Project Rewatch: TNA - The Good Shit

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnpp2VFO-VA

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Bound For Glory 2006 October 22, 2006

Taped from Detroit, MI

 

X-Division Title Match

Low Ki vs. Chris Sabin

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6uUH9riYIc

 

This match reminded me that Ki would be a PERFECT face for WWEs currently resurrected Cruiserweight Division instead of TJ Perkins. Anyone more well-versed on Kis career can correct me, but Im 99.9% certain hes gotten over in every federation hes worked, so this was a depressing reminder that he never got past the underground stardom and mainstream curtain-jerking that many of his indy peers were able to pull off in the past 5 years. It was also quite poetic to see the Mortal Kombat: Armageddon advertisements on the canvas knowing Kis influence from the Liu Kang character.

 

Despite Sabin being a Detroit native, the crowd was pretty split because of how fucking excellent Ki is. They had a damn good lockup early bringing back memories of the 2/3 falls masterpiece between Paul London and Bryan Danielson, and the champ would get the advantage with stiff kicks. Sabin cut that off pretty quickly thanks to an arm drag and La Magistral cradle, but Ki cut that off with another kick, triggering another chant. The match truly got hot when Ki had a clear advantage midway through. After stunning a standing Sabin on the apron, Ki ran the ropes, only for Sabin to take advantage and hit a springboard missile dropkick to pop the Motor City. Due to Kis delivered punishment however, Sabin couldnt follow up immediately for a pin or other attacks.

 

This gave Sabin the extended head though, allowing him to launch at Ki on the outside and then eventually hit a Cradle Shock after blocking a Ki Crusher attempt. This would be an incredible near-fall, one I had no problem with because at this time, TNA was intending for this to be its annual Granddaddy of Em All, no matter how flawed the efforts were proven to be in the long run. Sabin attempted to top that with a Super Cradle Shock, but Ki blocked it and then managed to maintain balance on just his left foot on the middle rope, while cutting off the challenger with more stiff right kicks to the chest to an incredible pop.

 

The finish was a bit anticlimactic, as instead of going on to end with the teased Super Cradle Shock, which wouldve gone a long way in cementing this event as the companys Super Bowl AND Kis status in replacing Joes role as the divisions bad-ass juggernaut, Sabin won with a surprise small package. So instead of being a terrific match, one that couldve defined this event both on its own and its long-term branding, and one that couldve defined the division and company too, this settled on being just a very good one. The crowd was quite enthusiastically on board with taking this one over the top, its just a shame a fitting finish wasn't utilized to maximize it. ***3/4

 

Hardcore Match

Rhino vs. Christian Cage

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqlq_nVEbC8

 

This could be viewed as tasteless in a world after Chris Benoit, as this storyline was based on Christian causing Rhino to suffer a number of concussions. Its ironic that it wasnt the other way around considering where both men stand a decade later. The Detroit crowd didnt seem to care about Rhino as a hometown guy, instead rooting for Christian to have underhanded advantages, including one involving a straightjacket.

 

This was somewhat similar to what the Motor City had seen just a couple weeks earlier involving the Briscoes against Samoa Joe & Homicide. Whereas in that one it started in the ring, led to a brawl to the outside, and then came back into the ring, this one started outside the building and then came to ringside. I found the Zamboni part that transitioned the match from backstage towards ringside to be a nice nod to another terrific moment in the Motor Citys rich wrestling history, that being 8 years earlier on Raw involving Steve Austin.

 

This was quite the plunder match at ringside too, as these guys took some hits in this one but also mixed in some nice cut offs and transitions. Theres an understandable degree of difficulty in watching Rhino take unprotected plunder blows to the head in a post-Benoit world, although the drama they provided honestly cant be denied. It appeared that this match surprisingly didnt lead to Christian being forced into retirement many years later, as I didnt notice any obvious blows to his head. If there was one, it wouldve been in the highlight of this spectacle when Rhino piledrove him off the apron through the table, which cranked up the crowd drama in an instant and deservedly so.

 

The finish came when Rhino was down and Christian stacked a bunch of plunder on top of Rhino, then channeled Austin at WrestleMania X-Seven, just delivering numerous blows with a chair as Mike Tenay screamed about concussions on commentary. Based on what I could see, I dont believe this particular finish actually delivered any blows to Rhinos head actually. This was definitely the right finish to establish Christian as a ruthless motherfucker, and he obviously had far more upside to eventually get reinserted back into the top mix. ***

 

Tag Titles Cage Match

AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. LAX

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4HK11FwMeI

 

For once, a tag match wont be penalized by me for tag legality reasons. Instead, this shouldve always started as a free-for-all, rather than a standard tag match involving tags at the beginning. This is after all a cage match to end a true grudge feud.

 

I enjoyed Homicide bringing a fork into this match to cut the forehead of Daniels open; Im not sure if the TNA audience had seen this part of the Notorious 187s arsenal yet at the time. Daniels would reciprocate later, only to get choked with a coat hanger, which would play into the finish.

 

Before getting into the finish, the easy highlight of the match wouldnt be a missed splash from the top of the cage by Hernandez. Instead, it would be Styles blocking Homicides Superplex attempt from the top of the cage; this caused Daniels underneath Homicide to backdrop the red-hot ROH star while Hernandez powerbombed Daniels. With Styles on top, that gave the future Hall of Famer the opportunity to surprise Hernandez with a crossbody from the top of the cage, bringing Detroit to a frenzy.

 

With Daniels eventually taken out of the equation by Konnan using the coat hanger, that left Styles prone to double-teaming, causing him to fall victim to the Kudo Driver. I was happy that was the finish, as I wouldve been so pissed off, even with this being advertised as TNA's biggest annual event, had the Kudo Driver's inevitable false finish moment not been saved for ROHs Final Battle 2006 still a couple months away.

