My TNA Catch-up, New Years Knockout Eve Dec 09

Tonight is basically an 8 woman tournament to decide #1 contender for the Knockout title and the best 3 matches of 2009 as voted for by the fans, if the reviews for those 3 matches look familar its because I couldn't be bothered to watch any of the 3 matches so I copied my original write-ups on them.

New Years Knockout Eve Tournament 1st Round, Madison Rayne vs Hamada - Rayne has improved immensely as she gave a good performance against the vastly more experienced Hamada who was selling for Rayne big time but Hamada took the eventual win off the Hamada Driver.

New Years Knockout Eve Tournament 1st Round, Traci vs ODB - In reality ODB shouldn't even have to have any matches because as previous champion she should automatically be #1 contender, after getting a facefull of liquid from ODB Traci was on the wrong end of an ass kicking. Traci's best offence was an excellent Spear that winded ODB & it seems that Taz has finally decided to stop saying "pectorial", I'm not exactly sure why Traci tore her shirt off to reveal her bra but ODB got the win off a TKO.

New Years Knockout Eve Tournament 1st Round, Roxxi vs Velvet Sky - I'd read that Roxxi broke her ankle during this tournament so I'm going to keep my eyes peeled to see if I can see where it happened, during Velvets intro Mike Tenay was trying to bulls**t us that The Beautiful People had got Lauren fired, I guess they decided as Lauren had left they could write any kayfabe storyline they liked? Roxxi started this one out by selling big time for Sky who seriously needs to learn to scream less when shes working, Roxxi's ankle seemed to go after the roll-up off Skys Octopus Hold as she appeared to just completely lose the use of her left foot. Roxxi took the eventual win off the Voodoo Drop but she seemed to work the rest of the match ok on her ankle.

Turning Point PPV Nov 09, Grudge Match, Desmond Wolfe vs Kurt Angle - This was too slow & far too boring, sadly all complaints I'd made about Nigel McGuiness in his past in ROH which he doesn't seem to have learnt from. All this slow mat c**p & technical wrestling might be over with the Japs but it has no place in modern sports entertainment, Kurt Angle took the eventual win off a submission when Wolfe tapped out. Now THAT is a s**t finish, I wouldn't have given this away for free on Youtube, let alone Impact or a PPV.

New Years Knockout Eve Tournament 1st Round, Daffney vs Awesome Kong - Kong was on top for most of this but she initially struggled to grab Daffneys foot for the Torture Rack (a move that had previously injured Christy Hemme in the past) but Kong took the eventual win off the Implant Buster.

Non-title Womens Tag Match, Lorelei & April Hunter vs Sarita & Taylor Wilde - Taz & Tenay were joined by Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams on the colour desk. Hunter has a decent wrestling pedigree having worked pretty much everywhere a woman can apart from WWE, Lorelei is better known from SHIMMER & also worked as Tyler Texas in Jimmy Harts Wrestlicious which is yet to air on tv. So you can tell who was who Hunter had the long ginger hair. Sarita kicked this off against Lorelei who worked some nice groundbased technical moves but also sold very well for Sarita & Wilde, Hunter had a nice run against Wilde especially her Single Arm Slam. Both teams had an excellent match (that could have done with being a little longer if I'm honest) & Wilde took the win off Lorelei.

Turning Point PPV Nov 09, 3 Way World Heavyweight Championship, Daniels Vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles - Extremely boring until about the last 10 minutes, Styles took the win off the Springboard 450 Splash on Joe to retain his title.

New Years Knockout Eve Tournament Semi Final, Roxxi vs Hamada - Roxxi's ribs were taped up due to the post match beatdown she had received from Lacey Von Erich. After Hamada's Drop Toe Hold & Ankle Lock Roxxi was trying shake off her foot so she was clearly in some discomfort, Hamada stuck with the attacks on Roxxi's ankles & Roxxi had to use a submission hold where Hamada was forced onto the ropes to get it broken. Roxxi may have hurt the ankle when they both did a double drop kick on each other as she did grab her lower leg & Referee Earl Hebner spoke to her & Hamada asked him something & Hebner gave her a sign.

Hamada hit a lovely Abdominal Stretch on Roxxi before jumping off the top turnbuckle hitting Roxxi in the back with both feet, Hamada made a wicked Hurricanrana off the top rope when Roxxi was sitting on the top turnbuckle. Amazingly Hamada kicked out of the Voodoo Drop but when Hamada wiggled out of a 2nd attempted Voodoo Drop & she took the win by making a Roll-Through. If Roxxi did break one of her ankles in 2 places I can't positively identify where or when it happened.

