WWE No Way Out 2000

WWE No Way Out 2000

Hartford, CT - February 2000

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Triple H was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion coming into this show, Crash Holly was the Hardcore Champion, Kurt Angle held the European Championship, Chris Jericho was the Intercontinental Champion, Jacqueline was the Women's Champion, Essa Rios was the Light Heavyweight Champion, and the New Age Outlaws were the WWE World Tag Team Champions. 

No Way Out 2000 kicks off with a video hyping that this night might be the last time we ever see Cactus Jack as he puts his career on the line in the main event. I remember, even back then, thinking it was awfully suspicious how they kept referring to Foley as "Cactus Jack" and not coming out and directly stating that if Foley lost, it was Foley - under any gimmick - that would be forced into retirement. Also, I remember thinking that after their hellacious match at the Royal Rumble in January, there was almost nothing that Foley and Triple H could do to top it or top Foley's Hell in a Cell match with the Undertaker and so there was almost no way this match wouldn't be underwhelming. Anyway, Jim Ross comments that tonight's show might be "the most emotional ever," which is an awfully weird thing to say not too long after Owen Hart literally died in the ring...

Chris Jericho defended his Intercontinental Championship against Kurt Angle in the opening contest. This wasn't "must see," but it was very good for its time and was an excellent showcase for both Jericho and Angle (who also got to cut a promo before the match). This was a "transition" period for the WWE as, in 98', one could argue that the number of actual decent in-ring performers was rather low with guys like X-Pac, Jarrett, and Owen really doing a ton of heavy-lifting against lesser and less experienced workers like Val Venis, D'Lo Brown, and Steve Blackman. In 99', though, the roster really improved with Jericho's arrival, the debut of Angle, and both the Hardys and Edge & Christian showing what they could do without restraints. Jericho and Angle cut a very brisk pace though there are still some restholds thrown in to slow things down and tell the story. Chyna is pretty useless on the outside until the finishing stretch. This is the kind of match that explains why Angle was considered a "prodigy" because, considering how few matches he had under his belt, he was already very smooth, very exciting to watch, and knew how to balance being an unlikeable heel with also being a dangerous competitor. (3/5)

Unfortunately, the show goes on a bit of a downturn from here as The Dudley Boys challenge The New Age Outlaws for their WWE World Tag Team Championships. If I'm not mistaken, the Outlaws were heels at this point and part of the McMahon-Helmsley Era or whatever. Their shtick felt so dated by this point and it hasn't aged any better, but is undeniable that they were still over the live crowds.. There's really not much to this match as the Dudleys cheat to win. I read later that this led to the split of the Outlaws, a storyline I don't remember much from. (1.5/5)

Mark Henry vs. Viscera is the next match. This was bad and the lead-up to it was embarrassing and unfunny as Mark Henry had supposedly impregnated Mae Young and Viscera had almost caused a miscarriage by splashing her. Anyway, again, not much to say this aside from noting that JR makes a remark about this match likely not earning "many stars" because it is nothing more than two monstrous men fighting it out. I don't personally care too much about Meltzer's ratings, but I will say this - if a match is going to be objectively bad, maybe don't put it on PPV? Anyway, at least this didn't last long and Viscera does deliver a nice spinning heel kick, so it's not completely devoid of any positives. (1/5)

Christian and Edge, still being promoted as actual brothers, took on a team of actual brothers - The Hardys (with Terri Runnels) - in a match to decide who would be challenging for the World Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania. On Sunday Night Heat, Terri had hired the APA to make sure nobody else got involved. Anyway...these two teams had put on a barnburner at No Mercy a few months before this, but they had the advantage of being able to use ladders to keep the crowd popping. Here, they have a harder task of needing to keep the crowd engaged without those extra bells-and-whistles and they deserve credit for doing so over a lengthy 15+ minute match. Jeff Hardy busts out all sorts of high-flying stuff that looks terrific. Edge and Christian aren't quite in full-on heel mode, but their double-teams are good and their control segment is fine. There are some small gaps in the action when they seem to lose the crowd, but, to be fair, audiences at the time weren't quite conditioned for lengthy tag matches like the ones the WWE routinely put on PPVs in the 80s and early 90s. The final few minutes are really good and its kinda sweet to see these guys deliver a bunch of signature moves that JR doesn't know how to call because they weren't true signature moves yet. Terri Runnels turn on the Hardys at the end and I actually like the clever booking there as that explains why Terri would've hired the APA (to make sure her plan went off without a hitch and to guarantee that the Hardys wouldn't try to exact revenge after the bout is over, which they attempt to do). Above-average match, for sure. (3/5)

Tazz vs. Big Bossman is next. Big Bossman is accompanied to the ring by Prince Albert. Tazz and Bossman brawl outside of the ring and then the match falls apart once they get inside it as Albert interferes and it becomes a 2-on-1 beatdown. The objective here was to get Tazz's toughness over as he refuses to stay down despite the attack from the heels, but I'm not sure it works. I feel like Tazz would've gained much more just getting to beat Bossman in a somewhat competitive match, but Vince didn't want to give him that "rub" yet because he was an ECW guy and I think Vince always had an issue with Tazz's height. Anyway, this is barely a match so its hard to rate it, but I know its not good whatever it is. (1/5)

Next up - X-Pac vs. Kane in a No Holds Barred match. One cannot comment on this match without discussing the storyline that led up to it. In 1999 - if I'm not mistaken - X-Pac and Kane were a hugely successful tag team, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships on two occasions. The partnership also led to the "humanizing" of Kane as he became a full-fledged babyface during that run and even had an on-screen girlfriend named Tori. Then, towards the end of 99', with the creation of the Helmsley-McMahon Regime and the reunification of DX officially as heels, X-Pac turned on Kane and then revealed that he'd been hooking up with Tori too. X-Pac's betrayal was a gut punch and got legitimate heat from the audience so this match was set and most fans agreed that it was time for X-Pac to get his comeuppance, especially considering they'd already faced each other at December's Armageddon show. For the majority of the match, Kane is in full control and nothing X-Pac (or Tori) can do has much effect on the Big Red Machine. I'm pretty staunch in my opinion that Kane is a mediocre-at-best worker, but this match was solid and featured just enough movement and bells-and-whistles to keep me entertained. Overall, it's a good match and doesn't overstay its welcome and X-Pac does everything he can to make Kane look like a monster...but the finish, designed to extend the program, was highly controversial at the time and only looks worse in hindsight as the two would go on to compete in a meaningless tag match at WrestleMania 2000 and then, based on Cagematch, not have a true blow-off match. Kane ended up okay because the nature of his character allowed him to be "heated up" whenever needed. X-Pac didn't have much of a run after this match and, if I'm not mistaken, it is around this point where the term "X-Pac Heat" began to be used to describe guys that the audience was sick of seeing in any capacity. Seeing Kane tombstone a woman has also not aged well, but hey, what should one expect from WWE in the late 90s/early 00s? (3/5)

Rikishi and Too Cool took on The Radicals (Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn) in the next match. Eddie Guerrero was at ringside, but he'd injured his arm while delivering a frog splash on Raw before this show. Rikishi and Too Cool were arguably at their peak of popularity at this time, which probably is why Vince thought they'd have a monster heel in Rikishi once they revealed he was the guy who ran over Steve Austin. Of course, that angle flopped pretty hard, not least of which was because Rikishi's reasoning ("I did it for The Rock") made little sense and they also were dumb enough not to have him change his look at all and keep wearing the sumo outfit (which only served to make Rikishi look like a somewhat comedic character all along). Anyway...If you're looking for a great Benoit or Malenko match, this is not the one to watch, though it is interesting to see them clearly wrestling a more "WWE style" that is heavy on chicanery, stooging, and keeping their own offense simple so as not to get any potential cheers from the crowd. Rewatching Too Cool matches, it is clear that Scotty 2 Hotty was the superior worker, though I still find The Worm to be corny. The crowd was super into this and they told a good story, but this wouldn't be a match I'd try too hard to see. (3/5)

