Arriving at Club M in Coventry for this show, we were treated to something a bit different before the wrestling started...stand-up comedy. After an opening set I arrived midway through (which was fun, though I didn't catch the name of the guy doing it), we got regular Triple X ring announcer Omer Ibrahim recounting stories of his wrestling days, the highlight of which involved a rather horrible training drill involving a rear waistlock... With the crowd suitably warmed up, the action began.
Keiron Young vs Dave Mercy
So we kicked off with two guys I've not seen before. Young bills himself as the "Indy Guy", whilst Dave Mercy is the delightfully named "Sleazy Bastard". And what a sleazy bastard he was, grinding his way to the ring to the sound of "Bump & Grind". With his posh voice, pervy moustache and yellow singlet hanging down to his waist, Mercy was perversely entertaining. He used a lot of sexual spots, going for the pinfall with his crotch over Young's face and choking him with the straps of the singlet, as if to pull it down. Young looked decent, if a touch inexperienced, and he hit a few nice kick combos to Mercy. The ringwork here maybe wasn't perfect, but this was a lot of goofy fun. Mercy won with a roll-up, which meant he qualified for the Clusterfuck match later.
Devilman vs Wild Boar
This title match was a bit of a slow burner, with the opening moments based around DM grounding the Boar with a headlock. Things started to heat up however, with Boar looking good on offence. What I love about Wild Boar is how everything he does looks designed to inflict pain, especially how he clawed at DM's face during holds. He also seems happy to hurl himself with reckless abandon towards his opponents, with a dive from the ring being particularly choice. Devilman looked good in his comebacks, and looked set to make the Boar tap with a crossface. Boar got a couple of nearfalls towards the end, but Devilman was able to pick up the win to retain the title.
Clusterfuck III - Damian Dunne vs Chris Brookes vs Tyler Bate vs Terry Seddon vs Big Grizzly vs Local Jobber #2 vs Scott Grimm vs Scotty Essex vs Dave Mercy vs Eddie Dennis
The Clusterfuck match follows the same format as the Royal Rumble, except that, upon reaching the final four, it becomes a fatal fourway match, with the winner here becoming the no. 1 contender for the Triple X title.
This was a whole heap of fun. I wont try and recap everything that happened as, frankly, my memory isn't that good, but there were plenty of highlights. Tyler Bate has adapted his gimmick, fully embracing the "tiny Gotch" chants to portray himself as a throwback to the black-trunked grapplers of the early 20th century. With a dapper moustache and a smattering of aeroplane spins throughout the match, he made this new character work. His semi-reunion with former Slapdash Tagteam partner Chris Brookes ("he's a bit of a cunt") was one of the fun running themes throughout the match. Also impressing here was Big Grizzly. The first time I saw him back in July he was a competent, but green, big man. Here, he looked great, levelling opponents with Samoan drops, a proper good spinebuster and two massive cannonballs in the corner, which put cult hero Local Jobber #2 out of action (of which more later). Damian Dunne, who was the first entry, provided a good base for the match, as he's able to work well with everyone on the roster, and his elimination of Grizzly was a nice bit of payback for his loss to the big man back in August.
Dave Mercy returned, having qualified for entry with his earlier win, and got thrown out straight away. The other newcomer in the match was "Mr Reem" Scotty Essex, who riled up the crowd as soon as he came out. He didn't really get a chance to show much, but did take a big bump for a Bate deadlift German suplex which was impressive, so hopefully he'll get a chance to impress in the future. We got down to a final four of Dunne, Dennis, Bate and Brookes, but before a winning pinfall could take place, it was revealed that Local Jobber #2 had never been eliminated. Dunne hit him with a quick springboard codebreaker, but Dennis swiftly threw Dunne over the top rope and pinned Jobber to win the match and a title shot at Devilman next show. There was never a dull moment here, and it felt better laid out than last years match.
"Flash" Morgan Webster vs Mark Andrews
The stipulation here was that Webster would get a contract with Triple X if he beat Andrews. Webster has been running rampant in the past 12 month, interferring in matches and specifically targetting Andrews, but this was his first actual match since Clusterfuck 2 last year. The result of this build is that the crowd absolutely HATED Webster, who kept the heat up with his antics throughout the match. This also meant that we saw a slightly more aggressive side to Andrews, but without him shortchanging the crowd on his ever impressive aerial skills. Webster looked more impressive here than he did 12 months earlier (in a reasonable match against Eddie Dennis), and was clearly revelling in the heat from the crowd. A good, if slightly short, match ended with Webster taking advantage of a distracted ref to crack Andrews in the head with his scooter helmet for the win.
The Henchmen vs The Hunter Brothers
This was a tables match, and ended up being a pretty fantastic brawl around Club M. The Henchmen pretty much destroyed the Hunters to start, but the Hunters' gameplan of surviving and then isolating one Henchman was pretty smart. The first fall went to the Hunters on Jim Diehard, as a top rope superplex attempt was cut off and the brothers hit a double powerbomb from the second rope through a table. This put Diehard out of commission for a while, and let the Hunters concentrate on Benton Destruction. I loved Benton pulling down the straps of his singlet before trying to ward off both Hunters. The Hunters set up a table near the bar area, but by this time Diehard had recovered, and a resurgent Henchmen powerbombed one Hunter off the stairs through a table in an insane bump to even things up. Back in the ring, there was a ref bump before the remaining Hunter got thrown through a table, but his brother returned and levelled both Henchmen with chairshots, leaving Destruction lying in the broken remains of the table. A recovering ref called for the bell to give the Hunters the cheap win. Really fun brawl here, with the Hunters bumping and stooging magnificently, and all four men putting in a good effort.
Zack Sabre Jr vs Pete Dunne
Going into this match, I had high hopes. ZSJ was part of two of the best matches I saw live last year (vs Mark Andrews for Triple X, and vs Tommy End for Southside), whilst Dunne has been a constant highpoint of the Triple X shows I've been to over the past year. Yet somehow, this match still surpassed expectations. All the matwork here was excellent, and it always felt like it was leading somewhere, instead of being matwork for the sake of matwork. There were nice little touches throughout, like Sabre simply letting go of Dunne's leg when he could tell Pete was about to try and counter a hold, or the way he tried to keep his legs moving when sat in a prone position to try and stop Dunne grabbing one of them. As is often his gameplan, Zack went on the attack on Pete's left arm to soften him up for an armbar, and both his attack plan and Dunne's selling of the injury were terrific. I loved the fact Dunne kept protecting his arm, even whilst on offence. Whilst the result was never really in doubt, it was kept competitive, with a few moments where it looked like Dunne might win. In the end, ZSJ picked up the win with a Dragon suplex, but it's fair to say this was a stormer. Possibly the best match I've seen in person.
Wednesday 29 January 2014
Sunday 5 January 2014
Jeff Jarrett: King of the Mountain (Disks 1 & 2)
Lovefilm have sent me more random wrestling, this time in the form of the TNA Jeff Jarrett collection, the 4 disk "King of the Mountain" set. As the disks come through one-by-one, I thought it best to split the review over two posts, for fear of having one huge dull post of Jeff Jarrett matches. Hopefully it'll be far more palatable in two parts.
Gauntlet For The Gold
For some reason, we have to endure some country singer called Toby Keith singing some terrible flag-waving anthem before Jarrett interrupts him, making him a face in my eyes. Buff Bagwell is first out to challenge Jarrett, and he really obviously makes sure Jarrett lands on the apron on an elimination attempt. JJ soon throws him out before Lash LeRoux comes out. Jarrett beats the Hell out of him inside and out the ring, and hurls him out too. Norman Smiley fares little better. We clip to Scott Hall's entrance, and he nails Jarrett with the Razor's Edge. The country singer comes back and suplexes Jarrett and eliminates him from the gauntlet. Not really JJ's finest moment.