New Years Knockout Eve Tournament Semi Final, ODB vs Awesome Kong - ODB took it to Kong out on the entrance ramp before the bell went so the ref was forced to start this before either woman reached the ring. This was pretty even but ODB was on top as they entered a commercial break & was still in charge when they came back having jumped on Kongs back to apply a Sleeper Hold which Kong stopped by smashing ODB into the turnbuckles. ODB failed to drop Kong with a couple of Shoulder Charges but she certainly winded her with a Splash into the corner, ODB was stupid enough to go for a Scoop Slam but Kongs sheer weight dropped onto her for a near fall. We had a c***py predictable ref bump & ODB picked up the bottle we'd seen her drinking out of earlier & as Kong took ODB up for an attempt on the Implant Buster ODB smashed the bottle over Kongs head covering her for the pin as Kong fell.

Bound For Glory V PPV Oct 09, World Heavyweight Championship, Sting vs AJ Styles - Before this match rumours had abounded that this would be Stings final match for TNA as he was retiring, by the time the bell went this was only ever going to be a maximum of 20 minutes long. After several spots it became pretty obvious that both Sting & Styles were really enjoying this match as they both kept grinning wildy at each other, Sting was even polite enough to hold open the ropes for Styles after he was sent to the floor.

Styles nailed a lovely Enzuigiri on Sting leading to a near fall but Sting came back with a couple of nice Bulldogs, Styles sold a really high looking Backdrop off Sting like crazy before hitting a great Dropkick. Both guys got a taste of guard rail missing Splashes on each other with Styles interupting Earl Hebners count to allow Sting time to get back into the ring, Sting got a near fall himself off a Piledriver but by this time the match was backwards & forwards between both guys as to who was on top and closest to victory.

Styles took 2 successive Scorpion Death Drops kicking out of a pin but Sting went for the Scorpion Deathlock which Styles managed to get out of but he came VERY close to tapping out, Styles then really sold a Clothesline for all he was worth only just kicking out of the pin that followed it. After nailing Sting with a Headbutt Styles took a nasty tumble off the top turnbuckle before connecting with The Pele off the apron which Sting certainly wasn't expecting but Styles made a Springboard Splash to take the win to retain his title.

New Years Knockout Eve Tournament Final, Hamada vs ODB - This had a great start with Hamada's Headscissors Hurricanrana following up with an excellent Tornado DDT leading to a near fall, ODB bailed to the floor and was out there far too long (frankly she should have been counted out at least 3 times). Hamada made a couple of nice rolling submission pins before getting hung up in the Tree Of Woe after she went for a Moonsault that ODB cut her off from, coming back from another commercial break ODB was in charge & nailed the Fall Away Slam but missed the pin.

ODB made a Bearhug which Hamada sold really well, Hamada went for a kick that ODB caught but Hamada reacted instinctively nailing a lovely Enzuigiri that ODB made a great sell on. After an exchange of Forearm Shots Hamada went for a series of Headbutts & Chops missing a pin off a Cross Body Block, the crowd were seriously marking out for Hamada but ODB stopped her with a Jawbreaker. Some idiot backstage decided it'd be a good idea for Awesome Kong to do a run-in carrying a table which Ref Slick Johnson failed to stop her setting up but 3 or 4 more referees managed to get her to go backstage. Hamada sent ODB to the floor under the bottom rope with a Spinkick then took out ODB on the floor with a Flip Dive off the apron, Hamada repositioned the table by the ring then went up to the top turnbuckle to hit the Reverse Moonsault but ODB had already moved off the table. After rolling Hamada back into the ring ODB took the win off the TKO to become #1 contender which she was or should have been anyway showing this tournament was a complete waste of everyones time.

ODB wasn't a very popular winner judging by the boos during JB's interview.

This year in TNA:-

Debuts:- Madison Rayne, Mick Foley, Brutus Magnus, Dr Stevie, Kiyoshi & No Limit, Big Rocco & Sally Boy, Jesse Neal, Cody Deaner, Daffney, Suicide (both as Chris Daniels & Frankie Kazarian), Jenna Morasca, Jethro Holliday, Big Rob Terry, Tara, Alissa Flash, Sarita, Taz, Bobby Lashley, D'Angelo Dinero, Hamada, Lacey Von Erich, Desmond Wolf. So this year saw the arrival of 25 new people.

