My Weekly TNA Catch-up, Impact 23 Oct 08

Coming from Las Vegas for the 1st time TNA is in HD!

Totally new opening titles and some idiot runs the graphic of Sting BACKWARDS so it appears to raining upwards.

Velvet Sky (with Angelina Love & Cute Kip) vs Christy Hemme. Sky didn't impress much, Hemme won off the FFG.

Kurt Angle announces the creation of The Main Event Mafia (Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash & Sting).

Booker T announces the contents of the briefcase (mark for the crowd chanting "No More Accent!"), The TNA Legends championship - a new belt that Booker announces himself the holder of (well lets see what problems we have here. First off is this belt sanctioned by anyone and that includes TNA? Secondly doesn't he actually have to win the belt in ANY kind of

match to hold it?). Christian Cage challemges him for the belt at the next PPV.

X Division CHampionship - Jat Lethal vs Sheik Adbul Bashir. Bashir won off the WMD. Shit match, too short.

Hardcore Tagteam Gauntlet - Basically its a singles Battle Royal with 2 guys starting off and another guy coming in every 60 seconds until 2 guys are left then it becomes a tagmatch. 1st in is James Storm, next in is Brother Ray. Next in is Robert Roode so both of Beer Money were in early. Beer Money worked Ray pretty well, next in was Brother Devon so this was already a tagmatch with Team 3D v Beer Money. Next in was Hernandez. Next in was Homicide whose Tornado DDT on Devon was either flubbed or just not sold at all as it looked incredibly scrappy. Next in was Matt Morgan whose big boot to Roode was way oversold and shot on totally the wrong camera showing far too much air. Morgan eliminated Homicide & Devon within seconds of each other, he then eliminated Hernandez a few moments later so LAX were out.

Abyss was the last guy out and Morgan was telling him not to come in the ring (due to his fire injuries from the PPV). Morgan was then eliminated by Brother Ray & Robert Roode working together. Whoever was running the countdown clock failed to count the correct number of

entrants as it was still counting down despite the fact everybody had already come out to the ring. Devon set up the fire table as the fans were chanting ECW. Team 3D eliminated Abyss (which technically shouldn't have been legal as Devon had already been eliminated and they weren't down to the last 2 guys yet) leaving it as Team 3D v Beer Money in a tagmatch

where tables are legal. Team 3D had this won after they hit Roode with the 3D through the table but Jaqueline pulled the ref out just before he could make the 3 count leaving Storm to make the pin on Devon after spitting beer into his face.

TNA Knockout Championship - Awesome Kong (with Raisha Saeed) vs Taylor Wilde. Scrappy start (especially the very bad camera angle on Kongs "clothesline" on as Wilde jumped off the top turnbuckle. Wildes faceplant then Hurricanrana on Kong were both pretty great moves (I seriously mark for Kong selling the Hurricanrana that well). Kong hit The Awesome Bomb and is

the new Knockout Champion.

Tagteam Grudge Match, Sting & Kevin Nash v sSamoa Joe & AJ Styles. Styles & Nash kicked this off, Joe took it to Sting when Nash tagged himself out. AJ's Pele on Sting was excellent. Nash took the eventual win after hitting Joe with Stings title belt. Styles & Joe had the better of this match but it wasn't very good as main events go. Hebner had to pick Joes blade off the canvas and didn't make a very good job of concealing it either.

Mick Foley's "major announcement" is he's become a TNA stockholder. Everyone boos when Foley says WWE.

ECW 21st Oct 08 reviewed

Matt Hardy comes out to have a waffle about the PPV.

Jack Swagger (yet again it seems the Owen Hart look is currently en vogue) vs Brett Badery (who it was pretty obvious was going to job big time). Swagger took the super predictable win. Utter S**T.

Shad from Cryme Tyme vs The Miz. Shad wins by DQ. Utter S**T! PS, Harlem Heat called & they want their gimmick back.

I assume Matt Striker is now washed up then if he's on the ECW announce desk? Retired like Tazz?

