TNA IMPACT!

November 3, 2005 (taped 10/25/05)

It’s do or die time for TNA, they secured a two hour prime time special. They’ve really put their best foot forward with giving most matches plenty of time, not to mention showcasing both an NWA Title rematch and an Ultimate X match on free TV. Sounds great in theory, but how will it play out in execution?

Monty Brown . . . looks for all the world like the next Goldberg, but he doesn’t need a laxative for a nickname.

Christopher Daniels . . . and the rest of the X-Division prove that their tagline about ‘no limits’ is more than just a tagline.

Jeff Jarrett . . . wins his fifth NWA Title from the final ECW Champion, in a very ECW style match.

JEFF HARDY/SABU/LANCE HOYT vs. SIMON DIAMOND/ELIX SKIPPER/DAVID YOUNG

You’d think that TNA would want to kick off such an important show on a better note to attempt to hook viewers from the beginning. Six wrestlers need longer a little bit longer than three minutes to do their thing, so this is pretty much a mess. The only notable offense from the heels is a double facebuster from Skipper and Young, Hardy works in a couple of his usual spots, the spinning kick counter when Young catches his foot, the whisper in the wind, and the Swanton that finishes off Skipper. Hoyt isn’t much more than Test-lite without Abyss to bump for him, and Sabu only hits a couple of springboards, throws a chair, and somehow hurts his leg or back area (off camera) causing them to rush to the finish. It’s not bad that TNA decided to showcase Hardy, since causal fans might remember him from WWE, but they should have found a better way to do it than in a mess like this.

MONTY BROWN vs. BRIAN GAMBLE

As stupid as it sounded, Monty’s promo before the match was dead on. He did, in fact, run through Gamble like Ex-lax, which does make him “The Alpha Ex-lax.” This isn’t any different than your run of the mill Goldberg match, Monty hits him, he hits him again, he does The Pounce and it’s over. Monty didn’t need to Pounce him three times though, the first one more than did enough (plus Gamble’s bumps on the second and third didn’t look good), but West’s comment that Gamble being so out of it that he ‘doesn’t know who his mama is’ was amusing for its randomness.

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS/SAMOA JOE/ALEX SHELLY vs. AJ STYLES/AUSTIN ARIES/SONJAY DUTT

This is the match the show should have started with, something to instantly differentiate TNA from WWE and something to get the fans excited. Unless one hasn’t seen any of the wrestlers before, then this won’t be anything really mind-blowing, but they try to make the most of being able to show off on a prime time special. They take to the air, they show off their innovative moves (the first time I’ve seen Aries dig out the Crucifix bomb in a good long while), and Joe lays in the kicks. This is technically what one would call a ‘spotfest’ as the match itself isn’t much more than the six of them pulling out spot after spot to show off what they can do, and to get the fans excited. And it’s got the usual ending sequence where everyone else takes out everyone else until it’s only down to two and they can do the finish without anyone interrupting.

However, what makes this more than just a spotfest in my eyes, is the storyline advancement with the tension building up between Joe and Daniels. It starts early on with Joe showing off his striking ability in the form of pelting Dutt with several kicks, and then Daniels blind tagging himself in so that he can get show off. A bit later on, they try to double team Styles, but they can’t get on the same page, first Daniels accidentally hits Joe, and then Joe accidentally hits Daniels. They both wind up on the floor and conveniently out of the way so that Styles can finish off Shelley. No, it may not be a masterpiece, or even really anything special, but it’s the exact sort match that a show like this needed to have, and that it’s also used for some angle advancement and not just a one-off like so many tags, trios, and 3-way matches is a bonus.

BROTHER RAY/BROTHER DEVON vs. BOBBY ROODE/ERIC YOUNG

It’d be easy to bash Team 3D for hogging the offense, but it’s actually a good thing that they did, because when it was time for the Canadians to have control, they failed miserably. The match itself isn’t much more than a mindless brawl, and that does make sense in a way, because this is supposed to be something full of hate and anger, but they don’t seem to want to go all the way with it. Maybe it’s because the real beef is between Team 3D and AMW and Roode and Young aren’t much more than pawns, or maybe it’s because the Canadians have their own issues with 3LK, but whatever the reason, working a match like this, on cruise control, doesn’t do anyone any favors. Then again, considering what each team has going on (not to mention that despite being former champions, Roode and Young were never much of a dominant tag team) it’s probably unreasonable to expect more from them.

As bad as Team Canada were on offense, they at least know how to bump and sell when they’re on the receiving end of the punishment, even if Team 3D isn’t doing anything beyond punching and a few trademark moves. And again, while it’d be easy to knock 3D for not doing the same for Team Canada when they were on offense, Team Canada’s big offensive run was highlighted by a headlock and a choke hold, not exactly the idea offense to showcase selling and bumping. The best thing that comes out of the control segment for the heels is the false tag spot, which is almost mandatory for tag matches. Devon finally makes the hot tag, the match breaks down, 3LK prevent the interference and Young gets hit with 3D to both set up the eventual AMW/3D feud and continue 3LK/Team Canada. It’s nice that TNA gave them almost fifteen minutes on free TV, but it’s too bad that they didn’t make better use of the time.

