A2Z Analysiz: TNA Fandimonium: Motor City Machine Guns

Reviews, Top Story, Wrestling DVDs

MATCH #1: Brutus Magnus vs. Chris Sabin, Against All Odds, 2.8.09

Magnus cuts a pretty decent promo, but unfortunately he’s saddled with that ridiculous helmet and gladiator gimmick. They start off trading holds and counters in the opening minutes. Sabin tries using his speed and agility, but Magnus overpowers him. He wears Sabin down, grounding him with a chinlock. Sabin comes back with an inverted atomic drop and a couple of clotheslines. Magnus stays on his feet so Sabin goes to the apron and hits a springboard clothesline for a two-count. The battle spills to the floor and Sabin hits a springboard cross body block and has the crowd behind him. Back in the ring Sabin goes to the top rope, but Magnus bounces into the rope to knock Sabin down. Then he picks him up and hits Tormentum to score the pin at 6:50. Magnus wasn’t really all that impressive, but again, how do you expect a guy wearing that ridiculous gladiator getup to get over?
Rating: *¾

MATCH #2: TNA X Division Championship – Alex Shelley vs. Eric Young, Against All Odds, 2.8.09

Shelley has been the champion since 1.11.09, and this is his second defense. Young pinned the champion in a tag team match on Impact to earn this title shot. The challenger takes the early advantage and the champion takes a powder. They take the battle to the ring apron, and Shelley knocks Young down. Back to their feet they exchange punches, and then Shelley knocks him off the apron and hits a jumping knee to the chest. Young recovers quickly and drives Shelley into the guardrail. He goes to the top rope but Shelley moves out of the way and Young crashes into the guardrail. Back in the ring Shelley is in firm control. Young gets a brief bit of offense but Shelley is just dialed in here. They make it back to the apron and Shelley tries to catapult Young off, but that just looked stupid. Young charges but Shelley moves and Young crashes down to the floor. Back in the ring again and Shelley remains in control. Young comes back with a flapjack. He’s in control now and hits a flurry of moves. A big clothesline gets two. He goes up top but Shelley stops him and hits a super jawbreaker. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen that. Young comes back and tries a Death Valley Driver but Shelley avoids it. The challenger stays in control and hits a Cena legdrop for two. Young tries a moonsault but it misses and Shelley gets the toilet flush for two. Shelley hits the Shellshock for two. He goes for the Sliced Bread but Young catches him and goes for the wheelbarrow neckbreaker. Shelley avoids that and hits a standing Sliced Bread #2 for a near-fall. That would have been a good finish. They head up top and Shelley hits a super bulldog. The champion follows up with a Frog Splash but Young kicks out at two! They go back up top and Young drops Shelley’s face right on the top turnbuckle. Shelley jumps up and gets a rollup to retain the title at 13:02. They hit a lot of big moves on each other and used a rollup finish, which gave me flashbacks to 2002 Ring of Honor. The match was decent enough most of the way through though.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #3: Steel Asylum Match – Alex Shelley vs. Jay Lethal vs. Curry Man vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Johnny Devine vs. Petey Williams vs. Shark Boy vs. Super Eric, Bound for Glory, 10.12.08

