TNA opened up with their normal package and then went right into a recap package of Sacrifice. They highlighted the 3 Live Kru reunion, Sean Waltman versus Jerry Lynn, Samoa Joe winning the Super X Cup, and Rhino pinning Raven in the huge tag match. This was extremely boring. It was basically a slideshow with a monotone voice going over the highlights. With the commentators they have and the production team they have hired, they could have done so much better, it was pathetic.
Samoa Joe Vs. Jerrelle Clark
Gee, Jerrelle Clark is back for the first time in a while. I wonder who's going over in this match. In the first few seconds of the match, you can already tell that they are doing agility versus power, which works but is going to get old eventually. They did with his matches against Dutt, his match against Sabin, and his match with Styles. It really puts over Samoa Joe, but like I said, it's going to get old real fast. You can put over Joe's power without doing the agility versus power shtick. The match continues with Joe in control, Clark's brief stint in control saw some nice chops though. The best part of the match, and probably the best TNA moment I have seen in a long time, was Clark climbing up to do a Moonsault off the top and Samoa Joe just walked out of the way. I have always held the ideal that flip moves like that expose the business because who, in all honesty, is just going to stand there and wait for his opponent to hit him. Joe basically compensated for a spot monkey's instinct. Way to go, Joe! Joe continues the onslaught with nice power moves, but Clark tries to power off when some more agility, but just does not get Joe down. Joe even catches Clark off the springboard and slams him down. Joe then hits the muscle-buster and then follows it up with his Rear Naked Choke that, of course, Clark taps out too.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Star Wrestler: Samoa Joe
The match was a typical squash so there isn't much to praise, but that spot with Joe just walking out of the way was genius. Pure genius. That alone would give any wrestler, even Bill Goldberg, "star wrestler" status.
After the match, Christopher Daniels tries to take out Samoa Joe with the belt, but Joe is does not flinch. Why? Because he's the Samoan Submission Machine, that's why! They start to brawl, and then AJ Styles comes out and joins the melee. Enter typical Styles run-in. Styles eventually clears the ring with a double dropkick and starts mouthing off to the two. Is Joe supposed to be a heel or what? I really can't tell after shit like this. Tweeners only go so far and I don't buy them in the monster roles.
Oh, god. They then show a recap package of Sacrifice. The last Impact! I actually watched was the one right after No Surrender and that one saw the exact same kind of commercial airing three or four times. If they do it again, I just might cry. Screw that, I will cry. The package is the same as always and says the same thing. It doesn't matter how good or bad the show was; the package will remain the same.
We then see Shane Douglas who is in front of the office of Larry Zbyszko and he says that he and Jeff Jarrett are fighting over the fact that Rhino has a title shot, and not Jarrett. They come out and Jarrett talks about how he will be TNA Champ when they debut on Spike TV, and Larry tells him that if Rhino will step aside, he can have it. Jarrett then walks right into Rhino and he tells him that for the good company, he needs to be the champ. He tells Rhino to step aside and he will be first in line when Jarrett beats Raven. I kind of like this. It's going to turn Rhino face and then hopefully set up Jarrett-Rhino which will get Jarrett out of the title hunt for a while and also be quite interesting. He tells Rhino to think about and Rhino says he will get the title shot after Rhino beats Raven. Good segment I thought.
What the hell? TNA is doing a Tag Team Tournament in memory of Chris Candido. Now, I am not the biggest TNA fan, hell, I think the suck, but this is genius to the point of getting over your stars and rookies and paying respect to Candido. Chris Candido was so remarkable in the tag team division of wrestling as well as in TNA that this is literally, the perfect way to honor him. The bracket is even looking quite good. Candido, rest in peace, you'll never need a gimmick in my eyes.
Chris Candido Tag Team Memorial Cup – Round One
Simon Diamond & Mikey Batts Vs. Chris Sabin & Shocker
It doesn't really work well with the veteran/rookie combo if Shocker and Chris Sabin are together as Shocker is the rookie in TNA compared to former X Champ Sabin. Oh, well never mind, Tenay explains that it's really based on overall experience in which, yes, Shocker is a veteran. All right, here we go!
