WWE Night Of Champions 2009 - Preview & Predictions

This is the second year that this event has been going under the moniker 'Night of Champions' and is unique in that it is the one night when every single title is defended.

WWE Title
Randy Orton (c) vs Triple H vs John Cena
Orton & HHH have been battling over the Raw-brand title for seemingly forever and in order to make things different (read: stop the boredom) they have added Cena. The problem is that Orton has been portrayed as a very weak champion, and I'd be surprised if he retained. Triple H has been chasing the gold for months and so will probably pick it up. I wouldn't rule out Cena, but he just seems to be in here as he is one of their top guys and they had nothing to do for him.

The most interesting thing to come out of this would be for HHH to pin Cena or vice versa to set up a feud with those two which hasn't been done that much. But I'd doubt that as Orton being the heel will most likely do the job.

Honestly, I have zero excitement for this match given it has 2 guys I strongly dislike (Cena & HHH) and another that I'm very neutral on (Orton).
Prediction: Triple H to win the title

World Heavyweight Championship
C.M. Punk (c) vs Jeff Hardy
This has been one of the best feuds in all of wrestling this year, and a true testament of just how much better a show Smackdown is even though the terrible-more-often-than-not Raw is considered by company officials to be the A-show.

Punk is in the middle of a long-needed heel turn to freshen his character up a bit. He is doing a 'straight-edge' gimmick, which made him famous in the enjoyable Ring Of Honor promotion, where he preaches about how he is "better than you" as he doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs. In real-life this is all legitimately true so there is plenty of underlying credibility here. Jeff Hardy has in the past being in trouble with drugs, and coupled with the crowd loving him along with him being a generally sympathetic character, makes him the perfect foil for this.

The best thing about this is that it is being allowed time to develop slowly with Punk cutting some great promos and Hardy playing his part well. The real beauty though is that similar to Chris Jericho's excellent heel turn last year, everything Punk is saying is the truth but the fans are booing him for it.

The match should be pretty good, and Punk should be ideally retaining. How is another matter. Hardy's contract is apparently up in 2 weeks, and if so, then Punk should be going over clean. If WWE can get Hardy to hang on for another month to their next big event SummerSlam, they could get away with a screwy finish here and then have something like a 'Loser leaves WWE' match with obviously Hardy getting beat.
Prediction: C.M. Punk to retain

ECW Title
Tommy Dreamer (c) vs Christian
Dreamer as a champion is a complete turn-off for me as he should not even be wrestling. He is old, slow, sluggish, pudgy, and just generally looks out of place on ECW, which is a show for mainly new, young talent to develop their skills. However, it would be better if he won the match.

Christian needs to get over to Smackdown, which has a worryingly low pool of main event talent. If Christian were to lose this match and stay on ECW, it would do no good. Arguably if he won the belt it would not do all that much given he has already won it once and that was all that was needed to re-establish himself since he returned to the WWE.

Right, fantasy armchair booking time - the match goes on early enough in the show, Dreamer wins via roll-up (to protect Christian), he extends his hand to shake as a sign of respect, but Christian beats him up and then just walks off turning slightly heelish (we'll come back to this in a moment).
Prediction: Tommy Dreamer to retain

Unified Tag Team Titles
Chris Jericho & ??? (c) vs Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase)
Jericho and Edge won the titles at the last show after becoming a last minute addition. However, Edge unfortunately picked up a nasty injury at house show that leaves him out of action until the New Year. Jericho is allowed to pick a new partner, but for storyline purposes, it needs to be an upper-card guy who doesn't look out of place beside him.

This is where Christian comes into play. Him and Jericho have previous history both as a team and foes from years ago and it would allow him to eventually go over to Smackdown. The only other possibility I can think of as partner would be a re-debuting Chris Masters, who WWE recently signed back and will no doubt thrust him highish on the card. But to be frank, his run first time around was a bit of a flop and I'm in no hurry to see him back.

Legacy are a strange breed. They are clearly going to be big things much further down the line. But at the minute it is hard to take them seriously as they are Randy Orton's lackeys and more or less Triple H's own personal jobbers who he beats up whenever he feels like it.

I wouldn't expect a title change as they just could have had Jericho play up his own ego and take both of them on. Plus you can play up eventual tension between Jericho and his new partner. Interestingly all 3 confirmed people are heels, it's not often WWE does heel vs heel matches, but I wish they would do more.
Prediction: Chris Jericho and mystery partner Christian to retain

Intercontinental Title
Rey Mysterio (c) vs Dolph Ziggler
One of the other reasons Smackdown is such a better show is that they put focus on mid-card talent to help elevate them up to the higher echelon, for example Ziggler (and John Morrison). Raw doesn't do this, and if Ziggler had of stayed on Raw instead of being drafted a few months ago, he would have been lucky if he had of appeared on the show let alone get a PPV title match.

Ziggler has been improving vastly and is getting better in the ring all the time, and will probably pick up the belt sometime or later, but not here I feel. Mysterio is rock solid and this should be a good match.
Prediction: Rey Mysterio to retain

United States Title
Kofi Kingston (c) vs MVP vs Carlito vs Jack Swagger vs The Miz vs The Big Show
Everyone seems to be involved in something, except bizarrely the champion himself. So they just threw a bunch of mid-carders together. They haven't made clear the rules of the match but I'd imagine it is two guys in the ring and they can tag in anyone else with one fall to a finish.

Using WWE standard booking logic, Big Show definitely won't win as he was made uber-strong this past week by laying out all other 5 guys. Carlito is involved in a feud with his brother Primo so I doubt he'll win. MVP & Swagger are fighting each other that should not need the title. So that leaves The Miz and the champ. It's a coin toss, but I think there'll be a new champ.

The guys are all decent workers at the least, but I fear the scenario may be a case of 'too many cooks...'.
Prediction: The Miz to win the US Title

Women's Title
Michelle McCool (c) vs Melina
McCool won the belt because she is screwing The Undertaker...oh, after winning last time around is the official company message I believe. This is Melina's mandatory rematch. McCool is a poor wrestler and just plain boring as a character. In an ideal world Melina should have retained last time around, and again she should win here. But that won't happen. The problem then is that the only wrestler on Smackdown capable of having a good match is the excellent Natalya, but she like McCool, is currently a heel. Ahh, we'll see what happens.
Prediction: Michelle McCool to retain

Diva's Title
Maryse (c) vs Mickie James
Ugh, 2 Diva's matches on the same show. Is this some sort of punishment for sins past? If I wanted to see a couple of women's matches (that actually feature fantastic matches & talent) in a short space of time, I'd check out the sublime SHIMMER.

Anyway, Maryse is the epitome of why I hate WWE's attitude to women's wrestling. They hire models/ex-Playboy girls and then train them as opposed to getting proven women with a bit of indy experience - it's a case of looks first, talent second.

To her credit, Maryse is a good character, but is an awful wrestler. Mickie James actually has indy background but has regressed so much since these past couple of years and is quite sloppy at times. She is good, just not as good as when she debuted. She needs to win though to draw better wrestlers in (Beth Phoenix & Gail Kim).
Prediction: Mickie James to win the title

Overall
This does not look like the best show. I have no interest in the triple threat match, any match involving Tommy Dreamer is always a bit iffy, and the 2 Divas matches will probably be a mess. Hardy/Punk, Mysterio/Ziggler & the tag titles should be fine though. Expect a few title changes, there kind of needs to be in order to make this format of a show work.

TNA Victory Road 2009 - Results & Review

TNA's last outing, Slammiversary, was the best show that they put on in ages. So the hope here was that they would use that momentum and build upon it. They didn't...

Angelina Love defeated Tara to win the Knockouts Title
It was a bit of a strange way to open the show with a women's match, and the match didn't deliver all that much. Both girls are solid workers, but if they were given more time further down the card it would have been much better. The ending was awful whereby Tara missed a moonsault and got pinned, but she got her foot on the bottom rope which would normally break the count, however the referee didn't see it. Considering too that Tara only picked up the title 2 weeks ago, it was a farcical way to open the show.

Backstage in the locker room of the Main Event Mafia, Kurt Angle told us "Do not expect a quality main event match". Ouch. Imagine the folks that paid for this show actually hearing that. Then he tells his gang that "if you lose, you are fired from the Mafia", which practically gave away the results of the other matches. What a laughably bad opening to the show.

Matt Morgan defeated Christopher Daniels
Daniels had a legit knee injury going into this match and they played off it well, and he performed a bit better than was to be expected with an injury. There was a good story behind the match with Morgan working it over to the point where Daniels couldn't hit his trademark top rope finisher. Morgan gets the win he needed over an established wrestler to look like a proper upper card guy. Not sure what they are doing with Daniels, he has been in limbo ever since he returned which is disappointing.

Abyss defeated Dr. Stevie in a No-DQ match
Basically an extended squash brawl with carnage about the arena whereby Abyss dominated. He used a 'taser' at the end on Stevie which gave off smoke, but was terribly silly. This appears to be the blow-off to this feud, which in fairness has been pretty good.

