Sacrifice 2012
Date: May 13, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Time for another filler PPV from the boys in Orlando. The card here is better than the Victory Road show but it’s definitely a B show at best. The main event is Roode vs. RVD for the title and we’ll likely get more developments in the return of Abyss story as well. To be fair though, that’s one of the most interesting stories they’ve had in awihle. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is about how Roode is angry about recent events.
Tag Titles: Samoa Joe/Magnus vs. Kazarian/Christopher Daniels
The announcers talk about how awesome Magnus is. He and Daniels start with the British guy in control. Daniels gets in an elbow in the corner but a cross body is countered into a suplex in a cool power display. Off to Joe and Daniels runs away, bringing in Kaz. A big elbow puts Kaz down and it’s off to Magnus. The champions use some good teamwork to beat on Kaz but Daniels trips up Magnus to shift control.
Magnus plays Ricky Morton with a British accent. Both challengers work on him a little bit at a time until it’s chinlock time from Daniels. Joseph Park is in the audience. Kaz hooks a double chickenwing but Magnus fights up and hits a shoulder block to escape. There’s the tag to Joe who cleans house and creates heel miscommunication. Release Rock Bottom puts Daniels down out of the corner.
Daniels breaks up the champions’ finishing move with a boot to Joe’s face. A DDT gets two on Joe as does the STO. Magnus gets in a shot to allow the champions to hit the finishing sequence on Daniels but Kaz pulls Magnus to the floor. Joe goes for the save and Magnus goes back in, but the challengers hit a Total Elimination on Magnus for the surprise pin and the titles at 10:54.
Rating: C. Pretty good opening but the ending was pretty surprising. I guess there’s a reason to give the titles to Daniels/Kaz, but the division is still pretty weak given the roster of tag teams at this point. Joe and Magnus were getting good together and I’m sure they’ll get a title shot again but odds are on AJ finding a partner and going after them.
Tenay and Taz plug their social media stuff.
We recap Brooke vs. Gail. In short: Gail is a wrestler, Brooke is a model who looks good in a bikini but she wants to prove she can fight. Brooke has three wins in a row over Gail coming into this.
Knockouts Title: Brooke Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim
Gail jumps Brooke to start but Tessmacher tries Eat Defeat twice to send Gail running to the floor. Gail gets in a kick to the ribs to take over and follows with a shoulder block to the ribs. The champion hits a backbreaker and bends Brooke over the knee in a submission hold out of the same position.
It’s about 99% Kim until Brooke gets a flying forearm to get herself a breather. A facejam out of the corner puts Gail down and a top rope elbow gets two. The champion tries a quick Eat Defeat but Brooke hits one of her own which knocks Gail to the floor. Back inside that gets two. And then Gail rolls her up with feet on the ropes to retain at 6:50.
Rating: C-. Not bad here but Tessmacher continues to be just barely better than your normal terrible women’s wrestler. Anyone that believes she’s out there because of anything other than how she looks in her wrestling outfits is delusional. Still though, I’d have switched the title due to how long Gail has had the title and how stale her title reign has gotten.
Kaz and Daniels say that AJ got where he is by whistling Dixie. Kaz and Daniels are where they are because they beat people up. Daniels says his championship is proof. This is just beginning with AJ and you may now worship them.
TV Title: D-Von vs. Robbie E vs. Robbie T
Officially it’s a triple threat. D-Von punches T to the floor and then punches E down. A Rock Bottom gets two on E but T pulls the champion to the floor. E gets back up and tells T to stand down because he’s got this. Powerslam gets two for E. D-Von comes back and knocks E to the floor but T catches him with a shot to the back. Powerslam gets two as E makes the save. Extra and Terrestrial get in a shoving match, allowing D-Von to roll up T to retain at 5:40.
Rating: D+. This feud MUST be over now right? It’s been going on for like four months now and for the life of me I don’t get why it’s continued this long. Are there really no other people that can get in on the TV Title hunt? Nothing to see here but hopefully it ends this feud once and for all.
T teases attacking E post match but they’re ok.
We recap Anderson vs. Hardy. Basically they both wanted to be #1 contender but got in a fight instead. RVD got the shot so these two need something to do.
Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
Feeling out process to start resulting in some armdrags by Hardy into an armbar. They head to the floor with Jeff in control and Anderson going into various metal objects. Jeff tries a running attack off the steps but Anderson moves. Jeff blocks the contact into the railing though and therefore doesn’t lose control. Back in Anderson kicks him down but gets caught by a jawbreaker from Jeff.
Jeff tries the slingshot dropkick in the corner but Anderson gets his own feet up to block it. Clothesline gets two as does a flying armbar. Hardy rolls to the apron and tries to fight back but gets caught by a neckbreaker through the ropes for two. Anderson hooks the arm again but Jeff fights to his feet. Another neckbreaker is countered and Jeff hits a Mic Check to put both guys down.
Anderson is up first but Jeff meets him with right hands. Hardy loads up Whisper in the Wind but Anderson moves forward to send Hardy crashing down. Twist of Fate from Anderson gets two but the Kenton Bomb misses. The Swanton connects but only for two. In a really strange ending, Hardy tries his legdrop between Anderson’s legs but Anderson shoves Hardy’s legs back and rolls him up for the pin, but I was almost sure Hardy kicked out. Either way it gets the pin at 11:40.
