Welcome to the first “That Being Said” report on a TNA PPV. Tonight I’ll be covering Against All Odds 2011, where everything will change forever… again… and TNA can continue on their course to have every single angle have some form of child abuse in it.
Did anyone on the site know I was covering the PPV? I don’t know if anyone knew or not. I hope that’s okay. But you know what, no one told me they were doing a Roundtable! Like I’m the new kid in class they leave hanging on the flagpole in an empty stadium while they go hang with the cool kids at a beach bonfire, or how TNA left Hernandez in Mexico. And Gepp is all making the jokes that I want to make, making fun of TNA, stealing my thunder and everyone is laughing at HIS jokes but when I do the same thing they’re like “Blair = Not Funny” and talking about me and John Cena’s balls. Then I’m standing there pretending not to care, but really I’m as clammy as a mer-man.
Everyone will be sorry when I’m writing for Hollywood. Just you wait. I’m considering re-writing those Twilight films. I haven’t seen them, but they seem popular and desparately in need of some word-polishing.
Q & A
Michael C.: It seems like in your article Rosita pinned Love, yet Love’s team won. I missed Impact so I’m a bit confused on that.Â
Blair: Whoops!!! You’re right – thank you for pointing that out. I’ve fixed it in the original article now. My apologies – Impact is crazy but not so crazy that I should be missing the winner of a match that actually had a decisive finish.
Joseph Hargrove: How do you see the TNA career of Rosita playing out?
Blair: Well, I will say that I was impressed with Rosita as well. I definitely was not as impressed with her as you were, but it seemed to me like she had some good hustle, and would be comfortable as a babyface or a heel. Is she really only 20 years old? If so, that’s impressive. But, seeing her in an 8-Knockout tag match is not near enough to come to a conclusion for me. You seem to be familiar with her indy work though, so you’re probably more knowledgeable on the subject than I. As for how I see her TNA career playing out, hopefully TNA recognizes her if she is indeed any good. Like with the rest of TNA, they tend to over-value the ex-WWE Divas (not that Mickie and Tara aren’t both good – they are) over any TNA homegrown Knockouts. The only exception I can think of to that rule is The Beautiful People. And they’re not good wrestlers, but they have their place in that division for what they are.
Joseph Hargrove: … as for Drew McIntyre, the unfortunate news for you is that management is very favorable with him thanks to Triple H and Vince. He will be around for a long time so get used to seeing him in the ring, friend.
Blair: Yeah, let’s say you’re right about that - Mark Henry has also had a long career in WWE. You said that she is the female version of Drew McIntyre. So then you would have no problem saying that Rosita has as much in-ring potential as Drew McIntyre and Mark Henry? I really, really don’t want you to think I’m making fun of you because I’m not. I just can’t figure out what you’re trying to say. Thanks for commenting a lot, I’m trying to get interactive on my articles with everyone, and I apprecaite it.
Rob S: Guys started losing their shit when Kelly Kelly didn’t screw up a simple headscissor takedown a few years ago, Maryse was actually being praised for “improving†before it was finally realized she was still awful.
Blair: Did that actually happen? Shitness.
Rob S: The snark factor sort of turned me off. I think we all understand TNA can be a chore sometimes but you basically bury almost every person involved in any given segment.
Blair: I understand your point. But there’s a difference between burying a wrestler and burying a segment. As a good example, I like everyone that was involved in the 6-man Tables match last week that wasn’t named Hardy. That alone doesn’t make it a good match or segment. That was an aligator fuckhouse. You sit there, ready to watch a match with guys who work hard, and all of a sudden Joe chases Pope out of the arena and the match for the third week in a row, and all remaining 4 guys just start brawling. So is it even a match? No time for an answer, Ray is yelling at some fans, what’s that all about? No time for an answer, Matt Hardy just hit RVD with a chair mid-dive and wasn’t disqualified. Have we even had a bell yet? No time for an answer, fans are jumping the rail. Wait a second, that’s D-Von’s kids. Wait a second, the announcers JUST told me it’s a Tables Match for the first time. Wait a second, security is fighting D-Von’s kids. Now D-Von’s kids hold Ray and he falls into a table and the referee is like “fuck it, match over.” Now D-Von is fighting security. What the fuck was all of that? No time to think about it, here’s our 3rd Jeff and Karen segment for the night before the end of the first hour.
