James: Previously on the Power Hour…..we had ourselves a very happy Hardy Christmas Party!! But that’s not a part of our main storyline. So ignore that. What happened right before that was that Immortal was securing the reins of power. They had secured the X Division, Tag Team, and TV Titles. Everything seemed to be going fine…until disaster struck for Immortal, and TNA ushered in a New Year with a New Heavyweight Champion of the World!!
Seán: That’s right, Ken Skellington himself realised his destiny which probably should’ve happened elsewhere four years beforehand but he achieved it in TNA and won that purple monstrosity! All is well in TNA again, or is it???? It’s Against All Odds 2011 baby!
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Happy Days are here again!!
JT: Happy New Year, and Happy Days everyone!! Welcome back to the Power Hour! With our holiday special in the books, we’re back in the saddle with our Jeff Hardy Heel Turn TNA Arc extravaganza!! We’ve got Bound For Glory, Turning Point, Final Resolution and Genesis in the books, that means we’re already halfway done with this saga! This Big Train is going downhill with no brakes, speeding towards Victory Road at breakneck pace! I’m James or JT or if you pay me enough, you can call me whatever you want! If you can’t tell, I’m very excited to get back into the ridiculous wrestling retrospective again. There is always so much to talk about when looking at TNA in 2010-2011, and that won’t change this time around!!
S: Yeah good lord, spoilers folks but this show leaves us with A LOT to discuss. Got quite the fair bit to ramble on about in regards to this show.
JT: Yeah only a few things happened between Genesis and Against All Odds. Only a few, minor things. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. So last time at Genesis, we saw Mr Anderson with a buzz beating World Title win to spoil Immortal’s night, but wasn’t all that happened. Jeff Jarrett is apparently “her” into the fray, we saw (2 words for ya) MATT FREAKING HARDY debut, and we sadly saw our last Motor City Machine Gun match on the arc. Though it surely had a lot going on, where do you think Genesis stacks up comparatively speaking?
S: I think it was a show which was more well balanced in regards to our first three shows and we had much less to question TNA about as opposed to the first half. It was good to see a happy ending on a PPV for once, the X Division stood out for what felt like the first time in this arc, Bully Ray had started to impress us with his new heel role and of course, MCMG vs Beer Money.
JT: Yeah I think looking at the Genesis, we have a pretty clear story all night, and the direction the company was taking seemed to be deliberate and logical (for the most part). We could tell who was on what side, who was on the rise, where most the major players were going, that sort of thing. Needless to say, I don’t think we expected the card that we go. But let’s not just judge based on our snarky POVs, how did the fans respond to the changes since our last show? What’s the facts and figures looking like for this bad boy?
S: Against All Odds 2011! Coming to us from the old familiar AKA The Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida with the usual 1,100 in attendance on Valentine’s Eve, February 13th 2011. The show did 8,000 PPV Buys Worldwide, the theme song for tonight is ‘The Gun Show’ by In This Moment (you bet your ass I had to look this up). Commentators are Tazz, who resembles a pug and Mike ‘Turtle’ Tenay, one of many older gentlemen who resembles a turtle.
JT: 8,000 buys, uhhh ohhh fellas. After a strong 20,000 to start 2011, we’ve now dropped to our lowest drawing PPV of the arc so far. Which is surprising, given some of the matches on the card, but then again completely unsurprising given others, wouldn’t you say so?
S: Yeah I’d have to agree but the main point to address here, five of the nine matches on this show are rematches from Genesis which is, probably the reason why the buys are down to be honest.
JT: Yeah that’ll do that. I admire the dedication to telling longer stories, but sometimes you just gotta diversify ya card. But we can discuss how this effects the show at the end. I’m about ready to get into this show!
S: Let’s do it to it!
JT: So right off the start of the show, we have a different type of promo to start the show. We’ve got a whole country-western style opening going! I don’t know why, AAO isn’t exactly a western themed show, but you know what? I’ll take it! It was at least stylistically different than the last few shows.
S: And you know what genre of music defines Westerns more than any other? Heavy Metal of course!
JT: It’s all sorts of weird, because you’d think that being a former Nashville company, they could commit to being a country time company. But I mean, I’m not in charge, what gives me the right to decide? So the package highlights the Fortune betrayal of Immortal (more on that later), the Jarrett/Angle feud, and the main event Anderson/Hardy Ladder Match. Tenay asks “Who will take the upper hand in the struggle for power and control” which he could’ve said probably at the opening of every TNA PPV and it’d be applicable. TNA does love their power struggle storylines.
S: Boy do they ever. Sports Entertainment Xtreme, Planet Jarrett, Angle Alliance, Main Event Mafia, Immortal (brother), Aces and Eights, GFW invasion, Dixieland. Just goes on and on and on really.
JT: Don’t forget the Christian Coalition or the Beat Down Clan! Like you said, it just goes on and on. And I can see why they’d want to do it, power struggle storylines can be fun, but man they just jumped from one into the next one into the next one.
S: Yeah it just got really tiresome really fast, they always followed the same trajectory for the most part too. Interesting opening, rough middle and by the end, you just wanna see it die already.
JT: At this point, we could call that kind of story the TNA Special. But that’s enough chit chat.
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Kaz prefers Robbie Trujillo
JT: It’s time to get into the action! Let’s get to our opening contest!!
S: It’s a triple threat X-Division bout which will determine the new number one contender for Kaz’s X-Division Title. It’s Robbie E vs Max Buck vs Jeremy Buck, or is it?
JT: See, that was the plan. Unfortunately, travel problems won’t get Generation Me here tonight. So we won’t have to get into the can of worms of the Bucks refusal to be anything other than a Tag Team (for better or for worse). So that means that we get Robbie E coming out as the victor by default!! The two sweetest words in the English language!!
S: DE-FAULT! DE-FAULT! DE-FAULT! WOOHOO!
JT: Funny enough, Robbie interrupted Taz & Tenay’s announcement about GenMe’s travel problems. Immediate heat for Robbie as he comes out, music blaring, and says he’s automatically #1 contender. He tells the ref to count them out right now because he’s gotta get going to the club. He Fist Pumps with every count, and in 10 seconds, Robbie E successfully wins our opening match! He celebrates big time with Cookie and heads to the back. What did you think of our first match?
S: Absolute barn burner, man. Perfect way to start off the show in my opinion. Robbie E’s at the wheel.
JT: Now obviously we’re joking. I mean we have a different heading and gif and everything for this section (I mean not as we’re writing this but….). So as Robbie & Cookie look to bail, the music of our X Division Champion Kazarian hits. Robbie assumes that “He came out to congratulate us”, but Kaz (and you’re never gonna believe this) actually insults Robbie instead, saying that of course Robbie is happy to take a cheap win, since everything about Cookie is cheap. He says that if Robbie read TNA’s website he’d know that since the #1 contenders match is already done, they’ll open tonight’s show with an X Division title match is gonna happen right now!! And just like that, he goes right after Robbie, knocks him down the ramp, throws him back in the ring and gets the match started. This show is jumping right into their first match, like Robbie we’ve got no time to adjust. I’ve got nothing to say, any quick quips before we jump into this X Division Match?
S: Kaz’s promo, decent delivery, content ehhh, it’s very 2011 to be honest but it’s passable. There are worse promos later on but we’ll get to that. Aside from that though, let’s get busy.
JT: Starting off on the back foot, Robbie tries to get any positioning as he whips Kaz into the corner, only for Kaz to bounce out and get a big Clothesline, then a Gutwrench Suplex, as he just muscules him up and tosses him like a sack of potatoes. Kaz hits the ropes, and Cookie tries to trip him up and interfere as she’s done time and time again, but unfortunately for her, Kaz isn’t one for chivalry. He just stomps right down on her hand, and as Taz postulates, her expensive manicure. Robbie can’t even take advantage of that distraction as he eats two high kicks to the arm, then a Spinning Heel Kick for a quick 2 count. Kaz tries to go up top, but Cookie stops him from jumping off, so he gets off the top to confront her, which only ends up Robbie to swipe his feet out from under him, with Kaz hitting the steps face first. Kaz tries to mount a comeback, but he runs into an extended boot, then a Diving (and Pumping) Fist Drop. Robbie is just in control and pushing his favor, as he gets a Diving Spear in the corner, then some choking with his foot, then with the Ref backing him away, Cookie does some illegal choking herself. This honestly kind of goes without saying at this point, but the crowd is hot to start the show and they are behind Kaz big time.
S: Yeah honestly, they’re really behind Kaz and the fest of Fortune for this whole show, seems like a face turn which has seemed to work so far.
JT: Who would’ve thought that the fans would appreciate a faction that paired up 4 of TNA’s longest tenured and most beloved wrestlers?
S: I know right? It seems like such an uphill battle on paper but they pulled it off.
JT: So with the fans cheering him on, Kaz tries to rally, but he misses a punch and gets hit with a Russian Leg Sweep, then a Chinlock as Robbie slows down the tempo. But only briefly, as brief showboating by the challenger causes him to miss a clothesline as Kaz slips between the ropes, then hits a Springboard Dropkick! The Champ picks up the pace with a big clothesline, a single leg dropkick, a scoop slam, and a Springboard Leg Drop, but he only gets a 2 count. He picks up Robbie for the Fade to Black, but Robbie rolls through and rolls him up to his feet, going for the Shore Thing Neckbreaker but for Kaz pushes him off for an O’Connor Roll, 1—2–Shoved off right into a cheap shot to the face from Cookie!! Robbie with the roll up 1—2–Kickout!! They both get up to their feet, Robbie goes for an Irish Whip into the corner, Kaz reverses, Robbie tries a leapfrog out of toe corner but Kaz catches him and drops him with Fade to Black!! He covers, 1—2—3!! Robbie earns and loses his title shot in one night, as Kaz retains his Title, in what I thought was a pretty fun opener and probably the best Robbie E match we’ve seen so far. Your thoughts Seán?
S: Yeah this was definitely the best we’ve seen from Robbie E, who is actually a capable worker to be fair to him. Kaz brought out the best in him, the Cookie interference was kept to the minimal and the action was solid. Thought the finish was decent too so thumbs up!
JT: 2011 has given us back to back shows with X Division Title show opening bangers, starring Kazarian. Thumbs up for me, and honestly, it’s enough for me to consider Robbie my boy. I’m not ashamed to say it, he has been a source of consistent entertainment this arc.
S: I will admit that he made me laugh a good few times as well, he’s definitely eligible to be in your boy stable.
JT: Well sadly he didn’t leave with the belt tonight, but he will make at least one more appearance on this arc, so I don’t have lament our loss of the E yet.
S: The memories will not be left alone yet but his fistpump counter! How many did he complete? Stick around and find out.
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Gin & Juiced
JT: Now our next contest is a 6 man tag team match, where we really see the extent of the big changes that have happened in only the past few months in TNA. First and most importantly, BIG POPPA PUMP IS BACK IN TNA!! Scott Steiner is in the Impact Zone again!! Holy shit, talk about someone I didn’t expect to see on this arc!!
S: I knew he’d be back at some stage around this time but man! Seeing him here at his peak madman status is just the best! And boyyyyyyy, what about this marble mouthed promo? Just peak Scotty.
JT: Wonderful, and hilarious stuff from the Big Bad Booty Daddy. Even James Storm is clearly cracking up as he takes shots as Rob Terry. Oh yeah, the match. It’s Immortal’s Rob Terry, Gunner & Murphy against Beer Money & Scott Steiner. So, slightly less important than Scott’s return, Fortune defected from Immortal! What’s all that about?
S: James, what’s suddenly turned them to the goodie side of the coin?
JT: Well you see….they didn’t do a great job of explaining this on the PPV. Now, I’m sure TNA understood the position they were in in 2011, I’m sure they knew they weren’t exactly getting tons of new fans buying the PPVs as their first TNA experience. Still, TNA has seemed to run on the assumption that if you’re watching the PPV, you’re already caught up with all the storylines. But even though I’m just taking shots at TNA’s commentary at this point, it’s not on Taz & Tenay because honestly there’s not a whole lot of meat on the bones of this turn. What we have to go off of is really one promo from AJ Styles after the turn, saying that Fortune were not going to let Eric Bischoff kill TNA like he did WCW!! I know AJ in kayfabe hasn’t always been the smartest guy, but AJ buddy, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
S: Yeah honestly, a poor job was done here explaining it because now Fortune suddenly have a change of heart after being aligned with Immortal for three months because they are reminded of what happened to WCW? Ah here.
JT: Gotta love that they turned on Matt Morgan and Douglass Williams for being sympathetic to the Anti-Immortal cause, only to turn on Immortal themselves and never apologize. Oh, and you know how they’re with Scotty tonight? Well Scott actually returned to save Kurt Angle & Crimson, who were getting a 7 on 2 beatdown by…..Fortune (minus AJ), Rob Terry, Gunner, Murphy & Jeff Jarrett.
S: Ahhhh Crimson, the hero we all deserve. Wee Red himself.
JT: Sadly we won’t get a chance to cover a Crimson match, and I don’t want to dwell on him too much here, but he certainly had an odd existence. But yeah, Fortune are good guys now. And on one hand them not wanting TNA to go understand makes sense considering they are all TNA originals, but still guys you could’ve stopped Eric from ever having a chance to kill TNA if you didn’t immediately join up with him as soon as Immortal was formed?
S: Yeah it leaves a massive logic hole in the story and quite the few questions.
JT: Oh and we should just mention, Rob Terry is in Immortal! This actually happened months ago, as he was recruited by Ric Flair to be Fortune’s bodyguard. But I guess the original 4 didn’t appreciate what he added to the group.
S: They didn’t appreciate that short dyed blonde hair with the wee mullet. Or the fact he’s Welsh.
JT: To circle all the way back around, Scotty says he’ll put his boot so far up Terry’s ass, he’ll floss with laces. It took him a few attempts and a few glugs of beer to get there, but he got there. He also says since Terry is all about saying his prayers and eating his vitamins, it’s a shame they don’t make vitamins for coordination. Terry is the longest reigning TV/Global/Legends Champion by this point by the way. Roode tries to make something comprehensible out of what Scott said, saying that “everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame, and you picked the wrong place, the wrong time and the wrong 3 guys to mess with”. Storm adds that the Immortal guys, like everyone else, want the people to chant their names, and they found their names (according to their birth certificates) are “You” and “Suck”. Cue to loud you suck chants, and Storm saying they’re gonna be chanting your names until it all comes crashing down when you hear those 2 magic words…BEER MONEY!! He caps it off with a good old “Sorry about your damn luck!” and head to the ring as Scotty takes another swigs. Wasn’t this just a fun promo?
S: I fucking loved this promo from these lads, Scott was absolutely mental, I couldn’t make out what he was trying to articulate at all, he acted like a zombie for some reason. Beer Money were just as confused as I was listening to him and then they picked up the meme with a great little promo. Good stuff.
