TNA Impact Insight 1.29.05

Hello everybody and welcome to TNA Impact Insight! I am the Impact Playa Steve Cook, and this week TNA continues on the road to Against All Odds with a 6-man main event, an appearance by YOUR NWA World Champion, and lots of other Impact goodness!

Cheap Plug of the week: I promise not to do this every week, but in case some of you only visit this site to check out TNA Impact Insight every Friday night/Saturday afternoon/whenever I get around to it, you might want to consider coming back every Sunday until further notice, when I present News from Cook’s Corner! It’s Sunday news Cook style, which means plenty of sarcasm, one-liners, Traci talk, and plenty of wrestling news. Remember, that’s “News from Cook’s Corner”, every Sunday right here…on 411wrestling.com! *thumbs up*

And of course if you’re not able to be near a computer on Sundays it’s somewhere on the site the rest of the week too, buried under Randle rambling and Csonka craziness.

Now…let’s get it started!

This is TNA…the new face of professional wrestling.

Last week on Impact there was a press conference! And that’s all that happened! There was no Styles vs. Daniels, there was just a press conference! Hey, did Nash push Jarrett into Traci? That’s uncalled for!

Impact Zone! Fans! Pizzyroooo!

Match 1: 10 minute time limit

Kid Kash & Dal…Lance Hoyt vs. Chris Sabin & The Charismatic Enema

Why is Sabin tagging with Hardly? Beats me, but the poor enema still looks the worse for wear from “last week”‘s attack by Abyss, hobbling down to the ring. Sabin gets attacked at the bell by Kash & Hoyt while Hardly holds his back and stands on the middle turnbuckle. Double whip on Sabin, who answers with a dropkick to Kash. He and Kash pair off while Hardly goes after Hoyt, after some confusion Kash & Hoyt get whipped into each other, then both get clotheslined down. Kash rolls outside, Sabin hits a suicide dive onto him! Sabin then goes up top and tries a cross body block on Hoyt, but Hoyt catches him and does a nice fallaway slam, the way Scott Hall used to be able to do it. Cover gets a count of 2. Tag to Kash, he kicks and chops Sabin, Sabin gets a sunset flip on Kash for 2. Kash answers with a dropkick, then goads Hardly into distracting the ref for the double clothesline on Sabin. Cover by Hoyt gets 2, he tags Kash back in. Some chops and punches in the corner by Kash, then he hits a nice fisherman’s suplex neckbreaker move for 2. I need a better name for it than that. Kash & Sabin exchange punches, Sabin whips Kash off the ropes then hits 2 clotheslines. Kash fights back but Sabin hits a swinging backbreaker for 2, thanks to Hoyt intervening. Kash goes up to the middle rope and tries a clothesline, but Sabin clotheslines him as well and both men go down! Sabin crawls over and makes the tag, but the ref is too busy talking to Hoyt, and Abyss comes down and attacks Hardly! Hardly manages to fight back, sending Abyss face first into the Spanish announce table and into a rail…they fight into the crowd and now it’s 2 on 1 in the ring! Sabin hits an enziguri on Hoyt, but Kash kicks him and goes for a Moneymaker, Sabin fights out and hits a backbreaker into a DDT. Sabin covers…….but guess what? The ref is distracted yet again! Somebody fire this bozo! Sabin walks into a big boot by Hoyt and Kash hits the Moneymaker for 3!

Your winners: Kid Kash & Lance Hoyt (4:44)

West says that you can’t blame Hardly for leaving Sabin high and dry…I wonder if Sabin would agree with that.

My Insight: Not a bad match here, considering my disdain for 3 of the participants. The Abyss/Hardly feud is shaping up pretty nicely, though we still don’t know why Abyss targeted him upon his return. I suppose this will be how Kash & Hoyt earn their “well deserved” tag team title shot. Sigh. Poor Sabin, he deserves better!

