Why I Love Wrestling 2.10.08: Against All Odds (Part 1)

Welcome to another edition to Why I Love/Hate Wrestling. This week I take a look at the all the stuff from the upcoming TNA PPV, Against All Odds! Yay!

Why I Love Wrestling

CASE vs. CASE: Scott Steiner vs. Petey Williams

Uhh. This match has me all mixed up. Since I am basing my decision on solely the actual match I will consider this a “Love.” Since I love Scott Steiner and, too a lesser extent, Petey Williams, I will not hate on this match. Scotty has proven that he can be very entertaining in his tenure in TNA and Petey Williams has almost always been good for a decent showing. I really don’t know who to pick since the stupid stipulations make this one a real tough one. See, this is why you don’t book so many stipulations. They begin to intertwine and get the viewers get so darned confused that they have no idea who to pick. Steiner has been interesting as of late, and with him turning on Petey this week I would say that Petey should win. However, since this is TNA, I will just flip a coin. Hell, that is probably what they are gonna do. Heads it’s Petey, tails it’s Steiner.
Winner: Heads, eh, I mean Petey Williams.

BARBED WIRE MASSACRE: Abyss vs. Judas Mesias
This has everything to be an awesome match for me. Three major components lead to this match having the possibility to steal the show. One: Abyss. Abyss is one of my favorite wrestlers, and his feud with Mesias has been put on hold since Mesias got injured. He has experience in Hardcore matches and should have no problem taking a brutal beating in this match. The second component that leads me to enjoy this match is Mesias himself. I haven’t seen much of his stuff in TNA but I have seen his stuff in WSX, most notably his match against Vampiro. That match was a brutal, bloody brawl and I think Mesias is actually able to keep up with Abyss in this match. Also, he, like Abyss, seems perfectly willing to jeopardize his body. And the final, most important component is the barbed wire. The barbed wire can be a vengeful foe or a trusted ally. It all depends on how it is used. I saw Abyss’s first barbed wire brawl and it was nothing short of horrific, but in a good way. It was totally brutal to watch, but the match was actually decent. If Mesias is willing to play Sabu and leap into the wire, then the match will kick ass. I am really looking forward to this match totally being brutal. No prediction given, though, since spoilers are leaked.

Miss Peyton Banks vs. Traci Brooks

I have some high hopes here, that’s for sure. The build to this match has been good. Banks started out as another fan of Roode. She eventually became more and more a part of Roode and eventually she is tries to take Brooks’s place. Simple, yet effective. The only thing that befuddles me is why Brooks is even with Roode still. She has been saddling with other guys, including Kaz, so I honestly don’t know why she is trying to stay with Roode. Apparently Banks is a good wrestler and since she is from Shimmer, she might actually put on a good match. Brooks is decent and she has a huge rack. ‘Nuff said? It only makes sense for Banks to win since she is the newcomer. However, this is TNA, but… no, we will go with real logic.
Winner: Miss Peyton Banks

Robert Roode vs. Booker T
Like the previous match, this has some pretty good build to it. Roode is trying to establish himself and taking out Booker would be a big notch. Roode has a lot of heat going into this for taking out Sharmell. Hey, a brother’s gotta keep his pimp hand strong, right? Needless to say, knocking out the wife of a fan favorite such as Booker T will definitely get you some massive heel heat and the fans are looking to Booker to defend his wife’s honor. Speaking of Booker, this feud has really seemed to get his motor running. He looks motivated, driven, and all around ready to deliver. Big Time. Both men are tremendous athletes and this match should be decent, at the very least. Roode really needs this win and I think it would be something that really catapults him. I think TNA will see that and hopefully make the right decision.
Winner: Robert Roode