JT: And to keep the good times rolling, AJ Styles comes out for commentary! He’ll be there to provide insight amidst the 6 man tag, and I’ll make sure to bring up his relevant comments as we go along. There’s no Boozer Cruiser for Beer Money, but they’re our tag Champs, and along with The Genetic Freak, they’re ready to take out the trash. Let’s get right to this 6 Man Tag!
S: Let’s get this nickety split!
JT: So before we even get going, Taz has to ask AJ the big question, where does Ric Flair stand in all this? After all, he’s been off TV for Rotator Cuff surgery. But AJ assures Taz, and the fans, not to worry. What Fortune l did, it was a dirty blindside and Ric, he’s the dirtiest player in the game. So connect the dots. Does this logic check out to you?
S: I don’t know to be honest with ya, it feels like a weird reasoning behind what Flair thinks of it in my opinion.
JT: We’ll just have to find out whether AJ really knows his mentor as well as he thinks he does. But as far as Fortune is concerned, they’re all on the same page. Big Poppa Pump starts off against Gunner, who he immediately knocks down and begins to open up on with chops. And then they blow a spot. It took about a minute, but it happened. Gunner tries a leapfrog and either he goes too far and accidentally clips Scott or Scott was supposed to catch him out of the air but didn’t. At least that’s my deduction, based on the fact that he immediately gets a Belly to Belly afterwards, then Murphy (See here: Michael Cole) gets one too for good measure.
S: In a ring which contains Rob Terry, I wasn’t expecting anyone to outshine him in terms of obscurity but luckily, that’s where Murphy (not that one) or Michael Cole (not that one either) comes in handy.
JT: Yeah they tried other things with Gunner, and they tried other thing with Terry, but they never did anything else with Murphy which speaks volumes. Speaking of Rob Terry, he tags in and now we have Genetic Freak against THE Freak. How does it turn out? Well Terry flexes and tries to intimidate Scott, who takes advantage of his parents distracting the Ref to immediately chumpify Terry with a Low Blow, a Clothesline, a signature flexing Elbow Drop, and then hoping off his cover to do Push Ups and some flexing himself. Immortal’s corner has just been a revolving door thus far, as Murphy tags in, only for Scott to drag his corner and tag in Storm. The Tennessee Cowboy gives the Cole Miner an Atomic Drop & Russian Leg Sweep and stands him packing as Gunner comes in. Storm continues trouncing Immortal’s goons as he skins the cat, gets a jumping clothesline, regular clothesline, and a big Backdrop. All the while, AJ explains on commentary that younger guys like Gunner, Murphy & Terry are vulnerable to a manipulative guy like Bischoff, since they’re young and hot and want to rub up against big names. They want an opportunity, Easy E manipulates their youthful spirit into doing dirty work. Storm mounts on Bret’s rope as he gets the time honored classic 10 Punch spot, only for the ref to be dragged from his position by Murphy, allowing Terry to push Storm off the mount and Gunner to hit a clothesline before they get a 3 on 1 beat down. Jesus, finally something for Immortal. They seemed like absolute geeks in the first match of this match.
S: Oh god tell me about it, looking like absolute chumps, proper nWo B Team vibes off this trio here. Cut of them.
JT: Gunner is leading the charge of actually getting in offense, as he manages a Scoop Slam, then does a dumb pose into a fist drop before tagging in to Murphy for a rest hold cool down. I’m paying attention to commentary than the action at this point, where AJ is providing interesting kayfabe insight into the show. He says the main event is Hardy’s match, he’s afraid for Anderson but he’s no slouch, it’ll just be difficult to get the win. He also adds that just because Anderson is holding the title doesn’t mean AJ won’t go after it. Meanwhile the heels continue to work over Storm, and I’ll give the Welshman some credit, he hits impressive Powerslam. But that’s about all he’s got, as he goes for a Scoop Slam and Storm slides behind and gets a Backstabber, getting the hot tag to Roode after avoiding the Forgotten Son. Roode with a clothesline, he knocks down Murphy in the corner, sends Gunner across, but there’s another blown spot as Roode dives over a ducking down Gunner. Like it wasn’t a leapfrog, it appears as though Gunner did a duck over like for a Backdrop, but Roode was thinking Diving Forearm, meaning Roode flies over him and then has to quickly get back up and reset the action, which includes actually hitting the jumping forearm. Rough night for Elias’s Roadie, huh?
S: Yeah it really is, I was gonna say that he’s pretty green but fun fact about Gunner is that he’s now a twenty year veteran in 2021, he’s been wrestling for ten years here so it must be an off night for him here.
JT: So with Gunner on the ropes, Roode presses his advantage by clotheslining Terry out, then hitting a Blockbuster on Gunner but only gets 2. Gunner gets a kick but then gets caught with a Uranage, Roode covers, 1—2–The Heels break up the pin. Terry takes Steiner on the floor while in the ring Murphy charges Roode in the corner, Roode moves and Murphy eats a corner Enzi from Storm. Beer Money try a Double Suplex attempt on Murphy, Terry comes back in to break it up but Beer Money spots him, moves out the way and he runs over Murphy, then they Double Suplex him. They signal for the end with the “Beer!! Money!!” Taunt, but Gunner attacks Storm and sends him out. But they can’t stop Roode though, as he hits a RR Spinebuster on Gunner, a RR Spinebuster on Gunner, before Terry comes in from behind and goozles him. He lifts for the Chokeslam, but Roode escapes and hits him with the Spinebuster. Gunner tries to come off the top, but Roode cuts him off and turns his attention to Freakzilla. The crowd goes nuts as he tags Scotty, who goes up top and miraculously hits a Top Rope Frankensteiner with killing himself. Easy cover, easy 1—2–3, Immortal gets absolutely flattened.
S: Yeah they got jobbed the fuck out in this one but like, it’s about time and it’s the lackees of all lackess in terms of Immortal’s pecking order, they probably should be getting a wellying from some of the upper card guys on the roster, as far as the match goes, it was alright. Nothing really wrong with it, the pose down always gets a bit of a tongue in cheek mark out from me. Scott Steiner, he’s just brilliant, mostly for his promos at this time but you get him in a multi man match, do his spots and somehow bust out a Frankensteiner at his age, you’ll get a thumbs up from me for that but the match as a whole? Totally fine.
JT: I’m gonna be a little harsher than you my man. Though the crowd were awake for this one, and pretty much everything The Genetic Freak did was fun, I still don’t see why this match had to be on PPV. I mean yeah it was Scott’s return to PPV, but Beer Money have been two of the best wrestlers in TNA period, and I feel they should’ve been able to squeeze something better out of them. Plus, I don’t usually harp on minor botches, but the two by Gunner were pretty noticeable and threw off the flow of the match significantly. In the end I was just asking why this specifically needed to be here as opposed to something else.
S: That’s a fair criticism, it was certainly strange seeing Beer Money, who have been probably some of our best players in this arc be in a six man tag. Although I do think them teaming with Steiner is a good enough team, were Immortal at this time so top-heavy in it’s members that Jarrett’s bodyguards and the original Mason Ryan, i.e. a big jacked Welshman with a limited skillset. There was really only one way which this match would go.
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Chance for Rain
JT: So up next, we’ve got ourselves matchup between two guys who, let’s just say, have had a rough go of things this arc. Back after losing his feud to Abyss, its “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero!! And his opponent, someone who we lamented was stuck losing to Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & Jeff Jarrett, it’s Samoa Joe!! Somethings got to give, one of these has got to win for once!!
S: Yeah, these guys have just been jobbing on PPV really in their main feuds of the arc and now they both square off to find out who the biggest loser is!
JT: So, what’s the story here? Well after his loss to Abyss, it was clear that D’Angelo Dinero was hurting. He lost his congregation to Bischoff’s money and he got beat down by Abyss. So it’s only natural that Pope started asking for donations, as a man of the cloth would. However, Samoa Joe doesn’t believe in insincerity. Whether a good guy or bad guy, Joe has always meant what he’s said and never pretended to be someone he wasn’t. So he felt particularly peeved when he got shown footage of what Pope was doing with that money. Pope wasn’t helping the needy, he wasn’t even using his cash to rebuild his congregation. No what Pope was doing was passing on the good word of self respect and forging a future for yourself to young ladies in need….at a Strip Club. Pope was making in rain on strippers. And how fitting that the man who caught him in the act was well none other, than the Rainmaker himself.
S: Yes, young boy Kazuchika Okada, he is exactly a year to the day from facing Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at The New Beginning, at this stage NJPW were still involved with their working relationship with TNA and at this point, things were pretty sour and New Japan were not happy at all. At Wrestle Kingdom, New Japan had four of TNA’s big names and well, let’s say one of them wasn’t in the best headspace whilst competing against Naito. More on that next time. In regards to Okada, the way TNA handled him and booked him was more or less the last straw for New Japan to pull the plug on this working relationship. What’s the reason? We’ll just have to find out soon.
JT: Yeah we’ll get to that shortly. But basically, Joe called Pope on his shit and now Pope is just being a dick to him, while avoiding confrontation. For example, after having the footage of him in the club, which he claimed was him telling all them ladies that “they don’t have to do this to get through college “, Pope decided to get some footage of his own. He got footage of Joe’s wife!! Cue video of pigs. Joe obviously wasn’t going to take that laying down but Pope just kept dodging him. Which is kind of a sudden shift for the Pope’s character compared to last time, no?
S: Yeah I was especially confused as to what exactly Pope’s character was here and why he suddenly became almost a way less fabrication of the wrong side of the Catholic Church and now a sneaky heel.
JT: It seems like a strange departure from the man who was fighting Abyss head on last time we saw him. And really in general, looking at Pope’s character arc this whole time, this shit doesn’t compute. He starts off a heel with The Band, then turns face because The Band was right about Immortal, only to spend the next 2 months jobbing to Abyss, and then turns back heel to feud with a guy he was already feuding with at the very start of the arc. I’m sorry, logically speaking it feels like it would’ve made more sense to just have Joe & Pope feud straight away after BFG. But at the same time, they were trying to build up Jarrett & Abyss. So I don’t know, it all just seems poorly planned out. Like Pope’s face run was literally 2 months, I’m sure Big Show averages a longer run between turns than that.
S: “Big Mood Swing” Paul Wight definitely has longer spells of being face and heel for sure. This seems mental but maybe being in the casket probably made him change his outlook on life? It’s bizarre but sure look, wouldn’t surprise me like.
JT: “Big Mood Swing” Paul Wight definitely has longer spells of being face and heel for sure. This seems mental but maybe being in the casket probably made him change his outlook on life? It’s bizarre but sure look, wouldn’t surprise me like.
S: Maybe his cousin that took the dough at Turning Point let Easy E in on the hot scoop that he was using their salary for the ladies at the gentleman’s club?
JT: Well regardless. We’re not sympathizing with Pope anymore. So as Taz points out tonight, Pope’s tights say “Pope is gonna kill you”, mocking Joe’s signature chant. Oh and he makes sure to point out “Our stage manager told me to point that up, I don’t usually look at guys butts” to which Tenay gives him a “Sure Taz”. Oh hey, Pope has his money drop back. Good for him. And just like that, we’re ready for our match. Joe is ready to kill Pope, Pope claims he’s ready to kill Joe. Ready to get into this?
S: Let’s run it down, sir.
JT: So the bell rings and Pope immediately bails to the floor, killing time and avoiding confrontation still. He gets back in and finally engages Joe with a lock up, then immediately tries clubbing shots, tries to whip Joe across, only for the Samoan Submission Machine grabs the Coquina Clutch, but Pope drops straight to the mat and rolls out of the ring. He spent all this time avoiding Joe, and after that one interaction he decided he’s had enough. He goes to just walk up the ramp and to the back, getting counted out, when someone goes out to stop him! It’s Joe’s personal cameraman!! It’s the Green Hornet!! It’s OKATO!! No not Okada, but OKATO!!!
S: Oh god. I never thought he’d show up but nevertheless, Okato has shown up. I’ve taken down in my notes here and I quote, “Oh god, Okato is here. Why is Okada being treated like this? Why is he Kato? Why would Vince Russo take inspiration from the Seth Rogen Green Hornet movie for a wrestling gimmick of all fucking things? Why is Okada associated with Joe? Why why WHYYYYYYY?!!!!!”. So yeah.
JT: Yeah, this is just bad, and when you consider NJPW would immediately throw Okada into the main event scene when he came back, you can bet they were not happy with him being booked as a comedy goof. Like I’ll fill any of y’all who don’t know about NJPW’s excursion system, basically they send their young lions overseas to England or Mexico or America to season them. Y’know, get some experience working an unfamiliar crowd, try out new gimmicks and moves, that sort of thing. And the thing is, they’re not expecting all their guys to get pushed hard. They really aren’t expecting their young lions to get the top title in whatever promotion they’re in, they just want their guys to get consistent wrestling time and gain experience. And that’s not what TNA did for them. Like, Okada had a total of 18 matches from March 2010 to June 2011. Just 18 matches in 20 months, including House Shows. He was NJPW’s top prospect, and you know they sending him to Impact was no accident. They could’ve sent him to CMLL but they chose Impact. I’m sure they wanted him to brush up against the great talents. Like even in the Midcard you have the likes of Beer Money, MCMG, Douglass Williams, Kaz, Christopher Daniels, Amazing Red, even having the likes of Brian Kendrick, Kid Kash, D-Lo Brown, Al Snow & Jerry Lynn are would be so beneficial for him. They specifically chose to send their biggest prospect to TNA, and then they did nothing with him. I’d be furious if I were in NJPW management too.
S: Oh I can imagine they were just fucking furious with them because of this, like just have him mix it up with different guys in the X-Division, he doesn’t even have to be on Imapct TV all the time or even regularly, if you made him a regular on Xplosion, their smaller scale show, have him wrestle with guys like Red, Eric Young, even Desmond Wolfe or Doug Williams. Just have him wrestling, you can do fifty-fifty wins or losses with him because he’s a young lion and all he really needs at this stage is just to wrestle and wrestle as himself, not this fucking goofy ass gimmick. TNA were already tempting fate with the working agreement but man, no wonder New Japan cut ties with TNA following this, Christ above. This right here is the reason New Japan don’t want any part of TNA, folks.
JT: Seriously, even just have him work as an underdog against Rob Terry, Gunner & Murphy on Dark Matches or Xplosion or House Shows. Even having that happen regularly would be better than nothing. Yet the most matches he ever had was like an explosion match and 3 house show matches in a week. That’s the most matches he’d ever have in a month in Impact. 4 matches in a month. That’s the most they could do.
S: Yeah like for fuck’s sake, 18 matches in 20 months, no wonder so many of the roster felt so fucking sorry for him like Brian Kendrick, GenMe, Joe and probably all of the X-Division. They clearly knew that the management didn’t have a fucking clue with how to handle young lions.