The Big Show took on The Rock in a Number One Contender's Match for the WWE Championship. The story coming into this was that The Rock's feet had touched the ground at January's Royal Rumble before he eliminated The Big Show. The video clearly shows that Big Show was correct, but few cared because The Rock was so immensely over as a babyface. This isn't the worst match ever, but Big Show had clearly lost most of his aura - or whatever remained of it - since his initial push in WCW in 96', when guys like Sting, Flair, Luger, and Savage had really made him look like a true top-tier talent. The action is good and fast-paced and because The Rock is so over, the crowd is definitely engaged in every minute. The Big Show bringing a chair into the match makes no real sense unless you really, really overthink things and pretend that everything that happens in the last two minutes was planned and accounted for by Shane McMahon, which is hard to find reasonable. Shane McMahon's heel turn - I don't even recall him being a real babyface, but he certainly gets a massive ovation when he arrives - was what this match was all about and it was an effective one. Not great, but not terrible. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Cactus Jack vs. Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Hell in a Cell match where Foley's career is also on the line. I don't think I had seen this match since I first watched it some 20+ years ago on the couch at my buddy Zak's parents' house. I remember, even then, thinking that the hype around this match was going to be impossible to overcome. For starters, the commentators had really played up the idea that if "Cactus Jack" lost, he'd be forced to retire...which wasn't necessarily the same thing as saying Mick Foley would retire. (During the match itself, Lawler clarifies that it did mean that all of Foley's personas would be forced to retire too). Then you have Foley really overselling what he was planning to do to Triple H, stating that his plan was to toss Triple H off the cage and then come crashing down on him, a spot that nobody expected to happen but was still teased. Of course, the biggest issue was that Foley had taken the two craziest bumps in WWE history - I don't think they've ever really been topped in terms of risk factor either - in the previous Hell in a Cell match and so the expectations were super high as to how he might top himself. With such unfair expectations - not that the WWE did anything at all to lower them - Foley and Triple H set up to disappoint and, at the time, this match was a disappointment. Decades later, on re-watch, though, this match is excellent and arguably the 3rd, 4th, or 5th best Hell in a Cell match ever. Foley's bumping is great. The use of weapons is terrific. Both of Foley's big falls, while obviously lesser than what he did against The Undertaker, were still tremendous. I wasn't a huge fan of some of the psychology; Why did Triple H climb atop the cell again? To escape Foley? From that height, he had no way to win the match and once Foley began climbing up - after inexplicably trying to toss a chair up that would've ended up in the hands of the Game, who already had a barbwire 2x4 - he didn't even try to climb down. I did really like how part of the match revolved around the shoddy construction of the cell as it added a real sense of danger to what has become, 20 years later, something of a staid affair (though I'm not sure every gaffe was planned [if it was, kudos to the WWE production for fooling me when Triple H's foot nearly fell through part of the ceiling]). Loved the repeated the use of the steel steps, but was less impressed at the use of fire, which seemed a touch "forced" as a way to make up for a match that both competitors knew couldn't and wouldn't live up to the impossible-to-reach hype. Foley's final bump is an unreal visual and the production team deserves some serious credit for pulling it off as, despite a little bit of internet sleuthing, I'm still not 100% sure how they were able to pull it off (most assume that while Triple H and Foley were brawling on top of the cage, someone underneath the ring was removing boards and placing the crash pad). After the match, Foley's farewell didn't quite seem "big enough," potentially because, to the WWE audience, Foley's most beloved character was always Mankind and not Cactus Jack. I wouldn't call this match a "hidden gem" because it has always been out in plain sight, remembered by just about anyone who was a fan of the WWE at the time, but not nearly as praised as the Foley/HHH streetfight from January's Rumble or Mick's infinitely more famous Cell match against Taker in 98'. It's unfortunate that those two matches cast such a huge shadow over this one that this match, and Foley's performance in it, are rarely mentioned. (4/5)

Though its 2.44-out-of-5 Kwang Score would lead you to believe this show is too uneven to recommend, No Way Out 2000 was a good show as a whole and a considerable step-up from some of the real low points of 1999 (specifically December's Armageddon show). The main event is very strong, Jericho/Angle and the Hardys/Edge & Christian matches are considerably better than almost anything the WWE's midcard had seen in a few years at least, and the X-Pac/Kane match, despite its awful booking, might be one of Kane's best matches (thanks to X-Pac pinballing himself all over the place to keep things moving). It also doesn't hurt that the crowd was very much into things and the weaker bouts - the Tag Titles match, Viscera vs. Mark Henry - were kept short.

TNA Sacrifice 2009

TNA Sacrifice 2009

Orlando, FL - May 2009

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Mick Foley was (somehow) the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, the Legends Championship was held by AJ Styles, the TNA World Tag Team Champions were Team 3D, Angelina Love was the Knockouts Champion, and Suicide was the X-Division Champion. 

The show kicks off with an X-Division six-man, The Motor City Machine Guns teaming with Abdul Bashir (Shawn Daivari) to take on Eric Young, Consequences Creed (Xavier Woods), and Jay Lethal (in his "Black Machismo" gear). Creed is the star of the early going, his offense looking excellent. When the heels take over, Shelley hits an awesome running knee off the apron and they work to cut the ring in half but end up arguing with each other a bit and nearly costing themselves the match. Lethal gets the hot tag and takes out everyone before nearly finishing off Bashir with a dropkick. The Guns trip him up, which leads to a big double-dive from Young and Creed and then another nearfall for the babyfaces. Lethal attempts his big elbow drop but is cut off by Shelley, who then delivers a devastating brainbuster. Shelley goes to the top but Creed stops him and then, moments later, bulldogs him from the top into Lethal's finisher. We get another nearfall and the match basically falls apart as everyone starts hitting big moves, flying all over the place, double-teams galore, its all good stuff (though I wouldn't necessarily consider it worthy of the "This is Awesome" chant that erupts). As good as some of the sequences are, there's also some noticeable moments of overt cooperation and the match goes at least 2-3 minutes too long. The finish doesn't make much sense either as the referee costs Bashir the match for no real reason (if Bashir had been messing with the ref at various points in the match, it would've really helped). (3/5)

Abyss and Dr. Stevie Richards join Daffney as she makes her way down the aisle to take on Taylor Wilde in what I believe was the first ever Women's Monsters' Ball match. The "wrestling" in this match isn't great as Daffney and Wilde aren't necessarily the smoothest workers, but the real problem here is that this match is super short and, though there are a few good weapon shots and the finish itself is a nasty bump, they could've and should've been given more time to build towards it. After the match, Daffney and Richards attempt to beat down Wilde and have Abyss toss her into some thumbtacks, but Abyss hesitates as Wilde's best friend Lauren comes in to try to stop him. She gets shoved down by Richards, which leads Abyss to chokeslamming Richards into the tacks. As a segment, the crowd was into it and Abyss and Richards were good in their roles, but the match itself was not long enough. (1.5/5)

Next up - Christopher Daniels vs. Suicide. The story coming into this match is that everyone believed it was Daniels under the Suicide mask because he needed a loophole to return to TNA after being "fired" in December 2007 (he would compete throughout 2008 under the Curry Man gimmick and was then "fired" again 2008). By the way, the fact that Daniels "won" the pink slip in the first two Feast or Fired matches is great. But then Daniels and Suicide started appearing together. Unsatisfied and believing all of this to be a big conspiracy, Don West is insufferable on commentary during this match. Speaking of West, compared to his work in the previous few shows I've reviewed, he has gone full heel mode at this point and it does not make for better announcing. I can understand TNA Creative wanting to have a heel commentator as this was a tried-and-true formula, but Don West isn't a good enough performer - because being a heel commentator means putting on a performance - to pull it off. In this match he is particularly awful as he repeatedly refers to the action as a "performance" and argues that Daniels and Suicide are just putting on a convincing "fake" match...which is a path one really shouldn't go down when discussing any wrestling match. Anyway, this match is meh. At times it is really slow and, surprisingly, Daniels and Suicide (Kaz) botch what seemed like an attempt at a piledriver spot at one point. The majority of the match is heatless because neither guy has a clear alignment and, while his in-ring work is routinely crisp, Daniels had zero gimmick here to help him connect to the crowd in any way. I also really disliked the closing stretch as Suicide got taken out by a pretty weak Alex Shelley move and oversold it and then we got an extra 5 minutes tagged onto the match - which led to a time-limit draw and Suicide retaining the championship because Daniels didn't want to win the title "the wrong way." This was a real disappointment because one would've thought Daniels and Kaz capable of something much better. (1.5/5)