Triple Threat Match - Finlay (with Hornswoggle) vs Evan Bourne (getting a well deserved push & it sounds like they did steal my idea & their calling his Shooting Star press "Air Bourne", ECW, expect an email from my lawyer you thieving f**kers! It was mentioned in my ECW 8th July 2008 review so it only took them just over 3 months to steal my idea) vs Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas). This was all Henry from the get go using his power and weight to dominate. Bourne used his brain and sent Henry over the top rope leaving Bourne & Finlay to work each other.

Finlay was on top for most of this but sent Finlay headfirst into Henry after a nice headscissors into a Hurricanrana. There was a break taken whilst the action ensued so its not only TNA that take breaks during their main event! If Finlay wasn't already hurt from his posting then he fell badly after Henry slammed both him & Bourne together as Finlay was grabbing his leg (the camera cut away very quickly so it was probably real). Bourne took a well deserved win off Air-Bourne on Mark Henry.

Hulk Hogans Celebrity championship Wrestling mini review show 1

Ok well I didn't know a few of the people but it made for interesting viewing all the same.
It was weird to see they taught them moves and THEN taught them how to bump afterwards.

The matches.

For Team BeefCake - Todd Bridges (of Diff'rent Strokes fame) as Manager of Tiffany (famous for singing "I think we're alone now") & Danny Bonneduche (no clue who he is) vs Trishelle (no idea who she is either) & Butterbean (never heard of him either). Butterbean took the 3 moves they'd learnt then dropped Bonneduche with a stiff looking clothesline that Bonneduche sold very well indeed. Bonneduche also sold Trishelles kick to the midsection very nicely (I think her open handed slap to the face was pretty real), the double clothesline was sold well by both women and Tiffany had made her forearm smashes look good and hard. They were doing corner splashes and heads to the turnbuckle (we'd seen Bonneduche doing the turnbuckle training but it wasn't one of the 3 set moves they had to do). Butterbean took the eventual win for his team after a belly to belly slam.

For Team Nasty - Nicki Zeiring (no clue who she is) as Manager of Frank Stallone (brother of Sly) & Dustin Diamond (Screech from "Saved By The Bell") vs Erin Murphy (Tabitha from "Bewitched") & Dennis Rodman (Basketball star). Rodman & Diamond kicked this off and it was hard to tell if the midsection kick to Diamond was being sold well or actually hit him, likewise with the forearm and Diamond sold a nice clothesline as well. Diamond sold the kick from Murphy pretty well but Stallone did nothing but showboat when he came in. Diamond missed the cornersplash allowing Murphy to tag Rodman in who hit another big clothesline. Rodman took the win with a flying clothesline off the middle rope onto Diamond. Shame Stallone did NOTHING in this match.

Team Nasty got the winning vote from Hogan meaning one of Team Beefcake was going home. Tiffany was eliminated from the first show.

My Weekly TNA Catch-up, Impact 16th Oct 08

Apologies again for another late Catch-up, unfortunately life and Doctor Who got in the way this week. Anyway, the usual caveats apply - I talk about stuff I feel is relevent so I rarely mention interviews or backstage segments, I have been known to swear but real people do talk like that. The views contained within are my own and if you don't like them then either don't read it or just killfile me.

Tag Match - The Motor City Machineguns vs Sonjay Dutt (with SoCal Val) & Sheik Abdul Bashir. Dutt and Sabin kicked this off in the way an X Division match really should be done with lots of fast and high risk moves. Shelley came in and generally owned Dutt until Val pulled him off the apron (did she flub that because she walked away trying to conceal the fact she was laughing into her hand?). Sabin dived in to keep the pressure on with a nice Hurricanrana on Dutt, Shelley made a lovely frogsplash and took the win for the Guns. A great match for the Guns, as per usual champion Bashir did almost nothing at all. Angle's beatdown on the Guns & Dutt was utterly pointless.

Sting comes out to blow his own trumpet only to be interupted by AJ Styles.

Hernandez vs Booker T. AWFUL Match, Booker doing mainly mat based wrestling, Hernandez did almost nothing as well. Booker took the win after hitting Hernandez with the briefcase.

More Kurt Angle bulls**t and Mick Foleys "farewell".