Team 3D (Brothers Ray & Devon) defeated The British Invasion (Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
Those tag belts actually belong to the New Japan promotion and not TNA, so a title switch was always unlikely. It was a decent enough match, if not a little formulaic (bad guys work over a good guy, goodie makes the hot tag to his partner, then they clean house). Williams has always been solid and working with veterans can only help Magnus' development. There is room to go back to the well once more with these guys I feel.

Jenna Morasca defeated Sharmell
Well...erm, Morasca had a rather interesting ring entrance. Now let's never speak of this mess again in what will certain to be one of the contenders for 'Worst Match Of The Year'.

Kevin Nash defeated A.J. Styles to win the Legends Title
Ugh, Nash shouldn't even be wrestling. Really slow match and went on way longer than needed. Styles done his best, but not even he could elevate the quality. I'd like to think that they made Styles drop the belt in order to give him a serious World Title push, but I fear I would be giving TNA way too much credit.

Booker T & Scott Steiner defeated Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) to win the World Tag Team Titles
Ugh, Steiner shouldn't even be wrestling. Another boring match too. Dumb spot whereby Storm spat beer in his opponent's eyes and then the referee couldn't make the pinfall count as he was feigning temporary blindness even though he was nowhere near the incident. I honestly couldn't tell you what the plans are for Beer Money at this moment in time.

Samoa Joe defeated Sting
The finish was botched as Sting forgot what was supposed to happen. It was very noticeable too which made matters worse. The other point of note is that Taz made his TNA début as Joe's advisor. He came out and...done nothing. You think that they would have let him cut a promo.

Kurt Angle defeated Mick Foley to retain the World Heavyweight Title
Really boring match that never seemed to get out of first gear. Afterwards the Mafia all came out to celebrate with their titles.

Overall
This was a terrible show with TNA back to their bad old tricks of silly finishes and nonsensical booking. It was really bad to see the likes of Styles & Beer Money drop their titles to pensioners. Only the Daniels/Morgan & Team 3D/British Invasion matches came anywhere close to being decent. After the surprisingly good show last month, this one was a horrible mess. A huge disappointment.

TNA Sacrifice 2009 - Results & Review

Once again, results come courtesy of Online World of Wrestling.

Sacrifice would be May's show.

• The pre-show was again a nice bonus for everyone, especially as it featured some good talent.

• They actually built upon Young's unhappiness later down the line as he turned heel. Perfectly fine opener though.

• Monster's Ball was way too short. But seeing female wrestlers in a hardcore rules environment was something different.

• Frankie Kazarian is now under the Suicide mask allowing Christopher Daniels to be himself full-time. The finish was a bit lame though.

• Love retaining by heel means was fine as it kept her heat and protected the gargantuan Awesome Kong.

• Joe over Nash was thankfully the right result.

• For all the things wrong with TNA, and there are many, at least they put effort into their tag team (and Women's) divisions so that there is plenty of talent and depth there. These are some of the few areas where they out-do the WWE.

• Stupid finish to the 'I Quit' match.

• The main event was just downright dumb. They built it up well with everyone sacrificing something, but Sting getting the win and not getting the title is just ridiculous. Pretty average main event too.

Overall
It wasn't great. There were plenty of dodgy finishes which killed a lot of the fun in the show. Plus the ending to the main event was just inexcusable.

TNA Lockdown 2009 - Results & Review

Fallen way behind on these recaps, so I'll just give a link to the results from the excellent Online World of Wrestling website and just throw in a few opinions.

Lockdown was the April show, and is unique in that all the matches take place inside a steel cage.

• The pre-show match didn't really matter all that much, but at least it was something to get people in the mood for the main show.

• Suicide's dive off the cage was pretty cool.

• The women's 4-way was forgettable. I was hoping that the always enjoyable Daffney would pick up the win.

• 3-way tag team bout was a very fine watch. Plenty of good action there.

• Stupid TNA rules on making your opponent bleed before you can pin them. They love over-complicating things.
  

• They had to book the finish to the Knockouts title match on the fly as Love got accidentally concussed, but the referee and Taylor Wilde did a good job of covering it up. It didn't come across as too bad looking on TV. Love is a fine pick for champion, she has been one of the most consistently good acts for a while now.

• The tag title unification match was probably the most enjoyable of the night, mainly because the crowd were really into it. Winners were a bit obvious though.

• Lethal Lockdown usually delivers, but this one was a bit lacklustre for some reason. Even A.J. Styles annual crazy stunt was a bit of a let-down.

• I have zero excitement in seeing Bobby Lashley in TNA. I'm sure we'll get back to him at a later date.

• Main event was horrible given the combined age of the two participants was 93. Mick Foley just seemed to throw himself over the cage to the floor at the end. And quite frankly TNA giving him their world title is one of the most stupid decisions they have made, at least in recent times.

Overall
Lockdown is usually one of TNA's better shows of the year. But it wasn't as good as it could possibly have been. There was a general lack of buzz during the show, except possibly outside the Team 3D/Beer Money tag title unification match.

WWE Wrestlemania XXV (2009) - Preview & Predictions

This is the biggest show on the WWE's calendar, so big that it gets a whole extra hour to play about with, making it a 4-hour show. This is the event that the company has been building towards since the Royal Rumble back in January. It should also be noted that they are doing their annual brand draft just one week after 'Mania so there is a good chance many of these feuds will continue, but we'll get to that later.

They have been billing this as the "25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania", which is obviously wrong. Yet no-one seems to have copped on or they have been saying it way too much that they can't be bothered fixing it. It's even on the official poster for crying out loud. Anyway, let's see what is in store this year.

The Card

WWE Championship
Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton
(Additional Rules: If Triple H gets intentionally disqualified or counted-out he loses the title; If Triple H shows up with a sledgehammer he automatically loses the match and the title)
Triple H won the title at the last PPV and this is Orton's title shot for winning the Royal Rumble. The build to this match has been excellent and really personal. Orton systematically went beating through the McMahon family (owner Vince and his children Shane & Stephanie). Triple H then revealed the worst kept secret in wrestling in that he is married to Stephanie. Publicly acknowledging the marriage was an interesting move but it made sense given the set-up to this contest. Plus some of the events preceding this match (home invasions with a sledgehammer and man-on-woman violence with Orton beating up Stephanie) also pushed the boundaries of WWE's new PG rating. It was really rather funny that WWE are trying hard to promote their show as family friendly, yet they do stuff like that.

Realistically Orton should be winning this as he has had so much momentum and heat these past few months. But Triple H needs his day in the sun on possibly their biggest PPV ever, so he will be retaining and they will need something to make the majority of the fans 'happy'. And they can't really have this belt change hands for the 5th PPV running. It should be a fine match with most likely some interference from Orton's Legacy. But the problem is that overall it isn't terribly exciting as they have done this feud so many times before so it isn't exactly new.

Interestingly this is actually the Smackdown title, but Orton is on Raw and that is where most of the build-up has been happening. But the upcoming draft should change all this. So I reckon, Triple H retains, gets drafted to Raw which allows this feud to continue and Orton gets the title in the next contest.
Prediction: Triple H to retain

World Heavyweight Championship match
Edge (c) vs. The Big Show vs. John Cena
Conversely, this is technically the Raw title, yet Edge took it over to Smackdown when he sneaked a win last show out under bizarre circumstances. The build to this match has been embarrassingly bad, so the less said about it the better, but it was originally meant to be an Edge/Show match which would have been great as there was plenty of background to it and also it would have been something fresh. But Cena, who is meant to be a good guy, weaselled his way into this contest by blackmailing the GM and Edge's on-screen 'wife' Vickie Guerrero with perverted, voyeuristic material, and then proceeded to show it to everyone. It was simply awful. The addition of Cena has single-handedly ruined a perfectly good feud.

That said he looks a near certainly to win. Much like in the other match, it would give the fans a happy moment, plus he got a big loss and beatdown this past week on TV. Using the logic of 'reverse booking' whereby whoever looks weak going into a PPV usually picks up the win, it means there will probably be a new champion. However, again like before, I can see Cena getting drafted over with the title therefore leaving each of the main shows with a big title and also allowing this feud to continue.
Prediction: John Cena to win the title

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
This one falls into the category of 'dream match' and should be a great contest which in all honesty should be the main event. But I fear it may get buried down somewhere near the middle of the card so the crowd aren't burnt out when the two title matches come around. Anyway this one has developed nicely with both guys trying to get inside the other's head. Plus these two have rarely met in recent time so it is fresh and exciting.

The outcome is pretty predictable as The Undertaker has a win/loss record of 16-0 at Wrestlemania, but that does not really matter. It should be a thrilling bout and should well be match of the night.
Prediction: The Undertaker

Extreme Rules
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy
The two brothers clash in singles competition for only the second time and it is hard to know what to expect from this one, but it should be a very good match. The hardcore rules can only play to their advantage and I'd guess that ladders will come out and join the party. To his credit, Matt Hardy has done a pretty good job at getting himself over as a heel and his promos have been the strongest in a long time, perhaps ever. Jeff has been playing the sympathetic character as usual and it has all come together very nicely.

