My TNA Monthly Catch-up, Mar - Apr 08

Has it really been a month since this last one? Actually it feels slightly longer because it was. As usual the normal caveats apply to the review. These are my opinions, I may swear or use strong language. If my views or method of speech offend or you don't like what I've got to say then don't read this. I will answer any feedback to the catch-up.

Impact 13th Mar 08 - Show opens with Jim Cornette telling us about matches for Lockdown.

Lockdown X Division X-scape qualifying match, Petey Williams with Rhaka Khan (Steiners valet) vs Curry Man. Chris Daniels is certainly having fun as Curry Man & is so over right now it's unreal. This was a really good & even match, it was too much to expect a clean finish with Khan distracting the ref but Curry Man got the eventual win.

Tag Match, Rellik & Black Reign vs The Motor City Machine Guns. This was the heels running things from the bell until Shelley made a nice double DDT. Sabin's mega head scissors looked great, Rellik won off a very hard looking clothesline.

Non-title match, Kaz vs Kurt Angle. This match was mainly Kaz until Angle took the win off the ankle lock. Rubbish match really.

Mixed 6 person Tag Match, Lance Hoyt, Jimmy Rave & Christy Hemme vs LAX & Salinas. This was mostly the guys working each other (quite well for both teams looking a lot better than usual to be honest!) but Jimmy Rave totally didn't want to be involved in the Gringo Killer (Homicide had to try and hook it twice before Rave bailed out to tag Hemme). Salinas must be pretty tough to take that shot from the plastic guitar across the back & Hemme got the win.

Velvet Sky vs Gail Kim. This was a good match for Velvet Sky, Kim was putting her over & selling everything though Sky no-sold a dropkick rather badly. She totally didn't want to sell Kim's monkeyflip out of the corner either (Almost like she didn't trust Kim not to hurt her I felt). Even with the mild ref distraction from Angelina Love outside the ring Kim still took the win. Sky needs to trust the people she's working with more & sell better. The double-team from Love & Sky was better than the match & the action between Kim & Awesome Kong after the match was good too.

Tag Match, Christian Cage & Kevin Nash vs AJ Styles & Tomko. Cage's early powerbomb on AJ was nice as was his tornado DDT on Tomko (well sold too!). This was a half decent match until Team 3d made their run-in with the match ending in a DQ. No-one was mentioning that 3d had been fired at the last PPV though? Has something happened there that I probably fastforwarded through, reversing their firing?

Impact 20th Mar 08 - Show starts with Booker T & Sharmell with Robert Roode & Peyton Banks interrupting.

Tag Match, Scott Steiner & Petey Williams vs Kaz & Eric Young. It was a decent enough match, Kaz & Williams giving the best action by far. Young being distracted by Rellik & Black Reign then taking a nice bump from Steiner who took the win. It would have been better if it were a bit shorter though.

Tomko vs Rhyno. Pretty c**p, Tomko got the won after AJ Styles interfered. The post match stuff was s**t too.

Lockdown X Division X-scape qualifying match, Sonjay Dutt vs Homicide. With Dutt's thing with SoCal Val still ongoing it was pretty certain he'd win this to go onto the PPV @ Lockdown. Dutt's "fall" looked WAY too put on & was an obvious fakeout to get the predictable win.

AJ Styles vs Booker T. This was one of AJ's better matches in recent months, classic moves & Booker selling everything & looking pretty damn sharp with his own moves too. Booker T took the win off a roll-up after Sharmell ran Peyton Banks out of the ringside area with a belt.

Knockout Tag Match, Angelina Love & Velvet Sky vs ODB & Gail Kim. This match is a result of the altercations after Kim's match with Sky last week. Kim & ODB made a good team, Love was the better part of her team selling some great moves & bumps. Sky was having a lot more communication with Kim this week & looked a lot sharper & less sloppy than she did last week so she certainly learned from her mistakes & improved hugely. ODB took the win off a great running powerslam. It was a shame it took them a week to let Roxxi Laveaux take revenge from last week, they could have easily included her in last weeks post match fighting & this week as well.