Referee Rudy Charles is on top of the cage in the event of a “photo finish.” If anyone thinks two people could sneak out of there at one time, you’re an idiot. The guns work together, as do the Prince Justice Brotherhood trio (Eric, Boy, and Man). Devine gets ganged up on for a bit. The Guns, Devine, and Rave execute a triple suplex on the Brotherhood. There’s little rhyme or reason to most of what’s going on. Shelley and Man fight up on the top rope and Man hits a unique jawbreaker. Sabin fires back with a leaping enziguiri. Boy and Eric look out for Man, but Dutt is able to sneak in and hit a kick to the face. Lethal makes the first real attempt to escape, but Rave stops him, only to receive a hurricanrana for his troubles. Shelley follows with a Frog Splash on Rave, and then Man hits Shelley with a clothesline. Eric hits a simultaneous Death Valley Driver on Devine and Dutt. He goes up to climb but the Guns cut him off. The guns wind up in control of the match, picking almost everyone apart. Williams comes back and knocks Shelley out with the Canadian Destroyer. He tries to climb out but Sabin cuts him off. Boy joins them on the top rope and hits a double Chummer. Rave Rocks Boy’s World, but then Devine hits the Devine Intervention, which looks supremely dangerous. Devine takes Lethal down and hits a moonsault. He climbs and Dutt cuts him off. Man joins them and gets knocked down. Dutt knocks Devine right into a Spice Rack. Man gets close to climbing out but Dutt knocks him down. Lethal joins Dutt up top and they slug it out. Black Machismo wins that battle and climbs out to win the match at 12:04. The concept of the match is inherently stupid but all 10 guys worked hard to get it over and there was almost no down time throughout the entire match.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #4: Cuffed in the Cage Match – The Rock ‘N Rave Infection vs. Eric Young & Kaz vs. Rellik & Black Reign vs. The Motor City Machineguns vs. The Latin American Xchange vs. Scott Steiner & Petey Williams, Lockdown, 4.13.08

The Rock ‘N Rave Infection, Jimmy Rave and Lance Rock, cut a brief promo that ends with Rock asking “who wants to get Infected tonight?” There’s got to be a better way to say that. Backstage Black Reign and Rellik attack Eric Young, but referee Rudy Charles makes Kaz go to the ring anyway. The idea of this match is to handcuff your opponents to the ropes. The last man standing cuff-less will win the match for his team. As far as TNA gimmick matches go, this one is pretty damn stupid. It’s a big brawl from the get-go, with Steiner looking particularly strong in the early going. Everyone then gangs up on Steiner, which is smart strategy, and they cuff him to the cage. The crowd wakes up as Young makes his way to the cage, but he seems too afraid of Reign and Rellik to get in the ring, so he bails on his partner. Shelley tries Sliced Bread on Williams but gets handcuffed instead; not that Tenay or West would mention it. Kaz hits Sabin with the Wave of the Future into the cage and then cuffs Sabin. Hernandez hits Rave with the Cracker Jack on Rave. Then Rellik, Reign, and Rave join forces to cuff Hernandez. Out of nowhere Kaz hits Rave with the Flux Capacitor. Kaz takes Rock up top, but Rock blocks it and Chokeslams Kaz clear across the ring. That is plenty damage done to handcuff Kaz to the cage. Then Super Eric makes his way down to the cage and climbs up top. Eric leaps onto all four of the Monsters of Rock. He cuffs Rave first, and then takes care of Rock. I just realized that Homicide is cuffed as well; I must have missed that. Rellik and Reign try to cuff Eric, but he slips out and slaps the cuffs on Rellik instead. That leaves just Reign and Eric left. Eric hits him with a Death Valley Driver and then cuffs him to the cage to get the pin at 10:42. That’s the only Cuffed in the Cage match so far, and I’m glad for it. The action was fine, but the idea of the match was stupid, and Super Eric is even stupider.
Rating: **

MATCH #5: Terror Dome – Curry Man vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Consequences Creed vs. Shark Boy vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Kaz vs. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley vs. Johnny Devine vs. Jay Lethal, Sacrifice, 5.11.08

This red cage makes it very difficult to see anything when they do shots from outside the cage. Boy was doing his Stone Cold impression at this time. Jim Cornette comes out and announces that the winner of this match will receive not only a shot at the X-Division Title in the future, but will get to take Kurt Angle’s place in the main event tonight! Calling the action in a match like this could get difficult, and may be pointless. They work some cool spots in, all part of the effort to get a spot in tonight’s main event. The Motor City Machineguns work together, and so do Dutt and Lethal. Of course they work a giant Tower of Doom spot in there. Rave tries to climb out but Man catches him and hits a Super Spice Rack! Tenay’s constant directing of the production team is annoying. They have a director you douche! They do some more spots and Kaz climbs out of the Terror Dome and wins the match at 10:36. That was the usual spot fest but it was entertaining at times. I think this was the only time this match was called “Terror Dome,” as it would later be changed to “Steel Asylum.”
Rating: **¼