CHRIS SABIN vs. PETEY WILLIAMS vs. MATT BENTLEY (Ultimate X Match - #1 Contenders match to X-Division Title)

After the X-Division trios match, they knew they had their work cut out for them, and they didn’t disappoint. Sabin and Petey bring most of the good bumps and good offense, not surprising since they’re both miles ahead of Bentley, but Matt finds his own way to contribute. Most of Matt’s popularity is due to Traci, so early on, Traci gets stalked by Petey and Coach D’Amore, so that Matt can come to her rescue, they also play the Traci card a toward the end when it looks like D’Amore is going to interfere and Traci thwarts him.

The rest of the match is the usual spotfest insanity that one should expect from the X-Division, even more so with them having this kind of chance to shine. Again, Bentley can’t really keep up with Petey and Sabin, but they find a few good ways to get him into the mix. The best one is his inadvertent assist to Petey, Petey tries to pull Bentley down from the cables, and Bentley kicks him away, and Petey uses the momentum from the kick to give a rana to Sabin (who was holding Petey up in a powerbomb position). Bentley also manages to add a nice escape to Petey’s attempt at the Destroyer and hits a perfect superkick, and Bentley looks to have the match won, until Petey’s low blow turns the tide. Even though Bentley finds ways to pull his weight, most of the good stuff is from Sabin and Petey. It helps that they’d already worked together a bunch of times, so they had their routine down. They pull out some of what you’d expect, like Petey standing on Bentley’s groin and singing, and Sabin’s basement dropkick, and the usual array of dives. But they also pull out a few surprises, like Petey’s pescado rana and Sabin’s super German suplex that turns Petey inside out. There’s also a nice moment of comedy with Petey’s head getting stuck in the scaffold.

The two limb injuries (Sabin’s arm and Petey’s knee) were both weird because they just came out of nowhere, and they were gone just as fast. It’d have been nice to see them used as filler between the spots, especially since it’d have given Bentley something more to do and Petey and Sabin sharking on each other would have fit right in with their history together. But sadly, Sabin’s arm isn’t anything more than an excuse for him to not get the X so that Petey can hit the Destroyer, and Petey’s knee only gives a brief moment of hope for Bentley, until Petey low blows him and snatches the X. Like the last match, it’s great that they were given so much time to work, and they certainly didn’t hold back at all. But it’s too bad that they had chances to take this in a more smart direction and ignored them, although again, given the situation, it’s not altogether unreasonable of them to do so.

This is the exact opposite of the sort of match that TNA should have done to end the show. Showing the match complete with no commercial break was a step in the right direction, but doing something straight out of Attitude Era WWF, and doing it with two WWE castoffs was a step backwards. The wrestling here clearly takes a backseat to the angle and run ins. Sure, the run ins are well timed and the heat is off the charts, but when TNA is trying to showcase themselves as a real alternative to the WWE, doing something straight out of an ECW main event isn’t the way to go. The match itself is well done for what it is, and Jarrett and Rhino have enough history together to justify the hatred, but it’s not the sort of match to use in the main event for the title.

It’s not like they were completely forced to go this route, there were opportunities to take the match in a different direction, but they didn’t bother to follow through. It doesn’t help that you can almost pinpoint whenever something is going to happen by watching when one of them tries to actually do something other than brawl. Both of Gail Kim’s run ins, the ref bump, and the subsequent AMW run in that leads to Jarrett hitting The Stroke to win back the title all come on the heels of one of them doing (or attempting) to do something wrestling related. The rest of the match is punching, kicking, biting, choking, and prop shots. Jarrett’s all too brief targeting of Rhino’s knee was right there to take the match somewhere, but all we got was one kick, the figure four, and Rhino’s reversal attempt that caused Gail’s interference. Even indirectly, Jarrett working over the knee for a length of time would have given the idea that Jarrett at least partially earned his win and was a deserving champion. Just look at how Rhino won the title, he won a battle royal and then beat Jarrett in a title match, giving Jarrett all of a minute to prepare, so it’s not like Rhino was any kind of deserving champion. Of course, the crowd heat at the end more than justifies the overbooking and the end result, and again, this is well done for what it is, I just think that the wrestling should have counted for more than just a cue for run ins.

Conclusion: If nothing else, TNA deserves an A for effort. The X-Division matches are clearly the highlights here, but the other stuff (aside from, arguably, the opener) serves its own purpose, so it’s impossible to fault them for it. This isn’t up to par with some of their PPV offerings, but it’s a perfectly fine TV show.