TNA Bound For Glory 2008 Highlights

Let us think about what happened at Bound for Glory 2008. The first match was that Huge X Division match with the weird cage and escape through a hole at the top. Jay Lethal won it and although this match was really interesting it was not really that much special, I would have expected a whole lot more.

Then we had the one wrestling match that probably not a lot of people wanted to see in the Beautiful People and Cute Kip taking on that former Scott Steiner freak, ODB (which has a great gimmick) and Rhino. It was known from the start who would win. A simple gore and nothing really special with this match unfortunately.

After this a match for the X Division Championship. Sheik Abdul Bashir is not that great as an X division wrestler and the entire America versus Middle Eastern storyline is simply too much. The match was not bad but it was also not that entertaining. You would think that TNA would learn from the fact that they lost ratings during this type of matches. The addition of a sergeant introuducing Creed was also too much. As expected, Sheik won the match with a pin and a little cheating. Once again, nothing really special in this wrestling match. Next was the TNA Knockouts title match, a three way dance which was simply better than most women's matches but still something that the people did not really want to see. Unfortunately the women wrestling momentum is going down in TNA and the company does miss Gail Kim. Still, these women in the TNA knockout division can wrestle, as a difference from WWE's divas.

Now the Monster's Ball wrestling match for the Tag Team Titles was really impressive. I really thought that the inclusion of Steve McMichael will not be that great but it was a nice factor. We got to see a lot of "violence" and some pretty impressive moves. LAX was probably the team that was the most impressive and nobody really expected Hernandez to end up towards a table filled with tacs. Getting the pin on this wrestler is something that we would have not expected. Matt Morgan was also pretty interesting and Team 3D was, of course, entertaining. The highlight of the Monster's Ball was the fact that Abyss was put through a flaming table by Team 3D.

The wrestling match between AJ Styles, Christian Cage and Booker T looked like a filler from the start. The feud was not that well built and on the whole I do not think anyone except fans of these three thought they would see something interesting. Unfortunately my pick (AJ Styles) did not get to win and we saw an interesting end to this wrestling match. Probably the most impressive moments were when AJ Styles was flying and the end with the Christian finisher from the top rope and then Booker's axe kick from the top rope.

The Kurt Angle versus Jeff Jarrett match was very good. Jeff Jarrett looks like he is in a very good shape and he did perform some very interesting wrestling moves. Mick Foley got involved of course and we did see Mr. Socko again, although it might be that TNA is not allowed to say that so that copyright would not be infringed. Kurt Angle went for that huge moonsault he does, missed but that does not matter. This wrestling match was very good. We saw the guitar involved, Mick Foley acting as the special enforcer and on the whole a great match.

The main event was Sting vs Samoa Joe for the main title in TNA. The feud was not really that well built but we all thought that something special will happen. The match was not bad but the Monster's Ball and the Kurt Angle versus Jeff Jarrett matches were better. From the start we all thought that Sting was going to win and he won his past two Bound for Glory matches. After each wrestler hit the other's finisher we saw Kevin Nash appearing and he took the side of Sting. This was unexpected and it was a good enough ending. The one good move was Samoa Joe's move in the crowd as he jumped and landed on the stairs, it was pretty impressive and risky at the same time.

TNA Bound for Glory 2008 was a very good event but the truth is that it could have been a lot better. If it wasn't for those highlights that were incredible. We saw that Sting can still wrestle, no matter what others are saying and that Jeff Jarrett is in a great wrestling shape. Let us hope the next year will be better for TNA.

TNA Hard Justice 2008 - My Review

As always, people might or might not agree with what I or anyone else is writing when talking about professional wrestling as there are TNA fans and WWE fans and the fight is on. I must say that I never made a secret of the fact that I enjoy TNA wrestlers more but the WWE does seem to be growing in storyline material and on the whole the competition between the two companies is interesting although WWE is far ahead of TNA at the moment. Leaving that aside I just saw Hard Justice some time ago and wanted to talk about it a little.

First match saw Creed versus Petey Williams for the X Division title. It was a pretty interesting match but the ending did not really satisfy me as Daivari interfereed and caused Petey Williams to retain the title. As expected, this being an X division wrestling match, it was quite entertaining and did make for a good pay per view start. Then we had the knockouts tag team match, one that should have been highly entertaining as the women's wrestling division in TNA is definitely of high quality. Traci Brooks was the special referee, something that I do not remember seeing before until TNA: a woman's wrestling referee. The start of the match was something that wanted to be funny, it was not for me, and then we had the actual wrestling match starting. It was not bad and the TNA Knockouts champion got the pin.

