TNA – Ultimate Matches – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Professional wrestling has become so much more then just the good guy versus bad guy entertainment that people watched twenty to thirty years ago. We don’t just have the occasional cage match to take us away from the normal matches and show us something unique and out of the ordinary. Today’s world of wrestling incorporates so much more than kicks, punches, body slams, a four-sided ring, and some ring ropes. TNA brought the six-sided ring to life and with that introduced brand new and innovative matches that stretch the limits of the imagination. Cage matches? Been done. Scaffold matches? Old news. Hardcore rules? Forget about that pansy schmansy stuff. Bring on the Monster’s Ball, Ultimate X, and Six Sides Of Steel!

TNA started out hoping to become the number one wrestling company in the world, and at first they came out of the gate rather slow. They needed something new and exciting to set the wrestling world on its edge and have the fans sit up and take notice. Well they came up with many things that were designed to get attention and they worked. It also helps that they put some of the greatest wrestling names in the business right into the thick of the matches and saw fantastic performances out of all of them. This 2-disc DVD set takes a look at the innovative matches that TNA has created and perfected in the past four years and the performers who are willing to risk life and limb in order to make them the best ever. It’s time to take a look at six gimmick matches and the superstars that made them memorable.

The first match this DVD checks out is a signature gimmick for TNA wrestling and it’s appropriately entitled the “King Of The Mountain.” The match is far from simple so let me explain it to you. Five competitors are in the match and it is usually for the TNA World Heavyweight Title. Everyone in the match begins as ineligible and can only become eligible to win by scoring a pinfall or submission on one of their opponents. Once a wrestler becomes eligible, they may grab the title belt from the referee and attempt to hang it up on a hook hanging above the ring (basically a reverse ladder match). Another little twist is that once a wrestler is pinned, they must spend two minutes locked in the penalty box before returning to action. There have been five “King Of The Mountain” matches and they normally happen at TNA’s annual Slammiversary PPV. There was one other one on an episode of Impact but it involved only X-Division wrestlers.

Up next is the “Ultimate X” match which might possibly be my favorite out of all gimmick matches and mainly because it involves the phenomenal X-Division wrestlers. In another variation of the ladder match; competitors win by grabbing a belt or giant red “X” suspended above the ring. The difference is that the items are suspended on ropes crisscrossing above the ring to form another giant “X.” These ropes are connect to four posts around the ring and are often seen with wrestlers hanging and fighting from them. A number of these matches have gone down and while they usually involve those from the X-Division; sometimes others are in it such as Team 3-D, LAX, and Samoa Joe.

Perhaps the easiest match to understand is the “Six Sides of Steel.” You’ve seen cage matches before but now add on two more sides since TNA uses the six-sided rings. Cage matches are already brutal enough as it is, but adding two more sides gives the competitors even more metal to work with to punish their opponents. There have been a lot of these matches as well since it is a bit more common then the other gimmicks, but it’s so popular with fans that an entire PPV entitled Lockdown has been devoted to having nothing but six sides of steel matches. Sometimes you can only win by escape and other times pinfalls and submissions are accepted. There’s even one particular match called “Lethal Lockdown” that has a roof come down on top of the six sides of steel and littered with weapons for extra carnage.

A “Full Metal Mayhem” match is also quite easy to understand and it explains itself as in that anything metal, is legal. Ladders, chairs, chains, thumbtacks, and anything you can think of that has metal on it can and will be used for some beat downs. Full Metal Mayhem is a variation of a TLC (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs) match but with a lot more things put into use. It’s a rather rare event to see this gimmick used in a match, but when it is, it’s brutal. One humorous thing during the interviews on this DVD is listening to some of the wrestlers talk about using anything metal they can find to destroy their opponents. Then Abyss comes in and mentions how he also likes to use glass with all the other metal objects. …um, what?

Our fifth type of match is another TNA original and it’s the “Monster’s Ball” which is virtually a hardcore match. Consisting of any number of participants, normally four, and involving lots of weapons; a “Monster’s Ball” is very violent and sees a lot of big spots. Anything is legal, but the final result (pinfall or submission) must happen inside the ring or victory to be obtained. So many objects have been thrown into these matches that it is hard to keep up with all of them. We’ve seen ladders, tables, chairs, chains, tacks, glass, and even flaming tables used in order for someone to take out their opponents. A lot of blood will be spilled in these matches and usually there are a number of giants (big men) involved so just expect some big things.

