wrestling
Wrestling’s 4R’s PPV Edition 2.14.12: TNA Against All Odds 2012
How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO times a week. We will group our feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and needs discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, our goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. We will not apologize for our opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.
Let’s rock…
TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS 2012:
By: LARRY CSONKA
QUICK RESULTS:
* #1 Contender’s Match For the X-Division Title: Zema Ion defeated Jesse Sorensen @ 4:00 via countout [NR]
* TNA TV Title Match: Robbie E defeated Shannon Moore @ 9:30 via pin [**]
* TNA Knockouts Title Match: Gail Kim defeated Tara @ 6:45 via pin [**]
* TNA Tag Team Title Match: Samoa Joe and Magnus won the tag team titles, pinning Matt Morgan and Crimson @ 10:00 via pin [**½]
* TNA X-Division Title Match: Austin Aries defeated Alex Shelley @ 15:00 via submission [***¾]
* Kazarian defeated AJ Styles @ 18:45 via pin [***½]
* Gunner defeated Garett Bischoff @ 12:00 via pin [DUD]
* TNA World Title Match: Bobby Roode defeated Jeff Hardy, Bully Ray and James Storm via pin @ 15:08 [**]
* NOTE: Due to the injury suffered in the opener, I will not be discussing the match in the overall breakdown of the PPV. I will also not count that match towards my final score of the show. In closing, I will not sit here and blow smoke up your ass and tell you the guy is my favorite wrestler, but I hope he makes a full recovery. The news of the C1 injury is scary, and reminds us that something can happen to these performers. I wish him well and hope that he has a full recovery. On with the column…
Samoa Joe and Magnus – New Tag Team Champions : Samoa Joe and Magnus got their latest tag title shot against Crimson and Morgan here on the show, and overall I was happy with what we got. While not a classic bout, the match was solid enough and Joe and Magnus really shined again against the champions. They had some issues keeping the crowd, but I feel that this was due to the lack of interest in the overall division and the current champions. But again, hard work and a well laid out match allowed them to accomplish their goal, and I felt that this was the right result at the right time. The real good news is that Morgan and Crimson are no longer tag team champions. I have not been a fan of the team, and it was time for them to lose. On top of that, Joe and Magnus have been great as a team, and I think that they can have a very fun run as champions. Also, the finish was what it should have been for the change. Crimson and Morgan were always going to feud again, and the finish allows for that to happen. Add onto that the ay Crimson left the ring, looking completely disappointed in his partner, and the story works. Finally, I am a big fan of Magnus. The dude is constantly improving, in the ring and on the mic, and to see him get a run with the titles is a good thing in my opinion.
Aries and Shelley: Stepping Up When The Show Needed It Most: It took five matches to get there, but we finally had some excellent wrestling on this PPV. And honestly, it should be no surprise that it came from Alex Shelley and Austin Aires. This was simply an excellent 15-minute match that featured Aries working on the neck of Shelley, and Shelley doing a great job of selling, but not overselling. This was an excellent PPV showcase of both men, featuring great counters, near falls and most importantly of all, the finally got the crowd into the match. After a great match, Aries got the pin with some knee strikes to the head, the brain buster and finally locking on the Last Chancery for the decisive victory. It is about time they brought Shelley back and got he and Aries together on PPV, because they delivered as many thought and hoped that they would. Great work by both men, and honestly, I wish we would get more of this feud.
Kazarian vs. AJ Styles: The biggest fear that I had going into the match was that Daniels would be involved way too much, taking away the quality that the two men are capable of. Thankfully that wasn’t the case, and we had a good match. I do have to mention that it was a bit slow at times, and I am not sure if it is just the Orlando crowd being themselves, or that they hate the angle, but it took both guys some time to get them into the match. This match was directly after the X-Division title match, and with the tag title match before that, I felt that TNA was back on track with the PPV. This was a slower, more methodical match than Shelley vs. Aries, but there is nothing wrong with that. They played it up as both guys were even, and kept Daniels to ringside, getting involved vocally instead of physically. After a very well laid out and worked match, the end saw AJ finally look for some revenge against Daniels, hitting a moonsault to the floor and wiping him out. This would be the fatal flaw for Styles, as when he tried to springboard into the ring, Kazarian caught him in the fade to black for the clean win. Kazarian gets the big win, Daniels is still in Styles head and this was a smart way to book the match. While not my favorite angle right now, I am curious to see where they go from here.
Main Event Promos: A quick shout out to Bobby Roode, James Storm, Bully Ray and yes, even Jeff Hardy. While short the promos these men gave helped to set up the main event match perfectly. Roode played up that Sting had the odds stacked against him, while Storm said that like the first shot against Angle, that he would take full advantage of his latest title shot. Bully Ray was a dick to Hemme, and explained how he owns Storm and Hardy, while being in Roode’s head. Finally, Jeff Hardy did what Jeff Hardy does, talks about the creatures and seeing gold in his future. While the lesser of the four promos, it was fitting of his character and overall, these worked very well to help build the title match.