Rating: C-. This was supposed to be a big main event style match but it didn’t work at all for me. Anderson is just so uninteresting in the ring and for the life of me I don’t get why he went over Hardy here. I guess the ending is going to be a selling point later on as Hardy pretty clearly kicked out and he protested after the match, but we’ll have to wait for Impact for that.
Aries says he isn’t worried about Ray tonight. He thinks better is better than bigger, and that the bullying stops tonight.
We get a video from the end of Impact where Abyss returned.
Joseph Park is in the crowd and is having a great time. He says he didn’t see Abyss return on Thursday because he was recovering from Ray attacking him. Abyss might appear tonight too.
Crimson comes out to brag about beating Morgan on Thursday. He issues an open challenge and here’s who he gets.
Crimson vs. Eric Young
I didn’t hear a bell and it’s time for COMEDY! Eric locks up with the referee and does Ultimo Dragon’s handstand in the corner. A clothesline puts Crimson on the floor, although I never heard a bell. Crimson throws him to the floor to take over and a suplex gets two. There’s the cravate and Eric gets shoved down. ODB gets in and gets shoved down which ticks Eric off. And there go his pants. He slams Crimson down and drops a top rope elbow for no cover. Eric goes to check on ODB but Crimson shoves him into the wife and Red Sky gets the pin at 4:00.
Rating: D. What does anyone see in either of these guys? Eric IS NOT FUNNY. He does the same stuff every single week and it just isn’t funny. Hey look: he can take his pants off and lock up with a referree. COMEDY! Crimson is the most uninteresting undefeated name this side of Tatanka as it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing with him.
Ray says that he doesn’t do Twitter and plugs his MySpace page. He’s too big for Aries to beat too.
We recap Aries vs. Ray, which is victim vs. Bully with the victim fighting back.
Bully Ray vs. Austin Aries
Ray goes into a nearly Memphis level of stalling until Aries jumps him. Taz uses the time to actually offer some veteran analysis, talking about how it’s possible for a smaller guy to use leverage moves against bigger guys like Ray. Aries pounds away on him but gets shoved down. Ray tries to stomp him but Aries bites the calf to escape. Aries goes up but a big boot knocks him into the barricade in a cool looking bump.
Oh man Aries has some bad looking bruises on his back which Tazz calls busted blood vessels. Ray slams him down and puts on a bearhug before hitting a HARD chop to the chest. Aries pops up and says hit me again which Ray does. Aries tries to come back but gets chopped down again. Ray says stay down but Aries comes back with chops. A running elbow in the corner hits Ray but he comes back with a modified powerbomb for two. Ray sends him into the ropes and hits a wicked one man 3D but it only gets two.
Here comes Joseph Park to the front row and Ray comes out to get in his face. He pulls Park over the railing and into ringside but Aries takes Ray down with a suicide dive. Back in the ring a missile dropkick sends Ray into the corner and Aries somehow pulls off the brainbuster for two. Ray tries a superbomb out of the corner but falls on his face, allowing Aries to throw on the Last Chancery for the tap at 13:17.
Rating: B. Good match here and it’s good that they gave Aries the win. There was no need to have Ray get a win here and for awhile I was thinking they were going to go with him. On a side note, that one man 3D is a great finisher for Ray as it looks devastating. Anyway, good win for Aries here but he needs to get rid of that belt soon. It’s not helping him anymore and it kills the division a little more every day he has it.
We recap the pictures being revealed on Monday.
AJ says he isn’t here to talk about pictures.
We recap Angle vs. Styles. Angle beat Styles because AJ was distracted by Daniels and the photos he had and Angle didn’t want to win that way. This is his rematch.
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle
Angle is pretty much a tweener now as he doesn’t really have an allegiance to either side of the spectrum. AJ takes it to the mat which goes to a standoff. Now Angle takes it to the mat and AJ bails. Angle has lowered his kneepad and tells AJ to shoot for the leg. AJ outsmarts him though and kicks Angle in the face as Angle drops down into defense. Angle hooks a bearhug and tries a suplex but Styles counters into a Styles Clash attempt which is countered into an ankle lock attempt which doesn’t work.
Angle takes over with a headlock which lasts for awhile. Styles comes out of it and drops a knee. Styles Clash is broken up again and they head to the floor. AJ counters a suplex by landing on his feet and takes Angle down with a clothesline. In the ring AJ misses a jumping attack in the corner and Kurt suplexes him down. AJ fights out of a body vice but runs into a backbreaker for two.
Off to a chinlock as this match slows way down. AJ gets up and both guys try cross bodies. Styles speeds things up and hits an AA into a backbreaker for two. Springboard forearm gets two. Angle blocks the Clash but gets sent to the floor. AJ hits the springboard forearm to the floor and both guys are down. Kurt suplexes him from the apron into the ring for two.
