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.
Showing posts with label Brother Ray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brother Ray. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Jeff Jarrett: King of the Mountain (Disks 3 & 4)
It's taken me months to work through them, but here's the second half of the Jeff Jarrett King of the Mountain set. The set ends with a few bonus matches from the early days of Jarrett's career, which is a nice touch.
Jeff Jarrett vs Monty Brown
They give this a really nice build-up for a TV match. Love the way the opening moments shows Brown countering each Jarrett attempt to out-wrestle him with sheer power. Brown has injured ribs though, so JJ takes advantage of an opening to ram Brown's ribs into the guard rail on the outside. Back inside, Jarrett continues to focus his attack on these ribs. It also gives Jarrett a way to logically stop Brown's comeback attempts, jamming his shoulder into the ribs as Monty runs the ropes. Brown fires back with a nice butterfly suplex. A swank running powerslam gets two, before Brown hits a big powerbomb for two. Brown no-sells a guitar shot to a HUGE pop and a Stroke only gets two. Brown nails the Pounce on JJ, but has to battle off some Scott Hall interference (with another Pounce) which allows JJ to nail two chair shots for the win. Really good TV match, where they protected Brown and, if anything, made him look more invincible.
Jeff Jarrett vs Kevin Nash
Jarrett is banned from using the guitar here, otherwise he loses his title. Jarrett launches himself around the ring early on, bumping big for Nash and feeding himself to big shots. Jarrett wisely goes to Nash's legs to try and chop him down to size, but this doesn't last too long before Nash is beating him on the outside. They end up brawling around the Impact Zone, including Nash throwing JJ into the catering table. Nash looks pretty driven here, which is nice to see. Jarrett turns the tide and grabs a CELLO to attack Nash with. Absolute genius. JJ goes right for the knee here, as there seems to be no DQ with Jarrett closing the cello case around Nash's leg. I like the logic of JJ going to the legs, firstly to take away the height advantage of Nash, but also as Jarrett uses a figure-four as a finisher, which he locks on. Nash comes back with a few power moves, but Jarrett can regain control with one blow to the injured leg. The ref gets bumped before Nash powerbombs Jarrett onto the cello (nice touch) before Billy Gunn runs in a nails Nash with a chairshot for two. Sean Waltman comes out to destroy Jarrett with a bronco buster and the X-Factor, but this only gets two. BG James stops Gunn from hitting Nash with the title belt, but this again only gets two. Stroke gets two. As overbooked as this is, the false finishes are very effective. A low blow and another Stroke gets the win for Jarrett. Kevin Nash was motivated here, and the result was maybe his best match in years.
Jeff Jarrett vs Rhino
Crowd is hot for Rhino here. Jarrett tries to work over the arm of Rhino early, but Rhino powers out of an armbar, then hits a suprising plancha outside the ring. We gets some brawling in the crowd, which is Rhino's domain, so he dominates. Lovely overhead shot on the ramp as Rhino batters JJ with punches. This is a nice change from some of the other Jarrett matches, as Rhino is a machine he can't outfight, so he's going to have to find another way to take over. He does this by luring Rhino to a high scaffold before hitting him with a chair to send him crashing off through a table. However, he keeps trying to fight Rhino outside the ring, and Rhino is soon able to re-establish control, goring JJ through a table down the entrance ramp. Team Canada comes out to beat Rhino up, hurliing him down the entry tunnel to try and give Jarrett the countout victory. Spinebuster gets a very close two. Token ref bump as Rudy Charles gets gored leads to more Team Canada interference. JJ guitarshot only gets two. The appearance of Jackie Gayda of all people leads to Rhino hitting a gore for two. Finally, the final run in comes from Scott D'Amore, who nails Rhino with a hockey stick. This leads to JJ hitting a Stroke from the second rope onto some chairs for the win. Started brilliantly, but more overbooking lead to this becoming painfully predictable again.
Jeff Jarrett, Abyss & America's Most Wanted vs Rhino, Ron Killings & Team 3D
Shockingly, this starts with a huge brawl all over the Impact zone. Things are kept just the right side of chaotic. We finally get into the ring, with Jarrett's heel team taking over following an Abyss chokeslam on Ray. This advantage doesn't last long, as Ray and Rhino soon batter both AMW members. Gail Kim prevents a gore on Rhino, leading to Tenay rather ungallantly yelling for Rhino to "GET HER!!". Thankfully, Abyss stops Rhino piledriving her with a big boot to take control. Strange to think people thought Chris Harris would be the breakout star of AMW, as even here James Storm looks far more comfortable and polished in the ring. The heel team keep control on Rhino, albeit not in a particularly interesting manner, before miscommunication between AMW member leads t the hot tag to Killings. Killings has the most energy and explosive offence on the team, so he's a good choice for the role. Chaos ensues, with finishers, interference from Gail Kim and Jackie Gayda, Harris getting handcuffed to a turnbuckle and ref bumps, before Jarrett hits the Stroke on Truth to end a match that lagged in the middle, but was terrific by the end.
Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner & America's Most Wanted vs Sting, AJ Styles, Ron Killings & Rhino
I always found the TNA Lethal Lockdown matches to be a bit of a mess, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes. At least the heels won the coin toss here, which they didn't always do, stupidly. Styles and Chris Harris start, and Harris looks a lot better than he did in the singles match vs Jarrett on the earlier discs. He looks more confident and more fluid as a worker. AJ splashing Harris into the cage repeatedly is pretty fun. Ref Earl Hebner decides to count a pinfall after a Styles Clash, so Harris is forced to kick out. Storm is out next, and AJ dropkicks the cage door, missing Storm, but wiping out Gail Kim. Rhino evens the numbers up and he comes in firing on all cylinders. He's the perfect choice for two minutes of fired up offence to pop the crowd before the next heel comes out. Jarrett is next, and he gets met by Styles and Rhino outside the cage, which is smart of them as it cuts off the numbers game. However, once in the cage, it's 3-on-2 and the heels dominate. Killings is next out and we get a crazy tower of doom spot with AJ taking the highest bump from the cage top. Steiner is out last to pick up the remains in his TNA debut. It's suplexes all round for the face team. It strikes me that TNA were much smarter in their choice of debut match for Steiner than the WWE were - the last entrant in a multi-man match versus working a 20 minute main event style match. Sting enters last as the cage roof gets lowered down. Love Sting stacking up all four heels in the corner for a pair of Stinger Splashes. I like the touch that the weapons don't become available until all the men are in the match as it adds something new to the match at that point. Styles and Storm end up on top of the roof, where Styles hits a splash from the lighting rig to put Storm through a table. Great spot. In the ring, we get a string of finishers, before Harris nails Sting with some handcuffs and locks on a Scorpion Deathlock. His cockiness backfires, as Sting counters his own finisher and locks in his own for the tapout. Ok, that was a whole heap of fun.
Jeff Jarrett & Scott Steiner vs Sting & Samoa Joe
This is from the period where Joe was the most over guy in TNA, and on the verge of a face turn. Sting dominates both heels to start, looking energised and nailing a double top-rope clothesline. The air of anticipation when Joe tags in to face Steiner is palpable. Their section together is pretty great, with Joe taking Steiner's offence, but looking more angered than hurt. Jarrett gets a bit cocky after nailing a few moves on Joe, but he gets planted when attempting to charge into the corner. Sting tags in and looks so energetic, really motivated and in great shape, but gets caught by the heels double-teaming. The heat segment on Sting is pretty brief, but the Joe hot-tag is awesome, as Jarrett and Steiner both make Joe look unstoppable. A JJ lowblow allows him to hit the Stroke on Joe for two, but a top rope version is blocked by Joe, and the musclebuster gets the win. A bit brief, but a fun tag match, with the heel team putting Joe over as a killer.
Jeff Jarrett vs Christian Cage vs Sting vs Abyss vs Ron Killings
Another King of the Mountain match, with Cage the defending champion. We get some early dives, with Christian, Truth and Sting(!) all leaping to the outside. Sting takes out Jarrett with a Stinger Splash, then lets Truth pin him with a missile dropkick. They're working a story of Sting only being focused on stopping Jarrett winning. Cage soon pins Abyss with a roll up. Released from the penalty box, Jarrett goes after Cage with real abandon outside the ring, before teaming with Abyss to set up a stack of tables outside the ring. Hmm. He then takes advantage of an opening to hit the Stroke on Truth onto the guard railings to get himself a pin. With Truth in the penalty box, Sting/Abyss and Cage/Jarrett pair off to fight in the crowd. Truth gets released and, with everyone in the crowd, has to blatantly waste time when faced with an obvious opportunity to win the match. Earl Hebner gets bumped, before Abyss tires of working for Jarrett and hits a Black Hole Slam on him to send JJ back to the penalty box. However, as he cimbs the ladder, Sting pushes him off it onto the stack of tables outside the ring. Sting locks a Scorpion Deathlock on Cage, but releases it when he realises Jarrett is making an attempt to climb the ladder. Sting gives the belt to Cage, in order to stop JJ winning the match, but Larry Zybysco gives Cage a low blow. Sting hurls Larry out and nails the Scorpion Deathdrop on JJ, but with no ref to count he has to use Earl Hebner's limp hand to give himself the three count. Sting and Cage fight on top of the ladder over who gets to win the title, before Earl Hebner, of all people, turns heel and pushes the ladder over to give Jarrett the win (in a hailstorm of garbage). At the end, Jim Cornette appears to take the belt off Jarrett, which is a bit of a cliffhanger for a DVD that wont get resolved. Better than the first KotM match on the set, as the big spots were set up better and there was a better overall story.