Except it should be far more intriguing than it has been. Something just isn't clicking here but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's because everyone assumes Matt will be back as a babyface in a while, probably by the end of the year. It is unclear how long this feud will be drawn out too, you could get away with taking it through to the middle of the summer I think. Anyway I think Jeff will probably win to continue the theme of 'happy' victories.
Prediction: Jeff Hardy to win

Money In The Bank Ladder Match Christian vs. MVP vs. Fit Finlay vs. C.M. Punk vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry
(Winner receives a main title shot they can use anytime they want over the next 12 months)
This is the annual spotfest which is usually just a good excuse for carnage to occur. But this is the 5th year they have done this, and the shine is starting to wear off. The anticipation is not as great as it should be especially given the luxurious prize that the winner receives. It has not been helped this year by some bizarre selections to be in this match such as Mark Henry, who weighs near 400 pounds. Although the image of him climbing a ladder is pretty amusing.

As for winners, well the two obvious candidates are Christian and MVP. Christian will most likely be getting drafted off ECW, the C-show, and him winning the briefcase will offer plenty of storylines. But I think it might be a bit too early for him yet as he has only just returned to the company. So I'll go with MVP; a solid mid-card guy, been around for a few years, good on the mike/promos, and he currently has the US title which should help him to be built strong as a main eventer.
Prediction: MVP to win

Tag Team Titles Unification Match contested under Lumberjack rules
(World Tag Team Champions) The Miz & John Morrison vs. (WWE Tag Team Champions) Carltio and Primo
So the powers that be have finally decided that having 2 separate sets of titles in unnecessary. Pity they are only about 3 or so years too late. But this move should be the start of creating a competitive tag team division, although that will take a fair bit of work yet as most of the teams are made out to be jokes at the minute. Plus I guess the champions will be free to float around any of the 3 shows so that kind of makes the ideas of separate brands (TV shows) surplus to requirements.

This feud has been excellent and it really showed what could have been done if creative had bothered to put a bit of effort into this area of the roster. Both teams have beaten each other a couple of times without one being able to gain the upper hand. Plus each team is now accompanied by one of the Bella twins (who fought and split), which has added an extra dimension to things. The TV matches have been very sound so hopefully they will take it up another notch here. The 'lumberjack' element is just that everyone who isn't on the card gets to go to ringside and potentially interfere. Unnecessary, yes, but it's a nice way to get the whole roster onto the show.

The Miz and in particular John Morrison seem set for big things and so they should be locks for this match. But I can see this feud continuing with Carlito & Primo eventually triumphing.
Prediction: The Miz & John Morrsion to win the Unified titles

Intercontinental Title
JBL (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
Bit of an odd match as both of these two guys have been on the fringes of the main event bracket for a while, yet they are fighting over the mid-card belt. JBL only won the title a few weeks back and there has been very little effort put into the set-up of this match. Unbelievably so, they actually gave it away on TV this past week with Mysterio winning in a non-title match. Which means that JBL will be retaining. A few years back this would have been an 'excellent' match but the best we can hope for is 'good'. Should be fine though.

What is possibly more important is that JBL has promised a "historic announcement". All sorts of rumours have been going around from him retiring as an undefeated champion to him buying the Money In The Bank briefcase off the winner and cashing it in later on that night. I'd go with the former as the most likely as he is apparently struggling with back problems.
Prediction: JBL to retain

Handicap Match
Chris Jericho vs. Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat, Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka & 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper with 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair and Mickey Rourke at ringside
(Additional Rules: The Legends only need to score 1 victory; Chris Jericho must defeat all 3 opponents)
This match is a complete waste of the excellent Chris Jericho and he has been on top form of TV, which unfortunately means he will have the indignity of losing to a bunch of pensioners. WWE like to have some kind of celebrity involved with Wrestlemania each year, which no doubt means that Rourke will get involved and punch Jericho, probably costing him the match.

WWE have a "Hall Of Fame" each year and this time around the incredibly awesome 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is the main entrant but he has been conspicuously absent these past few weeks so I'd guess he would show up here (or at some stage) and raise hell, especially given that 'Mania is in his home state of Texas.
Prediction: Steamboat, Snuka & Piper to win

25 Diva Battle Royal
The winner gets crowned 'Miss Wrestlemania', but no-one really cares about that. Or this match, as the vast majority of the swimsuit models, erm, I mean 'wrestlers' are not talented enough to carry off a passable 2 minute match on their own. This is going to be a complete waste of time. Oh well, at least there is no Playboy bunny lingerie bra & panties pillow fight match this year.

They are using up all the women they have on the roster (18 or 19) and then filling the rest out with past workers. It's hard to call a winner, and they really should pick some current female to give them a meaningful push which could harbour future storylines, but I say it'll be between Trish Stratus (a joint record Women's title holder who will probably show up for a one-off appearance), Beth Phoenix (an excellent, dominant wrestler [one of the few talented workers they actually have]) or Michelle McCool (is banging The Undertaker and he has tons of backstage influence).
Prediction: Trish Stratus to win

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
Well it's really hard not to recommend Wrestlemania as a general rule, and it should be pretty good. The card is solid and you would like to think that all the wrestler would be bringing out their top-game given how big the occasion is. Hopefully WWE will hold-off on the swerves, the only ones that spring to mind are shock appearance from Batista or even 'Macho Man' Randy Savage. So yeah it'll most likely be okay. But it just doesn't feel like like the show has been built-up enough. The excitement levels should be going off the the charts, and yet, they aren't.

TNA Against All Odds 2009 - Results & Review

Entrance Video
They showed footage from earlier with people arriving at the show; the Main Event Mafia, minus Sting, entered via a Hummer stretch limousine, Team 3D came together in some form of pimp-mobile, and finally Sting arrived in a Lamborghini Diablo. The colour of it was a bit off, yellow and white, but it was still a gorgeous car and probably the prettiest thing we’ll see on this show.

The Matches

Alex Shelley defeated Eric Young to retain the X-Division title
Very good match to open things off with and it gives some hope that TNA will actually be putting an effort into making the X-Division seem worthwhile. Both men looked pretty good with Shelly hitting a lovely frog splash. Shelley won with a roll-up after sort of feigning injury. It was the exact same way he won the belt last month and made him look a bit weak. But a perfectly fine opener nonetheless.

Scott Steiner defeated Petey Williams
Williams came out still dressed as a Steiner clone which completely baffled me. This was a really slow and boring match and Steiner’s antics towards the crowd were more interesting. It could be viewed as a borderline squash match as Steiner pretty much dominated.

After he won the match, Steiner beat up Williams more before Samoa Joe appeared on the big screen, not live in the arena, and mouthed off to him. Joe had a pretend tattoo on his face that makes him look like a cheap rip-off of the WWE wrestler Umaga. That is not good. TNA completely dropped the ball on Joe last year and he needs some serious rebuilding but that new look is not the way to go about it.

Brutus Magnus defeated Chris Sabin
Magnus cut a promo before the match and I was pleasantly surprised as he spoke well enough. I was a little disappointed the opponent was Sabin; I was expecting a bigger name. The match was one of those throwaway contests but to his credit Magnus done pretty okay as he didn’t botch things and played a good heel. His finisher looks a bit weak but he could make something of himself if, and that’s a big if, TNA give him time and show a bit of faith in him.

Awesome Kong defeated ODB to retain the Knockouts title
At the start, there were a bit of unnecessary shenanigans whereby Kong’s associates came down with her before Jim Cornette shooed them away. Kong then squared off to Cornette and it was all a waste of time really, although hearing Mike Tenay saying Cornette was “goozled” almost made it worthwhile. No, I’ve not idea what he was on about either, but it was possibly the most sensible thing the commentators said all night. The match was pedestrian and a bit dull; Kong dominated, ODB had a small comeback, Kong then finished her with the Implant Buster. The problem they have now is that Kong has beaten all the babyfaces, so creative will have to do some thinking in order to come up with her next opponent.

Booker T defeated Shane Sewell to retain the Legends title
This was rubbish, nothing more than filler. Booker won with the axe-kick after wife Sharmell tripped Sewell up. The fact that Booker needed help against a part-time wrestler made him look really, really weak.

A.J. Styles came out after and beat Booker up for a bit. He then and cut a rather whiny promo which took the entire sting out of his appearance. A pity really, although Booker/Styles gives some hope.

Abyss defeated Matt Morgan
This was not a 'no holds barred' match as previously stipulated as the referee kept taking weapons away from both guys. That was rather lame and so the match was worse than expected. The ref took a bump for his troubles and then got hit in the head with a chair. Abyss won after a second Black Hole Slam when referee Slick Johnson ran down to make the cover. They fought in the crowd at the start which was cool but once they got into the ring it dragged big time. This feud will most likely continue for a while yet.