Against All Odds card commercial

AJ DVD/shirt commercial

“Iron” Mike Tenay & “Dandy” Don West are at ringside…Tenay got a paper from Traci that says that the Hardly/Abyss match at AAO will be Full Metal Mayhem, meaning that anything made of metal is legal. Does that include the shirts West likes to break out on PPV?

Backstage we see DDP mosey on up to Hall & Nash. He’s mad that their deal didn’t work out and Nash stumbled bumbled over the top and got eliminated. Hall says something irrelevant and DDP knocks him for being a sidekick. He then moseys on away.

Match 2: 10 minute time limit

Chris Candido vs. Sonny Siaki

Christopher Daniels joins Tenay & West at ringside for this match and talks about how he’s going to beat A.J. Styles at Against All Odds. Worship him! Candido attacks Siaki as he enters the ring. Siaki goes down but he kips up and punches away on Candido, hip toss, then a dropkick gets 2. Whip into the corner, Candido moves and Siaki crashes shoulder first into the ring post. Chop by Candido, he takes Siaki over to 2 other corners and does chops there too. Siaki chops back and Candido goes down, Siaki comes towards him and Candido throws him to the outside. Siaki lands on the apron, much to Candido’s dismay. Chop by Siaki followed by a back body drop, forearm by Siaki, then an eye poke by Candido. Kick, then a stalling vertical suplex by Candido. He goes up top…misses a diving headbutt which seemed to be aimed towards Siaki’s foot. Dunno the reasoning behind that, but Siaki fights back with punches, then an elbow block, and a series of clotheslines. Swinging neckbreaker by Siaki, he whips Candido into the corner and runs into Candido’s raised boot. Off the ropes, Siaki with a body press, Candido rolls through, gets both feet on the ropes, and gets the 3 count!

Your winner: Chris Candido (3:17)

Candido smirks towards the camera as he exits!

My Insight: The feel good story of 2005 thus far has to be the reemergence of Chris Candido from the demons that have plagued him the last few years. He’s back, and he’s damn good at what he’s doing. Hopefully he keeps on the right track and can keep climbing up the TNA ladder to possibly an X Division title reign. His facial expressions and the way he begged off from Siaki during this match were hilarious. My only gripe with the match was that flying headbutt towards Siaki’s foot…what was that about? Daniels put himself over pretty well on commentary, which is important because TNA won’t be taking too much time away from their “stellar” world title match to hype up him and Styles.

We go backstage to Dusty’s office…he needs to have a talk with Traci & Trinity about their tag teams they’re bringing in. The ladies can’t even sit together without fighting…like Trinity would stand a chance. Trinity says she has two of the biggest and baddest wrestlers, which is great because Dusty likes big guys. Wrestling. Not like that. Traci says her guys are 8 feet tall. Lots of things get bigger when Traci is around, if you know what I mean. Do you know what I mean? I think I know what I mean. Anyway, Dusty sends Traci off for her assignment, and Trinity gives Dusty a little kiss. I wanna be a booker someday so I can finally get hot chicks to hang around me.

Against All Odds card commercial

Match 3: 10 minute…hahaha

Johnny Devine (w/Coach D’Amore) vs. Monty Brown

Welcome back to the md-card, Monty! Devine attacks Monty before the bell and pulls his ring jacket over his head and punches away! Wow, those Canadians really miss their hockey. Face rake by Devine, whip into the corner, Monty tosses him onto the apron, Devine drops Monty neck first on the top rope, then goes up top and hits a front dropkick! Cover gets a 2, Devine punches away on Monty, which only serves to piss the Alpha Male off. Bad idea. Kicks to Devine, whip, clothesline, another whip, Devine tries a bodypress but Monty catches him and hits the Alpha Bomb! Wait a minute, Petey Williams is up on the top rope! How’d he get there? Monty catches Petey and tosses him outside onto Bobby Roode! Eric Young is in the ring, Monty POOOOOUUUUNNNNNNNNNCCCCCEEEEESSSSS him to the outside! Devine gets whipped into the corner, and Monty POOOOOOOOUUUUUUUNNNNNNNCCCCCCEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS him out of his boots! That’s all she wrote!

