Beautiful People vs. Roxxi, Taylor Wilde, and The Governor: Wilde pins Madison Rayne with a bridging German. Super short -- like "that's it?" short. I wonder if it was cut short to make room for the surprise match of Brutus Magnus vs. Eric Young, which was basically a squash -- weird, following Young's "step it up" triumph on the last Impact. Tormentum off the second rope is nice -- at least it looks like a finisher now.
Abdul Bashir cuts a long promo, including dissing the Navy guy who guest-introduced Young for the last match. The Navy dude, Jesse Neal (profile.myspace.com), is actually a wrestler, so expect a Bashir/Neal feud to start next Thursday.
Matt Morgan vs. Abyss: Morgan Carbon Footprints Abyss into a bed of tacks to win. Run-of-the-mill for a "10,000 Thumbtack" match.
ODB had three finalists for her date -- Cody Deaner, Shark Boy, and "financial wizard" Bernie Weber. This went on FOREVER and included a dance-off. Deaner won, as expected. (They should have had ODB choose ALL THREE finalists, who would then form a stable called "OD3.")
Awesome Kong kills Sojo Bolt dead: No Rhaka Khan turn -- Rhaka didn't show up at all, surprisingly.
Scott Steiner vs. Samoa Joe: Scott wins by DQ after Joe hits him with the lead pipe...about a MINUTE into the match. THIS SUCKED. After Joe's been gone for weeks, and after a ten-minute ODB skit, TNA doesn't even bother giving us a match here? ASSHOLES.
Booker T vs. AJ Styles: Styles wins the match -- and the belt! -- with the Styles Clash (!). Not bad, and it had the ending it needed after the giant "FUCK YOU" that preceded it.
They cut off Styles' celebration because Joe is wandering around outside with a bloody machete, having apparently hacked Scott Steiner to death.
Beer Money vs. Team 3D: Team 3D wins via DQ -- NO! Cornette restarts the match! -- and 3D wins via countout. For some reason Cornette doesn't start it again This was basically what I predicted, and would have amused me if it wasn't coming on the heels of the dumbass Joe/Steiner deal.
Suicide wins the Ultimate X and the belt in a pretty awesome spotfest. No unmasking -- yet! This was a blast. All these guys are great at this sort of thing. Finish was three guys hanging off the cables in the middle, and the Suicide LEAPT off the top of one of the supports into the middle of the cables, grabbing the belt and knocking all three guys off. Sweet! (And Christopher Daniels has done that before -- it's a clue!)
Sting vs. Kurt Angle: Sting retains with the Scorpion Deathdrop. Lots of shenanigans by Foley and Jarrett. No turns, although Foley accidentally hit Sting with a chair in a spot that was awkward and made no sense. Match was pretty good considering.
The first half of this PPV was HORRIBLE. Like, deliberately bad, a huge middle finger to anyone who paid for it. Second half was much better, but still.
--K
***EDIT - Last line should read "but still, left a bad taste in my mouth." It's a rare PPV that actually makes me angry at the company. A bad match is one thing, but actally going out of their way for no reason to make sure we don't even get a promised match is just a dick move.
(edited by Karlos the Jackal on 15.3.09 2132) Last 5 movies seen: Making an American Citizen **1/2 - Milk ***1/2 - Happy-Go-Lucky ***1/2 - Role Models **** - Rachel Getting Married ***1/2
Awful. Awful, awful, awful. And in so many ways. Sting vs. Angle had no urgency to it and was SO average. It was *surprise* was once again overbooked. Remember when Jarrett said it would end at Destination X (like he said about the previous three or so Imapcts)? Methinks it didn't.
Isn't one of Foley's duties as a ring enforcer to replace the referee when needed? He comes in, check on Jarrett and doesn't see/hear/anything Angle tapping out about a foot away? Ridiculous.
Actually, 'ridiculous' is this PPV in one word. The main event was average and it seemed Sting's timing was off for about 75% of that match. To piss away 10 minutes on an ODB segment that didn't deserve to be on PPV to start with and give us less than two minutes of Joe-Steiner is like asking fans not to buy this shit. Way to go, TNA!
Ultimate X was a nice spotfest, and my fingers are crossed to see the Fallen Angel in TNA again. But it's a negligible redeeming point for this abortion of a Pay-per-view.