Beer Money defeated Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed to retain the Tag Team titles
Beer Money came down to the ring on a motorised keg of beer name the ‘Boozer Cruiser’. Ha, nice. They looked really good in this match too as they dominated aside from the mandatory brief comeback from the challengers. Jacqueline got involved as expected but Storm hit Lethal in the head with his fist wrapped in chain to secure the victory. A really fine match even if the dodgy ending was a bit unnecessary.

Sting defeated Kurt Angle, Brother Ray & Brother Devon to retain the World Heavyweight title
Horrible main event, although the crowd seemed to eat it up big time which was rather unfortunate. Angle was heeling it up big time trying to pin Sting at every available opportunity. But he nor really Sting couldn’t get into their grooves due to their vastly inferior opponents. Mick Foley handed Sting the title at the end, so at least they are doing something right in getting Sting away from being a heel. He is probably in the middle at the minute or a ‘tweener’, but it seems they are finally moving things along.

King Of The Ring or Jobber?
When the first contest is the best of the night, then you know your show is going to be in trouble. This was yet another rubbish event that was pretty much devoid of any interesting matches and a lack of big names that were absent from action (Joe, Styles, Rhino, still no Christopher Daniels). Looking at the bigger picture, there is no progress being made by TNA, none whatsoever and I dare say that if they are at a stage where they are putting Team 3D in a PPV main event singles match then they are actually regressing as a promotion.

WWE No Way Out 2009 - Preview & Predictions

Opening Promo
No Way Out is unfortunately scheduled in-between 2 of the WWE's 'Big 4' PPVs of the year. It is only 3 weeks after the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania follows in the first weekend of April. Also they can't really afford to shake things up too much with this show as they will need to build the champions/challengers up strongly ahead of their flagship event.

So No Way Out is regarded as nothing more than filler. In order to combat this, for the second year running the show is centred around a gimmick match, in the form of the Elimination Chamber. This is a huge steel dome with 2 wrestlers starting and then 4 others coming out of glass pods situated inside the ring every 5 minutes. These matches are usually pretty good, especially if you have the right mix of people in them. The problem is, the card is light on matches, yet there will be 2 contests fought inside the Chamber. To me that is overkill. By the time the second one comes around the excitement won't be there, but hopefully they will have the sense to space them out.

The Card

Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship
Edge (c) vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. The Undertaker vs. Vladimir Koslov vs. The Big Show
This is the Smackdown title, which is the B-Show, but it should be the main event as it has much bigger names in the contest. And it should be a very good match. You can rule out The Undertaker winning the title as there are plenty of other options for him at Wrestlemania. Koslov too can be ruled out as he still looks a bit dodgy at times and switching the title from one heel to another would be strange. They have been teasing Big Show getting involved in something with Edge for a while now and he is in the midst of a babyface turn, but it is unlikely he will win the title. Jeff Hardy definitely won't win it back again after only just dropping it last month. Which leaves Triple H as the only likely contender, but I'd be sure they are saving that for 'Mania.

What is interesting is how they will book this one in regards to making guys look strong. Koslov has been portrayed as very dominant throughout his career so I'd guess that he might get a big elimination in the form of The Undertaker, who can get rebuilt easily enough. Big Show might be made to look weak enough as he has very little momentum. Jeff Hardy will probably get screwed out of it by his brother Matt, which would be fine as it keeps Jeff sympathetic and gets heat on Matt. Triple H most likely will be made to look especially strong, because that's how he will decide on things. He might even eliminate 2 guys all on his own.

So it'll come down to Edge against Triple H or Jeff Hardy, with Edge sneaking a win somehow. Which is fine enough with his gimmick being he seeks out opportunities to win. Should be very entertaining.
Prediction: Edge to retain

Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. Mike Knox vs. Kofi Kingston
This is the chamber for the flagship show, Raw, but strangely it is considerably weaker. This one is much easier to call since Mysterio, Kane, Knox & Kingston will most definitely not win due to them either being directionless for the past while or that they are mid-card talents. So that only leaves Jericho, but they been setting him up with something else for 'Mania and him winning, while awesome, would be really odd.

It's going to come down to Cena and Jericho with Jericho unfortunately putting the champion over yet again. Plus Randy Orton has a shot for a title at 'Mania and he needs a babyface to fight with, so Cena is going to retain. I have low expectations for this one due to the bizarre choice of talent that got chosen to be in the Chamber.
Prediction: John Cena to retain

ECW Championship
Jack Swagger (c) vs. Fit Finlay
These two have had a couple of good matches over the past month or so and I am fans of both of them. So I am really looking forward to this contest. Swagger only got the title a month or so ago which means he will probably retain the gold.

Now it is worth mentioning that Christian made his highly anticipated return this past week as a member of the ECW brand. This was strange because it was a surprise, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Christian is far better than being on the C-show, yet at least for the moment it allows the opportunity to re-establish himself as a singles guy without being lost under the presence of Cena or being known as his on-screen brother Edge's lackey on either of the other shows. He came out and confronted Swagger, so it looks like them two facing off for the title seems likely in the near future.
Prediction: Jack Swagger to retain

No Holds Barred
Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon
This is more or less Shane getting revenge for Orton kicking his father in the head a few weeks back. I'm expecting a crazy match and one which should be very fine indeed. Orton is solid enough and in the past Shane has given it his all in these types of contests, which usually results in at least one major, insane spot.

There should be weapons galore and possibly run-ins. I wouldn't rule out Vince returning and screwing either side out of the victory, or even his daughter Stephanie doing the same thing. But Orton will be winning here as he needs to get built up strongly if he is to look like a credible challenger for the title.
Prediction: Randy Orton

All Or Nothing
Shawn Michaels vs. JBL (If Michaels wins, he is free from JBL's contract/If JBL wins, he owns Michaels name & likeness)
Yes, those are some pretty stupid stipulations. But then again, this whole storyline has been dumb. Hopefully this match will see the end of their program but I doubt it. The bout will probably be decent, though Michaels will have to do most of the heavy lifting. It makes sense that Michaels will win seeing as how he has been treated like crap for months by JBL. Plus it would allow them to have a rematch at 'Mania in Texas, making it an all-Texan affair. If JBL wins, I just don't know how they will pull off him owning Michaels' image. Unless he ends up making Michaels advertise all sorts of rubbish just so that he can get the money from it, but that would just be silly.
Prediction: Shawn Michaels to win

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
Well, this card appears to be lacking in depth and it wouldn't surprise me if they threw on an extra match to bulk it out a bit. Maybe a women's match or something just as filler. Of the matches, Orton/McMahon and the Smackdown Chamber will probably be the two standouts. However, it all looks really predictable which makes it slightly unappealing. That is of course unless WWE continue their hard-on for the technique of 'bait-and-switch' in order to create some unexpectedness. But that would probably be counter-productive seeing as people need to look credible and there needs to be some stability leading up to Wrestlemania. On the whole, it probably won't be essential viewing.

TNA Against All Odds 2009 - Preview & Predictions

Opening Promo
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

TNA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
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

TNA X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
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

KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
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

LEGENDS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
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

GRUDGE MATCH
"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

NO HOLDS BARRED
'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

OPEN CHALLENGE
‘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

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
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?

WWE Royal Rumble 2009 - Results & Review

Catch up with the preview if needs be and then get back here because “the road to Wrestlemania begins here”. Ugh, I feel like Vince McMahon now. I need a wash.

Entrance Video
They showed a really nice highlights video recapping the past Rumble winners and how big an achievement it is to actually win it. They then replayed Randy Orton kicking Vince hard in the head.

Raw commentators Michael Cole & Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler greeted us and they used their ‘quiet voices’ as there is was serious matter to be dealt with. They told us that nothing has been disclosed about McMahon’s condition...except he has at least a concussion. Yes, quite. Fireworks then go boom!

The Matches

‘The All-American American’ Jack Swagger defeated Matt Hardy to retain the ECW Championship
Really solid match to open things with and it was given time which was a bonus. Swagger played a good heel by at one stage waiting outside in order to waste time and catch his breath back. There was some good psychology as Swagger worked over the arm of Hardy nicely and the commentators played that up to good effect. Hardy hit a terrible looking moonsault for a near fall but Swagger won with a Gutwrench Powerbomb. Very fine showing from Swagger in his PPV debut. Afterwards Matt Hardy looked really despondent as he sat on the ring steps for a wee rest. Wonder what he was pondering?

Melina Perez defeated Beth Phoenix to win the WWE Women’s Championship
Well, this surprised me. It was a clean victory too after a roll-up and there was absolutely none of the outside interference that was expected beforehand. The match was sound, I actually wouldn’t have minded them give it a bit more time as these two work well together. Phoenix looked really strong, so while the loss was big; it didn’t hurt her credibility as much as it should have done. Really crazy part where Phoenix bent Melina’s leg back up so it was touched her head and then used Melina’s own leg as a weapon against her opponent. It was something you would expect to see in SHIMMER, which instantly made it awesome. The problem with the title change though is that Melina is short on credible challengers, but there is value in this feud yet.

