TNA – The Best Of The X-Division Volume 1
So here’s where I am with the McXal Reviews. I’ve been through two 9 hour, treble DVD sets in the last couple of weeks, taking in some PWG and some WWE. In the pipeline I’ve got the 8 disc, Top 25 Matches in NOAH IVPVideos.com set, and PWG Sells Out Volume 2…then come 2011 I’ll get started in 2009 ROH and the Dragon Gate USA shows I’ve had on my shelf for ages but haven’t even been removed from the shrink wrap. But before that…the much-maligned world of TNA. I’ve never heard the best things about it, but they have arguably the best roster of any of the major American promotions and I want to bring some of that into my review archive. Before that I’ve got a stack of five TNA compilations. I figure compilation sets are the best way to get a flavour of the promotion without having to sit through too much lousy booking. I’ll start here with this one, the Best of the X-Division circa 2004/5…I’ve also got the Samoa Joe 2006/7 compilation, the Best Of 2007, the best of TNA’s gimmick matches, and the Kurt Angle Best Of which I’m eagerly anticipating. Lets get cracking. As I said, this one features a selection of choice X-Division cuts from, what I believe is the early Impact Zone days. Obviously X-Division stalwarts Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles will feature heavily. They’re joined by names like Petey Williams, Chris Sabin, Samoa Joe and even Sean ‘X-Pac’ Waltman. It’s a strong line-up…but it’s going to be a LONG four hours of Don West commentary.
Jeremy Borash is your host, accompanied by some absolutely AWFUL, porno-esque music. We go straight to the Impact Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida to join Mike Tenay and Don West. For those that never saw pre-Hogan TNA, this is in a 6-sided ring.
20-Man X-Division Invitational Gauntlet Match
This one took place at Victory Road 2004, with the winner getting a big ugly cup. The first thing you’ll notice is the amazing improvements in production and camera equipment that TNA has stepped up to nowadays. This looks like it’s been shot on a high quality webcam. Apparently it features X-Division talent from all over the world. This is Royal Rumble rules, with a new wrestler every one minute.
Frankie Kazarian and Sonjay Dutt will start. Dutt nearly gets hurled out 10 seconds in, but catches the ropes and re-enters with a slingshot SOMERSAULT headscissors. Puma (TJ Perkins) is the next entrant, and gets some audible ‘TJP’ chants. CRADLE FALCON ARROW drops Sonjay. Next in is LA Park (La Parka in WCW). He brings the trademark chair with him and waffles everyone with it. He then struggles to get his jacket off so looks like a tit. Jerrelle Clark is in next to land a handspring into standing corkscrew moonsault on Dutt. La Parka has his stupid jacket off now. Kazushi Miyamoto (working his Great Kazushi Muta tribute gimmick is in next). 630 SENTON from Jerrelle to Puma. Matt Bentley (Michael Shane) arrives now. He’s in a tag team with Frankie Kazarian…and they immediately join forces to eliminate Puma and Clark. Miyamoto gets dumped out too without having done anything. Hector Garza from Mexico is in next, joining forces with fellow Mexican LA Park to incapacitate the Bentley/Kazarian duo. NOSAWA of AJPW fame is in next, dropping Garza with a Shining Wizard.
I’m begging anyone to eliminate LA Park. Mikey Batts (a local Floridian) makes his entrance next, immediately grounded with a belly to belly suplex by Bentley. Alex Shelley is in next. This is well before he became one of TNA’s top X-Division talents. Shelley tosses out Sonjay. And the f*cking camera man MISSES La Parka’s elimination! Good riddance though. I hate that guy. Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne) arrives and hits a standing SSP on Shelley’s back. Shelley appears to be injured as he’s rolled out to the floor to receive some medical attention. Sonny Siaki (an X-Division champion during TNA’s Asylum years) comes in and suplexes NOSAWA out of the match. Hector Garza eliminates Batts as Jason Cross enters. Sydal misses the corkscrew Asai moonsault then takes a brainbuster from Cross. Shark Boy in…and he’s biting the asses of Kazarian and Bentley. Shelley, still seemingly injured on the floor, eliminates Sydal. Psicosis (looking in far better shape than La Parka did) is in…and he goes right after Garza. Tracy Brooks saves Matt Bentley from elimination by lifting his feet off the floor. D-Ray 3000 is in now, joining forces with regular partner Shark Boy…until Siaki eliminates the pair of them. Amazing Red limps to the ring…I seem to remember this was around the time he came back from a serious knee injury WAY too quickly and basically ruined his career for a few years.
