It’s July 17th 2005
and we’re at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. We have Mike Tenay & Don
West on commentary, man do I miss this team when hearing the current team. And
most importantly it’s No Surrender and it’s the six-sided ring! Show opens with
a video which includes backwards talking, which I believe revealed Rhino was
debuting later that night, but the main purpose was to highlight the matches
coming up. We then go to our first match. Matt Bentley & Alex Shelley w/Traci
Brooks vs. America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm): Back story here
is that Storm and Bentley claim to have the best Superkick. Watching AMW I
always thought Harris would be the breakout star, fast forward to today and
Storm will likely be the next World champ. Storm and Shelley start, Alex is
wearing similar colours to Matt which I like. Harris does a British Bulldog
style suplex to Matt. I forgot SoCal Val just hanged around the outside. Storm
throws Shelley into the side of the entrance ramp, security swams and Storm
runs off the ramp onto the pile but he seemed to miss everyone and just hit the
floor. Apparently there are no count outs as everyone is fighting forever and
no DQ’s as Traci hit’s a low blow on Harris. Harris fights back and picks up
Traci, giving up a up skirt shot for all you men out there although she’s done “playboy”
before, and she gets handcuffed in AMW’s corner. We finally get Storm vs.
Bentley. Storm hits a weak Eye of the Storm on Shelley. Bentley hits a dropkick
when Storm tries to Skin the Cat, not an actual cat mind you. Shelley flips
into the ring and into a Superkick to give AMW the win but Bentley hits a
superkick afterwards. Honestly this match just screamed, lets break into a
brawl and the finishing sequence from the get go. Nothing to special but wasn’t
bad. We then get a video showing Jeff Jarrett’s promo pointing out that TNA
hiring every former WWE guy and this leads to the reveal that Rhino is here.
Then we go backstage to Team Canada, oh look Shane Douglas is there as the
interviewer probably his best on air role. Jarrett interrupts and asks if they’re
with him, Roode finishes by saying they shouldn’t trust him basically saying “We’re
heel but not as much as him”. Finally the next match. Shark Boy vs. Mikey Batts vs. Elix
Skipper vs. Sonjay Dutt: This match has tags and we start with
Elix and Dutt. Dutt does several twists in a tilt-a-world head scissors. West
mentions how Dutt should be an X champ at some point, he never was which was a
crime. Batts outfit looks painted on. Shark bits Batts ass never she the point
of that but at least I’m not the one who has to bite another man’s ass. Elix
dodges a crossbody with his “matrix” and Dutt jumps in with a double stomp when
he was down. Dutt is so smooth in the ring, TNA really missed out on him. Elix
messes up his tight rope spot and he falls awkwardly on the apron to the
outside, he must have been glad that didn’t happen in the famous cage match he
was in. Batts throws Dutt of the top rope and Dutt hits a moonsault on Shark,
yet sells it which I don’t get as that’s what he was aiming for. Dutt
eventually hits the Phoenix Splash on Batts to win. A match full of high spots
and big moves, your typical multi man X division match. Simon Diamond & David Young vs. Apolo
& Sonny Siaki: A match for the work out obsessed. Simon looks
horrible mixed in which these four, and Simon wasn’t in bad shape at all. I don’t
want to say Apolo & Siaki were on the gas but they were probably on the
gas. The running story is Young is a loser and has been for years, always a
winning story to use. Apolo hits a somersault plancha onto everyone didn’t
expect that from him. The heat in this match lasted all of a minute this is all
Apolo & Siaki. Young hits a great double A looking spinebuster. Young wasn’t
legal so the ref didn’t count, Apolo then hits a TKO on Young and the ref
counts. What? Probably the worst match on the card. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Sabin: Just these names
alone should get you excited. Tenay points out that Joe is undefeated over the
past month, I wouldn’t have pointed that out. By the way this is how you do an
undefeated streak story no one cared about Crimsons. They trade shots and Sabin
sells it great putting over how much stronger Joe is. Sabin tries for the
cradle shock early but can’t pick Joe up, Joe then hits a Sick Kick. He then
hits CM Punk’s corner knee and the face wash. Joe looked like a killer here we
need this Joe back. Sabin fights back with shots to the head, Joe must not be Samoan
