klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Slammiversary 2009
Date: June 21, 2009
Location: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West
This is one of the last two TNA PPVs of 2009 so lets get it over with. This is the last King of the Mountain show to date if I remember correctly. Its another Mafia show with the main event basically being the Mafia vs. the not Mafia main event guys with Foleys world title on the line. Theres also an X-Division KOTM match. Not much of note other than that so lets get to it.
The opening video is about what else, anniversaries. Its more or less a highlight video of TNAs history which is what it probably should be. One random little thing here: the video is set to a song by a chick named Goldy Locks, who was a performer in the early days of the company. Nice little touch.
Its clear that the vast majority of the arena is tarped off. The Detroit Pistons play here so its a huge arena.
X-Division Title: Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed vs. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley vs. Suicide
This is the first King of the Mountain match and Suicide is champion. This is a rather unique match in that its more or less a reverse ladder match. You have five people in and you have to qualify to be allowed to hang the belt, which you do by pinning anyone or making them tap. The person that is pinned or taps sends you to a penalty box for two minutes. You climb a ladder and hang the title to win it. Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers is the belt holder here, meaning after you qualify you go to him and get the title.
Granderson sits in on commentary here and has a rather clear voice. More importantly than anything though: he sounds like hes having fun and wants to be here. Very nice. The Guns are the Japanese Junior Heavyweight tag champions here. Everyone jumps Suicide to start us off as the Guns are the fan favorites of course. Lethal Consequences go out and get ladders while the Guns do their thing.
Suicide fights back and the Guns have some miscommunication and Suicide manages to take out all four guys with a ladder at once. I dont think Granderson knows a ton about what the specifics are here but hes into it. Suicide gets a weird Angle Slam kind of move to Lethal for the pin. Now that means Lethal is in the box for two minutes and Suicide can go get the belt to hang. This also means Granderson is off commentary. The rules are rather confusing at times but once you get the hang of it theyre not too bad.
After some brawling, Shelley is pinned after a double knee from Suicide. Lethal comes back in and it was actually two minutes. Hes fresh now and only he and Suicide are in the ring. Sabin pops in and pelts a chair at Suicide and then he and Lethal work together. Lethal Combination into the chair for Suicide but as any team in a match like this they fight over a pin. Lethal pins Suicide so hes eligible now.
Shelley is unleashed now so the tag teams go at it. Or instead they dance around in the ring a lot. The Guns finally wake up and beat them down and we get some very choreographed spots. This whole thing is a huge mess because only one active person is able to win it at this point. Suicide is back in now. Creed gets a TKO to Shelley for a pin. Lethal Consequences work over Suicide who manages to send Sabin into the ladder.
Creed tries a big dive and totally misses Suicide who sells it anyway. Sabin gets a HUGE dive off a ladder onto the box to take out Creed and Suicide. In a rather smart move, Shelley sets a ladder but hes not eligible. Sabin lays down so Shelley can become eligible but Alex has to go get the belt so Suicide can dropkick the ladder. A ladder is set in the corner and Lethal gets stuck in it.
The ladder is laid horizontally on the top and is pointing into the ring. In a cool spot, Suicide picks up Creed and drops him onto the ladder to send Lethal flying into the ring like a catapult. Sabin is released now. Springboard tornado DDT (looked SICK) pins Lethal which means everyone is now eligible. Suicide hits a slingshot DDT to Shelley but walks into Cradle Shock to put him down.
Sabin has the belt and finally goes up. Thats the first attempt in about 16 minutes of the match so far. Suicide is caught in the Tree of Woe but for some reason no one is trying covers. If you did then you could eliminate people for a bit. Lethal is released and he breaks up Sabins attempt. Shelley gets a frog splash on Lethal but like an idiot doesnt cover.
Shelley is the only one conscious and he sets up a ladder on the floor. Well of course he does. The Guns beat up Suicide and Creed for awhile as this needs to be over like three minutes ago. Sabin is on a ladder that is bridged between the ring and the railing. Lethal drops an elbow on him instead of, you know, GOING FOR THE BELT! Creed and Shelly fight on the apron and Alex hits a pretty awesome Sliced Bread onto the apron.
Suicide and Shelley trade chops and strikes on the floor but Sliced Bread misses. Shelley is kicked into the crowd and Suicide is the only person left on his feet. The crowd isnt all that thrilled with him going up here. The idea of hanging a belt is rather weird, especially when youre going to take it down a second later. Suicide goes up but Lethal makes the save.
They wind up on the top of the cage and Creed joins in. Shelley goes for the belt in the ring with everyone else fighting. In a cool spot, Suicide walks over a ladder that is laid on the back of Lethal and jumps off into a Diamond Cutter on Shelley to bring him off the ladder. Thats enough to end it as I guess thats the huge spot of the match. Not really huge but at least its over.
Rating: C+. Pretty good but dude, WAY too long of a match. This ran nearly 24 minutes and you could pretty easily cut out about 10 of those. The pinning aspect makes it all messy and the lack of pinning after everyone was eligible makes the box pretty pointless. Also the psychology was all over the place as they were going for spots rather than going for the title, which makes limited sense.