Psicosis hits an awesome top rope spinning heel kick on Cross, who’d just eliminated Alex Shelley. Spanky is in…and he goes RIGHT AFTER BENTLEY! Those two have been rivals right back to being trained by HBK. The last man in is Chris Sabin. Don West points out the amount of former X-Division Champions we have in there. Spanky and Sabin eliminate Siaki to take one of those champions out. Spanky then eliminates Bentley with a headscissors over the ropes. Spanky, Red and Kazarian fight on the top rope…Cross and Sabin join them. THE MEXICANS POWERBOMB EVERYONE OFF THE TURNBUCKLES! Psicosis DDT’s Jason Cross and eliminates him. He then gets kicked off the apron by Red. Frankie then trips Red to the floor to eliminate him. Spanky lines up Sliced Bread #2…AND GETS THROWN OUT! Final three is Kazarian, Sabin and Garza. ROPE RUN GERMAN SUPERPLEX BY SABIN! Garza crotches him and dropkicks Sabin out. Now it’s pinfalls to crown a winner by the way. Hector blocks Wave Of The Future and goes to the top rope…for a GORGEOUS MOONSAULT…FOR 2! Kazarian comes back with a slingshot DDT. Garza to the top again. CORKSCREW MOONSAULT MISSES! But Garza counters Frankie’s roll up to win at 26:29.
Rating - ** - In fairness, this was a great way to start the DVD. Royal Rumble format will always appeal to the casual viewer, so it was a good way of using that popular structure to introduce the X-Division style. The problem was, it was far too rushed…and after a while became incredibly formulaic with one guy coming in, hitting a spot then brawling in a corner until the next entrant came in…to do the same thing. In the end it was a blur of little guys flying around, stalling and horrifying entrance musicI liked the fact that the talent was essentially the most random bunch of wrestlers ever assembled ever. You had TNA stalwarts, past and future WWE guys like Kendrick and Sydal, ageing Mexicans like La Parka and Psicosis along with a bunch of absolute nobody jobbers. I can’t believe that TNA were so high on Garza (who was perfectly fine, but far from the star of the match) that they’d put Kazarian, an over guy with a great gimmick, through the whole match then NOT let him win. Garza would go on to be fired after being arrested whilst in possession of illegal steroids.
Petey Williams vs AJ Styles – TNA X-Division Title Match
This is also at Victory Road 2004, with Williams positioned as defending champion, coming in after a fairly dominant run with the belt. This was around the time when the Team Canada gimmick, with Scott D’Amore at the helm, was really over.
AJ gets a hero’s welcome as he makes his way to the ring. He lands on his feet as Williams goes for a German, before the two launch into an AMAZING back and forth wrestling exchange. You’ll also notice they always make it about the belt by continually going for covers. Nip up rana from Styles, then the dropkick sequence…which Don West orgasms over. Standing moonsault off the apron misses…but AJ lands on his feet to dropkick Petey. RUNNING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! But Petey manages to hang Styles in the ropes, then distracts the referee whilst Coach D’Amore gets a few cheap shots in. Styles looks for the quebrada into the inverted DDT…but with his positioning slightly off, Williams reacts swiftly to sell it as a backflip kick. Petey tries to trap AJ in a tree of woe…BUT AJ SITS UP INTO A GERMAN SUPLEX! Pele Kick floors the champion again. Back suplex drops Williams on his neck…but as he looks to line up a Styles Clash Petey throws him out. Styles comes STRAIGHT back in with a springboard forearm smash for 2. Russian legsweep from Williams, before signalling for the Canadian Destroyer. AJ counters that, then drives Williams into the ropes. They roll back and forth going for finishers…and D’Amore distracts the official as AJ looks to have it won. Williams has a hockey stick! Ref grabs that…so Williams nails Styles with the title belt instead. Canadian Destroyer blocked so D’Amore grabs AJ’s leg again. CANADIAN DESTROYER! Petey retains at 09:49.