Kurt Angle sparring session. Ephram Sims, John Davis, Frank Siaso & Corey Chavis jobbing to Angle. (I am sorry if I have spelt names wrong, none were displayed) Tag Match, Team 3d (who are still sacked but working?) vs Rhyno & Christian Cage. It's a bit unfair on Rhyno as he's already had 1 match AND a beatdown tonight. This actually wasn't a bad match but totally didn't need the interference by Tomko & Styles. (It doesn't add anything to the upcoming PPV & a clean finish with Cage & Rhyno winning would have made it even more exciting for Lockdown). Call it a DQ against 3d with beatdowns on half the faces on the roster afterwards.

Impact 27th Mar 08 - Show opens with Booker T & Tracey Brooks beating down Robert Roode & Peyton Banks.

Lockdown X Division X-scape qualifying match, Johnny Devine vs Alex Shelley. With Team 3d at ringside this always appeared like it was going to be very 1 sided against Shelley. Even with 3d leaving after Sting's music scared them off Devine won after using the camera stand as a weapon.

6 Person Mixed Tag Match, Scott Steiner, Petey Williams & Rhaka Khan vs LAX & Salinas. Short & pretty rubbish with Homicide taking the win for his team.

Kurt Angle Spars (yet again). Well we'd already seen this c**p last week but the change this week is he's working 2 of his team mates, AJ Styles & Tomko. 1st minute with Tomko, no win but Tomko was blooded. 1st minute with AJ who never even engaged him. Back to Tomko again, who was a lot more aggressive. Styles back in, at least this time AJ made contact a few times. No pins or submissions made. Sting came back to save Cage, Nash & Rhyno.

1st Blood Match (chosen by fans), Robert Roode vs Booker T. Not a great match, both guys sold & bumped hard. Booker won.

Knockout Womens Championship Title Match, Awesome Kong vs ODB (chosen by fans). A good even match with both women getting a fair chance to show their stuff, Kong getting a rather predictable win though.

8 Man Tag Grudge Match, Team 3d (who are still sacked), AJ Styles & Tomko vs Christian Cage, Rhyno, Kevin Nash & Sting. Basically this is TNA giving you a preview of Lockdown for nothing. This was a nice decently paced match, not too fast but not exactly slow either. Everyone getting involved, even Nash actually looked decent working better than I usually expect from him. Tomko worked pretty hard considering what he'd already gone through earlier with Kurt Angle. Ref Hebner was having a bloody AWFUL match, badly out of position several times (most notably almost getting hit during the Stinger Splash & being totally out of position to count Sting's pin on Tomko). Sting took the win for his team, the stuff after the bell was s**t.

Impact 3rd Apr 08 - Show opens with Team Tomko boring us on the mic.

8 Man Tag Match, The Monsters Of Rock (Lance Hoyt, Jimmy Rave, Black Reign & Rellik) vs The Motor City Machine Guns & LAX. I'm not sure who thought Rock & Rave would team well with Rellik & Black Reign (actually I do, he's a f**kwit called Russo) but I say it was a bad idea as those guys just aren't the type to team with anybody. Mind you I really didn't believe LAX would tag well with Shelley & Sabin as they've feuded so much before in the past. I assumed all the screaming was coming from that noisy b***h Hemme? Hernandez got the pin.

Tag Match, Rhyno & Christian Cage vs AJ Styles & Tomko. Why is it Cage works harder as a face? He puts in more effort & generally has better matches than when he's a heel. This was shaping up to be a good match until Rhyno lost it & gored the ref. The win went to Tomko & Styles off the DQ, 3d ran in to prevent the beatdown but Nash saved his team.

Lockdown X Division X-scape qualifying match, Elix Skipper vs Shark Boy. Skipper was going to job to Shark Boy to put him over some more? He's nicer than I thought being willing to job here. I was assuming the win would go to Shark Boy with his push & with Curry Man already through. Clearly the noisy screamer was someone in the crowd as it was going on in the last match & this one too, security should really be throwing someone like that out of the building for spoiling the event for everyone else. Shark Boy got the predicted win.

1 Fall Knockout Grudge Match, Peyton Banks vs Traci Brooks. Brooks certainly came dressed to wrestle & is always the better & more experienced worker of these 2 (mind you, that's not saying much). Brooks got the eventual win, what's the deal with Angelina Love & Velvet Sky though? They've done over Roxxi, Gail Kim & now Brooks.

Steiner claims his title shot. It's a shame he's got such a f**king s***ty memory, he won an X-Division title shot & stole the other case. F**k you Steiner, hopefully Cornette has a better memory.