We run down the card because thats what we do after openers in TNA.
Team 3D is apparently tired from a long flight.
Shane Douglas, with brown hair, comes up and apparently has to win to get a roster spot tonight. Why is Shane Douglas on PPV in 2009? Oh and hes the standard apparently.
We recap Douglas vs. Daniels. This is about second chances or something and apparently Shane wants another chance. This is more or less Loser Leaves TNA.
Shane Douglas vs. Daniels
Shane is in a t-shirt here which probably doesnt bode well for him. Not a huge fan of either of these guys in the slightest so this isnt a match Im particularly looking forward to. Daniels grabs a headlock and the tarping off of sections is so noticeable its laguable at this point. The referee shirts look like late 80s WWF ones. Daniels has a handlebar mustache going here and its not working for him.
Back to the headlock which has been the majority of the match so far. Dropkick gets two for Daniels. Douglas looks old to say the least. Out to the floor and Douglas just stands there while Daniels hits a moonsault. Shane sends him shoulder first into the steps to take over. West calls Douglas an all time great and I begin to smile.
Back inside and its time for more arm work by Shane. Clothesline sets up more or less a full nelson on the mat but with Shanes legs out. Out of the cool looking move and off to a Fujiwara armbar. Daniels makes his comeback and hits an enziguri to buy himself some time. Its hard to take him seriously with that mustache though. Douglas comes back with a variety of forearms as this isnt a very interesting match. Nice timing for me there as an STO sets up the BME for the 1-2-3. I have a strange craving for alphabet soup all of a sudden.
Rating: D+. Im really not sure what the point of this match being on the show was. I know Douglas has history in TNA but at the same time, its still Shane Douglas. Its not like he was anything special after about 1995 so I dont get this. The match wasnt all that good either which really makes me wonder why it was here. Were they expecting a good match from a 44 year old Shane?
Foley, still world champion at this point, says he has a 40% chance because Jeff is in his corner due to the stockholders not wanting anyone but Foley as champion. He then breaks into song. Apparently hes not going to defend his title for 16 months if he wins. Theres a present for him which he says hes going to open in private so he moonwalks out.
We recap Angelina vs. Tara, who is brand new here. Angelina is the dominant chick who wants more. Enter Tara who was all dominant and stuff.
Knockout Title: Angelina Love vs. Tara
Why did they insist on calling it the Womens Knockout Title? Are they afraid of a male version popping up? Theyre pronouncing it Tar-A instead of the usual pronunciation of Tear-A. Angelina tries to embarrass her to start with basic stuff so Tara just smacks her in the face a few times. Tara tosses her around by the hair a few times, one of which gets two so Angelina hits the floor.
After some Beautiful People interference, Angelina takes over back in the ring and chokes away. She looks a lot better when shes not a total rail. Apparently Team 3D isnt here yet. Angelina yells at the crowd about not being a Diva. Angelina gets a spinwheel kick for two. Love cant get the pin so she throws a little fit. Tara makes her comeback and hits a spinout side slam. She hits the floor and beats up Velvet for no apparent reason. Back in Angelina hits the Botox Injection and after some hairspray to the eyes, Tara is pinned with a jumping Downward Spiral.
Rating: C. Eh not bad here as you had two chicks out there that knew how to actually have a match. The big difference between these girls and ones like say, Tessmacher, is that they know how to work a match rather than just do a few moves. Theres a big difference between the two and it makes the difference between a good match and a horrible one.
Dr. Stevie says hes ready to finish Abyss tonight in the Monsters Ball match. Raven pops up to scare Lauren. This is in the boiler room or something like that. Raven talks about how he and Abyss are addicts to pain or something like that. This is built up more like Raven vs. Abyss which is an offshoot of the Stevie/Abyss feud.
We recap Stevie vs. Abyss. This went on forever and somehow has involved Raven and now Taylor Wilde. Stevie is just on the floor here so itll be Abyss/Taylor vs. Daffney/Raven.
Raven/Daffney vs. Abyss/Taylor Wilde
Im still not sure if Taylor is hot or not. Ok she looks good here so well go with yes. The genders pair off of course but Taylor is launched into both of them before Daffney is splashed by Abyss. Taylor hits an FU on Daffney but Stevie trips her up to shift the momentum. Daffney is thrown over the top down onto the guys and Taylor hits a dive onto them also.
The guys go into the crowd and Daffney follows. Here come the weapons as one goes upside the head of Daffney. They fight up towards the stage and Raven chokes him with a guardrail. The girls have kind of been forgotten about at this point. Theres a table with a red cloth over it. Oh there they are and Daffney is down. Not that we get to see it or anything but at least theyre not dead.
Oddly enough Daffney goes through the aforementioned table off a splash by Taylor off a speaker. Into the ring now go the men and Abyss has a bag of something. Raven gets a chair shot in to bust Abyss open (film at 11). Drop toehold puts Abyss into the chair again and the cut opens up even more. Here are some kendo stick shots but Taylor pops up with a garbage can lid to Raven to break it up.
