TNA 2005 iMPACT & PPV Reviews

[Crippler]

no he didn't even attempt

 

[Crippler]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Raven
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Naturals

TNA Impact
June 24th, 2005
iMPACT! Zone

So this is TNA’s TV debut on Sun Sports

Michael Shane (w/Tracy) vs. James Storm (w/Chris Harris)
This is really good, like shockingly good. It doesn’t have much of a story just two guys doing moves and shit. But everything looked crisp and smooth. Early in the match both Harris and Tracy, get kicks out. Shane half ass works Storms neck before just forgetting about It. Storm comeback is pretty cool, at one point Tracy comes back out but she has Alex Shelley with her. The match continues to go on and Storm beats them both up before a ref bump, but the numbers catches up and Shane hits him with a superkick for the win. **1/2

Backstage: Father Jim Mitchell is talking to Abyss, he says Abyss deserves a 1on1 title match. That’s hes never gotten, he says if he joins him he will do the politics backstage to get him the match. Just give me one chance. Abyss thinks it over.

Earlier today Mike Tenay held a empty arena interview with Truth and Konnan, He says BG was suppose to be here but he no showed. Truth says BG gave his word, and he ain't here. Konnan says it hurts, and he says he made a mistake at Slammiversary, but BG's indecisiveness has driven a wedge here. Kip James comes on with Monty Brown and Monty does a pretty trash BG impression. They then attack 3LK from behind and Monty does the full Outlaws shtick.

David Young vs. Shark Boy
I don’t care, shark boy wins.

Backstage: Fresh out the joint, J.E.DOUBLE F J.A.DOUBLE R.E.DOUBLE T. is yelling out Larry about getting his rematch, Larry said he had his title match it was in the contract. They go back and forth yelling. Larry says Abyss is up first, but also new talent is coming in.

Samoa Joe vs. Delirious
FUCK YEAH! JOE IN HIS PRIME. He lets Delirious do all that running around and shit before taking out his legs with a leg sweep, he then proceeds to beat the shit out of his with PRIME JOE moveset. He even applies one of the nastiest abdominal stretches I have ever seen. He beats on him for a couple of more minutes before hitting the Muscle Buster and Choke for the win. **1/2

“Primetime” Elix Skipper vs. Christopher Daniels
Skipper comes out of the face entrance, before running up the other side and attacking Daniels during his entrance, that’s cool. Skipper controls and beats the shit out of him for like 7 minutes before we head to a commercial. I miss the Fox time limit at the top of the screen Out of desperation, Daniels snaps Skipper neck over the top rope and he takes over. Mike Tenay announces at No Surrender it will be Sabin/Joe Daniels works the neck and it’s really good he has some real brutal moments, but Skippers selling is trash he would rather sell exhaustion than a man twisting your neck 69 different ways, before just not selling at all. His comeback kinda makes up for it tho, both men go back and forth trading near falls before Daniels out of nowhere applies the Koji Clutch and Skipper has no choice but to tap out. **3/4

Raven comes down to the ring, He says he has risen from the ashes and he has endured everything faith has thrown at him. He says he fulfilled his destiny and become TNA’s worse nightmare because I AM THE NWA WORLD CHAMPION! FATHER JAMES MITCHELL COMES OUT! HE SAYS HE'S BACK! And the only thing Raven is destine for is failure. Raven says his tears of pain gives him nothing but joy, Jim says that’s might big talk for soon to be former champion and revenge is a dish best served cold………………..AND DINNER IS SERVED! Abyss comes from the other entrance but Raven sees it coming and goes on the attack. They brawl for a bit but Abyss his the black whole slam to end the show.

 

[Crippler]

LOL so yeah, this took longer than I wanted. Too much good TV and shows on nexflixs I have been watching. I’m still not done, but I though at least let me get the mid-ways done.

Mid-Year AWARDS~!

