Jeff Hardy (artist Travis Beaven © PWTorch)
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…
The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
TNA 2 Hour Impact Special
Aired November 3rd, 2005
Taped at Universal Studios Orlando, FL
Aired on Spike TV at 9:00 PM (ET/PT)
Report by Paul Madavi, PW Torch TNA Specialist
The Lowdown: TNA Comes Through with 2 Hour Special
Mike Tenay announces that tonight is a night of firsts to kick off the show. The camera pans around the Impact Zone, before a video package airs. The video package goes over some of the recent history of TNA, including footage of Hogan, Nash, Sting, and Hey Yo (Scott Hall)! Afterwards, the package focuses on the current stars of the promotion. We then begin the show with our first match of the evening.
(1) Lance Hoyt & Jeff Hardy & Sabu defeat The Diamonds in the Rough (Simon Diamond & Elix Skipper, & David Young) at 2:52. Jeff Hardy makes his way down to the ring first, during which they air a clip of his suicide dive from Bound for Glory. Hoyt comes down next, wearing his sunglasses over his skully, for some reason. Sabu makes his way down next, steel chair in hand. His right arm is wrapped up, probably from the barbed wire from earlier in the taping. The Diamonds in the Rough make their way down in unison.
6:43 into the show and the bell rings. Simon Diamond and Lance Hoyt kick off the action. Hoyt hits a side slam early. Diamond ducks a big boot attempt, and tags in Young. Hoyt tags in Hardy. While Hardy and Young wrestle, Tenay asks the TV audience to call up their wrestling friends who don’t know about TNA and have them tune in. Jeff Hardy hits a twisting dive on Young. He tags in Sabu, but Young is able to tag in Skipper. Skipper and Young hit a double face plant on Sabu. Skipper works over Sabu briefly, before Young tags back in. Sabu manages to turn a whip from Young into a mid rope moonsault. This allows him to tag in Hardy. Everything breaks down, as all six men get in the ring. During the ensuing shmoz, Jeff Hardy is able to hit his Swanton bomb on Elix Skipper for the pin.
After the match, Sabu crawls around the ring, and sells an ankle injury. At this point, Abyss runs in and hits a Black Hole Slam on Sabu. Jeff Hardy and Lance Hoyt fend off Abyss and tend to Sabu.
The Breakdown
Psychology: This was a very short match, so it featured little very little psychology. I’m not sure what the point was, other than to give the babyface heavyweights some air time, which is fine. No real story to tell, other than some back and forth action until a shmoz led to a quick pin.
Action: Quick, fast, hard hitting action from the get go was the M.O. here. With little time to develop a sequence of moves, the effort fell a little flat.
Entertainment: Not a bad match to get the crowd and TV audience warmed up. It certainly lacked anything of real interest though.
Impact Scale Rating: 4.0/10 – There wasn’t much to this match, but the wrestlers kept it moving along well enough. There were a couple of nice spots.
[Commercial Break]
Backstage, Shane Douglas interviews Jeff Jarrett. He says tonight is the biggest night of his career as Larry Zybysko has granted him a rematch with Rhino for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Jarrett says management hates him, and he hates them. Tonight he needs to get the job done, otherwise he’s gone. However, it’s moments like this that define Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett compares certain historically famous moments to his upcoming victory. Monty Brown walks in and cuts a promo on Jarrett. He says that he is the one who deserves the title shot. However, he’ll settle for taking on the winner. He says he hopes Jarrett wins so he can take the belt from him. Both Jarrett and Brown do a decent job on the promo.
(2) Monty Brown defeats Brian Gamble at 2:17. Monty Brown makes his way to the ring, neck twitching all the while. Brian Gamble awaits him in the ring.
The bell rings at 19:59. Brown and Gamble circle each other briefly, before they lock up. Brown quickly takes control with a couple of clubbing blows. He hits a butterfly over the head suplex. He then hits his backbreaker and fall away slam. Brown whips Gamble and hits him with The Pounce. The crowd starts chanting “one more time,” and Brown obliges. He hits a second Pounce. Gamble can’t stand as Brown hits a third Pounce at the request of the crowd. This one is for the pin.
