klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Hard Justice 2008
Date: August 10, 2008
Location: Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West
It's the start of another trio of TNA shows here. This is one of the rare out of Orlando shows and it's a light card of only seven shows. The good thing though is the shortest is over eleven minutes long. The main event is Joe vs. Booker T in a cage for the title which is a rematch. Also we have AJ vs. Angle in a last man standing match which should be awesome. Let's get to it.
The opening video is in the theme of a cop show, talking about how these are the offenders of TNA and tonight they're going to face justice. They talk about almost all of the main matches, also including Christian/Rhyno vs. Team 3D. Sting is involved in the main event too somehow as he wants to be the one to beat Joe for the title, which he would eventually do.
Sting gets here and doesn't want to talk.
Here's a bad rap song to start the show. By that I mean the rappers are here and performing the song in the ring. You know, for those people that paid to see three guys rap about being from Harlem.
Now let's have the announcers run down the card to make sure we don't have any wrestling to open the show. The X-Division Title match is called a title match involving the X-Division. That's one way of putting it I guess.
The X Title match is up but we need to have a powerpoint presentation before we get to the match.
X-Division Title: Consequences Creed vs. Petey Williams
Creed got a non-title pin on the champ recently to set this up. Petey is Maple Leaf Muscle and has Rhaka Khan with him. There's the first bell, over eleven and a half minutes into the show. Creed grabs a front facelock and controls on the mat early on. Feeling out process so far which resembles a gymnastics competition rather than a match, but that's fine for matches in this division.
Not being in the Impact Zone really does make a difference. Creed sends him to the floor and tries a dive over the top but hits the back of his head/neck on the apron on the way down. I think his afro saved him. Khan fires off a kick to Creed while Petey has the referee. Creed throws some punches but can't get anywhere with them. The fans are totally behind Williams.
Creed tries to speed things up but gets his leg taken out so Petey can hit a rana to the floor. The crowd doesn't like Creed at all it seems. Not a good sign when he's the face in this one. Back inside Creed gets a jackknife cover for two. He hits a superkick out of nowhere to get us back to even for a bit at least. They slug it out and Creed manages to get a springboard bulldog.
A big shot to the head gets two. The crowd is staying in this which is the point of the opening match. The Canadian hits a Russian to the American and then calls for the Canadian Destroyer. Creed rolls through it and the fans boo his comeback. He puts Petey in a fireman's carry which is reversed into a crucifix for two. Creed tries a gorilla press into a Codebreaker/gutbuster but Petey counters into a Sharpshooter to a big reaction.
When Creed grabs the rope, the booing is insane. I mean the fans just do not like this guy. It's kind of sad in a way but not to an extent that it's worth caring about. They chop it out and Petey can't keep him down. The American hits a German to the Canadian and then a CreeDT (just go with it) but he goes up for a legdrop instead of covering, getting two. Khan comes in and takes a TKO for her efforts. Another Destroyer is blocked into something like Kaz's Fade to Black for two. Here's Sheik Bashir who pops Creed in the back with a chair. The Destroyer ends it.
Rating: C+. Decent opener but the crowd being totally reversed what they were supposed to be is pretty interesting. Williams is a guy I never really got into that much but Creed isn't interesting at all for the most part. Not a great match but the speed stuff was nicely done and it was fine for an opener.
Bashir tells a camera man to look at the American Dream out on the mat because of the Middle Eastern Nightmare.
Joe talks about Sting instead of his opponent in the main event. He's tired of the hocus pocus and the light show. I think a lot of people are and that's three years after this show. Nash, Joe's mentor, says he'll take care of Sting right now. Nash leaves and Joe says he'll beat Booker tonight.
We recap the Knockouts Tag match which is three face chicks vs. the Beautiful People/Kong.
Gail Kim/Taylor Wilde/ODB vs. Beautiful People/Awesome Kong
It's just Angelina and Velvet at this point. Traci Brooks is here as referee. She looks great from the neck down. I guess Kaz closes his eyes. Gail looks good too so at least we have something to look at here. Angelina vs. ODB to start us off. Ok make that Velvet. She sprays perfume to make the ring smell better and ODB in particular. ODB gets it and sprays various parts of herself with it.
Gail comes in and finally gets things going against Sky. Now Angelina gets beaten up a bit. Off to Wilde who doesn't do as well. Her thing at this point is she shocked Kong in a huge upset to win the title and is champion here. I guess I missed the belt when she came out. Gail vs. Kong now and that goes badly for Gail. Off to ODB who looks small as well. The nice girls triple team Kong to put her down and send her to the floor. That's good thinking.
ODB tries to pound on her because that went so well the first time. Traci throws Saed (Kong's handler) out. ODB spits alcohol into Kong's face and is promptly crushed for doing so. Velvet comes in with a modified octopus hold which doesn't last long either. Gail vs. Angelina results in Gail going into the railing throat first. This match is missing more than it's hitting. Angelina keeps choking and Traci keeps pulling her off. Gail finally gets the tag to Wilde and everything breaks down. Botox Injection takes Wilde down but Wilde hooks a victory roll out of the Lights Out for the pin.