Raisha Saeed (with Awesome Kong) vs Roxxi. Saeed tried to jump Roxxi from the bell but Roxxi ducked it. Saeed soon took control and Roxxi took some nice hard looking bumps especially the 2 surfboard holds from Saeed. Roxxi dodged the dropkick and then started to take it to Saeed. Roxxi went outside the ring and also took it to Kong only to get a clothesline but Kong missed the spinning backfist and hit the ringpost. Roxxi got back in and hit Saeed with the Voodoo drop (which it seems their now calling The Cajun Drop?) to take the win. Kong hit her with The Implant Buster during her celebration.

Advert for Hogans Celebrity Wrestling. I assume everyone already knows Dennis Rodman won this?

Kevin Nash vs Consequences Creed. Nash took the win off the Jack Knife Powerbomb. Very poor match even by Creeds normally good standards.

Kurt Angle vs Matt Morgan. In a match made earlier during the show after beating up anyone he could find Angle was matched against Matt Morgan after Jim Cornette rang the show from Las Vegas. Morgan had the better of the match, it looked like Angle wasn't willing to take the Hellavator as the move was not executed properly. Either Angle didn't trust Morgan or he was fighting the move which didn't allow Morgan to do it correctly. Angle took the eventual win off a VERY scrappy looking Olympic Slam.

My TNA Catch-up, Bound For Glory IV PPV Oct 08

Steel Asylum Match - Alex Shelley vs Jay Lethal vs Curry Man vs Chris Sabin vs Sonjay Dutt (with Socal Val) vs Jimmy Rave (with Christy Hemme) vs Johnny Devine v Petey Williams vs Shark Boy vs Super Eric. The rules are very basic, the first competitor to escape from the hole in the top of the cage wins the match also earning themselves a match for the X Division title. The match starts off with a general melee but the first outstanding move is Dutt's tilt-a-whirl headscissors on Devine.

The tagteams fared well midmatch and the triple suplex on The Prince Justice Brotherhood was sheer brilliance. Sabins kick on Curry Man was pretty amazing also. Lethal's Hurricanrana on Rave was insane! I assumed Devine flubbed his attempt at the Devine Intervention on Rave? I loved Curry Man's Gorilla press then throw of Dutt into the cage and turnbuckles, it looked really painful. Lethal took the eventual win but I think for his selling, overal ability and amount of effort Curry Man really deserved this one more. A great way to start off the ppv but with the wrong winner.

Backstage segment, Cornette mentions TNA is going to HD. ABout time too.

6 Person Bimbo Brawl - The Beautiful People & Cute Kip vs Rhaka Khan, ODB & Rhino with Special Guest Referee & Knockout Law Traci Brooks. ODB and Angelina Love kicked this one off. Velvet was selling like crazy off Rhinos moves, Rhaka Khan was working well off Kip and it looks like that will be her future strength. The ladies took it out of the ring and it was left to Kip & Rhino to work the finish, Kip set up for the Famouser and Rhino hit the Gore from pretty much nowhere to take the win. I think they cut this one short due to being unsure how to work it.

X Division Championship - Sheik Adbul Bashir vs Consequences Creed. Creed's entry into the ring was pretty damn amazing and it gave me hope that this wasn't going to be yet another sh**ty match involving Bashir. Creed owned the opening of this match but Bashir showed his main area of ring skill is on the mat as all his moves involved submissions or holds on Creed. Bashir took the eventual win off a sh**ty roll-up and a handfull of middle rope. Sad how the better wrestler lost again. It doesn't help the company to have a champion whose not over as a heel and whose in ring ability is very doubtful at the best of times.

TNA Knockout Championship 3 Way Match - Awesome Kong (with Raisha Saeed) vs Roxxi vs Taylor Wilde. Wilde & Roxxi clearly had a plan to get Kong out of the match quickly and they threw her out of the ring to even the odds and make this a match between just the 2 of them. Roxxi & Wilde had a nice fast fluid set of moves until Kong got back in (did she hit the ref?) & Saeed dragged Roxxi out. Kong dominated for a short time before Wilde almost had it off a roll-up that Roxxi managed to break up.