Departures:- Petey Williams, Lance Hoyt, Shane Sewell, Don West (sideways to sales), Sojourner Bolt, Jimmy Rave, Sonjay Dutt, Sheik Abdul Bashir, Lauren the announcer, Cody Deaner, Roxxi, Rhaka Khan, Angelina Love, Booker T, Sharmell, Jim Cornette, BG James. I assume Big Rocco & Sally Boy were also released when the MEM team disbanded, Jenna Morasca left after she'd finished promoting Kurt Angles new movie. I'm not sure if Shark Boy is still working for TNA either as its been a very long time since we saw him jobbing on Jethro Hollidays debut. So we definately lost at least 15 employees this year.

Returns of:- Traci Brooks, Christopher Daniels, Amazing Red, Doug Williams, Raven, Shane Douglas, Christy Hemme, Roxxi, Tomko, Giant Bernard, Jeff Jarrett.

In TNA news Cody Deaner has now been officially released & is already working the indy circuit (If it'd been me writing the Feast Or Fired scripts I'd have had Deaner & Bashir both claim the fired case with neither backing down about who won it then have Foley say they could both have the contents of the case resulting in them both getting fired) & there are rumours of Scott Hall & Angelina Love returning on the Hogan debut show as well as Sid Vicious, Rob Van Dam & Ric Flair who are all rumoured to be appearing on this Mondays live 3 hour Impact special.

My birthday wish

Dear Google,
Its my birthday. My birthday wish is that you'd stop logging me out of my fucking account.
I personally have NEVER clicked ANY button marked log out, sign out or anything vaguely similar.

So STOP LOGGING ME OUT!

Ghost Lab s01e13

Lemp Mansion, St Louis, Missouri.

Brad & Barry in the Main Room (where nothing happens) then the Guest Bedroom (where nothing happens again) then the Bar (again where nothing happens) then the next floor on the Landing, as they are coming down the stairs you hear what sounds like a dog crying which they also hear & report. Reviewing the audio in the Lab you can't hear anything at all mainly due to the annoying incidental background music & noises, amazingly enough Barry tries to debunk the audio as possibly having come from outside the building which is completely different from his usual tack where he normally instantly declares a phenomenon to be paranormal.

What didn't help their investigations of the last 4 locations was they only spent about a minute maximum in each, obviously they may have spent longer in each place & tv editing only showed us them looking like kids with ADHD. After talking to a witness about his experience (isn't all that stuff normally done during the walkthrough?) Brad & Barry try a provocation experiment in the Vault, Barry gives his usual "did you just hear that" when there was no sound but the annoying background noises Discovery always play & Barry says it sounded like "a glass vibrating" so he's got super hearing now? Katie debunks it by telling them a big truck had just passed by.

They run an era cue experiment playing the noises of gunshots as the team take digital pictures all over the location.

Brad & Barry in the upstairs Bedroom, Brad thinks he saw something go into a bathroom on the thermal camera & Barry gets a reading of 66F in a room they'd got a baseline of 75F in. Neither one pointed out the airvent in the ceiling? Reviewing the footage back in the Lab its thrown out as inconclusive. Steve Harris plays them an EVP captured in the Side Room which they claim says "I don't like fish & I dont like birds" but personally all I could hear was muttering. They class it as a residual haunting.

McPike Mansion, Alton, Illinois.

You have to question the judgement of doing an investigation inside a property with a massive "Condemned, Do Not Enter" sign on the door especially when you discover the upstairs has holes in the floor in places.

Brad & Barry in the Master Bedroom, Barry hears something which they go and check out (I noted the graffiti 5 point star on the wall as they went up the stairs to the 2nd floor). Their convinced they hear something in the room they enter but all I could hear was the annoying incidental music, Brad says "it sounded like the board was moving". Thats probably because it had 2 very heavy Texans standing on it genius!

They try & make out it was paranormal but both of them seem to conveniently forget they were both standing on particle board when they heard & recorded the noise, Katie tries to confirm it sounds like "something being slid across the floor" but I wasn't buying that if it came for free. Brad says "nothing was moving" (apart from you & Barry) and "we heard it right in front of us" (because it was you 2 making the noise by standing on the particle board you idiot!). They also play an EVP that clearly says "Such a jerk", shame it sounds EXACTLY like Brad Klinge. I assume thats what they think of us viewers who constantly try to debunk them, well I love you boys too.

Brad meets with local historian Katelyn who shows him the gravestones/crypts of the McPike children.

Night 2 - Brad & Barry in The Cellar and Katie by the gravestones in the woods on her own, Brad gets a heat spike up to 92F in a room with a 64F baseline & it flucuates to 80F then 59F which Brad instantly declares means "something just walked by". Reviewing the evidence in the Lab they also catch the heat spike on the thermal camera but you can't see ANYTHING hot, only the heat sensor data changes.