as wrestling has taught of Samoan’s don’t feel pain in their heads. Sabin
fights back with a springboard dropkick, followed by a low dropkick and ending
with a dropkick off the apron to the outside to Joe. Sabin hits a double stomp
while Joe is bent over in a nice looking spot. Joe hits an awesome looking
powerslam. We’re getting a lot of replays and they fill the entire screen, I
don’t like that as we miss things. Joe hits his powerbomb and when Sabin kicks
out goes into the STF and when he reaches out moves into a crossface and then
into the Rings of Saturn, loved all of that. The fans love this and are into a
near fall when Sabin hits a running powerbomb. Joe then hits the muscle buster
and locks in the choke for the win. Just a fantastic match that built up
perfectly. I love this match. As much bad that can be said about West’s
commentary you can’t deny you was perfect to help build excitement. The Naturals (Andy Douglas & Chase Stevens)
& Lance Hoyt w/Jimmy Hart vs. Team Canada (A1, Bobby Roode & Eric
Young): Quick
story The Naturals were managed by Chris Candido but he sadly passed away soon after
winning the Tag titles, my guess is they put Jimmy Hart with them as they felt
they needed someone to talk for them, he wouldn’t last long. In this match only
2 remain with the company, one is a horrible comedy act and the other is the
World champ imagine that. A1 is insanely jacked and is probably the only TNA
wrestler that ever got “You Can’t Wrestle” chants, Mr. Anderson should get that
but the TNA fans are too kind I guess. Hoytamania is running wild and by that I
mean the 6 guys in the front with t-shirt, did you know Hoyt used to by shots
for the fans after shows? I’m surprised WWE didn’t do more with Hoyt, I hear he’s
doing well in Japan. Of course we get USA chants early. We miss a dive by
Douglas but we do see a moonsault to the outside by Stevens. We then comeback
from a replay to just catch Hoyt’s dive. I’m really hating those replays. The
faces are destroying A1, way to build him as the monster of Team Canada. I miss
heel Eric Young, just a serious Eric Young would be nice to see. They do the
Eddie Guerrero spot with Roode acting like Jimmy Hart hit him with a hockey
stick leading to him being thrown out and Team Canada getting the advantage on
Stevens. I’m getting tired of the commentators saying the Naturals are lost
without Jimmy Hart, they’re your Tag champs for crying out loud. Hoyt gets
tagged in hits a huge twisting slam and a big chokeslam. The ref bumps himself
he just falls on the floor randomly, this leads to Roode hitting the champs
with the megaphone and the win for Team Canada. Nothing too great here but this
wasn’t bad and that ref bump was hilarious. 3 Live Kru(Konnan & Ron Killings)
vs. Monty Brown & Kip James-Street Fight: Story here, is
BG James with Kip? By the way he announces he’s Kip James seconds before the
match he was originally the Outlaw. Backstage promo with Brown & Kip, I
love Monty Brown so much. He should have been a World champ. Jarrett asks for
his help and Brown refuses until he’s champ again and gives him a shot, Brown
was awesome in this segment. This is the 4th tag match, we can only
dream of getting 2 these days. Konnan cuts a promo with his back to the hard
cam, such a pro that guy. Konnan hits his rolling clothesline, never been a fan
of that move. Within seconds Kip is bleeding, is he trying to be Ric Flair? The
ref gets nailed with a cookie sheet within minutes, oh good his replacement
bumped himself in the last match. We get 3D’s What’s Up spot by the Kru, they
try for a second but Brown throws Killings and they get the advantage. I always
thought Killings just added twist for the hell of it, he flips like crazy when
fighting back. The ref get’s pulled out and thrown into the railing but my
highlight is the fan in the background that you can see is stealing the sheet
with their foot. Back in the ring we get the Pounce and the win for James &
Brown. This was nice, short little brawl. Afterwards BG comes out to tease
joining them but leaves. They would join up later. AJ Styles vs. Sean Waltman w/ Jerry Lynn
as Special ref: Video
shows how the match was made and the history between Lynn and the 2 guys. Sean
cost AJ the World title the previous month. Lynn cuts a backstage promo and no
one told him he was the ref apparently as he acted like he was wrestling. They
do a nice feeling out process to start. We get a “1-2-3 Kid” chant by a couple
of guys, apparently they can’t physically chant Waltman or Sean. AJ locks in
the Indian deathlock early, sorry Native American deathlock. AJ nails a