Rating - *** - Some amazing junior heavyweight wrestling on display before the over booking really came into effect. In TNA’s defence, the whole Team Canada thing is REALLY over, with the crowd being red hot for this. So as much as all the interference is annoying to guys like me, it’s clearly working. And in less than 10 minutes, these guys really couldn’t do much more. Snappy match…
Christopher Daniels vs Chris Sabin
This is from the final Impact taping leading in to Final Resolution 2005. The winner gets to join Petey Williams and AJ Styles in the Ultimate X Match on the ppv – with Petey’s X-Division Championship on the line.
As you’d expect, lots of nice wrestling on the mat to get us underway. Sabin manages to clothesline Daniels over the ropes for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! We go to a commercial break, then rejoin with Sabin springboarding back into the ring, and into a flatliner. Tenay points out that Daniels has started to work the neck to prep for his finishers. Sabin goes for a hurricanrana and gets powerbombed onto the back of his head. DVD ON THE NECK! Sabin gets a shoulder up at 2. He tries to fire back with some forearms, so Daniels starts headbutting the neck. At last Sabin manages to swing into a standing enzi which leaves both men down. Sit-out powerbomb gets 2. Daniels hits a tilta-whirl backbreaker then a running STO to go right back after Sabin’s neck. Best Moonsault Ever misses and allows Sabin to hit a springboard tornado DDT for a 2. Cradle Shock blocked. Angel’s Wings blocked! Sabin rolls Daniels up for a desperation win at 09:12 (shown).
Rating - *** - For a free TV match, you couldn’t ask for much more. Terrific work by Daniels on the neck which carried the match, building to a couple of believable nearfalls, then a cool finishing sequence which ended in a clean pin. I liked how Tenay and West (when they weren’t shilling the frankly AWFUL-sounding main event scene with Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash, DDP and Monty Brown) focused on the fact that Daniels had never been X-Division Champion up to this point, making his aggressive attack on Sabin’s neck even more logical.
Petey Williams vs AJ Styles vs Chris Sabin – TNA X-Division Title Ultimate X Match
This is the Final Resolution 2005 match that drew a LOT of praise at the time. Petey comes in with the belt, and can boast that he’s now the longest reigning X-Division Champion in TNA history. His challengers are former champion Chris Sabin, and X-Division pioneer/NWA-TNA Grand Slam Champion AJ Styles. If you’ve never seen one of these before…it’s sort of like a ladder match in that the belt is suspended above the ring with the aim being to get it down. The difference being, the belt is fastened in the centre of an ‘X’ formed in cables stretched from scaffold structures in four corners of the ring. Rather than ladders, the wrestlers must circus their way along the high wires to get to the belt.
Mike Tenay points out that Sabin is undefeated in Ultimate X Matches. Petey rakes the eyes of both opponents to give himself the advantage, then tries to run away from them. Eventually he’s cornered, allowing both the babyfaces to team up on him. LEAPFROG DROPKICK sends Williams to the floor. Sabin is the first to look at climbing the ropes, but is quickly pulled down by AJ. Sabin and Petey fight on the floor…and Styles hits the SOMERSAULT PLANCHA to take both men out. AJ and Sabin start to climb the scaffold…with Sabin hitting a TOP ROPE dropkick to take AJ out of the running. He start to clamber towards the belt…only for Scott D’Amore to grab his legs and cut him off. Petey’s coach is then ejected from ringside. The irate champion channels his anger into rolling suplexes on Sabin, then locks in the Sharpshooter. BUT AJ SCALES THE ROPES! Williams hauls him from the cables and drops him with a German suplex. Styles responds with a jumping enzi kick. Once again it’s Styles and Sabin trying to climb to the belt. AJ gets Sabin on his shoulders…AND PETEY CROSSES THE CABLES INTO A FLYING HEADSCISSORS! Amazing spot which sends the crowd wild. Willams and Styles now race across the X from opposing sides in a race to the belt. MID AIR KICKS BY AJ! Petey is hanging upside own as Sabin drags AJ off the