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.

TNA Joker's Wild Tag Team Tournament 2013

So, these new monthly One Night Only PPV's are free to us here in the UK and with the latest Joker's Wild show bringing back happy memories of WCW's Lethal Lottery, I thought I'd check it out. Overall? Not a bad show for free, and I suspect I'd feel the same if I'd paid $15. The show sees randomly drawn tag-teams compete, with the winning team entering a 12-man gauntlet for a $100,000 cheque.

James Storm & Christian York vs Gunner & Crimson

This was a pretty standard tag team match, though I do think the team of Gunner and Crimson have potential together. They looked pretty cohesive, with Gunner splashing York in the corner leading straight to a Crimson t-bone suplex being particularly choice. The commentary from Taz and Tenay worked well at putting over Storm in this environment, highlighting how he’d won the TNA tag titles 11 times, as well as noting that it was Storm who ended Crimson’s undefeated streak. Yorks offence looks a little convoluted at times, especially when Gunner has to assist him in hitting the rolling kick he hits for the hot tag. Storm is a really good hot tag wrestler, as he’s got offense that is suitably flashy but also looks like it might hurt. I really liked him holding Gunner after hitting a codebreaker, in order for York to add a top rope stomp on Gunner’s prone body. A Storm superkick on Gunner ends this.

Jessie Godderz & Mr Anderson vs Douglas Williams & Kid Kash

Godderz’s character work here is excellent. His egotistical, overenthusiastic goof act works really well as he’s desperate to tag in, using one arm ringer, then tagging straight out again. However, his enthusiasm gets the best of him, leading to the veteran team to really take him to town. Kash especially takes great pleasure in beating Godderz down. I loved the spot where Jessie could have made the hot tag, but instead woozily tells Anderson “I got it” before getting battered again. Kash and Williams get insane elevation on a back bodydrop. Kash’s springboard moonsault on Jessie is just beautiful, but only gets two. The hot tag comes when Jessie just kind of falls into Anderson, who tags in and cleans house, but Jessie stops him as he attempts a fireman’s carry roll on Kash. Anderson, fed up with his goofy partner, nails a Mic Check on Jessie, then reverses a Kash roll up to win for his team. Loved the dynamic of the exasperated Anderson, the goofy Godderz and the no-nonsense veterans here, surprisingly entertaining.

Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels vs Chavo Guerrero & Rob Van Dam

Daniels is overjoyed to have Joe as his partner. Daniels works good early segments with both Chavo and RVD, with RVD’s leg submission/pin combo looking good. The RVD/Guerrero team dominate both Joe and Daniels early on, until Daniels nails Chavo from the outside. Despite Joe being a face, he has a similar attitude to Daniels and doesn’t seem offended by his partner’s blatant cheating. They work well together. They work a decent, lengthy heat section on Chavo, until Daniels ego costs them, as he stops Joe hitting a musclebuster, allowing Chavo time to recover and make the tag to RVD. RVD attempts the 5* on Joe, but interference from Chavo and Daniels gives Joe time to recover, and he plays possum, suddenly leaping up to hit the musclebuster on RVD for the win. Perfectly watchable, but a little flat in places.

Robbie E & Zema Ion vs Bobby Roode & Joseph Park

The team of Robbie and Ion seem perfectly suited together. The team of Roode and Park less so. Park pulls the best “sad face” when Roode lambasts him. I love the initial stages of the match where Roode dominates and pretends he’ll tag Park in, before refusing to do so. Eventually, he does tag in Park, but soon starts to regret his decision (Roode yelling “Tag me back in, you moron” got a legit laugh from me). E and Ion work over Park after an Ion distraction leads to a Robbie attack on Park’s leg, and look pretty good doing it. An Ion 450 hits Park’s back as he tries to move, in an awkward looking spot, but Ion hitting Poetry In Motion on Park only busts him open and puts him in a rage-trance. Park destroys his opponents, hitting a Black Hole Slam on Robbie, before coming out of his trance. I love Roode blind tagging in to cover Robbie and claim the glory for himself. Not a great match, but plenty of fun.