Your winner: Monty Brown (1:55)

Coach D’Amore is in the ring now, and Monty’s got evil intentions…but Scott Hall attacks him from behind! It doesn’t have all that much effect, but Bobby Roode attacks from behind and the 2 on 1 beatdown is on! Nash is down at ringside…eventually DDP comes out and saves the day! Hall/Nash and Team Canada, as well as Monty & DDP shake hands with each other as a sign of alliances being formed.

My Insight: I was impressed that Devine got a little bit more offense than most of Monty’s Impact opponents, but Monty still got to look strong by taking out all of Team Canada until the numbers game became too great after the match with Hall & Nash out there. I’m still disappointed he didn’t win the title, but maybe he’ll get a shot someday. In the meantime, it’ll be interesting to see where this conflict goes…maybe a tag match at Against All Odds?

Against All Odds commercial

TNAwrestling.com commercial

We return to clips of the NWA World title being defended last weekend in Seoul, South Korea. This is the 4th continent the current champion has defended the NWA World title on.

Mike Tenay is in the ring to introduce Leonard for his bi-weekly promo. Smoke, mirrors, and a pyro emitting guitar accompany the self chosen one. Tenay says Nash is the biggest threat Jarrett has ever faced, setting off the “Bullshit-o-meter”. The fans say Jarrett sucks. JJ asks if Kevin is supposed to intimidate him, then proclaims himself to be the only Intimidator in TNA. Dale Earnhardt just rolled over in his grave. There’s only one Planet Jarrett and only one NWA World champion. Hall & Nash were brought in to take orders from him, but Nash forgot the pecking order. Tenay finds that hard to believe, so Jarrett roughs him up a little bit. Ha, some guy behind Jarrett is holding his ears and closing his eyes! That’s awesome…apparently Jarrett & Nash go back to 1993. The crowd chants “Boring”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Jarrett tells them off. Nash said the belt only means money to him. To Jarrett, it’s a passion and an obsession. That’s a shoot, brother. The fans reply with “Get your hat, get your coat and leave”, which is one of the longer and more amusing chants I’ve heard recently. Needless to say, JJ wasn’t too happy with that. How will Nash feel when he gets chopped down to size? He says he must hurt Nash on principle, and will end Nash’s career at Against All Odds. Hey, I’m not against that. The fans are less than enthralled.

Gee, you think the Orlando fans might be a little tired of Jarrett’s act? I think it was a few months into JJ’s first title reign that the Nashville fans got tired of it too.

AJ DVD/shirt commercial

Final Resolution replay commercial

Shane Douglas is backstage with TNA X Division champion AJ Styles. He knew this match with him and Daniels was going to happen, it had to happen. He knows everything about Daniels, he knows how good he is. But AJ is a survivor. He’s survived the world title matches, the tag team title matches, and the X title matches. All of his blood, sweat, and tears will go into it…can Daniels survive?

AJ still seems uncomfortable doing promos, but I still like the way he presents himself.

Match 4: 10 minute time limit

The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas) vs. Cassidy Reilly & Erik Watts

Um, Watts has a separated shoulder and Reilly has 2 broken fingers. Was Dusty on crack when he booked this? Oh wait, here comes Dustin Rhodes. He’s replacing Erik Watts, so…

Match 4: 10 minute time limit

The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas) vs. Cassidy Reilly & Dustin Rhodes

Apparently Rhodes & Watts see something in Reilly, and are taking him under their wing. Poor Reilly..looks like he’s going to be the sacrificial lamb for Raven. Rhodes & Stevens start things off, headlock by Rhodes, off the ropes, arm drag by Rhodes followed up by an inverted atomic drop, then a clothesline. Tag to Reilly, kick, eyepoke by Stevens, tag to Douglas, Reilly drop toe holds him, but Douglas takes a shot at Reilly’s damaged fingers. I sense a trend…stomp to the fingers! Tag to Stevens, who punches the fingers, then hits a hammerlock slam. They work Reilly over while the ref talks to Dustin. More finger snapping by Douglas, then a tag to Stevens. Stevens accidentally hits Douglas, meanwhile Raven appears out of nowhere and lays out Watts with a garbage can shot! Rhodes goes after him, leaving Reilly to suffer a Natural Disaster and lose the match!

