WWE Super-Showdown 2018

Having this big WWE show take place in Australia was lovely for me, living in the UK. I got up at a reasonable time on Saturday, made some toast and a brew, and could just settle down to watch some wrestling. Lots of people called this a glorified house-show, which may not be inaccurate, but house-shows are generally great, just solid no-nonsense wrestling, so I was looking forward to this show. The end result was a show that wasn't groundbreaking, but was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

The Bar vs The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)

Perfectly decent opener, solidly entertaining stuff. The New Day put forward their quickest team, and they spend the opening stages showing nice flowing teamwork until both get caught on dives by the Bar, and rammed into ringposts. Sheamus nicely stops the 10 Beats halfway through to stop the crowd singing along in a neat heat-gathering spot. Woods gets a nice flurry when he comes in off the tag, but rushes straight into an Irish Curse from Sheamus, which looked great. The Bar have some neat power spots, including Sheamus throwing Woods into a Cesaro uppercut. A Cesaro sharpshooter looks to have things won for the Bar, but Kofi saves and a fun Kofi top rope stomp onto a Woods backcracker gets the pin on Cesaro. Good stuff.

Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair

Both show some nice aggression early on, with Lynch yanking Flair from the ring by her arm (Charlotte splats on the floor, nasty bump). Loved Becky’s tilt-a-whirl into an armbar, with her cruelly torqueing back Charlotte’s fingers. This obviously is to set up the DisArmHer, but Charlotte does less work to set up for the Figure 8. She does a little – at one point stomping Becky’s leg when it’s stuck on the middle rope – but not very much, feels like it’s just being done to pay lipservice to her finisher. Flair’s spear looks like it folds Becky in half, prompting her to try and leave with the title, but Charlotte stops this with a second huge spear. The Figure 8 gets locked in, but Becky hits her in the leg with the title for the DQ. Disappointing finish aside, this was decent.

John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs Elias & Kevin Owens

Obviously, a lot of the post-match talk has revolved around Cena’s sensible dad hair and the fact he wasn’t allowed to bump because of a film he’s shooting, but I thought that kinda helped the match, made the build up to his hot tag feel greater. Lashley taking most of the heat is awkward, because he’s still not over enough to draw any sympathy from the audience, but I thought he was good here (really odd looking Thesz Press aside). He takes offence big here, bumping nastily through the ropes from a missed spear and taking a full-on Owens frog splash. Owens and Elias make a nice team, and Cena’s finally getting tagged in got a good reaction. Cena basically played the hits, finishing with the AA and his ludicrous new backfist finisher. Enjoyed this.

Billie Kay & Peyton Royce vs Asuka & Naomi

The Iiconics didn’t get as big a pop as I thought they would. This was brief, but harmless. The Iiconics are a bit patchy in ring, but Asuka and Naomi made a fun team, and there were a few neat moments. Loved Kay trying to hurt Naomi by catching a boot and throwing her to the floor, only for Naomi to land in a perfect splits, and this was paid off by Billie trying the same moments later with less impressive results. Asuka hits a weak looking German suplex on Kay after a brief Iiconics heat section, and Naomi hits a great split legged moonsault on Royce, before the pin is stopped. Kay drops Naomi facefirst on the apron, and a running knee from Royce gets the victory.

AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe

Remember when Joe fought Roman on PPV, and people claimed that Joe was being forced to work at a ponderous pace to get heel heat vs Reigns? I wonder what the excuse here was, because this was pretty plodding. It started well, both showing their aggression by fighting in the aisle and AJ quickly recovering from being thrown over an announce table to get right back into the ring. But this match goes over twenty minutes, and there’s not enough to this to keep it interesting. For a no DQ match, this is pretty pedestrian, with Joe walking through his offence at a glacial pace, though AJ tries his best to bump it into a more interesting bout. He takes a Joe standing elbow hard, bumps 360 degrees on a clothesline and takes a hard looking uranage onto a chair. AJ throwing Joe through a table looks awkward though, a really messy landing. Joe sells a leg injury from this point, and Styles zones in on it. Liked the springboard 450 he hit directly to Joe’s leg. Joe’s Kokina Clutch suplex is pretty wild looking too. Joe’s leg gives in on a muscle buster attempt, but he locks in the Kokina Clutch again, only for AJ to (clumsily) reverse it to the Calf Crusher for the tap out win. Like the fact Joe was near the ropes for this, but the No DQ stip meant that it did him no good. Other than that, this was disappointing.

The Riott Squad vs The Bella Twins & Ronda Rousey

This was a perfectly fine trios match. The early stages seemed to be setting up a “Bellas vs Ronda” scenario, as the Bellas only tagged each other and Ronda was left on the sidelines. This didn’t really play into the match though. There’s a brief Brie vs Liv section that I can’t imagine was the pairing anyone wanted to see in this match, before Nikki becomes face in peril. Lovely running knee to the face by Sarah Logan. Hot tag is made to Ronda, and she’s a great hot tag. Big judo throws to Morgan and Logan, some big strikes to Sarah and, though Liv saves Logan from an armbar attempt, Ronda soon locks them both into a double armbar for the immediate tap.

Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy

Murphy is the hometown boy here, and gets a great reaction. This is a fantastic sprint, the career resurgence of Buddy Murphy has been one of the joys of 2018 WWE. Murphy hits an insane dive right from the start, and the pace doesn’t really slow from there. Both hit big spots: Cedric times a superkick perfectly and I loved Murphy constantly trying to climb to the top only for Cedric to use this momentum to hit a top rope Michinoku Driver. Cedric also hits his own big dive. For his part, Buddy gets two on a lovely sitout powerbomb (with a slightly sloppy cover, which fits the story of him being too overexcited in his hometown). There’s a neat sequence where Murphy keeps kicking out of some big moves successively, taking a standing Spanish Fly and a huge Lumbar Check. The pop on the kickout is huge. Cedric tries springboarding into the ring, takes a big knee to the face on landing, and the pumphandle driver gets the victory for Murphy. Huge pop for that, felt like a real feel good moment, and the match was really choice.