Brad plays a completely inaudible EVP that he claims is saying "Oh my gosh" as well as another inaudible one they claim was saying "Out". Katie plays another completely inaudible EVP she caught that she says "sounds like a conversation between 2 kids", or it could just be corrupted audio data that your reading far too much into Katie? Brad claims her recordings say "Whats your name" and "Get closer", it just sounds like very badly garbled audio to me.

Ghost Lab s01e12

Complements of the season, I was a bit late reviewing this but I had nothing better to do today so here is this weeks show better late than never I guess ;-)

USS Lexington, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Brad & Barry start off with an EVP at the Kamikaze crash site, Barry actually served on this ship when he was in the navy so its a bit of a homecoming for him.

Kate, Hector & Ashlee (who we've never seen before this week) in the CPO Lounge where the torpedo hit, Kate thinks she hears water running which Hector debunks as possibly being in the pipes.

Jason & Steve Hock (who looks more & more like wrestler Scott Steiner every time I see him) on The Bridge doing an EVP.

Brad & Barry in the Historians Office doing an EVP, Brad with his normal obsession for shadow men is convinced he saw a head move.

Brad & Barry in the Engine Room, they think they hear either a person talking or someone yell (I heard nothing).

Reviewing their evidence in the lab they claim Brads Engine Room audio says "I'm burning inside the Lexington", quite frankly the audio is such a bad quality it could be reading the ingredients off a tin of chicken soup for all you can understand it.

For some reason the crew are then sent to do EMF readings all over the ship, aren't these normally done as baseline tests during initial set-up? So why are they doing them now? Anyone? Readings are 0.1 everywhere, very low apart from an 8 to a 12 in the engine room.

Night 2 - Brad & Barry in the Engine Room, they think they hear someone talking (I hear nothing) but the 2nd time he hears something I also hear like a bearly audible whispering but it might be the stupid "incidental noises" that the Discovery Channel love to use in the background. They move upstairs to check it out then hear quite a big bang from where they just were but they cant find the source.

Checking their evidence in the lab they play an EVP which they claim says "Shoot the plane" (why is it I can only ever hear the words once you've suggested them to me? Its EVERY time too!) as well as another they claim said "Help", again I couldnt make it out until they told me what I should be hearing.

Ye Kendall Inn, Boerne, Texas.

During their walkthrough outside the Victoria Suite the door appears to open itself. My main issue there is the upwards camera angle which means you can't see either of Brad Klinge's hands both of which are obviously within easy reach of the door handle. Whats even worse is the interior camera can't see where Barrys hands are because the sunlight shines right into the lens.

Brad & Barry in the cellar using an old EVP (it says "They can't find her") they recorded in a library building near by which connects to this Inn by an old underground tunnel now partially filled in to see if they could coax out the ghost on their recording.

Hector in the Marcella Booth Room, he gets a K2 hit after asking for it.

Steve Harris in the Sewing Room (I had to Google the Everyday Paranormal website to find out who he was!), nothing happens.

Brad & Barry in the Victoria Suite, Brad thinks he saw a movement & they both think they heard a women which Hector thinks he also heard from the room he was in. The Klinge brothers move to the Adjoining Room to Hector but nothing seems to happen there.

During evidence analysis Hector plays back the sound they all heard as thinking it was a woman and for a change even THEY can't hear it, Steve Hock also plays them a recording from the cellar which they claim said "Do it again" in response to them having played the old "They can't find her" EVP.

WWE Monday Night Raw 21st Dec 09 reviewed

Its my 1st WWE show since 2nd Oct & my 1st RAW since 28th Sept so I won't apologise for not knowing who people are or what current storylines are either - someone described the show as outstandingly bad so I figured it was worth seeing the show that Vince thinks will keep people from tuning into Hulk Hogan on TNA in a few weeks time. With guest host Johnny Damon who being a baseball star no-one outside of America is going to have a f**king clue who he is. the show devolved into farce with less than 5 minutes having passed with some blonde attacking a guy in a tiger suit with a golf club. So domestic abuse is considered an acceptable thing to lampoon is it?

6 Diva Santas Little Helper Tag Match, Melina, Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim vs Maryse, Alicia Fox & Jillian - Poor Gail Kim, she gave up wrestling in actual matches in a company where she'd been champion & had everything going for her & now shes here wrestling dressed up in some weak ass lingerie gimmick match. I hope that alledgedly MASSIVE pay cheque is filling the empty hole in your career Gail?