Top 20 MOTY

20. Impact April 1st, 2005 - Chris Sabin vs. Michael Shane vs. “Primetime” Elix Skipper vs. Petey Williams **1/2 - **3/4
19. Impact March 4th, 2005 - Kid Kash vs. AJ Styles **3/4
18. Impact June 24th, 2005 - Elix Skipper vs. Christopher Daniels **3/4
17. Impact January 14th, 2005 - Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin **3/4
16. Impact May 20th, 2005 - Abyss vs. Chris Sabin **3/4
15. Slammiversary - Sonjay Dutt vs. Samoa Joe **3/4
14. Impact April 22nd, 2005 - America’s Most Wanted vs. The Naturals **3/4
13. Lockdown – Elix Skipper vs. Christopher Daniels ***
12. Final Resolution – Kid Kash vs. Dustin Rhoades ***
11. Impact April 29th, 2005 - The Naturals vs. America’s Most Wanted ***
10. Impact January 21st, 2005 - Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles ***
9. Against All Odds – Kid Kash & Lance Hoyt vs. America’s Most Wanted *** - ***1/4
8. Slammiversary - King of the Mountain Match *** - ***1/4
7. Hard Justice - The Naturals vs. America's Most Wanted *** - ***1/4
6. Destination X - Elix Skipper vs. Ron Killings vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles ***1/4
5. Slammiversary - Michael Shane vs. Chris Sabin vs. Christopher Daniels ***1/4
4. Against All Odds – Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles ***3/4
3. Final Resolution – Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams vs. AJ Styles ***3/4
2. Final Resolution – Team Canada vs. America’s Most Wanted ****
1. Lockdown – AJ Styles vs. Abyss ****1/2

PPV of the year: Final Resolution
Really fine show for the most part outside the Ex-WCW/WWF guys stinking up the joint the rest of the card delivered, best Ultimate X match since the first one, best singles tag match in TNA history (maybe, I have to see how the AMW/Daniels/AJ matches stack up) Kash/Rhoades having this lightning in a bottle match. And Scott Hall’s theme song is on the show.

Tag Team of the year: America’s Most Wanted
It’s not even close, like the margin gap is insane. If they would have kept, the team or Roode/Young ad gave them constant competition then maybe but ever since they lost the titles they didn’t team again. Naturals are in the number 2 slot but they really didn’t start getting TV time until March/April. 3LK are trash, and that’s about it.

Wrestler of the year: AJ Styles
This has been the toughest race this award has ever had, because it’s 3 guys. AJ, Daniels and Sabin. I think if I was basing if off points and consistence of TV time Sabin would be #1 because he’s seems to be on TV almost every week and it’s solid matches, he’s had a couple of bad ones but I put those on his opponents. Daniels would be 2nd, I think he’s putting on better matches in terms of psychology, storytelling and aggression his ability to adapt and carry his side of the match has been pretty great. But, AJ Styles man. He’s a rarity but every time he’s in the ring, he does something special, with the exception of the iron man match, which I wanna must have been an off night. And the Jarrett match, well it’s a Jarrett match so I’m not blaming AJ for that dude is pumping out awesome matches. Another reason I’ve giving it to AJ is just look at the MOTYC rankings, Sabin on 5, but AJ and Daniels are tied with 7. As much as I want to tie them, AJ has given us a top three TNA match of all time. So with that I have to give it to him right now.

 

[Crippler]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Raven
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Naturals

TNA Impact
July 1st, 2005
iMPACT! Zone

Recap of Abyss attacking Raven last week, also they show Abyss choking him with a chain.

Sean Waltman vs. Sonjay Dutt
This is a lot better than I thought it would be, this is Waltman’s best performance so far. He plays this cocky heelish veteran who at first doesn’t take Sonjay serious so he mocks, and taunts him, but as the match goes on the backfires and Sonjay gets some shit in. However, Waltman out of desperation hits a low blow and follows with the X-Factor for the win. **1/4

Backstage: Terry Taylor interviews Team Canada. Roode says D'Amore is in the hospital and it’s all his fault. Young says without Coach they are all screwed. Petey says he loves Scott but they are Canadians and the most elite force in wrestling. He says he is the CAPTAIN! And gets his team hype.

Eric Young (w/Petey Williams) vs. Lance Hoyt
EY goes above and beyond in trying to put Lance over, he bumps his ass off and makes Lance look somewhat decent. Lance ends up winning with the big boot. After the match; the rest of Team Canada comes out and they gang up on Hoyt, but the Naturals run out to make the save. *3/4

Backstage: Terry Taylor interviews Monty Brown, Monty talks about how dominate he was in KOTM but the disrespect that Abyss is getting the title show above him, but that’s okay he’s use to that but he will get his respect and he can careless about 3LK and their problems with the Outlaw but as soon at they put their hands on him they will have a problem.

Abyss (w/Father James Mitchell) vs. Sonny Siaki (w/Apollo)
I still have no idea why this murderer still has a job, he is god awful. Abyss lets him get way too much shit in before hitting the Black Hole Slam for the win. Bad, really bad. After the match; Abyss grabs the chain but Apollo comes in with a chair. Abyss backs off but dumbass Apollo turns his back to Abyss before he even leaves the ring. Abyss begins beating him down until Raven comes down and hits him with the DDT. He then wraps the chain around Abyss’ neck and pulls him into a chair, just like he did to AJ Raven then gets on the mic and challenges Abyss to a Dog Collar/No Surrender match, no I quit, no throwing in the towel only way to win is pinfall.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FOR FUCK SAKE NOT ONLY IS SIMOD DIAMOND HERE BUT HE HAS MOTHERFUCKING TRYTAN WITH HIM! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!