The Shield vs Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler

Loved the face masks that the Shield wore to the ring, looked totally badass. This breaks down really early and Rollins gets isolated as the face-in-peril after an early Shield Bomb is thwarted. Of note Ziggler’s first move of the match is the shitty backslap DDT, and we get maybe too much Ziggler vs Rollins in the ring for my taste. I did like that Ziggler’s shit talking led to him doing something feckless shortly afterwards. Strowman misses a crap looking top rope splash and Ambrose gets the hot tag. Loved Ambrose bringing out something new, hitting a fallaway slam on Ziggler. We get a tantalising Reigns vs McIntyre section that made me want to see that singles match even more. Roman muscling up Drew for a one armed powerbomb was really neat. The Shield Bomb is thwarted by Strowman plowing through the lot of them with a big spear. Roman accidentally hits Ambrose with a Superman Punch to continue the hinted dissension, and this led to the big turning point of the match, as Rollins and Reigns are left alone in the centre of the ring with the heels surrounding them. Ambrose gets on the fourth side, hinting that he may attack them too, only to take out Strowman with a suicide dive. Lovely spot where Strowman looks to be about the charge through Ambrose on the floor, but Reigns takes Strowman out with a PERFECTLY timed spear through the barricade. Back inside, Ambrose hits Ziggler with Dirty Deeds to win. Good stuff here.

Daniel Bryan vs The Miz

I’ll be honest, I only kept half an eye on this match as I was making a (shit) omelette. Luckily, this was brief, so I didn’t miss too much. I do love Bryan getting the pin super quickly by locking Miz in a small package. Keeps the Miz looking strong, shows off Bryan as talented wrestler who can win at any time, and created a nice sudden finish.

Triple H vs The Undertaker

I’ve seen this match taking a lot of abuse on line, and I can see why. It’s very long. Too long. Neither guy is in good shape, with Taker looking exhausted on several occasions, and there’s a load of smoke’n’mirrors horseshit to cover up the limitations of both men. However, I didn’t hate this. I’ve never been a big fan of either guy, and I hated their last two WrestleMania matches, but I also had no expectations going into this. For two men with a combined age of basically 100, who are only out there to give a marquee match-up to this supershow, this was ok. I enjoyed Shawn Michaels’ role in this, sneakily running interference and setting up props for use in the match (with a painfully slow Kane easily kept at bay). The fighting outside is fine, bar the blown back bodydrop Undertaker tries on HHH, with admittedly a lot Taker dragging round HHH by the head, and I enjoyed HHH putting Kane through a table by hitting an elbow drop from the apron. The ref bump where Taker punches him out doesn’t make much sense, given the match is No DQ anyway, and Taker bumps embarrassingly for a Pedigree. HHH crushing Taker’s throat by placing a chair around it and stomping it looked nasty, and Kane making the save by pulling the ref out was really well timed. The supporting hoopla includes a load of chairshots, HHH getting out the sledgehammer and spots where Michaels and HHH save each other from tombstones, before a final Pedigree eventually puts Undertaker down. Not a classic match, probably not even a good match, but for trashy nonsense with two veteran wrestlers past their prime, it was still watchable.

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.

TNA Hardcore Justice 2014

I've reviewed a couple of these TNA One Night Only PPV's in the past, and I've always been glad we don't have to pay for them in the UK. The few I've seen have been too bitty and filled with short matches to be any good. This, however, had a card that looked pretty promising and it lived up to my expectations. Though it's not too grand a claim, this was easily the best of the PPV's I've seen so far.

Ethan Carter III vs Tommy Dreamer
I loved Carter stating hardcore is synonymous with the letters E...C...III. This is a tables match. Crowd loves some Dreamer, and he dominates proceedings until ECIII drops him crotch first on a guardrail. Carter tries a pinfall, but Earl Hebner has to remind him this is a tables match. ECIII is only in control briefly before a missed elbow lets Dreamer take over. Dreamer looks pretty good here on offence. Dreamer sets up a table outside the ring, but his attempt to suplex Carter through it gets blocked. Carter gets hung in a tree of woe inside the ring, before Dreamer dropkicks the table into his face, followed by a DDT. However, Dreamer takes a little too long to set up the table and ECIII reverses an Irish whip into the 1%er. Dreamer gets up but makes the mistake of charging Carter near the table, leading to a spinebuster through the table for the win. Pretty by the numbers, but both guys looked good here.

Chris Sabin vs Austin Aries
This should be good. They're billing this as an X-Division Escape match, which just means it's a cage match. I love Sabin trying to quickly escape following minor moves like a hiptoss or armdrag. Aries looks to be trying a similar tactic, only to leap off the top rope onto Sabin when he sees him coming. Aries really milks the build up of the Pendulum elbow, but still manages to hit it. Sabin takes control after blocking an escape attempt and powerbombs Aries into the cage in a nice spot. Sabin continues to use the cage as a weapon, dropkicking Aries into the walls. The thing I find with cage matches is that it's easy to transition from one guy to the other on offence, as the aggressor often stops attacking their opponent to try and escape, which gives the opponent a chance to take over. It happens here as Aries catches Sabin on the top rope and tries to climb out over him, before instead hitting a top rope standing Frankensteiner in a swank spot. Aries locks on the Last Chancery to wear Sabin out, but Sabin grabs his leg in desperation to try and stop him escaping the cage. This leads to Aries trying a brainbuster, but Sabin breaks and again uses the cage, which he rams Aries into head-first. Aries manages to get the brainbuster and NEARLY escapes before Sabin is able to stop him. Sabin uses his belt to tie Aries to the rope, but Aries escapes just before Sabin can win, and Sabin ends up crotched on the top rope, leading to an Aries victory. Really fun match here.