Sabin and Batts start it off and I love Sabin. Hail Sabin, indeed. Batts and Sabin do some nice countering spots ending in a nice dropkick from Sabin to Batts. Shocker is tagged in and Shocker & Sabin are showing some great tag team chemistry. Diamond comes in and a double dropkick takes him out. The match continues with Batts and Shocker on the inside and here we go to a commercial break for Unbreakable. Great, the match was getting good and we cut out of it.
Back from break Shocker is still in with Batts and is still in control. Shocker is doing a lot better than he did last Sunday with Alex Shelley in the most overrated match this year so far, and I'm enjoying this match. Sabin is tagged in and Batts & Diamond play the numbers game on him. They start to wear down Sabin with some nice offense and some nice slow down work. Mikey even stops his monkey style to do some actual mat work. I think Sabin should do some more tag work. He's got the waning face part down better than most in TNA. Shocker comes in on the hot tag eventually and takes down Batts and Diamond. Shocker starts with some of his "brawling" which is weak and unbelievable, but the match continues with Sabin being tagged in and Batts going in. Sabin catches Batts and hits the Cradleshock for the win.
Winners: Chris Sabin & Shocker
Star Wrestler: Chris Sabin
I'm a pretty big Sabin fan in 2005. He's toned down his style a lot and I feel like he makes it work in the X Division. He was in good form this match and showed why I like him so much.
TNA then shows a commercial for their Best of Jeff Hardy DVD followed by a Bound for Glory ad that didn't do much except say Bound for Glory. Again, pointless ads by TNA.
We come back and Shane Douglas is with Monty Brown talking about the whole BG James incident. Brown is overacting way too much, but him mocking Kip James is priceless. Priceless. He talks about how he isn't going to do it James' way anymore, but the Alpha Male's way. He calls BG James weak and mocks him a bit as well as Rhino & Jeff Jarrett and Raven. He then does his gay Pounce part and Shane Douglas rubs his face, I guess to wipe the spit off from Brown. Brown really needs to tone it down. He's attacking everyone in a promo that's supposed to be about Kip and BG It was pointless and overdone. Thank you very much, TNA.
Rhino Vs. Sonny Siaki
Gee, I wonder who's going over in this one. Even more, I wonder if we will see interference. Gasp! How could I predict this match so much? Siaki starts off with some nice offense and catches Rhino with surprise. Of course, the commentators do their wonderful job by not talking about Rhino's upcoming match, but rather, the Jerry Lynn-Sean Waltman match from Sunday. Yeah, that makes so much more sense. Rhino and Siaki continue at it, but I'm not really into it. The commentators have really turned me off this. Rhino is in control and working the neck of Siaki, but Siaki comes right back. This is a pretty good back and forth match, but it's kind of making Rhino look like less of a threat. As I typed that, Rhino hit the massive Gore and got the win.
Winner: Rhino
Star Wrestler: Sonny Siaki
Wow, he really turned up the heat in this match. It was a really good back and forth match that still puts over Rhino, but puts him over too. I know it's not going to happen, but I'd like to see Siaki move up the ranks again in the X Division.
Rhino then gets the mike and does the Joey Styles/Paul Heyman "Gore" shtick. He tells Raven he is going to Gore him and make him bleed. He talks about how he came for the title and then he says he can't wait for Unbreakable and calls Raven out. Raven then comes out and says "Gore me once, shame on you. Gore me twice, shame on me." He then talks about he wants a fight, he'll get one. Raven and Rhino go at it in the ring but the security tries to break it up. Rhino nails Raven with the Gore despite it though, and puts over the Gore. This is kind of like the Pedigree style crap WWE tried to shove down our throat at Backlash, but I buy this more. Rhino on the mike though is not something I would want in a champion.
We then see the second commercial advertising Sacrifice. It was the exact same one. One more and I will cry. Come on TNA, at least make a different package!
