DVD Reviw: TNA Twin Pack - Against All Odds/Genesis 2012

DVD Review: TNA Twin Pack: Against All Odds" & "Victory Road" 2012 By Phil Allely A few times a year TNA give their fans a really cool value for money DVD package offer. Following on from January’s Genesis release the momentum continues nicely with this twin pack featuring the February and March 2012 pay-per-view events Against All Odds and Victory Road. AAO was an event headlined by Bobby Roode’s World Heavyweight Championship defence against Bully Ray, James Storm and Jeff Hardy (with special enforcer Sting). This exciting match did dominate proceedings, but there were also some decent encounters here too. Including Zema Ion battling Jesse Sorenson (this featured a very risky move), Robbie E tackling Shannon Moore, Gail Kim facing Tara, Samoa Joe and Magnus joining forces against the duo of Crimson and Matt Morgan, Austin Aries high-flying scrap with Alex Shelley, Kazarian fighting old friend AJ Styles and Gunner took on young Garrett Bischoff (this featured appearances by Hulk Hogan and Eric Bishoff). Victory Road on the other hand saw four titles defended, some feuds end and new ones begin. The main one was rightly the ‘no holds barred’ war between Bobby Roode and Sting. Elsewhere Bully Ray and James Storm fought for the coveted number one contender spot for the world title. Kurt Angle battled Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim defended her Knockouts Title against Madison Rayne and much more. Overall this twin pack has an awful lot more going for it than against it, if you are new to TNA you’d be hard pushed to find a better way to introduce yourself to their product with this twin pack. Available now from all good retailers.

WWE PPV Review: WrestleMania 28

WWE PPV Review - WrestleMania 28

By Phil Allely

WrestleMania is the event of the year as far as the WWE are concerned, it gets a huge build up and the company always try to pull out all of the stops to ensure the card has the odds stacked in the companies favour.

2012’s event was centred around two mega match-ups, movie star The Rock’s return to the ring against company figurehead John Cena and the return match between Undertaker and Triple H. Both matches were highly anticipated and well prepared for, the question was would a Hollywood star, and two part-time wrestlers (alongside the only full time roster member Cena) be able to maintain the crowds attention and keep everyone interested in proceedings?

The dark match opener saw the combos of The Uso’s and Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd tackle WWE Tag Team Champs Primo/Epico in a fun encounter. This was of course left off the PPV, but will undoubtedly feature on the DVD release. The champions retained the gold after some nice exchanges.

WrestleMania proper kicked off with the World Heavyweight Title match-up. Challenger Sheamus made short work of his opponent Daniel Bryan here. Bryan spent a short while stalling and then caught a hard ‘brogue kick’ to lose the match and his treasured belt. Shamus is now once again flying the flag for Ireland as world champion.

Next up Kane and Randy Orton had a decent scrap, both men tried their best to keep things moving along and they did it admirably. Kane pulled off the win with a second rope ‘choke slam’.

The Intercontinental Title was on the line next, champ Cody Rhodes defending his gold against the mammoth Big Show. This was good David/Goliath stuff, show overpowered Rhodes with ease and Cody used his wits and skills to bring the big man down to his size as often as he could. A spear and knockout punch from Show finished things though, giving us our second title change of the night.

As per usual the Divas were given very little time to build momentum in their match. Here we saw Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres face Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos. The teams worked well, the moves were reasonable performed and each got a few moments to strut their stuff. Menounos rolled up Phoenix to pick up the win for her team.

The Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Triple H was a much hyped affair and one that we all hoped would match that build up. Undertaker had been off TV and out of the ring since Mania 27 and Triple H had been semi-retired since that brutal match-up too. Adding the cell and special guest referee Shawn Michaels to the mix was sure to help gloss over any ring rust the competitors had. We also got to see the new short-haired Taker too.

The HIAC match was as expected a back and forth violent encounter (of course with no blood). The pair utilised the steel structure to their advantage and Michaels kept the pace moving well too. The combatants worked well together and made the magic from last year happen once again. Undertaker’s Mania winning streak was on the line of course and the audience did think it was possibly going to come to an end. The match ended after numerous trademark moves, near falls and ref bumps. Taker eventually nailed a ‘Tombstone’ to put Triple H down for the three-count. With the 20-0 sign flashing Taker, Michaels and Triple H embraced on the stage to huge applause.