Bobby Roode vs Samoa Joe
This is to determine who gets the advantage in the Lethal Lockdown match later in the night. I love Roode goofily stooging to start as he gets outstriked by Joe. Joe dominates with his usual offence befoe Roode starts working over Joe's neck, hitting a blockbuster, a seated necksnap and working over a headlock. Joe isn't looking as motivated as he does nowadays, and there is no real change from his usual offence. We get a ref bump from Roode breaking the Kokina Clutch, and Roode fakes getting hit with a bin to draw the DQ win. I especially loved Roode waving at Joe from the mat from behind the referee. This was ok.

Velvet Sky vs Lei'D Tapa
I have low expectations here. This is a streetfight, and Sky tries a hit-and-run tactic on the larger Tapa, peppering her with some milky kicks. Tapa pretty much dominates the early going, using basic power offence to ram Sky into the ring steps and the apron. Tapa disappears to the back and gets a chair, before pulling some terrible scary faces. Tapa sets up a chair in the corner, but stupidly decides to charge at Velvet despite knowing this chair is behind her. Sky batters her with some timid chair shots, but Tapa shrugs them off, kicks a chair into Velvet's face and hits the TKO for a win. I liked the booking more than the wrestling, they made Tapa look like a monster here.

Eric Young & Joseph Park vs Bad Influence
This is a Full Metal Mayhem match. EY tells Park pre-match that he knows that he's Abyss and is going to make him bleed to psyche him up for the match. Bad Influence rush to the ring to stop this, pretty wisely, and give us one of the running themes of the match: EY wanting his partner to bleed and Bad Influence wanting to prevent that, This is tornado rules, but the heel team isolate one member of the opposition to keep an face-in-peril structure to the match. There are a few really nice moments in the match, with a Young dive to the outside onto both Daniels and Kazarian looking particularly choice. I also liked Daniels baseball sliding a ladder into EY on the outside, leading to a spot later where Young again tries to bring a ladder into the ring, but this time avoids both heels trying a baseball slide and instead nailing them both with it. The end sees Kaz threaten a Flux Capacitor from the top of a tall ladder on Young, only to get pushed off and EY nail a picture perfect elbow from the top of the ladder to win. After the match, Park starts to bleed. Uh-oh...

Bully Ray vs Mr Anderson
This is originally due to be a stretcher match, but Anderson rejects that, as being on a stretcher means Ray will get medical attention, and he doesn't want that. Instead, this is a last man standing match. Despite these words, this never really feels that heated, even with Bully making Anderson bleed and smearing the blood all over his own face. Some of Anderson's selling is also way too goofy, though he does look good making comebacks with litle spurts of offence. The spot where Ray and Earl Hebner get into a blazing row is also pretty incongruous for a heated brawl. There is some nice usage of weaponry, with Anderson nailing a rolling firemans carry, then a senton onto a guard rail for a count of 8. Hebner gets bumped, which predictably leads to Anderson downing Ray for more than a ten count (with a Mic Check onto the guard rail), but Bully hits a low blow and kicks Anderson into the ring steps in time for Hebner to recover and count Anderson out for ten. Both had good moments here, but this didn't really work.

Team Angle (James Storm, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle & Abyss) vs Team Roode (Jessie Godderz, Robbie E, Bobby Roode & Magnus)
I've listed the team members above in the order that they entered the match. I was pleased to see Godderz start with Storm, as he's ever improving and got the chance to look good in the opening section. He wrestles like his character, a preening jerk who will get angry if things aren't going their way, which I love to see. Joe looks far more motivated here than in his earlier match, and his section killing both Broman's is pretty fun. The middle section sort of dragged, as we got some unispired brawling, but the last two guys bringing in weapons is a nice touch and helps make the final part of the match even more interesting. Team Angle has a mystery man as their last member, which turns out to be Abyss, paying off the earlier angle nicely, and I loved Robbie E timidly brandishing a cheese grater as Abyss got in the ring. Joe had some fun with the weapons here, joining up with Storm and using a kendo stick to send a dustbin into the groin of the Bromans, before just punting a bin into Roode's face. A little run of finishers culminated in a great ending: Robbie E decided to run in fear from Abyss, only to walk directly into a Last Call superkick from Storm and get nailed by a Black Hole Slam by Abyss directly onto barbed wire. This got the win, as well as some magnificent selling of the spot by E. This ended up being really fun by the end.

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.

TNA Hard Justice 2007

Having not done as much writing on the pro-wrestling as I'd have liked last year, it's nice to get this one published early for the year. I got this from Lovefilm as a random show, so looking forward to seeing how well it's aged

Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt vs the Motor City Machineguns vs Christopher Daniels & Senshi
Only two men are allowed in the ring at any time.This is a prime example of the hot opener, with all the offence looking super slick and fun enough to pop the crowd. Lethal ends up as face-in-peril and I love the way the Guns and Triple X have to rely on blind tags to get in the match, keeps it realistic that they wouldn't just tag each other in. Daniels shows a bit of character by posing whilst standing on Lethal's back as he's drapped across the middle turnbuckle. Dutt gets the hot tag, but the Guns just decide to come in too. At this juncture, it turns into a spotfest, so they don't try to pretend there are rules. I like Shelley locking an abdominal stretch on Dutt outside, as it means it makes sense for him to be there when Lethal levels him with a suicide dive. Rad dive sequence ends with Dutt nailing a swanky top rope Asai moonsault on everyone. Even Skipper gets involved, taking advantage of a distracted Earl Hebner to nail the ropewalk rana on Sabin. We get a lovely combo of moves by Dutt and Lethal on Daniels, which culminates in a standing Shooting Star Press by Dutt for two. After everyone gets in the ring, nailing spot after spot, Lethal picks up the win...with a small package on Daniels. Really fun opener, maybe not one you'll remember in a weeks time, but super enjoyable and it sent the crowd wild. Job done.