Raven gets some trashcan shots in but theyre no sold by Abyss and here comes the monster, cracking him with the stick. Now were talking about Wests fantasy team for some reason. Chokeslam takes out Raven but Stevie has the referee to prevent the cover from being counted. Ravens weapon shots are rather weak. Taylor is launched onto Raven but Stevie interferes again. There are the tacks but Daffney winds up going into them in a pretty awesome spot. Stevie breaks it up AGAIN but walks into Abyss. Even Flow (Raven Effect) gets two and theres the Black Hole Slam to the tacks to end this.
Rating: B-. Eh pretty much just a hardcore match but at the same time thats all it needed to be here I think. Abyss willingness to more or less have his body destroyed can help him a lot and thats what he did here. The girls didnt do much here at all but at least Taylor looked good in blue so its not like they were a problem. Props to Daffney for the tacks bump too so overall, not bad here.
Jeff Jarrett is in the back. Hes a face here and says he doesnt want to be world champion. Tonight though, he might have to win it to save the company from Foley who is a time bomb apparently. Jarrett says he wont be helping Foley tonight.
We recap Morgan vs. Sting. Morgan wants to be in the Mafia but they wont let him for no apparent reason. Its about respect as always. If Morgan wins, he gets into the Mafia.
Matt Morgan vs. Sting
Apparently Morgan cant get into the Mafia due to not being a former world champion. This is kind of heel vs. heel but not really. Sting is in the Mafia but isnt really hated due to reasons of being .well Sting. Out to the floor with Morgan sending Sting into the railing a few times. All Morgan until he gets crotched coming back inside. Back to the floor and Sting works on the leg.
Discus lariat takes Sting down and apparently Team 3D just got to the building. Rolling elbows in the corner sans elbow pads have Sting in trouble. Side slam gets two. Morgan works on the neck and back a bit before hitting a chinlock. West asks a great question: why wouldnt you want Matt Morgan in the Mafia? That was never really answered but they gave some answers that were close enough I guess.
Sting makes his comeback and even hits a missile dropkick off the top. When do you see Sting bust that one out? Never that I can think of actually. A Stinger Splash misses though and a big boot gets two. Hellevator is countered into what looked like a botched Death Drop. They seem a bit confused so Sting hits a low blow and the Death Drop for only. Im guessing there was a minor botch there but it wasnt horrible. Call that no harm no foul I guess. Scorpion goes on but Morgan counters in like a second. Splash in the corner misses and a Death Drop from the middle rope ends this.
Rating: C. Sting on PPV can be rather hit or miss. This wasnt one of those hits. Its certainly not a bad match, but it never really hit a big spark. Stings comebacks arent all that interesting usually and this was just the same way: he fights up, they counter each other a bit and the Death Drop ends it. No real spark to them and thats about it. Not bad but nothing great at all.
BFG 2009 is in Los Angeles, California. As opposed to Los Angeles, Iowa of course.
AJ and Joe are going to work together in the main event. This is before AJ got all depressed I think. Joe wants Angle.
We recap Beer Money vs. Team 3D. Beer Money won Team 3Ds tag tournament to get this match. 3D had Beer Moneys backs but that wasnt reciprocated so Beer Money are the slight heels here.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Team 3D
3D was in Japan last night so theyre a bit spent. Theyre the IWGP tag champions but that doesnt mean much here. D-Von vs. Storm to start us off. Basic start and its off to Roode and the double teaming begins. Roode tries to hammer on Ray and that just fails completely. Ray chops away in the corner and a HUGE German sends Roode into near death.
Double teaming takes Beer Money down but its off to Storm vs. D-Von with the alcoholic taking over. Down goes Storm and theres the double tag. Bubba Bomb gets two and everything breaks down again. Whats Up to Roode and its Table Time. Storm is almost put through one on the floor but instead Roode hits a spinebuster for two. Theres the Beer Money shout.
And here come the Brits because we havent had a run-in in awhile I guess. This was a three way feud for awhile and the fans chant USA for a bit. They sit in on commentary a bit while West uses a BAD British accent. We actually go split screen because we need to see the commentators TALKING right? Oh good they got rid of it. Now theyre just showing the commentators instead. This company makes my head hurt badly.
D-Von gets a hot tag if youre interested in the match. He cleans house and gets a left armed Rock Bottom for two. I think they hit 3D II (the belly to back neckbreaker) but we need to see Magnus talking about a cross body instead of the move. Storm hits a cross body to take out both guys and then a Doomsday Device is broken up. Storm hits a top rope rana to set up a top rope splash from Roode to D-Von for two.
Ray breaks up a double superplex attempt on D-Von and the Doomsday Device gets two on Roode. The beer spit goes into Roodes eyes (as always) and 3D hits 3D on Roode but Terry pops up on the apron. BUBBA DIVES OFF THE TOP TO THE FLOOR TO TAKE OUT THE BRITS!!!! WOW!!!!! Williams is knocked through the table but Last Call and DWI give Beer Money the belts.