After a Hall of Fame video package, featuring The Four Horsemen, Edge, Ron Simmons and Mike Tyson, amongst others. We were once again back to the matches.
The unnecessary team match between Team Laurinaitis and Team Long was up next and even with the winning team leader becoming both Raw & Smackdown GM it didn’t set the world alight.

This enjoyable, but at times plodding scrap saw Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Drew McIntyre and David Otunga (Team Laurinaitis) face Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston, The Great Khali, R-Truth, Booker T and Santino Marella.

With so many bodies around the ring this was a match of short set-pieces, near falls, swift tags and comedy moments. The end saw The Miz hit the ‘skull crunching finale’ on Ryder to win the match for his team.

Post-match Eve struck a low blow on Ryder to hint at a heel turn.

Picking the pace up after the previous encounter were Chris Jericho and CM Punk. Here they were battling for Punk’s WWE Title and the speculation was that even with his band on tour over the Summer Jericho was on form to take the gold home with him in this one.

Punk and Jericho pulled off a superb match, thy built it perfectly, gelled wonderfully as opponents and traded near falls with ease. This was anyone’s match it seemed, the fans were really into this one. Punk eventually overcame the sneaky Jericho for the tap out win via ‘anaconda vice’.

After a one year build-up the main event between John Cena and The Rock had an awful lot to live up to. Fortunately it did just that and more, this was a match for the ages and one that saw The Rock roll back the years and highlight just how good he is as a performer.

The crowd were firmly behind Rock throughout, Cena receiving an unhealthy amount of boos. The pair went through their routines well, it may have been a meticulously planned match, but to casual fans this looked awesome in its delivery.

Rock looked slick as ever and delivered each move as crisply as he did in his prime, Cena for his faults went through the motions and both hit their trademark moves for near falls too. The match finished as predicted with the Rock successfully nailing a ‘rock bottom’ for the popular pin.

WrestleMania was a very good card from the WWE, we saw some new champs crowned, one man become the Raw/Smackdown GM and two epic encounters play out before our very eyes.

Some of the matches will be re-enacted during the upcoming WrestleMania Revenge Tour, but the big results here were Undertaker once again holding on to his winning streak, The Rock beating Cena in their grudge match and in the subsequent Raw the return of Brock Lesnar to the company.

By Phil Allely

WWE PPV Review: Royal Rumble 2012

WWE PPV Review: Royal Rumble 2012


By Phil Allely



The Royal Rumble is one of the WWE’s most popular, talked about and often exciting events on its Pay-Per-View calendar. The 2012 effort may not join some its predecessors in historic terms, but it did offer up some interesting encounters/results and it did (as it should) pave the way for event of the year WrestleMania.

Opening up with a steel cage match, the Rumble tried its utmost to build a decent level of momentum to carry the live crowd and viewing audience through to the all-important 30 man over the top main event.

Said cage match saw World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan face off against the huge lumbering duo of Mark Henry and Big Show. Although average at best this was a decent bout for all concerned (considering the opponent for Bryan’s gold). Bryan fared well against the mighty power of Henry/Show and escaped the cage to retain his belt and hopefully progress to a more worthy championship defence at Mania.

Next up was a hastily thrown together Divas encounter, which to be honest only ate into valuable ring time. The teams of Beth (Divas Champ) Phoenix, Natalya and the Bella Twins facing off against the quartet of Kelly Kelly, Tamina, Alicia Fox and Eve Torres. The ladies tried their best, but the short length of the match and talent on offer reduced the quality here. Phoenix nailed a reasonable Glam Slam to take the win for her team after some back and forth action.

Kane’s return under his mask once again has seen his character back at its more edgy self. The match between him and perennial main eventer John Cena was an adequate effort from both, Cena especially was on the receiving end of some serious fan reaction. His heel turn teasing continued (but will probably never happen) and Kane showed no sign in losing any of the momentum his newly rejuvenated character has gained. Kane’s monstrous nature came to the fore throughout the match, he took a beating from Cena, but kept on ticking. The pair ended up being counted out for a non-decision, although a laughing Kane decided to take things further by brutalising both Cena and Zack Ryder, leaving them prone in the ring as he strode off in celebration.

In another bonus match the repackaged Brodus Clay tackled Drew McIntyre in an unfortunately poor (squash style) encounter. Clay nailed his ‘What the Funk’ finisher to net himself the win.

