The PPV opens with a video with the theme of “change is inevitable,” showing scenes from the announcement that Hulk Hogan has joined TNA, cut in with scenes from the action leading up to the PPV.
.
.
Mike Tenay and Taz welcome us to the PPV and go straight to the first match.
X Division Championship
Amazing Red (C) with Don West
vs.
Homicide
Mike Tenay mentions that Homicide claims he trained Red, but Red says he was trained by Mikey Whipwreck. Taz says he will have to “reach out to Mikey and find out the truth.”
Red, the clear fan favorite here, gets an early advantage with a high energy offense that sends Homicide to the floor to regroup. This is a fast, hard hitting match that gets the fans on their feet and vocal. It’s Red’s speed and high flying agility against Homicide’s dirty tricks and submission holds. In the end, Red retains with a Code Red for the pin.
Tenay and Taz run down the card.
TNA Knockouts Tag Team Match – All Titles on the Line
ODB (C), Taylor Wilde & Sarita (C)
vs.
The Beautiful People, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, & Lacey Von Erich
The Knockouts deserve so much better than this. Why are we constantly subjected to the 3 worst women wrestlers in TNA? The Beautiful People should only be on PPVs as filler, for eye candy. These three should never, ever, be wrestling when you are asking fans to pay for the show, and especially not when you are raising the prices.
Tenay explains that if any of the current champions get pinned, the person who pins her wins that title.
The champs work hard to keep the match moving, despite all the posing, nonsense, and cheating from the Beautiful People. ODB finally gets the pin with a TKO on Madison, and all the champions retain their titles.
Please, can we now see some worthy title contenders for a change?
Jeremy Borash interviews Desmond Wolfe, who says that he knows everything about Kurt Angle, but Angle knows nothing about him, and the Wolfe will devour “every scrap that remains” of Kurt Angle.
TNA World Tag Team Championship
Motor City Machine Guns, Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley
vs.
British Invasion, Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus (C)
vs.
Beer Money, James Storm & Robert Roode
What happened to the TNA rule that if the Champion gets disqualified in a title match, he loses the title?
The match starts out with Beer Money against the Brits, but the Brits soon tag in the Guns. The Guns and Beer Money keep tagging their partners in, until Doug Williams tags himself in. Three great tag teams keep this match running like a well oiled machine, with plenty of fast action and quick tags.
Sabin goes high risk over the top rope, but crashes and burns, then Shelley is the victim of a double team into a suplex by the Brits and rolls out to the floor. The Guns don’t return. Beer Money has the advantage until Eric Young runs out to interfere. He grabs Storm by the ankles, causing him to slam his head on the ring apron. Kevin Nash comes out as if to take out Young, but instead he slams James Storm in the back of the head with Eric Young’s belt, allowing the Brits to double team Robert Roode to get the pin and retain.
Tenay and Taz say that Mick Foley will be at iMPACT! and speculate about how seriously he was burned by Raven’s fireball, and what he looks like. Could this be a clue that we will see Foley in a mask like Abyss?
Borash asks Kevin Nash why he hit James Storm. Nash says he does everything for a reason, but he won’t tell that reason unless “Hulk” tells him he can reveal it. He never says Hogan, only “Hulk.”
Six Sides of Steel Match
Awesome Kong
vs.
Tara
Tenay mentions that Tara was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in her home town of Rialto, CA yesterday. Tara uses her speed to get an early advantage, and then uses the cage as a weapon to hurt Kong’s hand and arm. Kong unleashes a missile drop kick off the top rope, but only gets two. Later, Kong swings Tara around like a rag doll, slamming her head and shoulders into the cage. This is a violent and brutal contest that gets dueling chants from the crowd, who seem evenly split between the two women.
Tara makes a comeback and gets a near fall with a moonsault. Both women stand on the top rope and slug it out. Later, Kong climbs to the top turnbuckle, and Tara boosts Kong onto her shoulders and power bombs her. Tara then climbs to the top and launches herself off with a Thesz press onto Kong, getting the pin and the win.
Lauren interviews a jubilant Tara on the ramp. Tara says she did what she said she was going to do: she beat the best female wrestler ever, Kong, and now she’s going after ODB.
Mike and Taz introduce a video package about Hulk Hogan joining TNA. Time for a snack or bathroom break. Oh well, at least we didn’t have to see Hogan on the PPV, and best of all, we didn’t have to watch him try to wrestle.
Six Man Tag Team Match
Team 3D & Rhino
vs.
Matt Morgan, Hernandez, & D’Angelo Dinero
When Dinero enters, it rains “money” out of the ceiling of the arena. This is one of the few times in TNA when Team 3D don’t have a size advantage. Hernandez starts off with Devon. Dinero soon tags himself in and starts off on the wrong foot with some showboating, but he eventually gets a huge pop from the crowd with a quick double leg takedown followed by a hail of fists on Ray. Rhino tags in, and Dinero tags Matt Morgan, who out powers Rhino easily.
Eventually 3D and Rhino isolate Dinero on their side of the ring and beat him down, while they tag in and out. Finally he tags in Morgan, who cleans house. Then Morgan tags in Hernandez, who cleans house again, including one of his patented leaps over the top rope, taking out all three heels on the floor. Morgan hurts his knee, and 3D crotch Dinero on a ring post. While Ray distracts the ref, Devon takes out Hernandez with a steel chair, setting him up for a Gore by Rhino, who gets the pin.
