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So we're at what's theoretically the biggest PPV of the year, and TNA seems to be trying to make up for lackluster build-up by putting together what appears to be a really solid wrestling card. Overall I'm fairly content with that deal, though a well built-up marquis match would have been nice. I'm also including a bit this month where I got picks from my wife, who's a casual wrestling fan. I figure that marital competition should make for reasonably good reading. Yet without any obvious "gimme" matches on the card in terms of who's likely to win, I'm a little nervous that I might get trounced.

LAX defeats Senshi & Skipper

Mini-recap: This match hits all the high spots would expect. It's fairly nonstop action, with highlights including Homicide hitting a neckbreaker from the ropes to the ring, Skipper hitting a Splash from the top of the scaffolding, and all the usual flips we've come to know from these teams. The finish comes when Hernandez hits the Border Toss on Skipper from inside the ring onto Senshi on the outside, then scuttles across the ropes to get the giant X.

Analysis: This was the perfect match to start off a PPV. There wasn't any storytelling or classic wrestling, just a load of spots to get the crowd rocking. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see Skipper walk the ropes, and think this match could have benefited from another five minutes. On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure from where I would have taken the time, so that's not that big an objection. I was glad to see Hernandez getting a chance to display his impressive big-man agility. The right team got the nod—now if only they could get their old theme music back.

Christian's Coalition are their usual promo gold in the back. Christian is arrogant, Tomko is stoic, and AJ is hysterically funny (he starts giving shout outs to his friends and family, and part of me wonders if he's mocking Pacman's promo from last Thursday).

Eric Young defeats Robert Roode, Jimmy Rave, Lance Hoyt, BG James, Kip James, Havok, Shark Boy, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Kaz, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, James Storm, Chris Harris, and Junior Fatu.

Mini-recap: Apparently the only part of this match that really counts is the reverse-battle royal at the beginning, which determines who'll qualify for a tournament to be #1 Contender. Everything after that is pretty much just for pride, or tournament seeding, which seems to amount to the same thing. The 8 men to make it into the ring are Junior Fatu, Kaz, Roode, Storm, Eric Young, Sabin, Shelley, and Lance Hoyt. The reverse battle royal is something of a mess, though there are a few cool moments when Kaz enters himself and Robert Roode by hitting The Flux Capacitor, Eric Young just sort of falls into the ring, and James Storm sneaks in a fraction of a second before Chris Harris. One we reach the battle royal phase, Fatu dominates until the other competitors all team up to eliminate him. The Motor City Machine Guns are their usual awesome selves. Eric Young wins the match, pinning Roode with a Small Package.

Analysis: This was probably the weakest match on the card, but it was mostly harmless. I do like that they worked in just about everybody—they've all worked hard, and I like that they were all included on the biggest show of the year. It means that no matter who your favorite wrestler was, he got at least a bit of screen time. I would have thought Chris Harris would have been a logical person to include in the tournament, but other than that the top 8 seem about right. Eric Young winning was a nice feel-good moment, and hopefully indicates a new desire on TNA's part to finally take him seriously. As I said, this match was mostly a mess, but didn't take up that much time and was all in good fun.

Pacman and The Truth finally acknowledge that Pacman can't wrestle, and announce that they'll have a replacement tonight.

Tomko & A.J. Styles defeat Ron "The Truth" Killings & Rasheed Lucius Creed (w/ Adam "Pacman" Jones)

Mini-recap: I'm not sure where Creed came from, but he's really a lot of fun to watch. Styles brings his A-game, which is always just a pleasure, and Tomko keeps up well. The finish comes when Pacman distracts Styles by throwing money in the ring, but distracts Earl Hebner as well. By the time Hebner finishes collecting the cash, Tomko and Styles hit a double team move (it looked sort of like a twisting Snapshot, but I'm sure I've seen it somewhere before) for the win.

Analysis: The finish was silly, but I thought somewhat funny. Moreover, it actually fits well with Hebner's character, as he was fired from WWE for using his position to make some money on the side on eBay. Besides, it's hard to take too seriously tag champs half of whom can't wrestle, so this hardly cheapened the titles—the real tag division starts now with Styles & Tomko vs. LAX.

Karen Angle tries to convince Nash to talk sense into Kurt. In general I'm trying to ignore her involvement tonight, but she hits a note about how Nash needs Kurt since he (Nash) can't wrestle anymore, which might prove important down the road.

"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal defeats "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels

Mini-recap: This is just a really solid match for the X Division gold, another in a night of very solid matches. Highlights include a springboard hurricanrana, some sort of reverse-Fisherman's Suplex into a Faceplant, a springboard reversed into a Death Valley Driver, a brutal looking Full Nelson Suplex, and a Lethal Combo off the top turnbuckle for the win. The crowd was on their feet by they end, with "TNA" chants and dueling chants for Daniels and Lethal.

Analysis: It's a shame this match didn't have more buildup, cause it could have been a show-stealer. As it is, it was a high quality match-up, and probably the first real X Division championship match in months. If they put a couple of these on Impact and bring in some new talent, the X Division will be right back where it should be.

Scott Steiner cuts a promo about Team 3D's "fat asses", which he mentions about 47 times. I love Scott Steiner promos.

