TNA Bound For Glory 2015

Those of you who were reading this blog in it's formative days might have noticed I used to review a lot of TNA. In the days when I had minimal internet access and way before I had a load of streaming channels available, I had to basically rely on what I had available which, due to Lovefilm and Challenge TV, was mainly TNA. But until today, I'd not watched any recent TNA in a couple of years. I'd recorded this back in October, but never gotten round to watching it. However, having the house to myself for the weekend meant I worked through some of the stuff on my Skybox, and I decided to give TNA another go...

Tigre Uno vs Andrew Everett vs Manik vs DJZ

This is an Ultimate X match for Uno’s X Division title. Uno actually looks really sloppy at the start, with an attempted tornado DDT on Manik barely connecting. The crack TNA camera crew manage to miss a DJZ dive, before Everett hits all four men with a springboard shooting star to the floor. I like that it Everett who was the first up from that and going for the title, made it look like a wise tactical move. I like that as all four guys have taken some offence, they start going for the title believing the others might be suitably worn down, though Uno deciding against going for the X to hit a 450 to the floor on DJZ seems a bit dumb. The end sees Uno and Everett both at the title and Everett taking a huge bump to the mat to let Uno retain. Nothing spectacular, but a fun opener

Number One Contender’s Gauntlet

This seemed to be basically a “get everyone else on the card” match, and really wasn’t up to much. Too many generic looking wrestlers in black trunks not really doing much. It gets to the point where the arrival of Aiden O’Shea and Robbie E boost things a whole lot, with unique looks and, in Robbie’s case, a sudden burst of energy to the match. You also get the likes of Tommy Dreamer and Al Snow turning up and getting better reactions than the rest of the roster. It’s most glaring during a mid-match comedy spot where everyone does the Sheera Shuffle and the audience simply doesn’t care. Pope entering the match, realising that the only wrestlers not down were Abyss and Tyrus, who were both looking at him, and immediately exiting did raise a smile. The final two are Mr Anderson and Tyrus, which sees Tyrus basically no-sell Anderson’s offence and hit a thumb to the throat to win. Totally skippable.

The Wolves vs Trevor Lee & Brian Myers

This started off pretty evenly, until Lee hits a swank looking moonsault slam on Richards to take control. A large part of this match was fought in classic tag team formula, and when Lee and Myers worked heat on the Wolves, it was really good. Myers isn’t a particularly flashy wrestler, but he’s good at working tag formula, be it grounding his opponent to reduce the chance of them tagging out, or luring Richards into the ring to allow a beatdown on Edwards, grinning over the refs shoulder at Davey. This also led to the second hot tag of the night, as the sight of a recovering Edwards led both Myers and Lee tried to attack Richards on the apron, who dropped down, causing the heels to turn round to a shit looking two person rana by Edwards. I also liked the build of Myers stopping Richards diving on Lee, before Edwards sends Myers outside and the Wolves hit a double dive. Nice pay off. Sadly things do break down a bit in the final minutes, with just a load of moves leading to Richards pinning Lee with a brainbuster, but the meat of this bout was really fun.

Bobby Lashley vs Bobby Roode

Bit of a disappointment this one. I actually thought Lashley looked better than I remembered him, had good movement and some of his offence looked really good. I also liked his game plan of ramming Roode’s shoulder into the ringpost  and concentrating on it with a repeated keylock. However, it was the layout of the match that didn’t work. After Lashley dominated (included impressively plucking Roode out of midair and hitting a powerslam), he then hit a spear for two. Right away, Roode gets up and hits a Roode Bomb for 2. No build, just hoists a massive guy onto his injured shoulder and hits his finisher. From there, we get some awkward submission trading, both guys hitting the other’s finisher then Roode hitting another Roode Bomb for the win. Real anti-climax.

Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong

Match of the night to this point. Kong just plays brickwall to start, with Kim bouncing off her. I liked Kim instead going to the knee of Kong, slowing her down to give Kim time to hit a moonsault. I loved Kim locking a leglock on Kong then, realising Kong might make the ropes, switching to a front facelock. Really great looking nearfall as Kong blocks a top rope rana and instead hits a 2^nd rope splash. On the outside, Kim takes a nutty bump as Kong hits the Implant Buster on some chairs. Getting her back inside means Kong only gets a two from it, so tries for a top rope Implant Buster, which Kim reverses to a top rope Eat Defeat for the win. Really liked this, all logical work.

Eric Young vs Kurt Angle

This is a no DQ match, and the first few minutes of this were really good, some nasty looking brawling on the floor. Then Young hits a piledriver on Angle and it all goes to shit. They work an injury angle, with one doctor telling the ref to call off the match. Instead of doing that, the ref watches Angle get walked to the back, before Young assaults all the medical staff and drags Angle back to the ring. For some reason, the ref decides not to call off this match and allows Young to keep working over Angle’s severely injured neck. Some of Young’s offence looks suitably dickish. Loved him hitting a top rope elbow, then flipping Angle over and hitting an elbow right to the neck. Angle’s offence seems to rely mainly on German suplexes. I did think the end was good, with Angle managing to lock on the Ankle Lock. Young managed to grab the bottom rope, but was told there was no DQ for Kurt holding onto the move, and Angle dragged him back into the middle for the tapout.

