Note: I know I've been gone a while and I've promised two book reviews and a DVD review, but trust me that I will make you forget my absence and that those three reviews will come. Book and DVD reviews are an entirely different entity than reviewing shows as it's a different train of thought and organization and for me to start off writing those after a long break, they would definitely be sub-par which is not what you, the readers, deserve. I'll start with this PPV and maybe a TV show and then will definitely get you those reviews. Trust me, they're worth waiting for! Also, tomorrow, I will be reviewing No Way Out live for my website, TheWrestlingVoice.com. It's always a fun thing to do as well. It's not monotonous or a full-on report like other sites have; mine is more in-depth, quicker, and from what people tell me, better. I honestly don't see it as bragging either because I have literally finished twenty minutes before some sites at times with my posts, summaries, and what-not being generally longer and more in-depth. Anyway, head over to TheWrestlingVoice.com and check that one out. It will start at 7:30 PM EST so don't miss it. For more information on that, just click here. One more thing to plug, I also did an audio review of this PPV which you can listen to by clicking here. It's on my show, The Wrestling Crossfire, which just made it's comeback so I think you should all check it out.Onto the PPV:
Weirdly, we start off with footage of Christian coming to the arena to pump up the main event, which quite honestly, is the biggest main event in TNA history because it will (or should) signify a new era in TNA as far as the title picture is concerned. I actually agree with TNA for doing this, but the fact that I missed the weird little TNA video to start it off was just odd. TNA then shows some footage of Scott D'Amore and Eric Young arguing backstage while they wait for Jeff Jarrett. God, Eric Young just may be the best performer in TNA right now. Jarrett and Kim then show up while the Canadians pump him up. They talk about how Sting and Jackie are both out of the picture and Scott talks about the tape that will bring her down. I really can't imagine what that tape could have that could really bring down a woman with the worst acting, strut (ugh), and overall talent in pro wrestling in a long time. This isn't a new opinion either, guys, remember her WWE run? Jarrett then talks about how there's only one problem remaining (Christian), but as he celebrates with Scott, Young says there are two problems. The best part is, as Jarrett turns around to face him, Scott's giving him the "Shut up, you boob!" look that tells me these two could easily have a comedy show. Jarrett then asks Young what is wrong with him while Scott has a heart attack behind them and Young simply says that Sting isn't gone. So that retirement speech was just a joke, huh? Damn you, Sting! I'll never trust you again. Sorry for the outburst, but I still get mad at the Kiss reunion tour that's been going on for half a decade! Jarrett starts to calm Young down by making Young say a mantra of "Sting is gone!" God, Young must be about half a point higher in IQ then Eugene with way better delivery. Jarrett then walks off to meet with Zybsko (goody) and we see D'Amore beat on Young like your stupid cousin who won't shut up about making doody. As D'Amore walks out, we see Young repeat the mantra some more. I would literally love to see Young continuing that mantra all through the PPV and then onto the next episode of iMPACT!
We then see a nice video package of Christian Cage talking about his dream and how he left WWE to come here. Good try, Christian, but you can't try and pull that card when you stress the point in every shoot interview that you were going to leave WWE no matter what. We then see Jarrett talking about how management is in shambles because of Sting. They start to go back and forth with the video being spliced. I really loved how Jarrett beat the point home that he's beaten everyone including DDP, Rhino, Kevin Nash, and even took out Hulk Hogan. It's really got the blood pumping for what should be a big moment in TNA history as all this Jarrett shit we've put up has been building towards the match where he will drop the title and make a star. Personally, I think they dropped the ball with Rhino who could have been that star, but with Christian here, it seems like we are going to get it tonight. The question though remains: how long until Jarrett's ego yearns for gold? Personally, I find Christian to be very overrated, but having him as champion is definitely a good thing to push and drive home for a long reign. We are then welcomed to TNA Against All Odds and it's time to go to another horribly packaged PPV which will probably not have one match go over twenty minutes again. Great job!
Generation X comes out first so I guess the tag is opening the match. I'll be the first to say it: Austin Aries scares me now. Literally, he scares me with that look. Plus, he did the look at the camera like D'Amore does so I thought he was going to try and eat it like the Canadian. Anyway, this match should be really good and it's nice to see TNA finally using The Naturals who have really been MIA since they dropped the titles back in October. Hopefully Generation X (not Next!) won't be jobbed out for picking ROH over TNA the night before when they almost got trapped in a blizzard. God forbid these two wrestlers screw over a promotion that made them stars and already had a weak card with three no-shows going in. I'm literally surprised Alex Shelley opted out of staying for ROH considering how TNA has treated him in the past and how big of a star ROH has made him. I'm not going to rant on Homicide because the man's got bills and if he has to get surgery, he'll probably still get paid by TNA as opposed to ROH who doesn't have that kind of money. Anyway, onto the match!