 

While Im glad LAX won this feud to hopefully become the cornerstones of the tag division, I do wonder where this leaves Styles & Daniels individually. Theres a bit of a log jam at the top with Joe, Sting, Christian, and Kurt Angle, along with the now totally overpushed Jeff Jarrett thanks to those 4 mentioned names in the company, but the two of them are also above the current X-Division scene involving Ki, Sabin, Jay Lethal, Jerry Lynn, and Sonjay Dutt. ***1/2

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qFTYvc3HOs

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXPK4H7urOo

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY92CUJ8rEA

[El-P]

Turning Point 2004: The Good Shit

X-Division Title Match

Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin - ***1/4

Defeated Team Must Split - Cage Match

America's Most Wanted vs. Elix Skipper & Christopher Daniels - ***3/4

 

Petey Williams was such a terrible, terrible wrestler. He was the embodiement of everything wrong about the X-div and indierrific flippy wrestling. Unwatchable. Sabin wasn't much better, to be honest, he's just a spot monkey himself and hadn't progressed one bit since he debuted.

 

I was actually disappointed by the cage match, their 2003 match was much, much better. Yes, it was a good violent brawl, with double juice galore, but the way they used the big cage spots was all fucked up. You've basically got the two heels doing the top big spectacular cage spots and they succeed at it. Makes no sense. Of course this got "this is awesome" and "best match ever" chants (YAWN). Hey, AMW were supposed to be the babyface to be cheered for. Then they really didn't got much out of those two spots anyway and built into a cutesy avalanche 4 guys spot which looked awkward and ridiculous. So yeah, good brawling match but when the "let's do token holy shit spots for the sake of it" took over at the end, it totally fell apart to me.

 

That early iMPACT era was such a disaster with Petey Williams (awful worker) as X-div champ, Jeff Hardy (who is truly awful too) pushed to the top and the worst nWo rewash angle ever. And a DX invasion angle too, with WWE trolling galore. It's like despite getting rid of Russo, they decided to do the worst possible Russo style booking as far as big ideas went, without the clusterfucking and sex baiting which made it even more boring. Not to mention the last depressing and pathetic appearance of Randy Savage. Actually, the best surprise of this PPV was Abyss vs Monty Brown, which was done rather well (until the botched finish) and DDP vs Raven having a decent little match until the awful finish involving ever-useless Erik Watts. The early iMPACT era looks so terrible.

[Laz]

re: LowKi

As far as I know, he's been super over everywhere he's been given any sort of push. He was the ace of early ROH, one of the early highlights of TNA (with only Styles and Lynn overshadowing him), was a big deal for JAPW/MLW, regularly booked high for Zero-1, and his brief WWE run actually showed he had a ton of charisma that he just didn't usually tap into.

 

BFG '06 might be TNA's best overall show.

[G. Badger]

Started watching TNA in '07 and probably stopped in 2010. Thanks for doing this topic because I didn't realize TNA was capable of great wrestling.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRekBfyQAVw

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hTsM_x1dYI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq9jPw4m9-M

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Final Resolution 2005: The Good Shit

Tag Titles Match

Bobby Roode & Eric Young vs. America's Most Wanted

Some indy style tag team reffing keeps this from being perfect, but the heat in this is just off the charts and the crowd was biting on every nearfall. ****1/4

X-Division Title - Ultimate X Match

An excellent spotfest, just jaw-dropping shit left and right. What makes this one unique was the psychology of the arm for Styles causing him problems. Considering this was shortly before the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, methinks Chris Benoit watched this and wanted to show that he could somehow put on a better storytelling-based spotfest. ****1/2

 

An otherwise kinda sad PPV, with only Dustin vs Kid Kash being a good little match, but these two matches did deliver. Team Canada vs AMW was excellent, with a ridiculous sense of escalation at the end leading to a spot that did pop me and had me laugh out loud. Roode & Young are quite the fun heel team, Roode being solid and rugged and Young more Eaton-like in his bumping and offense. AMW are clearly one of the most overlooked US tag team ever, simply because they worked in TNA.

 

The Ultimate X didn't look good on paper to me. I can't stand Williams and Sabin is pretty much an indierriffic worker himself. Damn. The gimmick probably helped a lot because it gives so many spatial opportunities to do some cool stuff while keeping the focus on trying to get the belt, as opposed to ladder matches who jumped the shark as early as the late 90's. Some of the most amazing spots I've seen, but which weren't gratuitous or nonsensical. The arm-work was quite fine and played a part, with good selling too. Williams played his part well here, Sabin was efficient too and AJ, oh, AJ was terrific. Great match. I'm amazed, because I expected a good car crash at best. This is what the X-div should be built on, it's pretty unique.

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Impact – November 16, 2006

Taped from Orlando, FL

This is a prime time debut for the company’s Thursday slot, so some PPV-quality shit got hot-shotted on here, including a gimmick cage match feud-ender and a historic debut match.

Barbed Wire Cage Match

Rhino vs. Christian Cage

Time stamp 1:18:33

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYpPNB2_fbA

Good enough although the finish was cheap. Christian wore a crimson mask at some point and pretty much got decimated by Rhino not that he didn’t room to run away and be opportunistic. However, Christian would find ways to get the advantage, including cutting off Rhino on the top rope to deliver a Super Unprettier for a near-fall, and also using a straight jacket later on. Hearing in the storyline that Rhino ignored a doctor’s medical opinion to sit out due to concussions, and then the cheap finish of Christian winning because he was speared and his feet touched the floor from a fence breaking, makes this not age as well as it should have. This won’t be the last cage match of 2006 that has a cheap ending for me to shit on. ***

In a match I am unavailable to find to watch anywhere online in its entirety, be it free or purchase, be it legal or illegal, Kurt Angle wins his first-ever TNA match in the main event against Abyss, the #1 contender to the TNA Title. This is a lazy, counterproductive way to attract prime time Thursday debut ratings. There’s no excuse on the go-home show for the top title’s #1 contender to be jobbing clean, so to draw ratings and promote Angle’s dream match against Joe, and make THAT match his historic debut so people must pay their fucking money to actually see such history, have a weigh-in segment with final words and a possible white-hot brawl that surpasses all of their prior brawls.

