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TNA – Victory Road ’06 DVD Review

September 10, 2007 | Posted by Jacob Ziegler
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TNA – Victory Road ’06 DVD Review  

TNA – Victory Road – Impact Zone – Orlando, Florida – July 16, 2006

Introduction

We open with a recap of the NWA World Title decision at Slammiversary, which made no sense. Jarrett won the King of the Mountain match under questionable terms, so Cornette strips the title from him for like two weeks and then just hands it over to him, and gives him the month off so that four guys can fight in a four-way match to earn the right to fight him for the title. How does that make sense? The opening video package manages to be all about Jarrett, even tough he doesn’t have a match tonight.

MATCH #1: The Naturals vs. The Diamonds in the Rough

The Diamonds in the Rough are of course represented by David Young and Elix Skipper, accompanied by Simon Diamond. Shane Douglas gets to cut a promo about The Naturals, and he makes some lame crack about ECW and Ric Flair. He introduces the “Newly Franchised” Naturals. Hey guess what, I still don’t care about these guys. Stevens and Young start it off, and Douglas heads back up to the locker room while Diamond stays out there. The Naturals are aggressors in the early going, as they control both Young and Skipper. Skipper and Stevens battle outside, and Young hits a Moonsault off the top rope and the Diamonds take control now. Stevens makes a lame hot tag to Douglas and this thing is just getting sloppy. The Naturals end it with a missile dropkick / powerbomb combination on Skipper to get the win at 5:27. That did nothing for me or for any of the four people involved. Douglas comes out after the match and berates his team, even though they won. Douglas and Stevens are confused.
Rating: *¼

West and Tenay hype the card, including the no-DQ match of Team 3D vs. The James Gang & Abyss, Larry Zbyszko vs. Raven in a hair versus hair match, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels & Gail Kim vs. America’s Most Wanted & Sirelda for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, and the four-way #1 Contender’s match between Christian Cage, Scott Steiner, Samoa Joe, and Sting.

We go backstage where Borash is with Christian Cage, who runs down all three of his opponents tonight. He says he’s going to win the match tonight and get his NWA World Title back. He apologizes to Sting, but this is the Christian Cage Era.

MATCH #2: “The War Machine” Rhino vs. “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown

This was around the time Rhino cut that angry promo about WWE, and when he burned the old ECW World Title. I know a lot of people loved that stuff, but I thought it was counter-productive and not that interesting. The fight starts in the entrance ramp to the ring, and Monty takes the early advantage. Back in the ring Monty remains in control. I still think TNA blew it with him big-time. The referee takes an accidental POUNCE and he’s done. Rhino makes a brief comeback but Monty is soon back in control and hits a double underhook suplex. The referee actually recovers from the POUNCE, which is absurd, and then he takes a Gore. They should have had two different referees take those moves. They fight outside the ring now. The brawl continues towards the back and security tries to break it up, and we’ve got a no-contest at 4:56. That was a fun little brawl but the referee getting up from the POUNCE was inexcusable.
Rating: **

Borash is backstage with the Latin American Exchange. Konnan calls Ron Killings & Sonjay Dutt, their opponents for tonight, sell-outs. He makes another weird sexual comment, as he’s been doing since taking over as leader of LAX. He closes the promo with the usual.

MATCH #3: LAX vs. The Truth & Sonjay Dutt

The video package for this match is all LAX and makes them look awesome and well-booked. And for the record, Ron Killing’s rap that was shown on the TNA website a few months ago was the most atrociously pointless and idiotic things I’ve ever seen. What the hell kind of hook is “we been waitin’ for ya’ll … and we gonna knock yo’ blocks off.” That doesn’t even make any sense. The highspots come early as Hernandez spills to the floor and Dutt, Homicide, and Killings each hit a dive. Back in the ring they basically start the match over. Homicide and Killings fight for a few minutes, with Truth gaining the control and then tagging out to Dutt. Dutt gets a few moves in until Homicide comes back and tags in Hernandez, who overpowers Dutt and executes that awesome overhead choke suplex. Dutt makes a brief comeback but Homicide hits a nasty suplex, dropping him on his head. The double teaming continues and Dutt is in trouble. He finally makes the hot tag to Truth, and he handles both members of LAX. The referee loses control and in the confusion Konnan hits Dutt with the Slapjack and Hernandez follows with the Border Toss to get the pin and score the victory at 10:07. That was actually much better than I thought it would be, as I’m really into the LAX gimmick and Dutt and Killings worked surprisingly well together.
Rating: **¾

Scott Steiner cuts a promo about the main event four-way match, and he dismisses Samoa Joe and Christian Cage, saying it will come down to him and Sting. He dispenses some lame insults about Joe being fat and Cage being skinny, and I continue to wonder why people are saying he’s cutting good promos in TNA. It’s all the same old junk.