A belly to belly superplex is countered but Angle runs the ropes and hits the superplex for two. Angle Slam is countered with the Pele and the Styles Clash gets two. Kurt reverses a German into a release one of his own to put both guys down. Styles gets a spinning rollup for two but Kurt pulls off an Angle Slam. That gets two and Kurt is frustrated. Kurt pushes A+B at the same time and gets two off a Styles Clash. The moonsault misses and AJ hits his springboard 450 for two. AJ sets for something else and here are Kaz and Daniels for the interference, allowing Angle to hit another Slam for two. Ankle and grapvine end this at 20:45.
Rating: B. First and foremost, AJ and Angle had a good match. No one paying attention should be surprised at this at all. That being said, I do not want to ever see Christoper Daniels vs. AJ Styles again. I don’t care what the angle is, I don’t care what new twist they put on it, I don’t care how it turns out. I’m tired of seeing it and there’s no reason to put them together anymore. They’ve feuded on and off for over seven years now and I’m not interested in seeing it anymore.
Angle saves Styles from the double beatdown. There’s Slammiversary I’d assume.
Angle’s moonsault at Lockdown against Anderson is the #8 moment in TNA history.
Roode doesn’t feel right because he doesn’t have his belt with him. It’s above the ring and he doesn’t like it.
We recap Roode vs. RVD. RVD won a match to get the title match then won another one to make it a ladder match. That’s about it.
TNA World Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Roode
Ladder match. The belt looks higher up than it usually is. Van Dam knocks him to the floor to start and goes for the ladder, but Roode breaks it up. Van Dam comes back and hits the spinning kick to the back of Roode on the barricade. Van Dam goes for the ladder again but gets caught in a DDT for Roode to take over. Rob comes back with a flip dive to the floor to put Roode down. This is pretty slow paced to start but it’s not bad.
The ladder gets set up in the corner and Roode goes face first into it. Now it gets placed on the middle rope and Roode slingshots RVD’s face into it. Roode’s suplex onto the ladder is blocked and Van Dam suplexes Roode onto the ladder instead. A Lionsault onto Roode onto the ladder puts both guys down. Van Dam sends him back first into the ladder and puts him in Van Terminator position.
Instead he surfboards the chair into the ladder into Roode which puts Van Dam down as well for some reason. Van Dam gets another ladder and goes up but Roode knocks him off. Rob bumps into the ladder to knock Roode off and the ladder hits Roode in the head. I think he’s ok though as he clotheslines Van Dam down and hits the spinebuster onto the ladder. Van Dam comes out of nowhere with a monkey flip to send Roode into the ladder in the corner, followed by Rolling Thunder.
The challenger has a nasty cut and lump on his elbow. Bad elbow and all he kicks Roode onto a ladder but the Five Star misses Roode and hits the ladder. Roode goes up and Van Dam tries to pull a Shelton Benjamin and jump onto the ladder but he misses and ties his leg up in it. Somehow he manages to climb up to chase Roode, only to get shoved off and hit his head on the chair from earlier. Roode retains at 15:28.
Rating: C+. This was fine but it was nothing great at all. I don’t think most people expected RVD to take the title here, as he was the veteran in this kind of match coming into his own match so of course he had no chance. The match was entertaining enough for a B-Show main event, but Van Dam was nothing but a placeholder to be another guy for Roode to beat.
Overall Rating: B-. This was pretty much what I was expecting: a decent show where nothing significant happens at all (on paper at least). That’s what plagued Lockdown (among other things): nothing changed. TNA has been in the same place for awhile now and that’s not a good thing. They need to shake things up a little bit, and I think that’ll happen at Slammiversary. It was an entertaining show but it’s nothing I’ll remember three days from now.
Results
Kazarian/Christopher Daniels b. Samoa Joe/Magnus – Total Elimination to Magnus
Gail Kim b. Brooke Tessmacher – Rollup with feet on the ropes
D-Von b. Robbie E and Robbie T – Rollup to Robbie T
Mr. Anderson b. Jeff Hardy – Rollup
Crimson b. Eric Young – Red Sky
Austin Aries b. Bully Ray – Last Chancery
Kurt Angle b. AJ Styles – Ankle Lock
Bobby Roode b. Rob Van Dam – Roode pulled down the title
Remember to like this on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @kbreviews
Date: May 13, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Time for another filler PPV from the boys in Orlando. The card here is better than the Victory Road show but it’s definitely a B show at best. The main event is Roode vs. RVD for the title and we’ll likely get more developments in the return of Abyss story as well. To be fair though, that’s one of the most interesting stories they’ve had in awihle. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is about how Roode is angry about recent events.
Tag Titles: Samoa Joe/Magnus vs. Kazarian/Christopher Daniels
The announcers talk about how awesome Magnus is. He and Daniels start with the British guy in control. Daniels gets in an elbow in the corner but a cross body is countered into a suplex in a cool power display. Off to Joe and Daniels runs away, bringing in Kaz. A big elbow puts Kaz down and it’s off to Magnus. The champions use some good teamwork to beat on Kaz but Daniels trips up Magnus to shift control.
Magnus plays Ricky Morton with a British accent. Both challengers work on him a little bit at a time until it’s chinlock time from Daniels. Joseph Park is in the audience. Kaz hooks a double chickenwing but Magnus fights up and hits a shoulder block to escape. There’s the tag to Joe who cleans house and creates heel miscommunication. Release Rock Bottom puts Daniels down out of the corner.