EC3 vs Matt Hardy vs Drew Galloway

Main event and match of the night. Really well worked triple threat, and thankfully contained the bare minimum of “one man lies of the floor whilst the other two fight” spots. What it did have was a succession of great looking bumps and big spots that paid off. EC3 started the trend by driving himself and Hardy through the ropes to the floor to reverse a Twist of Fate, before Galloway follows them out with a massive tope. Galloway then reversed an attempted powerbomb through a table by EC3 to a Celtic Cross on the ring steps. Absolutely mental spot. I didn’t like Hardy deciding to try a backslide on Galloway, as it seemed to only happen to allow Drew to reverse to the Futureshock DDT. Another nutty spot as EC3 suplexed Hardy from the apron to the floor, through a table that Galloway was laying on. However, the failure of his big spots to earn him the win would cost EC3. After a double 1%er failed to earn him the win, he snapped, trying to provoke ref Jeff Hardy into assaulting him with a chair. It worked, as Jeff nailed him with the chair, causing Galloway to boot him out of the ring, only for Matt to hit the Twist of Fate to win the title. Really fun three way, and crucially all the big spots hit.

TNA Turning Point 2009

Another TNA DVD sent to me by Lovefilm. This show is from that period where Hulk Hogan was just about to come in and "shake things up", so because they didn't yet know the longterm direction of the company, they just put on a load of good matches instead. No surprises to learn this led to a pretty good show

Homicide vs Amazing Red
This is for Red's X Division championship, and the initial stages are all about Red using his speed to dominate Homicide, until he gets turned inside out by a Homicide clothesline. Homicide is tougher than Red, and uses this to control. Loved the big backbreaker, which looked super effective on the tiny Red, and the nasty streak of Homicide is shown via trash talking and kneeling with his leg over Red's throat (always a favourite spot). This does cost him, as Red is given time to recover and nail a springboard cutter. A cutter attempt by Homicide is blocked and Red hits a SSP straight away, again showing the speed advantage. Homicide gets two after catching a moonsaulting Red with a cutter, which doesn't quite connect cleanly, sadly. Red shoves Homicide down on a top rope rana attempt, and nails the Code Red from the second rope to win. Good logical match to open things up.

ODB, Sarita & Taylor Wilde vs Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky & Lacey Von Erich
The problem with this match is that two-thirds of the heel team aren't very good. Madison Rayne and Sarita do get to work a nice sequence together, but I suspect that it's because Madison is the only Beautiful Person who can keep up with her. The fans are all over poor Lacey every time she gets in the ring, offering up "You Can't Wrestle" chants as soon as she steps in between the ropes. ODB ends up alone with all three members of the BP in the ring, but takes them all out easily, finishing Rayne with a TKO.

The British Invasion vs the Motor City Machineguns vs Beer Money
Triple threat tag with only two men allowed in the ring at once. I like the smarts of the British Invasion here, allowing the two face teams to square off, waitng for the right moment to strike. It doesn't pay off, as the MCMG are all over Doug Williams when he blind tags in, and only the interference of Magnus allows him to turn the tide and make Sabin face in peril. I like the fact each team only tags in their own partners, meaning the outside team has to be more creative in finding ways into the match. Things, predictably, break down and the Invasion get quadruple teamed. The MCMG are soon out of the match, as a missed Sabin plancha and a big German suplex to Shelley put them down for the rest of the match. The end sees a classic Russo swerve, as Kevin Nash comes to the ring to seemingly stop Eric Young trying to interfere in the match, but he instead nails James Storm with a title belt, distracting Robert Roode for the Invasion to hit their double-team diving uppercut for the win. This was fine, but should have been better considering who was involved.

Tara vs Awesome Kong
This is a steel cage match from the period where Tara would come to the ring with that stupid spider. Ideally, the build-up to this match would have seen Kong squash the bug, like Earthquake squashing Damian. I liked the fact this match started with Tara taking the fight to Kong, not with dropkicks or clotheslines, but with punches right to the face. Kong hit the cage attempting the backfist, and Tara worked over the hand until Kong took over. They made use of the cage well, as Kong dominated Tara by first splashing her against the cage, then swinging her into the cage wall. Tara managed to regain control after reversing a second Kong suplex into a DDT. I enjoyed the scene where both ladies were sat on the top rope punching each other. Really good ending here, as Tara powerbombs Kong off the top turnbuckle for a two count, before deciding to climb out. At the top of the cage, however, she changes her mind and nails a Thesz press from the top of the cage to win. Really fun ten minute match.

Rhino & Team 3D vs Hernandez, D'Angelo Deniro & Matt Morgan
The face team aren't really showing much unity to start, as Deniro manages to distract Hernandez, which causes him to get attacked at the bell. Deniro then blind tags in to further upset his partner, but as he takes down Brother Ray and pummels him in the face, the resulting pop highlights him as the most over guy in the match. A Rhyno/Morgan section is surprisingly good and hard-hitting, before Deniro becomes face-in-peril. This was quite nicely done, as Deniro shoved Hernandez out of the ring to save him from the 3D, but this meant he got hit with a double-team neckbreaker. The heat section on Pope is pretty dull and a bit too restholdy, but things really hot up in the finishing stretch after he makes the tag. I loved the insane Hernandez dive to the outside, which looked great. The end saw Hernandez have Rhino up for the border toss, only for Devon to nail him in the ribs with a chair, allowing Rhino to hit the same ribs with a gore for three. Considering the participants, this was surprisingly good.

Scott Steiner vs Bobby Lashley
This has been built up by Steiner trying it on with Lashley's wife Krystal, and with Steiner coming to the ring with a picture of Krystal etched onto the crotch of his tights, you'd think this would be a really violent brawl. However, despite the no DQ stipulation, it never quite heats up as you'd like it too. Lashley looks good early on, with a nice T-bone suplex, but you never feel the hate. I did like Steiner taking control following 3 low blows. A top rope Frankensteiner looks off, thanks to Lashley almost sliding to the mat as Steiner gets into position. They brawl backstage, which heats things up a bit. Lashley suplexes Steiner through a table, but misses a spear into a big wooden crate. Even at this point, we get a bit too much wandering round and not enought violently beating, despite Steiner bleeding. The end sees Steiner nail Lashley in the head with a pipe to win, but this was a bit of a letdown.

