TNA Against All Odds 2005

So, we're doing something different... or at least, something that could've been done ages ago if there was any sense. We're looking at a TNA PPV from 2005, but rather than look at a show from the Impact PLUS service, it's a VINTAGE TNA Home Video on DVD release from around that time.

It's Against All Odds 2005 - featuring the main event of NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett defending the title against Kevin Nash of all people. Oh boy, I'm excited.

(Turns out that I already did this show three years ago... fuck it, we're going to do it again today, but if you want the original rant for comparison, there you go.)

Elix Skipper defeated Petey Williams in the opening match and... you know, usually the opening match is the thing that's supposed to set the tone for the rest of the show and to get you excited. This didn't quite do that. It felt like a lot of moves done and not all that great.

BG James and race-car driver Jeff Hammond defeated Kazarian and Michael Shane in a terrible match. BG James is Road Dogg, for those who don't know. And Jeff Hammond drives racing machines. I think I spent more than enough time not talking about this match and so we'll keep going.

0 for 2... OOF.

Raven defeated Dustin Rhodes with his feet in the ropes for leverage. If you want to see Dustin Rhodes at his best, go watch AEW, because this was terrible. So bad that even the Impact Zone zombies - who will cheer almost ANYTHING - didn't give a sit about this match. Then Raven stuck Dustin in a straightjacket before some other guy came in to help and Raven beat him up too. I give up.

NWA World Tag-Team Champions America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) defeated Kid Kash & Lance Hoyt (the future Murderhawk Lance Archer for you kidz) to retain the titles and finally... FINALLY! We have something resembling a good match. AMW were a fun team, Kash was good, and even Hoyt has his moments... and knowing what he turns into down the road causes a huge disconnect. But hey, a good match on what has largely been a miserable show.

Abyss defeated Jeff Hardy in a ladder match for a piece of paper that's supposed to earn the winner a title shot. I totally blanked out during this match. Stuff happens, I'm sure Abyss did something dangerously stupid, so did Jeff... the zombies are happy, at least. So there's that.

So now we're 1 for 5? 6? I lost count.

Diamond Dallas Page and Monty Brown defeated Eric Young and Robert Roode in a thing that happened. Crowd were thrilled to see the Canadians beat up, so there's that. Nothing special.

X-Division Champion AJ Styles defeated Christopher Daniels in a quick Sudden Death match after a 30-minute Ironman match draw with one fall a piece. Best match of the show and it's not even up for debate. When people talk about the X-Division being the highlight of TNA, it's usually due to the efforts of guys like AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. Every time you put these two together in some form or fashion, you're going to get some solid stuff out of it and this match was no exception. And while I typically don't care for Ironman matches, this one wasn't too bad... though would've been better served as a straight-up 2-out-of-3 falls match.

NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Kevin Nash with an assist from the man "formerly known as Billy Gunn from the WWE" to retain the title. Then X-Pac and Road Dog came out and... stuff happens, I guess. There's a Super Shredder chant for some reason - probably because they'd rather watch the second Ninja Turtles movie than this match. Jeff Jarrett can't use a guitar because that means he forfeits the title, so instead he pulls out a Cello... perhaps expand that stipulation to "string instruments" next time, Corny. I mean, I'll say this much; it's a fun little brawl for the most part until the run ins and the six billion low blows, but whatever, right?

So this is the typical latter-day WCW PPV; have the younger, homegrown talent put on good stuff to entertain the crowd while placing a large focus on the older, more established stars who do nothing but stink the joint up. In my original rant, I wrote this show off as "completely fucking worthless" and I don't know if I'd go that far, because there was some genuinely good stuff on the show, but at the same time, the mediocre to bad stuff somewhat outweighs the good. This is purely middle of the road somewhat leaning downwards.

But there is the follow-up PPV, Destination X, which I also have on DVD... but that's another musings for another time.