Rating: D+. I wasn't into this and it just went way too long. The Beautiful People didn't know how to work a long match yet and it was really clear. There wasn't much of a story either as it felt more like a big collection of one on one matches than a tag match. There was no real segment where one chick got beaten down and that hurt the match a lot. I know it's a formula but it works better than most matches.
Team 3D goes looking for Sting and Ray is afraid of heights. They invite Sting to help them out in their street fight later. Sting is nowhere to be seen so they're just yelling at the shadows. Ray says D-Von is afraid of the dark.
We recap Beer Money vs. LAX. Beer Money is a pretty new team with about two months together. This is their first big title shot.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. LAX
The same rapper from earlier sings LAX to the ring. Well this does result in Salinas shaking her hips so it's not all bad. Beer Money beat up Homicide on Impact and hurt his eye. Roode vs. SuperMex gets us going officially but there's enough double teaming that it's hard to tell for sure. Storm gets beaten up too and takes a 30 second delayed vertical suplex. Hernandez is scary strong.
Storm heads to the floor and Hernandez hits a huge dive to take Beer Money out. Homicide comes in to beat on Roode in revenge for the eye injury. Storm spits beer at Homicide to blind him and take over. They work over the eye and the neck a bit with Storm pounding away at it. The bandage is off. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Roode gets two. The challengers hit a double suplex and shout their names.
An Orton elevated DDT gets two. Off to one of the least convincing chinlocks I've ever seen from Storm. It looks like he's cuddling Homicide. Roode uses Three Amigos to some solid heel heat but really gets them mad by slapping his chest. A frog splash misses and both guys are down. Hernandez claps for Homicide and has some small hands. There's the hot tag and it's time for power moves.
Beer Money double teams him to get him down and the blockbuster gets two. SuperMex hits a double clothesline and tags Homicide in again which is probably not all that smart. He hits a frog splash of his own for two as Storm kicks out. The tagging aspect has been forgotten here. Roode hits his spinebuster and Storm hits a Backstabber to the back of Hernandez.
The champs are both down in the ring and Beer Money is on the floor. Hernandez uses Homicide as a missile and Border Tosses him on top of Beer Money. Salinas and Jackie fight on the floor and the distraction lets Roode break a beer bottle over Homicide's eye for the easy pin by Storm for the titles.
Rating: B. Another good match from Beer Money as they know how to use a tag team formula as well as almost any modern team. LAX is a team I never got the universal appeal of but they were pretty good here. The eye injury was a good help to the story for the most part and we got a solid match out of it. Good stuff.
Sting tells Nash there's no other way. No word on what that is but the Mafia was coming.
We recap Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal. This is about So Cal Val which they were trying to actually push as the modern Mega Powers and Liz story. Lethal was going to marry Val but Sonjay loved her and now they're fighting. Tonight it's a Black Tie Brawl and Chain match, which means they're in tuxedos and it's a strap match. You have to strip the tuxedo or get a pin, because when you think broken marriages and hatred and betraying your best friend, you think ripping off tuxedos.
Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal
Val has her wedding ring here which she didn't have recently. They're tied by a chain. Like any good heel, Dutt doesn't want to put the chain on. While Dutt has his put on him, Lethal slips his off and chains his part to the rope. Lethal gets in some free shots and the tuxedos are making this look stupid. Lethal is in a white tux and Dutt is in black. Nice symbolism no?
Dutt manages to get the chain and slams it into the balls of Lethal. West: You talk about a chain burn in the wrong place. Dutt starts ripping off clothes but can't hit a fist drop with chain wrapped around his fist. Lethal pounds away and rips off a sleeve. That must not be a well made jacket. Lethal throws him over the top and his arm shoots out which looked funny.
Lethal is in total control and Val isn't happy with him. Dutt has been chained around the post and there goes his jacket and shirt. Scratch that as Dutt manages to get them back on. This is like a board game instead of a wrestling match. Dutt gets a cool move in as Lethal is standing on the floor and has his face on the apron. Dutt slides in and swings his feet around to kick Lethal in the face like a 619.
Jay keeps choking away and Val is freaking. She's up on the apron begging him to stop and now is throwing her hands up and leaving. Dutt uses the distraction to pull Lethal shoulder first into the post. Lethal is in the Tree of Woe and is down to his pants and cummerbund. Lethal's family is freaking out (it's his home state remember). There's a very light fire Russo chant. Now there's a loud boring chant.
Dutt tries a springboard move but Lethal whips the chain down to send Dutt flying. That looked pretty cool. Lethal whips him from corner to corner and Dutt is in trouble. Lethal Combination is blocked so Jay hits an inverted powerbomb for two. Dutt gets him in a Stunner position and then jumps backwards, flipping over Lethal's shoulders and slams his head into the mat. LOUD fire Russo chant now. Dutt tries something off the top but Lethal moves and hits a suplex for two. Lethal Combination hits and the top rope elbow (he's the Macho Man character) gets the pin. Yes after all that, the clothes meant NOTHING.