Angelina Love defended her Knockouts Championship against Awesome Kong in the next match. I wasn't expecting much out of this contest, but it exceeded my expectations. As good as Kong is, she's not a miracle worker and really needs a very dynamic, athletic opponent to clash with her as the monster regardless of face/heel alignment. Love was not known as a strong in-ring performer but she brought really good energy and character work in this match and I liked the "little things" she did to try to capitalize on every possible advantage. Seeing her take a back drop onto the ramp was a bit rough considering that she clearly got concussed at Lockdown the month before. The screwy finish was fine, but Awesome Kong continuing to destroy Love during the post-match seemed a bit heavy-handed and arguably made Love too sympathetic. (2.5/5)

Samoa Joe took on Kevin Nash in the next bout. The Samoa Joe "Nation of Violence" gimmick is one of the weakest re-packagings in TNA history, though I do wonder how much of it was Joe's vision. What's weird is that Joe didn't necessarily need a refresh because there was nothing necessarily wrong about his presentation in 2008 aside from him no longer really being the focus of the World Championship scene and not having enough direction beyond wanting to get revenge on Kevin Nash, which was a bit of a creative dead-end because Nash was so clearly past his prime. Here, Joe does his thing and puts in effort and Nash tries his best to really make Joe come across as a killer (including getting some "color"), but it still feels like a flat match and not like the huge personal victory for Joe that it probably should've been. It also, oddly, ends with Joe attacking Nash during the post-match in a way that a heel might. (2/5)

Beer Money took on The British Invasion (Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus) in the next contest. Magnus hadn't debuted too long before this and was pushed like a big deal, but was too vanilla to stand out. Beer Money hadn't done much to turn babyface, but were definitely treated as such and even had Team 3D singing their praises on commentary. This was maybe slightly above average, but nothing revelatory. This didn't overstay its welcome but did seem a bit longer than its 11-minute runtime (most likely due to the pre-match video and promos and Team 3D getting an entrance to do commentary). (2.5/5)

The TNA Legends Championship was on the line next as Booker T challenged AJ Styles in an "I Quit" match. This was a bit underwhelming because "I Quit" matches, especially the ones we typically got in WWE at the time and to this day, usually start off as more technical and submission-based and then ramp up to become more like a "death match" or, in the WWE's case, involve lots of set pieces. This was much more straightforward and was more about two guys putting forth a ton of effort and energy to try to defeat the other. It was a battle of stamina and endurance and not necessarily about violence and, as it wore on, I did find myself wondering when it was going to escalate. The finish was very unfortunate as Kevin Nash's girlfriend Jenna threw in the towel to make it clear that Booker - nor Sharmell - were willing to quit. After 16 minutes of a respectable, honorable battle, this probably would be better remembered if Booker had been willing to just go ahead and give Styles the clean W. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Mick Foley vs. Sting vs. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett in a fourway match with each man "sacrificing" something if they lose as Foley puts up his TNA World Championship, Sting puts up his career, Angle puts up his role as the Godfather of the Main Event Mafia, and Jeff Jarrett puts up his remaining stake in the company. Not a great match by any means, but not too terrible either. Foley takes a lengthy breather during the match by joining the commentary team. It's a good way to get heel heat but, as I wrote about in my Lockdown review, I feel like the heel character didn't work 100% in 2009 because Foley was always such a sympathetic guy and had been treated as such for a decade by this point. Angle is the best performer in this match, but its a bit too muddled at times for me. Sting practically disappears from the match at one point. I was surprised to read such positive reviews for this match over on Cagematch as I thought it was just so-so. (2.5/5)

Overall, Sacrifice 2009 isn't the worst TNA show I've watched. It might actually be one of their more consistent shows, only it is consistently just "okay." With an unremarkable Kwang Score of 2.25-out-of-5, it'd be impossible to recommend this match as a whole. In fact, you wouldn't be missing anything great if you turned it off after the opener.

TNA Genesis 2009

TNA Genesis 2009

Charlotte, NC - January 2009

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the TNA World Champion was Sting, the X-Division Championship was held up and vacant, the team of Lethal Consequences (Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed) were the TNA World Tag Team Champions, Booker T was the Legends Champion, and Awesome Kong was the TNA Knockouts Champion. 

Genesis kicks off with Eric Young and LAX taking on the team of Jimmy Rave, Kiyoshi, and Sonjay Dutt. This was an elimination match but there were no quick eliminations and, once the pinfalls did start happening, it became obvious that the aim of the match was all about promoting Hernandez, who had earned a future TNA World Championship match at the previous pay-per-view by grabbing one of the briefcases in the Feast-or-Fired match. I was interesting in seeing Kiyoshi as he was the worker I was least familiar with. Now I understand why as he wasn't too impressive here. After both Young and Homicide were eliminated, Hernandez ended up getting the victory over all three of the heels, but because none of the heels were particularly over, it doesn't feel like that big of a feat. This was fine for what it was. (2.5/5)

Next up - Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin for the vacant TNA X-Division Championship. Shelley and Sabin were both heels, but the "heat" of this match was really about how they were best friends/tag team partners. This is a very good match as most predicted it would be at the time. Shelley showed off more high-flying than he usually did and Sabin did the same with his technical wrestling and submissions, which was a clever turn on what one may have expected. This was wrestled "straight up" until the finish, which saw Shelley feign an injury in order to surprise Sabin with a roll-up. Over at Cagematch, this has a higher rating that I'm going to give it, but if you're into either of these guys, this is worth checking out. (3.5/5)

Next up - ex-referee Shane Sewell takes on Sheik Adbul Bashir. This isn't woeful, but it isn't very good either. The crowd wasn't particularly into this and there weren't any creative twists to make it more interesting than just a former referee wanting to exact revenge on a heel that was a thorn in his side and nearly cost him his job. Very paint-by-numbers with neither Sewell or Bashir having the charisma or ability to lift the material given. They go 10 minutes but it feels like longer. (1.5/5)

The TNA World Tag Team Championships are on the line as Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal defend the titles against Beer Money and Abyss and Matt Morgan in a triangle tag. There's a trashy spot featuring Jacqueline but it pops the crowd so who am I to judge. I like the psychology throughout as both Beer Money and the champs work hard to stay in the match and prevent the monsters from coming in out of fear that they will dominate and then quickly win the titles. Speaking of the monsters, they'd been building up their split for months at this point and we finally get it here when Abyss accidentally clobbers Morgan with a chair. If the last match suffered because it was uninventive and too by-the-numbers, this match works because while it is absolutely a straight-forward, somewhat "simple" match, the teams knew how to infuse it with just enough high spots and comedy and twists and turns to make it work and maintain the crowd's interest. Not spectacular, but not bad. (2.5/5)

Next up - ODB, Roxxi, and Taylor Wilde taking on the team of Raisha Saeed, Rhaka Khan, and Sojourner Bolt. The only reason to watch this match is to see Saeed, aka Cheerleader Melissa, a 10-year veteran at this point who was the most fluid and capable performer in the ring but also tethered to a gimmick that didn't allow her to shine. The crowd isn't too into things, but does pop for Taylor Wilde flying from the top rope to the floor. This is also the first time in the night when some slick spots on the outside cause problems as Roxxi, Khan, and Bolt nearly slip getting into position to catch Wilde. ODB gets the win and then Kong shows up and there's a big brawl and, well, it isn't very inventive or fresh but they were stuck with Christy Hemme getting injured before the show. (1.5/5)