Simon Diamond & Trytan vs. America’s Most Wanted
Poor AMW they deserve so much better, not only do they have to wrestle two of the worse wrestlers in all of wrestling but Jarrett comes out and rants on commentary about “NEW TALENT” and “NOT HAVING A TITLE MATCH”. The camera pans on him the entire time smh. Storm hits a superkick on SD for he win. Trytan’s record is now 1-2-1 lmao

Backstage: Terry Taylor interviews Chris Daniels; Daniels says he is the symbol of excellence. He’s beaten Mexico’s greatest and 2 of the best American’s he says he has beaten the world. Petey comes over and says he hasn’t beaten him. Daniels says Petey is too afraid to face him and says Lance is no Daniels. Petey then suckers Daniels into giving him a title match at the PPV.

Alex Shelley vs. AJ Styles
Really fucking good, AJ dominates in the early going and Shelley bumps his ass off for him but he manages to weather the early storm before poking AJ in the eyes. He then hits a flatliner into the middle turnbuckle and begins to take over. Shelley puts on one of his Shelley submission exhibitions and he’s in the ring with the perfect guy in AJ who sells the pain and of being tied up like a pretzel better than anyone. The only bad thing about Shelley’s style is it’s a lot of flashy cooling looking holds but he randomly breaks them up to go into the next sequence. AJ connects with this stiff punch and Shelley’s nose is bleeding badly. Waltman comes out and joins commentary, and stumbles all over his words. Shelley hits a reverse pedigree for two. AJ then tries a jackknifee pin but gets two, he then rolls back and hits the Styles Clash for the win. After the match; Waltman comes in and they get face to face. BUT FUCKIN’ JERRY OLD ASS LYNN RUNS FROM THE BACK TO BREAK UP THEM TALKING. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!FUCK OFF LYNN. ***

 

[Crippler]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Raven
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Naturals

TNA Impact
July 8th, 2005
iMPACT! Zone

David Young vs. Chris Sabin
Standard Sabin showcase, Mike Tenay trolling the differences between David Young and Samoa Joe was great, he goes on to talk about how Joe has only lost 1 match in two years to where David has only won 1 match in 2 years. After a pretty meh, DY control period Sabin hits the cradle shock for the win. After the match; Joe runs out and knees the shit out of Sabin before locking in the Coquina Clutch before leaving.

Backstage: Terry Tayor is with AJ Styles and Larry, AJ says he accepts Waltman screwing him over in KOTM but last week was enough. He wants Waltman at the PPV. Larry rambles on a little bit before booking the match, with Jerry Lynn as the special ref.

Backstage: Terry Taylor is with AMW, Harris says they have proven they are the best tag team in wrestling, he says Shelley and Shane are next. Storm says Shelley and Shane run around like the king turds of poo poo town, but if they want a fight, they're open 24/7/365 and twice on Sunday.

Mikey Batts vs. Zach Gowen
This happens for about a minute or 2 until Jarrett comes out and demands the bell be rung, Jarrett forces them to stop the match. Mikey leaves but Gowen doesn’t Jeff beats his cripped ass. FUCK YEAH JEFF! Jeff says if anybody of the “NEW TALENT” that comes in without his knowledge they will be in trouble, Jeff says he will be at the PPV and will take his match and his belt back.

Samoa Joe vs. “Primetime” Elix Skipper vs. Shark Boy
I would much prefer Joe/Skipper or Joe/Sharky. Another really good prime Joe showcase, we get quite a few 3 men moves, e.g. tower of doom spot or Joe German Suplexing both men at once. A great spot is Skipper goes to walk the ropes but Joe dropkicks the ropes sending him to the floor, which allows Joe to hit the muscle buster and the choke on Shark boy for the win. **

Christopher Daniels joins commentary.

Petey Williams vs. Amazing Red
Daniels killing Petey on commentary was great he constantly hammers that Petey is nothing but a one hit wonder, all he has is the Canadian Destroyer. Petey works the neck and red doesn’t sell, then Petey just randomly works the back and red doesn’t sell that. Red’s comeback is pretty much no existent and missed some move off the top which allows Petey to hit the Canadian Destroyer……….Oh but he’s not done as he locks in the most Canadian move ever the Sharpshooter way to show you’re not a one move wonder

Backstage: Monty Brown cuts another promo on 3LK he then challenges them to face him and the Outlaw at the PPV. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Monty you are above this

Abyss (w/Father Jim Mitchell) vs. Cassidy Riley
Cool Abyss Squash, much better than lasts weeks’ bullshit. After the match; Abyss goes to attack Cassidy but Raven makes the save. He has the chair wrapped around his arm and clotheslines him to the floor. But Raven is distracted by Father Jim which allows Abyss to crotch Raven into the ringpost. Abyss then wraps the chain around Raven's neck and begins hanging him over the middle rope. Before security comes down to break it up.