cables! He tries to go for the belt! AJ GOES FOR A SPRINGBOARD FOREARM…BUT PETEY EVADES IT! BUT CAN’T HOLD ON ANYMORE! SABIN SWINGS OFF THE CABLES INTO A SUPER HURRICANRANA ON AJ! Williams is back…and he and Sabin battle to hit their finishers, only to be simultaneously taken out by Styles and the quebrada inverted DDT. Styles goes for the belt again…MISSILE DROPKICK FROM SABIN TO STOP HIM! AJ’s mid-air flip to sell that is all kinds of awesome. Petey SNAPS AJ’s arm in one of the corner scaffolds. CRADLE SHOCK by Sabin! With both men down it looks like Sabin’s match. AJ tries to pull him into a Styles Clash…COUNTERED TO A TRIANGLE CHOKE! POWERBOMB BY AJ! ONE ARMED STYLES CLASH! But how does Styles climb to the belt with a bad arm? He gets closer…BUT CAN’T HOLD ON! CANADIAN DESTROYER FROM PETEY! He tries to climb the ropes, but Sabin grabs him for SPLASH MOUNTAIN BUCKLE BOMB! It’s Sabin and Petey HANGING UPSIDE DOWN fighting for the belt! THEY PULL THE BELT LOOSE! AJ SPRINGBOARDS ACROSS AND SNATCHES IT OFF THEM! AJ wins at 19:56!
Rating - ****1/2 - I heard it called an MOTYC at the time, and it really holds up. What stands out about this one isn’t just the unbelievable spots, but it’s the incredible logic and storytelling they work those spots into. Nobody went for the belt in the early going, increasing the tension and further hyping the forthcoming aerial warfare. Then a guy would try to climb and then get pulled back. THEN a guy would get a little closer. And from the point that Williams hit that crazy headscissors from the cables, things just kicked into a higher gear. Stunning spot warfare, and an epic piece of story telling with AJ getting his arm injured, then not being able to climb. If I were to criticise anything, I thought the finish was a little corny, but it certainly made SENSE within the context of the match in that it allowed Styles to win even though his injured arm meant he couldn’t climb. In truth, that’s this matches biggest selling point. It’s not just crazy high spots for the sake of it. These guys made sure that, when they put their bodies on the line, it really MEANT something, and contributed something to an incredible match. Go out of your way to see this.
AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels – TNA X-Division Title 30-Minute Iron Man Match
This one is from Against All Odds 2005 and, amazingly, is their first singles meeting in TNA. Is that really true? Tenay still does an awesome job of putting over their history together, even crediting Daniels with making AJ’s career with a match they had on an NWA show back in 2001. The Fallen Angel is STILL searching for his first X-Division Championship though.
With thirty minutes to play with, these two have no issue working the mat to start us off. It quickly degenerates into both guys going for pins, looking for that crucial first fall of the contest. Daniels avoids AJ’s traditional dropkick once…then hits the ropes and EATS it anyway. FLYING HEADSCISSORS FROM THE APRON! After a flurry of activity on the floor, they roll back in and start trading holds again. Styles keeps taking Daniels down with armdrags, continually getting his feet quicker than the Fallen Angel and grounding him again. He’s injured Daniels’ arm here, causing the challenger to roll out of the ring to look for some breathing space. Nothing doing though, as AJ dropkicks him through the ropes…THEN HITS A CRAZY SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA! He goes for another springboard move, but the wounded Daniels ducks behind the referee, then FIRES Styles into the guardrails. That appears to do some damage to the ribs, and Daniels is on it in a flash. Repeated knees to the stomach and ribs as we approach 10 minutes. Styles tries to flip backwards out of a back suplex attempt…but crashes down onto his ribs again. Arabian press scores for 2. Discus Lariat from the champion to leave both men down. Styles is up first with a spinning heel kick and a quebrada DDT for 2. Does TNA pipe in crowd noise? For some reason the crowd seems really generic and annoying. AJ hits a back suplex but is slow to cover. 450 SPLASH INTO THE KNEES! ANGELS WINGS! Daniels goes 1-0 up at 14:07. And he wastes no time in drilling AJ with a ribbreaker to keep the pressure on.