Jeff Jarrett vs Samoa Joe
This is a "fans revenge" match, with 18 fans at ringside with straps to whip the competitors. Brilliantly, JJ comes to the ring with several layers of clothes on as protection. Joe pretty much obliterates JJ to start, but Jarrett just avoids falling to the floor for a whipping. They wisely build up to the whip spots as Jarrett keeps managing to avoid landing outside, before eventually he hits and takes a whipping. JJ throws Joe out, and hilariously no-one hits Joe. Jarrett manages to get himself a strap, which he uses to wear out Joe, which is a nice way to give him the momentum without making Joe look weak. Joe manages to fire back and takes Jarrett's tops off before sending him to the floor. You get a really great sound of leather repeatedly hitting JJ's skin. Joe ties Jarrett to the top rope, and the fans swarm in to take free shots on Jarrett. JJ goes for the guitar, but Joe ducks and locks in a Kokina Clutch. Jarrett only just makes the ropes. Ref bump leads to a Stroke onto the guitar for just 2. Top rope Stroke is blocked, and Joe nails a musclebuster for the win. Fun match.
Jeff Jarrett vs Sting
Sting has put his career on the line here, so no surprises for guessing who wins. Kurt Angle is ringside as special enforcer. Jarrett is one step ahead of Sting in the early going, which they play up on commentary as ring-rust on Sting's part. However, JJ spitting in Sting's face backfires, as it only causes Sting to get angry and wail away on him. They brawl outside the ring, though both guys act like idiots at points by ignoring their opponent to get into a face-to-face with Angle. Action back in the ring is fine, though marred by a little sloppiness by Sting. We look to be heading to a double countout after a mid-ring collision, but Angle gives Rudy Charles the Angleslam on 9, and takes over as ref to ensure a winner. Both guys are suddenly perfectly healthy after this happens, and Sting gets 2 on the Scorpion Deathdrop. Jarrett then gets 2 on the Stroke. Sting tries to splash Jarrett, but gets only knees, primarily because his torso lands nowhere near Jarrett's body. Jarrett gets an anklelock on Sting, possibly proving his MMA credentials years before he bragged about them. JJ nails Sting with a guitar, only for Sting to no-sell and lock on a Scorpion Deathlock for the win. Felt a bit too short and sloppy for a PPV main event.
Jeff Jarrett, Sting, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe & Rhyno vs Christian Cage, Tomko, AJ Styles, Scott Steiner & Abyss
Jarrett has turned face in time for his return to enter this Lethal Lockdown match. Whoever gets the pin earns a title shot against Cage. We start with Styles and Angle. They showed the JJ return angle where he interfered in a match to give his team the entry advantage, but they explain on commentary that this had been reversed by Jim Cornette, so the heels have the edge. Styles dominates after Angle runs headfirst into the cage, but manages to pop off an Angleslam just in time for the entry of Abyss. AJ wisely lets Abyss work Angle over. Rhyno comes in to even the numbers up, and looks pretty good with bursts of power offence. Tomko is next in and he helps to bloody up Rhino. The two minute intervals don't really give enough time to build up any sense of peril for the faces, shown by Joe coming in next and just killing everyone. Joe looks terrific on offence here. Angle gives Tomko 5 German suplexes just because. Steiner takes over when he gets in, and it's getting a little predictable that we get two minutes of uninterrupted offence from each new guy, who then turns straight to defence when a new wrestler comes in. Steiner hits a top-rope Frankensteiner on Rhino, which is an awesome display. Sting comes in, two minutes of reasonable looking offence from him. They do hit a mental looking tower of doom spot, which is pretty great. Christian comes in, but he gets dominated by Sting. Even Don West picks up on Cage being the first person not to clean house. Jarrett is the last man in, with his guitar collapsing on his way to the ring. The lid comes down, and Jarrett throws weapons to his team-mates. Nice touch to show that he can be trusted after his turn. Styles and Angle climb to the roof of the cage, which doesn't bode well. There's some pretty fun brawling spots at this point, with Rhino managing to gore Tomko through the cage door being a highlight. Tacks end upin the ring, and Cage gets chokeslammed into them. At this point, Angle punches AJ off the roof of the bloody cage, landing onto men at ringside. Mental spot. Abyss fills a guitar with tacks (of course he does) but the cruel hand of irony means that Jarrett gets hold of it and nails him with it. JJ completes his face turn by beseeching Sting to cover Abyss for the win to get the title shot. Started slow, but it got spectacular by the end.
