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No Surrender 2006
Date: September 24, 2006
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West
This is the only No Surrender I haven't done so there's no point in leaving just one line on the list for it. Anyway the main event here is what should have headlined Bound For Glory: Joe vs. Jarrett. This time it's non-title and in a fan's revenge match, in which fans (allegedly) will be at ringside with straps to beat on Jarrett. There's also AJ/Daniels vs. LAX in Ultimate X which was voted TNA match of the year for 06. There's also a little something special at the end of the show. Let's get to it.
The opening video is a political one (I guess Vince is more of a fan of TNA than we thought) and the idea is the world is going to change. Not a good video as it's really overdone. Then again this is TNA so that's par for the course.
Tenay and West talk about the huge announcement. Oh boy I'm sensing a theme tonight.
Eric Young vs. A-1
This is fallout from Team Canada breaking up and everything being blamed on Young for no apparent reason other than he was popular. Basic power vs. speed match here which is happening because Young was insanely popular as opposed to now being insane in general. A-1 pounds him down with ease because that's what big men do. I haven't seen much of his stuff but he's one of the most generic big power guys I've ever seen.
Young finally gets a break and fights back, even hitting a top rope elbow which gets two. There's something cool about how moves that have really nothing to do with the size and power of the guy only work for Savage or whoever is using them. Never got that. Anyway, A-1 fights back but can't get a tombstone, which is another example of what I just mentioned. This is one of those matches where stuff is going on but nothing is happening. After some cheating by A-1, Young hits something like the Lethal Injection for the pin.
Rating: D+. Just a match for the most part here. Power vs. speed usually works pretty well but this was boring for the most part. A-1 more or less never meant anything at all so I guess you can call this his career highlight. Let that sink in for a minute. Young would go on to a REALLY long feud with Roode after this that did nothing for either guy. We did get to see Traci in a bikini though so that helped a bit.
Time to run down the card of the show we already paid for. More hyping of the surprise and talk of FANS' REVENGE!!!
Cornette says tonight is huge and there's an announcement. We kind of got that already good sir. The announcement will be made by a wrestler not scheduled to be here.
Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal
Just a match here. And there's no Lethal. We cut to the back where a bunch of the X guys are goofing off, including Lethal. Jerry Lynn comes in and yells at them, saying get out there. This is part of the idiotic Jackass angle where some of the Jackass guys showed up to make everyone's heads hurt. But hey they're mainstream right so it's all cool no? Lethal is cinching up his boots on the way down the aisle.
The fans are split here. Nice fast paced start with Lethal hitting a springboard dropkick to take Williams down. Out to the floor where Petey takes over by ramming him into the apron. We hear about the Jackass stuff and I'm already getting worried. Petey grabs a suplex and puts on an arm trap chinlock. Petey keeps grabbing his stomach as I kid you not, the story is the X-Division guys that are obsessed with Jackass have put a box of laxatives in his water. Are you starting to get why no one took this place seriously?
It turns into an unfunny comedy match as Dutt comes out and shows Williams the empty box. Lethal, trying to be funny, uses an atomic drop and pounds on the stomach. Williams fights back and sets for the Destroyer, but for about the 5th time in two minutes, his stomach messes up on him. Lethal rolls him up for the pin and Williams runs for the back.
Rating: N/A. Get me a real wrestling match and I'll rate it. This was stupid and the fans knew it. You have two talented guys and this is what you give them? No wonder this division was looked down on for so long.
Rhyno says he's ok despite what doctors told him. His head is fine and he'll beat Christian tonight.
We recap Runt (Spike) vs. Raven vs. Abyss. Runt is supposed to be this hardcore dude so let's put him in this to waste our time. You know, because all these guys can do is hardcore right?
Abyss vs. Brother Runt vs. Raven
No DQ here. Runt fires off kendo stick shots to start and that goes him nowhere. He gets double teamed for a bit until Raven attacks Abyss. Runt gets another stick to go after Abyss which doesn't work either. The two guys not named Abyss double team the guy named Abyss, sending him into a trashcan. Just like earlier, Raven jumps the guy he was helping a second later.
Runt gets launched over the corner and over the ringside area, landing on Raven on the ramp. That looked good. The small one keeps getting destroyed because that's what small people do in matches like this one. Raven and Abyss try to double team Runt but he escapes and fights back with weapons. Runt rams his head into the ribs of both guys until Raven gets a helmet which he rams into Runt's ribs.
They go up the ramp and Raven sends Runt down the entrance ramp which isn't a bad visual. Abyss catches up with them and sets up a table. Raven is busted open. Abyss puts Raven on the table and sets up a ladder in front of it. Raven escapes and they switch places Time to make things look totally stupid as Runt goes up above the entrance and dives off with a double stomp, totally sliding off Abyss and not even breaking the table. So what were his plans if no one was there? Was he just going to come down and have everything look awkward? That's what I mean by things looking really fake.
There's a dog collar brought in and attached to Runt's throat. Raven goes into a corner of the arena and has a pair of tables stacked up in advance. Raven climbs up a scaffold and hangs Runt for some fun. They fight on the scaffold or whatever you want to call it with Runt being knocked through one of the tables. That gets two back in the ring as Mitchell makes the save. Abyss finally wakes up and the Black Hole Slam ends Raven.