Abdominal stretch locked in, which at this stage will damage the midsection AND run the clock down. Styles escapes that only to be launched gut-first into the top rope. Suplex gutbuster gets 2. But AJ comes out of nowhere with a handspring elbow, then comes close to evening the score with a Death Valley neckbreaker. 20 minutes gone now, and AJ is still behind. And Daniels steals one of Styles’ moves to floor him again – the quebrada DDT. Blue Thunder Driver nearly makes it 2-0. PELE KICK! Hit with such ferocity the ref has to check Daniels isn’t knocked out! Samoan drop scores as Daniels targets the ribs again. BEST MOONSAULT EVER misses. German suplex by AJ…then he counters Last Rites INTO ANGELS WINGS THEFT! Daniels kicks out at 2! He drives a shoulder into the ribs to evade the Styles Clash…but Styles manages to even the score with a flash pin at 24:01. It’s 1-1 and the match spills to the floor again. Styles is busted open as Fallen Angel drives him into the ringpost. And the challenger goes after the laceration with fists, headbutts and more. Three minutes to go and AJ can barely stand. Running STO gets 2, and Daniels can’t even pull AJ to his feet to hit Angels Wings. 60 seconds left on the clock…KOJI CLUTCH! Blood pours down AJ’s face and coats Daniels leg! TEN SECONDS LEFT! TIME LIMIT EXPIRES (at 29:53)! AJ HOLDS ON! It’s a 1-1 draw...so Daniels demands that Dusty Rhodes take this match into sudden death overtime. Dusty agrees…it’s on again. Daniels goes for a frankensteiner and gets THROWN AWAY! STYLES CLASH! STYLES WINS IT in 31:33.
Rating - **** - These guys wrestling for 30 minutes was always going to be good. I’ve never been the biggest man of the 30 Minute Iron Man format as I think it makes matches a bit predictable, but these two did a terrific job of keeping everyone watching with some stunning technical wrestling. Daniels, as ever, was did a terrific job of working the ribs and carrying the bulk of the workload, whilst the popular AJ bided his time and picked his moments to make crowd-popping comebacks. I was disappointed that they dropped the storyline of Daniels working the ribs in favour of the cheaper blood-letting in the last five minutes, but the image of Styles’ blood pouring down Daniels’ leg as he clung onto the Koji Clutch was definitely memorable. Again, credit to TNA for giving these two half an hour of ppv time to go out and wrestle a technical clinic. In 2005 in particular, that wasn’t something you’d get to see from the WWE – hence presenting TNA as a credible, viable alternative.
In some sloppy editing…Jeremy Borash does the intro to the next match on DVD 1…before the feed ends and we have to switch DVD’s for the actual match. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not exactly difficult to end the first disc after the Styles/Daniels match and have the intro on DVD 2. Little things like that make a big difference.
AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Ron Killings vs Elix Skipper – TNA X-Division Title Match
This is from Destination X of 2005. Styles still holds the X-Division Championship, and is once again opposed by his nemesis Chris Daniels. But this time it’s Ultimate X, and we’ve got Daniels’ former Triple X team-mate Elix Skipper, along with former NWA Champion Ron ‘The Truth’ Killings, who WWE fans will recognise as R-Truth. The rules are technically a little different this time in that it’s an elimination match, rather than a standard Ultimate X. The first fall is a tag match (Daniels/Killings vs Styles/Skipper, second is a three way dance. THEN, once we’re down to the final two it actually comes down to chasing the belt in the Ultimate X format.
Don West points out that Daniels and Skipper only stopped teaming as a result of a stipulation that was activated upon their defeat to America’s Most Wanted in their legendary Steel Cage Match, and nothing is stopping them from working together even though they oppose each other here. Truth strikes first with a missile dropkick on Elix. But Skipper bridges out of a pin attempt and hits a butterfly suplex, followed by his own missile dropkick. Styles tags in and wants Daniels…who refuses to tag Killings. AJ and Truth BOTCH the traditional AJ dropkick sequence…so AJ hits it anyway, then gets clobbered from behind by Fallen Angel. With Styles down, Daniels willingly tags in…and whips AJ towards his ‘partner’ Skipper, who knees Styles in the back and applauds his former ally. Flatliner into a Crossface by Daniels, as AJ has to contemplate the reality that he’s almost in a 3-on-1 predicament here. Daniels gets 2 with the Arabian Press. Blue Thunder is blocked into a standing enzi kick to the back of the head, leaving both men down. Truth in…and he teams up with AJ to go after Skipper. He backflips into a scissor kick to the guts…then a top rope axe kick! Daniels saves the fall for his former XXX stable-mate. STYLES TAKES DANIELS OUT WITH THE RUNNING SOMERSAULT DIVE! AIR RAID CRASH from Elix to Killings. The Truth is eliminated at 08:09. Meaning now Triple X are free to team up to ensure their path to Ultimate X. Styles and Elix take turns kicking each other, then hit simultaneous clotheslines.
