A2Z Analysiz: TNA World X Cup 2008

Wrestling DVDs

world x cup

DVD Release Date: April 14, 2009

MATCH #1: Preview Match – The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi, iMPACT, 6.12.08

I don’t expect to do a lot of play-by-play here. Tenay says that this is the first time Doi and Yoshino have been on national American TV, but wasn’t Wrestling Society X before this? I mean, MTV has to be available in as many or more homes than Spike. As predicted, everyone brings all the fast-paced offense in the early going, with the Dragon Gate/Speed Muscle/Team Japan duo controlling most of the opening minutes. Shelley gets beat on for a few minutes before making the hot tag to Sabin. He’s on fire and the match breaks down at this point. This match is just a preview for the 2008 World X Cup, by the way. The action continues fast and furious until the Guns hit a double superkick on Yoshino to get the pin at 6:24. That was a great preview and the reaction the match got would make it seem like a no-brainer to give these two teams another match and really let it all hang out. I guess not as obvious as I thought.
Rating: ***

MATCH #2: Preview Match – Curry Man vs. Alex Koslov, iMPACT, 6.12.08

They chain wrestle to start and Koslov goes after the arm. Both men get a chance to show off their dance moves, much to the delight of the crowd. Curry Man’s moves must have been better because he takes control and hits a running hip attack and a slingshot suplex for two. Koslov cuts him off with a nice powerslam. A series of reversals ends with Koslov hitting a side Russian legsweep (how fitting). Koslov follows with a springboard Superfly splash to get the pin at 2:34. They did as much as they could with two and a half minutes, and it was fine given those extreme time limitations.
Rating: *½

MATCH #3: Preview Match – Kaz vs. Alex Koslov, iMPACT, 6.19.08

They chain wrestle to start and cut a quick pace right from the get-go. Koslov does that stupid stop sign thing that Kenny Omega does that I hate. Kaz apparently hates it too as he kicks Koslov right in the head. He hits a bodyslam and a slingshot legdrop for two. Koslov is able to hit an enziguiri that knocks Kaz to the floor, and he follows him out with a springboard dive to the floor. Back in the ring Koslov goes to work, wearing Kaz down. Kaz fights back and they trade a series of pinning combinations for two-counts. Koslov ties Kaz up in the ropes with a surfboard. He goes for the side Russian Legsweep but Kaz counters with a swank DDT. Kaz unleashes a flurry of offense and brings Koslov up top for the Flux Capacitor. Koslov fights it off and drills Kaz with an enziguiri. He goes for the springboard splash but misses. Kaz hits the Wave of the Future to get the pin at 5:36. Another short match but they brought plenty of energy. It was a good showcase for Koslov and for the World X Cup concept.
Rating: **½

MATCH #4: First Round Match – The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Daivari & Tyson Dux, iMPACT, 6.19.08

Dux and Alex Shelley start it off. Shelley takes the early advantage and Sabin joins in the fun. Daivari comes in as well and he takes it right to Sabin. The action stays fast and furious in the early going. Team International use some questionable tactics to take control on Shelley. After a brief run by Daivari and Dux, Shelley is able to make the hot tag. Sabin flies all over the ring on Dux, and Daivari stops him by pulling him down on the apron. Meanwhile, AJ Styles and Tomko are fighting each other backstage, which they show on the split screen. They take a commercial break and Team International is still in control. When we come back Shelley receives the hot tag this time and how he’s the house afire. Shelley hits a Frog Splash for a near-fall. The crowd is pretty into it. Daivari comes back with a top rope rana for two. Sabin helps out by hitting Daivari with an Ace Crusher and then dropkicks Dux off the apron to the floor. Daivari tries to take on both Guns but he gets kicked a lot instead. Dux makes his way back in and hits Shelley with a brainbuster. Daivari covers but only gets two. The referee is having a hard time maintaining control here. The Guns fly around and keeps the crowd amped. Shelley hits Daivari with Sliced Bread #2 to get the pin at 8:45 (shown). That was good clean fun, with some formula stuff mixed in with some crazy flying around. Daivari and Dux made a surprisingly effective unit.
Rating: ***