Rating: D. In a word, this was bland. It's been done so many times and while the brawling spots were decent at times, there's nothing at all unique here and a lot of the big spots messed up. Also I'm a bit tired of these guys having the same matches over and over again with no particular story other than one person wanting to prove their toughness. Nothing to see at all here.
Jarrett talks about the announcement, mentioning that anyone can find it on the internet. That's a fake clue in a way, which I'll get to later. Eric Young comes up and offers to watch his back because...well someone has to I suppose.
We recap the tag team situation, which is the Naturals vs. AMW, both saying they should be #1 contenders. The solution: a tag team battle royal with 8 different teams in it of course!
Tag Team Battle Royal
Naturals, James Gang, America's Most Wanted, Paparazzis, Diamonds in the Rough, Maverick Matt/Kazarian, Ron Killings/Lance Hoyt, Shark Boy/Norman Smiley
This is a triple chance battle royal and the winners are the #1 contenders. The Paparazzis are Johnny Devine/Alex Shelley and the Diamonds in the Rough are David Young/Elix Skipper. The idea here is of course overly complicated. You have a regular battle royal to start and both guys have to be eliminated for the team to be gone. When you get down to two guys left, their partners come back and it's a regular tag match to win the whole thing.
AMW is chilling on the floor without having gotten in yet. There's never much to say in battle royals so I wouldn't expect much commentary here. AMW is in there now. No one is out yet that I can tell. The camera isn't sure what to do so they keep changing wide shots. Norman Smiley is out and may have hurt his knee. Hoyt throws Skipper out. Kaz is sent to the apron but manages to pull Lance out with the help of Matt.
Devine goes up for no apparent reason and is dropkicked into the Ultimate X structure and Truth puts him out. Shark Boy is out so his entire team is gone. Expect a lot of this guy is eliminated. There just isn't much else to say because other than that it's a lot of choking/punching. Harris takes a Death Valley Driver from Chase Stevens (Naturals) who then goes up for a moonsault or something. Storm, the smart one, shoves him into the crowd to elimiante him.
Young is out and Matt is also. BG James and Truth, the former partners, square off and dance a bit before fighting. Shelley puts out both of them so Truth/Loyt are out, as are the Diamonds in the Rough. There are only a handful of people left. Devine, who is already out, pulls the rope down to put Kaz out. Shelley is out, meaning his team is gone.
AMW, Andy Douglas (Naturals) and Kip James are all left. James eliminates Storm so there are three people, all from different teams, still in it. The Paparazzis and Kaz/Matt are fighting on the ramp. Kip puts Harris out but Harris comes back in and throws out Kip to advance. Sure why not.
So now it's AMW vs. the Naturals for the final shot. You know, the teams that were in the video the entire time, making the other six teams totally pointless. Stevens has a bad ankle after going over the top. Harris vs. Douglas starts us off. Stevens can't get up to the apron because his ankle is messed up plus AMW keeps kicking him down. AMW, the heels here, keep hammering away on Douglas since Stevens is almost worthless here. Eye of the Storm gets no cover and it's Death Sentence time. The James Gang comes out for the save and Stevens comes in to roll up Storm for the win. The tag match was like 4 minutes.
Rating: D. This is another example of the booking being slapped together and overthinking everything. What was the point in the battle royal? Why couldn't we have had a 15 minute tag match instead of a 10 minute battle royal and then a four minute tag match? That's what I dislike about TNA and Russo's writing: there are so many things that are done that just don't need to be there. Also, the first chance is the elimination, the second chance is the tag match, so the third chance is the title shot? Since this is a triple chance match, does that mean this match doesn't end until they get their shot, making this match weeks or months long?
We recap Senshi vs. Sabin. It's Jackass time again. A shopping cart stunt resulted in Sabin getting the title shot by beating Shelley. Senshi doesn't like the Jackass stuff, meaning I like him a lot more already.
X-Division Title: Senshi vs. Chris Sabin
Senshi is more famous as Low Ki or Kaval. The fans are behind the bald guy to start. Oh and Senshi is champion. He takes it to the mat but Sabin takes over. Ok scratch that as Senshi grabs the leg. Both guys try big kicks to the head but it's a stalemate. Senshi gets a HARD kick to the leg and Sabin goes to the floor to chill. Sabin speeds things up and grabs an armdrag into an armbar.
Sabin tries a suplex but while Senshi is upside down, Senshi manages to ram his knee....up I think to drill Sabin in the head to break the move. That was cool. A chop gets two. Now they chop it out and Senshi wins that one too. There are some kicks and now into a body scissors. They chop it out again and one more time Sabin loses. Instead he fires off a dropkick and sends the champ to the floor but when he tries a suicide dive, Senshi is like screw you dude and kicks him in the head. Love that.
Time for more strikes and more Jackass chatting. With Sabin in 619 position, Senshi hits a double stomp to the back. That looked good and it gets a delayed two here. After some more slugging out, Sabin grabs a kick and hooks a dragon screw leg whip. See, PSYCHOLOGY does work! Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sets up a missile dropkick for two. Now Senshi comes back with the kicks. Sabin's chest is scary looking.
Sabin fires off some kicks of his own as this is getting good. A cartwheel kick to Sabin's head stops him again and the champ goes up for a superplex which doesn't work. Senshi gets caught in the Tree of Woe and a delayed dropkick gets two. The champ counters a powerbomb and hits a standing Warrior's Way (double stomp to the chest) for two.