Your winners: The Naturals (2:37)

The Naturals put the boots to Reilly until Rhodes comes in and gets him out of there. Raven laughs.

My Insight: The Naturals have really grown on me in the last couple of months or so…their tag team work is solid, and I liked how they concentrated on Reilly’s injured fingers in this match. The booking setting this up was kinda messed up…why was Watts scheduled to wrestle? It doesn’t make a lick of sense to me, they could have had him at ringside without the convoluted setup. At least Raven has somebody he can beat up now.

Against All Odds card commercial

Against All Odds commercial

Tenay & West are joined by Jeff Hammond, who is scouting out the competition for his TNA wrestling debut at Against All Odds.

Match 5: 10 minute time limit

Kazarian, Michael Shane, & Elix Skipper vs. 3 Live Kru (B.G. James, Konnan, & Ron Killings)

Shane & Kaz still seem like they’re missing something to me. Hmm. Konnan & James do their old school with new poo poo mike work. Apparently Jeff Hammond has wrestled 400 pound steers before. Konnan & Kaz start us off…headlock, off the ropes, shoulderblock by Konnan, back & forth, kick by Konnan followed up by a Rolling Thunder clothesline. Shane comes in and gets dropped, Skipper comes in, does the Matrix move, and eats a falling reverse DDT! Konnan & James hold Skipper’s legs and Truth comes off the top with the nutcracker legdrop! The ref really ought to be fired…this guy’s worse than Hebner with his “distractions”! The heels regroup outside as we go to commercial.

AJ DVD/shirt commercial

Against All Odds commercial

We’re back and Shane & Truth are in the ring. Headlock by Truth, a roll up gets 2. Off the ropes, shoulder block by Shane, off the ropes again, Truth with an elbow block. He follows up with a running powerslam, then goes up top and gets crotched by Kaz! Truth fights back with punches, but Shane hits a nice belly to belly throw. Tag to Skipper, series of kicks, snap mare then the kick to the spine! Cover gets 2. Tag to Kaz, who accidentally clotheslines Skipper instead of Truth. Truth makes the tag to James, kick to Kaz, punch to Shane, who falls to the floor. Konnan grabs Skipper and puts him in a crossface, attracting the attention of the referee. James hits the pumphandle slam on Kaz, but there’s no ref to count! What a shock, eh? Shane comes off the top with an elbow drop, Kaz covers James, and the ref counts 3!

Your winners: Kazarian, Michael Shane, & Elix Skipper (6:49)

Jeff Hammond is none too happy about the way that match ended, and goes down to the ring to talk to the ref about it. The heels come towards him, but Hammond gets into the ring with 3LK, takes his shirt off and invites Shane & Kaz in! From the looks of that, I don’t blame Shane, Kaz & Skipper for backing away from that. Hopefully this will be the last time we see Jeff Hammond with his shirt off, and with that disgusting visual we wrap up this week’s Impact!

My Insight: Not on par with the main events of the last couple of weeks, but nothing here to really complain about. Other than Jeff Hammond with his shirt off. But other than that the match was all right, and it built the match coming up at Against All Odds pretty good, which was the goal of the match anyway.

Overall Insight: Pretty good episode this week, not quite up there with last week’s, but it was pretty solid. There was more movement in the Hardly/Abyss feud, Monty had a good appearance with Team Canada, Candido was impressive once again, and nothing else was too bad.

Oh, and the Orlando fans are back on my good side now with their horrible treatment of the World champion. Keep it up, guys!

That’s all I got for this week, join me back here next week when Traci brings in her 8 foot tall wrestlers! This, I gotta see.

And don’t forget about the news tommorrow. Peace!