Daniels breaks up the champions’ finishing move with a boot to Joe’s face. A DDT gets two on Joe as does the STO. Magnus gets in a shot to allow the champions to hit the finishing sequence on Daniels but Kaz pulls Magnus to the floor. Joe goes for the save and Magnus goes back in, but the challengers hit a Total Elimination on Magnus for the surprise pin and the titles at 10:54.
Rating: C. Pretty good opening but the ending was pretty surprising. I guess there’s a reason to give the titles to Daniels/Kaz, but the division is still pretty weak given the roster of tag teams at this point. Joe and Magnus were getting good together and I’m sure they’ll get a title shot again but odds are on AJ finding a partner and going after them.
Tenay and Taz plug their social media stuff.
We recap Brooke vs. Gail. In short: Gail is a wrestler, Brooke is a model who looks good in a bikini but she wants to prove she can fight. Brooke has three wins in a row over Gail coming into this.
Knockouts Title: Brooke Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim
Gail jumps Brooke to start but Tessmacher tries Eat Defeat twice to send Gail running to the floor. Gail gets in a kick to the ribs to take over and follows with a shoulder block to the ribs. The champion hits a backbreaker and bends Brooke over the knee in a submission hold out of the same position.
It’s about 99% Kim until Brooke gets a flying forearm to get herself a breather. A facejam out of the corner puts Gail down and a top rope elbow gets two. The champion tries a quick Eat Defeat but Brooke hits one of her own which knocks Gail to the floor. Back inside that gets two. And then Gail rolls her up with feet on the ropes to retain at 6:50.
Rating: C-. Not bad here but Tessmacher continues to be just barely better than your normal terrible women’s wrestler. Anyone that believes she’s out there because of anything other than how she looks in her wrestling outfits is delusional. Still though, I’d have switched the title due to how long Gail has had the title and how stale her title reign has gotten.
Kaz and Daniels say that AJ got where he is by whistling Dixie. Kaz and Daniels are where they are because they beat people up. Daniels says his championship is proof. This is just beginning with AJ and you may now worship them.
TV Title: D-Von vs. Robbie E vs. Robbie T
Officially it’s a triple threat. D-Von punches T to the floor and then punches E down. A Rock Bottom gets two on E but T pulls the champion to the floor. E gets back up and tells T to stand down because he’s got this. Powerslam gets two for E. D-Von comes back and knocks E to the floor but T catches him with a shot to the back. Powerslam gets two as E makes the save. Extra and Terrestrial get in a shoving match, allowing D-Von to roll up T to retain at 5:40.
Rating: D+. This feud MUST be over now right? It’s been going on for like four months now and for the life of me I don’t get why it’s continued this long. Are there really no other people that can get in on the TV Title hunt? Nothing to see here but hopefully it ends this feud once and for all.
T teases attacking E post match but they’re ok.
We recap Anderson vs. Hardy. Basically they both wanted to be #1 contender but got in a fight instead. RVD got the shot so these two need something to do.
Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
Feeling out process to start resulting in some armdrags by Hardy into an armbar. They head to the floor with Jeff in control and Anderson going into various metal objects. Jeff tries a running attack off the steps but Anderson moves. Jeff blocks the contact into the railing though and therefore doesn’t lose control. Back in Anderson kicks him down but gets caught by a jawbreaker from Jeff.
Jeff tries the slingshot dropkick in the corner but Anderson gets his own feet up to block it. Clothesline gets two as does a flying armbar. Hardy rolls to the apron and tries to fight back but gets caught by a neckbreaker through the ropes for two. Anderson hooks the arm again but Jeff fights to his feet. Another neckbreaker is countered and Jeff hits a Mic Check to put both guys down.
Anderson is up first but Jeff meets him with right hands. Hardy loads up Whisper in the Wind but Anderson moves forward to send Hardy crashing down. Twist of Fate from Anderson gets two but the Kenton Bomb misses. The Swanton connects but only for two. In a really strange ending, Hardy tries his legdrop between Anderson’s legs but Anderson shoves Hardy’s legs back and rolls him up for the pin, but I was almost sure Hardy kicked out. Either way it gets the pin at 11:40.
Rating: C-. This was supposed to be a big main event style match but it didn’t work at all for me. Anderson is just so uninteresting in the ring and for the life of me I don’t get why he went over Hardy here. I guess the ending is going to be a selling point later on as Hardy pretty clearly kicked out and he protested after the match, but we’ll have to wait for Impact for that.
Aries says he isn’t worried about Ray tonight. He thinks better is better than bigger, and that the bullying stops tonight.
We get a video from the end of Impact where Abyss returned.
Joseph Park is in the crowd and is having a great time. He says he didn’t see Abyss return on Thursday because he was recovering from Ray attacking him. Abyss might appear tonight too.
Crimson comes out to brag about beating Morgan on Thursday. He issues an open challenge and here’s who he gets.