Rating: B. This would have been high but the Brits were a bit annoying. They were playing this up almost like the chess match but it couldnt quite hit the level of epic that they were going for I dont think. Still though, good stuff from two great teams, back in the day when the TNA tag division really was awesome, especially with the Guns floating around out there somewhere.
Angle says that tonight isnt about the title or the Mafia but rather Joe vs. Angle.
Video on the King of the Mountain match in general rather than the specific match. We also get the rules which I listed earlier.
The tale of the tape is kind of surprising here as Foley is the tallest by two inches and also the heaviest. Little surprising for some reason on the height.
TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Mick Foley vs. AJ Styles
Foley is champion of course. Just to show how stupid the bullet points thing is here, the first one is another title defense for Foley. I never would have gotten that without that bullet point. Thanks guys. AJ is Legends Champion. They do that thing where everyone gets a video as they come down the hall in the back. Joe has gone through the Mafia one by one and only Angle is left. Jarrett has never lost one of these. Angle wears a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey, who just beat the Redwings in the Stanley Cup Finals. Since ten minutes of intros arent enough, here are Big Match Intros.
They really shouldnt have wide camera shots as you can see a ton of empty seats. I dont know if more people came in or what but instead of being tarped off/blacked out, there are people there but not very many. Joe throws on a Redwings jersey and beats the tar out of Angle before the match officially starts and is thrown into the box on a DQ. Hell be in the box for two minutes and Im not sure if Angle is eligible or not. Ah apparently he is. The match hasnt officially started yet either.
Theres the bell and everyone goes after Angle. Well other than Foley that is. AJ gets that slick dropkick of his as Kurt cant get anything going. Foley finally comes in, picks Jeff up for a slam and intentionally falls down so that Jeff can pin him and then he can hide in the penalty box. Jeff and Angle are now eligible and Joe is out. AJ grabs a headlock to call some spots with Joe.
Joe beats on Jeff a bit but a backsplash only gets two. Angle jumps Joe as Foley is released. He finally does something and attacks Joe but theres the Clutch like a second later and Foley is out to make Joe eligible and put Foley back in the box. Joe brings in the first ladder and cleans house. Suplex sends Kurt into the ladder. AJ is down on the floor as Joe gets the belt and Mick is released.
Foley hits a shoulder block to the ladder to take out Joe and break the ladder. Joe landed on the ladder as he came down. FREAKING OW MAN! AJ and Foley are the only two not eligible yet. Foley misses a charge into the ladder so Jeff tries to climb but the ladder is too broken to climb. Instead he just throws it over the top onto Angle. Fresh ladder comes in and everyone is fighting everyone for the most part.
AJ reverses an Angle German into an attempt at a tornado DDT using the ladder but Angle counters into a northern lights into the ladder. Guitar misses and Kurt grabs the ankle lock. Jeff escapes and cracks Kurt with the guitar to put Kurt down. Foley and Jeff go up and Foley thinks theyre working together. That gets him a punch in the face as AJ kicks the ladder down. The ladder falls on him which cant feel good.
Foley and AJ go up to the top of the cage and tease suplexes either way. Foley counters and throws AJ back into the ring which is somehow a merciful act. Back in the ring Jeff counters the Clutch and hits a Stroke onto Joe onto a ladder. Angle gets the Slam on Jeff for two but Foley jumps off the cage and hits an elbow to pin Kurt. Theres the sock and AJ has the Legends Title. He drills a climbing Foley with it and a kick sends Foley flying. Pele sends Foley to the floor.
Joe launches AJ over the top kind of onto Foley which is enough for the pin on Foley, meaning everyone is now eligible. Jeff, AJ and Kurt go for the ladder but Jeff dives off onto Kurt with a DDT. AJ is alone on the ladder but doesnt have the belt. Everyone is down now as Foley is released. Belt to the head takes AJ down but Joe drills Foley with a kick. Joe goes up the ladder but AJ makes the save, actually having the belt fall around his neck.
Joe dives to the floor but might have hurt his ankle. Styles Clash puts Kurt down and the fans are WAY into this. Joe pops back in and powerbombs AJ off the ladder. Apparently the ankle is fine which they try to play off as a swerve. Angle and Joe go up the ladder and Joe hands Angle the ladder, joining the Mafia and letting Kurt win the title to end the show.
Rating: B-. The match is still a mess and a totally insane concept, but this was far better. There werent any dead spots and it felt like things were focused on getting the belt rather than just doing big spots. Not a great match or a classic or anything but still not bad. The swerve at the end isnt something Im thrilled with but it wasnt something you saw coming which is a nice change.
Overall Rating: C+. Not too bad here with nothing being completely horrible. Nothing is particularly great here either but for a middle of the road PPV this was fine. This is supposed to be one of their bigger shows though which hurt it, but it wasnt bad. The double KOTM is a bit much and it got dull after awhile, but not too bad. Pretty good show overall, but nothing memorable.