As Kim was with the Champ & also on the team that didn't look like $5 hookers after a bad day I assume she's a face at the moment? Kim & Jillian worked an ok program but clearly Jillians never seen any WWE tapes else she'd have avoided the Springboard Flip that cost Chyna her WWE career. I also assume WWE have been trying to get Trish Stratus back unsuccessfully as Maryse looked pretty much exactly like her but not as pretty & nowhere near as talented a worker. I was quite impressed with Kelly who made a lovely Hurricanrana but this match broke down & Kelly took the win by pinning Maryse off an assist from Melina. This could have done with being much longer & we didn't see Melina or Alicia Fox work at all.

If you thought the Tiger Woods skit earlier was stupid then things hit a new level on the lowness scale with this c***py video package about DX being taken to Little Peoples Court. Listen WWE, Peoples Court airs in the US & no-one outside of America was EVER going to get this c***py joke. You have to wonder how much money Vince wasted doing this.

6 Man Tag Match, Randy Orton & Legacy vs Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne & Mark Henry - I see WWE announcers are still billing Henry as "Worlds Strongest Man" despite the fact the fat f**k has never even taken part in the contest? Listen WWE, he won an Arnold classic event f**king ONCE in 2002! Not a very impressive match at all, Orton mainly stayed out of it but is it me or does Cody Rhodes REALLY look like Johnny Knoxville from Jackass? After things broke down as expected Kingston took the win off Trouble In Paradise off Ted DiBiase Jr.

More backstage c**p & futher c**p from the DX skit that they should have given up on before they bothered airing it.

John Cena vs Jack Swagger - So Cenas still sticking with the thugganomics thing & Swagger still looks like Owen Harts evil twin on Ritalin, I'll assume from his outfit & his catch as catch can preferred style Swagger was an amateur wrestler before he joined the Dub? Oh & someone might want to tell Swagger Scott Steiner called & he wants his gimmick back. Cena took the eventual win after Swagger tapped out of the STF.

Carlito vs Chris Masters (with Eve Torres) - Its bizarre how much of a push Masters is getting for someone who fell foul of the Wellness program & who still looks like he's seriously hitting those 'Roids too. Masters actually reminded me of Paul Roma but his trouble is he's very much a 1 trick pony only ever using the Master Lock, its weird seeing Carlito as a heel at the moment as he was well into a face role the last time I tuned in when he was working having not long broken up tagging with Primo. Masters took the win off the Master Lock after he put Carlito to sleep so its a modified Sleeper Hold then?

Overly long video package schilling WWE's Tribute To The Troops show in case you missed it.

Sheamus vs MVP - Because he's willing to suck HHH's c**k Sheamus now has the WWE Heavyweight title but it doesn't stop him being an Adam "Mythbusters" Savage lookalike. P**s poor match where Sheamus took the win off a Jack Knife Powerbomb, someone might want to tell both Scott Hall & Kevin Nash this ginger Johnny Come Lately is stealing their finisher. John Cena comes out to ask for his rematch but Sheamus bails.

The Miz vs Santino Claus - I'm not sure why Miz was making such a fuss over his belt which is only the old WCW US TV title anyway but here he was facing Santino Marella in a Santa suit, considering that a big part of WWE's audience demographic is kids you had to wonder why they were allowing a guy dressed as Santa to get the s**t kicked out of him. Its a really good way to alienate a large percentage of your viewers, Miz took the win off The Skull Crushing Finale which he stole off Jeff Jarrett, its actually called The Stroke.

Video package for Ted DiBiase Jr in The Marine 2. Its bizarre how WWE have made a sequal to a movie that John Cena starred in yet Cena doesn't appear in it, even more bizarre they pick Ted Jr who hasn't even been on their f**king roster that long. I guess his daddy sucked some major c**k to swing that role for sonny boy then?

The Big Show calls out Santa (with the Bella Twins looking extremely slutty in their Elf outfits) who is revealed by Hornswaggle to be Chris Jericho, the whole skit with the jobber midgets just demonstrated theres no level so low that WWE won't sink to.

If Vince thinks this big old pile of s**t is going to keep him afloat on January 4th 2010 he may as well file for
bankrupcy now. He already proved he has no issues p***ing away company money on c**p like that "Little Peoples Court" hiring all those midgets for the video package & hiring midget wrestlers to job for Jericho & Big Show. Little wonder Linda left to go into politics & Shane has given notice too.

I guess it'll be down to Daddys Little Princess to run the empire into the ground frittering all her money away on shoes & 'Roids for Trips? WWE may not be dead yet but if this is their best defence they are not long
for this world. F**k, Eric Bischoff won't even have to try hard to steal their audience this time.

