TNA Against All Odds ’05 DVD Review

TNA – Against All Odds, 2.13.05

Review by Jacob Ziegler

Introduction

First off, just so everyone knows, I am selling some of my masters I no longer need, so if anyone is interested in some stuff, shoot me an e-mail. I may even make some personalized stuff if you’re really nice to me.

This is the second pay-per-view of the year for TNA, and the fourth ever three-hour program. All three titles are on the line and all of the big stars are in the house. But before we start the show proper, let’s take a look at the two Preshow matches, which are actually located on disc two. I know I’m going out of order with the DVD, but I think this is the best way.

PRESHOW MATCH #A: Team Trinity vs. Lex Lovett & Buck Quartermain

Team Trinity is Phi Delta Slam, both of whom look exactly like two generic fat guys. Lovett & Quartermain are standard garden variety guys from Florida. The fat guys’ names are Bruno and Big Til. They do some stuff and Big Til gets the Tsunami Splash off the top rope for the victory. I couldn’t time it because an opening bell never rang. It wasn’t long though. It wasn’t good either.
Rating: ½*

MATCH MATCH #B: Team Traci vs. Jerrelle Clark & Mikey Batts

Team Traci is The Disciples of Destruction, AKA The Harris Brothers, The Blu Brothers, The Grimm Twins, The Disciples of Apocalypse, The Disciples of the New Church, and about a million other monikers. Traci Brooks hugged me one time. It was a long time ago, but I still think it was cool. I’m baffled by the fact that the Harris’s continually get work. They do their power stuff as Batts and Clark bump like ping-pong balls. The H-Bomb gets the win at 3:12. That was about on par with the last one, maybe a little better because Traci is much better than Trinity at being hot.
Rating: ¾*

Introduction

And now we start the show off proper with an awesome video package detailing all of tonight’s major events. Mike Tenay and Don West welcome us to the Impact Zone, which is where all of their shows take place. They are coming to Detroit soon though, and I’m going to be there. They preview the big NWA Title match between Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash.

They throw it back to Shane Douglas, who is trying to get a word with Larry Zbyszko about what’s going on with the title match tonight, especially involving the attorneys. I don’t recall what they’re talking about actually.

Scott Hudson is outside of Kevin Nash’s dressing room. He talks about nothing in particular, but makes sure to plug the crappy movie “The Longest Yard,” in which Nash admittedly stole the show. The movie still sucked though.

MATCH #1: “Primetime” Elix Skipper vs. Petey Williams

Petey just lost the X-Division Title last month at Final Resolution, and Skipper is still trying to establish himself as a singles wrestler post-Triple X. Ironically, Skipper was a part of Team Canada back in WCW in 2000. They trade holds and moves and stuff. Skipper does some cool stuff, but I fear that he’ll never be able to get that over due to his ridiculous voice. He goes for the rope-walk Rana, but Williams blocks it and they do a series of reversals that looks really contrived. This match isn’t doing it for me. Petey goes for the Canadian Destroyer, which Skipper reverses to his new finisher, the Sudden Death, to get the three-count at 7:58. Skipper has barely broken a sweat, and Williams looked kinda jobber-iffic.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #2: BG James & NASCAR’S Jeff Hammond vs. Michael Shane & Kazarian

This buildup to this match was ridiculous, as anytime a wrestling company finds it necessary to make a Race Car Driver look any kind of good in the ring it is bad news. This would reportedly be one of the factors behind Kazarian leaving the company. 3LK does their usual shtick, with James replacing his normal words with NASCAR themed words. Mike Tenay is really giving the verbal blowjob to Hammond here, which is nauseating. Shane and Kazarian are doing everything they can to make Hammond, and to a lesser extent, James, look like they’re not complete tools. Hammond gets the hot tag and the crowd BOOS. Good for them, I’m glad TNA apparently listened and never let Hammond wrestle again. Kazarian holds Hammond for a Shane superkick, but Kazarian takes the blow instead and Hammond gets the Pit Stop, which is the worst move of all time, for the win at 5:33. That was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t necessarily the worst match, but given that Hammond went over Kazarian, I stand by my statement.
Rating: DUD

Main Event Hype

Dusty Rhodes is talking about a lawsuit of some kind, and some guy playing a lawyer that can’t pronounce “affidavit” correctly, and they explain the angle about Jarrett using the guitar tonight. This is beyond stupid. If Larry Zbyszko was there, he’d slap this guy. He is there!