After putting Wilde out of the ring Roxxi had a nice offensive against Kong which the crowd clearly enjoyed. Kong hit Roxxi with a very weird looking cross body block then the Implant Buster & Wilde had to run to break up that pin attempt only to be floored by a vicious clothesline. Wilde took the eventual win off Roxxi with the bridging suplex in a pretty weak finish. Hopefully we'll see Wilde vs Roxxi in the next title match in a no DQ hardcore match so Wilde is well out of her comfort zone.

Tag Team Championship Monsters Ball Match - Beer Money (with Jaqueline) vs Abyss & Matt Morgan (have these f**kers STILL not got a team name yet?) vs Team 3D vs LAX with former football & WCW star Steve "Mongo" McMicheal as guest referee. Everyone dived straight onto Beer Money from the bell. As its a Monsters Ball match its weapons allowed & no DQ so my hopes were high for a good thorough match and a possible title change. West and Tenay manage to call Hernandez by the wrong name despite the fact he's got his name tattooed across his back in huge letters.

You had to mark for the crowd chanting "ECW" as Brother Ray was working Hernandez. Mongo's count of Roode on Brother Ray was truly awful, had Mongo forgotten what he was there for? It was good to see Mongo get involved sticking the 3 point stance to Beer Money. 3D putting Abyss through the fire table (seems the fire guys were a tad slow or sloppy when trying to put Abyss out). It was a bit off that Hernandez had to call Mongo over to count after he hit Storm with the sit-out powerbomb but at least Mongo had the same speed of count for all teams involved. Morgan seemed unwilling to sell the Border Toss after he'd flubbed a grab on Homicides headscissors. Hernandez was all thumbs trying undo the bag of thumbtacks. Hernandez took the 3D through the table covered in thumbtacks and Beer Money stole the pin on Hernandez in a match where they did almost nothing at all.

3 Way War - Booker T vs Christian Cage vs AJ Styles. Booker & Styles started this off with Cage taking a back seat. Cage & Styles worked each other well although Styles attempt at a spinning backward moonsault off the top rope onto Cage wasn't stopped very well by Cage at all. Styles was clocked in the head by Booker with the briefcase and this left him to work Cage and I just prayed Cage had enough ability to carry Booker on his own. Booker slowed the match down long enough to allow Styles to get back in the game, this let Cage & Styles speed things up again and put Booker out of the ring.

Cage and Styles had another good rapid run of moves culminating in Styles hitting the inverted DDT after a nice backflip, Styles was having to seriously oversell Bookers kicks and knees to get them over though even to the point of having to hit his own arm to make Bookers knees sound harder. Styles' Pele on Booker was freaking awesome (possibly the move of the match I think) and Ref Shane Sewell really should have DQ'd Booker & sent him packing back to the locker room after grabbing his shirt to stop the count on Styles. Cage hit the Unprettier on Styles off the top rope, Booker hit him with the axe kick to take a win he didn't deserve in a match where he did almost nothing to contribute to the entertainment factor. Booker needs to either learn more moves or retire, he's a waste of time in TNA.

Special Grudge Match - Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett with Mick Foley as special guest enforcer. Foley wasn't ref so I really wondered how the hell they were going use him in this one. Angle made it pretty clear he was playing for the boredom factor as all he did was keep returning to the mat and the technical wrestling of holds and slowness. Jarrett was certainly the better and more entertaining of the 2 workers trying high risk stuff both inside and out.

It was pretty obvious this match wasn't going to end fairly (or not end at all) once Angle went for the chair, beaning Foley with the chair was a mistake as Foley dragged the ref out to break Angle's pin attempt. Foley hit Angle with the Socko Claw, Jarrett beaned Angle with the guitar and Foley counted the pin which won't count anyway as he wasn't the designated official and he interfered in the match. I'm calling this either a double DQ and no man wins or DQ on Jarrett for outside interefence by Foley. How ever you look at it, you can't call it a win for Jarrett as it simply didn't happen despite the arena announcer calling Jarrett the winner.