After the match, Brown drools on himself a little as the camera gets up close. Brown mugs for the camera.
Psychology: This was another straight forward Monty Brown squash match, putting over Brown as a devastating force. Nice work by Gamble who went limp after the first Pounce, forcing Brown to prop him up for the next two.
Action: Brown looked pretty good throughout the match, hitting all of his signature moves.
Entertainment: This match was made a little more entertaining that it actually was by the crowd being so into it, and Brown actually giving them what they wanted with a couple of extra finishers.
Impact Scale Rating: 5.0/10 – The interaction between Brown and the Impact Zone audience made this a better than average squash match.
A video package for Rhino airs. During the package, Tenay touts Rhino having won three matches during Bound for Glory.
[Commercial Break]
A video package for the X Division airs. The package includes much highlight footage and spits out a few of the key X Division names.
(3) A.J. Styles & Sonjay Dutt & Austin Aries defeat Christopher Daniels & Samoa Joe & Alex Shelley at 9:53. Christopher Daniels comes out first. He waits for Shelley near the chute. Samoa Joe comes out neck, towel over his shoulders. The heels then walk down to the ring in unison. Austin Aries is the first babyface out of the chute. Sonjay Dutt is next. The Playa from the Himalaya and Aries bump knuckles. Styles then comes out to the ring to the loudest cheers of the entire entrance. The faces come down to the ring together.
The bell rings at 31:54. Alex Shelley and Austin Aries start the match, and what sounds like a “ROH” chant can be heard. Shelley and Aries lock up. They chain wrestle for a while, which culminates in a dropkick from Aries. They chain wrestle again, leading to a drop toe hold for Aries. Aries then hits a twisting splash on Shelley. Aries tags in Dutt. They both hit their elbow spots, leading to Dutt picking up a two-count. Dutt works a nice springboard arm drag spot, before walking the rope for a chop drop. Aries manages to recover and hit a back suplex, allowing him to tag in Samoa Joe. Joe nails Dutt with four stiff kicks. He whips Dutt into a corner and hits a couple of running high knees. Samoa Joe is about to hit his face wash, when Daniels tags himself in a great heel move.
Dutt manages to recover from Daniel’s kicks enough to get on the second rope and hit a hurricanrana. He leaps to tag in Styles, who surges on Daniels. Styles hits a couple of arm drags and a dropkick. Samoa Joe tags himself in. Joe opens up with a kick to the knee. They work the ropes, which leads to a dropkick by Styles. He follows up with a deadlock w/ bridge. Shelley steps out to break it up, but Dutt runs in and slaps on an octopus submission hold. Daniels then comes out to break it up, but Aries attacks him. He applies a head scissors w/ leg lace, which leads to the crowd chanting “TNA.”
The ref clears out the illegal men, which leads to Austin Aries surging on all the heels as they run back in. Aries hits a suicide dive on Daniels and Shelley at ringside. However, this allows Joe to nails him with a running kick. Joe drags Aries back in the ring. He hits a chop, a kick, and a big knee drop for a two-count. Joe then follows up with a ridiculous powerslam. Joe then tags in Daniels, who signals this is the end of the match. He goes for a flying forearm, but Aries ducks, which leads to Daniels hitting Joe. Styles is tagged in. He works Joe over with a couple of flying forearms, and then finally takes him down with a top rope forearm. Styles hits an amazing facebuster on Shelley in the ring.
Thing break down as Daniels runs in and hits a backbreaker on Styles, Dutt hits a facebuster on Daniels, Joe hits a massive clothesline on Dutt, and Aries hits his crucifix bomb on Joe. Aries signals for the 450 splash, but is pushed off the top rope by Shelley. Shelley then hits a suicide dive on Aries. The crowd chants “TNA” once again. Back in the ring, A.J. Styles is left alone with Joe and Daniels. Daniels and Joe take turns missing Styles and hitting each other with their offense. Shelley runs in to break up a Styles Clash attempt on Daniels. However, A.J. just manages to hit in on Shelley for the pin
Psychology: This was an excellent tag team match that flowed very nicely from spot to spot. Despite having a lot of big spots early on, the wrestlers still managed to build to a strong, exciting finish. Samoa Joe provided an interesting stylistic variation in the match; he came off as smart and brutal. All the wrestlers gained some good heat coming out of this match. The storyline was very much back and forth, but they planted some nice seeds of dissent between Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels in the process, to give the match a little extra spice.