MATCH #5: First Round Match – Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi vs. Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero, iMPACT, 6.26.08

Yoshino and Bucanero start it off. They go back and forth and Yoshino immediately shows off his speed. Doi and Yoshino work well together and keep Bucanero grounded. Guerrero has to take a shot from the apron to help out his teammate and take control. Bucanero and Guerrero use their unique teamwork to keep the crowd into it. Speed Muscle is able to position their opponents on the floor and they wipe them out with stereo suicide dives. Back in the ring Doi and Yoshino continue their ridiculously awesome double-team moves but they can’t put Bucanero away. Bucanero hits Yoshino with a huge clothesline and makes the tag. Guerrero hits Yoshino with a super gourdbuster and Doi just barely breaks up the pin. Things get out of hand again and Bucanero and Yoshino end up outside the ring. Guerrero hits Doi with a super inverted suplex. Bucanero tags in and hits a corkscrew senton while Doi is across Guerrero’s knees. That’s enough to get the pin at 5:31. This was an interesting clash of styles, but they certainly made it work in the short time they were given. Five and a half minutes just isn’t enough time to appreciate Doi and Yoshino.
Rating: **½

MATCH #6: Second Round Match – Alex Koslov vs. Rey Bucanero, iMPACT, 7.3.08

Things start moving at a fast pace until Koslov slows them down with the stop sign. I still hate that move. Bucanero tries to take Koslov out with a dive to the floor, but Koslov avoids it and instead takes Bucanero out with a beautiful no hands somersault plancha, landing on his feet. Back in the ring Koslov hits a springboard cross body block and an enziguiri for two. Bucanero is able to catch Koslov and drop him right on his head. He hits the corkscrew senton to get another pin at 1:44. Sure makes the World X Cup feel really important when they do sub-two minute matches and then cut away right at the end.
Rating: *

MATCH #7: Second Round Match – Curry Man vs. Milano Collection AT, iMPACT, 7.3.08

The match starts off hot (and spicy), as Curry Man strikes the first blows. Milano makes the comeback with his unique offense. He takes Man down and goes up top. Man bodyslams him down and follows up with a flurry. He keeps the crowd into it and hits the flying hip attack. Man goes up top and then leads to a series of counters that ends with Man hitting a clothesline for two. Milano pops up and hits an enziguiri, and then a low superkick. That gets a near-fall. They battle on the apron and Man is able to go up top and hit the high cross body for two. Man goes for the Spice Rack but Milano avoids it and hits a low blow out of the referee’s sight. Milano hits a springboard senton to get the pin at 3:25. That was brief but they packed a lot of action in.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #8: Second Round Match – Doug Williams vs. Masato Yoshino, iMPACT, 7.10.08

The pace gets fast right away and Yoshino takes Williams down with a headscissors. Williams tries to take a powder but Yoshino follows him out with a suicide dive. Back in the ring Williams catches Yoshino with a knee to the face for a two-count. Williams now methodically goes to work, keeping the fast high flyer grounded. Yoshino comes back with Sling Blade and both men are down. Up to their feet Yoshino uses his speed to catch Williams with the shotgun missile dropkick for a near-fall. Yoshino hits Torbellino (sort of) for another two-count. He goes up top and Williams knocks him down, bringing him down with a butterfly superplex for two. A series of reversals leads to Williams hitting Chaos Theory to get the pin at 4:55. These two could do something reat with two or three times as much time, but this was solid fun for the time given. A couple of spots didn’t hit right on, but that’s what happens when you cram two talents like this into a five minute space.
Rating: **½