Daniels climbs across the cables…ARABIAN PRESS OFF THE ULTIMATE X ONTO BOTH OF THEM! Amazing spot there, but one which seems to provoke the annoyance of Elix Skipper. Daniels drops him with an urinage suplex. Belly to belly by Skipper, then a SPINNING Kick Of Death. Styles springboards back in with a forearm in Primetime. All three battle on a turnbuckle. Elix hangs on the cables…INTO A REVERSE SUPER RANA ON AJ! The former XXX members fight it out…and don’t see AJ climbing the cables. They turn as he looks for a somersault press, so AJ CATCHES HIMSELF then spins into an SSP at them instead. Incredible body control from Styles. Skipper saves Daniels from the Styles Clash…blocks the quebrada inverted DDT and hits the Air Raid Crash again. This time Styles rolls away…and Daniels sneaks in to roll up Elix and eliminate him at 17:19. With AJ down, Daniels seems to have a free run at the belt…only for AJ to jerk him down. Pele Kick scores and both men are down. They get to their feet and both decide to go for the belt. Styles kicks Daniels down…so Fallen Angel just dives at him and mauls the champion down too. Styles hangs off the cables to boot Daniels in the face…so Daniels jumps off the ropes into a FLYING STO! To the turnbuckles again…it’s a chase to the belt, ending with Daniels falling and dragging AJ down after him. Chase for the belt again…both men fall again. Chase for the belt AGAIN! Both men fall down…AGAIN! One more time AJ goes for the belt…and this time he gets it. But the ref is down and doesn’t see it. ANGELS WINGS! Daniels grabs the belt, and STEALS the belt at 25:27.
Rating - *** - There were some terrific moments in that match, with the triple threat portion between Daniels, Elix and AJ particularly standing out. However, the beginning and end of this one dragged it down. The mish-mash multiple falls structure didn’t help at all, Ron Killings didn’t look like he wanted to be there and largely phoned it in, whilst the Ultimate X concept really struggled with just two men. The repetitive chase/fail…chase/fail…chase/fail sequences just didn’t work. They looked ugly, sloppy…and basically like Daniels and AJ were killing time. The finish was a giant let down too. Great to see Daniels win the belt for the first time, but it’s a shame he didn’t get a genuine rub with a cleaner victory than that.
Matt Bentley vs Sonjay Dutt vs Chris Sabin vs Shocker – Xscape Match
This is from TNA’s all steel cage ppv (f*cking stupid concept in my opinion) – Lockdown. Here four X-Division athletes go at it, again under elimination rules. It’s pinfalls or submission elimination until we’re down to 2, with that duo battling to be the first man to escape the cage. Shocker is a fairly major name on the Lucha Libre scene.