Date: June 21, 2009
Location: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West
This is one of the last two TNA PPVs of 2009 so lets get it over with. This is the last King of the Mountain show to date if I remember correctly. Its another Mafia show with the main event basically being the Mafia vs. the not Mafia main event guys with Foleys world title on the line. Theres also an X-Division KOTM match. Not much of note other than that so lets get to it.
The opening video is about what else, anniversaries. Its more or less a highlight video of TNAs history which is what it probably should be. One random little thing here: the video is set to a song by a chick named Goldy Locks, who was a performer in the early days of the company. Nice little touch.
Its clear that the vast majority of the arena is tarped off. The Detroit Pistons play here so its a huge arena.
X-Division Title: Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed vs. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley vs. Suicide
This is the first King of the Mountain match and Suicide is champion. This is a rather unique match in that its more or less a reverse ladder match. You have five people in and you have to qualify to be allowed to hang the belt, which you do by pinning anyone or making them tap. The person that is pinned or taps sends you to a penalty box for two minutes. You climb a ladder and hang the title to win it. Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers is the belt holder here, meaning after you qualify you go to him and get the title.
Granderson sits in on commentary here and has a rather clear voice. More importantly than anything though: he sounds like hes having fun and wants to be here. Very nice. The Guns are the Japanese Junior Heavyweight tag champions here. Everyone jumps Suicide to start us off as the Guns are the fan favorites of course. Lethal Consequences go out and get ladders while the Guns do their thing.
Suicide fights back and the Guns have some miscommunication and Suicide manages to take out all four guys with a ladder at once. I dont think Granderson knows a ton about what the specifics are here but hes into it. Suicide gets a weird Angle Slam kind of move to Lethal for the pin. Now that means Lethal is in the box for two minutes and Suicide can go get the belt to hang. This also means Granderson is off commentary. The rules are rather confusing at times but once you get the hang of it theyre not too bad.
After some brawling, Shelley is pinned after a double knee from Suicide. Lethal comes back in and it was actually two minutes. Hes fresh now and only he and Suicide are in the ring. Sabin pops in and pelts a chair at Suicide and then he and Lethal work together. Lethal Combination into the chair for Suicide but as any team in a match like this they fight over a pin. Lethal pins Suicide so hes eligible now.
Shelley is unleashed now so the tag teams go at it. Or instead they dance around in the ring a lot. The Guns finally wake up and beat them down and we get some very choreographed spots. This whole thing is a huge mess because only one active person is able to win it at this point. Suicide is back in now. Creed gets a TKO to Shelley for a pin. Lethal Consequences work over Suicide who manages to send Sabin into the ladder.
Creed tries a big dive and totally misses Suicide who sells it anyway. Sabin gets a HUGE dive off a ladder onto the box to take out Creed and Suicide. In a rather smart move, Shelley sets a ladder but hes not eligible. Sabin lays down so Shelley can become eligible but Alex has to go get the belt so Suicide can dropkick the ladder. A ladder is set in the corner and Lethal gets stuck in it.
The ladder is laid horizontally on the top and is pointing into the ring. In a cool spot, Suicide picks up Creed and drops him onto the ladder to send Lethal flying into the ring like a catapult. Sabin is released now. Springboard tornado DDT (looked SICK) pins Lethal which means everyone is now eligible. Suicide hits a slingshot DDT to Shelley but walks into Cradle Shock to put him down.
Sabin has the belt and finally goes up. Thats the first attempt in about 16 minutes of the match so far. Suicide is caught in the Tree of Woe but for some reason no one is trying covers. If you did then you could eliminate people for a bit. Lethal is released and he breaks up Sabins attempt. Shelley gets a frog splash on Lethal but like an idiot doesnt cover.
Shelley is the only one conscious and he sets up a ladder on the floor. Well of course he does. The Guns beat up Suicide and Creed for awhile as this needs to be over like three minutes ago. Sabin is on a ladder that is bridged between the ring and the railing. Lethal drops an elbow on him instead of, you know, GOING FOR THE BELT! Creed and Shelly fight on the apron and Alex hits a pretty awesome Sliced Bread onto the apron.
Suicide and Shelley trade chops and strikes on the floor but Sliced Bread misses. Shelley is kicked into the crowd and Suicide is the only person left on his feet. The crowd isnt all that thrilled with him going up here. The idea of hanging a belt is rather weird, especially when youre going to take it down a second later. Suicide goes up but Lethal makes the save.
They wind up on the top of the cage and Creed joins in. Shelley goes for the belt in the ring with everyone else fighting. In a cool spot, Suicide walks over a ladder that is laid on the back of Lethal and jumps off into a Diamond Cutter on Shelley to bring him off the ladder. Thats enough to end it as I guess thats the huge spot of the match. Not really huge but at least its over.
Rating: C+. Pretty good but dude, WAY too long of a match. This ran nearly 24 minutes and you could pretty easily cut out about 10 of those. The pinning aspect makes it all messy and the lack of pinning after everyone was eligible makes the box pretty pointless. Also the psychology was all over the place as they were going for spots rather than going for the title, which makes limited sense.