Jeff Jarrett vs Scott Hall
This is a stretcher match. They brawl on the outside to start. Back in the ring, Hall hits the SOS slam, before JJ escapes to the outside. This leads to more backstage brawling, including JJ knocking Jerry Lynn over in the changing rooms. It's been all Hall so far. They brawl all around the arena, but not in that "dragging your opponent round" way that I hate, but it feels like JJ just trying to escape. Hall seems preoccupied with the stretcher, which costs him as Jarrett baseball slides it into his gut. JJ uses it as a weapon to take over. The section with the two brawling with the stretcher is pretty fun, with Jarrett bumping big for Hall. Hall gets the Edge, but Ron Killings pulls the ref out and hits a scissors kick on Hall, which only gets two. Jerry Lynn now runs in and splashes JJ, paying off the backstage shove earlier. All Hell breaks loose, as AJ Styles, the Harris Brothers, the Disciples of the New Church and Monty Brown all end up fighting outside the ring until we're just left with Hall and JJ. The overbooking continues as Hall accidentally downs referee Scott Armstrong with the stretcher, JJ goes for a chair, which Ricky Steamboat prevents him using. Hall goes for the same chair, and again Steamboat tries to stop him using it, but this distraction allows JJ to hit the Stroke, which lands Hall headfirst onto the chair. Really fun at first, but my word the overbooking made this a mess at the end.
Jeff Jarrett vs Ron "The Truth" Killings
Jarrett is now face, and taking on Killings for the NWA title. Love the big-match build up they give the match with Jeremy Borash's introductions. Truth tries to provoke JJ early on, but the second he takes his eye off Jarrett, he gets planted and the veteran takes over on him. A low blow gives Truth control. Killings is loads of fun as a heel, throwing in little things like arrogantly thrusting his crotch with Jarrett on his shoulder before powerslamming him. His shit-eating grin is also fantastic. It's interesting to see the structure here, as the heel is in total control, even ducking an enzuigiri to lock on a figure-four, which is Jarrett's own move. Love West and Tenay putting over the reversal, highlighting that JJ would know best how to reverse his move. The ref takes a stray blow to the eye, and while Jarrett tends to him, Truth throws a chair into the ring. JJ is wiser than him though, so grabs the chair first and levels Truth with it for a close two. Great sequence. They trade nearfalls, with JJ getting his foot on the rope for a facefirst suplex and Truth kicking out of a Stroke. In frustration, they start brawling outside, and Jarrett gets a pretty good face of blood. Nice highspot as Truth splashes JJ through a table from the balcony. Truth just lets himself fall like a sack of spuds, which looks like it hurts more. In the ring, a ref bump is followed by both guys clashing heads and all three are down. Mr Wrestling III comes in and levels Truth with a guitar to give JJ the NWA title. Mr Wrestling unmasks, leading to possibly the greatest line of Tenay's career: "Oh shit, it's Vince Russo!"
Christopher Daniels, Low Ki, Elix Skipper & Vince Russo vs The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes & Jeff Jarrett
Second great Tenay line of the disk as he expresses fury at Borash announcing Russo as a former WCW champion. Fun mix of teams here. Predictably, the heels end up pinballing for the face team, and predictably, it's plenty of fun. After Jarrett, Animal is probably in the best shape for the face team, so he spends a bit of time in the ring. He hits a great sitout powerbomb on Low Ki. Hawk looks less good, falling over hitting a big boot and getting minimal air on a dropkick. Jarrett ends up as face-in-peril, largely because he's the only one who can bump much. Triple X work a fun heat section on Jarrett, with false tags and distractions to ensure that the Warriors and Dusty don't get in the ring. Eventually, JJ gets the hot tag to Dusty, who cleans house with bionic elbows. He tries to lure Russo into the ring, but as he does, Mr Wrestling IV enters and nails Rhodes with a chain. This allows Skipper to pin Dusty, before Mr Wrestling unmasks as Nikita Koloff. Wisely worked, with the healthy guys carrying the action. Not great, but fun
Jeff Jarrett vs AJ Styles
Love the start of this match, with both being pretty equal on the mat, so JJ levels Styles with a clothesline, showing the experience advantage. Styles manages to use his speed advantage to level JJ with a quick dropkick, but isn't able to retain the advantage, and Jarrett sends Styles from the ring after his own mid-ring dropkick. This is followed by a Jarrett pescado. Styles finally has control after whipping Jarrett into the ring barriers. As before, Styles gets too cocky, playing to the crowd and this allows Jarrett back into the match with a huge sitout powerbomb. Larry Z appears at ringside and begins to help Styles, grabbing JJ's leg on a top rope suplex attempt which allows Styles to hit a huge sunset flip powerbomb for two. Z nails Jarrett with brass knucks, which also gets two, but I love how Jarrett barely manages to lift his shoulder rather than a normal kickout. Z gets kicked out of ringside, but we then get a ref bump, meaning the Stroke only gets two for Jarrett. Another bump allows the Harris Brothers to hit an H-Bomb on Jarrett, but they get driven off by the unlikely pairing of Dusty Rhodes and Vader. By the time the ref returns, Styles only gets two. Styles Clash only gets two. Now fucking Sonny Siaki enters, hitting two Siakilypses's on Jarrett, but Styles attacks HIM and sends him from the ring. This distraction allows Jarrett to recover and hit a second-rope Stroke to win. Another potentially fun match that went to Hell at the end through overbooking.
Jeff Jarrett vs Raven
I'm going to cheat here, and just reuse the blurb I wrote for this match back in January
This was the bigest match in TNA history at the time. Raven goes for a pin from a shoulderblock right away, which is the kind of thing I love: just trying an unexpected lucky pin to win the title. Raven initially outwrestles Jarrett, so JJ sends him from the ring with a flurry of punches, a nice reversal of their wrestling styles. Jarrett wins the brawl outside the ring, so Alexis Laree distracts the ref to allow Julio Deniro the chance to interfere. This backfires, as he nails Raven with a chair by accident. Jarrett hits a pescado to eliminate Alexis and Julio, but this gives Raven time to recover and hit one on Jarrett. They fight in the ring as both men are busted open, and Raven manages to retain control, using a sleeper to try and take advantage of JJ's bloodloss. Jarrett manages to break and hit a desperation cutter and both get up in time for a flurry of moves in the ring. Raven nails JJ with a flash superkick for two. Raven manages to kick out of the Stroke at 2. Jarrett does the same following the Evenflow. They roll to the floor, where Jarrett is able to nail an elbow through a table. Back in the ring, we get a ref bump as both men low-blow each other. Suddenly all Hell breaks loose, as the New Church start fighting the Harris Brother outside the ring, and a squadron of ECW guys (Sandman, New Jack, Credible, Saturn) enter the ring to destroy JJ, handcuffing him and superkicking two chairs into his head with a conchairto. The lights go out, leading to Sabu being in the ring, nailing Raven with a chair and taking out all the ECW guys with a plancha. Raven manages to knock himself out by hitting the chair on the top rope when Jarrett moves, leading to a hopeful two count for JJ. Raven undoes the handcuffs and hits the Evenflow for two, but Jarrett reverses another to hit the Stroke for the win. Overbooked, but incredibly fun. It built up nicely to a chaotic conclusion, and Jarrett looked great as the face overcoming the odds.
Jeff Jarrett & Sting vs AJ Styles & Sean Waltman
This was Sting's first TNA match. Things break down early, and Sting nearly gets Styles in the Deathlock in the first few minutes. Waltman wrestles the whole match in a shellsuit and gets put in a figure-four early on by Jarrett. Love the fact he sells the Hell out of this as he works the apron. Jarrett is briefly face-in-peril before the hot tag to Sting, and the crowd goes nuts for him. A pair of Stinger Splashes down the heels, before Waltman is able to nail Sting with a bat during the Deathlock on Styles. I love the fact that Styles cockily tries his own Deathlock, which Sting is able to break after a while. As is becoming a running theme, more mental overbooking takes place, with a ref bump followed by Vince Russo nailing Jarrett with a bat, Raven and Shane Douglas interfering and eventually Jarrett hitting a second rope Stroke on Styles to win. This was decent enough.