Raven vs Kaz
Kaz left Serotonin to set this up. It's pretty fun to start with, as Kaz nails all three members with a kendo stick, and the other Serotonin members bump like loons for it. Havok tries to take Kaz out with a huge dive, but nails everyone BUT Kaz. In ring, Raven hits a victory roll(!) for two 2. Kaz takes an insane bump on a kneelift, as it sends him over top rope. Raven seems pretty slow here, taking his sweet lazy time between moves. There is some dissension in the ranks as Raven shows his anger with Martyr, after he accidentally takes out Havok when aiming for Kaz with a superkick. Kaz hits a massive clothesline to send himself, Raven and Martyr over the rope, which followed by a nutty rana off the apron on Havok. Kaz is doing everything he can here to get over. Kaz reverses the Evenflow to nail a dropkick to the face to win. Decent enough, certainly put Kaz over huge.

Rhino vs James Storm
This is a bar-room brawl, instigated by Storm taunting Rhino's past addictions to alcohol. This is pretty good to start, though the mass slugfest in the crowd makes it hard to see what is happening. Thankfully, they soon get to Storm's silly looking "bar" set up by the ring, where Rhino pretty swiftly gives into his addictions and necks a beer. No willpower there. This causes Rhino to just explode, as he levels Storm with crutch and a barstool. Next, he backdrops Storm onto the bar as West and Tenay lament Rhino falling off the wagon. To hammer home the point, he opens a bottle of vodka and has a big swig. Storm is just getting massacred, as this is all Rhino. Maybe Rhino should have got pissed more often, could have been world champion. Jackie Moore saves and Rhino is briefly slowed down by being thrown out of ring onto a ladder. He fires back with an ace snap belly-to-belly suplex, though he is starting to show subtle signs of being drunk. A moment of hesitation causes Rhino to gore a table as the Cowboy moves, which gets two for Storm. Storm clobbers Rhino with a one man conchairto, then smashes a beer bottle over his head for three. Interesting booking, which started with Storm getting destroyed, but Rhino giving into his demos ultimately cost him the match. Really nasty brawl too.

Voodoo Kin Mafia vs LAX
This is from the odd period where Roxxi was added to the act as a voodoo practicioner, as if this linked to BG and Kip James in anyway bar their McMahon-baiting name. VKM use a combination of their smarts and strength to dominate Homicide early. Nice release Northern Lights by Kip James is the highlight of their offence. The heat section on Homicide is pretty brief, and whilst Hernandez shows good energy on his hot tag, a face of powder from Roxxi lets Kip hit a Fameasser for the win. However, Hector Guerrero comes into the ring to show the ref the powder on the ring apron, and Homicide wins with a rollup on Kip. Short and inoffensive.

Eric Young vs Bobby Roode
This is an Ultimate Humiliation match, with the loser getting tarred and feathered. They show a promo video beforehand, where Roode already tarred-and-feathered EY on an episode of Impact, so that seems odd. EY gets a brief flurry of offence, before a distraction by Ms Brooks lets Roode level him outside the ring. Roode's dominance of Young is pretty fun, Roode being pretty explosive on offence and EY bumping nicely for him. Young also has a natural connection with the crowd, which helps him earn sympathy. Love Roode lowering his kneepad before hitting a kneedrop from the 2nd rope. EY has some surprisingly crisp punches and shows some real strength to hoist both Roode and Brooks onto his shoulders for an attempted DVD. Some Brooks distraction and a pair of brass knucks give the win to Roode, after a pretty fun match.

Postmatch sees Gail Kim make the save for EY, and Ms Brooks ends up tarred and feathered. Special word to the kick to the Roode bollocks by EY - Christ!

Chris Harris vs Black Reign
In 2014, Dustin Rhodes is one of the best workers on the planet. In 2007, he was substantially porkier and wrestling in a Poundland Goldust costume. It's no surprise to learn that he wasn't so impressive. I do enjoy his outsmarting Harris by coming out of the other entrance ramp and attacking from behind (Harris must be some kind of idiot, as he wait ages for Reign before the blindside attack). As you'd expect, Reign still has impressive punches and him wailing away does look pretty great, with the satisfying sound of fist on skin. Harris is busted open and has had zero offence, as Dustin takes out two referees. The idea here is pretty cool, but the execution, especially the outfit, is lacking somewhat. Harris wins by DQ after attacking the third ref, but looks nothing like a winner after getting cuffed to the ropes and attacked by Black Reign's spiked weapon. I admit, I liked this more than I expected too, especially how vicious Dustin was, but the cheapness of his look ruined the effect.

The Steiner Brothers vs Team 3D
This is the match I've been looking forward to most on the show. No matter that these two teams are past their best, this is TNA bringing a proper tag team dream match to life. Looking at Brother Ray here, it's remarkable how much he slimmed down for his current role as Bully Ray, as he was huge. Though a bit slower and a bit bulkier than their prime, the Steiners still are able to throw 3D around early. The turnaround comes when Ray grabs Scott by the arm and yanks his recently injured shoulder over the ropes. 3D wisely focus their offence on this injury, with the livid purple scar acting like a target. The heat section is actually a bit short, but I did love the fresh Rick hitting suplexes on both Team 3D members. Scott joins in with a top rope belly-to-belly on Devon. 3D get two after a Doomsday Device on Scott, but it's a top-rope Frankensteiner on Devon that brings the crowd to it's feet. The top rope Steiner Bulldog on Devon gets the win. A bit sloppy in places, but a total crowdpleaser of a match.