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett follows in a No Disqualification match. Dave Meltzer went ga-ga for this match online and while it is very good, I wouldn't call it an all-time classic the way others have. There are some flaws in psychology throughout the match, even if one can overlook the sporadic selling (which, to be fair, is something that is cooked into pro-wrestling anyway but more noticeable in some matches compared to others). Here, my issues are maybe nitpicky, but I had them nonetheless. For starters, I think the layout is a bit disjointed as the biggest and wildest bumps and spots happen in the middle of the match and are bookended by "straight" wrestling, which means the stakes and violence isn't escalating but rather crescendo'ing around the two-thirds mark. Second, I didn't love some of the nearfalls and kickouts, very few of which were ones I "bit" on despite being built around signature finishing moves (Jeff Jarrett simply shooting both arms in the air after an Angle Slam was particularly overdramatic in a bad way when a more spirited full-body kickout might've worked better). Finally, the finish itself, a schoolboy "flash pin" felt like a weird prelude to Jarrett eventually getting stretchered out when I think a more definitive, more violent ending would've been better. Those flaws aside, this is still a worthwhile watch and features at least three of the craziest - but probably accidental - bumps I can recall witnessing. Angle gets flipped to the outside and immediately slips on his landing, falling to the ground in a heap. Jarrett attempts a splash and shockingly tries to dive over the top rope, tripping himself in the process and taking a nasty fall to the floor as well. Then, minutes later, Angle hits an Angle Slam on Jarrett into a table off the stage but clearly overshoots it a bit and it is Angle that goes through the furniture while Jarrett lands hard on the concrete (and maybe hits the edge of another table?). They're brilliant moments because they remind us of how dangerous hardcore wrestling can be and how important precision is to prevent injury. Crazy stuff. The crowd was super into this, it felt very heated, the actual wrestling was crisp and high-impact, but this isn't in masterpiece territory. (4/5)

Sting defends his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Rhyno in the next match. This was a booking mess with a match that wasn't nearly as good as if they had probably just given these 12-15 minutes and maybe let one of their better agents - and I'm not even sure there was one working in TNA at the time - help them lay out a match. One of the stories of the evening was that Rhyno had been kidnapped by the Main Event Mafia earlier in the day, beaten up, and left for dead somewhere. He miraculously made it to the arena anyway, bandaged up and selling damage to his lower back. Sting claims he had nothing to do with the attack despite being a part of the MEM. The match is not good at all. The crowd is pretty much full behind the Stinger because they are in Charlotte and overcompensating with an angle to try to get Rhyno sympathy ended up forcing them to wrestle a match that was all about Sting attacking Rhyno's lower back with bearhugs and his Scorpion Deathlock. This should've been an absolute mauling by Sting with him really selling how conflicted he was about beating down on an already-beaten man, about how much he detested what the MEM had done, with the Stinger begging Rhyno to give up for his own good until he finally put him away with a Scorpion Death Drop. Instead, we get a back-and-forth match that doesn't work because Rhyno showing toughness in defeat is the exact same thing as pretty much every other Rhyno match ever (and especially by this point, when nobody bought him as a main event-level Championship contender). Sting is moving slow and looking old here, which could've at least been counteracted by some character development, but we don't get any. A very poor "main event" match. (1/5)

Main event time - Scott Steiner, Booker T, and the man replacing Kevin Nash....Kip James (Billy Gunn) taking on Mick Foley, AJ Styles, and Brother Devon of Team 3D. This is reminiscent of one of those thrown-together WCW main events when it was obvious that booking plans had fallen through due to injuries or contract disputes and the star power just wasn't there to present something that really felt "main event caliber." Here, I'm not sure why they didn't just make it Foley and AJ vs. Steiner and Booker because Devon and "Kip" stick out as being over in very specific contexts, namely their respective Attitude Era tag teams. Speaking of Foley and AJ, you can see that Foley wants this to be good and AJ being AJ is able to make it decent, but nobody else shines at all and the false finish/re-start came off as a bit corny. Very clunky action at times as Foley did not look good even doing the simple stuff. (2/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.31-out-of-5, Genesis 2009 is saved by a very good Jarrett/Angle match, an inoffensive Tag Team Championship bout, and a solid X-Division Championship match out of the Motor City Machine Guns. Everything else is either passable or outright terrible, which is a shame because, on paper, a match like Rhyno/Sting and the six-woman tag could've been better. With only one match really worth checking out, this one falls into the category of...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

TNA Lockdown 2009

TNA Lockdown 2009

Philadelphia, PA - April 2009

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the TNA World Champion was Sting, Beer Money were the TNA World Tag Team Champions, the X-Division Championship was held by Suicide, the Legends Champion was AJ Styles, and the Knockouts Champion was Awesome Kong.

I've seen one or two Lockdown PPVs before and have always thought this was a loser of an idea, but the brain trust in charge of TNA seemed to think it was a great idea so here we go. The pre-match video features Billy Corgan singing a re-imagined version of "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," which is stupid enough to earn an extra point for this show. (+1)

The show begins with an X-Division Escape match for the X-Division Championship with Suicide defending the title against Jay Lethal (still doing the Black Machismo shtick), Consequences Creed, Sheik Abdul Bashir, and Kiyoshi. Like the Ultimate X match from the previous show, this underwhelmed me only because, with the X-Division, one was often led to believe we would see innovation and high-flying and risk-taking unlike anything we'd seen before but that really wasn't the case, especially not with guys like Bashir being involved. Suicide, once again being played by Kazarian, was being pushed strong here and the final spot of the match - a dive off the cage and onto the arena floor - is incredible, but it's the lone truly memorable moment in an otherwise mostly "just kinda there" match. (2/5)

This match was followed by a Queen of the Cage bout between Daffney, ODB, Madison Rayne, and Sojourner Bolt. Maybe its because of all the entrances or maybe it was the talent involved but this felt like a very, very long and boring 6 minutes. ODB was the most over woman in the match so it was fairly obvious that she would be getting the W, but I find her gimmick and character work to be grating and the addition of Cody Deaner didn't make things any better. Maybe there are matches of hers that are above average, but I don't think I've seen one yet. (1/5)

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships were on the line next as The Motor City Machine Guns defended against LAX and the team of Naito and Yujiro (Takahashi). It is interesting to watch this match with Naito not yet established as a major Japanese star. Him and Takahashi aren't super impressive, but they're also not really given as much time to shine as the other two teams. Sabin's bumping in this match is tremendous, by the way. Loved Hernandez' power moves as he is always so impressive when he gets to toss small guys around. Homicide sort of faded into the background of this match. Watching this match inspired me to look up Yujiro because I was unfamiliar with him and I was somewhat surprised to see how much he is thoroughly despised by the raters over at Cagematch, many of whom consider him among the worst wrestlers in NJPW history. He wasn't offensively bad here, though I didn't think him and Naito shined at any given moment either. Not a bad match and the work of the other teams carried it to above-average territory. (3/5)

A Doomsday Chamber of Blood match followed between Matt Morgan and Abyss. I really wanted to root for these two guys to have a great hardcore match, but their series has been underwhelming with poor match structures and gimmicks that actually hurt more than help. Here, no winner can be decided until their opponent is bleeding. Why? To guarantee blood? Blood in a cage match being fought between two monsters should be boilerplate, not part of the stipulation. Both guys looked like they were wading in water at times with really slow, plodding action and the amount of blood, especially out of Abyss, was almost gross. I can handle a super bloody, wild brawl at times, especially when it feels "earned," but this was clearly Abyss blading himself to get a reaction because the match itself wasn't going to do it. The big reveal happened at the end of the match when Abyss' psychiatrist, "Dr. Stevie," was revealed to be noneother than Stevie Richards. This, of course, led to loud "ECW" chants from the Philadelphia crowd and nobody seeming to care about the culmination of a months-long storyline. I remember, at the time, being under the impression that Matt Morgan had a ton of potential, but now I'm fully understanding why the WWE wasn't as interested in him as some theorized. Sure, he was tall. Sure, he had a good physique. At times, he showed glimmers of charisma even. But, between the bells, there'd be no heat. (2/5)