Rating: C. The match was ok but the clothes thing got really old really fast. The problem is you already have a gimmick in place with the chain. Having two gimmicks in a single match is too much and it overly complicates things which it did here. Not a bad match but the gimmick got in the way of the match, which is Russo 101 when he's not on his game.
Booker talks about having issues with Sting but says they're a lot alike. This is foreshadowing for the Mafia which formed about two months after this. Booker stole the belt itself and is all regal and pompous at this point.
We recap Team 3D vs. Christian/Rhyno which is a big blood feud because they've both tried to hurt each other multiple times. 3D put Christian through a table covered in glass.
Team 3D vs. Christian Cage/Rhyno
This is a Jersey Street Fight. Oh I almost forgot: this is around the time TNA's video game was out so the entrances are all with clips from the game. It's a big brawl to start which is the idea. It's Rhyno vs. D-Von and Ray vs. Christian. The former pairing heads into the crowd and we go split screen. Both pairs are out there now. The team without a name is in control.
They're all up near an exit and Rhyno falls down the steps. Christian dives off something that we can't really see. D-Von beats Rhyno down on the way to the ring and this is falls count anywhere. That makes me feel better because there's actually a point to this brawling. Now Ray dives off something in the crowd to hit Christian. Rhyno brings a ladder towards the ring and then loses it somewhere.
A fan has a sign that says Christian use my sign. Captain Charisma does just that and wouldn't you know it the sign has a road sign in it. Everyone is in the ring now and we get an ECW chant. Ray manages to get a shot in on both opponents with a sign and the not-Dudleys take over. Ray brings in some steps and Tenay freaks because he managed to throw them over the top. It's impressive but he didn't pick up the entire ring.
Ray tries his backsplash onto the steps but Christian gets out of the way and slams him face first into the steps from the middle rope. Christian misses a sign shot and Ray gets a Bubba Bomb off the steps for two. D-Von grabs a highway barrel and the fans want tables. Rhyno runs over Bubba but can't get through D-Von as well. And never mind as there's a Gore but Ray breaks it up with a low dropkick.
Top rope cross body on Ray gets two for the Canadian. Unprettier is broken up and Ray gets an electric chair drop for no cover. A double clothesline puts Rhyno and D-Von down but Christian pops up and hits Ray low. He sets for what looks to be a top rope rana but Ray counters into a SICK powerbomb for two. The fans still want tables and that's D-Von's calling card. Rhyno manages a double clothesline to avoid going through the table and here's the ladder. Christian hits a frog splash off the top to Ray and a Gore to (not through) the table ends him.
Rating: B-. Pretty good brawl here. We've seen these a million times but this was brutal enough and it didn't get stupid so I have few complaints in this. It's not a great match or anything but for the sake of a street fight with a ton of weapons, this was fine and it fits the idea of this show fine.
Johnny Devine, Team 3D's friend, comes out and beats up the winners with a cane. Abyss comes out for some reason and makes the save. The announcers point out that he just likes to save people. Devine takes a Black Hole Slam. He won't use a weapon though due to his therapy or whatever.
AJ says he's talked to Sting and it's all cool. As far as Kurt goes, it's personal because they want to hurt each other. He guarantees he'll be the last man standing and Kurt won't get up.
We recap AJ vs. Angle. AJ was mentored by Kurt but AJ had a crush on Kurt's wife so Kurt half killed him. AJ was in a cage and the lights went out. When the came back on Kurt was behind him and destroyed him. AJ slept with Karen (allegedly) and this is about revenge.
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
Going from a really intense video to video game clips isn't working for me. AJ has his white tights here so you know it's going to be good. This is last man standing. Angle stays on the floor to mess with AJ's mind. He's done it three times so far. AJ finally goes after him but gets caught coming back into the ring. Angle gets a suplex and covers. Oh it's one of those where the count doesn't start until you get a pin.
Off to a chinlock really early in the match. Styles pounds away in the corner and a clothesline puts Angle on the floor. There's a big dive over the top to the floor but it only gets two outside. Back in AJ keeps up the offense with a knee drop for two. Out to the floor again and Angle gets a belly to back to send AJ into the railing for two. They fight up to the ramp and AJ takes over again.
They're up on the stage now and AJ hammers away. Kurt grabs him in an attempt at a belly to back off the stage but Styles lands on his feet (kind of). Angle is like screw it and dives off the stage with a front flip onto Styles for two. They're back in the ring and Kurt gets a backbreaker for two and we hit the chinlock again. AJ gets a kick to the head but the Styles Clash is countered with a release belly to belly.
Angle covers after a slam of all things for two. Long chinlock goes on and AJ shakes his hand to try to get feeling back into it. They speed up and both try cross bodies at the same time. They've been going for awhile here and it's been good so far. AJ sets for the springboard forearm but settles for a shoulder instead. Now he hooks a torture rack of all things and spins around into a powerbomb for two. That was a really close call.