Lauren interviews a psychotic Scott Steiner, who claims he’s doing Bobby Lashley a favor by telling him his wife is really in love with Steiner, and after he wins, he’s going to take Crystal Lashley.
Revenge Match
Bobby Lashley
vs.
Scott Steiner
This is now a no DQ, falls count anywhere match. Steiner runs up the ramp toward Lashley, who gets the early advantage, slugging Steiner and smashing him into the ring rails. They go to the ring where Lashley keeps the clear advantage until Steiner hits him with three low blows in succession. Scott gets a two count with a belly to belly suplex. Steiner starts going through his arsenal of suplexes, but none of them get him a three count, not even the Frankensteiner off the top turnbuckle. Steiner goes to the top, but Lashley catches him and press slams him on the top rope.
They go back to the floor, where Bobby smashes Steiner’s head repeatedly into the announce desk. They brawl to the backstage area, where they are out of sight for while, but finally the camera catches up with them outside the arena, where there are some tables and other things set up. Lashley suplexes a bloody Steiner through a table, then finds a two by four, which he uses on Scott as Taz and the crowd yell, “Ho-ooo!”
Steiner makes a comeback but then decides to return to the building. Lashley follows him. Once inside, Steiner rips apart the steel scaffolding behind the Spanish announce table and uses one of the steel bars to bash Lashley in the head. With Lashley knocked out, Steiner gets the pin.
After the match, Lashley finally gets up and walks to the back on his own, looking very concerned and angry.
They cut to JB, who starts to ask Kurt Angle a question, but Angle interrupts and tells him to just listen for once. Kurt says that Wolfe is acting under prison yard rules, but Angle is the biggest, baddest dog in the yard, and he doesn’t need to know Wolfe to beat him.
Challenge Match
Kurt Angle
vs.
Desmond Wolfe
The fans are solidly behind Angle in this mostly scientific, mat based match. Taz points out that Wolfe uses the European wrestling style. Wolfe works Angle’s neck and left arm and stretches him brutally, but he gets cocky, and Angle capitalizes in his mistakes. Despite this being a slower paced match, they skillfully keep the crowd’s interest and get chants of, “This is awesome!”
Even after all the injury to his arm, Angle hits Wolfe with 6 German suplexes in a row, but Wolfe dodges the Angle slam. Wolfe goes back to working Angle’s arm, but Angle reverses into the ankle lock. Wolfe reverses that into a submission hold on Angle, but Angle again counters into the ankle lock. Wolfe finally makes it to the ropes for a break. Wolfe goes for his lariat, but Angle lands his own clothesline instead. The fans chant, “This is wrestling!”
Wolfe gets Angle in another submission hold, but Kurt scoots backwards to the ropes for the break. Kurt hits the frog splash, but only gets two. They follow with a series of reversals until Kurt locks in an arm bar variation and Wolfe finally submits. This is a definite MotY contender and shows what TNA can do, at its best – you’d never see a match like this in WWE, because they would never book Wolfe (Nigel McGuiness) to his strengths.
Jeremy Borash interviews Samoa Joe, who says he’s going to win tonight.
TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match
AJ Styles (C)
vs.
Christopher Daniels
vs.
Samoa Joe
This match starts off fast, with all three men making it clear there are no friends in this ring tonight. Joe gets knocked out to the floor early on, leaving AJ and Daniels to battle each other. When Joe finally returns, he goes mostly for kicks and punches, then rolls out to the floor again. After Joe returns, Daniels locks in a dual submission – a camel clutch on Joe and a Boston crab on AJ. Joe breaks it by biting Daniels’ fingers.
This match also gets fan chants of “This is wrestling!” Chris gets a lot of “Fallen Angel!” chants. Daniels follows Joe to the floor, and Joe gets him in a choke hold, but AJ hits both with a Fosbury Flop. They all return to the ring for more fast and furious action, and now AJ gets some fan chants. While Daniels is briefly knocked out, Joe goes for a Boston Crab on AJ, then switches to the STF, but AJ makes it to the ropes.
Daniels returns to action, and Joe goes out again, leaving AJ and Daniels to battle it out. Pelé on Daniels leaves Styles too tired to try for a pin. Springboard flying forearm by AJ gets a two count on Joe. Last Rites on AJ gets only a two count for Daniels because Joe breaks it up. A series of near falls raises the tension and crowd excitement as all three show signs of exhaustion.
Joe tries for a muscle buster, but Daniels reverses with a STO judo takedown, then hits Joe with the BME. He goes for the pin, but AJ hits the springboard 450 on Daniels’ back, pulls him off, and gets the pin on Joe to retain his title. As Daniels leaves, he shouts that AJ didn’t pin him, signaling that the feud between friends is clearly not over.
This was an excellent PPV with no bad matches, and two great ones. It’s well worth buying the replay.
TNA’s next PPV is Final Resolution on December 20 at Orlando, FL.
— Karen Belcher
Courtesy of ProWrestlingDigest.com