Forfeit the game, before somebody else takes you outta the game, and puts your name to shame Cover up your face, you can't run the race The pace is too fast, you just won't last - "Points Of Authority" - Linkin Park
Sting/Angle was a demonstration on how to have a clusterfuck without any run-ins. Bravo to you, Mr. Russo.
Why the hell would they bother trying to elevate Eric Young last Thursday and then have Brutus Magnus squash him like a bug in (arguably) a larger stage? There was seriously no one else that could have filled this role?
Joe/Steiner was bad enough, but when compared to the TEN MINUTES that ODB's silliness got, it's just beyond absurd. It makes me think that Joe still wasn't ready for ring time. Thus logic would dictate that they NOT BOOK THIS MATCH AT ALL! But what do I know? And oh yeah, don't forget to cheer the babyface with the BLOODY KNIFE! Murderers are faces, you know.
I don't get what they're going for here. I really don't. It's rapidly reaching "2000 WCW"-level bad. And none of us should be shocked, considering Russo was responsible for that crap too.
"It's worth remembering that sometimes popular things are popular for a reason. Because they're GOOD or because Will Smith is in it."
I find the Joe booking utterly mindblowing. It's Booker-is-GI-Bro bad. How in God's name do they pay it off? If Steiner shows up fine, then Joe's all talk and no trousers. If Steiner's been stabbed, then STEINER'S BEEN STABBED. It's breathtakingly dumb.
Originally posted by oldschoolheroAt least AJ has a toy title now.
I find the Joe booking utterly mindblowing. It's Booker-is-GI-Bro bad. How in God's name do they pay it off? If Steiner shows up fine, then Joe's all talk and no trousers. If Steiner's been stabbed, then STEINER'S BEEN STABBED. It's breathtakingly dumb.
As I learned last week, the chainmail headwrap is magic.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Karlos the Jackal Beer Money vs. Team 3D: Team 3D wins via DQ -- NO! Cornette restarts the match! -- and 3D wins via countout. For some reason Cornette doesn't start it again This was basically what I predicted, and would have amused me if it wasn't coming on the heels of the dumbass Joe/Steiner deal.
When did TNA do away with the rule that titles DO change hands on a DQ? Abyss won the title via DQ at Genesis in 2006, for example. I suppose the answer is "when they stopped using the NWA belts", but I don't know that this was ever made clear. Grumble.
Has Suicide been in a match before this PPV? If not, it's doubly important that they get to the unmasking soon. "During the match" would have been a good time, actually.
You wanted the best, you got... Out of Context Quote of the Week.
"Mangini might not have had balls, but he DID have soft, supple breasts." (SEADAWG)
Originally posted by Peter The Hegemon
Originally posted by Karlos the Jackal Beer Money vs. Team 3D: Team 3D wins via DQ -- NO! Cornette restarts the match! -- and 3D wins via countout. For some reason Cornette doesn't start it again This was basically what I predicted, and would have amused me if it wasn't coming on the heels of the dumbass Joe/Steiner deal.
When did TNA do away with the rule that titles DO change hands on a DQ? Abyss won the title via DQ at Genesis in 2006, for example. I suppose the answer is "when they stopped using the NWA belts", but I don't know that this was ever made clear. Grumble.
I'm pretty sure they mentioned it after the NWA split, but that could've only been once or twice.
Originally posted by It's FalseWhy the hell would they bother trying to elevate Eric Young last Thursday and then have Brutus Magnus squash him like a bug in (arguably) a larger stage? There was seriously no one else that could have filled this role?
I agree wholeheartedly. It is extremely counter-productive to cut off Eric Young at the knees again here. Perhaps they thought that Eric could get Magnus over more than other wrestlers, because other than that I can't imagine why TNA wouldn't just put someone else in that spot.
"Put on your helmets, we'll be reaching speeds of 3!" "It was nice of you to give that dead woman another chance." "All right, look alive everybody...oh sorry Susan."- MST3K: Space Mutiny Click Here (myspace.com)
I have the No Mercy DVD, and it looks just fine to me. So either you're a stricter judge of image quality than I am, or you got a bum copy. I'd suggest getting a replacement.