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Genesis 2006 – November 19, 2006

Live from Orlando, FL

X-Division Title Match

Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin

Yep, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels have been thrown back into the X-Division, which rather than elevating the X-Division, is actually a demotion for the two of them. It was time here to advance the two of them up the card after their run as a tag team. The X-Division title has been a game of hot potato too. Instead of continuing the program of Chris Sabin and Low Ki after their show-stealing match the month before, it bounced from Sabin to Styles to Daniels on various episodes of Impact. Sabin has also turned heel in the meantime, which I’m not the biggest fan of both in-real time a decade ago and in retrospect. Perhaps Sabin as a cocky motherfucker for having dethroned Ki and becoming a diet version of Bryan Danielson’s ROH Title reign would’ve been a bit better, building him up as a cocky winner that the fans would be begging to see get humbled.

So Cal Val standing at the edge of the entrance ramp just so the camera can show her legs and short skirt definitely doesn’t age well a decade later as a production decision. Too blatant in its raunchiness half a decade after the Monday Night War had ended.

Sabin is pretty natural as a heel with his early dominance, and the rapport Daniels had generated with the Impact Zone audience in the past couple years definitely played a party. It’s actually astounding in retrospect that from this point, Sabin wasn’t kept in a heel role, or in the other career-highlight role of his that’s been on-again, off-again throughout his career (more on that later.)

Sabin’s cockiness was matched by the superior experience of Daniels, who was happy to go to work on the challenger. Sabin’s cut-offs were awesome though as he continued taunting the crowd and teasing but not then delivering on high-risk aerial attacks, instead getting vicious on the champion. The crowd has such respect for Daniels that Sabin doesn’t even really have to put forth much effort as a heel, but he stills does anyway. He’s fantastic cutting off the comeback attempts of Daniels.

Styles prevents Sabin from using a chair; Sabin’s attempt to break the rules is enough for Daniels to finally make a comeback. Daniels is terrific still selling Sabin’s damage as he has the heat, while also remaining focused. With that said, as soon as Daniels signals for the BME, that’s enough for Sabin to sniff it out and regain control. Sabin makes the mistake of trying to repeat a springboard DDT, which Daniels counters with a Death Valley Driver and then a follow-up BME to pop the crowd.

Sabin still has plenty of ammo left as he blocks the Angel’s Wings, but his Cradle Shock is countered by Daniels with a crucifix pin attempt. It then ends quickly when Daniels gets Sabin in a pin variation, which is a bit of an anticlimactic ending to what could’ve been an excellent match.

I hate the post-match booking as Jerry Lynn tells Sabin not to attack Daniels with a chair, instead show respect. Sabin pretends to oblige, only to sucker Daniels anyway. What I hate about this is that this means Lynn is being inserted, when I have a much better alternative: Sabin and Daniels could’ve been feuding here, but in the tag team division in a dream program pitting the Motor City Machine Guns against AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels. MCMG could’ve won that program to then move onto a Tag Titles program against LAX, while Styles and Daniels could’ve then rekindled their rivalry. ***1/2

Christian Cage vs. AJ Styles

Great match on paper to have for this event, but it was only confirmed in the past 72 hours so this has very little build. Apparently Christian hasn’t been pinned or submitted yet in his first year of TNA. Imagine him against a certain Samoan provided both come out of this event still unbeaten in TNA…

The two have a terrific lockup at the beginning, one I’d show to students if I ran a wrestling school. I’d actually hope it’s being shown at WWE’s Performance Center, as it was textbook beautiful. Once that part ended and the action really started, it continued to be tremendous. There was a scary bump when Styles lifted Christian up and the latter almost landed straight on his shoulder, but they kept business as usual going.

Christian took plenty of powders for mind games attempts. On the second one, Styles went for a successful somersault senton to pop the crowd, although the back of his left knee struck the top of a guard rail. Christian would get an extended advantage when he blocked an apron attack and forced Styles to bump on it, further damaging the legs of Styles. Christian seemingly had no real answer to cut off Styles before this.

Styles teased a comeback via a kip-up head-scissors but got quickly cut off and also missed a Stinger Splash. Mike Tenay is awesome on commentary, pointing out that Styles missed the Stinger Splash because of his leg striking the guard rail. After awhile, Styles finally cut off Christian’s assault via n Ushigoroshi, but missed a frog splash

A top-rope struggle had Styles win it via a hurricanrana. They then had a slugfest but Christian fell victim to running the ropes for Styles to hit a dropkick and more follow-up attacks. Christian begging for mercy was a false move by him, but it was mind games by Styles actually. Styles allowed a Monkey Flip and lands on the middle ropes, then hit a flawless moonsault inverted DDT.

Christian avoided an aerial attack and hit a spear, reminding me of the sadness I feel that Styles never got to face Christian’s greatest tag team partner. They sniffed out each other’s finishes so Styles hit a Pele kick for a near-fall. Christian countered another aerial attack with a powerbomb for a couple near-falls. This caused Christian to become frustrated and bring in a chair, but Daniels arrived to prevent that. Styles tried to use Christian’s positioning to bring him down for a pin, but the tug-of-war between Christian and Daniels with the chair kept Christian upright, and then he sat on Styles for the victorious pin.

I hated this finish, and even more so the post-match. As Styles and Daniels bicker, it doesn’t lead to a program between the two over the X-Division Title, which would’ve been a decent direction perhaps for them to settle who’s the better between the two and ultimate icon of the division after all. Instead, Rhino comes out and wants the two to squash their beef, not wanting them to become engaged in warfare like he’d done with his former friend Christian. Styles declines and says he doesn’t want advice, then just leaves. Why the fuck was Styles being programmed against Rhino a decade ago? Why the fuck did anyone think this was a good time for Styles to turn heel?

As for Christian vs. Styles, it was a fucking excellent match that was ruined by horrid booking that defined this entire show prior to the dream match main event to come at the end of the evening. ***3/4

Dream Match

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_madQBbghRk&t=5s

Off-the-charts atmosphere at the start of this match and for damn good reason. I fucking loved that Angle got the early advantage on a lockup and pushed Joe back to the corners. That sends a clear message that Angle has the better technique, which is further enhanced by Angle performing a single-leg takedown on Joe. This isn’t a squash match though as Joe quickly regains the advantage. That is cut off when Angle gives Joe an overhead belly-to-belly suplex.