John Cena defeated JBL to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
The match was what you expected; slow, boring and dull. All the focus was on what Shawn Michaels would do from ringside. What he did do, after a referee got taken out, was plant a Superkick on both JBL & Cena before throwing JBL on top to get the pin. But a second referee came running down and Cena kicked out at two (like they always do with the new ref) before he quickly won with his finisher. Michael’s actions made me a bit more interested in this story, which is more than I was expecting.

Edge defeated Jeff Hardy to win the WWE Championship in a No-Disqualification Match
Hardy came out in some silly facepaint that made him look like an alien. Before the match Vickie Guerrero came out and announced it was now a no-DQ match. Chavo Guerrero accompanied Edge to the ring for some bizarre reason. Oh wait, he is just carnage fodder as Hardy jumped off a ladder sending both of them through the announce table. It was more dangerous than it looked as the ladder buckled at the very last second. Hardy hit his finisher but Vickie came in and broke it up. Matt Hardy then came down and grabbed a chair before striking his brother in the head with it! Ahh, so that’s what he was thinking earlier. Matt sold his betrayal brilliantly with no emotion while the crowd didn’t know how to react. Edge then covered for the easy win.

The problem I feel with the heel turn is that Matt was insanely over with the crowd and ECW is really short of babyfaces now as he was transferred to Smackdown to be on the same show as Jeff. Also while they are on the same show, Matt will NEVER be the better of the two as Jeff does more high-risk moves which the fans eat up. Even so, really solid match, Matt’s heel turn was a surprise (typical ‘bait and switch’ by WWE though as everyone was expecting Christian to appear) and Edge has the title again, so I’m happy.

Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble match
They set the time limit so that a new guy entered every 90 seconds. Triple H was due to be #1 but for some strange reason Rey Mysterio and John Morrison started things. MVP came in at #4 and was pretty good. He is in the midst of a babyface turn which is something different; I’m not entirely sold yet but he played his role well in this one. Vladimir Koslov entered at #6 and was on fire, eliminating a few guys. He quite frankly looked awesome. But then Triple H came in and dumped him out. Damn. Randy Orton then entered after followed by Ted DiBiase, who immediately teamed up as part of their ‘Legacy’ faction. Chris Jericho came out at #11; lots of big guns in early. Orton went crazy dropping everyone with his finisher. Triple H threw out the tag team champions, The Miz & Morrison, further showing that WWE don’t care about their tag team division. Mysterio also went out but used people as stepping stones to stay alive which was pretty nifty. Cody Rhodes then entered to complete Legacy.

Bong! The lights go out and the crowd went mad and The Undertaker made his way down to the ring. The ring was pretty packed as there were barely any eliminations. At #25 there was surprise entrant...Rob Van Dam! The arena went absolutely nuts, and rightly so. RVD put in a really good showing of himself overall getting all his trademark moves in. The final entrant was The Big Show. But there was 15 people left in the ring which is way too many at this stage. Eventually it got down to The Legacy, Big Show, Triple H & The Undertaker. Show & ‘Taker fought on the apron before Show got knocked off by Orton and then he pulled ‘Taker down to the floor. They then fought and I really hope they don’t do these two guys in a feud again. So the final four were Legacy and Triple H. If you can’t see how this one ended then you need your brain checked. Triple H dumped DiBiase & Rhodes before being tipped over by Orton who celebrated as fireworks went off and Legacy posed in the ring.

The fun and randomness of the Royal Rumble was there and I really liked how Orton held up Rhodes’ & DiBiase’s arms with him at the end. But there should have been more people thrown out earlier, it just got too clustered in the latter stages.

King Of The Ring or Jobber?
This was a very solid PPV, none of the matches were below their expectations and Edge/Jeff Hardy probably took it up another notch than from what was predicted. I’ve no problems with any of the winners to be honest so the booking was spot-on. It was an entertaining watch on the whole with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. A fine start to the year then for the WWE.

TNA Genesis 2009 - Results & Review

Got a bit of free time so I can catch up on some fun things, although whether TNA falls under that bracket is highly debatable. Anyway let’s not waste any more time, catch up here if you need to.

Entrance Video
They opened with a video package highlighting the Frontline/Main Event Mafia feud. It played up the Frontline as underdogs while putting across how dominant the Mafia are. These videos are generally pretty well done, but usually fill you with false hope.

The Matches

LAX & Eric Young defeated Jimmy Rave, Sonjay Dutt & Kiyoshi in a 6-Man Tag Team Elimination Match (Order of elimination: Young by Dutt, Homicide by Rave, Kiyoshi by Hernandez, Dutt by Hernandez, Rave by Hernandez)
This is the match that was announced late, but then got changed from what was originally billed. If it wasn’t obvious beforehand who would win, the heels got a group entrance and the faces got their own ones. Sonjay Dutt has really been wasted by TNA. He won a rather lengthy feud with Jay Lethal and bagged the girl, yet Lethal goes on to capture a tag title. Sheer madness. But we’ve come to expect this sort of stuff from booking.

Cool spot where each man took it in turns to jump over the top rope to the floor onto each other. Hernandez was left with 3 vs. 1 but beat everyone up. He is a guy that could be a top main eventer in a few years if given a bit of work and time. The match was given time and was a surprisingly passable opener.

Alex Shelley defeated Chris Sabin to win the vacant X-Division title
Great match. They were countering each other and throwing out all sorts of crazy moves. Shelley hit a somersault leg drop off the top rope and later Sabin hit a springboard DDT. They kicked out of each other’s finishers. Shelley pretended to injure himself and then rolled up Sabin to pick up the win. Bit of a dodgy finish, sure, but it kept both men looking strong.

This match was probably the best X-Division showing in years, not since A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels were mixing it up has there been a showing of this quality. It gave some focus back to the division and gave TNA a great opportunity to make something of that area of the roster once again. But I doubt they will make use of that chance. Anyway, just check out the video.

Shane Sewell defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir
Sewell wasn’t awful in the ring which was a nice bonus; his moves were basic enough but he didn’t screw them up. He used a figure-4 leg-lock which drew lots of “Wooooos” from the crowd given the show was in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ric Flair’s hometown. Bashir got into a shoving match with referee Earl Hebner and went to punch him but got a slap in the face instead. Sewell then won with a Sunset Flip in an altogether hugely forgettable match. Bashir needs to get away from fighting referees; it’s stupid and makes him look really weak when he is on the losing end.

Beer Money, Inc defeated Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed (c) and Matt Morgan & Abyss to win the TNA Tag Titles
Alright match with the highlight probably being Morgan jumping off outside on everyone. Jacqueline kept getting involved on behalf of Beer Money and ended up in a spitroast position (I’d urge some caution if you were to Google it) before eventually getting thrown out. Finish came with Storm throwing the tag belt into Roode to use but Abyss caught it and accidentally decked his partner Morgan, which lead to a stare-down between the two after. Beer Money eventually covered to win back the gold, but it’ll be interesting to see how long they are kept together as both guys have the chops to be main event stars.

The booking was terrible; how you can expect the crowd NOT to cheer for the heels after they overcome four babyfaces and also Lethal & Creed’s pathetic 3-day reign doesn’t exactly give them a vote of confidence. I’m actually amazed though that it took TNA a lengthy 4 matches to overbook a finish; I think that’s a new record for them.

ODB, Roxxi & Taylor Wilde defeated The Kongtourage (Raisha Saaed, Rhaka Khan & Sonjournor Bolt) in a 6-Woman Tag Team Match
The planned title match between Awesome Kong & Christy Hemme was called off as both had injuries. The stipulation was that whoever scored the pin would be the #1 contender for the title, which immediately gave away that the babyfaces were going to win. This was way over-booked and a straight singles match, say between Saaed & Roxxi would have been far, far better. Saaed had some groovy new ring attire, a black and red full-body suit. Not as nice as her cheerleader outfit but cool nonetheless.

Pity the match wasn’t as slick as it turned out to be sloppy and terrible. Bolt has not impressed me one bit and Khan still looks out of her depth. Saaed done the job yet again (sigh) as ODB rolled her up with an inside cradle. Awesome Kong came out and destroyer the babyfaces after. Pity this didn’t happen as the start of the match and we would have been saved from this rubbish.

Kurt Angle defeated Jeff Jarrett in a No-DQ match
Great match with both guys coming out all guns blazing. Jarrett threw beer on Angle, who later retaliated by busting Double J open with the ring bell. Ding! Ding! Don West on commentary sounded like he was going to explode. They brawled up to the stage and then off it as Jarrett received an Angle Slam from the stage down through a table. They then traded finishers and chair shots before Angle won with a roll-up.

Afterwards he proceeded to damage Jarrett’s ankle with repeated stomps and chairs shots and I was shouting out for Christopher Daniels to come out and beat the crap out of him, but it didn’t happen. Regardless, TNA need to be hitting these heights every month if they are to be taken seriously.

