[arjun14626rko]

Angle vs. Christian was basically a fusion of their matches at Against All Odds 2007 and Final Resolution. I watched the match from last year and so many things were duplicated. That having been said, it was a great match, but then they put in all of the antics from last time into this one. I do not understand the pyschology that TNA bookers employ. I like watching TNA for the wrestling, but the storylines are incredulous.

[Taroostyles]

Originally Posted by arjun14626rko

Angle vs. Christian was basically a fusion of their matches at Against All Odds 2007 and Final Resolution. I watched the match from last year and so many things were duplicated. That having been said, it was a great match, but then they put in all of the antics from last time into this one. I do not understand the pyschology that TNA bookers employ. I like watching TNA for the wrestling, but the storylines are incredulous.

Pretty much.

No one really denies that TNA has a good wrestling product, it's just all the other things that happen.

I didn't mind the interference in the Main Event as long as Tomko isn't Angle's lackey again. If he is, then I would be pissed.

I actually thought it was a pretty wild and unpredictable finish, which I liked. But I would have preferred a straight clean match, but I didn't expect that anyway.

I remember a time when TNA really was wrestling, now it's like it's there but they don't make it the focal point like they should.

Does anyone remember the great debut promo from Christian Cage at Genesis 05? Everything he said about the WWE, is now somewhat becoming true about TNA.

At that point in time, TNA was pretty much at it's peak from a in-ring product standpoint and it's been somewhat downhill from there.(They still have great matches but the product as a whole isn't as good.)

They were cutting edge, they were innovative, they were fresh, and now it seems like there just....there.

[TheHighwayMan]

The street fight was one of the most awesome matches I've seen in a while. Loved it. I haven't been a huge Lethal fan but he proved himself big time here.

Christan-Angle was mostly very good too, but the ending was just bullsh*t. Bad for Tomko and bad for the title IMO.

[ryo7200]

I'm gonna guess Russo booked the swerve with Tomko at the end. Horrible booking decision, but apart from that I enjoyed the PPV.

[dahr amara]

the ppv is thery nice but angle & chirstian match whas suck

[stinger-splash]

Originally Posted by ryo7200

I'm gonna guess Russo booked the swerve with Tomko at the end. Horrible booking decision, but apart from that I enjoyed the PPV.

Somebody has gotta stop Russo, he's destroying TNA.

[Steiner Recliner]

Originally Posted by stinger-splash

Somebody has gotta stop Russo, he's destroying TNA.

Agreed.

I am also pissed off at the Tomko turn. He is supposed to be the best booked character in TNA. I don't know about anyone else, but i'm getting sick of all the 'turns' lately. A prime example is Karen Angle turning on Samoa Joe a few months back. AJ Styles turning on Cage at the previous PPV, ALL to aid Angle.

Russo has to go, I don't care how much influence he has, the character turns are so Russo-like, it's ridiculous.

Let me finish of by saying CAN'T WE HAVE A FUCKING MAIN EVENT WITH A CLEAN FINISH. Cage or Angle would lose zero credibility by being defeated.

Get serious TNA.

[delpihero]

shit ppv, main event, x division and scott steiner match where good rest where shit, disapointed really.

[Steiner Recliner]

Originally Posted by delpihero

shit ppv, main event, x division and scott steiner match where good rest where shit, disapointed really.

Absolute bollocks. It was solid from start to finish.

The crowd were fantastic IMO.

[TripleG]

OK, I finally got a chance to sit down and watch Against All Odds.

- The opening with the National Guard and the National Anthem was classy, and a nice way to open up the show. I also thought the opening video was pretty cool. The PPV opening video was cool too.

Match 1 – “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles & Tomko (c) vs. “Bullet” Bob Armstrong & BG James: TNA Tag Team Championship Match

I guess they wanted to get the weakest match out of the way first, but I would have preferred either EY vs. Storm or Petey vs. Steiner as an opener. Oh well. I liked the tension between AJ & Tomko before the match. A little strange that the tag title match got the boxing intro normally reserved for the main event, but whatever.