Joe goes the outside and sweeps Angle onto the apron, then gives him the same swing into the guard rail that Styles, CM Punk, and Bryan Danielson had gotten to experience in the past. Angle’s comeback via some uppercuts is for naught when he gets overzealous and charges at Joe, eating a ring post. Joe then immediately follows that up with a suicide elbow and he’s in control from there, ramming the Hall of Famer’s head into steel ring steps.

From that point, Angle had a bleeding forehead and that allowed Joe to significantly dominate this classic. Without question, I was a dipshit not to see a decade ago how much this match elevated Joe’s stock. Joe was merciless going after Angle’s forehead cut. It was a thing of beauty to see Joe cut off Angle’s come back attempts. At this point as Joe crossfaced Angle, the crowd was engaged in fantastic dueling chants, with Angle surely feeding off of it. But no matter what, Joe would just cut off Angle, determined to make an example and cement his status as TNA’s true alpha male against his biggest star opponent to date.

This was no squash of course though, as Angle had fantastic cut offs and near-falls, while the blood drainage would prevent him from getting an extended advantage. Angle’s experience came into play, for when Joe missed a corner attack, Angle immediately hit him with rolling German Suplexes. Like Christian earlier in the night against Styles, Joe almost took a scary bump when he slipped on the last one. Angle’s vision was clearly obstructed which explained that.

Joe obviously did his homework studying Angle in the film room, countering an Angle Slam with an arm drag. A musclebuster proves to be a near-fall, which I’m fine with as the match had yet to reach a climatic point despite the amazing atmosphere provided by the audience. Angle looked to have done his homework too, blocking a Coquina Clutch and hitting an Angle Slam for a near-fall. Many fans at this point were chanting for Angle to “Make him tap!” and the Olympic gold medalist was feeding off of it, going for the ankle lock. At this point the crowd was in a frenzy. I appreciated that Joe was in position for the ankle lock due to selling the Angle Slam.

Joe managed to break the ankle lock and get angle in the Coquina Clutch for another fantastic false finish. Angle grabbed Joe’s left ankle, forcing the choke to be broken as the crowd reached a fever pitch. Joe used his weight to throw Angle over to break it, only to get overzealous again and get hit with an Angle Slam.

Angle gets the ankle lock on for a third time, then sits down to finalize it. Joe is unable to reach the ropes, and finally taps out for his first defeat during his time in TNA, a tenure that had started 17 months earlier. I’m fine with that from a storytelling standpoint, since it was the third ankle lock, which meant Angle had provided enough sustained damage to force Joe into submission.

In the post-match, Joe admits defeat and congratulates Angle for being the better man tonight, then offers a handshake and requests a rematch. In a surprise, Angle blows it off and leaves Joe. Whatever issues I had with this booking a decade ago are gone, as I can now see that this was Angle using Joe to send a message to the TNA locker room, plus it was a competitive mind game. It was easy to forget at the time, but Angle was also established for the majority of his time in WWE as a heel, sometimes a comedic coward, sometimes a brutal bastard. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe that having defeated TNA’s top dog on his first night in the company, when also combined with his success in WWE, Angle was now a cocky motherfucker that thought of himself as king shit.

Even in defeat, this match was structured to put Joe over as strongly as possible. He dominated the match, he forced Angle to bleed, he cut off Angle over and over again. It took 3 ankle lock submission attempts to force him into submission as well. That the match was only a dozen minutes or so didn’t hurt this either. While this dream match wasn’t on par with the 2005 dream matches pitting Angle against Shawn Michaels and Joe against Kenta Kobashi, this was nonetheless an excellent match elevated by an incredibly enthusiastic crowd. One fact that many others may not have grasped too is that Earl Hebner officiated this match, was brilliant to me. I firmly believe Hebner was the perfect choice for this as he and Angle would be familiar with each other’s habits from their time in WWE, ensuring as much as possible that Angle would deliver on such a big night for the company and help the former WWE Champion transition into TNA.

This is a match that I will definitely revisit again and again in the future. What it lacks in expected usual length for a PPV main event is more than made up for by a crazy crowd and intelligent match structure to keep both guys looking like bad-asses coming out of this, capped off with a post-match that left the audience wanting to see more chapters out of these two. For the first ever Kurt Angle match I’ve reviewed, while I still have reservations of what’s to come as I revisit more of his time in TNA, I am very pleased and he certainly looked like the all-time great here that many claim him to be. ****1/4

[El-P]

 

Against All Odds 2005

X-Division Title - 30 Minute Iron Man Match

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

These two found a way to top the two classics on the prior PPV, which seemed to be impossible. This was hard-hitting, cerebral, adrenaline-rushing shit. This was a game of human chess. And anytime a match goes longer than half an hour, but feels significantly shorter, you know you've hit a home run in the ring.

 

You don't say. Tremendous match. Couldn't do much better than this. All was basically perfectly executed : offense, selling, psychology, "character work", pacing, drama (with the blood on the last part leading to an amazing "finish"), booking. Pro-wrestling at its best. MOTYC. Probably MOTY in 2005. Two great workers having a classic. That's what TNA should be remembered for.

[supersonic]

Turning Point 2006 – December 10, 2006

Live from Orlando, FL

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5FEiAGSUO8

A preface:

The recent momentous decision of Goldberg humbling Brock Lesnar is one that I found comparable to Angle humbling Joe a decade earlier at Genesis 2006. It led to a huge overreaction on the part of many on both ends of the spectrum. What cannot be denied is that both decisions shared the similarity of being unforgettable for the history of their respective federations, year-defining moments for the wrestling industry, and opened a healthy discussion about giving the rub of a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut’s abrupt buzz-saw run to an already proven, established outsider.

I bring up Goldberg vs. Lesnar because for all the buzz it has gotten, for all the analysis it has gotten and will continue to get in the coming months, one thing is for certain: WWE will not be wasting the fucking rematch at Roadblock 2016 (PPV). It will not be wasted at Fast Lane 2017. It’s very obviously planned for a much, much, much bigger stage, likely WrestleMania 33. It isn’t gonna be rushed like John Cena vs. Kevin Owens turned out to be.