The match of the night (as expected) was the semi-main event pitting Dolph Ziggler against WWE Champion CM Punk. John Laurinaitis as guest referee proved inconsequential, when push came to shove. Both combatants shone and although we never expected Ziggler to net the title, he did try. Punk true to form overcame the eager Ziggler by nailing a nice GTS to retain his gold and taking another step towards WrestleMania.

The main event Royal Rumble was lacking star power at times, but the performers on hand did make the most of their time in the ring. With a short 90 seconds gap between each participant it was really a case of make your entrance, hit a move and then move aside as the next combatant arrived on the scene. Highlights were Mick Foley having a Socko versus Cobra stand-off with Santino Marella, Kharma making her Rumble debut (and in-ring return), Ricardo Rodriguez lampooning his former cohort Alberto Del Rio (with cheap car etc.), legend hacksaw Jim Duggan entering to a healthy pop from the live crowd, former DX member Road Dogg making a re-appearance and the entire announce team (Booker T, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler) dipped in for some ring time too.

The rumble boiled down to match favourite Chris Jericho and Irish tough guy Sheamus, both worked hard to create tension and tease the decision. Jericho took the advantage on several occasions before Sheamus countered a ‘codebreaker’ and nailed a nice loking ‘brogue kick’ to send his foe over the top rope and himself into the history books.

Royal Rumble 2012 was a mixed bag of matches, but it did serve its purpose, the road to WrestleMania is looking good and having a guy like Sheamus win a title shot at the biggest event of year certainly makes things interesting.

PPV Review: TNA Genesis 2012

Pay-per-view Review: TNA Genesis 2012


By Phil Allely

With a hugely hyped UK tour/TV taping imminent TNA’s first PPV of the year Genesis was perfectly placed to hammer home just what the organisation has to offer fans and why they should snap up those few remaining Maximum Impact tour tickets.

Genesis did showcase TNA’s talented roster to a good degree and we saw glimpses of the reason why it has become such a UK ratings winner. However after months of well-received PPV’s, Genesis saw TNA’s writers once more resort to a number of cheap finishes.

The X Division kicked things off with a four corners elimination spot-fest for Austin Aries’ X Division Belt. Opponents Kid Kash, Jesse Sorenson and Zema Ion went all-out, but failed as Aries retained with an assist from Zema.

The Brother Devon/Pope feud trundled on next, both men tried valiantly in this sub -par effort. Devon picked up the win, reuniting with his estranged sons post match.

Immortal’s Gunner absorbed a fair amount of punishment in his brawl with Rob Van Dam, to a decent live crowd pop. Ric Flair’s interference saw Gunner DDT Van Dam on the concrete to snatch the win.

With new Knockouts Division VP Velvet Sky on hand and Madison Rayne locked in a cage Mickie James seemed destined to reclaim the Knockouts Title from Gail Kim. The sexy ladies gave their all in an enthusiastic and exciting scrap, the finish proved unpopular though as James nailed Kim with (Rayne supplied) brass knuckles in front of the ref for a DQ loss.

Abyss’ speciality match the Monster’s Ball proved to be a brutal and career-shortening affair. Opponent Bully Ray fared well against his sadistic foe in this series of weapons/gimmick based moves and blood-drawing set-pieces. Abyss overcoming kendo stick shots, drawing pins, barbed wire boards and more, to remain free from Immortal’s control.

New combo Samoa Joe and Magnus showed more signs of tag team chemistry during their challenge for the double belts. Champs Matt Morgan and Crimson retained, but found this big man outing to be a tough one.

Kurt Angle needed a win in his encounter with James Storm and succeeded in gaining it. The back and forth action was intense and saw both men showcase their wares well. Strom stood toe-to-toe with the Olympic athlete and only saw his hopes dashed when Angle struck a low blow and kick to the head to pick up the three count.

The main event between World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode and comeback kid Jeff Hardy featured some slow moments, fortunately the in-ring performances of both combatants helped balance that out and created a very decent match-up. Hardy fared well against his conniving counterpart throughout this enthusiastic bout. The finish came abruptly with Roode nailing the ref to gain a DQ loss to retain his treasured belt. Hardy did get a measure of revenge with a post-match swanton to end things on a high.

Genesis was unfortunately just an ordinary PPV outing for TNA, there were too many cheap finishes and we have to hope this loss of pace is a temporary one for the company who are set to invade the UK in a few short weeks. The good news is Roode is faring well as company figurehead, Hardy is back on track and such TNA originals as Samoa Joe and James Storm are finally getting used the way they should be.