MATCH #9: Second Round Match – Kaz vs. Ultimo Guerrero, iMPACT, 7.10.08

They start with some chain wrestling and Kaz takes the early advantage. Kaz tries a superplex but Guerrero counters to the super gourdbuster that he hit earlier in the tournament for a two-count. Guerrero goes to work now, keeping Kaz on the defensive end of things. He hits the inverted superplex for a near-fall. Kaz makes the comeback and turns it around with a flurry of offense. He goes for a springboard move but slips and appears to hurt his knee. Kaz recovers and tries a super rana but Guerrero counters with a super powerbomb for a very close near-fall. Guerrero goes up top and misses a moonsault. That’s enough of an opening for Kaz to hit the Wave of the Future to get the pin at 5:35. Another short match, but they told a good story of Team TNA having to fight from behind in the standings and the captain coming up with the big win.
Rating: **½

MATCH #10: Four-Way Elimination Match – The Motor City Machineguns & Curry Man vs. Tyson Dux, Doug Williams & Alex Koslov vs. Masato Yoshino, Milano Collection AT & Puma vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero & Averno, Victory Road, 7.13.08

Two referees are on hand to help control the action. The winning team gets three points, second place gets two points, third place gets one point, and fourth place gets nothing. Yoshino and Man start the match with some immediately fast-paced offense. Man gets hit with a dropkick, and then decides he would rather engage in a test of speed. It was actually a trick, as Man trips Yoshino up and tags in the Guns. Sabin gets backed into the corner and Dux gets tagged in and he and Williams go to work on Sabin, briefly. Sabin makes the tag to Team Mexico, and they go to work on Williams. Guerrero wipes Williams out with a dive on the floor. Bucanero hits Dux with Chemical Imbalance II for the first elimination at 2:58. Puma gets in the ring and goes after Bucanero. Milano pulls Bucanero to the floor and whips him into the guardrail. Back in the ring Team Japan continues beating Bucanero down. Bucanero reverses a victory roll attempt with a powerbomb of sorts and makes the tag to Averno. This is Averno’s first appearance in the World X Cup, and he makes it a good one. He hits the Angel’s Wings to eliminate Puma at 5:07. AT jumps in the ring to battle Averno and he kicks him down on the apron. Averno makes the tag to Sabin, and AT is able to immediately go after Sabin’s leg. Shelley comes in to break it up and AT locks both Guns in a half crab. Man breaks that up. AT pushes the referee out of the way and pretends he was hit with a low blow, but outside referee Rudy Charles refutes that claim. Awesome, they’re actually USING the referee outside the ring. Moments later Sabin kicks AT in the face and hits the Cradle Shock for the pin at 7:14.

Yoshino is on his own now but he gets right in the ring to battle Sabin and the Guns go right to work on him. They both hit hesitation dropkicks but Yoshino kicks out. Yoshino comes back with the Octopus hold, but Shelley escapes and kicks Yoshino’s head off. Shelley goes for Sliced Bread but Yoshino pushes him into the corner and Averno tags himself in. Tenay and West are doing a good job putting Yoshino over as a super underdog as Averno works him over. Yoshino comes back with a rollup out of nowhere to pin Averno and eliminate him at 10:34. Williams and Kozlov immediately jump Yoshino, and then the Guns and Man come in. Kozlov hits Man with a powerslam and then does the Russian Hat Dance. Sabin answers it with a superkick. Williams hits Sabin with the Chaos Theory but Man breaks it up. Man goes for the Spice Drop on Williams but can’t it. Team Mexico comes in with cross body blocks on both Williams and Man. They execute some impressive double teams, but Man comes back and puts Guerrero on the top for a super hurricanrana. Guerrero counters with a super powerbomb to eliminate Curry Man at 12:57. Moments later Guerrero hits Williams with a twisting senton off the top rope to eliminate him at 13:24. Half of the competitors have now been eliminated.

