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Universal Studios – Orlando, Florida – November 19, 2006
Mike Tenay and Don West are on commentary.
PRESHOW MATCH: Robert Roode Open Challenge
Eric Young is out to talk about some big announcement he has, but before he can make it he is interrupted by Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks. Roode challenges Young to take the Open Challenge. Young is a bit hesitant so Roode hits him in the head with the microphone and flings him over the barricade. In the ring Roode stomps away and keeps Young on the mat. Young fights back with some pinning combinations for two-counts. He then runs right into a Spinebuster and Roode gets two. Roode locks on a Sleeper but Young reverses to one of his own. After more reversals Young hits Roode with a Thesz Press. Young tries the Flair Flip but fails badly at it. Even so he’s able to hit Roode with a top rope elbow drop for a near-fall. Brooks gets on the apron and uses her jugs to distract Young, allowing Roode to roll through a cross body block and put his feet on the ropes to get the pin at 3:49. However, the fans tell referee Rudy Charles what happened, so he orders the match to be restarted. Roode is rightfully upset, and that gives Young the chance to execute a rollup with his feet on the ropes to get the pin at 0:22. (4:11 total). How does Roode know that Young had his feet on the ropes? Does it feel different than a normal rollup?
Rating: ¾*
MATCH #1: Voodoo Kin Mafia vs. Matt Bentley, Johnny Devine & Kazarian
Bentley and BG James star the match. The oddly-dressed trio takes the early advantage, using the numbers game of course. Eventually a lukewarm tag is made and Kip James cleans house. Kip hits a Pedigree and then mocks Shawn Michaels too. This was part of the VKM versus DX feud that drew huge money for TNA, remember? Kip hits Devine with The One and Only to get the win at 3:40. At least they kept it short. That was more like an Impact match.
Rating: *
After the match VKM says they’re going to do something outlandish on Thursday night’s Impact, and then Mike and Don run down the card. Then Bentley, Devine, and Kazarian make their way back out and Raven reveals himself as their spiritual leader. Raven hits Devine with a kendo stick repeatedly, punishing him for losing the match.
MATCH #2: The Naturals vs. Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt
The Naturals attack their opponents right away, much to the delight of their trainer, “The Franchise” Shane Douglas. Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas are former two-time NWA World Tag Team Champions, while Lethal and Dutt have yet to taste gold in TNA. The babyfaces weather the initial onslaught and wipe the Naturals out with simultaneous dives to the floor. Back in the ring Lethal and Dutt go to work on Stevens, who makes the comeback with a blatant low blow right in front of the referee. I hate that. Lethal takes quite a bit of punishment before making the hot tag and Dutt cleans house. Dutt and Lethal isolate on Stevens and unleash a flurry of double-team moves but Stevens won’t stay down. Douglas interferes from the floor to give the Naturals the chance to hit a sloppy Doomsday Missile Dropkick to get the win at 8:17. More Impact stuff here, but at least it was solid formula.
Rating: **¼
MATCH #3: X Division Championship Match – Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin
Daniels has been the champion since 11.16.06, and this is his first defense. Both of these men have held the X Division Title on three separate occasions. They start off with some back and forth chain wrestling. Daniels takes the advantage so Sabin takes a powder, and when he gets back in the ring Daniels goes right back on offense. Sabin comes back with kicks that send Daniels to the floor. Now the challenger takes control and wears Daniels down. Sabin tries to introduce a steel chair but AJ Styles comes running out to his friend’s aid and stops Sabin. That gives Daniels the chance to wipe Sabin out with a dive to the floor. Back in the ring Daniels is on fire, hitting an STO, a Palm Strike, and the Iconoclasm for two. Daniels goes for the Best moonsault Ever but Sabin blocks it and hits a huge springboard DDT for a near-fall. Sabin hits a sitout powerbomb but still can’t pin the champion. Daniels fights back with a Death Valley Driver and then connects with the BME but Sabin kicks out! Sabin connects with a running Yakuza Kick in the corner. He goes for Cradle Shock and Daniels counters with a crucifix pin for a close near-fall. Sabin tries a Hurricane DDT but Daniels counters with a cradle to get the pin at 13:26. That was a good match from two guys who can pretty much have a good match with anyone, but the finish seemed off.
Rating: ***¼
MATCH #4: Ron “The Truth” Killings & Lance Hoyt vs. Alex Shelley & Austin Starr
Truth and Shelley start the match cautiously as Kevin Nash tells lies on commentary. Shelley runs right into a Flatliner so he runs over and makes the tag. Hoyt and Truth are able to take control of Starr with some double-team moves. They pretty much dominate with their size and strength. Hoyt goes up for a Moonsault but Shelley knocks him down, and now the Paparazzi Productions team takes control. Shelley and Starr wisely keep the much larger Hoyt on the mat and work on his leg. Finally Truth gets the hot tag and he’s on fire. The mach breaks down and the referee has lost control. Starr takes Truth out with the Heat Seeking Missile, and Shelley lands a hard Frog Splash on Hoyt’s leg. Shelley tells Starr to get the camera on him, and that momentary distraction is enough for Hoyt to grab an inside cradle for the quick pin at 11:09. This lacked spark, as the story was all Shelley versus Starr so the opponents meant nothing.