Apparently even though we’re in a cage, this will still have a tag format at first. Dutt and Sabin go back and forth with some lovely duelling mirror offence exchanges, eventually coming to halt and drawing a nice ovation. Multi-revolution headscissors scores for Sonjay, only for Sabin to fire back with a rana. Bentley and the Mexican veteran Shocker in next. Dutt combines with Shocker to score with a double hiptoss. Note to Don West, just because this match is called an ‘XScape’ match, it does NOT give you permission to mispronounce the word ‘escape’ every f*cking time you say it. Bentley leapfrogs Sonjay into the cage, seemingly slicing his elbow open. Matt breaks out some basics, by choking Dutt in the corner, then a snapmare into a chinlock. He tries to leapfrog Dutt into the cage again, but this time Sonjay catches himself. Headscissors out of the corner and Dutt manages to tag Sabin. Bentley slams Sabin into the cage for 2. Chris hits back with a springboard tornado DDT. Shocker lands an Asai Moonsault on Bentley for 2. La Magistral nearly does the job. FOUR WAY submission spot in the ropes, which ends when Dutt sweeps Sabin into a dropkick on Shocker and Bentley. Sabin drops Dutt with a Ligerbomb…and Shocker inexplicably breaks it. Sonjay hits the Hindu Press on Shocker…and Bentley stupidly breaks the fall. He ALLEY OOPS Dutt into the cage, then drops him with a superkick. Shocker sneaks in to eliminate Dutt at 10:55. Shocker to the top, caught with a ROPE RUN northern lights superplex from Sabin. Bentley and Sabin on the top rope as Trinity (Bentley’s valet) decides to climb the cage. Tracy Brooks tries to climb after…and injures herself. MOONSAULT OFF THE F*CKING CAGE BY TRINITY! Tracy comes into the ring…only for Bentley to throw her out. Cradle Shock on Bentley to eliminate him at 14:03. Shocker and Sabin start racing to climb the cage, eventually crotching each other and falling all the way to the ground. Shocker makes it to the top first, but both men make it over the top. They both fall, but Shocker hits the ground first to win at 15:37.
Rating - ** - Much as Don West predicted during the intros, the cage actually restricted what the athletic X-Division guys could do, rather than enhance it. This was a bit of a mess in truth. Some nice moments (the Trinity moonsault and most of Matt Bentley’s contributions) but it went WAY too long, and giving Shocker, who is PAINFULLY over-rated, the win over deserving TNA guys like Sabin or Bentley is a laughable booking decision. He was the least interesting guy in this by a mile.
AJ Styles vs Sean Waltman
This is from No Surrender 2005. The artist formerly known as X-Pac was actually on a bit of a hot streak in the indies around this time. He drew lots of praise from the likes of Gabe Sapolsky for his contributions to the FIP locker room (to the extent that people were predicting a run in ROH for him) and was actually recapturing some of the in-ring form that made him such a hot prospect a decade ago. This one has former X-Division Champion Jerry Lynn as guest referee. Jerry tells Shane Douglas of his history with both men…but promises to let the best man win.
Massive pop and ‘welcome back’ chants for Lynn. Intense lock ups between Styles and Waltman, with fans more interested in mocking Sean for his liaisons with Joanie Laurer. Lots of roll-up attempts, and credit goes to Waltman for easily keeping up with AJ. He finally rolls out of the ring after taking a couple of body slams. But AJ continues to dominate, trapping Sean in the bridging deathlock, then BRUTALLY kicking him in the chest when he breaks that. The dropkick knocks Waltman out of the ring again, and into prime position for the running somersault plancha. Having seen enough of this, Waltman rakes the eyes and drives Styles nutsack-first into the ringpost. Chinlock by the veteran, slowing the match right down to his pace after having been on the back foot for so long. He looks for the Bronco Buster…but AJ tries to turn it into a Styles Clash. Waltman kicks his way free and this time executes the Bronco Buster. Spinning heel kick knocks AJ outside for a TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! That busted smashed Styles’ nose all over his face. But he still gets to his feet to leapfrog Sean into the ringpost. Springboard elbow smash nailed as the younger man starts to get some momentum going. Quebrada inverted DDT gets 2. Suplex neckbreaker COUNTERED with a low blow out of sight of Jerry Lynn. Waltman gets a nearfall with a bridging northern lights. He goes to the top again, but dives off into a dropkick from AJ. STYLES CLASH! WALTMAN KICKS OUT! He thinks about the Spiral Tap…but it MISSES! X FACTOR! AJ KICKS OUT! Sean is angry at that and goes for a steel chair. He folds Styles’ leg up in the chair…only for Jerry to throw it out. Waltman tries to grab the ropes next, but Lynn kicks them off. STYLES CLASH! AJ wins at 14:34
Rating - *** - If Waltman had been working matches as good as this during the tail end of his WWE career, it definitely would’ve been easier for him to convince them to let him stay. It wasn’t an all time classic, but they did a hell of a job working the youngster vs veteran angle. At first I was worried Waltman was phoning it in, but that was simply the story of the match. Styles dominated early, so Sean had to go to the outside and use his experience to get the advantage. If I was to criticise something, I’ll say that I felt it was going along just fine, and they didn’t really need multiple false finishes and a mass of referee interaction (although with a guest ref, I suppose that’s inevitable) to bring home what had been a really solid midcard match. It’s clear a motivated Sean Waltman still has something to offer.