TNA Heavyweight Championship - Sting vs Samoa Joe. Whoever wins there is going to be NO rematch as a contract clause has already been publicly signed on Impact. By the time all the introductions had been done and the bell rang we were only ever going to get less than 19 minutes worth of wrestling in the main event. This started as a slugfest before Joe decided to put Sting outside the ring then took it to Sting with a nice suicide dive. Hebner let a hell of a lot go as Joe took it into the crowd, when Sting got a breather he took it up into the cheap seats with an amazing dropkick style leap over the barriers onto the steps by Joe with a VERY hard landing on the concrete steps.

PS, who was the Dr Who fan holding up the "BAD WOLF" sign behind Sting just before Joe crotched him onto the barrier? Once Joe took it back into the ring he was measuring Sting and making each punch count. The splash into the turnbuckle followed by the high Pele style kick to the head was a nice combination as well. Tenay & West were calling that Sting had hit some sort of DDT off the turnbuckle but if I'm honest that looked like Joe had gone for a move which he flubbed and hurt the back of his own head and West & Tenay were trying to cover the flub. Joe's crossface on Sting really came at the wrong time (with less than 10 minutes of the match to go) and I assume the fans were also annoyed at Joe slowing the match down hence Joe giving them the finger.

Sting hitting the Muscle Buster on Joe was great but the fact that Joe got straight up and totally no-sold it was even better. Joe hit the Scorpion Death Drop which Sting also no-sold by getting straight up and the fans were marking out like crazy for these. Sting nailed 2 Stinger Splashes only for Joe to power Sting down to the canvas when he attempted another. Clearly no-one knew how to finish this and it indicated very badly that no-one really cared when they sent Nash out to the ring with less than 4 minutes of match remaining. Joe hit Sting with a nice DDT that Sting ever so slightly oversold, Sting grabbed the bat while Joe was arguing with Hebner.

We then had a really crap ref bump that Hebner no-sold, Nash "hitting" Joe in the leg or knee with the bat (with an awful camera angle so we saw almost nothing at all) then Sting took the win off the Scorpion Death Drop. What a p**s poor finish to what had been a really good match until Nash came out. Sting is the new Heavyweight Champion and you have ask what idiot thought this finish was ever going to please the fans after such a good match.

My Weekly TNA Catch-up, Impact 9th Oct 08

Tonights show opens with Christian Cage waffling about the cr**py respect angle. Booker T interupts as does AJ Styles as does Jim Cornette who books a match then parodies Bookers stupid accent. You know a gimmick smokes goats when Cornette is better at it.

No DQ Match, Cute Kip vs Rhino. C**p match with Kip taking the win after goring Rhino through a table with the assistance of The Beautiful People who'd sprayed Rhino in the face.

4 Way #1 Contenders match for the X Division title, Petey Williams vs Sonjay Dutt vs Jay Lethal vs Consequences Creed. It seems Russo is STILL shilling the Dutt/Lethal feud despite the fact its now incredibly old and tired. Williams was back on old form, Creed was selling well too. Lethal was looking better than I've seen him work in a while but Creed took the win off a backslide on Dutt.

Karen's Angle with Mick Foley.

Video insert, Steve "Mongo" McMicheal will be the guest ref for the Monsters Ball match at the PPV.

Beer Money vs Matt Morgan & Abyss. Awful match, Abyss wins off the Black Hole slam on James Storm.

Mick Foley comes out to the ring to talk about fashion. Jeff Jarrett tells Kurt Angle his worst mistake was hiring him & returns Kurts gold medal.

Knockout Tag match, Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs Roxxi & Taylor Wilde. You had to question the sense of booking this match only days before 3 of the competitors are due to meet at the PPV. Kong very nearly had another costume malfunction in this match, I guess she really didn't learn from last time. The finish to this was kind of predictable with Wilde kicking Roxxi in the head when Saeed ducked. Kong won off the Impant Buster on Roxxi.

Grudge Match - Booker T vs AJ Styles with Christian Cage as special guest referee. Even Styles couldn't carry this match on his own, it really does show exactly how bad Booker T is as a wrestler. He has power and persona but he has almost no wrestling moves at all - a rookie could have done his job a lot better in this match. Styles wins off a suplex that could have been a win for either guy as they BOTH had their shoulders down. Cage nailed both Booker & Styles after the match.