JT: Compare that to how ROH treated their young lions. You’ve got EVIL, who was working under his real name of Takaaki Watanabe, who had 25 matches in the same period, but that includes matches on House Shows, Dark Matches, TV and PPV. That includes singles matches against Jay & Mark Briscoe, Roderick Strong, ACH, Dalton Castle and even an ROH Title match on Weekly TV vs Jay Lethal. He wasn’t doing anything groundbreaking but they made sure to give him chances to face important people. Just discussing laying out matches or calling something in the ring with veterans like them has got to very helpful. And that doesn’t even include someone like Jay White who pretty much got a push in ROH. I mean, he was in a faction, he faced Will Ospreay one on one in Hammerstein Ballroom to kickoff the PPV, as well as multiple one on one matches against high profile guys. I mean, even including Okada as a fall guy representing the TNA locker room against Immordal would’ve been better than what he got.
S: Even guys like EVIL and Jay White would get TV Title shots too. Why not an X-Division on PPV for just a one shot deal for Okada?
JT: Hell, throw him at the TV Title since nobody seems to care about that belt anyways?
S: I think we should save that just for a little bit later, since we’re already off track from Pope/Joe. But don’t worry knockouts tag title fans, they will be back.
JT: think we should save that just for a little bit later, since we’re already off track from Pope/Joe. But don’t worry knockouts tag title fans, they will be back.
S: How dare you deny the power heads of KTTCI (Knockouts Tag Title Check In).
JT: So we veered off course there, point is that super talented youngste Okada is being used as a plot device and comedy parody for this feud. So he manages to back Pope back down to the ring. Allowing Joe to connect with a Suicide Elbow. He pulls Pope back in and begins to lay into him with a Headbutt, he whips him across, but Pope puts on the brakes and hits a Suplex, but after one failed attempt. He feels good after giving it to you and flexes for the crowd, unaware of the fact that Joe just shrugged off his Suplex. He turns around, and Joe him over. Right Hand Jabs, Corner Back Elbow, Jumping Enzi in the corner, followed by face washes, and a Running Boot in the parallel corner from Joe. Pope pushes the ref out of the way in the corner, then pokes Joe’s eye and then hits a knee to send him to the floor. Joe starts to come back with Jabs but Pope with a clothesline then a mount and forearms. Joe slaps Pope, Pope responds with a Dropkick, which hangs him up on the second rope then hits the Landslide on the ropes. He gets a Running Neckbreaker, jumping fist drop, and is starting to build significant momentum until he goes off the top with a Flying Nothing, which Joe counters into an Inverted Atomic Drop, a Big Boot, a Backsplash, top off by sending him across into the Snap Powerslam, 1-2-Kickout. Joe lifts Pope up on his shoulders, but Pope fights out with elbows then a Facebreaker onto the knee. Pope decided now is the time to dig into his bag of tricks as he pulls off the turnbuckle pad and tries to throw Joe into it but Joe stops himself from hitting the steel. Pope tries to get a quick pin as he pushes Joe off the ropes with an O’Connor Roll, but he is quickly pulled down right into the Coquina and he taps out, almost immediately too. Joe gets his first win of the arc!!
S: And he wins it in a no heat, stupid feud, Okato riddled NOTHING match to quote one, Eamon Dunphy. The finish was sudden and I liked that bit man, this was dull as dull is.
JT: I didn’t hate this but like, I didn’t get anything from this either. I thought it was nice to see Joe do his typical Joe things, I thought having him tap out immediately was a good character moment, but still it feels like this was barely even a TV Match. It feels like they’re one week into the feud and they did this with commercials on impact instead of a PPV Match. Topped off with the confusing flip flop of Pope’s character and I’m just left with this feeling that TNA looked at their plans and said “Oh shit we didn’t book anything for Pope & Joe, let’s just put them together, they’ll figure out something”.
S: Yeah and spoilers folks, these two aren’t even on Victory Road next month either so make of that what you will.
JT: And that’s kinda remarkable given the fact that this segment doesn’t end with the match! After the match Pope claps it up for Joe and offers a handshake for Joe, but Joe seems to wave him. Pope insists so Joe slaps a high five, like the bare minimum he can do, and Pope responds with a kick then an uppercut. Okato tries to step in but he gets an uppercut too. And Pope isn’t done yet, as he takes Joe over to the exposed steel he couldn’t use during their match and rams him into it, followed by the DDE with that extra exposed steel damage. He busts Joe open but it still doesn’t keep him down, as he gets back up and charges at Pope who bails up the ramp. So basically, nobody decisively won this. Dinero lost the match but got the last hit in, Joe won but only after D-Lo immediately gave up. Nothing is solved!
S: D-Lo? Who’s D-Lo in this scenario?
JT: D’Angelo Dinero of course
S: Oh god, I thought you messed up were calling him D-Lo Brown for a second and thought we were heading into dodgy territory for a second ahahahahaha.
JT: Don’t worry, the Power Hour will remain free of “Good Question Shelton” jokes you might’ve seen before on Reddit that are supposed to make fun of racists but only ends up parroting racist language. None of that here. If we wanna make fun of racists cunts, we’ll just call them racists cunts because that’s what they are.
S: Agreed.
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Last Stall
JT: Well up next we have our Knockouts Title match for this evening, but considering what we ended that last segment on, I say we need some levity. So Seán, before we get too involved with the Knockouts Title storyline, why don’t we bring back that discussion we almost started earlier about the Knockouts Tag Titles! Quick before we forget about them for another 4 episodes like I did!
S: Well last time we checked in on these forgotten accolades were last held by Taylor Wilde and Hamada but since then they’ve been vacated, after Hamada was released from her TNA contract. The Beautiful People were set to face Tara and Madison in the finals on the Christmas Impact but Velvet was attacked by Sarita. Angelina then went on to win the Knockouts Tag Team Titles with… WINTER! WINTER IS HERE!
JT: Oh my, is there that type of pollen in the air in the Impact Zone??
S: It’s certainly brewing, that’s for sure.
JT: So Winter, or as you dirty Fed Fans would know her, Katie Lea Burchill! You might remember her for pioneering the “What are you doing Step Bro?” angle with former Jack Sparrow impersonator Paul Burchill, until they got shut down by the PG Era rolling on in.
S: Man I bet Vince is PISSED that he never got to do that incest angle he always wanted to do before the PG Era rolled up.
JT: It’s truly Vince’s White Whale. I’m sure he’s always wanted to do it and he’s just never going to get the chance.
S: It’s the one storyline which will always allude him.
JT: Yeah so Winter & Angelina, care to explain to anyone who doesn’t know what we mean by “pollen”?
S: Alright for those who don’t know, we’re big OSW fans and one of the many terms that they have on their show is the term “pollen”, now this phrase is used to describe a storyline in wrestling between two women with lesbian overtones surrounding it. For example, the Mickie James and Trish Stratus storyline from 2005-2006 or the brief period in AJ Lee (not Styles) and Paige feud of 2014 where they teased a potential love angle between the two.
JT: And correct me if I’m not wrong, but wasn’t there some element of magic or brainwashing or drugging or some shit like that in this whole Winter/Angelina affair?
S: YES! This is the exact feud with the drugging and witchcraft, Angelina is under Winter’s spell, she debuts in a mirror and she’s a figment of Angelina’s imagination! God, it’s just so Russo in 2010.
JT: Folks, keep this info in the back of your mind, because to my surprise, this storyline finally shows up in our last 2 episodes. In the meantime, we’ve got yet again, Mickie James facing off against Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Championship. This time, it’s Last Knockout Standing!
S: Killer Queen, Hardcore Country, Round Two. Who gets up? Who stays down? How did we get here, James?
JT: Well as we’ve been following, Mickie returned to TNA at right before Bound For Glory, ending up as guest referee for BFG’s 4 way Title match, laying out Madison in the process. The next two months at Turning Point and Final Resolution she battled Madison’s henchwoman Tara, going to a Double Countout and then losing to Madison interference in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Then on Impact after that, Micke defeated Tara in a Cage Match to get her title shot at Genesis. But then as we saw on our last TNA episode, Madison beat Mickie thanks to a loaded glove. And now we’re here…because Mickie got screwed last time. I’m gonna be real, I didn’t see or hear much about what happened between Genesis and this show.
S: Neither did I to be honest, man. I think they just booked a rematch because, reasons?
JT: I mean after the cheap victory last time, it makes sense that they’d book a rematch, and I can’t tell whether I like or not that they just said “Yeah we’re not doing a filler #1 Contenders match in between, you already know who’s gonna win that”.
S: Which is fair enough because it’s hardly gonna be like Velvet Sky or Sarita.
JT: Yeah better to just do the obvious thing that beat Tara again on Impact. So before our match we get a promo from Micke. She’s so excited because tonight is her night to be that little….chump. Not a champ even, Madison is just a chump, a chump who thinks Mickie can’t beat her. But she says Madison only got the title because someone laid down for her, and tonight when she lays down, she’s not getting back up. Meanwhile in the pre match video package, Madison says Mickie came here to prove she’s the best female wrestler in the best female promotion in the world, and since she can’t do that, is she just going to get repeatedly humiliated or will she just leave already? Mickie says she has never been in this type of match before but she’s been in some bar room brawls and they’ve never been pretty. So we ramp up from last month, as seen by Madison clearly wearing he loaded glove to the ring. She’s also got a tiara and big old prom night sash on. Mickie meanwhile has a whopper of an outfit, what looks like a Pocahontas inspired outfit on. Taz is very horny on commentary, and as creepy as that can be, it’s hard to deny that Mickie is fucking gorgeous.
S: Yeah honestly man, Mickie looks absolutely fantastic here, I mean she always has looked amazing. Doesn’t she native American ancestry hence the choice in gear tonight?
JT: I didn’t know that, but looking it up, she is! That’s pretty cool, good for Mickie to represent her heritage. It’s nice to have someone who has Native American blood not end up as “Chief Redskin”, or even that someone who is doing a Native American thing is actually Native American. Boy if I had a nickel for every “Chief XYZ” played by someone who hasn’t a native….
S: Yeah thankfully she didn’t fall to the powers that be and become native wrestler no. 54.
JT: Alright, we’ve already seen Mickie deliver in a big gimmick match before, shall we get into Last Knockout Standing?
S: Yes we shall.
JT: Right from the start, Madison loads up the glove, but Mickie catches her and slaps her back, knocking her down a few times, and then they go right into brawling on the floor. Madison pulls Mickie into the stairs head first, back in the ring, Mickie slides between Rayne’s legs, Rayne grabs the hair, but Mickie with a kick and sets up the DDT, only for Madison to spin out and try the Rayne Drop, but Mickie spins out and hits a clothesline. Commentary wonders if Rayne is telegraphing using the Loaded Glove, which she hasn’t managed to hit with so far. In fact, Madison actively tried to run away up the ramp and out of the Impact Zone, but Mickie is in hot pursuit, allowing Madison to turn around and poke her in the eye. With Mickie blinded, Madison throws her into the guard rail and slams her into the apron. She tries to whip her into the post but Mickie reverses and the Queen hits the post. Mickie sends her back in, Rayne catches her coming back in with the Rayne Drop. I know we haven’t seen Madison really win a match clean, so we haven’t gotten a real chance to talk about her finisher. What do you think of the Rayne Drop, aka the Inverted Overdrive?
S: It’s a pretty cool looking finisher whenever it’s done well but if it’s done pretty sloppily, it can look kinda rough if you ask me. Didn’t KENTA use that move on 205 after they banned him from using the GTS?
JT: Oh god I think he did. I also think Ten Guy/Shawn Spears used it in during his time in NXT too.
S: Oh god, he used it too! Then he started using the Ushigoroshi but then after he got called up to SmackDown and stopped using it because Styles used it as a signature so he started using his TKO facebuster on the knee.
JT: This just a general question, but what do you think of wrestlers sharing moves, especially if one is a finisher? I’ll give a little to tell you my side of things. I think guys having the same sorts of moves is unavoidable, I think what matters is the presentation and branding. Like I think multiple people are gonna end up having the same move, like the Ushigoroshi in this case. So for Tye, you could give it a man and put over how he takes off his knee pad or something like that. I say this because when I was younger I did a fantasy booking style company, where I had to manage having Roman Reigns, Edge & Rhyno all having Spears as a finisher.
S: I don’t mind people sharing moves like when guys who use the Spear would use it as a finisher. What annoys me about sharing moves, especially outside of WWE, for example Jay Briscoe would use the Jay Driller, it’s a finish, lights out. Kenny Omega would use that same move, it’s a throwaway move, that’s what would annoy me about sharing moves and of course, the bastardisation of the Canadian Destroyer throughout the 2010’s, which Petey Williams has admitted really pisses him off.
JT: Yeah it’s a difficult line to walk, because some moves are more legitimate to other people. But still, I absolutely understand what you’re saying about Piledrivers.
S: The only person who protected the piledriver well in the 2010’s was Chris Hero, let’s be real here.
JT: 10000%. I swear those Piledrivers he was pulling out in his first post NXT run in PWG has a little extra mustard on them.
S: They were probably some of the best use of piledrivers that I’ve ever seen? Especially that sick delayed piledriver he did on Trent? one time.
JT: Honestly the ones that came to mind for me were the little quick snappy ones he was doing. Like someone would duck over and he’d just snap in a second. All I’m saying is that is if AEW doesn’t snap him up and do for him what they’ve done for Eddie Kingston, ROH or Impact better sign him up and make him World Champion ASAP. It’s a pity he’s never been a World Champion anywhere outside of the indies.
S: It’s criminal, honestly.
JT: Alright so before we get even further down that rabbit hole, I’m going to get us back to the match. So after the Rayne Drop, Mickie is down all the way till the count of 8 before getting back up. However she manages to fight back, sending Madison to the floor with a back elbow, then getting a Thesz Press off the apron to the floor!! It gets up to 6 but they break the count. Mickie tries to take the glove off Madison only for Madison to kick her and crawl under the ring, with Mickie chasing her under there. They go back in the ring, Madison knocks Mickie off the top rope and she hits the hardest part of the ring and stays down all the way until 9 but still beats the count. Madison tries another loaded glove shot, but Mickie blocks and snaps her arm down on the ropes. She follows up with a top rope Thesz Press, a big kick, and she pulls the glove off Madison!! She loads it up and is ready to give Madison a taste of her own medicine when Tara (Taz botches and says Victoria) runs in, gets thrown into the ring and hit with the Loaded Glove!! But then from behind, Madison pulls out Brass Knuckles and hits Mickie in the face!! Madison hides the knucks, goes to cover, it’s LKS ffs. Regardless of her little screw up, Mickie is still out cold as the count reaches 10, the Waitress wins again!! This never happens in It’s Always Sunny!!
S: This is most definitely a lost episode of It’s Always Sunny if The Waitress wins not once, BUT TWICE IN A ROW! What is this sorcery that we’re seeing? Thoughts on the match, James?
