Ladies & gentleman, presenting my FINAL original TNA Catch-Up. I very clearly stated a few days ago if the 6 sided ring went so did I. It was no idle threat. This will the last TNA new show I review. Anything appearing after this point will be reviews of old shows in order to fill the gap of shows I never reviewed when I started watching TNA.
Show opens with the lights being kept right down as Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff come out to reveal what most fans had already guessed & speculated about - the ring is now changed to a standard 4 sided ring. The Impact Zone redesign now also features only 1 entrance tunnel. Hogans welcome to "the brand new Impact Zone" got a massive boo and a "We want 6 sides" chant & Hogan told us we're stuck with it whether we like it or not. Taz marked for the 4 sided ring & Mike Tenay avoided commenting at all.
X Division Championship Match, Amazing Red vs An Unknown Challenger - Who turned out to be Brian Kendrick, how the f**k is he worthy of a title shot coming into the company from nowhere to get a title shot on a PPV too! Kendrick had an ok match but Red got hurt at least twice (his Cross Body off the top rope onto Kendrick on the floor also hitting the guard rail & his Head Scissors where he hurt his leg) but Amazing Red took the win to retain his title off The Code Red.
Backstage segment of Hogan & Bischoff lecturing Waltman, Hall & Nash to win.
Sean Morley vs Daniels - Morley is pretty lucky to be getting a PPV match as his very 1st match in TNA, I dont recall ever seeing Morley wrestle against anyone who wasn't jobbing to him as Val Venis in the WWE so I have no idea if the guy can even work or not. I found it hard to believe Daniels was going to job here but he kept the match on the ground & fairly slow so Morley didn't look like a complete cunt at least, Daniels did sell hurt as Morley was hitting a few power moves (what were the fans chanting when Daniels had the Koji Clutch on? It must have been funny because others were laughing & smiling at it). I think Daniels hurt either his right knee or ankle landing the missed BME but Morley took the underserved win off a Big Splash they were calling The Money Shot which he managed to f**k up on his 1st attempt.
Knockout Championship Match, Tara vs ODB - The stipulation (that I missed by fast forwarding through the introduction) was its best 2 out of 3 falls. After the mini brawl opening Tara had a great start nailing the Standing Moonsault & later hitting ODB with a lovely kick to the head that was very well sold, Taras Slingshot Legdrop only got a nearfall though. ODB hit a Fall Away Slam but Tara capitalized with a fast Small Package to take the 1st fall.
ODB started the 2nd segment off trying to use sheer power but Tara sidestepped a Splash answering with an elbow to ODB then Tara hit the Tarantula to stretch & wear out ODB, the Body Scissors weardown on Tara was a slow move at the wrong time so both women had clearly gassed & were taking time to rest. Tara managed to kick out after ODB hit a lovely Running Powerslam & after ODB checked her pulse for about the 15th time during the match Tara took the win after hitting The Widows Peak.
World Tag Team Championship, Hernandez & Matt Morgan vs The British Invasion - Has SoCal Val been sacked? Because there appears to be a new ring valet. Very poor match, Morgan took the win off The Carbon Footprint & we have new Tag Team Champions.
Backstage segement Abyss visiting Eric Bischoff, Bobby Lashley jumped Abyss who knocked him out. Hogan gets upset but tells Abyss he'll get a better match after having knocked out his slated opponant.
Desmond Wolfe (and unknown lady friend) vs D'Angelo Dinero - Wolfe has changed his ring gear and was wearing silver leggings with a purple wolf logo on them instead of his standard dark blue trunks. I assume Dinero hurt his knee doing the Slide Over through the ropes mid match? This match was too slow, too long, dull as hell & Wolfe took the eventual win off the Lariat Clothesline.
Backstage Segment, Bischoff tells Jeremy Borash he's being taken off tv until further notice. Christy Hemme interviews Ric Flair.
Tag Match, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall vs Beer Money - Or so we thought until Sean Waltman (who they are calling Syxx-Pac) came out with Nash so it appears Hall no-showed for a TNA match yet again, this match was going nowhere with Beer Money on top until Scott Hall came out as a distraction then Hall dragged a "fan" (clearly a plant as Waltman was getting himself into position on the apron to run & "stop" Hall) out of the front row & started beating him up which distracted Waltman to stop it so James Storm nailed Nash with a Super Kick & Robert Roode took the win off a Bridging Suplex. Nash looked very pissed off after the match. Dear Eric Bischoff, cheap heat is S**T heat!
Abyss vs Mr Anderson - Anderson was better known as Ken Kennedy in WWE where he was released for various violations of their drug programme as well as being accused of being too stiff by WWE workers. This match was too long, very dull & Anderson took the win after using Brass Knucks on Abyss.
World Heavyweight Championship, Kurt Angle vs AJ Styles - Billed as having a 60 minute time limit, its a shame there was only 33 minutes left of airtime when the opening bell actually rang. The match had been going nowhere for about 15 minutes when Ric Flair came down to ringside to watch, business did pick up for about 2 minutes then slowed right back down to a snails pace again. Angle actually hit the Styles Clash on AJ (which I'll admit was pretty cool) who returned the favour a few minutes later by hitting Angle with the Angle Slam, this thing looked over with about 6 minutes to spare when Angle put AJ into the Ankle Lock on the verge of tapping out & about 2 seconds before Styles started to tap out Flair yanked Ref Earl Hebner out of the ring to the floor so he didn't see Styles tap out leaving Angle giving Flair angry eyes. Flair suckered Angle into the ring & Styles hit a nice Flying Clothesline then threw Styles the belt who then nailed Angle in the head with it. Flair threw Hebner back in to make the worlds slowest 3 count and AJ Styles retains his title to become a heel with Ric Flair.
Again I must repeat this is the final new TNA show I will be reviewing. I have been reviewing the show every month, fortnight then weekly since 2007 and I did not like the idea of Hogan & Bischoff taking over as I feared his ego & cronies would destroy the show. By aquiring talent like Anderson & Morley as well as getting rid of TNA's iconic 6 sided ring has left me with nothing but hatred towards the company I used to be very passionate about. TNA has lost possibly one its most prolific free reviewers (I doubt there are many who have reviewed as many shows as me who dont get paid for it) and it upsets me that under Hogan the company will most likely crash & burn. It has been my pleasure to write these reviews and I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I did writing them.
Peace out - Ray Daley.
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