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Gwinnett Center – Duluth, Georgia – October 14, 2007
MATCH #1: Ultimate X Match – The Latin American Xchange vs. Triple X
LAX is represented by Homicide and Hernandez, while Elix Skipper and Senshi are representing XXX. I don’t think there was any kind of feud to this match, just a match for the sake of it. However, at least the winners get a Tag Team Title shot. This is the thirteenth ever Ultimate X match; LAX is 1-0 as a team; Skipper and Senshi are both 0-2 on their own but have never been in one as a tag team.
It’s all action all the time in the early minutes. Hernandez appears to be having fun throwing Senshi around. Skipper pairs off with Homicide and Senshi is fighting Hernandez. The fight spills to the floor and Homicide hits Senshi with the Tope Con Hilo and Don West loves it. Skipper tries to climb up to the X but Hernandez is all “no way son.” Hernandez then climbs to the X and just sits there not grabbing the X for some reason. Obviously he gets knocked down, and then Senshi takes a turn and gets powerbombed for his troubles. Skipper climbs all the way to the top of one of the steel trusses and hits a cross body block on Hernandez. Homicide tries to get the X and Skipper goes out with him, and Homicide brings them both down by hitting a neckbreaker. He tries going back up but this time Senshi stops him. Homicide sets up for a super Gringo Killer but Senshi blocks it and hits the Warrior’s Way instead. Hernandez is up and hits another Crackerjack on Senshi. He tries to dive on Senshi on the floor, but Skipper cuts him off and tries the Play of the Day. That gets blocked and Hernandez tosses Skipper to the floor with the Border Toss. The big man then climbs up and grabs the X for the win at 11:57. That had some cool spots and was entertaining throughout.
Rating: ***½
MATCH #2: Fight for the Right Match – Jimmy Rave, Lance Hoyt, Havok, Shark Boy, Petey Williams, Kaz, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt, Kip James, BG James, James Storm, Eric Young, Robert Roode, Chris Harris, and Junior Fatu
“16 Wrestlers Start Outside The Ring. The First 8 To Enter The Ring Advance To An Over The Top Rope Battle Royal. The Final 2 Meet In One Fall Match.” Well this sounds remarkably complicated and stupid. Ha, remember Junior Fatu?
Speaking of the fat man, he’s the first one in the ring. Kaz and Roode fight up on the top rope, and Kaz hits the Flux Capacitor, meaning both men are now in the battle royal. Shelley makes his way into the ring. Hoyt press slams Young into the ring. Shelley helps Sabin get in the ring. Hoyt takes spot seven, and Storm sneaks in to grab the last spot around two and a half minutes in. Now the match turns into a battle royal. Storm is immediately eliminated by Young. Oh, it’s also important to note that these eight m en are now entered into a tournament on iMPACT!, and matches will be determined by order of elimination in the battle royal. Sounds like they’re stealing from FIP to me. The six guys that are not Fatu team up to eliminate him from the match. Sabin is next to go, via Kaz. Roode viciously eliminates Kaz next. We’re down to the final four.
Hoyt levels Young with a big boot. He foolishly goes for the Moonsault and Roode pushes him to the floor. That means Kaz will battle Hoyt in first-round tournament action. Shelley and Young work together on Roode. A little miscommunication leads to Roode eliminating Shelley, who will now face Sabin in the tournament. We’re down to the final two at just over 10 minutes in. These two have wrestled each other about a billion times. Roode intimidates Young and controls the match. Young recovers briefly and tries a Moonsault but misses. Roode tries the Payoff but Young counters with a small package for the pin at 11:49. That means Roode will face Junior Fatu, and Young will face James Storm. This was overly complicated and not at all interesting.
Rating: *
MATCH #3: TNA World Tag Team Title Match – Team Pacman vs. AJ Styles & Tomko
Team Pacman has been the champions since 9.9.07 and this is their second defense. Consequences Creed will be substituting for Pacman Jones tonight, I guess since Pacman Jones isn’t a wrestler? Styles and Creed start the match with some fast paced chain wrestling. Creed accidentally bumps into Tomko on the apron, and Tomko is none too happy about it, asking to be tagged in. Tomko tries a powerslam but Creed slips out and tags out. Truth no-sells Tomko’s offense and hits a missile dropkick and a flying forearm. Creed tags back in for some double teaming. As soon a Truth leaves the ring Tomko flattens Creed with a big boot. Styles tags in hits The Dropkick. Creed comes back and tags out. Truth comes in and hits a gourdbuster. Styles comes back with a Pele kick, and then makes the hot tag.