Sting defeated Rhino to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Title
We go from that, to this?!?! Now, they had a story running through the show, which was quite annoying as it often took focus off matches that were taking place, whereby Rhino had got beat up by the Main Event Mafia and had only just shown up very late in the show. Now this was because Sting had only said a few days before the show that he was carrying an injury, so it was wrote that he had to have an easier match. Now this was only revealed days after the event so on paper it did not make Sting look a credible champion at all, as he had to defend against a weakened opponent.

Also the crowd ended up cheering for the bad guy Sting (who inexcusably broke his character), and booed Rhino. Honestly they should just go ahead and turn Sting face, it makes sense. Sting won with the Scorpion Death Drop in a thankfully short match. The one was a failure from start to finish.

TNA Frontline (A.J.Styles, Mick Foley & Brother Devon) defeated the Main Event Mafia (Booker T, Scott Steiner & Cute Kip (sub for Kevin Nash)) in a Hardcore match
The other story they had running through the show was that Kevin Nash had been hospitalised with a staph infection. This though, was legitimate but left the writers in a bit of a pickle. They could have gone with the story that the Mafia took Devon out of the match in a response to what they believed was a hit on Nash. But no, they went with getting a replacement in Cute Kip. Cute. Kip. A guy whose most famous gimmick in years was turning gay and wearing pink chaps. Cute Kip. What a mind-numbingly awful decision that was, and it was obvious as the crowd totally crapped on it. Such an unbelievable choice for TNA to make.

Halfway through the match, everyone was fighting on the outside and the referee counted everyone out, therefore making it a no contest. The stupidity just keeps on coming. But General Manager Jim Cornette came out and restarted the match; however Booker T reminded him he didn’t have that power, which made Cornette look like a complete chump. Mick Foley stated that as the majority shareholder he DOES have the power, so he restarted it under hardcore rules. All of this nonsense was totally unnecessary. The only real thing of note was Styles hitting a springboard splash from the ring to the outside sending Kip through a table. Foley then later got the win after a DDT on a chair to Scott Steiner. This was a complete mess.


King Of The Ring or Jobber?
A jobber is someone who goes out and loses on a regular basis, just to explain that term. This show was mainly rubbish and so fell into the latter category which is amazing considering they had two matches over four stars in quality. But take those out and it was truly awful with one of the worst heavyweight title match and main event in ages. Fair enough, TNA had some problems with injuries (Nash, Sting, Kong & Hemme) that screwed up things, but it was no excuse for the amount of rubbish that was served, along with the customary over-booking & nonsensical creative decisions. If this an indication for the rest of the year, TNA are going nowhere in 2009.

WWE Royal Rumble 2009 - Preview & Predictions

Opening Promo
The start of 2009 has not been much fun for some people that worked for WWE as a large number have been laid off. The whole of their Pacific offices in Sydney has been shut down, 10% at the main office in the US have been let go, referees have been sacked, many wrestlers have been cut (mainly veterans & young developmental guys). They also got rid of Val Venis, a favourite of many, whose gimmick was that he was a porn-movie actor, who was pretty much the last remnants of the excellent Attitude Era where they would regularly push the envelope in bold new directions. Oh how I pine for another one of those eras, heaven knows the industry could use one. They also literally jobbed the excellent Victoria into retirement, an excellent wrestler who has been wasted for years probably because she wasn’t considered pretty enough. Hopefully she will show up in TNA or SHIMMER in the near future so she can truly showcase her ability. The worst case though is probably referee Mickie Henson has lymphoma and was promised that his job was safe because he didn’t have health insurance, yet he was let go. Promises apparently mean nothing to Vince McMahon, who to the joy of many got a stiff kick in the head this week. Karma? I’ll let you decide.

Enough with the doom and gloom. Now, the Royal Rumble is one of the traditional ‘Big 4’ PPVs of the year and they use it to start to build to their flagship show Wrestlemania in a few months time. This event is famous for having a huge battle royal. Expect an extra large fireworks display given that Vince now has some spare change to burn.

WWE Championship
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Edge
They finally pulled the trigger on giving Hardy the title last month after many, many months of teasing and he won it off Edge, who is using his rematch clause here. In all honesty, the thought of Hardy as the champion repulses me. As a singles wrestler, he is hugely over-rated in my opinion and can’t cut a decent promo to save his life. He is awful when given a microphone. He has taken to wearing some facepaint as well for some strange reason but it looks really silly and makes it hard for him to be taken seriously as the top guy. Edge on the other hand is one of my favourites and it was particularly annoying to see the belt taken off him after he only won it in November, which not only made Edge look weak by not having one successful defence but also devalued the title. But hey, titles in WWE these days are meaningless and nothing more than fancy decorations.

They have been running a story whereby a mystery person has been trying to kill or seriously injure Hardy. This started with the rather tasteless story of Hardy (who has a history of drug problems) being found unconscious in a stairwell. Then someone tried to take him out in a hit and run and last week his fireworks went wrong. It is widely assumed that it is the returning Christian Cage and he will cost Hardy this match to help his on-screen ‘brother’. But is this just too simple? WWE have been in the habit recently of trying to ‘trick’ fans and going in directions other than the obvious. I know who I want to win, but I’m not sure what will happen. I’d go for Edge to win, do the rematch next month and then be set Christian/Jeff Hardy match at Wrestlemania. But the problem is, Hardy is already being portrayed as too sympathetic and screwing him out of the belt would be perhaps going overboard and in fairness, he hasn’t done anything terribly wrong to warrant it being taken off him nor has had a chance to showcase what he can do as champion. It’s a coin-toss really.
Prediction: Edge to win the WWE title

World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena (c) vs. JBL w/Shawn Michaels
Recently Michaels has become an ‘employee’ of JBL as he has wasted all his money away and is now broke. And this storyline has been a huge flop because firstly is it just unbelievable given Michaels is one of the best paid guys in the WWE and also the shows are meant to be a form of escapism, not more depression and it is a bit insulting to all the workers that got sacked.

Cena is a wrestler I hate. He is average in the ring, average on the microphone, yet he sells lots of kid’s merchandise which is why he gets pushed to the stars more often than not. JBL is poor in the ring, but he is very good at talking so it wouldn’t be the worst case scenario if he won although historically JBL/Cena matches have not been great. In all honesty, Cena should be retaining to build him as a strong champion for 'Mania but again it is not so simple. There is the inevitability of Michaels turning on JBL by the question is: when? Michaels could help his ‘boss’ win the match and then build to them over the title at ‘Mania with JBL thinking he will have it easy. Which would be fine but they could do that anyways without the belt, the story is in place. They would use the tagline ‘Texan vs. Texan’ because ‘Mania is, surprisingly, in Texas. Best case scenario, Cena retains and JBL then berates Michaels for not helping him, pause for tension, then JBL get a Superkick in the face.
Prediction: John Cena to retain

Royal Rumble Match
30-Man over the top rope Battle Royal with the winner receiving a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship shot at Wrestlemania
This is the one that gains the majority of the interest and is usually fun enough with 2 men starting and then a new one entering ‘randomly’ at set intervals. There are usually plenty of false finishes particularly near the end. This one should be the main event, but it was necessary to get some back story in above. If you win, it also allows you to jump to another show in order to take a shot at a main title of your choosing. Let’s take a look at some of the more likely winners along with some made-up odds...

Batista – He is currently injured and not expected back for a few months yet...but so was John Cena last year and he made a miraculous recovery to enter at #30 to win. This was, admittedly a pretty big, unexpected surprise. I could see some rationale in it seeing as people wouldn’t expect the same thing two years running but I doubt WWE will pull the same stunt again and Batista probably is legitimately injured, so I’d say it is very, very, very unlikely that this will occur – Odds: 1000/1

Christian – Assuming he comes back and helps Edge win the belt, he may be rewarded with a spot in the Rumble as a reward and at time of writing there are still 7 spots to be filled. Though they are usually reserved for ‘Legends’ who get rolled out every so often. Still it would be an interesting twist and could lead to a dream match between Edge & Christian over the belt at ‘Mania – Odds: 20/1

Edge – Yes, he is in the title match but say Christian does not show and Edge loses the match then the Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero, Edge’s on-screen ‘wife’, could secretly grant him a spot. Imagine a situation whereby there is one guy left and the buzzer for the #30 entrant rang yet no-one showed. Edge then creeps out from under the ring and dumps the guy over the top rope to win. I wouldn’t totally rule it out as it would keep in line with Edge’s ‘Ultimate Opportunist’ gimmick whereby he seeks out any method to win – Odds: 10/1

The Undertaker – He won it 2 years ago but I doubt he will make it 2 times in 3 years. But if he were to win then he would probably go on to win the title at Wrestlemania for the third year running and he already had an excellent feud with Edge last year, so it as much as I like him, it wouldn't be as interesting as someone getting the nod – Odds: 9/1

Big Show – He is a heel, which would be a good foil for Hardy if he were to retain. But Big Show could turn face quite easily too as there is some tension boiling between him and Edge, which could set up their match – Odds: 8/1

