Against All Odds - predictions revisited...

So, I've had a fucking insanly busy week hence the no revisit on Against All Odds predictions. Anyways, it's good to see Clown back, it's been a while! So here it is, better late than never, also I've had almost a week for the matches to settle in my memory, and most of them didn't...

"-- TNA World Hvt. champion Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy in a ladder match for the TNA World Title.
Depending on how much Jeff Hardy can be arsed, this could be a pretty decent match, but in all likelihood will be over-booked and needlessly complicated. I think Anderson will keep the strap, Anderson is the lesser of two evils in this scenario."

This matches was crazy, both guys took some pretty nasty bumps and they both worked their asses off. The ending seemed botched and was a bit of an anti-climax, but Jeff won his stupid fucking belt back.

Match rating: ****


"-- Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett.
This match will be great, the build-up has been a mixed bag; I’m really not a fan of the soap opera elements. I thought the MMA Jarrett was a great gimmick, though I really can’t be doing with a worked fight. If the storyline had continued and Kurt just wanted to prove he could kick Jarrett’s ass without bring Karen and their kids into it, I would be marking out for this one. Why can’t they just have a straight match with no stipulations and no bullshit?
This match will clearly end with some kind of screwjob/DQ with Jarrett getting the victory."

Jarrett got the victory, and Angle should have won... many times... but this match was so over-booked that they must have gone through every possible match ending in Wrestling Booking for Dummies (the Dusty Rhodes edition). The in-ring stuff was great, but they are hinting at another Angle retirement angle... this is such a shit angle...

Match rating: ***


"-- Bully Ray vs. Brother Devon in a Street Fight.
This is where the bad booking comes into play. The idea of being against the odds plays into this one because it is essentially a handicap match with Devon’s two son’s being in Devon’s corner. So we have a 3-on-1 street fight with the heel working against the odds... we can’t cheer for the babyfaces because they’ve got an unfair advantage, and the heel is a heel... This match would have been 20 times better were it just a bog-standard street-fight, now it’s hard to get behind Devon... idiotic booking... also, because this is TNA Devon will either get DQed or counted out... in a street fight..."

Bubba is a great heel, he has no redeeming qualities, whatsover. I find with most heels (Chris Jericho is probably the only exception), heels always seem to win over the crowd, either with comedy, catchphrases, etc. but Bubba came accross as complete and utter cunt on this one. Match wasn't really a match, but more of an angle... another angle involving families, hmm... What I will also say about this match is how well Taz sold this. There is no way that Michael Cole could appear so inversted in the feud as Taz was in this...
and Bubba won.

Match rating: **1/2


"-- Samoa Joe vs. The Pope D'Angelo Dinero.
This might be the first PPV match Joe has been in since he was kidnapped by ninjas, and the feud has made very little sense. As far as I can gather Joe has hired Okada to follow and film Pope, Pope has turned heel and might be involved in dog-fighting, Pope then called Joe fat... erm, I think that pretty much covers it.
I don’t rate Pope in the ring, but it will be great to see Joe back in the ring. If Joe jobs for Pope I’ll be pissed. Joe to win."

Joe, a guy who is miscast as a babyface, made Pope, a miscast heel, tap-out. The match was dull and with Pope turning on Joe at the end, it made Joe look like a fucking idiot. I'm glad Joe Muscle Busted Pope through a pig on Impact.

Match rating: * 1/2

"-- Rob Van Dam vs. Matt Hardy.
If this match is 20 times better than the last RVD/Fat Lardy match it will still be shit, so I don’t hold up much hope for anything decent coming from this one. Though RVD is meant to be a babyface, his arrogance and his lacklustre performances have made me really dislike him, as for Lardy, I really couldn’t give a shit and so do not care about this match in the slightest.
Flip a coin, RVD to win."

RVD won, and it was 20 imes better than the last time they wrestled... meaning it was still shit, but not a stinker. The match was very slow to start, and RVD looks like he's hurting. In the last minute or so, they both looked pretty good. There's hope for them yet.

Match rating: ** 1/2


"-- Knockouts champion Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James in a Last Knockout Standing match for the Knockouts Title.
By my reckoning, this will be Madison Rayne’s fourth or fifth solo match in TNA, and she has been KO champ for months now. What a joke. Mickie to win, at least she can go."

I don't remember much about this one, I remember that they both crawled under the ring for a bit for no reason, and recall that the match was pretty dull. Madison retained due to her cheat glove.


"-- Scott Steiner & Beer Money vs. Gunner & Murphy & Rob Terry.
Is this match real? This match would be fine on Impact, but on PPV? Security guards and Terroid in a PPV? Jeez, no wonder people aren’t buying PPVs anymore. It will be the dumbest thing in the world for Beer Money and Steiner to job for Terroid et al, so I’ll have to go with Terroid et al for the win."

Rob Terry was used to a minimum, as was Steiner, who as a 50 year old pulled off a pretty awesome looking Frankensteiner for the victory. Beer Money were great and are now babyfaces, which means they can be awesome again, and my God, they managed to stop this match from being a stinker.

Match rating: ***

"-- Max Buck vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Robbie E. in a #1 contender match to the X Division Title.
AGAIN, what could have been a decent match is ruined by careless booking. The Young Bucks will obviously work together, they are heels after all, thus rendering it, for all intents and purposes, a handicap match... who’s our plucky babyface who’s going to win, who’s going to beat the odds and win through his heart and intestinal fortitude? Why Robbie E of course... not only is this guy a heel, but he has X-Pac heat, the fans genuinely hate him; they hate his gimmicks, his look, and his style is very middle of the road WWE style... kick, kick, punch, punch, signature slam, win... The Bucks are way more over than Robbie will ever be... and Robbie E will blatantly win and go on to beat Kaz... thus rendering the token gesture of injecting new life into the X-Division as being a completely pointless exercise."

This match didn't happen due to The Bucks being stuck in an airport... Robbie E won by default. Then Kaz came out and they had a mediocre title match with Kaz winning clean... and on the back of that clean loss, Robbie E got a rematch on the next Impact... how fucking stupid.

Match rating: **1/2


On the whole, this was a shoddy PPV. My view is that they need to stop fucking around with Joe and Angle... put them in a simple, decent feud, maybe against each other, FFS. Also, every time a former WWEer gets put over, it is like TNA are putting the WWE over. Idiots