Tomko is throwing Team Pacman around and the match turns into a big brawl. The referee isn’t even trying to regain control. Pacman pulls down the rope on Tomko, causing him to fall to the floor. Creed tries to jump off the apron but Tomko catches him. Truth then follows them out with a dive of his own that does knock Tomko down. Styles follows all of them with a springboard shooting star press. I can do that I just don’t want to. Pacman tries to Make It Rain but Styles knocks the money out of his hand. Referee Earl Hebner is too busy picking up bills to notice Truth is covering Styles, thus it only gets a two-count. While Pacman yells at Hebner, Tomko flattens Truth with a boot to the face. Styles follows with the springboard forearm. Tomko and Styles then hit their version of Au Revoir to get the pin and win the titles at 8:47. The match was decent, and kicked off a very entertaining run for Styles and Tomko as champs (which ended in just about the dumbest way possible). Imagine what the match would have been like with Pacman Jones in place of Creed. Yikes.
Rating: **¼
MATCH #4: TNA X-Division Title Match – Jay Lethal vs. Christopher Daniels
Lethal has been the champion since 9.9.07 and this is his first defense. The action is fast paced from the beginning, as the champion hits a headscissors that sends Daniels to the floor and then follows him out with a suicide dive. Lethal hits a hiptoss on the floor and then throws Daniels back in for a double axe handle off the top rope for two. He whips Daniels chest first into the turnbuckles and clotheslines him to the floor. Once again Lethal hits a dive over the top rope to wipe Daniels out. Lethal has been all over the place so far. He charges at Daniels but gets caught and Daniels drops him back-first on the guardrail, and then bodyslams him for good measure. Back in the ring Daniels hits a back body drop, which apparently gives him one point. Daniels keeps looking up to “talk to the Gods” or whatever. I don’t remember that being part of his gimmick. I guess my memory isn’t what it used to be. Lethal gets a couple of quick rollups for two but then Daniels cuts him off with a leg lariat.
Daniels hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Lethal comes back with a headscissors and then a series of clotheslines and a kneelift. He snaps Daniels’s neck off the top rope (gee where did he get that from). He hits a vertical suplex with a bridge (that’s unique) for two. He keeps the pressure on, hitting an enziguiri. He misses a superkick and Daniels goes for Angel’s Wings, but Lethal reverses it to a Victory Roll for two. Lethal then hits a unique face plant move that I’m not sure what to call. He goes for a springboard move but Daniels catches him and hits a Death Valley Driver. Daniels follows up with the Best Moonsault Ever but Lethal kicks out at two! Lethal blocks the Last Rites and ducks an enziguiri, and then hits the Lethal Injection! Both men are down. Back on their feet Daniels sets Lethal on the top rope and tries a rana but Lethal hangs on and pushes Daniels down. That creates the perfect opportunity for the Macho Elbow but Daniels moves and rolls Lethal up for a two-count. Daniels again sets Lethal up on the top rope, but this time Lethal hits a Super Lethal Combination to get the pin at 11:00. I didn’t expect anything going in but that was really good. The action never stopped and the crowd was into it.
Rating: ***½
MATCH #5: Best of Three Tables Match – The Steiner Brothers vs. Team 3D
Scott cuts one of his amazing promos before the match. This is one of those matches that would have been cool to see about five years ago or so. The Steiner Brothers attack right away and control the action both in and out of the ring. Team 3D starts walking toward the back but the Steiners will have none of it as they follow them and continue beating them up. They fight through the crowd, clearing people out along the way. After several minutes they make their way back to the ring and bring a table in. Finally Devon fights back and rescues his brother. Ray and Devon then hit a quick 3D through the table on Rick to go up 1-0. They bring another table in the ring and set up for the Superbomb on Scott, but the muscular Steiner brother blocks it and hits a Super Frankensteiner on Ray through the table to tie it up at 1-1. Devon gets back in the ring and takes Scott down for a diving headbutt but misses. They continue brawling around and 3D maintains the advantage. They look to use some chairs but the Motor City Machineguns come out to distract them. That allows the Steiners to recover and hit the Steiner Bulldog on Devon through a table to get the win at 12:42. That was a pretty plodding brawl that didn’t really feel necessary.