The Knockouts Championship is on the line next as Angelina Love and Taylor Wilde challenge Awesome Kong. I think the booking idea was to have Angelina Love, the heel leader of the Beautiful People, cheat her way to the title, which would've led to Awesome Kong becoming the de facto babyface...but the Philly crowd isn't as behind Kong as one might've thought and, by the end of the match, because Love is so clearly concussed, she ends up the one gaining the sympathy. This wasn't a bad match, but the ending is really hurt considerably by Love seemingly getting knocked loopy on a somewhat routine bump onto her back. The best spot of the match was Awesome Kong busting out a ridiculous front-flip splash. I also thought the heels tying Kong's braids into the cage was something that helped make the match and division stand out as a fresh twist that you wouldn't see in a men's match. (2/5)

Team 3D challenged Beer Money for their TNA World Tag Team Championships next. I've not a been a fan of "shticky" Beer Money can be at times with all the homophobic comedy spots. This was about what one might've expected as the match started with prolonged brawling around the arena because this was a Philadelphia Street Fight. Things got much more interesting when they made their way closer to the ring and we got a table spot on the outside and then some back-and-forth double-team maneuvers once they got inside the cage. I liked the nearfalls and felt like Beer Money really shined here while Team 3D kept things moving and energetic and worked hard to deliver a match that would please the hardcore fans in attendance. My one criticism would just be that Team 3D really went "all out" in their pre-match promos, promising blood and violence and essentially murder, and because they are such intense promos, I thought we might get a truly ultra-violent match. So did some people in the crowd (as they, at one point, chanted for fire). This match, while certainly hard-hitting and physical, wasn't exactly the bloodbath that they had hyped and, because of that, almost felt a little too tame. Still, one of the better Team 3D matches I've seen from their TNA years. (3/5)

Team Jarrett (AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and Jeff Jarrett) vs. The Main Event Mafia (Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Scott Steiner) was next. Daniels and Angle started things off and stuck to some rather basic wrestling, which was nice, but not very riveting. As expected, the highlights of this match came courtesy of AJ Styles - who performed an incredibly risky and awkward-looking splash from the top of the cage (which was supposed to be reinforced so that nobody could climb up there, wink wink) onto a bunch of Mafia members below. I also liked Scott Steiner hitting the Frankensteiner. Aside from those highlights, though, there really wasn't much to this bout aside from everyone getting a little bit of "their shit" in and then a finish where Don West sounded like a moron questioning whether Jeff Jarrett would turn on his team when, as far as I know, dissension between team members and guys not being able to trust Jeff Jarrett was never a major part of this storyline. (3/5)

Main event time - Mick Foley vs. Sting for Sting's TNA World Heavyweight Championship. It's been years since I read Mick Foley's book about the build-up to this match, but I remember that he put a ton of thought and planning into it, knowing that he wanted to deliver a high-level match but also admitting that his best years were behind him in terms of his ability to perform. To his credit, Foley's bumping is great and the pace doesn't seem too slow at any time. Unfortunately, I think what hurt this match was that it was a bit overcooked. The story coming in was that Foley wanted Sting out of the Main Event Mafia but the Stinger wouldn't budge despite clearly still being somewhat of a babyface. Foley, the babyface Authority figure, attacked Sting in the weeks leading up to the match, which sorta made him a heel - except, remember, Sting wasn't really a full-fledged babyface because he was part of the MEM. I'm not sure if Foley expected a hero's welcome in TNA or if they thought Sting's membership in the Main Event Mafia would play a bigger factor or what but this just didn't feel like it had true heat because both guys' motivations were murky. Foley clearly worked the match as a heel and did a fine job at it, but it didn't always make perfect sense. For example, earlier in the show, he'd made the decision to lock the cage door, meaning neither man could win by simply exiting through it. This makes perfect sense if you're a babyface trying to get your hands on a cowardly heel...but that's not the dynamic. Then, during the actual match, it is Foley who wants the cage door unlocked because he's now the heel and wants to get the easy victory? Confusing bits like that aside, I did really like the cameraman spot where Foley dropkicked the cameraman in order to try to climb through a hole in the cage as it was something I had not seen before. Unfortunately, I was not a huge fan of the ending, which felt a little flat. Again, I understand the concept - that Foley won the match by taking one last wicked bump to the floor, ironically winning the Championship while also putting himself through incredible pain - but it would've worked better if Foley was at all sympathetic during the rest of the match as it felt more like a babyface act of self-sacrifice. This was too messy of a match to work for me. (2.5/5)

With an overall Kwang Rating of 2.44-out-of-5, Lockdown 2009 was an improvement from the previous month's Against All Odds show, but it was still mostly subpar. While all three of the tag team matches were good, I wouldn't consider any "must see" and both the Philly Street Fight and the War Games-inspired Lethal Lockdown match were underwhelming. 

AEW WrestleDream 2024

AEW WrestleDream 2024

Tacoma, WA - October 2024

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Bryan Danielson was the AEW World Heavyweight Champion, the International Champion was Will Ospreay, the Continental Champion was Okada, the World Trios Championship was held by The Blackpool Combat Club's Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, and Wheeler Yuta, Mercedes Mone was the TBS Champion, the TNT Champion was Jack Perry, the AEW World Tag Team Champions were the Young Bucks, and the AEW Women's Champion was Mariah May. 

The show opened with Jay White taking on "Hangman" Adam Page. This was a really good match, though it obviously didn't have the same level of heat as some of Page's recent work with Jarrett and Swerve Strickland. I'm a fan of Jay White so it was nice to see him on a major show in a spotlighted match. He did not disappoint either. Loved Page's powerbomb onto the steel steps and felt like they could've ended the match there because of how vicious it was. Minutes later, Jay White hit a kneebreaker onto the edge of the stage that was also really cool. They got plenty of time to tell a story and they did, plus the clean outcome was unexpected but still felt earned. I wouldn't consider this "must see," but it was a strong opening for the show and certainly an above-average match-up. (3/5)

Mariah May defended the AEW Women's World Championship against Willow Nightingale in the next match. Someone in the audience had a "Best Women's Roster Ever" sign and I'm not sure if they were being serious or sarcastic. Like the opener, this match felt a little bit "microwaved" more than it felt like a part of an actual full-on storyline. Nightingale is great and her and May had a really good match that built up to some thrilling final minutes, but I'm not sure anyone in the arena or watching at home felt like the outcome was ever in question. When Willow wins the big one, it will come after a lengthy pursuit of the title and May has really only just begun her reign and is still, in many ways (including her use of the Storm Zero piledriver as her finisher), linked to the former champion, Toni Storm. Wrestling-wise, I thought this was very good, but storyline-wise, it was missing suspense. (3/5)

The TNT Champion, Jack Perry, defended his title against Shibata in the next match. Shibata is a very good wrestler and he does have an undeniable charisma, but this still felt like a match you might get on an episode of Rampage more than it felt like a PPV-worthy match. Jack Perry is still missing something to me and I'm not sure why he won't go "full chickenshit" despite his bumping and selling maybe being the best part of his game. I think Perry would be wise to study up on some of the all-time chickenshit heels - from Ric Flair to early Jericho to Hollywood Hogan to Bobby Heenan and Jim Cornette - and see what he can add to his repertoire because him being an angry, evil tough guy isn't clicking and works against his body, size, and the heat that he is capable of getting. The finish was the best part of the match because Perry lucked into a victory, which is exactly the kind of nonsense that would work best with a more cowardly heel. This led to Daniel Garcia coming out to a big reaction, followed by MJF to an even bigger reaction, followed by Adam Cole, who got an even larger one. The post-match segment was a lot of fun and the lack of mention of the Undisputed Kingdom is a good sign that maybe they'll just forget that whole storyline. The match wasn't bad - it was no less than average because Shibata is almost incapable of putting on a match that doesn't have at least a few cool moments in it - but it didn't feel worthy of being on a PPV. (2.5/5)