Hernandez & Alex Silva vs DOC & Devon

Taz on commentary implies that Ace’s & 8’s rigged the draw for this one. I actually thought Silva looked pretty impressive here, taking offence well and hitting some nice underdog offence. I liked Hernandez elevating him into Devon in the corner too. Soon, Silva gets isolated, and DOC gets great height on a legdrop, which looks awesome. This is a basic tag formula match, complete with heat section and a false tag, but it’s done well enough. Silva lands on his feet on a suplex and tags Hernandez, who blitzes his opponents with some power moves. Silva blind tags himself back in again before Hernandez leaps from the ring onto Devon with a swank tope. This leaves Silva with DOC, and again Silva has a nice period of underdog offence, before DOC wipes him out with a big boot and a chokeslam. Thought Silva looked plenty promising here.

Matt Morgan & Robbie T vs Al Snow & Joey Ryan

The underlying story here is that Snow and Ryan still hate each other from Gut Check, and that Morgan and Ryan don’t want to fight. This leaves Snow to work the bulk of the match, and he’s really off the pace here. He works a section with Robbie T that is really clumsy looking. I was initially inclined to blame Robbie for this, but his later section with Ryan is alright, so I feel Snow is more at fault. Also, as veteran, he should really have advised T to do something more exciting during a painful 5 minute chinlock. Snow should surely know better. This does pick up towards the end, where Snow and Terry conspire to leave Ryan and Morgan in the ring, as the two friends don’t want to fight. This leads to Ryan, hilariously, raining down on Morgan with futile blows, only for a Carbon Footprint to give the win to Morgan and Terry. Not very good, and I can’t help but blame Snow for that.

12 Man Gauntlet for $100,000 (James Storm, Christian York, Mr Anderson, Jessie Godderz, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Bobby Roode, Joseph Park, DOC, Devon, Matt Morgan & Robbie T)

The gauntlet starts with Storm and Roode, which gives some reliably solid action. The next two entrants are Devon and DOC, which means that the ex-Beer Money members set aside their differences to eliminate DOC. There are a few entries that come with little consequence, as Godderz, York and Park all enter. I do love the fact that Storm and Roode fight each other just to get the chance to strike Godderz in the corner. Anderson comes in and nails Godderz, allowing Park to eliminate him. Daniels and Joe enter, but no eliminations take place until Robbie T comes in, eliminating York, Daniels and Anderson in quick succession. Morgan is the last entrant, and he too goes on a spree, throwing Park, Joe and Robbie out. This leaves a final four of Morgan, Devon, Storm and Roode, which soon becomes three as Morgan misses the Carbon Footprint on Storm, who bundles him out. Knux comes to the ring and pulls Roode outside under the middle rope, but his interference on Storm backfires as Devon gets eliminated. Roode sneaks back in and thinks he’s won as he throws Storm over the top, but Storm skins the cat, and nails a codebreaker and a superkick for the win. Not much to enjoy here, as the eliminations were pretty much grouped together, though the ending was fun. Pretty enjoyable show on the whole though, hopefully this becomes an annual thing.

TNA Against All Odds 2012

Man, it's been ages since I've written anything for this blog. Luckily, a few months of upheaval are now over, with the upshot being that I'm going to have more time to watch/write about pro-wrestling. Onto this show, which I started watching about 2 months ago and have only just got round to writing about...

Jesse Sorensen vs Zema Ion
Obviously, this match went short due to the unfortunate injury to Sorensen. I’ve been very vocal in my support of Jesse on this blog, his improvement has been noticeable on a month by month basis. Even in the 5 minutes here, he hits a great Northern Light suplex with real snap. Hopefully he’ll be able to return one day.

Robbie E vs Shannon Moore
Moore is in this match as a result of answering the first Robbie E Invitational. This is filler, but it’s enjoyable filler as Robbie E is one of the most entertaining guys on the roster right now. Robbie makes to leave early following some Moore offence, but Shannon brings him back into the ring. Moore takes a nasty looking bump into the railings to give Robbie the advantage. Jeremy Borash does some nice work on commentary to put over the importance of this match, talking about how he travels with Robbie E, and that he takes the TV title with him everywhere. The Fist Pump drop gets two. I love how excited E gets every time he goes for the pin. Moore hits an asai moonsault on the outside, which is interesting considering the Sorensen interview in the previous match. Moore follows this with a nice top rope rana for two, but Robbie T gets involved, punching Moore in the head as he heads towards the ropes, leading the a Robbie E leaping DDT for 3.

Gail Kim vs Tara
Knockouts title match. Madison Rayne comes to the ring with Gail, and it’s a novel touch that her being at ringside works against Kim, as the champ spends too much time distracted by Madison which allows Tara to attack at the bell. Oddly, Tara is REALLY over in the Impact Zone. Kim starts to target Tara’s knee with a Brock Lock, a move more people should really do considering the massive brace on her knee. She follows this with an Octopus Stretch, which is broken when Tara gets the ropes. Tara gets back in command with a decent powerslam. She hits a top rope moonsault, but hurts her bad knee in the process, so can only get two. Tara goes for the Widow’s Peak, but Gail reverses to a knee-breaker and gets Eat Defeat for the win. Not a bad match, but not great either. I feel like Gail should have done a bit more work on the knee before the moonsault, but that’s possibly a minor quibble.

Crimson & Matt Morgan vs Samoa Joe & Magnus
For two thrown together teams, this was actually a good match. I’m not big fan of Crimson or Morgan, but they were both better in this environment than in singles action. Magnus is a guy who has improved immensely since his TNA debut in 2009, so I’m glad to see TNA use him again. Crimson ends up as face-in-peril after some outside interference from Joe. Magnus and Joe have already developed good tag team chemistry, with some well-worked double teams. They work the heat section on Crimson well, whilst still giving him some hope spots. My favourite of which sees Joe stop a Crimson break for the corner with a crisp powerslam. Crimson does make the hot tag, and Morgan looks decent when coming in. The tag environment suits a guy like Morgan, as he can hot tag in and hit some power moves, whilst not being required to work a full match. Crimson hits an accidental spear on his partner, and Joe/Magnus hit the snapmare/elbow combo to pick up the tag titles. Better than you’d expect.

Austin Aries vs Alex Shelley
When Get Cape video stars collide. Shelley attacks Aries as he reclines in the corner to get this thing started. There is a nice spot early on where Shelley throws Aries out of the ring and prepares for a dive, only for Aries to crawl under the ring and attack him from behind. Aries starts hitting knees to the shoulders of Shelley as the commentary team wisely bring up Shelley being sidelined with a shoulder injury. Aries follows this up with a 2nd rope elbow to the back of a seated Shelley. Shelley takes over after A Double takes ages setting up the Pendullum Elbow. Aries tries to crawl under the ring again, but this time gets cut off by Shelley, who hits a suicide dive successfully. Aries takes over and this time hits the Pendullum Elbow with no build up, which Tenay highlights. Aries hits a sick Death Valley Driver on the ring apron but misses the 450 splash. Shelley hits Sliced Bread, only for Aries to get his foot on the rope. Aries rolls through a roll-up attempt and goes back to Shelley’s neck with a series of knees before the brainbuster only gets a two. Shelley gets another nearfall from a series of kicks to the head, but A Double blocks another Sliced Bread attempt and hits another brainbuster, before locking in the Last Chancery for the tapout win. Really good match, with Aries concentrating on Shelley’s injured shoulder, which also softened Alex up for the submission.

AJ Styles vs Kazarian
Kaz is accompanied by Christopher Daniels, who forces him to wrestle in a Daniels t-shirt. Styles soon rips that off him, however. Despite an early flub where AJ leaps too early on a leapfrog, this surpassed my expectations. Kazarian is a guy I can’t make up my mind about, but I do think he makes a better heel than face. To their credit, they managed to continue the storyline, whilst working a fun match. Styles keeps eyeing up Daniels throughout the match. There is a nice touch where Styles uses an Indian Deathlock on Kaz, and maintains eye-contact with Daniels throughout the move. They exchange finisher attempts a few times too, but again that fits into the story, with them being former stablemates and friends who know each other well. The ending I liked too, with AJ looking like he’s going to springboard into the ring onto Kaz, but instead hitting an insane Asai moonsault to the floor on Daniels. However, this gives Kaz time to recover so that, when AJ does try to springboard in, he gets caught in a Fade To Black for the Kaz win. Good effort.

Gunner vs Garrett Bischoff
I really think Gunner is coming into his own and it’s massively to his credit that this wasn’t utterly dreadful. This is your typical overmatched face vs overconfident heel match, and should lead to a straightforward story. However, the match goes nearly 13 minutes, and that is far too long for the story they told here. The other problem is that Garrett is neither over nor talented, so Gunner had to control the majority of the match, without beating Garrett too badly, which gets old really quickly. Gunner does hit a slingshot suplex to give the match some brownie points, but the biggest pop comes from Hogan decking Eric Bischoff outside the ring. Gunner hits a neckbreaker, calling back to their previous match where Gunner injured Garrett, but Garrett stops Hulk throwing in the towel. This doesn’t stop Gunner hitting a DDT for the win. I don’t think Garrett is unsalvageable as he does show some fire in his comebacks, but he really needs to spend a few years working as many non-televised shows as possible to learn how to put on a proper match. He’s simply not good TV yet.

Bobby Roode vs Bully Ray vs James Storm vs Jeff Hardy
I really enjoyed this match. They threw in enough clever little bits to keep me entertained as a viewer. For example, when Bully departing the ring means Hardy and Storm have Roode to themselves, they hit Poetry In Motion on him, but on a second attempt Storm quickly tries to roll Jeff up for a 2 count. I also dug the moment when Roode and Storm teamed up to suplex Ray, then teased the Beer Money celebration only for Roode to attack Storm part way through. They manage to keep the match pretty high tempo, and everything looks really smooth. One sequence involving Roode, Ray and Hardy, which ends with a Bully Bomb on Jeff is particularly good. Ray looks great throughout, everything he does looks really meaty and like it’s going to hurt. It’s nothing fancy, but he gets more out of his elbow drops than a lot of guys in TNA do with fancier moves. I enjoyed the ending too, with guys hitting their finishers all over the shop before an opponent stops them getting the win. A ref bump gives Roode the opportunity to grab his title to hit Hardy, but Sting stops him. Roode, in spectacular dick heel form, goads Sting into hitting him, only to duck and allow Sting to level Hardy instead. Roode then covers Hardy and insists Sting counts the fall, which he reluctantly does. Good main event, and the ending, though predictable, at least sets up the Sting/Roode match at Victory Road.

TNA Turning Point 2011

Robbie E vs Eric Young
This is for the TV title and is pretty much just played for comedy. Luckily, both characters are so enjoyably goofy that the comedy works, whilst both guys are good enough workers that the match ends up being pretty entertaining. They even manage to make a ridiculous early spot involving EY doing a headstand in the corner look logical. Robbie E takes control following a huge clothesline from Robbie T on the outside (I’d just like to add at this point how much I love the addition of Rob Terry as Robbie’s bouncer. The dynamic is great, Terry is definitely improving as a worker and they’d be my choice as next tag team champs. Plus the new cordon entrance is ace). Robbie being on offence allows us to run the whole gamut of brilliant facial expressions from the challenger, especially the look of demented glee when he thinks he’s going to get the pin on EY. Robbie may go a bit too long with the chinlocks, but they lead to a Young comeback that shows just what a good wrestler he actually is, first reversing a Robbie dive into a nice belly-to-belly suplex, then hitting a fantastic top rope elbow that puts CM Punk’s to shame. EY hits both Robbies with a dive from the top rope to the floor, but gets clotheslined to the leg by Big Robbie as he gets into the ring, leading to a nasty bump and the Robbie E cover for the win. Plenty of fun here.

Mexican America vs Ink Inc & Toxxin
The MA team consists of Hernandez, Anarquia and Sarita, with the rules stating that MA can lose the tag titles if any of them get pinned. You know how there has been news recently that TNA wanted Jesse Neal to go to OVW to develop his skills? This match shows why, because he is outright bad at points here. His strikes barely graze the Mexican boys, and he almost falls over Hernandez at one point. This is in direct contrast to Shannon Moore who works a pretty fun, smooth section with Anarquia, whose bumping and stooging here is terrific. MA have a pretty nice double team move where Hernandex holds up Neal outside the ring to allow Anarquia to dropkick him through the ropes to the floor. Sarita and Toxxin gets their moment in the sun, and both look pretty good out there, enough that you feel a one-on-one match would be worth a 5 minute spot on Impact. Anarquia comes in and even bumps around for Toxxin, who somehow manages to conspire with Neal to blow the moment where they reveal the tattoo they gave Anarquia a month ago. They’ve built this up for weeks, and now the audience STILL have no idea what is supposed to be on his back. Anarquia, bless him, sells it anyway, and Sarita nails Toxxin with a belt shot to win. Really poor match up, and you can lay 80% of that on Neal.

Austin Aries vs Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorenson
Last time I wrote about TNA, I talked about how Sorenson looked promising, but bland and green. Here, I thought he was terrific. He’d still benefit from developing a little character, but his work here was really good, looking believably competitive against two veterans, which is even more impressive considering this is essentially a two-on-one match. Kash especially takes great pleasure in chopping the shit out of him, to the extent that Sorenson is bleeding from the chest by the end. Sorenson makes the most of his hope spots, hitting a nice tope on both men early on, before getting overwhelmed by the numbers. It’s probably redundant to talk about how awesome Aries is, but he really is magnificent. I especially loved him leaving the hard work to Kash in the ring, chiming in with the occasional chop or boot to put Sorenson down again. Unfortunately, Kash keeps forgetting “the plan”, and the arguments give Jesse a chance to take over. He hits Michael McGillicutty’s swinging neckbreaker better than McGillicutty himself and really looks like he could pull off the upset. Kash hits him with the Money Maker, but Aries, sneaking round the ring, puts Jesse’s foot on the rope to break the count. Then, whilst Kash argues with the ref, Aries creeps in and rolls him up for three. All round good stuff, and a really well worked three way.

Rob Van Dam vs Christopher Daniels
This is No DQ, but Daniels cuts a good promo pre-match, making a gentleman’s agreement with “Bob” to make it a straight up wrestling match. Then RVD outwrestles him, which is exactly how the match should work, making the heel look like a fool. Daniels does get to take control, working RVD’s head and neck over, before hitting a Death Valley Driver for two. Daniels gets frustrated as RVD takes control again, and makes to walk out before Van Dam stops him. Daniels takes a nice bump, getting hiptossed onto the ramp, before RVD hits the barricade legdrop from the ramp. This is pretty much the first thing RVD does which mixes up his usual offence, as he’s been pretty much going through the motions to this point. Daniels breaks the gentleman’s agreement, using first Earl Hebner then a steel chair as a weapon, hitting a uranage on the chair for two. He goes to get a screwdriver from under the ring, but stupidly leaves RVD in the ring with a chair, leading to a Van Daminator and a 5 Star Frogsplash for the RVD win. Story was good, ring work was passable.

Crimson vs Matt Morgan
I bet Matt Morgan finds it frustrating that people ask him “if he could beat Crimson everywhere he goes” as Tenay nonsensically claims early on here. They try some of the typical Battle of the Giants spots early on – the duelling shoulderblocks, the test of strength – but nothing gets a reaction until Morgan hits a decent discus clothesline. This match is really plodding. A weak brawling section outside is terrible, and Morgan hits his corner elbow barrage like he’s terrified of cracking some eggs. Crimson did one thing that really impressed me, hitting Morgan with a Cobra Clutch legsweep, which he then rolls through with to wear Morgan out on the mat, but everything else is really poor. He even manages to blow his own finisher. An “epic” strike exchange starts off ok, but they they start throwing pathetically light blows at each other, before pushing the ref away for a wretched double DQ. That they continue brawling afterwards with the same blows that couldn’t burst a bubble is the dogshit icing on a terrible cake.

Scott Steiner & Bully Ray vs Abyss & Mr Anderson
The pre-match promo from Steiner and Ray is terrific, terrific stuff. The heel team is infinitely more fun than the faces, with Bully a magnificent shit-talking heel throughout the match. Seeing how Bully Ray has gotten himself into really good shape (dig his calf flexing on the entrance ramp!) really highlights how average Anderson’s physique is. The match as a whole is pretty average, but what is really entertaining is how into Steiner the fans are, and how much he tries to stop them. Every “We want Steiner” chant is met with either a “Shut up!” or the finger. Seriously, it’s amazing to watch. The heat section on Anderson goes on for age, which is wise to keep Abyss looking strong. Abyss works really well here as a hot tag wrestler, looking like a beast and rampaging through Steiner and Ray. The match end when Steiner gives the fans what they want with a Frankensteiner off the top on Anderson, but walks into a Black Hole Slam for the win. Forgettable tag, but the Steiner chants were hella fun.

Velvet Sky vs Gail Kim
This is for the Knockouts title. Velvet attacks to start, but Gail soon takes over with some vicious kicks. Gail hits an ace diving corner charge and maintains her advantage. Velvet is spirited in her comeback, but her offence looks really low-impact, to the extent you can’t imagine it would put Kim down. Sky hits a sitout Pedigree, but Karen Jarrett distracts the ref to allow Madison Rayne to sneak in and botch her finisher on Velvet for a two count. More Rayne interference allows Gail to hit Eat Defeat to win the title. This was passable.

Jeff Hardy vs Jeff Jarrett
This is more angle than match, but it’s a fun little deal. After months of chastising Hardy and refusing to give him another shot, Hardy beats Jarrett in seconds following a Twist of Fate. Following this, Jarrett finds himself forced to beg Hardy for another shot at him, which Hardy accepts. A slightly longer match follows, which Hardy wins again with a small package off a figure four attempt. Jarrett bludgeons Hardy with a chair after the match and drags him into the ring to demand Earl Hebner counts a pinfall on Hardy, only for Hardy to reverse the pinfall into a crucifix to win his third match of the night.

AJ Styles vs Bobby Roode
AJ comes into the match with a bum ankle, so that this match turns out as good as it does is a miracle. Roode is already bringing the stalling back into his act, which kinda makes sense with his desperation not to lose his world title. Taz and Tenay actually have a good exchange on commentary about how Roode is having to get used to wrestling singles after his lengthy tag run. Styles takes command early on, but Roode manages to take control after using Brian Hebner as a weapon, pushing him into Styles. AJ fires back, and sprints to the top turnbuckle for a suplex in a cool spot (even moreso with his ankle issues), but his attempt at getting the Styles Clash is reversed into a crossface by Roode, which looks really good. The battle for the Clash comes up again a little later in the match, where AJ realises he’s not going to be able to hook Roode into it properly, so instead changes it into a shortlift powerbomb, which is a nice touch of realism. Roode is really developing the heel mannerisms nicely, managing to low-blow both Styles AND Hebner at the same time, before begging off from Styles when he doesn’t manage to maintain control. Roode gets sent outside, but manages to avoid a suicide dive, where AJ lands with a sick thud. Back in, a Roode Fisherman suplex gets two, before Roode manages to reverse a third Clash attempt into a roll-up for the win, whilst grabbing a handful of tights. It sort of lacked something, but the story it told worked really well and AJ, bar the occasional grab of his leg, showed no real ill effects of his injury. The rematch next month should be terrific.

TNA No Surrender 2011

TNA PPV's are broadcast for free in the UK on Challenge TV. Sadly, with this one, Challenge appear to have dropped a bollock, as instead of the Sting/Angle/Anderson main, we get profiles on the UK Gladiators from 2009 (though Oblivion/Magnus cuts a great heel promo ;-D). We also miss most of the Aries/Kendrick title match, but the rest of the show aired in full. Here it is...

Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen
Kid Kash is terrific as a heel. He has this natural bad attitude and nasty aura that an audience can sense, which makes him perfect for this role, facing a young, slightly bland, babyface underdog. You get the impression this would go down far better in the early 90’s (and in front of a less shitty crowd, the Impact Zone really sucks) where the fans would be less cynical towards such a white meat face (though I really like Sorensen’s “signed football” gimmick, it’s a nice thing for the kids in the crowd). As it is, Kash really makes the match by being such a horrible cock, goading Sorensen into a test-of-strength only to kick him in the stomach, then hitting him with some nasty stiff kicks. They mess up a little in the middle, but don’t let it affect the rest of the match, which ends with Sorensen upsetting Kash with a reverse suplex slam for the win. Sorensen is still green (and I think will need a heel turn at some point to give him some life) but this was perfectly decent for an opener.

Bully Ray vs James Storm
This is a Bound For Glory series match, with the storyline being that Storm needs to win by submission to get the necessary points to top the leaderboard. Firstly though, Bully Ray takes Kid Kash’s heeling and cranks it up times 100. He stalls, leaves the ring, rips up a fans sign, stalls some more, yells at the ref, stalls, leaves the ring, stalls, then finally cheapshots Storm to get the advantage. Beautiful. Storm does a fine job of battling back from this, and focuses on the arm of Bully Ray, locking in a cross armbreaker before Ray makes the ropes. It’s a hold he keeps going back to, with the result being that the fans clearly think he might win by the 3rd or 4th attempt. Storm also keeps working the arm in-between armbreakers. Ray takes advantage again after spitting beer into Storm’s eyes, but yells that he’s going to pin Storm following “the Bubba Bomb, bitch”, only for Storm to lock in another cross armbreaker for another near tap. The finish is shitty, but also works for the story they wanted to tell: Storm tries to return the favour by spitting beer in Ray’s face, but catches the ref instead. Storm locks in an armbreaker on Ray, who taps and the bell goes, only for Storm to get DQ’d instead. Good match.

Winter vs Mickie James
Knockouts title match here. I really dig the Winter character, and the former Nikita plays it to the hilt, really convincing in a “cruel aristocrat” kinda way. She takes a nasty bump into the steps early doors, but is soon on offence, working over Mickie’s back in a way that suggests she’s torturing her opponent. Mickie not only looks awesome in her Wonder Woman outfit, but it’s clear to see she’s regained some of the fire she lost towards the end of her WWE run. She even hits a nice looking Thesz press off the apron to the floor in a pretty nutty bump. The match itself isn’t a classic, but good enough for modern US woman’s standards. I thought the ending was pretty good, as even though Winter hit Angelina Love with her poison blood, it didn’t mean she turned around like an idiot into a Mick Kick, instead turning round and spitting into Mickie’s face instead to pick up the win.

Mexican America vs The Pope & Devon
I may be alone in this belief, but Mexican America are starting to click for me. Hernandez and Anarquia are developing a nice bit of chemistry and Anarquia is pretty fun at stooging for babyface offence. There was a really nice bit here where Hernandez elevated Anarquia into the corner to hit a big splash on Devon, then knelt down to allow an interfering Sarita to use him as a platform to hit a dropkick on the former Reverend. As a match, it was a perfectly acceptable formula tag team match, and Devon’s huge spear out of the corner was terrific. I probably wont remember it in a months time, but it was perfectly fun, the Mexican’s winning with the Rude/Warrior finish from Wrestlemania V as Pope tries to suplex Anarquia into the ring.

Samoa Joe vs Matt Morgan
On paper, Matt Morgan should be far better than he is. He’s remarkably athletic for a big man, he’s good on the mic and comes across as a genuinely nice guy. He’s got good movement, seems to have a good idea of what he’s doing in the ring, yet somehow it just doesn’t feel right. I think it’s partly that you never get the impression any of his offence hurts, which is essential for a huge fella. Joe may have regressed massively since his 2005 peak, but he was still pretty good here at heeling it up, sneering at Morgan and flipping off the crowd, whilst still rushing from the ring to avoid the Carbon Footprint, putting it over as death. Joe’s suicide dive is still impressive, but there is a weird botch midway through where it looks like Joe is hitting a running hug on Morgan. I loved Joe hooking Morgan’s arm while he had to Kokina Clutch locked in, which prevented Morgan grabbling the rope, but didn’t love the way the ending made Joe look like an idiot, arguing with the ref to allow Morgan to recoup in the corner and nail the match winning Carbon Footprint.

Gunner vs Bobby Roode
I really think Gunner gets nowhere near enough love. He’s slowly been improving week after week to the point where I think he’s a really solid worker now. This match was really good. Roode worked over Gunner’s left arm early to soften him up for the Fujiwara armbar, but they got Gunner back on offence early enough to stop there being any chance of fan sympathy towards Gunner, as Roode gets driven down with a DDT. Gunner’s selling whilst on offence is absolutely top drawer, wincing in pain on every landing. There was even a point where he had Roode in a headscissors and shifted his body position so he wouldn’t be leaning on his left arm, which is awesome. I also loved the strike exchange where Roode answered Gunner’s punches by punching him on the bad arm. Roode picks up the win with a crossface, having failed to get the win with the armbar. Really cleverly worked match.

Austin Aries vs Brian Kendrick
Sadly, Challenge TV take over here, as we return from the adverts at the end of the match. We do get to see an awesome tiger suplex by Kendrick, and Aries winning the title with a brainbuster. I did love Aries getting the ref to hoist him on his shoulders in celebration post-match.

Bully Ray vs Bobby Roode
This is my main event on the show. Ray again heels it up superbly, stalling by leaving the ring JUST as Roode is going to make contact with him. Right at the start Ray tries to psyche Roode out with two large slaps to the chest, only for Roode to dig down deep and no-sell them, which Taz puts over nicely on commentary. They actually return to the chops during the match, which each time have the result of firing Roode up again, showing that Ray can’t break his spirit. Ray is such an unlikable prick that it gets both himself AND Roode over, an early crossface getting a big pop for Roode. Ray gets two following a Bubba Bomb, but misses a senton and Roode hits a snap spinebuster for the win in a good (for us in the UK) main event.