And now it's time to forget about the good match that we've had going on for fifteen minutes that was really getting good for the sake of comedy. Here are Sonjay and Lethal with an inflatable doll. Yes, that kind of inflatable doll. They move Sabin and put the doll in its place. It doesn't work as Senshi throws it to him and kicks Sabin in the ribs, kind of like a Van Daminator and gets the pin.
Rating: B-. The ending brings this down almost a full letter. It's that stupid. The fans were openly booing and chanting THIS IS STUPID at the end, and that's completely right. I mean you had a 15+ minute match that was getting really interesting there and then, for the second time tonight mind you, the Jackass stuff is brought in. It's like saying screw the wrestling, we're all about mainstream publicity and comedy. Why would I as a wrestling fan want to waste my time on a match if that's the ending? TNA can't seem to answer that and still does this with the Young/Baio stuff. Sabin would win the title at BFG.
Christian says he's not worried about Sting coming to TNA. Sting might be the big surprise. He makes fun of Rhino for being hurt and goes into a big serious and loud promo about being the best. Good stuff.
We recap Christian vs. Rhyno which includes some pre-WWF stuff which is always cool to see. Christian says he's carried Rhyno for years and beat him down, busting him open. This was a long and brutal feud which was pretty good. I think this is the first match.
Christian vs. Rhino
And remember Rhyno has a head injury. Christian hides on the floor which is probably pretty smart. The fans are split here as is almost always the case in this company. Very slow start and we get a half test of strength. Scratch that as Rhyno goes off and pounds Christian down into the corner. He sets for the Gore very early but Christian hits the floor. Christian comes back in and hammers away for a bit, only to get backdropped to the floor again.
They're going slowly here but the idea of Rhyno being all brooding and angry is good as he's getting offense in through very violent bursts. They're in the crowd now and Rhyno goes REALLY insane, using a paper sign to choke Christian. I mean one a fan brought in. And this guy is an ECW graduate? Christian gets a shot to the head which rattles Rhyno. And never mind as Christian gets knocked down the stairs. Rhyno charges into a wall and misses, shifting momentum again.
They go to the ramp and Christian channels his inner brother/best friend, hitting an Edgecution. This is a regular match mind you and not a street fight or no DQ. There's a bit of blood on Rhyno's head. The idea now is that Rhyno's concussion is messing his head up and he can't really focus or anything. His eyes are rolling back in his head and all that jazz. Off to a chinlock so Christian can whisper sweet spots into his ear.
There's a loud dueling chant going. 4C (Captain Charisma Christian Cage) goes up and hits a missile dropkick for two. Frog splash gets two and an Eddie chant. Christian charges into the corner and crashes which is a nice touch as Rhyno did the same thing earlier in the match. Rhyno starts his comeback in the form of a shoulder in the corner and a belly to belly for two.
Unprettier is blocked and there's a spinebuster but Rhyno can't cover because of his head being messed up. The Gore is countered by a kick to the head but Christian walks into a powerslam for two. There's the Unprettier but it only gets two. A TKO (love that move) out of nowhere gets two for Rhyno. And there goes the referee. Christian hits the floor and grabs some chairs for the Conchairto. Rhyno avoids it and hits the Gore but there's no referee. Rhyno sets for a Conchairto but the referee takes the chair away. A low blow and the Unprettier on a chair end this.
Rating: B-. Pretty solid brawl but it came off as just a match. They would have a much better street fight the next month where Christian destroyed Rhyno and vice versa with weapons. Either way this was ok but it felt a bit forced, as in the head injury seemed a bit unrealistic. It was fine but it was a bit off, although that could just be me.
A car shows up in the back and Eric Young comes up to be funny, finding LAX, apparently trying to steal it. Konnan runs him off and says they'll keep the titles.
We take some time to set up the Ultimate X structure which is mostly already up.
We get a clip of AJ and Daniels earlier today, talking about how LAX attacked them but tonight is their chance for revenge in their match. Daniels talks about how Konnan has nothing on famous Latino wrestlers like Eddie and Tito. Oh and they'll win.
Video on Ultimate X, which is awesome and all that jazz.
Tag Titles: LAX vs. Christoper Daniels/AJ Styles
LAX are champions. After some big match intros (with JB messing up LAX's combined weight) we're ready to go. The ring is cleared out very quickly and now it's Homicide vs. AJ. The murder enthusiast goes up but Daniels makes a quick save. AJ can't get there either as the fans know this isn't ending that quickly. Homicide hits a suicide on the dead guy (angels are dead people right?) out to the floor as this is kind of a mess to start.
AJ is like screw it and hits a HUGE spinning moonsault over the top to take out Hernandez. That looked great. Hernandez wants to dive but Daniels makes the stop. Koji Clutch is broken up by Homicide. Hernandez tries what Monty Brown called the Alpha Bomb but it results in double teaming by the champions. There's a modified Border Toss and AJ is half dead.
Hernandez brings in a ladder, showing some intelligence. In a nice move, AJ sends Homicide under the ladder on an Irish whip and then shoves it onto him. That looked good too. The ladder is gone now. In another cool move, Hernandez and Daniels are on top and Hernandez grabs him by the throat and hits more or less a choke overhead belly to belly to send Daniels flying.