Christian Cage, AJ Styles & Tomko vs Sting, Abyss & "The Punisher" Andrew Martin
Martin is better known as Test. The winner of the pinfall gets a world title shot, and the match is held in a cage with barbed wire around the top. To add to the overbooking, you can't get pinned unless you are bleeding. Christian's Coalition attack Abyss before his partners can emerge, but Martin and Sting (arriving after the lights go out) make the save. We get some average brawling outside the cage to start, then the Coalition lock Sting outside the cage to leave it 2-on-3. Cage attacks Abyss with some glass to make him bleed. The Coalition dominate in the ring, but Sting climbs the cage with wire cutters and is able to get in past the barbed wire. Styles and Cage nailing Abyss with dual frog splashes was pretty cool. Cage, like a beautiful coward, escapes the cage through the gap Sting created, leaving his team 2-on-3 down. Styles is swiftly Black Hole Slammed onto the broken glass by Abyss for the win. Pretty pedestrian affair, and not particularly violent for all the hype about the violence.

Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe
This is for Joe's X Division and tag titles, as well as Angle's IWGP and TNA titles. Joe looks to be in great shape here, and I dug the ceremonial Samoan dancers he had for his entrance. The story here is that Kurt is upset that Karen Angle has left him, and his mind isn't on wrestling. Joe dominates early, and Kurt isn't helped by Karen arriving at ringside with a new beau. Joe is confident and remains one step ahead of Angle: when Kurt pulls the straps of his singlet down to stop Joe pulling it, Joe pulls it down even further on a sunset flip to expose Angle's backside. The facewash on Kurt looked brutal. I also love Joe reversing an Angle German suplex into a sickening release version of his own. The height Joe gets on his leaping enzuigiri whilst Angle is on the top rope is impressive too. It's ridiculous how good he used to be when in shape and motivated. Angle looks a step behind him at all times here, though that may be due to the story of the match. Joe is able to reverse every big move Kurt goes for, until an Angle Slam gets two. Kurt hasn't gotten much offence in at this point, so it doesn't feel like a ruined finisher. Joe only getting two on a musclebuster feels less defendable, however. An anklelock/Kokina Clutch reversal series feels a little forced. A ref bump leads to Angle tapping to the clutch with no consequence, before Karen "shockingly" passes Kurt a chair to level Joe with and consolidate all the titles. This was decent rather than good, as it felt a bit laboured due to the angle, and the ending was both predictable and made Joe look like a fool.

TNA Slammiversary 2013

Kenny King vs Chris Sabin vs Suicide

This is an Ultimate X match for King’s X Division title. This is essentially a spotfest to warm up the crowd, but it’s a pretty good one. A couple of spots look a bit too contrived and require a bit too much co-operation, but everything was crisply executed. I liked a few of the details in the match too, such as how early on Suicide sent both opponents to the floor as if to set up for a dive, but instead ran for the corner to try and climb the structure. Similarly, I enjoyed Sabin realising both men were down, thinking about going for the belt, then suplexing Suicide onto King to make sure both men were incapacitated. This was the first time I’d seen TJ Perkins as Suicide, and he was great, with his series of feints and fakes before hitting a top rope dropkick to the floor being exceptionally good. No-one manages to make it to the cables in the first 5 minutes of the match, which allowed the tension of the match to build up. This had a rather abrupt ending, with King going for Suicide’s mask to stop him getting the title, before Sabin appeared from nowhere to down him and grab the title himself, but this was a fine opener,

Magnus, Samoa Joe & Jeff Hardy vs Mr Anderson, Garrett Bischoff & Wes Brisco

With all due respect, there isn’t a great array of talent on the heel side here, so it’s impressive that this is a perfectly decent 6-man tag. For example, there is no greater mismatch in this bout than Joe against Bischoff, but that segment was plenty of fun, due to both Joe’s onslaught and Bischoff’s surprisingly good selling. Magnus and Joe show their chemistry with some double-teaming on Anderson, but Magnus soon becomes face-in-peril after Anderson yanks his arm over the top rope. The heels wisely stick to an easy formula by using quick tags and focusing on the injured arm of Magnus, so this is all fun. The hot tag to Hardy comes a bit prematurely, but we at least get a hot finishing sequence, as Joe chokes out Anderson on the ramp, a distraction that leads to Brisco low-blowing Magnus and rolling him up, only for Hardy to strike with a Swanton during the pinfall. This gets three for the faces. Of note: Jeff Hardy looks surprisingly good with a beard.

 
Jay Bradley vs Sam Shaw

This really didn’t belong on PPV and did neither guy any favours as the crowd was dead for them, though they did rally a bit behind Shaw at the end. Shaw seemed to work like a poor man’s RVD, with some generic flippy offence, but I did quite like Bradley, whose offence at least looked like it hurt, as he slowed down proceedings with some measured blows. The Boom Stick lariat won the match for Bradley.

Devon vs Abyss

This was supposed to be Devon vs Joseph Park, but Devon and Knux destroyed him in the back, leading to Abyss coming out in his stead. Oddly, the majority of the match is spent with Devon dominating Abyss, until he misses a diving headbutt. Abyss wins with a chokeslam and a Black Hole Slam, but this feels like it should have been a 30 second squash. Having Abyss selling almost all match takes away any monster aura he may have.

Bad Influence vs Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez vs Bobby Roode  & Austin Aries vs James Storm & Gunner

I’ve long felt that Gunner is underrated (check the No Surrender 2011 review if you need proof), so I’m glad to see him getting a bit of a push at last. There was some nice continuity early on, with Roode wanting no piece of Storm and goading him about his choice of partner, yelling “He’s no Bobby Roode”, but cowering away when Gunner gets in. This broke down quickly, with team taking it in turn to clear the ring of each other. I did love Guerrero and Hernandez sprinting down the ramp to nail Bad Influence with flying shoulderblocks. Curiously, the only wrestler to really play face-in-peril is Hernandez, the largest guy in the match, as Roode, Aries, Kazarian and Daniels take over on him. Bad Influence are the first team eliminated, as Roode turns the ref round so he catches Daniels hitting Chavo with a belt for the DQ. Brilliantly, Aries swiftly pins Chavo seconds afterwards. This leaves Aries/Roode vs Storm/Gunner. The Storm/Roode segments are as good as you’d expect. Gunner gets isolated by the heels, who blitz him with a corner dropkick, spinebuster and 450 in quick succession, but he kicks out. This is played up huge, rather than just a finisher no-sell, which makes Gunner look great. Storm superkicks Aries into the Gun Rack, and Austin taps to give Storm & Gunner the titles. Decent little match, I suspect there’s a great match between the final two teams in the coming months.