Desmond Wolfe vs Kurt Angle
Can't help but feel a little underwhelmed by this match. I really like the initial parts, with Wolfe working over the arm of Angle in a number of ways, but things go slightly downhill when Wolfe gets over confident and Angle comes back into it. Angle hits an overhead belly-to-belly then SIX rolling Germans, which undoes all the good arm work done by Wolfe. No point in Wolfe trying to make Angle submit due to his arm if he's able to throw you over his head six times in a row with no worries. Wolfe does keep returning to the arm as his point of focus, though he mixes it up a bit to focus on Angle's neck with a DDT and the Tower of London, which gets him too. Angle clotheslines him down with the bad arm, making another Wolfe armbar pretty pointless. He's even able to get Wolfe up for a tombstone at one point, albeit one that Wolfe manages to reverse. Angle in turn reverses this into an anklelock, then counters a Wolfe reversal to lock in a side triangle choke for the immediate tap. Some of this was really good, especially some of the early matwork, but the non-selling of the arm really hurt it.

AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe
The crowd is hyped for this one. Really dug the early signs of familiarity, with Daniels breaking up a Joe attacking sequence midway through, and Styles knowing when to stop a Daniels dive to maximum effect. Styles and Joe both make elementary mistakes by locking in submission holds early, which leave them prone to attacks by the third man, whilst Daniels is smart enough to use a submission hold to tie up both men. There are, predictably, some really exciting sequences. I loved Joe kicking out AJ's leg to send him crashing onto the apron, which in turn leaves him prone for a Daniels suicide dive. I also loved Joe catching Styles from a Daniels monkey flip, then powerbombing him onto Daniels. What was great is that it really felt like guys actually trying to win, not just hitting pretty looking spots. The familiarity between the three means that it's logical for guys to have a counter for their signature moves. The is pretty logical, as the only way AJ can win is by taking out both guys at once - Daniels hits the BME on Joe, but AJ springboards in with a 450 to both men to pick up the pinfall on Joe. Really great main event.

Zero-One 18/03/2005

Having not reviewed any puro for a while, I thought it best to look through some of the shows I'd not got round to watching yet. This one, with an odd mix of puro wrestlers and US indy talent, was the first one to catch my eye. The main event has a particularly random line-up...

Osamu Namiguchi vs Lil Nate
Oh man, to see Lil Nate is to hate Lil Nate. Coming to the ring with a ridiculous strawberry-blonde afro and "quirky" ring music, he looks like Lauren Harries crossed with a hyperactive schoolchild , and I really want him to die here. Therefore, Namiguchi schooling him on the mat is quite the treat, locking in headscissors and Boston crabs to wear him down. Your enjoyment of the match will probably be dependant on just how much you enjoy Lil Nate being tortured, so I did enjoy this very much. It's not totally one sided, as Nate gets a brief comeback and a few roll ups, but the end soon comes with Namiguchi grabbing him by his stupid hair to hit a top rope bulldog and a la majistral cradle to win.

Kevin Steen vs Takashi Sasaki
Fun to note how young and lean Steen looks here. This is perfectly fine wrestling, but it's fair to say this is "just a match". It gets to a point where Steen yells for the package piledriver, and I realise the only note I've made on the match is "Lovely moonsault by Steen" (and to be fair, it really was a beauty). Not that anything was bad per se, but just that some stuff happened, and then it was time for the finishing sequence, as both guys get nearfalls, before Steen actually gets the package piledriver (which I'm glad there was a bit of a fight for) to win.

Steve Corino & Amazing Kong vs Spanky & Saki Maemura
This is a mixed tag bout, but not one fought under mixed tag rules. The reason for this is likely the fact that Kong is both taller and bigger than Spanky. There is an underlying story that Kong has a "thing" for Spanky. I did enjoy Spanky being more scared of fighting Kong than fighting Corino, especially as he kept flying off her when trying shoulderblocks. Maemura fares better, as she uses speed and roll-ups to try and outfox Kong. Of course, this nearly backfires when the rules allow her to be in the ring, as the same time as Corino, who cockily bullies her until she hits a flying headscissors on him. We get a few sexual comedy spots, as Spanky avoids the advances of Kong, who ends up accidentally making out with Corino, before the smaller team repeatedly ram Corino's head into Kong's chest rather than the turnbuckle, and a few fun spots I'd not seen before. One involved Kong and Corino pressing Maemura off them during a pinfall attempt, only for Spanky to catch her and drop her back onto Kong. Spanky hits Sliced Bread #2 on Kong, but turns into a Corino lariat for the win. This was pretty entertaining.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Ricky Reyes
Reyes was always my favourite Havana Pitbull, mainly due to his stocky build. This kicks off with some fun matwork, as I liked the fact they made it look like a real battle to lock in each hold. Takaiwa used a fantastic single-leg crab during this, holding Reyes at a painful looking angle. Outside, Reyes takes a few nasty bumps when he gets thrown into chairs and the bleachers. This was a match where Reyes always felt like he was in it, so not a squash, but at the same time it always felt like he was a shade behind Takaiwa, so it was no surprise when Takaiwa finished with his double powerbomb into a Death Valley Driver.