Grudge Match, James Storm vs Sting. I'm not sure why Storm is worthy of a main event in any show even if it is against Sting. Sting seemed happy to put Storm over for the large majority of this match but took the eventual win with some help from Matt Morgan who is now the 5th member of Team Cage for Lockdown.

Impact 10th Apr 08 - Team Tomko come out to bore us on the mic.

Lockdown X Division X-scape qualifying match, Jimmy Rave vs Consequences Creed. (They've been doing video inserts of this guy over the last few weeks. A bad idea until he's proved himself because this could easily be Triton all over again). Creed has worked in TNA before (with Ron Killings replacing Pacman Jones) but I can't remember if he was any good or not. He looked ok, selling well for Rave by taking some good looking bumps. Creed took a nice win off his DDT.

Scott Steiner & Petey Williams vs The Motor City Machine Guns. Sabin & Williams started the match off very well, working better together than I've ever seen them pulling new moves every week. Williams got the win but the Guns were the much better team here.

Knockout Match, Angelina Love (with Velvet Sky in tow) vs Roxxi Laveaux. Well this was Roxxi's chance to get a bit of payback for the beatdown she got a few weeks back. This was mainly Love on top & dishing it out to Roxxi with the extra help from Sky outside the ring. Roxxi took a great win off the voodoo drop after causing Love to bump Sky off the apron.

Black Reign vs Super Eric (Eric Young running his c***py superhero gimmick). Reign had the edge at the start jumping Eric, but Eric took the win only to get jumped by Rellik. It took Kaz to make the save but this gimmick is already old & will hopefully die faster than Triton's push did.

Tag Match, Team 3d vs Sting & Kevin Nash. Yet another match that was shaping up to be really good until Tomko & Styles ran in. Sting & Nash get a win off a DQ but a beatdown too only to be saved by Cage & Rhyno, Storm came out for his team & Morgan evened things up.

Lockdown PPV 2008 - X Division Title X-scape Match. Curry Man vs Johnny Devine vs Consequences Creed vs Sonjay Dutt vs Shark Boy vs Jay Lethal (still running the worst gimmick in TNA ever). Basically the match starts out as normal winning of pin or submission until only 2 guys are left then whoever escapes the cage and touches the ground 1st wins the title. Dutt & Lethal were basically acting as a team here against everyone else for the start of the match. Johnny Devine pinned Sonjay Dutt (well that throws that possible feud out of the window for another month then), Consequences Creed pinned Shark Boy (So there goes his push for another month), Curry Man's moonsault off the top of the cage was awesome! Curry Man pinned Consequences Creed off the Spice Rack (which he totally wasn't selling as he clearly didn't trust Daniels 1 iota!). Johnny Devine pinned Curry Man (why Devine didn't let Daniels pin Lethal is totally beyond me, he'd had gotten a huge advantage in escaping the cage that way - utter f**kwit!). Lethal took the win retaining his title by going through the cage door. (Was Daniels hurt because he was still flat on his back in the ring after this had finished?).

Queen Of The Cage Match - Christy Hemme vs Salinas vs Jacqueline vs Traci Brooks vs Angelina Love vs Velvet Sky vs Rhaka Khan vs Roxxi Laveaux. Basically this is a reverse Battle Royal, all the women start outside the cage and the 1st 2 inside then get to fight in a standard match to pinfall or submission. Winner of this will also be declared the #1 contender for the womens title & earn the title Queen Of The Cage. Love & Sky jumped Roxxi (no shock there really). Angelina Love was 1st into the cage with Roxxi Laveaux taking the other spot in the match. At least this was going to be the fairest match Roxxi could get against Love with the cage there & no real chance of outside interference from Velvet Sky. This match was very equal, neither women on top for too long at any 1 time but Roxxi took the win off the Voodoo Drop to become #1 contender & Queen Of The Cage.

Grudge Match, BG James vs Kip James. This is a match of 1st's for BG, not only no classic old school mic intro & up against his long standing partner & friend Kip too. Kip took control from the bell & it was mostly him on top until BG used the low blow. BG took the win off a roll-up after Kip missed the super kick. The post match clothesline swerve from Kip was pretty predictable to be honest as well.