The Robbie E Invita… Oh Who Gives a Shit: Robbie E and Robbie T came to the ring to announce the Robbie E invitational, basically an unannounced title match for the PPV. Shannon Moore answered the call and we had ourselves a TV Title match. They got close to 10-minutes, and Moore worked hard, but this was essentially the same Robbie E match we have watched since his TNA debut. Boring offense, trying to leave, outside interference by Robbie T (used to be Cookie) and Robbie retains by nefarious means. It was fine, not offensive really, but it is a been there done that. But that isn’t even the biggest problem, first of all the crowd didn’t care at all. They don’t even hate Robbie, so the deal isn’t working, and they didn’t react to Moore. And why was it that way? Well answer me this, when was the last time these guys were on TV? Exactly. The people don’t care about the wrestlers, they don’t care about the title, and that is not a good thing any way you look at it. The good news is that they remembered that Shannon Moore is under contract, the guy works hard and could be used better.
Gail Kim vs. Tara: The third match on the card was the Knockouts Title match featuring champion Gail Kim and challenger Tara. They had a short but spirited match that I was really enjoying as both worked very hard. Madison Rayne bailed on Kim about halfway through the match, sick and tired of being Gail’s bitch, which will likely lead to a face turn, which could be a welcomed change. Tara eventually went up top, hit the moonsualt and we got a faked knee injury, which led to the finish. The problem here is that we had a legit injury in the opener, but instead of the talents or the agents changing the game plan for the match, they went ahead with the scripted injury, and it came off as very fake as compared to the real injury. This is a constant issue with TNA and their agents, and that is repeating finishes. When a real injury happens, you have to adapt. They had plenty of time to do so as there was a match in between, but they decided not to do so, and so it came off as lazy booking.
The Main Event: The PPV had recovered, and was doing well until the Garett Bischoff match. But I had high hopes for the main event, and if they could put together a strong match, this would have been one of TNA’s better PPVs in some time. Well, hope floats and so does shit, and in my opinion the main event did not deliver. I will not say that they dogged it, they worked hard, but hard work doesn’t always mean quality, and I just do not feel that things clicked well. Add in the fact that the crowd largely did not care about anyone other than Hardy, and the match had issues. There were some fun moments, but the match to me never got out of second gear, and that is a shame. But that wasn’t the worst problem, it was the whole finish, which was a perfect example of classic TNA. We have multiple ref bumps, phantom pins, and then the end, which featured Roode pissing Sting off by spitting on him, leading to him missing Roode with the belt and laying out Hardy with the title. Think something similar to Summerslam 1997, only this won’t draw money. So Sting levels hardy, and then after NOT counting the pins for Bully Ray and Hardy, he “reluctantly” counts the pin for Roode, while yelling for Jeff to get up. It makes no sense for him to count the pin when he didn’t earlier, but the bigger issues is that judging by the TV and the end here, we are still building to Roode vs. Sting. In 2012. Listen, I like Sting, but help or not, he shouldn’t have beaten Roode going into the PPV and he shouldn’t be the focus of a title feud, again. This was not a good way to end the PPV, and really hurt the show overall in my opinion.
Garett vs. Gunner: The PPV had started off slowly, and then rebounded well with the tag title switch, Aries vs. Shelley and Kazarian vs. Styles. Unfortunately we fell back off the cliff with Garett vs. Gunner. I mean, this was a complete failure for 12-minutes. First of all, while Garett is ok for his level of experience, he is not PPV ready and Gunner is not the guy to carry him to a passable match. Secondly, the match was designed to build sympathy for Garett, from the beat down and focus on his previously injured neck to the towel gimmick with Hogan. None of it worked. The crowd didn’t care about him before, they didn’t care in London and they didn’t care here. And speaking of not caring, the only reason to involve Eric and Hulk was to get crowd heat, that failed as well. Oh yeah, the match sucked as well. Finally, they were ding such a good job with Gunner, building him like a killer by stretchering opponents out of the ring, but they killed that as well in the build to the match and the match itself. This was a double ass burger with an extra helping of fail sauce and easily the worst PPV match of the year thus far.
| The 411 This was a really odd show. The first three matches saw a legit injury and then two matches that people either didn’t care about or just didn’t really deliver. Things picked up with the tag title change, the Shelley vs. Aries match and the Styles vs. Kazarian. Up and to that point we were overall looking good. Unfortunately we fell off a cliff with the Garett Bischoff match and then the main event, which feels like the same main event I have been watching for 10-years, with new players involved. The PPV had potential, but unfortunately, the same issues keep them from succeeding. There was some good on this show, but much like most TNA PPVs, they have issues getting the right things to happen all at the right show. In closing, I wish that the company had the capability to get out of the Impact Zone on a regular basis. The crowds are dead for so much and it really hurts the show. The London shows had such a big time feel, and other PPVs outside of Orlando have had better crowds and reactions, bottom line is that the wrestlers deserve better. I know that it isn’t a reality for them to do regularly, but I wish that they could. SHOW RATING: 6.5 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale.. 0 – 0.9: Torture |
What Did You Think About TNA Against All Odds?
What Did You Think About TNA Against All Odds?
YEAR IN REVIEW (PPV):
TOP PPVs:
* TNA Genesis – 5.0
* WWE Royal Rumble – 5.0
* TNA Against All Odds – 6.5
TOP PPV MATCHES:
* From TNA Against All Odds – TNA X-Division Title Match: Austin Aries defeated Alex Shelley @ via submission [***¾]
* From TNA Against All Odds – Kazarian defeated AJ Styles @ 18:45 via pin [***½]
* From TNA Genesis – Monster’s Ball Match: Abyss defeated Bully Ray @ 15:28 via pin [***½]
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