Crimson vs. Eric Young
I didn’t hear a bell and it’s time for COMEDY! Eric locks up with the referee and does Ultimo Dragon’s handstand in the corner. A clothesline puts Crimson on the floor, although I never heard a bell. Crimson throws him to the floor to take over and a suplex gets two. There’s the cravate and Eric gets shoved down. ODB gets in and gets shoved down which ticks Eric off. And there go his pants. He slams Crimson down and drops a top rope elbow for no cover. Eric goes to check on ODB but Crimson shoves him into the wife and Red Sky gets the pin at 4:00.
Rating: D. What does anyone see in either of these guys? Eric IS NOT FUNNY. He does the same stuff every single week and it just isn’t funny. Hey look: he can take his pants off and lock up with a referree. COMEDY! Crimson is the most uninteresting undefeated name this side of Tatanka as it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing with him.
Ray says that he doesn’t do Twitter and plugs his MySpace page. He’s too big for Aries to beat too.
We recap Aries vs. Ray, which is victim vs. Bully with the victim fighting back.
Bully Ray vs. Austin Aries
Ray goes into a nearly Memphis level of stalling until Aries jumps him. Taz uses the time to actually offer some veteran analysis, talking about how it’s possible for a smaller guy to use leverage moves against bigger guys like Ray. Aries pounds away on him but gets shoved down. Ray tries to stomp him but Aries bites the calf to escape. Aries goes up but a big boot knocks him into the barricade in a cool looking bump.
Oh man Aries has some bad looking bruises on his back which Tazz calls busted blood vessels. Ray slams him down and puts on a bearhug before hitting a HARD chop to the chest. Aries pops up and says hit me again which Ray does. Aries tries to come back but gets chopped down again. Ray says stay down but Aries comes back with chops. A running elbow in the corner hits Ray but he comes back with a modified powerbomb for two. Ray sends him into the ropes and hits a wicked one man 3D but it only gets two.
Here comes Joseph Park to the front row and Ray comes out to get in his face. He pulls Park over the railing and into ringside but Aries takes Ray down with a suicide dive. Back in the ring a missile dropkick sends Ray into the corner and Aries somehow pulls off the brainbuster for two. Ray tries a superbomb out of the corner but falls on his face, allowing Aries to throw on the Last Chancery for the tap at 13:17.
Rating: B. Good match here and it’s good that they gave Aries the win. There was no need to have Ray get a win here and for awhile I was thinking they were going to go with him. On a side note, that one man 3D is a great finisher for Ray as it looks devastating. Anyway, good win for Aries here but he needs to get rid of that belt soon. It’s not helping him anymore and it kills the division a little more every day he has it.
We recap the pictures being revealed on Monday.
AJ says he isn’t here to talk about pictures.
We recap Angle vs. Styles. Angle beat Styles because AJ was distracted by Daniels and the photos he had and Angle didn’t want to win that way. This is his rematch.
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle
Angle is pretty much a tweener now as he doesn’t really have an allegiance to either side of the spectrum. AJ takes it to the mat which goes to a standoff. Now Angle takes it to the mat and AJ bails. Angle has lowered his kneepad and tells AJ to shoot for the leg. AJ outsmarts him though and kicks Angle in the face as Angle drops down into defense. Angle hooks a bearhug and tries a suplex but Styles counters into a Styles Clash attempt which is countered into an ankle lock attempt which doesn’t work.
Angle takes over with a headlock which lasts for awhile. Styles comes out of it and drops a knee. Styles Clash is broken up again and they head to the floor. AJ counters a suplex by landing on his feet and takes Angle down with a clothesline. In the ring AJ misses a jumping attack in the corner and Kurt suplexes him down. AJ fights out of a body vice but runs into a backbreaker for two.
Off to a chinlock as this match slows way down. AJ gets up and both guys try cross bodies. Styles speeds things up and hits an AA into a backbreaker for two. Springboard forearm gets two. Angle blocks the Clash but gets sent to the floor. AJ hits the springboard forearm to the floor and both guys are down. Kurt suplexes him from the apron into the ring for two.
A belly to belly superplex is countered but Angle runs the ropes and hits the superplex for two. Angle Slam is countered with the Pele and the Styles Clash gets two. Kurt reverses a German into a release one of his own to put both guys down. Styles gets a spinning rollup for two but Kurt pulls off an Angle Slam. That gets two and Kurt is frustrated. Kurt pushes A+B at the same time and gets two off a Styles Clash. The moonsault misses and AJ hits his springboard 450 for two. AJ sets for something else and here are Kaz and Daniels for the interference, allowing Angle to hit another Slam for two. Ankle and grapvine end this at 20:45.
Rating: B. First and foremost, AJ and Angle had a good match. No one paying attention should be surprised at this at all. That being said, I do not want to ever see Christoper Daniels vs. AJ Styles again. I don’t care what the angle is, I don’t care what new twist they put on it, I don’t care how it turns out. I’m tired of seeing it and there’s no reason to put them together anymore. They’ve feuded on and off for over seven years now and I’m not interested in seeing it anymore.
Angle saves Styles from the double beatdown. There’s Slammiversary I’d assume.
Angle’s moonsault at Lockdown against Anderson is the #8 moment in TNA history.