Besides, I do make sure to call attention to stuff I actually like, last week’s main event is a good example. And usually Impact DOES have at least a couple passable matches like the X-Division match (last week was an exception) but, as I said, it was a go-home show to a PPV that they barely had any matches lined up for, so I said we should give them a pass. If I start seeing more stuff on Impact that I like, believe me, I’ll call attention to it.
Also, I would argue that I’m not burying a lot of WRESTLERS. How they’re used? Absolutely. Segments? Definitely. But not the wrestlers themselves. There are a TON of wrestlers in TNA that I am huge fans of, but that doesn’t mean they’re being used properly or even near their potential.
Intro
I normally enjoy TNA PPV’s. There’s a lot less nonsense and a lot more wrestling on these shows. I’m looking forward to this, especially since they have an accidental promising new direction that they haven’t managed to screw up yet. They seriously need to cut the “determine a new future for TNA!” BS though.
My predictions are pretty simple. Ray will beat up one or both of D-Von’s kids really badly and this angle will keep going. People have been tough on D-Von and Ray and even though this would have only worked like 10 years ago really, and not in TNA, I think they’ve been having some decent matches as far as brawls go. Angle will lose to Jarrett, so that Angle can foil the renewing of the vows somehow, and this angle will also keep going. I’m ready for this nightmare to end, but given how TNA operates, I guess in a way you have to admire their commitment to the longevity of the feud. And Jarrett WILL eventually get killed by Angle, so no one should really lose their lunch over a loss by Angle tonight, other than because you’re sick of being uncomfortable watching this story. I’m not sure it matters who wins between Joe and Pope, but I really think Joe could use a decisive win after tapping out to Jarrett and getting tossed off a balcony. I hope they let these guys show what they can do, and I’m hoping for a solid match on this one, as well as some finality, because I don’t think anyone REALLY even understands why they’re even fighting. I don’t imagine that even TNA is considering putting the belt back on Hardy if he’s going to jail, unless they know something we don’t about that whole thing, so I expect that Anderson will retain.
What else is there… there’s a 6-man throwaway match that will give us nothing except an understanding of how irrelevant to this whole thing Scott Steiner is now. There’s an X-Division 3-way that I could not care less about, Robbie E is not any good and those Generation ME kids are way over-rated outside of that tag team. I expect no less than 20 mentions of Hulk Hogan and endless shilling for that early March Impact episode where he will probably not show up again.
One thing I am interested to see is if Ric Flair is there tonight. I’m actually curious as to where they’re going to put him in this whole Fortune / Immortal thing. I can think of benefits of putting him on either side.
TNA Against All Odds 2011
They open with a half-decent video package, but the music they threw into this sounded like someone put a dozen cats into a woodchipper. It was painful. Tenay and Taz open up the show and preview the TNA World Title match as well as the Jarrett / Angle saga.
TNA X-Division Title #1 Contenders Triple Threat Match
Robbie E .vs. Max Buck .vs. Jeremy Buck
Okay… so they just said during Robbie E’s intro that the Buck’s aren’t here? Now Robbie E is on the mic, saying that he’s the new #1 Contender and that he doesn’t have to wrestle. Now he wants the referee to count the Buck’s out, so he can go to the club on a Sunday night. So he does. Robbie E is your new #1 contender for the X Division Title.Â
Five stars.
Winner: Robbie E
Now Kazarian is coming out. He says he knows Robbie doesn’t mind that he got a cheap victory, and calls Cookie cheap. He says that he is fighting Robbie for the belt tonight, right now.
TNA X-Division Title Match
Kazarian .vs. Robbie E
They battle down the ramp. He chases Robbie into the ring and starts kicking his ass. Gutwrench suplex by Kaz and a slam gets him a 2 count. He takes him up and hangs him on the ropes and kicks him in the face, knocking Robbie out of the ring. He climbs the ropes, but Cookie is up after him. Kaz grabs her, but Robbie takes him off the apron from behind and Kaz’s head hits the steel steps. Kaz is way over here, and that stair spot looked like it hurt. Robbie takes him into the other set of steel steps and tosses him into the ring.