beautiful dropkick and follows with a smooth somersault plancha, you forget how
crisp AJ can be. Sean crotches AJ against the ring post to get the advantage. AJ fights back by doing the same thing and
then hits a great springboard forearm. AJ hit the moonsault in the reverse DDT,
often though that was just random. Waltman sneaks in a low blow and hits an
northern lights, 2 guys in the crowd are going crazy right now. AJ gets a near
fall after hitting the Styles Clash. AJ misses the Spiral Tap and Sean hits the
X-factor for a near fall. Sean goes for the Pillmanizer aka the chair on the
leg spot. Lynn throws it out, the two argue, Lynn kicks Waltmans hands off the
ropes and this leads to the Styles Clash for the win. A great match and it set
up the Lynn/Waltman match for the next month. Chris Daniels(c) vs. Petey Williams for
X Division title: Video shows that this match was made randomly by
Petey asking for it. Two heels here. Petey starts by jumping Daniels, I guess
he’s the heel here now. Daniels takes a nasty spill to the outside, catching
his foot on the ropes. This is all Petey until he attempts a dive on the
outside, Daniels catches him and powerbombs him on the apron. Something Kevin
Steen does in his matches now and it always looks painful. Daniels is working
on Petey’s back and everything he does is aimed there. We get our second
hanging vertical suplex of the night. Daniels lock in the Koji Clutch, I move
not a lot of people use I can only think of him and Koji himself. Both catch
each other’s foot and punch each other at the same time leading to a double
clothesline. Petey starts fighting back and we see Samoa Joe has come out on
the ramp. Petey gets the sharpshooter out of nowhere, I think you have to be a
Hart to make that move look good. Daniels hits a scoop slam off the top rope.
A1 throws in a chain but Daniels has his own and knocks Petey down, follows
with the Best Moonsault Ever for the win. A great match between these two, that
was expected. These two got plenty of time and put on a great match. Raven (c) vs. Abyss w/James Mitchell-No
Surrender Dog Collar for the NWA World title: A video sums up
the problem with TNA at the time as Jeff Jarrett was all over this, the ending
line with him saying “You have my title shot and my title and I’m taking them
both” summed it up. I miss the combination of Mitchell & Abyss, I just miss
Mitchell such a good promo and those two worked so well. I don’t think any
previous NWA champ liked the idea of this match being for their belt, well
except Flair who would be doing this kind of stuff just a year or so later.
Abyss sets up a chair in the corner, Raven goes out and throws in several
chairs and then pulls Abyss into the chair in the corner. Raven brings out a
table and we get an “ECW” chant, we don’t get those now it’s been done to
death. Abyss hits a second rope splash onto Raven with a chair on top, kind of
dump why not just do a splash? Raven gets a staple gun and staples a dollar
onto Abyss, who is now bleeding, this spot was done to prove that the gun had
staples in as everyone said on the internet that it was empty, my guess is it
went back to being empty the next time. Raven gets sent into the post and he’s
bleeding now. Abyss set up several tables near the entrance ramp, they fight on
the ramp and Raven knocks him through them but Abyss pulls on the chain and
send Raven through a table as well. This would be more impressive if the ramp
was bigger. Raven hits the Evenflow to no reaction, at least Jake Roberts
always got a pop when he used it. Abyss brings out the “Thousands” of Tacks
which Raven powerbombs him on out of the corner. Abyss counters the DDT into
the Black Hole Slam for a near fall. Raven hits his DDT onto the tacks to
retain. Afterwards Jarrett comes out and Rhino debuts goring Raven. End of
show. This was the perfect match for these two and it showed. A great brawl of
a match. Overall: Probably the
best TNA PPV I’ve seen. While this show had some flaws it wasn’t painful to
watch at any part. Its downfall was the Jarrett stuff and how the show ended
but besides that the in ring action was pretty solid. Watching this reminds me
how much I miss the old TNA, between 2004-2006 you rarely got a bad PPV from
them and everything was just awesome I was a massive fan but since 2010 and
beyond it just went downhill and I stopped being a fan. Hopefully they can turn
things around but sadly with Hulk Hogan and Sting stealing so much attention I
can’t see that happening.
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