SomethingSavage Posted October 5, 2018 Report Share Posted October 5, 2018 Hmm. I need to revisit that one. Don't even recall any of the details. Is that the match where Daffney got legitimately hurt? Or was that one of the tag matches they had? I seem to remember that group (Foley, Abyss, Stevie, Daffney, Raven, etc.) being jumbled up and mixed together in so many variations for awhile there. It all kind of blends together for me. Daffney took sick bumps a lot back then, too. Chick was wild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 5, 2018 Report Share Posted October 5, 2018 No idea. But she went through a bard wire board outside the ring from the top rope. Yeah, fucking insane. Kudo would have been proud. The promo Sting delivered at the end of the show was one of the most heartfelt stuff I've heard in a while. Pretty damn real. Bound for Glory was a pretty good show all things considered, and it pretty much felt like the swan song of the old company before Hogan shows up. I know there are two more months and PPV's still, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm out of this experiment that I began in 2015. Maybe I'll get back to it at some point (in which case I'll have some months before the Hogan stuff to "enjoy" the transition), but from now on, I'm pretty much only gonna watch current stuff. To hell with the past. From what I gathered, TNA's best time in the 00's was 2005 until more or less the fall of 2006 (really excellent stuff, D'Amore at his best) and most of 2008 (the best TV Russo was ever part of, only because Dutch was there to book the good part ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted October 6, 2018 Report Share Posted October 6, 2018 I was thinking the Monsters Ball tag from Slammiversary but no I believe it was that Abyss/Foley match where Daffney got hurt 17 hours ago, El-P said: No idea. But she went through a bard wire board outside the ring from the top rope. Yeah, fucking insane. Kudo would have been proud. The promo Sting delivered at the end of the show was one of the most heartfelt stuff I've heard in a while. Pretty damn real. Bound for Glory was a pretty good show all things considered, and it pretty much felt like the swan song of the old company before Hogan shows up. I know there are two more months and PPV's still, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm out of this experiment that I began in 2015. Maybe I'll get back to it at some point (in which case I'll have some months before the Hogan stuff to "enjoy" the transition), but from now on, I'm pretty much only gonna watch current stuff. To hell with the past. From what I gathered, TNA's best time in the 00's was 2005 until more or less the fall of 2006 (really excellent stuff, D'Amore at his best) and most of 2008 (the best TV Russo was ever part of, only because Dutch was there to book the good part ). Were you still watching all the Impacts or just the PPVs? After reading your thoughts on Foley/Abyss, I was just about to tell you to make sure you catch the Foley/Flair Last Man Standing on Impact one year later! I thought 2010 was a blast and reminiscent of 2002 as far as never knowing who the hell was gonna show up next. 2011 started rough but ended kicking off one of their best runs in 2012. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 6, 2018 Report Share Posted October 6, 2018 5 hours ago, Alucard said: Were you still watching all the Impacts or just the PPVs? After reading your thoughts on Foley/Abyss, I was just about to tell you to make sure you catch the Foley/Flair Last Man Standing on Impact one year later! I was watching all the iMPACTS too, imagine that... I guess the 2012 hype will get me back at some point, but for now, I'm done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 6, 2018 Report Share Posted October 6, 2018 5 hours ago, Alucard said: Were you still watching all the Impacts or just the PPVs? After reading your thoughts on Foley/Abyss, I was just about to tell you to make sure you catch the Foley/Flair Last Man Standing on Impact one year later! I was watching all the iMPACTS too, imagine that... I guess the 2012 hype will get me back at some point, but for now, I'm done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted October 6, 2018 Report Share Posted October 6, 2018 2012 is their best year week to week. For sure. But even their 2011 TV turns around fairly early on, starting to improve drastically as soon as Jeff Hardy goes off the rails and they abandon that silly push for the "Anti-Christ of professional wrestling" stuff. I always say their peak runs from Lockdown 2011 to Lockdown 2013. Those two shows always stood out to me, both at the time they actually happened and especially now in hindsight. The former is a noticeable uptick in quality & the latter is a sudden drop-off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