Styles Clash is countered into the ankle lock but AJ kicks off and hits a release spinebuster to put Kurt down. Styles goes up but Angle runs the corner for the suplex. AJ is like screw that and knocks him back down. An attempt at a rana is caught into a powerbomb for two. Angle doesn't let go and tries the Styles Clash on AJ. AJ avoids it and grabs the ankle lock with the grapevine and Angle taps to his own hold. That's good for a 9 count and Angle hopping on one foot which is worth the price of admission alone.
AJ tries the moonsault into the DDT but Angle steps out of the way and hits him low. Here come the Germans and the last one is a release but he still can't pin AJ. Angle goes Olympic but AJ counters the Slam and hits the Pele to put both guys down. AJ goes up top but Kurt makes the save. AJ knocks him back but Angle runs the corner and hits a release German off the top. The count is kind of weird as the pin counts and AJ gets his shoulder up at the same time. It counts apparently and AJ is up at 8. He takes the Olympic Slam immediately and it gets 9.
Angle is ready for AJ but the Slam is countered and AJ rolls through into the Clash for a quick pin. The referee starts the count fast every time so at least it's not stupid looking. I'm not wild about the way the pins have to count because it slows things down between putting someone down and the count. Angle barely beats the count at 9 and the fans think this is awesome. They go up to the top and Angle wants to belly to belly him to the floor. AJ counters with a DDT off the top and Angle is shaking like Terry Funk. That gets the pin and the ten count.
Rating: A-. Oh come on it's AJ vs. Kurt. Are you expecting something that isn't great? This was their usual great match with a solid ending as you hardly ever see a DDT from the top rope. They were playing up the past neck injuries for Kurt so the ending is even more effective and a bit scary at the same time. Good match here and by far the best of the night so far. Somehow though, by far not their best match ever.
Angle goes out on a stretcher. AJ feels bad....or not as he goes back and hits a brainbuster/suplex and talks some trash. I like this psycho AJ. He goes to leave and there go the lights. It's Sting who hits him with a Death Drop on the ramp. It's the respect your elders thing again, because even if they try to kill you, you should respect them. Nash comes out to ask Sting what that was but Sting keeps walking.
We recap Booker vs. Joe by talking about Sting. Joe won by DQ at Victory Road and Booker took the belt itself. Tonight it's a cage match with weapons so Joe doesn't have to worry about going insane. Joe was finally champion and the focus is on Sting. Well of course it is. It makes the Booker feud look like a pit stop but when did that ever stop TNA before?
Video on Booker T who is old and awesome.
Video on Joe who likes to fight. These are the ones that play on the way to the ring.
TNA World Title: Samoa Joe vs. Booker T
Every time they refer to this match they call it the Six Sides of Steel With Weapons. The last two words sound pretty stupid after hearing them more than once. After some big match intros we're ready to go. Booker goes for a hockey stick but Joe spears him against the cage (checks him into the boards?) to make Booker drop it. A kendo stick doesn't work either as Joe makes a save.
Joe wants to fight/wrestle and takes Booker down with a running enziguri. And never mind as he's got a trashcan which is kicked into Booker's face and crushed with a backsplash. All Joe here as he hammers away in the corner. Booker gets a can shot to Joe's head and it's hockey time. What is Booker's obsession with that thing? Joe takes him down and grabs a pair of trashcan lids to put GI Bro down.
Sharmell screams for him to get going so Booker kicks Joe's head off to shut her up. A chair shot opens Joe up. They fight up to the top rope and slug it out before they both crash down through something like a bulldog by Joe. Joe sends him into the cage and fails in an attempt to climb. You can win by pin, submission or escape here. Booker throws on a guillotine choke but Joe gets a foot on the rope. You know, because chairs, tables, hockey sticks, trashcans and anything else you can think of are legal but HE TOUCHED THE ROPE! What is Booker, a barbarian?
They go up to the top rope and slug it out but Joe goes INSANE and jumps off the rope (the rope, not the corner) with a jumping enziguri to crotch Booker. That looked insane. Joe hooks an STF and then into a crossface. Booker gets his foot out to the rope and the hold has to be broken. Joe wants a MuscleBuster on the chair but Booker escapes into a Bookend onto the chair for two. Booker spins up and hits the axe kick and there go the lights. The lights come on and Joe has a guitar which is cracked over Booker's head for the pin. Jarrett speculation ends the show.
Rating: B-. Not a bad cage match here but the ending shows off the problem of Joe's run all over again: the spotlight is on someone else. Instead of Joe standing tall and beating a veteran to further establish his dominance on the card, we're talking about Jarrett and if Sting is in league with Jarrett because of the lights going out. That gets really annoying and it's the same stuff that crippled Benoit's title reign.
Overall Rating: B. Pretty good show here with one really good match in AJ vs. Angle (duh) and a bunch of other good ones on top of that. However, the Sting overload was an issue here as he was way too much of the focus. Team 3D went to talk to him, Nash went to talk to him, he beat up AJ, Joe was more preoccupied with him than Booker, and he didn't even wrestle. That's what we mean when we say someone is being overshadowed and it hurts them. It did here with Sting and Joe and it would do the same until BFG where Sting took the title from Joe.