The next was a highly expected tag team match between Robert Roode and James Storm versus LAX for the tag titles. A lot of hype was around this match and Beer Money Inc. is quite catchy. On the other hand I really like LAX and I wanted them to win. This match looked pretty violent and intense and it did keep fans entertained. We did see the Three Amigos, a punch probably towards the Guerrero family and then Roode tried a frog splash that missed. This was the turning point as Hernandez got in and started laying out Beer Money Inc. Then all broke loose as a lot of near falls happened. This wrestling match had an incredibly intense ending, one that was so unexpected. We saw Hernandez execute the Border Toss on Homicide but landing outside the six sided ring on Beer Money Inc. This was not the end as the women got involved as well, together with Hector Guerrero but Beer Money Inc got the win after the beer bottle was broken on Homice as he was going for the Gringo Killer. An incredible tag team wrestling match and new tag team champions.

Next was Sonjay Dutt versus Jay Lethal, all accompanied by a feud story line that was very well built. The wrestling match had special stipulations as the two wrestlers were chained together and wearing a tuxedo. The win should come via pin fall or when one wrestler takes the costume off the other one. Jay Lethal won it via pin fall, quite a good match but without those chains I think it would have been a lot more spectacular. Next came the Jersey Street Fight that saw Team 3D lose the match with Christian Cage and Rhino. It was quite a good match with a frog splash finish. Abyss also appeared and saved Cage and Rhino after the match. Then we had the last man standing wrestling match but with TNA rules, which means that first you have to pin or submit your opponent prior to the referee starting the ten count. AJ won the match but Sting attacked AJ. This was definitely unexpected. The main event saw Samoa Joe defeat Booker T thanks to a guitar hit. It is becoming quite strange but for me it seems that faces use the guitar and heels Sting's baseball bat. This is quite worth a watch. Hard Justice 2008 was a pretty good pay per view in terms of wrestling but I do think it could have been better. Be sure to watch SummerSlam and Edge versus the Undertaker in Hell in a Cell this weekend.

TNA Slammiversary 2008 Review

OK! TNA Slmmiversary is over and I took my time to write my own review because I was a little unsatisfied with it all. The good news is that overall, the wrestling was great, as always with TNA but it felt it had something missing. The first match, Kaz vs Petey Williams was pretty good, just as we would expect from the two. It was obvious that Scott Steiner would get involved but what was not really expected was the end. Petey Williams won, of course, but what was special was the ending that saw Kaz getting beat up and Abyss appearing out of the blue. Then we had the 6 man tag team match that featured the TNA Knockouts, a match that was good but it did feel as simply something extra that needed to be there as the knockouts are popular in wrestling.

Now the next match was one that I wanted to see: LAX vs Team 3D. Needless to say that it is quite special to see LAX with that lovely knockout near them (not to mention she delivered a What's up to Team 3D) and Hector Guerrero of course. As I expected this wrestling match was pretty good with a lot of interference and good double team moves and an ending that was definitely unexpected. Homicide with a quick roll up and LAX maintains the belts.

Awesome Kong then had 2 matches and she also laid out Elvis. That was quite hilarious but the matches against Kong from this invitational are not that entertaining. We basically see Kong destroying every single woman. Now the entire Elvis part was not entertaining at all from my point of view although it is always nice to see that Awesome Bomb delivered. Then we had the wedding with Jay Lethal, something we all knew how it was going to turn out, just like the Edge and Vickie Guererro wedding that will happen in the WWE. Everything was long and the former wrestlers doing it like crazy, including the snake and it all. Not that great but not bad on the whole.

Now the next match was the one that I personally wanted to see: Kurt Angle vs AJ Styles. The entire storyline was well built and these two wrestlers are very good, with a lot of technical skill. We did expect a great match and it was, although it was not the best these two can give. There is the question of whether or not Kurt Angle is 100% but still, by just looking at the entire match we can realize that this is not over. As I expected, AJ Styles won the match after a distraction by Karen Angle. AJ got beat up afterwards but still, a great way to continue a feud.

Next we had the main event: the King of the Mountain match, a very unique one in professional wrestling, one that is sure to be of high quality, no matter what happens. As expected, Kevin Nash got involved in the match but it was all made so that Booker T would have the opening towards a feud with Samoa Joe. Kevin Nash cost Booker the title when he got involved and Samoa Joe retains the title. A pretty good pay per view on the whole but still, I do have the feeling that for a Slammiversary pay per view, TNA could have done better.

Samoa Joe and TNA Update

We all heard about a lot of rumors that said Samoa Joe was going to leave TNA for the WWE and this has been going on for a long time. Different sources have reported that Joe was even willing to accept a salary cut to move to the WWE although this was not confirmed. Another thing that is not confirmed is that Samoa Joe is happy at the moment and enjoys his push. A lot of people expect him to win the title at Lockdown and get a dominating reign as champion. It was about time that somebody got rid of Kurt Angle as the champion. This guy does need a little rest or who knows what will happen with the recent Karen Angle things presented in the storyline.