Roode doesn’t feel right because he doesn’t have his belt with him. It’s above the ring and he doesn’t like it.
We recap Roode vs. RVD. RVD won a match to get the title match then won another one to make it a ladder match. That’s about it.
TNA World Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Roode
Ladder match. The belt looks higher up than it usually is. Van Dam knocks him to the floor to start and goes for the ladder, but Roode breaks it up. Van Dam comes back and hits the spinning kick to the back of Roode on the barricade. Van Dam goes for the ladder again but gets caught in a DDT for Roode to take over. Rob comes back with a flip dive to the floor to put Roode down. This is pretty slow paced to start but it’s not bad.
The ladder gets set up in the corner and Roode goes face first into it. Now it gets placed on the middle rope and Roode slingshots RVD’s face into it. Roode’s suplex onto the ladder is blocked and Van Dam suplexes Roode onto the ladder instead. A Lionsault onto Roode onto the ladder puts both guys down. Van Dam sends him back first into the ladder and puts him in Van Terminator position.
Instead he surfboards the chair into the ladder into Roode which puts Van Dam down as well for some reason. Van Dam gets another ladder and goes up but Roode knocks him off. Rob bumps into the ladder to knock Roode off and the ladder hits Roode in the head. I think he’s ok though as he clotheslines Van Dam down and hits the spinebuster onto the ladder. Van Dam comes out of nowhere with a monkey flip to send Roode into the ladder in the corner, followed by Rolling Thunder.
The challenger has a nasty cut and lump on his elbow. Bad elbow and all he kicks Roode onto a ladder but the Five Star misses Roode and hits the ladder. Roode goes up and Van Dam tries to pull a Shelton Benjamin and jump onto the ladder but he misses and ties his leg up in it. Somehow he manages to climb up to chase Roode, only to get shoved off and hit his head on the chair from earlier. Roode retains at 15:28.
Rating: C+. This was fine but it was nothing great at all. I don’t think most people expected RVD to take the title here, as he was the veteran in this kind of match coming into his own match so of course he had no chance. The match was entertaining enough for a B-Show main event, but Van Dam was nothing but a placeholder to be another guy for Roode to beat.
Overall Rating: B-. This was pretty much what I was expecting: a decent show where nothing significant happens at all (on paper at least). That’s what plagued Lockdown (among other things): nothing changed. TNA has been in the same place for awhile now and that’s not a good thing. They need to shake things up a little bit, and I think that’ll happen at Slammiversary. It was an entertaining show but it’s nothing I’ll remember three days from now.
Results
Kazarian/Christopher Daniels b. Samoa Joe/Magnus – Total Elimination to Magnus
Gail Kim b. Brooke Tessmacher – Rollup with feet on the ropes
D-Von b. Robbie E and Robbie T – Rollup to Robbie T
Mr. Anderson b. Jeff Hardy – Rollup
Crimson b. Eric Young – Red Sky
Austin Aries b. Bully Ray – Last Chancery
Kurt Angle b. AJ Styles – Ankle Lock
Bobby Roode b. Rob Van Dam – Roode pulled down the title
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TNA's best PPV since Destination X (I think the review here is understating Sacrifice a bit), and neither show had Hogan, Garrett, Sting, Flair, Dixie, or Bischoff (DesX had minimal Bischoff, but not enough to be a detriment)
ReplyDeleteThey're also TNA's best PPVs of the Hogan-Bischoff regime.
Coincidence?
Well written piece with a fair amount of imagery. I don't even really like TNA, but after some weirdness on the blog last week with a couple of bizarre posts and columns, I wanted to read a good wrestling writer (the first commenter, Justin Henry, is superb as well). Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate that. thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they didn't do to much to further the Abyss deal except the Parks-Ray bit. I hate when angles are used on PPV's that would be better off making people want to watch your tv show week to week. Also, does anyone else notice the drift they've been making away from overdrawn skits and towards more in-ring time? It's been happening on Impact lately.
ReplyDeleteBound for Glory '11 would like to have a word with you.
ReplyDeleteThis is the reason only 7,000 people buy these shows (the B shows anyway)... nothing happens on them and all the angles are paid off on Impact, so why spend 40 bucks a month?
ReplyDeleteWell Hogan changed the finish of the main event there to where it made no sense at all, so that can count as Hogan ruining a PPV.
ReplyDeleteI think the mos encouraging part of the show is that Bobby Roode finally had a title defense where he didn't fluke into a victory or draw a DQ.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see the show, but I usually drop in and read these (and Michael's Impact) reviews.
ReplyDeleteTommy, you had me laughing hard on your commentary regarding EY's comedy...or lack thereof.
Someone should sit him down and make him watch tape on Santino on how to get a comedy character over and actually be funny and/or have comedic timing.
True, but for me, a tv show that makes me salivate to see the PPV is important. I think in time, if they get a much better following for Impact, then they can transfer more big pay-offs to the big events. I just think they're slowly drifting in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but if they really wanted to make him THE guy for them, a clean victory over Storm, where there was an actual strong backstory and heated rivalry, last month instead of a win in a quickie fued over a guy who drops in after forever and gets a title match. This is the biggest issue with monthly PPV's. I think 6-8 would be better since we would have time to actually be invested in the matches.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing about EY is, he actually used to be funnier without all the bells and whistles back in his Team Canada days.