The Steiner Bros. defeat Team 3D

Mini-recap: This match is a whole lot better than it has any right to be. There is some good brawling through the crowd, with Scott Steiner in particular making good use of beers and trashcans and the like. The unquestionable highlight of the match is a Frankensteiner on Brother Ray through a table.

Analysis: This had the feel of a big pay-off match, and was at least moderately watchable, which is about all one can reasonably expect from a legends' match. It had a different pace to it, and I thought complimented the card nicely.

ODB cuts a promo in the back. Who?

Gail Kim defeats Jackie Moore, Ms. Brooks, Roxxie Leveux, Christy Hemme, Shelley Martinez, Awesome Kong, ODB, Angel Williams, and Talia Madison.

Mini-recap: The story of this match is Awesome Kong coming out at number 4 and beating the living daylights out of everybody. Also the fact that they changed her name from Amazing Kong to Awesome Kong, which drives me crazy because it's just a small enough change to make me think that maybe I just got her name wrong the first time. Anyway, she takes out Jackie Moore and Shelley Martinez, just after Jackie Moore takes out Ms. Brooks. She then locks in an absolutely vicious looking Torture Rack on Christy Hemme, before killing her with a Sit-Out Powerbomb. Finally Gail Kim pulls her to the outside with a twisting leg scissors, and the rest of the women team up to knock her out. From there on it gets a little lame, as Gail Kim is the only one left with a chance in hell of winning this match. Sure enough, she takes out everyone, finally pinning Roxxie for the win.

Analysis: This was a decent match. I question the order of elimination, as Awesome Kong, Jackie Moore, Christy Hemme, and Ms. Brooks, who were the only people other than Gail Kim to stand even the slightest chance of winning, were all eliminated in the first five. They did do a nice job of making the new title seem like a big deal, and Gail Kim certainly has earned the right to be the first champion. It might or might not be relevant that Christy Hemme was never actually eliminated, and so she probably has the best claim to a title shot next month.

Nash tries to talk Angle into having just a plain old wrestling match for the main-event, but Angle isn't having any of it. Angle again makes reference to how Nash's career is done, mocking his knees and saying he lost his edge. This Nash business is getting somewhat interesting.

Samoa Joe defeats Christian Cage

Mini-recap: This is a great 15-minute contest. There's some brutal brawling on the outside of the ring, and some great wrestling on the inside. Joe nails all his greatest hits, including a suicide dive and a somersault topé over the top rope. Morgan on the outside actually does exactly what he's advertised to do, as he wards off Tomko and Styles and insures a basically interference-free match. Joe wins clean with his rear-naked choke hold, and Christian Cage suffers his first submission loss.

Analysis: This was probably your match of the night, and not from any lack of competition. There was no single defining spot; it was just a well-worked match that built to a satisfying conclusion. Morgan's presence was actually not much of a distraction, and helped explain why someone was finally able to corner Christian Cage.

Nash tries to talk Sting down, and Sting wants to know why he cares so much. Nash cracks and admits that this is the closest he's going to get to the main event ever again.

Abyss defeats Raven, Black Reign, and Rhino

Mini-recap: This was just a good old-fashioned hardcore brawl. Raven actually ended up absorbing the bulk of the punishment, including hitting an elbow from the balcony onto a prone Abyss, various shopping car related offense from Rhino, and a Black Hole Slam onto thumbtacks and broken glass. Rhino gores himself through a wall, Abyss takes the aforementioned elbow drop from the balcony, and Black Reign is, er, there. Mitchell stalks Abyss, but the monster still gets the pin on Raven. Much blood abounds.

Analysis: This match was actually a bit disappointing, though I can't quite put my finger on why. It just somehow lacked the intensity of the previous Monsters' Balls, and felt a bit rushed. On the other hand, while Raven didn't win the match, he more than proved he was back, taking big bumps and keeping pace with Rhino and Abyss. Hopefully this means we'll be seeing more of him in the coming months.

Sting defeats Kurt Angle

Mini-recap: The match starts off nice and slow, and slowly picks up its pace. When Sting starts to gain momentum near the end, shenanigans ensue, with Karen Angle violating her restraining order, refs getting bumped, and Kevin Nash becoming extremely physical with The Icon. Sting battles through the interference and takes out Nash. When Angle is foolish enough to try to use Sting's trademark baseball bat, Sting turns things around and hits the Scorpion Death Drop for the win. The Holy Shit moment of the night comes courtesy of Kurt Angle, who hits what I believe is a 450 Splash on the Stinger.

Analysis: I'm sure wrestling purists will argue that the ending of this match was overbooked, but I liked it a lot. Joe vs. Christian was good enough for my clean-ish wrestling main event of the night, and this was an extremely enjoyable story to watch unfold. The plotline with Kevin Nash was original, and the interference helped differentiate this year's main event from last year's relatively clean affair. Moreover, it helped give the match a somewhat bigger feel than most, and somehow, much to my surprise, made me cheer Sting's ultimate triumph.

Overall: It was a very good show, with extremely solid wrestling. It lacked a certain oomph present in last year's Bound For Glory, but was a definite step up from recent outings the past few months. A-


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