Chris Candido Tag Team Memorial Cup – Round One
Cassidy Riley & BG James Vs. Ron Killings & Sonjay Dutt
Yay, maybe Killings will teach Dutt how to work without flipping around everywhere. Funny spot occurred with Riley doing the Raven pose and James giving him a weird look, pretty funny. Killings and Riley start it off with some basic chain wrestling. Ron Killings starts to outwrestle Riley and Riley tags in James out of fear. James looks reluctant but gets in and embraces Killings before they wrestle. Killings and James do a nice comedy bit with a little footwork, and Dutt and Riley come out to argue with their partners. Kind of stupid in this kind of tournament considering they were just talking about how it's about "pure wrestling only." Pure wrestling only, my ass. James and Killings don't enjoy them doing that so Killings and James take them out. Killings and Riley then start it up again, even though Riley was never tagged in. Sonjay Dutt is tagged in after Killings takes and maintains the control. Riley and Dutt go in a nice roller coaster form with Dutt coming out on top with a dropkick to the knee. Riley comes back though with the Raven Bulldog move. Riley gets over to James who tags in Dutt and James takes control of Dutt. Riley tries to get in, but Killings meets him in the middle and they go at it. Riley hits some power moves on Killings, but James goes to help him. This is really shitting on the whole "pure wrestling only" thing West tried to pull. Riley and James start to argue over going after Killings, so James takes Riley down. James then goes to help Killings while Dutt hits a top rope move to Riley for the win. This was complete crap in terms of making sense. Way to go, TNA.
Winners: Ron Killings & Sonjay Dutt
Star Wrestler: Cassidy Riley
I really have a good view on Riley and if he starts to work on it some more, he can be really, really good by the end of the year. He was getting some nice offense in, playing nice comedy, and doing well in selling. I look forward to seeing more of his work, and hopefully, he will get in a feud with Raven.
TNA shows a commercial for Destination X. At least it's not the same Sacrifice one though!
Coming back from break, James Mitchell is bitching about how Abyss is not getting a title shot next week, and instead, Bobby Rude is. He continues about how Abyss needs a title shot or all hell is going to break loose. Abyss is a great wrestler, but him just groaning in the background doesn't work.
NWA Tag Team Championship
Team Canada Vs. The Naturals
The Naturals start on the offense going after Team Canada and they are brawling pretty intense in the ring as the ref tries to take control. Chase Stevens and Eric Young are the stars in the beginning though as Young does the turnbuckle/apron gimmick that Flair does and Stevens nails him into after it. Pretty decent stuff so far and it's got me hooked. Finally, A-1 and Stevens are in the ring and we go through some nice back and forth. Young is tagged in as well as Douglas and Douglas starts some nice arm work on Young. Huge USA chant going on too. The webcast of Impact! kind of shat out at this point so I missed some things happening as I only got audio. This is weird as it lasted for a while. The camera stuck on the image of Douglas in a submission move on Young and eventually, the audio goes to an Unbreakable commercial. Now the audio just craps out all together. I love technology, don't you?
I never got video back to match the audio so it was hard to piece together what happened with the crappy commentators TNA has. Tenay is not that bad, but West is the worst I have ever heard. Ever. The Naturals eventually won via DQ when Bobby Rude came out and interfered.
Winners: The Naturals
Star Wrestler: Andy Douglas
Based on what I saw, Andy Douglas was doing a sweet job in the match. This one's kind of empty though as I really didn't see much. Shucks.
Eventually, Petey Williams and America's Most Wanted all made it out to the ring. Naturals got pissed that AMW came out and they fought too. Either AMW or the Naturals need to turn full fledged heel because I'm not buying their feud right now.
Overall, the show was mediocre, like many of TNA's shows. It had a good tag team match, a good squash, and then a bad squash and tag team match and a match I didn't get to see. The big thing that irked me about this was the promos. James Mitchell's promo bit the dust as did Monty Brown's and Rhino's too. Raven's was the best, by far, but only lasted less than 30 seconds. However, TNA made much better use of their time and didn't overdo the advertisements so good for them.
To listen to Doug Nunnally's review of TNA Sacrifice, click here.
Copyright © 2005; TheWrestlingVoice.com & Douglas Nunnally.
All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
| What Did You Think About WWE Backlash 2008? |
|
|