JT: Honestly I was underwhelmed by this one. I know the dynamic between Mickie & Madison wasn’t the same as Mickie & Tara, but I figured the stipulation would add a little more oomph as compared to their last match. Instead I feel like they didn’t really utilize the stipulation well. I know they were handcuffed by the existence of the Bully Ray/Devon Street Fight later on tonight, but it still feels like this was the same match but with a little more outside brawling and the nearfalls being someone getting up at 8-9 off a pretty normal move. Like Mickie took that bump off the top to the floor, and is this match that’s almost the 10 count, but you can’t convince you that you could just as easily have plunged that spot into their first match. The only difference is that you’d have Mickie beating the countout instead of the standing 10 count.
S: Yeah I’ve gotta agree with you there, there was nothing particularly bad about it, aside from The Waitress going for a pinfall in a match where those aren’t required for victory. I expected more and we got the exact same bollocks finish that we got last month and isn’t this the last we’ll see of these two in the arc?
JT: I mean odds are, we’ll see them in some sort of segment when we cover March 3rd Impact, but this is the last Knockouts Title match we’ll see this arc. They’ve been building to Mickie finally beating Madison for the title for 4 months and we still won’t be done. And like you said we got almost the exact same finish as last time. Tara distraction, Madison knockout blow, Madison retains. You know what I think would’ve been a good non-finish, since they’re clearly not ready to end this? I say, do a double KO spot. Let Mickie use the loaded glove, Madison uses the brass knucks, they hit each other at the same time and they both go down and out. You can have Tara carry out Madison, and then Madison can claim on technicality that Mickie still can’t beat her. Meanwhile, Mickie will have had the visual KO on her, which is at least some forward profession. Like this felt like the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. Every other time it felt like we were getting somewhere. Mickie & Tara were more than just having a fight, leading into a match that Mickie could’ve won if not for Tara, which led to Mickie beating Tara, leading to Mickie not beating Madison because of Tara interference and cheating….but now what? Does she have to beat Tara again, again? Like I don’t feel that anything was proven in this match that wasn’t proven already, and all it just does is drag this story out even more. Shame, because I was excited for this storyline when it began, but they’re just kicking the can down the road. I know what they’re doing, but there’s ways to do this while still keeping a sense of progression going.
S: Yeah honestly, it’s complete overkill with the amount of times that Mickie has been screwed over by Tara and Madison, this is FOUR PPV’s in a row where Mickie hasn’t picked up a win over either of the two. It’s frustrating in all honesty, they’re dragging it out too long, which is weird because they actually could’ve prolonged this for the better with the finish you suggested.
JT: Yeah it’s a shame we have to end our coverage here. It’s not a matter of dragging it out as much as how they’ve dragged it out. Again, I think if you want to have a drawn out face chases the heel feud, you’ve got all the right types of players. Obviously people want to see Mickie win the title, especially off a strong heel character like Madison, and you could have a lot worse for an interfering bodyguard/obstacle type than Tara. Like, consider perhaps, a Matt Hardy sized obstacle. That would be so much worse.
S: Yeah they had all the right ingredients to make this feud brilliant and as good as this was, it really felt like this is being dragged out just because we’re on the road to Lockdown as TNA are doing at this time.
JT: The thing is, you don’t even need to hold off the change till then for this to work. You can have Mickie win the title and have Madison snap at losing her title, leading to the blowoff Cage Match at Lockdown. Oh well.
S: Guess it just is what it is really. Moving on then?
JT: Moving on!
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Mr Mejor
JT: So up next is not a match, but we get an unannounced visit from our good friend, M4, Mr. Mayor Matt Morgan. He’s got something to say. On the go home episode of Impact, Mr Anderson beat The Blueprint to retain his title, but only after Morgan was distracted….by Hernandez!! The DNA of TNA is not happy, and in fact, he’s just getting straight to business! He wants Hernandez to get out here right now!!
S: Hernandez?! What is he doing here in the Impact Zone, Tenay?
JT: Well, I’m sure most of you are familiar with Hernandez for his time with Homicide & Konnan, the original version of the Latin America Xchange (LAX) in TNA, but he also has a significant history with Matt Morgan. It started off with an alliance with Morgan & The Pope against bitter old men Rhino & Team 3D. That blossomed into a Tag Team between the two big men, leading to them winning the Tag Titles at Genesis 2010 off the British Invasion. However, dissension in the ranks! They were forced to face each other in the 8 Card Stud Tournament to get a TNA Title shot, and Morgan won after not only targeting Hernandez’s injured shoulder, but using grabbing tights on his pin too. This led to title defenses filled with miscommunications, but they still kept their titles. That was until it boiled over at Destination X, where Morgan delivered the Carbon Footprint to Super Mex. They would go one on one on the next Impact, where M4 would put Dez on the shelf, hitting the Carbo Footprint with Hernandez’s head sandwiches against the steel post. This was in March, Hernandez would be back by Slammiversary VII in June, which saw the two go to a DQ. Then came the blowoff at Victory Road, where Hernandez defeated Morgan in a Steel Cage. But instead of Hernandez getting a main event push, he actually opted to go to Mexico instead of sticking around with TNA. In fact, the action he missed due to the Carbon Footprint against the post? It was so we could work in Mexico. But now at the behest of Eric Bischoff, Hernandez is back to hurt people. And interfering in Morgan’s business? It turns out it’s personal, and beyond what I’ve just said.
S: Always thought Hernandez was a very solid hand, I do think in 2009 or 2010, TNA should’ve capitalised on him being an over face following the split of LAX to be honest. He’ll be sticking around for a good few years since his return and he now dips in and out of Impact to this day even. What’s your thoughts on Super Mex, James?
JT: I’ll be honest, I don’t remember a whole lot of his singles stuff. I remember LAX stuff though, in part because Homicide is genuinely great, but also because I remember Hernandez being a pretty great hot tag. And though I’ll make time to reevaluate if he was worth getting a main event type shot, I can certainly see the justification. He’s got a good look, he’s pretty athletic, and his branding is on point. I forgot about him honestly, but Super Mex? 10/10 nickname, I’ve remembered it since the first time I heard it? And the Border Toss? Holy fuck what a finisher.
S: Yeah he’s certainly got the whole package as far as look and moveset goes. What about his promo skills though? We’re about to find out.
JT: So he makes his way down to the ring, and Morgan tells him to talk before he kicks his ass. Hernandez speaks! He calls him “The Great White Hype” and asks what makes Morgan better than him? He says America is always looking for the next great white hope. He says he went to Mexico where he’s treated like a star, unlike how he’s been treated like a 2nd class citizen here. He says the minority is now the majority, calling Morgan a minority and then says they’re now in Hispanic America and that this is “our country”. He says he’s back in TNA to stick it to the gringos. He says if Morgan doesn’t like it, he can get out of his county. And y’know, in the 80s in the Bible Belt and Midwest? This would’ve gotten tons of heat, honestly it probably would’ve in the 90s and maybe even the 2000s. But in 201 and in Florida? Yeah the 2012 US Census had Hispanic/Latino making up 23.2% of the population, so he got what sounded to me like a pretty mixed reaction for his big returning heel promo.
S: Yeah he got a fair few cheers from the crowd here so he did. Wasn’t a bad promo to be honest, he certainly seemed justified to be a heel and that’s what the best heels are.
JT: Yeah I don’t think he’s necessarily a great promo, but he’s certainly not a bad speaker, and if you have the intangibles he has, that’s honestly good enough. I do feel like his promo felt a bit Russo-y, probably because of the subject manner as well as this feeling that it just felt like a white guy wrote this for a Mexican guy to say. But as far as Russo real world based stories, this is far from the worst. Like again, he seemed justified. He’s not wrong about the growing spanish speaking population and growing cultural impact of Latin culture.
S: Yeah the content of the promo is correct in terms of his justification here, he definitely has a great voice for promos though, that’s for sure.
JT: Oh definitely, he’s got the tough guy voice. Certainly more so than Brock Lesnar. Certainly more so than Kane’s more normal voice that we heard a lot of in the Corporate Kane Era and afterwards. Honestly, probably more so than the Big Show, although my perception might be skewed based on the number of times they’ve made him cry on TV as well as his whiny heel persona from early 2000.
S: Big Show with his tapes of him actually winning the Rumble, whining on SmackDown in a big coat is MONEY.
JT: But anyway, Seán! I heard Hernandez say he was treated like a star in Mexico, so I did some research. Want to hear a little breakdown of Hernandez’s run in AAA between his TNA appearances?
S: Boy would I! Please do tell.
JT: So Hernandez claims he was treated “like a superstar” but I’m gonna have to say otherwise. First off, based on the framing of this promo anyway, you’d think that he was a triumphant, heroic babyface. But that’s not true! In fact Hernandez returned to AAA as part of Konnan’s Heel Faction, La Legión Extranjera, aka the Foreign Legion. So funny how he talks about being an outsider in America as a Mexican, because in Mexico he played up the fact that he was American, refusing to acknowledge his connection to Mexican culture and often pretending not to understand Spanish to get heat. And later down the line, Konnan’s faction eventually gave way to La Sociedad (The Society) run by Dorian Roldán Peña, son of AAA’s President and General Director. So basically, he was in the Fortune to La Sociedad’s Immortal, as all the baddies joined together to form a super baddie stable. What was Hernandez’s role in all this? He was just a body in that group. He did make the finals of the Rey de Reyes (King of Kings, thing King of the Ring) Finals at the very start of his run, and he made the semi finals of the Campeonato Premier 2010 Relevos Increibles Tag Team Tournament with former AAA Mega Champion and 3x former Champion of Champion (the world title before the Mega Champion) Cibernetico, but that seems like an odd couple tag team tournament, considering Cibernetico wasn’t in the La Sociedad or La Legión Extranjera. He won in a Tag Team Hair vs Hair Steel Cage Match at Triplemania XVIII and competed in a Tag Title Ladder Match, but otherwise that’s about it. It really seems like he was just a body in Mexico, less than he was a Mexican “Superstar”.
S: A staggering run to say the least, the heel work he did sounds pretty cool though not gonna lie, pretending to not understand Spanish whilst speaking it regularly in TNA? That’s good heel heat. Are we going to be making a trip down to the South of the Border any time soon?
JT: Hey, never say never. Lucha Libre is criminally overlooked by us English speakers, I just think I am qualified or knowledgeable enough to really lead a discussion, at least not to other wrestling fans.
S: Maybe when we get sponsored by AAA or CMLL, we’ll cover some lucha.
JT: It might not be south of the border, but I’ve always been a huge Lucha Underground fan, so maybe that’ll sneak itself into our rotation sometime soon.
S: Same here, should we talk about how Matt Morgan looked like a fucking chump YET AGAIN?
JT: Yeah let’s put this segment to bed. So Hernandez has just said why he cost Morgan the TNA Title, and Mr Mayor doesn’t seem to be pleased about it. But before he even gets a chance to respond, he gets a knee right to the Blueprintd. A shot straight to the nads, doubling him over, and leaving him paralyzed as Hernandez picks him up and dumps him with an impressive Attitude Adjustment. Like he just got him up no problem and dumped him.
But man, Matt Morgan gets punked out again!
S: Bruhhhhhh, Matt Morgan is an absolute fucking geek! What’s happened to him since November, every time he’s been on PPV, he’s come out of each match he’s had looking like a fucking loser. Who’s wife did he shag?
JT: Well if the stories about DDP & Easy E, it doesn’t sound like type of thing would bug him. But for real now, he lost to Jeff Hardy at Turning Point & Final Resolution, he lost to Mr Anderson at Genesis, and now he got bodied by Hernandez. And don’t forget he got kicked out of Fortune/Immortal!
S: I think I know who’s in the running for our LVP of this end of season awards.
JT: He better turn it around quick if he knows what’s good for him.
S: He’s got two shows to save himself, the ball’s in your court, M4.
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V1 vs RVD: Electric Boogaloo
JT: So up next, we’ve got ourselves a rematch from Genesis. It’s no surprise this time though! It’s Rob Van Dam facing off again against Matt Hardy! And before we get into the match, we’ve got ourselves a promo from Cold Blood himself!
S: This promo, eh? Thoughts on it? Was it COLD BLOODED?
JT: Seán, I did not care for this promo. I thought he was talking nonsense, he was stumbling over his words, he was slurring some of them even, but let me just fill in the readers. So Christy asks Matt what Cold Blood means and he says “Cold Blood is something society has created”, as if lizards don’t exist shaking my head. But seriously, he says he was forced into Cold Blood because he always tried to be a good guy, and it never got him anywhere. Let’s avoid thinking about his V1 heel, or when he turned heel on Jeff in 2001 or in 2009. But anyway, he says he fought through a career ending injury, his brother left him for TNA, and then he was punished for Jeff leaving, and that makes someone cold blooded. He says RVD is a stepping stone, Rob represents everything he hates. He’s 3-0 against RVD since coming to TNA, tonight he’s writing the final chapter in their rivalry (ignore jobbing out to RVD during the alliance).
S: Yeah this promo was just a load of bloody lark, he really did not seem in the best headspace here and look, that’s what you could say about his first stint in TNA because he’s really not all there, this is easily the period in his life where it’s at the darkest hour, it wouldn’t be really in the midst of the ROH run or around when his first son would he born that he was on the straight and narrow.
JT: Yeah I really don’t want to kick him while he’s down, he’s clearly not doing great here, and it’s just reflecting on his work. It’s a shame that both brothers are doing poorly at the same time, although I really doubt that’s a coincidence.
S: Yeah it’s just not the best time for both men really and I think it’s best that we don’t really say much more because I feel kind of bad saying anything negative about him.
JT: Yeah let’s stick to the performance and not the person. And on a positive note, he doesn’t have the dreads anymore!
S: Yeah that’s certainly a pro you can take from this, those dreads were just so fucking weird.
JT: So I joked about this earlier, but RVD!! Still treading water!! It’s been since August now that he lost the TNA Title. He fought Abyss to get revenge, got betrayed by Jeff Hardy at BFG, and since then has been fighting the dregs of Immortal (and EV2.0) for 4 months! So that’s a total of 6 months of just kicking the can down the road! He lost the most important title in the company without even being pinned, and he’s spent half a year fucking around with the midcard!
S: Yeah Jesus Christ, this poor guy is just like Milhouse throwing the frisbee on his own because he’s just got nothing else going on. They vacated the belt six months ago and he still hasn’t gotten a one on one rematch for the belt. Another example of TNA just dragging things out a little too long again.
JT: Like clearly, this is all supposed to lead up to Rob vs Jeff for the Title, right? But, at the same time, how is that match supposed to mean anything if there’s so much shit in between now and then? And I mean this for both guys? Is RVD getting revenge on Jeff really something he’s been waiting for all year when he had enough time to faff about with Tommy Dreamer in a “Shit, I guess you’re not a bad guy” match? Is Rob potentially winning the belt back supposed to be a big triumphant victory if Jeff already lost the title to Mr Anderson?