We run down the card because thats what we do after openers in TNA.
Team 3D is apparently tired from a long flight.
Shane Douglas, with brown hair, comes up and apparently has to win to get a roster spot tonight. Why is Shane Douglas on PPV in 2009? Oh and hes the standard apparently.
We recap Douglas vs. Daniels. This is about second chances or something and apparently Shane wants another chance. This is more or less Loser Leaves TNA.
Shane Douglas vs. Daniels
Shane is in a t-shirt here which probably doesnt bode well for him. Not a huge fan of either of these guys in the slightest so this isnt a match Im particularly looking forward to. Daniels grabs a headlock and the tarping off of sections is so noticeable its laguable at this point. The referee shirts look like late 80s WWF ones. Daniels has a handlebar mustache going here and its not working for him.
Back to the headlock which has been the majority of the match so far. Dropkick gets two for Daniels. Douglas looks old to say the least. Out to the floor and Douglas just stands there while Daniels hits a moonsault. Shane sends him shoulder first into the steps to take over. West calls Douglas an all time great and I begin to smile.
Back inside and its time for more arm work by Shane. Clothesline sets up more or less a full nelson on the mat but with Shanes legs out. Out of the cool looking move and off to a Fujiwara armbar. Daniels makes his comeback and hits an enziguri to buy himself some time. Its hard to take him seriously with that mustache though. Douglas comes back with a variety of forearms as this isnt a very interesting match. Nice timing for me there as an STO sets up the BME for the 1-2-3. I have a strange craving for alphabet soup all of a sudden.
Rating: D+. Im really not sure what the point of this match being on the show was. I know Douglas has history in TNA but at the same time, its still Shane Douglas. Its not like he was anything special after about 1995 so I dont get this. The match wasnt all that good either which really makes me wonder why it was here. Were they expecting a good match from a 44 year old Shane?
Foley, still world champion at this point, says he has a 40% chance because Jeff is in his corner due to the stockholders not wanting anyone but Foley as champion. He then breaks into song. Apparently hes not going to defend his title for 16 months if he wins. Theres a present for him which he says hes going to open in private so he moonwalks out.
We recap Angelina vs. Tara, who is brand new here. Angelina is the dominant chick who wants more. Enter Tara who was all dominant and stuff.
Knockout Title: Angelina Love vs. Tara
Why did they insist on calling it the Womens Knockout Title? Are they afraid of a male version popping up? Theyre pronouncing it Tar-A instead of the usual pronunciation of Tear-A. Angelina tries to embarrass her to start with basic stuff so Tara just smacks her in the face a few times. Tara tosses her around by the hair a few times, one of which gets two so Angelina hits the floor.
After some Beautiful People interference, Angelina takes over back in the ring and chokes away. She looks a lot better when shes not a total rail. Apparently Team 3D isnt here yet. Angelina yells at the crowd about not being a Diva. Angelina gets a spinwheel kick for two. Love cant get the pin so she throws a little fit. Tara makes her comeback and hits a spinout side slam. She hits the floor and beats up Velvet for no apparent reason. Back in Angelina hits the Botox Injection and after some hairspray to the eyes, Tara is pinned with a jumping Downward Spiral.
Rating: C. Eh not bad here as you had two chicks out there that knew how to actually have a match. The big difference between these girls and ones like say, Tessmacher, is that they know how to work a match rather than just do a few moves. Theres a big difference between the two and it makes the difference between a good match and a horrible one.
Dr. Stevie says hes ready to finish Abyss tonight in the Monsters Ball match. Raven pops up to scare Lauren. This is in the boiler room or something like that. Raven talks about how he and Abyss are addicts to pain or something like that. This is built up more like Raven vs. Abyss which is an offshoot of the Stevie/Abyss feud.
We recap Stevie vs. Abyss. This went on forever and somehow has involved Raven and now Taylor Wilde. Stevie is just on the floor here so itll be Abyss/Taylor vs. Daffney/Raven.
Raven/Daffney vs. Abyss/Taylor Wilde
Im still not sure if Taylor is hot or not. Ok she looks good here so well go with yes. The genders pair off of course but Taylor is launched into both of them before Daffney is splashed by Abyss. Taylor hits an FU on Daffney but Stevie trips her up to shift the momentum. Daffney is thrown over the top down onto the guys and Taylor hits a dive onto them also.
The guys go into the crowd and Daffney follows. Here come the weapons as one goes upside the head of Daffney. They fight up towards the stage and Raven chokes him with a guardrail. The girls have kind of been forgotten about at this point. Theres a table with a red cloth over it. Oh there they are and Daffney is down. Not that we get to see it or anything but at least theyre not dead.
Oddly enough Daffney goes through the aforementioned table off a splash by Taylor off a speaker. Into the ring now go the men and Abyss has a bag of something. Raven gets a chair shot in to bust Abyss open (film at 11). Drop toehold puts Abyss into the chair again and the cut opens up even more. Here are some kendo stick shots but Taylor pops up with a garbage can lid to Raven to break it up.