AJ gets up and breaks up Supermex trying to go across with the forearm. Homicide pops Styles with a chair and goes across but he has a bad shoulder. Styles goes after him but Homicide gets a cutter off the X and both are down. Daniels goes up and Tenay sounds orgasmic. Hernandez goes again and again is caught. AJ speeds things up and a Pele takes Supermex down and there's the moonsault DDT to Homicide.
The challengers try some double teaming but Supermex is too strong. Konnan sets a table on the floor but AJ escapes the Border Toss through it. More double teaming slows the big dude down including the BME and Spiral Tap. AJ manages to get the Clash off the apron to Homicide through the table in an awesome spot. Konnan clocks him with a slapjack off camera. Konnan comes in but Daniels goes on top of the structure in the insanity and dives onto the X, pulling down the titles to win. Scary SCARY finish as if he misses that he's more or less dead.
Rating: A. I know TNA tends to overhype some of its stuff but this was indeed awesome. It was totally insane and doesn't stop at all from bell to bell. The ending is awesome and there are enough jaw dropping moments in this to make everything work. This is well worth checking out, if nothing else for the spectacle of the ending. I see why this was match of the year for sure.
Bound For Glory ad.
We recap Joe vs. Jarrett. This is the first time that I remember being freaking ticked off at TNA, starting a long tradition with them. The problem in short was that the fans wanted Joe to be in the title match. That's all there was to it. However, despite Joe having dominated TNA for a year and being ready for the main event, TNA decided like two months in advance that Sting vs. Jarrett was the main event of BFG and there was nothing that could be done to change anything. Joe is in the main event tonight basically as a placeholder to appease the fans that wanted to see him against Sting or Jarrett for the title. This is of course non-title.
As for the story here, Jarrett is power mad and cheats the system to keep the title. Joe is here as the fan's revenge and there are fans with leather straps as lumberjacks. Sting is around somewhere or other. Joe is still undefeated so everyone knew the champion would lose here. Not that beating the world champion a month before the biggest show of the year gets you a title match. Instead you got the hardcore triple threat from earlier with Joe added and freaking Jake Roberts as the referee. Imagine Punk being thrown in a match with Kofi Kingston at Summerslam instead of in the main event. That's what's going on here.
Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett has a bunch of shirts and pads on. Young pops up but can't find Sting. Jeff sends Young into the rafters, because Young has checked all of Universal Studios EXCEPT THE PLACE STING ALWAYS HANGS OUT IN. It's a regular match other than the lumberjacks. Joe, still the hottest thing in the company, uses his stuff that comes from all over and beats the champion half to death to start.
Jarrett is sent to the floor but he jets back in to avoid pain. Joe starts taking some of the layers of clothes Jeff has on. The better to eat you with my dear. After a few minutes of getting dominated, Jeff manages to send Joe to the floor where the fans won't touch him. Jarrett gets one of the straps somehow and beats on Joe with it. The fans all get behind Joe and after a minute or so of Jarrett, the world champion mind you, being in control, Joe moves out of the way of a cross body and momentum shifts.
See this is the problem: there's no real reason for Jarrett to have a chance here because Joe has to beat him as the streak can't go down on a throwaway show here. In short, Jarrett was a lame duck champion that shouldn't have had the title since Slammiversary like he had. You have Sting win the title there then have Jarrett keep winning through the same cheating. Joe gets this match here and then goes on to streak vs. title at BFG. That of course would mean listening to the audience and we can't have that and Joe wouldn't get the title for a year and a half.
Jarrett gets the strap back and tries to choke Joe so the fans run in and get shots on the back of Jeff. Joe grabs the Clutch but Jeff gets his foot on the ropes. The guitar is brought in and Jarrett gets a Stroke onto the guitar but that's just the world champion's finisher onto a weapon. Why should that get three?
And no I'm not complaining like I usually would here by saying Jeff should beat him. I'm saying Jarrett was a horrible champion and shouldn't have held the title here at all. Joe counters a middle rope Stroke and with a Musclebuster he pins the world champion, earning a spot in a hardcore match with Spike Dudley at the biggest show of the year.
Rating: D. The match was bad on top of how freaking stupid it was. They had no idea what the point of the story was because Joe was dominant and looked awesome here while Jarrett, the champion looked like a jobber to the stars. Not a good match and one of the dumbest things I've seen in TNA in a very long time. This started my hatred of things in this company. Also, Ultimate X should have gone on last.
Post match Joe goes and picks up the belt despite it being non title. Here's Cornette who says he has the major announcement before we go off the air. Cornette says that Spike TV will be giving them prime time in November, moving into their current 9pm time slot. Before they had been going on at 11pm. However, that isn't the major announcement. We cut to the video screen.
It's real. It's DAMN real.
Yes, Kurt Angle, a legit A-list guy and one of the best ever, is coming to TNA. This was HUGE and is probably the biggest moment in TNA history next to Hogan coming, but I think you could argue it's an even bigger one as Angle was just past the prime of his career when he made the jump. Very interesting indeed and this is a huge moment in TNA history.
Overall Rating: D. This show didn't need to exist. That's the main problem with it I think. Considering at BFG you had three straight up rematches and a fourth match had Joe added to it, what was the need for this show? Add that to the Jackass stuff and the idiocy of the main event and you're left with a great tag title match and that's about it. That's not worth a whole PPV at all so I can't go with this. See the tag title match though as it's really good.