Minoru Fujita & Ikuto Hidaka vs CW Anderson & Jay Lethal
Pretty even tag match in the early going until Lethal tries to double-cross Fujita on a handshake, at which point things start to pick up. Anderson and Lethal play subtle heels here, and it's nice to note Anderson still has pretty sweet punches. Love them suplexing Fujita into a load of chairs at ringside. Hidaka gets a nice offensive flurry inside, before Lethal goes for a tope con hilo, which only hits his partner, with no opponent in site. Hidaka is a guy I've always liked, and he looks great here, reversing a CW spinebuster into a sunset flip in a really fluid motion. Anderson had a few staple spots that looked great, like his delayed superplex and the spinebuster (which he does eventually hit), and the match has a really nice ending sequence that only really goes overboard when Lethal is allowed to kick out of a spike tombstone piledriver. In the end, Hidaka pins Lethal following Sliced Bread #2. Fun match.

Takao Omori & Ryouji Sai vs Shinjiro Otani & Kohei Sato
No intros here, as the team of Otani and Sato attack before the bell. Omori ends up fighting Sato in the ring, but does a terrible job of trying to rip his shirt off in between strikes. Hulk Hogan, he is not. Otani is in prime dickish mode here, doing nasty little things like lifting his opponent up by the mouth, and I love his nasty dropkick to the face when he gets Sai in a tree of woe. Sai is the one chap in the match I don't know, and he gets to look really good here, really nailing Sato and Otani with his strikes and kicks, which all look crisp. In the second half of the match, Sato and Otani start to work over the arm of Omori, clearly to stop him throwing his big lariat. Otani in particular hits some nasty kicks to the limb. Omori does manage a two count on the Omori Driver, but his attempt at the lariat is thwarted by Otani kicking the arm, and avoiding a second attempt with a roll-up for the win.

Alex Shelley & Masato Tanaka vs Dick Togo & Sonjay Dutt
Here are two odd looking teams. This is a TLC match where pinfalls are valid. You've got to love the sight of Tanaka, five minutes into the match, shoulder all bandaged, diving from a ladder outside the ring to put Togo through a table to "ECW" chants. Tanaka proceeds to bloody Togo outside the ring, leaving Dutt at a two-on-one disadvantage. Predictably, he gets battered, with Tanaka crushing him with a ladder for two. Togo looks awesome coming in off a hot tag (though this is the only tag in the entire match, and Shelley and Tanaka had been treating the match like a tornado tag. Nonetheless, Togo shows great fire when he comes in). A suicide dive to a seated Shelley looks awesome. There is another lovely moment, where Togo pushes Shelley off the top rope to the outside, with the camera angle making it look like he's pushing Shelley into oblivion. There are a few nice spots in the closing moments of the match, including Dutt pushing Tanaka off a ladder into a Togo cutter through a table, which looks great. Dutt survives a superplex from the ladder through a table to hit an off-target Phoenix splash onto Shelley's face for the win. Really fun stunt match, though the Togo/Tanaka sequences were a lot smoother than the Shelley/Dutt moments.

TNA Against All Odds 2009

One thing I've noticed is that I do seem to review a lot of TNA shows on this blog. This isn't a deliberate choice, more that, due to having a Lovefilm account and having Challenge TV, I get a lot of easy access to TNA shows, and I'm pretty much happy to watch any wrestling I can. This show was sent to me by Lovefilm last week, a show from the midst of the Main Event Mafia\TNA Frontline feud. The result? A mixed bag of a show that never really gets great...

Alex Shelley vs Eric Young
This was the evolution of a smarter, non-cowardly version of EY, and he looks good in the opening stages, outsmarting Shelley and hitting a big dive. Shelley is great as a smug dick here, and after EY hits the guard rail on a failed top rope dive, Shelley zones in on the ribs of his opponent, which is logical strategy on a larger guy. It also gives him an edge, in that he has an area to aim for to abruptly stop Young gaining momentum. I love the big bump EY takes, diving into, then over, the ringpost from the apron. Even when locking on a cobra clutch, Shelley holds Young over his knee to also impact the ribs. I don't think EY looks quite as crisp as he does nowadays, as he's clearly one of the elite performers in TNA today, but his selling adds to the match, with just little subtle winces as he feels the ribs hurt. EY gets to kick out of a lot here, but it feels consistent with the new confidence he's showing. This more confident side costs him however, as he gets into a row with the ref and rolled up for the win. Fun match.

Scott Steiner vs Petey Williams
Steiner rightly dominates to start, as Williams stupidly tries to match strength with him. When he uses his speed instead, Williams has more luck, but he sadly suffers from having offence that looks like it wouldn't hurt at all (or "a case of the Ziggler's" as I call it). In comparison, Steiner hurls Petey from the top rope with a swank overhead suplex like it was nothing. This is a borderline squash, as Steiner decimates Williams, then repeatedly picks him up rather than just pinning him. Petey comes back with the campest leaping forearms I've ever seen, but you just know Steiner isn't taking the Canadian Destroyer so it's simply a case of when Steiner will pick up the victory. Petey does get a great nearfall after feigning jamming his shoulder into the ringpost, which is a nice spot. Petey tries to springboard out of the ring to hit a rana, but Steiner just powerbombs him to the floor. Petey is allowed to make the ropes during the Steiner Recliner, but the fucking Steiner Screwdriver is enough to kill Wiliams off for good.

Chris Sabin vs Brutus Magnus
Losing the first name was the wisest thing Magnus could have done. Well, along with losing the stupid gladiator get up. He does some nice chaining of holds in the initial stages that he doesn't do so much nowadays. I remembered Magnus being much greener than he looks here, but he looks crisp on offence, and there is a nice little sequence from a Snake Eyes to a kneedrop that looks good. He's a little restholdy in places, but you can see the start of a good wrestler here, and it may be fair to say he should be better today than he is, based on his performance here. Sabin helps, bumping big for a powerbomb and peppering the match with highspots to keep the crowd in it. Magnus wins with his twisting Samoan drop (Tormentum) and this was perfectly ok.

