What better way to start a show off than to have Ric Flair swaggering towards the ring, glistening in one of his most elaborate robes. Sting, or should I say the Joker from Batman, shortly followed suit wearing an equally ornate pink sequined robe.
I seem to recall Ken Anderson wearing similar attire when parodying the early 90’s version of the Stinger some weeks back. This made me wonder whether TNA knew what direction they were going in, as these two conflicting approaches to style, make the personality of the show seem schizophrenic.
I seem to recall Ken Anderson wearing similar attire when parodying the early 90’s version of the Stinger some weeks back. This made me wonder whether TNA knew what direction they were going in, as these two conflicting approaches to style, make the personality of the show seem schizophrenic.
Despite the fact that his gimmick is a blatant rip off, Sting seems to have found a character in which he feels comfortable portraying, because his microphone skills have improved no end. The over the top wackiness has been toned down considerably and replaced with unstable aggression, which works much more effectively.
The two of them agreed to face off against each other for the main event of the show. I was hooked, they had me in the palm of their hands, I wanted to see that match.
TNA are really making Jeff Hardy pay for his little incident at Victory Road, and rightly so. I just watched the match again to freshen up my minds recollection of the occurrence, and it was just as big a car crash as I remember.
Throughout the show, Jeff apologizes to number of wrestlers who were affected by his drug fuelled episode, but no one accepts his apology. Instead, they inform him of how much of an idiot he was, how he could have potentially ruined TNA and subsequently taken food from the families of its employees.
TNA want to let you know that they are not taking this issue lightly. Ideally, Jeff should be banned from wrestling for life, but the problem is, he is too good a draw to ignore, he makes too much money to be banned, and he is very entertaining to watch.
8 Man Mixed Tag Team Match
Mexican America
Vs.
Pope D’angelo Dinero, Dvon, Tara, Miss Tessmacher
Although this match was quite fast and exciting, it was also way too busy and incoherent. There was simply too much going on and no sense of order, especially when the women got involved. Tessmacher and Tera sealed the victory over Mexican America via double pin.
4/10
Karen Angel then rounds up all of the knockouts, and informs them about the queens qualifying matches. Very annoying section of the show, made even more irritating from the stupid little rat dog Mickie James was holding.
AJ Styles introduces Robert Roode; the winner of the Bound For Glory series, and new number one contender to the heavyweight championship. Bobby joins the rest of Fortune in the centre of the ring, who each congratulate him on his victory. The most sincere congratulations came from his tag team partner James Storm, who despite being slightly jealous, meant every word he said, knowing there was no one more deserving in TNA.
Kurt Angel gatecrashes the party, and with his new wealth of power, declares that each week one member of Fortune’s stable will face Robert Roode. His intentions being, to expose the secret bitterness and jealousy he assumes lies within their group of friends.
Angelina Love
Vs.
Velvet Sky
Angelina Love, who seems to have more botox than face these days, isn‘t the spring chicken she used to be. Velvet Sky on the other hand, has still got what it takes to make me think about masturbation. I didn’t really pay much attention to the match because their tits and arses distracted me, but from what I gathered, it was an ongoing battle between Angelina’a weird face, and Velvet’s perfect arse.
Velvet Sky won due to the interference of Winter.
2/10
Somoa Joe
Vs.
Matt Morgan
This was a good example of two big power wrestlers, using the varied array of weapons in their arsenal to good effect. Sometimes these types of matches can become boring very quickly, consisting of not much more than headlocks, big right hands and head butts. But these two wrestlers are unlike the majority of large athletes, they obviously love what they do, and do not rely on their size as a means of telling the in ring story.
Somoa Joe won via submission.
Kazarian
Vs.
Robert Roode
The first of Kurt Angel’s truth exposing matches commenced.
With the pace of a stampede of gazelles, and a story that made Charles Dickens look like a schmuck, this match easily stole the show. A variety of fast, ground based, submissions, reversals and pin attempts, were exhibited to warm up the crowd. Some wrestlers refer to these move groupings as spots, for instance let’s do spot 1, which would be a specific combination. This isn’t to be confused with the preplanned high spots which a match is based around, and builds towards.
The speed of the match was at times difficult to keep up with, a commentators nightmare perhaps, but not in a negative way, in an on the edge of your seat way. They achieved this coherency, through constantly keeping the back story obvious and relevant.
I remember watching this match thinking, this is why I like wrestling, this is why wrestling is good, this is the ammunition I can use when somebody asks me why I like that fake, cheesy shit on the television. It is also the reason why TNA has so much more potential than WWE, if only they could manage to find some direction and personality, then the world would be their oyster.
Both Robert Roode and Kazarian are tremendous talents, and put on a master class for the world to see. Roode won after applying a cross face submission hold.
Taz: There goes two competitive natured athletes, who have a mutual respect for each other.
8.5/10
Jerry Lynn and Bully Ray then cut a promo hyping their match against Rob Van Dam and Ken Anderson. Jerry Lynn’s mic skills are non existent; he is fucking rubbish on the stick. However, he more than makes up for his lack of acting skills in the ring, and fully deserves the air time and exposure required to get him over with fans unfamiliar with him. I’m shocked TNA didn’t snap him up sooner, for he will bring a lot of class to the ring, and will draw more attention to the franchise.
IMPACT Main Event
Ric Flair
Vs.
Sting
Something I noticed during the introductions to this match, which I found both surprising and hilarious, was that Earl Hebner got booed. I couldn’t decide whether the sound guys in post production got a bit a mixed up when they overlaid the blatantly fake crowd reactions, or if the fans simply don’t like dirty thieves. Baffling.
And now for two household names in the history of this industry we love and cherish; Ric Flair and Sting.
It’s always a pleasure to watch Ric Flair wrestle, he’s still got it, there’s no doubt about that. He may be a little bit slower nowadays, but he’s still got the timing and ring psychology needed to entertain an audience.
Flair chop locks the Stinger’s knee from behind hoping to weaken it, and then follows up with his trademark figure four leg lock, eager to get a quick win, and the rest of the night off. But Sting is resilient and hangs on for dear life. In agony, he protects his pride. Flair gets a bit pissed off with Sting’s unwillingness to give up, and so waits until the referee’s back is turned to grab hold of the ropes, and apply a little bit of extra leverage. But it’s no use; Sting’s knee joints must be made out of titanium to withstand such pressure. And then to rub salt in the wound, the Stinger proceeds to reverse Flair’s maneuver into a figure four of his own. Thankfully, Flair is able to get to the ropes before his legs snapped off, because that would have been horrible.
But maybe Naitch should have given up while he still could, for Stings next order of business was to take him up to the top rope, and superplex the fuck out of him. Sting covers for the pin, and gets a four count, because slow as fuck Immortal were supposed to get to the ring a little bit sooner than they did, to break up the count. Once again, a badly organized TNA, jeopardizes the integrity of a match.
Immortal then puts a serious beating on Sting, which gives Flair the opportunity to get a cheap pin. If that referee counts to three, abiding by the match’s stipulation, Sting would be forced to retire. But in the true tradition of a heroic baby face, the Stinger somehow manages to muster up the courage to kick out at the last given millisecond. Sting starts to hulk up, and delivers a perfectly executed Stinger Splash, followed by his patented Scorpion Death Lock, followed by the 1, 2, 3.
Now Sting finally has chance to get his hands on Hulk Hogan.
Good match.
8/10
Overall rating
7.5/10
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