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The show kicks off with a good-not-great X-Division Title match as Alex Shelley defends against Eric Young. Eric Young is not one of my favorites, though I can never quite put my finger on why. He's not a bad worker, but he's not a very interesting or exciting one to me either. I'm a bigger fan of Shelley, but have also found him to be at his best when he's feeding off a really good partner or manager or opponent. This match was "good wrestling for good wrestling's sake" and while that may have been somewhat novel for a mainstream wrestling promotion in 2009, in 2024, we have it available practically 7 nights a week. Young is not a "spotfest" guy, but he's fast and has good execution. Shelley is similar in that, while he can fly, he's really more of an all-arounder who utilizes a vareity of submissions and strikes too. The crowd into this too. (3/5)
I wouldn't say he turned back the clock or anything, but Scott Steiner exceeded my expectations in the next bout, taking on his former protege Petey Williams. Steiner controls much of the match and keeps the pace at a speed he's comfortable with, but, more importantly, filled the match with enough "shtick" to make it work and keep the crowd engaged. Yes, there were moments when the crowd was chanting "same old shit" and "boring"...but the volume and vociferousness made it pretty clear to me that this was fully pro-wrestling heat and not apathy. While not a great match by any stretch of the imagination, this could've been a ton worse considering how much mileage Steiner had on him by this point. (2.5/5)
Brutus Magnus (future SmackDown GM Nick Aldis) makes his TNA PPV debut in the next match as Chris Sabin answers his open challenge. This match isn't technically bad, its just ineffective. Sabin - like Shelley - was a tweener because the MCMG were a young, cocky team more than a pure babyface team and so its not like the audience is 1000% behind him. Magnus, meanwhile, wasn't coming into TNA with a ton of momentum from the indies and his moveset and look are not really anything special. Magnus is not an exciting worker, a guy that really could've used the tutelage of someone like Finlay or Regal to develop a more unique European style rather than basically being just your standard in-ring performer. (2/5)
Awesome Kong vs. ODB followed for Kong's Knockouts Championship. ODB was over with the TNA crowd, but I'm not necessarily sure why. She had charisma, for sure, but I've never seen her as a great in-ring performer and this match didn't make me reconsider that evaluation. Kong was fine here, but looked to be going through the motions herself. Given only 6 minutes, we don't get much of a match and Kong's rather dominant and decisive victory makes the idea that she "needs" the Kongtourage - who get barred from ringside before the match - an unnecessary wrinkle in the story that isn't developed adequately. A disappointment. (1.5/5)
Booker T defends his TNA Legends Championship against Shane Sewell in the next bout. Sewell was a manager-turned-wrestler and had received a push for no reason that I can think of. He wasn't particularly over and he wasn't a particularly great performer, but here he was getting a match against Booker T when there were plenty of guys on the roster who deserved more. Anyway, Booker T has some fun in this match getting to play the arrogant asshole who is leagues beyond his opponent. Sewell got a little bit of offense in, but not much, which was the right call. AJ Styles makes his return during the post-match. Inoffensive match but not PPV worthy. (1.5/5)
Abyss vs. Matt Morgan is next. Pretty good brawl between the two monsters, but it just went too long at 15 minutes. It was predictable that this match would only tease the eventual hardcore/thumbtack/Monster's Ball-type match they would have later on in the feud, so I'll give them credit for purposefully trying to deliver a hard-hitting straight-up wrestling match despite that not necessarily being either guy's strength. (2.5/5)
The Tag Team Championships are on the line next as Beer Money defends against the team of Lethal Consequences (Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed). This was a solid match but not super memorable. Having now seen a fair amount of Consequences Creed matches, I'm a bit surprised at how good and polished Xavier Woods was before he got into the WWE. I guess I figured that he was an "incomplete" worker when he was in TNA, but he was already quite good by this point in his career. I'm not a big fan of Beer Money's shtick, but it was over with the crowd. This went a little long for me but that's just because the finish was never really in question. (2.5/5)
Main event time - Kurt Angle vs. Sting vs. Bubba Ray vs. D-Von in a 4-Way for Sting's TNA World Heavyweight Championship. I'm not a fan of matches like this and Team 3D sorta have "go away heat" from me after having watched so many of their matches by this point. This isn't a bad match, but its not a good one and, once again, Kurt Angle is doing the heavy lifting here as he works with three guys who were all well past their prime physically and seemingly incapable of putting together interesting or innovative spots and sequences to make up for it. In AEW, Sting's aura and considerable risk-taking (plus having Darby Allin as a tag partner) allowed him to leave on a high note, but his TNA work, from what I've seen, is much less awe-inspiring and enjoyable as a whole. Overall, not a terrible main event and the performers were undeniably over with the Impact Zone crowd, but impossible to recommend and certainly not a match I'd ever recommend viewing. (2/5)
As a whole, Against All Odds 2009 is a pretty rough watch. The opener is good, the Tag Titles match is inoffensive, and I could see the argument that Steiner/Williams is better than any Scott Steiner match probably should be in 2009...but this is still a bit of a slog to get through and the main event is not worth sticking around for. With a Kwang Score of 2.19-out-of-5, this show falls in the category of...
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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