Team Canada (Bobby Roode, Eric Young & A-1) vs. Lance Hoyt & The Naturals (w/Jimmy Hart)
This is like wrestling 101, faces dominate early but we get the ref distraction which allows the heels to triple team….babyface, in this case, it’s Andy Douglas and the Canadians take over. A-1 is still god awful and for some reason, he does the majority of the heel heat. Lance has a cool hot tag, the match breaks down and Lance hits Roode with a big boot for the win. After the match, Team Canada beat the face down to end the show. **

 

[Deezy]

Pethe Williams as captain no wonder they failed.

 

[Crippler]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Raven
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Naturals

TNA Impact
July 15th, 2005
iMPACT! Zone

Eric Young & Petey Williams vs. Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels
Joe and Daniels in matching black and blue attire Joe busting up Petey’s nose 15 seconds in makes him my favorite wrestler ever. Sorry, Benoit, Eddie, and Flair. Joe and Daniels take turn viciously just attacking the nose, tons of plan strikes, punches and just grabbing at it, which ruled. Petey must be really hurt cause this the only selling I’ve seen him do all year, EY gets a tag and the Canadians work over Daniels. It pretty good, Joe has a great hot tag, but Daniels tags himself back in. Sabin then runs out and he and Joe brawl to the back, Daniels is all alone, and Eric hits the Showtime Elbow, Petey follows up with the Destroyer for the win. **3/4

Video package for Raven/Abyss + Jarrett.

WHY? WHY THE FUCK IS TRYTAN AND DIAMOND STILL A THING? OH FOR FUCK SAKE THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE THEY ARE FACING SONNY AND APPOLO. FUCK THIS COMPANY! I’M NOT WATCHING BUT AT LEAST TRYTAN’S RECORD IS NOW 2-2-1 TRYTAN’S FINISH IS THE T-3 WHICH IS JUST THE F-5 lmao

Ron Killings and Konnan come out for their match; Tenay says BG has been missing since the PPV. Before Konnan does his gibberish on the mic. Monty and The Outlaw attack them from behind. They brawl for a bit around the ringside and to the back.

Tenay announces Konnan/Killings vs. Monty/Outlaw at the PPV in a NoDq match.

Shocker vs. Sonjay Dutt
This is pretty meh, Shocker is still trash and Sonjay allows Shocker to carry the match, which makes it worse. Terrible lucha stuff by Shocker who looks slow, old and fat. He does that flashy looking cradle pin for the win.

Backstage: Father Jim Mitchell is with Abyss, Father Jim says Raven is a fool, does he realize he will be chained to a 350lb monster and Raven will not be allowed to quit. He can do any and everything to him and he has himself to blame.

AJ/Waltman hype video, Lynn does interviews talking about the match.

Bobby Roode & A-1 vs. Sean Waltman & AJ Styles
This is all right, the faces dominate the Canadians to start, and that lasts a good 4 minutes until A-1 knees AJ in the back and Roode hits a full nelson slam to take over. A-1 is still god awful, but Roode continues to show flashes of goodness. They cut the ring off and Roode works the head and neck while A-1 targets the lower back. Waltman’s hot tag is all right, he and Roode have a cool interaction. Roode ducks a spin kicks that “accidently” hits AJ. Roode then hits Waltman with a Northern Lariat for the win. After the match; AJ and Waltman argue and shove one another. AJ goes to leave and Waltman attacks him from behind, they begin fighting until bum ass old ass Lynn comes out to stop it. **1/4

Backstage: Raven says he likes pain, and in 2 days he’s gonna beat Abyss until he wants to say “I QUIT” but can’t and will keep going until I decide to pin you. Quote the Raven ~ Nevermore.