Raven gets some trashcan shots in but theyre no sold by Abyss and here comes the monster, cracking him with the stick. Now were talking about Wests fantasy team for some reason. Chokeslam takes out Raven but Stevie has the referee to prevent the cover from being counted. Ravens weapon shots are rather weak. Taylor is launched onto Raven but Stevie interferes again. There are the tacks but Daffney winds up going into them in a pretty awesome spot. Stevie breaks it up AGAIN but walks into Abyss. Even Flow (Raven Effect) gets two and theres the Black Hole Slam to the tacks to end this.
Rating: B-. Eh pretty much just a hardcore match but at the same time thats all it needed to be here I think. Abyss willingness to more or less have his body destroyed can help him a lot and thats what he did here. The girls didnt do much here at all but at least Taylor looked good in blue so its not like they were a problem. Props to Daffney for the tacks bump too so overall, not bad here.
Jeff Jarrett is in the back. Hes a face here and says he doesnt want to be world champion. Tonight though, he might have to win it to save the company from Foley who is a time bomb apparently. Jarrett says he wont be helping Foley tonight.
We recap Morgan vs. Sting. Morgan wants to be in the Mafia but they wont let him for no apparent reason. Its about respect as always. If Morgan wins, he gets into the Mafia.
Matt Morgan vs. Sting
Apparently Morgan cant get into the Mafia due to not being a former world champion. This is kind of heel vs. heel but not really. Sting is in the Mafia but isnt really hated due to reasons of being .well Sting. Out to the floor with Morgan sending Sting into the railing a few times. All Morgan until he gets crotched coming back inside. Back to the floor and Sting works on the leg.
Discus lariat takes Sting down and apparently Team 3D just got to the building. Rolling elbows in the corner sans elbow pads have Sting in trouble. Side slam gets two. Morgan works on the neck and back a bit before hitting a chinlock. West asks a great question: why wouldnt you want Matt Morgan in the Mafia? That was never really answered but they gave some answers that were close enough I guess.
Sting makes his comeback and even hits a missile dropkick off the top. When do you see Sting bust that one out? Never that I can think of actually. A Stinger Splash misses though and a big boot gets two. Hellevator is countered into what looked like a botched Death Drop. They seem a bit confused so Sting hits a low blow and the Death Drop for only. Im guessing there was a minor botch there but it wasnt horrible. Call that no harm no foul I guess. Scorpion goes on but Morgan counters in like a second. Splash in the corner misses and a Death Drop from the middle rope ends this.
Rating: C. Sting on PPV can be rather hit or miss. This wasnt one of those hits. Its certainly not a bad match, but it never really hit a big spark. Stings comebacks arent all that interesting usually and this was just the same way: he fights up, they counter each other a bit and the Death Drop ends it. No real spark to them and thats about it. Not bad but nothing great at all.
BFG 2009 is in Los Angeles, California. As opposed to Los Angeles, Iowa of course.
AJ and Joe are going to work together in the main event. This is before AJ got all depressed I think. Joe wants Angle.
We recap Beer Money vs. Team 3D. Beer Money won Team 3Ds tag tournament to get this match. 3D had Beer Moneys backs but that wasnt reciprocated so Beer Money are the slight heels here.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Team 3D
3D was in Japan last night so theyre a bit spent. Theyre the IWGP tag champions but that doesnt mean much here. D-Von vs. Storm to start us off. Basic start and its off to Roode and the double teaming begins. Roode tries to hammer on Ray and that just fails completely. Ray chops away in the corner and a HUGE German sends Roode into near death.
Double teaming takes Beer Money down but its off to Storm vs. D-Von with the alcoholic taking over. Down goes Storm and theres the double tag. Bubba Bomb gets two and everything breaks down again. Whats Up to Roode and its Table Time. Storm is almost put through one on the floor but instead Roode hits a spinebuster for two. Theres the Beer Money shout.
And here come the Brits because we havent had a run-in in awhile I guess. This was a three way feud for awhile and the fans chant USA for a bit. They sit in on commentary a bit while West uses a BAD British accent. We actually go split screen because we need to see the commentators TALKING right? Oh good they got rid of it. Now theyre just showing the commentators instead. This company makes my head hurt badly.
D-Von gets a hot tag if youre interested in the match. He cleans house and gets a left armed Rock Bottom for two. I think they hit 3D II (the belly to back neckbreaker) but we need to see Magnus talking about a cross body instead of the move. Storm hits a cross body to take out both guys and then a Doomsday Device is broken up. Storm hits a top rope rana to set up a top rope splash from Roode to D-Von for two.
Ray breaks up a double superplex attempt on D-Von and the Doomsday Device gets two on Roode. The beer spit goes into Roodes eyes (as always) and 3D hits 3D on Roode but Terry pops up on the apron. BUBBA DIVES OFF THE TOP TO THE FLOOR TO TAKE OUT THE BRITS!!!! WOW!!!!! Williams is knocked through the table but Last Call and DWI give Beer Money the belts.