Generation X Vs. The Naturals
My worst fears were really realized in this match as Generation X jobbed to The Naturals for no other reason but to punish them. It's not like TNA has any plans for The Naturals since they haven't been using them at all in comparison to Generation X or any other tag team on TNA. Hell, the jobbing team of Helvis and his obscure partner have been used more on Impact than The Naturals. This is just sad and not what they need especially when TNA haven't made any stars since Samoa Joe. I'm not counting Christian because that one wrote itself. As for the actual match, it was all right, but not as well as it should have been especially given the ending. This was basically a squash stretched out for time limits to cover up that fact because in all honesty, The Naturals basically blew off everything Generation X did and is that not the definition of a squash?
The ring work was good, but a lot of spots were just horrible and really bogged it down. At one point, Chase Stevens climbed to the top for a SSP to the outside to the heels, but the heels were literally looking at him for a minute before hand. Can't you even act distracted so it doesn't come off as fake? I know I'm nitpicking, but when a move requires that much set-up, you really got to question what good it will do to have the people on the receiving end just stare at him until it connects. To prove my point, notice the suicide dive Aries did to Stevens. It came completely out of nowhere simply because we know Stevens wasn't staring at Aries for a minute before he did it. That was an excellent spot in terms of psychology (saving your partner) and total surprise. To finish the earlier point, in addition to that spot being horribly, the hot tag with Andy Douglas was literally the worst I've seen in months. While Andy Douglas is ten times better as a tag team wrestler than most out there today in tag team wrestling, I've seen hot tags with Viscera that were better. Viscera; the guy who does a move that basically is anal rape. At one point, Douglas whipped Strong too early so Strong ended up hitting Aries in a fumble that looked like backyarders in the ring. This was literally the low point of the match. I loved the false finish with the Hurricanrana to Aries, but it really lead nowhere especially with the finish of the heels getting killed. In the end, The Naturals went for the Natural Disaster, but Roderick pulled Douglas out. Aries then rolled up Stevens and tried to hold onto the ropes like the last match, but the ref caught him. Stevens then made a comeback as Douglas came in and they hit the Natural Disaster for the win in a match that did nothing except kill the heat for Generation X.
Winners: The Naturals
Star Wrestler: Austin Aries
Like I said, the match was all right. Decent at best. I think the main problems with it were the hot tag and the fact that two teams like that should be having a way better match. Overall, it really just disappointed me. Austin Aries really shone in the match though, unlike his partner and the opposing team who just looked to be going through the motions at one point. He had great psychology not just as a heel, but as a tag team wrestler which was really shown in that suicide dive he did. His heel tendencies, while nowhere near Alex Shelley, were also great in this match too, but I really wish that Roderick Strong would have stepped up his game in that area too as they would have complimented each other. In the end though, Aries was clearly the star in a match I want to see again. Yes, this one was disappointing, but I've seen a lot of matches disappoint on the first or second take and deliver on the second or third.
Mike Tenay and Don West then take over and break down the card with all the phrases and hype you've come to love and expect from the commentators. After they run down the card, they talk about how Zybsko laid down the law in the pre-show. We then see footage of how there's going to be no outside interference, weapons, or crooked refs, and TNA management is serious. No offense, TNA, but I'll believe it when I see it. There hasn't been a Jarrett match on monthly PPV yet that didn't have interference in it. West and Tenay then start to ramble on some more and kill some time, which I don't understand anyway because it's not like they have time to kill. They always go right to the three hour mark and are always cutting time from other matches. Last PPV, they didn't even have one match go over twenty minutes. That's sad.
Next, we go backstage to Jeremey Borash with America's Most Wanted, as well as Team Canada, and they talk about their match with Sonjay Dutt & Chris Sabin tonight which looks to me on paper to be the worst tag team match AMW has had in months. Sorry, but I'm not a big fan of Dutt and he really does bog down these matches to me. AMW does their typical promo which is always good especially with Cowboy in the back drinking his beer and adding his drunken ramblings. Borash then asks D'Amore about Team 3D being voted to face Team Canada. The fact that TNA fans voted to see Team 3D go against Team Canada, and not against AMW when they would have won the titles, shows how great the fans are. Anyway, D'Amore first asks Gail Kim for an apology as he shows the tape he has and Kim gives him the apology and says he was right. He then says Jackie better be there next Saturday when the tables are turned.
Zybsko then comes in and lays down the law which is anyone interfering will be fired on the spot, which D'Amore laughs at. Zybsko then verbally lashes D'Amore about it and D'Amore's face changes to reflect it. It's good that we finally get a match with no interference, but there is one major problem I'm surprised no one else has thought of. If Christian wins tonight like he probably is going to, it will basically be proven that Jarrett can't win without interference and if that's true, I doubt anyone will ever buy Jarrett as a champ again. Wait, that's not a problem. That's great!