Kaz tries to charge Robbie but eats a boot. Robbie with a fist drop from the second rope. 2 count. Robbie charges into Kaz who is down in the corner and then Cookie chokes him from behind. Chant for Kaz, who battles back with some punches, but Robbie ducks a clothesline and gets off a neckbreaker. “Robbie Sucks” chant.
Snapmare and a sleeper from Robbie. Crowd tries to fire up Kaz. Robbie charges into the corner and Kaz does the Kofi spot where he slithers out of the way, and hits a springboard dropkick, followed by 2 clotheslines and a sold dropkick. Bodyslam by Kaz, and a springboard legdrop. 2 count.
Kaz tries for an inverted tombstone, but Robbie counters and went for a swinging neckbreaker, but Kaz reverses, THEN Robbie reverses whatever Kaz was going for. Cookie slaps Kaz and Robbie rolls him up for a 2-count. Robbie picks Kaz up, and Kaz reverses and irish whip, Robbie tries to leapfrog him but Kaz catches him and hits the reverse tombstone. Very nice spot. Pin.
Winner And Still TNA X-Division Champion: Kazarian
Solid opener, good effort from both men, and definitely better than what they had originally planned. Easily the best match I’ve seen from Robbie so far, and Kaz was solid as always. In the last year, I’ve felt that Kaz has come a very long way.
Christy Hemme and Beer Money are interviewing Scott Steiner. Scott Steiner is trying to talk in between drinking James Storm’s beers, but we all know how that goes. Scott Steiner is awesome. He eventually aborts his effort and walks off, giving Beer Money the mic. Beer Money delivers a solid babyface promo, surprisingly.
AJ Styles comes out to join Tenay and Taz on commentary. No match for AJ tonight, even though he had one on Impact. If it’s because they wanna make triple sure he’s healed, then good for them.
Scott Steiner & Beer Money .vs. Rob Terry, Gunner, & Murphy
This fucking music. The people are pretty into Beer Money and Steiner. They really could have something here with this Fortune thing. Taz asks where Flair is, AJ says that Taz needs to connect the dots and that Flair will be there Thursday. So basically they have no idea what they’re doing with that yet. HUGE Steiner chant.
Steiner starts out with Gunner. Headlock, clothesline, chop. Gunner tries to leapfrom so Stiener just stops dead in his tracks and suplexes him. Then he suplexes Murphy for fun and invites Rob Terry into the ring. Rob Terry comes in and flexes. More chants for Steiner. Steiner tells Terry to flex for him again, and kicks him in the junk when Terry complies. Crowd goes nuts. Flexing elbow followed by pushups. Crowd is crazy into Steiner.
Steiner tags in Storm, who gives Murphy an atomic drop and a powerslam. Tag to Gunner, who runs into another powerslam from Storm. Gunner tries to toss him out of the ring but Storm does the Shawn Michaels hang-on spot. Clothesline and a backdrop to Gunner. 10-punch turnbuckle spot exposes Storm’s massive gut. Murphy hits Storm from behind, and then they start to triple-team him in the corner.
Murphy tags in, and gives Storm a slam. Fistdrop. Tag to Gunner, and there’s a 100% chance I’ve mixed them up by this point. AJ is trying to talk, he seems nervous on commentary. Storm is battling back, but gets caught up by Murphy. Terry tags in, and hits a nice powerslam for 2. Holy S, he didn’t botch it!
Storm reverses a slam with a Carlito backstabber. Storm tries to get a tag, and he jumps to tag Roode at the last second. Roode starts cleaning houes but botches a schoolboy, recovers quickly and hits an elbow. Chops into the corner on Murphy. Flying neckbreaker from the second rope. 2-count. Slightly hushed Roode chants. Gunner kicks Storm, but Roode hits a Rock Bottom. Guys jump into the ring, brawl starts. Beer Money and Gunner & Murphy are all in the ring.
Beer Money duck a Terry clothesline and he runs into Gunner. Double suplex on Terry from Beer Money. Beer Money has both of them down, crowd is going NUTS. Spinebuster from Roode on both separate guys. Terry tries a chokeslam but Roode reverses and hits a spinebuster on HIM as well. Gunner to the top rope, Roode cuts him off. Gunner is hanging on the second rope. Steiner is directing traffic from the apron, until Roode tags him in.
