411 PPV Preview: The Road to TNA Against All Odds 2009

TNA presents its fifth installment of the Against All Odds PPV from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.

Brutus Magnus’ Open Challenge

Lowdown: UK Gladiator Brutus Magnus made his TNA debut on the latest edition of Impact, dominating Shark Boy before finishing him off with his Tormentum maneuver. He then grabbed a mic, bemoaning the lack of a challenge that TNA had given him and declared an open challenge for this Sunday’s PPV.

Prediction: Whoever Magnus faces he will defeat, anything else would be stupid booking. I expect his opponent to be someone like Jimmy Rave or Sonjay Dutt. Or both.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

Scott Steiner vs. Petey Williams

Lowdown: In early 2008, Petey Williams was in purgatory. After facing (and losing to) Scott Steiner at last year’s Against All Odds, Williams was taken under the wing of “Big Poppa Pump” and after weeks of grueling tasks, he was rechristened “Little Petey Pump”, taking after his idol and mentor in both appearance and attitude. Williams went on to capture the X Division Championship under his new identity and defended it successfully on multiple occasions before losing it to Sheik Abdul Bashir in a Triple Threat Match at No Surrender. On the October 30th edition of Impact, Williams pledged his allegiance to the TNA Frontline in their fight against the Main Event Mafia. Later that night, Scott Steiner returned from injury to be revealed as the newest member of the Mafia and participated in a beatdown of the Frontline, although he did not attack Williams. A fortnight later, Steiner severed all ties with his former student as he sidelined Williams by joining in on a Mafia-led attack and throwing him off a ladder. A vengeful Williams returned on the January 15th episode of Impact, costing Steiner his match against AJ Styles. The two former allies will go head-to-head this Sunday in a heated grudge match.

Prediction: Steiner picks up the win after some foul tactics.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

Matt Morgan vs. Abyss

Lowdown: Another grudge match takes place at Against All Odds as “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan and “The Monster” Abyss square off. In late 2008 these two men formed a tag team with the single goal of becoming TNA World Tag Team Champions. They received numerous shots at the belts in the ensuing months but came up short every time. At last month’s Genesis PPV, the duo were closing in on winning a Triple Threat Match for the tag team titles, only for Abyss to accidentally knock out Morgan with one of the championship belts, costing his team the match. On the following Impact Morgan & Abyss faced Lethal Consequences in a #1 contender’s match and once again Abyss accidentally cost his partner the match. After weeks of tension, Morgan seemed to have cleared the air with Abyss on the January 23rd Impact, only for “The Blueprint” to turn on his team mate during their First Blood Match with Beer Money, Inc. as he busted him open with a brutal chair shot. On the final Impact before Against All Odds, Abyss laid out Morgan with a Black Hole Slam following an impromptu brawl between the two and declared that his old maniacal self was back.

Prediction: Abyss wins by disqualification after Morgan uses a weapon on him, leading to some form of hardcore match between the two at the next PPV.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

TNA Legends Championship Match
Shane Sewell vs. Booker T (c)

Lowdown: Starting at Genesis, Shane Sewell and Booker T have had a number of run-ins, all of which originally stem from Booker T feeling disrespected by Sewell. From scheduling himself in one-sided matches against Sewell’s referee friends to attacking Sewell himself, Booker T has done everything in his power to antagonize Sewell and Jim Cornette has looked to resolve this conflict by placing the two in a match for Booker T’s Legends Championship.

Prediction: As little as the Legends Championship means, I can’t see Sewell winning it. It’s basically just a prop for Booker T at this point. The Mafia member retains.

TNA Women’s Knockout Championship Match
ODB vs. Awesome Kong (c)

Lowdown: Impact Zone favourite ODB won a title opportunity at Genesis after she scored the pinfall in a six-person tag team match pitting herself, Taylor Wilde and Roxxi against Awesome Kong’s Kongtourage of Raisha Saeed, Rhaka Khan and Sojourner Bolt. The booze-swilling loudmouth of the Knockout’s division has now set her sights on dethroning the practically unstoppable Kong.

Prediction: My first instinct was a Kong retain, but a new champion would mix things up a bit and ODB has been the most over female in TNA since the inception of the Knockout’s division. ODB wins.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

TNA X Division Championship Match
Eric Young vs. Alex Shelley (c)

Lowdown: In recent weeks, the integrity of the Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, has been called into question by their fellow Frontline members. This all came to a head on the February 5th edition of Impact when upon seeing Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed being sneak attacked by Beer Money, Inc., the Guns proceeded to do absolutely nothing – they simply stood by and let their supposed allies continue to be assaulted. The attack resulted in what appeared to be an elbow injury for Creed and Lethal was forced to go it alone against the Detroit natives. Midway through the match, Frontline member Eric Young came to the aid of Lethal and managed to secure the victory, pinning Shelley after a stacked Death Valley Driver on both of the Machine Guns. An incensed Shelley challenged Young to a match for his X Division title immediately afterwards and Young was more than happy to accept.

Prediction: The reign of Shelley is only just beginning. He retains in this one.

Likely to be Match of the Night? Yes.

TNA World Tag Team Championship Match
Lethal Consequences vs. Beer Money, Inc. (c)

Lowdown: Lethal Consequences were TNA World Tag Team Champions a short while ago, but if you blinked you’d have missed it – they lost the titles a mere three days after winning them. Determined to win the belts back as soon as possible, they gained a rematch after defeating Matt Morgan & Abyss in a #1 contender’s match on the January 15th Impact. On the last Impact before the PPV, Storm and Roode tilted the balance in their favour as they jumped Lethal Consequences as they were on their way to the ring for a match against the Motor City Machine Guns. Both teams brawled in and out of the crowd, with Roode concluding the attack by drilling Consequences Creed’s elbow with a steel chair against the ring post. Creed’s condition going into this Sunday is unknown.

Prediction: Lethal Consequences will have a solid run with the belts one day, but not when TNA has such a great thing going in Beer Money. They can play off the injury angle is this one, with a valiant Creed ultimately falling to defeat.

Likely to be Match of the Night? Possibly.

Fatal Four-Way Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Kurt Angle vs. Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon vs. Sting (c)

Lowdown: Friend or foe? This was the question being posed by Sting to Kurt Angle as Impact went off the air this week. This came as a result of Angle showing an increasingly single-minded attitude ever since it was announced that Sting and Angle would square off in a Fatal Four-Way Match also including Team 3D with Sting’s TNA World Heavyweight Championship on the line. “The Icon” initially began to feel suspicious of his cohort after Angle placed him in a handicap match against Team 3D during the Main Event Mafia’s takeover of Impact on January 29th. This suspicion was fueled one week later when Angle categorically stated that he would do “anything” to keep the World title in the Mafia’s camp. Later that evening, Angle continually refused to tag in Sting during their match against Team 3D and the two had to be prevented from coming to blows by their fellow Mafia members. To make matters worse for the World Champion, Team 3D have a bone to pick with him as well – after returning from a beatdown suffered at the hands of Angle, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner and Booker T, Brother Ray stated that he was most angry with Sting because Sting stood by and let the Mafia continue the assault even though he knew it was wrong. One thing is for certain – Sting will have a lot on his mind going into this Sunday’s title defense.

Prediction: I can see Kurt Angle taking the belt here. Sting traditionally has short runs with the World title and the seeds have been planted for Angle turning on Sting. I don’t see Angle turning on Sting in the actual match though, so I predict that Angle pins either Ray or Devon to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Likely to be Match of the Night? Possibly.