So rewind a decade to TNA. The Angle vs. Joe dream match was white-hot, generating all kinds of buzz and even doing some damn good business for the company. So instead of using the opportunity of Joe’s first defeat to make him stronger, angrier, more focused and determined in order to get Angle’s agreement to a rematch over a significant period of time, it just gets rushed to the next PPV just 3 weeks later. If Bound For Glory was supposed to be TNA’s WrestleMania, then there’s no excuse for Lockdown, which was under negotiations for its 2007 edition to be in a new location just like Bound For Glory 2006 had been, not to be treated as the company’s SummerSlam. With Lockdown 2007 planned to be in a new market, meaning tickets need to be sold and not in the comfortable Orlando home base, that’s the perfect event to have finally presented the Angle vs. Joe rematch, a sequel that would’ve been 5 months in the making and possibly for the TNA Title as well, serving as a compliment to the annual Lethal Lockdown spectacle. I also like the rubber match taking place at Bound For Glory 2007, making it a long-term program straight out of modern-day NJPW’s playbook. A poetic piece of storytelling would’ve fallen in TNA’s laps too, because that show would’ve been in Atlanta, where Angle had won his Olympic Gold Medal in 1996.

Instead, TNA wanted to prove on December 10, 2006, “No, Pro Wrestling NOAH, you’re going back to Misawa and giving up on Marufuji? Oh fuck off, WE’RE the kings of penny smart, dollar dumb booking!” Not only was this money rematch rushed less than an entire month after the original, but it also had some absolutely wretched booking in the weeks leading up to it, booking so bad that I am ignoring it entirely as if it never happened, and I recall there was one moment that even the TNA bookers knew was so bad it had to be ignored because otherwise it would’ve murdered interest in this rematch.

Rushing the rematch just 3 weeks after the original also left a bit of a bad taste for those who had ordered Genesis 2006 on PPV, me being among them. Such a historic PPV and dream match hadn’t been given time to resonate with the audience, we hadn’t had a chance to get a breather, analyze it to death for months, and ache, crave, and beg once again to see two of the best performers of the 2000s decade collide once again.

With that booking analysis out of the way, it’s time to review the actual rematch.

Not included in the YouTube upload is the pre-match video. I’m not a fan of Angle changing his mind about Joe’s rematch request, citing he had gotten an opportunity at an amateur rematch in the 1996 Olympics. I’d have much preferred for Angle to just keep blowing off Joe instead of going through this generosity phase. At least he says Joe deserves a rematch because of everything Joe had accomplished in TNA prior to their dream match though. Angle also admits he took Joe too lightly, explaining why Joe put him through an absolute beating. Angle goes out of his way to put Joe’s effort in their dream match over, but I still would’ve preferred him as an arrogant asshole who feels he already proven himself to Joe. “Win, lose, or draw, this is my last match against Samoa Joe.” Sure thing.

Many a decade ago said this was the quality they had hoped for in their first match. I can see why that is, since this is lengthier and the content more competitive to make this feel like a battle of equals. Even though Angle had agreed to a rematch out of respect, the two had a very competitive animosity towards one another. The ferocity of their cut-offs was something to behold and I’m surprised hasn’t spilled over into WWE more as many TNA-branded talents have jumped there in the past couple years. If the Brock Lesnar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura rematch ever happens in WWE, I’m hoping it has the grumpy demeanor of this classic.

I loved that Angle threw Joe’s face into the steel steps as a receipt from their first match. It was a great little piece of storytelling in a match packed with it. In particular, they had each other far more scouted with their trademark arsenal, not just the big signature moves, but even smaller tendencies. Angle also seemed more determined this time to make an example out of Joe, playing dirty at times in a sign of things to come.

Joe’s selling after escaping the ankle lock numerous times was top-notch. Even as he’d make comebacks, he’d limp as he’d be forced to put weight on it in around to move around, allowing Angle to stay in the match right with him. As the match reached its third act and they countered back-and-forth between the ankle lock and Coquina Clutch, it got more dramatic with each one, surging an already-energetic crowd that was stoked from the opening bell. I really appreciated that Joe not only broke out of the ankle lock so many times, but that it was more than 3, which had been the killer for him 3 weeks earlier. The tease of him giving in again was off-the-charts, just as compelling as when Shawn Michaels tried so hard to avoid tapping out at the end of his dream match against Angle at WrestleMania 21. Of course in this instance, Joe managed to actually break it and reach the ropes, elevating his stock.

Angle was equally gripping when substantially stuck in the Coquina Clutch, looking just as tempted to tap out to it as Lesnar was against CM Punk’s triangle choke years later at SummerSlam 2013. Angle is often credited as one of the few major league stars to come into TNA and give everything he possibly had to elevate TNA, and his performances so far against Joe certainly confirm that.

This was on its way to being undoubtedly superior to the first match, but I was genuinely irritated when there was a ref bump. It took me out of what was on its way to challenging or possibly surpassing Joe vs. Christopher Daniels on the first-ever Thursday night episode of Impact 8 months earlier as TNA’s best match of 2006. There’s a logic to it though, as Angle took an exaggerated shove when pushed back by Joe, so it can arguably be seen as intentional. That would explain that after Angle tapped out to the Coquina Clutch as the ref was unavailable, he kicked Joe in the groin from behind, grabbed a chair, and tried using it. The commentary said he was frustrated from having tapped out even if it wasn’t counted; I prefer to see it as Angle realizing that Joe was now on his level and he couldn’t accept that.

Angle eventually tapping out minutes later again to the Coquina Clutch to end this classic was a great moment, although obviously would’ve meant much more had this rematch been delayed and built for a more important event. Since a ref bump was brought into the equation so that Angle could cheat in an attempt to win, I actually would’ve preferred that story to be told with full gusto. Let Angle have this dirty victory to incense Joe, the fans, and the locker room. He then believes that he’s truly superior based on his success in the amateur ranks and WWE, plus he’s now gone 2-0 against the “unstoppable” Joe. Angle can keep coming up with excuses to avoid Joe’s quest for retribution, while also attempting to pull power-plays based on his star power and proven box office appeal. This allows the 3rd match to be built to for Lockdown 2007, with everyone thirsting and salivating for Joe, who’s now a complete babyface due to Angle’s bullshit, to get the elusive victory. Since Angle would’ve been avoiding Joe for so long too, that gives a storyline reason for it to be a cage match, rather than just because “every match at Lockdown is a cage match, dammit.”