Cuffed In The Cage Match. Basically this is 12 guys (6 tag teams) and only 11 sets of handcuffs, the object being to be the team who don't get handcuffed to win. Lance Hoyt & Jimmy Rave vs Kaz & Eric Young (who got jumped backstage by Rellik & Black Reign so it left Kaz alone predictably setting it up later for Super Eric to come out) vs Rellik & Black Reign vs The Motor City Machine Guns vs LAX vs Petey Williams & Scott Steiner. After starting the match with a big charge Scott Steiner was 1st to be cuffed (by Rellik because everybody ganged up on him).

Young came out shortly afterwards only to go backstage again when faced with Rellik & Black Reign. Alex Shelley was 2nd to be cuffed (by Petey Williams), Chris Sabin was 3rd to be cuffed (by Kaz) eliminating The Motor City Machine Guns. Petey Williams was 4th to be cuffed (by Black Reign) eliminating their team, Homicide was 5th to be cuffed (by Rellik). Hernandez was 6th to be cuffed (by Black Reign) eliminating LAX, Kaz was 7th to be cuffed (by Black Reign).

The crowd were a bit quick chanting "Super Eric" as his music didn't kick in until a few seconds later but his crossbody block off the top of the cage was possibly the best move I've ever seen Eric do in his whole career. Jimmy Rave was 8th to be cuffed (by Super Eric), Lance Hoyt was 9th to be cuffed (by Super Eric). Rellik & Black Reign double teamed Super Eric for a bit but with a bit of misdirection Rellik was 10th to be cuffed (by Black Reign thinking he was cuffing Super Eric). Black Reign was 11th & last to be cuffed (by Super Eric) after taking the super driver to leave Super Eric getting the win for him & Kaz.

TNA Knockout Tag Team Grudge Match, Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs Gail Kim & ODB. This would be the 1st time we've seen Saeed out of the burkha & wrestling since coming to TNA. Actually we didn't see her out of the burkha (which is a shame as I'd love to see what she actually looks like!). Sadly there was no title on the line here but you've got a decent line-up & 1 unknown factor in Saeed. Saeed turns out to be a damn good worker with a good array of moves & able to bump well too. Kim's wicked hurricanrana off the top of the cage on Saeed was f**king incredible. Kong took out her own partner with the spinning fist into a nice dropkick off the top turn-buckle from Kim with ODB taking the win off a frogsplash off the top rope on Saeed to win for her team. Great match!

Mixed Tag Team Grudge Match, Peyton Banks & Robert Roode vs Booker T & Sharmell. Roode was on top from the start, Booker was making him look good (for a change) with Booker selling a very good looking Spinebuster from Roode. I didn't expect Sharmell to do much but it was quite a surprise for her to take the win off Peyton Banks
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10 Man Lethal Lockdown Match - Team Cage vs Team Tomko. Basically the 1st 2 guys wrestle for 5 mins then 1 other person comes in every 2 mins until everyone's in the ring, only then can anyone be pinned or submit. I think Dusty Rhodes invented this match for NWA/WCW?

Christian Cage started off against AJ Styles. Styles was on top from the bell after sneaking into the cage while Cage was watching Tomko come down the ramp thinking he was their 1st guy. 2nd for Team Tomko was Brother Ray. 2nd for Team Cage was Rhyno. 3rd for Team Tomko was James Storm. 3rd for Team Cage was Kevin Nash just after Cage had been knocked off the outside of the cage by Brother Ray. Cage's crossbody block off the top of the cage was pretty damn awesome (nailing James Storm & Bubba Ray). 4th for Team Tomko was Brother Devon. 4th for Team Cage was Matt Morgan. The 5th & final member of Team Tomko was Tomko saving himself until last. The 5th & final member of Team Cage was Sting. The fight on top of the cage between Storm & Christian was excellent, as was AJ Styles & Christian falling off a ladder through a table on top of the cage! Rhyno eventually won off the gore on James Storm. Great match!

TNA Heavyweight Title Match, Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe. If Joe loses he's leaving wrestling forever. Angle wasn't dressed to wrestle, he was ready for a more MMA style fight with taped hands, feet & ankles. Joe had been training with an MMA guy and they had another doing colour with West & Tenay. This was mostly mat based wrestling, hold & counter hold.

Submission & Counter submission. Nothing super exciting or high flying, nothing fast or frantic either. Joe eventually took the win off the musclebuster to become the new TNA Heavyweight Champion & about time too!

This past months Impacts & PPV more than made up for the awful Russo inspired shows of last month which almost had me stopping watching TNA altogether. Well done on finding the spark again TNA.