HARDCORE STREET FIGHT: Team 3D and Brother Devine vs. The Motor City Machine Guns and Black Machismo
Despite ridiculous stipulations, this match should be insanely awesome. This is 3-D’s environment. I honestly can’t think of a 3-D hardcore match that has flat out sucked, and any match involving MCMG has got to be good. Add in Devine and Lethal and you have one helluva match. This feud has been hot. 3-D were going on a spree in TNA taking out everyone until they mingled with the MCMG. Bad move, ace! MCMG fought back, costing 3-D a match against the Steiners and humiliating them. 3-D would have their retribution, though. They coaxed Johnny Devine to their side and duped MCMG and Lethal, eventually costing Lethal his title belt. They met in an Ultimate X match where the XDF (X-Division Faces) seemed destined to win. However, 3-D and Devine pulled of the win, further humiliating the XDF. All of this has culminated to the Hardcore Street Fight. This is 3-Ds match, so obviously the XDF will pick up the win, saving their division.
Winners: Motor City Machine Guns and Black Machismo

TNA KNOCKOUT’S TITLE MATCH: Awesome Kong © w/Riesha Said vs. ODB
Both of these women are good wrestlers so this match should be great fun. It certainly won’t be Kong vs. Kim, but no doubt should be entertaining. However, since they have built Kong to be such a dominating monster, there is no chance in hell ODB will win. However, the match will good and ODB will put up a good fight until falling to the Awesome Bomb.
Winner: Awesome Kong

TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Christian Cage w/Special Enforcer Samoa Joe
I will make this short and sweet: if this match is kept free of shenanigans, this match will be the best match of the night. If not, it will be so bogged down that people will not even be able to focus on the actual wrestling.
Winner: Kurt Angle

Why I Hate Wrestling

DRINKING TITLE MATCH: James Storm vs. Eric Young ©
What the fudge?!?! First off, I don’t think anyone knows what this is. Is it a drinking match? Or is it a wrestling match? Or is it a match where beer can be used as a weapon? Or is it a match where the title is put in a mailbox above a ring post and the other ring posts also have mailboxes but they all contain big steaming piles of crap? Or is it a match…. I don’t even know. All this thinking makes my brain hurt. Why can’t they just have a regular match? Stupid booking is almost a sure bet here, which is why I filed this under “hate.”
Winner: James Storm

TNA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles and Tomko © vs. Bullet Bob Armstrong and BG James
What is worse than Styles/Tomko taking on the Voodoo Kin Mafia? Styles/Tomko taking on Bullet Bob and BG James. What is worse than Styles/Tomko taking on Bullet Bob and BG James? Styles/Tomko losing to Bullet Bob and BG James. Which, of course, is going to happen.
Winners: Bullet Bob Armstrong and BG James

Stipulations!
Terrible. It is one thing throwing in stipulations that add to a match. For example, the current stipulation in Ric Flair’s matches add more drama and excitement to them. However, the stipulations in the Hardcore Street Fight and Williams/Steiner have become intertwined and have made the matches hard to focus on, especially the Williams/Steiner match. First, I will give you the Hardcore Street Fight Stipulations: If the team of Sabin, Shelley and Machismo win the match Ray and Devon will have to weigh in at 275lbs to continue wrestling in TNA. Also if Sabin, Shelley and Machismo win, the person on the team that gets the pin wins the X-Title. If Team 3D and Devine win, the X-Division disappears FOREVER. And in the Steiner/Williams match, the winner gets both the briefcases, one containing the X-Division Title Shot and one containing the TNA World Championship Title Shot. So, if Team 3-D and Devine win, the winner of the Steiner/Williams match will have a useless case. However, if Steiner wins while MCMG/Machismo win, Steiner will have to drop the weight or drop the title shot. And if Team 3-D wins and Petey wins, again, the title shot will be useless. And why is Devine helping 3-D destroy the division he wrestles in and is the champion in? That pretty much shows both conclusions right there, folks.

So there it is folks. The night could go one of two ways: A, the night will be filled with good matches and shenanigans won’t ruin the PPV, or B, it is shenanigan-apalooza. So anyway, be sure to read all the other columns, especially The Fink’s Payload. Until then, stay classy, 411Mania readers.