Taryn Terrell vs Gail Kim

During the opening minutes of this match, where Terrell was throwing some terrible looking forearms, I feared for the worst. Well, that soon went out of the window as these two just went Hell for leather. It started with Terrell hitting a crossbody from the top onto Gail, who was holding a steel chair. It continued when Kim went hurtling across the ring into a chair propped up in the corner, sending her flying from the ring. Terrell added to the insane bumps with a missed dive sending her onto the entrance ramp. Finally, they decided to share the honours for brazen madness by both leaping from the ramp to oblivion (as it looked from the camera angle) as Taryn hit an Ace Crusher on Kim for the win. Just an absolute spectacle, and both wrestler deserve a load of credit for what they were willing to do. For Terrell to enter the match to a minimal reaction and to leave to “This is awesome” chants shows they were doing something right.

AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle

I’d not seen much of the “new” AJ before this match, and I was quite impressed. He seemed to be laying in his blows a lot more stiffly than before, and his kicks in particular looked good. I also liked the initial story work, with AJ targeting the injured leg of Angle, with his springboard dropkick to the leg looking great. At first, Angle sells the leg well, taking his time getting up again after levelling Styles with a clothesline. Soon, however, Kurt stops selling the leg all together, and just goes through a usual Angle match, which I’d have quite enjoyed if they’d just gone for that instead of focussing AJ working the leg early on. By the time Kurt nails AJ with 3 German suplexes, you’d forget he even had a leg injury. Even more bizarrely, they kill off AJ’s new Calf Killer submission by having Angle escape it, despite his “injured leg”. The end comes when AJ misses a springboard 450 and Angle downs him with a double-leg for the pin. The action was fine, but the decision to work an opening around a body part then totally ignoring it seems ridiculous.

Bully Ray vs Sting

Before the match, Bully threatened to hit Sting with a piledriver, which they hyped up as the deadliest move in wrestling. I loved Sting taking the fight to Bully right off, nailing the Stinger Splash at the bell. I also loved Sting whipping Bully with the title belt, which looked nasty. Tazz does a great job of putting over the danger of the piledriver, talking about how it affected his own career. Sting is busy wasting Ray with a chair, when an odd Brooke Hogan appearance distracted him and gave Bully the advantage. Bully hits the piledriver as threatened, which gets 2. A powerbomb through a table also gets 2. Bully then removes the canvas to leave only bare boards in the ring for a second piledriver, but Sting just kicks out. Bully is great at selling the shock here, and this really showed Sting’s desire to win. Sting suddenly hits the Scorpion Death Drop on the boards, but Aces & 8’s attack to stop him winning. Sting tries to fight them off (with Garrett Bischoff taking a huge bump to the entrance ramp), but Bully nails him in the head with a hammer as he dives from the top rope to win. Really fun match, even with the ending, as it really highlighted how dangerous Aces & 8’s are as a faction. I would have had an issue with no TNA wrestlers coming to help, but they seem to be making that part of an angle, so at least they acknowledge how odd it seems. Pretty darn fine PPV on the whole.

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 Bound For Glory 2012

Rob Van Dam vs Zema Ion
How good this match is will largely depend on how motivated RVD is. Too many of his TNA matches have been by the numbers. Both guys look good out of the blocks, with an Ion twisting kick from the top being an early high. I really like some of Ion's offence here, with a tornado DDT from inside the middle ropes being really nice, followed by an insane plancha. Nice bit of work sees RVD selling the head injuries from the aforementioned DDT leading to him failing to hit a monkey flip, instead getting dropped headfirst on the top turnbuckle. The match seems to be building nicely, until RVD reverses an Irish whip into a knee to the face before nailing Rolling Thunder and the 5 Star out of nowhere to win.

Samoa Joe vs Magnus
It's heartening to see just how much Magnus has improved since joining TNA. He gets to show some nice agilty and speed early on, surprising Joe with a clothesline from nowhere before leapfrogging him and nailing a high knee. I was also impressed by Magnus catching Joe coming off the ropes with a Michinoku Driver. Both guys throw some big bombs at each other, drawing a (possiblt premature) "This Is Awesome" chant. I like the way that both guys are are to counter each other, thanks to knowing each other as tag partners. Hence Joe avoiding a Magnus clothesline for the Kokina Clutch, only for Magnus to reverse that with the Bret/Piper pin for two. The end was pretty nice too. Magnus tried a figure-four on Joe, only for Joe to grab him on the turnaround for the Clutch to gain the win. Good ten minute bout.

James Storm vs Bobby Roode
MMA fighter King Mo is the outside enforcer. Loved Storm hitting Roode with an early punch so hard that he needed to check his hand. The thing I always find odd with Storm is that he's got a gimmick that implies grizzled brawler, but he uses moves like Codebreakers, which don't really fit. Here, he shows that he really is a good brawler, with a nasty legsweep directly into the railings. Storm blades nastily following a slingshot into the post, and Roode hammers the cut. Storm's selljob of the blood-loss is top draw, even when on offence, and it's this that allows Roode to gain momentum. What is also great is how King Mo doesn't really get involved, but instead helps sell the match by reacting in horror at the carnage as both guys trade weapons shots. Cowboy is so bloodied he borrows a beer to try and wash some plasma off his face. Roode gets two after spearing Storm through a table. Last Call gets a totally convincing nearfall for Storm. Roode makes a big mistake by bringing tacks into the ring, as he tries to superplex Storm onto them, only to get knocked from the top onto the tacks himself. Storm insanely follows with a top rope elbow for two. Not learning from this, Roode brings a bottle of beer into the ring, and again it backfires as Storm smashes it over his head. Storm Last Call's Roode back onto the tacks and picks up the win. Bloody, brutal, fantastic match.