Jeff Jarrett vs Kurt Angle
This is Jarrett's first match back after taking time off due to the death of his wife. Mick Foley is the ringside enforcer. Jarrett has been of for two years at this point, so the crux of the story is seeing how Jarrett can fare after so much time off. He works over Angle on the outside, but he launches into a strut back inside the ring and gets his head taken off with a clothesline. They seem to be building this up as a match of survival for Jarrett, as Angle tries to ground Jarrett with JJ getting a few hope spots due to Angle's over-enthusiasm. An Angle corner charge meets only the steel post, but Angle comes back with a slick belly-to-belly suplex. Jarrett has to use his experience to keep in there with Angle, and a little trip leads to a figure-four for Jarrett. Angle gets his own submission locked on with the Anklelock, cruelly pulling JJ away just as he gets to the ropes. I like the use of JJ's selling here, with Angle pouncing to Angleslam him whilst Jarrett is pulling himself up to his feet. Only gets a two, and the leg injury from the figure four means he takes too long getting to the top for moonsault, which he misses. A ref bump leads to the Stroke, which only gets two with Mick Foley counting. Foley tries to stop Angle using a chair, but gets levelled with it instead, and Angle also nails JJ with it. Foley ain't too happy with that, so he gives Angle the mandible claw. Jarrett nails Angle with a guitar and Foley counts three for the feelgood win. Loved this.
Buddy Landell & Bill Dundee vs David Johnson & Jim Jamison
This is Jarrett's first TV appearance, as he's the referee for the contest. This is pretty much pure squash, with the heels even throwing Johnson into his corner to let him make a tag. Landell is particularly vicious pumelling Jamison in the corner. Dundee slams Jamison on the concrete floor just because he can. Landell picks up the win with an elbow. Landell beats up Jarrett after the match, and Jerry Jarrett gets taken out trying for the save. Jeff gets a few fired-up blows in, before another wrestler makes the save.
Jeff Jarrett vs Tony Falk
This is Jeff's debut in-ring. Falk levels the smaller JJ to start, and throws Jarrett through the ropes. This is his big mistake, as JJ comes in with a sunset flip to win. Afterwards, Landell and Dundee come back and beat the tar out of Jarrett. Jos Le Duc makes the save for Jeff.
Jeff Jarrett vs Hector Guerrero
Jarrett's hair has grown out a bit here. JJ wears Hector out with a headlock, causing him to flop to the mat. Jarrett maintains control, albeit not in a particularly exciting way. Plenty of armdrags. Hector takes over with a punch to the eye, and retains control with some cheap shots to Jarrett. Nice double-underhook suplex gets two for Hector. German suplex gets two. JJ looks good with his comeback, being a bit more fired up than his earlier offensive spell. Jarrett levels Guerrero with a 5lb bag of flower to give Guerrero the DQ win. Got pretty good by the end.
Jeff Jarrett vs Jerry Lawler
This is for the CWA title, held by Lawler. JJ shows great fire, recovering from a hiptoss to level Lawler with a clothesline. Jarrett locks a headscissors on Lawler and brilliantly stops an escape attempt by ramming Lawler's head into the mat. Great height on a Thesz press gets two for Jarrett. They hit mutual dropkicks, before a crossbody by Jarrett takes out both Lawler and the ref. This lets Dundee nail Jarrett with a loaded fist to give Jarrett the win.
Jeff Jarrett & Bill Dundee vs Gary Young & Cactus Jack
Jarrett and Dundee are now teaming up, might not have hurt to give a little pointer as to why they're now friends. Jarrett is noticably improving with each appearance, and looks great taking care of Young. A lithe Jack takes an insane bump on a missed corner charge, flying out to the floor. The heels take over on Jarrett after a Cactus knee to the back, but the heat section doesn't last long, with the tag to Dundee made moments later. It all breaks down and manager Downtown Bruno nails Dundee as he pins Young to give the faces the win. Pretty good fun.