This match turned out better than expected, but that doesn’t say much. I did like some of the stuff they did at the end, especially that sick Springboard Dropkick from AJ to BG’s knee. And they did some ok stuff with Bullet Bob, but he shouldn’t be in the ring anymore. But they kept the match short, and the crowd reacted well, so it got the job done. I still would have preferred something else as the opener, and it was the weakest of the matches, but I expected much worse, so no harm done. Also, thank God AJ & Tomko retained the gold. They need to lose the titles soon just to cement the tension going on in the main event feud, but they shouldn’t have to lose it to the Armstrong Family.

Winners – AJ Styles & Tomko via Pinfall

- I wasn’t really a fan of the running story between Kurt and Karen. Thankfully it was only a few segments.

Match 2 – Traci Brooks vs. Payton Banks

This was basically just a filler match, which I was fine with. Some people probably didn’t like having two women matches on the same show, but to me its good because it makes it seem like the division has depth when you have two girls feuding for something besides the belt. This match was nice brawl with some good in ring action, and the crowd was really into it too. Short but sweet pretty much sums this match up.

Winner – Traci Brooks via Pinfall

- Scott Hudson is back! He got to lead an entertaining exchange between Steiner & Petey.

Match 3 – “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner vs. “Maple Leaf Muscle” Petey Williams: World Title & X Title Shots On the Line

I was kind of looking forward to this match. I really enjoy matches between guys that are complete opposites to each other. This one didn’t disappoint. Essentially, this bout was Heavyweight vs. X Division and it was a lot of fun to watch. This was Petey’s best showing in a long time, and Steiner hung in there well with him. They did some really good spots, and I liked Petey’s bits where he mimicked Steiner. That is a perfectly natural thing to do given Petey’s new gimmick. The big woman that helped Steiner win looked gigantic. I guess the Knockouts division gets a new addition. I would actually like to see more of Petey/Steiner. This match was actually pretty damn good.

Winner – Scott Steiner via Pinfall

- I know I just said I didn’t like the Angle thing, but that segment with JB was hysterical.

Match 4 – “Showtime” Eric Young (c) vs. “Cowboy” James Storm w/Jackie Moore: Drinking Championship Match

LOL at Eric Young’s training video. I really wish that they aired that on Impact. Anyways, this was another really good match and I expected it. These two had a good match back at Turning Point, so it should stand to reason that they can do it again in a venue outside of Orlando. EY breaking out the Double DVD spot was great, and Storm was his usual great self. He is definitely somebody that deserves a push. And it was great to see Rhino come back. He’s somebody that’s definitely been missed since he got injured. I don’t mind them starting up the Storm/Rhino feud again. They have great chemistry and their first feud was awesome.

Winner – Eric Young via Pinfall

- I liked having Cornette explain to the audience what happened with the Barbwire Massacre and I like how well he put the match over as something truly barbaric and violent.

Match 5 – Awesome Kong (c) w/Raisha Saeed vs. O.D.B.: TNA Knockout Championship Match

I was looking forward to this match just to see how well ODB would do. I love her character and she’s funny as hell, but in the ring she was somewhat unproven outside of some short matches on Impact. This match was a really impressive outing for her and I hope she stays in the title picture because she proved she can go, and she’s over as hell. I loved how they played up ODB slamming Kong as being the big spot of the match as that usually worked for Hogan back in the day, so why not now? Kong was impressive as always. Her dominance in the ring makes her a force in women’s wrestling, and I’ve already said, she is the Vader for TNA’s Knockout Division.

And those of you saying “It’s not as good as Gail vs. Kong” That is an unfair comparison. Gail & Kong set the wrestling world on fire with their matches and were hailed as the best women’s matches in recent memory if not ever. It is kind of hard to capture that kind of magic again with any kind of combination. It’s like the critics that gave Young Frankenstein on Broadway bad reviews because “It’s not as good as the Producers was” That’s not fair.

Winner – Awesome Kong via Pinfall

- James Mitchell promo: Mitchell is the best promo man in wrestling right now and this was a perfect example of that. He is amazing with that stuff.