S: Exactly! Like if Jeff lost his belt to RVD down the line without dropping it to Mr. Anderson, it probably would’ve made his journey worth while but now that he’s already dropped it, the potential moment has already lost it’s value without being booked yet.
JT: I mean at least at this point, it’s obvious that he’s going after Jeff again, but still it took 4 months to get even to this point. It’s like he was doing side quests for 4 months and is just now finally getting around to doing the main story.
S: He’s been doing strangers and freaks missions in GTA before getting to the main story missions.
JT: Alright before we get too caught up in our own side quests, we should get into this match. But first! I just wanted to point out the “Is Sting still here?” sign right on the hard cam.
S: Ohhh boy, is this the time to talk about the rampant rumours regarding The Stinger around this period or do we wait until the next episode?
JT: I think we should wait, I just figured given this whole arc, it’s funny that the first time he’s been brought up since the first episode is during a Hardy match.
S: I’m more than willing to wait then.
JT: So with Jackson “Totally not Eric Bischoff’s son” James as referee, the match begins. They lock up, Matt with a cheap shot against Rob, into trading punches, then kicks until Rob with the step over kick. Monkey Flip attempt but Matt drops Rob face first off the turnbuckle. Matt’s getting a mixed reaction tonight, some light boos as opposed to the “Hardy” chants from Genesis. He sends Rob across, RVD flips over him and hits a spin kick to send him to the floor. RVD goes for a Moonsault off the apron, Matt pulls his legs off and he hits the apron face first. Matt tries a Suplex on the floor, but RVD blocks, hits some shots, drapes him over the guardrail and hits the Flying Leg Drop from the apron. He rolls Matt back in but as he follows him back in, Matt kicks the rope then hits a Hanging DDT, 1–2–Kickout. RVD rolls to the floor, Matt drops him face first off the guard rail. RVD beats the count out but gets a leg drop right on his head as he comes back in. The crowd is starting to get behind RVD and will him back up to his feet, but Matt gets a Double Arm Guillotine Choke, to kill the pace and force RVD to get the ropes. Interesting move by Matt, no? Like I’ve never seen him do that before, and honestly I thought he got it pretty smoothly.
S: Yeah this looked really well cinched in by Matt here, I’m not sure if this is the move but I’m pretty sure he had a submission in TNA called, the Ice Pick!
JT: After a quick google search, that’s this move! Though they haven’t quite established it as a finisher yet. The name is corny but hey, at least he actually looks good unlike Taken Care of Business.
S: Shouts to Booger Red, we miss ya in this arc big man.
JT: So even though Rob managed to escape the Ice Pick, Matt is still controlling the pace, as shown by the catapulting Rob into the bottom rope followed by a grounded Full Nelson. Let’s Go RVD chants overpower the Let’s Go Hardy chants, as RVD is just trying to get some momentum going but he can’t chain together any offense. He sends Matt to the apron, goes for a Springboard Kick but Matt ducks out of the way and hot shots him off the top rope. Matt goes for the Diving Elbow but RVD catches him out of the with a Thrust Kick! RVD with a few punches, a clothesline, a Thrust Kick, a Spinning Heel Kick. He goes for Rolling Thunder, Matt rolls out of the way, but RVD stops on a dime and hits a Standing Moonsault instead for a 2. He slams Matt in the dropzone, goes to the corner, leaps up and hits a Split Leg Moonsault, 1–2–Kickout!! Rob is now just trying to put him away, but Matt ducks a kick, grabs him and slams him (with no jump) for the Side Effect. Matt starts to go for the Twist of Hate but gets shoved off into the corner, followed by a Spin Kick. RVD goes up, thinking 5 Star, but Matt cuts him off. He goes for a Superplex but Van Dan blocks and sends him off the top, only for Matt to get back up before Rob can set himself up for the 5 Star, allowing Matt to send him off the top with a backdrop!! Now it’s Hardy’s turn to go up top, as he leaps for the Moonsault, but there’s no water in the pool! As Cold Blood crashes and burns, RVD goes up and leaps off, hitting the Five Star Frog Splash, he covers, and gets the 1–2–3. Rob has defeated Matt Hardy, and is now one step closer to getting back at Jeff. Right?!? Please?!? Seán, your thoughts on this one?
S: I thought this match was definitely better than last month’s match at Genesis, things just seemed to click more between these two lads if you ask me, it was pretty ropey in areas last time around. This time, they definitely clicked more. Was it a stand out match? Not by any means but it was perfectly fine, I think it picked up well by the end and good to see RVD nip this whole side quest thing in the bud. What did you think then?
JT: So looking at my notes, I wrote that “I thought this was kinda boring. I felt like RVD played the standard hits, and I felt that Matt was lacking energy and urgency.” After our discussion I think I was a little too harsh on this one, but I still don’t think this was good. I felt like this one kinda dragged with Matt on top, with RVD just going his usual thing. I also felt like the ending didn’t much like the climax to the match, as much as just the end of it, although again going over it bit by bit here does make me think that assessment is a little too harsh. I still don’t like this one, I remember feeling pretty bored during this, though that might be my annoyance at this RVD storyline more so than the action, because again it didn’t seem quite as bad as I first remembered it after going through it again.
S: Yeah it doesn’t stand out, there’s little wrong with it but there wasn’t much right with it. As I said, it was fine, I preferred this more than last month’s but it’s not saying much really. I liked the split legged moonsault from RVD, that’s all that really stood out to me.
JT: There was something that stood out to me early on, but I think I should save for a special segment. A segment, that I think we should go to, right now!! Seán are you thinking what I’m thinking?
S: Are you thinking Recharge?
JT: Yes I am! Ready to Recharge?
S: You bet I am! To the Recharge Café!
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JT: Hello and welcome to the Recharge! In the Recharge, we have a little time to go off topic from the show we were just watching to just talking about other stuff happening in the wrestling world, as well as any other media, news, and what have you tinkles our fancy. And to top it off, we’ve got a little bit of trivia! Seán, how are you today? What’s on your mind that’s not related to the plights of 2011 TNA?
S: I think aside from the dizzying world of 2011 TNA, honestly everything but college since I’m off until February and just need to distance myself from it for own sake. I’m just watching Royal Rumble matches lately, I’ve finished watching Malcolm in the Middle and now, as of yesterday, I’ve started to watch Frasier.
JT: I think aside from the dizzying world of 2011 TNA, honestly everything but college since I’m off until February and just need to distance myself from it for own sake. I’m just watching Royal Rumble matches lately, I’ve finished watching Malcolm in the Middle and now, as of yesterday, I’ve started to watch Frasier.
S: That’s the main reason I’ve started to watch it, the AE Pod guys talk about it fairly regularly so I was dying to find out what it’s like. I’m only three episodes in so far but it has already left a good impression on me if I’m being frank. How’s all with you lately?
JT: I’ve been fine, not overwhelming great, but y’know, perfectly adequate, I suppose? Like for the sake of transparency, we’re writing this bit out right now on January 9th 2021. So I have all the sort of recent political events weighing on me. This isn’t a place for straight up political discourse, I just wanted to get that out there because that sort of stuff is always gonna harsh my mellow….
But otherwise, my New York Mets made a very big move! I don’t want to explain that too much, because again this is a wrestling review and I don’t want to have to explain too much for non-baseball fans but I’m every happy for that. It’s exciting time to be a Mets fan. And most relevantly to our subject matter, Wrestle Kingdom was this past week! I have a lot of thoughts as a whole, and we can get into them for specifically if you want to Seán, but as a whole I thought it was decent fun though it served as a reminder of the growing disconnect I feel with NJPW.
S: Yeah it was a fun show all things considered, few matches stood out for me but it certainly wasn’t up to par with the last like six previous Wrestle Kingdom shows in my opinion. Still a nice two nights of wrestling nonetheless.
JT: Yeah I may have my problems with it, but hey! It’s not often that New Japan gets the center of attention anymore, not since The Elite left and it lost its crown of “Hey this isn’t WWE! Everybody flock to this!”. I wish there was a bit more room to actually criticize the product and discuss its flaws rather than just praising it because “it’s Wrestle Kingdom and it has to be good” but you get what you get. It’s better than it getting totally ignored all year.
S: Agreed, now James you said to me that there was something which stood out to you early on which you were saving for a question. What beith thy question?
JT: Oh, would you like to get into our trivia right now then?
S: I think now seems like a good time to get into our Recharge Trivia if you ask me.
JT: Okay! So rules as always, you get 3 guesses and 1 hint. So tonight, I wanted to ask you this, how many times did we see the RVD Thumb taunt during the Hardy/Van Dam match? I’m not counting during entrances, because I admittedly hadn’t thought of this but until later. Just during the match, by both Matt & Rob.
S: Alright, I’m gonna just take a stab at, 11?
JT: Nope, it’s not 11.
S: Alright, I’d like my hint now if that suits you.
JT: Yeah I figured as much. So you’re gonna want to guess much lower than 11. The taunts started off pretty hot, but stopped completely after like the 5ish minute mark. It’s just up to you now to guess how many times they did it in that time frame.
S: Alright, much lower than 11, I’m gonna say 6.
JT: Nope not 6. Again, I’ll throw you a bone since you’re just guessing numbers here. Lower than 6, up more than 2.
S: 4?
JT: Correct!! Your final guess is right on the money! It happened 4 times. Now, that may seem a bit underwhelming for this type of bit, but I counted and dammit I wasn’t going to count for nothing! The first one happened like usual, no big deal about it, RVD is gonna do that sort of thing, especially early on. But then Matt stole it and did it on the floor, and RVD went into overdrive. He did it once before he did his signature Diving Apron Leg Drop, then one more time immediately after doing it. I figured he was off for a ridiculous pace at that rate, but Mr Cold Blood got him off, and we didn’t get another for the rest of the match sadly. But man, I was ready to be annoyed by the taunt for the rest of the match, it felt like all 4 times it happened was over the course of 2 minutes.
S: Yes! Back on form yet again, my question for you today is also to do with a specific taunt and boy oh boy, it’s Robbie E’s fist pump, this man went into fucking hyperdrive with his fist pumping across his two segments so my question for you James is, how many times did Robbie E fist pump on screen? This is going from his entrance until the end of his match with Kaz by the way.
JT: Oh man this is going to blow RVD Taunt count out the water, because if my memory serves me correct, I’m pretty sure he fist pumped with every count when GenMe were counted out to start the show. So that’s at least 10. My first guess is going to be 25.
S: It is not 25, would you like a hint?
JT: Yes I would!
S: Alright so I’m going to give you a special 2 in 1 deal on this hint. The hint is that it’s much higher than 25 and the number is featured in the name of a famous band.
JT: Mmmm well my heart says Blink 182 but my brain says “No fucking way did he fist pump 182 times in one show and I didn’t notice”. What about Eiffel 65? Did he fist pump 65 times?
S: It is not our Italian brahs Eiffel 65 or 65 times for that matter. It is lower than 65 though.
JT: Well this is where my lack of musical knowledge is gonna haunt me. I wish more hands came to mind but I can’t say they do. So I’m going to guess the B-52s. 52, final answer.
S: It is not 52, unfortunately. The band I was hinting at was Sum 41 and the final tally for Robbie E and his fistpumps was indeed, 41 times.
JT: Fuck! That was literally my next guess! I know everyone says that, but I was going to say 41, until the B-52s popped into mind and I chose them last second. So it goes. But jesus, 41 times?!? He wasn’t even on the show for 41 minutes!
S: He made sure that he made every second that he was on screen count and god bless him for doing so.
JT: And bless you for keeping a tally of something so important. Ready to get back to business with our final 3 matches of the night?
S: I sure am, time to head back to our secondary residence of Orlando, Florida where we’ve got a Street Fight on our hands.
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Devon, get the Kids Table!
JT: As Seán just said, we’ve got ourselves a street fight! And this time, it’s a family affair! Of course as we learned last time, Bully Ray turned on his brother Devon after they lost their retirement match against the Motor City Machine Guns, and at Genesis things were barely settled after Devon got DQ’d thanks to a steel chain, and Bully Ray stood tall after a low blow. But now, more of the Dudley clan have been dragged into this, specifically Devon’s two young sons Terrance & Terrell. On top of the attacks with tables, chairs and chains that have happened over the past few weeks, Bully threw more food on the fire as he splashed TNT with beer and spat at them while they were in the front row. But Devon, he didn’t raise no cowards! As the Bubba & Devon faced off in a Tables Match on Impact, Terrence & Terrell ran down and grabbed Bully’s feet, allowing their dad to ram into him and knock him off the apron! It seems like for this Street Fight, Bully will have to face the vengeance of Devon and his whole family….at least that’s how it seemed until the day of the show. When Devon gets an interview earlier on this show, his tune seems to have changed, hasn’t it?
S: Yeah he sure has had a change of heart all of a sudden in a matter of a few days, hasn’t he? What’d you make of this promo?
JT: I thought it was a good promo. Devon obviously has good delivery, he’s never had a problem with that. And what he said makes perfect sense too. But let me break down what he actually says. So backstage we see Devon with his sons, preparing for the fight tonight. Devon speaks, saying that tonight is a match between Bubba & I, and nobody else. He initially included his sons in business between his brother and him, but they’re not competing tonight.He can’t risk Bubba using them to get to him, because the safety of his kids is more important than his own. Devon warns them not to be involved, they can watch but they cannot get involved. They have to stay in the back while he ends things with his brother. It’s between Bubba and him and that’s how it should’ve been from Day 1. Devon’s just a good family man, who let vengeance against his brother cloud his thoughts. It may have been a good feeling for them to all get one up on Bully, but Devon knows first hand how dangerous he can be, and if they keep playing with that fire they will get burned.
S: Man listening to promos like this, you wonder why Devon was often overlooked in being a singles guy, like honestly he’s not a patch on Bully Ray in promos but man, he’s pretty damn good not gonna lie, always a fiery powerhouse of a wrestler too.
JT: Yeah Devon & Bubba were almost too good as a team for their own good. I say almost, because there’s no shame in going down as one of the best tag teams ever. Still, I think they could’ve both had great singles run if they had done the breakup angle earlier. Like maybe 2008-09 time period. Because let’s be real, by then they didn’t really have anything to prove, and that’s when I think a lot of their worst “Just walk and brawl” gimmick matches come in. If they had done a breakup then I think you get these two with at least another 5ish years left on their bump card, and Devon would’ve gotten his chance. Bully obviously got his chance a succeeded big time. Devon I think got his a little too late, and when he has already hurt by the fact he had the Reverend gimmick on his rap sheet.
S: Yeah having that gimmick under your belt definitely hurt his stock as a singles star for the future. Should we talk about that Bully Ray promo?
JT: Yeah absolutely. So after Devon pulled his kids out of the action, Bully Ray had a chance to respond, and boy does he respond. So Christy Hemme tries to get a comment from Bully Ray about what Devon said earlier, and just yells right in her face to shut up. He starts yelling at her to cry because “I like making woman cry, it shows how weak you really are.” He creepily backs her against a wall, whispers in his ear “let’s talk about my brother Devon” and bites her hair a little, again like a real creep. Bully is pissed because he wanted to make a man out of Devon’s bastard sons, because if they follow in their father’s footsteps they’re gonna end up sidekicks who get bossed around by guys like himself. He’s gonna end things with Devon, he’s going to beat him and beat him bad, and he says this right up in Christy’s face. God what a no good, I wanted to see him get his ass kicked big time after that promo.
S: I know right??? Man he was just so fucking despicable in this promo, he was just such a prick of a heel here and I wanted him to get the absolute bollocks knocked out of him, which is what any good heel should do. So for that, massive thumbs up.
JT: Thumbs up from me too. Are you ready to hopefully see Bully get what he deserves?
S: I sure am, let’s go!
JT: So Bully comes out first, quickly walking to the side of the stage and hiding. So then when Devon comes out he tries to sneak attack him with the chain wrapped around his fist, but Devon turns and clocks him first. Immediately they’re brawling on the floor, Devon hits Bully with a water bottle, and the crowd is loud as we kick things off. Devon chokes Bully with a camera cable, then out comes the plunder! Devon decks Bully with a cane, then cracks it over his back, and Bully does the hilarious jump up sell. I think this is a real underrated part of Bully’s game, for as nasty of a heel as he can be, he is completely unafraid to let the crowd laugh at his expense.
S: It’s what every heel should be willing to do, they’re the villain of an adult pantomine, it should be written in the annals of wrestling logic that heels should be laughed at, at least once.
JT: Agreed, there’s no reason everyone has to be serious all the time. It’s about entertaining the crowd, you don’t have to act like you’re telling Shakespeare. So after getting a whooping with the Kendo Stick, Bully begs off, getting a cheap shot the second Devon looks away, only to run the ropes and get cracked on the head by the cane!! Devon puts Bully head in the chair and goes to use the chain, just like how Bully did, but with everything going well, something had to go wrong. Out comes Devon’s kids, smiling and clapping for the Dad. Instantly Devon is distracted, and they do nothing to warn him of Bully coming from behind with a chair. Bully has turned the match around, hitting Devon with a Trash Can lid to the face. Now it’s his turn to set up the chair and chain, but TNT run in to stop him. They get back in his face, he shoves them away and starts to yell out them only for Devon to get back up and hit him with a clothesline. Big back drop, HOLLLYYYY SHIT yells Bully as he flies through the air. Terrell hits Bully with a trash can to the face, the kids split his legs as their dad goes up and hits the Wassup!! It’s a family affair as they yell “Devon!! Get the Tables!!” Devon sets up the table, the kids leave the ring so he can finish his brother off, but Bully connects with a low blow. He then goes and gets a pair of handcuffs, cuffing Devon to the post. He is trapped with no way to escape or fight back, so Terrence and Terrell come in to help their dad get uncuffed, but it’s all a ploy. Bully gets in their face, they don’t back down, and he attacks. He clobbers Terrence with a shot to the face, causing Terrell to go after him, but Bully nails him with a boot to the face!! Bully pins him, and the referee just counts it, 1-2-3. Bully wins. Sadly for Devon, this isn’t over, but first what did you think of the actual match segment of this?
S: I think as an angle it did it’s job well, as a match, it was really your bog standard TNA stipulation match, plenty of the Team 3D go to spots such as walking brawl, brawl in the crowd, using drinks as weapons. When TNT came in, it got interesting but then Bully Ray pinned one of the twins, were they legal????
JT: I’m not really sure what the logistics of the finish was. What I interpreted it as was the Ref trying to end the match before anything happened to them, since they are minors. Like when a dude is clearly hurt in a fight, so the Ref call the fight earlier than he would normally in order to preserve the health of the fighter. Either that or it was a handicap match? I like my explanation better though.
S: Yeah your explanation makes a lot of sense actually, that’s a great reason. If only commentary said that.
JT: Again, I might be pulling that idea out of my ass, but literally any explanation would have helped. I thought the “match” portion of this segment was fine? Lots of walk and brawl but with a hot crowd and a good story, so whatever, no harm no foul. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Devon’s kids, they have already been harmed by Bully and sadly for Devon, we’re not done here quite yet.
S: I wonder how much these kids got paid for taking these spots?
JT: I was gonna say because it’s TNA that they got paid in “experience” and “exposure”, but then I remembered they’re Devon’s kids and Devon ain’t gonna take no guff. They probably got a good pay day, at least for their age and experience anyway.
S: You’d bloody hope so considering the bumps they took.
JT: And let’s get to those bumps, because again poor Devon is cuffed to the corner, and even though the match is done, Bully Ray isn’t done. As soon as the Ref has counted the fall, Bukky chases him out of the ring, he’s got no need for him. He is just screaming at Devon, calling him a coward and a weakling and a loser, Bully grabs the chair and lines up Devon to use the chair then stops, and looks to his kid and Devon starts to beg. Bully Ray throws the chair down, then goes over and grabs Terrence, pulls him over saying “It’s because you’re weak THEY SHOULD’VE NEVER KICKED OUT OF 3D” before putting him through the table!! Devon is gonna be sick, he finally gets cut free but it’s already too late as his son gets stretchered out. Taz questions why we need to watch this, and is talking in the low voice, and the crowd is just quiet, taking in a father who is at his wits end because he let his brother seriously hurt his children. Man this second bit here, I thought this was very good. Like the match before this was iffy, but having this bit makes all the time these two got on the mics beforehand and in the match worth it. This bit is definitely over the top, wrestling soap opera type melodrama, but it’s fucking wrestling! I know what I signed up for here. I’d rather them go totally over the top with this sort of believable angle than half ass it, and Devon & Bully put their absolute A Game into this tonight.
S: Yeah agreed man, the segments which these guys were involved in were absolutely fantastic, the match was whatever but the post match angle though. Masterful performances from Bully and Devon here, oh my god, we are two shows into Bully Ray’s heel persona and already he’s pretty much the best heel in the company. Devon was no slouch here either, a brilliant, concerned father in this segment. This is probably some of the best work we’ve seen in this arc so far in my opinion, I’ve said it. Masterclass.
JT: Yeah I agree. We’ve had some great matches, we’ve had some decent storylines, but no storyline has been this big. It’s fitting that Bully & Devon are so good together, even as opponents. I’m sure they had ideas for some sort of breakup storyline for years, and they know you only have one chance to do a proper breakup storyline, so they are putting their all into this.
S: Yeah so far this storyline is off to the god damn races now, the turn was the kick off, Genesis was the prolonging and now this is the emotional segment, really looking forward to seeing where this goes.
JT: It’s a shame we only have a month of programming left to enjoy, but I promise we’ll savor it. Devon & Bully are old pros, they will use the time they’re given to the max.
S: Let’s hope the next two episodes leave us with something more to remember with this angle.
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Wife Swap
JT: So moving on, if we had family drama before, now we’ve got double family drama! Because now it’s time for everyone’s favorite Reality Show, it’s time for Wife Swap!! It’s Kurt Angle facing off against Jeff Jarrett, accompanied by his wife Mrs. Karen Jarrett, formerly Karen Angle!!
S: Wife Swap? I thought this was a Bischoff thing? Or has the Mick Foley episode aired yet? I’m getting rattled here. Anyways, it’s time for another heated storyline which TNA have done a really good job of doing so far. Not gonna lie, excited to talk about this one.
JT: Yeah this has got to be one of the most personal feuds, honestly of all time. Like I’m not even kidding here, this matches hinges on the real life divorce of Kurt and ex-wife Karen, which had only happened in 2008, which only became more dicey when she married Jeff Jarrett in 2010. Like this is Matt Hardy/Edge levels of real life drama. Of course I don’t think Kurt & Jeff are as close as Edge & Matt were, and it’s not like Jeff & Karen had an affair together, but divorce isn’t just a break up. Especially when a couple have had children together. And even that is tied in tonight!!
S: The custody of the children is on the line tonight, if Kurt wins he gets full custody. If he loses, however, he not only doesn’t get custody of his children, but he’s got to lead Karen down the altar for the Jarrett wedding on the March 3rd Imapct! in Fayetteville.
JT: A lot is on the line tonight, and as such he get to hear from both guys before the match. Jeff gets to talk first, and he’s with his wife and Jeremy Borash backstage. JB asks JJ if he knows what’s at stake, and JJ says of course he does. He would never put my (Karen corrects him, OUR KIDS) on the line, but he knows he can beat Kurt. He says “I don’t guarantee victory very often”, which we all know is some BS, but he guarantees he’ll win tonight, and then on March 3rd, Kurt will be forced to walk Kurt down the aisle to her “knight in shining armor”. Kurt meanwhile has a much shorter interview where he says all he cares about is winning custody of his kids, he’s tired of Jeff using his kids as pawns, and he is as intense and believable as ever. Kurt seems proper scary tonight.
S: Yeah this was a fairly intense promo from Kurt, wasn’t the intense where he’s shouting but his intensity comes from the cold tone of his promo. Jarrett’s promo, it’s what you come to expect from heel Double J, always reliable. Well hyped for this one when I saw these two promos.
JT: So, what’s the build? Well as we’ve seen, since Immortal has been founded Jarrett has been flouting his MMA Skills, presumably to stick it to Kurt Angle. This came to a boiling point at Genesis, where Jarrett blindsided Angle with an illegal assault during his “Double J Double M A Invitational”, retiring that gimmick. Really, his prodding at Kurt was a result of the deep seated issues they have, stemming back to Kurt’s divorce and Jarrett’s subsequent marriage to Karen Smedley. Jarrett, always the insecure heel, wants to prove he’s the man of the family, and Kurt is not ready to let Jarrett have his kids. He’s okay with Jeff having his ex wife, Kurt said “you can have that *censored*”. Why does Jarrett want to be the man of the family so much? Well this might be me reading into things, but as Kurt pointed out, since he’s come to TNA, Jeff hasn’t been “The Man” of his company like he used to be. Since Kurt arrived in TNA, he has become a 4x TNA Champion, while Jeff hasn’t been World Champion since October 2006, a month after Kurt arrived. On top of that, Jeff says he got Dallas on the phone to bring in Kurt and he’s made his life a nightmare since then, Jeff signed his own death warrant. As a result after the beatdown on Kurt at Genesis, he announced he was bringing “her” to Impact, of course that being Karen Jarrett. Since then there have been videos of the Jarrett household, showing Jarrett “providing for Kurt’s kids” but Kurt says his kids need only one father. On the final impact before Against All Odds, with security keeping them apart, they set the stipulation, If Kurt wins, he gets custody of his/Karen’s two kids, but if Jeff wins, Kurt has to walk her down the aisle when they renew their vows. And the big thing is, Karen looked real nervous at that stipulation. Does she think her “Knight in Shining Armor” can’t get it done? Well it’s time to find out.
S: Alright it’s almost bell time, but I just have a few things to point out before we get to this match. First I just want to point out that Jarrett is absolutely loathed by the Impact Zone. They hate him, which only makes Kurt more sympathetic in this storyline. Jeff is probably the most despised heel in TNA History, which makes awesome wrestler and now Dad fighting for his kids Kurt so easy to get behind. We’ve had our issues with split crowds in this arc, but as we’ll discuss, that’s not a problem here. On the topic of Jeff Jarrett hate, I’d also like to point out the great sign that says “Enough Jeff Jarrett, he’s not that Good”. Just thought that was funny and probably summed up the thoughts of a lot of TNA fans for the last, 9ish years to that point. Also, Kurt rising from the floor is always cool. What isn’t cool though is Kurt’s mistimed pyro. Did you catch this Seán?
JT: Yeah it’s a little off. Not hilariously off, but off enough that it’s funny if you notice it. So as Kurt comes up from the floor and does his pose, he gets one little spoot off to his right, then hold his pose and has nothing happen…only to have it go off a second too late when he stars to lower his arms and walk forward.
S: This is right on par with the pyro box being ducktaped on to Jeff Jarrett’s guitar, the pyro goes off and the guitar disintegrates into about six pieces.
JT: Man, I miss pyro. Like we were just getting it back in WWE properly again, and then the pandemic and doing shows from the Thunder Dome took it away again. I hope it comes back for good when this is all over, I really think giving guys pyro helps make them seem like a bigger deal.
S: It really does like do you think Batista would’ve been a massive deal with that entrance? He would’ve been a top guy regardless but that entrance with that amazing pyro just puts him above any of the regular guys.
JT: Yeah like think about what it did even for someone like Kofi. He was a career midcarder, especially before New Day, but even then he was a step above typical midcarders because he had his BOOM BOOM BOOM pyro spot! John Morrison likewise was a step above because he had his slow mo pyro thing. Hell, even Booker T when he fell into being a midcard guy in the mid 2000s had his big Flame Pyro to make him stand out. It’s just a little extra rocket fuel that makes certain guys feel bigger.
S: I mean the lack of pyro in WWE for the last four years or so is probably one of the reasons why a lot of the mid/upper card guys haven’t been able to stand out as opposed to those guys of yesteryear.
JT: Yeah when guys entrances are overwhelming getting generic music, less presentation and less character to work with, it’s just harder for guys to stand out. But that’s enough of that for now, shall we get into this very personal grudge match?
S: Let’s break it down lad.
JT: So the crowd is immediately behind Kurt, as they chant “sloppy seconds” at Jarrett while they’re chain wrestling. Kurt offers his head for free headlock over and over again, as he first just pushes Jeff off him then drops him on his head with a Backdrop Suplex. Angle has total control on the mat, but Jeff fights off with a back elbow and a punch, yet when he sends Kurt across he gets reversed, getting a hip toss then a Snap Suplex. Kurt throws Jeff through the ropes, scaring Karen off briefly, until she slaps him while they’re brawling on the outside? Is Kurt affected by this? Hell no. He just takes it in stride and adds more fuel to his fire, pounding on JJ against the guardrail. He decks Jarrett with a back elbow and gets serious, tenacious pins, only for 2. We mentioned Kurt was intense before, and he’s carried it over to this match.
S: Yeah Kurt is really bringing the intensity for this match, it’s good to see that a match as intense as it was in the build up carry over into the actual bulk of the match. Good stuff thus far.
JT: Kurt maintains the intensity but Jarrett turns it around by throwing him into the guardrail. Jeff throws his weight onto Kurt in the ropes, then hits the ropes again, sliding under the bottom rope for a straight right to the face. He comes off the top with a crossbody, but Kurt rolls through 1—2—Kickout!! Kurt is back up but knocked right back down with a clothesline. Jarrett has taken control of the pace of the match, beating down on Kurt and cutting him off repeatedly until he goes up top and Kurt runs up and tosses him off with a Belly to Belly!! They both fight up to their feet with punches, Kurt runs him over with a big flying forearm, then a pair of clotheslines, then a big belly to belly!! He goes for the German, Jeff goes behind, Kurt drops down and takes the Ankle for the Ankle Lock, but Jarrett pushes him off. They both stand up, Jeff swings wildly, Kurt ducks and gets 1—2—3 Germans on Jeff!! He covers, 1—2–Kickout!! Kurt sets up the Angle Slam, Jeff floats over and gets an Enziguri!! He goes for the Stroke, Kurt rolls down to the mat and picks the Ankle, but again Jeff rolls through. Kurt is leaned on the ropes, Jeff tries to throw his weight onto him, but Kurt moves and he crotches himself!! Kurt goes behind and hits the Angle Slam!! He covers, but Karen is in the apron!! He confronts her, Jeff with a Low Blow!! Jeff hooks him up and nails the Stroke!! Cover: 1———2——-Kickout!! Seán, I gotta ask, did you think this one was over at that? Because I certainly thought that Jarrett had it won with that dastardly combo.
S: Yeah I most definitely thought it was over at this point, like that’s Jarrett’s ULTIMATE finisher. I was surprised and I kind of scoffed when Kurt kicked out because I thought that might have been one too many.
JT: Well one thing’s for certain, Jeff thought that would end things. He doesn’t know what’s left to do, so he sets up the Stroke again but Kurt shoves him into the Ref. The fight spills to the floor, Karen digs her nails into Kurt’s back, distracting Kurt for a moment and allowing Jeff to hit him from behind and throw him into the stairs. He throws Kurt in, he grabs a chair, he goes to swing but Kurt with a boot. Now he goes to swing and the Ref pulls it from his hands, leaving him vulnerable to a roll up!! 1———2——-Kickout!! Kurt rushes back up, big Exploder Suplex!! Kurt goes to Bret’s rope, Karen distracts again, allowing Jeff to go up after him, and hit The Stroke off the second rope!! 1———-2———Kickout again!! Jeff is just out of moves, and Kurt goes behind to hit a German!! Kurt grabs him, Ankle Lock!! Jeff is screaming in pain, Jeff reaches out and grabs Karen, pulling her in as Kurt pulls him towards the center. The Ref has to get her out, meanwhile Kurt grapevines the leg and Jeff taps!! Kurt lets go, he tries to get her to go, only to turn around and eat a chair to the face!! Jeff covers but Kurt kicks out again!! Just a great moment as panicky Jeff hears the crowd chanting you tapped out at him. He picks him up, Kurt with a Small Package!! 1———2——-Kickout!! Jeff pops up, so does Kurt, Kurt jumps for a Sunset Flip, a little Aloha Jeff before Kurt hooks the Ankle for the Ankle Lock!! Wait, Jeff sits down on him for the pin!! 1———2——3!!! Jeff got him!!
S: There may have been a few too many finisher kick outs for me at least, it’s to be expected with Kurt but I really liked this match. the story and the action in the match was just what you’d expect from a ring general and a proper professional like Jarrett who knows how to control a crowd and be a proper dastardly, hated heel. The finish came a bit out of nowhere with the sit down pin but for a match with this amount of tension and the stakes that were there in this match, I think that’s the kind of win Jarrett would need in this scenario. It’s a shame that we’re leaving this arc when their feud is just building and building to the climax but sure look. That’s it, isn’t it? What’d you think, James?
JT: I also really enjoyed this match. And as someone who is usually against finisher kickouts, I do think the gravity of the situation does necessitates it in a way. Like this is a huge match with huge implications. Now, I do think the super Stroke Kickout was a bit much. Like, I’d save that sort of stuff for the ultimate blowoff of something like this. But still, it made it feel like Kurt was fighting with all his heart and soul. I also found the finish to be sort of out of nowhere, like they needed another minute or so, but I still think it was a good finish. Like after everything that happened, all the cheating and shenanigans, just won after out wrestling Kurt. He beat Kurt, and Kurt can’t deny that.
S: Yeah at the end of the day, he got outwrestled by Jarrett and now the doubts are surely starting to wage within Kurt’s head, as can be told by the afters of this match.
JT: Kurt lets out a cry for his kids, followed by this prolonged silent eye contact between the Jarretts and Kurt. He knows what he’s just lost, and they know what they just beat him for. No more arrogant, boisterous egotism by Jeff, just utter confidence in victory. He knows he just outwrestled Kurt to win, and he knows that Kurt knows. And to Kurt, it’s his ultimate defeat. He doesn’t say anything, you just know if from his actions, because he unties his wrestling boots and leaves them in the ring. Tazz knows what that means: It’s the end of Kurt Angle’s career. Jeff, the bastard that he is, gives out a little cackle as he sees and recognizes this. He heads to the back head held high, and Kurt goes to the back to face the consequences of the biggest loss of his career.
S: These afters were SO WELL DONE, man this was great. Everyone just played their parts well, now the leaving the boots in the ring. The old Erick Stevens spot, amirite lads? Wink wink, nudge nudge. That was cool BUT, didn’t Kurt “retire” four months ago and come back last month?
JT: Yeah he said he’d do, well what he just did, if he couldn’t win the title. Of course, the circumstances of that match makes it understandable that he changed his mind, but yeah. For obvious reasons, let’s not put too much stock in Kurt’s gesture here. It’s a nice visual and good for the story, but in the long run it’s silly.
S: Yeah I think that’s why it kind of made me question why it was done, knowing, me here, in 2021 that he only retired two years ago. It’s just in hindsight that it was silly, I’m sure me as a bit of a mark in 2011 would question if he was retiring or not.
JT: Yeah Kurt retiring is an interesting topic, because whenever he does something like this, it doesn’t feel like it’s not earned. We all know he has his history of neck injuries, and he’s good enough that he’s already accomplished a lot. And I mean, he didn’t get into the world of professional wrestling until he was 32 (which considering how good he was, is so fucking impressive), means that he’s already seen as an older guy only 11 years into his career. Like, he’s 42 by this point. It seems fair to think that retirement was in his near future, even in 2011.
S: Yeah and at this stage, I’m sure he was always set on retiring in WWE even though the water was far from being under the bridge between the two parties, I mean he wouldn’t be going back to WWE for another six years from now, by then he’ll be 48 too.
JT: I’m just happy he got a chance to do that, especially with how dodgy things would get for him just later this year and into the rest of the early 2010s. As much as Kurt helped make TNA what it was, part of his appeal always was that he felt like a big fish in a small pond. Even when TNA was at its best and had their most stacked roster, Kurt was still someone who just felt bigger than pretty much everyone, he was still competing at an elite level. He was old but not too old to wrestle like he used to, unlike Sting, Hogan, Nash, and Booker T. And he was only recently a top guy in WWE, unlike Jarrett, Steiner or someone like Christian who had never won the big belt. It wouldn’t honestly have been depressing if he never got back to WWE, especially in later years when it seemed like that’s all he wanted.
S: Yeah exactly, it did seem like Kurt really wanted to help TNA grow into something bigger than what it was when he joined in 2006, while that did happen initially but petered over time due to complete mismanagement, Kurt was always loyal to TNA and he really only noticeably slowed down by the time he left.
JT: And because Kurt’s one of the greatest of all time, he was still having great matches even after slowing down and in his late 40s.
S: And for that, we thank him. Even the three appearances he has been on for, I was thoroughly impressed with his outings.
JT: And he’ll have another chance to impress us, but not in the ring but as a character, because next time we see him, he’ll be walking Karen Jarret down the aisle.
S: I’m sure he’ll be dressed to impress that night but honestly, I hope he’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt and chino shorts.
JT: We’ll just have to wait and see.
S: Until then, is it time for a certain event of the evening?
JT: You would correct!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Lambeau Leaps
JT: Everyone, it’s time for our Main Event! It’s Jeff Hardy, it’s TNA Champion Mr Anderson, it’s a Ladder Match!! Seán, this show hasn’t exactly been shy about telling us who this match favors, has it?
S: No not at all, from the start of the show really it’s been put over that Jeff Hardy is the massive favourite in this match and Ken Anderson is the complete underdog. Commentary have said it, Jeff has said it. Hell even Mr. Anderson said it, despite the fact he won the MITB Match at Mania 23. The pilot episode of The Power Hour by the way.
JT: And since you brought up their own words, why not recap what they said ourselves? So I’m going to start off with Jeff, since he spoke earlier in the show. As he is putting on his war paint, Jeff just looks straight ahead, speaking to the camera. He says tonight the Antichrist regains his Immortal Championship, and that he wishes Ken luck because he’ll need it. This isn’t extraordinary in any way, but he does say one thing that I know caught my time, and I’m sure it got yours Seán. He said he’s going to get his title back by by kicking an asshole’s ass, which raises a question. Since he is kicking asshole ass, does that make him a badass? After all, we all know according to the lore of Jim Johnston’s “You’re Gonna Pay”, badasses are always kicking assholes ass!
S: Is Jeff the new Big Evil? He isn’t the tallest man, he’s about above the average height so would he be, Regular Evil?
JT: I’d say he’s Extreme Evil, which I’m surprised isn’t something they’ve already said about Jeff, or any sort of ECW/Hardcore guy if we’re being honest.
S: I’d say he’s Extreme Evil, which I’m surprised isn’t something they’ve already said about Jeff, or any sort of ECW/Hardcore guy if we’re being honest.
JT: I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t someone’s ring name. But that’s enough about Jeff, the Champ is speaking! So just before the match, Mr Anderson has an interview with Christy Hemme. She asks him if he thinks the odds are against him, and he says yep, because this is Jeff’s match. It made him famous. He then does a Jesse Ventura impression, saying that there’s a conspiracy against him, led by Easy E and all his cronies. He makes fun of Jeff’s pink hair and pantyhose and makeup and prepubescent girl fans. He says they might love him more than Justin Beiber, and he doesn’t like Beiber or Jeff. He loves competition, he says that every match is his kind of match. He says if he happens to overcome the odds it’s not because he’s a better athlete, it’s not just because he freakin can, but it’ll just so happen that on this night, he’s a bigger asshole. Seán, I know you have a lot to say about this one, so take it away.
[CI]S: *Language warning*
What in the bloody fuck was this promo? Good christ above, honestly mate just stick to your own ring introductions if this is the type of fucking promo you’re going to be cutting. I was starting to turn a corner on Mr. Anderson but boy I now remember why I was shitting on him in episode one of this arc. The absolute STATE of your promo lad, if you’re gonna have a go at Jeff Hardy’s look, at least be creative with it. Instead of going for the Brick Tamland in Anchorman line of, “Where did you get those clothes? At the, toilet, store?”. The Justin Bieber reference too, good god mate, if he’s got pre teen girls cheering for him, it’s more than what you’re getting. I genuinely want to try and like Mr. Anderson because I know I did have a soft spot for him when he was in WWE but here? Good lord, the only slight redeeming quality was the Jesse Ventura impression and even then. That’s only a SLIGHT bright spot.
JT: I’m gonna be honest with ya, I didn’t have such a violent reaction to this promo, but I didn’t think it was good. And then looking at it again in my notes, just in its entirety, it’s even worse. What the hell is he talking about? He’s all over the place. I think this is the kinda thing that has pushed me away from him in the long term too. Like he has his good promos, but then he has promos like this, and I don’t have any other way of describing it other than it has big “Xbox Live” energy. Like Ken at his best sounds like a guy with an axe to grind, with confidence in himself and his ability to do what he wants to do, no matter who says otherwise. But when he’s at his worst, he just has this edgy ugliness to his promos, like he’s just lashing out at the first thing to come to mind. I don’t think his look helps with that too. Again, it’s promos like this that give me the feeling of just that one kid we all knew at some point in our schooling, who thought he was cool and tough and always talked about some shit his step dad was doing or was letting him do, but deep down everyone just felt kinda bad for the guy. That’s what this gives me, angry 16 year old on Xbox Live energy.
S: That’s also a reason why I just hated this promo, like I have no clue what he’s trying to get at here and I’m pretty sure he knows that he doesn’t know what he’s trying to get at. This was so incoherent that I actually couldn’t believe that this was the same guy who about four years earlier to this show, was EASILY one of WWE’s most confident talkers. I was flabbergasted by how rambly and all over the shop this was. This is NXT game show promo contest levels here.
JT: Yeah it’s a real shame too because, spoilers, this was his last promo as TNA Champion for this reign. I know he’s often looked at someone WWE missed the boat on, but honestly promos like this just demonstrate his overall lack of consistency and dependability. Between cutting a worthless promo before his biggest match as a main eventer, saying dumbass shit about steroids on national news while being on the juice himself, or just rubbing important people the wrong, it’s no wonder his career has gone the way it has.
S: I mean Kefin Mahon said it best about him, it’s harsh what he said but it is kind of true, the reality is that he’s a fuck up. Make no mistake about it. If he was someone WWE missed the boat on, why’s he having a weird ass feud with an unproven Samuel Shaw by 2014?
JT: I mean Kefin Mahon said it best about him, it’s harsh what he said but it is kind of true, the reality is that he’s a fuck up. Make no mistake about it. If he was someone WWE missed the boat on, why’s he having a weird ass feud with an unproven Samuel Shaw by 2014?
S: Exactly, Lashley in his second run had a point to prove, he knocked it out of the park. Had three good reigns with the title in a really tough time for the company, goes back to WWE and now look at him.
JT: There’s a reason he falls down the card as you pointed out…..and so with all that said, hey he’s got a title to defend! I’m sure this will go fine!
S: Cue “Another Me” and we’re ready for our ladder match!
JT: We also get a big recap package going all the way back to pre BFG, because this is a big old feud! We start off with Hogan saying to Anderson “Everyone hates you, the heel hates you, the baby faces hate you” (thanks Russo) while showing how he and Jeff seemed to have each other’s back. Well, they did until 10.10.10. It recaps Jeff concussing Anderson, then Anderson winning the title at Genesis. Since winning the big purple belt, Anderson has called Jeff’s title a piece of shit and claimed that he could draw something better if he stuck a crayon in his ass and squatted over a piece of paper. Jeff meanwhile is pissed because that title was a gift from Hogan. But Ken is not privy to giving up the thing he fought 11 years for, as ugly as it may be. Jeff’s in his comfort zone in the ladder match, but is the balance of power shifting, as shown by ending the promo with Immortal on the run after Fortune turned on them and AJ gave Jeff the Styles Clash. It’s them, Anderson, Steiner & RVD in the ring as Murphy drags him out with Gunner & Matt defending them. We also see this reflected in “Tale of the Tape” which is as follows:
• Green Bay’s 2 World Champions- Anderson is champion at the same time as his Green Bay Packers just won Super Bowl XLV
• Ladder Match: Advantage Jeff Hardy-Jeff has an extensive history with ladder matches, it what made him famous
• Will Immortal regain title, power, control? Fortune has defected, Dixie & Hogan’s legal battle is coming to a close on March 3rd
To wrap this all up, Jeff’s got the same gear he had on at BFG when he won the TNA Title, and he’s lugging his own custom painted ladder to the ring.