Nonetheless, Angle vs. Joe II was still an excellent main event on its way to being in the tippy-top tier in TNA’s history, only to be dragged down by half-assed sports-entertainment booking that came across as being shoehorned in this match instead of organically weaved to enhance the story. ****1/4

[supersonic]

Final Resolution 2007 – January 14, 2007

Live from Orlando, FL

NWA-TNA Title Shot – 30 Minute Iron Man Match

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

This never reached a fever pitch; there were dueling chants at times, but the lack of fantastic heat proved that this rubber match definitely got the incorrect hot-shot treatment instead of being meticulously built to for a stage such as Lockdown or Bound For Glory. The story itself in the match was fine, although neither man had much of an engaging control segment or comeback.

I’ve no problem with this match having a total of 5 falls, as Don West and Mike Tenay clarified on commentary that this type of match necessitates such a strategy; why risk a broken ankle for the next 15 minutes, when one can just eat a fall and have less damage? The ankle work was solid by Angle to soften up Joe for the ankle lock and take away his base for finishers such as the musclebuster and Island Driver, but again it never felt epic.

Joe’s selling was also good but nothing spectacular. Once he was able to hit the musclebuster, it lacked the spectacle to make it meaningful; Angle reaching his foot on the ropes couldn’t come close to the Manhattan Center shaking up and down 4 months earlier when Bryan Danielson did the same thing after eating KENTA’s Go to Sleep. Joe getting Ange in the sitdown ankle lock was a nice reverse-nod to Angle’s classic against Chris Benoit at Royal Rumble 2003, and ditto towards his classic against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21 as Angle held on for dare life to avoid a tie as the clocked ticked to zero. It should come as no surprise that Angle won here, not just because TNA didn’t see the power in elevating Joe, but in storyline, Joe doesn’t have a rich Iron Man match history, while Angle did against Michaels Benoit, and Brock Lesnar. ***1/2

[El-P]

No Surrender 2005: The Good Shit

Chris Sabin vs. Samoa Joe

Great shit here, with Sabin being a great underdog, believably going toe-to-toe with the new bad-ass. Why did it work so well? Because Sabin was an established star within the X-Division. Joe was great working on the Sabin's neck, perfect for his various finishers. But Sabin wouldn't go down with a fight, even picking Joe up during a 10-punch spot in the corner and dropping him powerbomb style to an epic pop! But Joe, the student of the game he is, refused to allow Sabin to successfully execute a Cradle Shock, and the writing was on the wall from there. ****

 

Agreed. Excellent bad-ass vs underdog match. One could argue Joe didn't kill Sabin enough, but it would have been too much with Sabin's profile at this point.

 

 

Sean Waltman vs. AJ Styles

(Guest Ref - Jerry Lynn)

This was some fantastic storytelling. Coming into the match, Styles was bitter because Waltman made a business decision and betrayed him the month before in a King of the Mountain match. But that means Styles was pissed off, which always makes for an entertaining match. Waltman was great at being the default heel, although he had his fair share of supporters. Lynn did something at the end that I hate seeing from any referee - he kicked Waltman to let go of the ropes when it was a fucking rope break for him, leading directly to Styles getting the Styles Clash victory. Jerry Lynn doing his gimmick of making sure something isn't a potential MOTYC. ***3/4

 

I didn't mind Lynn's trick at the end since he stayed pretty much invisible until the final moments. Again, excellent match with Waltman doing a terrific job doing the subtle heel thingy. Aj's reverse DDT still is an issue in term of execution but apart from this, excellent work from the two.

 

 

X-Division Title Match

Christopher Daniels vs. Petey Williams

This was certainly unique, as it's not often there is a heel vs. heel matchup booked in any federation, let alone in this position. It was great seeing both men out-cheat each other, while Daniels, being the more experienced veteran, managed to work on the neck of Williams to set up for his various finishers. In the end, Team Canada got outdone in battle of chained fists, which Daniels was smart enough to plan ahead for. ***1/4

 

 

Much better than I thought it would, although Williams did grew on me and improved over the months. He's more digestible in tags, but the odd dynamic here actually helped him. By off dynamic I mean this was heel vs heel but Williams ended up being the de facto "babyface" since he was put in an underdog role, which actually suits him better since he's not good an working control stuff (lack of basic solid offense). So we get Daniels being super solid and focused on the back after a brutal powerbomb on the edge of the apron and Williams selling decently until some fiery comeback stuff. Good ending too, which put over Daniels as the super-heel.

 

Also enjoyed Raven vs Abyss from this PPV, in a brutal bloodletting which actually built over time to some sick stuff at the end. Abyss working the entire match with a bloddy ten dollar bill stapled to his forehead was quite the visual. Gotta love a super smart spot by Raven to set up the powerbomb from the turnbuckle into the tacks : Abyss is just punching Raven in the face as he's standing up on the second rope, but instead of just having Raven powerbombing him, Raven falls down on his ass after a few punches so Abyss has to grab him and get him back up, and as he does Raven pops up and powerbombs Abyss. Great stuff. Rhyno's debut as a typical Jarrett "swerve" was efficient, if nothing else.

 

D'Amore has been booking this stuff for a month or so, and TNA has indeed never been any better.

[El-P]

Unbreakable

X-Division Title Match

Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles

I was VERY skeptical about rewatching this one, expecting something quite hollow. Yes, this is a glorified spotfest. But believe me when I say that this one deserves to be glorified.

The pacing in this match was top-notch, and I appreciate the effort all three men put forth in making sure to deliver in the main event, which was the first time a TNA monthly PPV put the X-Division in such a spot. What made this work so well was the pacing - it was truly fantastic and jaw-dropping. There was hardly a dull moment in this match, and really, with the bumps these men took, I don't blame them for the rest periods.