My TNA Catch-up, Final Resolution PPV Dec 09

Tag Team Championship, The Motor City Machine Guns vs The British Invasion - Absolutely nothing happened in the 1st 10 minutes but it picked up for the next 5 or so minutes with a ton of missed pin attempts by the Guns but Brutus Magnus eventually took the win off Chris Sabin.

Knockout Championship, Tara vs ODB - ODB tried to get into Taras head by delaying the start of this match then trying to jump her at the bell but Tara was having none of it nailing an early Tarantula hold then a Slingshot Legdrop on ODB who then got out of the Powerbomb attempt by Tara, this thing went back & forth with Tara making a very sloppy Single Leg Takedown but the Snap Suplex was very nice indeed & she only just missed the pin off the Standing Moonsault. ODB had Tara up on her shoulders but Tara wriggled out turning it from a Victory Roll to a Small Package to take the win & Tara is the new TNA Knockout Champion.

Feast Or Fired, Jay Lethal vs Consequences Creed vs Cody Deaner vs Robert Roode vs James Storm vs Eric Young vs Kiyoshi vs Sheik Abdul Bashir vs Homicide vs Big Rob vs Kevin Nash (with the Big Sexy World Tour winner Britney) vs Samoa Joe - We've had FOF before so you should be familiar with the rules but if you've been in a cave the last 3 years heres how it works.

Its a Russo inspired idea of 4 briefcases on poles, 1 has a Heavyweight title shot, 1 has a Tag title shot, 1 has an X Division title shot & the final case has a pink slip so if you get that case you get fired although the rules have been tweaked slightly because it used to be you took the case down but it wasn't yours until you left the ring & your feet hit the ground but now its been changed so as soon as you get the case its yours. I'd already been reading some TNA headlines before this so I already knew who'd be getting the Fired case ahead of time.

The 1st case to come down was Case #2 eventually claimed by Sheik Abdul Bashir (I can reveal that contained the pink slip as this was Bashirs last match in TNA, reports disagree as to if he left or was let go), moments later the 2nd case to come down was #4 claimed by Big Rob (my guess is that will be a shot at the Tag title), Roode & Storm made some nice moves on World Elite (Storms DDT was excellent!) but the 3rd case to come down was Case #1 claimed by Kevin Nash (guessing that'll be a Heavyweight title shot which he'll give to Hogan) leaving Case #3 left which everyone was fighting over. Homicide hurt himself making a Gringo Cutter on Lethal, Joe kicked Deaner off the ropes and claimed Case #3 (which is most likely to be an X Division title shot).

After a Christy Hemme interview with AJ Styles & Kurt Angle (more details at the end of the review about why) they return to open the FOF cases which is unusual as they normally drag out the results of who got what. Nash opened Case #1 first to reveal a Tag Title shot (well I wasn't expecting that but I can guess who his partner will be - Hogan), Joe then opened Case #3 to reveal the Heavyweight Title shot (so all my predictions were completely wrong this year), Rob & Bashir opened their cases together Robs Case #4 contained the X Division title shot & Bashirs Case #2 had the pink slip.

8 Man Tag Elimination Match, Team 3D, Rhino & Jesse Neal vs Hernandez, Matt Morgan, D'Angelo Dinero & Suicide - As a result of losing a match recently Hernandez started this match alone for the first 5 minutes, as expected Hernandez spent those 5 minutes jobbing & was almost pinned after Rhino hit the Gore but he dodged a 2nd Gore turning it into a Roll-up pinning & eliminating Rhino with just over a minute left on his own. Hernandez was then left on the wrong side of a beatdown with Jesse Neal about to whale on him with a chair when the 5 minutes expired & Morgan, Dinero & Suicide were finally able to run in & all hell broke loose.

Suicide worked Neal until Neal used a chair which bought Hernandez in to use the same chair on Neal which for some reason got him DQ'd (but Neal didn't get DQ'd for doing the EXACT same thing, wheres the logic there Ref Slick Johnson?), Neal was rolled to the apron & Suicide was eliminated by Devon making a pin after Team 3D hit the 3D (later as Ray was working Dinero Taz announced Jesse Neal had also been DQ'd), Dinero had been owning Team 3D for a few moments when Slick Johnson made his 2nd obviously bad call about Dinero not having pinned Ray (actually he had, as had he on the previous pin attempt too) when Devon pinned Dinero off a 3D out of nowhere leaving just Matt Morgan on his own.