Jeff Jarrett vs AJ Styles
Stupid as it sounds, Styles has restyled his hair which makes him look far more impressive than in the first Jarrett match. Things are heated to start, as AJ clotheslines JJ into the crowd, then dives out with an immense tope into the crowd. In the ring, however, Jarrett starts to take over, cutting off a few Styles attacks, which gets played as his experience edge on commentary. I also love TNA having various wrestlers in the crowd or on the ramp to put over how important the match is, as they scout the world title match. There is a growing feeling of one-upmanship, as neither guy is able to get a sustained advantage. Instead, their familiarity with each other means they're more aware of what to expect from their opponent. JJ has to use a ringside distraction to nail AJ with a chairshot, which only gets two. AJ also kicks out of a Stroke onto the chair (in full view of the ref now), but a belt shot gets the job done. Another good match between these two, but still short of the blockbuster you feel they could have.
Jeff Jarrett vs Jim Duggan
Duggan is defending Hulk Hogan's honour following the Jarrett/Hogan New Japan angle. I feel this may be a real test of how good JJ is. Jarrett goes on the assault from the blindside to start, but soon Duggan takes over with clotheslines and pounds him outside. Good to see him fired up. He even nails JJ with a chokeslam in the ring. The 3-point stance downs JJ again, but Don Callis (rightly) stops Duggan using his 2x4. The distraction lets Jarrett use his guitar to pick up the win. Jarrett gave Duggan loads here, and this was the best Hacksaw had looked in years. Rick Steiner attacks JJ from behind, which somehow leads to another match...
Jeff Jarrett vs Rick Steiner
They brawl pretty ferociously in the crowd, with JJ nailing some killer chair shots, before they get into the ring. Steiner nails a few big suplexes, but JJ drags the ref into the path of a top rope bulldog before nailing a guitar shot for the DQ. Not much of a match, but pretty fun.
Jeff Jarrett vs Chris Harris
They really go for an epic build to this match, even highlighting Harris' family at ringside. Crowd is hot for a Harris title win. Jarrett plays up his experience edge, and I love him slipping out of a third armdrag and yelling "he ain't ready" at the crowd. JJ goes outside and yells "he ain't ready" at everyone at ringside, and back in Harris seems to be proving him right. His offense looks a little hesitant, like he's trying to remember what to do midmove. He has a hot run on the offensive, but it feels like it's more due to JJ bumping for him. JJ takes control after Harris crashes and burns on an attempted rail dive. Jarrett locks on the figure-four, which helps rally the crowd behind Harris. Harris comes back with more low-impact offence, though a dive from the top rope to the outside over the guardrail looks great. Decent top-rope elbow by Harris gets two. Harris bizarrely spears the ref (played by the commentators as being disorientated, but it just looked odd). Some hijinks occur involving chairs, before a Catatonic only gets two. James Storm interjects to superkick JJ, but Raven pulls the ref out, giving Jarrett time to hit a guitarshot for the win. Harris was green, but willing, and Jarrett put together a match where both guys looked good.
Jeff Jarrett vs Chris Harris vs AJ Styles vs Raven vs Ron Killings
This is the first King of the Mountain match. Quick run through of rules - to win, you must climb a ladder and hang the title belt on a hook. However, you must qualify to do this by pinning someone. The pinned wrestler spends 2 minutes locked in a cage. There is carnage to start with guys brawling all over the shot, before AJ dives over the penalty box onto three of the wrestlers. Love Jarrett coming over to try and pin them all in order to be eligible to hang the belt. Also, I like the fact we aren't getting "Survivor Series" pinfalls, where guys are pinned on clotheslines and the like. Indeed, AJ gets the first pin on JJ after a Styles Clash and a few choice exchanges. Harris gets the next pin with a spear on Raven. Truth pins Harris following a scissors kick (complete with Harris telegraphing it for ages by dropping the belt and being hilariously unable to pick it up again). I do like the way that Raven and Jarrett spend their time in the cage together plotting, so when both are released, they dominate AJ and Truth. I also love Raven waiting outside the cage so he can assault Harris as soon as he's released. Harris gets pinned by Raven after again telegraphing hanging up the belt for ages before getting a facefull of powder and an Evenflow. JJ hits the Stroke on Truth off the apron onto the steel railing for the final pinfall, so now all are eligible.
AJ pins Jarrett with a roll-up, so he has to go into the cage again, which I'd not even considered, and adds a nice element to the match.Styles then takes the nuttiest bump of the match, getting pushed off the ladder onto the cage. Raven and Harris soon fall through tables, so you know the end is night. Indeed, Truth climbs the ladder, only for a released Jarrett to hit him with a guitar and hang the title to win. In a hilarious twist, the hook has fallen down, so Jarrett has to fix the hook before winning the match. Really enjoyable match, with the ridiculous stipulations actually helping the quality.
Gauntlet For The Gold Match
Hernandez (representling Jarrett's short-lived Elite Guard faction) and Ron Killings are the first two entrants. Little happens until fellow Elite Guard member Onyx enters to help overwhelm Truth. There is only a minute between entrants, so there is barely enough time for anything of consequence to happen before Jarrett comes in. For some reason, the three men don't eliminate Killings before Konnan comes in, despite them having Killings in real trouble. There is a nice legdrop by Truth to both Onyx and Hernandez before Chad Collyer is entrant #6. BG James enters and there have been no eliminations yet. Ken Shamrock enters just as Konnan is thrown out and looks great attacking the Elite Guard. He's added a lot of needed energy here. He also destroys James and Truth. Everyone realises how deadly Shamrock is and team up to eliminate him. Shamrock's mental fit at this is magnificent. In the melee, Onyx and Collyer get hurled out, before James and Hernandez get rid of each other. The resulting Truth/Jarrett match is pretty short and with the members of the Elite Guard and 3LK outside the ring, you're just waiting for the interference. The predictable melee ensues and Shamrock returns to swerve us all by leveling Truth with a guitar to gift Jarrett the win. Rather dull, bar the Shamrock section, not sure why this is included.
Jeff Jarrett vs Jeff Hardy
This was the ladder match main event of Victory Road 2004, the first 3hr TNA PPV. Man, no subtle build here, as Jarrett is getting hurled into ladders less than a minute in. I dig Hardy using the ladder as a vice to crush the ribs of Jarrett. Hardy, despite having taken no offence, does the slow, "I'm in pain" climb of the ladder three minutes in. Jarrett goes on the offensive, and I appreciate the fact that both guys so far have only used offence that hurts their opponents and not done any moves that will cause themselves pain as well. Wrestling smart. Indeed, the first move of this ilk is Hardy dropkicking Jarrett, who is climbing for the belt, to stop him grabbing the title. Of course, Hardy follows this with a Swanton onto JJ on a ladder, but he IS an idiot daredevil, so it's ok. Scott Hall comes in to give him the Edge off the ladder, but JJ is too injured to capitalize. Hardy see-saws the ladder into Jarrett's face in a killer looking spot. Hardy brings out an enormous ladder and decides to climb it from the floor, which ends with both men falling from the ladder to the ramp. No reason given for either men to be climbing up out there mind. Back in, they botch a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder and hit a slightly better one from the apron to the floor. More Scott Hall interference leads to a rubbish Hall bump off a Twist of Fate. Jarrett is climbing for the title, when Kevin Nash comes out, apparently on Hardy's side. However, it was all another twist, as he hand's guitars to Hall and JJ, and all three nail Hardy (who is now on the ladder) with guitar shots to gift Jarrett the win. The twist would probably have worked better if Jarrett wasn't about to win before Nash arrived. There were a few decent moments buried deep in some terrible spots.
Gauntlet For The Gold
For some reason, we have to endure some country singer called Toby Keith singing some terrible flag-waving anthem before Jarrett interrupts him, making him a face in my eyes. Buff Bagwell is first out to challenge Jarrett, and he really obviously makes sure Jarrett lands on the apron on an elimination attempt. JJ soon throws him out before Lash LeRoux comes out. Jarrett beats the Hell out of him inside and out the ring, and hurls him out too. Norman Smiley fares little better. We clip to Scott Hall's entrance, and he nails Jarrett with the Razor's Edge. The country singer comes back and suplexes Jarrett and eliminates him from the gauntlet. Not really JJ's finest moment.