The International Championship was on the line in the next match as Will Ospreay defended the strap against Ricochet and Takeshita. This was filled with the kind of ridiculous "spotfest" maneuvers that you would have to be a fool not to expect, but with these three in the ring, its all so impressive and innovative and "I've never seen that before!"-level that its hard to criticize the overt no-selling. Highlights of this match included a wild spot early on when Rico came flying out of the ring onto Takeshita on the outside, got caught, and then Ospreay hit the same splash to bring everyone down, a pair of incredible apron spots (Takeshita hitting a DVD on Ospreay but then eating a Meteora from Rico), a Backslide Bomb from Ricochet to counter a Hidden Blade (this would fall under the category of "I've Never Seen That Before"), and every single Takeshita forearm - which were all brutal as hell. There was a corner spot towards the end that didn't look like it was executed perfectly, but, again, it was the difficulty factor that made it so impressive that they even attempted it. There was a "Chekhov's Gun" element with Takeshita setting up a table on the outside and when it finally did get used, it might've been one of the most vicious table bumps of recent memory as Takeshita put Rico through the table with one of his double-cradle piledriver things. Incredible. I've become a massive Takeshita mark. I loved Callis' interference at the end and the non-reveal of Fletcher being the guy to screw Ospreay as Nigel called it perfectly and didn't do the whole "Who is that under the hood?" gimmick that we've heard countless announcers do despite it being very obvious who is doing the attack. Is it possible that Ospreay was actually the least impressive competitor in this match? Or maybe was spotlighted the least? Any which way, this was a ton of a fun, but I must admit that the rampant no-selling and shrugging off of major moves just for the sake of inserting yet another insane counter or reversal does get to be a bit much to my taste. (3.5/5)

Backstage, we got a cool moment as Jerry Lynn told Orange Cassidy that he could be "The Guy." I liked it. We then got Prince Nana in the ring welcoming Swerve Strickland, who got a huge hometown reception. Strickland announced that he is now medically cleared and was about to share his future before getting interrupted by MVP and Shelton Benjamin. This led to a really great promo from Strickland and a pull-apart between him and Shelton that got a ton of heat. Great, great segment.

Next up - Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match. This felt like it was put on the show to hype AEW's recent deal with Fox Sports Mexico, but hey, who cares? If that's what it takes to put a terrific lucha match on a show like this, I'm all for it. The Beast Mortos is an incredible performer and I could see the argument that he deserved the W here, but I fully understand why TK isn't ready to abandon the Hologram push. It's not like Hologram isn't a fine performer in his own right, but Mortos is something else. This had some good psychology toward the end as both guys tried to finish the other off with the same series of maneuvers that had earned them a fall in the earlier match, but it still felt maybe a touch long overall. (3/5)

Darby Allin took on Brody King in the next match. These two always deliver but this felt almost mild compared to the amount of violence I was expecting. Maybe the lack of a stipulation was why or maybe they just wanted to do a more straight-forward "greatest hits"-type match that referenced their history and wanted to give it some temporary closure rather than build to more? I'm not sure I'd call it a disappointment as that would be going too far and downplaying some of the awesome work both guys did at not only delivering some sick spots (mostly involving the steel steps) but also telling the David-v-Goliath story their entire rivalry has been built around. As noted earlier, this felt a bit like a Last Chapter-for-Now match (especially with Brody finally giving Allin his well-earned respect during the post-match) designed to push Darby Allin even further towards the direction of potentially becoming the AEW World Champion sometime in 2025, a move that will undoubtedly be seen as controversial regardless of how over Allin is. Like Rey Mysterio in 2006, some people will just never be able to look past "the look," his size, his weight, and his style. Anyway, this was another clearly above-average match, but maybe not one that I would consider "must see." (3/5)

The AEW Tag Team Championships were on the line in the next bout as The Young Bucks defended the titles against Private Party. The AEW production team went overboard trying to build up this match as Private Party's big title opportunity and the commentators put in an equal amount of work to remind fans that they hold two victories over the Bucks...but this still felt pretty heatless and, at one point, you could hear a pin drop in the arena because the crowd just didn't seem invested beyond oohing-and-aaahing at the big high-flying spots. The nifty nearfalls towards the end of the match were the only things pushing this match beyond just the average range. Private Party got a nice response from the crowd for their efforts at the end of the match, but they still don't seem remotely over enough to be considered real contenders at this point. (3/5)

Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Jericho for the Ring of Honor World Championship followed. This one somehow earned over 4-stars in the Observer. It was a perfectly fine match and there's no doubt that both guys put in a ton of effort and are working very hard to get this feud over as deeply personal, but it still comes across as a bit too wacky for me. Jericho's over-the-top Learning Tree gimmick isn't the worst character he's ever had, but its far from the best and I don't think they've capitalized on the overness and ability of of Big Bill nearly enough. Mark Briscoe's Redneck Kung Fu wildman gimmick is over with longtime fans of the Briscoes, but because I don't have that connection with him and his character, I find it more irritating than fun. Not a bad match, but nothing really special. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson for Danielson's AEW World Championship. This match had "big fight feel" and started off with a bang as Moxley went right after Danielson as he was making his way into the ring. This was a brutal fight with Danielson taking a ton of punishment as Mox worked on his neck throughout the contest. That being said, what looked at times in the beginning like the Lesnar/Cena match from SummerSlam 2014, did not end up being nearly as one-sided as it went on and Danielson got some offense in. I liked Moxley's focus throughout the match, but was maybe a little bit less of a fan of Danielson's work here - which is not something I've probably ever written before. Telling the story of suffering such tremendous neck damage seemed at odds with Danielson's various hope spots, especially the repeated use of the Baisaku Knee, which almost feels like something he couldn't and shouldn't have been able to even have the ability to perform with how much punishment he'd taken. In a way, because of some of the moves Mox delivered - the piledriver on the table, the Paradigm Shift on the concrete - I maybe thought this would've worked better if Danielson had had even less offense towards the end. As for the finish, it was certainly a memorable one, almost a "whimper by design" instead of an exclamation point because of what it symbolized. Though I don't think it was ever fully delineated (like it was for Ric Flair's first retirement), Danielson's story in 2024 has basically been that his next loss would be his last match. The shock of Danielson's career ending by essentially a ref's decision - he did not tap, he was not pinned, he didn't even "pass out" - gives them plenty of wiggle room to build towards an eventual rematch but still worked as making it clear that this version of Moxley was just too dangerous, too unhinged, but also too methodical for Danielson to beat. After the match, we got a big end-of-the-show angle with the BCC coming out and tearing Danielson apart, Wheeler Yuta turning on his mentor, and Darby Allin getting to play the would-be hero (and clearly being positioned as the top babyface in the war against Mox and Co.). A very good match but maybe a bit underwhelming. (3.5/5)

With an overall Kwang rating of 3-out-of-5, WrestleDream 2024 delivered the goods more often than not. AEW's roster is so stacked with talent that its nearly impossible for them to put out a bad product in terms of in-ring action and their PPVs have consistently featured multiple excellent matches. This show was no different as the opener, main event, 2-out-of-3 falls match, Allin/King, and especially the International Championship match were all worth checking out if you're at all a fan of the competitors involved. What hurt this show, as compared to previous offerings, was the lack of real heat in several of the matches - the Page/White feud had little build, the Private Party/Bucks storyline feels lukewarm at best, and the Hologram/Mortos match felt like it was more about pushing AEW's partnership with Fox Sports Mexico than it was about moving Hologram up the rankings and making him more than just the latest luchador to get spotlighted but not really treated like a top guy. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

WWE Bad Blood 2024

WWE Bad Blood 2024

Atlanta, GA - October 2024

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Champion was Cody Rhodes, GUNTHER held the World Heavyweight Championship, Jey Uso was the Intercontinental Champion, LA Knight was the United States Champion, the World Tag Team Championships were held by The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and JD McDonagh), the WWE Tag Team Champions were The Bloodline's Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa (doing a Freebirds rule thing), Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill held the Women's Tag Team Championships, Nia Jax was the Women's Champion, and Liv Morgan was the Women's World Champion. There are also Speed Champions (Andrade and Candice LeRae) but those titles don't really matter.