Chris Jericho – He was fired on Raw two weeks ago yet begged and grovelled for his job back this week and it was granted. Again, with so many people in general losing their jobs due to the current economic climate, this must have been a hard pill to swallow watching it on TV. But Jericho is in limbo at the moment. He is just off an excellent year, even if his 2 title reigns were disgracefully short and is without a storyline currently. Which is why he looks a good outside chance as he could face off against Cena, although they half-heartedly did that a couple months back. Or he could jump ship to the Smackdown brand and square off against Jeff Hardy which would be fresh or even turn face and fight Edge which would be all the better. Jericho is one of my favourites as he is so sound in every department and excels at playing both a good and a bad guy. One to look out for in the match – Odds: 5/1

Shawn Michaels – As previously mentioned, JBL ‘owns’ Michaels and has forbid him from entering in the Rumble. Now if JBL were to win the title then he could reverse this in the hope that Michaels would win and thus giving him an easy title defence. Or Michaels could break ranks and enter this match himself somehow. Rumours are that this may be Michaels last ‘Mania later on and given it is in his home state as well, they might want to give him a big send-off and one last title run. There has also been stories of him facing The Undertaker at ‘Mania too. If he does win the Rumble, it also opens the possibility of him renewing his rivalry with John Cena over the title. So, Rumble victory or not, at least they have options with Michaels – Odds: 3/1

Randy Orton – He has been one of the top heels for a while and he is just so ‘hot’ at the minute he gets a reaction whatever he does. He also is the leader of his own stable so this year is obviously going to be a big one for him. And he has also got the biggest momentum going into the match, after kicking his boss in the head. He looks a very solid pick to win the Rumble and set up a match with John Cena. But because there is so much focus on him at the minute, they are not in a rush to build his Wrestlemania match, so the victory won’t be as essential to him as it is to other wrestlers, as they have outs with Vince coming on a warpath at him. Definitely one of the favourites though – Odds: 2/1

Triple H – I think it is fair to say at this stage that whatever happens, he will be closing out the historic Wrestlemania 25 holding a newly won title. Hell, he loves himself that much, he is the owner’s son-in-law, and his wife is the head story writer, it’s almost a certainty. How he gets there is the question but I think this is the ticket. A bit of focus has been on him in recent weeks, but he has suffered a couple of losses and has no momentum. Which is why he is such a great person to win. WWE tends to reverse book things meaning whoever is on top going into a PPV generally loses their PPV match, it is the opposite here. Plus all sorts of obstacle have been put in his way that he is entering at #1. And if Triple H were to win it from being the first man in, it would finally allow WWE to lay to rest the spectre of Chris Benoit’s achievements at the Rumble at few years back when he won from being #1 and completely wipe him out from their history at this event, which they are keen to do. WWE would use their favourite son to re-write the history books of being to last man to go straight from the start to the end of the match. Triple H has been at loggerheads with Vickie Guerrero and an Edge/Triple H feud would be very new. Triple H is my pick to win and he will definitely be there or thereabouts, I’d almost guarantee he’ll make the last 3 men left – Odds: 15/8 (favourite)
Prediction: Triple H to win the Royal Rumble

ECW Championship
‘The All-American American’ Jack Swagger (c) vs. Matt Hardy
Hardy lost the title two weeks back and so this is his rematch. Them switching the title admittedly surprised me as I knew WWE were high on Jack Swagger, he is still undefeated in singles competition, but I didn’t think they would push him so hard, so fast. But even though he has only been on the main roster for a few months, Swagger has already shown tons of potential. He has a good look to him, is athletic, has a nice cockiness/arrogance about him and seems comfortable enough on the microphone. I really this guy and he just seems to have ‘it’, and if he keeps his head straight, he can really go far and become a huge star. He makes the most of all the opportunities he gets on TV and seems to be improving each week and had a really good match with Fit Finlay recently.

Matt Hardy is, in my opinion the superior of the two Hardy brothers, yet creative don’t seem too fond of him. They play him up well as a babyface chasing the title, but when he ultimately gets the belt, they just shove him into boring feuds and don’t capitalise on everything they have built up. I don’t see him winning, it’d be silly to switch the title soon and a PPV defence would make Swagger look good. Especially if it is a clean one and there is no real reason why it should not. It’s hard to tell how Swagger will cope in his PPV début, but from every indication so far he should be fine. He might even revel in the big-time atmosphere. And Hardy is a very fine, dependable, worker so there will be no problems from him. I’m looking forward to this one.
Winner: Jack Swagger to retain

WWE Women’s Championship
Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Melina Perez
This feud has been built up very nicely and on paper looks a very solid contest. Phoenix is excellent and can hang with absolutely anyone in the world while Melina has come on nicely and is good enough, one of the better WWE women wrestlers in fact. These two work well together which is a bonus. But it is unlikely we will get a clean match between the two. Recently a ‘fan’ Rosa Mendes (FCW developmental wrestler Milena Roucka) has been planted in the crowd proclaiming to be Phoenix’s #1 fan and has interfered in matches when Melina is beating down her idol. She got ‘banned’ but Phoenix’s on-screen boyfriend Santino Marella has convinced her to take her on and train her. All well and good but I can see this angle ultimately failing. From all accounts Mendes/Roucka is not a very good wrestler which means the pay-off with her fighting either Melina or Phoenix will be really poor. Also this type of angle has been done to death in recent years; they introduced Mickie James in this fashion and also Phoenix herself the first time around. Even TNA managed to do it successfully when they had Tracy Brooks ultimately get confronted by Rain. (Yes, TNA done something right. They deserve credit for it.)

What will probably ultimately happen is that Santino will dump Phoenix for the new chick, which would be fine enough. Phoenix’s partnership with comedy figure Santino has helped get her over, so the pairing has been a success. They could then release Santino (who I hate; he's crap wrestler and his routine got old after two weeks) and Mendes/Roucka (just another pretty face with little ability) for all I care. Right back to the match then, Phoenix is going in with all the momentum so I doubt she will win cleanly. What I’d guess is that Melina will be on the verge of winning but Mendes will interfere to save Phoenix her title. It keeps the babyface looking strong, gets heat on the heels, you have grounds for a rematch soon, and the storyline ticks over. Or the other option is that Mendes and/or Santino messes up the interference and costs Phoenix the title, which could happen as Phoenix has had the belt for 5 months so we are about due a change. I'll go with the former.
Prediction: Melina Perez to win (via DQ)

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
This show looks fine on paper and some of the matches should be worth a look. Edge/Hardy will probably be very good, the ECW match looks potentially very exciting and should be solid at least. The other two should come in average at the very least. I’m expecting one title to switch and I’d say it’ll either be the WWE Championship or the Women’s belt. Changing more than that might be overkill. The Rumble match itself should be highly entertaining; there is something about not knowing who is going to appear next that gives you a nice thrill. Plus the card looks really unpredictable with the potential for lots of surprises, which is great and should make for a good watch.

TNA Genesis 2009 - Preview & Predictions

Opening Promo

Total Nonstop Action (TNA; yeah, they really should have selected a better abbreviation) is the number 2 promotion within the wrestling industry. They have been going for over 5 years but honestly, they are not very good. They like to think that they are big and can compete with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) but in reality they can’t. In fact, if Ring Of Honor (ROH; more on them at a later date hopefully) secure a TV deal, then TNA are probably better off looking over their shoulders than into the distance.

The main problem with TNA is that creatively they have very few good ideas and when it comes to booking matches, it is usually a mess. They have a tendency to overbook things (too much interference, run-ins & weapons) and they have no perception of the constant of 'time' as feuds usually run on way too long and people are always pushed many months after they should have been.

The talent in TNA is questionable too, it is there no doubt about it but it is the way it is used. TNA sign a lot of ex-WWE wrestlers and usually give them the top spots automatically and rarely create and build-up their own stars. They use people based on their past glories while forgetting about the younger guys. Case in point, last year they offered contract extensions to Kevin Nash (a guy nearing his 50s who struggles with walking) and Brothers Ray & Devon of Team 3D (two overweight, ageing guys who have not put on a great match in years). On the flipside, they either let go/didn’t offer enough to keep wrestlers that were useful and very talented. People such as Christian Cage (a main eventer, expected to return to WWE soon), Gail Kim (their top babyface female who has already signed back with WWE) and also Rain (just a tremendous all-round wrestler who would have offered loads).

But enough about their shortcomings for the moment (no doubt others will crop up), let’s see if TNA can kick the PPV calendar off with a bang.

The Card

TNA World Heavyweight Championship
"The Icon" Sting (c) vs. "The War Machine" Rhino
This is part of the big ongoing feud in TNA which pits the Main Event Mafia (a group of veteran, former World title winners) against the Frontline (younger guys a little lower down the card). It was a good idea in theory but as so often happens, TNA managed to make a mess of it, but more on that in a moment or so. Sting represents the Mafia while Rhino has become the spokesperson as of late for the Frontline. I’m not entirely sure what Rhino has done to earn the title shot; he beat Sting over a month ago on the weekly TV show - Impact - but then lost his PPV match against Kurt Angle, so the two kind of cancel each other out. But logic and reason rarely apply in TNA so here we are.