Date: September 24, 2006
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West
This is the only No Surrender I haven't done so there's no point in leaving just one line on the list for it. Anyway the main event here is what should have headlined Bound For Glory: Joe vs. Jarrett. This time it's non-title and in a fan's revenge match, in which fans (allegedly) will be at ringside with straps to beat on Jarrett. There's also AJ/Daniels vs. LAX in Ultimate X which was voted TNA match of the year for 06. There's also a little something special at the end of the show. Let's get to it.
The opening video is a political one (I guess Vince is more of a fan of TNA than we thought) and the idea is the world is going to change. Not a good video as it's really overdone. Then again this is TNA so that's par for the course.
Tenay and West talk about the huge announcement. Oh boy I'm sensing a theme tonight.
Eric Young vs. A-1
This is fallout from Team Canada breaking up and everything being blamed on Young for no apparent reason other than he was popular. Basic power vs. speed match here which is happening because Young was insanely popular as opposed to now being insane in general. A-1 pounds him down with ease because that's what big men do. I haven't seen much of his stuff but he's one of the most generic big power guys I've ever seen.
Young finally gets a break and fights back, even hitting a top rope elbow which gets two. There's something cool about how moves that have really nothing to do with the size and power of the guy only work for Savage or whoever is using them. Never got that. Anyway, A-1 fights back but can't get a tombstone, which is another example of what I just mentioned. This is one of those matches where stuff is going on but nothing is happening. After some cheating by A-1, Young hits something like the Lethal Injection for the pin.
Rating: D+. Just a match for the most part here. Power vs. speed usually works pretty well but this was boring for the most part. A-1 more or less never meant anything at all so I guess you can call this his career highlight. Let that sink in for a minute. Young would go on to a REALLY long feud with Roode after this that did nothing for either guy. We did get to see Traci in a bikini though so that helped a bit.
Time to run down the card of the show we already paid for. More hyping of the surprise and talk of FANS' REVENGE!!!
Cornette says tonight is huge and there's an announcement. We kind of got that already good sir. The announcement will be made by a wrestler not scheduled to be here.
Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal
Just a match here. And there's no Lethal. We cut to the back where a bunch of the X guys are goofing off, including Lethal. Jerry Lynn comes in and yells at them, saying get out there. This is part of the idiotic Jackass angle where some of the Jackass guys showed up to make everyone's heads hurt. But hey they're mainstream right so it's all cool no? Lethal is cinching up his boots on the way down the aisle.
The fans are split here. Nice fast paced start with Lethal hitting a springboard dropkick to take Williams down. Out to the floor where Petey takes over by ramming him into the apron. We hear about the Jackass stuff and I'm already getting worried. Petey grabs a suplex and puts on an arm trap chinlock. Petey keeps grabbing his stomach as I kid you not, the story is the X-Division guys that are obsessed with Jackass have put a box of laxatives in his water. Are you starting to get why no one took this place seriously?
It turns into an unfunny comedy match as Dutt comes out and shows Williams the empty box. Lethal, trying to be funny, uses an atomic drop and pounds on the stomach. Williams fights back and sets for the Destroyer, but for about the 5th time in two minutes, his stomach messes up on him. Lethal rolls him up for the pin and Williams runs for the back.
Rating: N/A. Get me a real wrestling match and I'll rate it. This was stupid and the fans knew it. You have two talented guys and this is what you give them? No wonder this division was looked down on for so long.
Rhyno says he's ok despite what doctors told him. His head is fine and he'll beat Christian tonight.
We recap Runt (Spike) vs. Raven vs. Abyss. Runt is supposed to be this hardcore dude so let's put him in this to waste our time. You know, because all these guys can do is hardcore right?
Abyss vs. Brother Runt vs. Raven
No DQ here. Runt fires off kendo stick shots to start and that goes him nowhere. He gets double teamed for a bit until Raven attacks Abyss. Runt gets another stick to go after Abyss which doesn't work either. The two guys not named Abyss double team the guy named Abyss, sending him into a trashcan. Just like earlier, Raven jumps the guy he was helping a second later.
Runt gets launched over the corner and over the ringside area, landing on Raven on the ramp. That looked good. The small one keeps getting destroyed because that's what small people do in matches like this one. Raven and Abyss try to double team Runt but he escapes and fights back with weapons. Runt rams his head into the ribs of both guys until Raven gets a helmet which he rams into Runt's ribs.
They go up the ramp and Raven sends Runt down the entrance ramp which isn't a bad visual. Abyss catches up with them and sets up a table. Raven is busted open. Abyss puts Raven on the table and sets up a ladder in front of it. Raven escapes and they switch places Time to make things look totally stupid as Runt goes up above the entrance and dives off with a double stomp, totally sliding off Abyss and not even breaking the table. So what were his plans if no one was there? Was he just going to come down and have everything look awkward? That's what I mean by things looking really fake.
There's a dog collar brought in and attached to Runt's throat. Raven goes into a corner of the arena and has a pair of tables stacked up in advance. Raven climbs up a scaffold and hangs Runt for some fun. They fight on the scaffold or whatever you want to call it with Runt being knocked through one of the tables. That gets two back in the ring as Mitchell makes the save. Abyss finally wakes up and the Black Hole Slam ends Raven.