Match 6 – “The Monster” Abyss vs. Judas Mesias w/Father James Mitchell: Barbwire Massacre

It really sucks that the match was banned in South Carolina, but TNA made the best of a bad situation and gave us the match in the best way they could. And by the way: Judas, lose the Skeletor mask. The Barbwire itself doesn’t really look all that bad until they do a close up shot. Man I wouldn’t want to touch it. That looks stupid. Also, Tenay needs to get his facts straight. Sabu won the first Barbwire Massacre. But I guess pointing that out just makes me a nerd.

Anyways, this match delivered on what promised and that was a bunch of spots with people getting hit with or landing on barbwire. However, there was more storytelling put into the match than I expected, and they did a good job with teasing that Abyss would get his hands on Mitchell, which of course led to the big payoff of Mitchell getting the Black Hole Slam. The violence in this match was plentiful and that should satisfy the audiences that wanted it. I really enjoyed this match up and I felt like it finished off the feud nicely. I hope this is the end of it because this was a good way to finish it.

Winner – Abyss via Pinfall

- Great heel promo from Robert Roode. He’s really come along nicely. We also got a good one from Booker. This feud has been really good so far.

Match 7 – Booker T vs. Robert Roode w/Payton Banks

The crowd was really into this one, which is good given the build up this match was given. I expected an intense match up and it was. I thought the two demonstrated a good chemistry with each other, and hopefully that leads to future good matches. I can see this feud going all the way to Lockdown and ending in the cage, which would be perfect. The Double Countout finish was perfect IMO. It sent the message that this feud was so intense, that the normal rules of a match can not contain it, and it makes Robert Roode look like a coward with a madman on his tail. This was a good first showing, and hopefully they keep the intensity going.

Winner – Double Countout

- Kurt and Karen renew their vows. Ugh. Good promo by Angle at the end though.

- Team 3D promo was pretty standard. It did a nice job of setting up the upcoming match.

Match 8 – Team 3D & Johnny Devine (c) vs. “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal & The Motor City Machine Guns: X Division Championship Hardcore Streetfight

I hope this is the end of the feud, as I think the stipulations in the match calls for the feud to end. This match was essentially a showcase for Jay Lethal, who played Superman at the end to get the win. Jay was definitely the star of the match. He came off looking like a million bucks in this one. This match was definitely exciting. My only knock on it is that there was no spot where it seemed like the X Division was truly done. I know the Guns got taken out and Jay Lethal had to go it alone, but we never really got a serious nearfall from Team 3D that made it seem like the X Division was truly dead. However, this was an action packed match up with plenty of spots and cool moves to keep me entertained. I also like what they did with So Cal Val as they really needed to start going somewhere with that. Overall, it was a pretty good match, but I think it could have been better.

Winners – New X Division Champion Jay Lethal & The Motor City Machine Guns via Pinfall

- As usual, we get a nice promo from Christian.

Main Event – Kurt Angle (c) w/Karen Angle vs. “The Instant Classic” Christian Cage w/Samoa Joe as Special Guest Enforcer: TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match

I thought the match these two had last month was very good, and I would say that this one was just about on par with it. This match was also different from last months as well, so kudos to both men for that. The action was great. They came up with some really cool counters for each others moves, and I really enjoyed the things Joe did as special enforcer. The ending was total chaos, which I like. It’s always fun to watch. Now the ending with Tomko was somewhat strange. I don’t think Tomko should be a heel. He’s just too over now. But it seemed like he wasn’t aligned with Angle at the end, so maybe they are just playing up the “Tomko is for Tomko” thing. I’ll reserve judgment until I see where they go with it. But as far as the match goes, it was a really good main event.

Winner – Kurt Angle via Pinfall

The PPV was pretty solid from top to bottom. There was nothing horrific or offensive, and most of the matches delivered something good. There was nothing too shocking in the results, but we got some nice payoffs to big feuds (Judas/Abyss & Team 3D?X Division) while other feuds continued nicely (Roode/Booker, Rhino/Storm) Overall, this was a really fun and enjoyable PPV. It wasn’t TNA’s best by any means, but it was a good showing.