 

[Crippler]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Raven
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Naturals

TNA No Surrender
July 17th, 2005
Orlando, Florida

Michael Shane & Alex Shelley (w/Tracy) vs. America’s Most Wanted
Shelly and Storm have a cool little mat wrestling exchange to begin, Harris and Shane then try their own but it’s not so good. I like that Shane is still shook of Storm so when Storm tags back in Shane does everything he can to run away and tags Shelley back in. He only wants in when Harris is in or when he sees Storm is weaken down. AMW then turn this into an AMW match and we get an arena brawl with tons of great bumps by all 4. Awesome moment is Storm jumping off the stage onto Shelley and some of the security. Tracy keeps getting involved so Harris handcuffs her to the ringpost. The match settles down and Storm finally gets his chance at Shane. The finishing stretch is really good tons of near falls, and counters. Tracy throws in her shoe and Shane hits Storm with it but only two. She throws in the other but Harris counters into a full nelson slam for two. Shelly goes to hit Harris but Storm intercepts and nails Shelley with a superkick for the win. After the match; Shane sneaks in a superkick on Storm and runs to the back. ***

On the pre-show, Jeff is doing is weekly boring TNA rant about being fired and new people coming in. Jeff asks Teney IF RHINO IS IN THE BUILDING. Teney says Rhino will be here tonight.

Backstage: Shane Douglas is with Team Canada, Roode says Hoyt put coach in the hospital and tonight he and the Naturals will know what a Canadian Payback is all about. Petey says he’s taking the X title tonight. Eric gets them to sing Oh Canada………..but Jeff comes over and says they need to stick together and says a lot of these newly released people could be coming here and he wants to know what side they're on, and Petey says they're with him. He leaves and Roode says it’s “THAT GUY” we can’t trust.

Super X Cup is back and the winner gets a title shot at the next PPV.

4-Way Super X Cup Qualifying Match: Shark Boy vs. Mikey Batts vs. “Primetime” Elix Skipper vs. Sonjay Dutt
For some reason, they do the 2 in the ring and the other two are on the apron waiting for tags which makes no sense, 1. It’s NO-DQ so why are you waiting on the apron it’s single pin, not elimination. 2. Why would you tag out you need to be in the ring to get the pinfall. FUCKING TNA! Anyway, they do that shit for like 5 minutes just so we get all the pairings. They match breaks down and it turns into an average spotfest, nothing we haven’t seen before. Mikey is super hated tonight, which is funny considering he is nothing but a jobber. Dutt hits the Hindu Press on Batts for the win. **1/2

Backstage: Shane Douglas is with Ron Killings and Konnan, Konnan says they ain’t seen BG in a month and he needs to make his mind up. But tonight they have a street fight. LETS DO THE DAMN THING!

Simon Diamond & David Young vs. Sonny Siaki & Apolo
loooooooooooooooooool Trytan lost his spot already and to David Young of all people. 2-2-1, Leave the memories alone. LOL! I didn’t watch this shit. Fuck everyone involved.

Samoa Joe vs. Chris Sabin
So this is fucking great, mainly because it’s prime 2005 Joe and Sabin is having one hell of a year himself, but they also do the classic big vs. little guy, but the problem is the big guy is the new hybrid big man so he’s got speed and athleticism and can go the distance with the little man. Joe destroys him with kicks, punches, chops and combo moves. I miss the days when Joe could do knee drops and even get height on them. Good times As the match precedes Sabin puts on the babyface performance of his lifetime, and they do a phenomenal job getting you to believe Sabin might pull out the win. Sabins offense was mostly springboard moves or off the top, but its high impact and he uses the ring surrounding to his advantage. Another thing I love was the building of Sabin’s struggle to get Joe up for the Cradle Shock. Really built it as “if he can get him up in the air, he can win.” So when he finally does get him up, Joe wastes no time and knees him in the head to get down, Joe follows up with the Muscle Buster and the Choke for the win. AMAZING JOB! Leaves us wanting more and question what does happen if Sabin hits the Cradle Shock. Also no spamming of finishers is always dope. ***3/4

Backstage: Shane Douglas is with the Naturals and Lance, he says they will beat some respect into Team Canada. Lance says they will beat the Canadian bacon out of them. Jimmy Hart rambles on about stuff.

Team Canada (Bobby Roode, Eric Young & A-1) vs. Lance Hoyt & The Naturals (w/Jimmy Hart)
I’m Happy that Eric and Roode are back together, and the match starts super hot. All 6 brawl and the at first the crowd are super into it. Chase hits a sweet moonsault off the top onto all of Team Canada and Lance hits a dive of his own. Face team dominate early, Canadian heat on Chase is cool when Roode and EY are in A-1 still has no clue on what the muscle/enforce role is. So he just does stuff. Dope moment Roode fakes getting hit with the Canadian stick and throws it at Jimmy Hart, so the ref ejects him from ringside allowing the Canadian’s to triple team Chase some more. Lance’s hot tag was good; he’s getting better and compared to A-1 Lance is on Taker’s level. The match breaks down and Roode nails Andy and Chase with Jimmy’s megaphone and EY covers for the win. **1/4

Backstage: Shane Douglas is with Monty Brown and the Outlaw, The Outlaw says he is now changing his name to KIP JAMES! Jeff comes over and asks if they’re with him. Monty says their agreement it he’s ONLY with him when Jeff is NWA champ and he gets his title shot.