Ref Slick Johnson gave Team 3D a HUGE amount of leeway considering how illegally they were double teaming Morgan who came back but was quickly stopped by Devon taking out one of his legs from behind, Morgan was down but not out eliminating Devon with The Carbon Footprint leaving just him & Brother Ray. Morgan was about to be on the wrong end of a chairshot when he hit Ray with The Carbon Footprint smashing the chair into Ray & Morgan took the win. Not a very good match at all to be honest.

Last Man Standing, Scott Steiner vs Bobby Lashley - I didnt watch this at all apart from the finish, I had that little interest in it. Bobby Lashley took the win after Kristal threw him Steiners lead pipe which he used to nail Steiner who failed to answer the 10 count leaving Lashley as the winner. Its a s**t angle & no-one cares, ok TNA?

Foleys Funhouse Rules Match, Raven & Dr Stevie vs Abyss & Mick Foley - Raven brought a kendo stick & Stevie had a chair so Foley made it anything goes & weapons legal, not a great match by any means but Foleys Elbow Drop off the ramp onto Stevie wrapped in barbed wire through a table was pretty impressive but Abyss took the eventual win off the Black Hole Slam on Raven. I'm pretty sure Foley hurt his wrist or elbow when he made that table jump though.

Two of of Three Falls 3 Degrees Of Pain Match, Desmond Wolfe vs Kurt Angle - To add an extra twist this was being held in a steel cage as well, it was always going to be a slow dull match mostly on the mat but the rules were as follows:-1st fall must come off a pin, 2nd fall must come off a submission & if it goes to the 3rd fall its 1st man to escape the cage. Wolfe took the 1st fall off theTower Of London, Taz was squeeing like a fanboi & if your curious the fans were chanting "this is wrestling" (I'm stunned they weren't as bored as I was by it all) as Angle took the 2nd fall when Wolfe tapped out of the Ankle Lock. Wolfe made a decent Superplex (possibly the 1st proper "wrestling" move I've ever seen him do) & was busted open hitting the cage but Angle took the win by escaping the cage by climbing over the top beating Wolfe to the floor. Extremely boring match that was FAR too long.

Heavyweight Championship, Daniels vs AJ Styles - We had around 23 minutes of air time left by the opening bell of this one so it wasn't really going to be an out & out slog but surprisingly both guys decided to take it slow keeping it on the floor with hold & counterhold, YAWN. Things did eventually pick up with some aerials & Daniels made a nice Headscissors takedown from the canvas on Styles who sold it very well indeed. This slowed down again & if I am honest neither guy was really trying at all in this match, both men are capable of far much more than they showed here. You'd think in the main event of a PPV where the companies main title is on the line both guys would be going balls out to win & impress the fans but that just was not the case here.

Clearly both guys were well aware of the time limit as things picked up a great deal in the last 5 minutes but working hard for 5 minutes in a 23 minute long match just doesn't cut it I am afraid, Daniels had Styles on the top turnbuckle & was about to hit a Hurricanrana (Tenay said Frankensteiner for some reason?) but Styles blocked it halfway & took the win off the Styles Clash off the bottom rope to retain his title. P**s poor match from 2 guys I thought had a lot of talent but failed to show it here.

Again mentioned during the Knockouts title match was that there will be NO Impact on Dec 24th, instead they will return on Dec 31st calling it their "New Years Knockout Eve" with a mini tournament between the 8 best Knockouts of 2009. In further news interviewer Lauren is leaving TNA, Christy Hemme has now officially retired as a wrestler & will be replacing her as an interviewer which I guess answers a lot of my recent questions about Hemme. Apparently in the new year there will be a new Impact set which is being built by contractors working for Eric Bischoff & there are also rumours the 6 sided ring may be being phased out.

Until New Years Eve this is me wishing you & yours a Merry Xmas.

My Weekly TNA Catch-up, Impact 17th Dec 09 reviewed

Non-Title match, Roxxi vs ODB - Well its very nice to see Roxxi back again but like before you have to wonder how long she's back for, Roxxi had a decent enough match & both of them got plenty of time on top. Both women seemed happy to sell & put each other over but ODB kicked out of the Voodoo drop. Roxxi kicked out of the Roll-up & ODB kicked out of Roxxi's Bridging Roll-up but Roxxi took the win off an excellent Roll-up & it took Tara to save Roxxi from the beatdown.

Video segment, exactly as predicted Mick Foleys meeting with "Hulk" turned out to be with Lou Ferrigno which cost Kevin Nash a serious beating at the start of the show.