Fatal Four-Way
Alex Shelley Vs. Petey Williams Vs. Matt Bentley Vs. Jay Lethal
This isn't exactly the four-way match I've come to love as they're doing the bit where you have two in and the others have to be tagged in. If you want to do a tag match, do one, otherwise, screw tags. This was a great match that's cracked into my top ten list so far of the year. There wasn't much I didn't love in the match and it was exactly the type of match TNA's undercard should be having! Bentley and Williams started it off fairly well with the opening exchanges, accompanied by Shelley driving home the stipulation of them having to tag in. With that said though, as soon as Traci got up on the apron, the match definitely dropped a little and even the dropkick that came afterwards was pretty bad. When Lethal got in, TNA really erupted and this guy is massively over which I think speaks tons for a guy since he's basically been squashed by three of the top guys in TNA: AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, and Samoa Joe. That last name was a really odd decision to me because I really don't see how the TNA television audience is going to buy Lethal as an eventual contender to Joe when he was squashed by the guy his first night with the company.
Back to the great match, Shelley was good as usually, but it says something that I was really digging Lethal who I'm not that big of a fan otherwise. Shelley and Williams get major props for pushing over the stipulation of tagging though to the point where I bought it as an improvement to the match, not a detriment. At one point, Lethal had Shelley's number so Shelley reached over with his foot and tagged Williams. That put over three things in one fluid motion: the stipulation, Shelley as a heel, and Lethal as a legit contender and force to mess with. Putting over one thing in one motion seems to ba problem for most at this stage of the game, so to put over three things: kudos, kudos, and more kudos. From there, the back working Shelley and Williams did on Lethal was great and I'm really surprised I'm commending Williams on psychology, but that's just what this match did: surprise me! Highlight of the match to me had to be Williams and Shelley arguing which again put over their heel status and the stipulation as well as gave a nice transition away from Lethal's trouble. Seriously, the exact outline of this match was something I was so surprised by. At one point, they went up for the triple power bomb/suplex spot we've seen over and over again in multi-man matches and I do admit I groaned in disgust since they were doing so well up until then, but they changed it up into a great series of spots that saw the suplex get broken and there just being a powerbomb. Then Lethal popped in with a German Suplex pin to Shelley to which Bentley responded to with a top rope elbow drop as he was already there. Perfectly executed, set-up, and definitely sold very well too. God, this match had it all. From here, we got some more great spots like a nice counter to a suplex by Williams with a knee to the face as well as an impressive looking flip over Full Nelson suplex. Of course, something had to go wrong as it does in every match and that was Jackie Gayda who interfered to mess with Alex Shelley, who even got punked out by her in a sad note. Just like MNM versus Batista and Rey Mysterio in the cage, this was a great match killed by the interference though this one wasn't hurt as nearly as much as Mark Henry spending an hour trying to get into the cage. While the arguing ensued, Bentley countered the Canadian Destroyer with a back body drop and Lethal advanced on the opportunity for a quick roll-up and the win for a great match that really put over everyone, even Bentley.
Winner: Jay Lethal
Star Wrestler: Jay Lethal
It was really hard to just pick one especially since the mark in me loves Alex Shelley and Williams & Bentley surprised me as well, but Jay Lethal really shone as the star in this match with his selling of the back and great offense that was quick, well-placed, and just really impressive. Everyone was good in this match, so don't get the wrong impression, but if Lethal ever becomes a major star in TNA like I think he will, I think this match will be the one people look back on as to what made him that star. Excellent match, excellent work, and I hope the other X Division match is just as good if not better.
Borash is then shown with Rhino who cuts a great promo to Mitchell and Abyss with a very grisly voice talking about how this match he has with Abyss is nothing to what he grew up with. God, they are really pushing the monster gimmick, War Machine as they say, on Rhino and it's really paying off. This was one of the best quick promos of the past few months. Zybsko then pops in and says his spiel about no interference, and Rhino keeps the point on his match saying Abyss will need an ambulance. Great promo.
We then see a pretty good video package on the recent James Gang-LAX feud as narrated by Ron Killings at first who is playing the odd man character well in this storyline. I can see how you wouldn't like Killings in it, but I think they really should build Killings up as seeing both sides of the argument and still loving BG and Konnan until you do a match with Killings as guest referee. I would really love that, and to be honest, what else is TNA going to do with Killings?
LAX then comes to the ring and runs down BG in a pretty good promo where he introduces Machete to the group as a replacement to Apolo, though they never say his name. Oh well, good riddance. It's not like the guy did any good other than hold back Sonny Siaki. The James Gang then rolls down and they do their normal shtick as well including calling LAX Menudo. Does anyone else notice how they say they are going to be NWA Tag Team Champions of the world yet haven't even cared to challenge for those titles in how long? God, Kip James is wearing ponytails again. Someone needs to take the cocaine away from that boy at some point. Luckily, he doesn't get to slur anything as LAX jumps him from behind before he starts. Good note to start on!
