The Countdown to Against All Odds 2008 - Part Two

Against All Odds 2006 – February 12, 2006


Pre-show matches included Ron Killings d. A-1, and Lance Hoyt/ Cassidey Riley/ Shark Boy d. Shannon Moore/ Elix Skipper/ David Young.

Match one: The Naturals (Chase Stevens/ Andy Douglas) vs. Austin Aries/ Roderick Strong
Aries and Strong just barely made it to this show, because at the time they were also working a Ring of Honor show further north. With inclement weather starting to set in, TNA advised all their booked talent to hop a jet plane and get to Orlando post-haste. Everyone but Aries and Strong hopped a plane; Aries and Strong stayed to work the ROH show, then left for Orlando, just barely making it in time before weather grounded outgoing flights. TNA was none too pleased with Aries and Strong for their decision to collect an extra payday, so the two were booked into punishment, starting with this defeat at the hands of the underover Naturals. I firmly believe that, at the time, the push was behind Aries and Strong, and they were probably penciled in to go over Stevens and Douglas to further this, but TNA pulled another dick move in a long standing series of dick moves, and here we are. A pretty damn good match between the two teams; if memory serves me well, I think this was Strong’s last match with TNA. Aries would disappear, only to return rechristened as Austin Starr, under which he would languish in a pseudofeud with Bob Backlund, before departing for the greener pastures of ROH. The Naturals d. Aries/Strong.

Match two: Alex Shelley vs. Jay Lethal vs. Petey Williams vs. Matt Bentley
Matt Bentley’s sole claim to fame is that he’s somehow related to Shawn Michaels, like a nephew or cousin or some shit; as such, Bentley made his start under the name Michael Shane (flip it … Shane Michael … Shawn Michaels), using the superkick as a finisher. He’s a lamewad. We got Petey Williams, riding high on the fame that TNA’s national exposure had given not only the impressive Team Canada, but also the business-exposing Canadian Destroyer flipping piledriver. Alx Shelley is boss on his own. The rules of this little four-way is like tag-in rules, and the shitty part is that Shelley and Williams confine their tags to each other, as to Lethal and Bentley, and if that’s what we were waiting for, why didn’t they just make this a random tag match. Ah, whatever, Jay Lethal d. them other schmucks.

Match three: The James Gang (BG & Kip James) vs. the Latin American Xchange (Homicide y Machete)
This whole grudge started with (deep breath now): Kip James – nee Billy Gunn – comes into TNA and tries to buddy up with his old New Age Outlaw running buddy BG James, a/k/a Road Dogg, now 1/3 of the 3 Live Kru. Perhaps due to his debut at the side of Jeff Jarrett, Konnan is skeptical of Kip’s motives. Ron “The Truth” Killings is stuck in the middle. Kip keeps knocking at the door, until he officially joins the newly crowned “4 Live Kru.” Me, Joe Average Fan, I’m waiting for Kip to turn … until Konnan cold-clocks Kip in the middle of a match. Bullet Bob Armstrong, of all freaking people, emerges as the voice of reason, and it appears that he talks some sense into Konnan. But once they get behind the scenes, arriba la raza!!! Konnan and LAX dogstomp Bullet Bob. So the James Gang is born, Kip and BG against the Latino Nation; during the James’ impassioned promo, BG drops the immortal line, “Dammit, Konnan, that was my daddy,” which continues the trend of wonderful pre-AAO soundbytes. And in the end? The James Gang d. LAX v1.5 ... pretty anticlimactic.

Match four: NWA World Tag Team Titles – America’s Most Wanted (Storm & Harris) (c) vs. Chris Sabin/ Sonjay Dutt
The story going into this was that Sabin & Sonjay won a tournament to face off against AMW for the World Tag Titles. During the final match (against the maligned Aries/ Strong team), Sabin totally obliterates his ankle on a baseball slide. Nevertheless, homeboy makes the big show and puts on a great tribute to Ricky Morton. Alas, Sonjay Dutt ain’t no Robert Gibson. Not a bad match, just more routine than anything. It wouldn’t be until AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels would team up that AMW would face some formidable competition. AMW d. Sabin/Dutt