Team Canada Disbands

The former members of Team Canada – Coach Scott D’Amore, Petey Williams, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, and A1 are coming down to the ring to officially disband the group. They lost an eight-man tag team match to Team 3D, Jay Lethal, and Rhino, and thus had to disband. D’Amore addresses each member individually and puts them over. Roode, Williams, and A1 all snub Young on their way out, but the crowd is chanting his name. D’Amore then proceeds to blame everything on Young. He makes him give his Team Canada jacket back as he continues to browbeat him. He makes Young give up his pants too. He pleads with D’Amore to help him, to save him. The crowd then chants “we will save you,” which is pretty clever for them. Young then pleads with the crowd to get them to help him not be fired. How Young got over is a mystery to me.

West and Tenay promote Bound for Glory, which will be happening in Detroit this coming October. It’s their biggest show of the year.

Borash is backstage with Senshi, who will defend the title against a mystery opponent who is a former X-Division Champion. Senshi dares whoever it is to take the title from him. He doesn’t seem concerned.

MATCH #4: X Division Championship Match – Senshi vs. Kazarian

Senshi has been the champion since 6.22.06, and this is his first defense. It’s also Kazarian’s first match in TNA since February 25, 2005. West astutely points out that Kazarian has held the title twice, but since one of them was alongside Matt Bentley, it’s really more like 1½ reigns. Senshi is also a real two-time champion, having won the title back in 2002 as Low Ki. Senshi tries for a submission move early on, but they’re in the ropes so he can’t hang onto it. Senshi starts going for kicks, so Kazarian tries to ground him. Senshi basically brushes Kazarian off and starts hitting kicks. The former “Future” looks really rusty. The champion continues to dominate. Kazarian makes a brief comeback but Senshi gets up first. Senshi basically has a counter for everything Kazarian tries. Senshi unleashes the Kawada kicks. He finally finishes the match with the Warrior’s Way at 11:19. Kazarian was all kinds of not in ring shape, and Senshi seemed to be in no mood to work with him on that.
Rating: **

Borash is backstage with Larry Zbyszko, who will face Raven in a hair versus hair match next. Larry says he’s in the best shape of his career. I have so many funny Larry Z stories that I can’t look at him without laughing anymore. Mark Johnson promises Zbyszko that he’s going to call his match right down the middle. I can’t figure out why they give air time to a referee.

MATCH #5: Hair vs. Hair – Raven vs. Larry Zbyszko

A better gimmick for this match would have been “Loser Leaves Town,” since with Jim Cornette as the new management director or whatever, they really don’t need Zbyszko. I prefer Zbyszko to Cornette, but the company made their choice. The crowd is not into this match at all. They’re just doing boring stuff on the mat so I don’t blame them. The ref injures his knee somehow and is not able to make the count when Raven hits the Even Flow DDT. Zbyszko gets up and hits a low blow for two. Schoolboy by Raven gets two. Small package by Zbyszko gets two. Raven hits the Even Flow again and that ends the match at a mercifully short 3:48. That was insanely dull and utterly heatless.
Rating: ¼*

Borash is backstage with Kevin Nash, Alex Shelley, and Johnny Devine. Tonight they face the X-Division tandem of Chris Sabin & Jay Lethal tonight. They cut a hilarious promo about the spirit of the X-Division that they all embody.

MATCH #6: Chris Sabin & Jay Lethal vs. Kevin Nash & Alex Shelley

Nash pinned Sabin at last month’s Slammiversary show. Nash appears to be in pretty good shape here. Sabin and Shelley start it off here, and I’m begging to see these guys get a one-on-one match and get 15-20 minutes. Sabin counters everything Shelley tries and sends him running to Nash. He gets tagged in and so does Lethal. Nash hits a nice arm drag and the crowd appreciates it. Nash overpowers Lethal but Sabin comes and the good guys double team Nash and Shelley and send them to the floor to regroup. Shelley and Lethal are back in the ring, and Shelley gains the advantage and tags in Nash. The Paparazzi team dominates Lethal for several minutes. Sabin gets tagged in and unloads with some offense and rolls Shelley up with a sunset flip to get the pin at 9:07. That felt truncated, but at least it was a good build to the eventual Sabin vs. Nash rematch. Sabin and Lethal attack Nash after the bell, but Shelley and Devine back Nash up until Jerry Lynn comes out with a steel chair and chases the Paparazzi off.
Rating: **¼

Borash is backstage with all three members of Team 3D, who will face The James Gang & Abyss. I don’t recall how Abyss joined this team. Ray starts the promo saying “violence” about a million times, and then cuts the same promo he always cuts. Devon cuts a longer promo than usual, and Runt doesn’t get to say anything at all.