Rating: *¾
MATCH #6: Knockouts Gauntlet Match for the TNA Knockout Championship
Ms. Brooks is entrant #1, and “Pride of Tennessee” Ms. Jackie Moore is #2. Jackie hits the only real move of the minute, a release German Suplex. Shelly Martinez is #3. Who has bigger fake thingies, Traci or Shelly? Brooks hits Shelley with the Pie in the Sky, and Awesome Kong is #4. Shelley and Brooks look worried but the veteran Jackie is not afraid. It takes Kong almost the whole minute to get to the ring. ODB is #5. Kong eliminates Shelly and Jackie eliminates Brooks. Jackie jumps right on Kong’s back, but Kong escapes and hits the Implant Buster. Kong then pitches Jackie to the floor. Tenay says that Kong has eliminated three competitors, but Jackie clearly eliminated Ms. Brooks. Angel Williams is #6, and she already has the Beautiful People music. She and ODB work together on Kong but they get overpowered. Christy Hemme is #7. She actually thinks twice about getting in the ring with Kong, but the mighty Kong gives her no choice. Gail Kim is #8, and she immediately drills Kong with a missile dropkick. Williams and ODB recover and go after Kong, as Hemme looks hurt. Kim, Williams, and ODB together are able to eliminate Kong as Talia Madison comes out at #9. She looks … different. Kim and ODB knock Williams to the floor and then tear into each other. Roxxi Laveaux completes the field at #10.
Only four Knockouts are left – ODB, Kim, Madison, and Roxxi. Kim quickly eliminates Madison and Roxxi tosses ODB to the floor and we’re down to the final two competitors around 10 minutes in. It’s a regular one-on-one match now. Kim locks on an armbar submission but Roxxi gets to the ropes. She goes up for a missile dropkick but Roxxi moves and gets a two-count. Kim comes back with the Air Raid Crash out of nowhere to get the pin and become the first Knockout Champion at 12:11. That was a lot of fun while Kong was in there, but after she left it got pretty dull. The finish totally came out of nowhere too.
Rating: **
MATCH #7: Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage
Matt Morgan is the Enforcer for this “Must Be a Winner” match. Cage tries to avoid the fired up Joe early on. Joe lets the much taller Morgan know that he’s not afraid of him. Cage finally locks up with Joe and gets slammed down to the mat on his face. Joe locks on a headlock and grinds away. He hits the running knee in the corner and tries the Face Wash but Cage moves out of the way. Cage charges but gets caught with a back elbow and then Joe hits a leg lariat off the second rope. Joe hits a big knee drop and Cage rolls to the apron. He ties Cage up in the Tree of Woe and hits a kick to the face. Cage comes back with a rake to the eyes and a kick to the face to send Joe to the floor. He tries a dive off the top rope but Joe moves and Cage crashes into the guardrail. Joe gets back in the ring to hit the Elbow Suicida. He follows up with a huge Ole Kick. Joe tries to whip Cage into the ring post but Cage is able to come back with a DDT off the ropes right on the concrete floor. Back in the ring Cage puts the boots to Joe. He hits the inverted DDT for two, but then misses a Frog Splash. They exchange strikes from their knees and Joe dumps Cage to the apron. Cage tries to slingshot his way back in the ring but Joe kicks him out of the air. He signals that he’s going to leave but Morgan won’t let him, and Joe hits a twisting plancha to wipe Cage out.
Back in the ring Cage tries a turnaround cross body off the second rope but you know how Joe feels about that. Joe then clobbers Cage with a lariat but it only gets two. He sets up for the Muscle Buster but Cage avoids it. They trade finisher attempts and it ends with Joe hitting a Buckle Bomb, and then the Big Joe Combo for two. Cage cowers in the corner and when Joe goes for mounted punches Cage catches him with a powerbomb and puts his feet on the ropes for a two-count. Joe tries the Coquina Clutch again but Cage avoids it. Cage then charges into a snap powerslam for two. He rolls to the apron and then they take it up to the middle rope, and Joe shoves Cage down to the floor! Tomko makes his way out, and Matt Morgan stands in his way. They immediately start throwing hands, distracting the referee. AJ Styles comes down and tries to interfere, but Morgan is able to stop him and then he chases Styles and Tomko to the back. In all the confusion Cage hits Joe with a kick to the junk and then the Unprettier but Joe kicks out! Cage then tries the Choke but Joe powers up and backs Cage into the corner and drills him with an enziguiri! Joe then hits the Muscle Buster and locks on the Coquina Clutch and Cage taps out at 15:46! That is actually Cage’s first loss by pin or submission in over TWO YEARS in TNA. They give Joe about a second and a half to celebrate before sending it backstage to Borash and Nash. I really hate how TNA moves so quickly from segment to segment. Some things need to sink in for a minute, and Joe ending a two year long unbeaten streak after an awesome match is one of those things. Everything about this match just worked; these two had great chemistry together and Morgan as the Enforcer was used effectively in the storyline of the match. This was a great blowoff.