Latin America Xchange Vs. The James Gang
I really am kind of befuddled as to why Konnan wasn't in this match as I think Homicide would be better on the outside especially considering his shoulder injury. I guess they are building towards a big match with Konnan actually in the ring. Who knows? This was a better match than I thought we were going to get, but it was still nothing special and a clear-cut example of the trite aspect of tag team wrestling; if you've seen one tag team match, you've practically seen about ninety percent of the rest. I thought it started of well with Kip using his power nicely for a change and Homicide not backing down, but it just went bland very quickly and stayed there the whole match. It wasn't mind-numbing, but was also not even close to being a good match. In the end, BG James took the win for his team very surprisingly with a Pump Handle Slam in a short match that I'm glad they kept short because the longer it went, the more of a chance there was for shit to fall apart.
Winners: The James Gang
Star Wrestler: Konnan
I thought going into this that Homicide would get it, but that shoulder injury has really messed up his workrate. I can't say I'm surprised though. Look at how Triple H was affected by his shoulder at King Of The Ring 2002. Konnan was really on the ball in this match, and while he wasn't in the match, he was still better than everyone else which is kind of sad but also kind of good in that it puts him over as a forerunner in the feud even if he isn't in the match. Without Konnan, the match probably would have been mind-numbing and for him to carry a match with Kip James up to that level by not even being in the match speaks waves of him.
After the match, Konnan hits the ring with the slapjack and lays out BG James to continue the storyline. Bullet Bob then jumps into the ring and takes off his coat as Konnan takes off. No offense, but all that does is make Konnan look like an idiot for backing down from a guy in his sixties who was already taken out earlier.
We go backstage yet again with Jeremy Borash outside of Zybsko's office. God, people talk about how there is too much talking on WWE shows, but this is ridiculous. It's literally to the point of match, drawn out backstage interview with Zybsko, match, drawn out backstage interview, etc. WWE's got them too, I'm not saying they don't, but don't criticize one promotion while you praise TNA and they are doing the same! Anyway, a ref shows up looking for "Big Larry" which may just be the best thing to call Zybsko at this point. The ref tells Zybsko they don't have a ref for the main event, and Zybsko says that they do and basically says it's a secret. They go back and forth and literally and whoever thought having a ref on camera for a segment was a good idea obviously never thought why they are refs and not personalities or what-not. The ref wants to take care of the main event and says he has 85 main events for WCW under his belt. Well, Booker T has five WCW world title reigns, but I don't see anyone using that (except him) for reasons to call him great. Zybsko then tells him he's on a need-to-know basis and walks off with one of the Hebners following him.
NWA World Tag Team Championship
America's Most Wanted (c) Vs. Chris Sabin & Sonjay Dutt
Sorry, couldn't think of any cute name for Sabin & Dutt that didn't make fun of their perennial face spot or the spot-monkey qualities of Dutt. Before the match, they show footage of Sabin's ankle injury and it really did look pretty sick. Bones are not meant to do that. This was actually a good match and way better than I thought giving Dutt, but he still held the match down. They worked over the ankle of Sabin playing to the injury from the night before and AMW really did an amazing job right from the get-go with it. The problem is that Sabin had to sell so much that he didn't get much offense in, naturally, so he left it all to Dutt who has the worst timing, precision, and really just about botched everything he did including the wheelbarrow spot towards the end and his reversal into a Crucifix pin. AMW definitely carried the match though and showed why they are one of the best tag teams today with their work over the ankle. If they used psychology like that against 3D, I definitely would have been happier with those two matches. The only problem I had with the whole Sabin-AMW interactions was the lead-up to the hot tag (the spots before) which looked really rushed, but other than that, it was all top notch with their offense, Sabin's selling, the timing, and the way it all added towards the finish of Sabin being taken out and then going after Dutt which actually did work despite Dutt's mishaps. To finish it off, Dutt rolled through the Phoneix Splash and walked right into a Superkick followed by the Death Sentence to give AMW the win.
Winners: America's Most Wanted
Star Wrestlers: America's Most Wanted
Man, they really did some top notch work on Sabin. Probably some of the best psychology TNA has shown in months, which isn't supposed to knock TNA for all those who think I'm too harsh. AMW was just relentless on the offensive and I loved how their offense not on the ankle made sense to ground Sabin and knock him out shortly so they could continue the work on the ankle like the double knee attack from Harris. Excellent work here by the two rednecks and they show just why TNA's tag team division is so highly praised. With a team like that on top, the bar is definitely raised to a level few can match.
After the match, AMW handcuff Dutt to the turnbuckle and go for some chairs and a beer bottle to have some fun on the poor Hindu. Harris then goes for the chair, but Sabin pops in and makes the save as AMW bails out with Sabin still selling the ankle. Damn Sabin taking away my precious bottle spot.