TOP ROPE FRANKENSTEINER FROM SCOTT STEINER!!! Crowd. Goes. Batshit. Pin by Steiner.
Winners: Scott Steiner & Beer Money
Okay… so I was totally wrong about that match, but I never thought they’d be able to turn that into what it turned into. Crowd was crazy into it, great energy from all the wrestlers involved, especially Steiner and Beer Money. 2 matches in and it’s a solid TNA PPV so far. I’m getting scared.
D-Von says his kids will not be in the match tonight. His kids want to be in the match. He makes his kids promise not to get involved.
Samoa Joe .vs. The Pope
Pope has “Pope’s Gonna Kill You” on the back of his tights. Nice touch. Pope with some punches, Joe tries to reverse into a sleeper but Pope bails and tries to leave. Crowd is chanting that he sucks. Then Oddjob shows up on the ramp and backs Pope back to the ring, where Joe does a dive out of the ring onto him and tosses him into the ring.
Back into the ring, and Pope takes control and gives Joe a suplex? Pope poses, but Joe is up right away and gives him a clothesline. Backs him down into the corner, strikes and kicks. FACEWASH! Love the facewash. Joe hits an eyerake and dropkicks him out of the ring. Slams his face into the apron and rolls him back in. This match does not have the energy of the last two so far, and the crowd doesn’t seem that into it.
Joe fights back with some punches, but Pope hits a sloppy clothesline. It’s hard to describe how slow and plodding this match is, but take my word for it. Oddjob is still outside. Joe with some slaps, but Pope hits a kick, then a dropkick, then does a move that I can’t name where Joe is on the ropes and Pope runs into him, but slides outside the ring. Crowd is trying to get Joe going, he hasn’t looked good all match.
Pope goes onto the second rope and dives at him, Joe grabs him with an atomic drop, the mule kick, and a back splash. 2 count. Pope runs the ropes, but Joe turns it into a powerslam for another 2 count. Joe tries for a DVD, Pope reverses and gives Joe a knee to the face in a somewhat innovative move. Pope takes the turnbuckle pad off. He tries to take Joe into it, but Joe reverses and irish whips him off the ropes and takes him into a sleeper. Pope taps immediately?
Winner: Samoa Joe
These 2 guys did not have a good outting, and before anyone jumps on me, I’m a big fan of both guys. It was slow and it was awkward.
Joe and Pope both looked confused. Perhaps a botched finish? Pope is clapping for Joe, now they are jawing at each other. Pope goes for a handshake but Joe isn’t into it, then reconsiders and does it. So Pope throat thrusts him, knocks out Oddjob when he tries to get into the ring, and tosses Joe into the exposed turnbuckle. Then he hits a double knee on Joe in the corner with Joe’s head hitting the exposed buckle. Joe is busted open, but he’s getting up as Pope puts his sunglasses on. He SCREAMS at Pope as Pope bails. Some chants for Joe. Pope is celebrating even though Joe won the match.
Christy Hemme interviews Mickie James.
Last Knockout Standint Match for the TNA Knockouts Championship
Madison Rayne .vs. Mickie James
So obviously Tara is gonna run in here, and I doubt very seriously that she’s NOT gonna cost Mickie the match. Mickie starts out strong, hammering Madison. Takes her out of the ring, hits her with kicks and punches. Takes her into the ring, Madison tries to get in some offense but Mickie knocks her out of the ring again. Madison tries to leave even though there’s no countouts, Mickie goes down and hits a clothesline.
Then something happens, and Mickie is down on the ramp. Madison with some clubs and runs her back into the apron. Tries to toss her into the post, but Mickie reverses and it looks like Madison hit that post hard. Somehow Madison gets in control again and hits a wierd but cool-looking backbreaker thing. Mickie tries to toss Madison outside, but she hits the apron, so Mickie elbows her off.
Madison crawls under the ring, Mickie gives chase. Something stupid is gonna to happen here. Madison crawls out, wearing that glove. Mickie gives chase and Madison tries to hit her, but it doesn’t work, Mickie hits her and gives her a flying kick. Mickie tries to go for the top rope but Madison tackles her and Mickie falls to the outside.