Match five: Falls Count Anywhere – Rhino vs. Abyss
Abyss ... Man, for the most part, I love that Kane-ripoff fucker. And Rhino ain’t too shabby either. This is a really nice brawl, punctuated by some blood and in-crowd chaos. Of course, by this point, “extreme” and “hardcore” styles are passé, and most weaponry in matches devolves into trashcan shots, fire extinguisher sprays, and, in this match, the almighty golf club shot to the nuts. But, as is the law with most Abyss matches, there is a solid ending sequence to this match, which culminates into a gore on Abyss that sends him flying from the second level stands through four stacked tables. Rhino d. Abyss, the latter of which is carried out by stretcher (hard to tell if this is kayfabe or hardway).

Match six: TNA X-Division Title - Samoa Joe (c) vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles II
This was Samoa Joe’s ninth pay-per-view match with TNA. And there are times that he looks uncomfortably similar to Fat Elvis. This was also the sequel to the trio’s five star match from Unbreakable 2005. While not exactly up to their previous match, this one still has some solid sequences (like a hiptoss from Daniels to Styles, who then tags Joe with a huracanrana); most of the match is hard to describe, due to the segue of moves from one opponent to another opponent, who then counters into a move on the third opponent. But, when it’s all said and done, Joe kills bitches, dead.

Match seven: Team 3D (Brothers Ray & Devon) vs. Team Canada (Bobby Roode & Eric Young)
This is pretty much the Dudleys phoning in a match against Team Canada phoning in a match. Team 3D d. Team Canada

Match eight: NWA World Heavyweight Title – Jeff Jarrett (c) vs. Christian Cage
Through the whole show, this rivalry had been hyped, and Larry Zybysco – acting as head of authority – was running throughout the whole card informing people that if there was any interference or underhandedness, there would be repercussions. This, of course, telegraphs that there will be interference and/or underhandedness. And then we get the TNA debut of referee Earl Hebner, fresh from a stint of embezzling money off of WWF’s merchandise sales, as well as holding the dubious honor of being the ref of the “Montreal screwjob” … I’ll bet you that someone’s going to pull out a sharpshooter, and I’LL BE DAMNED I just finished typing that and Jarrett’s going for it. And no main event match in the mid-00s is complete without the wrestlers trying on their opponent’s finisher for size, which of course stuck Christian with that shitty Stroke finisher of Jarrett’s. But, one ref bump later, Cage drops Jarrett with the Unprettier. And at the end, fans who are clearly satisfied with the end of Jarrett’s reign swarm the ring and hoist Christian on their shoulders … how the ring stood up under all that weight, I have no idea.

The comparative analysis for Against All Odds 2006:
1 – Joe vs. Daniels vs. Styles
2 – Jarrett vs. Cage
3 – Shelley vs. Lethal vs. Williams vs. Bentley
4 – America’s Most Wanted vs. Sabin/Dutt
5 – Naturals vs. Aries/Strong
6 – Rhino vs. Abyss
7 – Team 3D vs. Team Canada
8 – James Gang vs. LAX

Now, the cross-analysis of all Against All Odds matches to this point:
1 – X Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles
2 – X Division Title, 30 Min Iron Man Match: Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles
3 – NWA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Christian Cage
4 – Full Metal Mayhem: Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy
5 – Alyx Shelley vs. Jay Lethal vs. Petey Williams vs. Matt Bentley
6 – NWA Tag Team Titles: Kid Kash/ Lance Hoyt vs. AMW
7 – Petey Williams vs. Elix Skipper
8 – NWA Tag Team Titles: AMW vs. Chris Sabin/ Sonjay Dutt
9 – The Naturals (Chase Stevens/ Andy Douglas) vs. Austin Aries/ Roderick Strong
10 – Falls Count Anywhere: Rhino vs. Abyss
11 – NWA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash
12 – Team Canada (Bobby Roode & Eric Young) vs. Monty Brown/ Dallas Page
13 – Team 3D (Ray/ Devon) vs. Team Canada (Bobby Roode/ Eric Young)
14 – The James Gang (BG & Kip James) vs. LAX (Homicide y Machete)
15 – Dustin Rhodes vs. Raven
16 – Frankie Kazarian/ Matt Bentley vs. BG James/ Jeff Hammond