TNA are just off the back of a largely successful tour of Ireland & the UK (2 shows in Dublin and nights in Manchester, London & Glasgow). Their live shows are always well received, more so than any of the WWE ones based on various accounts. This is presumably because on the live shows, TNA actually gives time to matches and you don’t get any of the rubbish segments you get on the TV. Just a pity TNA can’t transfer that success into their TV shows which would give their product a much needed boost.
The Card
TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH"The Icon" Sting (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon
This continues the Main Event Mafia/Frontline feud with Sting & Angle representing the Mafia and the other guys fighting for the Frontline. Honestly this looks a terrible main event. Team 3D (Ray & Devon) should not even be in the main event, let alone a singles match as they are rubbish. They obviously aren’t going to win so it leaves the other two guys. They have been teasing tension between Sting & Angle and I’d expect that to continue. Angle will probably pick up the title here, just so that his ego can get that extra bit bigger. And hopefully Sting will be made to sensibly turn babyface.
Prediction: Kurt Angle to win the World Heavyweight Title
Beer Money (c) vs. "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed
This is effectively the challenger’s rematch, although they bizarrely had to win a match on one of the TV shows in order to receive this shot. It’s pure guesswork who will win; I don’t expect the champions to drop the belts after only a month...but then I didn’t expect Lethal & Creed to drop the belts after only 3 days last time around. The match should be fine and Beer Money should win, possibly through some cheating as they could draw this feud out for another month at least.
Prediction: Beer Money to retain the Tag Titles
Alex Shelley (c) vs. Eric Young
It seems TNA are finally starting to take the X-Division seriously again, which is a very good thing. This should be a very fine match. Young probably deserves a good run with the belt as he has been screwed out of it a few times over the past couple of months, but I don’t think he will get it here. Shelley will be playing the heel and his partner Chris Sabin will most likely be at ringside and could possibly get involved, which isn’t exactly necessary (read: expect it to happen), so I say Shelley will retain somehow.
Prediction: Alex Shelley to retain the X-Title
Awesome Kong (c) vs. ODB
This should be different from your usual women’s contest as both of them are of a slightly bigger build, so the match will probably be a bit slow in places and could possibly be a bit of a slugfest. Kong is good and ODB is fine enough, so I’d expect it to be decent at the least. Kong is said to be carrying knee and back injuries so hopefully it won’t impact the match too much. Her associates have also been banned from ringside and we are possibly due a title change. So everything points to an ODB win and I’m going with that.
Prediction: ODB to win the Knockouts Title
Booker T (c) vs. Referee Shane Sewell
The Legends Championship really has no meaning as Booker T just brought out the belt one week and declared himself the champion, but TNA have sanctioned it as an official title anyway. What’s to stop other people doing that as well, I don’t know. Sewell was pretty basic last time out but Booker should be winning this easily and more importantly cleanly. But no-one really cares about this match and it is such a waste of Booker T.
Prediction: Booker T to retain the Legends Championship
"Maple Leaf Muscle" Petey Williams vs. "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner
This match is a part of the Frontline/Mafia story. A few months back, Williams used to be a lackey of Scott Steiner and trained under him, even changing his appearance to look like Steiner. But that all got done away with when Steiner joined the Mafia and they beat up Williams, who recently returned and cost Steiner a match. Hence this contest between the two. Steiner should be winning this; a loss against a smaller, albeit very talented wrestler will hurt him. But this won’t be a classic and again, there is very little interest to be had in this one.
Prediction: Scott Steiner to win
'The Monster' Abyss vs. "The Blueprint' Matt Morgan
As expected, these turned on each other. Although they probably made the wrong call in making Abyss the babyface, as he has been quite useless in that role for the past few years or so. Since weapons are allowed, it will probably take this contest up a couple of notches and it could get pretty violent. Not really sure who will get the win as this feud will probably roll on for a few months yet, so I’ll just randomly pick Morgan.
Prediction: Matt Morgan to win
‘The Modern Day Gladiator’ Brutus Magnus vs. ???
Magnus made the challenge on Impact this week, but TNA don’t have it up on their online preview so it’s unsure whether or not this will take place. It doesn’t matter as TNA will likely screw him up before he really gets started. This is a really risky move too as Magnus has only had 1 TV taping and a handful of live matches under his belt. They seem to have painted themselves a corner with this one; if the opponent is a jobber then it will be a waste of time or if the opponent is good and Magnus loses, it will hurt his credibility severely. I’d guess the opponent is A.J. Styles who has been on every PPV since November 2004 and he would get a workable match out of him but Styles would pick up the win. Or it could be Rhino and they might give Magnus the rub. They could also use the Suicide character, but the less said about that the better. Hard to call this one, that is if it even takes place.
Prediction: A.J. Styles defeats Brutus Magnus
The card for this show looks really weak on paper and not many matches stick out as being terribly exciting. So it’ll probably be a poor enough show. The main event is quite frankly a joke and the matches involving Steiner & Booker T will be a complete waste of time. There are also some big names absent from the card; A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe (though I’d expect him to show up) and even Rhino (who has been on his biggest push in years). Christopher Daniels is still in limbo somewhere. It looks as if TNA are writing this one-off which is simply a disgrace. If they don’t even care about it, why should the casual fan make any effort to?
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