Date: August 10, 2008
Location: Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West
It's the start of another trio of TNA shows here. This is one of the rare out of Orlando shows and it's a light card of only seven shows. The good thing though is the shortest is over eleven minutes long. The main event is Joe vs. Booker T in a cage for the title which is a rematch. Also we have AJ vs. Angle in a last man standing match which should be awesome. Let's get to it.
The opening video is in the theme of a cop show, talking about how these are the offenders of TNA and tonight they're going to face justice. They talk about almost all of the main matches, also including Christian/Rhyno vs. Team 3D. Sting is involved in the main event too somehow as he wants to be the one to beat Joe for the title, which he would eventually do.
Sting gets here and doesn't want to talk.
Here's a bad rap song to start the show. By that I mean the rappers are here and performing the song in the ring. You know, for those people that paid to see three guys rap about being from Harlem.
Now let's have the announcers run down the card to make sure we don't have any wrestling to open the show. The X-Division Title match is called a title match involving the X-Division. That's one way of putting it I guess.
The X Title match is up but we need to have a powerpoint presentation before we get to the match.
X-Division Title: Consequences Creed vs. Petey Williams
Creed got a non-title pin on the champ recently to set this up. Petey is Maple Leaf Muscle and has Rhaka Khan with him. There's the first bell, over eleven and a half minutes into the show. Creed grabs a front facelock and controls on the mat early on. Feeling out process so far which resembles a gymnastics competition rather than a match, but that's fine for matches in this division.
Not being in the Impact Zone really does make a difference. Creed sends him to the floor and tries a dive over the top but hits the back of his head/neck on the apron on the way down. I think his afro saved him. Khan fires off a kick to Creed while Petey has the referee. Creed throws some punches but can't get anywhere with them. The fans are totally behind Williams.
Creed tries to speed things up but gets his leg taken out so Petey can hit a rana to the floor. The crowd doesn't like Creed at all it seems. Not a good sign when he's the face in this one. Back inside Creed gets a jackknife cover for two. He hits a superkick out of nowhere to get us back to even for a bit at least. They slug it out and Creed manages to get a springboard bulldog.
A big shot to the head gets two. The crowd is staying in this which is the point of the opening match. The Canadian hits a Russian to the American and then calls for the Canadian Destroyer. Creed rolls through it and the fans boo his comeback. He puts Petey in a fireman's carry which is reversed into a crucifix for two. Creed tries a gorilla press into a Codebreaker/gutbuster but Petey counters into a Sharpshooter to a big reaction.
When Creed grabs the rope, the booing is insane. I mean the fans just do not like this guy. It's kind of sad in a way but not to an extent that it's worth caring about. They chop it out and Petey can't keep him down. The American hits a German to the Canadian and then a CreeDT (just go with it) but he goes up for a legdrop instead of covering, getting two. Khan comes in and takes a TKO for her efforts. Another Destroyer is blocked into something like Kaz's Fade to Black for two. Here's Sheik Bashir who pops Creed in the back with a chair. The Destroyer ends it.
Rating: C+. Decent opener but the crowd being totally reversed what they were supposed to be is pretty interesting. Williams is a guy I never really got into that much but Creed isn't interesting at all for the most part. Not a great match but the speed stuff was nicely done and it was fine for an opener.
Bashir tells a camera man to look at the American Dream out on the mat because of the Middle Eastern Nightmare.
Joe talks about Sting instead of his opponent in the main event. He's tired of the hocus pocus and the light show. I think a lot of people are and that's three years after this show. Nash, Joe's mentor, says he'll take care of Sting right now. Nash leaves and Joe says he'll beat Booker tonight.
We recap the Knockouts Tag match which is three face chicks vs. the Beautiful People/Kong.
Gail Kim/Taylor Wilde/ODB vs. Beautiful People/Awesome Kong
It's just Angelina and Velvet at this point. Traci Brooks is here as referee. She looks great from the neck down. I guess Kaz closes his eyes. Gail looks good too so at least we have something to look at here. Angelina vs. ODB to start us off. Ok make that Velvet. She sprays perfume to make the ring smell better and ODB in particular. ODB gets it and sprays various parts of herself with it.
Gail comes in and finally gets things going against Sky. Now Angelina gets beaten up a bit. Off to Wilde who doesn't do as well. Her thing at this point is she shocked Kong in a huge upset to win the title and is champion here. I guess I missed the belt when she came out. Gail vs. Kong now and that goes badly for Gail. Off to ODB who looks small as well. The nice girls triple team Kong to put her down and send her to the floor. That's good thinking.
ODB tries to pound on her because that went so well the first time. Traci throws Saed (Kong's handler) out. ODB spits alcohol into Kong's face and is promptly crushed for doing so. Velvet comes in with a modified octopus hold which doesn't last long either. Gail vs. Angelina results in Gail going into the railing throat first. This match is missing more than it's hitting. Angelina keeps choking and Traci keeps pulling her off. Gail finally gets the tag to Wilde and everything breaks down. Botox Injection takes Wilde down but Wilde hooks a victory roll out of the Lights Out for the pin.