ODB vs Awesome Kong
Jim Cornette comes to the ring before the match starts to make the Kongtourage (Raisha Saeed, Sojo Bolt and Rhaka Khan) leave the ringside area or Kong loses the title. It's quite fun seeing a knockouts power match, with ODB favouring impact over finesse in the opening stage, before Kong cuts her off. Things slow down a bit when Kong goes on offence, and one thing the match loses from ODB's comparative size is the fun cat-and-mouse element you get from most of Kong's TNA run. They do build up nicely to a slam spot with two failed ODB attempts meaning the successful third gets a huge pop. However, Kong swiftly hits the Implant Buster for the win. Felt like a decent TV match rather than a PPV encounter.

Shane Sewell vs Booker T
This was during Sewell's "wrestling referee" gimmick, that lasted not very long. On commentary, they put over how focused Sewell is, whilst Booker is paying him no attention, so Sewell has to pull off the upset here, right? Booker pretty much dominates to start off, so maybe he was right to be cocky, as Sewell gets nothing in. Bookend only gets 2, and Sewell starts to hulk up. Unlike the Williams comeback, Sewell looks intense enough and his offence looks effective enough to cause Booker some problems, but Sharmell grabs his leg to allow Booker to hit the Ax Kick for the win. Match was barely anything, and seemingly only existed for AJ Styles to come out at the end and beat up Booker.

Matt Morgan vs Abyss
For maybe ten seconds this seemed quite good, with a fun shoulder barge exchange, but the second Morgan throws some pathetically weak blows, it goes downhill. He punches like a giant Jenna Morasca. Abyss seems shocked when the ref wont let him bring a steel pipe into the ring, as if he'd totally forgotten the rules of wrestling. We get treated to some of the least inspired crowd brawling ever, typified by Morgan chosing to simply sit down on the stairs as his method of selling a blow to the head. They return to the ring and Abyss, like a fucking idiot, throws some weapons into the ring, then again acts shocked when Rudy Charles grabs a steel chair from his hands. IT'S NOT NO DQ, YOU STUPID TWAT. Morgan's run on offence at least involves a bit of wrestling, and I did dig his top rope cross body. I don't mind big men showing some agility if it makes sense to do so, and Morgan hurling his body weight at Abyss to down him does make sense. Morgan leaping off the top for no other reason than to get caught in a chokeslam, not so much. Ref bump leads to a big pop, as the crowd now knows weapons are getting involved, with Morgan hitting a few chair shots. Abyss hits the shittest chokeslam ever on Morgan. Two absolutely awful Black Hole Slams get the win for Abyss. This was wank, but apparently Morgan went into the match just removed from surgery, so this was maybe to be expected.

Beer Money vs Lethal Consequences
Strange to think the least interesting guy in this match is the only one to make it to WWE TV, albeit as the world's most irritating face wrestler. I'd forgotten about the Beer Money boozer cruiser, such a great addition to the act. Lethal Consequences clear the ring early using their quickness, though they aren't especially dynamic for a cruiserweight team. We get some token "gay" comedy on the heels and Beer Money are having to dumb down into "clumsy comedy" mode to keep LC looking competitive. Beer Money getting on offence makes things way more interesting, as they're the crisper, more capable team. Creed is nursing a shoulder injury, so BM wisely zero in on this, and use offence which not only works the arm, but could conceivably earn them a pinfall, which is a hard balance to strike. The hot tag comes when Lethal decides he's had enough of waiting, and clears house before rolling Creed into their corner. Feels like that shouldn't really count. Lethal gets a few closes falls on BM, but you never really feel like there is any danger of the titles changing hands, and a few minutes later, Beer Money pick up the win following a chainshot to Lethal's head. Decent tag action, but no more than that.

Sting vs Kurt Angle vs Brother Ray vs Brother Devon
This is a fatal fourway featuring 2 members of the Main Event Mafia (Sting and Angle) and 2 from the Frontline (Team 3D).This match really shows how weak the Frontline faction was, as their best hope for the world title is a tag team that no-one believes will win. The dynamic is enough to keep things interesting though, as Team 3D are a tight unit, whilst Angle is clearly quite happy to screw over Sting to take the title for himself. This leaves Sting feeling like an island out there. Amusingly, 3D don't break up each other's pin attempts and indeed, having cleared the ring of Sting and Angle, Ray lies down for Devon, before Kurt breaks up the count. Should have just put on an armbar and tapped out instead. They do start to fight properly, losing their advantage of cohesion, and get beaten down, leading to a pedestrian brawl outside the ring. The MEM members lock in a dual Scorpion Deathlock and Ankle lock on 3D, but even more fun is the dual submissions by 3D. Partly because Ray's figure four is so bad, that Tenay has to cover by calling it a "figure four variation", but also because Kurt crawls over whilst stuck in a Boston crab to try and pin Sting (still in the figure four), which is wonderfully dickheaded. This gives Angle a bit of an opening to work over Sting's leg, though this doesn't last long until all four are in the ring, exchanging finishers and power moves, before Sting isolates Ray for the match winning Scorpion Deathdrop. Match result was never in question, but this was way more fun than expected.

Southside Wrestling Supershow

This Supershow saw Southside Wrestling leave the confines of the Rushcliffe Arena to put on a show at the Brittannia Hotel in Nottingham city centre. With a mix of UK indy names, US indy stars and ex TNA and WWE stars, this was a show that didn't disappoint.
Kay Lee Ray vs Awesome Kong
This was a fun choice of opener. Kong, though looking leaner than in her TNA and WWE days, still had a substantial size and power advantage over Lee Ray. KLR's game plan here was to play hit-and-run with Kong, trying to nail her with increasingly harder moves as Kong got more dazed. When Kong was on offence, it was a case of KLR surviving what was thrown at her. She survived an implant buster and a spinning backfist, kicking out of both at two. A rally of offence gave Lee Ray an opening, but Kong got knees up on a Swanton, and hit a huge implant buster for the win. Good opener.