Street Fight: Kip James & Monty Brown vs. 3 Live Kru
Short and straight to the brawling and hardcore weapons spots. The ref gets killed a minute in as more refs come in they eventually get taken out late in the match BG makes his return and watches on from the top of the ramp as Monty hits Killings with a pounce for the win. *3/4

After the match; Kip if you ain’t down with that, I got two word for ya…...MY BROTHER! BG looks confused and dumbfounded as the crowd chant New Age Outlaw. BG enters the ring and Kip hands BG a chair and says to hit Ron. Instead, he throws the chair down and leaves.

Sean Waltman vs. AJ Styles [Special Referee: Jerry Lynn]
So this is cool, AJ is faster and younger but Waltman uses the experience to be one-step ahead of AJ in the early going. But AJ is a fast learner so once he catches on to Waltman’s pace AJ, has his own counters and tries to quicken the pace to which Sean rolls out for a breather and to regroup. AJ is super on here; he hits the best senton dive of the night so far. It’s so clean and smooth. Waltman out of desperation sends him dick first into the ringpost and Waltman takes over. Both men proceed to beat the shit out of each other but it’s seems unintentional, they say you hit your friends harder so these two must be the best of friends because they are really laying into one another and it’s great. I like that Waltman’s has to play dirty just to stay in this e.g. attacking AJ’s bloody nose, low blows ect. Waltman kicks out of a styles clash, which is FUCKIN NUTS AND RARE! He misses the spiral tap and Waltman hits the X-Factor for a two of his own. Waltman grabs a chair and goes to Philman AJ but Lynn stops him, they have some words Waltman ducks a spinkick and grab the ropes to block a sunset flip, but Lynn kicks his arms off. AJ then hits the Styles Clash for the win. ***

Backstage: Jeff is in Larry’s face asking for his title match, Larry tells him to wait in line. Jeff then asks about Rhino and says TNA’s welcoming committee is waiting for him.

TNA X-Division Championship: Petey Williams (w/A-1) vs. Christopher Daniels
Another really good story-telling match, it’s the young cocky heel vs. the veteran heel. It’s also Petey busting a shit ton of new moves just to prove he’s not a one-hit wonder, A-1 interferes a bunch too. Joe comes out on the stage and watches on. Nice spot sees Petey going for the ‘rana to the floor but Daniels catches him in mid-air and powerbombs him onto the apron. Daniels has a great segment working Petey’s back, sadly, his selling was pathetic. Wrestlers gotta know saying “OW” “OW” isn’t selling right? Not once did I see Petey grab the back or anything, he completely ignores it when it comes to his mini-comebacks. Funny enough that’s when I started to tune out. They trade moves and near falls until Petey locks in the Sharpshooter but Daniels gets to the ropes. They trade moves and near falls until A-1 distracts the ref and Petey pulls out the taped fist fuckery, but Daniels also has one. Daniels hits him with it and hits the BME for the win. **3/4

Dog Collar/No Surrender Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Abyss (w/Father Jim Mitchell) vs. Raven
Another really great storytelling match, Abyss is a monster, he has the power, strength, youth all on his size going up against an older, visible broken (well his body looks broken, Raven looks like a gothic version of mickey rourke) but Raven has a sick, twisted and methodical mind so mentally he has the edge. Case in point, Abyss is dominating him early so Raven goes to the floor and begins throwing chairs into the ring just to distract him, Abyss taunts as in you didn’t even hit me, he forgets he has a chain around his neck and Raven pulls on it sending him into a chair wedged into the turnbuckles. The first half is okay, it’s the usual “hardcore” spots, with tables and chair shots, even some choking with the chain. But then out of nowhere RAVEN STAPLES A FUCKIN’ $1 BILL TO ABYSS’S HEAD Abyss is bleeding and it’s crazy as his whole face is covered except for the mask. Would have made for a great visual if the camera operators and Abyss captured it. Abyss and Jim stack up 2 tables on the floor just under the stage. They brawl and battle over it but Raven low blows him and kicks him through two tables. Minutes later Raven thinks Abyss is out so as he’s taking a breather Abyss tugs on the chain and pulls him through a table on the side of the ramp. AWESOME! They brawl back to the ring where Raven gets his 2nd wind. He hits the DDT but only gets two, so begins to hang Abyss over the top rope until Jim Mitchell breaks it up by hitting Raven with the evil cane. Abyss takes off the dog collar and pulls out some tacks. He rips off Raven’s t-shirt and that blueberry Don West calls it disrespect so Mike corrects him by saying it’s to make sure the tacks go right into the skin. Cassidy Riley comes out to help Raven so Abyss chokeslams him through a table. That gives Raven enough time to catch his breath and suckers Abyss in, so he can powerbomb Abyss into the tacks for two. Raven goes for the DDT but Abyss hits a desperation Black Hole Slam for two. Raven then counters a chokeslam into a DDT into the tacks for the win. AWESOME! ***1/2