Jeff Jarrett vs Scott Hall
This is a stretcher match. They brawl on the outside to start. Back in the ring, Hall hits the SOS slam, before JJ escapes to the outside. This leads to more backstage brawling, including JJ knocking Jerry Lynn over in the changing rooms. It's been all Hall so far. They brawl all around the arena, but not in that "dragging your opponent round" way that I hate, but it feels like JJ just trying to escape. Hall seems preoccupied with the stretcher, which costs him as Jarrett baseball slides it into his gut. JJ uses it as a weapon to take over. The section with the two brawling with the stretcher is pretty fun, with Jarrett bumping big for Hall. Hall gets the Edge, but Ron Killings pulls the ref out and hits a scissors kick on Hall, which only gets two. Jerry Lynn now runs in and splashes JJ, paying off the backstage shove earlier. All Hell breaks loose, as AJ Styles, the Harris Brothers, the Disciples of the New Church and Monty Brown all end up fighting outside the ring until we're just left with Hall and JJ. The overbooking continues as Hall accidentally downs referee Scott Armstrong with the stretcher, JJ goes for a chair, which Ricky Steamboat prevents him using. Hall goes for the same chair, and again Steamboat tries to stop him using it, but this distraction allows JJ to hit the Stroke, which lands Hall headfirst onto the chair. Really fun at first, but my word the overbooking made this a mess at the end.
Jeff Jarrett vs Ron "The Truth" Killings
Jarrett is now face, and taking on Killings for the NWA title. Love the big-match build up they give the match with Jeremy Borash's introductions. Truth tries to provoke JJ early on, but the second he takes his eye off Jarrett, he gets planted and the veteran takes over on him. A low blow gives Truth control. Killings is loads of fun as a heel, throwing in little things like arrogantly thrusting his crotch with Jarrett on his shoulder before powerslamming him. His shit-eating grin is also fantastic. It's interesting to see the structure here, as the heel is in total control, even ducking an enzuigiri to lock on a figure-four, which is Jarrett's own move. Love West and Tenay putting over the reversal, highlighting that JJ would know best how to reverse his move. The ref takes a stray blow to the eye, and while Jarrett tends to him, Truth throws a chair into the ring. JJ is wiser than him though, so grabs the chair first and levels Truth with it for a close two. Great sequence. They trade nearfalls, with JJ getting his foot on the rope for a facefirst suplex and Truth kicking out of a Stroke. In frustration, they start brawling outside, and Jarrett gets a pretty good face of blood. Nice highspot as Truth splashes JJ through a table from the balcony. Truth just lets himself fall like a sack of spuds, which looks like it hurts more. In the ring, a ref bump is followed by both guys clashing heads and all three are down. Mr Wrestling III comes in and levels Truth with a guitar to give JJ the NWA title. Mr Wrestling unmasks, leading to possibly the greatest line of Tenay's career: "Oh shit, it's Vince Russo!"
Christopher Daniels, Low Ki, Elix Skipper & Vince Russo vs The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes & Jeff Jarrett
Second great Tenay line of the disk as he expresses fury at Borash announcing Russo as a former WCW champion. Fun mix of teams here. Predictably, the heels end up pinballing for the face team, and predictably, it's plenty of fun. After Jarrett, Animal is probably in the best shape for the face team, so he spends a bit of time in the ring. He hits a great sitout powerbomb on Low Ki. Hawk looks less good, falling over hitting a big boot and getting minimal air on a dropkick. Jarrett ends up as face-in-peril, largely because he's the only one who can bump much. Triple X work a fun heat section on Jarrett, with false tags and distractions to ensure that the Warriors and Dusty don't get in the ring. Eventually, JJ gets the hot tag to Dusty, who cleans house with bionic elbows. He tries to lure Russo into the ring, but as he does, Mr Wrestling IV enters and nails Rhodes with a chain. This allows Skipper to pin Dusty, before Mr Wrestling unmasks as Nikita Koloff. Wisely worked, with the healthy guys carrying the action. Not great, but fun
Jeff Jarrett vs AJ Styles
Love the start of this match, with both being pretty equal on the mat, so JJ levels Styles with a clothesline, showing the experience advantage. Styles manages to use his speed advantage to level JJ with a quick dropkick, but isn't able to retain the advantage, and Jarrett sends Styles from the ring after his own mid-ring dropkick. This is followed by a Jarrett pescado. Styles finally has control after whipping Jarrett into the ring barriers. As before, Styles gets too cocky, playing to the crowd and this allows Jarrett back into the match with a huge sitout powerbomb. Larry Z appears at ringside and begins to help Styles, grabbing JJ's leg on a top rope suplex attempt which allows Styles to hit a huge sunset flip powerbomb for two. Z nails Jarrett with brass knucks, which also gets two, but I love how Jarrett barely manages to lift his shoulder rather than a normal kickout. Z gets kicked out of ringside, but we then get a ref bump, meaning the Stroke only gets two for Jarrett. Another bump allows the Harris Brothers to hit an H-Bomb on Jarrett, but they get driven off by the unlikely pairing of Dusty Rhodes and Vader. By the time the ref returns, Styles only gets two. Styles Clash only gets two. Now fucking Sonny Siaki enters, hitting two Siakilypses's on Jarrett, but Styles attacks HIM and sends him from the ring. This distraction allows Jarrett to recover and hit a second-rope Stroke to win. Another potentially fun match that went to Hell at the end through overbooking.
Jeff Jarrett vs Raven
I'm going to cheat here, and just reuse the blurb I wrote for this match back in January
This was the bigest match in TNA history at the time. Raven goes for a pin from a shoulderblock right away, which is the kind of thing I love: just trying an unexpected lucky pin to win the title. Raven initially outwrestles Jarrett, so JJ sends him from the ring with a flurry of punches, a nice reversal of their wrestling styles. Jarrett wins the brawl outside the ring, so Alexis Laree distracts the ref to allow Julio Deniro the chance to interfere. This backfires, as he nails Raven with a chair by accident. Jarrett hits a pescado to eliminate Alexis and Julio, but this gives Raven time to recover and hit one on Jarrett. They fight in the ring as both men are busted open, and Raven manages to retain control, using a sleeper to try and take advantage of JJ's bloodloss. Jarrett manages to break and hit a desperation cutter and both get up in time for a flurry of moves in the ring. Raven nails JJ with a flash superkick for two. Raven manages to kick out of the Stroke at 2. Jarrett does the same following the Evenflow. They roll to the floor, where Jarrett is able to nail an elbow through a table. Back in the ring, we get a ref bump as both men low-blow each other. Suddenly all Hell breaks loose, as the New Church start fighting the Harris Brother outside the ring, and a squadron of ECW guys (Sandman, New Jack, Credible, Saturn) enter the ring to destroy JJ, handcuffing him and superkicking two chairs into his head with a conchairto. The lights go out, leading to Sabu being in the ring, nailing Raven with a chair and taking out all the ECW guys with a plancha. Raven manages to knock himself out by hitting the chair on the top rope when Jarrett moves, leading to a hopeful two count for JJ. Raven undoes the handcuffs and hits the Evenflow for two, but Jarrett reverses another to hit the Stroke for the win. Overbooked, but incredibly fun. It built up nicely to a chaotic conclusion, and Jarrett looked great as the face overcoming the odds.
Jeff Jarrett & Sting vs AJ Styles & Sean Waltman
This was Sting's first TNA match. Things break down early, and Sting nearly gets Styles in the Deathlock in the first few minutes. Waltman wrestles the whole match in a shellsuit and gets put in a figure-four early on by Jarrett. Love the fact he sells the Hell out of this as he works the apron. Jarrett is briefly face-in-peril before the hot tag to Sting, and the crowd goes nuts for him. A pair of Stinger Splashes down the heels, before Waltman is able to nail Sting with a bat during the Deathlock on Styles. I love the fact that Styles cockily tries his own Deathlock, which Sting is able to break after a while. As is becoming a running theme, more mental overbooking takes place, with a ref bump followed by Vince Russo nailing Jarrett with a bat, Raven and Shane Douglas interfering and eventually Jarrett hitting a second rope Stroke on Styles to win. This was decent enough.