Mark Haskins vs Uhaa Nation
First time I've seen Nation, and he's pretty impressive, with great size and loads of natural charisma. Haskins is one of the best wrestlers in the country though, and he controls the early stages by working the arm of Nation. The size difference does come into play with Haskins unable to hit a snapmare on Nation, and this size difference allows Nation to take control. As well as his size, Nation seems to be very agile and nails some impressive aerial moves. Haskins is able to keep in the match, making comebacks by attacking the arm. At the end, Nation nails a standing moonsault, but misses a second and Haskins locks in a Fujiwara armbar for the tapout win. Well-worked match.

Kris Travis vs Martin Kirby
Both members of Project Ego are without opponents after both Shannon Moore and MK McKinnan no-showed. Kirby launches a marvellous promo on both guys, referring to Moore as a drug addict in rehab and McKinnan as a fat blond lesbian. However, his attempt to get out of wrestling Travis backfires when, after they agree not to wrestle, he claims that he'd have won the match anyway. Travis takes exception to this and attacks off the bell with a superkick and a uranage for two. Travis is wrestling with injured knees, which Kirby referred to in his pre-match promo, and after he misses a double-knee in the corner, Kirby goes to work on his partners leg. The match is really well worked, with Travis making well-timed comebacks using his good leg. Before things can really heat up though, commentator Adam Curtis gets on the mic and encourages the two to stop fighting, comparing the work they're having to go through with the work of the US imports. Both guys leave the ring for a double-countout, which is a disappointing ending, but understandable given that this was a last-minute booking in difficult circumstances.

The Predators vs Robbie X & Mark Haskins
The development of Robbie X in Southside has been great to follow, starting as a talented lowercard flier, then progressing to the Speed King title and now being considered one of the better guys on the Southside roster at the age of 18. Robbie has taken on the Predators several times in the past, finally picking up the first win when teaming with Jonny Storm in a non-title match. Here, he teams with Haskins, who has been a thorn in the side of the House of Pain stable for the past few month. This was a great match, loved Robbie and Haskins fast-tagging and working the arm of Joseph Conners early on, as it showed not only tag-team continuity, but was also consistent with Haskins' normal MO of attacking the arm. Both faces take it in turns to be face-in-peril, with Conners and Paul Malen looking typically rabid in attack. What I like about the Predators is how they live up to their name, with a viciousness in their offence that justifies the billing. Robbie kicks out of the Predators' Trophy Kill finisher, which has been a surefire death finisher until now, making the kickout more effective. Haskins interjects to stop a top rope version, and Robbie hits a Phoenix Splash for the win. Nicely worked tag match.

The Hunter Brothers, Hardcore Holly & Dale Mills vs SC Supreme, Nathan Cruz, Max Angelus & Harvey Dale
This was an elimination tag match, with the losing captains (Mills or Dale) having to leave Southside for good. Surprisingly, the Hunters are both eliminated early here, leaving Holly to have to carry the load for his team. The crowd reacted really well to Holly, and he looked great here, seemingly not having aged in ten years. A slight disappointment is that I was looking forward to a battle of chops between Holly and Supreme which never happened, but the promise of one did amusingly lead to Supreme's elimination as Holly outsmarted him by ducking a chop and rolling him up for the three. Cruz is in next, and cowers off from Holly, but only to allow a distraction to give him control over Holly. A fun little section ends with Holly hitting the Alabama Slam to eliminate Cruz. Holly and Angelus square off, again having a fun little segment before Harvey stops an Alabama Slam attempt, the distraction of which allows Max to hit a discus clothesline for three.

The match to this point had been plenty of fun, and wisely, with two of the remaining three being non-wrestlers, the booking took over to keep it entertaining. First Angelus, fed up with Harvey Dale's guidance, slapped the ref to get himself disqualified, leaving the two non-wrestlers in the ring. At this point, SC Supreme reappeared, luring the ref backstage and allowing heel commentator Adam Curtis to enter the ring with a referee shirt. However, to the shock of all, he belted Harvey with a mic, allowing Mills to cover for the win and to ultimately keep his job. Really well booked match from start to finish, and the in-ring action was a lot of fun.

Chris Masters vs El Ligero
Ligero came out with his mask still ripped and broken from his cage match with Martin Kirby last month. Ligero seems to have lost heart since losing to his mortal enemy, which certainly wasn't the right frame of mind to be in when facing Masters. Masters was great heeling it up here, taunting the smaller, demoralised Ligero, who looked close to walking out at points. Ligero did get in some nice hope spots, but an attempt at a springboard armdrag was reversed into the Masterlock, to give Masters the easy win. Be interesting to see where Ligero goes from here.

Stixx vs Kevin Steen
This was the main event and, with the Predators losing their tag belts and Harvey Dale losing his job, Stixx has "nothing to lose" so challenged Steen to a falls-count anywhere match. To cut a long story short, this was an excellent match. with two heavyweights throwing bombs at each other. What I loved is how they built up the level of the spots throughout the match, with both dishing out heavy blows, but neither kicking out of moves that should finish the match (and I differentiate here between moves that COULD win a match and SHOULD win a match). Even the humourous moments were in keeping with a violent brawl, with Steen ramming Stixx into the walls culminating in him throwing Stixx headfirst into the crotch of a poster of Davey Richards. Stixx moves so well for a guy of his size, moving smoothly, but not bouncing around in a way that diminishes his aura as a hard man. The end came from a suitable move too, with Steen flapjacking Stixx through a chair, then hitting the package piledriver to win. Really fantastic brawl that was a joy to watch

TNA Knocked Out

This is a DVD from 2008 focused on what was, at the time, the best thing going in TNA in the Knockout's division. In many ways, watching this DVD was kinda depressing, as you realised that, despite TNA currently being on top form, the Knockout's division is currently a pale imitation of what it used to be. That said, the DVD isn't without flaws. You can't skip straight to a match, you have to sit through interview with the various knockouts first and trust me, there is only so many times you can hear "We're not wrestling barbies/We wrestle like the men/All the girls here enjoy the competition" without wanting to kill yourself. Luckily, the matches are pretty great.