Finally there is a rather simple, but generally loved, “Ladder Match.” The rules are quite simple as any number of competitors can be involved and the winner must retrieve something hanging above the ring to win. Most of the time the object hanging above will be title belts but they can be anything ranging from briefcases to even contracts. The wrestlers must incapacitate their opponents enough to climb the ladder and retrieve whatever is hanging up. These matches have been around for close to twenty years and can end up being five star matches because most of the time the competitors put everything out there and will put it all on the line to win.

Matches

~ Slammiversary 2006: King Of The Mountain Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship – Jeff Jarrett Vs. Ron Killings Vs. Christian Cage vs. Abyss Vs. Sting

~ Slammiversary 2007: King Of The Mountain Match for the vacant TNA World heavyweight Championship – Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe Vs. AJ Styles Vs. Chris Harris Vs. Christian Cage

~ Slammiversary 2008: King Of The Mountain Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship – Samoa Joe Vs. Robert Roode vs. Booker T Vs. Rhino vs. Christian Cage with Kevin Nash as special guest enforcer

~ Final Resolution 2005: Ultimate X Match for the TNA X Division Championship – Chris Sabin Vs. Petey Williams Vs. AJ Styles

~ Destination X 2005: Ultimate X Match for the TNA X Division Championship – Elix Skipper Vs. AJ Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels Vs. Ron Killings

~ No Surrender 2006: Ultimate X Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship – AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels Vs. LAX

~ Victory Road 2007 Ultimate X Match Gauntlet Match – Christopher Daniels Vs. Jay lethal Vs. Puma Vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Homicide Vs. Senshi Vs. Kaz Vs. Petey Williams Vs. Shark Boy Vs. Elix Skipper:

~ Bound For Glory 2007: Ultimate X Tag Team Match – XXX Vs. LAX

~ Turning Point 2004: Six Sides Of Steel Match – XXX Vs. AMW

~ Lockdown 2005: Six Sides Of Steel Match – AJ Styles Vs. Abyss

~ Lockdown 2006: Six Sides Of Steel Match for the NWA Heavyweight Championship – Christian Cage Vs. Abyss

~ Against All Odds 2005: Full Metal Mayhem Match – Abyss Vs. Jeff Hardy

~ Sacrifice 2006: Full Metal Mayhem Match for the NWA Heavyweight Championship – Christian Cage Vs. Abyss

~ Bound For Glory 2005: Monster’s Ball Match – Rhino Vs. Abyss Vs. Sabu Vs. Jeff Hardy

~ Bound For Glory 2006: Monster’s Ball Match – Abyss Vs. Brother Runt Vs. Samoa Joe Vs. Raven with Jake “The Snake” Roberts as special guest referee

~ Genesis 2007: Ladder Match – Christian Cage Vs. Kaz

The event is shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and everything looks good. From a production standpoint, you can tell the older stuff from TNA, but all still looks fine and there are no problems.

The event is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound so everything comes through just fine and all can be heard clearly and loudly. Don West is screaming his head off and Mike Tenay is just as annoying as ever, but that’s a good thing (somewhat) if all is heard nicely.

None.

TrailersTNA Best Of 2007, TNA Lockdown 2008, TNA Best Of The Bloodiest Brawls: Scars And Stitches, TNA Slammiversary 2008, TNA Knocked Out, and Kurt Angle: Champion


TNA’s DVDs haven’t thrilled me much over the past couple years, but this I like. Their PPVs end up delivering one or two good matches and then being rather bland and dull for the remainder. I’m not too thrilled watching a three-hour event that only entertains me for thirty minutes. Not my idea of good times. Besides being full of gimmick matches, Ultimate Matches is jam-packed full of really good matches from some of the premier events that TNA has to offer each months. I’ll admit that a lot of the gimmicks used by TNA are rather convoluted and confusing, but most of the time they provide for really entertaining matches. Oddly enough, my least favorite is their signature creation, the “King Of The Mountain” because there is just way too damn much going on. Other then that one complaint, this DVD set provides over six hours of entertaining matches that will keep you on the edge of your seat and hoping the bloodshed stops soon. No special features at all are included here and that’s quite a shame because more interviews and testimonials would have been nice since there were barely any during the main feature. Wrestling fans though will enjoy this set for strictly the amount of action given and always having that hope deep down inside that Don West will be nailed in the larynx with a 2×4.

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TNA Home Video presents TNA Ultimate Matches. Featuring: AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, Robert Roode, Jeff Jarrett, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, and many more. Running time: 400 minutes on 2 discs. Rating: PG-13. Released on DVD: October 21, 2008. Available at Amazon.