Jeff Jarrett vs AJ Styles
Stupid as it sounds, Styles has restyled his hair which makes him look far more impressive than in the first Jarrett match. Things are heated to start, as AJ clotheslines JJ into the crowd, then dives out with an immense tope into the crowd. In the ring, however, Jarrett starts to take over, cutting off a few Styles attacks, which gets played as his experience edge on commentary. I also love TNA having various wrestlers in the crowd or on the ramp to put over how important the match is, as they scout the world title match. There is a growing feeling of one-upmanship, as neither guy is able to get a sustained advantage. Instead, their familiarity with each other means they're more aware of what to expect from their opponent. JJ has to use a ringside distraction to nail AJ with a chairshot, which only gets two. AJ also kicks out of a Stroke onto the chair (in full view of the ref now), but a belt shot gets the job done. Another good match between these two, but still short of the blockbuster you feel they could have.
Jeff Jarrett vs Jim Duggan
Duggan is defending Hulk Hogan's honour following the Jarrett/Hogan New Japan angle. I feel this may be a real test of how good JJ is. Jarrett goes on the assault from the blindside to start, but soon Duggan takes over with clotheslines and pounds him outside. Good to see him fired up. He even nails JJ with a chokeslam in the ring. The 3-point stance downs JJ again, but Don Callis (rightly) stops Duggan using his 2x4. The distraction lets Jarrett use his guitar to pick up the win. Jarrett gave Duggan loads here, and this was the best Hacksaw had looked in years. Rick Steiner attacks JJ from behind, which somehow leads to another match...
Jeff Jarrett vs Rick Steiner
They brawl pretty ferociously in the crowd, with JJ nailing some killer chair shots, before they get into the ring. Steiner nails a few big suplexes, but JJ drags the ref into the path of a top rope bulldog before nailing a guitar shot for the DQ. Not much of a match, but pretty fun.
Jeff Jarrett vs Chris Harris
They really go for an epic build to this match, even highlighting Harris' family at ringside. Crowd is hot for a Harris title win. Jarrett plays up his experience edge, and I love him slipping out of a third armdrag and yelling "he ain't ready" at the crowd. JJ goes outside and yells "he ain't ready" at everyone at ringside, and back in Harris seems to be proving him right. His offense looks a little hesitant, like he's trying to remember what to do midmove. He has a hot run on the offensive, but it feels like it's more due to JJ bumping for him. JJ takes control after Harris crashes and burns on an attempted rail dive. Jarrett locks on the figure-four, which helps rally the crowd behind Harris. Harris comes back with more low-impact offence, though a dive from the top rope to the outside over the guardrail looks great. Decent top-rope elbow by Harris gets two. Harris bizarrely spears the ref (played by the commentators as being disorientated, but it just looked odd). Some hijinks occur involving chairs, before a Catatonic only gets two. James Storm interjects to superkick JJ, but Raven pulls the ref out, giving Jarrett time to hit a guitarshot for the win. Harris was green, but willing, and Jarrett put together a match where both guys looked good.
Jeff Jarrett vs Chris Harris vs AJ Styles vs Raven vs Ron Killings
This is the first King of the Mountain match. Quick run through of rules - to win, you must climb a ladder and hang the title belt on a hook. However, you must qualify to do this by pinning someone. The pinned wrestler spends 2 minutes locked in a cage. There is carnage to start with guys brawling all over the shot, before AJ dives over the penalty box onto three of the wrestlers. Love Jarrett coming over to try and pin them all in order to be eligible to hang the belt. Also, I like the fact we aren't getting "Survivor Series" pinfalls, where guys are pinned on clotheslines and the like. Indeed, AJ gets the first pin on JJ after a Styles Clash and a few choice exchanges. Harris gets the next pin with a spear on Raven. Truth pins Harris following a scissors kick (complete with Harris telegraphing it for ages by dropping the belt and being hilariously unable to pick it up again). I do like the way that Raven and Jarrett spend their time in the cage together plotting, so when both are released, they dominate AJ and Truth. I also love Raven waiting outside the cage so he can assault Harris as soon as he's released. Harris gets pinned by Raven after again telegraphing hanging up the belt for ages before getting a facefull of powder and an Evenflow. JJ hits the Stroke on Truth off the apron onto the steel railing for the final pinfall, so now all are eligible.
AJ pins Jarrett with a roll-up, so he has to go into the cage again, which I'd not even considered, and adds a nice element to the match.Styles then takes the nuttiest bump of the match, getting pushed off the ladder onto the cage. Raven and Harris soon fall through tables, so you know the end is night. Indeed, Truth climbs the ladder, only for a released Jarrett to hit him with a guitar and hang the title to win. In a hilarious twist, the hook has fallen down, so Jarrett has to fix the hook before winning the match. Really enjoyable match, with the ridiculous stipulations actually helping the quality.
Gauntlet For The Gold Match
Hernandez (representling Jarrett's short-lived Elite Guard faction) and Ron Killings are the first two entrants. Little happens until fellow Elite Guard member Onyx enters to help overwhelm Truth. There is only a minute between entrants, so there is barely enough time for anything of consequence to happen before Jarrett comes in. For some reason, the three men don't eliminate Killings before Konnan comes in, despite them having Killings in real trouble. There is a nice legdrop by Truth to both Onyx and Hernandez before Chad Collyer is entrant #6. BG James enters and there have been no eliminations yet. Ken Shamrock enters just as Konnan is thrown out and looks great attacking the Elite Guard. He's added a lot of needed energy here. He also destroys James and Truth. Everyone realises how deadly Shamrock is and team up to eliminate him. Shamrock's mental fit at this is magnificent. In the melee, Onyx and Collyer get hurled out, before James and Hernandez get rid of each other. The resulting Truth/Jarrett match is pretty short and with the members of the Elite Guard and 3LK outside the ring, you're just waiting for the interference. The predictable melee ensues and Shamrock returns to swerve us all by leveling Truth with a guitar to gift Jarrett the win. Rather dull, bar the Shamrock section, not sure why this is included.
Jeff Jarrett vs Jeff Hardy
This was the ladder match main event of Victory Road 2004, the first 3hr TNA PPV. Man, no subtle build here, as Jarrett is getting hurled into ladders less than a minute in. I dig Hardy using the ladder as a vice to crush the ribs of Jarrett. Hardy, despite having taken no offence, does the slow, "I'm in pain" climb of the ladder three minutes in. Jarrett goes on the offensive, and I appreciate the fact that both guys so far have only used offence that hurts their opponents and not done any moves that will cause themselves pain as well. Wrestling smart. Indeed, the first move of this ilk is Hardy dropkicking Jarrett, who is climbing for the belt, to stop him grabbing the title. Of course, Hardy follows this with a Swanton onto JJ on a ladder, but he IS an idiot daredevil, so it's ok. Scott Hall comes in to give him the Edge off the ladder, but JJ is too injured to capitalize. Hardy see-saws the ladder into Jarrett's face in a killer looking spot. Hardy brings out an enormous ladder and decides to climb it from the floor, which ends with both men falling from the ladder to the ramp. No reason given for either men to be climbing up out there mind. Back in, they botch a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder and hit a slightly better one from the apron to the floor. More Scott Hall interference leads to a rubbish Hall bump off a Twist of Fate. Jarrett is climbing for the title, when Kevin Nash comes out, apparently on Hardy's side. However, it was all another twist, as he hand's guitars to Hall and JJ, and all three nail Hardy (who is now on the ladder) with guitar shots to gift Jarrett the win. The twist would probably have worked better if Jarrett wasn't about to win before Nash arrived. There were a few decent moments buried deep in some terrible spots.