Then something happens when Mickie gets on the apron. I can’t even tell what it was supposed to be, it was botched so bad. Then Mickie gives Madison the Thesz press off the top rope. Then Mickie kicks her in the gut and Madison goes down like she got an anvil in the head. Odd… now Mickie is taking the glove off Madison.
Tara runs down, but Mickie grabs her and knocks her out with the glove. Madison gets brass knucks and smokes Mickie. Madison goes for a pin but the ref reminds her it’s not that kind of match. The ref counts to 10.
Winner And Still TNA Knockouts Champion: Madison Rayne
Meh. As far as chick matches go, I’ve seen a lot worse. Jeff Hardy is painting up in the back, being all gothic. I think he calls Anderson a basthole.
Matt Morgan comes out. Oh firetruck, he has a mic. Fortunately over the years, Matt Morgan on the mic has just kind of morphed into a kind of white noise for me. He calls Hernandez to the ring.
Hernandez comes out. I’m not sure why we should get behind Morgan on this, when Morgan was supposedly the one who gave Hernandez a concussion. Morgan threatens Hernandez. Hernandez calls him the great white hype. Hernandez is pretty painful on the mic too. Basically he says that Mexico likes him. This is reminding me of the promos they cut when they were a tag-team, and those promos consisted of them basically explaining to everyone that they were very big.
Hernandez says that Morgan is in Hispanic America, and that this is their country now. He says he came to TNA to stick it to white people basically. Except that he’s in Immortal, which is the whitest stable since DOA. Morgan tries to say something, so Hernandez gives him a low blow and a knee and a shoulderblock. Then he picks him up and gives him an FU.
Christy Hemme is interviewing Fatt Hardy. Fatt Hardy would like us to know that he hates WWE, and that everything he went through there was everyone’s fault but his, and that his new name is Cold Blood.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Rob Van Dam .vs. COLD BLOOD Matt Hardy
So now that Matt Hardy is Cold Blood, I don’t need to pick on him for being fat anymore. Because not only does it seem as though he’s lost a bit of that weight over the last few weeks, and that’s to his credit… but “Cold Blood” is way more deserving of ridicule.
RVD’s desire to get to Jeff Hardy is another storyline that TNA deserves credit for sticking with IF they don’t forget about it and it actually happens. They lock up into the corner and Van Dam hits some strikes. Tries for a monkey flip but Cold Blood dumps him into the buckle. Punches by Hardy. RVD with a spinkick and Cold Blood bails out of the ring.
Vam Dam tries for a slingshot but Hardy gets the leg and dumps Vam Dam onto the apron. Knocks him around ringside for a bit until Van Dam hits him with the ring rail legdrop. He tosses Hardy back into the ring but Hardy is up and kicking at him as RVD tries to follow him. Hardy knocks RVD out of the ring and steps on his head for a while at ringside. Tenay says that this is what Cold Blood is all about.
RVD crawls back into the ring, and Hardy hits a legdrop. 2 count off an awkward cover. Elbows to RVD as he’s trying to get up. Matt yells “COLD BLOOD BABY!!!” as he keeps elbowing him. Matt rolls him up into some kind of choke, but RVD gets a leg to the rope. Kicks to RVD, followed by a rope-choke spot.
Cold Blood hits a MasterLock? Dueling chants for Hardy and RVD? Okay then. This match has been mostly Hardy. Hardy still hammers down on RVD, RVD tosses Hardy after a charge to the ropes, Matt Hardy drop-chokes RVD on the rope and climbs to the top rope, only to eat a kick from RVD.
Matt tries to hit some punches, but RVD hits a clothesline and a few kicks, followed by a spinning kick. RVD tries for a Rolling Thunder, but Matt rolls out of the way… so RVD lands on his feet and hits a moonsault. Neat spot. RVD with a couple kicks and a Split-Legged Moonsault. Now we’re talking.
RVD goes for a kick, Matt reverses into a Side Effect. Cold Blood is stalking RVD, but RVD stops a charge with a kick. RVD hits the top rope but Hardy cuts him off and climbs up to the top with him. Hardy goes for a superplex, but whatever they were going for is botched when RVD goes flying and lands on his back. Hardy goes for a moonsault (surprising) but RVD moves. Hardy is down, RVD hits a 5-Star from a good distance for the pin.