TNA do seem confident that the offer they presented Samoa Joe with will keep him wrestling with the company. We did see him as a huge part of TNA in the past weeks and he does look quite happy with his role at the moment. We are still waiting for official confirmation though and we hope to get it as soon as possible. I would love to see Joe in TNA and not going to the WWE and him holding the title is a breath of fresh air in TNA in my view.

TNA Genesis 2007 - Robert Roode vs Samoa Joe

Nice feud build up and since Samoa Joe was in the ring with such a feud behind it, well built up, we did expect a great match. I was not disappointed by any match in TNA Genesis till that moment so what was there to disappoint me at a match with Joe and Roode. My predictions saw Samoa Joe definitely winning but not by submission. I expected a muscle buster. The match was pretty interesting but it was not as good as I expected. I have no idea what happened with Mrs Brooks at ring side, she was probably hit by that number 1 fan as it was labeled by the commentators. Well, the match saw Roode with some interesting moves but of course, Samoa Joe also had great moves. A little innovation and the end saw Roode going for the finisher and Samoa Joe switching and applying the muscle buster. The conflict is probably not over with the laying out of Mrs Brooks and should go on with something there. We will just have to wait and see.

What is The Monster's Ball Match

Well, in professional wrestling, the Monster's Ball match is a special multi competitor hardcore match. It was created by TNA with a name derived by the 2001 movie, Monster's Ball. The idea of the match stands in the fact that those that enter the ring are kept alone in a locked room without food, water or light for 24 hours before the match starts. As you can imagine, this is just stipulation and it is aimed to motivate, and make the wrestling match more interesting. It also explains the use of weapons and various extreme hardcore moves in the match. Victory is achieved when one wrestler is pinned or submits, kind of like a first fall wins. Because of the nature of the Monster's Ball match, the hardcore wrestling implication, there will be many pre-planned high impact moves that are aimed to draw reaction from the plan. For instance, at the last year's Monster's Ball we saw Raven execute an elbow drop from a high place in the arena on Abyss, who was placed on a table. This was a pre-planned high spot in the match.

Up until know we saw 6 Monster's Ball Matches and one wrestler was involved in all of them. Abyss is that wrestler and the interesting fact is that he only won one of them, this year at Bound For Glory when he executed a Black Hole Slam on Raven on tacks and pieces of broken glass. The first Monster's Ball wrestling match was held on November 7, 2004 and Monty Brown winning over Raven and Abyss. The second saw Rhino defeating Sabu, Jeff Hardy and Abyss on October 23 at Bound for Glory 2005. The winner of the third wrestling match of this type was Samoa Joe, winning over Abyss and Rhino on June 10 at TNA House Show 2006. Number four had only two wrestlers compete in Rhino and Abyss at the 2006 TNA house Show on August 24. Rhino won the second Monster's Ball match of the career then. Monster's Ball number 5 saw Samoa Joe win his second wrestling match of this type after defeating Brother Runt, Abyss and Raven on October 22 at Bound For Glory. This year we saw Abyss winning his first ever Monster's Ball match after defeating Raven, Black Reign and Rhino at Bound for Glory.

The Monster's Ball match is high end profile for TNA and as you can see, it was held at Bound For Glory, the company's largest pay per view, 3 out of 6 times. Samoa Joe and Rhino both won two matches but the difference between the two wrestlers stands in the fact that Samoa Joe won each of the Monster's Balls he participated in.

Since Abyss won the last Monster's ball, I invite you to take a look at a quick promo by TNA about one DVD. Hope you like it!

Sting Wins TNA Title

Well, this was the main event of Bound For Glory and should have been the best match. It was not, but it was still a dream match. We had Kurt Angle, probably the best technical wrestler in the business square off against a wrestling legend, "The Icon" Sting and it was bound to be big. We saw Sting win his second world title in TNA at their biggest pay-per-view, Bound for Glory, for two years in a row. Last year he won against Jeff Jarett and now against Kurt Angle, both being the top heels of TNA at the given points in time. It is also quite interesting since Kurt Angle was built by TNA management as an unstoppable force this year, even owning 4 championship belts at the same time. Now we need to see what will come next. Kurt Angle will probably get another title shot, I just hope it will be at a pay-per-view and it was also rumored that Kevin Nash will return to wrestling after signing a new contract with TNA. Samoa Joe's win over Christian Cage might also put him in contender spot. It has been rumored that at TNA Genesis we were going to see a fatal four way between Kevin Nash, Samoa Joe, Sting and Kurt Angle. It was also rumored that this will be the last year of Sting's legendry career in professional wrestling so we might just see him lose the title or retire as the champion. There are many possibilities here, even a possible feud between Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle but that would leave Sting with no real valuable contender for the world title. I can't wait to see what happens.