MATCH #6: Hardcore Street Fight for the TNA X-Division Title – Team 3D & Johnny Devine vs. The Motor City Machineguns & Jay Lethal, Against All Odds, 2.10.08

Devine has been the X-Division Champion since 1.24.08, and this is his second defense (I think the one against Homicide on Impact on February 7, 2008, was a title match – can anyone help me out?). In addition to the title being on the line, if Devine & 3D win, the X-Division is abolished forever. If the Guns & Lethal win, Team 3D must cut their weight to less than 275 pounds in order to compete. Between Chris Sabin’s four title reigns and Lethal’s two, I’d say that makes a total of six X-Division Title reigns for the team. Devine & 3D of course just has the one.

The Guns and Lethal aren’t waiting for any bells, as they meet their opponents in the aisle. Lethal and Ray are the first ones in the ring, and Lethal hits the top rope double axe handle. He starts working on Ray’s arm, and then the Guns get in the ring and suplex Ray. Lethal grabs a Dead End sign from the crowd and cracks Ray’s skull with it. Devon and Devine join the fray in the ring, but they along with Ray get hit with simultaneous tornado DDTs. Alex Shelley starts throwing weapons in the ring. Sabin finds an inflatable doll, and they cut to SoCal Val’s reaction shot for like the third time in the match. The Guns and Lethal each hit an opponent with a trash can and all three go for pins and get two-counts. Sabin uses the kitchen sink, and then the Guns lock Team 3D in dueling sleepers. Ray and Devon escape the sleepers and hit their opponents with weapons to gain control. Then for some reason Ray decides to piledrive the blow-up doll and Tenay calls it a powerbomb. Is that supposed to be funny? The Guns come back with a Hi-Low on Devon for a two-count. They try another double-team move but Ray clobbers them with Northern Lariats. Team 3D hits Sabin with the 3D, and they have one for Shelley as well. Lethal makes sure they don’t make a cover but Ray then blasts him with a clothesline. SoCal Val is crying “stop” outside the ring, but thankfully no one in TNA listens to women. She gets up on the apron and Ray pulls her into the ring by the hair. Ray grabs a cheese grater but Lethal takes it from him and jams it into Ray’s nuts. Lethal checks on Val and then hits Ray with a super hurricanrana. He cracks Ray on the skull with a chair but Devon pulls the referee out. Lethal wipes Devon out with a dive, and then back body drops Devine. Back in the ring Lethal hits Ray with a clothesline off the top rope for two. Devine gets back in and Lethal hits him with the Lethal Combination. Lethal then hits Devon with a superkick for yet another two-count. Ray hits the Bubba Bomb but Lethal kicks out at two. Team 3D goes for a 3D through a table, but Lethal avoids it. Lethal sends Devon to the floor and hits Ray with an enziguiri. Devine tries to hit Lethal with the sign but Lethal ducks and cracks it across Devine’s skull. Lethal sets Devine on the table and hits the Top-Rope Elbow Drop to get the pin and win the X-Division Title for the third time at 12:57.