10 Knockout Gauntlet For The Gold
Ms Brooks and Jackie Moore kick this off. There is only 60 seconds per new entrant, so things stay pretty high paced. Jackie has barely planted Brooks with a huge German suplex before Shelly Martinez comes in. Tenay hypes up her "lucha libre moves". This doesn't happen. Awesome Kong enters and Traci and Martinez look rightly terrified. Kong took so long getting to the ring that ODB's music starts before anyone has a chance to attack her. However Kong swiftly backfists Martinez from the top rope to the floor and Jackie eliminates Brooks. Kong swiftly destroys and eliminates Jackie. ODB isn't faring much better until Angel Williams enters. The future Angelina Love tries a sleeper on Kong, which doesn't end well before Kong suplexes her and ODB at once. Christy Hemme comes to the ring, and Kong decimates her, torture racking her and Awesome Bombing her to eliminate her through injury. They really made Kong look like a monster here. Gail Kim rushes to the ring and assaults Kong. Kim gets a headscissors on Kong over the top rope, and Williams and ODB help to eliminate Kong. Talia Madison (Velvet Sky) enters and works a weak looking segment with Williams, before ODB and Kim eliminate Williams. Roxxi Laveaux is the last entrant, and Talia and ODB are eliminated in quick order to leave Kim and Roxxi in a 1-on-1 match. Roxxi hits a swank looking fallaway slam, but Kim comes back with an octopus stretch. Roxxi manages to keep on top with her power advantage, hitting a powerbomb with a (weak) bridge for two. Gail avoids a blow and nails a Kryptonite Krunch to win. The battle royale was fun, especially with the Kong monster push, but the final match was a bit too your-move-my-move.

Roxxi Laveaux vs Angel Williams vs ODB vs Gail Kim
All three challengers focus on Gail right away, but Kim manages to overcome all three. The Voodoo Kin Mafia, who accompanied Roxxi, get thrown out for interfering. Roxxi puts a spell on the ref for this, which means he doesn't count when OBD rolls her up. Christ. Williams botches a flip into the corner, and the camera takes a lingering view of her backside as ODB spanks her. Roxxi and ODB then have a "mental face face-off" in the middle of the ring. ODB hits a 2nd rope Thesz press on ODB for two before Kim makes the save. Feels like ODB is concentrating here on getting her character over which, considering how popular she became, is no bad thing. Gail hits a top-rope crossbody to the outside on Roxxi. Williams flips out of a backslide attempt to DDT ODB in a nice move. All four end up in the ring, and Gail nails a nice diving legdrop on Roxxi for two. Roxxi accidentally spits some mist in ODB's face before getting blitzed with a Gail Kim spear. Kim then hits the Happy Ending on the blinded ODB to win. Fun match.

Angelina Love & Velvet Sky vs ODB & Roxxi Laveaux
With Angelina Love renamed, we are in Beautiful People territory here. Curiously, the BP wrestle like faces in the early going, with Love avoiding a Roxxi attack and controlling the early going. We end up in odd comedy territory as Velvet rides ODB like a horse and wedgies her, before ODB wedgies the ref. Roxxi nails Sky from the outside, so yeah, the BP are faces here as we get the heat section on Velvet. Nice spinebuster from Roxxi gets two. Velvet brekas out of the Dirty Dozen and makes the hot tag to Love. Probably makes sense to Love to be the hot-tag partner, as shes a better wrestler than Velvet, and thus more able to pop a crowd with her moves. The BP throw ODB out and hit a Yakuza kick/Russian legsweep combo on Roxxi to win. Solid, if unspectacular, tag match, but switching the face/heel dynamic for these two teams would soon be one of the smartest things TNA did with the knockouts.

Awesome Kong vs Gail Kim
Kong nails Gail before she even enters the ring, leading to the two brawling outside. Kong naturally has the advantage here, but Gail manages to avoid a clothesline, leading to Kong hitting the post. Gail wisely goes right after the arm, but gets too close to Kong, who grabs her in a sleeper and hurls her across the ring. They both manage to look good in this match: Kim gets to look resiliant, firing away on Kong any chance she gets, whilst Kong gets to look like a monster, as one of her shots in enough to send Gail to the mat. Everything Kong does looks so impactful, and Gail sells every shot like death. When Gail does get on offence, it takes a lot to knock Kong off her feet, so it really means something when she does so. Kong loses control and keeps choking Gail in the corner and shoving the referee to the floor, which earns her a DQ. Kong goes on a rampage afterwards, attacking the ref and both Beautiful People. Great match and, whilst the ending was cheap, it did lead up to a no-DQ match, so makes sense booking wise.