ReplyDeleteTNA's biggest problem is that they have nothing to bring in new fans. I like wrestling. I don't watch TNA. They need a draw or a star or something to bring people to them.
ReplyDeleteThe only episodes of TNA ive watched in the past 2 years was when they tried to do Monday Night Wars 2.0. But they messed up by having the same 9pm start time. They should do Monday nights at 8pm and try to nab some WWE fans. They've been stuck in a rut for what feels like forever.
Seriously, every time I read a TNA PPV review, the cards look exactly the same. How many times has Angle wrestled AJ?
So how exactly did Bully Ray do his "one man 3D"? I'm thinking he must have just thrown Aries into the air and caught him with a cutter on the way down? I think Rikishi used to do a move similar to this, and maybe someone else that I can't remember. Anyone ever seen Bully do this before?
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what he did.
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't in a long time on PPV.
ReplyDeleteOr AJ/Daniels. Its a shame cuz its the same with WCW, once they peg you in a certain slot, its over. No upward mobility.
ReplyDeleteId love to give TNA another chance, but they do just retarded shit to keep them at the same level or do something even worse to take a couple of steps back. Whoever proposed the move to mondays should of been fired. Whoever greenlighted the Jeff Hardy heel turn should of been fired. Whoever greenlighted the Bobby Roode job at BFG should of been fired. whoever greenlighted the James Storm job at Lockdown should be fired.
Dixie should be lobotomized for keeping Hogan and Bischoff on payroll. If Christian Angle Hardy or Anderson didnt move ratings then they should abandon the whole "castoffs" strategy and just focus on homegrown talent. Its not gonna make things worse, am i right? Why not put the title on AJ and let him steal the show? Why not give Joe some incentive to lose some weight and book him to be unstoppable again? Why not focus on what WWE isnt (namely tag and cruisers) and book them better than the WWE does? It isnt gonna hurt.
The Lockdown finish was more due to Storm wanting some time off so not really a TNA screw up to be honest. And they should focus on cruisers as it looks like WWE is reforming tag teams with actual personalities now.
ReplyDeleteI thought all TNA shows were B-shows.
ReplyDeleteI get that, but that loss completely deflated me about TNA. I was getting into Storm and the buildup was perfect. If nothing else have him win the title and then keep him out of the ring until the next PPV and give him an easy match. Even have him lose the title soon after because of how spent he was from the title match. Either way the Lockdown ending did no one any favors. The match was very good though.
ReplyDeleteI wish TNA would give Bully Ray the TV title and let him run with it. Can you imagine all of the quality mid-card matches he could have with it? His promo skills alone would get his opponents sympathy.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really wish they'd get another TV show. If they can get Xplosion shown in the U.S.and treat it like a separate "brand" it would get more people on T.V. instead of the same old matches.
That being said, I think it was a good PPV. THey just don't have that one person or event that happens that will make people talk about it or bring more people in.
Nice review of a surprisingly good show. And I also smiled at ''Kurt pushes A+B at the same time and gets two off a Styles Clash.''
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I think the "Longest running TNA champ" gimmick is better in the long run just to build up the 10th anniversary show. Roode better lose the title there however, to either RVD or maybe Austin Aries.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to the "best PPV since Destination X" part of the post.
ReplyDeleteYou the Wrestlecrap guy?
ReplyDeleteRVD!? Is it 2002?! Did I miss something?
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I hate RVD nowadays is because he only gives a shit when he is the focus of the promotion. I cite his TV title reign towards the end when they were positioning him to dethrone Mike Awesome (suck he broke his ankle and that Heyman didnt pay him so he wouldnt really return, but thems the breaks)
Then lets goto the Invasion he was clearly primed for a main event run and thus separated from the suck of the Invasion so as to not hurt his future drawing power, but the HHH reign of terror happen and he was first to get buried.
I then cite 2006 from WM until ONS2 he was putting out great matches then, gets busted for weed and jobs both belts and shuffled back to the mid card (sucks but totally his fault)
Enter TNA languishes until he wins the title and puts on some good matches UNTIL they overrun on his dates and he gets stripped of the title through injury angle. Comes back not the focus of the promotion and dogs it unless he is in the main event.
Man, fuck that guy. HE used to be one of my faves.
Now Aries, someone who hasnt been the focus is busting his ass night in and out and willed himself to get over despite the company not even tyring to back him, I can definitely get behind. But seriously, If they jobbed Hardy Sting AND Storm to Roode, theres no way Aries comes out of figuratively nowhere and wins the title at thier 10th annual show.