Wednesday 1 January 2014
TNA Hard Justice 2007
Having not done as much writing on the pro-wrestling as I'd have liked last year, it's nice to get this one published early for the year. I got this from Lovefilm as a random show, so looking forward to seeing how well it's aged
Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt vs the Motor City Machineguns vs Christopher Daniels & Senshi
Only two men are allowed in the ring at any time.This is a prime example of the hot opener, with all the offence looking super slick and fun enough to pop the crowd. Lethal ends up as face-in-peril and I love the way the Guns and Triple X have to rely on blind tags to get in the match, keeps it realistic that they wouldn't just tag each other in. Daniels shows a bit of character by posing whilst standing on Lethal's back as he's drapped across the middle turnbuckle. Dutt gets the hot tag, but the Guns just decide to come in too. At this juncture, it turns into a spotfest, so they don't try to pretend there are rules. I like Shelley locking an abdominal stretch on Dutt outside, as it means it makes sense for him to be there when Lethal levels him with a suicide dive. Rad dive sequence ends with Dutt nailing a swanky top rope Asai moonsault on everyone. Even Skipper gets involved, taking advantage of a distracted Earl Hebner to nail the ropewalk rana on Sabin. We get a lovely combo of moves by Dutt and Lethal on Daniels, which culminates in a standing Shooting Star Press by Dutt for two. After everyone gets in the ring, nailing spot after spot, Lethal picks up the win...with a small package on Daniels. Really fun opener, maybe not one you'll remember in a weeks time, but super enjoyable and it sent the crowd wild. Job done.
Raven vs Kaz
Kaz left Serotonin to set this up. It's pretty fun to start with, as Kaz nails all three members with a kendo stick, and the other Serotonin members bump like loons for it. Havok tries to take Kaz out with a huge dive, but nails everyone BUT Kaz. In ring, Raven hits a victory roll(!) for two 2. Kaz takes an insane bump on a kneelift, as it sends him over top rope. Raven seems pretty slow here, taking his sweet lazy time between moves. There is some dissension in the ranks as Raven shows his anger with Martyr, after he accidentally takes out Havok when aiming for Kaz with a superkick. Kaz hits a massive clothesline to send himself, Raven and Martyr over the rope, which followed by a nutty rana off the apron on Havok. Kaz is doing everything he can here to get over. Kaz reverses the Evenflow to nail a dropkick to the face to win. Decent enough, certainly put Kaz over huge.
Rhino vs James Storm
This is a bar-room brawl, instigated by Storm taunting Rhino's past addictions to alcohol. This is pretty good to start, though the mass slugfest in the crowd makes it hard to see what is happening. Thankfully, they soon get to Storm's silly looking "bar" set up by the ring, where Rhino pretty swiftly gives into his addictions and necks a beer. No willpower there. This causes Rhino to just explode, as he levels Storm with crutch and a barstool. Next, he backdrops Storm onto the bar as West and Tenay lament Rhino falling off the wagon. To hammer home the point, he opens a bottle of vodka and has a big swig. Storm is just getting massacred, as this is all Rhino. Maybe Rhino should have got pissed more often, could have been world champion. Jackie Moore saves and Rhino is briefly slowed down by being thrown out of ring onto a ladder. He fires back with an ace snap belly-to-belly suplex, though he is starting to show subtle signs of being drunk. A moment of hesitation causes Rhino to gore a table as the Cowboy moves, which gets two for Storm. Storm clobbers Rhino with a one man conchairto, then smashes a beer bottle over his head for three. Interesting booking, which started with Storm getting destroyed, but Rhino giving into his demos ultimately cost him the match. Really nasty brawl too.
Voodoo Kin Mafia vs LAX
This is from the odd period where Roxxi was added to the act as a voodoo practicioner, as if this linked to BG and Kip James in anyway bar their McMahon-baiting name. VKM use a combination of their smarts and strength to dominate Homicide early. Nice release Northern Lights by Kip James is the highlight of their offence. The heat section on Homicide is pretty brief, and whilst Hernandez shows good energy on his hot tag, a face of powder from Roxxi lets Kip hit a Fameasser for the win. However, Hector Guerrero comes into the ring to show the ref the powder on the ring apron, and Homicide wins with a rollup on Kip. Short and inoffensive.
Eric Young vs Bobby Roode
This is an Ultimate Humiliation match, with the loser getting tarred and feathered. They show a promo video beforehand, where Roode already tarred-and-feathered EY on an episode of Impact, so that seems odd. EY gets a brief flurry of offence, before a distraction by Ms Brooks lets Roode level him outside the ring. Roode's dominance of Young is pretty fun, Roode being pretty explosive on offence and EY bumping nicely for him. Young also has a natural connection with the crowd, which helps him earn sympathy. Love Roode lowering his kneepad before hitting a kneedrop from the 2nd rope. EY has some surprisingly crisp punches and shows some real strength to hoist both Roode and Brooks onto his shoulders for an attempted DVD. Some Brooks distraction and a pair of brass knucks give the win to Roode, after a pretty fun match.
Postmatch sees Gail Kim make the save for EY, and Ms Brooks ends up tarred and feathered. Special word to the kick to the Roode bollocks by EY - Christ!
Chris Harris vs Black Reign
In 2014, Dustin Rhodes is one of the best workers on the planet. In 2007, he was substantially porkier and wrestling in a Poundland Goldust costume. It's no surprise to learn that he wasn't so impressive. I do enjoy his outsmarting Harris by coming out of the other entrance ramp and attacking from behind (Harris must be some kind of idiot, as he wait ages for Reign before the blindside attack). As you'd expect, Reign still has impressive punches and him wailing away does look pretty great, with the satisfying sound of fist on skin. Harris is busted open and has had zero offence, as Dustin takes out two referees. The idea here is pretty cool, but the execution, especially the outfit, is lacking somewhat. Harris wins by DQ after attacking the third ref, but looks nothing like a winner after getting cuffed to the ropes and attacked by Black Reign's spiked weapon. I admit, I liked this more than I expected too, especially how vicious Dustin was, but the cheapness of his look ruined the effect.
The Steiner Brothers vs Team 3D
This is the match I've been looking forward to most on the show. No matter that these two teams are past their best, this is TNA bringing a proper tag team dream match to life. Looking at Brother Ray here, it's remarkable how much he slimmed down for his current role as Bully Ray, as he was huge. Though a bit slower and a bit bulkier than their prime, the Steiners still are able to throw 3D around early. The turnaround comes when Ray grabs Scott by the arm and yanks his recently injured shoulder over the ropes. 3D wisely focus their offence on this injury, with the livid purple scar acting like a target. The heat section is actually a bit short, but I did love the fresh Rick hitting suplexes on both Team 3D members. Scott joins in with a top rope belly-to-belly on Devon. 3D get two after a Doomsday Device on Scott, but it's a top-rope Frankensteiner on Devon that brings the crowd to it's feet. The top rope Steiner Bulldog on Devon gets the win. A bit sloppy in places, but a total crowdpleaser of a match.
Christian Cage, AJ Styles & Tomko vs Sting, Abyss & "The Punisher" Andrew Martin
Martin is better known as Test. The winner of the pinfall gets a world title shot, and the match is held in a cage with barbed wire around the top. To add to the overbooking, you can't get pinned unless you are bleeding. Christian's Coalition attack Abyss before his partners can emerge, but Martin and Sting (arriving after the lights go out) make the save. We get some average brawling outside the cage to start, then the Coalition lock Sting outside the cage to leave it 2-on-3. Cage attacks Abyss with some glass to make him bleed. The Coalition dominate in the ring, but Sting climbs the cage with wire cutters and is able to get in past the barbed wire. Styles and Cage nailing Abyss with dual frog splashes was pretty cool. Cage, like a beautiful coward, escapes the cage through the gap Sting created, leaving his team 2-on-3 down. Styles is swiftly Black Hole Slammed onto the broken glass by Abyss for the win. Pretty pedestrian affair, and not particularly violent for all the hype about the violence.
Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe
This is for Joe's X Division and tag titles, as well as Angle's IWGP and TNA titles. Joe looks to be in great shape here, and I dug the ceremonial Samoan dancers he had for his entrance. The story here is that Kurt is upset that Karen Angle has left him, and his mind isn't on wrestling. Joe dominates early, and Kurt isn't helped by Karen arriving at ringside with a new beau. Joe is confident and remains one step ahead of Angle: when Kurt pulls the straps of his singlet down to stop Joe pulling it, Joe pulls it down even further on a sunset flip to expose Angle's backside. The facewash on Kurt looked brutal. I also love Joe reversing an Angle German suplex into a sickening release version of his own. The height Joe gets on his leaping enzuigiri whilst Angle is on the top rope is impressive too. It's ridiculous how good he used to be when in shape and motivated. Angle looks a step behind him at all times here, though that may be due to the story of the match. Joe is able to reverse every big move Kurt goes for, until an Angle Slam gets two. Kurt hasn't gotten much offence in at this point, so it doesn't feel like a ruined finisher. Joe only getting two on a musclebuster feels less defendable, however. An anklelock/Kokina Clutch reversal series feels a little forced. A ref bump leads to Angle tapping to the clutch with no consequence, before Karen "shockingly" passes Kurt a chair to level Joe with and consolidate all the titles. This was decent rather than good, as it felt a bit laboured due to the angle, and the ending was both predictable and made Joe look like a fool.
Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt vs the Motor City Machineguns vs Christopher Daniels & Senshi
Only two men are allowed in the ring at any time.This is a prime example of the hot opener, with all the offence looking super slick and fun enough to pop the crowd. Lethal ends up as face-in-peril and I love the way the Guns and Triple X have to rely on blind tags to get in the match, keeps it realistic that they wouldn't just tag each other in. Daniels shows a bit of character by posing whilst standing on Lethal's back as he's drapped across the middle turnbuckle. Dutt gets the hot tag, but the Guns just decide to come in too. At this juncture, it turns into a spotfest, so they don't try to pretend there are rules. I like Shelley locking an abdominal stretch on Dutt outside, as it means it makes sense for him to be there when Lethal levels him with a suicide dive. Rad dive sequence ends with Dutt nailing a swanky top rope Asai moonsault on everyone. Even Skipper gets involved, taking advantage of a distracted Earl Hebner to nail the ropewalk rana on Sabin. We get a lovely combo of moves by Dutt and Lethal on Daniels, which culminates in a standing Shooting Star Press by Dutt for two. After everyone gets in the ring, nailing spot after spot, Lethal picks up the win...with a small package on Daniels. Really fun opener, maybe not one you'll remember in a weeks time, but super enjoyable and it sent the crowd wild. Job done.
Raven vs Kaz
Kaz left Serotonin to set this up. It's pretty fun to start with, as Kaz nails all three members with a kendo stick, and the other Serotonin members bump like loons for it. Havok tries to take Kaz out with a huge dive, but nails everyone BUT Kaz. In ring, Raven hits a victory roll(!) for two 2. Kaz takes an insane bump on a kneelift, as it sends him over top rope. Raven seems pretty slow here, taking his sweet lazy time between moves. There is some dissension in the ranks as Raven shows his anger with Martyr, after he accidentally takes out Havok when aiming for Kaz with a superkick. Kaz hits a massive clothesline to send himself, Raven and Martyr over the rope, which followed by a nutty rana off the apron on Havok. Kaz is doing everything he can here to get over. Kaz reverses the Evenflow to nail a dropkick to the face to win. Decent enough, certainly put Kaz over huge.
Rhino vs James Storm
This is a bar-room brawl, instigated by Storm taunting Rhino's past addictions to alcohol. This is pretty good to start, though the mass slugfest in the crowd makes it hard to see what is happening. Thankfully, they soon get to Storm's silly looking "bar" set up by the ring, where Rhino pretty swiftly gives into his addictions and necks a beer. No willpower there. This causes Rhino to just explode, as he levels Storm with crutch and a barstool. Next, he backdrops Storm onto the bar as West and Tenay lament Rhino falling off the wagon. To hammer home the point, he opens a bottle of vodka and has a big swig. Storm is just getting massacred, as this is all Rhino. Maybe Rhino should have got pissed more often, could have been world champion. Jackie Moore saves and Rhino is briefly slowed down by being thrown out of ring onto a ladder. He fires back with an ace snap belly-to-belly suplex, though he is starting to show subtle signs of being drunk. A moment of hesitation causes Rhino to gore a table as the Cowboy moves, which gets two for Storm. Storm clobbers Rhino with a one man conchairto, then smashes a beer bottle over his head for three. Interesting booking, which started with Storm getting destroyed, but Rhino giving into his demos ultimately cost him the match. Really nasty brawl too.
Voodoo Kin Mafia vs LAX
This is from the odd period where Roxxi was added to the act as a voodoo practicioner, as if this linked to BG and Kip James in anyway bar their McMahon-baiting name. VKM use a combination of their smarts and strength to dominate Homicide early. Nice release Northern Lights by Kip James is the highlight of their offence. The heat section on Homicide is pretty brief, and whilst Hernandez shows good energy on his hot tag, a face of powder from Roxxi lets Kip hit a Fameasser for the win. However, Hector Guerrero comes into the ring to show the ref the powder on the ring apron, and Homicide wins with a rollup on Kip. Short and inoffensive.
Eric Young vs Bobby Roode
This is an Ultimate Humiliation match, with the loser getting tarred and feathered. They show a promo video beforehand, where Roode already tarred-and-feathered EY on an episode of Impact, so that seems odd. EY gets a brief flurry of offence, before a distraction by Ms Brooks lets Roode level him outside the ring. Roode's dominance of Young is pretty fun, Roode being pretty explosive on offence and EY bumping nicely for him. Young also has a natural connection with the crowd, which helps him earn sympathy. Love Roode lowering his kneepad before hitting a kneedrop from the 2nd rope. EY has some surprisingly crisp punches and shows some real strength to hoist both Roode and Brooks onto his shoulders for an attempted DVD. Some Brooks distraction and a pair of brass knucks give the win to Roode, after a pretty fun match.
Postmatch sees Gail Kim make the save for EY, and Ms Brooks ends up tarred and feathered. Special word to the kick to the Roode bollocks by EY - Christ!
Chris Harris vs Black Reign
In 2014, Dustin Rhodes is one of the best workers on the planet. In 2007, he was substantially porkier and wrestling in a Poundland Goldust costume. It's no surprise to learn that he wasn't so impressive. I do enjoy his outsmarting Harris by coming out of the other entrance ramp and attacking from behind (Harris must be some kind of idiot, as he wait ages for Reign before the blindside attack). As you'd expect, Reign still has impressive punches and him wailing away does look pretty great, with the satisfying sound of fist on skin. Harris is busted open and has had zero offence, as Dustin takes out two referees. The idea here is pretty cool, but the execution, especially the outfit, is lacking somewhat. Harris wins by DQ after attacking the third ref, but looks nothing like a winner after getting cuffed to the ropes and attacked by Black Reign's spiked weapon. I admit, I liked this more than I expected too, especially how vicious Dustin was, but the cheapness of his look ruined the effect.
The Steiner Brothers vs Team 3D
This is the match I've been looking forward to most on the show. No matter that these two teams are past their best, this is TNA bringing a proper tag team dream match to life. Looking at Brother Ray here, it's remarkable how much he slimmed down for his current role as Bully Ray, as he was huge. Though a bit slower and a bit bulkier than their prime, the Steiners still are able to throw 3D around early. The turnaround comes when Ray grabs Scott by the arm and yanks his recently injured shoulder over the ropes. 3D wisely focus their offence on this injury, with the livid purple scar acting like a target. The heat section is actually a bit short, but I did love the fresh Rick hitting suplexes on both Team 3D members. Scott joins in with a top rope belly-to-belly on Devon. 3D get two after a Doomsday Device on Scott, but it's a top-rope Frankensteiner on Devon that brings the crowd to it's feet. The top rope Steiner Bulldog on Devon gets the win. A bit sloppy in places, but a total crowdpleaser of a match.
Christian Cage, AJ Styles & Tomko vs Sting, Abyss & "The Punisher" Andrew Martin
Martin is better known as Test. The winner of the pinfall gets a world title shot, and the match is held in a cage with barbed wire around the top. To add to the overbooking, you can't get pinned unless you are bleeding. Christian's Coalition attack Abyss before his partners can emerge, but Martin and Sting (arriving after the lights go out) make the save. We get some average brawling outside the cage to start, then the Coalition lock Sting outside the cage to leave it 2-on-3. Cage attacks Abyss with some glass to make him bleed. The Coalition dominate in the ring, but Sting climbs the cage with wire cutters and is able to get in past the barbed wire. Styles and Cage nailing Abyss with dual frog splashes was pretty cool. Cage, like a beautiful coward, escapes the cage through the gap Sting created, leaving his team 2-on-3 down. Styles is swiftly Black Hole Slammed onto the broken glass by Abyss for the win. Pretty pedestrian affair, and not particularly violent for all the hype about the violence.
Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe
This is for Joe's X Division and tag titles, as well as Angle's IWGP and TNA titles. Joe looks to be in great shape here, and I dug the ceremonial Samoan dancers he had for his entrance. The story here is that Kurt is upset that Karen Angle has left him, and his mind isn't on wrestling. Joe dominates early, and Kurt isn't helped by Karen arriving at ringside with a new beau. Joe is confident and remains one step ahead of Angle: when Kurt pulls the straps of his singlet down to stop Joe pulling it, Joe pulls it down even further on a sunset flip to expose Angle's backside. The facewash on Kurt looked brutal. I also love Joe reversing an Angle German suplex into a sickening release version of his own. The height Joe gets on his leaping enzuigiri whilst Angle is on the top rope is impressive too. It's ridiculous how good he used to be when in shape and motivated. Angle looks a step behind him at all times here, though that may be due to the story of the match. Joe is able to reverse every big move Kurt goes for, until an Angle Slam gets two. Kurt hasn't gotten much offence in at this point, so it doesn't feel like a ruined finisher. Joe only getting two on a musclebuster feels less defendable, however. An anklelock/Kokina Clutch reversal series feels a little forced. A ref bump leads to Angle tapping to the clutch with no consequence, before Karen "shockingly" passes Kurt a chair to level Joe with and consolidate all the titles. This was decent rather than good, as it felt a bit laboured due to the angle, and the ending was both predictable and made Joe look like a fool.
The Top 10 Reviewed Matches of 2013
Here's the annual list of the ten best matches reviewed on the blog in 2013. Though I've not published as much as I'd like to this year, there is still a good blend of stuff here, I feel. A bit of BritWres, some classic WWF, some puro and an 80's territories tag match. All stuff I've watched and loved this year. Here's to a great 2014
10. Kaz vs Volador Jr vs Daivari vs Naruki Doi (TNA World X Cup 2008)
This was the final of the World X Cup in an Ultimate X match with all to play for. All four guys looked really good here, with the booking possibly making Kaz look better in defeat than if he'd won.
9. Ernie Ladd & Butch Reed vs Brickhouse Brown & Master Gee (The Best of Ernie Ladd)
Really fun tag match, with the bigger, surly heels dominating against the energetic face team. Brown and Gee looked great here, and the heel tactics of their opponents provided a nice structure for the match.
8. Stixx vs Kevin Steen (Southside Wrestling Supershow)
Great brawl between two hard-working big men. They went all over the venue and, on a card featuring a whole host of big names from TV, stole the whole show.
7. Masato Yoshino, Milano Collection AT & Puma vs Doug Williams, Tyson Dux & Alex Koslov vs Rey Buccanero, Ultimo Guerrero & Averno vs the Motor City Machineguns & Curry Man (TNA World X Cup 2008)
As the saying goes, "If you're going to do a spotfest, make it a good one". Just an insane elimination match that provided massive entertainment from start to finish.
6. Tyler Bate vs Joe Coffey (Triple X Wrestling The Nov 24th Show)
Bate is a star on the rise for sure, and this match with Joe Coffey was excellent. Coffey came with a great reputation that he lived up to, with both guys putting in some neat matwork and some stiff brawling.
5. Zack Sabre Jr vs Tommy End (Southside Wrestling Menace II Society III)
ZSJ is my standout BritWres performer of the year, and our loss is Japan's gain in view of his recent tag title victory. This WXW title match with Tommy End was spectacular, two guys just trying to break the other one down.
4. Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns (WWE Battleground)
The WWE's recent emphasis on tag wrestling has provided a load of great matches this year. This one, with the backstory of the Rhodes' fighting for their jobs and Dusty providing ringside support, is the pick of the bunch.
3. Ronnie Garvin vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (WWF Royal Rumble 1990)
Not the kind of match you'd expect in 1990's WWF. These two were clearly both more than happy to wail away on each other, and there was a fun story to the match as well. Really loved this.
2. Fritz Von Erich vs Giant Baba (The Best of the Von Erichs Vol 1)
Filmed in glorious black-and-white, this match is very much an example of how you can do more with less. Most of Fritz's offence involved claw attempts, but the way he put together those attempts, and the way he carried himself, made him a massive threat, which only made Baba look better in victory.
1. Zack Sabre Jr vs Mark Andrews (Triple X Wrestling XXXstravaganza)
So, for the second year in a row, a BritWres match tops the list, and this one was a real belter. I'd never been to a Triple X show before this year, but having caught all the 2013 shows I can honestly say they've been my most enjoyable times of watching live wrestling. Amidst all the fun of wrestling zombies, local jobbers and pornstars, you also get consistently good wrestling matches. Here we had the highflier (Andrews) taking on the more experienced stiff mat-wrestler (ZSJ), and they gelled brilliantly. Though Zack was often in control, there were some great hope spots for Andrews, and an ending that showed how much of a threat he'd been. Looking forward to seeing more great things from both guys in 2014.
10. Kaz vs Volador Jr vs Daivari vs Naruki Doi (TNA World X Cup 2008)
This was the final of the World X Cup in an Ultimate X match with all to play for. All four guys looked really good here, with the booking possibly making Kaz look better in defeat than if he'd won.
9. Ernie Ladd & Butch Reed vs Brickhouse Brown & Master Gee (The Best of Ernie Ladd)
Really fun tag match, with the bigger, surly heels dominating against the energetic face team. Brown and Gee looked great here, and the heel tactics of their opponents provided a nice structure for the match.
8. Stixx vs Kevin Steen (Southside Wrestling Supershow)
Great brawl between two hard-working big men. They went all over the venue and, on a card featuring a whole host of big names from TV, stole the whole show.
7. Masato Yoshino, Milano Collection AT & Puma vs Doug Williams, Tyson Dux & Alex Koslov vs Rey Buccanero, Ultimo Guerrero & Averno vs the Motor City Machineguns & Curry Man (TNA World X Cup 2008)
As the saying goes, "If you're going to do a spotfest, make it a good one". Just an insane elimination match that provided massive entertainment from start to finish.
6. Tyler Bate vs Joe Coffey (Triple X Wrestling The Nov 24th Show)
Bate is a star on the rise for sure, and this match with Joe Coffey was excellent. Coffey came with a great reputation that he lived up to, with both guys putting in some neat matwork and some stiff brawling.
5. Zack Sabre Jr vs Tommy End (Southside Wrestling Menace II Society III)
ZSJ is my standout BritWres performer of the year, and our loss is Japan's gain in view of his recent tag title victory. This WXW title match with Tommy End was spectacular, two guys just trying to break the other one down.
4. Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns (WWE Battleground)
The WWE's recent emphasis on tag wrestling has provided a load of great matches this year. This one, with the backstory of the Rhodes' fighting for their jobs and Dusty providing ringside support, is the pick of the bunch.
3. Ronnie Garvin vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (WWF Royal Rumble 1990)
Not the kind of match you'd expect in 1990's WWF. These two were clearly both more than happy to wail away on each other, and there was a fun story to the match as well. Really loved this.
2. Fritz Von Erich vs Giant Baba (The Best of the Von Erichs Vol 1)
Filmed in glorious black-and-white, this match is very much an example of how you can do more with less. Most of Fritz's offence involved claw attempts, but the way he put together those attempts, and the way he carried himself, made him a massive threat, which only made Baba look better in victory.
1. Zack Sabre Jr vs Mark Andrews (Triple X Wrestling XXXstravaganza)
So, for the second year in a row, a BritWres match tops the list, and this one was a real belter. I'd never been to a Triple X show before this year, but having caught all the 2013 shows I can honestly say they've been my most enjoyable times of watching live wrestling. Amidst all the fun of wrestling zombies, local jobbers and pornstars, you also get consistently good wrestling matches. Here we had the highflier (Andrews) taking on the more experienced stiff mat-wrestler (ZSJ), and they gelled brilliantly. Though Zack was often in control, there were some great hope spots for Andrews, and an ending that showed how much of a threat he'd been. Looking forward to seeing more great things from both guys in 2014.
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