That was a pretty good street fight, and it did a lot to make Lethal look awesome, and I have no problem with that. But this is a Motor City Machineguns DVD, and they totally looked like pussies in this match. As for the match, everything not involving the blow-up doll was pretty decent.
Rating: ***

MATCH #7: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tornado Match – The Motor City Machineguns vs. No Limit vs. The Latin American Xchange, Lockdown, 4.19.09

The Machineguns have been champions since 1.4.09, but I don’t know how many defenses they’ve made. I don’t expect to do much play-by-play in this one. As predicted, the action starts off fast and furious. Everyone’s paired off with an opponent and it’s all offense, offense, offense. Chris Sabin is able to subdue Hernandez, which is no small feat. Of course it doesn’t last long, as Hernandez this Sabin with a huge shoulderblock. Alex Shelley takes his turn trying to battle Hernandez, and he gets overpowered as well so the Guns double team him. Everyone gets some offense in and it’s hard to follow. Somewhere amidst all the chaos, the Guns hit Made in Detroit on Naito to retain the belts at 11:48. That was fun chaos but nothing really held it together. And another thing – how does the 295-pound Hernandez count as a Junior Heavyweight?
Rating: ***

MATCH #8: 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

I’ve actually never seen this match. 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 #9: Ultimate X Match for TNA X Division Championship – Amazing Red w/ Don West vs. Daniels vs. Homicide vs. Suicide vs. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley, Bound for Glory, 10.18.09

Red has been the champion since 10.8.09 and this is already his second defense. D’Angelo Dinero was originally scheduled for this match, but had a family emergency and had to bail at the last minute. So on the preshow the Motor City Machineguns battled Lethal Consequences, and the Guns got the win, and they’re in the match. This should be pretty fast and pretty furious, action-wise. Everyone is going 100 mph right away, with guys flying all over in and out of the ring. Everyone except Daniels and Red are on the floor, and Red remedies that by delivering a rana on Daniels from the top rope, crashing into everybody. Back in the ring the Guns double-team Red and then turn their attention to Daniels. Sabin has been in 10 Ultimate X matches, which I’m assuming is the most ever. No one’s paying attention to Homicide, so he climbs up and goes for the belt, but Suicide stops him at the last minute. The Guns continue to work together, and one has to wonder what would happen if it came down to the two of them going after the belt. Red thwarts their attacks, but that doesn’t slow down the pace of the match at all. Daniels, Homicide, and Suicide are wearing pink armbands somewhere on their person; not sure what that’s about. Kicks and suplexes are being thrown around by everyone. Daniels, Suicide, and Red climb all the way to the top of the X steel structure. Red rests while Daniels and Suicide slug it out. Daniels is the first one to climb down and try to grab the belt, and Suicide stops him. They continue battling while Sabin and Shelley climb up. Suicide and Daniels take a nasty looking fall, while Red calmly drops down and grabs the belt for the win at 15:16. That was the right choice to open the show, with tons of sick high spots. The big fall at the end made Red’s win anticlimactic, but overall this was fun.
Rating: ***

MATCH #10: Tournament Final to Crown a New X-Division Champion – Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley, Genesis, 1.11.09