For almost the entire match, they had the fucking crowd rocking, showcasing what so many fans on the independent scene had been able to enjoy since the 2001 King of the Indies tournament. Speaking of the independent scene, if you like to see wrestlers call back to their roots, there are two spots that stood out to me. One was Joe and Styles channeling Low Ki and Bryan Danielson in bickering over who could kick Daniels harder in the spine, paying homage to the first ever main event in ROH history. The other is far less known, but these men also used the monkey-flip into a head-scissors spot utilized in the threeway (that one involving James Gibson instead of Joe) at PWG's 2nd Annual Bicentennial Birthday Extravaganza Night 2. That one really stood out to the crowd.

What I also really appreciated so much is that even with this being a spotfest, I didn't notice any insulting lack of selling. Sure, taking bump after bump after bump may seem like a bit too much, but one could see the effort it was taking to put on this performance. This wasn't some bullshit involving the SAT or Brian XL. There were also moments when a third man would temporarily be out of the match, which to me is a good strategy while also selling the beating these men took.

I loved how Joe got taken out of the match. I loved the finish for Styles to finally humble Daniels, and damn I am looking forward to watching this feud continue. Just a fantastic match that stands the test of time. ****1/2

 

Indeed. Triple threat matches are mostly shitty and almost never great because the gimmick makes for annoying pacing and contrived stuff. These three made a great match out of it. So many cool yet smart spots worked into this formula here, amazing execution, jaw-dropping sequences. Yes, three great workers (Daniels is ridiculously underrated at this point, he's a legit great one that gets zero credit because he didn't get the token WWE years) working at their top level and getting a MOTYC out of a gimmick that prevents it on paper (unless any clusterfuck with contrived built-in spots gets raved upon, which of course happens more often than not).

[El-P]

 

Bound For Glory 2005

30 Minute Iron Man Match for the X-Division Title

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

I'd have much rather this have been a regular match that happened to go around 30 minutes, but after the rave reviews and popularity of their match eight months earlier, I understand the business reason for the 30 Minute Iron Man gimmick.

This didn't live up the original, nowhere near it. It was still really good, but Styles landing awkwardly on the steel steps likely played a hand in that. I also didn't understand the rationale for Daniels giving Styles a backdrop from the apron to the floor. It wasn't visually spectacular and did neither man any favors in terms of protecting their bodies in the long-term or in pacing the match later on.

The wrestling itself was fine, with Daniels dominating early but Styles quickly taking control for the first third of the match with headlocks. Styles would later suck up whatever injury he got from the steel steps fall, doing his signature trademark over-the-top-rope senton to the floor. After the back drop that I mentioned, it seemed Daniels had the advantage as the match ended, but Styles gave himself enough adrenaline to hit the Styles Clash and win 1-0 as the match concluded. ***3/4

 

 

It did not have the epicness of the first match, but it was still a great match. I mean, the wrestling was terrific. Great execution, great bumping, good transitions and counters, good selling. What else do you want ? The only criticism I have about this one is that after a while, anyone that has seen too much wrestling could guess it was gonna be one of two classic finish, either a draw or a last moment pinfall/submission. It was N°2, but damn it was executed perfectly, with a callback to the last three-way dance at the last PPV. Just terrific work from both. Great, leaning on MOTYC. (oh yeah, that bump on the steps looked nasty and AJ Styles really sucked it up, as he looked in pain after the match)

 

TNA under Scott D'Amore was an excellent promotion with way more good than bad and regularly great stuff.

[El-P]

 

Genesis 2005: The Good Shit

Survivor Series Style Elimination Match

Chris Sabin, Matt Bentley, Sonjay Dutt, & Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe, Alex Shelley, Roderick Strong, & Christopher Daniels

Not much to the match due to the way it was laid out, and the ref stopped enforcing tag legalities as the very end when Sabin was left with Joe & Daniels. Not usually a fan of this type of gimmick match anyway, and I probably need to see some of the earlier ones in the last 1980s to appreciate them. I certainly didn't care for the babyface Bentley, after being eliminated, sabotaging Joe from delivering a musclebuster to Sabin. Frustrating to see Shelley, Aries, and Strong get treated as second-class on the hierarchy to Bentley and Dutt.

 

Disagree completely. Very good match which took its time before the first elimination instead of rushing through falls. Strong & Aries weren't establish or even regulars so it makes sense that Bentley, who was both an established guy and getting a brand new babyface push would get above them. Also made sense he would help Sabin since they were partners. Mostly terrific work from all here, with a great post-match to boot.

 

Hardcore Match

Jeff Jarrett & America's Most Wanted vs. Team 3D & Rhino

Excellent brawl here, not much in the way of story, just six men going all over ringside and beating the shit out of each other in front of a tremendously receptive crowd, one that needed an escape on such a tragic day in the business. As someone who is watching a number of federations from this period, this seemed like a nice taste of what I can soon expect for a certain main event in ROH. ****

 

One hell of a chaotic brawl, with the added bonus of big spots being teased (and not all delivered, maybe saving them for further matches down the line). Jarrett was clearly motivated at this time, and he worked well with Rhino. D'Amore's booking has made TNA an easy product to watch, but the Spike TV debut really gave it a boost (with the debut of Team 3D then Christian) and the promotion was looking fresh and hot at this time period, with legit momentum, probably for the only time of its existence.

[supersonic]

Destination X 2007 – March 11, 2007

Live from Orlando, FL

 

NWA-TNA Title Match
Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe

 

Joe dominated early as expected, with referee Rudy Charles being liberal as they brawled through the crowd, opting not to count them out. There were some nasty bumps in this one, including Christian eating a modified Uranage on the floor that was quite audible once he landed on the ground. There were other bad bumps taken that indicated they may not have had the best chemistry, the biggest one being Joe’s face hitting the apron and/or floor during an Elbow Suicide, causing him to grab his nose and forehead.

 

The basics and standard moves were all good, and this could’ve possibly been a great PPV main event to eventually build to a money rematch. However, because this is a TNA main event and it’s not Joe going up against Kurt Angle, the trademark overbooking kicked in. X-Division stars kept Christian from retaining by count out, and there were ref bumps aplenty. That was somewhat offset by Christian overcoming a musclebuster (albeit because of a slow count) and avoiding the Coquina Clutch completely, but when compared at the time to WWE’s main event scene of John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels and Batista vs. Undertaker, this had some obvious room for improvement.