After the match, Jeff Jarrett comes out. He says the nightmare is over, and he’s gonna give him a wakeup call. He says TNA has always been his world and tells Raven to get ready. RHINO IS IN THE RING!!!!! AND JARRETT TELLS HIM TO TURN AROUND. RHINO HITS RAVEN WITH A GORE! TO END THE PPV!

BEST TNA PPV EVER!

 

[Crippler]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Raven
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Naturals

TNA Impact
July 22nd, 2005
iMPACT! Zone

Recap of Jeff Jarrett’s master plan and the main event from No Surrender airs.

David Young vs. Lance Hoyt
This goes about a 40 seconds before Abyss comes out and attacks both men for the DQ. He hits Young with a torture Rack and Lance with a Black hole slam. Father Jim gets on the mic and says, Abyss is a weapon of mass destruction and he holds the special button.

Chris Daniels joins commentary

Quarterfinals for the Super X Cup: Samoa Joe vs. Sonjay Dutt
Really good, Sonjay uses his quickness and attacks Joe’s knees trying to break him down to his size as go to a commercial, once we return, Joe is in control and hits the suicide dive to the floor. Joe continues to methodically maul and beat the shit out of Sonjay, which ruled as Dutt took some really good bumps and had some nice spots during his comeback too. But in the end Joe switches from an STF to the choke and Sonjay taps out.

After the match; Shane Douglas tries to interview Joe, but he walks away.

Backstage: Waltman and Lynn are arguing, Waltman tells him to stay out of his business and stop stealing his spotlight. Lynn brings up how he got Waltman a job and food. Waltman gives him a dollar They go for another 2 minutes of bickering but I think they both agree to a match at Sacrifice. Waltman was clearly high, drunk and fucked up on drugs all at the same time.

Kip James & Monty Brown vs. Sonny Siaki & Apolo
Poor Monty Brown, at the beginning of the year he looked like he was primed to be biggest babyface in the main event and like the 2nd biggest babyface in the company behind AJ. But Nash, DDP and especially Jarrett had to ruin it. This match is fuckin atrocious, but thankfully, it’s only 3 minutes. Refs get beat up some more before Monty hits once of the geeks with a pounce for the win. After the match; Konnan and Killings come out and brawl with Kip and Monty to the back. *

Backstage: The refs are bitching and crying about them getting beat up by Kip and Monty, they protest and refuse to work the rematch.

Raven comes down to the ring and gets on the mic; he says his plan on Sunday was simple he would take more punishment than Abyss and outlast him. Then Jeff Jarrett came down, with his little buddy Rhino. Jeff again stole his spotlight, and he has come to a conclusion TNA isn’t big enough for the both of them. They need to end this once and for all. Jeff comes out, and says all Raven does is bitch, complain, cry, whine and moan no wonder he has no friends. Jeff says he has never liked Raven and never will, he wants his belt back. Raven says he’s deluded and challenges to fight. RHINO COMES FROM THE OTHER SIDE!!! And Jeff tells him to turn around, Rhino goes for the GORE but Raven avoids but Rhino hits him on the rebound with a GORE. Jeff enters the ring and applies the figure four while Rhino buts the boots to him.

Don West says due to a legal reasons over his name Michael Shane is now Matt Bentley lmao

Matt Bentley (w/Tracy) vs. AJ Styles
This is good, Matt is in full 1995 Shawn adjace here, he even went as far to steal Shawns’ 2003 jabs. Both men go back and forth, not really hitting big moves it more of a feeling out process until Matt hangs AJ’s arm up over the top rope. Matt begins to work over it. Don West stupidly says since the name change Matt is a different man, even though he looks the exact same, has the same attire, same theme song, same thot and same finish but because he’s working the arm he’s a new man. FUCK OFF WEST! Anyway, the Arm work is good, AJ’s selling is great, and guess what he even sells during the fucking comeback. The finishing stretch is cool, as Tracy distracts he the ref as Matt goes to pick up something, but Storm runs down and hits Matt with a superkick for payback and AJ covers for the win. **3/4

 

[Crippler]

NWA World Heavweight Champion: Raven
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Naturals

TNA Impact
July 29th 2005
iMPACT! Zone

"Primetime" Elix Skipper vs. Shark Boy vs. Sonjay Dutt
Cool little x-division spotfest match, counters, dives, spots all the usual shit. But it was missing that something, i think it was that 1 heel just to slow things down and to get heat in cut off spots. Skipper tries but as soon as he does the match just ends. Sonjay hits Shark Boy with a standing sliced bread for the win. *3/4

Backstage: Larry Z is with BG, BG calls himself a victim in all of this tension. So Larry hands him a ref shirt and says he will be the new ref at the Monty/Outlaw vs. Kru match at the PPV.