With Coil Posted October 29, 2018 Report Share Posted October 29, 2018 I know I have said this before, but TNA Kevin Nash is the best Kevin Nash. I choose to not argue with people about him anymore.. people just don't seem to want to give him a chance. Matt Morgan, to me, is the best example of a wrestler that you watch and think.. you know, I don't know what it is about this guy.. he's missing something. This is actually around the time I stopped watching TNA. I vaguely remember things from 2008 and 2009, but I stopped watching wrestling completely in 2009. I thought both TNA and WWE sucked at that time. It is funny to me now though, because I remember saying they both sucked in 2007, as in, me saying they sucked while watching live in 2007, and now that I look back, it really wasn't that bad at all lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted October 29, 2018 Report Share Posted October 29, 2018 To be fair, it *was* all pretty bad. It just got much, much worse before it got any better again. That's all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted October 30, 2018 Report Share Posted October 30, 2018 My issue with Morgan was him not really finding a good balance in his ring style. Less is more. Carbon Footprint, chokeslam, Sid style powerbomb. TNA needed a big man working a big man style. Joe was flying around and Abyss had the hardcore stuff locked down. I think if Morgan patterned himself after the best in-ring aspects of Kevin Nash and Sid Justice, he would have been more than okay. The booking sure didn't help him at all, but I believe a less is more approach in the ring and detail to his presentation would have put him over the moon. Matt Morgan walking down to the ring wearing a suit and shades as always bad ass, but you just knew an ass kicking wasn't coming at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 Matt Morgan is the prime example of why athleticism shouldn't be emphasized at the expense of good, basic, straightforward psychology. Sometimes less absolutely CAN BE more. Corny, Rip Rogers, & company made the mistake of complimenting Morgan's athleticism very early on, and so it stuck in his head that's what he should showcase. But nobody needs to see you show off your basketball skills, fool. Throw some fucking hands, son. At least PRETEND you're in a fight type situation. Strong characters forever have & forever will trump action & athleticism in pro wrestling. I realize that's not always a popular statement in most circles, but it is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 I want to an exploration of TNA for the Greatest Match Ever Project, please send all recommendations for non-AJ Styles matches (I have watched most AJ Styles matches). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 Have you seen Joe vs. Daniels from Final Resolution 2006? It's my second-favorite TNA match. Roode/Aries at Destination X 2012 is worth a look as well. I don't know how well it holds up, but it was a great moment at the time because it felt like TNA had actually turned a corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 Kurt Angle vs. Ken Anderson from Lockdown 2010 is a truckload of hate, caked in blood-soaked fun. James Storm vs. Chris Harris in their Texas Death Match. Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries from Destination X 2012. Austin Aries vs. Lashley from the Destination X 2014 special episode of Impact is an infinitely watchable power/speed bout. Jarrett vs. Angle. They're all pretty enjoyable in different ways, but their first two clashes at BFG and Genesis are probably their best. Can't recall which ranks ahead of the other though. Austin Aries vs. Bully Ray from Sacrifice 2012 comes to mind, although I honestly can't tell you if it's all that good. I'm including it because it brings to mind good feelings - of a time when the company felt buzzworthy, both guys were experiencing hot streaks, and Aries was really catching fire as a baby face by standing up to Bully. Oh. And those chops. Christ. Those chops do some fucking damage to Aries' chest. I'm sure some more will come to mind with time, but that's all I got for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 There are tons. I'll just give you just five that do not feature AJ Styles. To switch things up, the majority are gimmick matches. 1. Six Sides of Steel Match: XXX vs. AMW from Turning Point 2004 2. Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner from Slammiversary 2005 3. Monster's Ball Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Sabu vs. Rhyno vs. Abyss from Bound For Glory 2005 4. Monster's Ball Tag Team Match: from Bound for Glory 2008 5. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy from Victory Road 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 There really is a great amount. Aries/Roode from Dest X 2012 may be my all time fav. Co-signed on Aries/Bully from Sacrifice, also loved Aries/Joe from Slammiversary 2012. I'll throw out some more off the top of my head... Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy (No Surrender 2010) Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell - Last Woman Standing (Slammiversary 2013) Bobby Lashley vs. Drew Galloway (Slammiversary 2016) Bobby Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards - Steel Cage Match (Impact, 7/21/16) Bobby Lashley vs. James Storm (Impact, 8/11/16) Moose vs. Mike Bennett (One Night Only: Live 2017) Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe (Destination X 2007) Most recently.. oVe vs Pentagon/Fenix/Swann (Impact 7/12/18) and of course.. The Final Deletion: Broken Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy (Impact, 7/5/16) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrzfn Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 I've got a huge love for the hair vs. hair Spud/EC3 match from 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 Good lists, guys. I'd overlooked a lot of these, but this makes me want to scan back and do some re-watching myself. Oh. And that Joe/Aries match from Slammiversary 2012 is a tremendous sleeper hit. Fast-paced, hard-hitting, hot opener in front of a hot crowd. The first Aries/Kendrick match from 2011 should get a shout, too. They had two fights on PPV that year. One was at BFG and was just okay. This was the other one, from like a month before that, at No Surrender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted November 6, 2018 Report Share Posted November 6, 2018 Thank you to everybody who has contributed thus far. I was doing a bit of reading it sounds like going from 2002-2009 are good goalposts for the first crack at TNA. 2002 is obvious as the start of the company and 2009 seems to be when Dixie really takes the full reigns of the company and then Hogan/Bischoff come in at the start of 2010. So I am going to focus on 2002-2009 first and if I have time I will do 2010 and beyond. The Year 2002 - I think was pretty thorough in my watching of this year so let me know if I missed anything. AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Low Ki vs Psicosis - NWA TNA 6/19/02 AJ Styles vs Low-Ki - NWA-TNA 9/25/02 2 Out Of 3 Falls X Division Champion AJ Styles vs Amazing Red - NWA TNA 10/30/02 AJ Styles vs Amazing Red - NWA-TNA 12/11/02 X Division Champion AJ Styles vs Low-Ki NWA TNA 7/17/02 NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ron "The Truth" Killings vs Low-Ki - NWA-TNA 10/02/02 Triple X vs Amazing Red/SAT - NWA TNA 12/18/02 X Division Champion Low-Ki vs AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn - NWA-TNA 8/28/02 X Division Champion AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn - NWA-TNA 11/6/02 X Division Champion Syxx vs AJ Styles - NWA-TNA 10/23/02 X Division Champion AJ Styles vs Low Ki vs Jerry Lynn - NWA TNA 8/7/02 The year 2003 - I have not seen many people discuss this year when it comes to great matches. What have I missed from 2003? The below three matches I have watched NWA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Low-Ki - NWA-TNA 8/13/03 Low Ki vs Christopher Daniels - NWA TNA 11/12/03 NWA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Dusty Rhodes - NWA TNA 10/8/03 Did some digging and found this: TNA World Tag Team/Steel Cage Match: Triple X vs. America’s Most Wanted (6/25/03, Wednesday PPV) Is this NWA World Heavyweight: AJ Styles vs. Raven (8/27/03, Wednesday PPV) any good???? The year 2004 - AMW vs XXX comes up a lot, but what else? Six Sides of Steel Match: XXX vs. AMW from Turning Point 2004 - Need to watch The Year 2005 - I have seen a good amount of AJ Styles from this year, but I need to re-watch some of it to see if it Greatest Match Ever worthy Against All Odds 2005: X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels - Need rewatch Final Resolution 2005: X-Division Champion Petey Williams vs Chris Sabin vs AJ Styles in an Ultimate X Match - People seem to like this one, but my initial watch I didnt like it too much. Lockdown 2005: AJ Styles vs Abyss - Number One Contender's Match - Need Rewatch, GME list contender Unbreakable 2005: X-Division Champion Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe - Need Rewatch, initial watch I thought it was overrated Sacrifice 2005: Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles Bound For Glory 2005 - X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels Turning Point 2005 - X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe - Need Rewatch, GME List Contender Recommended to watch for the first time: Monster's Ball Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Sabu vs. Rhyno vs. Abyss from Bound For Glory 2005 The Year 2006 - Again