Rating: D+. I wasn't into this and it just went way too long. The Beautiful People didn't know how to work a long match yet and it was really clear. There wasn't much of a story either as it felt more like a big collection of one on one matches than a tag match. There was no real segment where one chick got beaten down and that hurt the match a lot. I know it's a formula but it works better than most matches.
Team 3D goes looking for Sting and Ray is afraid of heights. They invite Sting to help them out in their street fight later. Sting is nowhere to be seen so they're just yelling at the shadows. Ray says D-Von is afraid of the dark.
We recap Beer Money vs. LAX. Beer Money is a pretty new team with about two months together. This is their first big title shot.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. LAX
The same rapper from earlier sings LAX to the ring. Well this does result in Salinas shaking her hips so it's not all bad. Beer Money beat up Homicide on Impact and hurt his eye. Roode vs. SuperMex gets us going officially but there's enough double teaming that it's hard to tell for sure. Storm gets beaten up too and takes a 30 second delayed vertical suplex. Hernandez is scary strong.
Storm heads to the floor and Hernandez hits a huge dive to take Beer Money out. Homicide comes in to beat on Roode in revenge for the eye injury. Storm spits beer at Homicide to blind him and take over. They work over the eye and the neck a bit with Storm pounding away at it. The bandage is off. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Roode gets two. The challengers hit a double suplex and shout their names.
An Orton elevated DDT gets two. Off to one of the least convincing chinlocks I've ever seen from Storm. It looks like he's cuddling Homicide. Roode uses Three Amigos to some solid heel heat but really gets them mad by slapping his chest. A frog splash misses and both guys are down. Hernandez claps for Homicide and has some small hands. There's the hot tag and it's time for power moves.
Beer Money double teams him to get him down and the blockbuster gets two. SuperMex hits a double clothesline and tags Homicide in again which is probably not all that smart. He hits a frog splash of his own for two as Storm kicks out. The tagging aspect has been forgotten here. Roode hits his spinebuster and Storm hits a Backstabber to the back of Hernandez.
The champs are both down in the ring and Beer Money is on the floor. Hernandez uses Homicide as a missile and Border Tosses him on top of Beer Money. Salinas and Jackie fight on the floor and the distraction lets Roode break a beer bottle over Homicide's eye for the easy pin by Storm for the titles.
Rating: B. Another good match from Beer Money as they know how to use a tag team formula as well as almost any modern team. LAX is a team I never got the universal appeal of but they were pretty good here. The eye injury was a good help to the story for the most part and we got a solid match out of it. Good stuff.
Sting tells Nash there's no other way. No word on what that is but the Mafia was coming.
We recap Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal. This is about So Cal Val which they were trying to actually push as the modern Mega Powers and Liz story. Lethal was going to marry Val but Sonjay loved her and now they're fighting. Tonight it's a Black Tie Brawl and Chain match, which means they're in tuxedos and it's a strap match. You have to strip the tuxedo or get a pin, because when you think broken marriages and hatred and betraying your best friend, you think ripping off tuxedos.
Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal
Val has her wedding ring here which she didn't have recently. They're tied by a chain. Like any good heel, Dutt doesn't want to put the chain on. While Dutt has his put on him, Lethal slips his off and chains his part to the rope. Lethal gets in some free shots and the tuxedos are making this look stupid. Lethal is in a white tux and Dutt is in black. Nice symbolism no?
Dutt manages to get the chain and slams it into the balls of Lethal. West: You talk about a chain burn in the wrong place. Dutt starts ripping off clothes but can't hit a fist drop with chain wrapped around his fist. Lethal pounds away and rips off a sleeve. That must not be a well made jacket. Lethal throws him over the top and his arm shoots out which looked funny.
Lethal is in total control and Val isn't happy with him. Dutt has been chained around the post and there goes his jacket and shirt. Scratch that as Dutt manages to get them back on. This is like a board game instead of a wrestling match. Dutt gets a cool move in as Lethal is standing on the floor and has his face on the apron. Dutt slides in and swings his feet around to kick Lethal in the face like a 619.
Jay keeps choking away and Val is freaking. She's up on the apron begging him to stop and now is throwing her hands up and leaving. Dutt uses the distraction to pull Lethal shoulder first into the post. Lethal is in the Tree of Woe and is down to his pants and cummerbund. Lethal's family is freaking out (it's his home state remember). There's a very light fire Russo chant. Now there's a loud boring chant.
Dutt tries a springboard move but Lethal whips the chain down to send Dutt flying. That looked pretty cool. Lethal whips him from corner to corner and Dutt is in trouble. Lethal Combination is blocked so Jay hits an inverted powerbomb for two. Dutt gets him in a Stunner position and then jumps backwards, flipping over Lethal's shoulders and slams his head into the mat. LOUD fire Russo chant now. Dutt tries something off the top but Lethal moves and hits a suplex for two. Lethal Combination hits and the top rope elbow (he's the Macho Man character) gets the pin. Yes after all that, the clothes meant NOTHING.