After a somewhat bizarre pre-show video involving Cody Rhodes and hip-hop star Metro Boomin having to do a "classic stakeout" for a reason I couldn't figure out, we go our opening contest - CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre in a Hell in a Cell match. The commentary team brought up all sorts of facts and figures to give this match historical context (including that this was the 53rd Hell in a Cell match since the concept debuted in 1997). This one was almost instantly universally praised because it finally gave us what this match was initially designed to give fans - a violent, bloody, old school brawl. Both Punk and McIntyre got "color," something that has been noticeably absent from the past few dozen Hell in a Cell matches, many of which were completely forgettable despite some innovative spots here and there (to be honest, the last couple I can really remember were Orton/Jeff Hardy [because it involved some ridiculous torture spots involving piercings and ear lobes], the legendarily shitty Bray Wyatt/Seth Rollins one, and, IIRC, a solid New Day/Usos one involving lots and lots of kendo sticks). With a runtime of 30 minutes, this one never felt boring or like they were repeating spots. The violence escalated well, leading to one of the most brutal finishes I've seen in quite awhile as Drew McIntyre essentially launched himself, lower back-first, into the steel steps (the referee squeezed McIntyre's hand immediately after he landed to check to make sure he hadn't paralyzed himself). I wasn't a huge fan of the borderline too-cutesy bag-of-beads moment, but it did put a fitting bow on a storyline where the theft and destruction of friendship bracelet has been a key plot device (an element that almost seems like it was done as a dare to see how over Punk can get something so "unmanly"). As good as Punk was here - and his selling and comebacks and the bumps he took all show he can still go - its Drew McIntyre who may be coming out of this feud having proven he is a top 5 guy of the past decade. I'm not going to go as high as the fans over at Cagematch (who've rated this at 9.38-out-of-10 as I'm writing this), but it was certainly "must see" and possibly a WWE Match of the Year. (4/5)

Next up - Nia Jax vs. Bayley. I liked their SummerSlam match, giving it a solid above-average score of 3-out-of-5. I liked their match at NXT Takeover: London many moons ago (rating that match an even stronger 3.5-out-of-5). This might've been their most ambitious match, with Nia attempting to apply a half-crab at one point and also a hurricanrana to not-so-good results, but the execution simply wasn't there. I commend their attempt to give the fans something new after having faced each other dozens of times in singles and tags over the years and they had a very hard act to follow, but the sloppiness could not be ignored at times as Nia seemed to be confused/out of gas/out of position at least 3-4 times (including one noticeable gaffe that even Michael Cole noted as looking "odd" on commentary). That being said, there was also some good moments, including a terrific ref bump in which Nia Jax looked like she absolutely crushed the poor official. This led to Tiffany Stratton showing up, though she didn't end up cashing in the briefcase. Overall, a noticeable step down from their previous two major matches despite their best efforts. (2/5)

Damien Priest vs. Finn Balor followed after Michael Cole announced the attendance of various hip-hop stars (Quavo, Lil' Baby, and the aforementioned Metro Boomin'). Priest and Balor had a bit of challenge in this match as there was no title on the line and no stipulation to build the match around despite this feud certainly being worthy of one. Really good heel work out of Balor early on with Priest bringing the physicality and, at one point, nearly knocking Balor's head off with a big uppercut when Balor came off the ropes. When they brought the match to the outside, Priest delivered a Razor's Edge onto the ring apron and looked like he was in full control. Carlito and McDonough came out to distract Priest, allowing Balor to hit the Coup De Gras, but Priest kicked out at 2. Again the heels tried to distract Priest, but Priest ended up knocking out all 3. Balor recovered and hit a double stomp to the back of Priest's neck and then another onto his lower back. When he went for the third, Priest caught him in a choke and connected with a South of Heaven to get a very decisive victory. Priest's big push continues, but its hard not to see it as deserved as he has consistently brought the goods when he's needed to and the audience seems to be behind him for now. This was good, not great. I'd argue it could've used a few more minutes too. (3/5)

Triple H came out to make what was hyped as a "historical announcement," though I figured it would be the reveal of an upcoming stadium show in Atlanta. Triple H got some cheap pops by referencing his time in WCW before announcing that this show was the largest gate for an arena show in company history, which makes me wonder how much tickets were more than impresses me. Anyway...Triple H announced that Crown Jewel will become the annual battleground for Champion vs. Champion matches in which neither championship will be on the line but the winner will win the ridiculously large "Crown Jewel Championship." Triple H's announcement brought out current World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER, looking dapper in a military green suit. GUNTHER/Cody Rhodes in 4 weeks? Not a bad main event considering how good their Royal Rumble face-off was last year. GUNTHER cut an absolutely awesome promo on Goldberg, which led to Goldberg hopping the rail and then being held back by security. Sami Zayn came running in and the two needed to be celebrated by security too. I couldn't care less about the Crown Jewel Championship, but the GUNTHER promo was exceptional. Great segment. (+1)

Next up - Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan for Morgan's World Championship (no longer called the Women's World Championship or the RAW Women's Title or anything like that). Dominik Mysterio was put in a Shark Cage to prevent him from interfering, which was a nice bit of "throwback" booking. I thought Morgan and Rhea showed off tremendous chemistry with each other and there were multiple really excellent maneuvers (including a great bridging suplex from Ripley and a beauty of a sunset flip powerbomb on the outside out of Liv). Liv and Ripley have obviously had lots of opportunities to work out their timing and their sequences, but this felt like the match where it really all came together. I loved the eventual involvement (or non-involvement) from Dominik and thought him hanging from the cage by his foot was a tremendous visual. Some fans have really jumped on Raquel Rodriguez's return as being "botched" because it led to a DQ and not a definitive win for Ripley, but I didn't find it too offensive and Rodriguez laying Morgan on top of Ripley wasn't the worst botch I've ever seen and is definitely being a bit overblown. Or maybe I'm just over-apologetic because I thought this match was pretty great. (3.5/5)

Main event time - Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu vs. Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. Rhodes got a ridiculously over-the-top entrance as his theme song was played by a marching band. Still, it was the return of Roman Reigns that seemed to get the bigger response in front of the Atlanta crowd and throughout the match. These four had a very old school, arguably "tame" match that was much heavier on storytelling rather than high spots, though that could've and should've been expected by anyone familiar with these men's work. Reigns and Sikoa are not "workrate" guys, while Cody tends to work at the speed and pace of his opponent rather than dictate the pace. Fatu has the flashiest, most high-risk moveset of all the competitors, but it is his aura that really sets him apartand its clear that this is the focus of the commentators and producers even more than his athletic feats. Like many of the previous Bloodline-based matches, the action got much more explosive and fast-paced in the closing minutes as Jimmy Uso made his return after Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa interfered to prevent the babyfaces from scoring a victory. Eventually, Reigns got the big pinfall, but it was the post-match action that most fans will probably remember most about this match. As Jimmy and Roman exited the arena, the New Bloodline attacked Rhodes, which led to Roman and Jimmy clearing them out of the ring. As Cody raised his Universal Championship, The Rock came onto the stage to a massive response and seemed to signal his disapproval of Reigns and Jimmy helping Rhodes. It was a cool, big moment on top of a match that had plenty of heat, audience engagement, and solid storytelling even if the pace and the action wasn't exactly revolutionary. (3/5)

With a more than solid 3.3-out-of-5 Kwang Score, Bad Blood 2024 kicked off with a great match - arguably a Match of the Year candidate even - but couldn't sustain that high as the show wore on. The GUNTHER/Goldberg segment was a highlight and Ripley/Morgan was better than it was given credit for. Unfortunately the main event was just sorta there, good but unremarkable and forgettable aside from The Rock's return during the post-match. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

TNA Destination X 2009

TNA Destination X 2009

Orlando, FL - March 2009

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion was Sting, Alex Shelley held the X-Division Championship, the Knockouts Champion was Awesome Kong, Booker T was the Legends Champion, and Beer Money for the World Tag Team Champions. 