Quarterfinals for the Super X Cup: Alex Shelley vs. Shocker
This is whatever, waste of Alex's talent really. They mesh styles for the opening minute before Shelly does shocker better than shocker can ever do shocker. They trade counters and reversals for like 4 minutes before Shelley does Shockers own mouse trap pin on him to even the score 1-1. Shocker is so trash man, he's like one of those fat, old Mexican CAW's you do just to fill up some made up fed. *1/2

Backstage: Father Jim is with Abyss, he says Abyss is really impatient when it comes to waiting for a world title match. He says he has no idea why Abyss chose Lance Hoyt, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He says the level of violence will escalate if Abyss doesn't get what he wants.

Cassidy Riley vs. Mikey Batts
Cassidy is in full on Raven fanboy mode. He got 98% or Raven's attire on, except the shots he has those tight ass hot jean pants on. Anyways, this goes a minute before Rhino and Jarrett come out, Rhino hits both of them with a Gore and a Rhino driver. Raven comes out and says seeing how they put him in a tag match and he has no friends they can get rid of him in a 2-1. Raven says it's amazing that sometimes when you have no friends an ENEMY WILL DO......... Suddenly, the lights go out and SABU! IS IN THE RING! He throws a chair in Rhino and Jeff's face, he then hits Rhino with a triple jump moonsault.

Matt Bentley (w/Tracy) vs. James Storm (w/Chris Harris)
So for the past what 3, 4 weeks this has been built around the superkick. But they don't even tease it correctly or even tease it well. So some reason, Shane works Storms' lower back to reasons i don't understand. Like if i'm in a "battle of the superkicks" i would think i would either target the head or the ankle/leg. But nope. That's not even the funniest part. Guess how the match ends? YEP, YOU GUESSED IT! Storm hits the 8 second right for the win. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLTNA!

Backstage: Shane Douglas is with AJ Styles, AJ says he made the X-Division as much as the X-Division made him. He says he doesn't care who wins between Sabin and Petey, they will find out why he is Phenomenal.

Christopher Daniels joins commentary

Quarterfinals for the Super X Cup: Petey Williams (w/A-1) vs. Chris Sabin
This is really good, they know each other so well by now they have to bust out new counters and new moves in just hopes to maintain control. Sabin' knows Petey doesn't know what the word sell means so he doesn't even target a limb or anything they just do moves and shit, until A-1 gets involved leading to Petey hitting a DDT on the floor to give Petey the momentum. Petey does a pretty okay job working the neck, i'm just glad it was consistent instead of just randomly going moves that don't even affect the neck. Sabin has a beautiful dive during his comeback, and the finishing run is good. A1 interferes and Petey hits the Canadian Destroyer to win. **3/4

 

[Smart Marx]

2005 is such a strange time for TNA. I still remember when they lost their deal with Fox and I had to scramble around the Internet to find out how to watch Impact. Too bad since Raven finally won the world title.

I'm not surprised to see AJ Styles is the MVP of the year. His matches with Daniels and Joe lit the place on fire.

 

[Apoho Creed]

Yeah you can't go wrong with Styles as MVP, or Daniels or Joe for that matter with their matches in the X-Division bringing in new fans with what they were doing inside the ring Joe especially.

 

[Smart Marx]

Yeah you can't go wrong with Styles as MVP, or Daniels or Joe for that matter with their matches in the X-Division bringing in new fans with what they were doing inside the ring Joe especially.

TNA fans still go to Unbreakable as their GOAT TNA main event. I don't blame them.

 

[Deezy]

Greatest TNA match for me was AJ vs Abyss in the cage.

Also, they didn't lose the Fox deal...they were negotiating with Spike and then paying for tv time on Fox sports wasn't going to help them.

 

[Smart Marx]

Greatest TNA match for me was AJ vs Abyss in the cage.

Also, they didn't lose the Fox deal...they were negotiating with Spike and then paying for tv time on Fox sports wasn't going to help them.

Are you suggesting they choose to go months without TV? Cause LOLTNA if true.