Rating: D. In a word, this was bland. It's been done so many times and while the brawling spots were decent at times, there's nothing at all unique here and a lot of the big spots messed up. Also I'm a bit tired of these guys having the same matches over and over again with no particular story other than one person wanting to prove their toughness. Nothing to see at all here.
Jarrett talks about the announcement, mentioning that anyone can find it on the internet. That's a fake clue in a way, which I'll get to later. Eric Young comes up and offers to watch his back because...well someone has to I suppose.
We recap the tag team situation, which is the Naturals vs. AMW, both saying they should be #1 contenders. The solution: a tag team battle royal with 8 different teams in it of course!
Tag Team Battle Royal
Naturals, James Gang, America's Most Wanted, Paparazzis, Diamonds in the Rough, Maverick Matt/Kazarian, Ron Killings/Lance Hoyt, Shark Boy/Norman Smiley
This is a triple chance battle royal and the winners are the #1 contenders. The Paparazzis are Johnny Devine/Alex Shelley and the Diamonds in the Rough are David Young/Elix Skipper. The idea here is of course overly complicated. You have a regular battle royal to start and both guys have to be eliminated for the team to be gone. When you get down to two guys left, their partners come back and it's a regular tag match to win the whole thing.
AMW is chilling on the floor without having gotten in yet. There's never much to say in battle royals so I wouldn't expect much commentary here. AMW is in there now. No one is out yet that I can tell. The camera isn't sure what to do so they keep changing wide shots. Norman Smiley is out and may have hurt his knee. Hoyt throws Skipper out. Kaz is sent to the apron but manages to pull Lance out with the help of Matt.
Devine goes up for no apparent reason and is dropkicked into the Ultimate X structure and Truth puts him out. Shark Boy is out so his entire team is gone. Expect a lot of this guy is eliminated. There just isn't much else to say because other than that it's a lot of choking/punching. Harris takes a Death Valley Driver from Chase Stevens (Naturals) who then goes up for a moonsault or something. Storm, the smart one, shoves him into the crowd to elimiante him.
Young is out and Matt is also. BG James and Truth, the former partners, square off and dance a bit before fighting. Shelley puts out both of them so Truth/Loyt are out, as are the Diamonds in the Rough. There are only a handful of people left. Devine, who is already out, pulls the rope down to put Kaz out. Shelley is out, meaning his team is gone.
AMW, Andy Douglas (Naturals) and Kip James are all left. James eliminates Storm so there are three people, all from different teams, still in it. The Paparazzis and Kaz/Matt are fighting on the ramp. Kip puts Harris out but Harris comes back in and throws out Kip to advance. Sure why not.
So now it's AMW vs. the Naturals for the final shot. You know, the teams that were in the video the entire time, making the other six teams totally pointless. Stevens has a bad ankle after going over the top. Harris vs. Douglas starts us off. Stevens can't get up to the apron because his ankle is messed up plus AMW keeps kicking him down. AMW, the heels here, keep hammering away on Douglas since Stevens is almost worthless here. Eye of the Storm gets no cover and it's Death Sentence time. The James Gang comes out for the save and Stevens comes in to roll up Storm for the win. The tag match was like 4 minutes.
Rating: D. This is another example of the booking being slapped together and overthinking everything. What was the point in the battle royal? Why couldn't we have had a 15 minute tag match instead of a 10 minute battle royal and then a four minute tag match? That's what I dislike about TNA and Russo's writing: there are so many things that are done that just don't need to be there. Also, the first chance is the elimination, the second chance is the tag match, so the third chance is the title shot? Since this is a triple chance match, does that mean this match doesn't end until they get their shot, making this match weeks or months long?
We recap Senshi vs. Sabin. It's Jackass time again. A shopping cart stunt resulted in Sabin getting the title shot by beating Shelley. Senshi doesn't like the Jackass stuff, meaning I like him a lot more already.
X-Division Title: Senshi vs. Chris Sabin
Senshi is more famous as Low Ki or Kaval. The fans are behind the bald guy to start. Oh and Senshi is champion. He takes it to the mat but Sabin takes over. Ok scratch that as Senshi grabs the leg. Both guys try big kicks to the head but it's a stalemate. Senshi gets a HARD kick to the leg and Sabin goes to the floor to chill. Sabin speeds things up and grabs an armdrag into an armbar.
Sabin tries a suplex but while Senshi is upside down, Senshi manages to ram his knee....up I think to drill Sabin in the head to break the move. That was cool. A chop gets two. Now they chop it out and Senshi wins that one too. There are some kicks and now into a body scissors. They chop it out again and one more time Sabin loses. Instead he fires off a dropkick and sends the champ to the floor but when he tries a suicide dive, Senshi is like screw you dude and kicks him in the head. Love that.
Time for more strikes and more Jackass chatting. With Sabin in 619 position, Senshi hits a double stomp to the back. That looked good and it gets a delayed two here. After some more slugging out, Sabin grabs a kick and hooks a dragon screw leg whip. See, PSYCHOLOGY does work! Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sets up a missile dropkick for two. Now Senshi comes back with the kicks. Sabin's chest is scary looking.
Sabin fires off some kicks of his own as this is getting good. A cartwheel kick to Sabin's head stops him again and the champ goes up for a superplex which doesn't work. Senshi gets caught in the Tree of Woe and a delayed dropkick gets two. The champ counters a powerbomb and hits a standing Warrior's Way (double stomp to the chest) for two.