watched a lot of AJ Styles from this year, but nothing that super impressed me. I will say I was a total mark for Paparazzi Productions (Kevin Nash & Alex Shelley), going through the 2006 results made me smile thinking of that. Against All Odds 2006 - X-Division Champion Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles - Probably AJ's match of the year, I might rewatch Destination X - X-Division Champion Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles Sacrifice 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted vs AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels - Probably the second best AJ Match of the Year Slammiversary 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted vs AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels Hard Justice 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs LAX No Surrender 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions LAX vs AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels - Ultimate X Bound for Glory 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs LAX - Steel Cage Match Matches recommended for me to watch Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels -Final Resolution 2006 Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner from Slammiversary 2006 Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle - Genesis 2006 Christian Cage vs AJ Styles - Genesis 2006 (Seen no hype around this, but Im intrigued) Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle - Turning Point 2006 Is Christian vs Jeff Jarrett from Against All Odds any good? Is Christian vs Abyss from Lockdown or Sacrifice any good? I see Low-Ki (Senshi) had an extended run in 2006 any good from that? Is LAX vs AMW any good? The Year 2007 - AJ Styles' wasted year in-ring. I really loved his character work in the Christian Coalition. I would say my peak TNA fandom was 2005-2007. I really loved the promotion then. Nothing AJ did that year excites me on paper. I know this was the year of Chris Harris vs James Storm what else? Matches recommended for me to watch Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe - Final Resolution 2007 Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe (Destination X 2007) Chris Harris vs James Storm - Sacrifice 2007 Texas Death Match Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles - Sacrifice 2007 Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe - Hard Justice 2007 Christian Cage vs Kaz - Genesis 2007 Ladder Match, this gets some play, is it good? Is Angle vs Christian from Against All Odds 2007 any good? Is the AJ Styles vs Rhino series any good? Is Christian vs Samoa Joe from No Surrender 2007 or BFG 2007 any good? I have the Destination X match listed. The Year 2008 - AJ Styles breaks free from Kurt Angle's and Christian's grips. Some people like the Angle vs AJ stuff. It wasnt for me. I have watched and did not think highly of it. What else is there? AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle - Slammiversary 2008 AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle - Video Game Death Match - Hard Justice - A lot of people like this, but I thought the transitions were poor enough to render only to be very good. TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs AJ Styles - Turning Point 2008 Matches recommended to watch: Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe - Lockdown 2008 Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett - BFG 2008 Is Kurt Angle vs Christian Cage from Final Resolution January 2008 or Against All Odds any good? Is 2008 the first year of Beer Money? Did anything good come out of that? Is Beer Money vs MCMGs from Turning Point 2008 any good? I thought their big run is in 2010? The Year 2009 - AJ Styles last two months are insane! It is too bad El-P ended his project early he really should have saw the year through. I have got to say I am a Main Event Mafia mark. I really thought that was the best incarnation of an NWO/Old Timer's stable since the NWO. Those track suits were bitchin'. TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Sting - Bound for Glory 2009 TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe - Turning Point 2009 - Thought this was better than Unbreakable on first watch. TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels - Final Resolution 2009 - This is contender for greatest TNA match ever and greatest AJ Styles match ever. I love this match! Need to rewatch Matches recommended for me to watch: Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett - Genesis 2009 Chris Sabin vs Alex Shelley - Genesis 2009 Kurt Angle vs Desmond Wolfe- Turning Point 2009 Kurt Angle vs Desmond Wolfe - Final Resolution 2009 Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels from No Surrender 2009 any good? Lashley vs Samoa Joe from Bound From Glory 2009 any good? There was a Bobby Lashley vs Scott Steiner PPV feud in 2009?!?! Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted November 6, 2018 Report Share Posted November 6, 2018 2003 Juventud Guerrera vs. Teddy Hart (Sept 3 2003) is a fun one - If not already mentioned, Jeff Jarrett vs Raven (April 30 2003) was one of the best built up matches they ever had and the pinnacle of a "Double J Special" (babyface version) kind of clusterfuck of a match, but a spectacle for sure. 2004 - Kazarian vs. AJ Styles (June 9 2004) is one of my all time fav X Division matches (somewhat botched finish aside) - Kazarian/Michael Shane vs AJ Styles Ultimate X (July 28 2004) was maybe my favorite of the early ultimate X matches. I remember AJ hitting the Styles Clash off the cables being the most insane spot then. - Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Harris (March 17 2004) I recall liking a lot, I was all in on wanting Harris to win the title in the buildup around this time. - I wanna say one of the AMW/Naturals tags was good, maybe the cage match from July 21 2004. 2007 Jeff Jarrett vs Bobby Roode (Sacrifice 07) same show as the Harris/Storm Texas Death but I remember liking this a lot as the first very good Roode performance vs a great Jarrett babyface performance. 2009 - Have to throw a mention to the Kevin Nash vs. Mick Foley (Hard Justice 09) blood brawl that a few of us here recently praised. Forgot that in my initial post. - I recall really digging Hamada vs Nikki Roxx from New Year's Knockouts Eve Impact show. Similarly Hamada has a pair of 2-3 min matches with Sarita & Taylor Wilde in Nov/Dec 09 that are super short but really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 Christian Cage really came into his own in TNA. His matches are worth checking out. IIRC, the Abyss/Cage Lockdown match was pretty good. In addition to Cage, I feel Raven and Rhino did their best post ECW work there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 I agree with you. I remember when Raven got released from WWE in 2003 and showed up in TNA two days later. (I never understood why he didn't have to do the 90 Day "No Compete" deal?) He was crazy over at that point, his feud with Jarrett over the NWA World Title was great. I always thought that at the time, they really dropped the ball by not having him win the title from Double J. He did some excellent work (especially on the microphone) for the next couple of years. Unfortunately, his body started to really break down. I remember he reportedly started having serious thyroid problems (allegedly due to years of drug abuse, according to him) and he gained quite a bit of weight. By 2006 or so and that whole "Serotonin" angle he was physically pretty much done. But for that period after he got released, he was doing some great work, I thought. Ditto Rhino. I remember in 2005 when he cut that promo talking about how he refused to go back to WWE for the ECW reboot, and threw the original ECW title in a trash barrel and burned it. (Supposedly.) At the time I remember being almost shocked because I had no idea he could actually cut a decent promo. In ECW he had been all grunting and cussing and drooling all over himself, letting Steve Corino do most of his talking. I thought Rhino really grew as a character in TNA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadaveri Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 37 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said: I agree with you. I remember when Raven got released from WWE in 2003 and showed up in TNA two days later. (I never understood why he didn't have to do the 90 Day "No Compete" deal?) The way they work is WWE still pays you for the 90 days provided you don't work anywhere else. They can't actually stop you, it just means you forfeit 90 days pay if you do. Raven just decided he'd rather wrestle immediately (if I remember correctly it was because TNA pitched the Jarrett angle to him but told him it either happens now or never we're not waiting three months). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 Cage, Rhino, Raven, Kevin Nash, and Team 3D (as they were stale as hell in WWE) all got a good second wind in TNA. I am sure I am missing someone obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 Agreed on all of those... each one of those names had some really great stuff in their TNA Runs. Was definitely an exciting time, as mentioned the 2-3 month build to Jarrett/Raven was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted November 8, 2018 Report Share Posted November 8, 2018 Marty the AMW XXX cage match from 2003 is definitely good. AMW were the early workhorses of TNA, along WITH AJ. The AMW Naturals ladder match from 2004 is a must too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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