Action: Austin Aries really shone in this match. His offense was crisp, exciting, daring, and dynamic. Samoa Joe was stiff and menacing with every move he made. Overall, this was an impressive, action packed match. Everyone was performing at a very high level, and they blended their styles together well.
Entertainment: This was an extremely entertaining 10 minute match. TNA really did a good job of setting up this match with the two short squashes. The crowd went nuts, and the wrestlers worked their butts off. Very simple (but well thought out) psychology combined with top notch action make this an excellent wrestling match. This match is Monday replay worthy.
Impact Scale Rating: 8.0/10 – Really, 10 minutes of wrestling doesn’t get anymore fun than this.
A video package for Jeff Jarrett airs. It sells him as a despicable heel, who considers TNA his personal playground.
[Commercial Break]
We return to Shane Douglas interviewing Rhino. Douglas described Rhino’s title ascension as courageous. Rhino’s arms look as big as my torso. Rhino says he’s proven he’s got the heart of a champion. Raven interrupts the interview, and says Rhino stole his title. Zybysko runs in with security. They haul him out, and Zybysko yells. Rhino ignores the mess, turns to the camera and gets pretty intense as he tells Jarrett to expect a Gore! Gore! Gore!
A video package airs recapping the Team 3D versus AMW feud. It’s a nice summary of the feud with all the key moments spliced together very well.
(4) Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray) defeat Team Canada (Bobby Rood & Eric Young w/ Scott D’Amore & A1) at 14:28. Our wrestling neighbors from the North make their way out first. Devon and Ray come out looking tough and ready to rumble.
The bell rings at 52:59. Devon and Eric Young start off the match. Young stomps around a little before tagging in Bobby Roode. Roode and Ray lock up, but Roode quickly ducks under. Roode and Ray work the ropes for a while, leading to a flying shoulder tackle by Devon. Devon follows with a leg drop for a two-count. Roode recovers and drives Devon into his corner, tagging in Young. Young is quickly dominated by a Devon body slam. Ray tags in and hits a series of elbow drops. Ray hits a delayed suplex. Young gets in an eye poke, and Roode runs in, but Ray handles both of them. Devon goes for “wassup” but is thrown off the ropes by Bobby Roode. The heels begin to dominate as we go to commercial
[Commercial Break]
When we return, Roode is in control of Devon. Young and Roode isolate Devon for a while with some clubbing blows and holds. Devon recovers with a powerslam after a few minutes, but the ref is distracted and does not see or hear him tag in Ray. The heels then continue to isolate Devon. Bobby Roode and Young hits a knee and elbow drop respectively. Devon eventually hits a double clothesline and tags in Ray, who surges on both heels. He tosses Roode out of the ring, and hits a side slam on Young for a two-count. He follows up with a neckbreaker. Roode runs in, but gets a Samoan drop for his trouble. Ray gets a two-count on a powerbomb, which is broken up by Roode. They hit the 3D on Bobby Roode, who rolls out of the ring. Young gets back in the ring. A1 threatens to run in with the stick, delaying the 3D. However, 3LK comes down to ringside and takes care of Team Canada. This allows Team 3D to finish off Young with a 3d for the pin.
Psychology: This match displayed some more traditional tag team psychology, with lots of surges and a strong heel isolation period. The back and forth action was well played and provided nice swings of momentum. The isolation period lasted far too long.
Action: The action was very good until an unnecessarily long and particularly boring isolation period killed all the momentum. They recovered well from the
Entertainment: This was a good match, but very formulaic. The majority of the match was well executed and fun, except for the brutally boring isolation period.
Impact Scale Rating: 5.5/10 – I hate isolation based tag team matches. If they had come up with something a little more interesting than the standard isolation spot, I would’ve given this match another point.