Well according to some reports they want to keep the title on Roode till Storm comes back anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think losing it to Storm is the best option. Look at most successful promotions in the past. They've all had one feud that endured through the years and people cared about it. WCW had Sting-Flair, WWE's biggest was probably Rock-Austin, which started before either was the top guy and was best when played out over three Wrestle mania's. Even ROH has had a few..Punk-Joe being a good example. I'm not comparing the quality of Roode-Storm to Sting-Flair, but over time, their feud could be a big seller, if not done on 5 PPV's in a row. And a clean victory for Storm on their biggest show could give them credibility beyond just good friends/bitter enemies.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed his show quite a bit strangely enough considering I've been fast forwarding through Impact for the last two months or so to the parts I actually care about. Aries had a star-making performance against Ray and that bump he took off the railing was by far the sickest, most dangerous bump I have seen anyone do in either TNA or the WWE in a long, long ass time. His back looked like a purple road-map with all the welts and bruises that popped up in about 5 seconds. Kudos to him for being so daring but shit, I hope he doesn't make that a regular habit, he'll be dead in six months.
ReplyDeleteHere's my review/report of the show for anyone who's interested, was going to post it here but Tommy beat me to it and I doubt there's interest for two reviews on here, so here's the report I did:
http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/tv_reports/238054
And im totally with that cuz its LOGICAL BOOKING.
ReplyDeleteFUJ FANTASY BOOKING ALERT: What I would have done was have Roode overcome the odds as a face and beat Angle for the title BFG (logical booking) then have Storm come out and celebrate with him.
Then start sewing the seeds of a heel turn in Storm being jealous of Roodes title win.
Roode reluctantly gives Storm a title shot at an Impact and beats Storm. Storm in a fit of rage turns heel and gives him the Pearl Harbor.
BAM! Now theres a reason for them to fight and its organic.
Then they could do whatever twists and turns that want from there.
They could have brought in Tracy Brooks as Storms manager (since Roode/Brooks have a past) or Rain/Lacey. They could have brought in Chris Harris for a one shot and done some tag matches of AMW vs Roode/Sting or Hardy. They could do Roode/Storm at one of the b shows with an inconclusive finish for the huge blowoff at lockdown and then close that chapter, and then revisit it later on once either guy gets some real traction as a main eventer.
Building Roode as this huge working class babyface then squandering him at the biggest show of the year and his subsequent booking hurt his drawing power. All signs poited to Roode babyface champion and Storm being the bitter jealous tag partner.
Now you have Roode floundering as a heel champ against wwe castoffs hoping to leech off their dwindling drawing power, face james storm in a seemingly neverending quest to get the strap and then LOSING at his big shot. Now he goes away and loses any momentum he had. TNA.... SMH...
If I ever write a book, can I quote you for a spiffy blurb? :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is I
ReplyDeletePerhaps I was a bit hasty in leaving BFG off. It was pretty damn good in its own right.
ReplyDeleteAnderson needs a major change(lack of a better term) in his ring work, because he's gotten boring. Jeff is on a streak of good matches, this is the best he's been since his late 08-09 run in WWE, and if Anderson's work was interesting like it used to be, then the Anderson/Hardy match would have been really good, instead of just alright. This was actually one of TNA's better shows in a while, but like Tommy said, nothing really significant ever happens, and that's why they don't have that much of a fan base, the company isn't doing anything interesting. I mean they aren't going to change just like that overnight, but they've been completely stagnant for what seems like forever now
ReplyDeleteI agree with your crowd reaction assesment in the review. I think starting this show with the tag match featuring real TNA stars compared to Lockdown's Bischoff Family Feud Night made a helluva difference. The crowd didn't die right away and stayed fairly into all the matches. My only small gripe is I wasn't blown away by the ladder match for high spot factor. But, to be fair I guess, if your gonna do RVD in a main event, might as well do it in a match he can do his routine in, and not have to try a technical style that has not been his strong suite.
ReplyDeleteNot to defend TNA for signing a lot of WWE's castoffs, but if I remember correctly, when they first got their Impact deal, it was mainly due to Sting's involvement with the company, and at the time there was talk of possibly Goldberg becoming involved due to a deal he was in talks with Spike on at the time. They may have some pressure from network execs. who want to see people who have drawn ratings in the past(in their minds) on the show. I wouldn't put it past them since the television and movie industry is rampant with that "it was popular once, it'll be popular again" mentality. Yes, Dixie should have been more selective with who got brought in, as Hogan is not a wrestler anymore, and no one I know tunes in to see what Figurehead#1282 is going to do, but, they need that tv deal to survive, and so any pressure from the network to sign guys from popular wrestling shows would be expected. Just my speculation, though.
ReplyDeleteI think DDP pulled that off a couple of times with the Diamond Cutter. Seems I remember a couple of Nitro matches where someone would charge him and he do a back body drop setup then hit it during his "do the move from every possible situation" stage when he was still developing other ability.
ReplyDeleteFrom what Im told Impact does Spikes highest number.
ReplyDeletebut also spikes as a company should have people who do analysis and with all the people they have brought in, it should be a no brainer outside of john cena or the rock or punk they aint moving upwards at all. after all this time, the castoffs aint working. we know this, but does spike?
Definitely agree that a PPV every other month would suit them much better.
ReplyDeleteWell to be fair, Brooke is a bitter better than "better than the normal terrible wrestler" (better than the supposed "vet" Velvet) so to just saddle her just because she's a model and not ashamed of it is pretty delusional itself and too predictable as well.
ReplyDeleteI think they should focus on getting ONE T.V. show over in the US before working on another
ReplyDelete