Sabin beat Sonjay Dutt and Kiyoshi on his way here, while Shelley got by Jay Lethal and Eric Young. They start it off with some back and forth chain wrestling. Sabin in a former four-time X-Division Champion, while Shelley has never held the belt. Shelley starts going after the knee. That doesn’t last too long and they pick up the pace a little bit and Sabin takes the advantage. The crowd hasn’t really been reacting much thus far. The battle spills to the floor, and Sabin hits a suicide dive through the ropes, knocking Shelley back into the announce table. Shelley comes back and hits a somersault legdrop off the top rope while Sabin is draped over the middle rope. A Lionsault gets two for Shelley. Sabin makes a comeback and each man blocks the other’s finisher. Shelley charges at Sabin and eats a kick to the face and both men are down. Back to their feet they trade moves as the pace quickens once again. Sabin hits a nasty tornado DDT for a close near-fall. He tries to follow up with a springboard something but Shelley grabs him out of the air and puts on a Crossface. Shelley rolls it over and tries a chicken wing but Sabin counters. Sabin charges into the corner and Shelley hits him with a Sudden Stop. Shelley tries a springboard DDT but Sabin counters with a neckbreaker and a Tiger Suplex for two! Sabin hits an enziguiri, but Shelley comes back with an Air Raid Crash for two. Shelley goes up top and Sabin knocks him down. Sabin tries a hurricanrana but Shelley blocks it. Shelley comes down and hits a powerbomb, then goes back up for a Frog Splash. Sabin gets the knees up. He gets up first and goes up top, but Shelley swats him out of the air. Shelley goes back up and hits a Frog Splash on Sabin’s back. He goes back up once again and hits a traditional Frog Splash for a two-count! Sabin fires up and hits a devastating clothesline, followed by the Cradle Shock, but it only gets two! He sets Shelley on the top rope and goes for a Super Cradle Shock. Shelley fights it off and hits a Superkick and then Sliced Bread #2, but Sabin kicks out! Sabin hits a Superkick and goes for Cradle Shock. Shelley counters to a Sliced Bread attempt, but Sabin avoids that. Sabin goes to the apron, and Shelley appears to have injured his foot on that last landing. He’s just playing possum though, as he rolls Sabin up to score the pin and win the title for the first time at 16:40. I’m not much of a fan of the finish and the selling was come and go, but aside from that it was a very entertaining match. This is what TNA’s X-Division should be like.
Rating: ***¾

BONUS MATCH: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match – The Motor City Machineguns vs. No Limit, Global Impact 2, 1.4.09

No Limit is comprised of Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro. They won the titles on 10.13.08, and this is their second defense. Sabin and Yujiro start the match with some quick chain wrestling, and Sabin scores the first knockdown with a dropkick. Shelley gets tagged in and the Guns execute some double-team maneuvers for a two-count. The Guns have a slight communication problem and No Limit takes over on Shelley. That doesn’t last too long before the Guns reclaim control and sent No Limit to the floor. Sabin hits Naito with a suicide dive through the ropes as we cut to commercial. There’s a nice little glitch and a commercial for TNA on iTunes before getting back to the match. Thanks a lot, guys in the truck. The Guns are in control, even though Shelley’s mouth is bleeding. Naito is on the receiving end of the beat down. He avoids a double team by backdropping Sabin to the floor and hitting Shelley with a cross body block off the top rope and a dropkick. He makes the tag to Yujiro, who throws powerslams at everything that moves. Shelley comes back with a couple of pinning combinations for two and a few kicks, and Yujiro responds with a belly-to-belly suplex that drops Shelley right on his head. Amazingly Shelley comes back with a backslide for two and a Back Drop Driver. Yujiro hits a big clothesline, and then both men make tags. No Limit takes control on Sabin. Naito hits him with a missile dropkick and a German Suplex with a bridge for two. Shelley gets back in the ring and drops Naito with a neckbreaker. Yujiro slams Shelley down. Sabin hits Yujiro with a swinging DDT. Naito blasts Sabin with a flying forearm. He goes up for a moonsault but Shelley cuts him off. The action is getting almost too fast to call here. Shelley and Yujiro take the battle to the floor. Naito tries a twisting moonsault but misses. Sabin hits Naito with an Ace Crusher, and then Shelley gets back in and they hit a double superkick for two! The Guns follow up with Made in Detroit to get the pin and win the titles at 12:02 (shown). That was almost non-stop action from two excellent teams for the time they got. I can’t ask for much more than that.
Rating: ***¾

The Pulse: This is both a good and frustrating disc. A couple of the matches are really good, but a good portion of them don’t particularly make the Motor City Machineguns look that good as a tag team. Ultimate X and Steel Asylum matches don’t do anything to prove what a great tag team they are, nor do squashes by Brutus Magnus. They also do things like talk about Generation Me a lot, but don’t show any matches with them, or they refer to a specific match with the British Invasion but then don’t show it. Overall, coupled with the Beer Money disc this set is still worth purchasing but they could have done so much better.

I grew up and now I write for Inside Pulse. Oh, and one time I saw a blimp!