 

Rating: ***1/2

[El-P]

 

Turning Point 2005

X-Division Title Match

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Prior to starting all these rewatches, I had adamantly proclaimed for years that this was the best match in TNA history. Without seeing any 2012 material yet, and rewatching all of 2005, a case can be made for this match as the best TNA has ever hosted, but I'm not so adamant anymore. Is that a criticism of this match? Absolutely not. Styles and Christopher Daniels just had a match that many years later has held up as great as this one, and I've come to appreciate their first threeway match with Joe even more.

There were a couple of times when Styles had kickouts at 1, the second one actually catching Joe off-guard after hitting a Pearl River Plunge on the champion. Styles dug down deep not just as a man, athlete, and champion in this one, but clearly also used his anger to try so hard to keep his motor running and humble the man that had disgraced the division he had busted his ass to build. Without question, this was Joe's toughest test to date in his sixth months in TNA, and only made him more of a fearsome bad-ass in victory, securing the title when Styles passed out to the rear naked choke. I want to also acknowledge Don West and Mike Tenay's excellent commentary in telling the story of this absolutely fantastic contest. They brought their A-games in this one. ****3/4

 

Apart from Joe's ridiculous blond spots on his hair, this was a completely terrific match with a unique dynamic, as both had to take it to the other for different yet similar reasons, in that each opponent was just not like any other ones before. So it gave a sense of urgency that these two managed to keep up during the entire match without sacrifying selling nor escalating of spots. MOTYC and yet another amazing showcase in a TNA ring in 2005. (the entire PPV was really fucking good too actually. TNA on Spike circa 2005 era was excellent all around)

[El-P]

 

Final Resolution 2006

X-Division Title Match

Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels

Phenomenal storytelling match here. Daniels went after Joe early to sell his anger coming back from a concussion, but also likely channeling AJ Styles from the month before, which had been Joe's toughest match in TNA up to this point. Daniels also ducked some of Joe's devastating kicks in the early portion as well as in the finishing stretch of the match.

Daniels really brought his A-game in this one, pulling out all the stops, knocking Joe back with a forearm, and later doing a stupid slingshot elbow drop on the floor. A moment that caught my attention was after Joe powerbombed him, he struck Joe in the face to avoid the signature followup STF. Brilliant stuff. This practically proved my theory that he took it easy the day before for ROH.

Joe was equally devastating though once he got to knock Daniels around with his kicks and heavy offense. When he got the heat early, he worked on the shoulders of Daniels, a brilliant way to soften up the Fallen Angel for the musclebuster. The match though became a glorified squash about 12 minutes in when Joe gave Daniels the Ole Ole kick on the outside, giving him another concussion and busting him open.

Styles came to ringside to give Daniels an uplifting emotional boost, which worked temporarily as the Fallen Angel was able to get to the ropes while locked in a rear naked choke. However, Joe repeatedly hit the knees to the bleeding head of Daniels, leaving Styles with no choice but to literally throw a towel into the ring out of concern for his colleague. Fuck I wish we'd have gotten Joe vs. Brock Lesnar at this time. ****1/4

 

Great work from both and great match indeed.

 

I do have an issue with the finish though in that the referee looked totally inept. First, he doesn't do shit to prevent the muscle buster on the chair. Hum… DQ maybe ? I know it was out of fashion in 2005, but that was as good a time to reinforce the rules. He could also have kicked in the chair, instead he looked like an idiot while Joe took his sweet time to concuss Daniels. Even worse, when we get to the (awesome) beatdown, the ref, again, doesn't do shit and just stands there horrified. AJ throwing the towel was nice and all, but what authority odes he have ? Anyone can throw a towel and the match ends ? Doesn't make sense. The referee looked like a complete idiot, like most TNA ref do anyway and it hurts the finish of the match to me. So, great match but the booking was dubious (not as bad as in the tag team match though with the worst Dusty finish ever).

 

Also, the crowd was rotten with dueling chants despite the extremely clear heel/face dynamic and even "One more time !" after the muscle buster concussion spot. (And they also chanted "You still got it" at Sting later, so there you go, the TNA crowd seems to be the origin of the worst tendencies of these last 15 years since they also originated "This is awesome" it seems)

[El-P]

Not a match, but Sting's promo on 01/28/06 iMPACT is arguably the best of his career up until that point. Of course, they just ignore the few PPV appearance he made for the promotion a few years earlier and play it straight like he's back from the last Nitro, but the whole "I came back to be able to say goodbye", while putting over the promotion and leaving his bat in the middle of the ring was excellent stuff. He also did a good job playing of the "You deserve it" chant with mesured emotion (as in, not like Shawn Michaels would have done). Really, great promo from Sting and super well done segment, with Christian telling him to stay when they hug at the top of the ramp.

[El-P]

Against All Odds 2006

X-Division Title Match

Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Not quite on par with the Unbreakable main event, but this was another great spotfest that was laid out and executed incredibly well. (...) Just an incredible match here to reinforce that Styles and Daniels were no longer the kings of the X-Division, no matter how great their efforts would be against the monster Joe. ****

 

Agreed. Very different from their earlier one, much more spotfest oriented. And yes, a great one at that. A great workrate match, basically (and no, it's not a dirty word). These three were just on another level as anyone else at this period, piling up great matches after great matches. For their run alone, TNA can't be called the worst promotion ever (and really, the entire promotion has been very good since the debut on Spike). Finish was particulary smart, with Joe taking advantage of a mistake of Daniels & AJ going at each other while Daniels was on the outside and AJ on the top rope, which allowed Joe to execute his Muscle Buster on AJ while Daniels was too far to interfere.

 

The main event of Jeff Jarrett vs Christian Cage was a quite the fun Double J Special too, with solid work and well timed Gail Kim interferences (and overall work), only marred a bit by a terribly overdone job by Earl Hebner who debuted that night (so they had to work a quasi-Montreal spot). I admit I grew a likening for the Double J Special formula at this point when it's done well, which was the case here. Perfect feel-good post-match too. They made a really good job with C.Cage thus far.