Jeff Jarrett vs Monty Brown
They give this a really nice build-up for a TV match. Love the way the opening moments shows Brown countering each Jarrett attempt to out-wrestle him with sheer power. Brown has injured ribs though, so JJ takes advantage of an opening to ram Brown's ribs into the guard rail on the outside. Back inside, Jarrett continues to focus his attack on these ribs. It also gives Jarrett a way to logically stop Brown's comeback attempts, jamming his shoulder into the ribs as Monty runs the ropes. Brown fires back with a nice butterfly suplex. A swank running powerslam gets two, before Brown hits a big powerbomb for two. Brown no-sells a guitar shot to a HUGE pop and a Stroke only gets two. Brown nails the Pounce on JJ, but has to battle off some Scott Hall interference (with another Pounce) which allows JJ to nail two chair shots for the win. Really good TV match, where they protected Brown and, if anything, made him look more invincible.
Jeff Jarrett vs Kevin Nash
Jarrett is banned from using the guitar here, otherwise he loses his title. Jarrett launches himself around the ring early on, bumping big for Nash and feeding himself to big shots. Jarrett wisely goes to Nash's legs to try and chop him down to size, but this doesn't last too long before Nash is beating him on the outside. They end up brawling around the Impact Zone, including Nash throwing JJ into the catering table. Nash looks pretty driven here, which is nice to see. Jarrett turns the tide and grabs a CELLO to attack Nash with. Absolute genius. JJ goes right for the knee here, as there seems to be no DQ with Jarrett closing the cello case around Nash's leg. I like the logic of JJ going to the legs, firstly to take away the height advantage of Nash, but also as Jarrett uses a figure-four as a finisher, which he locks on. Nash comes back with a few power moves, but Jarrett can regain control with one blow to the injured leg. The ref gets bumped before Nash powerbombs Jarrett onto the cello (nice touch) before Billy Gunn runs in a nails Nash with a chairshot for two. Sean Waltman comes out to destroy Jarrett with a bronco buster and the X-Factor, but this only gets two. BG James stops Gunn from hitting Nash with the title belt, but this again only gets two. Stroke gets two. As overbooked as this is, the false finishes are very effective. A low blow and another Stroke gets the win for Jarrett. Kevin Nash was motivated here, and the result was maybe his best match in years.
Jeff Jarrett vs Rhino
Crowd is hot for Rhino here. Jarrett tries to work over the arm of Rhino early, but Rhino powers out of an armbar, then hits a suprising plancha outside the ring. We gets some brawling in the crowd, which is Rhino's domain, so he dominates. Lovely overhead shot on the ramp as Rhino batters JJ with punches. This is a nice change from some of the other Jarrett matches, as Rhino is a machine he can't outfight, so he's going to have to find another way to take over. He does this by luring Rhino to a high scaffold before hitting him with a chair to send him crashing off through a table. However, he keeps trying to fight Rhino outside the ring, and Rhino is soon able to re-establish control, goring JJ through a table down the entrance ramp. Team Canada comes out to beat Rhino up, hurliing him down the entry tunnel to try and give Jarrett the countout victory. Spinebuster gets a very close two. Token ref bump as Rudy Charles gets gored leads to more Team Canada interference. JJ guitarshot only gets two. The appearance of Jackie Gayda of all people leads to Rhino hitting a gore for two. Finally, the final run in comes from Scott D'Amore, who nails Rhino with a hockey stick. This leads to JJ hitting a Stroke from the second rope onto some chairs for the win. Started brilliantly, but more overbooking lead to this becoming painfully predictable again.
Jeff Jarrett, Abyss & America's Most Wanted vs Rhino, Ron Killings & Team 3D
Shockingly, this starts with a huge brawl all over the Impact zone. Things are kept just the right side of chaotic. We finally get into the ring, with Jarrett's heel team taking over following an Abyss chokeslam on Ray. This advantage doesn't last long, as Ray and Rhino soon batter both AMW members. Gail Kim prevents a gore on Rhino, leading to Tenay rather ungallantly yelling for Rhino to "GET HER!!". Thankfully, Abyss stops Rhino piledriving her with a big boot to take control. Strange to think people thought Chris Harris would be the breakout star of AMW, as even here James Storm looks far more comfortable and polished in the ring. The heel team keep control on Rhino, albeit not in a particularly interesting manner, before miscommunication between AMW member leads t the hot tag to Killings. Killings has the most energy and explosive offence on the team, so he's a good choice for the role. Chaos ensues, with finishers, interference from Gail Kim and Jackie Gayda, Harris getting handcuffed to a turnbuckle and ref bumps, before Jarrett hits the Stroke on Truth to end a match that lagged in the middle, but was terrific by the end.
Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner & America's Most Wanted vs Sting, AJ Styles, Ron Killings & Rhino
I always found the TNA Lethal Lockdown matches to be a bit of a mess, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes. At least the heels won the coin toss here, which they didn't always do, stupidly. Styles and Chris Harris start, and Harris looks a lot better than he did in the singles match vs Jarrett on the earlier discs. He looks more confident and more fluid as a worker. AJ splashing Harris into the cage repeatedly is pretty fun. Ref Earl Hebner decides to count a pinfall after a Styles Clash, so Harris is forced to kick out. Storm is out next, and AJ dropkicks the cage door, missing Storm, but wiping out Gail Kim. Rhino evens the numbers up and he comes in firing on all cylinders. He's the perfect choice for two minutes of fired up offence to pop the crowd before the next heel comes out. Jarrett is next, and he gets met by Styles and Rhino outside the cage, which is smart of them as it cuts off the numbers game. However, once in the cage, it's 3-on-2 and the heels dominate. Killings is next out and we get a crazy tower of doom spot with AJ taking the highest bump from the cage top. Steiner is out last to pick up the remains in his TNA debut. It's suplexes all round for the face team. It strikes me that TNA were much smarter in their choice of debut match for Steiner than the WWE were - the last entrant in a multi-man match versus working a 20 minute main event style match. Sting enters last as the cage roof gets lowered down. Love Sting stacking up all four heels in the corner for a pair of Stinger Splashes. I like the touch that the weapons don't become available until all the men are in the match as it adds something new to the match at that point. Styles and Storm end up on top of the roof, where Styles hits a splash from the lighting rig to put Storm through a table. Great spot. In the ring, we get a string of finishers, before Harris nails Sting with some handcuffs and locks on a Scorpion Deathlock. His cockiness backfires, as Sting counters his own finisher and locks in his own for the tapout. Ok, that was a whole heap of fun.
Jeff Jarrett & Scott Steiner vs Sting & Samoa Joe
This is from the period where Joe was the most over guy in TNA, and on the verge of a face turn. Sting dominates both heels to start, looking energised and nailing a double top-rope clothesline. The air of anticipation when Joe tags in to face Steiner is palpable. Their section together is pretty great, with Joe taking Steiner's offence, but looking more angered than hurt. Jarrett gets a bit cocky after nailing a few moves on Joe, but he gets planted when attempting to charge into the corner. Sting tags in and looks so energetic, really motivated and in great shape, but gets caught by the heels double-teaming. The heat segment on Sting is pretty brief, but the Joe hot-tag is awesome, as Jarrett and Steiner both make Joe look unstoppable. A JJ lowblow allows him to hit the Stroke on Joe for two, but a top rope version is blocked by Joe, and the musclebuster gets the win. A bit brief, but a fun tag match, with the heel team putting Joe over as a killer.
Jeff Jarrett vs Christian Cage vs Sting vs Abyss vs Ron Killings
Another King of the Mountain match, with Cage the defending champion. We get some early dives, with Christian, Truth and Sting(!) all leaping to the outside. Sting takes out Jarrett with a Stinger Splash, then lets Truth pin him with a missile dropkick. They're working a story of Sting only being focused on stopping Jarrett winning. Cage soon pins Abyss with a roll up. Released from the penalty box, Jarrett goes after Cage with real abandon outside the ring, before teaming with Abyss to set up a stack of tables outside the ring. Hmm. He then takes advantage of an opening to hit the Stroke on Truth onto the guard railings to get himself a pin. With Truth in the penalty box, Sting/Abyss and Cage/Jarrett pair off to fight in the crowd. Truth gets released and, with everyone in the crowd, has to blatantly waste time when faced with an obvious opportunity to win the match. Earl Hebner gets bumped, before Abyss tires of working for Jarrett and hits a Black Hole Slam on him to send JJ back to the penalty box. However, as he cimbs the ladder, Sting pushes him off it onto the stack of tables outside the ring. Sting locks a Scorpion Deathlock on Cage, but releases it when he realises Jarrett is making an attempt to climb the ladder. Sting gives the belt to Cage, in order to stop JJ winning the match, but Larry Zybysco gives Cage a low blow. Sting hurls Larry out and nails the Scorpion Deathdrop on JJ, but with no ref to count he has to use Earl Hebner's limp hand to give himself the three count. Sting and Cage fight on top of the ladder over who gets to win the title, before Earl Hebner, of all people, turns heel and pushes the ladder over to give Jarrett the win (in a hailstorm of garbage). At the end, Jim Cornette appears to take the belt off Jarrett, which is a bit of a cliffhanger for a DVD that wont get resolved. Better than the first KotM match on the set, as the big spots were set up better and there was a better overall story.