And now it's time to forget about the good match that we've had going on for fifteen minutes that was really getting good for the sake of comedy. Here are Sonjay and Lethal with an inflatable doll. Yes, that kind of inflatable doll. They move Sabin and put the doll in its place. It doesn't work as Senshi throws it to him and kicks Sabin in the ribs, kind of like a Van Daminator and gets the pin.
Rating: B-. The ending brings this down almost a full letter. It's that stupid. The fans were openly booing and chanting THIS IS STUPID at the end, and that's completely right. I mean you had a 15+ minute match that was getting really interesting there and then, for the second time tonight mind you, the Jackass stuff is brought in. It's like saying screw the wrestling, we're all about mainstream publicity and comedy. Why would I as a wrestling fan want to waste my time on a match if that's the ending? TNA can't seem to answer that and still does this with the Young/Baio stuff. Sabin would win the title at BFG.
Christian says he's not worried about Sting coming to TNA. Sting might be the big surprise. He makes fun of Rhino for being hurt and goes into a big serious and loud promo about being the best. Good stuff.
We recap Christian vs. Rhyno which includes some pre-WWF stuff which is always cool to see. Christian says he's carried Rhyno for years and beat him down, busting him open. This was a long and brutal feud which was pretty good. I think this is the first match.
Christian vs. Rhino
And remember Rhyno has a head injury. Christian hides on the floor which is probably pretty smart. The fans are split here as is almost always the case in this company. Very slow start and we get a half test of strength. Scratch that as Rhyno goes off and pounds Christian down into the corner. He sets for the Gore very early but Christian hits the floor. Christian comes back in and hammers away for a bit, only to get backdropped to the floor again.
They're going slowly here but the idea of Rhyno being all brooding and angry is good as he's getting offense in through very violent bursts. They're in the crowd now and Rhyno goes REALLY insane, using a paper sign to choke Christian. I mean one a fan brought in. And this guy is an ECW graduate? Christian gets a shot to the head which rattles Rhyno. And never mind as Christian gets knocked down the stairs. Rhyno charges into a wall and misses, shifting momentum again.
They go to the ramp and Christian channels his inner brother/best friend, hitting an Edgecution. This is a regular match mind you and not a street fight or no DQ. There's a bit of blood on Rhyno's head. The idea now is that Rhyno's concussion is messing his head up and he can't really focus or anything. His eyes are rolling back in his head and all that jazz. Off to a chinlock so Christian can whisper sweet spots into his ear.
There's a loud dueling chant going. 4C (Captain Charisma Christian Cage) goes up and hits a missile dropkick for two. Frog splash gets two and an Eddie chant. Christian charges into the corner and crashes which is a nice touch as Rhyno did the same thing earlier in the match. Rhyno starts his comeback in the form of a shoulder in the corner and a belly to belly for two.
Unprettier is blocked and there's a spinebuster but Rhyno can't cover because of his head being messed up. The Gore is countered by a kick to the head but Christian walks into a powerslam for two. There's the Unprettier but it only gets two. A TKO (love that move) out of nowhere gets two for Rhyno. And there goes the referee. Christian hits the floor and grabs some chairs for the Conchairto. Rhyno avoids it and hits the Gore but there's no referee. Rhyno sets for a Conchairto but the referee takes the chair away. A low blow and the Unprettier on a chair end this.
Rating: B-. Pretty solid brawl but it came off as just a match. They would have a much better street fight the next month where Christian destroyed Rhyno and vice versa with weapons. Either way this was ok but it felt a bit forced, as in the head injury seemed a bit unrealistic. It was fine but it was a bit off, although that could just be me.
A car shows up in the back and Eric Young comes up to be funny, finding LAX, apparently trying to steal it. Konnan runs him off and says they'll keep the titles.
We take some time to set up the Ultimate X structure which is mostly already up.
We get a clip of AJ and Daniels earlier today, talking about how LAX attacked them but tonight is their chance for revenge in their match. Daniels talks about how Konnan has nothing on famous Latino wrestlers like Eddie and Tito. Oh and they'll win.
Video on Ultimate X, which is awesome and all that jazz.
Tag Titles: LAX vs. Christoper Daniels/AJ Styles
LAX are champions. After some big match intros (with JB messing up LAX's combined weight) we're ready to go. The ring is cleared out very quickly and now it's Homicide vs. AJ. The murder enthusiast goes up but Daniels makes a quick save. AJ can't get there either as the fans know this isn't ending that quickly. Homicide hits a suicide on the dead guy (angels are dead people right?) out to the floor as this is kind of a mess to start.
AJ is like screw it and hits a HUGE spinning moonsault over the top to take out Hernandez. That looked great. Hernandez wants to dive but Daniels makes the stop. Koji Clutch is broken up by Homicide. Hernandez tries what Monty Brown called the Alpha Bomb but it results in double teaming by the champions. There's a modified Border Toss and AJ is half dead.
Hernandez brings in a ladder, showing some intelligence. In a nice move, AJ sends Homicide under the ladder on an Irish whip and then shoves it onto him. That looked good too. The ladder is gone now. In another cool move, Hernandez and Daniels are on top and Hernandez grabs him by the throat and hits more or less a choke overhead belly to belly to send Daniels flying.