Awesome Kong vs Gail Kim
THIS no-DQ match in fact. Gail gets attacked on the ring apron AGAIN. Kong threatens to Awesome Bomb Gail through the announce table, but Kim bends over far enough to kick Kong in the head with a mule kick. In the ring, Kong is now able to choke Gail with no problems, playing off the last match. Kong sends Gail off the top rope with the spinning backfist. Kong swings Kim into the guard rail, which looks insane. They brawl into the crowd, which I normally hate, but they used it wisely in this match. Gail uses the elevation of the stairs to kick Kong directly in the head, then is able to find a bottle to beat Kong in the head with. The brawling looks really good here, like they're actually having a fight. The no-DQ stip also allows Kim to be able to cause serious pain to Kong, whilst keeping Kong looking like a monster: Kong misses a chairshot and instead gets it kicked into her face to kickstart a spell of offence for Kim. Gail gets caught on a top rope crossbody to the floor and dumped by Kong, which is really impressive. The referee gets powerbombed by Kong for only counting two after a facebuster. Kong loses control again and levels the ref with chairshots, but Gail grabs the chair and waffles Kong with it. What I love with these matches is that, even when Kim is in control, Kong feels like she's only one move from victory so Kim has to stay on top whilst she can. Kong gets two from a chokeslam after a new ref comes in, which sends her furious again. She tries to Awesome Bomb the new ref, but Gail rolls her up, with the ref landing on top of Kong, for the win. Great match, and they used the No-DQ stip effectively.

Awesome Kong vs Gail Kim
This is the first appearance of Raisha Saaed. This time Gail is prepared for Kong's early attack and moves out of the way, which shows she's learnt from the previous matches. They brawl outside where Gail takes a nasty bump into a wall, but avoids a charging Kong who breaks through the stage. In the ring, Gail takes over with a tornado DDT and a top rope senton for two. Saeed distracts Gail, who gets caught off the top by Kong with a chokeslam for two. Kong remains on offence, but they really show the resiliance of Kim as Kong hits her with an implant buster, which only gets two. Gail leaps off the top with a Frankensteiner attempt, but Kong holds her and nails two powerbombs, holding on and nailing the 3rd as an Awesome Bomb for the title. For a sub-ten minute TV match, this was really good stuff, putting Kong over strongly, but also making Kim look tough as nails, with Kong needing to hit 3 powerbombs to be sure of putting her away.

Angelina Love vs Velvet Sky vs Rhaka Khan vs Salinas vs Christy Hemme vs ODB vs Roxxi Laveaux vs Jacqueline vs Traci Brooks vs Gail Kim
I need to highlight how awful Rhaka Khan's ring music is. This is a battle royal with the last two entering a ladder match to become the number one contender to the Knockout title. However, the loser in the ladder match will get her head shaved....unless it's Gail Kim, who won an immunity match, so it would be Angelina taking her place. Already a bit of overbooking, you'll notice. The battle royal part is pretty uneventful, though Jackie and ODB teaming up on Rhaka Khan is quite fun. The final two are Roxxi and Gail, so we'll either see Roxxi or Angelina Love shaved bald. The referees demand Angelina stays at ringside in case she needs to be shaved, but it does also clearly allow her to be at ringside to massively interfere. The booking here is so arse-backwards, as the fans don't want to see Roxxi shaved, so they cheer for her over the number one face in the division. Good plan TNA. It's a shame, as Roxxi and Gail really go for it in this match. Gail takes a proper battering, getting sandwiched at speed between Roxxi and the ladder. Roxxi too takes some lumps, getting monkey-flipped onto a ladder and getting split open on a ladder on the scalp. Roxxi spinebusters Kim onto a ladder in another sick bump, but the BP stop Roxxi from being able to climb and essentially gift victory to Gail, which doesn't really help Gail. Roxxi is then shaved as the BP gloat to a chorus of "Fire Russo" from the crowd. This might have been acceptable if Roxxi got her revenge on Angelina and Velvet, but I'm pretty sure she never did.

Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs Gail Kim & ODB
This is a cage match and should be pretty good. ODB starts with Kong, but gets hurled into her own corner to tag in Kim. Gail demands Saeed gets in, which sorta makes her look scared of Kong. Saeed is, of course, Cheerleader Melissa, and is a rather great wrestler. Her initial exchanges with Gail, working over Kim's left arm is pretty sweet. The problem with the Saeed character is that she soon became the person people would beat in build-up for title matches with Kong, making her little more than a glorified jobber. Kong gives Saeed the advantage by ramming Kim's face into the cage. Saeed uses so many cool little touches while in control, like climbing to the top rope with Gail and ramming her head into the cage over and over with her foot. Kim makes the hot-tag to ODB, but Saeed can't make it to Kong in time, so ODB flattens her. All Hell breaks look, leading to Gail hitting an insane Hurracanrana from the top rope on a standing Saeed, using the cage for assistance. The crowd goes rightly nuts for that. Kong accidentally hits the backfist on Saeed and ODB nails a top rope splash on Saeed for the win. Super-enjoyable tag match.

Taylor Wilde vs Awesome Kong
This was after Taylor had been the most successful challenger from the crowd in the $25,000 Kong challenge and had beaten Raisha Saeed to earn this match (see, told you). Kong blitzes her to start. Like Gail, Taylor isn't afraid to bring the fight to Kong, but uses a few more cat-and-mouse tactics to play the underdog card more clearly. Kong misses a second rope splash, and Taylor gets a 2 count from a missile dropkick. The match is structured differently to the Kim matches, as Taylor is less experienced than Gail so has less spells of dominance. Kong's tendancy for attacking refs comes back into play as she swats one away as he tries to stop her choking Wilde in the corner. This distraction allows Taylor to hit a crossbody, with Kong tumbling over the downed ref for a nearfall. Taylor's inexperience shows again as she tries to German suplex Kong, but instead gets caught in an implant buster for two. Kong goes for the backfist, but Taylor ducks and rolls her up for the win and the title. Not as good as the Kim series, but it told the story it needed to really well.