Keeping with the tradition, we then go backstage with Borash who is with Gail Kim and Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett talks about how he feels no pressure, but rather Christian who has the weight of the world on his shoulders with his promises. He talks about how TNA management even has everything riding on this one as they have no other challengers. He goes onto say he doesn't care because with his equalizer and Gail Kim, he's walking in and out the NWA Champion. Um, Jeff, buddy; did you not get the memo from Zybsko that banned the equalizer and Gail Kim from being in the match? If you're going to cut a promo and address something Zybsko is doing, at least have the mind to know what he's banning. Monty Brown then comes in because obviously the segment wasn't dumb enough! Before Monty can even talk though, Jarrett takes the first strike and says he and the whole world knows what Monty's going to say. He's the Alpha Male. He's from the Serengeti. He likes to be the hunter, not the hunted. Before the nights over, someone's going to feel the Pounce! Jarrett's sick of it! Well, Jeff; we are all. I applaud you for that insult right there and a beautiful interpretation of the Pounce. Literally, I applaud you. Jarrett then says that when he beats Christian, he guarantees Monty will get the next shot and when he makes a guarantee, it's as good as gold. They then shake on it in a segment that turned out to be better than I thought. Whoops, maybe not since Monty has some more to say. He talks about the Serengeti of course and some other crap accompanied by over-exaggerations and we head back to the ring.
We then see another video package, this time on the Abyss-Rhino match. TNA's video packages have gotten really better lately, like really better. I'm digging them a lot especially this one and the one for the LAX match.
Falls Count Anywhere
Abyss Vs. Rhino
This was basically a brawl with a hot ending and nothing much else because the problem with these matches is that they take so much time to set things up like the four tables that there is really nothing else. I would have preferred to see Mitchell setting them up while Abyss and Rhino duke it out, but this is the way it happens in all the matches. They spend seventy-five percent of the match building towards a spot so there is nothing else to the match, but the spot is so insane that it doesn't matter. In this match though, I really don't think the spot was that crazy to elicit such a buzz from not only the internet crowd but the fans there as well. TNA's seen way better spots and wrestling in general has seen way better as well. I really wish TNA would stop trying to top a huge spot each month and concentrate on wrestling. Brawls like this are nice, but not when they happen every single month. This was a better match than last month, but still had about nothing really substantial to it. I was bored in the opening up until the trophy spot with the bat which really came out of left field. They went outside and I got bored again since they didn't do anything there except play with a bat. I would have preferred to see a Gore to Abyss to the car and seen a dent in the car (from a gimmick whatever) or maybe a bump to the car. As it was, I really can't believe the window didn't break after they whacked it supposedly hard twice in a row. They did the tables back in the ring with a sloppy Chokeslam and a nice looking Gore and then did some ledge fighting I thought could have been so much better. I think I really would have liked it if Rhino had been hanging from the corner and then used his free hand to trip up Abyss and climb up then he hits the Gore as to the way they did it which had no culmination, just a quick stun and Gore. Even more, it wasn't a Gore; it was just a shoulder tackle. Finally, it wasn't from the top of the bleachers like Tenay kept reminding us. That would have been impressive there, but for a man the size of Abyss, I wouldn't advise doing it with all that mass going down. In the end, it was just a match built on one spot and that spot wasn't as great as people made it out to be, but definitely still cool. I say the match was about average simply for the trophy spot which was so obscure and some of teases they did it, but I'm really pushing it as I want so desperately to call it bad, but the rest of the card has been pretty solid so far covering up for this one.
Winner: Rhino
Star Wrestler: Abyss
I personally think Rhino is the better worker and was here, but I'm going to give this to Abyss for taking that crazy bump. For such a big man, Abyss sure takes a lot of huge bumps and what-not. Remember the barbed wire match?
Of course, Borash is then backstage again and this time it's with Samoa Joe. Joe talks about the code AJ and Daniels don't think Joe follow, but Joe says it's not about that, rather about the title. He then said he brought two towels: one as a reminder and one for the trophy case. He then says that they aren't against all odds, but worse, him. Pretty good ending line there tying in the PPV name which is a cheap way to do things but I always enjoy things like that. The short and sweet promos he does are always good as well and he's just such a smooth talker. Samoa Joe really is the total package and the best big man going today. Too bad he'll probably never make it as a major star in the whole country unless TNA does.
Another sweet video package then comes on for the X Division title match with narrations from everyone. God, the TNA packages are just insanely great lately. I don't remember them being that great last PPV; what happened?