Rhino has been a jobber more or less for the past two years so Sting is going to retain here to continue to make him look like a credible champion. Hopefully it will be a clean win in order to give a more significant victory. The match should be of middling quality at the least as these are two very seasoned wrestlers. But truth be told, as a main event it is not particularly appealing.
Prediction: Sting to retain

The Rematch
TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett vs. Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle
Two of the biggest egos in TNA clash once again. Just to give you an idea of how big Angle’s is, he is billed as the leader of the Main Event Mafia even though he does not currently have the top belt in the World Heavyweight title. The Mafia have been accused by the Frontline of holding them back and Jarrett has somewhat sided with them. Which is hugely ironic given that he did the exact same thing when TNA started as he pretty much held the Heavyweight title for the majority of the first 2-3 years.

If the match is like their first one a few months back it should be fine. Jarrett won that one so I suspect Angle gets the rub in this one, though it probably won’t be clean. Jarrett’s guitar will most likely be used.
Prediction: Kurt Angle

Mick Foley's In-Ring Return
‘The Hardcore Legend’ Mick Foley, ‘The Phenomenal’ A.J. Styles & Brother Devon vs. Legends Champion Booker T, ’Big Sexy’ Kevin Nash and "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner
This is another match in the ongoing Frontline versus Mafia feud which has Mick Foley joining up with the Frontline. Now, it is interesting to note that Brother Devon, along with his tag partner Brother Ray, is part of the Frontline. When those two joined that side of the war, that was the moment I lost interest in this feud. Collectively throughout their career, Devon & Ray have held the tag titles over 20-times, so it made sense for them to join Nash, Booker T and the rest in the Mafia. They probably will turn sometime down the line but it was just such a wrong path to take.

On paper, this match looks pretty poor. Nash & Steiner have not had a good match in a very long time and Devon is not much better. This is Foley’s first actual wrestling match for TNA and he is usually good for a couple of matches a year, and he will get in all his trademark moves like ‘The Sock’ but he will probably have a very limited activity overall in the contest. They would have been better off going with a straight Styles/Booker clash as they will probably be carrying both of their respective teams as they are very fine workers. And I’d assume Foley’s team win unless he turns heel on them, which is a bit unlikely.
Prediction: Mick Foley, A.J. Styles & Brother Devon

TNA World Tag Team Title Match
‘Black Machismo’Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed (c) vs. Beer Money (James Storm & Robert Roode) vs. ‘The Monster’ Abyss & ‘The Blueprint’ Matt Morgan
Sigh, the background to this match is unnecessarily complicated. At the start of this week’s Impact, Beer Money were champions. Later on the show, Morgan beat Robert Roode via referee stoppage due to an injury to Roode, which earned him and Abyss a title shot at the PPV. But then Lethal came out with his partner Creed and cashed in his tag title shot briefcase (a few PPVs ago, a couple of wrestlers won briefcases to earn them specific title shots any time they wanted. This is something WWE have been doing for a while, so it is not a new idea). So with Roode out, James Storm had to defend the titles by himself, in his everyday clothes of jeans and t-shirt, but ultimately lost after he was hit with the briefcase. So Lethal & Creed won the belts in an impromptu, handicap match via use of a weapon. And they are meant to be the babyface team. Meanwhile, we feel sympathy for the heels as they lost the titles on a screwjob. That is simply just poor booking and makes no sense whatsoever, and just gives you an example of the stuff TNA does.

So this match is Beer Money’s mandatory rematch and Abyss & Morgan are still in the match as well. Thought those two just seem to be in to further their own storyline in which one will probably turn heel. It is rumoured to be Morgan yet with a moniker like ‘The Monster’, Abyss would make more sense and he has been pretty crap as a face. But Creed & Lethal will retain, as it would be foolish to hot-shot the titles off them, in what should be a decent enough match.
Prediction: Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed to retain

Tournament Final To Crown A New X-Division Champion
Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley
The X-Division used to be TNA’s main selling point years ago but when the better wrestlers (namely A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels) moved up the card, it got a bit short in depth and has just merely existed. Due to a series of nonsensical events, the title got vacated hence the tournament which is meant to bring some meaning back to the title. Which is all well and good...except WWE did the exact same thing with their mid-card belt only last month.

But I’m expecting this one to be Match Of The Night, it would be hugely disappointing if it isn’t. Sabin & Shelley is an odd pairing because they are part of a tag team (Motor City Machine Guns) who are long, long overdue a tag title run and it is hard to call a winner. Going on the ridiculous notion that this is the first step to TNA stupidly breaking up the tag team, Shelly will win as he is slightly better at playing the heel role therefore setting Sabin up to get the ultimate win in their feud. Or there might just be a dodgy finish that will hold the belt open to a better candidate next month. It should be noted that the wrestler Homicide won the briefcase to cash in a title shot for the X-title and he could well get involved. But he is also in an established tag team, so things would be back at square one.
Winner: Alex Shelley to win the vacant title

TNA Knockouts Women's Championship - Lumberjack Match
Awesome Kong (c) vs. To Be Determined
The Women’s division has been the one area where TNA have consistently outperformed WWE over the past year or so since its inception. But it is getting to a stage where it is starting to feel a little stale and they still have not settled on a top babyface ever since Gail Kim left in late summer. Now TNA might bring in some new talent soon to keep things fresh; they recently gave tryout matches to both Portia Perez and Ashley Lane from acclaimed promotion SHIMMER (which is well worth your time). The other solution is to make more of the talent they have and in particular Raisha Saeed, who has acted as Kong’s mouthpiece but others have aligned themselves with Kong so that role can now be taken up with anyone. You could get the scenario where Kong ends up beating up Saaed, turning her babyface in the process. Saeed could then lay out Kong the next week and then unmask and in reality she is actually the highly talented Cheerleader Melissa and the pay-off of a Kong/Melissa feud would be gold. But that’s for the (near) future, hopefully.

Now Christy Hemme, who is not a very good wrestler, was due to face Kong but she got injured and they have not announced a replacement yet but best guess would be either Roxxi or Taylor Wilde who would be good babyface foils to Kong’s heel. Or they could go the unexpected route and have someone new or any of the aforementioned women. Now I wouldn’t wish an injury on anyone, but with Hemme out the match will be infinitely better. Kong should be retaining cleanly enough to help get her over after a dodgy appearance last PPV (where Hemme won on a DQ). The lumberjack aspect is just to get as many of the Knockouts on TV as possible.
Prediction: Awesome Kong to retain

Grudge Match
‘Referee’ Shane Sewell vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
Sewell was a referee who officiated a lot of matches whereby Bashir was on the losing side. Bashir blamed Sewell for the losses and gave him a few beatdowns with Sewell sometimes hitting back out of frustration. Why the TNA management did not see the obvious clash of interests just goes to show how dumb they really are. Anyway Sewell hit back once too much and got fired as a referee but then got immediately re-hired but as a wrestler.

Now I have no idea what Sewell will be like in the ring but Bashir is dependable enough and it will probably be a slow-enough match. Given that TNA will probably want to continue this feud longer, and so as not to make him look bad in his first match, Sewell will probably pick up the win.
Prediction: Shane Sewell

8 Man Tag Team Elimination Match
Eric Young/Shark Boy/LAX (Homicide & Hernandez) vs. Cute Kip/Kiyos/The Rock & Rave Infection (Lance Rock & Jimmy Rave)
This match was just added very late in the day and it isn’t exactly all that thrilling on paper. The fact that it is an elimination match does not really bode well for this contest or the rest of the card, as time will be taken away from the bigger matches. Of the combatants; Shark Boy, Rock & Rave are all jobbers, Kip is living on past glories and Kiyos is some Japanese guy who I haven’t seen much of. Eric Young is a fine wrestler and LAX are a very good tag team so the two teams look a little unbalanced. Regardless this match has no backstory or nothing riding on it so it will be quickly forgettable, but the babyface team should win with LAX the only ones not eliminated.
Prediction: Eric Young/Shark Boy/LAX

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
Well this PPV has sold so poorly that TNA have actually resorted to giving away free tickets. Which must be hugely disappointing internally giving it is Mick Foley’s in-ring début for them and also with the Angle/Jarrett rematch. But looking at the card and in particular the top-half, it does not look particularly enticing. Aside from Sabin/Shelley and possibly the Tag & Knockout title matches, nothing looks like it will be exceedingly exciting or fresh. There is also the absence of Samoa Joe on the card who is one of the top stars and one of the bigger members of the Frontline. He is selling an ‘injury’ but nonetheless he is a big loss from the card. There is also the outside chance that Christopher Daniels will return, which would be excellent. And the sooner he returns and is thrust to the top of the Frontline group, the better. All in all, it’ll probably be an average PPV, which is what we have come to expect from TNA.