[Commercial Break]
(5) Petey Williams (w/ Scott D’Amore) defeats Chris Sabin and Matt Bentley (w/ Traci) at 15:15. This is an Ultimate X rematch. The winner is #1 contender. Williams makes his way down first. Chris Sabin is next, and gets some good cheers. Bentley and Traci strike their pose and come down to the ring.
The bell rings at 1:16:20. Sabin and Bentley double team Williams to start the match. They then take turns pulling each other off the turnbuckle, going for an early victory. They battle for a minute, until Williams gets back into the action. Williams gets a dropkick in the back, driving his head into the scaffolding. Sabin climbs up on Williams, but receives a superplex from Bentley. Williams then decides to stalk Traci, but it leads to Bentley whooping his ass outside of the ring. Sabin tries to use the opportunity to steal the match, but he is caught by Bentley at the top rope. Bentley then hits a top rope, spinning neckbreaker. Jeff Hardy Girl gets a close up. Wassup JHG! Sabin hits a running dropkick on Williams, after he is put in the tree of woe. Sabin repeats the spot, but cannot climb to the top turnbuckle. After a couple of out of the ring dives, all three competitors wind up trying to recover at ringside
[Commercial Break]
When we return, Williams is hanging from the suspension rope, but Sabin lands a dropkick, knocking Williams off the rope. Bentley hits a running kick on Sabin. Bentley climbs up and almost gets his hands on the X, but is caught by a Williams power bomb. The X is now hanging by only one strap. Williams climbs to the top rope, but Sabin jumps up there and hits a release overhead German suplex, which is unbelievable. Bentley then climbs up to the suspension cable. He wraps his legs around the cable to avoid being pulled down. Sabin stands underneath him, trying to figure something out. When Williams rushes, Sabin kicks him in the stomach and sets him up for a powerbomb. With Williams on Sabin’s shoulders, Bentley hits a dropkick on Williams, which in turn hits Sabin with a hurricanrana, in another amazing spot. Bentley hits a superkick on Williams. Sabin, however, then hits a Cradleshock on Bentley. Sabin then climbs up onto the suspension ropes. Williams hits an inverted atomic drop on Sabin off the ropes. Williams then hits a Canadian Destroyer. Bentley climbs the ropes, and once again cradles it as D’Amore runs in. Traci runs in and takes down D’Amore. Williams then climbs up to the ropes and he and Bentley trade mid-air kicks. Williams hits a low blow, and unhooks the carabineer to grab the X and win the match.
After the match, Williams tries to celebrate, and D’Amore yells and yells. They hug in the middle of the ring.
Psychology: Well, this was a spotfest, so psychology was not a primary concern, which is a shame, because this match really lends itself to interesting storytelling as much as it does to incredible spots. There’s so much to take advantage of that it’s a shame more thought wasn’t put into getting from spot to spot. Never the less, the finish of the match was built to relatively well, even if the low blow is a disappointing way to win the match.
Action: The action was the true shining gem of this match. The competitors delivered non stop action, much of which was mind bending.
Entertainment: This is a fun match to watch, but throughout, the missing psychological elements gnaw at viewer, not because the match is not good without them, but because it could’ve been much, much more.
Impact Scale Rating: 7.0/10 – Despite lacking psychology, the match still provides the viewer with a lot of fun, innovative wrestling on cable television.
[Commercial Break]
(6) Jeff Jarrett defeats Rhino at 12:57. This match is for the NWA Heavyweight Championship. Jeff Jarrett makes his way to the ring first, guitar in hand. Rhino rushes down to the ring as per usual. Rhino gets a good ovation and his name chanted. Jeremy Borash announces the competitors in the middle of the ring, which is a nice touch for the big match. The belt is held aloft as we break for commercial
[Commercial Break]
The bell rings at 1:46:20. The competitors lock up after a little cat and mouse. They break up and lock up again. Rhino hits a shoulder block off the ropes, but Jarrett counters with a dropkick off the ropes directly after. Jarrett hits a drop toe hold and proceeds to strut, but Rhino gets up right away and takes advantage with a press slam. Rhino sets up for an early Gore, but Jarrett bails out of the ring. Rhino follows him out, and throws him over the railing into the crowd. They brawl around the crowd for a while. A fan holds up a steel chair, and Rhino whips Jarrett’s head into it. Rhino continues to dominate Jarrett in the crowd.