TNA X Division Championship
Triple Threat
Samoa Joe (c) Vs. AJ Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels
This was a great match, but obviously not as good as the original. At first glance, I was going to attribute it to the fact that the match was six minutes shorter than the original, but then towards the end, the match really started to drag in the five or seven minutes before the finish so I think the match could have done with six more minutes being cut. I don't know what it was, but it just seemed to drag by the end I guess because we had seen everything they had done. It was still a great match though and easily takes the number two slot in my top ten of 2006 list so far. I know a lot of TNA marks are pissing themselves in anger right now, but KENTA-Marufuji was way better. Way better. The best thing about this match was definitely the three man spots they did which were probably the most I've seen out of any triple threat in the past five years. The submission circle (as dubbed by West in his only good call ever), the discus clothesline into a back suplex, the kick to the STO, et cetera; all of these spots were perfectly placed, executed, sold, and left out there for shock value long enough to sink in exactly what we were watching. In addition to that, I loved how they kept preventing each other from hitting the moves in the opener for at least three moves straight, especially that open palm strike to Daniels from Joe as he went for the dive. Just the fact that one guy would sit there waiting to counter was great since it really added a level of intelligence none of the Styles-Joe, Styles-Daniels, Joe-Daniels, or even Joe-Styles-Daniels had. Then again, why would any of the first three have that kind of intelligence? It was a great little thing though to add to the match that really complimented the three man spots. Another thing I've realized is that Joe and Daniels just do not have the chemistry that Daniels & Styles and Styles & Joe have. It's weird to explain, but during that down period I talked about, it was mostly comprised of Daniels-Joe exchanges which really lacked to me. Something about those two together doesn't sit well with me and watching their Final Resolution match only evoked thoughts of "Wow, this is so not as good as I thought it would be." Again, weird to explain but compare Daniels-Joe to Styles-Joe and Styles-Daniels and I think you'll see my point. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't even close to dropping this match down a peg as it was still an excellent match but just something weird I noticed. I repeat, it was still an excellent match. In the end, Joe delivered a straight kick to Daniels as he fought with AJ on the turnbuckle. AJ and Joe battled a little and then Joe hit the musclebuster for the win to cap off a truly great match from TNA.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Star Wrestler: All Of Them
This was really a group effort here. No one carried anyone in this match in my eyes. The Styles-Joe and Daniels-Styles efforts may have carried the Joe-Daniels side, but I chalk that up to lack of chemistry among two fine wrestlers which does happen more than you would think. All three men gave what they had, and while it wasn't on par with their match before, they were also two different matches at two different stages in time. For instance, Samoa Joe was playing the ultimate heel here with Daniels playing the tweener as opposed to Unbreakable where the roles were switched. There was less one-on-one action here too which may have hurt it, but if the Unbreakable match had half the three man spots this one did, I might have pissed my pants like the people in the arena. In the end though, this was easily a great match and a serious contender for match of the year.
We then see another video package, this time for the Team 3D-Team Canada match. This package wasn't nearly as good as the others, but then again, this feud hasn't been that good and I still can't get over how the fans voted not for a title match that probably would have ended in a title change. Naturally, we then go to a backstage interview. What else would they do? Cut the interviews and give more time to their matches? Blasphemy!
Brother Ray talks about how he's pissed off and Team Canada would win a gold medal if pissing somebody off was an Olympic sport. Of course, for a cheap pop, he says he hopes America beats Canada in hockey at the Olympics. It's cheap, but seriously, who wouldn't go there? Ray goes on to say that the whole country is pissed off at them. Well, I doubt even 1% of the country, but whatever makes TNA seem bigger to them. He goes on in a promo that was better than past ones, but not by much. He ends by saying there are three guarantees in life: death and taxes. Well tonight, there's also tables and guess which one is Team Canada's? Eric Young then makes his way down and the mark in me squeals in delight. If we ever got a TNA-WWE PPV, among other things, I would literally pay to see Eugene square off against Eric Young with Maria as the guest ref. That would be the most awkward match ever, literally. I think it would consist of Young, Maria, and Eugene all standing in the ring with a confused look on their faces. Would you have it any other way?
Team Canada Vs. Team 3D
I wasn't completely sold on this match but I think it's mostly because the build-up has been really weird and the way TNA has put so much behind it has added to that weirdness. Team 3D definitely doesn't have it anymore as faces and haven't since probably 2002. I do think their heel turn in 2004 did them some good, but how long would that have lasted before it got stale? Anyway, this match was average, but just another bland tag team match with some good things. I hated how D-Von bled so much since they didn't brawl that much to deserve that level of color, but once they got the color, Young and Roode both did an amazing job of squeezing the life and blood right out of him. The hot tag and set-up for it was completely horrible though with D-Von missing the enziguri and Ray botching the double clothesline in that he almost crushed Young. As cliché as it was, the face-in-peril spot was really the only good part of the match mostly because it gave D-Von nothing else to do except sell and he does sell well. The match definitely dragged to me at thirteen minutes and I'm seriously wondering why TNA gave it thirteen minute as opposed to giving some of the other matches more time like the X Division match (maybe), the four way, and the tag title match. Anyway, the match bored me at times, but in the end, nothing to the point where I was hating what I was watching. To be short and sweet after a match that went too long, Team 3D simply hit the 3D to Young for the win.