Samoa Joe vs Chris Sabin
From the same night as Styles/Waltman, we get this match. This is a month into Joe’s TNA run. He debuted at Slammiversary and annihilated Sonjay Dutt…then embarked on a month long undefeated streak running into this match. Can the former X-Division Champion derail the Samoan’s streak?
Mike Tenay says Joe is 6’8? On what planetary system is Joe nearly 7 feet tall? Sabin starts the match by concentrating on staying out of the clutches of the powerful Samoan. He tries some shoulder tackles with zero success, but manages to dropkick Joe into the turnbuckles instead. He tries to get Joe up for the Cradle Shock, but doesn’t have the strength to lift him. Jumping enzi by Joe, then a climbing knee strike in the corner. Bootscrapes then the running facewash leave Sabin incapacitated on the canvas. Rather than try anything fancy, Joe opts for simple neck vices, cranking Sabin’s neck in preparation for one of his finishing holds. Sabin hits a CRAZY springboard missile dropkick and knocks Joe to the floor. MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON INTO THE GUARDRAILS! He double stomps Joe’s back then heads upstairs again for a springboard leg drop which gets 2. But he still can’t get Joe up for Cradle Shock and gets dropped on his neck with a German suplex. Springboard DDT from Sabin gets 2. But he tries one aerial move too many and eats a massive powerbomb into the Samoan Submission combo. Sabin battles to the ropes and gets a big cheer. Musclebuster blocked so Joe SLAPS Sabin in the face. LIGERBOMB OUT OF THE CORNER! JOE KICKS OUT! Cradle Shock…blocked! Sabin goes upstairs again only for Joe to sweep the legs. MUSCLEBUSTER! CHOKE! Sabin is out at 14:05.
Rating - *** - Tremendously exciting little match there. Joe basically discovered this formula for the majority of the early days of his TNA tenure when he was booked as a dominant submission machine. The smaller guy would get some early shots in…Joe would dominate. The smaller guy would land some high impact moves…Joe would survive. Joe would win. It’s simple stuff. But you can’t deny that these two worked that formula to perfection. The fans loved both guys and genuinely didn’t seem to want the match to stop. I believe this was Joe’s outstanding match in TNA up to this point.
That’s the end of the wrestling portion of the DVD. We leave with TNA’s X-Division in a healthy state. Guys like Sabin, Bentley, Dutt and more all over and on the undercard…with AJ, Daniels, and now Samoa Joe at the forefront. The last match shows the dominant Samoa Joe in top form, ahead of the critically acclaimed three-way AJ/Daniels/Joe feud for the belt. I think Volume 2 of The Best Of The X-Division has a feature on that feud…but I’ve skipped that DVD since the majority of it is just filler matches from Impact.
We close with a fairly basic interview with Jerry Lynn. I’d rather have seen one of his matches with AJ from the Asylum days included, but I get the feeling that’s not the creative direction we’re going with this DVD. It’s fine for what it is. There is a brutal burial of Juvi Guerrera in there which is fun.
Tape Rating - *** - A mixed bag here, but certainly not a purchase I regret. The first DVD is really good stuff. There’s the super-hot Williams/AJ match, the phenomenal Ultimate X Match and the mat clinic between Daniels and AJ. Honestly that was worth the price of the purchase by itself (since I got this on the cheap on eBay). DVD 2 is a notable step down in quality (the second Ultimate X Match is a borderline disappointment, whilst the Cage Match is pretty poor) but still features some fun little undercard bouts in Styles/Waltman and Joe/Sabin. Definitely not the most amazing compilation set ever, but a fine example of the kind of talent that TNA had sitting on it’s undercard whilst it was wasting time pushing the WWE rejects they were running in the main event scene at the time.
Top 3 Matches
3) Petey Williams vs AJ Styles (***)
2) Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles (****)
1) Petey Williams vs AJ Styles vs Chris Sabin (****1/2)