MATCH #7: Team 3D vs. The James Gang & Abyss

This will be an Anything Goes match, as per both teams’ requests. They do a bunch of stalling in the early going. Abyss and Runt get in the ring together and Spike actually isn’t that much shorter than Abyss. That doesn’t stop Abyss from tossing Spike around with ease. He even tosses him into the crowd, and he crowd surfs for a few moments. This is just a big brawl with everyone using weapons outside the ring for a while. Ray uses a staple gun on Abyss. Runt tries the Acid Drop but Abyss counters it to a Black Hole Slam through a table, not breaking the table whatsoever. That was exceedingly dull and I don’t care about either of these two teams and Abyss is being wasted.
Rating: *¼

America’s Most Wanted & Gail Kim are backstage. Tonight they will face NWA World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels, as well as Sirelda. They promise to become seven time tag team champions and Harris makes Storm leave the beer bottle behind.

MATCH #8: NWA World Tag Team Title Match – AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Sirelda vs. America’s Most Wanted & Gail Kim

Styles and Daniels have been champions since 6.18.06, and this is their second defense. I’ve actually refereed for Sirelda before at an independent show in Michigan. The men do some mat wrestling in the early going, and Gail actually gets tagged in and pretends she’s going to wrestle Daniels, but she slaps Sirelda in the face instead. Sirelda gets tagged in and Gail tags out to Storm, who mocks her and tags out to Harris. Gail is looking ridiculously hot tonight. Now for some reason all six wrestlers are in the match and they do one of those spots where all the heels wind up in a sexually suggestive position. But since Gail is involved it’s not gay. AJ and Gail are in the ring together now and AJ spanks her, so she comes back with a low blow and tags out to Harris. AJ takes a beating for several minutes before tagging out to Daniels, who goes after Harris and Storm, only to have Gail break it up. That brings Sirelda into the ring and now everyone is fighting everyone, male or female. Storm and Gail execute the Death Sentence on Daniels but can’t finish him off. Harris tries to use handcuffs but Daniels hits the Angels Wings, only to have Gail break up the pin. Sirelda hits a chokeslam on Gail, and eats a Superkick for her troubles. Communication problems arise for America’s Most Wanted and a sloppy finishing sequence leads to AJ getting the pin at 11:52. That was surprisingly not good, given that I’ve liked most of the matches between these two teams. It must have had something to do with the women. Sirelda is just not good.
Rating: **

MATCH #9: “Road to Victory” Four-Way Match – Sting vs. Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner

The buildup to this match was actually pretty cool according to the video package. Both Cage and Joe are undefeated in TNA. Joe really stands out here and the more I see him in TNA the more it hurts me how much they’re hosing him right now. He’s the only who gets to cut a promo before the match. I can’t imagine why Cage has to wrestle in this match in order to earn a title shot, because he hasn’t gotten his rematch yet. Little things like that really irritate me. The crowd starts the match by chanting “Joe’s gonna kill you,” showing just who the most over man in the match is. Joe hits the STJoe on Sting early. Steiner and Cage are paired off outside the ring, until Steiner comes in and dumps Joe and goes after Sting. Cage comes in and clotheslines Steiner out. Cage and Joe are in the ring together now. They start trading blows as Sting and Steiner fight outside the ring. Now Sting and Steiner are in the ring and Joe and Cage are outside. Jeff Jarrett, wearing a camera man uniform, comes in and sprays gasoline in Sting’s eyes. The medical team comes out and brings Sting to the back, as Steiner beats on Joe inside the ring. We cut to backstage, where security is throwing Jarrett out of the building as Joe somehow made a comeback on Steiner but we couldn’t see it. Cage hits a nice spear on Joe for two. Steiner and Cage fight on the floor now and Joe hits a big dive to the floor, knocking down both men. Joe positions a table and tires to suplex Steiner from the apron to the table, but Steiner blocks it and actually hits a really nice DDT on the apron. He sets Joe up on the table and delivers an elbow from the apron and manages to land on his head from it. Back in the ring Steiner tries the Samoan Drop from the top rope and almost kills Cage with it. The crowd is just dead here. Everyone does some stuff to everyone, and Sting comes running back out with his head wrapped up. Cage hits the frog splash on Steiner but Sting breaks up the pin. Cage is pissed, and Joe comes back in and puts the choke on Cage. Steiner dumps them over the ropes and Sting hits him with the Scorpion Death Drop to get the pin at 14:09. So Sting only has to wrestle half the match to win. Both Joe and Cage should have won this match before Sting. There was some decent stuff in this match though, but the shenanigans and Sting winning drop it down a bit. Cage is pissed for a minute but then extends his hand to Sting and they shake on it. So Sting will finally get his title shot at Jeff Jarrett on the next pay-per-view.
Rating: **½

The 411: Wow, when the best match on your show involves Ron Killings and Sonjay Dutt, you’ve got problems. This show was big plate of mediocrity sprinkled with terrible, and while it isn’t aggressively bad or insulting, nothing really stood out and this is easily one of the most forgettable shows in TNA history.
 
Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]  legend

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