Rating: B. This would have been high but the Brits were a bit annoying. They were playing this up almost like the chess match but it couldnt quite hit the level of epic that they were going for I dont think. Still though, good stuff from two great teams, back in the day when the TNA tag division really was awesome, especially with the Guns floating around out there somewhere.
Angle says that tonight isnt about the title or the Mafia but rather Joe vs. Angle.
Video on the King of the Mountain match in general rather than the specific match. We also get the rules which I listed earlier.
The tale of the tape is kind of surprising here as Foley is the tallest by two inches and also the heaviest. Little surprising for some reason on the height.
TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Mick Foley vs. AJ Styles
Foley is champion of course. Just to show how stupid the bullet points thing is here, the first one is another title defense for Foley. I never would have gotten that without that bullet point. Thanks guys. AJ is Legends Champion. They do that thing where everyone gets a video as they come down the hall in the back. Joe has gone through the Mafia one by one and only Angle is left. Jarrett has never lost one of these. Angle wears a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey, who just beat the Redwings in the Stanley Cup Finals. Since ten minutes of intros arent enough, here are Big Match Intros.
They really shouldnt have wide camera shots as you can see a ton of empty seats. I dont know if more people came in or what but instead of being tarped off/blacked out, there are people there but not very many. Joe throws on a Redwings jersey and beats the tar out of Angle before the match officially starts and is thrown into the box on a DQ. Hell be in the box for two minutes and Im not sure if Angle is eligible or not. Ah apparently he is. The match hasnt officially started yet either.
Theres the bell and everyone goes after Angle. Well other than Foley that is. AJ gets that slick dropkick of his as Kurt cant get anything going. Foley finally comes in, picks Jeff up for a slam and intentionally falls down so that Jeff can pin him and then he can hide in the penalty box. Jeff and Angle are now eligible and Joe is out. AJ grabs a headlock to call some spots with Joe.
Joe beats on Jeff a bit but a backsplash only gets two. Angle jumps Joe as Foley is released. He finally does something and attacks Joe but theres the Clutch like a second later and Foley is out to make Joe eligible and put Foley back in the box. Joe brings in the first ladder and cleans house. Suplex sends Kurt into the ladder. AJ is down on the floor as Joe gets the belt and Mick is released.
Foley hits a shoulder block to the ladder to take out Joe and break the ladder. Joe landed on the ladder as he came down. FREAKING OW MAN! AJ and Foley are the only two not eligible yet. Foley misses a charge into the ladder so Jeff tries to climb but the ladder is too broken to climb. Instead he just throws it over the top onto Angle. Fresh ladder comes in and everyone is fighting everyone for the most part.
AJ reverses an Angle German into an attempt at a tornado DDT using the ladder but Angle counters into a northern lights into the ladder. Guitar misses and Kurt grabs the ankle lock. Jeff escapes and cracks Kurt with the guitar to put Kurt down. Foley and Jeff go up and Foley thinks theyre working together. That gets him a punch in the face as AJ kicks the ladder down. The ladder falls on him which cant feel good.
Foley and AJ go up to the top of the cage and tease suplexes either way. Foley counters and throws AJ back into the ring which is somehow a merciful act. Back in the ring Jeff counters the Clutch and hits a Stroke onto Joe onto a ladder. Angle gets the Slam on Jeff for two but Foley jumps off the cage and hits an elbow to pin Kurt. Theres the sock and AJ has the Legends Title. He drills a climbing Foley with it and a kick sends Foley flying. Pele sends Foley to the floor.
Joe launches AJ over the top kind of onto Foley which is enough for the pin on Foley, meaning everyone is now eligible. Jeff, AJ and Kurt go for the ladder but Jeff dives off onto Kurt with a DDT. AJ is alone on the ladder but doesnt have the belt. Everyone is down now as Foley is released. Belt to the head takes AJ down but Joe drills Foley with a kick. Joe goes up the ladder but AJ makes the save, actually having the belt fall around his neck.
Joe dives to the floor but might have hurt his ankle. Styles Clash puts Kurt down and the fans are WAY into this. Joe pops back in and powerbombs AJ off the ladder. Apparently the ankle is fine which they try to play off as a swerve. Angle and Joe go up the ladder and Joe hands Angle the ladder, joining the Mafia and letting Kurt win the title to end the show.
Rating: B-. The match is still a mess and a totally insane concept, but this was far better. There werent any dead spots and it felt like things were focused on getting the belt rather than just doing big spots. Not a great match or a classic or anything but still not bad. The swerve at the end isnt something Im thrilled with but it wasnt something you saw coming which is a nice change.
Overall Rating: C+. Not too bad here with nothing being completely horrible. Nothing is particularly great here either but for a middle of the road PPV this was fine. This is supposed to be one of their bigger shows though which hurt it, but it wasnt bad. The double KOTM is a bit much and it got dull after awhile, but not too bad. Pretty good show overall, but nothing memorable.