The Guns battle Guerrero and Bucanero now, and they miss simultaneous dives to the floor. Koslov gets in the ring to go after Guerrero, and they go up top. Guerrero is able to hit Koslov with a super gourdbuster for two. Koslov comes back with a low blow and then a Cobra Stretch and Guerrero taps out at 15:12. Bucanero jumps in the ring and slams Koslov down for a two-count. Koslov tags Sabin in and takes a break. Bucanero slams Sabin and goes to the top rope. Sabin cuts him off and hits a super hurricanrana. The Guns then hit Bucanero with a double superkick to eliminate him and Team Mexico at 16:20. Yoshino gets back in the ring and the Guns show him no sympathy. The Guns utilize some incredible double-team maneuvers on both opponents. Sabin hits Koslov with a running Ace Crusher and then hard clothesline for two. He charges in and Koslov pulls the referee in front, and then scoops Sabin’s legs and puts his own on the ropes (but has trouble) and Sabin is out at 19:07.

Shelley protests to the referee and Koslov knocks him to the floor. Koslov wipes him out with a somersault. Koslov and Yoshino battle briefly, and then Shelley gets back in the ring. Shelley goes for a running knee in the corner but Koslov moves and Shelley crashes right back to the floor. Moments later Yoshino traps Koslov in the Sol Naciente and Koslov taps out at 20:31. We’re down to two men. Yoshino uses his speed to take advantage. He hits the shotgun missile dropkick for a two-count. Shelley comes back with Sliced Bread but Yoshino kicks out once again. He goes up for a Frog Splash but Yoshino gets the knees up and hits Another Space for a two-count. Shelley comes back with a face-first powerbomb and a Tiger Suplex for two! He puts Yoshino on the top rope and superkicks him. Yoshino fights back and hits the Sling Blade for two. He puts Shelley on top and goes for a super something. Shelley counters with a super inverted atomic drop and then an Air Raid Crash to get the pin and win the match at 24:19. That was just an incredible match with nonstop action for the duration of the contest. The story of Yoshino lasting as long as he did by himself gave the match an underlying story that gave meaning to all of the incredible action.
Rating: ****½

MATCH #11: Ultimate X Match – Kaz vs. Daivari vs. Volador Jr. vs. Naruki Doi, Victory Road, 7.13.08

This is the fifteenth Ultimate X match. This is the third appearance for Kaz and the first for everyone else, so he has a distinct advantage. No one wastes any time in going after someone, so the offense is fast and furious. Kaz makes the first attempt at the X but Daivari cuts him off. As expected Kaz seems to have the early advantage, and everyone seems to be gunning for him. Volador makes an attempt at the X but drops down hit Doi with a hurricanrana, and then Kaz clotheslines Volador to the floor. Kaz goes after the X but Daivari pulls him down to the floor and whips him into the guardrail. Daivari now targets Kaz’s arm, which is great strategy. Volador and Doi team up with Daivari in a show of solidarity against the USA. Kaz briefly recovers and goes for the X but his arm prevents him from getting too far. Doi decides to go into business for himself and dumps Volador to the floor. He goes up for the X and Daivari joins him up there and drops him all the way to the floor. Now Volador and Daivari go at it as all bets are off. Doi goes up for the X and Kaz knocks him down, but then Daivari knocks him down, and Volador knocks HIM down. All four guys are recovering, but Doi gets up first and goes after the X but Volador dropkicks him down to the floor and then hits a moonsault off the top rope. Kaz and Daivari climb up for the X now and Daivari traps Kaz’s arm in the truss, and then scurries over towards the X, but Kaz goes to the top of the truss and legdrops Daivari down to the canvas! That was pretty intense. Volador Jr. picks the bones so to speak and goes up to retrieve the X at 10:59. That was a compact Ultimate X match but they did some cool stuff in there and I certainly wasn’t expecting Volador Jr. to win.
Rating: ***¼

That actually gives Team Mexico the win in the 2008 World X Cup Tournament. Mike Tenay comes in to present them with the trophy and get a word with them. Thankfully Spanish commentator Willie Urbina is on hand to translate for us stupid Americans. Kaz looks despondent at the loss.

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