Jeff Jarrett vs Samoa Joe
This is a "fans revenge" match, with 18 fans at ringside with straps to whip the competitors. Brilliantly, JJ comes to the ring with several layers of clothes on as protection. Joe pretty much obliterates JJ to start, but Jarrett just avoids falling to the floor for a whipping. They wisely build up to the whip spots as Jarrett keeps managing to avoid landing outside, before eventually he hits and takes a whipping. JJ throws Joe out, and hilariously no-one hits Joe. Jarrett manages to get himself a strap, which he uses to wear out Joe, which is a nice way to give him the momentum without making Joe look weak. Joe manages to fire back and takes Jarrett's tops off before sending him to the floor. You get a really great sound of leather repeatedly hitting JJ's skin. Joe ties Jarrett to the top rope, and the fans swarm in to take free shots on Jarrett. JJ goes for the guitar, but Joe ducks and locks in a Kokina Clutch. Jarrett only just makes the ropes. Ref bump leads to a Stroke onto the guitar for just 2. Top rope Stroke is blocked, and Joe nails a musclebuster for the win. Fun match.
Jeff Jarrett vs Sting
Sting has put his career on the line here, so no surprises for guessing who wins. Kurt Angle is ringside as special enforcer. Jarrett is one step ahead of Sting in the early going, which they play up on commentary as ring-rust on Sting's part. However, JJ spitting in Sting's face backfires, as it only causes Sting to get angry and wail away on him. They brawl outside the ring, though both guys act like idiots at points by ignoring their opponent to get into a face-to-face with Angle. Action back in the ring is fine, though marred by a little sloppiness by Sting. We look to be heading to a double countout after a mid-ring collision, but Angle gives Rudy Charles the Angleslam on 9, and takes over as ref to ensure a winner. Both guys are suddenly perfectly healthy after this happens, and Sting gets 2 on the Scorpion Deathdrop. Jarrett then gets 2 on the Stroke. Sting tries to splash Jarrett, but gets only knees, primarily because his torso lands nowhere near Jarrett's body. Jarrett gets an anklelock on Sting, possibly proving his MMA credentials years before he bragged about them. JJ nails Sting with a guitar, only for Sting to no-sell and lock on a Scorpion Deathlock for the win. Felt a bit too short and sloppy for a PPV main event.
Jeff Jarrett, Sting, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe & Rhyno vs Christian Cage, Tomko, AJ Styles, Scott Steiner & Abyss
Jarrett has turned face in time for his return to enter this Lethal Lockdown match. Whoever gets the pin earns a title shot against Cage. We start with Styles and Angle. They showed the JJ return angle where he interfered in a match to give his team the entry advantage, but they explain on commentary that this had been reversed by Jim Cornette, so the heels have the edge. Styles dominates after Angle runs headfirst into the cage, but manages to pop off an Angleslam just in time for the entry of Abyss. AJ wisely lets Abyss work Angle over. Rhyno comes in to even the numbers up, and looks pretty good with bursts of power offence. Tomko is next in and he helps to bloody up Rhino. The two minute intervals don't really give enough time to build up any sense of peril for the faces, shown by Joe coming in next and just killing everyone. Joe looks terrific on offence here. Angle gives Tomko 5 German suplexes just because. Steiner takes over when he gets in, and it's getting a little predictable that we get two minutes of uninterrupted offence from each new guy, who then turns straight to defence when a new wrestler comes in. Steiner hits a top-rope Frankensteiner on Rhino, which is an awesome display. Sting comes in, two minutes of reasonable looking offence from him. They do hit a mental looking tower of doom spot, which is pretty great. Christian comes in, but he gets dominated by Sting. Even Don West picks up on Cage being the first person not to clean house. Jarrett is the last man in, with his guitar collapsing on his way to the ring. The lid comes down, and Jarrett throws weapons to his team-mates. Nice touch to show that he can be trusted after his turn. Styles and Angle climb to the roof of the cage, which doesn't bode well. There's some pretty fun brawling spots at this point, with Rhino managing to gore Tomko through the cage door being a highlight. Tacks end upin the ring, and Cage gets chokeslammed into them. At this point, Angle punches AJ off the roof of the bloody cage, landing onto men at ringside. Mental spot. Abyss fills a guitar with tacks (of course he does) but the cruel hand of irony means that Jarrett gets hold of it and nails him with it. JJ completes his face turn by beseeching Sting to cover Abyss for the win to get the title shot. Started slow, but it got spectacular by the end.