AJ gets up and breaks up Supermex trying to go across with the forearm. Homicide pops Styles with a chair and goes across but he has a bad shoulder. Styles goes after him but Homicide gets a cutter off the X and both are down. Daniels goes up and Tenay sounds orgasmic. Hernandez goes again and again is caught. AJ speeds things up and a Pele takes Supermex down and there's the moonsault DDT to Homicide.
The challengers try some double teaming but Supermex is too strong. Konnan sets a table on the floor but AJ escapes the Border Toss through it. More double teaming slows the big dude down including the BME and Spiral Tap. AJ manages to get the Clash off the apron to Homicide through the table in an awesome spot. Konnan clocks him with a slapjack off camera. Konnan comes in but Daniels goes on top of the structure in the insanity and dives onto the X, pulling down the titles to win. Scary SCARY finish as if he misses that he's more or less dead.
Rating: A. I know TNA tends to overhype some of its stuff but this was indeed awesome. It was totally insane and doesn't stop at all from bell to bell. The ending is awesome and there are enough jaw dropping moments in this to make everything work. This is well worth checking out, if nothing else for the spectacle of the ending. I see why this was match of the year for sure.
Bound For Glory ad.
We recap Joe vs. Jarrett. This is the first time that I remember being freaking ticked off at TNA, starting a long tradition with them. The problem in short was that the fans wanted Joe to be in the title match. That's all there was to it. However, despite Joe having dominated TNA for a year and being ready for the main event, TNA decided like two months in advance that Sting vs. Jarrett was the main event of BFG and there was nothing that could be done to change anything. Joe is in the main event tonight basically as a placeholder to appease the fans that wanted to see him against Sting or Jarrett for the title. This is of course non-title.
As for the story here, Jarrett is power mad and cheats the system to keep the title. Joe is here as the fan's revenge and there are fans with leather straps as lumberjacks. Sting is around somewhere or other. Joe is still undefeated so everyone knew the champion would lose here. Not that beating the world champion a month before the biggest show of the year gets you a title match. Instead you got the hardcore triple threat from earlier with Joe added and freaking Jake Roberts as the referee. Imagine Punk being thrown in a match with Kofi Kingston at Summerslam instead of in the main event. That's what's going on here.
Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett has a bunch of shirts and pads on. Young pops up but can't find Sting. Jeff sends Young into the rafters, because Young has checked all of Universal Studios EXCEPT THE PLACE STING ALWAYS HANGS OUT IN. It's a regular match other than the lumberjacks. Joe, still the hottest thing in the company, uses his stuff that comes from all over and beats the champion half to death to start.
Jarrett is sent to the floor but he jets back in to avoid pain. Joe starts taking some of the layers of clothes Jeff has on. The better to eat you with my dear. After a few minutes of getting dominated, Jeff manages to send Joe to the floor where the fans won't touch him. Jarrett gets one of the straps somehow and beats on Joe with it. The fans all get behind Joe and after a minute or so of Jarrett, the world champion mind you, being in control, Joe moves out of the way of a cross body and momentum shifts.
See this is the problem: there's no real reason for Jarrett to have a chance here because Joe has to beat him as the streak can't go down on a throwaway show here. In short, Jarrett was a lame duck champion that shouldn't have had the title since Slammiversary like he had. You have Sting win the title there then have Jarrett keep winning through the same cheating. Joe gets this match here and then goes on to streak vs. title at BFG. That of course would mean listening to the audience and we can't have that and Joe wouldn't get the title for a year and a half.
Jarrett gets the strap back and tries to choke Joe so the fans run in and get shots on the back of Jeff. Joe grabs the Clutch but Jeff gets his foot on the ropes. The guitar is brought in and Jarrett gets a Stroke onto the guitar but that's just the world champion's finisher onto a weapon. Why should that get three?
And no I'm not complaining like I usually would here by saying Jeff should beat him. I'm saying Jarrett was a horrible champion and shouldn't have held the title here at all. Joe counters a middle rope Stroke and with a Musclebuster he pins the world champion, earning a spot in a hardcore match with Spike Dudley at the biggest show of the year.
Rating: D. The match was bad on top of how freaking stupid it was. They had no idea what the point of the story was because Joe was dominant and looked awesome here while Jarrett, the champion looked like a jobber to the stars. Not a good match and one of the dumbest things I've seen in TNA in a very long time. This started my hatred of things in this company. Also, Ultimate X should have gone on last.
Post match Joe goes and picks up the belt despite it being non title. Here's Cornette who says he has the major announcement before we go off the air. Cornette says that Spike TV will be giving them prime time in November, moving into their current 9pm time slot. Before they had been going on at 11pm. However, that isn't the major announcement. We cut to the video screen.
It's real. It's DAMN real.
Yes, Kurt Angle, a legit A-list guy and one of the best ever, is coming to TNA. This was HUGE and is probably the biggest moment in TNA history next to Hogan coming, but I think you could argue it's an even bigger one as Angle was just past the prime of his career when he made the jump. Very interesting indeed and this is a huge moment in TNA history.
Overall Rating: D. This show didn't need to exist. That's the main problem with it I think. Considering at BFG you had three straight up rematches and a fourth match had Joe added to it, what was the need for this show? Add that to the Jackass stuff and the idiocy of the main event and you're left with a great tag title match and that's about it. That's not worth a whole PPV at all so I can't go with this. See the tag title match though as it's really good.