Winners: Team 3D
Star Wrestler: Eric Young
Eric Young seriously rocked the match and without his goofy selling, facials, weird aggressive offensive, and amazing gimmick, I probably would have wanted to rip my hair out. The guy is literally one of the best at portraying a goofy character I've ever seen and I find myself digging the Jarrett alliance simply for hearing Young's insightful comments here and there. Roode was good in this ring as well with his overly aggressive demeanor, but Young is solid gold to me and really did 3D some good in the ring especially with his selling to their nonsensical offense.
After the match, America's Most Wanted comes out and lays out Team 3D and Roode then joins in. AMW goes for a table, which we never got from 3D even though it was a guarantee, and they set D-Von onto the table. Ron Killings then comes out and starts to lay people out and throws Storm off the top rope. Brother Ray miraculously recovers to put Young on the table and Ron delivers a leg drop through the table. Great, add Killings to the mix. It's not like he has anything better to do like maybe get involved with his former tag team partners. Also, how many tables does TNA go through each PPV? I've counted at least seven for this one.
Naturally, West and Tenay start to hype up how they raised the bar for their PPVs before they're even done. To their defense though, I have to say that this is one of the better TNA PPVs I've seen if not the best. West and Tenay then kill time talking about the Christian-Jarrett match so they can clean up the ring and my IQ drops at least thirty points listening to the walking garbage disposal himself. They then send it to the back with Borash for the last time of the night and he's with Christian. Christian's got a very somber look to him tonight which is adding to the emotion and he asks Borash and the people out in the Impact Zone how they're feeling, because he's nervous as hell. He says the culmination of a twelve year career is tonight, which is totally true. Say what you want about Christian, TNA, the NWA World belt, et cetera; but if you were in his shoes, you'd think exactly the damn thing. There's no doubt in my mind why people like Raven cry when they get the title. It's a big deal. It is the NWA title, even though it's not as credible as it once was, it's still a major title. It's still a big deal especially when people like Raven and Christian who were perennial midcarders in major promotions. Anyway, Christian delivers a pretty good promo going on about his destiny and how he will leave the champ. It's so predictable he's winning it at this point, but it's going to be a great moment. They then show the video we saw at the beginning of the PPV and we go right out to the ring. Instead of the match right away, Zybsko comes out to the ring with Dave Hebner and they announce that Earl Hebner will be the ref of the match, which the crowd didn't really care for but West and Tenay acted like it was the anti-Christ trying to judge fairly. God, even TNA can't let Survivor Series 1997 go.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Jeff Jarrett (c) Vs. Christian Cage
This was one was average but far from Jarrett's or Cage's best match as well as the best TNA main event, best of the month, or even best of the night. I can instantly see it being overrated for the ending, which is fine because matches like that will always get overrated. I happen to like HBK-Michaels at WM XII as well as the Triple Threat from Wrestlemania XX, but they are far from the best Wrestlemania matches I've seen and the aftermath and elation of the title wins really bumps it up in quality. It's the nature of the beast, and to be honest, I think I'd do the same if I was a huge Christian Cage fan. Anyway, the match had its good and bad points, but it seemed to me that all the bad came, oddly enough, from Christian Cage who hasn't impressed me at all since coming to TNA. The only thing the guy is doing well at is his promos and even those aren't as good as TNA marks make them out to be. The one tonight was definitely his best promo yet in TNA though and that one does deserve a lot of praise. Anyway, as far as the good, I loved the opening exchanges with Christian and Jarrett though the longer they went on, the less they got involved in it and it looked like they were just going through the motions. I also enjoyed the swing rail spot which tells me Jarrett's been picking some things up from Samoa Joe on the undercard for good ideas, which people may criticize, but at least he's trying. As far as other things I enjoyed, the top rope Stroke was a pretty fun spot especially with the way Christian sold it. Lethal and Christian really need to teach the locker room how to sell that move because if more people sold it like that, it would definitely be a bigger finisher than it is now.
Moving onto the bad, the catapult onto the table was really the worst I've seen in my life, and coming from a spot only few can do right in the first place, that really deserves some kind of award. I missed the Frog Splash in this match and I really thought it could have come while the ref was out, but I guess Christian doesn't want to overplay it for cheap Eddie pops like WWE does which is fine, but I got used to seeing him doing it as he does have a nice looking one that he's placed well in the past. The comeback Christian made after Jarrett's assault was really horrible and the assault didn't last nearly as long as it should have for that type of comeback. I think the problem may have been that they had time cut for all the important interviews so they had to condense stuff, but in any case, it was definitely sub-par. Of course, we got interference from Gail Kim in the form of a Huricanrana as well as blocking Christian on the top rope. Good ban, Zybsko. Even more, we got a "ban" on this and weapons, so what did we get? Interference, weapons, and to add to the plate, some of the drawn out ref bumps in TNA's history. Wait, does this mean Gail Kim will get fired? Oh, wait, no. She's an ex-WWE "star." God knows they can't get fired even if they no-show three events. I think I would have been fine with the ref bumps by themselves, but it just all covered up that these two guys couldn't do anything memorable on their own, when I think they were doing a good job up until that point and then it all started to fall apart.