Winner: Rob Van Dam
A slow start turned into a decent match, especially when you compare it to the last few outtings from these two. Good effort by Matt, and it sort of kills me to say that because I still say he’s worthless.
Ray is being interviewed by Christy and he’s bullying her and trying to make her cry. He says he likes making women cry because all women are weak. He then licks her ear and mocks D-Von and his kids.
He then says that D-Von’s kids were, and I’m quoting him here:
“… born from their mother’s ass.”
Yikes.
Street Fight
D-Von .vs. Bully Ray
Bully Ray is announced as being from “Hell’s kitchen”. Ray heads backstage as soon as he comes out. D-Von comes out and looks for him, and Ray tries to ambush him but Ray sees it coming. They brawl at ringside. D-Von cracks open a beer off Ray’s head, cool-looking shot. D-Von keeps punching him down.
D-Von kicks his ass for like 5 minutes. Mad chants for D-Von, and Ray is selling like a champ. Whatever you think about this angle, you can’t argue that. D-Von tosses Ray in the ring and grabs some weapons from under the ring. Singapore cane clothesline and shots, and Ray is just screaming. Ray is begging off, until he gives D-Von a low blow and charges, but D-Von just knocks him into next week with the kendo stick. Crowd is really into this, and it gets the first “TNA” chant I’ve heard in a long time.
I averted my eyes for about 5 seconds and Ray is in control, beating D-Von up with weapons. D-Von’s kids are out here, and Ray is setting D-Von’s neck up in a chair. Ray spits at D-Von’s kids, and they get in the ring and try to stop him from breaking D-Von’s neck. Ray threatens them with the chain, and they beg off until D-Von can get up and beat him from behind.
D-Von tosses Ray against the ropes, and he yells “OH SHIT” before his big ass takes a back-body drop. D-Von’s kid hits Ray with a garbage can and then they hold Ray’s legs open for a “WASSAP” spot. Crowd is loving this.
Now D-Von is staring at his kids, and he shoves one of them and yells “GET THE TABLES!!!” Crowd chants for tables, the kids help D-Von grab it and he goes in the ring. The kids stay outside the ring. By the time he gets up, Ray has gotten up to give D-Von a low blow. Ray goes outside for handcuffs and handcuffs D-Von to the rope.
Ray is yelling at D-Von. His kids run in and try to get the cuffs off him, except they don’t have a key. Ray knocks one of them down from behind. The other one charges and gets some shots off, until Ray just gives him a big boot and pins him?
Winner: Bully Ray
Ray starts yelling at D-Von while D-Von is handcuffed to the rope. Ray hesitates and turns the chair towards his kids. D-Von freaks out and calls for security, but of course they don’t come, because they only come when D-Von is getting the upper hand on Ray. Ray drops the chair, but picks up one of D-Von’s kids.
D-Von starts crying, and Ray is yelling at D-Von that it’s happening because D-Von is weak. Ray powerbombs D-Von’s kid through a table. People are going batshit, and D-Von is going for an Emmy. Ray leaves, and the security shows up and unlocks D-Von. D-Von is screaming that he’s going to kill Ray. The paramedics bring out a stretcher. Announcers sell this like Princess Di’s death, crowd is dead silent. D-Von eventually carries his kid to the back.
So D-Von’s kids were not announced for the match, so I don’t see how Ray could pin one of them, which is sort of disapointing because the match was really good up until that point, and what they did after the match definitely worked. The match ending was my only complaint there. I don’t know, I know I’m probably in the minority there, but as far as brawls go? I think it was good.
Borash is backstage with Double J and Karen. Jarrett talks about how this is for his kids, and Karen has to remind him that the kids are THEIR kids. Jarrett guarantees victory. Also, apparently the renewing of the vows is for that big Impact scheduled for March 3rd where Hulk Hogan will again fail to show up, not next week like I thought it was. Now Christy is with Kurt Angle, who says he is not losing to Jarrett with the custody of his kids on the line.