MATCH #3: Dustin Rhodes vs. Raven

The hype for this match is pretty lame, as it’s obvious that they just had nothing else for either guy to do. It’s a real mystery as to how Rhodes acquired a job in this company. They brawl to start and they’re outside the ring in no time. Tenay and West say that Raven has been upset since his loss to Erik Watts. I was upset about that too, actually. Raven goes to work on the ankle to set up for this new submission he’s been working on. Raven keeps working on the ankle, and the crowd really isn’t buying it. Raven eventually gets a rollup with his feet on the ropes at 8:20. That was pretty plodding and dull, but at least Raven finally got a win. He attacks Rhodes after the bell, but Dustin channels the power of the splotch. Raven overpowers through, and Rhodes lays there nicely as he gets a straight jacket put on. The beating continues until Cassidy Riley comes out to try and help Rhodes, but he eats the Raven Effect for his trouble. Security comes out, but Raven fights off a few of them too. Raven is pretty over as a babyface despite being a heel.
Rating: **

The lights go out in the Impact Zone, as a video package for Trytan comes up on the video wall. I bet whoever came up with this character got a big fat bonus. Don West says the problem is that we don’t know anything about him. Yeah, that’s the problem Don.

MATCH #4: NWA World Tag Team Title Match – America’s Most Wanted vs. Kid Kash & Lance Hoyt

The buildup to this match also included Michael Shane & Kazarian and Team Canada, so I wonder why they didn’t opt for a four-way. The action is moving pretty quickly in this one, as there is some heat in this feud. Unfortunately it wouldn’t continue after this match. AMW is in the midst of their fifth title reign together, sixth overall (since they each held the title with a separate member of Triple X). Hoyt and Kash take over outside the ring and beat up on Storm. Kash isn’t always the best worker, but I like his presence. Hoyt connects with a side slam off the top rope, which is pretty neat. AMW gets the Death Sentence to get the win at 12:25. That was a good, high energy title defense that made everyone look pretty good.
Rating: ***¼

A limo is arriving backstage, and Shane Douglas wants to find out who is inside. Some meek looking security guards hold him back. That’s some former World Champion there.

MATCH #5: Full Metal Mayhem – “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss

In this match there are two envelopes hanging from the ceiling, one of which is empty, and the other contains a contract to wrestle the NWA Champion on a future episode of Impact! The plunder becomes involved right away, with Hardy gaining control. This is a good matchup, especially with the hardcore rules, since Hardy will take bumps if he feels like it and Abyss can just toss him around. This is essentially a TLC match. Hardy does his usual catapult spot, which looks exceedingly painful for him. Hardy climbs to the top of the Impact Zone to deliver a big Swanton bomb through a table, which didn’t look nearly as impressive as I wanted it to. Abyss is able to grab the correct envelope at 15:21 to earn a title shot that he would never end up getting. I find that highly annoying, but the match was spotty fun. Hardy throws a temper tantrum due to the loss, since he gabbed one of the envelopes, but not the right one.
Rating: ***

MATCH #6: “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown & Diamond Dallas Page vs. Team Canada

This was originally going to be Bobby Roode & Scot Hall against Brown & Page, but in a shocking turn of events, Hall was unable to work and Eric Young took his place. Roode & Young are two-time NWA Tag Team Champions, and they have Johnny Devine & Scott D’Amore in their corner. Monty was in the main event of last month’s show, and now this is happening. DDP is a spry 67 years old at this time. This is a formulaic tag team match with very little variance from the norm. Also, I find it really annoying how good DDP has to look at two young guys’ expense. In fact, DDP actually pinned Young at 9:43 with the Diamond Cutter. The match was fine, I’m just not into DDP being in matches at all, and I think Monty should be higher on the card.
Rating: **

More hilarity ensues with Traci, Trinity, and that lawyer guy backstage. Dusty Rhodes is a moron.

MATCH #7: Ironman X Division Title Match – “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels

The video package for this match is pretty cool, with some split screen stuff and some good clips. I’ve seen this match a few times, and rest assured it rules. Tenay says that this is the firs time the two have met in TNA, but I distinctly remember them wrestling to a 10-minute draw on Impact a few weeks before this, which is how Daniels earned this title shot. Therefore Tenay’s claim is erroneous, on both counts. AJ goes for some quick falls right away. AJ works on the arm for a while, until Daniels takes over and goes to work on the midsection. After a bunch of stuff, Daniels hits the Angel’s Wings to score the first pinfall at 14:07. This is going pretty good at the halfway mark. I’m not doing much play-by-play here, if you haven’t noticed. It’s not really my thing. Daniels continues to dominate until AJ gets a flash pin at 23:58 to tie it up at one fall apiece. AJ gets busted open outside the ring as we are inside of five minutes to go. Daniels dominates the bloody AJ Styles. We’re under one minute now and AJ is firing up. Daniels catches AJ with the Flatliner and locks on the Koji Clutch with about 40 seconds to go. AJ doesn’t give up though, and we are at an impasse after thirty minutes. Daniels isn’t satisfied with that though, and he wants sudden death. AJ hits the Styles Clash in 1:37 of the overtime period, for a grand total of 31:37. That was a fantastic match with lots of great stuff in it. I’m not such a fan of the overtime finish though (like, why book a 30 minute match and then have it go longer than 30?), but it was still quite good.
Rating: ****¼

Jeff Jarrett tries to badger his lawyer and Larry Zbyszko, but says he will take matters into his own hands instead. Jarrett is uber-lame.

MATCH #8: NWA World Heavyweight Title Match – “King of the Mountain” Jeff Jarrett vs. “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash

The video package for this match doesn’t make me want to see it any more, which is rare for video packages, even TNA’s. Nash’s title shot here is a mystery, as he had only wrestled in two matches, the six-man from Turning Point and the three-way from Final Resolution. He lost both of them, yet he somehow gets a title shot? Jarrett goes to work on the legs to set up for the figure-four, but Nash won’t let him apply it. They fight backstage by the catering area. Jarrett brings a cello into the fray. Jarrett is busted open. Jarrett of course works on the legs, even locking on the figure-four for an extended period of time. West gets pissed when the referee won’t allow Nash to use the cello, which is stupid because it’s a foreign object, why wouldn’t the referee stop him? The referee gets bumped and Nash hits the Jackknife onto the cello but there’s no one to count. The former Billy Gunn runs out and nails Nash with a chair, but it’s not enough. While one referee is trying to shoo Gunn back to the dressing room, Sean Waltman comes out dressed in the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen to beat up Jarrett. Tenay reminds us that both Billy Gunn and X-Pac were in D-Generation X, which makes them showing up here pretty lame, since D-X was big like eight years ago. Speaking of D-X, BG James is out to handle Billy Gunn. Jarrett finally gets the win at 19:45 after like a million low blows and a million shots with a weapon. That was overbooked nonsense, and Jarrett and Nash have no business main eventing a pay-per-view like that.
Rating: *¼

We close with an ad for Destination X, their next PPV.

The 411: There is some good stuff on this show, but the main event just left a horrible taste in my mouth. I had no interest in Jarrett or Nash before, and adding X-Pac and Mr. Ass doesn’t help matters at all. Styles and Daniels stole the show obviously, and some stuff in the undercard was good, but where was Chris Sabin? Are they really saying that more people are going to buy this pay-per-view because a RACE CAR DRIVER is in a match before some of their actual wrestling talent? I don’t like that one bit. Better luck next year.

Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]