Rating: C. The match was ok but the clothes thing got really old really fast. The problem is you already have a gimmick in place with the chain. Having two gimmicks in a single match is too much and it overly complicates things which it did here. Not a bad match but the gimmick got in the way of the match, which is Russo 101 when he's not on his game.
Booker talks about having issues with Sting but says they're a lot alike. This is foreshadowing for the Mafia which formed about two months after this. Booker stole the belt itself and is all regal and pompous at this point.
We recap Team 3D vs. Christian/Rhyno which is a big blood feud because they've both tried to hurt each other multiple times. 3D put Christian through a table covered in glass.
Team 3D vs. Christian Cage/Rhyno
This is a Jersey Street Fight. Oh I almost forgot: this is around the time TNA's video game was out so the entrances are all with clips from the game. It's a big brawl to start which is the idea. It's Rhyno vs. D-Von and Ray vs. Christian. The former pairing heads into the crowd and we go split screen. Both pairs are out there now. The team without a name is in control.
They're all up near an exit and Rhyno falls down the steps. Christian dives off something that we can't really see. D-Von beats Rhyno down on the way to the ring and this is falls count anywhere. That makes me feel better because there's actually a point to this brawling. Now Ray dives off something in the crowd to hit Christian. Rhyno brings a ladder towards the ring and then loses it somewhere.
A fan has a sign that says Christian use my sign. Captain Charisma does just that and wouldn't you know it the sign has a road sign in it. Everyone is in the ring now and we get an ECW chant. Ray manages to get a shot in on both opponents with a sign and the not-Dudleys take over. Ray brings in some steps and Tenay freaks because he managed to throw them over the top. It's impressive but he didn't pick up the entire ring.
Ray tries his backsplash onto the steps but Christian gets out of the way and slams him face first into the steps from the middle rope. Christian misses a sign shot and Ray gets a Bubba Bomb off the steps for two. D-Von grabs a highway barrel and the fans want tables. Rhyno runs over Bubba but can't get through D-Von as well. And never mind as there's a Gore but Ray breaks it up with a low dropkick.
Top rope cross body on Ray gets two for the Canadian. Unprettier is broken up and Ray gets an electric chair drop for no cover. A double clothesline puts Rhyno and D-Von down but Christian pops up and hits Ray low. He sets for what looks to be a top rope rana but Ray counters into a SICK powerbomb for two. The fans still want tables and that's D-Von's calling card. Rhyno manages a double clothesline to avoid going through the table and here's the ladder. Christian hits a frog splash off the top to Ray and a Gore to (not through) the table ends him.
Rating: B-. Pretty good brawl here. We've seen these a million times but this was brutal enough and it didn't get stupid so I have few complaints in this. It's not a great match or anything but for the sake of a street fight with a ton of weapons, this was fine and it fits the idea of this show fine.
Johnny Devine, Team 3D's friend, comes out and beats up the winners with a cane. Abyss comes out for some reason and makes the save. The announcers point out that he just likes to save people. Devine takes a Black Hole Slam. He won't use a weapon though due to his therapy or whatever.
AJ says he's talked to Sting and it's all cool. As far as Kurt goes, it's personal because they want to hurt each other. He guarantees he'll be the last man standing and Kurt won't get up.
We recap AJ vs. Angle. AJ was mentored by Kurt but AJ had a crush on Kurt's wife so Kurt half killed him. AJ was in a cage and the lights went out. When the came back on Kurt was behind him and destroyed him. AJ slept with Karen (allegedly) and this is about revenge.
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
Going from a really intense video to video game clips isn't working for me. AJ has his white tights here so you know it's going to be good. This is last man standing. Angle stays on the floor to mess with AJ's mind. He's done it three times so far. AJ finally goes after him but gets caught coming back into the ring. Angle gets a suplex and covers. Oh it's one of those where the count doesn't start until you get a pin.
Off to a chinlock really early in the match. Styles pounds away in the corner and a clothesline puts Angle on the floor. There's a big dive over the top to the floor but it only gets two outside. Back in AJ keeps up the offense with a knee drop for two. Out to the floor again and Angle gets a belly to back to send AJ into the railing for two. They fight up to the ramp and AJ takes over again.
They're up on the stage now and AJ hammers away. Kurt grabs him in an attempt at a belly to back off the stage but Styles lands on his feet (kind of). Angle is like screw it and dives off the stage with a front flip onto Styles for two. They're back in the ring and Kurt gets a backbreaker for two and we hit the chinlock again. AJ gets a kick to the head but the Styles Clash is countered with a release belly to belly.
Angle covers after a slam of all things for two. Long chinlock goes on and AJ shakes his hand to try to get feeling back into it. They speed up and both try cross bodies at the same time. They've been going for awhile here and it's been good so far. AJ sets for the springboard forearm but settles for a shoulder instead. Now he hooks a torture rack of all things and spins around into a powerbomb for two. That was a really close call.