Jeff Jarrett vs Kurt Angle
This is Jarrett's first match back after taking time off due to the death of his wife. Mick Foley is the ringside enforcer. Jarrett has been of for two years at this point, so the crux of the story is seeing how Jarrett can fare after so much time off. He works over Angle on the outside, but he launches into a strut back inside the ring and gets his head taken off with a clothesline. They seem to be building this up as a match of survival for Jarrett, as Angle tries to ground Jarrett with JJ getting a few hope spots due to Angle's over-enthusiasm. An Angle corner charge meets only the steel post, but Angle comes back with a slick belly-to-belly suplex. Jarrett has to use his experience to keep in there with Angle, and a little trip leads to a figure-four for Jarrett. Angle gets his own submission locked on with the Anklelock, cruelly pulling JJ away just as he gets to the ropes. I like the use of JJ's selling here, with Angle pouncing to Angleslam him whilst Jarrett is pulling himself up to his feet. Only gets a two, and the leg injury from the figure four means he takes too long getting to the top for moonsault, which he misses. A ref bump leads to the Stroke, which only gets two with Mick Foley counting. Foley tries to stop Angle using a chair, but gets levelled with it instead, and Angle also nails JJ with it. Foley ain't too happy with that, so he gives Angle the mandible claw. Jarrett nails Angle with a guitar and Foley counts three for the feelgood win. Loved this.
Buddy Landell & Bill Dundee vs David Johnson & Jim Jamison
This is Jarrett's first TV appearance, as he's the referee for the contest. This is pretty much pure squash, with the heels even throwing Johnson into his corner to let him make a tag. Landell is particularly vicious pumelling Jamison in the corner. Dundee slams Jamison on the concrete floor just because he can. Landell picks up the win with an elbow. Landell beats up Jarrett after the match, and Jerry Jarrett gets taken out trying for the save. Jeff gets a few fired-up blows in, before another wrestler makes the save.
Jeff Jarrett vs Tony Falk
This is Jeff's debut in-ring. Falk levels the smaller JJ to start, and throws Jarrett through the ropes. This is his big mistake, as JJ comes in with a sunset flip to win. Afterwards, Landell and Dundee come back and beat the tar out of Jarrett. Jos Le Duc makes the save for Jeff.
Jeff Jarrett vs Hector Guerrero
Jarrett's hair has grown out a bit here. JJ wears Hector out with a headlock, causing him to flop to the mat. Jarrett maintains control, albeit not in a particularly exciting way. Plenty of armdrags. Hector takes over with a punch to the eye, and retains control with some cheap shots to Jarrett. Nice double-underhook suplex gets two for Hector. German suplex gets two. JJ looks good with his comeback, being a bit more fired up than his earlier offensive spell. Jarrett levels Guerrero with a 5lb bag of flower to give Guerrero the DQ win. Got pretty good by the end.
Jeff Jarrett vs Jerry Lawler
This is for the CWA title, held by Lawler. JJ shows great fire, recovering from a hiptoss to level Lawler with a clothesline. Jarrett locks a headscissors on Lawler and brilliantly stops an escape attempt by ramming Lawler's head into the mat. Great height on a Thesz press gets two for Jarrett. They hit mutual dropkicks, before a crossbody by Jarrett takes out both Lawler and the ref. This lets Dundee nail Jarrett with a loaded fist to give Jarrett the win.
Jeff Jarrett & Bill Dundee vs Gary Young & Cactus Jack
Jarrett and Dundee are now teaming up, might not have hurt to give a little pointer as to why they're now friends. Jarrett is noticably improving with each appearance, and looks great taking care of Young. A lithe Jack takes an insane bump on a missed corner charge, flying out to the floor. The heels take over on Jarrett after a Cactus knee to the back, but the heat section doesn't last long, with the tag to Dundee made moments later. It all breaks down and manager Downtown Bruno nails Dundee as he pins Young to give the faces the win. Pretty good fun.
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