Kurt Angle’s Kids On A Pole Match
Chris Benoit (w/ Woman) .vs. Kevin Sullivan
They lock up, and break up. Crowd is chanting “sloppy seconds”. They amateur it up for a while, reversing each other for a few minutes. They actually split screen for Karen’s reactions for those few minutes, too. Angle with a hip toss and a snap suplex and some punches and strikes in the corner. Angle tosses Jarrett from the ring. Angle gives chase and Karen slaps Angle. Angle doesn’t care and make Karen watch hm kick Jarrett’s ass some more. He tells Karen to slap him again. She doesn’t. Angle tosses Jarrett back into the ring.
More strikes from Angle, and he charges Jarrett in the corner, who moves. That spot has been done way too often tonight. Jarrett gives chase and does a few of his signature rope spots, and climbs to the top rope. Bad cross-body from the top rope, which Angle reverses for a 2-count.
Jarrett with some token offense, and he goes to the second rope. Angle charges and gives him a belly-to-belly off the rope. Big chants for Angle. Angle up, and giving him big clotheslines and forearm shots. Jarrett tries for some offense but eats another suplex for a 2-count.
Angle goes for a German, which Jarrett reverses but Angle manages an Anklelock with Jarrett reverses, which Angle reverses for 2 German suplexes. 2 count. Solid spot, not that we need MORE reminders of how similar this is to the Benoit / Sullivan thing.
Jarrett tries to reverse a slam but Angle hits an Anklelock which Jarrett reverses again, but Angle counters with an Angle slam. Lots of counters, solid effort from both guys so far, Jarrett doesn’t usually have matches like this. Low blow from Jarrett, who is going for The Stroke. Pin gets a 2 count.
Jarrett goes for the Stroke again, but Angle tosses him into the ref. Taz blames it on momentum… kay. Jarrett falls out of the ring. Angle gives chase, and Karen scratches his back? Angle chases her, and Jarrett knocks him down from behind and tosses him into the ring steps. He slams his face into them a couple times.
Jarrett tosses Angle into the ring. Ref is still down, so Jarrett is going for a chair. BSDQ coming up. Jarrett sets up a chair shot, but Angle kicks him and grabs the chair, and the ref gets up. The ref grabs the chair from Angle but doesn’t DQ him, and I’m glad I was wrong. Angle with a GREAT T-Bone suplex. Angle hits the ropes, and Karen stops him again. This allows Jarrett to hit a TERRIBLE Stroke from the top for another 2 count. I thought for sure that was it, thank goodness it wasn’t.
Jarrett goes for a clothesline, but eats another German from Angle. Angle hits the Ankle lock. Karen tries to get Jarrett to the ropes, so Angle pulls on Jarrett who pulls Karen into the ring. Nice spot. Ref is with Karen so doesn’t notice Jarrett tapping out. Kurt goes after Karen, ref is still with Karen so doesn’t notice Jarrett hit Kurt with a chair. Pin… 2 count. Wow, I really thought that was it too. Great near-falls for this match.
At least they were, until Jarrett reverses a rebound into a small package and pins Angle.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett
Karen is happy. Kurt is going to be competing with D-Von for that Emmy. That actually was way better than I ever expected. I’m sure Angle never expected that this would be one of the best matches he ever had, but it was probably one of the best matches Jarrett’s ever had.
They did a GREAT job of making it look like Angle was going to lose to some BS, then had him lose legit – which I have mixed feelings about, BUT it was after a lot of interferance, so Angle didn’t look weak. Angle looked like Mega Man during that match. Plus, we knew he’d be losing so he could foil the renewing of the vows, so I guess we can’t complain too much.
Angle takes his boots off and leaves them in the ring? Then he leaves. The announcers are saying that this means that this is Kurt Angle’s last match and that’s what this gesture means. I don’t know what they’re basing that on, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that.
Hemme is interviewing Anderson, who is immitating Ventura. Anderson is over-rated on the mic.
Ladder Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Title
Ken Anderson .vs. Jeff Hardy
During the discussion over this match, Tenay says that Green Bay winning the Super Bowl gives Mr. Anderson an edge. That is an impressive display of stupid from Tenay. Jeff Hardy is bringing out that neon ladder that he made love to last week. Slow intros. They trade punches until Anderson uses the ladder on Hardy. They battle outside the ring and fight over a ladder until Anderson uses it to give Hardy a gut shot. Anderson follows Hardy when he rolls into the ring, so Hardy DDT’s him on the ladder and heels it up for the crowd.