Rating: **
MATCH #5: AJ Styles vs. Christian Cage
They trade control often in the early going, as they appear to be pretty evenly matched. Finishers get attempted early on but neither man can connect and Cage takes a powder. Back in the ring Styles goes right back on offense so Cage powders again. This time Styles follows him out with a flip dive over the top rope. Cage is able to cut Styles off and goes to work on his back, keeping him on the mat. Styles fights back with a neckbreaker, but then misses a Frog Splash. Cage goes up top and Styles joins him up there to take him down with a hurricanrana. They get up to their feet trading strikes and Styles hits The Dropkick. Cage tries to beg off but Styles hits the springboard flip-over inverted DDT for a two-count. Styles goes up to the top rope but Cage avoids the dive and hits a Spear for two. A series of reversals ends with Styles hitting the Pele for a near-fall. Styles tries a springboard rana but Cage catches him with a powerbomb for a two-count. Cage threatens to use a chair so Christopher Daniels comes out to make the save, but it ends up backfiring, as Cage uses the chair to balance himself against Styles’ sunset flip attempt and drops down to get the pin at 15:47. That was a great back-and-forth display from two guys with great chemistry. The finish was clever too.
Rating: ***¾
Styles and Daniels bicker after the match, naturally, so the X Division guys come out to separate them. Rhino comes out to play peacemaker for some reason. He wants them to shake and make up, which Daniels agrees with, but Styles gets rightfully annoyed with Rhino for sticking his nose in his business.
MATCH #6: World Tag Team Title Match – LAX vs. America’s Most Wanted
Homicide and Hernandez have been the champions since 10.22.06, and this is their second defense. This is the feud where Konnan threatened to burn the American flag. The promo by AMW before the match is startlingly racist. I don’t heat an opening bell, but the match starts as a brawl outside the ring. The challengers dominate in the opening minutes. Hernandez makes the comeback using his power and LAX isolates Harris in their part of the ring. After a few minutes Storm gets the hot tag. This has all been pretty awkward looking; something seems off with these guys. Control continues to shift back and forth and no real rhythm has been established. AMW hits Hernandez with the Death Sentence but Konnan has the referee distracted. Homicide then cracks Storm over the back of the head with a blowtorch, allowing Hernandez to get the win at 9:30. This was pretty ugly.
Rating: *¼
The LAX rampage continues after the bell. Homicide threatens to hit Gail Kim with the Gringo Killer but Petey Williams comes out to make the save. Jim Cornette also comes out to announce that because they threatened to burn the flag, he strips them of the NWA World Tag Team Titles. The crowd actually and rightfully BOOS Cornette for that announcement and chant “Bullshit,” which it is. What a stupid angle.
MATCH #7: World Heavyweight Title Match – Sting vs. Abyss
Sting has been the champion since 10.22.06, and this is his first defense. They don’t even wait for the special ring introductions to start the fight. Sting uses his baseball bat to clothesline Abyss to the floor. I guess this is a No-Disqualification match. They fight up into the crowd, which the Impact Zone always loves. Tables get set up and Abyss sets a barbed wire board on top of one. Abyss signals for a powerbomb but Mitchell talks him out of it and they fight back towards the ring. Sting fights back with a succession of Stinger Splashes and then attacks the big man’s leg. He goes up top and hits a Superfly Splash for two. The title belt gets involved but referee Rudy Charles quickly disposes of it. Sting then locks on the Scorpion Deathlock and Abyss has to reach the ropes. Abyss quickly recovers and hits a Black Hole Slam but it only gets two. The referee gets bumped so Abyss grabs tacks and Sting grabs his bat. Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop and the referee recovers enough to count so James Mitchell pulls him to the floor before the three-count. The champion grabs the bag of tacks and spreads them out, but he pays for it when Abyss Chokeslams him right onto the pile! Sting takes this opportunity to no-sell thumbtacks and once again locks on the Scorpion Deathlock and Mitchell distracts the referee so Sting puts the hold on him. Abyss wanders up the aisle and Sting ties him up and hangs him upside down. This takes forever and kills the crowd. Sting then whacks Abyss with a chair repeatedly, right in front of the referee. They fight up the aisle again and Sting threatens to push Abyss through the barbed wire table. The referee tries to get Sting to stop and Sting clotheslines him and gets disqualified at 15:16. Sting then pushes Abyss off the ramp and through said table. If the match wasn’t boring enough and the finish not stupid enough, they also resurrect the “titles change hands on a disqualification” rule and award the championship to Abyss. I hate that because in December 2003, Sting beat NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett by disqualification and he did not win the title. I hate TNA sometimes.
Rating: ¼*
MATCH #8: Dream Match of the Decade – Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe
TNA did a great job making this match seem like a big deal. Both men are aggressive in the early going, and Angle strikes with the first suplex and then clotheslines Joe to the floor. Joe grabs Angle and swings him into the guardrail as a response. Back in the ring Joe mostly stays in control, but Angle isn’t really selling the guardrail at all. Joe knocks Angle to the floor and follows him with an elbow suicida. He hurls Angle into the ring steps and then argues with the referee. Angle’s head is busted open as he makes his way back in the ring. Joe looks confident as he attacks his wounded adversary. Angle is quite the bloody mess but he’s able to comeback with a DDT from out of nowhere to score a two-count. They rise to their feet and trade punches and Angle starts reeling off rolling German Suplexes for another count of two. Joe fights back and hits the Muscle Buster but Angle amazingly kicks out! Angle responds with an Olympic Slam but it only gets two. The straps come down and the Ankle Lock is on. Joe is able to reverse it to the Choke, but Angle counters that counter back to the Ankle Lock, and Joe rolls out of that. Angle hits another Olympic Slam and puts the straps back up just so he can pull them down again. He locks on the Ankle Lock and grapevines the leg. This time Joe has to tap out at 13:33. I thought it would be longer but they certainly packed a ton of action into that amount of time. The crowd was super hot and this really felt like a big deal. That pretty much lived up to the hype.
Rating: ****¼
Joe immediately asks for a rematch and the crowd very much wants to see it. Angle does not shake Joe’s hand and rather walks away. Joe’s undefeated streak that started on June 19, 2005, is now over.