Back at ringside, Rhino pulls out a table from underneath the ring. Jarrett sneak attacks Rhino and tosses him back in the ring. Rhino recovers with a back elbows and sets up for a Rhino driver. Gail Kim shows up and distracts Rhino long enough to allow Jarrett to shove Rhino off the top rope out to ringside. Jarrett then bounces Rhino off the various metal parts at ringside. Back in the, ring Jarrett dominates Rhino, and then applies a standing gut wrench. Jarrett then goes to a headlock. Rhino breaks out, and hits a mediocre fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker. Both men rest for a minute before getting up. Rhino surges on Jarrett, but Jarrett recovers with a kick to the knee.
This leads to a figure four leg lock by Jarrett. Rhino turns it over. Gail Kim goes for a leg drop, but Rhino rolls out of the way. Rhino then presses Kim, which leads to a roll up by Jarrett for a two-count. Rhino hits a spinebuster for a two-count, catching Jarrett arguing with the ref. Jarrett comes right out of the pin attempt punching. However, Rhino hits a belly to belly suplex. Rhino sets up another Gore. Jarrett side steps the Gore. Rhino then goes for a clothesline, and misses Jarrett, but hits the ref. Jarrett misses with the guitar, which leads to a Gore. However, the ref is out so no pin is counted. AMW then come to ringside, as Rhino wields the guitar. AMW manage to get to Rhino after Jarrett hits a low blow. They hit The Death Sentence on the table set up at ringside earlier in the match. This leads to Jarrett hitting The Stroke for the pin.
After the match, AMW, Jarrett, and Gail Kim celebrate in the ring. We cut to backstage footage of Team 3D cuffed to some railing, bleeding profusely. Tenay and West scream wildly as we go off air.
Psychology: This match actually featured the best story telling of the night. Lots of interference at the end of a match like this would usually be a bad thing. However, given that Rhino had a mere two week reign, it makes sense to have him screwed out of the title, so that he doesn’t look like a fluke champion – even though that’s essentially what he was. The match was well laid out and had good timing. The back and forth action was tilted to give Rhino the edge. Furthermore, they did a good job of contrasting the wrestling styles of Rhino and Jarrett.
Action: Rhino and Jarrett probably packed in as much action as they’re going to in a match. Jarrett and Rhino worked well together, showing good timing. There were a couple of sloppy moments, and a weak looking figure four, but otherwise solid.
Entertainment: While it wasn’t the best match of the evening, this was a very capable main event. If you can get past the history of these two wrestlers prior to TNA, then they should’ve come off as two strong wrestlers working hard for the heavyweight title.
Impact Scale Rating: 6.5/10 – This was a solid main event with strong story telling and good action.
Overall Breakdown
Psychology: TNA hit a home run tonight. They proved that they could produce a very fun, very watchable two hour show that had a consistent amount of action. More importantly, they were able to stick with the Impact formula of putting over their stars with quick matches, and then providing one or two longer, stronger matches. It was a well balanced show. While it could’ve used one money promo or comedy segment to help give TNA a little personality, TNA still came off as a fresh, exciting product tonight, fulfilling their most important goal for the evening.
Action: It was an action packed evening, with each and every last match focusing heavily on providing as much action as possible. The action ranged from traditional to completely innovative. TNA really showed off their brand of wrestling action tonight.
Entertainment: From start to finish, this was a very entertaining show. Even Jeff Jarrett and Rhyno were able to put together an entertaining main event. The X Division really shone tonight, and proved beyond any doubt that they are the breath of refreshment that televised wrestling needs.
Impact Scale Rating: 7.5/10 – TNA effectively managed to spread Impact out into a two hour show. It was solid through out, and should have excited any wrestling fans looking for something new and different from WWE.
(Paul Madavi writes his Impact reviews from Madison, WI where the beer is fresh, and the cheese is aged. If you’d like to respond to any of the content above, please email him and make eventful his otherwise boring existence.)
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.