Styles Clash is countered into the ankle lock but AJ kicks off and hits a release spinebuster to put Kurt down. Styles goes up but Angle runs the corner for the suplex. AJ is like screw that and knocks him back down. An attempt at a rana is caught into a powerbomb for two. Angle doesn't let go and tries the Styles Clash on AJ. AJ avoids it and grabs the ankle lock with the grapevine and Angle taps to his own hold. That's good for a 9 count and Angle hopping on one foot which is worth the price of admission alone.
AJ tries the moonsault into the DDT but Angle steps out of the way and hits him low. Here come the Germans and the last one is a release but he still can't pin AJ. Angle goes Olympic but AJ counters the Slam and hits the Pele to put both guys down. AJ goes up top but Kurt makes the save. AJ knocks him back but Angle runs the corner and hits a release German off the top. The count is kind of weird as the pin counts and AJ gets his shoulder up at the same time. It counts apparently and AJ is up at 8. He takes the Olympic Slam immediately and it gets 9.
Angle is ready for AJ but the Slam is countered and AJ rolls through into the Clash for a quick pin. The referee starts the count fast every time so at least it's not stupid looking. I'm not wild about the way the pins have to count because it slows things down between putting someone down and the count. Angle barely beats the count at 9 and the fans think this is awesome. They go up to the top and Angle wants to belly to belly him to the floor. AJ counters with a DDT off the top and Angle is shaking like Terry Funk. That gets the pin and the ten count.
Rating: A-. Oh come on it's AJ vs. Kurt. Are you expecting something that isn't great? This was their usual great match with a solid ending as you hardly ever see a DDT from the top rope. They were playing up the past neck injuries for Kurt so the ending is even more effective and a bit scary at the same time. Good match here and by far the best of the night so far. Somehow though, by far not their best match ever.
Angle goes out on a stretcher. AJ feels bad....or not as he goes back and hits a brainbuster/suplex and talks some trash. I like this psycho AJ. He goes to leave and there go the lights. It's Sting who hits him with a Death Drop on the ramp. It's the respect your elders thing again, because even if they try to kill you, you should respect them. Nash comes out to ask Sting what that was but Sting keeps walking.
We recap Booker vs. Joe by talking about Sting. Joe won by DQ at Victory Road and Booker took the belt itself. Tonight it's a cage match with weapons so Joe doesn't have to worry about going insane. Joe was finally champion and the focus is on Sting. Well of course it is. It makes the Booker feud look like a pit stop but when did that ever stop TNA before?
Video on Booker T who is old and awesome.
Video on Joe who likes to fight. These are the ones that play on the way to the ring.
TNA World Title: Samoa Joe vs. Booker T
Every time they refer to this match they call it the Six Sides of Steel With Weapons. The last two words sound pretty stupid after hearing them more than once. After some big match intros we're ready to go. Booker goes for a hockey stick but Joe spears him against the cage (checks him into the boards?) to make Booker drop it. A kendo stick doesn't work either as Joe makes a save.
Joe wants to fight/wrestle and takes Booker down with a running enziguri. And never mind as he's got a trashcan which is kicked into Booker's face and crushed with a backsplash. All Joe here as he hammers away in the corner. Booker gets a can shot to Joe's head and it's hockey time. What is Booker's obsession with that thing? Joe takes him down and grabs a pair of trashcan lids to put GI Bro down.
Sharmell screams for him to get going so Booker kicks Joe's head off to shut her up. A chair shot opens Joe up. They fight up to the top rope and slug it out before they both crash down through something like a bulldog by Joe. Joe sends him into the cage and fails in an attempt to climb. You can win by pin, submission or escape here. Booker throws on a guillotine choke but Joe gets a foot on the rope. You know, because chairs, tables, hockey sticks, trashcans and anything else you can think of are legal but HE TOUCHED THE ROPE! What is Booker, a barbarian?
They go up to the top rope and slug it out but Joe goes INSANE and jumps off the rope (the rope, not the corner) with a jumping enziguri to crotch Booker. That looked insane. Joe hooks an STF and then into a crossface. Booker gets his foot out to the rope and the hold has to be broken. Joe wants a MuscleBuster on the chair but Booker escapes into a Bookend onto the chair for two. Booker spins up and hits the axe kick and there go the lights. The lights come on and Joe has a guitar which is cracked over Booker's head for the pin. Jarrett speculation ends the show.
Rating: B-. Not a bad cage match here but the ending shows off the problem of Joe's run all over again: the spotlight is on someone else. Instead of Joe standing tall and beating a veteran to further establish his dominance on the card, we're talking about Jarrett and if Sting is in league with Jarrett because of the lights going out. That gets really annoying and it's the same stuff that crippled Benoit's title reign.
Overall Rating: B. Pretty good show here with one really good match in AJ vs. Angle (duh) and a bunch of other good ones on top of that. However, the Sting overload was an issue here as he was way too much of the focus. Team 3D went to talk to him, Nash went to talk to him, he beat up AJ, Joe was more preoccupied with him than Booker, and he didn't even wrestle. That's what we mean when we say someone is being overshadowed and it hurts them. It did here with Sting and Joe and it would do the same until BFG where Sting took the title from Joe.