S: This ladder, he definitely painted that up in his shed at The Hardy Compound alongside all his ten foot tinfoil figurines, didn’t he?
JT: Look, I couldn’t tell you why he painted it that way or what it’s supposed to be. I’m just gonna let him do his artist thing because frankly, I don’t get it.
S: Sure look, do we really understand what artists are going for? Honestly, I need Frank Reynolds as Ongo Gablogian telling me what this art is about in all honesty.
JT: I mean hey, as long as he wins (which Immortal really needs him to do) who are we to criticize? I mean otherwise though, he looks pretty snazzy. Like I said he’s got the BFG Black Skintight shirt with neon green sleeves, as well as a Darby Allin half face paint that’s black, white and green, with pink hair as Ken derisively pointed out. Speaking of Mr. Skellington, no big introduction from him tonight. He’s all business, going straight to the ring, he won’t celebrate until he has his belt again.
S: He’s all steak no sizzle too, trucker hat, really long shirt with the sleeves cut off making him look naked and of course, wrestling gear.
JT: One last thing I just want to mention before we get this underway is that Jeff gets a pretty mixed reaction tonight, but the really cherry on top is a guy with a “Jeff Hardy is Fat” sign, who Jeff flips the bird at. I don’t know why but everything about that is funny to me. Like Jeff is obviously not fat, so the sign is just stupid, but Jeff also seems legit heated about it and gives it way more attention than it deserves.
S: Yeah, Jeff around this time I feel was getting pretty rattled by fan’s heckling him, chanting stuff at him or the sign you just mentioned. I posted this sign on twitter too just to pop myself because it’s just such a funny sign for how wrong it is.
JT: Yeah he’s not quite at 2003 ROH Jeff Hardy levels of perturbed, but he’s not doing great. Yeah and again, Jeff is many things, especially in 2011. But I don’t think he’s ever come close to being fat. For everything he’s done in his career, he’s always been in great physical shape, and I think that goes overlooked because you never think of Jeff as a “body guy” like you would someone like Triple H, who definitely had periods where he was in worse shape than Jeff at his worst.
S: Yeah true, like Jeff in his worst shape is still as presentable of a body than most people’s to be honest. Should we see this one home then, James?
JT: Let’s cut to the chase. Jeff spits in Anderson’s face, Anderson immediately returns with punches, whips him across, and Jeff holds the ropes and bails to the floor. He goes to grab his custom painted ladder but Anderson from behind with punches. Jeff goes for the ToH, but Anderson pushes him off, then when he charges back at him, he sends him into the standing ladder on the ramp. Anderson grabs a ladder, but Jeff grabs the other end of it, so Anderson pushes him back into the apron. He slides the ladder in, but Jeff catches him between the ropes, hitting a ToH through the ropes onto the ladder!! Jeff sets the (much too small) ladder and starts to climb, Anderson pushes it over, Jeff lands on his feet but swings and is caught with a Spinning Neckbreaker by Ken Anderson tries to climb but Jeff pulls him off, hits the Spin Kick then the Pendulum Kick in the corner. Jeff sets the open ladder between Ken’s open legs and dropkicks it right into his family jewels!! Jeff sets the ladder into the corner, but this time Anderson used the ladder as he reversed a whip to hit a Russian Leg Sweep back into the ladder. Ken gets another ladder in the ring and starts to climb, but Jeff meets him at the top and hits a Sunset Flip Powerbomb off the ladder!! Jeff puts the standing Ladder in the corner, laying Ken flat, going to Leapfrog over the Ladder with a Leg Drop but Anderson moves and Jeff crashes hard!! I know Matt Hardy has hip problems nowadays because of all the leg drops he’s done (especially that one off the cage) but between this bump and taking an almost identical one at WM25, I’m surprised Jeff doesn’t have the same sort of issues.
S: I know right? Like he’s done this leapfrog ladder leg drop (alliteration on point) quite a few times in his career that I’m shocked that Jeff has never even had a serious hip or coccyx injury. Man must have those Fandango or Kenny Dykstra hips.
JT: Again, similarly to the discussion of his physique, Jeff is someone who surprisingly has never been out for significant time due to injury. It really makes it shame that he missed so much time over the years because of personal issues.
S: The worst injury that really happened to him is that knee injury he suffered after winning the SD Tag Belts with Matt after Mania 35, that of which he was out for around ten months.
JT: And considering all the crazy car crash spots he’s done in his career, it’s a miracle that it took until he was 40 for him to have a major injury
S: Some people man, they’re just built different. Wanna take this one over the finish line?
JT: Let’s keep going. So the action continues as Anderson tries to whip Jeff into the grounded corner ladder, but Jeff stops short, Anderson charges and gets a backdrop onto the ladder!! Jeff sets up the next spot as he strangely puts an opened Ladder upside down against the ropes, then beats down Ken and flips off more people in the crowd. Ken is thrown to the floor, Jeff with a slingshot kick to knock him back into the guardrail. Jeff goes and gets the painted ladder from the ramp, Jeff tries to shove it at him but Anderson stops it and shoves it into him. He tries to throw Jeff into the stairs but Jeff reverses, then uses the stairs to hit Poetry in Motion, knocking Anderson over the guardrail, before tossing him back over it. He brings Ken back into the ring to the upside down Ladder, but as he went off a Suplex, Ken reverses and there’s an ugly spill as Jeff crashes down to the mat all caught up with the falling ladder. This was just an ugly, ugly looking spot.
S: Yeah that was a horrid looking spot, I don’t envy Jeff at all for taking that one. That’s a ladder spot which was always going to end ugly.
JT: So after the big crash, Anderson sets the ladder and limps up it, only for Jeff to pull him down and hit the ToH. Now Jeff gets his painted ladder back, he goes to slam Anderson on it, but Anderson picks him up and hits the Rolling Fireman’s Carry on the Ladder!! He then climbs up to the top rope, and dives for the Kenton Bomb, but Jeff moves and he hits head only off the ladder!! Again, fucking hell guys!! With Ken down and out, Jeff sets up two ladders, tries climbing both to the top with a foot on each, but Anderson stops him, because unsurprisingly, it’s slower than just climbing one ladder. They start fighting at the top, and Jeff goes for ToH off the ladder, but Anderson blocks it, as they’re both standing on ladders next to each other. Anderson pushes the belt hook away from Jeff, he punches him to set up the Mic Check!! He swings back for it, Hardy grabs the belt!! The ladders part, they both fall and they both are empty handed on the mat. Jeff is first to his feet, quickly hitting a dropkick that sends Ken out of the ring. He then hastily sets up a ladder, Ken comes back in, but Jeff pulls down the belt!! Jeff Hardy is TNA Champion again and….hey wait a second, did you two blow your finish?!?
S: Exactly what I have noted down man! This was totally meant to end with Jeff falling down but pulling the belt down with him, wasn’t it?
JT: For sure, because there’s no way that actual ending was what they had planned. The finish they had was a wet fart, and what would probably happen if you had an actual ladder match. Just get the other guy out, sprint up the ladder, easy peasy. It’s a shame too because the planned finish seemed pretty creative and looked pretty solid if you ask me.
S: Yeah that finish was like if me and my friend had a shoot ladder match for my toy big gold belt when we were eight years old. If they pulled that original finish off, it would’ve looked great but it is what it is. James, your overall thoughts on the match?
JT: I feel like this match was okay, but hardly extraordinary. I felt the pacing was kinda weird in this one, because they made a point of getting a ladder and getting it in the ring early on, but then they still continued to have a good few minutes of outside brawling after that. First, we’ve seen that more than enough times tonight. Secondly, it just feels structurally incorrect. Like, if you want to fight on the floor then get a ladder and bring it in, that’s fine. But instead they set up stuff inside and said “Okay we’ll get back to that later”. On top of that, the finish really took the wind out of my sails. Like I said I had problems with the pacing, but they had some crazy bumps and decent psychology, so I was still having a good time. However, not only did the finish being blown totally kill the ramping excitement, but I also felt like they were preparing for an awesome final 5 minutes. Like they had the crash to the mat, that I initially assumed was just a double down and was ready for them to have a big climatic fight to the top. But instead they went into panic mode and ended it a minute later in the least climatic way possible. So in the end, I think this was a below average ladder match. Of course I think just by the nature of the matchup, a bad ladder match is better than a bad regular match, but still I think this wasn’t a great main event.
S: Yeah agreed, this one was a bit meh to be honest with ya. I thought it was grand considering we’ve had a card chalked full of nothing matches but man that finish was a massive anticlimax of a finish. Didn’t help that I was completely anti Ken Skellington following that dud of a promo. Jeff had a painted ladder which barely got used and wasn’t used at all for the finish. Why was it there? For aesthetic purposes? Who knows, there’s quite a few scary spots like that Kenton where he clips the back of his skull on the edge of a ladder, please don’t do that. The ugly spot with the open ladder was not visually appealing either. As far as ladder matches go, this was a bit bollocks but among some of the nothingness on the undercard. I’ll take it.
JT: Man, I gotta say TNA is really not helping their cause with their main events. What is this now, 3 out of 5 main event matches that just didn’t deliver?
S: Yeah this is what I was gonna go back to. The only ones which have succeeded have been the triple threat from Bound For Glory and Anderson vs Hardy. Everything else has completely fallen flat. Proper WCW vibes this is giving me, man.
JT: Yeah honestly, I wasn’t too high in the Triple Threat but retroactively I think it deserves a bit more praise, seeing as how it compares to the general mean of matches on this arc. I think just generally, they’ve gotten some rotten pairing going here. Matt Morgan, bless him, is not a main event level worker, especially as a face against a smaller heel. Samoa Joe vs Matt Morgan, Kurt Angle vs Matt Morgan? That could work. But Jeff vs Morgan, certainly did not. Then tonight, just nothing was working out the way they wanted it to. Ken’s promo was off, Jeff’s in a foul mood, and time and time again things went south when on paper it should’ve been good to go. I wouldn’t say it’s quite WCW levels, only because WCW had the likes of Age in the Cage as well as botching the storyline they spent 2 years building for a shot at WWF and stroking Hogan’s ego. But this is giving me the same sort of feelings as a lot of WWE PPVs from the early to mid 2010s. Not the Daniel Bryan or John Cena or Seth Rollins types, but like Ryback vs Punk & Cena, Orton vs everyone not named Daniel Bryan in 2013, basically all of Alberto Del Rio’s matches against guys other than Ziggler & Christian. Just the feeling of “fine, I guess?” rather than closing your show with a bang.
S: Hit the nail right on the head there, it’s proper vibes of the most whatever world title matches of this time. Everything just wasn’t right heading into this one, it could be told just from the promos alone. I think it’s best we’re getting out of this arc at the darkest hour because I can’t remember what the dawn looked like. It was probably the time where Roode was Champion and Aries was sweeping through the X-Division and not renowned for being an ass wipe.
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Wrap Up
S: James, all that’s left for me to say is, your match of the night and your MVP please?
JT: Though I think the match was carried more by the story than the action (and I forgot to mention during our breakdown, the selling was kinda lacking. Like they did a bit of jumping from spot to spot), I think my match of the night goes to Jeff Jarrett against Kurt Angle! I thought the story more than made up for the little errors here and there, making this a real compelling watch. I want to also give credit to the X Division Title match, not for being overly extravagant but for just getting the job done and being fun in the process, as well as the Dudleys Street Fight. All our discussion of the Street Fight also made me think about potentially picking Bully or Devon for MVP, but I think they shared the load pretty evenly in their match, so it wouldn’t be fair to pick one over the other. I don’t think the same can be said for Angle/Jarrett, because as good as Jarrett was, Kurt Angle made that match. Whether it was his physical intensity that made the match feel like it mattered, to the expressions of bitter defeat at the end, Kurt Angle rightfully gets my MVP for Against All Odds.
S: Have to agree with you on the Match of the Night there, it has to be Jarrett vs Angle. I really enjoyed watching it, I’ve heard some good things about their future matches which happen after this arc so I may give those matches a watch after we wrap this up. My MVP, the four you mentioned there were on my shortlist for this show’s MVP too but for me, I think I’m gonna go for Bully Ray. Everyone of those four men you listed there were all deserving in their own right, especially Kurt Angle but I feel like Bully Ray brought out that extra emotion from me as a fan. As a heel should, he made me angry, uncomfortable and made me want to see him get his comeuppance. His motives and the way he sold the fact his change of character came from the fact that Sabin kicked out of 3D. It was a masterful performance from him and that’s why he’s my MVP. Your quick thoughts on the show, James?
JT: I think this one is on the slower end of our scale if I’m honest with ya. We had about 3 matches that I felt were really worth watching, 4 if I’m feeling generous. And on top of that, most of it was rehashing things we had already seen, like Matt/RVD & Mickie/Madison. Then you throw in segments that just feel better suited for Impact like the Hernandez/Morgan segment and the Six Man Tag, you have a pretty mediocre, uninteresting throw if you ask me.
S: Yeah agreed, the opener was fun. Steiner and Beer Money promo was brilliant for it’s madness but the match was whatever. The re-runs were eh. Okada is Kato and he’ll be IWGP Champion in a year, thanks for legitimising him stateside, Russo. Bully Ray and Devon, you two were phenomenal. Kurt and Jarrett, same to you. Main event, eh whatever, you know the main event scene is slacking when that’s all I’ve got to say about it. Oh and Matt Morgan is a fucking geek again. These shows are always an easy watch, this was no exception but man, it’s got a few good or great things and a lot of nothingness. Up there with Turning Point as the weakest show of the arc so far. So there we have it. We’re five parts down and one to go, or is it two?!
JT: Let’s call it one and a half, because next time, we aren’t going all that far! Rather than go to the last PPV on our agenda, the infamous Victory Road 2011, we want to really make sure the stage is set. And hey, there seemed to be a lot of stuff happening on March 3rd! I mean you have Karen & Jeff Jarrett renewing their vows, you’ve got the final legal decision in the case of Immortal and Dixie Carter, and we might even have a TNA Title match 😉. Besides, what kind of coverage of TNA would we be doing if we skipped the thing all their PPVs built to? We gotta get in an episode of Impact before we wrap this whole affair up! Who knows, we might actually see Hulk Hogan show up for once on this damn arc!!
S: Oh yeah, he’s still collecting his tidy salary, isn’t he? Whatever happened to that Sting guy too? I heard something wild that he was gonna face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 27. The internet is a wonderful thing.
JT: Well we will just have to find out ourselves!! Next time on the Power Hour, it’ll be the March 3rd 2011 Episode of TNA Impact!! Until then, this is a happy trails from me James!!
S: And a slan abhaile from me, Seán!
JT: And as always, make sure you keep on rolling down the line!!
The JT & Seány Mc Power Hour 