Sting & Samoa Joe sign the contract for the title match in the PPV, the stipulation asked by BOTH men is there will be NO rematch.

My Weekly TNA Catch-up, Impact 2nd Oct 08

Apologies for the lateness of this weeks catch-up, I've been playing the new chapter of Oddpawn and I just HAD to complete it before doing this. It seems from feedback no-one remembers the old catch-up so I'll have to start doing the caveat again.

The views contained are my own, I have no loyalty to TNA. If I like something I'll say so, likewise if I don't like it I'll probably say even more. If I consider an item unlikely to help the forwarding of TNA as a brand then I reserve the right not to discuss it at all.

Knockouts Match - Angelina Love (with Velvet Sky & Cute Kip in tow as usual) vs ODB. Love jumped ODB as she was coming through the ropes and was on top for a few minutes before ODB used her power but ODB was stupid enough to let Kip and Sky distract her, letting Love back on top. ODB was fighting both Love & Sky with either Love or Kip distracting the ref away. ODB managed to get herself back into the game when Love took too long to celebrate. A combo of a splash and the fallaway slam needed Kip to distract the ref (again?) for Sky to spit the flask contents into ODB's face getting Love the win off the Lights Out.

Jeff Jarrett comes out to address issues with Kurt Angle, showing Angle's shoot on Vince.

Monsters Ball Qualifying Match - The Motor City Machine Guns vs LAX. This was taped in the week? So why didn't they stop & reshoot when the announcer f**ked up the intro for LAX? Not a great match. It seems there's a pattern to how their using The Guns recently, Shelley & Sabin are now very entrenched in the role of Jobber & Salesman. Hernandez took the win off the powerbomb on Sabin to win for LAX. I'm now officially sick of seeing Shelley & Sabin lose and job to teams constantly. Get them back as faces soon?

3 Way X Division Championship - Jimmy Rave vs Eric Young vs Sheik Adbul Bashir. Young & Rave MADE this match. They were all about the X Division ethos, be fast, be fluid and be entertaining. I know I'm not supposed to like Bashir because he's a heel but that's just not why. I don't like him because he's not shown any kind of talent worthy of the title he holds and he lessens it for that very reason. Bashir showed me 2 things in this match. He can sell & he can bump. Bashir took yet another win (off a kneeling DDT they call the Weapon Of Mass Destruction or WMD) on Eric Young he didn't deserve in yet another match he barely contributed to.

6 Man Tag Match, Team 3D & Booker T vs Jay Lethal, AJ Styles & Christian Cage. Lethal is STILL running the sh**y gimmick? I thought he'd have binned it once the SoCal Val stuff was over and done. Booker & Lethal kicked this off. Lethal impressed as he usually manages to, Cage gave a good account of himself too. Otherwise it was an astonishingly shitty match with a piss poor ending. Booker T took the win off a roll-up on Cage after Styles accidently nailed him with a springboard clothesline furthering their "miscommunication" storyline that it looks like Russo is going to play until it dies a death. Styles did NOTHING else.

Beer Money come out to yack. Roode tries to make it seem that Beer Money made Salinas leave TNA. We know otherwise Bobby boy.

Knockout Tagmatch, The Beautiful People (with Cute Kip) vs ODB & Rhaka Khan (getting an actual match for a change!). ODB & Sky started this one off with Sky trying to jump ODB and earning herself an elbow in the face. Rhaka Khan made a nice initial showing and damn is it me or is that girl a black Christy Hemme with her freak on? ODB sold a great double team from The Beautiful People. Love & Sky were both overselling for Rhaka Khan (clearly their not used to working anyone that damn tall) and that looked pretty scrappy. Rhaka Khan took the eventual win off Sky with some weird legdrop/legpress. Predictable postmatch beatdown & save by Rhino.

Mick Foley makes his Impact Zone debut, I wonder if he's gonna fill the last 11 minutes of the show and he does. Kurt Angle gatecrashes the speech just after Foley gets his chance to shoot on Vince McMahon. Angle's statement on Jarrett's wife are a bit of a lowblow. All the WWE names Foley mentions get booed. Foley announces he'll be Special Enforcer for Angle's match at the up coming PPV.