Hardy bounces Anderson off the ladder again and gives him both boots in the corner. Chants for Hardy. Hardy places the ladder between Anderson’s legs and kicks it into him. OUCH. Hardy sets the ladder up in the corner. He tries to toss Anderson into it, but Anderson gives him a side Russian leg-sweep into it. Double ouch.
Anderson climbs the ladder, Hardy gives chase and does a flip-over-the-ladder-powerbomb. I’m sure there’s a better term for that. The move was good but got NO reaction from the crowd. They seem exhausted. Bodyslam by Hardy, then he hits the top rope with the ladder set up in front of it. Hardy leapfrogs off the top rope, over the ladder for a legdrop. Anderson moves. Again, no reaction from the crowd. What do these people want?
Both men slow to get up, Hardy charges and misses. Anderson with punches in the corner, tries to irish whip Hardy into the corner ladder but Hardy backdrops him on top of it. Jeff Hardy sets up a ladder upside down, and Hardy starts choking Anderson on the ropes. Hardy takes Anderson into some turnbuckles and heels it up again, trying to fire up the crowd to boo him. It’s not working.
Anderson tries to get offense but Hardy cuts him off with kicks and tosses him out of the ring, then slides between the ropes with a nice kick. Hardy goes for his neon ladder. He tries to toss it at Anderson, Anderson catches it and tosses it back at Hardy. Tries to toss Hardy into the stairs, but Hardy reverses and does the same to him. Hardy positions the steps about 0.3 CM away from where they originally were, and tosses Anderson into the barricade. He then dives off the steps into Anderson against the barrier. Anderson goes flying over the barrier. Wow, Hardy is working tonight. Then he tosses Anderson back over the barrier and into the ring.
Hardy tries to front-suplex Anderson into the upside-down ladder, but Anderson reverses it and Hardy hits it. Anderson slowls gets up and sets up the ladder under the belt. He slowls climbs the ladder as Hardy gets up and hits him on the back. Anderson tries a clothesline, but Hardy ducks hits a Twist Of Hate. Then he brings in the neon fusion ladder.
He picks up Anderson, who hits a Mic Check on Hardy on the neon ladder. Anderson climbs to the top rope and tries a Swanton (?) to Hardy, but overshoots and hits the back of his head on the ladder (I think, camerawork was rough.)
Hardy climbs two ladders to the belt. Anderson gives chase. They battle at the top for a few tense moments. Hardy slams Anderson’s head into the top of the ladder, and he goes for the belt but Anderson is still up there. Anderson and Hardy are both grabbing for the belt. Hardy tries to grab the belt and hang from it, but Anderson hits a side slam off the ladder…? They might have screwed up there, it’s hard to tell.
Okay, I’m guessing they did screw up, because Hardy just climbed up to get the belt even though Anderson hit Hardy with a move off the ladder. Anderson did nothing but sit there and watch it happen.
Winner And New TNA World Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Hardy
Well, at first I thought maybe Hardy maybe was suppoesd to hang on to the belt before taking Anderson’s move. But when Hardy got up and immediately climbed and grabbed the belt and Anderson just sat there, it was pretty obvious they screwed up. I was watching it with Swayze, and he said that he thinks Hardy was supposed to take Anderson’s move WHILE holding onto the belt and fall with it in his hands. That would have been a good finish – very ambitious though, and a lot can go wrong with that type of spot – as illustrated tonight if that is what they were going for. I understand that mistakes happen, but Hardy and Anderson could have improv’ed something better after they realized what had happened.
So overall, I would say a good PPV from TNA. As I said, I think most TNA PPV’s are pretty good, way better than Impact and way better than most WWE PPV’s. But this one was even better than the norm. The worst non-chick match would easily have been Joe and Pope, which surrpised me. Hardy and Anderson wasn’t a great ladder match, but the botched ending kinda killed it, and it’s odd that they’d have Hardy win legit, especially after the big push they gave Anderson. Doesn’t that kinda kill his momentum?
But even Hardy seemed lucid enough to do some real work tonight, at least until they screwed up at the end. And now they can get AJ and RVD fighting over who’s going to go after Hardy for the belt, or something like that. I guess we’ll see next week. See you all then.
This has been “That Being Said”. Thanks for reading and remember to leave comments!