The show begins with a solid-for-what-it-was 6-woman tag between The Beautiful People (Angelina Love, Madison Rayne, and Velvet Skye) and the team of Roxxi, Taylor Wilde, and The Governor (a Sarah Palin gimmick played by Daffney [RIP]). They only get 5 minutes, but the 5 minutes are really solid here and I wish they would've been given more. High energy offense, good double-teams, a great crossbody to the floor by Daffney - these women might not have had a 20-minute epic in them, but they deserved at least a few more minutes to shine. (2/5)

Next up - Brutus Magnus vs. Eric Young. Before the match, Jesse Neal comes out to deliver Young's introduction. They announce that EY is from Nashville, but wasn't he on Team Canada? Anyway, as I wrote in my review of the Against All Odds 2009 show (which I had to leave unpublished because TNA pulled it from YouTube before I could finish it), the issue with Magnus is that, as much as they tried to push him as someone special and unique, his moves and mannerisms don't stand out. He strikes me as a guy who would've really benefitted from more "seasoning," especially coaching from guys like Regal and Finlay who would've likely helped him lean into more of a European style that nobody in TNA was really doing. Sure, Magnus has a great look and is a natural heel, but there's nothing that makes you actually want to see him wrestle. Young, meanwhile, is always serviceable in the ring but really works best as a comic foil to a more serious character and, when sent out as just "Eric Young The Wrestler," the audience doesn't seem to care too much about him. Another sub-5 minute match on a PPV card. Not good. (1.5/5)

We get an absolutely atrocious and outright offensive segment from Sheik Abdul Bashir (Daivari) in which he likens his experience as an Arab American to being a Jew in Nazi Germany. Yes, it is that offensive. Jim Cornette ends his diatribe and Jesse Neal comes back to the ring to "sing out" Bashir with a fan-assisted version of "God Bless America" as Bashir exits the Impact Zone. Dreadful.

Finally, a big PPV-worthy match as Abyss takes on Matt Morgan in a 10,000 Thumbtacks Match. This was not as good as I really wished it would be. I'd be curious to know if Matt Morgan was genuinely uninterested in doing a big, bloody hardcore spotfest with Abyss or if they were just "saving" that match for the future? I guess I'll find out as I continue my journey through TNA PPVS...Anyway, the crowd starts chanting "We Want Tacks!" around minute 5-6, which should tell you that these two were not exactly wowing anyone with any of the preliminary action or build-up. I actually liked the psychology of how Abyss and Morgan made their way up to the stage (where Abyss had set up the two beds of tacks). Abyss had added shards of glass to an unused pile of tacks in the ring, which led Morgan to try to "walk out" on the match, which, of course, led to the finish. Abyss took a great bump through the tacks and the table, but I think most fans - myself included - expected a much wilder brawl with all sorts of weaponry. Instead, this was a one-spot match and ended up being a disappointment. (1.5/5)

The next segment is silly and not at all my thing. Comes across as very amateurish and unfunny and I'm not sure who it was for. ODB is offering one night with her and there are three finalists - a very square, nerdy accountant, Shark Boy, and Cody Deaner, a redneck character. I'm trying not to judge Deaner too harshly without having actually seen much of his work, but I hate this character based on just this segment alone. 

Another underwhelming match follows as Awesome Kong defends the Knockouts Championship against Sojourner Bolt. They only get 4 minutes so there's not much too this, though the action is decent enough. People love to talk about how great the Knockouts division was, but watching the monthly PPVs, I see a really thin roster of talent with no credible challengers for Kong. (1/5)

Its hard not to hate on the next "match" as Samoa Joe takes on Scott Steiner. This is more of an angle than an actual contest, though, as Joe comes in and beats down Steiner, bloodying him, and then taking out the referees (who give Steiner the DQ victory). I like that Joe was more focused on destroying Steiner than he was on getting actual wins, but it does feel like a bit of a "bait and switch" as a Joe/Steiner match was advertised and this was really just a 5-minute segment. Its hard to "rate" something like this, so I just won't. 

AJ Styles challenged Booker T for his Legends Championship next. Is this the best Booker T match he had in TNA up to this point? Maybe. It only goes 9 minutes, but the back-and-forth is good and I like how Booker and AJ keep the pace moving (not something that Booker was particularly known for at this time). The crowd is into this because AJ was super popular and Booker's act, as stale as it might've seemed to me, was surprisingly still working with the Impact crowd too. Not a super remarkable match, but no worse than average. (2.5/5)

The TNA Tag Team Champions Beer Money defend their titles in a Championships vs. Career match against Team 3D. Beer Money had "retired" Petey Williams and Lance Rock (Lance Archer) over the previous few weeks to lend some credibility to the Loser Leaves Town stipulation here. I've not been a big fan of Team 3D's TNA run and while this wasn't bad, it still wasn't my cup of tea, especially when they leaned into lame "gay joke" shtick that popped the Impact Zone crowd but didn't do much for me. There was one great nearfall towards the end of the match before this one went into overbooking-out-of-a-corner mode by having Beer Money first get DQ'd and then, when Cornette restarts the match, getting themselves counted out in order to retain the titles. The crowd rightfully shat on this. (2/5)

Alex Shelley put his X-Division Championship up for grabs - literally - in an Ultimate X Match also involving his tag partner Chris Sabin, Lethal Consequences (Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal), and the debuting Suicide. The crowd chants "Fallen Angel" early in the match because its Christopher Daniels under the mask (and not Kazarian, who was injured at the time). This felt a little underwhelming, aside from the nifty finish. A spotfest like this match really benefits from having guys that are innovative high-fliers and I wouldn't consider anyone in this match to fall into the category, at least not in 2009. Sure, Daniels can hit a perfect moonsault and Sabin a great dropkick and Creed, Lethal, and Shelley all have some good-looking signature stuff from the top rope, but none were really doing the kind of cutting-edge high-flying that we now see regularly in AEW, for example, where people are practically defying gravity with the amount of flips and spins they can execute. Anyway, that's not to say this was bad, it just wasn't super entertaining or interesting despite all the hard work. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Kurt Angle challenging Sting for not only the TNA World Championship but also the leadership role in the Main Event Mafia. This was a good storyline but Sting had lost multiple steps by this point and just doesn't have the energy to keep up with Angle, who was still working a very fast-paced, hard-hitting style. Unlike Jarrett, who was able to slow Angle down by working a match that was heavy on big spots a few months earlier, Sting and Angle wrestle a much more standard "classic" wrestling match with a mix of brawling, Angle's signature suplexes, and what had become some rather tired offense out of Sting. 10-15 years earlier, Sting was really good at taking a beating and then coming back with fired-up offense, but this is too 50/50 to capitalize on the goodwill that fans had towards the Sting (it doesn't help that he came into this match as something of a "tweener" as he had yet to fully denounce the MEM). Meanwhile, for all the pre-match hullaboo about Foley's role as the guest enforcer and Jarrett as the referee, we don't get any involvement from the MEM as they had basically excused themselves from the match over the course of the evening anyway. There are some really sloppy moments and while I liked some of the false finishes towards the end, this wasn't a very impressive match for either guy and I'm not sure the right man won as Sting looked old here. (2/5)

Earning an overall Kwang Score of only 1.88-out-of-5, Destination X 2009 is one of the weakest TNA shows I've reviewed. Not a single match could be considered above-average and most fell considerably short of even passable. 

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville