on the big leg brace and they head to the floor. Rude goes after Bulldog but Neidhart won’t allow it. Hennig gets a shot to the head back inside as this is going nowhere. Smith works on the leg some more and Neidhart still won’t let Rude in. Despite the big knee brace on his knee, Curt tries to knee Smith in the face. Now it’s Sharpshooter time but the cop goes after Neidhart. He slips Rude the keys and Neidhart is cuffed to the post. Rude breaks up the powerslam and Hennig posts Smith for the pin.

Rating: F. Read the description and I think you’ll get why this is an F. There was nothing to this at all and the ending was stupid. I have no idea why they were fighting or why Neidhart was there, but from what I can tell it was a Hart Family thing, even though Bret was legally prohibited from associating with Neidhart and Bulldog (seriously).

The cop was Vincent and it’s a three on one beatdown on Bulldog.

Cruiserweight Title: Prince Iaukea vs. Chris Jericho

Prince is challenging and he doesn’t even have music. I don’t think Jericho does either. Maybe it’s my audio but for some reason neither guy had music. Jericho dedicates this to Malenko who is injured. The Man of 1004 Holds is mentioned. He has music after his promo so I guess it was a tech issue. Prince takes him to the mat with a headlock which Jericho escapes, but he poses too much and Prince takes him down again.

Chris gets knocked to the floor and back in it’s time for headlock #3. Jericho hooks a drop toehold to put him into 619 position and adds a suplex for two. Off to a chinlock as this is a pretty boring match so far. Jericho goes up and jumps into the feet of the Prince and Iaukea starts what I guess you would call a comeback with a Samoan Drop. Springboard splash gets two.

Victory Roll is countered into the Walls but Prince is right in front of the ropes. Jericho tries a middle rope sunset flip but Iaukea falls on him for two. They go up top and crash down onto the floor in a scary fall. Both guys crawl back in and slug it out a bit and Prince counters another Liontamer attempt into a rollup for two. Northern lights suplex gets two for Iaukea. Iaukea tries a top rope sunset flip but Jericho counters into the Liontamer to retain.

Rating: C. It got better but dang it was boring when it started. Iaukea was a guy for the life of me I don’t get why they kept pushing. The match wasn’t bad but Jericho was carrying it. Not from a wrestling perspective because Iaukea was ok, but why would I care about him? All there is to him is that he’s from the islands. That’s not a reason for me to care and I don’t.

Here are Bagwell and Steiner for the next tag match but Bagwell has a cast on his hand. The announcers don’t buy that it’s real, so I’m going with Bagwell having every bone broken into 99 places. They say they’re ready but the match has to be canceled. Dillon and Gene come out and Dillon says that Bagwell is right: Buff does need a doctor’s release. SO THEY BRING A DOCTOR OUT TO EXAMINE HIM HERE. YOU KNOW, ON A PAY PER VIEW! Dillon says something about Bagwell so Buff grabs him with the bad hand to prove it’s ok. Match on.

Buff Bagwell/Scott Steiner vs. Rick Steiner/Lex Luger

Rick charges down the aisle to get at Scott but Bagwell jumps him. Rick powerslams him down but Scott comes in for the save from behind. Scott comes in legally because Rick is down already. Buff and Scott trade off another two times so it’s Buff vs. Rick at the moment. Off to a chinlock by Bagwell and then one by Steiner. Rick fights up and clotheslines Bagwell and makes the hot tag. Scott breaks up the Rack but Rick runs him off. Rack gets the submission.

Rating: D. Another bad match here. The whole point of this was to tease the Steiners clashing some more and it didn’t happen…..again. I think it would finally happen at some point but of course WCW waited until it didn’t mean anything anymore. Nothing match and it was all about building to something later on.

Gene says call the Hotline.

La Parka vs. Psychosis

This is a bonus match. Feeling out process to start which is stupid for a reason I’ll get into in a minute. Psychosis climbs the ropes and jumps backwards into a rana to send La Parka to the floor. A dive on the outside takes La Parka down but he gets in a kick back inside. A headscissors sends Psychosis to the floor and a dive puts him down on said floor. Psychosis throws him face first into the buckle and crotches him on the top. After a nearly horrible botch, Psychosis hits a rana to send La Parka down for two.

Out to the floor again and Psychosis hits a big flip dive from the top. Top rope splash misses and Parka gets a quick cover for two and then he breaks the count himself. La Parka puts him down again and pulls him up again. He misses a charge and gets caught by the guillotine legdrop for the pin by Psychosis.

Rating: D+. This is what I was going to get into earlier. There’s no reason for us to care about this match, so all they can do is big spots and dives. They did some, but none of them were anything we haven’t seen a million times before by more exciting people. That’s the problem with bonus matches: there’s no story, which is what wrestling is based on. If there’s no story to a wrestling show, a match has to be AWESOME to overcome that lack of a story. This wasn’t and the match didn’t work as a result.

The announcers talk about Sting/Nash/Savage and use a dog metaphor which makes no sense.

Hulk Hogan/Kevin Nash vs. The Giant/Roddy Piper

Bat on a pole match. Nash and Hogan are having issues so they have separate entrances. Piper goes for the bat while Hogan and Nash are talking but Hogan makes the save. Roddy gets caught in the Tree of Woe so Hogan stomps away. I guess they’re starting because Hogan tags out to Nash almost immediately. Nash isn’t in there long so it’s back to Hogan, who rakes the back and wakes Piper up.

Giant and Piper both headbutt Hogan but it knocks Piper down. I guess he needed a nap? Hogan beats him with the weightlifting belt and goes up, but Giant makes the save….and spanks him. Nash finally makes the save as I don’t like where this match is going. It’s time for the battle of the giants and the namesake shoves Nash around but misses a charges into the corner.

Nash fires off some knees in the corner and does the boot choke. Both guys try big boots at the same time and both go down ala Kane/Undertaker (I think this one happened first actually). Double tag brings in Piper and Hogan and the Canadiscotsman pounds away on the head and in the corner, and on the head in the corner. Everything breaks down and Giant dropkicks Nash to the floor.

Piper puts Hogan in the sleeper then climbs the post with Giant shoving him up higher. Piper pulls it down but Hogan takes it away. Here’s Disciple with a new bat (are you really wondering why?) which Hogan hits Giant with. Piper avoids a shot that goes into Nash and takes the bat from Hogan again. Disciple takes it from Piper and throws Hogan the other bat which goes upside Piper’s back and it’s over.

Rating: D. The match was boring, and what was up with switching the bat? The problem here was that the match was boring until the very end, which wasn’t particularly good either. This was all about Hogan vs. Nash and Piper/Giant were just kind of there for the ride. The spanking spot was pretty stupid too. This led to the Wolfpack being formed soon.

Post match Hogan tells Nash to powerbomb Giant but as he sets for it, Hogan hits Nash with the bat.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven

Page is defending, it’s Raven’s Rules, and the winner gets Goldberg tomorrow. Sick Boy runs in before the bell and grabs Page but DDP ducks a belt shot to put the diseased one down. A belly to back suplex and a forearm put Raven onto the floor. Page dives onto Raven and Sick Boy and they head back in. Raven tries the DDT but Page drives him into the corner to escape.

The Cutter is escaped as well and we head up the aisle. They walk up to the always cool set and Raven gets thrown off a stagecoach into a pile of hay. Raven gets thrown into a fence, some wagon wheels, and then through the website. He comes back and splashes Page onto a table. Gee that’s kind of boring by comparison. There’s a garbage can to the back and Page gets tied by a rope around the neck and brought back to the ring.

Sick Boy has a kitchen sink for some reason (Tony: “If you’re in the Flock you have to.”) which Raven hits Page with before adding some choking. Page escapes and drop toeholds Raven into it, using what Tony calls the Draino. Kidman comes in and misses a splash, hitting Raven with it. Page knocks Kidman to the floor but gets caught in the back which gets two for Bird Boy. Small package gets two for Page.

Here’s Van Hammer for another run-in. Scratch that as his name is now just Hammer. I wouldn’t want to get my giant jobbers names’ wrong. Either way he kicks Sick Boy by mistake and is sent to the floor, but Raven hits Page low. Here’s Reese (7’2) with a chokebomb on Page, getting two for Raven. Lodi throws in a stop sign but Page clocks Raven and Hammer with it. Sick Boy takes a shot with it too and Kidman gets a Diamond Cutter. Horace Hogan debuts as the newest member of the Flock and blasts Page with it, allowing Raven to DDT Page onto the sink for the title.

Rating: C. The match was fun but it could have done with about three less Flock members. I’d have liked to see this be one on one because Raven could work well enough out there, especially in a brawl, to make something like this work. Raven would of course lose the title the next night to Goldberg. Also, Heenan says this was 20-30 minutes long. It’s more like 12, but knowing Heenan he’s bombed.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Randy Savage

Savage is challenging and it’s No DQ. Savage is very banged up with a bunch of injuries. He jumps Sting before the bell and we’re ready to go. Savage fires right hands but that’s one of his injuries so he has to stop after every punch. Sting rams it into the railing so they walk up the aisle and Savage is thrown through a wagon wheel. He goes into a fence and Sting hits him with a bale of hay.

Back towards (not into) the ring but Sting AGAIN misses his splash onto the barricade. Has that ever hit? Even once? Back into the ring and Sting reverses a piledriver. They go to the floor again and Sting hits a suplex followed by a kick to the ribs. Back inside and Savage hits a low blow and clotheslines Sting on the rope for two. Liz slides in a chair to put Sting onto, but here’s Hogan to break up the elbow. Liz got knocked down somewhere in there and gets attended to. Sting gets up and hits the Death Drop but there’s no referee. Cue Nash to powerbomb Sting and give Savage the title.

Rating: D. Another bad match to end a show of them. This was a mess but not a big one as it only got ten minutes in total. That’s something I’ll address in a bit too as it makes little sense. The problems here were Hogan and Nash. This became all about them as Nash had no reason to screw Sting over other than to make Hogan mad. That’s not good at all.

Overall Rating: D. It was bad, but there are some far worse shows. The main event wound up meaning nothing as Hogan got the title back the very next night. You know, because CLEARLY the solution to their ratings problems was a lack of Hogan. That’s only partially sarcastic because their ratings run had come with him on top. Now when they put the title back on him and it didn’t help…..well they took it off him and put it on Goldberg about two and a half months later so I actually can’t complain too much here. Anyway the show was bad but not totally bad, with some decent matches in there to help save it.

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We’re getting closer to November To Remember and we’ve got a few matches set now. For one thing we have the world title match set as Awesome will defend against Tanaka. As for tonight’s show, it’s possible that we’ll see the TNN debut of Sabu. Gee I’m glad they didn’t wait awhile to bring in one of their legends or anything. Hopefully it’s a competitive match and they don’t bring in some old name that used to mean something to have him squash like the One Man Gang or something. Let’s get to it.

Joel is in the ring to open things up. Apparently he’s doing the ring announcing for the opener.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. New Jack

New Jack charges in with the weapons and Awesome stands there so he can get beaten on. Awesome fights back but gets bitten for his efforts. There’s a right hand to send the champion into the corner as that infernal song is still playing. Awesome misses a charge and we head to the floor. Jack puts Awesome against the railing and dives at him with a chair but it gets knocked back into Jack’s face.

Mike gets the chair now and takes over. Back into the ring and a top rope clothesline puts Jack down. Vader Bomb “misses” (Jack rolled the wrong way so it hit him anyway) and it’s staple gun time. A guitar shot to the head won’t put Awesome down but Jack jumps into a chair shot. Awesome throws him to the floor and through a table. Back in and the Awesome Splash gets the easy pin.

Rating: D+. If you take away the idea of wrestling from this match, it was pretty entertaining. Since New Jack is about as far from being a professional wrestler as I am, that’s not much of a stretch. This was just a way to pop the crowd before we get to the actual wrestling on the show.

Theme song.

Nova vs. Chris Candido

Gertner makes alcohol jokes about Tammy. They start fast with no one being able to get anything significant in. Candido finally hits him in the face to take over but walks into a backdrop. Flying forearm gets two. Nova is a guy that’s hard to keep up with because he’s not only fast but he does a lot of stuff that no one else did so it’s hard to call the moves. Before anything happens, Doring, Roadkill and Lita run in to beat on Nova for a DQ. This was really short.

Candido comes in to help Nova and we get a Lita vs. Sunny catfight, which I’m sure has been a fantasy for many over the years. After the ring is cleared and only Candido and Sytch are left, here come Storm and Dawn Marie for a distraction so Doring, Lita and Roadkill can come in from behind. Dawn paddles Tammy while Lita holds her. Dawn smacks Lita because she can.

With the ring cleared (again), Dawn calls out Francine who comes out with Dreamer. Storm suggests Dreamer can’t sleep with Francine and it’s on, but Justin runs in to double team Dreamer. Here’s Raven who comes in and then turns his back on the Impact Players. It’s about to be another double team but Dreamer makes the save. Raven DDTs Dreamer because he can.

Post break Dreamer is up and calls out Raven. They square off…..and we go to a break.

Rhyno vs. David Kash

Rhyno jumps him and the beatdown begins quickly. Kash hits a dropkick but gets Gored for two. Piledriver works a bit better and gets the pin for Rhyno. This wasn’t even a minute.

Corino gets on the mic post match and says he wants Sabu out here right now to face Rhyno.

Rhyno vs. Sabu

Sabu beats up Rhyno’s posse before the match as the fans are just NUTS for Sabu. Rhyno takes over and we take a quick break. Back with Sabu being sent to the floor so the cronies can beat him up. Back in the ring and Sabu gets powerbombed off a rana attempt for two. Rhyno throws him to the floor and tries a dive but takes out the other guys instead. The other guys/cronies/the posse are Steve Corino and Jack Victory in case that wasn’t clear.

Sabu puts him in the crowd and hits a HUGE dive to take Rhyno out. Back at ringside and Sabu pelts the chair to put Rhyno down. Fonzie is out here now. There’s a table set up between the ring and the barricade like a platform. Sabu ranas Rhyno off the top and back inside for two as Corino makes the save. Fonzie crotches Corino and Steve takes a rana as well. Sabu goes to put Corino through the table but Rhyno Gores him down.

Instead of covering he grabs a chair and charges but Sabu kicks it into his face for two. The triple jump moonsault is broken up but Sabu takes out Victory anyway. There’s a camel clutch and Rhyno is in trouble. Corino makes the save AGAIN but gets taken out by Fonzie. FONZIE HITS A SLINGSHOT SPLASH!!! That was kind of awesome. Rhyno gets put on the table and Sabu hits a triple jump Arabian Facebuster through Rhyno and through the table to put both guys down.

The fans are, as usual, going insane for Sabu. Joey talks about how you’ll NEVER see Sabu on Raw or Nitro, both of which he’d appear on (Nitro he already had been on but you get the idea). There’s a table in the ring now but Sabu has to take out Victory first. That doesn’t change much as Sabu drives Rhyno through the table for two to shock Joey. Facejam onto the chair gets two. Sabu sets for something off the top on Rhyno but Corino covers him for protection. That’s really stupid to do against Sabu as he jumps on both of them. Arabian Facebuster and the Triple Jump Moonsault finally get the pin.

Rating: C. It was a mess but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. Sabu is very much a microcosm of ECW: when he’s on he’s good, but when he’s off, OH MAN is he off. The interference got old fast here too. Also, why have Sabu win? Give Rhyno a cheap victory to further his monster push. Sabu is going to be incredibly popular no matter what, so why not?

A three minute music video of what happened in the show ends it. How pointless is that? Ok Sunny bent over in a thong with her face in Lita’s crotch while Dawn Marie spanks her isn’t but the rest is.

Overall Rating: A+. It has Sunny bent over in a thong with her face in Lita’s crotch while Dawn Marie spanks her. What kind of a grade do you think I’m going to give this?

The show is still a mess but the long main event with a big name helped. November to Remember is still mostly unannounced but they’ve got a few weeks left. The show was just ok this week.

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We’re in a weird place here in TNA’s history as they don’t have a TV deal due to Spike not being ready to take them on yet. They were off TV from June through September which made it hard to build up PPVs. They did however have Impact airing on their website which helped a little. The main event tonight is a tag match between Raven/Sabu and Jarrett/Rhyno, the latter of whom debuted at No Surrender. If Raven pins Jarrett, Jarrett doesn’t get a title shot for a year but if Jarrett pins Raven, he gets a shot at the next PPV. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about how there’s a battle raging everywhere and the winner will be those willing to sacrifice….something.

Diamonds in the Rough vs. Chris Sabin/Shark Boy/Sonjay Dutt

The Diamonds were a low level heel stable of Simon Diamond, Elix Skipper and perennial loser David Young. Simon, the leader, says Skipper is going to shine. Young and Shark Boy start things off as we hear about how Young actually won a match recently. Neckbreaker gets two for Sharky. There’s the bite on the back of Young’s tights but Skipper comes in with a clothesline to shift momentum.

Off to Simon for some rolling suplexes. Hardy isn’t here yet and he’s already no showed a PPV. If he misses this one, he’s fired. Shark Boy hits a kind of facebuster and brings in Sonjay off a tag. Cross body gets two as things speed up. And never mind as Skipper hits a backbreaker to put Dutt right back down. Back to Young as Dutt is playing Ricky Morton for awhile. A freaky kind of facebuster gets no cover so Sonjay manages to counter into a slingshot rana.

Off to Sabin as I don’t think it was long enough of a beatdown for a Morton label. We hear about how Dutt and Sabin are both getting better after losing to Joe. Ok then. Things break down and Skipper kind of walks the top rope for a rana on Dutt. Young hits his spinebuster for two on Dutt as Sharky saves. Shark Boy hits a dive to the floor so it’s down to Skipper and Sabin in the ring. They trade rollups and Sabin cradles him over for the pin.

Rating: C. Not a bad little tag match here to get things going. It got a little sloppy in the middle though as the Diamons just weren’t that good. Skipper was good at walking things but he slipped a little at the end which made it look pretty bad. Nothing special to it but it did its job well enough I guess.

We recap the pre-show which contained the announcement that Impact is coming to Spike on October 1. We get a video of that announcement….and Jarrett interrupts the announcement. This is where the stipulation that I mentioned in the intro is announced.

The Naturals are teaming with AMW tonight and Jimmy Hart (Naturals’ manager) says it’ll be ok. Jarrett comes up and says be with him when he wins the title. They don’t appreciate it but Jarrett says they have to hang together because TNA management is coming for him. Jimmy calls him paranoid.

Alex Shelley vs. Shocker

Rematch from Slammiversary. Apparently this is the third match in a series which has been split so far. Feeling out process to start but Shelley wraps him up into a leglock. Shocker takes him down and puts on a Brock Lock which quickly ends because of a grabbed rope. Shelley charges at Shocker but gets sent to the floor. Shocker tries a flip dive but he lands on his feet, which allows Shelley to pop him in the face.

Shocker drops him back first onto the apron and we head back inside. Back in and it’s time for chops by Shocker. A big boot puts him down and Shocker puts on a SICK twisting figure four and Shelley is in trouble. He gets the rope and his leg is just fine, as he hits a tornado DDT for two. Gah that gets on my nerves. Shocker takes him right back down into a modified Koji Clutch.

Shelley pops out of that too and hooks something like a diving dragon screw leg whip but Shocker rolls through that too. Slingshot elbow drop gets two for Shocker. They exchange seated dropkicks, with Shocker no selling A KICK TO THE FACE. He tries a rollup but Shelley counters and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: D+. I can’t stand it when people just won’t sell stuff. Two leg holds don’t get sold and on top of that Shocker popped up from TWO FEET IN HIS FACE. That’s one of the things in wrestling that drives me crazy. I can get over it when they get hit, hit something of their own and collapse, but Shocker was right back up. It drives me crazy in ROH and it’s annoying here.

Mitchell talks about big men and how none of them can compare to Abyss. They’re ready for Lance Hoyt tonight. Somehow that took two minutes.

Now we recap Hoyt vs. Abyss. Abyss was sent to take out Raven and happened to beat up Hoyt who was with Raven at the time. Cue a PPV filler match.

Abyss vs. Lance Hoyt

Hoyt starts fast and pounds away in the corner. They were in the process of pushing him as a midcard guy, which resulted in him losing almost every major match he was in. We get the ten punches in the corner and Abyss is knocked over the top to the floor. There’s a plancha on top of that and Hoyt is in control. Hoyt pounds on him on the outside but Abyss sends him into the steps and back inside.

They trade chops in the corner and Abyss misses a charge, sending him into the corner. It’s a good thing I’m paying attention, because the announcers are talking about BG and Kip James. Hoyt misses a bit boot and Abyss hits a middle rope splash for two. The fans can’t decide who they want to cheer for here. Now Hoyt’s shoulder goes into the post and Abyss….cowers I think.

He focuses on Hoyt’s arm and shoulder but Hoyt comes off the middle rope with a clothesline to take over again. A big shoulder block puts the Monster down as does a chokeslam. Hoyt’s big move, the moonsault, gets two and there goes any chance he had to win this match. Black Hole Slam gets two and Abyss FREAKS. A chair gets brought in and Hoyt kicks it into his face for two. Now we get REAL proof of how stupid TNA is, as Hoyt, who is 6’9, hits a Van Terminator (the coast to coast dropkick) which looked pretty good. It gets two. WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU LET HIM USE THAT MOVE AND NOT HAVE IT GET THE PIN??? Another Black Hole Slam gets the pin.

Rating: C+. As awesome as Hoyt looked here (which was pretty good actually), TNA manages to screw this up again by not letting Hoyt GET THE PIN. Abyss is a monster so a loss here isn’t going to kill him, and they’ve pretty much made Hoyt’s huge offense looks weak as he can’t get a pin. For the life of me I don’t get the thought process of this company.

We recap the Kru vs. Outlaw feud which is Kip James wanting to reform the Outlaws but the Kru saying BG is loyal to them. BG is guest referee tonight due to some complaint that there’s an unsafe working environment for the referees or something.

Monty Brown/Kip James vs. Konnan/Ron Killings

Brawl on the floor to start and it heads into the ring. I’m assuming this is part of the match as I never heard a bell. The Kru clears the ring with a kick by the Truth. Kip takes a modified What’s Up (Dudleys’ move, not some obscure Killings’ move) and the brawl goes back to the outside. We finally get started with Truth vs. Brown after Kip puts Truth down with a tilt-a-whirl slam.

Monty does the BG James shake but doesn’t drop the knee. Off to Kip who gets two off a kick to the back. A big boot allows Kip to pose and then get two. Monty comes in again for a floatover suplex. It’s chinlock time which is quickly broken, but a knee to the ribs gets two for Brown. They hit the ropes and collide so it’s time for a double tag.

Konnan cleans a few rooms and messes up a facejam on Brown. There goes the shoe but he accidentally hits BG. Fameasser doesn’t work and Konnan gets a chair. BG won’t allow it but he won’t let Kip use it either. Kip shoves him and gets punched. Konnan uses the chair and BG counts the pin. The Kru reunites post match.

Rating: C-. This was ALL angle which is fine. Konnan was much better as a mouthpiece than he was in the ring so I wasn’t thrilled with him here. The rest of it was ok, but man did Brown fall far from where he was a few months ago. The Kru would add Kip in a few weeks and then disband at the end of the year.

Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries

Aries was brought in via a fan vote which is an interesting idea. Daniels is X Champion but this is non-title. Before the match Daniels talks about Jarrett (of course) and how Jarrett has said everyone is going to be replaced. At first he thought that was crazy but then he sees Austin Aries being brought in so Daniels has to defend his turf. Aries is just a guy in trunks here but his ROH heritage is talked about.

Daniels jumps Aries to start as we hear about the other options on the poll: Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong and Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne). Aries takes him to the mat as the fans are split. A jumping middle rope back elbow gets two for Aries. They trade front facelocks and go to the floor. Aries hits that suicide dive of his to take over and we go back inside. Slingshot corkscrew splash gets two.

Austin tries to jump over Daniels in the corner but Daniels catches him in a shoulderbreaker for two. Daniels is coming up on the record for the longest reign as X Champion, which would be broken by the guy he’s wrestling at the moment. There’s a hard whip into the corner as Daniels is in control. Daniels works over the back and a tilt-a-whirl slam gets two. The fans are getting behind Aries more and more.

Split legged moonsault to the back gets two. Daniels takes forever to load up the Angel’s Wings and Aries escapes it. Aries escapes a suplex and returns a slap from Daniels. They slug it out and here comes Aries. Pendulum Elbow gets two. A running dropkick in the corner gets two. Daniels hits a Downward Spiral out of nowhere to break the momentum. BME misses and Aries kicks Daniels HARD in the face. 450 hits for two, but at least it was just touching a rope for the break. STO gets two with the feet on the ropes for Daniels. Here comes the brainbuster but Daniels reverses into the Angel’s Wings for the pin.

Rating: B-. As is always the case, I like Daniels WAY more when he’s not against Styles. Aries looked good here and he’d be back at Unbreakable before heading back to ROH for the next few years. It’s kind of surprising that he was never into the main two companies until then. Good match here but why wasn’t this for the title?

AMW says it’ll be about them vs. the Naturals and if they have to team up to take out Team Canada, that’s fine with them. Jarrett comes in again and asks for help but Storm goes off on him. AMW would join Planet Jarrett in about a month and help him win the title at a non-TNA show.

We recap Waltman vs. Lynn. Waltman injured Lynn and Lynn came back to referee a Waltman match against Styles. Lynn wouldn’t let him use a chair and it cost Waltman the match. Waltman is like 4 inches taller than Lynn. These two had the hottest feud on the indies in the early 90s which is what got Waltman his job in the WWF.

Sean Waltman vs. Jerry Lynn

This should be awesome despite Waltman’s beer gut. This is their first match in over ten years and Lynn’s first TNA match in over a year. They shake hands and it’s time to go. Lynn takes him to the mat and slaps the back of his head a bit. Waltman goes for the shoulder which was injured to put Lynn on the shelf. They slap hands again and it’s time for a test of strength.

Waltman takes him down with a wristlock and they try it again. This time Lynn takes him down with a run up the corner into an armdrag. Waltman hits a spin kick to put Lynn back down and take over. Lynn avoids a charge and sends Waltman to the floor, followed by a big old dive. Lynn charges at him for what looked like a headscissors but Waltman catches him and rams the shoulder into the post.

Waltman works on the shoulder a bit and they trade chops. A slick rollup with the legs gets two. Shark Boy is watching on the stage as Waltman hits the chinlock instead of staying on the arm. Now Chris Sabin is out to watch too. Sean wakes up and hits a shoulderbreaker for two. Sonjay Dutt is watching now. The Bronco Buster misses and Lynn sends him to the floor with a headscissors. He sets for a dive but Waltman sends him out to the floor onto the shoulder.

A dive over the top takes Lynn down but Waltman can’t follow up immediately. They go to the apron and Sean tries to suplex him in. Lynn counters into a suplex to the floor but he hurts his shoulder again. Back in and Jerry hits a missile dropkick as things speed up. Lou Thesz Press hits and Lynn hammers away. A standing rana by Waltman is countered into a powerbomb for two.

Both guys are spent here and for once I can understand it. If nothing else Lynn’s cardio can’t be all that great. Cradle Piledriver is countered by a low blow and the X-Factor gets two. Waltman is frustrated and the fans are all behind Lynn here. Lynn rolls through a top rope cross body and gets two. Standing tornado DDT gets the same. Lynn loads up a tombstone but Waltman counters into one of his own but it only gets two. Waltman tries a slam of some kind but Lynn rolls through into a victory roll for the pin.

Rating: B. Good match indeed as these two have reached a point where they can have a good match with each other out of pure memory. As always, Waltman is way more interesting when he’s against a smaller guy like Lynn. I think it was the giant killer thing that got on my nerves with him.

Waltman hugs him post match and of course turns on him because that’s what Sean Waltman does. He hits a shoulder breaker as Tenay overreacts like only he can. Waltman drapes the shoulder over the railing and hits it with a chair. The other X guys come out for the save as I guess they were looking for a good Turkish restaurant or something.

Team Canada says that they’re at a disadvantage but Eric needs to calm down. D’Amore is healing from some injury so they have his hockey stick instead.

We recap the Naturals/AMW vs. Team Canada. In essence it’s two teams that want to fight but Team Canada won’t leave them alone. Kind of a weak feud but it’s better than nothing.

Team Canada vs. America’s Most Wanted/The Naturals

Team Canada is Roode/Young/A-1/Williams. The Naturals are tag champions and AMW’s big rivals. Douglas and Young start things off and we get Canadian miscommunication. Off to Stevens and we get American communication. Petey comes in off the top but jumps into a punch to the ribs. Storm comes in for the Eye of the Storm on Williams but Roode gets in a shot to the back to break the momentum.

Williams comes in as we’re in the leg work period. Storm hits a clothesline and tags in Harris who cleans house. A delayed vertical suplex gets two on Eric and it’s off to Chase again. Stevens tries to jump over Eric in the corner but jumps into a low blow. Back to Canadian control with the chinlock by Roode. Young comes in again and Stevens punches him in the corner.

A Canadian poke to the eye lets Young go up but Stevens stops him. A big kick to the head sends Young down off the top and out to the floor. Hot tag brings in Douglas who cleans house. Back to Stevens and they hit the Natural Disaster on Young as everything breaks down. It’s time for the Parade of Finishers and Harris hits a HUGE dive to take out all four Canadians and Stevens at once.

Back in the ring Roode sets up a German superplex (there’s one you don’t see every day) but Harris powerbombs Roode down and brings Stevens with him. Hockey stick is brought in by Eric but it can’t connect. Storm throws Young to the floor with a nice hiptoss but Roode grabs a rollup for the surprise pin.

Rating: C. This was fine. With so many people in there it could only get so good but it keeps the Americans feuding and gives the Canadians a reason to get back into the tag title hunt. That dive by Harris was pretty cool too. When he didn’t have a huge gut on him he could go pretty well. Decent little match.

Samoa Joe says nothing so Shane Douglas gets in his face and demands respect. Are you kidding me? Joe says the respect Shane gets is not getting slapped in the face.

We recap the Super X Cup which is an X-Division tournament with the winner getting a shot at Daniels at the next PPV. In other words, it was a way for Joe to run through a bunch of guys in a row and face AJ in the finals.

Super X Cup Finals: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

The first of many meetings. Daniels is sitting in on commentary. Joe tries to take him to the mat but AJ gets out. The fans are split of course. They trade kicks to the thigh and AJ gets the worst of that. AJ slams him down and drops a knee for two. Joe hits a hard kick and a wicked running knee smash to send Styles to the floor. There’s the suicide dive and AJ is in trouble.

Back inside AJ hooks a headlock. This is being treated like a clash of the titans and it’s working really well so far. Joe tries a high kick but Styles does a standing backflip to avoid it. Into the corner goes Joe but AJ charges into a release Rock Bottom. A running knee to the head gets two. Joe hooks a chinlock as this has to slow down a bit. AJ tries to speed things up but Joe hits his powerbomb into the crab into the STF sequence.

AJ comes back with the dropdown into the dropkick and the moonsault into the reverse DDT for two. Styles goes up and they slug it out on the top with Joe getting knocked down. He tries the Clash but can’t get him up. A slingshot Swanton gets two. Joe goes WAY old school with a Texas Tumbleweed (rolling rollup. It’s a Terry Funk move) and a HARD clothesline for two. The fans are way into this and I can’t blame them. This is getting awesome.

They trade forearms and AJ goes off on him, knocking him into the corner. Joe charges right back at him with strikes to knock AJ into the corner but AJ hits a big kick to the head to put both guys down. AJ sends him into the corner and manages a torture rack but the referee gets bumped. Daniels comes in and hits an STO on Styles. Dang it TNA QUIT OVERDOING IT! Joe stares him down and AJ clotheslines Daniels to the floor. The distraction lets Joe hit the MuscleBuster and the Clutch gives Joe the win.

Rating: A-. OH MAN Daniels brought this thing down. I was getting WAY into this match at the end with those near falls but then Daniels has to interfere and screw it up. Now to be fair that set up the threeway at Unbreakable, but dang man these two were tearing the house down. I was totally buying the idea of Styles giving this everything he had and Joe being the new hot deal that no one could stop. And then they screwed it up with Daniels. I’d love to have a clean ending for once in this company, but it’s a Russo company so that’s not going to happen.

Raven talks about how Jarrett needs the title but it’s Raven’s destiny to be champion.

We recap Raven/Sabu vs. Jarrett/Rhyno. Raven won the title at Slammiversary and Jarrett can’t take it. Rhyno came in and Raven needed help, so he brought in Sabu. This was also tied into the idea of Jarrett saying that there would be another Black Wednesday. He’s referring to a day where WWE cut 17 midcard guys and the Dudleys’ contracts expired. This would lead to the resurgence of Planet Jarrett which had EVERYONE in it.

Raven/Sabu vs. Rhyno/Jeff Jarrett

If Jarrett pins Raven, he gets a title shot. If Raven pins Jarrett, Jarrett doesn’t get a shot for a year. Raven and Jarrett start things off and it’s off to Rhyno in just a few seconds. They head to the floor and Raven hits a Russian legsweep into the barricade. West asks what happens if anyone else gets a fall and Tenay has no idea. Off to Rhyno vs. Sabu and Rhyno gets caught in the camel clutch very quickly.

Everything breaks down quickly and Jarrett is thrown over the announce desk. Raven busts out a pizza cutter to slice on Jarrett’s head. There are some trashcan shots to the head as Jarrett is busted open. In the ring Sabu hits a rana on Sabu followed by one off the middle rope. Jarrett gets in a chair shot to Sabu for two. Rhyno gets one of his own for the same result. Jeff is just covered in blood.

Sabu hits a flip dive to take Rhyno down and there’s the tag to the champion. Raven cleans house on both guys and hits the DDT on Rhyno but Jarrett makes the save. Jarrett tries the guitar but Cassidy Riley, a really interesting idea as he loved Raven and wanted to be just like him, even down to dressing like him, comes out to take it away. Stroke gets two on the champ.

It’s Rhyno vs. Raven now and Rhyno bites on his head to bust him open. Jarrett comes in for a figure four but Raven turns it over. The drop toehold onto the chair is broken up as Raven grabs the chair and pelts it at Jarrett. Tag to Sabu as things break down again. Sabu hits the triple jump legdrop on Rhyno for two. Out to the floor where Sabu dives on Rhyno again.

Back in the ring the drop toehold sends Raven into the chair for two. DDT takes down Jarrett but Rhyno makes the save. Sabu saves a pin after a Gore but the referee goes down too. A running chair shot takes down Rhyno but there’s no referee. There’s a table at ringside and Sabu sets to send Rhyno through it, but here’s Abyss to put Sabu through it instead. Jeff Hardy comes out (wasn’t he supposed to be here earlier?) and gives Jarrett the Twist and Swanton but it only gets two for Raven. There’s a table in the corner now and as Raven is setting for the DDT, Rhyno gores him through it for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was fun and I’m glad they went with the hardcore stuff, but there was no way they could follow Styles vs. Joe. Also the run-ins got annoying but that was obvious coming in. This would set up Rhyno vs. Raven at Unbreakable in what I remember being a decent match, which again didn’t stand a chance to be remember after what closes the show. Still though, pretty fun match here, but the stipulation didn’t mean much of anything.

Overall Rating: B+. This is one of the better shows I can remember TNA having. There’s your great match and it set up the next show pretty well, and on top of that there was almost nothing bad on the whole thing. They pushed Joe to the moon, back when the X-Division actually meant something. Very good show here and that’s a very nice surprise.

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This is the anniversary show and with this show it would be three years since the company started up. The main event tonight is the King of the Mountain match with AJ defending. The lineup for the match is kind of up in the air though as we have a wildcard entrant as well as someone announced that will be replaced. This is one of those matches that got TNA noticed in a way, even though they lost their TV deal for awhile soon after this. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a baby, with the obvious theme of the company growing up. This also gets the usual video package of the company’s highlights up to this point. Standard but it works.

We get a clip from before the show of Jarrett attacking a fan and getting arrested for it, meaning he’s out of the King of the Mountain match. Raven is his replacement.

Zach Gowen vs. Shark Boy vs. Amazing Red vs. Delirious vs. Jerelle Clark vs. Elix Skipper

One fall to a finish here. Delirious goes all crazy to start and gets going with Skipper. Tenay talks about a real lawsuit between Shark Boy and the movie Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Off to Red to face Skipper and it’s time for flips! Skipper tags in Clark who is no one of note. He tries a moonsault but gets caught by a dropkick by Red instead. Spin kick puts Clark down but Gowen tags himself in.

A guillotine legdrop misses for Gowen and Shark Boy comes in and drops Zach with a neckbreaker. Gowen comes back with a reverse DDT to counter a suplex. This match is going WAY too fast to keep up with. Gowen busts out a huge springboard moonsault to land on Sharky and Skipper. Gowen’s dive is broken up so Red dives on all three of them. Back in the ring everyone but Gowen hits a Tower of Doom. Gowen tries to steal the win with a moonsault but Shark Boy breaks it up. Everybody hits their finisher but everybody’s cover is broken up. Shark Boy gets the last cover and the pin on Delirious with the Dead Sea Drop.

Rating: B-. It’s fun but this is the definition of a spot fest. For an opening match though you can’t complain about it at all. Fun stuff with everyone jumping all over the place and flying all over the place and that’s all you need a lot of the time with something like this. Good stuff and with less than seven minutes, that’s all you can do.

Abyss punches through a mirror in the back.

Shocker, a big star from Mexico, is here and is ready for Alex Shelley tonight. Shelley comes up and says he’s not a hybrid wrestler like Shelley is, so Shocker is losing tonight. Shocker goes on a rant in Spanish that I can only understand pieces of.

Alex Shelley vs. Shocker

They go to the mat to start and Shelley controls the arm. Shocker counters but Shelley hooks the foot instead. It turns into a standoff so they go to the mat for some technical stuff. Shocker takes over and Shelley bails to the floor. Back in and Shelly keeps taking him to the mat but gets rolled up for two. Now Shelley wants a handshake and gets on his knees to kiss Shocker’s foot. Odd choice.

Naturally he’s luring Shocker in but it doesn’t work, as Shocker hits a dropkick to the side of the head to take over. Headscissors takes Shelley down but Alex sends Shocker to the floor. A dive misses for Shelley but Shocker’s connects and the Mexican star is in control. A moonsault eats knees though and Shelley takes over again. Shelley tries a rolling cradle but it’s really just a setup for a freaky neck/arm lock.

Shelley slams him down and goes up but he jumps into a dropkick from Shocker. Alex rolls to the floor but gets caught by a suicide dive and both guys are down. Back in Shocker hooks the twisting sunset flip out of the corner (think Booker T) for two. A big kick from Alex gets two. They both try some slick rollups but Shelley comes out on top with what is apparently a European cradle for two. Shocker is like screw this and drolls Shelley with a right hand. Shelley takes him into the corner but Shocker comes out with a combination head scissors/small package for the pin.

Rating: B-. This was all over the place but in a good way. Both guys were moving incredibly fast out there and it never got sloppy at all. Why did Shocker go back to Mexico? He was pretty awesome and I always liked him for the most part. Good and fun match here as this PPV is starting off well.

We’ll be counting down the top five moments in TNA history. Number 5 is AJ winning his first world title. Someday I need to go back and do all of the old 2 hour PPVs.

Konnan wants to know where BG James’ (Road Dogg) loyalty lies. He says it’s to the 3 Live Kru.

We recap Killings vs. Outlaw, which is R-Truth vs. Billy Gunn. The idea is that Billy is trying to lure BG away from the Kru. BG says there’s nothing to it so everyone has beaten up Outlaw in the process. This results in a rap video from the Kru.

Ron Killings vs. Outlaw

Outlaw starts with a headlock and runs him over with a shoulder block. He takes Truth down again but stops to argue with the referee which allows Killings to come off the top with a missile dropkick. Outlaw hits him low to take over again but the Stinger Splash in the corner misses. Truth goes up again but gets crotched, which lets Outlaw take a water break.

Back in and things slow down as we get to the heel control part of the match. Out to the floor and Truth is rammed into a few metal objects. A quick reversal doesn’t get Killings anywhere so let’s hit that chinlock. Outlaw goes to the middle rope and dances a bit but jumps into a boot in that spot that I hate. Truth makes his comeback and hits the jumping forearm but the ax kick misses. Fameasser hits but Outlaw won’t cover. Cobra clutch slam is countered into a rollup which gets the pin for Truth.

Rating: D+. Just a TV match here and there was nothing significant to it at all. This feud went on for awhile until BG joined Outlaw and formed the James Gang. There wasn’t much here as Truth probably should have lost. He was a bigger deal though so it’s not the worst deal in the world.

Post match Outlaw beats up Truth and gets a chair but BG comes out for the save. Outlaw turns his back to BG and asks to be hit but BG won’t do it. Konnan comes out and tries to use the chair but Outlaw runs.

Moment #4 is Raven debuting in January of 2003. I’m going to have to do some of these old PPVs I think, as in the 2 hour ones.

Team Canada says they’ll win their matches tonight. Scott D’Amore quotes Rocky III by saying that the Naturals fight great but Team Canada are great fighters. The Naturals have a new adviser who isn’t known yet. It would wind up being the interviewer, Shane Douglas.

We recap the tag title match which is basically Canada saying they’re great and wanting their tag titles back. The Canadians jumped the Naturals after a title match to further set this up.

Tag Titles: Team Canada vs. The Naturals

It’s Eric Young/Petey Williams vs. Chase Stevens/Andy Douglas respectively. The Naturals are defending and I still don’t remember which is which. Eric and I think Stevens start things off. Ok so Stevens is the blonde one. Got it. Eric works on the arm to start which goes nowhere. They slap/slug it out and Young goes down. Double tag brings in Douglas and Williams. Williams tries a handstand but Douglas grabs his feet and puts on a modified leglock while Petey is still holding himself up. It’s different if nothing else.

Back to the starters with the champions in firm control. Young might have hurt his knee on a leapfrog attempt. When Williams comes in and gets Stevens’ attention, Young pops up and sends him to the floor so that A-1, Canada’s muscle guy, can get in some shots. It’s still Eric vs. Chase but with Stevens in the Tree of Woe, Petey comes in to stand on his crotch and sing O Canada.

Young comes in off the top with a guillotine legdrop for two. Time for the chinlock and Douglas is freaking out waiting for a tag. Petey lures him in and the Canadians get in some double teaming. Some choking and a regular legdrop get two. Eric sends him to the floor so it’s time to talk about Jarrett possibly making bail to make the title match tonight. D’Amore and A-1 work over Stevens more on the outside.

The announcers think the Naturals should consider throwing in the towel. Dang those guys quit pretty easily. The match has only been going on for about ten minutes. Stevens gets in some punches but A-1 stops the comeback. Douglas comes around to break that up but there’s no one for Stevens to tag. Can I get some wah wah wah music? There’s the hot tag a few seconds later and a full nelson backbreaker gets two.

Everything breaks down and Williams puts Douglas in a Sharpshooter. Stevens tries a powerbomb but gets caught in a DDT. Douglas knocks Young to the floor as Stevens and Williams slug it out. Williams gets caught on Douglas’ shoulders and a modified (and bad) Doomsday Device gets two. Natural Disaster (elevated Stunner) gets two on Young. Russian legsweep to Stevens but the Destroyer is countered. D’Amore gets in a hockey stick shot, but JIMMY HART pops in from out of nowhere with the Megaphone. Stevens pops Williams with it and gets the easy pin.

Rating: C+. This was formula down to the core and there’s nothing wrong with that. All four guys were moving pretty quickly out there and the Canadians did their usual stuff. The Naturals were pretty decent in the ring but they had NOTHING to make you care about them at all which wound up being their downfall.

Moment #3 is Lockdown 2005.

Sean Waltman is the wild card in the King of the Mountain match.

Sonjay Dutt vs. Samoa Joe

This is Joe’s in ring debut. We hear about Ring of Honor which is a name you don’t often hear in this company. Joe is still relatively fit here. He goes off on Sonjay in the corner and shrugs off a clothesline. Sonjay runs into the release Rock Bottom in the corner with a SICK landing. We get the Facewash in the corner and the running boot. All Joe so far.

A legsweep sets up the backsplash for two. Dutt finally gets out of the way and sends Joe to the floor. There’s a big flip dive to take the Samoan out and back in a springboard dropkick gets two. 450 gets the same. A second attempt misses and Joe hits the powerslam to set up the MuscleBuster and the Clutch for the tap.

Rating: C. This was a total squash, which would be the first of many. Joe wouldn’t lose until December of 2006 when they had to bring in Kurt Angle to give him a real challenge. The fans were into him as no one of that size could move as fast as he could and no one quite has since. Pretty effective debut.

Raven, the surprise addition to the main event, talks about how this is his fate, which he’s been talking about for over two years. I wonder if he’s Del Rio’s American cousin. After the match if there were to be an autopsy, it would say that everyone else died due to the sheer force of Raven’s will. Tonight he fulfills his destiny.

Bobby Roode vs. Lance Hoyt

Apparently Hoyt has been adopted by the Impact Zone. Ok then. Apparently this is payback from a beating that Hoyt got on Impact. Roode gets in his face and is easily shoved away. A big clothesline puts Roode on the floor but Hoyt goes after D’Amore and gets sent into the barricade. D’Amore beats on him for a few minutes which somehow isn’t seen at all.

Back in the ring and Hoyt comes back with some right hands. Roode stops him dead with a knee to the ribs though and a belly to back suplex puts Lance down. Roode hooks a bearhug which is pretty quickly broken, but Hoyt is taken down almost immediately. Bobby goes up but gets slammed off and Hoyt starts his comeback.

There are ten punches in the corner followed by a chokeslam. Lance has to go after D’Amore though so the moonsault is broken up. Roode powerbombs him off the top for two which I thought would be the finish. A hockey stick is brought in but the referee takes it away. Another chokeslam looks to set up a big boot but D’Amore interferes AGAIN. That allows Roode to hit the Northern Lariat for the pin.

Rating: D+. Team Canada was a fine idea but doing the same exact thing over and over again got pretty boring pretty quickly. The match, just like the Killings vs. Outlaw match, was pretty much just a TV match and not a very good one at that. These filler matches were a pretty normal occurrence on these old PPVs.

Hoyt gets beaten down post match as D’Amore runs his mouth. D’Amore tries a moonsault but Hoyt moves and kicks Roode’s head off. A chokeslam and moonsault leave D’Amore laying. He’s taken out on a stretcher after the Canadians make the save.

Moment #2: Jeff Hardy debuts.

AJ, the world champion, says tonight he might as well be a challenger. It’s a huge opportunity for him.

We recap AMW vs. 3 Live Kru. AMW is having problems and it cost them a match to the Kru already. This also leads to a 3 Live Kru music video.

America’s Most Wanted vs. 3 Live Kru

It’s Konnan/BG here. Konnan and Harris get things going and Storm misses a potential tag. Konnan speeds things up and hits the rolling clothesline. For some reason he takes his shoe off and throws it at Harris. Weird guy man. Storm gets in a kick and that allows Harris to tag him in legally. AMW takes over on Konnan with Harris hitting a top rope double ax for two. Storm comes in but jumps into a boot followed by a facejam. Tag to BG and things speed up a bit.

Superkick puts the Dogg down but the cover is delayed meaning it’s only good for two. AMW double teams again but they’re still not clicking that well for the most part. It’s Harris in there at the moment and a jumping clothesline puts BG down. Off to Storm again and the reverse tornado DDT gets two. Back to Harris who jumps into a punch and here are the punches from James. AMW gets rammed together but it only gets two on Harris. Here’s the Outlaw to fight with Konnan while a Hart Attack pins James.

Rating: D+. This was more about an angle than a match. Actually it was more about two angles than a single match. Not bad or anything but a lot of this stuff feels like it belongs on a TV show rather than on a thirty dollar PPV. The fans wanted the Outlaws back together again but it would be a few months before that happened.

BG doesn’t leave with either guy.

The #1 moment ever is the cage walk at Turning Point. I’m fine with that. I’d love to see this list again today.

We recap the X-Title match which is Daniels defending against Sabin and Michael Shane. Trinity and Traci were managing the two challengers but the girls switched guys. It wound up being Trinity and Sabin against Traci and Shane. These were pretty much the only girls they had at this point.

X-Division Title: Michael Shane vs. Chris Sabin vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels is champion and this is elimination rules. Daniels jumps Sabin and starts a quick team up with Shane. That lasts all of eight seconds as the challengers team up. That lasts even less time as this is a free for all. Sabin snaps off a rana on the champ and the challenges go at it for awhile. Shane goes down so we get Sabin vs. Daniels for awhile. The champ takes him down and hooks the Koji Clutch but Shane makes the save. Shane hits a powerslam on Daniels for two.

Michael launches Daniels over his head into a sitout powerbomb by Sabin which gets two. Daniels ducks low and sends Sabin throat first into the middle rope. This is another match that’s moving so fast that I can’t type all of it. Daniels puts them both on the floor and hits a split legged moonsault over the top and down onto Sabin. Shane avoided the contact so he takes over in the ring.

Daniels and Shane team up again and Daniels dropkicks Sabin down. Shane of course turns on him after about 20 seconds and sends him to the floor. Sabin is right back up of course but Shane takes him back down and hits a slingshot legdrop for two. Daniels backdrops Michael to the floor and follows him out. Sabin tries a slingshot dive but Daniels is waiting on him, sending Sabin into his knee for a gutbuster kind of move.

Sabin escapes a double team and hits a tornado DDT on Shane at the same time as an enziguri on Daniels. Cool. Sabin dropkicks both guys down and loads up Cradle Shock on Shane but gets shoved off. That’s cool with him as he ducks a clothesline and dives onto Daniels on the floor. A springboard missile dropkick gets two on Shane. Traci trips Sabin so Trinity (in a body that can only be described as spider-web themed) trips Shane. It’s catfight time and in the distraction, Sabin eliminates Shane with the Cradle Shock.

Daniels gives Trinity the Angel’s Wings because he’s that evil. So it’s Sabin vs. Daniels for the title now. Sabin pounds away with forearms but walks into a Death Valley Driver for two. Off to a modified chinlock by the champ but Sabin counters into a rollup for two. A bulldog by Sabin puts Daniels down but he can’t follow up. Daniels comes back with an STO for two. Here comes the BME but it only gets two. Sabin misses an enziguri but the second attempt connects. Springboard DDT gets two. Sabin tries a springboard but Daniels kicks the ropes and Angel’s Wings retain the title.

Rating: B. Another fast paced and fun match here with Daniels continuing to be interesting when you have him away from Styles. Sabin was on fire back in the day and it was very nice to look at Traci and Trinity, but there’s not much to be said about Shane. The guy is just not interesting at all and he didn’t add anything here.

Monty Brown says that nothing has changed with Raven in the mix now.

We recap the King of the Mountain match. AJ is champion and he’s got four challengers. I’m not sure what else there is to say about it really.

NWA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Raven vs. Abyss vs. Monty Brown vs. Sean Waltman

The idea here is you have to hang the belt above the ring, sort of like a reverse ladder match. However before you can do that, you have to qualify by getting a fall on someone else. Whoever is pinned/submits goes to the penalty box for two minutes. Waltman dives off the box onto Raven while Styles dives off a ladder onto Brown. Brown shrugs him off and goes inside where he Pounces Raven and pins him to qualify. Raven has to go to the box.

AJ hits a huge dive to take out Waltman and Abyss so it’s Brown/Waltman in the ring. AJ sets for the springboard forearm but Abyss breaks it up. A spinwheel kick puts Abyss down but Brown breaks up the Bronco Buster. Raven is let out ten seconds early for some reason. Alpha Bomb pins Waltman which doesn’t change anything for Brown but Waltman goes to the box. Raven has a table set up at ringside.

AJ dives off the cage to take out Abyss. The camera work is lacking a bit here as we keep missing stuff. Brown hits the Pounce on AJ but Raven pulls him to the floor for the pin to become eligible. Abyss loads up Shock Treatment on Brown but Raven beats them both up with a trashcan. Styles and Waltman are forming an alliance in the box. Waltman is now out and he grabs another trashcan to take Brown down with.

The clock ends for AJ as Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam to pin Brown. AJ and Waltman aren’t eligible yet. As I say that AJ hits the Clash on Raven but Abyss makes the save. Pele puts Abyss down and Waltman cracks the masked man with a chair. No one has used a ladder yet. Waltman puts Abyss on the table and AJ hits Spiral Tap, which is good for a pin for AJ.

Brown is released and here’s the first ladder. Raven throws Brown into the barricade and AJ is going up the ladder. He drops the title, but Waltman hands it to him. Naturally that’s a swerve and Waltman hits the X Factor off the ladder, good for a pin. There’s a table in the corner now too. Raven staples Waltman’s head and Abyss is free. Abyss and Raven both get staples between their legs but Waltman gets taken down as well.

Waltman gets up first and chokes Abyss. Does anyone know where the belt is? Waltman sets up a ladder as Styles is released. They both go up and fight on top of the ladder but Abyss shoves it over. A Pounce puts Abyss through the table but Raven DDTs Brown. He goes up the ladder and Abyss can’t stop him, giving Raven the win and the title.

Rating: B-. This was a fun match but as always with these matches, they’re wild brawls that no one can keep up with. Well ok maybe that’s a stretch but they’re still chaotic. It’s probably a little too complicated but this is TNA’s signature mess and that’s ok for the most part. Raven winning should have won the title a year or so earlier but still, this worked well and he would have a good reign.

Raven poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a show that was going to be decided by the main event. Since that match was good I’ll give this show the benefit of the doubt. The main problem with this show is that there’s a lot of stuff that didn’t belong on a PPV but they had to fill in the three hours. Not bad though and it worked pretty well over all. Good enough show.

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Back here again and we’re somehow less than a year from this show ending. I didn’t realize how short this series was but we’re about a month into it and we have less than a year to go at this point. Awesome is the world champion and needs someone to fight so maybe we’ll get to that tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with breaking news: the tag champions got in a fight backstage and Dreamer is still wrestling tonight.

Mike Awesome will defend the title tonight.

Theme song. That’s still pretty awesome.

ECW World Title: Rhyno vs. Mike Awesome

Rhyno charges into a clothesline before the bell and then takes a jumping back elbow off the middle rope. Another clothesline puts him on the floor and Awesome hits a dive over the top. Most of it hit concrete but the effort was there. Back in a top rope clothesline gets two. Awesome likes that move. Awesome Bomb is countered and Rhyno Gores him but that’s not a finisher yet. Swan dive by Rhyno gets two. German suplex out of nowhere takes Rhyno down and there’s an Awesome Bomb up and over the top rope and through a table on the floor. Rhyno is mostly dead so the Awesome Splash retains the title.

Rating: C. Awesome was, in a word, awesome with the stuff he could pull off in the ring. People shouldn’t be able to move the way he could so it amazes me that WCW screwed him up as much as they did. He was mostly a face as the fans cheered him because there was almost no way to not be impressed. Fun match here and basically a squash for the champ.

Big Sal E. Graziano vs. Little Spike Dudley

Sal weighs about 500lbs. Spike is the Giant Killer so I think you know where this is going. It’s going to a no contest as Guido runs in for the DQ and it’s time for a new match.

Little Spike Dudley vs. Little Guido

Does the winner get upgraded to a medium? After a quick break they trade rollups and Spike takes him down with a neckbreaker for two. A forearm puts Guido on the floor and there’s a dive. Guido throws him into the barricade and Sal splashes him up against the steel. Middle rope Fameasser gets two. Tomikaze (Killswitch) gets two and Guido is frustrated. Sal comes in but his splash misses and the Acid Drop to both guys (with Sal landing on Guido) gets the pin.

Rating: D+. It was entertaining enough but the Spike character could only be carried so far. The idea of him hitting one shot and then the Acid Drop to win matches worked for awhile but it finally had to stop. Guido was his usual self and Sal did his usual fat guy stuff. Not bad or anything but Spike did the same thing every week.

Music video on RVD.

The following is from Anarchy Rulz but it was a dark match so I haven’t seen it yet.

Danny Doring/Roadkill vs. CW Anderson/Bill Whilles

Big pop for Roadkill be fore he and Whilles gets us going. Roadie punches him down and hits a powerslam to set up a double tag. Doring speeds things way up and hits a Japanese armdrag. Back to Roadkill who hits a Bossman Slam and everyone is in now. Doring cleans house but walks into an Anderson spinebuster and a single arm DDT. The control lasts for about 30 seconds and it’s back to Roadkill. Bill manages a spinning powerslam on Doring for two and everything breaks down again. Danny hits a reverse DDT to set up a top rope splash by Roadkill for the pin.

Rating: C. This was a good choice for a dark match as the fans were WAY into Roadkill and Doring. They would get the titles in about 14 months but ECW was long past dead by that point. They also had Lita as a manager for a cup of coffee so there aren’t any complaints there. Fun match here that was very fast paced and got the people going though.

Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer is in street clothes. Back from a break before the match and Dreamer hits a baseball slide to send Corino (manager) into Tajiri. Tajiri gets crotched on the barricade and takes the deadly Pepsi to the face. Back in the handspring elbow and the Buzzsaw kick give Tajiri a quick advantage but Dreamer comes back with a slingshot splash for two. Dreamer goes up for something like a moonsault I think but gets crotched and put in the Tree of Woe.

Tajiri misses his baseball slide and crotches himself so Tommy shows him how its done. Dreamer sets for a suplex to the floor through a table but Tajiri manages to superkick him down to the floor. Back inside Dreamer puts Tajiri in the Tarantula and doesn’t look half bad at it. We go back to the floor and Tajiri is thrown into the crowd. It’s your usual crowd brawl with both guys being thrown in the penalty box. Tajiri is busted.

They head to ringside and Tajiri steals a beer which he spits into Tajiri’s face Mist style. In the ring Dreamer runs into a superkick but pulls off a Dre

amer Driver for two. Corino and Francine come in with the girl hitting a Pedigree on Corino. Raven comes in, DDTs Dreamer and lets Tajiri kick him in the head for the pin.

Rating: C-. The brawling was ok but at the same time, the same problem most ECW brawls had comes into play: why are these two having this big wild brawl? I’d assume it’s over the tag titles but that’s really just an educated guess. There’s no real reason to have these two beat on each other so much so it’s not something you can just jump into and be interested. Kind of a fun match but it was only there for the ending.

Overall Rating: C. Much like the Sci-Fi version, this show is finally starting to calm down and therefore it’s gotten a lot more entertaining and watchable. There are stories being told throughout the show and they eventually (in theory) get paid off at the PPV. That’s basic wrestling booking and if they can get that down, things will go way up as a result. Not a great show but it’s a good sign.

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