The Sharpshooter spot was good for the Sting reference (that Tenay & West missed) as well as the Montreal tease, but really, can they create their own history instead of harping on WWE's? They do have a title that is practically the oldest in the business. Even more, these are the same people who bitch at WWE for overusing it and here they are in a completely different company doing it. Anyway, towards the end, the crowd erupted when Cage kicked out and I'll even admit I thought Jarrett had it with that shot like always. I think this is one of those matches like Wrestlemania XX and Wrestlemania 21 where you really knew that the face would win it, but with the champion already squashing everyone else, you really had a small doubt that would pop into your head every odd second. Hard to explain, but this had not even close to the shock and awe of the Raven or Rhino title win to me which both stand out as TNA's best moments ever. To cap off the night, Christian and Jarrett went through some reversals until Christian nailed the Unprettier and the crowd literally went nuts as they should. Good for Christian. Good for TNA. Good for the fans. Yes, they will overrate the match, but it's not like it was a horrible match to begin with.
Winner: Christian Cage
Star Wrestler: Jeff Jarrett
Like I said, Christian has really yet to impress me since coming to TNA and overall, he's really yet to impress me since his Vengeance match last summer. Jarrett, I think, really stepped up his game to try and justify his title reign and really put over Christian hard which he did do. The main problem was that they looked to have time cut as well as the interference, weapons, and ref bumps. Still though, in the opening and middle, Jarrett was well on top of his game with the selling, offense, and even timing. The only thing Jarrett did wrong (besides those three I already mentioned) was the baseball slide punch type deal which is just one of those moves that make me scratch my head, but even my favorite wrestler Undertaker has a few of those. In the end, Jarrett was really on top of his game tonight and I really got to commend him for doing the job and doing it well. Bitch about his past title reigns, but the fact that he was building towards making a new star (who I thought would be Monty Brown) really justifies. The only problem is that in doing that he killed Raven and Rhino through no real reason except to make himself look like a god in TNA.
With the crowd going nuts, Christian celebrates in the middle of the ring as the fireworks go off in the Impact Zone capping off a good PPV with a very emotional moment especially for TNA. People then get into the ring and celebrate with him including Rhino, which was kind of odd, but I'll go with it.
Overall, I'd say this was the best TNA PPV yet, but still nothing ground-breaking. They had two excellent matches in the four-way and triple threat, a great highlight moment at the end, nice table spot with Abyss, 2 tag team matches that could have been better but were still good, and two other matches that weren't bad, but just pretty bland. Obviously, if I was a huge TNA mark spreading the "gospel" on how they rule over WWE, it'd be two of the greatest matches ever in the four-way and triple threat, the most emotional moment ever, the sickest table spot ever, two excellent tag matches, and two others that beat out anything on a WWE PPV. Of course, I have an IQ so you don't get that from me. All jokes aside, this was a pretty solid PPV and better than some recent WWE PPVs (not all though). Match of the night was clearly the Triple Threat with the Four-Way match definitely being the sleeper hit of the night. As far as wrestlers of the night, I see no problem with putting over Styles, Daniels, and Joe once more for proving why the X Division is something to take seriously. Like I said, great PPV, but the real question is can TNA repeat next month? Well, of course they know they can, but will they be able to for skeptics like me?
That's going to wrap it up for the return edition of "Squared Circle Reviews." I know it seems a little weird that I actually liked a TNA PPV, but hey, they're bound to have a good one eventually (for TNA fans, flip it and use WWE and you'll see my point). I've got Raw, SmackDown!, Heat, OVW TV, Velocity, and Impact all coming up next as well as those two book reviews and the DVD one. Also, tomorrow, I will be doing live play-by-play coverage of No Way Out which should be a big deal as we always, always, always get a good showing for people to that and it's always fun. It's not monotonous or a full-on report like other sites have; mine is more in-depth, quicker, and from what people tell me, better. I honestly don't see it as bragging either because I have literally finished twenty minutes before some sites at times with my posts, summaries, and what-not being generally longer and more in-depth. Anyway, head over to TheWrestlingVoice.com and check that one out. It will start at 7:30 PM EST so don't miss it! For more information on that, just click here. Until next time guys, this is "Squared Circle Reviews" signing off and hoping you enjoy what you watch.
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