Joey Ryan vs Al Snow
Like the last match, this is another example of TNA actually building a storyline longterm with 5 months of buildup to this match. Snow still looks in good shape. The early parts show the veteran Snow dominating by out-thinking Ryan. Ryan takes control, but keeps stopping to pose, which gives Al advantage again. Ryan kicks out at two following a SnowPlow. Al goes under the ring to fetch Head, but the ref prevents him using it, leading to Ryan barging Snow into the ref. Ryan tries a baseball slide, but Snow outsmarts him again by trapping him in the ring apron. Snow goes to get Head again, but Matt Morgan appears from nowhere to hit the Carbon Footprint on Snow to gift the win. Decent enough for what it was.

Kazarian & Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles & Kurt Angle vs Chavo Guerrero Jr & Hernandez
The World Tag Team Champions of the World decide to let the two challenging teams go at it, until Angle takes control on Guerrero. Then Daniels blindtags himself in, only for an annoyed Angle to boot him and drag him to AJ for a return blind tag. The teamwork between Guerrero and Hernandez is pretty solid considering how recently they joined together. TNA have also done a good job of presenting them as being on the same level as Styles and Angle. Kaz and Daniels regain dominace by attacking AJ behind the refs back, and isolate him in their part of the ring. Nice little heat sequence, which you don't normally get in triple threats. In fact, you get the added bonus of AJ also having to avoid the Mexican corner. Finally, he tags in Angle, who races through everyone. We predictably head into non-stop spotfest territory, the highlight being a huge dive from the ring to the floor by Hernandez. Until, of course, seconds later AJ nails a double-jump springboard plancha to the floor. Insane. It suddenly feels like a different match to the first half. It all ends when Hernandez blind tags AJ as he falls from the ring, and a Border Toss/ Frog Splash combo win it for him and Guerrero. As I said, felt like two different matches, but the ending was undoubtedly exciting.

Miss Tessmacher vs Tara
I often find Tessmacher looks a bit hesitant on offence, but the opening moments here look pretty smooth. I guess because these two are real life friends. Tara takes control early, which makes sense as Tessmacher is a better seller than on offence. This isn't a great match, but at least they aren't afraid to lay in the blows on each other. Tessmacher's top rope flying headscissors was pretty good. A missed top rope elbow from Tessmacher leads to Widow's Peak for a clean Tara win. After this, Tara introduces her Hollywood boyfriend, who is some guy called Jesse from Big Brother.

Aces & Eights vs Sting & Bully Ray
Not sure how a man so awesome as a heel as Ray still works as a face, but he does. Aces appears to be Mike Knoxx and Luke Gallows. Sting and Ray attack them outside the ring as they cuff Joseph Park to the railings. Bully and Sting have control, until one Ace moves his partner out of the way of a Stinger Splash on the rails. The Aces wrestle in line with the gimmick, just big nasty guys hitting big meaty offence, so Aces vs Bully is just great. Ray's diving shoulder block from the 2nd rope looks killer. Another Ace runs in as Bully has control and downs him, before spitting at Park. This outrages Park so much he breaks his cuffs and downs the rogue Ace member to a huge pop. Bully and Sting nail a Doomsday Device on one Ace to another huge pop. Sting yells to Bully to get the table. A fourth Ace runs in though, and spinebusters Bully through the table for the Aces win. Afterwards Hulk Hogan comes to the ring to demolish the Aces members, and the faces unmask the interferring Ace as Devon.

Austin Aries vs Jeff Hardy
Aries seems more over here than Jeff. Jeff seems to be wrestling with a bit of an edge here, slapping Aries out of the ring. In fact, Jeff's offence looks more snug than usual, as he stomps Aries viciously in the corner. Aries takes over with a dropkick to the face, then takes a victory lap. Terrific. This might be the best Hardy has looked since joining TNA, using the ringsteps to hit Poetry In Motion on Aries into the railings. Back in the ring, Aries does a good job of keeping Hardy on the mat, as the crowd really is coming to life. I like the way that the few times Aries does go high-risk, it always looks painful for Hardy, like a dropkick to the back of his head. He also does so many subtle things, like drapping Hardy's legs over the ropes to hold him in place before slingshotting in with a twisting elbow. Hardy fires back with aplomb, hoisting Aries over his head with velocity. I also like the way he dazes Aries by ramming him into the turnbuckles before hitting the Whisper In The Wind, so it looks natural rather than contrived. This is absolutely the best Hardy match I've seen in ages, and it really feels like Hardy has upped his game to keep up with Aries. Austin really starts working Hardy over, including a sick looking DDT on the lip of the ramp. The ending stretch is super-heated, with both the Twist of Fate and the brainbuster getting kicked out of, before Hardy wins with the Swanton. Great match, but it feels like the wrong time to take the title off Aries.

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 Maximum Impact Tour, Nottingham Capital FM Arena 2012

So TNA decided to open their UK tour with a show in my home city. Getting there, the atmosphere already seemed pretty good. There was a good sized crowd there and already there were fliers going round advertising that they'd be back in Nottingham in 2013, so the advance sales must have been pretty promising. My last TNA show was at the Cov Skydome in 2008, but the set up was a fair bit nicer than back then, with the tron in particular being a nice addition.

Douglas Williams vs Gunner
Decent choice for the opener, with Williams getting a sizable pop. Gunner pulls back the floor covering outside the ring early doors, in a nice reference to the Impact match which ended with him DDTing Williams on the floor. Interestingly, Williams seems to work as an underdog babyface here, busting out a bit more highflying than we usually see from him, hitting a nice tope suicida. This slight shift in style allows Gunner to build some heat by dominating Williams, locking in a bearhug and making Williams fight back from underneath. Williams gets a nearfall from a diving uppercut, before a sequence of reversals ends with the Chaos Theory for a popular win.

Samoa Joe vs Crimson
I have a principle of trying not to cheer for heels at live wrestling events, but I really didn’t feel like cheering for Crimson over Joe here. Luckily, most of the arena agreed, and the wrestlers wisely reacted to this with Crimson busting out a choke on the ropes and throwing Joe into the ringpost to heel it up. Joe was really on here, hitting his offence with a nice bit of snap and looking visibly more motivated than on your average episode of Impact. He even dragged the Ole kick from out of the mothballs to a big reaction, but Crimson hit a spear on him from the chair on a second try. The match ended with a double DQ outside the ring, but this was better than I’d expected, and Crimson actually looked pretty good here.

Austin Aries vs Alex Shelley vs Mark Haskins
This was an X Division title match. Shelley and Aries got decent reactions, with the crowd slow to warm to Haskins, despite him being (falsely) billed as being from Nottingham. Aries went to the outside quickly, letting Shelley and Haskins work each other over. They worked a pretty smooth series of moves in there, albeit with Aries sneaking round the ring looking for an opportunity to seize an advantage, where Haskins started to win over the crowd with some nice highflying. He hit a nice tope suicida on Shelley, which Aries followed up with an even better one. Shelley did some goofy selling on the outside, whilst Haskins got the chance to impress against Aries in the ring. He even got a close nearfall, which fooled me into thinking they were about to put the title on him (in retrospect, a stupid thing to fall for). Shelley got back and the three worked an impossibly smooth section before Aries hit Haskins with the brainbuster for 3. Good match.

Gail Kim vs Madison Rayne vs Tara vs Mickie James
Second title match in a row and, whilst the least memorable match of the night, it was still an enjoyable one. Kim and Rayne paired off against Tara and James, until the faces threw them out of the ring (which led to a high five, which Mickie sold in a nice touch). We then got a Tara/James section as the heels refused to get back in the ring. Of course, they waited for the right moment to return and soon took control on the faces, focusing on James after sending Tara into the ringpost. The harmony couldn’t last though, and Kim got in Madison’s face after Rayne tried to pin James for the title. This allowed James and Tara to take over, but a distraction to the ref allowed Kim to nail Tara with the title for the pinfall. Weakest match of the night, but still a fun affair.

Bully Ray vs AJ Styles
We kicked this off with a heeling masterclass from Bully Ray. First he ran down the audience in classic fashion, before luring a fan over the barrier to fight him in the ring (of course, the second he climbed over the barrier, Ray screamed for security). He then tried to compete with AJ for the loudest pop from the crowd when climbing the buckle, which he predictably lost. He then took on Earl Hebner, who’d been getting booed throughout the night, and lost to him too, before finally challenging Christy Hemme, who also beat him. Ray then stalled, avoiding locking up with Styles for as long as possible. Honestly, the Ray heeling act is spectacular live. He ran through his whole repertoire, spitting in the air and catching it in his mouth, before his own version of the Flair strut. Of course, in amongst all this was a wrestling match, and it was a darn good affair for a houseshow. They worked a solid brawler vs flyer match, with Ray using his strength to wear down AJ with a bearhug, whilst AJ outpaced Ray, getting a nearfall from a flying forearm. They also had a nice spot where AJ ran Ray around outside the ring and got fans to put their feet on the railings to ram Ray’s head into. The end came when Ray went for the Bully Bomb, which AJ reversed into a rollup for the win. Bully hit AJ in the head with a chain postmatch which I thought was odd, but made sense with the events to come...

Bobby Roode vs James Storm
This was our main event and, whilst I thought it would be a good match, it felt anticlimactic when the posters had advertised Sting, Angle and others who hadn’t been seen (though I was maybe the only person there disappointed by no Anarquia...). Especially so as it was highly unlikely we’d see a title change and thus we’d have a heel winning the main event. Still the match was progressing nicely, until Roode ducked a superkick and lowblowed Storm for the DQ....

....this drew out Sting to a huge pop, who said the match would restart. This in turn brought out Angle to challenge Storm and Sting to a tagmatch. A pretty good choice for a main event, but then Bully Ray returned to make it a 3-on-2 match. I was waiting to see who the inevitable third man in the face team would be. I thought it might be Anderson, Hardy or Magnus. Hell, when Sting reminded us we were in Nottingham, home of Notts Forest and Robin Hood, I thought he might bring back “Nottingham’s own Mark Haskins”. But he didn’t. With the arrival of Eye Of The Tiger sounding over the tannoy, he brought out no other than Hulk Hogan!

James Storm, Sting & Hulk Hogan vs Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode & Bully Ray
Unsurprisingly, Hogan’s first match in the UK in 18 years brought a huge reaction. The match itself? The best possible match you could have got from this line-up. Hogan didn’t take any bumps, but the heels pinballed around for his every move to a great series of cheers. The faces hit pretty much a greatest hits set of moves, with Storm and Sting working face in peril for large parts in between. I think booking a 6 man tag was the perfect way to headline the show, as it didn’t require guys like Hogan, Sting (who looked terrific here) and Angle to exert themselves too much yet still put on a match the fans really reacted to. Bully Ray added some nice character touches from ringside, including a great sell of a nutshot, made even more impressive when you consider it was a sympathy sell for a lowblow on Roode. In the end, Hogan hit the big boot on Roode (in all honesty, to Roode’s midsection, but I don’t expect miracles) and Storm hit the big legdrop on his former partner for the win. A terrific, terrific way to end a great show.