Lumberjack Match, Brother Ray (with Devon, Jesse Neal & Rhino) vs Matt Morgan (with Hernandez, D'Angelo Dinero & Suicide who eventually runs out from the back) - A really c***py quality match that obviously broke down as expected with interference from the Team 3D wrecking crew as they've been dubbed, Morgan was set to hit the Hellavator when Devon distracted the ref & Jesse Neal dived in to nail Morgan with a low blow from behind which allowed Brother Ray to take an easy win off a DDT.

Team 3 Knockdown Non-title Tag Match, Lacey Von Erich & Madison Rayne (with Velvet Sky) vs Hamada & Awesome Kong vs Sarita & Taylor Wilde - During this match Mike Tenay announced there will be no Impact next week but instead they will have a 4 hour show on New Years Eve. Sarita made possibly the move of the match with her awesome Head Scissors on Hamada where she made 3 crazy revolutions. Hamada made a nice Reverse Moonsault off the top turnbuckle into Sarita, Wilde & Sky but Awesome Kong was in-ring working Rayne who wriggling out of the Awesome Bomb only for Kong to take the easy win by hitting the Sit-down Splash.

Black Machismo Invitational Match, Jay Lethal vs Tatanka - TNA, really? The biggest criticism made about TNA by fans & haters alike is they hire WWE cast offs. And look who they invite to this match, Tatanka. The guy was a decent worker in his day (which incidently was the 80's) & he got a bit of a push before WWF as was decided his face didn't fit & they canned him. As far as this match went Tatanka hit a nice Clothesline followed by a couple of Legdrops, Lethal got off some offence hitting a Knee-lift to the back of Tatanka that sent him to the turnbuckle. Lethal nailed the Flying Double Axehandle but Tatanka kicked out, Lethal sold some hard looking Chops off Tatanka who made a nice high Back-bodydrop which Lethal sold well too.

Lethal barely kicked out of the Flying Tomahawk Chop but Lethal recovered enough to make a Reverse Neckbreaker, Tatanka took the eventual win off the Indian Deathdrop. Not a bad match from the veteran to be honest, he might have looked a bit big around the midriff area but he worked pretty well. I am hoping if they do another of these they can persuade Randy Savage to come out (hopefully with Gorgeous George?) in the full Macho Man outfit & hand Lethal his ass on a plate.

Backstage segment with Jeff Jarrett & Dixie Carter who mentions the whole nasty Karen Angle affair.

Daniels vs Desmond Wolfe - This was slow & VERY dull with lots of holds, reverses & technical mat wrestling. Both men had their own cheering sections who were equally loud, Taz paid Daniels quite a massive compliment by comparing him to Dean Malenko. Daniels picked it up a bit towards the end with a nice Split Leg Moonsault off the ropes, both guys really went for it in the dying minutes as far as submission holds & pin attempts went but as they were jockeying for position to pin off the Small Package the bell went after the time limit had expired & this one was called as a draw.

Backstage segment, Jeff Jarrett goes to speak with Kurt Angle & he apologizes to him.

10 Man Tag Match, Scott Steiner, Raven, Dr Stevie, Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams (with Big Rob) vs AJ Styles, Tomko, Bobby Lashley, Abyss & Kurt Angle - Selling his "burnt leg" with a limp Abyss kicked this off by laying into Raven & Stevie which ended up with Abyss battling with Raven & Stevie out to the backstage area leaving Steiners team seriously outnumbered. Steiner & Lashley also started going at it out of the ring & fought up along the side of the entrance ramp, when we came back from the commercial break Steiners team was just down to The British Invasion as Lashley had clearly taken Steiner out of the arena & it was Magnus & Williams vs Styles, Angle & Tomko so it was the waiting game to see if or when Tomko would make his move & jump Styles from behind yet again to finally reveal himself as Styles' mystery assailant.

The match was deadly boring with Angle & Tomko keeping Styles out of the ring & it was actually so dull the camera truck cut to Lashley whaling on Steiner & Abyss beating the crapola out of Stevie & Raven, we did go back to catch Angle sending Williams for a ride off the Angle Slam & Big Rob yanking Tomko off the apron which finally allowed Styles to get tagged in. He had a little run of beating on Magnus & Williams but took the win off a Small Package on Magnus after Tomko made an assist & pulled Williams off the turnbuckle.

Styles & Angle went at it after the match but that was soon broken up by Daniels jumping Styles & Desmond Wolfe jumping Angle but considering what happened last week Wolfe & Daniels seemed pretty chummy at the close of the show.

In closing just to remind everyone there will be no Impact next week but instead they will have a 4 hour show on New Years Eve.