Rating: ****¼
MATCH #8: Monster’s Ball Match – Raven vs. Black Reign vs. Rhino vs. Abyss
The other three don’t wait for Abyss to get down to the ring. This is the fourth-ever Monster’s Ball match; Abyss is 0-3, Rhino is 1-0, Raven is 0-2, and this is Reign’s first appearance. Raven and Reign work together and take Rhino out and then turn their attention to Abyss. Moments later Rhino makes his way back in and the brawl is on. They hit each other with stuff and Rhino is standing tall. Abyss and Reign fight up the aisle and Raven and Rhino quickly join them. They get up by the entrance and Rhino tries to Gore Abyss but he misses and crashes down to the floor. Raven is busted open. He and Reign set Abyss up on a table, and then he jumps off a balcony to drive Abyss through the table. Reign is busted open now too. He brings Abyss back to the ring and tries to pin him but Raven stops him. They trade pin attempts and pull each other off at two. Reign takes control of Raven and hits him with the Shattered Dreams. Abyss comes back with a bag of something but before he can open it Reign cuts him off with a Pedigree. Rhino makes his way back to the ring and nails Reign with a Gore. Raven then hits Rhino and Abyss with a kendo stick, and then empties the bag of tacks. James Mitchell comes down to ringside with another bag, this one full of broken glass. Raven goes for the Raven Effect but Abyss reverses it to the Black Hole Slam to get the pin at 9:06. That was just garbage for the sake of garbage.
Rating **
MATCH #9: TNA World Championship Match – Kurt Angle vs. Sting
Angle has been the champion since 6.17.07 and this is his fifth defense. These two are so mad at each other that they trade waistlocks right away. Sting goes after the arm and Angle runs for the ropes. They take it down to the mat and wrestle to a standoff. Angle knocks Sting down with a shoulderblock, and Sting comes back with a hip toss that sends Angle scurrying to the floor. Back in the ring Sting maintains control, hitting mounted punches in the corner. Everything Angle tries Sting has a counter for, and Sting clotheslines Angle back to the floor. In the ring out of the ring, wherever they’re at Sting has the advantage. Sting tries the Scorpion Death Drop but Angle counters with a release German Suplex. Angle gets aggressive now, working Sting over and going for a cover at every opportunity. He uses a body scissors to wear Sting down. Sting powers out and both men clothesline each other and they’re both down. They get up and trade right hands, and Sting gains the advantage. Sting hits a spinebuster for two. He follows up with the Stinger Splash, and then another one to the back. He slams Angle’s face into the mat and goes up to the top rope. Angle hits the pop-up super belly-to-belly suplex. Sting rolls through the Olympic Slam with a sunset flip for two. Angle then hits three rolling German Suplexes for a two-count.
The straps come down and the Ankle Lock is locked in, but Sting reverses it to the Scorpion Deathlock. Karen Angle makes her way down and distracts Sting. Kevin Nash sneaks in the ring and clotheslines Sting, and then Angle hits him with the Olympic Slam, but the referee is too distracted by Karen and Sting kicks out at two. Angle takes Sting to the top rope, but Sting knocks Angle down. Sting tries a splash but Angle gets his knees up and covers for two. Angle powerslams Sting down and goes to the top rope and tries a 450 Splash (what the hell?), but mostly just kicks Sting in the gut. That looked incredibly painful but Sting kicks out. Angle locks on the Ankle Lock but Sting rolls through it and sends Angle crashing into Nash. Sting ducks a clothesline and Angle levels the referee. Unfortunately for Sting he hits the Scorpion Death Drop but the referee is out. A third referee makes his way out but Nash pulls him to the floor before the three-count can be made. Nash gets back in the ring and attacks Sting, but of course Sting withstands the double team. Angle hits him with a low blow though, and then tries to use the baseball bat, but Sting avoids it and uses the bat himself. Nash gets hit with the bat too. Both men are busted open as Sting hits another Scorpion Death Drop to win the TNA Championship at 18:27. That was going along just fine if a bit pedestrian, but then Nash and Karen dragged it down with their copious interference. That makes Sting two for two in winning the World Title at Bound for Glory.
Rating: **¼
